Unfortunately this is less of a purposely constructed visual and more of a spontaneous image captured by a redditor who was kind enough to upload it. This image was uploaded to the subreddit /r/gaming by /u/RVA_GOP a few hours ago. RVA_GOP clearly used some rhetorical strategies when uploading this image to receive the maximum amount of karma possible which as we all know is the goal on reddit.
The image depicts an elderly man, amidst his morning breakfast at the local dinner, hunched over and squinting at his Pikachu decorated Nintendo DS, playing what we would assume to be Pokemon. With the intended purpose of the photo to show just how far and wide video games has spread and how impactful it really is. It also wants to convey that every man or woman no matter how old, is a kid at heart.
The lighting and aperture of the photo act as a beam of nostalgia and enlightenment being poured down and installed upon the elder man. The crux of the photo is captured in the man's ruffled hair and plain yet enthralled look on his face revealing the sheer amount of engagement this man has for the game. He cares more for how he his doing in his game than how his looks are perceived by others.
Since /r/gaming is a subreddit dedicated to all posts about gaming and reddit is the place for the typical 18-35 year old web browser, this post positively foreshadows our, the redditors, future, and how video games will always remain apart of it. Many redditors are already beginning to age into the latter part of life and society constrains video games as a childish activity but this helps to show that we should just embrace our gaming livelihood. Overall, RVA_GOP did a brilliant job snapping a photo to help inspire his fellow redditors embrace their inner child.
(http://imgur.com/lAaqmgu)
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
TOW #13- "ISIS Cancels Plans for Fnatic CS:GO Sponsorship" (Written)
ESEX, better known as eSports Express, is a satirical news site that posts articles pertaining to electronic sports or video games. This specific article was written about one of the most popular current first-person shooter games, Counter Strike:Global Offensive. Some backstory necessary to understand this satire is needed.
About a week ago, CS:GO had one of it's three major tournaments of the season. DreamHack Winter took place at Elmia in Jönköping in the southern parts of Sweden. All of the best and the biggest teams compete at DHW one of those teams being fnatic. Fnatic, a local Swedish organization, used some highly questionable tactics in the quarterfinals of the tournament. While facing of against LDLC in a best of three series on the last match, fnatic used a boost that allowed their player to essentially see the entire map. From that vantage point olofmeister, a member of fnatic, was able to see LDLC's setup and where they were going to attack. Olof could also shoot many players while they couldn't see him at all. This boost that fnatic used utilized something known as pixelwalking, where the player in game is walking on an invisible ledge. Fnatic went on to win the map but then withdrew from the tournament because of all the backlash they got from fans across the globe.
ESEX uses this occurrence to their advantage to joke about an issue that the majority of the CS:GO community completely despised. The article revolves around the fact that even ISIS a terrorist organization dropped their sponsorship for fnatic due to how the community reacted. The author then also went on to make fun of flusha, one of fnatic's players who has recently done some shady things in game that make it appear like he is cheating. "ISIS had already reaped some benefits from the potential partnership, as Fnatic professional player Robin “flusha” Rönnquist was sent to train ISIS insurgents in Iraq, increasing their weapon accuracy by 40% through smoke and walls." ESEX intertwines a virtual video game with a real life terrorist organization and joke about how a video game hacker was able to teach and improve a terrorist's gun skills with real life cheats.
(http://esportsexpress.com/2014/12/isis-fnatic-csgo-sponsorship/)
About a week ago, CS:GO had one of it's three major tournaments of the season. DreamHack Winter took place at Elmia in Jönköping in the southern parts of Sweden. All of the best and the biggest teams compete at DHW one of those teams being fnatic. Fnatic, a local Swedish organization, used some highly questionable tactics in the quarterfinals of the tournament. While facing of against LDLC in a best of three series on the last match, fnatic used a boost that allowed their player to essentially see the entire map. From that vantage point olofmeister, a member of fnatic, was able to see LDLC's setup and where they were going to attack. Olof could also shoot many players while they couldn't see him at all. This boost that fnatic used utilized something known as pixelwalking, where the player in game is walking on an invisible ledge. Fnatic went on to win the map but then withdrew from the tournament because of all the backlash they got from fans across the globe.
ESEX uses this occurrence to their advantage to joke about an issue that the majority of the CS:GO community completely despised. The article revolves around the fact that even ISIS a terrorist organization dropped their sponsorship for fnatic due to how the community reacted. The author then also went on to make fun of flusha, one of fnatic's players who has recently done some shady things in game that make it appear like he is cheating. "ISIS had already reaped some benefits from the potential partnership, as Fnatic professional player Robin “flusha” Rönnquist was sent to train ISIS insurgents in Iraq, increasing their weapon accuracy by 40% through smoke and walls." ESEX intertwines a virtual video game with a real life terrorist organization and joke about how a video game hacker was able to teach and improve a terrorist's gun skills with real life cheats.
