Seaching For Rhetoric

MAKE UP BLOG

2008-12-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

Well I cannot believe how fast this semester flew by. I feel like it was just yesterday when Mr. Stone was yelling at Jamie and I. I was freezing in the back and I told him that and he was like "You could move up to the front but there isn't a seat for your lil friend!" LOL. HAHA Mr. Stone did not like us that day. Anyways here is a picture or my roomates and I studying it up for finals. In this picture Jamie and I are working on our rhet papers! Kind of stressful lol. Well I just wanted to say thank you Mr. Stone for this semester I've learned a lot! I also enjoyed the class :)

Jessica Davis

The End of this Semester.....

2008-12-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that this semester is almost over and I’m writing the last blog for rhetoric class now. It feels like that school just started a few weeks ago. Actually, this whole semester was too busy for me. There was too much work to do for my chemistry and ceramics classes, but, fortunately, I have never stressed out to any writing assignment of this class. I like all the topics that Jon gave us; it was so much fun! Especially, I really really love the second writing assignment, analyzing the picture or drawing.
Through this class, I have improved my writing style. In high school, I always had to write 5 paragraphs essay. They forced me to write one introduction paragraph with thesis and three body paragraphs with three different topics with three supporting ideas and the last concluding paragraph. There is no “I”, no “you”, no “we”, and no passive voice and etc. They restricted my essay in a certain frame and it seemed like I was filling in the blank. However, in this class, I did not have to put my writing in a certain frame. I wrote what I want to write and what I think about the topic on a piece of paper.
I still need to improve many things. The first one is my grammar and my sentence structure. Even though I have been here about 4 years now, I still use many Korean likely sentences. Second, I need to improve my reading skill. I could not put much effort on reading this semester, because I was so busy to doing my awesome 20pages lab report every single fr***ing week but I really need to improve it.
Anyway, this class was one of my most favorite classes ever!!!!!!!

Min

Reflection

2008-12-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

At the very beginning of the semester, I went into the class with a little bit nervous, because I did not know what I would have to do in this class. However, time by time, I found that this class is so much fun, because it is not like other hidebound classes, which make people fall asleep, and I will not hate this class although it is my earliest class in a day.
My family moved to the US couple of years ago, so the thing that I always want to do, is improve my English, and this is what I expected to get from this class. Nevertheless, the first paper had made me so desponded. When everyone got an A, I was only B. It seemed like I do not fit in this class. However, from that frustration, I learned that I should use more information that we got in the class and from the tutor. I became more and more comfortable for sending e-mail to teachers and talk to them like friends, by what Jon asked us to answer his e-mail every time. I tried to catch up in this class.
Now, when I am reading the diary that I wrote at the first day of school, I can easily see the what I have improved, I can fix so much grammar problems that I did not know how to use in correct before. I can see how dumb I was.

Lonnie

This Halloween - Lonnie

2008-11-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

I did go out for the Halloween on the last two years, but I had done nothing for this year. It was so mash up. First, I have to thank for the high technology right now, because of that, my mom had known the threatening note of Halloween from the newspaper at Chicago before I heard about it. And the last thing she told me was: “Stay in your dorm, and I will call to check you. If you want to lose the mom, then you just go out.” These words must be some kinds of word that parents used for scaring their children, but sadly, I trusted. My mom did not call me until the next day. At Friday evening, after dinner at outside very early, I went back to my dorm with my friends. Fortunately, they did not want to go out, also because of that threatening note. So, we just stayed at the lounge of the dorm, and play the wii for the whole night, and watching people kept going around.

The Dark American Psycho Knight

2008-11-02T19:45:00.000-08:00

A couple months ago, a movie Batman the Dark Knight hit the box office. I was in Korean when the movie first came out and I went to watch it with my friends. The movie was great. Everyone applauds about Joker’s(Heath Ledger) acting. Batman was acted same actor as the first series, Christian Bale and his acting was great, too. Today I was searching movie trailer of Batman and I found someone made a mash up the original Dark Knight trailer with American Psycho. I didn’t watch the American Psycho but I heard that Christian Bale acted in the movie. He tilted the video The Dark American Psycho Knight. It seems like the author put some scenes of American Psycho into the Dark Knight trailer but it seems like just one perfect trailer. In the video, the Batman, or Christian Bale of American Psycho, is crazy; such as he curses out to a girl, kills people, instead of saving people. It was not funny video but the producer made really good connection between the two movies. For instance, in the Dark Knight, Batman is not a hero anymore, many people blames him because many innocent get harmed because of Batman. So he is more likely portrayed as an evil. In the American Psycho, Christian Bale seems a murderer, so it is really good connection between the evil hero and the murderer.
-Min-

mash-up

2008-11-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

I watched one mash—up about the High School Musical 2 and heard some music about mash—up. The editor of the film, High School Musical 2, changed the purpose of the whole movie. The movie still has it original characters in it but it replaces the movie with music. It’s a four minutes place at YouTube I had found; it’s totally a different story from the original to the mash—up. The sound it played is more like a hip—hop music.

The song I listened to is a song from Britney Spear. The editor mixes two songs into one. It’s more like a remix, adding two songs into one created a new song. I think mash—up isn’t a bad thing but sometimes when some features added into the original, it makes the whole thing goes wrong. I watched High School Musical 1, 2, and 3, it watches enjoyable to watch it. Everyone in these movies sings pretty well but the mash—up of the High School Musical it wasn’t enjoyable at all. The two songs I listened for the mash—up of Britney Spear’s song were great. Putting two songs into one created a new song. The most important is the new song sounds not bad at all. I think it’s important to have the same of the original.

By: Shu Mei

McCain vs. Obama

2008-11-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

Obama

Barack Obama wants to "spread the wealth around" and is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than he is in growing the pie.

Barack Obama's plan will harm employer coverage, continues the push toward government-run health care and will damage private coverage.

Barack Obama opposed the new strategy and predicted wrongly that it would fail. He voted to deny critical funds to our men and women fighting in Iraq.

McCain has served his country since he was 17 years old!

John McCain has a comprehensive economic plan that will create millions of good American jobs, ensure our nation's energy security, get the government's budget and spending practices in order, and bring relief to American consumers

John McCain will make health care more available, affordable and responsive to patients and he will give families more choices over their care.

John McCain had the judgment to understand that America's strategy in Iraq was failing and the courage to call for a dramatic change. That strategy is now working, and America is succeeding in Iraq

I think that Obama should not be the President of the United States of America!!!!!

Someone that claims to be an america, and goes to a church that actually believes that we deserved to get bombed by terrorist!! This is outrages!!

Barack Obama's Racist Church

If Sen. Obama rejects the Rev. Wright’s warped view of this country, why does he continue to attend his church?

http://www.johnmccain.com/Undecided/WhyMcCain.htm

Jamie Adishian

Trunk or treat

2008-11-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

-jaz

This weekend I went home to go trick or treating, but instead of trick or treating my mom took us to church to trunk or treat. I had no idea what that meant, but she told me that it involved people from the church passing out candy out of the trunks of their cars, which was awesome. This Halloween I have never walked so little and got so much candy. It was a whole lot of candy with way less effort. Plus they had games like basketball and a blow-up jumping thing. There was also a bonfire for teens and adults who wanted to roast their hot dogs on the fire. I burnt a few until I finally got how to do it, but they were all good and taste. There was also some food inside if you couldn’t roast hot dogs or didn’t want to. It was music playing to inside of each car and inside of the church. This was the most fun I have ever had on Halloween. Afterward we were invited to a skating party and a lock end, but I was to tired to go and lazy so I just went home and went to sleep.

Ingrid McShan's Blog

2008-11-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

For the mash up blog i watched Halloween-Shrek 2. The video wasnt scary but there were features added to make it seem as if it was scary. The sound effect was from a scary movie as if something bad was about to happen. The picture was also kind of dark throughout the entire video as if it was really a scary movie. The main character Shrek was targeted as the scary person in the movie. Many people were scared of him and it showed him having bad behavior and losing control. It was different from the original because first Shrek is not the bad guy. Also, since it was the halloween feature they tried to make it scary. The halloween feature was saying how everyone has a dark side in them and it was waiting to come out. In this mash up, it was Shrek dark side coming out of him. The original had more of a happy vibe throughout the movie. Shrek was more depended on in the original movie even though some characters were still scared of him. I liked the original movie better.

Mash Ups

2008-11-02T17:57:00.000-08:00

I found a mash up that was of High School Musical and Saw. I have not seen any of the High School Musical movies but I have seen all the Saw movies. The match up of these to movies was really weird for me to watch, one of the movies was directed towards children and the other movie was and extremely nasty horror movie. The mash up was focused on the High School Musical cast and then they voiced over the kids talking and inserted these awkward kid voices talking about killing people after school and in college, and they inserted lots of clips from the Saw movies from the horrific torture scenes. The mash up was not as good as the Shining and Mary Poppins that we watched in class, but it was enjoyable to watch. I really liked looking for an interesting mash up. If i would not have had a huge paper due on Monday I would have spent more time searching for a better mash up. It always surprises me, with the stuff that people come up with I would never in a million years would think to take two completely different movies and make a clip of them together, even if I had the idea to do that I would never know how to do that. It is so interesting and amazing what people are able to come up with, sometimes I wish I had a more creative mind!!

Ashley Hummel

financial crisis of S. Korea by Bryan

2008-10-26T21:20:00.001-07:00

I read two articles about the economic crisis of South korea from the Economist and MSNBC. South Korea, which suffered from a harsh financial crisis 10 years ago, is almost repeating the same thing now. Therefore, the government released $130 billion in the market in oreder to rescue it.
The Economist, which is a professional economic megazine, discusses about it very thoroughly by giving specific examples and quotes from the governers. On the other hand, MSNBC, did not discuss about the financial crisis deeply. It just gave me brief explanation about it. Still, those two articles were not biased but neutral. They discussed about the topic solely based on the facts.

