Reading Visual Texts: A Bullet for Your Arsenal by Susana Rodriguez (Response)

Susana Rodriguez does a great job of describing how advertisers and promoters get attention. Rodriguez uses the example of the i pod throughout the chapter to describe the strategies of colors, objects, angles, and locations advertisers use to draw the audience's attention. By using contrasting colors in a certain order the advertisers are more likely to get their audience's attention. Additionally, advertisements place objects in certain way that tell a story that will appeal to their audience. Angles also help to draw in an audience because they can help make the audience draw their attention to certain aspects of the advertisement. Location is also important. Advertisers also take into consideration where they put their advertisements that will be the most visible to their audience.

By reading Rodriguez text I have learned that colors, objects, and placing can tell a story without the addition of words.Pictures display a message. For example, in the text Rodriguez talks about her family portrait at Disney World that showed how happy they were even if they really weren't. The picture showed that they all had a great time at Disney World because the picture displayed a scenic beautiful location and the smiles on their faces represented they were having or had a great time.
 

Grafitti

I'm not sure who drew these pictures. I chose them because I feel that they both display an important message that some people struggle with in their everyday lives.

The first picture resembles planes in the form of a McDonalds' logo heading toward the twin towers that were once in New York until 9/11. Most people have moved on and tried to forget the tragic event of 9/11. However, this artist not only reminds his audience of the visual picture from that day, he writes the words "EAT THIS" he puts it in all capital letters. By putting "EAT THIS" in caps the artist shows that he wants to direct his audiences' attention to the whole art piece, not just the picture. he two words. This artist is straight forward in this art piece and draws something everyone almost internationally recognizes, the McDonalds icon and contrasting it what most are also familiar with, 9/11. By carefully analyzing this piece, I feel that this artist's target audience are the people who have tried to forget or haven't put much thought into that tragic day. The  message  I received from this art piece was that 9/11 was a hard situation swallow/take in.

The second art piece resembles a homless man that would usually hold up a sign saying, "I'm homeless, please give any spare change," however this sign is different it reads, "KEEP YOUR COINS I WANT CHANGE." I think the artist wants his audience to mainly analyze the words of his graffiti and not the picture. In particular this artist plays with the word "change". The artist's target audience is probably the government that don't help the people that have nothing and are on the street. By this man holding up a sign sitting down bundled in jackets one can assume that he would be begging for money, but he is actually begging for something greater than money, change in the world. He is not just begging for himself, he is begging for everyone that wants change in the government. Perceptions of this art work can be changed by anyone because it doesn't say exactly who the audience is or what is exactly meant by "change".

Interviewing Biruk

Biruk is from Ethiopia where he spoke Amharic. He grew up speaking Amharic, but he speaks more English with everyone. He can’t read Amharic, but he speaks it well with his grandparents and family. He learned how to talk from mostly his aunts, uncles, and cousins. When he was five he came to America and learned English because it was around him. He would see English on TV and in school. Although his aunts and uncles didn’t have accents, it was still hard for him to learn how to say the same thing in English and Amharic. For example, he would say "Take one, me?" instead of "Can I take one?"

Now that Biruk is older he talks in a more serious and formal tone at school. When he is around his friends his sentences are short, not detailed, and straightforward. Around his family he talks to his elders with respect and not much joking and sometimes in Amharic. However, around his sisters and brothers he talks to them like they are his friends. Although Biruk was not born here he has adopted English as his own language.

Critiquing and Changing Genre" and "Getting Personal"

 

                 “Critiquing and Changing Genre,” uses a formal tone that describes genre from the readers’ point of view. This text is informative on two ways of evaluating genre. One way includes “thinking critically”, which means reading in depth and looking for certain “patterns” to make certain assumptions, values, and goals of the writer. However, when you read a certain genre in a “critiquing way,” you are questioning, judging and zooming in on the strengths and weaknesses of the genre/writer. Also this text includes how changing the genre relates to the people who use them. This displays the importance of the connection that is needed between the writer and their genre of work. As a whole this text includes many elaborate examples that are hard to relate to as a reader. The lack of relation to the text and the reader makes it more challenging to interpret.

On the other hand, “Getting Personal” by Irene Taylor, is written in an opposite style. She writes from the point of view of a writer not a reader. More specifically she writes about writing a personal essay genre. Taylor shows how to write for yourself while still being conscious of your audience. By giving examples from her writing experiences, she lets the reader know that writing is mainly about being vulnerable especially when writing a personal essay.  

Instead of giving step by step instructions on what a writer should do, Taylor uses a conversational tone. For example she says, “The recounting of my experience as a victim (yes, VICTIM)…” By Taylor writing victim twice in the same sentence not too far from each other, and putting the second victim in caps, it can be assumed that these are signals to the reader. She wants to stress to the reader that their attention should be drawn in and/or amazed by what is, or is about to be said. She gives plenty of indirect suggestions while tying them into examples from her life, this makes the text easy to read and comprehend.

MY LANGUAGE

The language I feel most attatched to is the informal English that I speak in my family. I feel comfortable because I don't have to try to say complete sentences.I feel that the language I speak with my family is not appreciated in school, but looked down apon. I do not see my language in any of the assignments in class. I feel like I don't have an accent. However, when I attend family reunions all of my relatives say I sound "country." They say the same words I say, but somehow its sounds like I stress my vowels more in words. I believe I talk the way I do because my mom side of the family is from a small town in Missouri where they talk really different from formal language.

