Genres on the internet

I chose two genres of website - search-oriented sites and blogs - because they are a part of my everyday internet-going experience, which often makes up the majority of my general everyday experience. For the samples I used search sites and blogs that I either frequent or thought would be good in demonstrating aspects of the genre. The most interesting rhetorical features were the how layout and design belayed intent and implied an audience, as well as how diction was used within each genre to slightly different means. The rules were defined predominantly through style and purpose - search-oriented sites being tied together through search bars and a display of results; blogs being tied through common ideals and ways of presenting information information. To break the rules of either genre would result in a different way entirely of viewing internet-related information, which’d be kinda cool.

Soda labels

I chose soda labels on the bottle because they were all around my desk when I was deciding what to do. I also love soda in general so I thought it would be an interesting topic. I chose the samples because two are well known companies (Coke and Pepsi) and the other is a well known company in the UK (Americanized label). The rhetorical features that interest me the most are the brand labels and the nutrition labels and how they get their point across using logos, ethos and diction. The rules of the genre are that the genre must contain the company name, drink name, nutrition label, and the ingredient list. These could be broken because the ingredient list can be extremely short so that no one even sees it, and can also have small print that causes people to skip it. Some labels could also discard the company name because the drink is the symbol of their company like coca-cola for the Coke company and Pepsi for the Pepsi company

Graffiti

I chose graffiti because it appeals to me in a visual manner. I think most people pass by graffiti and find it trashy or low class, but I think most of the graffiti in the downtown denver area is creative and interesting. I chose my samples by going through what was on the internet, I would have liked to take my camera and wonder around down town to photograph them myself but I did not have the time. I actually found a lot of graffiti on the internet that I pass by often by searching Colorado graffiti. One of the pieces I brought in is a display supporting President Obama. I felt like that artwork was a good example of inspiration and purpose. The other two examples were just appealing to me with the colors and designs used.
Usually the only rules for graffiti is to put it where it can be seen by everyone. Big signs, trains, building walls, and cars are usually ideal for graffitiing so that it can catch people's eyes. In order to break the rules but still have the same outcome I think drawing graffiti on paper and handing them out on campus would still work, however that kind of defeats the purpose of having a secret identity and what not. I think you could really graffiti anything, a brochure or poster even and still catch the eye of your audience because the genre is so detailed and creative.

Magazine Covers

I chose my genre because I personally believe that it is an interesting one. The portrayal of women on magazine covers is almost humorous because of the blatant way that they send messages to their readers about what these magazines think about women. I chose my samples because they effect two seperate readers entirely, yet they are almost identical messages. Sports Illustrated, Victorias Secret, and Cosmopolitan magazines portray equally similar messages to their very different readers. Out of all of the rhetorical stategies that I saw displayed on the covers what interests me the most is the wording. From color, size, and font to placement, amount, and content each magazine sells the models differently. The rules of genre mostly are; portray a message? Who is the audience? What is the point or focus? I believe that since it is a magazine, it has everything to sell. It has an idea, a style, not to mention product to sell. This genre is basically a guide to show people what they want.

Soda vs. Juice

I choose the genre of soda vs. juice bottles, and the differences between them. I chose the samples by logos that I had seen in stores or in a gas station. The logos I found interesting, and the ones that worked in my genre, I then looked them up on google and printed them out. There are a few rhetorical features that i found to be interesting, one is the fact that soda logos are generally a lot brighter, more complicated, and more colorful. Where as juice logos are simple, not very colorful, and just a little blander overall. I am looking at the differences in the bottles between juice and soda. Such as the logo, the nutritional information, and the ingredients. Which bottle has bigger font in their ingredients, which bottle has a larger nutritional information box, and why each industry shapes their logos the way that they do.

Physics textbooks

I chose my genre because I deal with it on a daily basis. From toting them around, to checking for equations, to reading and studying materials for class, there is not a day I do not have my textbooks at hands reach. The genre excited me because it gives me a chance to think more critically as to why authors and publishers choose to select the stylings of covers that they do.

I chose my samples from my library of books that I have at my house. These particular three may cover 3 different subsections of physics, and have 3 different authors, but it is what they attempt to convey which is the most interesting aspect to me.

The most poignant feature of rhetoric that I find myself intrigued by is the imagery. How each image, color, and styling of text, sends subtle messages.