Links: MSNBC
Economist

2008-10-26T21:18:00.001-07:00

There are different ways of transmitting a news. Despite its being the same event, when you read two newspapers, or when you listen to two different news stations, the way they describe the event is not the same. The news i read was Jennifer Hudson's offer of $100.000 for her nephew's release. I read the article of Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago Sun-Times describes the event in a more long and detailed way, and makes it even more sensitive the description they use. They also use more citations, which at the Chicago Tribune article are fewer. Chicago Tribune describes the story in a shorter but more precise way. So, depending on which news source you decide to use, you choose the way of news you wish to take!
Megi Jani

Obama's new tax plan

2008-10-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

In the article “Obama calls McCain tax plans ‘Outrageous’” the author stands out the negative effect of the McCain’s tax plans. The article is most about what Obama talked about the plan and he compares it with the tax plan of president, G. Bush. It is almost double reduction than that of president Bush did and, it would come out about $5,700 billion over next decade. He also mentioned the plan would reduce in the U.S corporate tax rate to 25%. Another, Obama said that the $170billion tax rebate produced 49,000 people in unemployment.
Another article talks about the McCain’s tax plan will help to create more jobs. The basic theory of the plan is the new plan will increases wage to keep more of what employees earn; which is opposite view with the above article. It says if the plan reduces the corporation tax rate, it would increase the employment rate. It also covers up the health insurance coverage.
The two articles are talking about same topic, the McCain’s new tax pans, however, they have totally opposite points. The first one more emphasizes on the negative effect of the new plan but the other one tries to explain why it is more effective. Both articles sounds make sense. However, the first article is more reasonable because he uses many reasonable data to prove his point. The other one just tells how the plans theoretically work.

-Min-

Gas prices drop

2008-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

I read the news of gas prices from both CNN and ABC7. Both articles had mainly told what happened: prices of gas have tumbled nearly 53 cents a gallon in the last two weeks; Tthe Lundberg survey of 5,000 stations across the country finds the average price of a gallon of regular gas is $2.78. But more than that, the CNN also tells the detail history of gas prices in last two weeks. In addition, I also know some other informations from CNN, for example like oil prices have fallen by more than half in July, or Lundberg said that the prices seems like will not rise in a time. I will never know these if I only read the news from the website of ABC7. For this news, the article of CNN is more detail than the article of ABC7.

Lonnie Hu

Ingrid McShan's Blog

2008-10-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

I found a website about different blogs. It list several catagories that people can choose from and read about. I read about celebrity entertainment for the blog. Its was suppose to be the latest gossip and news about your favorite celebrity. I read it and went over individuals opinions. I think its kind of cool to read what people have to say. Some people arguements i agree with but then again some things I dont. I think sometimes people are kind of hard on celebrities and they cant believe everything they read. Many people dont understand celebrities have a life too and they are just people. The site I went on is http://topsites.blogflux.com/celebrities/. The site is organized and has several topic to choose from that people can read.

gas prices-glenn foster

2008-10-26T19:28:00.000-07:00

the two articlkes that i looked at were from msnbc and http://www.cnn.com. the 2 articles were about the rapid decrease in the gas prices across the nation. this two articles were simalar because they were based on the exact same topic, but cnn had wrote a better article because the wrote in more detail of the great down scale of prices by compairing them to curent prices in major cities. this had enlightened my economical views revolving around our gas prices across the nation.

War

2008-10-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

US special forces launch rare attack inside Syria

this is similar to what I am writing for my synthesis paper. It is on war. This blog was more toward the special attack on Syrian territory which is close to the border with Iraq. This blogger is basically complaining that we killed one of Syria guards on this air raid. Syria is upset and wants to investigate this situation more. Syria doesn't want to be involved in this. There have been estimated 20 a month foreign fighters into Iraq. "Syria president, Bashar Assad, has pursued indirect peace talks with Israel, mediated by Turkey, and says he wants direct talks next year. Syria also has agreed to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, a country it used to dominate both politically and militarily, and has worked harder at stemming the flow of militants into Iraq." Trying to make Syria change its image and end years of global seclusion. This relates to my topic by this is the war that we are going through and need more propaganda. Like the photo in text messaging page 386 to help with the war on IRAQ.

Jamie Adishian

2008-10-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

I am not one who care much for politics but I guess you can say that I still do have my opinions. I am not completely for or against it but I do support it because it is happening and the soldiers that are over there are fighting for us whether you believe it or not. The thing that I hate the most is the point of view that the media gives to us about the war. I think they are completely one sided and try to make us look like we are these awful people or they make the Middle Easterns these awful people. I hate when people say that all people from over there are bad just because of one group of people and there horrible actions. Not all of the people from over there were apart of what happened and a lot people blame all of them. I have met some people from those countries and they are some of the nicest people I have ever met and they actually don't hate the United States like some media likes to tell us. It depends on which news you decide to look at and how the information is going to be presenting and how they are trying to make you feel. Are they using ethos, pathos, or logos? I noticed from MSNBC they use pathos for the most part. For example they wrote an article about how the Iraqis used someone with Down Syndrome as a Suicide bomber. In my opinion I feel they are trying to make us feel sorry for this person and make us mad at Iraq. On the other hand I feel that NYTIMES is more of a serious news site. Their stories are still compassionate but they give more facts and let you know what is happening and not really trying to get you to feel anything. Both sites are good to look, it just depends on how you want to feel and what information you want about the war.

Maggie Frederick

Hudson offers $100,000 reward for nephew's safe return

2008-10-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

The two articles that I read were about the shooting of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother and the kidnapping of Jennifer's 7 year old nephew. The two articles were from MSNBC.com and CNN.com were basically the same articles. I liked the article from CNN because it seemed more real and sympathetic. It gave more facts and personal quotes. The article from MSMBC just stated what happened and moved on, there was no emotion or compassion in the article. In the CNN article it gave the facts but it also told how the police were trying to help and what progress had been made so far on the case. It made me have more compassion for Jennifer's family and a quick recovery for her nephew.

Ashley

Metra engineers suspended for letting teen drive train

2008-10-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

The two newspaper articles that I found came from The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times. Basically, the point of these two articles was to say that there were three engineers that are facing disciplinary action because they let a 18 year old drive the Metra train. Even though the articles had the same point they were written extremely different. For one, the article from The Chicago Tribune was extremely longer and the reporter seemed as if she felt some pity for the 18 year old. This was the headline that the reporter from the Chicago Tribune: "teen at center of Metra scandal was aspiring engineer." In her story she gave tons of quotes and almost gave a history about the teenager. She said that as a small boy he used to like see the trains pass by. He used to get lucky when they used to wave at him and he got a chance to talk to the engineers. The reporter probably felt some compassion with the boy or wanted readers to feel something for the boy. Since he had commited a crime against Metra, they said that it would be very unlikely for him to ever have a job with them. As a result, it shattered his dreams. On the other hand, the article from the Chicago Sun-Times said, ""Obviously this is unacceptable. This is a serious matter." That article tried to make it seem like he should be accountable to the fullest extent of the law. This proves how people have different views and they may be telling the same story but throughout their writing they can show how they feel about what their saying.
-Julio M

4 cheerleaders collides with car

2008-10-26T14:24:00.000-07:00

I read a news about four high school cheerleaders collide with a car form CNN.com and MSNBC.msn.com. They basically are telling the same story with the same facts. However, CNN reports it in more real way. The title for CNN is “4 high school cheerleaders killed in Tennessee crash”, and the MSNBC’s title is “SUV full of cheerleaders collides with car.” CNN used lots of dialogues to report the news. It seems more reliable; however it’s harder to get the points. MSNBC arranges the story and reports it. While I read it, from the first paragraph, I easily understand what’s going on, with the important details. With the same story, there are so many ways we can present it. Each ways has their advantages and disadvantages. For me I like the MSNBC style more, because I think the reason of reading news is to know what’s going on in the society right now. It should be short, easily read and with the clearly messages. -Michelle Hsu

Obama gets out to vote - Shu Mei

2008-10-23T20:03:00.001-07:00

I read a news articles and saw a clip that's more like a broadcast for Obama. The news article I read says that most of the people are voting for Obama as the next president of the United State. The broadcast, I saw is that someone made a 13 foot high monumental of Obama at the state of Ohio. They putted the monumental at the middle of the street. It caught a lot of people's attention and people get to know how Obama really looks like. Some of the interviewer say she remembers who that huge monumental man after she saw a huge 13 foot tall monumental.

Comparing to the news article and the clip, I think they are trying to sale the same thing. Their purpose is to have the voters vote for Obama as the president of the U.S. The only difference between the article and clip is the article is telling how famous Obama is and he's the winner of the game. The clip/broadcast wants to show the society that Obama is the next president by action.

Real/Fake News

2008-10-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

In the fake news story the atmosphere was very informal. The reporter was goofy, had a real personality, the story was just more entertaining to watch. When the reporter talked he his tone of voice changed, he did not talk at a slow calm indoor normal voice. He also incorporated his own personal thoughts and beliefs into the news story. He was all so really witty and made funny jokes, about things relating to the story and about random thing. The set was really different. The lighting changed they incorporated little skit type things in to the broadcast. There were even random prompts used. Even though this story was fake it was probably more interesting and easier to watch then a normal news reporting.

As for the real news story the atmosphere was very uptight. The reporter was serious, tone of voice never really changed too much. The information being told was delivered in a serious way not relaxed. The reporter’s thoughts or beliefs were not in this news report. The reporter also had no real personality, straight faced, no emotion, and never joked around. The news report was meant to be aired as un-bias as possible. This news reporting was slightly boring and hard to stay interested in and pay attention. As much as I like to be informed about what is going on the the huge world around me, I think I might have to watch a few more of these fake news stories. They are really funny to watch.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/187368/october-08-2008/the-second-presidential-debate

http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/second-presidential-debate.html?scp=2&sq=second%20presidential%20debate&st=cse

Ashley

the real deal, figadeal me- glenn foster

2008-10-19T22:33:00.000-07:00

on the daily on friday, the host made fun of the 2 canidates speeches and each of there different views. he talked about how they differed by meclain being old and how if he collaps that Sara would be running this country. and he also made it seem like these these debates were more like auctions because its seems like when they discuss there plans for the economy they just throw out randomly large numbers.

Real or Fake news?

2008-10-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

In Albania, the most watched TV program is a program named "Fiks Fare" which means "Exactly". That is a funny show, which transmits some news in a funny way. When you compare the news they transmit with the news you watch on the serious news program, you notice that it is the same news, the characters are the same, the event is the same, but "Exactly" treats it in a funny way, making it sound a little better than it really is, but it doesn't change anything from the real news, just the way they introduce it. For example when it comes to political issues, they introduce the issue giving some funny comments that make the problem more obvious but sound less tragic than it really is. Whereas the original news program doesn't give any comment at all, they just say the event just the way it is. But many people prefer watching "Exactly" as it is a softer way to learn the bad things that are going on!

