TOW #10 - Article: Me, My Selfie and I

In this CNN article titled Me, My Selfie and I by Roy Peter Clark, a writer, editor, teacher, and the founder of the National Writer Workshop, he attempts to explain why he believes “selfie” has been chosen as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) “Word of the Year”. He begins the article first by stating that he himself has never taken a single “selfie”, he then continues to provide the OED definition for it, and the statistic that the frequency of the word’s use has increased by 17,000% in the last year. Although he says he has never taken one himself, he does mention that they can be fun and amusing to be in when eager fans of his ask to take them with him, usually at book fairs.  He also attempts to compare them to photo-booths, as that used to be the most popular method of having pictures taken of yourself, especially when out with friends. In this context, he says seflies are good in that they informally capture particular moments. However, when he compares taking selfies to when it was more popular to simply ask someone else to take a picture of you and your friends, he says that they are bad in that they eliminate the small bit of human connection that used to be necessary. After discussing the ultra-popular selfie in those perspectives, Clark comes to the conclusion that “selfie” was an appropriate choice for the OED’s “Word of the Year” because it accurately represents the time and society in which we live today: “Technologically forward looking and self-obsessed.” (Clark) Personally, I agree with Clark’s opinion after having seen them all over social-media sites such as twitter and facebook, day after day. However, I don’t believe he would be successful in convincing someone with an already differing opinion due to his lack of evidence.

MP2 IRB Intro Post

For the second marking period, I plan to read The Autobiography of Malcolm X co-written by Alex Haley, the author of Roots: The Saga of an American Family, and, of course, Malcolm X himself. The book explores Malcolm's life, focusing specifically on his influence in African American civil rights, as well as the Nation of Islam and how those roles overlapped. I have studied Malcolm X in previous years of school and independently as well, and have always wanted to read his autobiography and figured that this was the perfect opportunity. My father also grew up under similar circumstances to Malcolm X and shared many nearly identical experiences, so reading this book should also give me greater insight into his life and the adversity that he has overcome as well. Ultimately, by reading this book I hope to gain a deeper understanding of the African American civil rights era and the Nation of Islam.

TOW #9 - Visual Text: Apple iPhone 5 “FaceTime Every Day” Ad

The Apple iPhone 5 advertisement titled “FaceTime Every Day”, which originally aired earlier this year in August, uses extremely diverse exemplification and personal hand-held camera shots to create a personal feel that allows Apple to display the many instances in which people can, and do, use FaceTime. The ad is comprised of several short clips that show families and friends, husbands and wives, brothers and sister, parents and their children, all using FaceTime to connect with each other. Also important to note is that the subjects in each clip vary significantly, thus creating a very racially, ethnically, and socially diverse audience. For example, one shot goes from a young African American man sitting on his front steps FaceTiming with someone in English, to a teenage Japanese girl conversing in Japanese, to a middle-aged Caucasian women communicating in Sign Language. Between all of the clips within the commercial, nearly every race, both genders, and even several different languages are all represented. This makes the iPhone and FaceTiming seem like a good fit for anyone, as almost everyone around the globe is using it, making an effective bandwagon appeal. Additionally, it makes it almost impossible to not find at least one person or situation within the commercial that you can identify with.

The use of slightly shaky hand-held camera shots, often very close to the subject or subjects, also gives the commercial a very personal feel. The shots make it seem almost as if the people and situations displayed in them are real-life instead of actors in a carefully crafted scene, and that the audience is right there with them, very similar to the effects of watching a home video. This makes the iPhone and FaceTiming seem like a necessity that every family, couple, or pair of friends needs to have.

Overall, I found the ad to be successful in its use of extremely diverse exemplification and personal hand-held camera shots to create a personal feel that allows Apple to display the many instances in which people can, and do, use FaceTime. 

TOW #8 - IRB: Section two of Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

After having completed Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, I know have an entirely different look on success, and why some are more successful than others. Gladwell’s argument of the importance that the world around us has in our level of success is nearly impossible to refute given the evidence that he displays, often using the stories of real successful people from Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, to The Beatles. Gladwell argues that the environment in which we are born into or otherwise find ourselves in will lend us advantages, or disadvantages. Many of these are often undeserved, and have nothing to do with whether or not we’ve earned these at all, but rather just a mere function of chance. While we ourselves as individuals do have an obvious role in determining our own success, such as how much we practice, the time we devote to doing something well, and the level of sincerity to which we attempt to achieve our goals (just to name a few), the factors that our environment have towards our success are often just as important, if not more so, to note and take into consideration. 

Going forward, I’ll be sure to remember that others will have “unfair” advantages that, for whatever reason, I may not, and that I myself will also have many “unfair” advantages that others will not. While there may be nothing one can do to alter some of these circumstances, we must understand that we do have some control over other circumstances and must do whatever we can to ensure that what we can control, we do.  Overall, I greatly enjoyed Outliers and have learned a lot from it. I highly recommend it and will certainly look into the other works that Gladwell has written.