Journal #7

I thought that Michael Lassell's poem, How to Watch Your Brother Die, was a perfect example to show how misunderstood homosexuality is. In the poem, it describes how after the brother told  the narrator he was gay, the narrator no longer wanted to speak with him. Usually homosexuality is misunderstood because people can only think of how the gay person is different than them, and sometimes this difference is too complicated for the straight person to handle. I am used to being around homosexual people, because my best friend growing up had a homosexual father who lived with his life partner, and I spent the night at their house many times. This showed me that gays are not people to fear just because they have a different sexual orientation, rather that they are just normal people who have found that they are more interested in the same sex. I can see the relationship between this poem and the episode of Glee we watched in class because the homosexual kid in the show was treated differently, by being told not to sing with his partner because it would ruin the kids reputation. Media shows homosexuality as being something forbidden and completely wrong, where in reality, homosexuality is perfectly normal and a life choice that should not be judged by anyone. As in both of these texts, homosexuality is presented as taboo. I personally have no problem with the choices made by other men or women that are attracted to the same sex, I know that it is not always a choice that is made, but rather something that is born within mind of the person, and that I am not in the right position to be judging someone who is born that way. After watching these clips and reading this poem, I have learned that there will always be people who simply cannot accept the fact that someone is homosexual, and that there is nothing I can do to persuade these people into not caring so much. I personally dont see the big deal if someone wants to have sex with a person of the same sex, i mean theres really nothing wrong with it besides the fact that it is not accepted by everyone. I think that everyone in this world should just chill the fuck out and let things happen. Just because someone doesnt have exactly the same morals as you doesnt mean you get to be the one to tell them that they are wrong. Relax people, let gay people be gay and straight people be straight. For real.

Rhetorical Analysis (Journal #6)

As i was watching the Old Spice commercial we watched in class, I could only think of one thing. This commercial is one of the most logical commercials on the internet. The commercial focuses on the one thing that men think about most, sex. Using the emotional appeal of logos to effectively market the product, Old Spice persuades the male viewers to purchase their product. If old spice can get men to think that by using their product, they will get more women, than it could possibly be one of the greatest selling products on the market. Its logical because men know that women dont like stinky guys, so if they can smell like the big buff dude in the commericals than can get any woman that comes with in a smelling radius of them. The Old Spice commercial uses logic to get their customers to buy their products.

Journal #5

After reading the hypertext version of Sloan's text, I believe that it is more effective in the way the information is delivered. The text in the Writing As Revision was a little boring and didnt keep my interest for very long. It was pretty difficult to read and follow, especially because she kept jumping back to the conversation she had with "her father's friend." The hypertext on the other hand gave visual examples within the text that kept me interested while reading it. I also think that the hypertext was more direct in its approach, instead of beating around the bush like the Writing As Revision version did. The links within the hypertext were not distracting, for the most part. I only looked at a few, and the ones I looked at gave me more information about the topic, which also kept me engrossed. If i were to have read every single link, it might have been distracting from the text, but other than that, the links were not distracting at all. Overall I believe that the hypertext is a better way to connect with the audience because it is more visually captivating and easier to read.