my. attempt. at. an. ethics. journal.

Journal 2-3

my. attempt. at. an. ethics. journal.

I. In last week's blog I said that I would do some research on documentary making. After searching the internet, here is what I found:
the following website had some valuable information:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2002129_make-a-documentary.html

source: "How to Make a Documentary | eHow.com." eHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2010. http://www.ehow.com/how_2002129_make-a-documentary.html.

II. This week in class we finished watching "The Persuaders". It was a really interesting film with a lot of valuable information. For two class periods we watched brand analysis presentations. Among those were The North Face, Mizuno, Nike, Hershey's, Bloch, Puma, and Poptarts.We had to include our personal idea of what a brand is, a brand that we're loyal to, that brand's logo, the brand's controversial issues, and an advertisement for that brand. On Friday we had a substitute. We spent the class period working on a worksheet about fair use in documentary making.

source:

direct, p., & man, U. c. (n.d.). Welcome to United Gift Inc! A Unique Crystal Art Source Manufacturer You Have Never Seen in the US! Design, Manufacturing for Business to Business.. Welcome to United Gift Inc! A Unique Crystal Art Source Manufacturer You Have Never Seen in the US! Design, Manufacturing for Business to Business.. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://www.unitedgiftinc.com/index.html

I thought that "The persuaders" was a rather interesting film. There was one part that particularly interested me. An advertising expert put a bunch of people in a room and had them rate their feelings about an ad as it went along. He watched their combined ratings on a graph and took notice to where the interest level was the highest. From that, he was able to understand what key words and phrases catch the audience's attention, attracting them to the product. Based on his consumer testing results, he is able guide producers into making the most appealing adversitements. I thought that was pretty ingenious. I also thought it was pretty cool to hear the research my classmates did on their favorite brands. From my brand analysis I learned that there is a company called The South Butt in competition with The North Face. From Matt's analysis i learned that Poptarts got sued because someone's toaster caught on fire. From Arius's analysis I learned that the creator of Puma and the creator of Adidas are brothers.

source:

North Face v. South Butt « Pittsburgh Trademark Lawyer. (n.d.). Pittsburgh Trademark Lawyer. Retrieved December 5, 2010, from http://pittsburghtrademarklawyer.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/north-face-v-south-butt/

Something we didn't discuss in class that I think is worth discussing is how much of a bandwagon effect there is on some brand name products. There are at least fifteen brands that I'm loyal to simply because "everyone else is" or because "all the cool kids have it". Some examples would be Rainbow flipflops, North Face jackets, Ugg boots, Vera Bradley bags, and Chi hair straighteners. Sometimes all it takes for a product to gain popularity is one of the "cool kids" using it. Soon enough everyone is using it because it's the newest ticket to popularity. Basically, all it takes is for the right person to start using a product.


III. For next week's blog I want to do some research some brand comparisons. I want to take similar brands like Kelloggs and General Mills and compare the consumer rates for each. I'm interested to see which products have proved to be better than their ridiculously similar competition.

Thanksgiving break...I forgot what we did in class...oops

Journal 2-2


Thanksgiving break...I forgot what we did in class...oops


I. In last week's blog I said that I wanted to know more about the group in Dallas that is similar to the Maine Troop Greeters. I had a difficult time finding any information about this group. However there were two articles that at least proved the existence of the Dallas troop greeters.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/20/they-need-to-know-theyre-loved/
>> The first paragraph talks about a woman who greets troops at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport


source:
Volunteers greet troops every day - Washington Times. (n.d.). Washington Times - Politics, Breaking News, US and World News. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/20/they-need-to-know-theyre-loved/.




http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Returning-Soldier-Surprises-Wife-at-DFW-Airport.html
>> A young girl was greeting incoming troops at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and to her surprise, her husband was one of them


source:
Surprise! Troop Greeter Gets to Welcome Husband | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth . (n.d.). NBC Dallas-Fort Worth - Local News, Weather, Traffic, Entertainment, Events, Breaking News | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth . Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local-beat/Returning-Soldier-Surprises-Wife-at-DFW-Airport.html. 