Megi Jani

Joe the Plumber

2008-10-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, when Barack Obama was canvassing for support in a town, Ohio, one bold guy came to him and suddenly asked about ‘American dream’. Now everyone calls him, Joe the Plumber. His question was about Obama’s tax policy that someone who makes more than $250,000 per year will be more taxed. He said that he had been working very hard for 15 years and now he was about to purchase a company which can earn more than $250,000 every year and he concerned about Democratic would tax him more. This conversation is not funny at all; it is very serious problem and many people who just start earning more than that amount would worry about the tax policy. However, on the Barack Obama and John McCain’s third debate, McCain keep referring Joe the Plumber to criticize his policies. One TV show makes fun of the debating. They act really seriously but it is not serious at all. However, they are still talking about the policy and kind of being sarcastic about the debate, and it seems like they criticize McCain.
-Min-

Compare and Contrast

2008-10-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

I have watch the "Daily Show with John Stewart" and "CNN" and they both have qualities that are similar and different. The Daily Show with John Stewart typically has more people interested in it. For example the Daily Show with John Stewart is more interesting because of one the way he talks, second he makes a lot of jokes; which he keeps us entertained. Third the way he approaches each subject. When John Stewart talks its just him you don't see him interviewing boring people. CNN just gives you information after information their tone is more dull. Listeners can be easily bored unless they want to hear specific information. CNN has a lot more of a professional tone. They interview people that are boring for example Ron Paul on CNN. The similarities are that they both give information about the world, but the way they present it is very different. They both have some facts in their news mainly CNN, but John Stewart does have some truth to what he is saying.
Jamie Adishian

Real and Fake NEWS

2008-10-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

The daily show with John Stewart for me it's kind of sarcasm to the reality. They divided the real news and combined to a new one. The new video is still included the real news but makes them more controversial and funny. Sometimes the things came out from like Obama’s mouth, but he never say anything that. It’s a good show that makes people relax. However, when we are watching it, we need to think about it, what is true and what is not. On the opposite, the real news just sends out the information that what is happening in the reality. It’s always boring but we all have to know. -Michelle Hsu

Real v.s. Unreal

2008-10-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

After watching the "Daily Show with John Stewart" and "MSNBC" I noticed several different things between the two and i noticed some things that they have alike. One thing that they have alike is that they both are giving you the news that is going on in the world, but the way they give it to you is the difference between the two. When you are watching the news on MSNBC the news casters were talking in a very serious tone of voice and the on the Daily how there is a lot of humor in the ways that they tell the stories. They tell us what is going on in the world but that spic it up a make it more entraining than the regular news.

comparisons - Shu Mei

2008-10-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

After watching the show at “The Daily Show” website, and news at “CNN” website; I think “The Daily Show” is more entertaining because Jon Stewart is giving the audience the truth news that’s happening at the real world by telling jokes. The reason I think CNN is not as entertaining is because they are using a more serious tone. In my perspective, I think it’s easily to have the audience understand and stay with the channel by telling something that we like and not being too serious about certain incident.
Even though these two shows are telling the same thing, but I just like “The Daily Show” more. Looking at a face of too serious makes the audience feels boring after a moment. These two shows are giving the audience the same information but by different kind of ways. Some of the audience with gets bored by watching two or three people just sitting there with the desk and papers in front.
I am the kind of person who’s exactly the one whom will get bored after watching too serious conversation that present by strangers. People watch TV because they want to watch something that can interest and entertain them.

the difference between the real and fake news

2008-10-19T19:49:00.001-07:00

There are many different options for how and who you get your news by. For example you can watch or read the news from CNN or FOX or in today's world you can even get your news from Comedy Central on The Daily Show. The biggest difference from the news channels is that one is making fun of the news rather than giving you their view on the what is happening. For example, John Stewart will use real footage of something that happened in the news but will make fun of it. He is giving his opinion but he is trying to make light of the subject also. In the real news that you get from CNN and other stations like that, it is all business and they give you their opinion on the topic but there is no joking around about it. The most common thing that you will find in both news industries right now are stories about the Presidential debate. A lot of people are choosing to pick on Palin right now. An example that I saw in The Daily Show was that Stewart decided to show that someone said from the real news that Palin needs to be able to speak in real english sentences and his response to that was that is what they need from a sobriety road side test. From there he points out that she does speak in full sentence about how the government needs to stay out of the way and because of this she "wins" unless she contradicts herself which she ends up doing because she says that we need to demand the government have strict oversight of things. In the real news they criticize what Palin says but they do not make fun of it. It is all serious talk. They do point out that she did go back on her word but they do not laugh about it. In my opinion it is better to watch the real news but I also think in some ways you are still getting the same information. The fake news is using the real news to make the subject a little bit lighter and not as tense of a topic to talk about.

Maggie Frederick

Ingrid McShan's News Blog

2008-10-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

For this blog i watched ABC 7 Sports then watched The Daily Show and saw how Jon Stewart talked about sports. There are some similarities with the two. They both tell the outcome of the games and the scores. With ABC 7 News they tend to get straight to the point. They tend tell what happen with important information then the score which everybody wants to know. Jon Stewart in The Daily Show is a little different. He jokes around more with his sense of humor about the players and the game. He talks about what happens in the game. He also tell the outcome of the game but in a kind of joking way. ABC 7 News has a more serious tone when delivering the news to the audience. Jon Stewart is not as serious, he tend to joke around when delivering news to the audience and make them laugh. These are some similarities and differences of the two news shows.

fake vs real

2008-10-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

I watched Saturday Night Live Obama and McCain discuss Joe the Plumber in the final Presidential debate and the CBS News Obama and McCain in the final Presidential debate. Saturday Night Live and CBS News both asked the same questions and both talked about Joe the Plumber and Taxes. Saturday Night Live didn’t talk about health care like CBS News did. On both the CBS News and Saturday Night Live Obama is relaxed but stutters and McCain is jumpy and doesn’t make sense when speaking. In both McCain talks a lot more then Obama. In both Obama has a powerful voice as McCain’s is soft and his mouth looks like its glued shut. I also watched the Sarah Palin rap on Saturday Night Live which was so funny. I also got to vote early today it was so exciting and lasted for such a short amount of time that I wanted to do it again. My mom told me that the people who fought for me to be able to vote would have been proud of me today. So I felt that I also honored them to day for like 2 or less minutes when I voted to day and I did it electronically which was cool!

2008-10-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

After watching the today show with Jon Stewart. I watched a recap of the presidential election between the running vice presidents Palin and Biden. During this little fake news broadcast Jon Stewart made fun of the debates and comments made about what Palin and Biden said. There was real footage of these debates he was just making fun of the comments of both of them. This is a way we can get some real news but this news is made fun of. The real news doesn’t really pick a side and it doesn’t make fun of anything or anyone it’s a bit more serious.

Jessica Davis

Don't lose control

2008-10-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

In this picture, there is a white fabric, which with blue purfle, a cartoon dog image had printed on the fabric and above the head of the dog, there are two English words, "hug me." More than that, some red liquid looks like blood are on the fabric. However, this is only the right side of the picture; the completely left side just shows a sentence: “Don’t lose control.” Clearly, this picture is talking about the blights about losing control. Sometimes but not often, we may hear some news that talk about children got hurts by their parents. Moreover, we might hear about how many children are die/ hurt by their parents every year, something like that. Nevertheless, do not forget, those probably not the real numbers. We do not know something true. However, we cannot stop the people doing bad things if we do not know what happen; but we can do something for people we know. Do not get mad on people around us just by any small dissension, and try to be nice to mean people.

Format (and citation) WARS!!

2008-10-08T06:38:00.000-07:00

Singular Authors

Multiple Authors

>Author?

Edited Collection

Article in an edited collection "Two Metaphors for LEarning and the Novice Writer" by Joseph Williams and Gregory G. Colomb in Composing Knowledge

2008-10-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

This picture is a very inspiring picture. This picture is where a bunch of united states soldiers picking up the american flag. This picture became very popular. This picture became a symbol of getting people excited about the war. To recapture the feeling of supporting the troops and why we are in the war. This picture has a very touching emotion, that can give you goose bumps by just looking at it. The way the picture was taken was also a factor in inspiring people. Having a group of soliders working so hard to make this picture. A team effort.
Jamie Adishian

Julio Magdaleno

2008-10-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

After looking at some pictures of magazines this picture in particular got my attention because it has elements that most cigarette pictures have. For example, in the background you can see people happy, smiling, screaming, people with their hands in the air. You can automatically tell that there is some type of celebration. The background automatically set the stage for me and gave me a feeling of excitement or happiness. Then in the middle of the picture you see a young nice lady with a guy in much more focus. You can tell because you can see their shiny hair, white teeth, big smiles, and that Newport cigarette in their hand. The couple seem as if they are in perfect health all nice and clean. However, this is the exact opposite result that cigarettes have. They always try to show people that are healthy and having a good time. They even incorporate an element of sex because at the bottom it says Newport Pleasure, FIRE IT UP! Also, there is a picture of the various kinds of Newport packs next to the text. The text connects with the image because they are both smiling and kind of close to each other. Even though the surgeon general's warning is at the top left corner, people still don't realize what it means. The warning means poison. However this works because the people in charge of advertising have wasted tons and tons of money because they know that it works.

Nike by Michelle Hsu

2008-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

I’ve noticed that Nike ads have always contained exotic contents. I think part of the reason is that they’re saying just buy the shoes, don’t worry about anything, just buy them, or simply because they’re motto is “just do it”. I’ve never really gotten the true meaning to their ads but you can always have many hypothesis and different perspective about them. In this specific ad, the kid is peeing on a wall, which is defined to be uncivil in many ways in today’s society. They’re saying that they promote that kinds of actions where you will do something that you don’t do everyday. They can promote that kind of courage. Many ads by Nike had contained something that you won’t do everyday, some of them as normal and adventurous as bungee jumping, but then there are just the types like these that try to take the message into an extreme level. I think they also used an environment that is in the rural area of a third world country because it gives it more feeling to it as a big picture. I think they’re trying to tell the audience that with their shoes, you can pretty much have the courage to do anything. They’re trying to reach out to the audience that they’re exotic and they sell things that can make you feel the same way.

2008-10-05T20:52:00.000-07:00

After going to the museum i came across a funny picture. It looked like it was taken or drew in about the late 1700's. They were dressed in these big poofy shirts. It's a picture of two men and a women. The one on the left of the girl looks as if she's trying to win the women with his money. He looks kind of desperate. Really it looks as if the women loves the one on the right.

Jessica Davis

Homecoming from high school to college.

2008-10-05T19:59:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went home on Friday to my high school’s (Woodruff) homecoming football game and they were playing against Peoria Notre Dame. It was not a close game at all Woodruff beat Notre Dame by 40 points the score was Woodruff 47, Notre Dame 7. I met tons of my high school and middle school friends and surprisingly lots of the graduating class of ‘08 came back to support the football team. It was a crazy crowd of friends, family, and fans full of energy to cheer the football team on to victory. After the game the next day was the homecoming dance. My brother and my cousin and their date’s were served by me, my best friend, my mother, my grandmother, and one of my older cousin’s at our house for dinner with slow music and candles like as if they were in a restaurant. Then we took them to the movies to see Eagle Eye and we tried to see a different movie but we ended up going to see that movie too. Which it is a great action packed movie and was very interesting to watch. We tried not to be seen by them and their dates so we set in the back and ended up sitting straight across from them, but they weren’t paying any attention.

