In class analysis 11/10

Thesis: Advertisements generally strive to bring groups of people to consensus, appealing strongly to their emotions.

Peace Symbol Analysis.

The overall statement of both buttons is to reject war, and provide support for peaceful means of reaching agreement.

They make their statement through visual representation.

Left Button

·         The “melty” font of the statement creates the allusion of a melting heart, or one open to suggestions.

·         The circular peace symbol could represent the world, further explaining the buttons point for world peace. The outside ring is circular, meaning that it has no endpoints. This can be related to an eternity symbol.

Right Button

·         The peace symbol stands out against the black background. Putting down any thoughts of war.

·         The bold font makes their statement more prominent and credible.

Symbols of Patriotism

Eagle

·         The bald eagle is the nation’s national mascot.

·         The flag coupled with the eagle creates an even greater plea for patriotism. Seeing that the flag has been known to represent our country for ages. It an added sense of loyalty and pride.

·         The piercing eye is ever watchful. In protecting its citizens and holding them accountable for their loyalty.

Bulldog

·         The English bulldog is Great Britain’s National mascot.

·         The dog standing on the flag is expressing protection.

·         Seems larger than its surroundings making it a more dominant force in the world..

French Wall

·         It’s the national motto of France.

·         Set in stone.

·         Camera gives the effect that they are watching over their people and keeping an eye on other countries.

·         The parallel line create a feeling of steadiness and reliability.

·         Brotherhood sets the image that they are all equal.

The use of the N-Word

Reading Sources Critically

1.       What arguments does the author make?

Schools, specifically high schools and how they aren’t teaching anti-racial topics the way they should be taught.

White people should never use the N-word, but black people can decide what the appropriate line is for them.

There are other ways to fight racism.

He makes it clear that he is analyzing the problem from a white person’s perspective.

2.       How persuasive do you find the argument?

His overall argument that black people can have their own conversations about when it is appropriate to use the n-word but that white people should never use it. He supports this with the example and further argument that teachers need to appropriately teach materials containing racial differences.  He addresses the point that some people make that black people and white people have a double standard with that word but history has been a double standard and people need to get over it. He uses the analogies of Jeff Foxworthy, Seinfeld, and referring to Jewish jokes.

3.       What is the author’s stance?

He is very clear that he is against any white person using that word in any connotation.

4.       Does the publisher bring a certain stance to the work?

Boston College is a catholic college and they could have taken religious values into consideration.

5.       Do you recognize ideas you’ve run across in other sources?

Yes, nearly form every large magazine including Time.

6.       Does this source support or challenge your own position – or does it do both?

It supports our opinions.

7.       What can you tell about the intended audience and purpose?

Audience definitely consisted of college students and the purpose was to generate conversation for the students there. Another purpose would be to reinforce the fact that y’all shouldn’t be using the word under any circumstance if you are white. The main purpose was to argue a certain point. 

Yes, We Can and Other Writers Blogs Due 11/10

Yes, We Can.

The video Yes, We Can contains a mix of celebrities, common people, and the President. From having all these different people featured in the short music video , it gets people on the same level as them. Since everyone can either relate, aspire, or look up to anyone in the video it persuades the audience that "Yes , we can." Making Will.I.AM the center of attention at the beginning of the film and casually bringing him up every now and then creates this illusion that since Will.I.AM is a celebrity so is the President. Repeating the words "Yes, We Can" really digs it into the viewer. Having the voice over with people of different backgrounds and ethnicities gets on a very relatable level. With so much doubt in the world there needs to be some hope. With this music video Barack Obama and Will.I.AM are hoping to spark just a little bit of hope and inspire people to go after anything they want to go after. There are no limitations.

Think About Your Writing.

I have recently wrote a paper about 3 ads that promote global awareness, the prevention of deforestation, and decreasing our ecological footprint. My motivation for the paper was that it was due in a couple days and worth 1/3 of my grade, but also because it's a topic my parents are passionate about and they have passed the passion for nature onto me and my siblings. I state that in the beginning of the essay. I start off with an anecdote and explain its importance to me. I feel that I was very against deforestation throughout the paper, but I can see the reader interpreting my stance as very neutral.