From Outside, In (response)

1.                    The title, "From Outside, In" refers to how Mellix feels about Standard English. She is an “outsider”; she is not a part of the white Standard English culture and never will be. The “In” part of the title refers to where she soon gets to see what it’s like to be a part of the "Standard English culture" that was foreign to her before.

2.                    Mellix has known the difference between Standard English and Black English ever since she was little. She knew that when she would talk improperly in public her mother wouldn’t be happy. However when she and her mother where not in public she was not “scolded” by her mother when she didn’t use Standard English. Black English was more appreciated at home and around family than anywhere else.
                    At first Mellix found it hard to switch back between the two types of English. Her mind would have to try hard to fix her lips to say simple Standard English sentences. However, when she moved to Pennsylvania with her aunt and uncle, she learned from them how to switch from Standard English to Black English and even combine the two.

3.                    As a young black woman it was hard not to look like a "traditional outsider" when speaking Standard English to white people. On the other hand, if she used Standard English towards other blacks she would risk being made fun of for trying to be “better” than them. For example, when Mellix and her siblings argued and she used a proper the Standard English word "Superior" and was made fun of for sounding "uppity."  Mellix felt pain for having to use Standard English because she felt as if she was turning her back on her "blackness."       

4.                    Mellix parents used different strategies to teach her the power of Standard English. Her father's way of teaching her was through short life stories. For example, when her dad was on an airplane the stewardess referred to him as “Sir” because he was a gentleman. He was a gentleman because he used proper English. Her mother on the other hand, showed her that it made her proud when her daughter used Standard English.
                     The power of language, in my opinion, is the ability to use your words in a way that can have and mass effect on people. Language is powerful it depends mainly on the how you use it. For example, President Obama is such a powerful speaker because he uses words that are relatable to others while still using proper English. Obama uses proper English so he will sound and be classified as relevant and sophisticated. However, he uses proper language in a way that is not hard to interpret to the average person; rather they speak Black English or Standard English. He uses language in this way because it’s a part of who he is and what he stands for. Language is powerful. The difficulty is to find the foundation of the language and then make the language apart of who you are as a person.

5.                    When Mellix first started off in college her writing was straight to the point it lacked any detail, context, or sophisticated language. However, as she practiced and wrote more her writing gained what it lacked in the beginning. She was able to "use better words", as her teacher had mentioned in one of her earlier papers. In the end, she learned that her teachers could only give her the foundation of what was needed to be a great writer. She imagined that she was a part of this “Standard English culture” so she could master it and perhaps make it even better.  

Mommy

It's seven in the morning and already I hear my mom's loud voice ripping through my dreams saying, "Diamond are you up?” I wake up and walk up the cold wooden stairs.  At the top of the stairs I see her in the kitchen boiling water in the kettle. I know she has been up for some time because her dark brown curly hair smelled of shampoo. Her short body was covered with light blue jeans and a bright orange shirt which were exempt from any possible wrinkle. The front doorbell rings. I look at my mom as she walks toward the door and I started to think about her.

My Mom is in her late thirties and an entrepreneur, she owns “Peace and Blessings Home Day Care”. This is the perfect job for her because not only was it one of her life long goals to own her own business, she was able to hire me as her assistant. This meant I had the perfect boss for the summer. Although she can be insensitive to my feelings sometimes, she is easy to talk to most of the time. Sometimes the twelve hour day at the day care felt like five because we would make the day as fun as possible.

My Mom is my idol she is the queen of multi-tasking and making the best out of any situation. Although she makes it clear that we can't be best friends yet, she is much better than any best friend I can have. She gives great advice and probably lives her life more to the fullest than I ever could.

"Diamond, don't you hear me calling you girl," my mom says. I snap out of my deep thought, I start to hear the loud cry of a beautiful chocolate brown skin baby coming through the front door. The baby is placed in my weary arms and I look down to see her tears streaming down her small button face. She smells of baby powder and Similac milk. At the time it felt like it was going to be a long dreadful day, but then I thought if my mom could get through it, AND would be there to help me, I could do anything.

Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public (response)

Marquez explains that her family has not adopted the English language as their official language because it is a sign of respect to talk to her parents in their native language. Speaking their native language not only shows respect, it displays her heritage. If I were standing next to Marquez and her family speaking Spanish, I wouldn't take it offensive and probably wouldn't notice. Marquez and her family would probably be “invisible” to me because I have constantly been exposed to Spanish speaking people in my community. However, if Marquez and her family looked at me in a mean way and the tone of their Spanish was loud and cut throat, I would be offended. I would assume from bad body language and tone that they were talking badly about me in Spanish.

Marquez would stop speaking Spanish if her parents met someone who didn't speak Spanish. If I became bilingual I would also switched to English if I needed to communicate with someone who didn't speak my language. I feel that it is important to switch into English because it's a sign of respect to speak your native language to your family. On the other hand, it is also a sign of respect to speak to people in a mutual language that you both know.

“Why and When We Speak Spanish in Public” is powerful because it is geared toward people who are and are not bilingual. It shows people who are not bilingual a little bit of what it's like being bilingual and why bilingual people speak their native language in America. It is also easily relatable to the people who are bilingual and may feel misunderstood. This writing is more conversational and informal, this makes this special genre easy to read and process. Marquez uses a tone that is pleasant and situations that anyone can relate to, for example, "...shopping with my mother or standing in line with stepdad to order fast food..." This writing is informative without any clutter of sophisticated words or phrases which is greatly affective to reader.