There is one kind of distance call "age"

2008-10-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

Someone must be took this photo a long time ago, from the clothes people wearing we can know. However, I believe this is not a story that can only happen in the past. As we can see, those two old people are wearing so plainly, not like the current clothes in the show window, at less, current clothes at that time. That makes a big different between the inside and the outside of the show winder, not matter the wearing, or the color. The guess has separated them in two different worlds. Moreover, they do not understand each other’s mind. This makes me think about those parents who always yell at their children because their children are wearing like a clown. They may feel unhappy of their children’s whimsy, they may cry. At the same time, these parent maybe the real whimsy person in their kids’ mind. Maybe this is the distance of age, or different mind in different time. In the picture, those two old people were looking at the model’s clothes, but the model was not “looking” at them.

-Lonnie Hu

Shu Mei's Blog

2008-10-05T18:16:00.001-07:00

The color of this image makes me think of romance. But at the same time, it also can be lonely too. From the way this person stands, I prefer he’s old man. He’s standing alone at the edge and watching the sunset with his pet. People usually go to such a wonderful place with their love one instead of going by themselves. This old man probably lost his love one and only leaves himself and the pet. The place where he stands represent how hopeless he thinks this world is. It’s easy to fall by standing at such a thin road, but he’s not afraid of anything even death.

Standing at the edge and watching the sunset is relaxing. When I first look at this picture, I think it’s romantic, but at the same time I think this old man is lonely. Sunset always gives me a feeling of romance. What sunset means to me is something comes to the end. The moment of sunset is beautiful but what come after sunset is dark. Sunset is just like the happiest moment. Happiest moment goes especially fast. It’s memorable and enjoyable, but sometimes sad and lost follows it in some incidents. Looking at this picture makes me think always catch the prettiest moment and that will be a most memorable memory in your life.

Bryan's blog

2008-10-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I had to write a paper about the gap between haves and have-nots. I looked up some pictures about the topic. The first picture I saw was this. It is Sanpaulo, Brazil. There is a luxurious apartment, a tennis court and a big swimming pool. The other side is poor village. The houses are almost collapsing down. Moreover, the swimming pool is even larger than the five or six shacks.

Why did the photographer pictured this image? In my opinion, the photographer wanted to tell what is happening in the developing third countries. As many third countries develop very rapidly, rich people get richier and poor people get poorer, and this is a serious social problem in such countries now. In Shanghai, the city where I live, has many such places all around the city. The government just kick resisdents in such poor places out of their house and keep developing and constructing skyscrappers. It seems like this problem would not be solved soon, because most of the third countries are solely focusing on development.

Ingrid McShan's blog

2008-10-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

The picture is interesting because it's in black and white but then again it has many details. The advertisement is for Ford car company. The advertisement looks as if it was for back in the for the reason that it is in black and white. Plus the car is an old car they use to drive many years ago and the people dress with a different style. This was probably when Ford first started and the company was trying to get people to buy their cars. The young man looks confident and happy while he is showing the young lady an image in the newspaper. Im guessing he's telling her something about the car. She seems to be paying attention and interested to what he is saying as he is trying to persuade her. The text also says alot about the image. For The Young Business Man is in kind of big letters and noticeable so people can see its a key part of the picture. There's also an explanation after the noticeable words to explain why people should buy there car and what the car can do. The price is on the ad as well to let individuals know how much the car would be. This image is persuasive because it is gets the message across and point of the ad. The advertisement is trying to get more people to buy the company's car.

It is telling me...

2008-10-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

About three years ago, I got bored and searched for some funny pictures on a web site. I was just clicking random pictures or photos (that the titles sounded goofy) from many different sites, and I clicked one photo by mistake. The title was Brotherhood (if I remember correctly) and at first, I was not interested the title at all, because, I do not have any brothers (but I have a nice sister) and second, I did not feel like to see any serious picture on the day. Anyhow, I clicked the link, and I saw one of the most beautiful photos in my life.

What a word pops up in your head (or mind) when you see this picture? Brotherhood?, Poverty? Famiy? Home?, or Hunger? For me, it was not the title (I am not sure the picture titled Brotherhood or not, but I know the word in my head did not match with the title). It was Waiting. Of course, it was not exactly that word because it was a Korean word.

Many other people probably have a different word for this photo, or several words. Some people can also say it is impossible to express the picture with a couple words; it should be sentences, paragraphs, or essays. (That is the reason I am gonna write a paper about the picture.) I do respect all the other points of their views, but for me I just want to say it is Waiting.

Do you see the eyes of baby? He is not staring at something. Those are not eyes of when you are looking at something or when you find something interesting. He does not have a focus. It seems like, he is thinking about someone, something, or nothing. I will stop talking about this photo here, because I gotta write more about the photo in my paper and I do not want to interrupt your points of view of this picture.

-Min-

2008-10-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

When we were at the museum on Wednesday the picture that I decided to practice writing about was called the "Freshening Gale". It was a huge ship with big white sails and was crossing over very rocky waters. I love this picture because it reminds me of my favorite movie "Pirates of the Caribbean". The colors in the ocean were dark blues and greens and the sky was a light baby blue but was covered with clouds. The ship to me looked a little like the Black Pearl because it had this thing on the fron of the ship that looked like the mouth that is on the front of the Black Pearl. The scene that the picture reminded me of is the one where Jack is sailing through the storm and tells Mr. Gibbs that he is catching up to Barbosa and his crew. In the movie, the storm is worse than the one depicted in the painting but that is still the image that I can relate it to. The ship is a more modern than the Black pearl and instead of black sails, it has white. I would its a more peaceful Black Pearl. Both ships represent power to me because they look so strong and they seem to take over the ocean when it is trying to take it down in its white tip waves crashing against it. I do not get to go out of the ocean very much but I love to sit on the beach and just listen to the waves crashing agains the shore line and when I see this picture I can hear the sound of the waves which is probably my favorite sound ever. I love this picture because it makes me think of the beach and of my favorite movie.

Maggie Frederick

Museum Trip

2008-10-01T18:16:00.000-07:00

The piece of artwork that really caught my eye while I was at the Art Museum was Lady in the Park by Childe Hassam (1859-1935). I really liked this painting because it was relaxing and had an arrangement of beautiful pastel colors. The Setting of the painting was in a park, but the picture was focused on the ivory brick-walking path that went through the park. On either side of the path were perfectly matching trees that were leafless. This painting was set in the fall on what looks like a beautiful afternoon. The people in the painting were wearing what looked like their Sunday best. All the people in the painting looked clam and relaxed.

This painting really reminded me of the quad and how it is such a beautiful “park.” I can just imaging the quad once the leaves start to fall will resemble the painting of the Lady in the Park. I can see student laying, sitting, and enjoying the beautiful fall weather and the beautiful landscape of the quad. The only difference in the painting and the quad really is the clothing. On the quad students were much more modern clothing were as in the painting the people were wearing huge European dresses and wardrobe from the nineteen hundreds.

This painting made me want to skip class and just go and lay in the sun and enjoy the fresh, crisp fall air.

Ashley Hummel

aging. by glenn foster

2008-09-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

i don't really have much to say about this image that i found over the Internet because as you can see it really speaks for its self. basically this image symbolizes why this company sells you the liquor aged, because the message there getting across is the longer you wait it taste better for a better smoother taste to it. they show an example of this by showing a before and after aging picture of this woman being a nerd in the past and after she aged she looks like this hot sexy like wooooooowww what happened, you will bring her home to mom. this was ironic and hysterical to me.

Julio Magdaleno

2008-09-28T21:45:00.001-07:00

As I was scanning through the internet this picture caught my eye because it is a picture of the devil driving a car. There is a sign that is on the right side of the road that says Route 666. In other words, route to hell. The car looks like it is throwing out alot of smoke, seems like it could be the tire but since I am all into the environment and alternative sources of energy Global Warming came to mind. Today, cars make up about 30% of the percentage of carbon dioxide in the air that is raising the greenhouse gases. As of today there are new alternative sources of energy being researched such as vegetable oil, bio-diesel, non-fossil methane, and hydrogen fuel cells. Currently, hydrogen fuel cells have had the greatest advancement in research and is probable to have cars out on the market that are also cost efficient probably by 2020. Basically, a hydrogen fuel cell is a device that takes stored chemical energy and converts it to chemical energy and has bi-products of liquid-water and heat; no greenhouse gases. I think that this is a better route to protect our home the earth, and will become alot more popular in the future.

red bull

2008-09-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

It shows that red bulls gives you wings, but in fact it does not. The red bull does give you energy. It makes you really pumped up and makes you awake. Overload on caffeine The advertisement on giving you wings cant happen. When i was younger I always wanted to try it to get wings, but little did i know that you cant get wings even if you do drink it. They had so many commercials on how you take one sip and get wings. And then they fly away. That commercial was such an example of how false advertisement is. It should be illegal so that people wont get mislead and buy it. Pictures of this are also misleading making the object bigger than it is. Making the background look awesome to make the picture look cool. These are false advertisement that should be banned so that people cant fall for them.
Jamie Adishian

2008-09-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here's my symbol. They're any many people out there these days trying to convince you in anyway to buy their product. A big one is the advertisement of alcohol. They will exaggerate anything and everything to trick you into buying their product. I have a picture that is an example of the false ad.This is a vodka ad and it's similar to the go-gurts ad. I know the go-gurts wasn't like a sexual related ad, but it does say you will grow with go-gurts . This is a false statement and it talks you into buying their product. This vodka ad. basically is implying that you will get with someone if you drink your product. When really this is false and they are just persuading you to buy their product. I believe a lot of people fall for this. Whether it's the red bull let says it will give you wings or the go-gurts that make you grow.

Jessica Davis

Ingrid McShan's Blog

2008-09-28T20:12:00.000-07:00

I think graffiti is a unique kind of writing. It brings a significant style to writing. The words and letters even drawing are different from regular writing that many people might understand. The shape, size, wording and color is what brings attention to graffiti (why people read it). In my eyes many young people perform graffiti. Older people really don't agree with graffiti and think its not the right thing to do. Some people think graffiti make neighborhoods look bad and graffiti send bad messages with the style of writing. I think graffiti is not always a bad thing because it can send a message to individuals. The message are either negative or positive, but it is a way for people to get there point across and be heard. This is the reason i believe many people put graffiti an building, billboards and other things. On this website called www.graffiticreator.net it gives you options to do with graffiti. The Graffiti Creator is a flash application that gives individuals an opportunity to make there own graffiti-styled logotypes with any style text.