Chapter 3 Summary

Part 3 The Role of Argument discuses how an author can use the essential skill of creating arguments to their advantage. It brings to the attention of readers that their are many purposes to using arguments including but not limited to; to understand, to explore, and to inform.

2nd Paper Questions

1.        How did you go about analyzing the text? What methods did you use—and which ones were most helpful?

I used mostly my own opinion and the opinion of the companies I was analyzing.

2.       How did you go about drafting your essay?

I drafted my essay by jotting down ideas, then I found my ads and listed the 7 properties of an analysis and answered them briefly. (Purpose, Audience, Stance, Context, Media, Design, Quote.)

3.       How well did you organize your written analysis? What, if anything, could you do to make it easier to read?

I believe I did a very good job on organization, I started with a powerful image and ended with an even better one leaving a good impression on the reader.

4.       Did you provide sufficient evidence to support your analysis?

Yes I did, I have statistics listed throughout.

5.       What did you do especially well?

I think that I've improved my grammatical fluency. It was not as good in my first paper.

6.       What could still be improved?

I think my grammatical fluency still needs a bit more work, but I feel that I did a good job answering the prompt.

7.       Did you use any visuals, and if so, what did they add? Could you have shown the same thing with words?

I used 3 advertisements that I placed strategically around the essay.

8.       How did other readers' responses influence your writing?

It helped out a lot I took into consideration all of their critiques and nearly used every one of them in my paper.

9.       What would you do differently next time?

I think I would add another advertisement that captured more from the ethos side of persuasion.

10.   Are you pleased with your analysis? What did it teach you about the text you analyzed? Did it make you want to study more works by the same writer or artist?

Yes I am pleased with it. I learned a lot about the current condition of many rainforests around the world and I've learned an immense amount of new vocabulary. It made me want to keep researching the issue and see what’s changed in the last couple of years since the advertisements were published.

11.   What are the transferrable  skills you can take from this into other writing situations?

The power of persuasion is something I will use in the rest of my papers. I learned a lot about it and would like to continue to learn more about pathos, ethos, and logos.

11/5 In Lab

61-62
Times I've taken a position:

• I had to explain to my mom what I wanted for dinner.
• I had to explain to my friends what we were going to do this weekend.
• Describing the pros and cons of 2 types of guitars would best suit the type of music I would like to create.
• Explaining to my political science teacher why I thought a certain city council member was better suited for the job than the other.
• Why my response to the car mechanic was right and he was wrong. 

 

 

 

 

How does it appeal to you?

It adheres to my opinion it states the importance of every child and their feelings outside and inside the womb. The #They Feel Pain supports people who have suffered through their live children being lost. These people most likely feel that the life of any child is valuable despite any reason the parents might have for an abortion.  

                                How does it not appeal to you?

This advertisement appeals largely on a pathos/emotional basis. I may feel more inclined to accept it if I was given factual information or statistics to back up their opinion. How do they know the newly developing fetus feels pain? Is this statement, “it won’t hurt a bit” accurate when getting an abortion? I’ve done a lot of research, and read multiple scholarly articles by medical students on brain/nerve development in fetuses and the time frame legally accepted for abortion, because these questions and their possible accuracy does matter to me. But what we know is that the fetus does not at this point (4-10, or in some places 4-7 weeks after conception) have the nerve or brain development to be conscious. These two advertisements appeal on an emotional basis for a highly emotional topic, but allowing yourself to be so shocked at abortion without fully understanding the process and fetal development is deceiving. Abortion does hurt the mother, and it is not an easy decision. If you take the abortion pill rather than having a surgical abortion, which basically induces a miscarriage, mothers go through intense fevers, severe cramps, nausea, vomiting, heavy bleeding, etc. for several hours before feeling normal. Counseling is also provided through planned parenthood. Which brings me to my last point.

 

·         The second ad contrast the baby to a piece of tissue.

