Leave a reply
  1. The speaker in the ad is a Pepsi-Cola Company.The speaker trying to present themselves that their drink is very tasty and suitable for any meal and any party. He shows on this ad that they are very happy and funny.
  2. The message on the ad says: It fun to cook with this drink, make good conversation, when you drinking you feel like you bouncing. They enjoy and have fun with drink as is says below photo: WHY TAKE LESS…WHEN PEPSI BEST.
  3. The assumptions in the ad is says:MORE BOUNCE TO THE PEPSI BOUNCE.
  4. The audience of the ad IS people who drinking Pepsi and smiling.
  5. The strategies the ad to try to persuade the audience is the people happy, smile , the picnic floor food and BBQ meal.
  6. The pathos to persuade the audience to show people is happy and food delicious with this drink Pepsi.
  7. The advertising is very effective will work if a person who is very hungry and if he or she see this ad and at this moment he or she is feel thirsty, then of course it is effective. But I also think that it may not work for many people, such as vegetarians, or who are dieting, or those people who are against sugary carbonated drinks.

Instructions for March 19-23

14 Replies

**All tasks in this “module” are due by the end of the day on March 23. You can do them at your own pace, but some tasks involve responding to each other, so don’t leave everything to the last minute.**

For each writing task, I recommend you do the writing in something that saves automatically, like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or the Notes app on your phone. Or even a piece of paper. Then, copy/paste it onto the course site. This will prevent you from accidentally losing your work.

Topic and Learning Objectives

This week, we’ll be exploring additional topics relating to algorithms and society, doing “pilot research,” and narrowing down ideas for your research paper proposals.

My goal for this week’s activities is for you to 1) learn about more ways algorithms affect our lives, 2) practice using our library resources and evaluating sources, and 3) practice beginning a writing process from a place of curiosity rather than a predetermined conclusion.

Often, people begin research with a conclusion already in mind and simply search for sources that support that conclusion. While it’s perfectly okay to have a hypothesis, I believe it’s important to be open to evolving your ideas as you learn more– this is easiest when you’re researching something you don’t know much about but are genuinely interested in.

Overview of Tasks:

  1. Orient yourself with a “Writing Into the Week” prompt (comment on this post)
  2. Do the readings
  3. Decide what sparks your curiosity and do some research
  4. Share your findings and write a little about them (write your own post or comment on a classmate’s post)
  5. Look at your classmates’ findings, read any of their articles that interest you (respond if you wish)
  6. Develop some preliminary inquiry questions (respond to your own Writing Into the Week comment)

Step 1: Writing Into the Week

Please write for approximately 10-15 minutes on the following questions:

  1. What do you remember from our past readings? What were the main ideas, the main arguments, or just some examples that stuck with you?
  2. Did you especially disagree with any of the readings, or did any of them especially speak to you? Why or why not?
  3. What from these readings still confuses you, or what would you like to learn more about?

Post your answers, or a revised version of your answers, as a comment on this post. (I still want you to feel safe writing whatever you want in your Writing Into the Week– the first draft is just for you, and then revise so you only post what you’re comfortable sharing.)

Step 2: Do the Readings

**This part will probably take the longest**

“Working Anything But 9-to-5”
“Leading Mathematician Debunks Value Added”

“The Long Shadow of Bad Credit in a Job Search”
“Secret E-Scores Chart Consumers’ Buying Power”
“Could a Bank Deny Your Loan Based on Your Facebook Friends?”

Revisit from 3/11:
“Are Workplace Personality Tests Fair?”
Optional: Take the Five Factor Personality Test, Myers-Briggs Test, or another psychometric test and research what this “means” for you as an employee (THIS IS ONLY FOR FUN and has no bearing on what career you should pursue)

Step 3: Research!

Decide what sparks your curiosity from the readings for this week and do some exploratory research to learn more about that topic. However many things you look at, choose at least two sources to write about.

  1. The first source should be something you find through the John Jay library website (the Course Site has a widget in the sidebar that lets you search the library site directly from here! Check it out! Or, you can navigate to the main library page here.)
  2. The second source can be from wherever you want, but you should choose something you believe is credible and well-written.

Step 4: Share Your Findings

Write a little about each source:

  • What sparked your curiosity that led you to this source?
  • Summarize the source
  • What did you learn from it?
  • How reliable do you think the source is? How do you know?

You should either share your findings in your own post, OR if you see that a classmate has researched something similar to your topic, you can add your findings as a comment on their post. If writing your own post, use the category “Student Posts.”