What have we done? -Lonnie

2008-09-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Is it just like what we are doing? We have been reading news that talks about the environment contamination everyday. At the same time, we are doing something that contaminating the earth. People liking seeing problems got solve. It also means, people like seeing others solving problems. However, they forgot about themselves. What can we a normal people do? Exhaust gas from cars, too may plastic bags, these small parts that we had forgotten, are becoming not small anymore. Maybe we will think, yeah, I should not use too many plastic bags, and then drive although the market is very close; or we may think that drive too much is not good, then do a long way bike riding, have a rest and continue with a plastic bottle energy drink. Unfortunately, no one wake up to it. One day, we may taste they water we had used for bath.

Vodka ad - Bryan

2008-09-28T19:52:00.001-07:00

A big alcohol market is formed in America. There are many kinds of alcohols that are popular. Vodka is one of them. This an advertisement of vodka. It is Smirnoff Vodka that is mone of the most popular vodka brand. There are many similar advertisement pictures, but i think this one is the most attracting one.
In the picture, there are a few sheep and a bottle of vodka. The picture is very simple, so you wouldn't find anything special unless you look through it very carefully. Do you find anything weird? Let me tell you. As you see, a transparent vodka bottle is placed in front of the sheeps. A sheeps head is overlapped with the bottle. Actually, its body is sheep but head is wolf.
What the advertisement is talking about is duplicity of alcohol. When you have first shot of alcohol, you'll feel good and relaxed. However, as you drink on and on, you will get drunk, and it can harm you. The advertisement is using vodka's property well: transparency. It shows us the importance of understanding characteristics of the product that is being advertised.

Heinz by Michelle Hsu

2008-09-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

This is a Heinz ketchup advertisement. It seems like the whole picture is white and dull when I first looked at it. However, there’s little red, attention grabbing object in the bottom. It’s the Heinz’s logo that they use to represent themselves. The little red spot really grabs people’s attention, because it is the only object in the picture with color. I didn’t get what advertisement this picture was for at the first moment that I saw it, but then my eyes moved to the little red ketchup bottle in the bottom, and then I got what the advertisement is trying to say and why they used a media style like this. I laughed. I guess what the advertisement is trying to reach to its audience is that without using Heinz’s ketchup, every food will become black and white and there will be no more taste to it, or it will probably taste like cardboard if you will, and they will not seem as delicious as it should be with the ketchup. I think the person who created this used the cardboard instead of real egg is because s/he wanted to use the visual effects to make people feel disgusted by what’s being offered on the plate, then it gives a comment on the bottom that pretty much says this is how the food will look AND taste like without it. At this point in understanding the advertisement, you are probably already imagining it in your mouth. This is how they get to their audience, because we would like to have a colorful life, not a dull one like cardboard food. The use of coloring is effective and interesting as a whole because the red stands out above them all. We all know that the plate SHOULD look like, and not a big piece of cardboard and a few shredded ones. It is a straight forward and interesting advertisement that can easily get people into thinking the effectiveness of the product. -Michelle Hsu

Dance on the Air - Shu Mei

2008-09-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

There are two kinds of performers. One of them is the one whom love to perform in front of thousands of people. They love to perform on stage and want everyone’s concurrence. This kind of performers only feels successful and fulfill when they heard the audiences’ applause and winning awards. But there’s another kind of performers; they don’t think applause and awards means successful. They think dancing freely on the air will be their happiness thing. For example, this lady who’s dancing all alone with herself and she thinks there’s nothing happier than dancing freely like a butterfly.

I think this is a great picture because this lady seems she’s connected to the nature. Her eyes are full of hopefulness and joy. She’s dancing freely on air like a butterfly. This is such a wonderful world; she can dance freely on the grass without thinking about anything. She dance without fear on the air; I think dancing is joy and artistic. There’s no need for the dancers to put everything on stage. Applause and awards doesn’t equal to happiness. In my opinion, the most important for choreographers are joyful and they enjoy the piece of art they are working on.

Earth pollution.

2008-09-28T18:08:00.000-07:00

The earth pollution is a problem that effects all of us, and it is in our hands whether to keep on polluting it, or try to keep it as clean as possible. We may not be aware of the serious impact air pollution has in our health. The World Health Organization states that 2.4 million people die each year from causes directly attributable to air pollution, with 1.5 million of these deaths attributable to indoor air pollution. As it effects mainly our respiratory system, and many other organs, despite our not knowing this. We may not know how important our every day activities are to earth, as we are the only reason of earth's being so polluted, as we release to air fumes from paint, hair spray, varnish, aerosol sprays and other solvents. We also effect it by oil refining, and industrial activity in general. So it is important to think of all our activities, and try to help earth get cleaned as much as we can.
Megi Jani

What do we see?

2008-09-28T17:52:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago, From Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud was assigned to read. This animated cartoon was about how does people see an object, another person, or another character. S. McCloud says that humans are self-centered (Alberti 459). He shows some pictures like an outlet, a car, and a can that we sometimes look it like a face.

I found this picture a few years ago from an internet site. Unfortunately the photographer was anonymous (or it was not written on the site). If you just analyze the picture, there is nothing special. Three cranes are flying, two males are paddling a small canoe. However, I think, most of people can find another image from it; you might find a facial image from the photo.

I do not know the photo is a composite picture or a real picture. Whether or the photo is real or not, we see two different images at one photo. It could be depended on a person what image he or she sees first. I saw a smiling face first, but my sister said she saw just birds and fishermen first and took a couple seconds to see the smiling face. I think it is really amazing to see an image many different ways. Even though we do not try to find different images from it, we just recognize them.

-Min-

Volunteer Fair!!

2008-09-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

The Image that I selected this week was for a volunteer fair the Illini Union hosted a couple of weeks ago. I thought this was a great poster/flyer promoting this volunteer fair. I love the use of color that is presented. The purple and green is really eye catching. The green is loud and bold and stands out when you look at a wall full of other signs and flyers. The purple is a dark color that focus your eyes to what the green writing is saying. The font is also GREAT! The font is simple in that it is a plain font with no funky curves or anything and is BOLD, making the font stand out and look important. The title (Volunteer Fair) is Bold and takes up most of the poster, page and center really catching the attention of the people passing by. Then if someone is interested there is the smaller font that has the important information like the date, time and location. What really makes the poster stand out even with the font, style and colors is the unique use of art. The designer did a great job by interpreting hands into the poster and the layout of the title of the poster. The hands really give the poster an emotional touch to the poster. When you look at the poster you see that there is a volunteer fair but then when you take in the details of the poster you feel the need to volunteer and use your hands to make a difference in someone else’s life!!
Ashley Hummel

Jaz blog 9/28

2008-09-28T14:29:00.000-07:00

I saw a play on Saturday and the name of it was called “Well” and it was directed by a woman named Lisa Kron. Although this play was a required assignment for my theater class it was cool to see, even though it was confusing and I couldn’t make any sense of it, it was a great play and I a great experience for me. It was also funny as well to see the actors interacting with the audience. They actors reminded me of a lot of people I know or knew at some point in my lifetime or still do. This was my first time ever seeing a real theatrical play before and I liked it. My brother acted in a play back home I didn’t get to see it because I am in college and it was during the week. He was mad because he didn’t get the part he wanted. He wanted the part where he got to kiss the girl instead he got the part of being her boyfriend, which is a big part in this play, but they don’t get to kiss. Then he got happy again after he was told he got to punch the guy who gets to kiss her. I just started laughing and said “actors, drama, drama, drama”.

Big Burger

2008-09-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

One thing about me is that I like to eat, so when I get ready to eat I eat. One of my favorite restaurants is Burger King and it because they got one of the biggest burgers I ever had, but its something about this particular restaurant that keeps me coming back. I think it the way the Burger King represents their self. They have a mascot that a king which is portraying that their king of all burgers. Also one of the first burger king signs had a king sitting on top of a burger which I guess was trying to say the same thing.

Also when you are a kids and you come in to eat they give you a crown which makes you fell like you are a king or you are in a place where the kings come. Burger King also has a slogan which is "home of the whopper" which is one of the biggest burgers that I can fit my mouth around. There are some Burger King locations that have the theme of the restaurants a castle.

Global Warming - Julio

2008-09-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Global warming, it is a term that we have all heard about, but do you really know what it means? Global warming simply means that the average surface temperature is rising and will have a catastrophic; negative outcome. Many scientists think that global warming is going to have a toll on humanity that we can not afford to pay.

The question that remains and haunts the world is, “What will be the effects of Global Warming?” The effects of Global Warming will most likely occur as a chain reaction meaning that if one thing happens, it will trigger another effect. The first effect of Global will be the melting of the Polar Ice Caps. We are already beginning to see this happening right now. If both the Polar Ice Caps melt, the sea level will rise, flooding many cities. Because of the sea level rise and Polar Ice Caps melting, there will no longer be anything to cool down the earth and heat will really start to build up causing bigger storms. From there it can only get worse. Major droughts will occur leading a downfall in the crops which will lead to bigger starvation and deaths to many. And the worst of all effects, the downfall to humanity itself. Luckily, we still have the power to change our future and mould it to a better one.

The picture with the man laying on the beach is trying to say that people can see Santa's w0rishop floating by. This is telling you that the icecaps are melting, increasing sea levels. The second picture is a picture of the government finally reacting. Outside the windows you can see a very hot, desert like environment. Some helpful sites to learn more about global warming is.

the lake:glenn

2008-09-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

This is a picture I took from my guy's high rise off lake shore drive. This is about 5 minutes away from my house in Chicago. I took this picture because it represents me and my recreation a little bit. my family own a couple of boats and every spring and summer we take it out when the weather is nice and the water is calm, we go out on the boat on the lake and do all kinds of things. We ride around some times to go to my cottage in Michigan City Indiana, and hang out with some of my guy's and boat race or see my horses. We also like to ride down to navy peer down town and watch the fireworks in July from the boat. It is a very beautiful and very romantic scenery.

I love to dock my boat in the middle of the lake and throw parties off of it. or some times spend a night on it with the nice breeze blowing of the beautiful lake and watching the sun rise across the horizon of the huge lake. i love to go swimming in the lake all the time or go water skiiing and tubing or getting on my jet ski. the lake is very fun, relaxing and romantic.

Chicago

2008-09-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well this is a picture from my city Chicago. It is one of the most beautiful cities when its night time. From all the cars to all the buildings Chicago is a place you should visit. It’s a fast pace city meaning that you would get lost in a flash. When u visits my city there are several things to do. you can visit all of the museums or get in touch with your aquatic side by checking out the Shed Aquarium. Also if you’re lucky you might be able to catch one of our teams playing. The best time to come is when that Chicago Cubs play the Chicago White Socks. Also there are a lot of events that take place in my city. The best one is the taste of Chicago. That is where the entire local vendors pack in at Grant Park and sell their food, and if you come on the July 3 or 4 you might be able to catch some fireworks. The best thing about my city is seeing the sun rise over Lake Michigan. It’s the most beautiful thing u can imagine.