·         A pair of ominous looking scissors in the third

·         A fetal child with a partially developed face

·         Comparing the mother’s pain to the child’s pain, ”#theyfeelpain”

·         “Excuse me America, this is a tissue” expresses a sassy, upset tone that communicates the maker’s strong opinion on this topic

·         The words, “speak up” contained in the first ad

 

If I were to revise it for an audience supporting abortion I would put a statistic on the third ad explaining that we have no proof of when the baby is actually able to feel things and would change the hash tagged statement to say, “#care” to address the reasons that parents give for their decision. On the first and second ads I would take out the baby in both pictures. In the first I would change the picture to be of a man and woman’s hands, showing that they were in the decision together. In the second, I would put a picture of a crying woman, using tissues, and change the statement at the bottom to talk about how the negative emotions of an accidental pregnancy can be stopped by an abortion.

 

If I had to create it in a different medium, many things would change. If was to be presented orally instead of over the internet, I would exclude all of the word. This would allow for more verbal explanation and physical emphasis. I would include a more vivid picture in every circumstance to grab the attention of the audience and call them to recognize my point.   

63-66                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   "Abortion in America." GeneLalor.com. Gene's Blog, 7 Mar. 2009.      

       Boyle, Patricia. "Excuse me America this is not a tissue..." Abortion in Advertising. 

                  N.p., n.d. Web 5 Nov. 2015 

      Durp, Blair. "Stop Abortion just STOP IT." Abortion. Pintrest.com,

                  N.d. Web 5 Nov. 2015                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Paper 2 Rough Draft Brainstorm

Joshua Rentz

ENGL 101

November 3rd, 2015

Through analysis of 3 ads. Addressing all of the parts of an analysis. Create into paragraph form to inform a reader of your analysis.

World Wildlife Ads

Image 1)

3 polar bears, ‘facial expressions’, graffiti on their body, one bear on the ground kind of hiding, one trying to fight it off. It’s sad, but many politicians do care more about keeping walls clean than they do about cleaning the ecosystem.

Audience: Wilderness addicts, explorers, national park members, backpackers, hikers, scientists, pet owners, government officials, artists, polluters, companies, preppers, hunters, kids, and conservationists.

Purpose: To bring across to viewers around the world that when you do something to the earth you aren't just hurting one small thing you are bringing pain to everything that walks upon it.

Stance: Very firm towards wildlife conservation. They seem to be making a direct ‘in your face’ to the government. Bring forth an issue and expecting to make the viewer feel guilt and possibly start to do something about the problem.

Context: Contains wildlife and a quote.

Media: Photo

Design: They use a powerful photo shopped image of 3 polar bears that have been vandalized, then compliment it with a very simple quote that targets your emotions.

Quote: “What will it take before we respect the planet?”

Image 2)

Analysis: Clouds, Factory, construction, green forest, man swinging off the vine, man being in the blackest cloud means all is already lost, further in the distance it's brighter possibly signifying a brighter future down the road.

Audience: Wilderness addicts, explorers, national park members, backpackers, hikers, scientists, pet owners, government officials, artists, polluters, companies, preppers, hunters, kids, and conservationists.
Purpose: This ad captivates its audience by showing how rapidly forests are disappearing and being turned into industry. The man is mid flight further symbolizing how fast the forest is going away showing that in a matter of seconds he can not reach the vine.

Stance: The artist want to portray a very serious stance, showing that its not joking matter.

Context: To me it is like a timeline from left to right is how the world will start to become, but we need to be going the other way like the man.

Media: Photo shopped image

Design: Photo with quote

Quote: “15 km2 of rain forest disappears every minute.”

Image 3)

Analysis: As the clock gets closer to 12 it gets more torn up whereas before it was nice and shiny meaning life was simple and easy then now it's hard and they fight to keep up, child screaming meaning life for the child ain't gonna be easy, Mom all torn up and bloody she fighting for something worth living for, 12 o'clock mean end time. Time is the enemy.

Audience: Wilderness addicts, explorers, national park members, backpackers, hikers, scientists, pet owners, government officials, artists, polluters, companies, preppers, hunters, kids, and conservationists.

Purpose: The purpose of this ad is to bring to the attention of millions of people that endangered animals are going extinct, future generations won't have the pleasure to see these animals. They are hoping to inspire their audiences to take action and generously assist them in saving animals around the world so that they may live an extra 60 seconds.

