http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2e3MPI/www.ted.com/talks/rick_smolan_tells_the_story_of_a_girl.html/
Summary: This presentation was about a girl named Natasha, who was born in Korea and lived with her grandmother. A photographer named Rick Smolan met the wester-looking girl and her grandmother and began taking picture of them until the grandmother informed Smolan that she was going to die, and needed to find a family for the girl. Smolan then tells of his journey to find her an adoptive family and move her to the United States. Natasha grew up to be extremely successful in the U.S, and was given opportunities that she never would have received in her rural town of Korea.
Author/Source: Rick Smolan is a famous photographer who has taken pictures world-wide for TIME, LIFE, and National Geographic magazine. He is now CEO of Against All Odds Productions. Smolan told this story in December of 2007 in Los Angeles, which was recorded and is now on the TED website. TED conferences give people the chance to present their ideas, hence their slogan: "ideas worth spreading". Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates, and Al Gore are just some of the names of people who have presented on TED.
Context/Exigence: The context of this presentation is the young girl, Natasha, who was born in Korea with limited opportunities but given a new life in the United States. The exigence is how interesting her story is, and how far she has come since she was taken out of Korea in the 70's. People are fascinated with her progress, which is the reason why Smolan told her her story.
Purpose: The purpose of this presentation was to tell the story of an amazing girl who's life was transformed. The story was mostly for entertainment, but also to inspire people to give every child a chance at life, because they have the potential to be very successful. Smolan accomplishes this purpose.
Rhetorical Devices: This story is very emotional, in order for Smolan to make an influence on his audience and to get their attention. However he also structures his speech so that the audience does not know what happened to the girl, and have a vague view of where she is currently for most of the presentation. This makes the story somewhat suspenseful, and attracts the attention of the audience. At the end, he finally ends the suspense and introduces Natasha to the audience. He also includes images, not just because he is a photographer, but so that the audience can imagine the girl and picture the story in their minds, also appealing to the audience's interest.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
AOW #15: Painting
http://johnbriner.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/starry-night.jpg
Summary: The Starry Night was painted in 1888 buy Dutch impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting uses impressionism, painting strokes to capture the mood instead of an accurate depiction. Since its creation in 1941, The Starry Night has become one of the most famous paintings in the world and is held in the Museum of Modern Arts in New York City.
Source: This painting was by Vincent van Gogh, one of the most popular artists in the world today. His work is priceless, as all of his paintings are beautiful. Any museum would love to have just one of his pictures. Even though he died in the early 1800's, his work has become infinitely famous.
Context: Van Gogh created this picture by looking outside his sanitarium room at night. The exigence is the beauty and mood of the night that few artists were able to capture until van Gogh.
Purpose: The painter's purpose was to not simply paint what the night looked like, but to give the painting a mood or feeling that any viewer could easily identify. I think he accomplished this purpose extremely well.
Rhetorical Devices: Van Gogh was an impressionist, so clearly The Starry Night was an example of impressionism. The brush stokes do not look clear when looking at the image close, however when you back away and see the entire image a mood or feeling is created. This was van Gogh's purpose. He also portrayed mood using color. He juxtaposes light and dark figures, when night is usually thought of as entirely dark.
Summary: The Starry Night was painted in 1888 buy Dutch impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. The painting uses impressionism, painting strokes to capture the mood instead of an accurate depiction. Since its creation in 1941, The Starry Night has become one of the most famous paintings in the world and is held in the Museum of Modern Arts in New York City.
Source: This painting was by Vincent van Gogh, one of the most popular artists in the world today. His work is priceless, as all of his paintings are beautiful. Any museum would love to have just one of his pictures. Even though he died in the early 1800's, his work has become infinitely famous.
Context: Van Gogh created this picture by looking outside his sanitarium room at night. The exigence is the beauty and mood of the night that few artists were able to capture until van Gogh.
Purpose: The painter's purpose was to not simply paint what the night looked like, but to give the painting a mood or feeling that any viewer could easily identify. I think he accomplished this purpose extremely well.
Rhetorical Devices: Van Gogh was an impressionist, so clearly The Starry Night was an example of impressionism. The brush stokes do not look clear when looking at the image close, however when you back away and see the entire image a mood or feeling is created. This was van Gogh's purpose. He also portrayed mood using color. He juxtaposes light and dark figures, when night is usually thought of as entirely dark.
Friday, December 9, 2011
AOW #14: IRB
Decoded
By Jay-Z
Author: Jay-Z is an American rapper, producer, and entrepreneur. He is considered a revolutionary in black and rap history, becoming a millionaire with his extremely successful albums. Jay-Z is not only extrmemly successful, but has become a very popular public figure, dating Beyonce and owning the New York Mets while continueing to produce chart-topping hits.
Summary: In this first section I read, Jay-Z gives an insight to his childhood and how he got involved in rapping. Going up in the projects in New York, Jay-Z had experiences most children would not have, which modivated him to tell his story in rymes. This section goes on to Jay-Z's start in the rap business, and his increased popularity in his younger years. The book also goes into some of his early raps, and breaks each song down to explain his verses.