Night Market!

2008-09-14T20:59:00.000-07:00

My favorite place is of course where I was born, Taipei, Taiwan. The culture here and in Asia has big differences. Since I lived in a city, I can go wherever I want just by mass transportation. We have buses, taxi, subway, and train. It is so convenient. Also there are many places to go, other than supermarket. This is a night market in Taipei. Night markets are always full of people. They usually opened at about eight o’clock at night until two or three in the morning. At night market, you can buy almost everything except brand names. They sell all cheap things. Also, there are a lot of foods, mostly like snacks. It’s so much fun that on Friday night, you can go to night market with your family and friends. I feel like that is much more fun than staying in the same space and party. It probably because I grew up there, and I am so used to the culture. This is a picture I took this summer; my friend was waiting in line for pies. Looking at this picture always reminds me the happy memories in Taiwan, and I miss everything over there! -Michelle Hsu

Ingrid McShan's Genre Blog

2008-09-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

For this assignment, I decided to do spray painted shirts. I think wearing a shirt like this is kind of cool because it delivers a message is a different way. There are normally written in slang with words misspelled, logos, and abbreviated words. Some individuals put words/phrases on shirts people never heard of or don't even know the meaning. In that case, I think you have to understand slang to know what some people shirts might say and the message their trying to give to the audience. I've realized people that wear them are usually being creative while relaying a message with fancy writing. Spray painted shirts can send different messages such as saying R.I.P to someone, cheering for the basketball/football team or even expressing your love for someone. It might also show the persons character by illustrating that they care about someone or an event that is taking place. In addition, I feel when wearing a shirt like this it is important to get the message across because thats the reason why a person might stop an individual, just to look and read what the shirt is saying. The link that I found is called nautiks. I thinks it's interesting because it's a website for people to get a shirt custom made anyway that want it.

Environmentalism - Lonnie Hu

2008-09-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

Just look at this picture. The Shadow of a human does not look like what a human’s shadow should look; these scenes sometimes will show on scare movies, but, actually, we are seeing this kind of scenes everyday, everywhere.
When you decided to buy a new chair for your dinning room, will you think about something like “how many trees have to be cut by making a chair?”, or “how many wood they need for produce furniture every year?” . Almost none will do this. However, the true is, we do not need to. There are trees everywhere; we have enough trees although in the city. Nevertheless, this is America merely.
Some of Environmentalism advertisements are very very boring, I may prefer looking at a Apple advert, a coke advert, a McDonald’s advert, than looking at a big paper that say: “Stop cutting trees!” . But some companies will make some interesting thing in their adverts. Like this picture, it was make by a Environmentalism company, And I believe If you see it on your way to Ikea, you might change your mind, and go to the metal section after arrived.
Without a word, but send you all of the author’s meanning, that is the power of pictures, also one kind of messages.

Nike

2008-09-14T19:52:00.000-07:00

NIKE is one of the most famous brands in the world. NIKE's logo is very simple, so that it is very easy to be remembered. With that advantage, NIKE advertised itself worldwidely very well. Moreover, It is easy to find Nike store everywhere in the world. As a result, many people around the world know what Nike is although have no idea who the president of the United States is.

Nike makes many kinds of goods such as basketball shoes or sports team clothes. Also, Nike sponsors many sports team and national soccer teams. Korea national soccer team's sponsor is Nike too. Not only teams, but also famous and talented sports stars are also sponsored by Nike. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Tiger Woods are such super stars. Through such an advertisement, Nike make people think that Nike's goods are superior.

I play basketball, so I'm also intersted in basketball shoes. When I talk to my friends about basketball shoes, most of my friends also say that Nike's shoes are better than other companies' shoes, and most of basketball shoes I have are Nike's shoes.

HEEHO BYUN

2008-09-14T19:36:00.001-07:00

Mc Donald's! Where everyone can be a kid!
Everyone likes Mc Donald's. It is a place where everyone loses the sense of time. It is a place where all of us would like to be for a long time and very often.
Mc Donald is internationally famous. You can find its advertisement anywhere, from magazines to posters, to many different web-pages. It is a place where everyone would like to go only because its being what it is, because of its being Mc Donald's!
What attracts everyone attention is the bright colors. The colors are the main way of playing with a logo to attract people’s attention. And the combination of the red and yellow in Mc Donald’s logo is a very interesting way to attract people’s attention. The nice, friendly and welcoming face of Mc Donald's is a very interesting of inviting people to go there!
It is a very interesting place, where everyone forget his age, and feels like a kid, and forgets the stress.
No one can resist to the hamburgers, cheeseburger, or big mac, the delicious fries! And which place is better than a Mc Donald! The way they advertise it, with the man’s happy face, and the interesting interaction of colors Mc Donald's is very persuasive!

Megi Jani

DON'T FORGET TO ADD YOUR NAME TO YOUR POST

2008-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

(a friendly little reminder from your instructor)

Cell Phone -Min-

2008-09-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

A couple days ago, I bought a new cell phone. It is my 6th or 7th phone since I had my first phone when I was like 6th grade. Before I got the first phone from my sister, not so many people had cell phone; just some of my classmates had really ugly phones. I was so glade that I can be one of the few who had phone. Even though it was not even colored screen (it was green screen with just a few lines of letters), no internet, no camera, and only simple melodies for ringer. There were not even many choices for the phones.
Now, it is different. It is hard to see someone who does not have a cell phone. I asked ten of my friends, and everyone but one friend has his or her cell phone. (The reason he does not have a phone is that he just came here a couple weeks ago so he did not have chance to get it yet, but he will get one soon.)
There are so many things people can do with a phone now. I can download some songs and can use it like MP3 player, search internet, watch TV, listen radio, take a picture, take a video, and use display call. Also, people chose phones in diverse way; for instance, some people want to have just cheap phones, some want to have nicely designed phones, and others want to have various functioned phones. Cell phone is necessity now.
-Min-

Moon Festival - Shu Mei

2008-09-14T18:03:00.001-07:00

Moon Cake

This beautiful young lady is Chang Er, she’s working for Jade Emperor, where immoral and good people lived. One day she broke a precious jar and Jade Emperor banished her to the earth. Jade Emperor transformed Chang Er to a poor farming family. In the village, Chang Er meets her first love named Hou Yi. He’s a great hunter and an expert archer. One day, a strange miracle occurred, 10 suns arose in the sky and it’s blazing the earth. Hou Yi is the one who step up to save the earth by shooting down nine suns; he became a hero immediately. He eventually became king and married Change Er. Hou Yi became a despot; he created some kind of medicine that he can live forever. Chang Er, accidently or purposely swallow the pill. Hou Yi became so angry and goes after her, she jump out of the window. She flows to the moon instead of falling.

This is the story behind the moon festival. The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15^th of 8^th at lunar month (which is today). Moon Festival is an important traditional event for the Chinese. It’s just like Thanksgiving and Christmas to the west. It’s the time for the family’s reunion and people can see Chang Er dancing in the moon during Moon Festival. Families get together to eat moon cake and watch the moon. People can’t help thinking it is a perfect world; that’s why the Chinese loves the Moon Festival so much.

COKE

2008-09-14T17:53:00.003-07:00

Coke is advertised everywhere, on commercials. Its always catchy. This was a commercial and this little polar bear got lost and couldn't find its mom; then he found her and the two of them popped open a bottle of coke and celebrated. It tries to show that coke can make you feel better. One sip is just refreshing!

This advertisement is very colorful. It looks like something that makes you want to open up a bottle to give you a spark of energy! If very cool looking. It catches your attention and makes you want to open a bottle and have fun.

Coke is very appealing. It makes everyone want to have a bottle of coke. Even Santa wants some coke. This catches the attention of little kids in this advertisement. If Santa has a bottle of coke that's what the kids want as well. This message miss leads you to think that someone that you look up to when you were a little kid likes coke then you want to have some!!

Jamie Adishian

COKE

2008-09-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Coke is advertised everywhere!! Coke is advertised to all ages. As you can see santa even drinks coke! This shows that its okay to drink coke and makes the kids wanna drink coke as well. It makes you want to have a bottle of coke. The way they advertise it.

2008-09-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a certain spot that i like to spot writing, but I have seen some interesting writing on some random places. For example, the 08 presidential race has been going on and there are a lot of interesting things I've seen on walls such as graffiti, paintings and sayings. I think this is pretty creative how people express they're opinions through writing in various ways. Whether if it's about they're religous views, political views, or maybe just to persuade someone into buying something.

I think it's pretty interesting to see writing in these places. I believe some of this may persuade someone into changing their mind about a certain view they have on something. That's what I find interesting about writing in different places.

Jessica Davis

davis77

Who doesn't LOVE Apple!!!

2008-09-14T13:39:00.001-07:00

Apple is a huge company that is pushing their product all over the world. They are using huge, brightly colored and interesting ads to get everyone's attention. You can't go anywhere with out seeing ads for Apple. Apple has done a fantastic job advertising in creative places. Their advertisements range from normal magazine and paper ads to on the side of buses and subway trains, to huge billboards, to walls of buildings to even staircases. Apple’s signs and advertisements will get your attention. Apple is working with an amazing advertising company.

College students and teens are whom Apple is targeting their product to. I think their signs/advertisements are very affective. When you walk through a college campus, I would say 8 out of 10 students have an i-pod, mac or apple product. The way Apple is targeting students is the use of fun, interesting, eye catching and unique signs. Also they are advertising many of their products with special deals or bonus buys. If you buy a mac book you get a free 8G video i-pod as well as a rebate for a free printer. What college student do you know who doesn’t need a lab top, or printer and wouldn’t love a new video i-pod!

The text that is used in these advertisements is very simple and to the point. Usually the words in the ads are either the brand or the product name. Apple keeps the wording simple to make sure the view doesn’t forget the brand or the product name. With the simple and to the point text Apple uses brightly colored pictures that are usually of people enjoying their apple product, and their ads usually leave you wanting to be as cool as the people in the ads or wanting to have as much fun as the people in the ad.

Apples advertising defiantly had an effect on why I bought my i-pod and mac!!! Best decisions I have made! Creative and fun advertising really does a great deal for companies and the amount of product they sell.