(http://esportsexpress.com/2014/12/isis-fnatic-csgo-sponsorship/)
Sunday, December 7, 2014
TOW #12-"The Week 14 Mailbag" (Written)
This week I decided to read and analyze an article published by Grantland. Not only was it published by this famous sports analytical and statistical site, but it was the founder himself, Bill Simmons. Simmons is an American sports analyst who is featured on many of ESPN's shows such as NBA Countdown, SportsCenter, and is the visionary behind 30for30. Every week so far this year of the NFL season, Bill Simmons does something called a mailbag where he attempts to answer as many questions as possible sent in to him from all different audience members. The questions range from on the field actions, coaching decisions, locker room disputes, best candidates for a position, postseason outlook, and more. Simmons typically has a main focus or topic that he hits upon the most in the article each week although a kitchen sink of stuff is covered.
This week Bill Simmons focused on all-star defensive end JJ Watt of the Houston Texans. It's important to understand Simmons as an author and what his intentions are for this piece. Instead of just discussing the same old boring facts that any analyst can spit at you, Simmons takes a humorous yet factual approach. After discussing issues presented about Watt's performance and how he will fair up against Demarco Murray, Simmons goes on to talk about a hypothetical fight to the death between Watt and Gronkowski. As this article is obviously intended for sports enthusiasts as myself, we understand the humor in that joke and not the morbid death-fight some might see in it. Gronk and Watt are two beasts of the game and both their statures are immensely large. It'd be entertaining to see something like that go down as Simmons suggests. Simmons also gets tech-savvy inserting various YouTube clips and gifs to go along with his responses to the questions he receives. This interests and engages the audience even more so that they aren't just reading a wall of text.
(http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-week-14-mailbag/)
This week Bill Simmons focused on all-star defensive end JJ Watt of the Houston Texans. It's important to understand Simmons as an author and what his intentions are for this piece. Instead of just discussing the same old boring facts that any analyst can spit at you, Simmons takes a humorous yet factual approach. After discussing issues presented about Watt's performance and how he will fair up against Demarco Murray, Simmons goes on to talk about a hypothetical fight to the death between Watt and Gronkowski. As this article is obviously intended for sports enthusiasts as myself, we understand the humor in that joke and not the morbid death-fight some might see in it. Gronk and Watt are two beasts of the game and both their statures are immensely large. It'd be entertaining to see something like that go down as Simmons suggests. Simmons also gets tech-savvy inserting various YouTube clips and gifs to go along with his responses to the questions he receives. This interests and engages the audience even more so that they aren't just reading a wall of text.
(http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-week-14-mailbag/)
Sunday, November 23, 2014
TOW #11-"Burger King axes 89 franchises over scandals" (Written)
After previous reports and documentation of the condition of the lack of hygiene at Burger King's in Germany, Burger King finally decided to put it's fist down and end this problem once and for all. Burger King terminated contracts for eighty-nine of it's franchised outlets because of continued poor treatment of staff and workers. German franchise holder Yi-Ko is the man behind this scandal. After being uncovered from an undercover report, Ko allegedly withheld pay from employees for months at a time, and bonuses and sick pay were received only with an extreme delay. Expired food products were also labeled as fresh ones and burgers were often kept warm for hours, instead of being freshly made on the grill as the fast food corporation advertises.
This article regarding the termination of Burger King's in Germany was written by a news site known as The Local. The Local is a news source that publishes Germany's news in English. The Local does independent daily reporting from all around Europe.
Although the news article contained a very formulaic and boring approach, it did achieve it's purpose of providing intriguing news and supporting that with evidence and saying how this could impact society. "This move affects eighty-nine of the fast food chain's almost seven hundred German outlets, and three thousand employees now face an uncertain future"(3). The Local presents the idea of unemployment and how this toll will affect all those who lost their jobs undeservingly.
(http://www.thelocal.de/20141120/burger-king-axes-89-franchises-after-scandals-hygiene)
This article regarding the termination of Burger King's in Germany was written by a news site known as The Local. The Local is a news source that publishes Germany's news in English. The Local does independent daily reporting from all around Europe.
Although the news article contained a very formulaic and boring approach, it did achieve it's purpose of providing intriguing news and supporting that with evidence and saying how this could impact society. "This move affects eighty-nine of the fast food chain's almost seven hundred German outlets, and three thousand employees now face an uncertain future"(3). The Local presents the idea of unemployment and how this toll will affect all those who lost their jobs undeservingly.