The rules of the genre seem to imply that the title is explicitly stated on the front near the top, along with an author. Other than that, as long as the publisher is included on the binding at least and elsewhere if appropriate, all else is left to the imagination. The rule of title could be broken quite easily. A title could be manipulated to any section of the front, not necessarily at the top. It could be assuaged into art or simply put as something toward the bottom, since it is only briefly looked at before a consideration of the content within is desired. Other than that, the style of text could be the only other manipulated ingredient.

weight loss pills

I chose this genre because it was the first idea that came to mind and I felt that with using the ads from tv there would be a lot that I could write about.The samples that I chose for the genre are all pretty similar for the most part so there wasn't any reason in particular why I chose the samples I chose. I think when talking about rhetoric features the diction that weight loss ads use in order to manipulate their consumers is very interesting and also visual aids they use to really sell their product. As for the rules, it is a definite must for the companies to include the possible side-affects and complications that could occur.

Car Ads

I choose to do car ads because i enjoy cars and i think it is vary interesting how they portray them. they all in the end what to make sure that you know you are geting the best/better deal. the features that interests me the most is the word choice that they use in the ads, they dont give to much, and at he same time to little. they also all have there own "slang" for there car brand. For example, mazda thing to say is "ZOOM ZOOM" and every one knows them for that.
If I was to change these ads with one of my own, i would make sure i kept my word choice simple and easy for my readers to get. i would use big words and make sure my car looked appealing to my reader. i would also make sure that they know that if they were to choose my car they would be geting the best deal out there.

Micro brew Beer labels

After some careful consideration about health food labeling, I decided to pick something I was more passionate about, micro brew beer bottle labeling. There are some good examples of advertising and persuasion on New Belgium bottles.

For New Belgium, the use of earth tone colors for printing sets a natural tone to their beer. The labels are printed with a framed in piece of original artwork and contain scenes that are outdoors. The description of each beer is located to the left of the main label and also contains some of the process and ingredients used in each style of beer. This descriptive section is also appealing to an audience that appreciates the taste of a micro brew. The wording is easy to understand and lets the consumer know what subtleties they may taste in the flavors of their products.

The target audience is not your typical drinker. The labeling is inviting and informative. They use the labels to do the bulk of advertising as they are a smaller company and do not rely on television, radio, and sporting events to distribute their product.

Guitar Magazines

The genre I chose is guitar (player) magazines. I chose this genre because I have played guitar since I was a kid, and I continue to play to this day. I am most interested in the lessons that are featured, and interviews with the legendary players.

The general rules of the genre are to include pictures of the kings of guitar (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc). Included are lessons, or tabs of the favorite songs from these kings. In addition they also include a full complement of new gear reviews, as well as a mass of advertisements. I am a gear junkie, (I have at least ten guitars and several amps) so even the advertisements are enormously intriguing.

Genre/Samples

The genre i've chosen to analyze are designer brand advertisements that are presented in popular fashion magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire. I enjoy reading these magazines and I've always been fascinated by how dramatic they are and how they really affect the readers.

My samples were picked out of one of the magazines I mentioned called Marie Claire. They're for three different fashion brands yet they have many similarities. The three particular brands are Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors and Gucci. Because of the multiple similarities and typical fashion ad style I thought they'd be great picks as samples.

Imagery and ethos/pathos/logos are rhetorical features that interest me most.

From what i've learned so far, the general rules of a genre should be that they're not the same exact product but consists of similar products within that product. For example, two different cereal boxes like Coco Puffs and Lucky Charms.

Why Genere

I picked muscle building Products because the rhetoric was so obvious. All I had to do was go online and google building muscle and was overwhelmed with the options I was given. The features that intrest me the most was the similar language that all the advertising used. Each ad used words like big, ripped, and Explosive. To replicate these I would do much of them same. I think it would be easy to get away from the standard formula by avoiding a few key terms.

Musicians using colors

I chose band ads in music magazines because they were pretty colorful, and I think that it's supposed to catch your eye, and then lead you to listen to some super "awesome" music. I chose the samples with the most color in them so that you can see that bands first want you to be awe struck by their artistic talent, and then explore their music. Maybe you'll like it and maybe you won't. The rhetoric features I found interesting was the text and the images they used, and possibly how they decided to capture the attention of their readers. But the question is, is it working? I suppose pleasing the eye is a first step before pleasing the ears.

