Mean Girls was almost the definition of what Denby talks about in his article High School Confidential. Denby states that high school movies are filled with “odd and mixed up emotion.” Watching Mean Girls is like riding an emotional roller coaster. They constantly make shift in the story line and it is almost impossible to keep up with what each girls intentions are. He also says, “its a teen world bounded by school, mall , and car, with occasional moments set in the fast food outlets where kid work,or in the kids upstairs bedrooms.” Everyday Regina would pick up the three girls in a nice car and they would typically go to the mall while Cady’s friend Janis worked at a small shop in the mall. Cady, Regina, Gretchin, and Karen typically hung out in Regina’s upstairs bedroom. “As the female nerd attracts the attention of the handsomest boy in the school the teen movie turns into a socal reversal, A Cinderella story.” This is kind of what happened in the movie Cady comes to the school as new girl that is naiive to the ways of the social ladder and Regina’s ex boyfriend, the jock, falls for her. Danby goes on to describe more about teen movie and defines an outline of Mean Girls. Mean Girls has a great moral and is in fact, according to Denby, the classic example of a teen movie.

4) TV turnoff week (detail from a poster)

1.) The purpose is to get people away from the TV and to go out and do something. THe illustrations address this situation through the satire that he uses.

2.) Yes, it adds to the ethos of the poster. It feels like actual instructions almost as if people have forgotten how to get off their butts and to go do something productive.

3.) Yes because an airline safety card will protect your life and so will DiVivo’s poster.

5.) Is Media Violence free Speach?

1.) They both agree that the rating system if flawed.

2.) Gitlin argues that there is more media violence in Japan and correspondingly there is less violence in reality.

3.) They believe that although it is good that paretns get help from the V chip that it is jsut another techonological solution for a social problem.

4.) That media violence will reflect on to society in one way or another.

It does talk more about the sports bars later on in the essay and it also talks about when it is appropriate to turn a TV off Not just in a sports basr but in other public places.

I think her bias is that yes maybe TVs in public places aren’t necessarily a good thing that it is still not civil to turn a tv off. She makes this apparent by repeatedly asking questions about when  it is appropriate to do so.

No, I think both the interviewer and the interviewee both established an ethos to begin the interview and kept this ethos thhroughout the questions.

That TV may sometimes give false information and this affects the conversations and relationships and oipinions people have about certain political aspects.

1.) He assumes that 98% of his audience owns a TV and also that his audience is active and like to party and have a good time.

2.) Because it is TV turnoff week the audience has to find good reasons not to watch TV so they are more likely to consider each of Trubey’s arguments more thoroughly.

3.)  The question, “Do we know what we are up against,” creates suspense. It has hidden energy that draws the audience. It makes the audience want to read more to find out “what they are up against” I agree with Trubey to an extent. I do believe that sometimes TV is bad, but anything it bad if you dont moderate it. I think Trubey exaggerates to get his point across stronger but it is necessary because most people are for TV not agains it.

4.) Trubeys use of clasification divides two groups of people. WHen explaining these two groups the audience will try to find which one relates to them the most, causing the audience to pay more attention and better listen to the argument.

5.) I think not citing his source could harm his credibility, but so far he has developed a fairly strong ethos that causes the audience not to doubt what he is saying easily. However in technicalities, yes it does hurt his credibility because if in fact it was a true statistic, why wouldn’t he cite it? Not everyone will notice this but some people will.

6.) Yes, the lists at the end do strengthen his argument because they are statistics that don’t make television sound appealing and they reinforce everything Trubey just argued. 

1.) Using one form of pop culture to examine another gives the audience a wider variety of views. The excerpt he used also supported his point.

2.) The charts stregthen Johnson’s argument. It shows the different types of plots in television and how it affects different ways of thinking. It helps to know the show that he alludes to so the audience can better relate to what he is talking about. The graphs couldn’t stand on their own because they wouldn’t make any sense.

3.) Although the intellectual demmands of television are similar to that of reading there are also many differences. For example, while reading the audience gets more of an oppurtunity to use their immagination compared to whatching TV where most of the scenery is laid out and little to no imagination is used. For me, it is easier to lose focus while reading than watching TV because reading is dependent mostly on the mind. There are no visuals in most novels. TV is completely visuals so it is easier to interpret and follow.