Stance: In my opinion their stance is very aggressive. They put forth a brutal image of a mother gorilla protecting its child from danger. This relates to many mothers who cherish their children and see the struggle of the momma gorilla.

Context: Mother gorilla protecting its infant. Image symbolizes the quote. Quote in the top right corner.

Media: Photo and quote.

Design: Drawn image, the artist obviously built the image off of the quote and created a powerful image that projects the reality of endangered wildlife.

Quote: “Every 60 seconds a species dies out.”

McDonald Ad Summary, Paraphrase, and Quote

Paraphrase:

The Veggieburger McDonalds ad specifically targets meat loving audiences, based on the German language it is written in. Additionally the words “Jetzt neu: Der Veggieburger” conveyed two messages. First the words “Jetzt neu” mean “Now the New” implies renewed opportunity for a healthy lifestyle. Second, “Der Veggieburger.” tell the audience that McDonald's Veggieburger is the only Veggieburger worth buying.

Summary:

The Veggieburger McDonalds ad focuses on promoting a new and healthier lifestyle for Germans.

Quote:

“Jetzt neu: Der Veggieburger.”

Summary, Paraphrase, and Quote.

Summary: Melissa Rubin acknowledges every piece of a Coca-Cola ad in the 1950's, she observes how an artist can display so many words in a single image, she responds to every piece of artwork and notes its meaning.

Paraphrase: Advertisements are amazing, one image can contain so much information that it can change the way someone thinks and make them do something. Melissa Rubin states in her article that advertisements can contain everything related to a certain time period. Every piece of the image has a meaning, in the ad she analyzes she reports to us how the artist portrayed, racial discrimination, patriotism, the working class, what the ideal American was, and what America looked like in the time. Its amazing to see how far people can analyze an image and persuade an individual to purchase a product.

Quote: In Melissa Rubin's article about advertisements she goes into great detail about their purpose she states, "Advertisements are written to persuade us - to make us want to support a certain cause, buy a particular car, drink a specific kind of soda. But how do they do it?". (Rubin 176)

Animal Cruelty Ads Assignments

     1.   PETA, Mercy for animals, and Freedom For Animals

2    2. The pig ad is intended for shoppers who purchase their pork from Walmart to convince people to buy their meat elsewhere. The hair product ad is targeted towards women to influence them to purchase cruelty-free products. 

      3. The PETA ad targets upper class fur- wearers to emphasize the abuse animals went through so that people could wear the fur. All three of these ads make the buyers feel guilty about what they’re buying and enlightens them to abuse that animals go through.

3 4.  There are derogatory slogans written on all three of the ads to hook people’s attention, and also provides facts about animal cruelty.

4 5.    The purpose of this text is to bring attention to animal cruelty and relate it to everyday things that people buy, that they aren’t aware are related to animal cruelty. The images are snippets of the cruelty that animals go through. The creators are anti-animal cruelty, and are trying to influence people to stop buying products that support animal cruelty.

5    

        6. They seem to be working towards their purpose by also targeting women in all three ads. The hair ad appeals to women because that’s who would be buying the product, the Walmart ad would most likely target women as well because women typically do grocery shopping for the household, and the fur ad appeals to women because women are more likely to wear fur than men. The creators want to stop animal cruelty.

6    

     7. The Walmart ad represents evidence that we used to support our answers through the picture of the pig behind bars; signifying the unfair lifestyle the pig goes through in its short life. The hair product ad at first comes across as a typical beauty ad, except for the skin abscess on the side of her face and the slogan written underneath the picture. The fur ad provides evidence linking compassion towards the animal to how wrong wearing fur is because most people wouldn’t harm their own animals for fur, so why should other animals suffer?

8. Collectively, the ads ads promote vegan-ism/vegetarianism while aiding the fight against animal cruelty by exposing facts to the public. 