II. Last week we started watching a film called "The Persuaders" and began working on our storyboards for our documentaries. "The Persuaders" is an interesting film about the techniques and motives of the advertising industry. It shows a bunch of different commercials and analyzes the persuasion techniques behind them. We did a worksheet on brand loyalty and talked about what brands we stay loyal to and why. As far as storyboarding goes, we looked at an example of an ideal storyboard, and talked with our groups about how we would set up our documentary. We also watched two short videos, in which a guy discussed the basic ground rules for making a documentary. He talked about lighting, interviewing, camera angles, zooming, etc.

source:

"What’s Your Advertising Technique? | Gas Station Advertising." GasStationAdvertising.com - Executing Non-traditional advertising ideas.. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. http://www.gasstationadvertising.com/business-advertising/104-what%E2%80%99s-your-advertising-technique/.

source:

Creative Advertising Techniques That Work - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum. (n.d.). Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum. Retrieved November 28, 2010, from http://www.contractortalk.com/f12/creative-advertising-techniques-work-67079/.

Personally I think the advertising unit is very interesting. It's interesting to be exposed to the trickery and deceit that comes along with everyday adversiting. I love to watch commercials and you begin to have a greater appreciation for them once you've been behind the scenes. One brand that I am loyal to is Rainbow flip flops. I've never seen a commercial for them, but they're certainly advertised by the general public. When you go into a shoe store, the Rainbows are generally on a rack behind the counter. This alone proves that they're high quality. I'm loyal to Rainbows because they're the most comfortable flip flops i've ever put on my feet. Also they're extremely durable. I've had the same pair for two years and they've been through dirt, mud, rain, snow, and tons of wear and tear. They've faded in color and the leather is worn down, but they're still perfectly usable.

source:

"Keely-Okie." Keely-Okie. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. http://keelyokie.blogspot.com/.

Something we haven't discussed in class that I find very interesting about advertising is radio advertisements. They're really different because there's nothing to see, and "seeing is believing". Are radio advertisements still equally as effective? Do they bring in as much business as TV and magazine ads do? I know that personally, I switch the radio station when the commercials come on. I hate listening to people talk, so if there's nothing to look at, I don't want to hear about it. Radio advertising does nothing for me unless I happen to hear a key word at the very beginning that holds my interest. Usually those are just about concerts or upcoming events though.


III. For next week's blog I want to do some more research on documentary making. Those videos we watched were very helpful, but I feel like there is more to be learned before we start filming. This is a project that really interests me so I'm hoping to do an awesome job with it. Therefore I hope to find more useful tips that will guide my group as we make our film.

What is...the way we get by?

Journal 2-1


What is...the way we get by?


I. In my last blog, I was curious about the results of the election that took place on November 2. Here is what I found:
This chart has basically all the information reguarding the election results.
https://www.voterinfo.sbe.virginia.gov/election/DATA/2010/EB24720D-F5C6-4880-8DC5-12AE4D0C3772/Unofficial/6_s.shtml


II. This week's blog is going to be about the latest documentary we watched in class, called "The Way We Get By". This was my favorite documentary so far. It was really interesting to me. It was about a group of veterans, three seniors in particular, who devote their time to welcoming home or sending away troops. They're called the Maine Troop Greeters, which is a group of veterans and ordinary people who greet the current soldiers and let them know they're appreciated. The main characters were Bill, Joan, and Jerry. Bill was a widower who had prostate cancer and was struggling to pay his bills. Joan is a mother of eight with two grandchildren in active duty. Jerry lost his youngest son at age 10 and is currently suffering heart problems. Obviously, these three have their fair share of difficulties in their lives. However, they choose to devote their time to serving others.

source:

