Farewell Blog

This semester has been a very informative and learning one to say the least. I really enjoyed how Mr. Mitchell made the statement about our writing being an extension of ourselves. This is very true, whether or not you have acknowledged it, you can see it in your past writing. This is where my definition of Ethos comes into play, I adopted my definition from Mr. Mitchell’s comment and made it my own. Ethos to me is putting yourself in your writing, in a sense, being transparent, so that your audience can see what you are about. Without this, your audience has no frame of reference when reading your work because they don’t really know if they are relating to you or not.
When we received our assignment to created a blog account and choose an advertising theme and write about it, I was excited. This style of writing was new to me, and it gave me a sense of comfort because all of us could each others work. When I decided to write about the iPod advertising, I really had a lot of emotions and opinions ready for it. Mainly, because I own an iPod and listen to it everyday and whenever I possibly can. Some points I made in my blog, were the image portrayed by people listening to iPods. I believe the image Apple uses of people dancing and laughing and enjoying themselves listening to their iPod is such a great and accurate picture. I personally feel that way when I listen to my iPod, whether it be in the hallway nearing entrance to Mr. Mitchell’s or riding the bus with random people next to me. In my ad analysis blog on iPods I state, “There are many different angles of common ground present, some being; people owning an iPod, enjoying music while on the go, owning other Apple products, or even knowing someone that has an iPod.” Still to this day I feel that way, and I continue to use my iPod wherever I go.
Recently I posted a blog about communication and the different ways we talk to people. I focused my blog on personal letters written by us to others. I believe that communication in today’s society has become almost completely technological. When you’re on Facebook, you have access to instant message anyone of your friends with a click of the mouse. The communication that occurs then can differ from the communication you would have with that person in a face to face conversation. Or, the continuous messaging on Facebook, or constant 5 to 10 minute text messages can really take away the essence of communication and can most definitely take away the importance of what you’re saying. Example, in my blog title, Communication, I state “Writing letters also, in my opinion, makes conversation more sustainable because rather than texting every 5 minutes or wall posting every couple of days, you write a letter every week or so.” I believe this is the most truest statement I have made in any of my papers, because when you write a letter every week or so, you do it after you have completed all your weekly tasks (homework, study, meetings) and can truly tell that person in your letter what is new in your life and have a better perspective about your own happenings. Rather, than messaging every so often, and telling someone how you feel in the heat of the moment, when a day or two later you might not feel that way any more.
I in my apartment room sitting in my chair at my desk. This is usually where I write my papers and where I feel most at ease. My body feels exhausted from the recent all nighters of studying and test taking. Compared to earlier in the semester I feel beaten down. Over the course of this semester I feel that my writing has grown to a more personal, containing ethos, style of writing. I tend to write and show myself transparently in my writing I think. Early in the semester I think I did the same, but not as much or as effectively. Outside the classroom I have grown to be more independent, by getting a job and telling my parents not to send me spending money every two weeks. This I think, has helped me become a more confident writer. Not only in this class but in my other classes. The ad analysis and Rogerian argument I think it was easier for me than other assignments because it allowed me to chose something I was passionate about and write about it.