Ashley Hummel

Pic bio by jaz

2008-09-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

This sign lets people know what kind and which building it is they are looking at and it is the building.This sign lets the people know that in this building do not eat in this room and that the safety or handicap ramp is this way. This sign lets people know to throw away only their cans and bottles here only. So that they can be recycled.
This sign lets people know where the chemistry lab is located. If you need to call someone look for this sign because this sign lets people know where to locate or use a telephone.
This sign lets people know that they can take a paper for free.
This sign lets people know where the handicap can go and get into the building.
This sign lets people know what time the MTD buses are departing or arriving.
This sign lets people know if they can park here or not.
This sign lets people know that there are dangerous chemical or construction going on up ahead or in that area.
This sign lets people know if they can park there motorcycles here or not.
This sign lets people know if they need something to dry that here it is and that they can use it.
This sign lets people know the exit roots when there is a fire, tornado, or etc…..
This sign lets people know to stop and don't drive by. This sign lets people know don't use this unless it is an emergency or fire. This sign lets people know what hockey team it is, when they are playing, what sport it is, and when they are not playing. This sign lets people know not to remove chairs from the lounge. This sign lets people know when the showers will be cleaned and what time they will be cleaned. This sign lets people know that this is a women’s bathroom and not men’s. This sign lets people know the stadium "Chief" wants to come back.

Car Writing

2008-09-12T07:41:00.001-07:00

I have some favorite places to spot writing. One is on cars. Bumper stickers and other forms of writing on cars say so much about the people driving them--often presenting personal information ranging from political views, music interests, product likes and dislikes, etc. One kind of car writing I love to hate are the Calvin--from Calvin and Hobbes--peeing stickers . They are not as popular as they were, say 5-7 years ago, but for a while there--and maybe this was an Arizona thing--they were EVERYWHERE. They loved to pee-battle over what kind of car was better, what sports team deserved to be dry and which should be peed on. And then, in a kind of a self-righteous, still horribly tacky move, Calvin had stopped peeing and instead was worshiping under a cross or something like that. It's good to know that he took time off from his busy peeing schedule for the Lord. My link has a variety of types of the sticker in a choose-your-own-adventure kind of arrangement. Have fun!

Driving home from the library the other day, this car writing made me smile. As you can see, the car is a nice one--maybe because a previous car was wrecked in a nasty rear-ender? The man driving the car, slowly I might add, was a senior citizen. I can imagine him getting worked up enough over the issue to go to Walmart or somewhere and buy those sticker letters. And then, carefully deciding what he was going to write to persuade people to keep their distance (the all caps second phrase is especially persuasive, don't you think?) What do you think? Maybe he should have gone here. Effective? I sure as heck was tailgating when I took this photo with my phone:

What is it about writing on cars that intrigues us? I have a buddy who advertised his business on his car and no where else--crazy? I think not. There are trucks--IKEA is one company that comes to mind--that drive around all day in bigger cities with a big billboard on the back of the truck. That's all they do. All day. Which reminds me, I've been needing a new bedroom set.

-Jon

Tong Cheng

2008-09-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hey guys~ My name is Cheng Tong, 18 years old, and I am a Chinese. You can also call me Kyle. I am a freshman in U of I, and I major in Mathematics. I live in FAR, which is quite far away from classroom.... But I enjoy walking on the beautiful campus everyday.

This is my first trip to America, and of course I live in China for 18 years. My hometown is Hangzhou, one of the most beautiful cities in China, so it is famous for its tourism. I am also crazy in traveling. I love to go out to other cities or countries. As a saying goes, the one never travels only reads one page of the world. I have been to Canada, Australia, Singapore, countless cities in China and of course America~

I like sports. Playing basketball, table-tennis, badminton, pool, and so on. Playing basketball and watching NBA were my 2 main hobbies during my high school life. I am fan of Yao-ming and Kobe. I am in America, and now, I have chance to watch a real NBA, cuz NBA is coming to UIUC next month! I am so excited!

Bio

2008-09-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Heeho Byun but you can call me Bryan. I'm from South Korea and lived in there until junior year of high school. In 2005, I moved to Shanghai, China because of my father's business. I re-entered an international school in Shanghai as a freshman. Therefore I went high school for more than 4 years. Because I lived in China for three years, I can speak mandarine.

My favorite thing to do is playing basketball although I'm not good at. Also, I love reading comics and listening to music. Recently, I found another habit. It is lying down on grass that is in very quiet place, and I found the best place near my dorm.

I love to surfing the internet. I usually go to Korean websites but visit some American websites too. They are Facebook, ebay and Youtube. Youtube is the one that I love the most to go. I can see many videos about many celebrities I'm interested in. Also, I can watch them without waiting for a few minutes.

Julio's Bio

2008-09-07T20:23:00.001-07:00

Hey wutz good? My name is Julio and I am a 17-year old freshman. My hometown is South Chicago. I used to live on 87^th street close to Commercial, South Chicago, Jeffery, King Drive, and Cottage Grove. I have two brothers and one sister. Recently I moved to Streamwood, IL because of gang problems and we are trying to buy a home. I am trying real hard to bring my family out of poverty by coming here to Urbana.

Well I think that I am a very good person to get along with and I like to laugh. During my spare time I like to chill with my friends, play poker, basketball, or waste gas and cruise in my Buick. Right now I am in the College of General Studies but I am probably going to go to the College of Engineering for Computer Engineering. It will be real hard but I think that I should be strong enough for the challenge.

I am addicted to shopping on ebay. There is always something I could order or sell. I listen mostly to Rap/Hip Hop/ and all spanish music. I am also addicted to Three 6 Mafia aka Triple 6 mafia. I have all their underground Cd's and their new ones too. I have about 2500 songs or 12/13gb of three 6 mafia.

I am also addicted to shopping on ebay. There is always something I could order or sell.

Ingrid McShan's Blog

2008-09-07T18:35:00.001-07:00

Hi, my name is Ingrid McShan but everyone calls me Shay. Im from Calumet City, Illinois which is like 15 minutes away from Chicago. I am the middle child of my mother's three children and her only daughter. I'm a big family person that loves to be around my family because everyone is so close. I feel family is important growing up especially being a teenager because teens need support by their families. I am usually a shy person around new people but once I get to use to being around them, my good personality comes out. My two favorite things to do is go shopping and eat. Chicken, icecream, and Chinese food are my favorite foods and I try to have one of these things at least once a week. I'm a girl who loves sports. My favorite sport is basketball and my favorite basketball player is Allen Iverson. When I'm bored in my room I usually search the web and get on my favorite site which is facebook. Facebook is cool because it's a way for me to chat with friends far away and also meet new people. Now you have learned a little about me.

2008-09-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

My name is Maggie Frederick, 18 years old and from Kennesaw, Ga. I have an older brother (Matt, 27) and an older sister (Jenn, 25). Sports have been a huge part of my life for the past 8 years. They first were introduced to me when the Paralympics came to Atlanta in 1996. I got to participate in the opening ceremonies and then I got the opportunity to try the sports out at a day camp and since then I was hooked. I play wheelchair basketball and track here at the University of Illinois. Because of sports I have had to chance to do so many things that others probably not get the chance to do in there life time. For example, two summers ago I got to compete in Ireland for track, I have traveled to almost every state in the United States to compete in basketball and track, I also get to Beijing in a week to watch the Paralympics. I am so excited because I get to go with my sister and I also get to watch some of my friends that live across the world compete. I hope that I will be there competing with my friends in the 2012 London, England Paralympics.

Somethings that I like to do other than sports are hanging out with friends, meeting new people, and watching movies. I love to meet people from different places and learn about their culture. It is really interesting to me. Over the summer I competed in New Jersey and there were teams from all over the world. I got to hang out with the people from Team France and from Team Mexico. I also met some girls when I was in Ireland this summer from Czech Republic.

As far as links go for this blog, if you would like to get a glimpse of the Paralympics your self you can check out: Universal Sports

The Paralympic website

I look forward to this class this semester and getting to know everyone in the class.

Bio of MIN

2008-09-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, how are you doing guys. My name is Minseok Kim and I’d rather be called Min. I am from South Korea and I have been staying US about 3 years now but my English is still so bad so I will be glade if you guys help me out anytime. I graduated high school in Indiana and it’s like half an hour from Chicago.
I am in chemistry major but I am gonna change it to bio-chemistry. I recently start playing guitar and I am really bad but I practice everyday so I hope it gets better. I also have played flute about 4 or 5 years but I didn’t bring it here so I cannot play it anymore.
I have one sister who graduated Boston University last year, and she is trying to get a job in Boston. I am taking ceramics class this year so if anyone needs bowls, plates, or cups just ask me I will make one for you. But I cannot guarantee you the sanitation of the thing. I don’t like taking a picture much, so I posterd kind a old picture; I think that’s like 2006 winter in Chicago. This is most about me and I hope all of you will have a wonderful first semester.

Hello!! My name is Michelle!!

2008-09-07T14:06:00.000-07:00

My name is Michelle. I was born in Taipei, Taiwan until 3 years ago. I moved to Cincinnati Ohio, because my dad came to study his MBA. That’s how my American life started on. I have been to United States several times when I was little. However, having a trip and move to here are totally two different things. I had a really hard time to get into the language and the culture. I’m so glad that I overcame so many hardships and finally get in here, U of I. I am in art and design major. I want to be a designer. Originally, I thought this is going to be fun, because I don’t have to study anymore. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Art major always have a lot more works than others, because we need to spend more time on our works, or portfolio. Anyway, I am still happy about my major. This is what I want!!
In my free time, my favorite thing to do is go on YouTube. This is an amazing website that I can search any shows I want to see. Even now I am in America; I still can watch Taiwanese TV shows. Also, I still can in touch with my friends just by logging in to the MSN. (This is the most people use messenger in Asia instead of AIM.) Last but not least, I really love this school so far. This is a huge school that I believe everyone will finally find a group where they belong to.

Chicago Night Scenery - Shu Mei

2008-09-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

The last picture I take at Chicago is this night scenery picture. I go up to the Ferris Wheel and watch night scenery before the day I move in. It was a memorable night for me, because it’s going to be my last night at Chicago. I never thought Chicago would be this beautiful if I didn’t go up to the Ferris Wheel. I always think Chicago is boring and I can’t wait till my academic life gets started. But the closer the move in day is, the more I miss my time at Chicago. I suddenly feels so emotional about everything at Chicago. I became so curious about everything at Michigan Ave. when I am going to shop. I pay closer attentions to things I normally ignore. I just realized how fun Chicago is and how much memories it gave me. Now I have to left Chicago and have my new life at a strange place and meet new people. I am excited to start my academic life but at the same time I am afraid. I am afraid I can’t handle the pressure and being left alone.