Step 5: Look At Everyone’s Findings!

Browse through what your other classmates found and wrote about. Read any articles that pique your interest. Respond to your classmates if you wish– even if it’s just to tell them that you thought their article sounded interesting.

Step 6: Draft Some Inquiry Questions For Your Final Project

Using what you learned this week, from your own research and from looking at your classmates’ findings, draft some preliminary inquiry questions for your final project. 

Inquiry questions should not be questions you already know the answer to, although you can have a hypothesis about what the answer will be. They should also be specific, focused, and answerable within the scope of a final project. (Don’t try to solve the whole world! You’re not writing a dissertation.) However, the inquiry questions should be complex enough that you can’t just quickly Google the answer.

These questions should be drafts and do not need to be the questions you write about in your proposal, although they can be. You are allowed to change your topic/research questions at any time.

Post your inquiry questions as a reply to your own Writing Into the Week comment. 

Tips for Managing Mental Health Under Social Distancing

6 Replies

Because CUNY is now all-online, I’m essentially in isolation besides my partner, and am expecting to be working entirely from home at least until August and possibly not seeing my family until Thanksgiving (I was supposed to visit for spring break, and see them several other times over the summer). So that’s what I’m dealing with. However, all of our situations will be different, and all of our needs different, so my tips aren’t going to be applicable to everyone. So, I’m gonna tell you what I’m doing, but you should share your own tips/practices/things that are helping you in the comments! 

  1. I cleaned my entire apartment in preparation. Stress is much harder for me to manage when I’m in a messy space.
  2. I’m getting dressed first thing in the morning every day, even though I’m trying to go out as little as possible. This makes me feel like it’s time to start my day, and makes it easier for me to be productive on the things I need to do.
  3. I’m making my bed every day. Usually I’m bad about doing this, but again, it makes me feel clean and organized mentally as well as physically.
  4. Going for walks. This was confirmed as a good practice by my friend’s brother, who works in an ER. Going outside is perfectly safe as long as you’re not in a crowded area/standing close to other people. Walking gets you a change of scenery and a little exercise.
  5. I’m keeping my phone on the other side of the room. I turned off the volume, texted my family I would be away from my phone, and am sitting on the other side of the room. It’s very easy for me to get caught up in the endless stream of messages and news articles, and it’s all stressful. In order to get my work done, I’m allowing myself to engage in that only when I choose to take a break, instead of keeping my phone near me and constantly getting distracted.
  6. I’m working at my table instead of in bed. Usually I don’t this, but it makes it feel more like “Okay, I’m at work now.”
  7. I’m trying extra hard to keep up with the cleaning and not let things fall into disarray. It’s very easy to let domestic things slide when you’re stressed and adjusting to lots of changes, but a clean space is much nicer to be trapped in than a messy space.
  8. I’m video chatting with my friends and family a lot– it’s nice to see their faces and hear their voices, even though we can always text. It’s familiar and makes them feel less distant.
  9. I’m trying to write a little about my experiences and feelings every day, in a Google Doc that some of my friends are also writing in. This way we can process our feelings, develop our skills as writers, and see what each other are thinking about.

The Plan

Leave a reply

Alright!! Here’s the plan!!

When I first read that we would have a 5 day instructional recess, I thought that was silly, but I’m increasingly appreciating the breathing room both for work and to deal with the rest of my life. And my feelings.

The “What Can/Should You Do Now?” section at the bottom of this post only includes things relating to this class. Outside of class, I hope you’re taking appropriate social/sanitary precautions, but also taking deep breaths, keeping in touch with family and friends, and making news/social media choices that keep the balance of staying informed + managing your stress that is best for you.

How Will We Hold Class?

We will not hold synchronous (real-time) class sessions for the remainder of the semester. It will be up to you to plan the best times to do your work. I will write more elsewhere about what steps I’m taking to keep my own life as organized and normal as possible soon.

I will post instructions for “modules” approximately weekly here on the course site, along with readings, activity instructions, deadlines, useful resources, etc. Each “module” will essentially encompass one theme or overall skill/task, according to the headings in the Course Schedule. I will preserve many of the segments you’re used to– we’ll still have “Writing Into the Day” prompts, etc.

Some work will not be collected– that is, I trust that you will do it and you trust me that what I ask you to do is designed to be useful for your learning.

Most work will live here on the course site, as posts and as comments.

Some work will be submitted on Blackboard, as we’ve been doing in the past.

