Humanoid Figure Photographed on Mars

A few weeks ago, amateur astronomers found this when examining photos from NASA's Mars explorer. The explorer landed on the red planet about 4 years ago, and has been taking large panoramic pictures of the surface. Here is a close-up of the suspected Martian:


Whatever this is, weather a rock or actual alien, I think its cool that we are exploring this planet, and hopefully, someday, we'll have more information.

Reflection Essay

Communication has been around since the dawn of man, and is present in other species of animals around the world as well. Good Communication skills are an important part of our culture and social workings today. As a writer and communicator, I feel that this English class has made tremendous improvements upon my skills.

As a college student, I have experienced having a hectic week where I thought "everything in the world was due". I have thrown together assignments and papers alike, trying to get everything done. Sometimes, I have found out, this method doesn't always pay off when you see your grades. Now I have learned to pace myself and give more attention to larger assignments. If I have a paper coming up, I might start by making an outline of what I want to say, or write a rough draft, and add to it later instead of writing it all in one hour. In the future, I hope that my writing process continues to improve as I continue as a student.

Having other people with your revision process can be a very useful tool. If I want help revising a work, I will usually ask a good friend or instructor. They have helped me with ideas, getting the reader's opinion, spelling, and grammar. It is always helpful to have another set of eyes to catch the mistakes that are looked over. Whenever these people help me, they usually give me some really useful information. I try to incorporate as much of their help into my revised project as I can, but sometimes I will disagree with their thinking, or not like how they have re-worded something. If I don't like the way it has been revised, I sometimes have to stop and think to myself that maybe I haven't come across the way I would like to in my writing, and should revisit some areas.

The assignment that has been the most enjoyable and interesting for me has been the This American Place radio essay. With so many parts and things to be done with this assignment, it is really nice to see everyone in a group work together and get each thing done. In the interviewing process, I learned that my voice hardly picks up on a microphone, so I had to talk super loud. I am thankful that my group and I began this project when we did, with ample time to work out some difficulties and think about our process, although, we still ran into problems. I think this assignment was really helpful in teaching me computer skills, speaking skills, and editing skills when applied to a real interviewing situation. It was fun to see how I worked under these conditions, and I think our group did a great job as a whole.

The communication skills that I have learned and improved upon have already made a difference in my life. I can apply many skills to other classes and assignments, as well as in my social life. These abilities can stay with me for the rest of my life.

Electronic Communication

My experience with electronic communication this semester has been interesting to say the least, weather working with groups on a PowerPoint, or writing on this blog. I believe that involving electronics in this English class has really allowed me to see how much electronics are a part of school work, and how useful they can be. In society today, there is hardly a moment when technology is not involved.

To communicate through electronics, however, is different from other types of communication, and definitely has not been in use as long. This difference must be taken into account when technology is used. People may need to adapt the way they communicate when they are using a new or different medium. They also need to take into consideration their audience and method: are they talking with a computer programmer, a friend, or my Grandmother (who knows absolutely nothing about computers)? Are they recording their voice or writing an email? All of these things must be thought of before electronics can be used successfully. I am glad to have had the opportunity to practice communicating in this way.

Visual Communication

The art of visual communication has been with us just as long as any other form of communicating. Its uses are wide, varying from telling a story, giving directions, or selling you a product. An interesting thing about communication is that everyone does it, but it can take practice and a lot of thought to get your point across and appeal to the viewer. In this Rhetorical Analysis of Advertising and Environment, I have evaluated the appeal of an ad on the side of a bus. I have included how effective the advertisement could be, as well as what they have used to catch the eye of an onlooker.

The Mystery Machine of Iowa State

While sitting on a black-rail bench at a bus stop outside of Physics Hall one Wednesday morning, a festive advertisement for C and K Heating and Cooling caught my attention. The Cyride attached to it had come to a stop to let off the various students and professors, and I was able to snap a picture, so I could later analyze its rhetorical aspects. This advertisement, for C and K Heating and Cooling, had large, white text that boldly stated “Boo.” The ad also displayed a work van dressed in a white sheet, just in time for the Halloween season.
Black is the primary color of this advertisement, followed by white, as well as some orange and green, for extra spookiness. This essay will explore how an advertisement can affect a person, and how companies use strategies such as emotional appeal, color, and images to target towards specific people. I will also discuss in this essay how the world perceives advertising, and how it is used.

One of the most important things to think about while taking this advertisement into consideration is the audience, especially since the company is targeting them for business. Most likely, the majority of the audience includes the busy students and employees of Iowa Sate. This company would want to attract as broad of an audience as possible, so they can gain them as customers. While walking from building to building, the hurried people of a college setting don’t have time to read small, complicated advertisements, such as those on sheets of paper, or at the newspaper stands. The Cyride, in this case, is a great way to advertise to this audience, because they can simply glance at the poster while waiting for a bus or walking down the sidewalk to class. The company must, however, decide if they are indeed targeting the right group of consumers. The bold text and simple graphics are easily noticed by the people, and don’t require a lot of concentration. They are able to continue with whatever they were doing without wasting any time, while thinking about that broken heater at home.