Summary on Rubin's Article

Rubin's article about the Coca-Cola Ad really gives the reader a great understanding of how thoroughly people can analyze an ad. I used to just look at an ad and be like 'eh that's okay.' or 'eh that looks really good.' But now after reading how she goes into every single detail of the image and how the smallest detail can have a huge impact on the entire image and what its trying to say. She gives us amazing analyses of the Coca-Cola Ad, she tell us everything from how the Ad comes across to the reader than later explaining what the Ad said about the time period. She tells us about racial issues and how Americans used ads to help encourage people to become the perfect American. The way she talks about how every person in the Ad contributed greatly to the image really opened my eyes and made me want to analyze Ads more entirely instead of just gazing over it.

Questions 181

1.Through Rubin's analysis she explains that Coca-Cola's presence it  has in the soft drink market is due to the popular appeal it gained during the war times. She talks a lot about racial themes were used throughout Coca-Cola's early advertisements and how Coca-Cola tried to display the American life as ideal in its ads to encourage foreigners into drinking it in hopes of becoming more American-like she gave a specific example when she says that only the popular African Americans were depicted in the ads later on. 

2. Historical context is included in her numerous quotes and the full page ad. She also gives her own opinion of the blue collar american and their labor unions and how they tied to Coca-Colas development also help to give context. These small details help the reader gain a better understanding though tout the narrative. 

3. Other questions that can be answered through ad analyses are: Who were the most popular consumers of the time period, what was the ideal lifestyle of the time, what advertising techniques were effective against people of the time period? What the average cost was and how much it was relative to everything else in the time period. 

4. Any Ad related to the the clothing industry today shows what is required to be cool now a days, for example I went to American Eagle the other to purchase a pair of jeans and I noticed the ads, all of the people displayed were extremely pretty girls or very handsome men. They were trying to depict the perfect person that could wear any style. Just from their style you could tell if they came from a wealthy family or a poor family. 

InClass Lab 10/20

Group Portion:
Think about other people’s writing as well as your own while writing an analysis. Use and point out specific details that support your thoughts.It's important to focus on the argument and stick to a clear point to relate to the audience. One way to approach writing an analysis is to back up your statements, same characteristics as writing a narrative. The author should make a clear thesis and support it throughout the analysis with multiple resources mentioned to back it up.

Individual Portion:
The paper Stay as Sweet as You Are fits the criteria of an analysis paper because she focuses on one audience that is mainly directed towards women. He constantly bringing forth the fact that the appearance of a woman is not the ultimate tool. He stays very focused throughout the entire article , his stance is very clear, it is that these advertisements would falsely motivate women into thinking that their appearance was the only thing that mattered to attract a man. Another point that he brought up I don't know if it was directly but it seemed to me that he used 3 examples from 3 different generations on purpose to clearly show to the reader that these kinds of advertisements have not changed and are still today making women feel obligated to look amazing to attract a man. His design was clever, he integrated images that were actual advertisements about his topic and he expanded on each of the images. His purpose was to prove that the popular belief that looking beautiful is the key to matrimonial success and the ability to attract men with your appearance is the ultimate tool is wrong and is his main idea and he does a great job explaining his points. He has plenty of evidence specifically the images of the advertisements from Resinol, Lux, and Listerine.

Questions for Final Draft

1.      What was your main point (thesis)?  “The Moral of the Story”?

The main point of my Story is to never take life for granted. That everyday is a gift, one moment you may be having an excellent day with your friends then the next you could wake up in a hospital bed. 

2.      Who was your audience?  What did you assume about them?  What “audience needs” did you have to consider in writing the paper?  How did you tailor your writing to them?

My audience was a curious reader and to people of my own age who have experienced loss or hardship. This was meant to hit readers who had lost hope on someone but this story is supposed to renew that hope they once had.

3.      What feedback or reactions did you get at various times while composing this paper, and how was this helpful?  What other kinds of input or support did you get from classmates, teacher, tutors, others?  Were you able to make use of it?  How, or why not?

I got a lot of feedback mainly from friends and family, my family corrected me on accuracy and my friends corrected me on grammatical error and simple mistakes. I was able to use every edit someone made on my paper to create an even better version. 

4.      What did you find interesting about the process you went through in writing this paper, and what did you learn from it?