Fanning, L. C. (n.d.). The National Guard - Heartwarming film pays tribute to Maine troop greeters. The National Guard - Official Website of the National Guard. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2009/07/071609-Heartwarming.aspx

Personally, I thought this documentary was very moving. It proves that life isn't always about you. No matter what you're going through, you can always find a way to make someone else appreciate you. My favorite part of the whole film was the speech that Bill gave to the camera person. He said "My life don't mean a hell of a lot to me, but if I can make it mean something to somebody else, that's my endeavor...I have nothing, really, to live for except what I do for other people. I've outlived my usefulness as far as individually. But helping other people puts a little meaning back into my life. At least I hope that's what it's doing." This was expecially moving to me because it just goes to show that everyone has a purpose. No matter how worthless you think you are, there is someone out there who values you. If you think you have nothing to live for you're absolutely wrong. Everyone has a purpose and a meaning in life. For Bill, he believes that the only purpose he has left is to help people. Therefore, no matter how old, poor or sick he is, he can still serve a purpose in life.

source:

POV - The Way We Get By . Have You Met the Maine Troop Greeters? | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://www.pbs.org/pov/waywegetby/have_you_met.php



It is believed that volunteering is a way for people to stay happy and healthy. I fully believe this because my grandpa is a living example. He is currently 83 years old and he worked for FEMA as a civil engineer up until last year. That job was everything to him. He poured every ounce of heart and soul into that job. Sometimes is required that he travel, and stay away for a long time. This was rough on his family, but we knew it made him happy. There were several times when he considered retiring, but he couldn't ever bring himself to do it. We, as his family, knew he shouldn't be traveling anymore, but we also knew that his job was keeping him happy and healthy. There was even a few times when he wound up in the hospital in another state due to health problems that he encountered while he was on the job. However no struggle was great enough to make him stop doing what he loved. So, because of personal experience, I thoroughly believe that doing what makes you happy can boost your well being. In this film, it is volunteering to greet the troops that brings joy and strength to these elderly people.

source:

Sobel, R. S., & Leeson, P. T. (n.d.). Find the FEMA Concentration Camp Near You! | USAHM Conspiracy News. USAHitman | Conspiracy Theories & Alternative News. Retrieved November 14, 2010, from http://usahitman.com/find-the-fema-concentration-camp-near-you/ 


III. For next week's class I want to know more about the group in Dallas that is similar to the Maine Troop Greeters. It was mentioned in the packet that we read, so I plan to further research that organization.

The Difficult Journal

Journal 1-7

The Difficult Journal

At the end of last week's class I wanted to know more about Mormons. We had researched the state of Utah and found that the population is primarily Mormon. Here's what I found out about Mormons:

Joseph Smith, president of the church, said: "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the apostles and prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it." However they believe in different additional scriptures to the bible, and continuing revelation through prophets and apostles.

source: Mormons. (n.d.). The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . Retrieved November 2, 2010, from http://lds.org/topic/mormons/

Joseph Smith

source: Joseph Smith - Mormonism Photo (344391) - Fanpop. (n.d.). Fanpop - Fan clubs for everything. What are you a fan of?. Retrieved November 2, 2010, from http://www.fanpop.com/spots/mormonism/images/344391/title/joseph-smith-photo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-aSq4xoXTQ&feature=related

source: PolishAbinadi. (n.d.). YouTube - truth about mormons( secrets), What they won't tell you . YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved November 2, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-aSq4xoXTQ&feature=related

