Car Commercial/Visual Argument

For my blog post, I chose the Subaru car commercial. I think the main type of ideology that is being communicated in this commercial would be the importance of family and loyalty. The aspect of loyalty is conveyed through the dog in the ad as it ages from a puppy to an elder dog. Both the dog and the car remain with the man throughout the entire commercial, aging as he does but never leaving or breaking down. Also, as time passes the man gains a girlfriend/wife and then a child. The growing family is something that is important to many Americans and for the car company to show the family in the car, it shows that this car would be trustworthy to have your family riding around in. The intended audience would definitely be people with or starting a family who want a reliable car. The reliability is shown as the car stays intact throughout the years along with the comparison to the dog. The fact that there is a dog in the commercial would appeal to many animal lovers as well. Based on the three types of visual “reading,” I believe that I have used negotiated reading to break down the meaning of this commercial. I think I look at it this way because I do not really object to the commercial since a Subaru may be a very good car. However, I can look deeper into it that just agreeing with it wholeheartedly such as in the dominant-hegemonic reading since I don’t know for sure that this commercial is 100% accurate since I have never owned one. Obviously more people than just a family man with a dog would buy this car; however that would be target audience. Showing a relatively serene setting with a family would appeal to many American families and cause them to be more interested in this particular car because it seems that it would be reliable and safe for their family.

Process Memo

Kaytie Sommerville

Process Memo

            When I sat down to begin writing my timeline, I started as far back as I can remember anything that had to deal with reading which happened to be when I was about three years old. I found that I was able to remember a lot of details about growing up and how literacy developed as I matured. I was able to get a lot written down for my timeline with more details than I even expected to remember. It almost shocked me how much reading and literacy influenced my life over the years. As I was writing my timeline, I realized just how big of an impact my family had on my literacy development. I had never really thought about this before. As I was writing though, it became obvious that almost every memory that I have relating to reading/literacy was somehow inspired by one of my family members. Until this, I did not really see the large impact that they had on this and the fact that if they had not been so helpful, I probably would not enjoy reading as much as I do now. Throughout all my memories, they were all focused on books. The majority of my memories are related to reading books or having them read to me. I can specifically pick out all my favorites even from when I was little and my parents and grandparents were reading them to me. Books and family are definitely the two constants all through my literacy development. As I was writing out my timeline, it was relatively easy to decide on the main topic for my paper. I saw the recurring theme of my family’s importance all through the timeline even now that I am away from home. Seeing this made the decision to write about my family’s effect on my literacy development a simple choice for me. Even though I know that I enjoy reading, writing out my timeline showed me just how much it has been a part of my life since I was just a toddler. It was interesting seeing how much it has impacted my life over the years and the progress that I have made from Go Dog Go up through reading the college text books now. It also showed me that I rely a lot on my family for support especially when it comes to things that are related to academics.

            When I began to write the actual narrative, the idea of making the main focus my family was rather straightforward since that was the main focus of the entire timeline. Trying to find another topic to write about would have been almost impossible since I discovered they are the main reason I became literate and remained interested in reading and literacy. To start writing, I decided that making the order chronological would make the most sense based on my topic and the story I wanted to tell. I used the timeline as my main “rough draft” to organize the paper as a whole. Having all the main points already written out in the timeline made putting the paper together much easier since all I had to do was transfer it into an actual story. After the rough draft and peer edit, I was given some helpful ideas on how to expand on the paper and wrap up the ending. I changed some of the ways that I had things worded in the original story and lengthened it with the help of the peer review. I think overall, having it looked over by another set of eyes was helpful and enabled me to work past my writer’s block to give the paper a good ending. When I was writing the final draft I think I was looking at good ways to turn it into the animoto slideshow. Especially after the peer review when my partner picked out sentences that would be effective for the video. I think this did influence my writing somewhat because I was writing the parts I liked in ways that I thought would transfer well into the video when I was finished. Although it was not a very noticeable difference, some of the sentences in my final draft were definitely different than what I would usually write because I was preparing them for the slideshow.

            I think my peer review partner did a good job of picking sentences for the slideshow. She picked the ones that fit best into my video and I used a lot of them for the final slide show. I am not sure how many of the sentences she highlighted I chose to use but I know I used most of them in the final video and they worked very well together. Trying to make each slide have only 52 characters was somewhat difficult. My main strategy was to make the sentences make sense and convey the main point in as few words as possible. I also tried to make sure that the words for the “header” and “footer” matched up so that the end product made sense instead of cutting out in the middle of a word or idea. To pick out my images and where to put them, I mainly used them to separate different ideas. For example, I would put a picture after a slide relating to my grandpa before I started talking about my dad. I also used them in place of typing out the names of books I enjoyed because of the limited space for writing. I picked all my pictures out online because I was not able to find many personal pictures that related to the topic and I did not have enough time to search everywhere for them since I do not live at home anymore. Even though they were not personal pictures, I think the ones that I found and chose to use from online did a good job at illustrating the video and making the points that I was trying to make. I think the song made the video flow better. Also, since my story was a “happy” one about literacy, the fact that the song was upbeat added to this effect. I chose it because I felt that the sound of it went the best with the feeling I was looking to achieve in the video itself. I think it helped to communicate the idea that reading and I have always had a good relationship and it is not something that was really a struggle for me. The carefree tone of the song conveys the feelings I tend to get from relaxing on the beach with a good book. I think the main thing that I would change if I could, would be to have more personal pictures. I wish that I had more pictures of myself enjoying reading and would have been able to put them in the video. I know that would have made the video much more personal and it is the main thing that I would like to have been able to change.