2008-09-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Hey what up my name is Nathan Palmer but everyone calls me Nate. I am a 18 year old freshman at the University of Illinois. I am from Chicago, Illinois I live on the south side of Chicago my whole life. I have a little brother and a big sister. My sister is 21 and my brother is 11

I went Simeon Career Academy High School the same school as Derrick Rose and Martez Wilson. I am a very out going person, easy to get alone with and a lot of people say I’m funny. At the university I play football, I play outside linebacker and I wear number forty eight. I have been playing football since I was in the eighth grade. When I started out I wasn’t that good and I didn’t have the slightest clue it hat one day I would be playing football in college.

I haven’t decided what I want my major to be but I think I’m real close on making a decision. I want to do something in the medical field but trying to take med classes and play football will be too hard. I think I’m going to go with physiology instead. Also in my spear time I enjoy getting on facebook.

BIO

2008-09-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hey whats up?? My name is Jamie Adishian. I am a freshman. I am from Corona, California! So i am still getting used to living out here. Its pretty crazy out here with the weather. It rains one day and not the next?

I get lost alot at campass.

I like to play softball. This year our team is gonna do really fantastic! So y'all better come and support the illini SOFTBALL!!

I am up to meeting new people. I also like to eat, and sleep!

I am playing on majoring in kineslogoy, but they put me in community health.. i know weird i dont know why im in there tho.

I love all the school spirit here on and off campass i love it. Not gonna lie the orange and blue is pretty legit!

The food out here isnt bad.. But not as good as back home.. like theres no BJs?? Wood Ranch Miguels jr Marie Calenders and etc...

I love ice cream cake!! from Dairy Queen...

i was so excited that there was a dairy queen out here.

Have fun

p.s you should go to Cali!! haha where the ocean is

surfs up!!

peace out girl scout

ATTENTION!

2008-09-03T12:48:00.000-07:00

Loving the posts so far. But....

Some of you aren't quite meeting the requirements.

1. Please post a picture of yourself! (not your dog or grandma)

2. Please make sure you write at least 200 words!

3. Don't forget to create a link to something you like on the web!

Thanks!
Jon

Lonnie Hu

2008-09-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

I am a freshmen of U of I. And although some body said that I do not look like Chinese, actually, I am a Chinese, and I have been in US for more than 2 years.

I might be the kind of person who people think is so weird, because I always do things in different ways, or you can say do not do like what others do. But I think it doesn't matter, cause it will be so boring if everyone just doing the same thing, and I don't want to bore my life.

However, I am just a normal person, and like many other boys, I like sports, although I do not good at sports. Now I am taking a ice skating course,which has a lot of students in the class, and I found that's very fun! Especially for me. I had been learning ice skating for a short time when I was a kid, but of course I have forgotten most of thing that I had learned in these ten years, so I have to pick it up again. Now I always skate like a small bird that with wings swinging. Anyway, It's very fun. And if anyone who also interesting in ice skating, I very hope you can come, because I'm also planning to go to skate some times other than the class.

2008-09-03T07:36:00.001-07:00

What up?? My name is Jamie Adishian. One of the things I like most is SOFTBALL!!

1st blog

2008-09-03T07:34:00.001-07:00

Well my name is Jessica Davis. Also known as J.D. Im from Florida and I love the beach. I came to this University on a softball scholarship. I love sports i love the thrill in them! Im in the college of AHS and currently majoring in Community Heath, but i plan on switching to Kinesiology and being a college coach one day.

Shu Mei

2008-09-03T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone. I am Shu Mei and I am Chinese. I immigrate to USA since I was nine years old. I kind of forgot my birth place and my little friends at China. Most of my memories I had in my brain is at Chicago with my family and friend. They play an important role in my life. I was the youngest before my nephew was born. I have four siblings, which means I am the baby in my family. I laugh everyday because of my family. I enjoy being together wit my family. They will always be on my side and support me. I am very thankful that I am one of the Mei’s family members. My friends are always my best listener. They always listen to me no matter what. I am so glad I had three of my best friends (June, Henry and Kelly) for the past nine years.

I used to go on facebook curtain times per day. Its fun to look at people’s pictures and it’s a great connection between friends and family. Beside facebook, I love to go karaoke. I love music and I enjoy singing with my friends.

Jaz's bio

2008-09-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

My name is Jasmine and I am 18yrs. My birthday is on July 10, 1990 and the doctor says I am 5'4"in. tall. I love sports. I have played volleyball(1 yr.), basketball( 8yrs.), softball(2 yrs., slow-pitch), cross-country(2 yrs.), track & field(1yr., long distance), soccer(1 yr.), football(summer, flag & tackle), and golf(summer). I love football & basketball best, but will watch or play anything. I love to have fun and staying active if it is productive. I am a non-denominate Christian, but I real don’t care what you are I will hang with you all. I love to eat and drink whatever is available and sleep. I love math & science even though I am not great at it. I love dogs and don’t really care much for cats, but our neighbor’s cat likes to hang out with me and chase dogs. I am allergic to pet hair. I am a middle child of 3, one little brother, 15 yrs., one older sister at TSU, 22 yrs. I live in a single parent home with my gorgeous mother & grandmother. They all sing, dance, & cheer (except brother does not cheer) and I do neither, but they believe I can. I am studying to become a cardiologist or doc. I love to build things and draw in my spare time. I like watching the boondocks, Simpsons, and family guy too. I just like cartoons.

Ashley Hummel (Bio)

2008-09-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

My name is Ashley René Hummel. I was born and raised in Urbana, IL. I have a sister that is 5 years younger, I miss her very much even though she is only 10 or so minutes away from campus. At home I have 2 dogs, 2 tree frogs, a snail, two full grown horses (male and female) and a 10 and half month old colt (male).

I'm currently an undecided major. I have no idea what I want to do with my life, preferably make lots of MONEY!! :) This academic years I'm living in Illini Towers. I love my housing, the apartments are amazing and the building is centrally located on campus. I couldn't have been randomly placed with better roommates!! I love my roommate Courtney, her and I get along like sisters! We have so much in common it's unreal since she is from Oregon. My other suite mates are also great! I'm really excited to see what this year brings.

I'm an extremely happy out going person and very approachable. I also love laughing!! I love meeting new people, friends are very important to me. I am always on facebook talking to my friends that are away at school or back in Germany. I would be lost without my friends.

Some of the things that I really enjoy doing are: shopping, traveling, white water rafting, rock climbing, skiing, snorkeling, going to rodeos, hanging out with friends, watching movies, talking on the phone and most of all Illini Mens Hockey. I can't wait for the mens hockey season to start!!! Go Illini!!!!

I'm extremely excited about being here at the University of Illinois, nearly everyone in my family has attended the University of Illinois, so it is an honor to follow in my families footsteps. I can't wait to graduate and make them proud.

I wish everyone best of luck on their new journey through life and hope these days lead to a bright future!! Go Illini!!! :)

Megi Jani

2008-09-03T07:28:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone! My name is Megi Jani. I am from Albania. I was born and I grew up there. It is a small but very lovely country between Italy and Greece (It’s the way I describe to almost everyone here in U.S. its location as almost no one knows it :) )! I have an elder sister, which is the only family I have here in America! And that makes me feel a little bit more like home! I am really liking it here but still, as they say “There’s no place like HOME!”. Something I really like about my life is that I have lived in many cities of Albania as well as in Greece for three years. This has also had a great effect in me, in making of myself a friendly person (at least this is the way people describe me :) )! I really like having many friends and going out with them, as that makes me feel good. And I really like cats, to me they are the most friendly animals ever! And I love them because they love me back :D !
I also like surfing the internet, I think it is a very interesting world, where you can find anything you want or you can communicate with people in the other part of the world in such a short time! My favorite site is Facebook.

GLENN FOSTER

2008-09-03T07:28:00.002-07:00

MY NAME IS GLENN FOSTER. 18 YEARS OF AGE. I'M AN INTERNATIONAL COMMODITIES STOCKBROKER IN TRAINING. I AM CURRENTLY ENROLLED THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS HERE. I PLAY FOOTBALL HERE FOR THE U. I LOVE TO GO OUT AND BE VERY ADVENTUROUS. I HAVE 5 DOGS. 1 ROTTWEILER, 1 ROTTWEILER MIXED WITH A BULL MASTIVE, A ROTTWEILER MIXED WITH A CHINESE SHARPEE, 1 PIT MIXED WITH A BOXER, 1 RETRIEVER. I WAS BORN IN QUEENS NEW YORK AND RAISED ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO. I WENT TO MOUNT CARMEL HIGH SCHOOL. IT IS AN ALL BOYS CATHOLIC SCHOOL ON THE SOUTH SIDE. I ENJOYED MY TIME I SPENT THERE. I PLAY FOOT BALL MY SOPHOMORE YEAR THROUGH MY SENIOR YEAR. I DID NOT MAKE THE TEAM MY FRESHMAN YEAR SO I WRESTLED AND DID TRACK AND FIELD. I LOVE MATH AND I LOVE THE STOCK MARKET. I LOVE THE FAST PACE MARKET AND ITS A GREAT PLACE FOR MY HIGH ADRENALINE LEVEL AND A MY MATHEMATICAL AND STRATEGICAL INTELLECT. FACEBOOK IS NICE.

Welcome!

2008-08-26T08:56:00.001-07:00

Welcome to our Rhetoric 101 class blog! Woo-hoo!

This is where you will be coming weekly to post pictures and links of writing you find in its "natural habitat."

Be on the look out for writing in all it's various genres and contexts and tell us a little about what you think that writing means, how it persuades, and whether or not you feel like it is doing an adequate job of doing so. (Please, also, refer to my class hand out for more thorough instructions.)

For you first post, however, I'd like you to tell the class a little about yourself. In this post, please include a picture of you and at least one link to something on the internet that you think is cool. Also, please follow the regular guidelines of at least 200 words for this and subsequent blog posts.

I'll start:

As I mentioned in class, I am from Arizona. From, as in, I lived there longer than I lived anywhere else (about 12 years), though I have also lived in northern Utah, Las Vegas, and San Francisco--and now here in good ol' Champaign. My wife and I love it here as do our kids.

I've been married for eight years (gasp!--since many of you were 10! Holy crap!) and my kids are five, three and one. Though of late, I have become a total academic/computer nerd, I used to want to be a rock star and played in a band with the same guy (and various others) for 6 or 7 years. You can listen to some of our tunes here.

Other than that, like I mentioned: unadulterated nerdiness. I really enjoy pretty much anything that has to do with composition: writing, teaching writing, blogging, twittering, non-alphabetic text composition (as in music, art, design, architecture, etc.), and of particular interest to my teaching is visual rhetoric which entails all kinds of fun stuff--like street art! Banksy is one of my favorite street artists. We'll be spending some time playing around with these visual texts and thinking about what they can teach us about writing. You may not think so, but there really is a ton!

Here's a picture of me with my old band mates in Chicago the day after Radiohead rocked Lollapalooza: