Is writing a technology?

Michael Wesch's video challenged me to think about technology and its place in society today. I do not believe writing is technology. Technology aids writing by allowing anyone to re-type and rearrange words in countless ways, changing the meaning of the writing every time. Writing is powerful. Writing allows people to freely express themselves, whether in an online blog, through poetry, or in the form of a novel. The presentation and arrangement of words can redefine what a person means, believes, or even wants.
Technology, however, overpowers writing. Technology controls writers, giving them the resources necessary to master the art of rewriting and editing. Before computers, students may have spent a week hand writing the perfect essay. Today, students spend five straight hours typing, editing, re-typing, re-editing until they compose a final draft. Technology sped up the writing process, making it more accessible to amateur writers. Authors no longer need the perfect vocabulary, with one click a thesaurus now appears in a word document, allowing for any author to sound as well educated as an English professor. Take a minute to think, is writing more powerful than the technology it's written on?

True Confessions

Conciseness. Trimble makes three recommendations, and conciseness is the one I feel I struggle most with when writing. I tend to get carried away with expressive verbs that help to create a vivid image for the reader. I don't like to consider my writing filled with fluff however. I carefully pick and chose my words, but one could argue that my essays could use some trimming. I think conciseness is the most challenging recommendation of the three. Anyway can write in e-prime if they try hard enough (e-prime writing uses no linking verbs, for those who never faced the challenge of writing an essay without is, was, or were). I would argue that not every writer can successfully write a concise paper. The challenge lays in picking what descriptive 'babies' the author feels comfortable killing. In my case, I never really want to kill any. I will re-word a description here and there, but rarely do I feel comfortable removing entire sections that I spent precious time piecing together. In a free write like this, I am not supposed to be concise, I am simply told to write for a specific amount of time. A challenging exercise would be making a point in 100 words or less, or something of the sort. On many college applications they forced applicants to make brief statements, and looking back, mine sucked. I likely focused on using action verbs, opting to write formally as opposed to using an approachable style. Trimble talks about phrase-stretching. For me, phrase stretching is not the only way to struggle with being concise. There is a difference, in my opinion, of being overly descriptive and stretching a phrase. I will agree that often times, less is more. My high school grammar professor took pride in teaching students that using an occasional fragment is acceptable. In fact, brilliant. Short, sweet, to the point sentences (unlike this one), help to emphasis a point. Emphasis on main points is necessary to become a successful writer, but I like to follow Trimble's recommendation of using vigorous verbs to emphasize my writing.

closer prezi

http://prezi.com/agv7eb_wsill/closers/

Geico Commercial

The Geico commercial on Anna's blog caught my attention because of the genius hints marketers placed in the short advertisement. Attempting to sell car insurance, the commercial features a mother taking her daughter to daycare with robots. Stressing the idea that many Americans struggle to cut costs and save money, the mother shrugs off the fact that her child is suffering. Most people have some emotional connection to children, wanting at the very least to keep them safe. Geico markets around to the average American, using their famous 'fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance' slogan.
Targeting families short on time and money makes their unrealistic view of families struggles seem relate able. Everyone wants to save money, and by putting an average woman--not too fat, not too pretty, not too skinny--as the face of their product, it allows consumers to feel like they could benefit as well. 

A boring glimpse into my writing process

Unlike Chel White's painful process, my process is much shorter and less complicated. I often push the topic to the back of my mind, in an effort to keep myself from stressing over what exactly I want the focus of my paper to be. I allow my mind to act freely. I focus on living my daily life, with the hope something will inspire me. White's long, complex process seems irrational to me, almost as if he tries too hard. By allowing myself to act freely, my writing process tends to begin with a pretty pathetic rough draft. Usually not long after a paper is assigned, I already have the thoughts that will drive my paper, so I allot the rest of my time to researching, editing, and rewriting. I give myself plenty of time to edit my paper, so I am never stuck at my desk five hours before an assignment is due stressing over the quality of my work. My process is neither painful or painless, it's more natural I guess you could say. The pain comes when I force thoughts or ideas on myself. Those who know me well can tell you I am a rather uptight person, not one who often breaks the rules. My writing process demonstrates this, I follow the structure I am given, never allowing myself to reach a point where I want to drive off a cliff like Chel. My relaxed, semi-structured approach to writing could by called boring by some, but nonetheless, it gets the job done.

Heineken Commercial

Heineken’s commercial posed many thought provoking questions. From a feminist’s perspective, I found it quite odd the women were never shown with the beer. Advertisers took a very stereotypical look at society, leaving women with the shoes, clothes, and jewelry while the men had a closet full of beer. Females are half of the world’s population, so I find it shocking that the marketers only placed their product with the men.

Although I will agree with the idea that men cherish beer far more than women do, completely ignoring women’s appreciation of beer seems foolish to me. Some women may view the commercial and be offended, while others will just forget the commercial or only remember a small group of men cheering of a closet full of Heineken. I find the most successful commercials to be ones that appeal to a wide range of viewers. Obviously, a beer company will not target children; however, women may very likely purchase a quality beer. 

Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pnjtxfIJDE

Heineken Questions

1. Are the clothes in the woman's closet designer?
2. Who were all of the houseguests?
3. Is it significant that we see the women first?
4. What country was the party in?
5. Why were they showing off closets?
6. Why is the name of the beer never said?
7. Why are the women never seen with the product (beer)?
8. Who is the target audience?
9. Why are the men and women separated?
10. Why does only one woman speak?
11. Why do the woman stop cheering when they hear the men?
12. Is the beer only accessible to the affluent in society?

AT&T questions

1. Why Hansel and Gretal?
2. Why the rapid change from day to night?
3. Why the repetitive music?
4. Why did the characters not talk?
5. Why were the children so young?
6. Who was the target audience / target consumer?
7. Why are they in a big city looking for a cottage?
8. Why such a long fairytale in a 32 second commercial?
9. Is AT&T selling the GPS feature, or a phone?
10. What makes AT&T's GPS the best?
11. What do the breadcrumbs represent?
12. Why are they sharing a phone? (Why don't both kids have a cell phone?)

AT&T commercial

Thirty seconds seems too little time to successfully brand a product, yet AT&T seems to master the art of creativity in their ‘Hansel and Gretel’ commercial. The idea that children can own and operate a cell phone still seems quite surreal to me; however, the two young children, presumably eight years old or so, successfully could use the GPS feature of a phone to navigate throughout a city. The ingenious idea of using dated characters that are easily recognizable to sell a modern piece of technology helps to connect people from all walks of life. Whether elderly, young, rich, or poor, everyone relates in some way to Hansel and Gretel.

Casting young children in a cell phone commercial allows the viewer to rethink modern times. A decade ago, elementary school children never dreamed of owning a cell phone, yet today cell phones top their Christmas and Birthday lists. The idea that AT&T continues thinking to the future helps them remain a leading cell phone carrier today. Within thirty seconds, advertisers reached multiple audiences while selling not only a phone but also a ‘new’ feature. The youth of the characters shows not only that younger generations have a use for cell phones, but also the ease of use for the advanced features, such as the GPS. 

pantene commercial

While observing the Pantene commercial, I noticed many miniscule details that highlight the advertisement’s theme. Marketers carefully placed many small details in the four minute commercial, hoping to capture the viewers attention. For me, the one second detail that caught my eye happened towards the end, when the sole Asian man stood alone applauding for the violinist. Seconds later, the beautiful, deaf student received a standing ovation from the crowd.

The first man’s impact on the audience is notable because in society today, it seems everyone searches for the leader in the crowd. Society must learn to take a leap of faith, much like the young musician did. Despite bullying from her peers, the gorgeous violinist with the perfect hair made her dream a reality. The man brave enough to show his love for the deaf performer was an inspiration to the crowd. The man inferably stood because he could relate to the deaf outcast, likely because of racial inequalities. Those who waited to stand may have felt obligated to applaud, may have thought she was talented, or may have been jealous of her perfect hair. Pantene, of course, focuses on the latter of the possibilities and wants the audience to recognize the effect a new shampoo can have on any girl’s image.

focused free write--trimble

I agree with Trimble's statement, writers are like warriors. A majority of writers, whether amateurs or professionals, devote much of their time defending personal beliefs with countless arguments. Most writer's hope to inspire thought or challenge a reader's opinion with their work. Important to note is Trimble's advice, always write with the reader in mind. Regardless of how strong an argument may be, it is important for the author to be conscious of the reader's needs.  A talented writer will inspire thought, while being open to opposing beliefs or viewpoints. No one wants to read a page of nonsense with no factual basis, which is why a writer must be ready to defend their beliefs in a professional manner.

So here I am at Hofstra and I am blogging. Writing online makes me feel like a geeky teenager who has nothing better to do on a Friday night. I associate these blogging sites with anti-social teenagers searching for a place to let out all of their thoughts. Quite frankly, I do not understand the purpose of spilling your heart or mind out on the internet. Counselors have a job for a reason. I guess there are quirky people who have intelligent things that may or may not be worthwhile to read. Yet again, I am not one of those people. I would much rather waste my time watching sappy chick flicks or playing on my iPhone. Blogs remind me of the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Although Andi doesn't write a blog, she writes a column for a magazine, in my mind it is all the same kind of silly writing. Useful for few, and useless for the majority. If you cannot tell, or I guess I should say if you are still reading at this point, I am not much of a writer. Talking for twelve minutes on the topic of my choice would be much easier. I could show some emotion, you could hear some inflection in my voice. This however, is nothing more than the sound of my fingers tapping away at keys trying to waste some time. Back to the beginning for a minute. I'm currently sitting in a nice part of Hofstra, my dorm hall (which may I add is the newest on campus). Hofstra offers so many great opportunities to experience life outside of farmland, where unfortunately I am from. So although I may not be thrilled about blogging, I am ecstatic to be out of Amish country.
While continuing my post, I can't help but think back to elementary school typing class with those nasty orange keypad covers. I almost wish I never learned how to type, it would make this long, rambled mess quite a bit shorter. Unfortunately, I mastered Mavis Beacon after years of practice. I rarely use my typing skills for anything other than school papers and facebook messages however. Facebook is a stupid phenomenon. The more I think about how ridiculous the concept of social networking sites are, the more I feel it necessary to check mine. I often wish that I was alive before cell phones and internet so I could know what it is like to wait for information. With technology the way it is today, even if I try not to be informed, I am forced to know at least the "top news" if I step outside my home. Living on a college campus among thousands of chatty teenagers truly does make the task impossible.
If anyone is still reading at this point in my compiled nonsense, thank you. As much as I hate to admit it, part of me did enjoy seeing how fast I could type over the last twelve minutes.
:)