FW: A tale

Once upon a time there was a princess. She was unhappy. Who knows why; all princesses seem to be unhappy at some time in there life even if they are rich and beautiful. This particular princess was one of such typical princesses. Naturally, she had many suitors, and naturally, the princess was going through royal drama with this predicament (as usually happens with these types of stories). Being SO beautiful and SO rich, and having a princess’s opinion of herself, it was difficult for anyone to measure up to her expectations. This predicament was probably the reason the princess was so unhappy. Princes and knights would come from afar to seek her hand (not because they were in love with her, mind you, but because that was just what princes and knights did in those days).
One day she was making a focused expression that displayed her dismay, very princess-like without even a wrinkle on her forehead, when the stress of being a princess became too much for her, and a big, red zit popped out right in the middle of her forehead. She was mortified! This was the first time ever that something like this had happened to a princess.
She locked herself in her room, and pretty soon all of the suitors had given up and gone away, except for one. This knight had arrived late because his horse had stubbed his toe. He had carried his poor horse all the way to the castle, and he had developed quite a painful blister. Because he was rather tired, he decided to spend the night outside the castle walls. He was making so much noise that the princess stuck her head out of the door with such a look of unprincesslike infuriation—glaring her eyes, furrowing her brow, and barring her teeth—that the knight flew back in surprise and landed in a pile of mud. Being kind, if not vain, she regretted her aggravation and helped him out. They began talking, and they came to the agreement that they were tired of the way things were. They decided to run away and manufacture toe-guarded horseshoes together, and eventually they fell in love, got married, and lived happily for the rest of their lives, even with blisters and zits.

RA: The Treachery Of Images (La trahison des images)

Rene Magritte's "The Treachery Of Images"

What are the consequences of focusing solely on traditional expressions of art on artistic freedom?
Enthymeme: Focusing solely on traditional expressions of art puts a strain on artistic freedom because limiting oneself strictly to representational painting presents an incomplete interpretation of the scope of art.
Implicit assumption: Anything that presents an incomplete interpretation of the scope of art will put a strain on artistic freedom.
Audience: Representational artists, or more broadly, any type of artist set on traditional methods.
Magritte in this painting has a representational painting of a pipe with the words “This is not a pipe” written in French, scrolling along the bottom. Magritte is right; it is not a pipe—it is a painting of a pipe. Instead of making an aesthetic piece of work, this piece is an artistic statement. He is asking the question of why some artists try to mimic three-dimensional objects. Paintings are essentially two-dimensional; they are paint on canvas. They are not people, or buildings, or baskets of fruit, and so he urges the viewer to celebrate that difference. It is a rational argument, and being an artist himself, he has some authority to make such an argument.

TA: Organization

To write well the writer ought to compose the topic of a paragraph without actually having to write a specific topic sentence, or so I’m told. This can be a difficult task if you are used to writing topic sentences. For example, if I were writing a paragraph about how to slip in a topic sentence without actually writing it, then this specific paragraph that I am writing would not be a very good example. However, if I were writing an entry about how there are no real rules to organizing a paper, then this paragraph might just be a fair intro.

There are some great literary works written in a specific order and pattern, and there are others that don’t seem to follow any type of model at all. The thing that these great works have in common is that they were all written well. But there isn’t a set definition for what writing well is; for some reason, people just know fabulous prose when they read it. So for one who is seeking to write better and who might even be taking a class to pursue this aim, it is rather unfortunate that there is not just one great formula for writing well, only the notion that there aren’t any real rules to organizing a paper.

TA: Intro; Narrative

My roommate and I had finally gotten the names of the people who we are supposed to visit teach. I was a Freshman, and this was my first assignment ever. My roommate and companion, a year older and a year more experienced, was to give the lesson, and I was to assist. We did not have the numbers of the people we were supposed to visit teach—just their names, and so we just decided to drop by.
Katie told us to come in; she had a few minutes before a friend was going to drop by. I stared stupidly and smiled as my roommate gave the lesson. Occasionally I gave a nod.
She had just finished when Katie’s friend arrived at the door and as she went to let him in, I asked her if she liked oatmeal. After she had answered in the affirmative, I excitedly pulled out a packet that had been stored inside my planner. Unfortunately, I found the packet had already been opened once. Oatmeal rained over my roommate’s head and Katie’s living room floor! What a great first impression.

RA: The Gym

I walked into the Gym and they introduced me to someone who's responsibility it was to convince me to join. He wasn’t really what I expected. He wasn’t very pushy, and he seemed interested in the things I was interested in. Unfortunately for him, I was skeptical because I was doing a rhetorical analysis on his methods of persuasion. He was pretty direct; he showed me around the gym and had me try out some of the equipment. He wasn’t hounding me for my number and was cutting the prices. He looked online for some places in London where I’d be able to use their facilities. He related and referenced his schooling at BYU and talked briefly about his mission after he probed for some subtle hints of my schooling and religion. He actually did a really great job. I was surprised. At the very end he had to go ask his manager some questions because, he confided in me, he was pretty new at this. His manager came in and completely undid everything. He first talked about the marathons in the sand with his gear on that he had to do every day when he was in the marines. He told me that this was the first person’s first time. He told me what a great deal I was getting and that it would only be for this day. He offered a free class that day. The first guy sold me the most; he seemed more real. The second guy made me want to leave the Gym as soon as I could.