4.) He admits that lots of shows have very little intellectual demand and that there are some exceptions he then suggest some that are more intellectual than others.

5.) He argues that now that many shows are sold on DVD in order for the show to make any money they have to sell these DVD’s which means they have to lay out a plot that requires more thinking so that whatching it multiple times will not get boring.

1.)Robert Putnam establishes credibility by his use of facts, quantitive data, and expert testimony. He cites these claims and this shows the audience he has credibilty. This appeals to ethos which means the audience will be better persuaded by Putnam’s argument.

2.) Robinson and Godbey are cited in footnote 13, Needham 15, Kunstler 16

3.) It makes his information more credible, therefore, the audience is more likely to believe it.

4.) The purpose of footnote 14 is to cite the quantitive data given in the 2nd paragraph.

5.) It shows that the relationship between being at home and watching television is very strong. That most people that like to stay at home also like to watch TV more than taking part in any other form of entertainment.

6.) It creates balance. If Putnam shows extremes his standpoint seems right in the middle and more reasonable.

7.) Putnam’s notes and sources suggest that he spent a lot of time researching and he knows what he is talking about which gives him credibility.

Synthesis is a lot like argument. In synthesis a person researches a topic and finds their stand point on it. I think synthesis is argument, it just gives you more freedom. You dont have to agree or disagree, you can simply present data from a cretain angle and the audience does the rest. It requires a lot of patience to be able to go out and do all the research because you know there is so much information that you have to find the data you want that will better make your point. A good synthesis essay requires accurate data, credibility, appeals to ethos and logos, and a good writing style that will persuade the audience.

I agree with the model and the argument made by merchants of cool. It happens all the time. I see it tons of the girls at our school. For example, the popular show called, “The Hills,” on MTV is about a bunch of young adult girls living together in Beverly Hills. So the audience becomes the entertainment and the entertainment exaggerates the reality and then the girls at Fife High School start acting like the girls on “The Hills” The same things happens with many teenage boys and the show, “Jackass.” It really is a neverending cycle.

Although most of the teen population is caught in this neverending cycle, I believe there is a way out. After reading the Twain article, watching the Merchants of Cool, and looking at the illustration I agree with most of everything that they argue, however, I believe this isn’t a general rule for everything. All these things started somewhere. Some bold person stepped up somewhere along the line and set a trend and it will happen again. I believe that the cycle catches everyone in society and the that cycle follows the person who started it all.

1.) Twain’s purpose is to get people to realize how much their actions are influenced by others and to get them to stop following the crowd.

2.) He changes points of view by doing this. When saying, “I” he establishes his opinion and the things he does. When saying, “We” he talks about what the general society does.

3.) Starting with this anecdote puts the reader in Twain’s point of view. This is where Twain got alot of inspiration from and if he put the reader in the position he was in the reader will hopefully get the same inspiration and see where Twain is going before he even starts his argument.

4.) Twain expands this thought by separating the two main arguments. He says first what he agrees with and then presents the counterargument. This way he is straight forward and the audience knows what intentions he has.

5.) Twain gives very effective examples that were understood in his time, but reading these examples now makes it hard to understand and slows down the reading which makes it less effective. When I have to stop reading to find out what a hoop skirt is and then continue reading it takes the energy and power out of the argument.

6.) The irony is that there isn’t much calculation and thinking if a person just observes and copies. It requires no independence or creativity.

7.) This long paragraph is effective because he finally starts to make his argument. Up to this paragrapgh it has mostly been exemplification and data but in this paragraph he sarts to bring everything full circle to make his argument.

 8.) THe parallelism in paragraph 14 is to show both sides. That no matter where you stand many people think as a group not as a single person. The parallelism offers hidden energy that creates a much more powerful argument.

9.) It makes the audience pay attention to these words. It illistrates importance and makes a much more powerful conclusion.

11.) “It is our nature to conform” Is a hyperbole because conforming isn’t always human nature sometimes it is just the opposite., but exaggerating this does make a much more powerful argument so sometimes it is necessary to exaggerate because although the exaggeration is stretching the truth a little bit it is accurate and makes the backing more believable.