I will ask each of you to sign up for writing conferences with me at least once, perhaps twice (still figuring out what will end up being reasonable) where we will communicate one on one in real time. What form that takes (text chatting, Google Hangout, phone call) will be up to you.

I have created appointment times for 3 days a week. If none of these times work for you and you need to discuss an alternate arrangement, that’s totally fine– just email me.

You do not have to sign up for office hours if you prefer to just email or comment with questions. Email and comments are still totally fine– office hours are just opportunities for anyone who prefers a real-time conversation.

“Attendance” points are now just online participation points. I will continue to arrange opportunities for 4 points per week to substitute for attending class. You still need to reach a total of 80 points for your overall participation grade to be 100%. It’s up to you how you do that. All of the Ways to Participate that can be done online are still in effect.

What Platforms Will We Use?

Mostly, we will continue to use the Course Site and Blackboard.

For content that I would normally lecture on (writing, rhetoric) or demonstrate (WordPress, research tools) in class, I will make videos, upload them to YouTube, and post the links here on the Course Site. For every video, I will also write a text-version for those with limited wifi/data access.

For peer review, I think it will be easiest to use Google Docs, but people who don’t use Docs and don’t want to sign up/learn a new platform can use email instead.

For virtual office hours and writing conferences, I will use Google Hangouts for those who prefer text chatting and video calls. For those who prefer audio-only calls, we have two options: Google Hangouts (use on your computer or download a smartphone app) or Google Voice (I share my Google Voice number with you and you call using your cellular service, or I can call you on your phone ).

What Can/Should You Do Now?

  1. Look over the Checklist of Assignments and determine which things you have done and which things you would like make-up. The post on Where Stuff Is and How To Find It has guidance on where to go to complete these assignments. Our 5 day break from classes might be a good time to get caught-up!
  2. Read the Final Project Assignment Overview and leave a comment with any questions you have. If you have a printer at home, I recommend printing it out.
  3. Check out the brand new Virtual Office Hours Scheduler I’ve set up. Schedule an appointment with me if you want to, or just click around a little and get used to how it works.
  4. Log into CUNYFirst and check your email settings. What is your default email address? Make sure it’s something you check regularly.
  5. Check your email settings here on the Course Site and decide if you want to change them. I recommend that you subscribe to all updates.
  6. Look over the Proposal Assignment Sheet. Don’t start working on this now– it’s just good to get a preview of what’s coming up so you can have it in the back of your head.
  7. If you don’t already have one, you might want to create a Google account and familiarize yourself with Google Docs and Hangouts.

 

Where Stuff Is and How to Find It

1 Reply

Someone emailed me this morning requesting tips on navigating the course site, particularly when searching for old things or double checking your own work. Because I’m sure many of you have similar questions, I’m sharing my response here as well.

Some General Tips for Navigating the Site

1. You can use the “Search” feature in the right sidebar to find things if you know a keyword.

2. To find all of the posts written by you, find ANY post you’ve written, then click on your name at the bottom of the post where it says “Written By: ___” That will take you to a page that displays only posts written by you.

3. For comments (and another way to do it for posts), go to the Site Dashboard, then click on “Comments” on the left sidebar. By default, it will show all comments in chronological order. But, if you click on the “Author” column, it will sort everything by author. Then, just scroll through the pages until you find your name, and you can see all of the comments you’ve left. This is what I do when I’m marking completion.

4. Now is also a VITAL time to practice using the Tags and Categories feature, as well as familiarizing yourself with the different tabs in the menu. Clicking on any tag or category in the sidebar will show you only posts sorted under that tag/category. As you make your own posts, please be extra diligent in assigning appropriate categories and tags to your own posts.

5. This is also a good time to bookmark posts/pages you expect to be referring back to often, such as the Course Schedule or Final Paper Overview posts. That way, you don’t have to scroll back through and find them each time.

6. There is a tag called “wordpress help”! There isn’t a lot there right now, but PLEASE leave your WordPress questions in comments (on this post, or anywhere, really– I get emails for all of them) and I can answer them in future posts with that tag.

If you’re doing this on mobile, sidebars often appear at the bottom of the page, so if you’re not seeing these things, scroll all the way down.

