TOW #10 (visual text)- GoPro Advertisement

In its recent advertisement, GoPro effectively appeals to its audience and convinces them to buy the product. GoPro, which is a high-definition personal camera brand, focuses on developing top quality and picture video camera most used for action sports. Through this advertisement, GoPro is not only getting people to buy their product, but also attempting to encourage people to take risks and do something that you will remember for the rest of your life; something that you will need a portable, rugged, lightweight camera to record. Therefore, the audience is primarily people that “live on the edge” and take part in action sports along with those who, in the past, have been scared of such adventures. To appeal to the audience and achieve this purpose, GoPro includes an action shot taken by the camera and a humorous statement that ridicules those who are afraid. The picture of the man looking up at the camera while sky diving from thousands of feet in the air shows the capabilities of the GoPro device and appeals to logos. After viewing this picture, the audience clearly sees that the GoPro is the perfect device to capture images and memories while participating in action sports as it produces great quality pictures and video and can go anywhere. In addition, the statement, “Footage for your friends that didn’t have the balls,” uses humor and satire to ridicule people who are afraid of action sports, while praising those who are not at the same time. Using a commonly understood and funny joke among men, GoPro basically says that if you do not take risks and have fun by doing stuff like sky diving, surfing, and snowboarding, you are not manly. On the other hand, this statement sends the message to the audience: look how cool this guy is and now because of his GoPro, he has awesome high-definition video to show to his friends and family. Together, I feel that the action shot and the satirical statement work very well together and effectively appeal to the right audience and convince people to buy a GoPro.

TOW #9 (written text)- "The Rise of Twitter Bots" by Rob Dubbin

On November 7, 2013, the popular social networking site, Twitter, began selling publicly on the New York Stock exchange. Today, Twitter has over 200 million active users, prompting thousands of reporters and advertisers to take advantage of the great marketing opportunity. In his article, “The Rise of Twitter Bots,” Twitter-enthusiast Rob Dubbin talks about the rising popularity of Twitter and “Twitter bots.” Twitter bots is an automated program that gives reporters and advertisers the ability to tweet without actually going on Twitter. Using WordNet, a Naval database with almost every known English word, Twitter bots create tweets regarding a specific topic that are posted during set times each day. Rob Dubbin, himself, runs multiple Twitter accounts that use their own Twitter bots. On his most popular account, “RealHumanPraise,” the bot creates tweets every two minutes that mock CNN News. In the article, Dubbin informs Twitter users of the ability of Twitter bots to make them more aware of the thousands of accounts that spam Twitter with advertisements and random statements produced by the bots. In order to achieve this purpose, Dubbin uses exemplification to highlight the many uses of Twitter bots. Ranjit Bhatnagar, who runs an account named “Pentametron,” that “Scours Twitter every hour on the hour and retweets the first rhyming couplet that it can find.” Twitter accounts such as this are purely for fun and entertainment, while others use Twitter to advertise him or herself or a product. Former Republican presidential nominee, Newt Gingrich, used a bot that spammed Twitter with his political ideologies is order to gain the support of voters during the 2008 election.

            Although Rob Dubbin is a “Twitter expert,” in my opinion his article “The Rise of Twitter Bots” failed to accomplish its purpose. It was written an informal article, but is very confusing to a reader that does not possess the knowledge of Twitter and the Internet that Dubbin does. He references multiple online databases and programs that are certainly unknown to the average reader, therefore making his argument ineffective.

source- digibuzzme.com

Intro IRB Post #2- "Moneyball" by Michael Lewis

For the second marking period, I will be reading “Moneyball” by Michael Lewis. “Moneyball” is a non-fiction text recounting the 2002 MLB season for the Oakland Athletics under the administration of general manager Billy Beane. Despite on of the lowest payrolls in the league, the Athletics were able to make an incredible run to the playoffs, surprising many of the league’s top teams. I selected this book because I am interested in great sports stories and am intrigued by Lewis’ style, which relies on the use of statistics analytic evidence. From reading “Moneyball,” I hope to become a better active reader and learn about the unique style Lewis uses in the book to convey the information and impact of the text.

source- wikipedia.org

TOW #8 (IRB)- "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann

If you’re ever want to read something that entails both mystery and adventure, The Lost City of Z will be just what you’re looking for. I recently read The Lost City of Z by David Grann and was overwhelmed by the great story of the British explorer, Percy Fawcett. David Grann, who is an author and staff writer for the New Yorker, was intrigued by the famed explorer and his quest to find the mysterious city of gold deep within the Amazon jungle that Fawcett referred to as “Z.” Fawcett and his small team, which included his son, went missing in the Amazon on their search for Z and never returned. Dozens people have set out into the Amazon to solve the mysterious disappearance of Fawcett, and over a 100 of whom have died in the process. Grann later decides to attempt to solve the mystery himself and travels to the last place Fawcett was seen alive, a small camp in present-day Brazil named Dead Horse Camp. After weeks of hacking his way through the dense jungle and talking to local Indian tribes, Grann suspects that he found the lost city of Z that Fawcett believed existed. In fact, Michael Heckenberger, an anthropologist at the University of Florida, recently discovered the city, which local Indians named Kuhikugu. Unfortunately, Kuhikugu was nothing like the city of gold described by Fawcett and after years of searching, neither Heckenberger nor Grann succeeded in finding the remains of Fawcett and his team of explorers. Ultimately, Grann’s purpose for writing this book is to inform readers of Percy Fawcett’s many dangerous explorations and his determination to find the lost city of gold. Even though Grann’s explorations proved unsuccessful, he effectively achieves his purpose in his book with the use of descriptive imagery and diction.  When describing his own journey to Dead Horse Camp, Grann states, “Each time I thought that I had reached the end of the mangrove forest, anew swath opened up before me—the large patches of tall, damp reeds clouded with piums and mosquitoes, which ate into me” (306). Throughout the book, while Grann recounts his adventure and Fawcett’s exploration, he uses many descriptors that portray the Amazon jungle in dangerous and intimidating manner. This enhances his purpose and allows him to effectively argue that Fawcett is one of the most determined and fearless explorers to ever live. In my opinion, Grann does an excellent job of accomplishing his purpose as he explains the difficulties he and Fawcett endured using imagery and diction that gives readers a vivid image of the formidable Amazon jungle.