Context: The context is Jay-Z and his music. While he goes off about other rapper's music, it connects to his own becuase it is where he drew inspiration. The exigence for this book was Jay-Z's popularity, music, and people's curiosity aurrounding it. This led Jay-Z to write a book about his life and where his lyrics came from, hense the name Decoded.
Purpose: The purpose of this section was to give an idea of where he was from and to inform the reader of how he got this start. Readers can see some of his stories and veiws in his lyrics, which allows the reader to connect the music with Jay's acutal life. He accomplishes this purpose.
Audience: Readers who enjoy rap music or Jay-Z.
Rhetorical Elements: Jay-Z begins his story very biographical, descibing the story of his life. In a way he uses many allusions and metaphores in his writing and songs to portray his personal experiences. While this section is very logical, it also gets very emotional, as Jay descibes his own personal struggle and then explains how everyone has a struggle, not just those who are poor or living in the conditions that he did. This appeals to a readers memory and gives one a better understand of how he feels and what his music is about.
By Jay-Z
Author: Jay-Z is an American rapper, producer, and entrepreneur. He is considered a revolutionary in black and rap history, becoming a millionaire with his extremely successful albums. Jay-Z is not only extrmemly successful, but has become a very popular public figure, dating Beyonce and owning the New York Mets while continueing to produce chart-topping hits.
Summary: In this first section I read, Jay-Z gives an insight to his childhood and how he got involved in rapping. Going up in the projects in New York, Jay-Z had experiences most children would not have, which modivated him to tell his story in rymes. This section goes on to Jay-Z's start in the rap business, and his increased popularity in his younger years. The book also goes into some of his early raps, and breaks each song down to explain his verses.
Context: The context is Jay-Z and his music. While he goes off about other rapper's music, it connects to his own becuase it is where he drew inspiration. The exigence for this book was Jay-Z's popularity, music, and people's curiosity aurrounding it. This led Jay-Z to write a book about his life and where his lyrics came from, hense the name Decoded.
Purpose: The purpose of this section was to give an idea of where he was from and to inform the reader of how he got this start. Readers can see some of his stories and veiws in his lyrics, which allows the reader to connect the music with Jay's acutal life. He accomplishes this purpose.
Audience: Readers who enjoy rap music or Jay-Z.
Rhetorical Elements: Jay-Z begins his story very biographical, descibing the story of his life. In a way he uses many allusions and metaphores in his writing and songs to portray his personal experiences. While this section is very logical, it also gets very emotional, as Jay descibes his own personal struggle and then explains how everyone has a struggle, not just those who are poor or living in the conditions that he did. This appeals to a readers memory and gives one a better understand of how he feels and what his music is about.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
AOW #13: Article
http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1EhJvk/www.economist.com/node/21541015
Summary: This article is about how a nation with a poor reputation, Africa, is finally making a comeback. The article goes into specifics and statistics as to what progress is being made. It describes new improvements and gives hope that Africa's success will continue, overcoming being a struggling continent with many dispositions such as poverty, lack of resources, and disease.
Source/Author: This article does not include a name of the author. However, it came from The Economist, a popular and creditable magazine published globally. Because the author cites many sources to support his argument I would consider him fairly credible.
Context: The context of the article is obviously Africa, which has been known to be a recessive continent for many years now. The exigence is the fact that Africa now seems to be going in a new, positive, direction, meaning change for an entire nation and it's people. This change is important to educate others on.
Purpose: The author wrote this with a purpose to give Africa a new, more hopeful light in contrast to how it is usual portrayed, as helpless and suffering in many areas. It was written to educate people of this change using statistics to prove the author's point. The author accomplished their purpose as they proved a valid argument.
Audience: Readers of the Economist.
Rhetorical Elements: The author's writing is obviously very logical, as they have to try to prove a point and establish credibility. His tone and style are also very positive, as this article is very happy and hopeful because the topic is cheerful. Had the author been writing about content like the fall of a country instead of the success, the tone may be much more pessimistic.
Summary: This article is about how a nation with a poor reputation, Africa, is finally making a comeback. The article goes into specifics and statistics as to what progress is being made. It describes new improvements and gives hope that Africa's success will continue, overcoming being a struggling continent with many dispositions such as poverty, lack of resources, and disease.
Source/Author: This article does not include a name of the author. However, it came from The Economist, a popular and creditable magazine published globally. Because the author cites many sources to support his argument I would consider him fairly credible.
Context: The context of the article is obviously Africa, which has been known to be a recessive continent for many years now. The exigence is the fact that Africa now seems to be going in a new, positive, direction, meaning change for an entire nation and it's people. This change is important to educate others on.
Purpose: The author wrote this with a purpose to give Africa a new, more hopeful light in contrast to how it is usual portrayed, as helpless and suffering in many areas. It was written to educate people of this change using statistics to prove the author's point. The author accomplished their purpose as they proved a valid argument.
Audience: Readers of the Economist.
Rhetorical Elements: The author's writing is obviously very logical, as they have to try to prove a point and establish credibility. His tone and style are also very positive, as this article is very happy and hopeful because the topic is cheerful. Had the author been writing about content like the fall of a country instead of the success, the tone may be much more pessimistic.
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