This week is going to be a little bit difficult to write a journal entry about. On Wednesday I wasn't in class, but I was told that the projector broke and we didn't have class that day anyway. I was also absent from most of class on Thursday. I was only present long enough to catch about five minutes of the video. So I will do my best to discuss what actually DID happen in the three days of class that I witnessed. We continued to watch the documentary called "Divided State", which deals with the controversy over Michael Moore speaking at UVSC. There were obviously two different viewpoints reguarding this issue. The people that supported Michael Moore speaking at the college did so with respect to our freedom of speech. The ones who were opposed to Michael Moore speaking believed that he was going against their personal values and those of the state of Utah.One guy even offered to pay the amount of money that was spent on all the tickets, just to keep Michael Moore from coming. Personally I agree with the people that wished to allow Michael Moore's freedom of speech. There is no reason he shouldn't be allowed to express his viewpoint, especially when he has as many supporters as he does. In the end, he ended up giving his speech at the college campus. There were only two protestors shown, who were ejected from the premisis. Other than that nothing crazy happened, and the Michael Moore supporters were satisfied with what he had to say.

source: UtahMentor. (n.d.). UtahMentor. Retrieved November 2, 2010, from http://www.utahmentor.org/campustour/undergraduate/5338/Utah_Valley_State_College/Utah_Valley_State_College1.html

III. For next week's class I want to know more about the election that took place today, Tuesday November 2. I plan to research the candidates and the results of the election.

And the politics continue...

Journal 1-6

And the politics continue...

I. Last week I wanted to know who would win the election between Chuck Robb and Oliver North. To my surprise, Chuck Robb won. This statement from "The Perfect Candidate" basically says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bTYhy8_GE
Basically America just didn't trust Oliver North as much as they trusted Chuck Robb, because of Oliver North's involvement in Iran-Contra and other scandals. Chuck Robb had an effective method of appealing to the people, and it won him the election.

source: WickDahdams. (n.d.). YouTube - Chuck Robb OWNS Ollie North . YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bTYhy8_GE


II. This week in class we first finished watching "The Percect Candidate". As mentioned above, Chuck Robb won the election. This wasn't exactly what I expected. However, that might be due to the fact that much more of Oliver North's campaign was revealed to us than Chuck Robb's. I didn't have the chance to be unbiased because most of the film was focused on Oliver North. Next we spent a class period analyzing the film, like we have done with every other one. We discussed how politics are basically evil and full of lies. Also we talked about negative campaigning being more effective than positive campaigning because it is more noticeable. However it is also unethical because it is intentionally bringing down another candidate. We discussed the role of campaign managers as well. At the end of the film, North's campaign manager was expressing his anger when they lost the election. It's an extremely difficult and tedious job. Personally it's a role that I would never even dream of taking on. I'm not very big on politics and I wouldn't want to put forth that kind of time.

source: Saying Cartoons and Comics. (n.d.). CartoonStock - Cartoon Pictures, Political Cartoons, Animations.. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/saying.asp

For the second half of the week we started discussing our next film, "Divided State". We researched the state of Utah, discovering that the population is 92% white, and the dominant religion is mormon. The political history is primarily Republican. We also researched the 2004 presidential election between Bush (R), Kerry (D), and Nader (I). The biggest issue at the time was the War on Terror and foreign policy. Bush won the election.

source: Alter, L., & Toronto. (n.d.). You Are Where You Eat: Obesity Maps of North America : TreeHugger. TreeHugger. Retrieved October 24, 2010, from http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/you-are-where-you-eat.php

At the very end of the week we started watching "Divided State", but we're not very far into it so i'll touch on that in next week's blog.


III. I want to know more about the Mormons of Utah. It's a random topic, but I had no idea the population was primarily Mormon until we researched it. Why are there so many Mormons there? Does that affect their political standpoint? What are some of the main beliefs of the Mormons?

Ollie North or Chuck Robb?

Journal 1-5

Ollie North or Chuck Robb?