I found that it got more powerful to me to write this story because my brothers accident was the biggest hump on the road i've ever had, and to write about it to many people just made it mean so much more to me. I've learned more about his accident honestly, when he was in the hospital I didn't want to know the details so I got educated on the hard facts that happened.

5.      What questions do you have for me about the paper?  (What part(s) of the paper would you like me to focus on?  What do you see as the paper’s strengths, and what areas are you unsure of?)

I have never been good at writing papers, since middle school English has always been my hardest class. I would like you to focus just on the quality of the paper and my ability to follow directions and make a narrative. I think my strengths would be my word choice and what I was unsure of most often was what Point of View I should have in certain parts. 

Questions PG. 175

 1. Heather Hravirlesky's main point is about the ever evolving American Dream. She specifically points it out on PG. 170 Second Paragraph and states that the "American Dream and expanded into something far broader.". Also on PG. 174 she states that the American Dream has turned into  people wanting to be heroes, "have beautiful wives, live in style among adorable, adoring children.

2. She first starts off her essay with a cutting sentence that makes the reader think. "Americans are constantly in search of an upgrade.". Throughout her essay she relates her topic to the TV Shoe Mad Men,  she continues to display thorough knowledge of the show and relates it to real scenarios.

3. I think that the 4th paragraph on page 172 she appeals to the readers emotions. she compares a woman to a stereotype and does an excellent job.

4. I have never heard of nor see the show Mad Men, but now with Mrs. Hravirlesky's excellent summary of the show she helps me understand what it is basically about in its simplest form. And yes she does make me want to see the show now.

5. The question that guides her is 'is the American Dream' evolving or not. She offers insight on the show Mad Men and relates it to what the American Dream used to be and how the show depicts it now. She uses specific examples from the t.v. show to support her conclusions.

Final Draft Narrative

Joshua Rentz

ENGL 101 - 5:30

Dr. Sonia Begert

10/20/15

And So it Began

Voooshhh. The snowflakes clawed at his face, the wind clouded his sight, the night sky brought peace. And so it began. This was the instant before he caught a glimpse of death. This was the instant before the near death incident. They say in the instances before death you see your life flash before your eyes. But no one actually believes it until they experience it themselves. And you don’t realize how much family matters to you until you lose it.

He sits in his chair, with his gaze afar. The terrors of guilt, anger, and frustration pull at his gut. His heart is cold. The menacing clouds squeeze out rain droplets the size of marbles, wind gushes in and out of the yard, with each gush new leaves and objects come in and then seconds later disappear and it happens repeatedly. He jerks his attention inside. The beige walls stare at him with eeriness. Pictures from his childhood hang on the wall, he sees his youngest brother in all of them and wonders will he be in the future. He scrolls through his email, when he finds the email he was looking for he quickly reacts. Eager to see what it contains he clicks on the link, brings his chair forward, and reads through it frantically. It’s exactly what he wants, he has gotten a response from an organization that could directly help his brother and his family. His heart rate increases and the blood begins to flow through his body, this email gave him hope. The Love Your Brain Foundation has formally asked him to create a story that explained what happened to his brother so they could see how they would be able to assist them. The last line struck him “we need to know about your brother.” Excitement flows through his body he gets up out of his chair and walks briskly over to his sister and other brother. “They responded.” he says, “And what did they say?” his sister asks. “They want me to write a story explaining everything that has happened, they want to help us!” he exclaims. “Well you better get on that man, we don’t got time to waste.” says his other brother. He slides over to his computer desk, boots up Pandora, plugs his earphones in, and gets to work. ‘They need to know about my brother.’