With this advertisement, C and K Heating and Cooling is spreading the word about their services. Since the bus moves all over campus, and Ames in general, all kinds of potential clients are exposed to the ad. Since the ad is catchy and humorous, the chances are increased that they will remember the company when they are having utility difficulties. The short saying in the orange stripe near the bottom gives the viewing audience an incentive for choosing their services-a quick and painless service. They are promoting their promptness and devotion to customers. The heating and cooling company was wise in picking this area to advertise, because they are exposing their name to so many people, who probably appreciate these qualities.

In this advertisement, logos, pathos, and ethos are present to appeal to the audience. Logos, in this case, is presented with the arrangement of the ghostly work van and the color choices used to create an appealing display. Since the van very closely resembles the Mystery Machine from the Scooby Doo cartoons, which several of us have connected with our childhood days, this may touch upon an emotional aspect to grab our attention. In keeping with the Halloween theme, the primary color is dark, which is not unusual for this season. The use of orange and green brighten the poster to provide a visible place for the black text, and a spooky silhouette behind the van, again, reminds us of the Mystery Machine.

The pathos in this advertisement is represented as feelings and emotions. Here, the Halloween theme is a dynamic for pathological feelings. We generally associate this time of year with ghostly things, so it would be a good advertising strategy for a company to appeal to these thoughts to get our attention. When he/she looks at this advertisement, they feel very welcome because C and K is wishing them a happy Halloween. One may wonder, however, why they would advertise with a particular seasonal theme. Perhaps many consumers are attracted to the autumn season, and therefore are captured by the warm, friendly feeling from the advertisement. Also, if they feel the company is very casual and personable (through the advertisement), they may feel more comfortable about hiring them to do the job, rather than if they were stiff and unfunny. Oppositely, if a customer were to associate quality service with a professional, serious company, they probably won’t want to hire one that does not appeal to them in this way.

This advertisement, and its use of public space really can say a lot about the worldview of communication on advertising in general. The purpose of advertising is to effectively communicate to a target audience about something a producer is wanting to sell. An advertisement is usually used by a company to gain a profit that exceeds the expenditure of the advertising costs and the product or service itself. By advertising in public spaces, the companies are getting their products or services “out there”, but do they know who is really watching? They have to pay careful attention to whom or where they advertise because they will not make a profit otherwise, and could even lose money.

Public transportation is a great means of advertisement, as long as you are advertising to the right people. Businesses must take into great consideration to whom they are advertising, and if these people even have a use for the product or service. Since public transportation is used by a great number of people, it usually provides a broad audience. There are also many ways to advertise within public transportation. The side of a taxi cab, for example, or in the London Underground. Advertising in these areas exposes to not only different people, but different cultures as well.

There are many effective ways of advertisement to the public. Several elements play an important role in communicating to consumers and gaining their attention, as well as promoting a good foundation for the advertiser in the public eye. With a potentially broad audience, C and K hopes to attract several types of people.

Oral Communication

Oral communication is a key component in everyone's life. From the first days of life, we have all used and experienced this type of communication, and have learned to use it in many areas of our day-to-day lives. In my English 250 class, a lot of attention has been directed towards group work. Working in groups is a very dynamic part of our society today, so it is important that we learn how to function efficiently in them.

These past weeks have been my first at Iowa State, and furthermore, at college anywhere at all. I can honestly say that the time spent working in groups has changed my work style the most. The group work I was used to (in high school) were generally large and uneven. Only the assertive "smart kids" did the work, and the amount of work to accomplish was usually light. My group experience now has changed, as well as my view on its effectiveness. Normally, I would have preferred to do work on my own time and at my own pace. However, my first group assignment this semester really changed my view on group work. Every person shared an equal part in the project, and we all had a great time.

This semester of English has taught me how to function better as a team member, and hopefully to function better in the workforce some day as well.

Written Communication

Written communication has been useful ever since man invented it. Written communication has been used to express our wants, needs, and feelings over the years, and is an important part of everyday life. The impacts of this means of communication can be found everywhere: a magazine, city street, even the walls of a cave inhabited 5,000 years ago by our ancestors. In this English 250 writing assignment, a Critical Personal Place Narrative, I explore one of the places that has had the most impact on my life and effects how I see my self today. This essay narrates how i saw the place over the period of a few visits, and how I felt while I was there.

The Timber

I’d always hated it when my shoes got muddy; and this particular day was no different. I would have to clean them off when I got home. The weak, soggy stream bed in which I walked reminded me of really thick shampoo with little animal tracks leading everywhere. However, I had decided the mud was worth my trouble, because I was nearing my destination.