I. At the end of last week I wanted to know more about the two longest held hostages from the Lebanon crisis. Here's what I found:
Terry Anderson- he was kidnapped on March 16, 1985 in West Beirut; he was kidnapped by members of the Shi'ite Muslim fundamentalist group called Hizballah, who wanted to swap Western hostages for comrades imprisoned in Kuwait; He was chained to a radiator in a dark room, had 15 minutes each day to shower, brush his teeth, and wash his underwear, and slept on a mat on the floor.

source: Hostages The Lost Life Of Terry Anderson - TIME. (n.d.). Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957275,00.html

David Jacobsen- he was kidnapped in May of 1985, and was held captive for 17 months; kidnapped by Muslim fundamentalists; was in the hands of Islamic Jihad.

source: BBC ON THIS DAY | 2 | 1986: US hostage freed in Beirut. (n.d.). BBC News - Home. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/2/newsid_2537000/2537987.stm

II. This week in class we started with looking at some various propaganda techniques such as: name calling, glittering generalities, transfer, testimonials, plain folks, band wagon, fear, and unwarranted extrapolation. I've seen most of these techniques used in popular media and political campaigns before. I'm not as familiar with some as others though. I personally have been exposed most to name calling, testimonials, band wagon, and glittering generalities. When I think about propaganda being used, the first thing that comes to mind are the acne commercials or the animal commercials where famous people are shown using the product or supporting the organization. In truth, that doesn't inspire me to follow their lead and do what they do.

source: nature, a. t., fallible, O. s., admits, a. O., So, t. a., & institution&, t. q. (n.d.). Podcast « . Fightin' Words. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://fightinwordsusa.wordpress.com/podcast/

For the rest of the week, we watched "The Perfect Candidate" which is about the political campaining of Oliver North and Chuck Robb. We saw each man and his campaign committee attempting to reach out to the public. We saw videos and commercials that were made to shoot down the opposing candidate. We even saw a debate between the two candidates. I personally feel that Oliver North has the better campaign, but maybe that's just because we weren't able to see as much of Chuck Robb's. I've never payed much attention to senatorial campaigns, or even presidential for that matter. Chuck Robb seemed most focused on appealing to the people personally. He wandered through a grocery store shaking hands and introducing himself to people. Oliver North, on the other hand, would speak to larger groups and make his points rather than being personal.

source: Iran-Contra Affair: Where Are They Now? - ABC News. (n.d.). ABCNews.com - Breaking news, politics, online news, world news, feature stories, celebrity interviews and more - ABC News. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/BrianRoss/popup?id=3196035

source: Chuck Robb. (n.d.). NNDB: Tracking the entire world. Retrieved October 16, 2010, from http://www.nndb.com/people/229/000041106/

III. This week we will be finishing up "The Perfect Candidate". By the end of the week I hope to know who won the senatorial election and why. I want to know exact reasons why the people chose who they did. Which campaigning techniques were effective and which ones weren't? 

Documentary Rivalry

Journal 1-4

Documentary Rivalry

1. I didn't really get an answer to my last week's question. The only interaction I remember between Michael Moore and Mike Wilson is the time when Moore was speaking at the college. Wilson asked for an interview and Moore declined. Later in the movie, Wilson is shown calling repeatedly to get a meeting with Moore arranged. He is denied basically every time. He even sent some flowers to Moore and never got his interview.

II. This week in class we finished watching "Michael Moore Hates America" and talked about it. We found overall that Mike Wilson uses the same media techniques as Michael Moore. We discussed the ethical issues behind Wilson's documentary. Where is the line drawn in terms of ethnicity in a documentary? Well, the title of Wilson's film is just the icing on the cake. As soon as you pick up this documentary you can tell that someone is going to be bashing this Michael Moore character. Already the audience gets the impression that Moore is the "bad guy". Anything that is harmful to the reputation of another person is technically unethical.

http://www.veiled-chameleon.com/weblog/httpdocs/images/blogcontent/michael_moore_hates_america.jpg

Penn Jillette was a man featured in Wilson's documentary. He said "Fearing not that I become my enemy, in the instant that I preach." I think Mike Wilson is honestly a little bit hypocritical. He bashes Michael Moore for all of his ways, but then does the same. Just as Michael Moore used evil media techniques to convince people that America is bad, Wilson used the same evil techniques to convince people that Michael Moore is bad.