They left school early Friday the 27th of February and were headed to Steven’s Pass Ski Resort. Josh and his 2 friends sat in the back, Eli and Daniel his brothers sat in the middle seats along with Daniel's friend Aiden. Up front sat their Dad. They had picked up some pizza and were gobbling it up. Eager to get skiing and snowboarding they all got their snow gear on in the car. It was turning out to be a phenomenal day, 36 degrees and sunny, you could not have asked for any better ski conditions than that. They arrived at the resort and bolted for the ticket booth. “Can we get 7 all day ski passes please?!” said Aiden. We forked over our cash and snagged our tickets quickly, we clipped into our boards and skis and took off. As we took off down towards the closet lift we agreed to meet at the car at 10 p.m. Daniel and Aiden went up first. They were the most experienced of the group. They had gone down the mountain about 30 times the entire day. As the sun began to set the crowds of people began to bail out and head home. Snow began to fall, winds started to accelerate, and the night sky brought peace over the mountain. And so it began. He took off from a snow bank the snowflakes clawed at his face, the wind clouded his sight, and then there it was an element that would alter his life and the ones around him forever. A frozen over stream sat in between him and where he had to go, he thought that his elevation would give him an advantage and he would be able to cross with his friend but it was too late. The darkness had come.

Josh and his two friends were next up the ski lift. From their seat they could see Daniel and his buddy snickering away. The guys all started adjusting their equipment on the chair lift. They tightened their boots, pulled together their bindings, wiped clean their goggles, and finally slipped on their gloves and sealed them off. The chair had finally reached the top of the mountain. Josh and his best friends slid off the chair and scooted over to a clearing where they could make their final adjustments before the long day of skiing and snowboarding. “Alright boys let’s shred!” “Woooohhhh!” they all yelled. And they were off. The sun began to set and the mountain was theirs. Snow began to fall, winds started to accelerate, and the night sky brought peace over the mountain. And so it began. They took off from the peak snowflakes clawed at their faces, the wind clouded their sight, and as they cruised down the mountain they saw a frozen over stream. Next to the stream sat two ski patrol officers and two kids one lying on the floor and one kneeling next to him. They continued down the mountain unaware that that was his brother and friend.

The clock ticked closer and closer to ten o'clock. But once they reached the bottom of the mountain Josh couldn't find his phone. His friends suggested to check the lost and found, they plowed their way through the snow towards the lost and found. The lady was just closing up shop, Josh tapped on the window lightly careful to not startle the old lady. She looked up and smiled, she slid open the window and asked “How can I help you lads?”. Josh responded “Hi ma’am sorry to bother you but I seem to have lost my phone up on the mountain, has anyone dropped off a small white phone?” She said “Let me check here hun, what’s your name?”, “The names Josh Rentz”, “Okay let's see what this comes up with.” she stated. “Umm would you happen to have a brother Josh?” she asked, “Yea I got two younger brothers, Eli and Daniel. Why?” he said. “Come with me now, we don’t have your phone and your brother is seriously hurt!” she said tears rolling down the sides of her cheeks. Josh and his friends noticed the tears and knew it couldn't be good. And so it began. The darkness had come.

Daniel was being airlifted out of the area to seek immediate medical attention at Harborview Medical Center. They rushed over to Seattle which was a good 3 hours out of their way. Eli called their mother who was about an hour away to meet them there immediately. After many many hours of excruciating silence and the spooky sounds of the hospital, an official comes out and greets the family and friends. “Daniel has been scanned and is currently having more images developed. We have concluded from the images we have gathered that he has dislocated his left shoulder, fractured his nose, fractured the bones around his left eye, his brain has internal bleeding he was born with an  AVM which has exploded, he is bleeding in the middle of his brain and on the left side, along with that he has many blood clots throughout his brain. He is also in a coma and has lost all ability to move the entire left side of his body. I’m so sorry. We are doing everything we can.”. And so it began.

            Josh is back on his computer wrapping up the letter to the Foundation. He types hurriedly because the sooner he gets his message out the sooner they receive help. ‘He is now on his road to recovery, he is attending rigorous physical, speech, and occupational therapy.’ He then finishes it off, ‘I know I may not be somebody but my little brother is definitely somebody. He is an incredible 14 year old, he is one of the fastest freshman cross-country runners, an amazingly talented violinist, a very very smart A honor roll student, a sailor, a fitness freak, a great skier, a dedicated friend, and the most supportive, challenging, awesome, goofy little brother. If you could take some time and share my brothers story it would be immensely appreciated, he needs motivation and he needs stories he can relate to for he can see that he WILL be okay and WILL recover with determination and dedication. Thank you so much for your support and kindness’

“Things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, sometimes in unexpected ways” - Rowling. Daniel has made a miraculous and amazing recovery, he can move his entire body, he is back in school, he is back sailing and has now learned how to play the guitar. He continues to prove others wrong and defy what people tell him. And so it began. The light had come. Appreciate what you have while you got it, because in an instant it can all be gone.