Links for Things on Assignment Checklist

Yourself as Reader and Writer
Weapons of Math Destruction Blog Assignment (to do comments for this, check under the Student Posts tab on the site. Not everyone’s posts will be there, depending on whether they checked that category, but definitely some are there.)
Analysis of an Ad Assignment (to do comments for this, click on the Analysis of an Ad category link in the sidebar to see your classmates’ posts)
Paper 1 Reflections

Bandwagon and Namecalling
Fear and Humor
Testimonial
Romance, Gender, and Sex

Paper 1: This I No Longer Believe

Proposal Instructions

1 Reply

Here are the instructions for the Proposal, with revised deadlines to account for CUNY’s new “Recalibration Period.” You are more than welcome to post early if you don’t want the new surprise “break” to complicate your routine even more.

**Post your first draft of your proposal (or just your inquiry questions) on the Course Site by the end of Monday, March 30, give feedback to your classmates, and then upload your final draft to Blackboard by the end of Thursday, April 2**

If you have a question about any aspect of the instructions or rubric, please leave it in the comments!

Download

Rhetorical Devices: Romance, Gender, and Sex Appeal

Leave a reply

Romance Appeal #1 & 2

Context: This Ad promotes PrEP to prevent HIV.GILEAD uses romance as rhetorical devices to persuade the audience that PrEP treatment is healthy for individuals and couples. 
Context: This Ad promotes Norwegian Cruise using a couple with the slogan: Feel free to follow the sun. It implants that it is a romantic idea to take a cruise with your partner to a sunny place. 

Gender Appeal 1 & 2

Context: This commercial serves as a perfect representation of gender roles today because it implants that beer is for men and makes them more masculine and elegant.  
 
Context: This Ad is an example of gender stereotypes “smell like a man, man”. The Ad presents a muscular man, no shirt wearing, horse riding, beach going, type of man. It implants that a man uses Old Spice deodorant will become more masculine. 

Sex Appeal 1 & 2

Context: The most effective way to encourage people to buy a product is through sex and provocative advertising campaign. We are constantly fed with the image of naked and sexual human bodies. The Ad persuades the audience to say we buy food because we think is sexy. Also, the Ad is talking about the burger’s size? What is the correlation between food and the model? Definitely, it is a double message.
Context: Guicci’s men’s fragrance “Guilty” creates a sexual image of women. There is a man with a woman seductively wrapped around his body. The company intentionally uses sex appeal to sell the product. 

Analysis of an Ad Assignment

4 Replies

SEATED is a new application to book reservations in different restaurants and get rewards afterward. This application is presented as a modern alternative to explore a great diversity of elegant and prestigious restaurants statewide.

SEATED persuades the audience to use the application by following these steps: 

1- Find a spot: Browse over 1,500 curated restaurants and bars listed in the application. Sort by location cuisine, price, and more. It presents a large number of restaurants to explore using filters according to your preference.

2- Take a seat: Book a reservation ahead of time or use their walk-in feature for casual dining. You have the option to make the reservation in advance or make it when you are walking around the city.

3- When you are finished, snap a picture of your receipt. You must take a photo and upload,it in order to get benefits.

4- Get rewards: Earn a percentage back in rewards you can spend on brands such as Amazon, Uber, Delta, Airbnb, Sephora, Nordstrom, and more.

The Ad relies on Restaurants are vital threads in our social fabric, but options like food delivery and meal kits are keeping many of us at home. This means less profit for the average restaurant. Seated rewards you for dining out more often, which is suitable for restaurants, good for you, and good for society!

The intended audience of the Ad is for people who like dining out; therefore, they will get rewards if they use the Ad. Also, it tries to convey people to go out for diner instead of ordering food delivery.

The strategy is to persuade the audience affirming dining out has never been so rewarding. It has selected a lot of restaurants to discover and give coupons for discounts. Besides that, they offer rewards for your spending at dinner. It sounds a good deal if you want to spend money, having a good dinner.

Another strategy is to make the audience aware of the importance of going out to dinner to boost the economy. The Ad promotes social integration since it tries to make people share more and be less isolated at home.

The Ad appeal to logos because it argues by logic. If you are frequently visiting restaurants for dining out, now you will get rewards and explore more and more restaurants. The Ad does not appeal to ethos because it hasn’t established an excellent reputation yet. I understand that it is a new Ad; nevertheless, it doesn’t show proof or statistic to corroborate its reputation and credibility. The Ad appeal to pathos because it uses emotions to connect with the audience. The Ad is presented as a social being that connects people; for instance, it offers that dining out is vital to society.

Clearly, the Ad is not effective at this moment. It encourages us to go out for dinner; however, there is a real problem outside with the coronavirus. Nobody wants to be outside to be exposed to the virus. For example, authorities are calling its residents to avoid public and crowed spaces or being in quarantine or isolation.