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_Penn_Jillette_090105_ssv.jpg

Now that we've finished both documentaries, I've concluded that Michael Moore's documentary was much more effective at making its point. I don't entirely agree with either man's views, and I think they're both obnoxious. However Michael Moore did a better job with varying his media techniques to hypnotize the audience. Mike Wilson appears to be a more honest filmmaker than Michael Moore, but that isn't what makes an audience take your side most of the time. Moore captures the attention of his audience at the very beginning of the documentary, and holds it until the very end. The cartoon, the montage, and the random unqualified authorities made "Bowling for Columbine" entertaining enough for people to forget about the lies being presented.

At the end of the week we took some background notes on "The Perfect Candidate" and began watching it. As far as my opinion on this topic goes, I have an idea of an ideal political candidate. He/she would be charismatic, honest, organized, responsible, devoted, educated and respectful.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_NE-72ZXux-g/SRLKGqXQ7-I/AAAAAAAAGVg/qTVGH7IT4DU/s400/IranContraTimeCover.jpg

III. For this upcoming week I want to know more about the Iran-Contra Scandal. I hope to get information about the two longest held hostages, Terry Anderson and David Jacobsen.

Does Michael Moore hate America?

Journal 1-3

Does Michael Moore hate America?

I. In reguard to my question from last week, I did find out a little bit of information. I didn't figure out the actual answer, but Mike Wilson's "behind the scenes" information was useful. There was an interview with the people from the bank (where Michael Moore got his gun) that revealed some unknown facts. The only things we saw were Michael Moore going into the bank, opening an account, and getting a gun. However he had already spoken to the lady at the bank prior to the filming, and his gun had been shipped from another location. Where i'm going with this is that the people shown in the documentary are at least somewhat aware of what Michael Moore does with his films.

II. This week we began watching another documentary, this time by Mike Wilson. It uses many of the same fallacies to present the opposite viewpoint of Michael Moore's. Mike Wilson believes that Michael Moore hates America, and he does everything in his power to prove that to the viewers.

http://johnharmstrong.typepad.com/john_h_armstrong_/2009/02/michael-moore-hates-america.html

I think the most effective persuading technique that Mike Wilson uses is the interview with the guy who "diagnoses" Michael Moore with an actual mental condition. I don't remember what exactly that guy's profession was, but I remember him being a qualified authority.

Mike Wilson, much like Michael Moore, uses fallacies to trick the audience. He uses rhetorical questioning, appeal to pity, appeal to the people, cartoons with loaded language, unqualified opinion, red herring, and the use of qualified authorities.

So far i'm not particularly enjoying Mike Wilson's documentary. I liked Michael Moore's a lot better. I wonder if that might have been the other way around if I had seen them in reverse order though. I thought "Bowling for Columbine" was a lot more entertaining and interesting. "Michael Moore Hates America" is more factual and straight forward. Mike Wilson does what he has to do to make his point, and that's it. There isn't any "wow factor" to hold the audience's attention.

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/should-obama-supporters-be-forced-to-pay-a-tax-to-vote-in-the-next-election/question-651011/?page=10&link=ibaf&imgurl=http://blog.pappastax.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mike-moore.gif&q=michael%2Bmoore%2Bhates%2Bamerica

III. One thing I would like to know more about from this week's class is: Have Michael Moore and Mike Wilson ever had an actual sit-down interview together? It was shown in the documentary that Wilson went to a college where Moore was speaking and asked for an interview, but he was refused. So I want to know if the two men with contrasting viewpoints have ever had a civil conversation about their documentaries or their differing opinions.

Bowling For Columbine Overview

Journal 1-2

Bowling For Columbine Overview

I. Honestly, I didn't really get any new information reguarding the answer to my questions from last week. However, after watching Bowling for Columbine, I have a little better understanding of the power of fallacies. Michael Moore uses tons of them to make his points. As a viewer, I found myself being easily fooled by his media tricks.