Unit 2 Lab 1

Joshua Rentz

Small Decisions                                                                                  Big Decisions

This Week: What time of the day will my 5 meals be. This was a pretty simple obstacle I just had to space out my meals so I was eating when I wasn’t hungry. What shoes to wear. This decided whether I got blister wearing the new shoes I got earlier this week or wearing shoes I had already broken in. What kind of clothes to wear each day. This decided whether I got wet on the way to my car and if I would be warm enough in my math class. What kind of lunch should I make. This just consisted of me dividing up the amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins I ate throughout the day.	When to get my license. This was crucial because my parents were not going to be home for the week so I had to drive myself to school and job interviews. What jobs I should apply for. This decided what I would expose myself to and help widen my interests so I can maybe find something I want to do for the rest of my life. Registering for Selective Service Act This was just a mandatory thing my dad made me do.
This Month: What my meals will consist of throughout the week. I had to prepare every Sunday what I would be cooking throughout the week. What to do for my birthday. I had to get my friends on the same page as me so we could do something fun for my birthday.	What kind of car will I purchase. This affected how much money I would be spending on my car, for example how much money I would be investing into gas, repairs, and insurance. What kind of doggie will I purchase. This affected how much money the dog would be needing. I would be spending money on grooming supplies, food, and leashes.
This Year: What type of training will I do throughout the year. This decided whether I would be bodybuilding for mass, training for definition, or just for strength. What room in the house I will sleep in. This was a minor decision I had to make in the beginning of the year, since I sleep on the floor I had to find a comfy spot.	Where I will go to college. This would determine where I would be going to college, how much money my parents would have to pay, whether I had to work this summer, whether I needed to apply for scholarships and financial aid. What I want to do when I grow up. This would guide me to choosing what college I wanted to go to and what types of jobs I should pursue in my near future. What job will I get for the summer. This would get me enough money to last me through the summer and buy all the things I needed for college. Also would help me explore different things to find a possible career choice I would go after in college.

2 consumer oriented websites that analyze something I’m interested in:  

Bodybuilding.com and Theartofmanliness.com

From the 2 of the websites they both display everything that I like, the bodybuilding website helps me every day I use it to find tips on a certain movement or exercise. The Art of Manliness page just provides me with entertaining things that ‘men’ do, such as outdoor activities, style tips, financial advice, straight edge razor shaving, and manly stories. If I go by my definition of useful which is the one that provides me with the most knowledge and advice that affects me on a daily basis, then I would say the bodybuilding website is more useful because I go the gym every day and exercise, and I don’t do manly things every day. The bodybuilding website sells supplements and workout gear, they provide real reviews from both male and female users of all ages right underneath each product and some of them even have photos and statistics of how useful the product actually was. Each of the photos and statistics are appealing to the eye using bright colors and easy to read graphs. The language is easy to read and is simple, gets straight to the point really quick instead of putting words in your head that are to scientific to comprehend, but they do provide the science stats at the bottom of the page. The consumers were reporting that they were very pleased with how helpful the website was to them and also their satisfaction with their purchases. The Manly Page has analysis of manly activities and items that consumers can buy such as outdoor equipment, clothing, and grooming supplies. People can comment their thoughts on a product or review the product as well. They aren’t so much interested in selling the product it seems but more into entertaining the audience with the stories. They are also very biased everything on the website is for men given the name so they can’t speak for the female population. I decided that the bodybuilding page was more useful. I would say to improve the other website I would create a simpler interface where it isn’t so complicated to get to a certain product or story. The bodybuilding page was very simple to use you just clicked on what you were looking for and there would be tons and tons of information on the specific thing you clicked on.  Also if the other website focused on selling their products instead of entertainment then it would be more useful.