(http://www.thelocal.de/20141120/burger-king-axes-89-franchises-after-scandals-hygiene)
Sunday, November 16, 2014
TOW #10-"7UP Advertisement From 1984" (Visual)
7 UP is a brand of lemon-lime flavored soft drink that is owned by corporation giant PepsiCo. This advertisement created by 7 UP showcases some of the greatest athletes from a variety of sports at that point in time. This marketing strategy is known as a celebrity endorsement, which utilizes a well-known person to help promote a product or service. Using Magic Johnson, Mike Schmidt, George Brett, and Sugar Ray Leonard as promoters of the product on the advertisement, helps appeal not only to logos as in the fact that it is expert testimonial, but also Pathos. Athletes are big figures in American society. They are regarded as people we look up to and admire. When the audience views this advertisement and see's their favorite athlete drinking a 7 UP, they feel compelled and excited to go buy, drink, and look just like them. The use of these athletes also helps to establish the credibility of the product. As a consumer I don't know whether the product is good or bad but after seeing these world-class athletes enjoying the product, I know that it must be good. If they enjoy it, I will enjoy it, is the mindset that 7 UP is creating. The slogan "Feelin' 7 UP" invigorates a feeling of energy and excitement just by reading it. This also plays on the audience's emotions to inspire them to buy one of their drinks.
The purpose of this text was to persuade the audience to go out and buy a 7 UP. I personally believe that 7 UP did a great job marketing their product and was successful at achieving their purpose because of their rhetorical strategies, I now have a hankering for a 7 UP.
(http://i.imgur.com/MZjkSdx.jpg)
Sunday, November 9, 2014
TOW #9-"How Unexpected Was Cleveland’s Shellacking Of Cincinnati?" (Written)
Neil Paine, one of the main writers of a famous statistical blog known as FiveThirtyEight reflected on the Cleveland Browns total annihilation of, a supposed to be good team, the Cincinnati Bengals. Paine goes on to statistically explain the likelihood of such an outcome by elaborating on Hal Stern's findings almost a couple of decades ago. Stern found that the margin of victory over the point-spread can be shown by a normal distribution with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 13.86. When adjusting this scale to the pre-game predicted ELO ratings, Paine found the same result and therefore showing that the likelihood that the Browns would beat the Bengals 24-3 was only a minuscule 1.5%.
Paine's most prominent rhetorical device present in his article is statistical evidence to help support his claims which falls under an author's logos. Neil Paine writes this article not only to intrigue the audience by showing just how rare that game was but his overall purpose is to show that surprisingly enough that isn't the most unlikely to happen outcome of a game so far this season. Paine goes on to prove that last week when the Miami Dolphins faced up against the San Diego Chargers the Dolphins had a slim 0.3% chance of beating the Chargers by a 37 point margin. Paine is trying to prove that these absurd and rare outcomes of games are becoming more frequent in the NFL nowadays and that it wouldn't be a surprise to see one in this upcoming week of games.
I thoroughly enjoyed Paine's article although some may find it nonsensical. The reason why I cherish and appreciate such brilliant articles is because of my strong passion for sports and my knowledge of statistics which allows me to understand the loquacious mathematical terms Paine throws at the audience.
(http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-unexpected-was-clevelands-shellacking-of-cincinnati/)
Paine's most prominent rhetorical device present in his article is statistical evidence to help support his claims which falls under an author's logos. Neil Paine writes this article not only to intrigue the audience by showing just how rare that game was but his overall purpose is to show that surprisingly enough that isn't the most unlikely to happen outcome of a game so far this season. Paine goes on to prove that last week when the Miami Dolphins faced up against the San Diego Chargers the Dolphins had a slim 0.3% chance of beating the Chargers by a 37 point margin. Paine is trying to prove that these absurd and rare outcomes of games are becoming more frequent in the NFL nowadays and that it wouldn't be a surprise to see one in this upcoming week of games.
I thoroughly enjoyed Paine's article although some may find it nonsensical. The reason why I cherish and appreciate such brilliant articles is because of my strong passion for sports and my knowledge of statistics which allows me to understand the loquacious mathematical terms Paine throws at the audience.
(http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-unexpected-was-clevelands-shellacking-of-cincinnati/)
IRB Intro #2- "A Room of One's Own"
It's kind of funny actually the reason why I chose to read this non-fiction text. I decided that the best way to improve my writing ability both as a reader and a writer, would be to challenge myself with the most difficult task. I thought about what that would pertain, and indeed that's how I came upon "A Room of One's Own." The reason why this is challenging for me is because, well for starters I'm not a woman, which is the basis of all of Woolf's writings which are based on lectures she gave. The text as whole is regarded as feminist which as an individual I am not a big believer or supporter of. Please don't misconstrue my words and think that I mean to objectify women, no I simply feel that the way feminists attack society is less of "women need more rights" and more of "men have too many rights". This will certainly be a text that will put me outside of my comfort zone. I know that if I can handle this appropriately, I can take on the real thing in May!
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