II. This week we watched Bowling for Columbine. I really enjoyed it, actually, and took a lot out of it. Michael Moore takes real life conflicts and reflects on them in a way that is overly sarcastic and funny. He does a really good job of holding the viewer's attention. By turning serious matters into dramatic jokes, Moore is able to pull people's opinion one way or another.

http://rapscene.blogspot.com/2007/10/bowling-for-columbine.html

One fallacy that is used very frequently in this video is phantom questioning. He cuts out certain sections of the video clips from various interviews, making the person speaking look like a moron. We often see the response of the person, but not the question that was asked. This causes the person to appear different than they actually are.

Another thing that stuck out to me during the video was the "Wonderful World" montage. It was ridiculously easy to pick out the parts of the cartoon that were completely inaccurate. However, any normal viewer who is not asked to analyze the content might not notice the historical inaccuracy. Wrong ideas were expressed about the following groups: Indians, white people, the KKK, the NRA, and the British.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/politicalcartoons/ig/Political-Cartoons/Moment-of-Silence.htm

There is one final thing that stood out to me during our exploration of Bowling for Columbine. Someone in class mentioned that it would have been really different for us if we hadn't researched the people and things involved before watching the video. I agree completely with that statement because some people were made out to be way more harmless than they actually are. Also, facts about things like the Oklahoma City bombing and the Columbine High School massacre were altered or dramatized for media effect.

http://libcom.org/library/new-bad-guys-wildcat

III. One thing I would like to know more about this topic is: When Michael Moore interviews these people, does he tell them that their interview is going to be cropped and dramatized? Are they made aware that he's going to cut certain things out to create a desired effect?

Ambiguity, Fallacies, and Loaded Language

Journal 1-1

Ambiguity, Fallacies, and Loaded Language

II.  This week in class we learned about ambiguity, fallacies, and loaded language. We first watched a powerpoint on ambiguity. The example I best remember is a sign that says: SLOW CHILDREN AT PLAY. This can either be interpreted as a sign warning drivers to slow down because children are playing, or a sign that states "slow children" are at play. Next we studied fallacies. There are fallacies of relevance, fallacies of weak induction, fallacies of presumption, fallacies of ambiguity, and fallacies of grammatical analogies. Broken down even farther, there are 22 different types of fallacies that fall under those 5 categories. One day for homework we wrote a radio commercial using fallacies and loaded language. Our commercial included the use of power words, such as: extraordinary, amazing, horrific and demolishing. These words are either overwhelmingly positive or overwhelmingly negative. Finally we watched "The Awful Truth" and discussed the media techniques presented in the episodes.

Personally I thought these topics were all very interesting. Some of the examples of ambiguity were rather humorous. My favorite topic, however, was fallacies. I have witnessed most of the given examples in my own life, but never actually analyzed them. When we were asked to make up a new example of each fallacy, I realized just how often they're used in everyday language.

Also, I believe that writing the radio commercial was a good exercise for the class. It helped me to get a feel for what goes through the minds of radio advertisement writers. A lot of thought has to go into the use of loaded language. You have to decide who the target audience will be, and what they will want to hear. You have to decide what is going to motivate the listeners to buy into what you're advertising. Not only do you want to be convincing, but you also have to be careful not to be overly dramatic. I believe that when loaded language, like power words, is used excessively, it can be unconvincing to the listener.

III. One thing I would like to know more about from this week's class is this: How much do fallacies actually affect people? Like, when media uses them, do viewers actually recognize it? Are people easily fooled by fallacies?

Sources: 

CSL Cartoonstock. Fallacies of Cartoons and Comics. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/f/fallacies.asp

History of Ideas: Evolution. Course Objectives. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from http://flightline.highline.edu/gavantag/Evolution/evsylF08.htm

New World Disorder. (2008, November 27). Logical Fallacies. Retrieved September 19, 2010, from http://theskepticshelpdesk.blogspot.com/