In Robert Scholes’ article, “On Reading a Video Text”, he claims that there are hidden messages within a video text that are based on cultural knowledge. I think that with technology changing, we need to be aware of these hidden messages. I also believe that the mass media is relying on the cultural knowledge to draw us in and get us to engage with the text and the product. Scholes states, “From a few scenes, then, aided by the voice over narration and a music track, we construct an entire life. How do we do this? We draw upon a storehouse of cultural information that extends from fairy tales and other basic narrative structures"(par 3). For example, there is a Budweiser commercial on You Tube that displays what Scholes is talking about. The commercial is called “American Dream” and it was aired in 1982. From this media text, there are the hidden messages like American people are trying to be apart of tradition and heritage. If we as Americans, are growing stronger and working harder then we can be apart of something bigger. The commercial isn’t so much about Budweiser beer, its more about American culture and how it was back in the 1980’s. There is a Dalmatian dog in the commercial and I think it represents heroes, because I normally would associate a Dalmatian with firefighters and then firefighters with American heroes who are apart of something greater within the American culture. The mass media uses these symbols to speak to us on an emotional level so we can connect with the story that’s behind the text.
WELCOME
Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversation Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! I encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
I like your analysis on the second Budweiser commercial we watched because it is true. Most would relate a Dalmatian to firefighters and once again they are putting in something that has a strong effect on the minds of people with seeming like just a small detail. Commercials do have a weird way of playing with people’s minds.
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