Axe body spray commercials

I chose this genre because I thought that axe body spray was both funny and that the commercials used in axe body spray are a form of mastered rhetoric. The samples that I chose today were clips from youtube.com that I thought embodied this form of genre and rhetoric. The rhetoric features that interest me the most are the targeted audience in the axe commercials. These commercials show how axe has mastered the use of rhetoric by including a topic, and a specific audience to target the topic too. The rules of this genre, include but are not limited to: a body spray can, the use of clever yet seductive langauge, and of course lots and lots of beautiful woman. I could replicate this type of genre by targeting young males with the promise of beautiful women, while smelling good. The way to break these rules would be to not include hot women or seductive langauge in this genre.

Fantasy Novel Book Covers

I choose this genre because I love reading, in particular fantasy adventure novels. I ended up choosing my samples from my collection of books I keep at home. Some of the features I like most about the book covers on the novels I picked is the fact that they illustrate, in some way, a little portion of the novel, but it is never enough to give any real hint about what might happen. In most books, the cover is the one picture that will ever actually represent the story the author is trying to tell. I'm thinking the only main rule with this genre is that... the book had better be a fantasy adventure book of some sort. Really the book covers for fantasy kind of follow a certain theme, but an author is always allowed to go outside of that flow and create something entirely different for their book cover, if they preferred. The more common theme for book covers is that for the stories that are not as well known, the cover tends to look dark, mysterious in an attempt to lure the reader in. For other novels that are more well known, or the auther is popular, the covers tend to be a brighter more outstanding color.

Retail Sales Promotion Signs

Our first paper is a genre diagnostic essay. Why genre? because rhetoric is everywhere and it can be categorized into different genres. For my essay I chose to write about the different types of sales promortion signs used by stores at the mall. There are different types of advertising methods used by retail stores and the way they advertise their sales promotions will determine the sales statistics. I went to the mall and looked at the different types of signs used by three major retailers. I chose those three because most people shop at these stores and they are highly marketed. The three I chose are Nordstroms, Macy's and Victoria's Secret. I took a few pictures of the promo signs when I visited the mall yesterday and I also found some online. These pictures will serve as samples for my essay. What interests me the most about this analysis is the types os color schemes, fonts, visuals and psychological message the companies use for their sales signs.

Genre: Nonprofit Websites

Why this genre?
I used nonprofit humanitarian websites as my genre because I am interested in humanitarian organizations and what they do for people worldwide. This genre is interesting to me because these websites bring people together to help the less fortunate.

How did you choose samples?
I picked major nonprofit organization websites for my samples because I know many people are familiar with with major humanitarian websites. I incorporated the Red Cross, UNICEF, and World Vison websites into my samples and I used the home page as the reference. Using the home pages of these websites facilitates in getting an overall perspective of the websites.

Which rhetorical features interest you the most?
Pathos is one major rhetorical feature that interests me the most because pathos deals with emotions.

Rules of genre? How could you replicate/ break them?
Rules of the genre are representing the organization as being accredited and informing the viewer on the humanitarian problems that need attention. The purpose of the websites are to get individuals to donate and volunteer, and if the viewer does not know if the websites or organizations are accredited then they will be less likely to help. Also if the viewer does not know what their efforts are for then they will not contribute, and the organizations will not meet their goal.

Diet packaging

This is a genre because in these examples the texts are similiar in that they are extremely persuasive and give a sense of false hope. I choose my samples becauase these were the areas I thought of when diet packaging comes to mind. The rhetorical features that interested me most was the guarantees or claims of weightloss. Rules of the genre is the promise that you can be slimmer if you buy this product. You could replicate this genre but making false promises or break the rules by giving correct information about diet and excerise and leading to weight loss.

puts the lotion on the skin

I chose to write about all natural or "green" beauty products. I find the somewhat recent trend of minimizing one's guilt concerning our health to ourselves and the earth an interesting topic. Before this class this particular genre had already been something I had noticed. I have watched this entire revolution in consumer shopping and often contemplated it. The most interesting aspect of this particular rhetoric is the marketing strategies to get consumers to purchase their product. People have such a disconnect from simple, natural products that they have become ravenous to feel this connection through their consumer choices. Within my genre there are actually two different ones: those products that are truly organic and those who have jumped on the marketing bandwagon. I will be focusing primarily on the former, although they both share many similarities..

Welcome!

This blog will serve as the discussion forum for our composition course. Here you will be able to post your thoughts, read other students' ideas, and give and receive feedback. I encourage everyone to post often—be it text, a link or a picture relevant to what we are studying in class—to create an open, collaborative environment in which we can grow as writers.