FW: 50 things to do before I die

1. Visit 25 temples
2. Write a book
3. Go skydiving
4. See the Aurora Borealis
5. Drive a tractor
6. Change someone’s life (for the better)
7. Learn a foreign language
8. Be in a Harry Potter, Seminary, or some other kind of Movie.
9. Train for a marathon
10. Meet the prophet
11. Donate one yard of hair to Locks of Love
12. Go on a mission
13. Make an important discovery
14. Get kissed in the rain
15. Create a masterpiece
16. Follow the prophet’s council with exactness
17. Read all the books on a reputable book list
18. Become a church history expert
19. Learn to sight-read music
20. Graduate with a Bachelor’s degree from a university
21. Teach class in a classroom
22. Become a published writer
23. Wax my legs
24. Have a piece of art displayed in a public place
25. Visit Europe
26. Ride my bike through a part of Europe
27. Go to a Broadway play
28. Ride a horse into the sunset
29. Donate blood when able
30. Ride on a train
31. Have a foreign fling
32. Write a song
33. See the Mona Lisa
34. Surf
35. Learn how to snowboard
36. Create my own recipe
37. Fall in love
38. Do at least one act of service a day
39. Make an environmental stand
40. Spin a basketball on my finger
41. Read and study the standard works
42. Live on the east coast for a while
43. Learn how to ballroom dance
44. Understand Einstein's theories of relativity
45. Make a ginger bread house from scratch
46. Help someone get ready for a formal dance
47. Sew a quilt
48. Walk barefoot at an ocean beach at sunrise or sunset
49. Sing a solo in Sacrament meeting
50. Be quoted

TA: Enthymeme

I do not know what to write about for this entry. We are supposed to write a response or an experiment about what we have discussed in class—to practice a technique. For this English blogging assignment we have to write in our blogs three times a week; one day a rhetorical analysis (RA), one day a free write (FW), and one day a technique assignment (TA). Since I’ve done a free write and a rhetorical analysis already this week, I need to do a technique assignment.
We’ve primarily covered enthymemes in class so far. An enthymeme is a formula for an argument with an implicit assumption. In an enthymeme A leads to B because A leads to C. So with the enthymeme ‘Michelle is unintelligent because she is an art student,’ the consequence of A (being Michelle) leads to B (being unintelligent), because of C (she is an art student). The implicit assumption in this argument is that any art student is going be unintelligent. This example is an example of a weak argument. However, even though it is a bad argument, it is remarkable how many people believe it to be true. Just because somebody’s primary major is art does not mean that he or she is an idiot. There could be plenty of other reasons why Michelle might appear to be stupid.

FW: Legs Crossed

I don’t like buying jeans. It seems like every different brand of pants has a separate interpretation for what a particular size is. As it may be, I have pretty raggedy pants. There is one set of pants that fits. If you find a set of pants that actually fits it is pretty amazing. Because of their suitability and my dislike of jean-purchasing, these jeans are worn a lot. Now they have a hole in the crotch. I am ticked. It’s small enough now that I am still going to wear them. I’ll just keep my legs crossed.
I don’t know why I shared this. Now, if you read this blog, if ever you see me crossing my legs you’ll be wondering if I’m concealing wear and tear. I take it all back. I do not mind going jean shopping; I’m perfectly indifferent. All my jeans are in just fine condition, and I have a new pair for everyday of the month. The whole hole thing was hypothetical—it was a supposition posed to the reader, so that he or she will take into consideration the various seemingly inconsequential physiological processes that propound quintessential existential dilemmas for the modern man or woman, presented in a style mimicking the vernacular to generate a literary assertion correlating with the general populous. I do maintain, however, that there ought to be a standard women jean-sizing method for all brands.

RA: Dove Commercial

This ad calls to women concerned about beauty to support Dove products. In this ad, Dove comprises what they want their viewers to perceive as other “typical” beauty advertisements—how it isn’t “real beauty”, as the ad suggests Dove reputes, but merely applied beauty. The commercial follows an average woman going through an “evolution” of change in order to correspond with the “distorted” but glamorous beauty of the media. It implies that other companies are trying to trick women into buying their products by fabricating some idealistic woman and suggesting that somehow their products had a hand in creating this elusive goddess.
Because dove is a company for beauty this seeming “unmasking” of companies like itself shows an ostensible honesty, which draws trust from the viewers. Another way of establishing this trust is by identifying with the viewer; instead of saying “your” when talking about distorted perceptions it says “our.” Not only does this word choice build trust, but it also avoids a threatening atmosphere by removing accusation toward something negative—a distorted perception. Also, the ad appeals to women who view themselves as less than glamorous but does not threaten these women by identifying their self-esteem issues. Instead it calls upon the viewer to help others with self-esteem issues.
The ad is successful in winning support for this cause from its audience. However, in order for beauty companies to make a profit, they must sell beauty care products. In order for them to do that, they must convince an audience that they will benefit from their products—that purchasing and using their products will make them more beautiful. This suggests that the consumer is not as beautiful as they could be with the aid of the company’s product, which goes against the message of the commercial. If a viewer truly believes in the message, they will be less inclined to buy beauty-care related products, including those produced by Dove.

(the commercial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U&mode=related&search=