Week 11/5: Ch. 11 Question 2

Hunt believes that the teaching methods only encourage plagiarism. He mentions how the concept of grading a student’s work puts pressure upon the student and also, how teachers just evaluate grammar and organization in a paper and not the actual message or content itself. 

Sadler argues that plagiarism is not acceptable and institutions should apply stricter rules and punishment when a student commits plagiarism. She states her ten reasons why she thinks plagiarism is detrimental (theft, breaking the trust between the student and the teacher, influence the cheater later in life, etc.). She is very clear and strong in her position. At the end of the reading, she states that students should be informed about the consequences of plagiarism and should be taught how to cite correctly. 

I think Sadler makes the best argument. Hunt sometimes addresses himself in the reading or uses a lot of analogies instead of focusing on the subject like students or teachers. The analogies he uses are kind of unnecessary. It’s like he needs analogies to explain something instead of just being direct. Hunt also generalizes that students are just “avoiding something negative” when we write essays unlike scholars who have deeper reasons. On the other hand, Sadler’s pretty clear on her stance and simply states her reasons.

Week 11/5: Ch. 11 Question 1

A form of media usually is biased or promotes only one view, and so if I believe something and a certain television show or newspaper article agrees with what I believe, then that only reinforces my existing worldviews. For instance, I think that gay marriage should be allowed.  I would sometimes watch the Ellen Degeneres show and I remember episodes where she would promote gay marriage or Obama. I would agree with her as well and my belief in gay marriage as an acceptable thing is only reinforced by her belief in it too. The media can also expand our views, however, and not just limit us to our own beliefs. For example, when I read an article online like Time or Yahoo, I always read the comments. These comments from various people with various beliefs can definitely influence my opinions as well. They open my mind to other views or information. The media can also so easily distort information that it can be challenging to choose who or what to believe. Just like the example given on the book, with NBC and FOX promoting a certain candidate. Of course, these networks would both say the good things about the candidates and so, it makes it hard to believe who deserves the position. In the text, it also mentioned people paying the media to advertise or promote them. This is another way the media can challenge our views because how do we really know who to believe then if people might be doing this behind our backs.

Week 10/29: Ch. 10 Question 3

The concept I found most interesting is the section on the SWOT model. SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and is used in evaluating companies. It can be used to decide on a marketing strategy or even for making decisions. In analyzing a company, we first evaluate the strengths it has which are defined as their “assets and core competencies.” An example given is Walmart which is a large corporation that provides low prices for their customers. The weaknesses of a company are also evaluated in the SWOT model. This can include inadequacies like “lack of expertise, insufficient information, limited financial resources, or poor location.” It is important for a company to also acknowledge its weaknesses and not just advertise based on its strengths. That way, they can find problems and therefore find solutions for them. Opportunities can include “new technology, increases in consumer spending, and untapped markets.” For instance, a company that used to focus on adults can take advantage of also attracting teens in some way. Threats include inevitable problems like natural disasters, slow economy, government rules, etc. The housing market is a great example of this because of the economy; people were foreclosing their homes therefore the values of houses also dropped. Overall, this section was really helpful, not just in studying marketing but also in making decisions.

Week 10/29: Ch. 10 Questiion 2

This was a hard choice for me. I think Liodice’s opinion on freedom of speech in advertising makes much more sense than Wootan’s proposition of those strict guidelines. However, I favor Wootan’s way of arguing more than Liodice. 

One thing that makes Liodice’s way of arguing less persuasive is his excessive use of rhetoric. Liodice used the word “free” five times in the first few sentences of this article. He also uses the first person point of view throughout some parts of the article. Instead of focusing on the facts and evidence, he involves his emotions and opinions on the topic. For instance, he states “I am rather stunned…” and “We won’t be intimidated!” (He even uses an exclamation point, twice actually). He also uses adverbs like “extraordinarily overreaching regulations” and “ridiculously restrictive.” His choice of words is quite exaggerated and unnecessary. He also doesn’t provide hard evidence for some of his claims. For example, he states that “other countries have attempted to ban…children’s advertising” and they were not effective, but he doesn’t provide a specific statistic or example of a country. He also states that companies are now “reformulating products to be lower in cholesterol, fat, and calories” but again, he doesn’t provide specific evidence.

Although I think that the guidelines Wootan talked about are unrealistic, I think the way she argued by not using a lot of emotive words and rhetoric is more effective. I totally agree with Liodice that it’s just not that easy to provide guidelines and reduce obesity, but his way of arguing did not convince me.  

Week 10/29: Ch. 10 Question 1

The marketing strategies I saw this past week are the use of celebrities, cute animals and babies, bizarre stories, songs, testimonies, bargains or deals, etc. For example, I saw a Chanel No. 5 commercial with Brad Pitt saying a philosophical spiel. It was effective in that I remember the commercial, but then what the heck does Brad Pitt have to do with a woman’s perfume? Sex appeal? I guess. But I’m not sold. Another commercial I saw was for a 3D game where the people playing the game are suddenly in the game, because you know, it’s 3D. I thought it was effective because it was humorous and “out there” that it became memorable. I’ve seen a bunch of commercials (sorry, I’ve been watching some TV) with people testifying to that company or product (weight loss miracles, for instance). Those throw me off because who knows if they really used those products or were just paid to be in the commercial. Many advertisements also use catchy songs or jingles that are quite nice to hear. I think those are effective because they’re not obnoxious and you don’t have to pay attention to long, details about a product. You just watch and listen and enjoy it. Adverts also include babies and other cute stuff that just make you go “aw.” Who wouldn’t squeal over babies? But then again, sometimes when a toddler or a cute animal is in the advertisement, I kind of neglect what the ad is really about. Overall, I think that cuteness, humor and the use of jingles/songs are effective. The use of celebrities and testimonies aren’t always.