Digital Literacy

Dustin Anderson Quote #1 Summary and Response

            For my summary, I have chosen quote number one to respond to. In this particular quote he is saying that we live in an era of computers and growing technology and this cannot be ignored. Nearly everything we need can somehow be found online and this is something that teachers have to learn to accept. He understands that many people who are currently teaching did not grow up in a world like this, but that does not mean that they can then ignore the way things are now. Since so many things are online now, they need to prepare and teach children in a way that keeps up with the times. He also states that if the older generation continues to hold a “grudge” against the forever growing technology that it could mess up an “entire generation” by not teaching them what they need to know in order to thrive in this time period.

            I agree with Dustin Anderson in this quote. In an average day, I lose count of how many times I am online whether it is to look something up for a class, do homework, go on Facebook, or listen to music. People take their laptops, iPhones, and iPods everywhere they go for instant internet connection. However, through all of this, many grade school teachers especially refuse to acknowledge the growing need to be connected to technology. Although it seems that college professors are more apt to use a technological base for their teaching, many students are already behind due to the lack of it in elementary and grade school. Like Anderson, I understand that many of the teachers did not grow up with this kind of learning, but that does not change the fact that times have and are changing and in order for this generation to survive, the older generation must be able to adapt to teach us what we need to know.

Sherman Alexi Summary and Response

Summary and Response to Literacy Narratives

                I am choosing to write on Sherman Alexi’s narrative. He fought against the stereotypes that came with living on a Native American reservation growing up and made sure that he made something of himself. He was considered an outcast by many of his peers because he did not act like how they did around the non-Indians. He was also greatly inspired by his father’s love for reading and taught himself to read by looking at his dad’s books. He was very determined to fight against the things that were expected of him and the fact that he was supposed to act dumb whether he was or not because he was an Indian. Through his passion, he was able to overcome the predisposed difficulties that he faced.

                Sherman Alexi both inspires me and I believe that I can relate to him. Although I did not have stereotypes set against me, parts of my literacy story relates to his. I was also inspired to start reading because of my dad and his passion for it. One of my early memories is of all the books my dad always had and it never failed that he was reading multiple books at one time. I started loving books at a young age and like Alexi, it sometimes made me different than the other kids so I felt like an outcast, but even through that I have kept my passion for it. It has paid off a lot in school though since I know it has had an influence in the scholarships I have received.

Literacy Timeline

Time Line

4 years-                My parents/grandparents would read to me and I started memorizing the books. I could memorize a book after hearing it two or three times and recite it back to whoever asked. I don’t remember this but my parents were amazed by it and tell me the story all the time. I remember my grandma reading me this Halloween book The Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything and it was my favorite for a long time. She had so many books at her house I would beg her to read to me every time I was there, she was so animated. I especially loved the interactive pop-up books.

5 years-                Walking to school, my mom would name off things and colors for me to spell. By doing this I learned all my colors, numbers, animals, etc., and how to spell all of them. My school was only a few blocks away so we would do this all year to and from school. I loved it because I got to spend time with my mom and it felt like a game.

6 years-                I drove my mom crazy reading my favorite book, Go Dog Go over and over again. It was the first book I learned how to read all the way through and I was so proud of myself I wouldn’t put it down. She still hates the book to this day because I’m pretty sure I read it to her about 4 hundred times.

7 years-                I realized how much my dad loved books and I wanted to be able to read as many as he had, even though that is pretty much impossible. His collection is still growing and I don’t see myself catching up any time soon. Right now his book collection takes up a full wall in the living room and then trails into the computer room, too.

9 years-                My school had a summer reading program that rewarded us with a trip to Metro Beach. I always read more than I needed to. I could spend all summer sitting in the sun with my books and be completely happy.

10-14 years-       I had some rough years in middle school so I would curl up with a book all the time to relax and take some of the stress away. They have always been able to distract me from what was going on and make me feel better.

15-now-               I still read as much as I can even though it is hard with all the work I get from classes. I’m going home for the weekend though and plan to bring some books back because I left them all home when I moved here and I miss them now. Some of my favorite books I will probably read for the 3^rd or 4^th time when I have a free minute.