In the distance, I could make out the large clearing that was just off the old stream’s edge. The steep inclines of the hills surrounding me were cut out by this stream, but the clearing was left flat; this always amazed me. Now, I was stepping over a fallen tree and a small puddle as I finally crossed the boundary of my clearing. This was the place where it had all started. I had always had somewhat of an appreciation for nature, but the first time I had wandered in this forest in front of my house, I felt a special attachment.

The castle of trees around me was majestic, and the cool air smelled like autumn. The sound of the leaves rustling was soothing, and the breeze on my face was fresh. I felt relaxed so quickly, that I knew this was a place to go if I needed to empty my head of any clutter. I could already feel that day’s stress blow away with the wind. I had forgotten for a lovely amount of time that I would have to clean my room, take out the trash, type a paper, and head over to work when I got home. The ground was thickly padded with various grasses and ferns, and some spots were thick with bushes and small trees. Often, a little squirrel could be spotted scurrying between coverings, searching for food. He didn’t have to clean his room, like me.

To me, many things lay unknown here and I felt I must discover them, so I began searching around. I would study an insect nearby, or look up at the sky to see how the taller trees around provided shade below in the timber. I would keep an eye out for deer, and investigate the tiny toadstools growing out of a stump. All of these special things led me to realize how important nature is to me. So many places such as this are being depleted. Some are used for building new roads, and others are used for new housing developments. I then began thinking what would happen if this area was to be recycled into something urban. The trees would be cut down, and the ground leveled. I felt sympathetic for the animals who would have no home, and the beauty that would be taken away. After about fifteen minutes after I had sat myself down to unwind, I figured I should already be getting home.

The next time, I decided I would bring Rusty, my dog. He loves getting out of the yard and going on walks with me, especially in the woods. As I emerged from the timber’s incline, I was on the flat hay field directly in front of my house. I was happy to find solid footing again, and hoped the grass would clean off most of the mud from my shoes before I got home. The current of the wind brushed past me as I walked to my house through the thick grass.

My next trip into the woods was just as interesting. I took a different way to the clearing, this time cutting across the stream, instead of walking along it. Before I got to the timber’s crest, I walked along a grassy area just beside it, with Rusty just a few yards ahead. I was following his path, winding around the trees and bushes. As I was getting closer to the small valley I almost walked between two small pine trees, but stopped myself. There, hanging between the trees, was one of the most impressively woven spider webs I had ever seen. The thin strings that attached it to the trees was almost three feet long, and the circular web was nearly as big in diameter. If it weren’t for the huge black spider set in the middle, I probably would have walked right through it. There’s no thing on Earth that scares me more than spiders do (and this one ranks in the top ten most ugly), so I’m glad I didn’t get any closer on accident.

Even though this was a pretty gross spider, I had a lot of respect for what it was doing. Spiders are helpful to us in a lot of ways. If we didn’t have them, we probably would have much too many insects around. If I would have destroyed his web because I wanted to walk there, it could have been very analogous to building a new road through an undeveloped area. I would have removed his home so I could get through and be on my way.

With that in mind, I carefully walked around teh two trees in which the spider claimed. I tried to remember the exact location to prevent another encounter on my way home. I crossed the “line” of trees into the timber just after Rusty. It was amazing how fast he could travel in this thickly grown environment. We walked through trees and bushes, and crossed an old barbed-wire fence. Rusty would often catch and follow some unfortunate animal’s scent, usually returning minutes later empty handed.

We continued our walk through the woods. I could tell we were getting close because I could hear the stream (it had just rained pretty heavily the night before, so I was sure there was a ton of water). We walked a little further, until we reached the top of a steep hill. There, at the bottom, was my clearing with a mote of fresh water in front. Rusty was very good at getting down these hills. I, however, was not. By the time I was ready to cross the stream, I saw that Rusty had decided not to wait for me, and was already sniffling around the clearing. With the help of some large rocks, I was able to cross the stream, and not a drop of water (or mud) got on my shoes. We finally had reached our destination. I found a fairly dry spot and sat myself down, looking up again at the castle of trees. Rusty saw this, and discontinued his sniffing to join me. there we sat, enjoying the peaceful timber.

Africa by Toto:

Commentary on a song about a place.

In 1982, the band Toto released their album Toto IV, which contained the hit song Africa. This song is about a man in Africa waiting for his girlfriend's flight to land. He sings about the rain and the importance of their reunion. The song is filled with tribal drumming and a fun melody. In addition, it contains a great chorus about the rains in Africa.

In my opinion, this song has stuck around as a popular piece of music because almost everyone can relate to it...a man waiting for his girlfriend. This could be taken several ways; maybe they have broken up and he is waiting for her to accept him again, or perhaps they were separated by some tragic accident. Nevertheless, this is a classic situation in our culture, so it has helped the song sustain it's popularity and be remembered.

Place and environment add quite a bit to it's rhythm and tone. The band has incorporated somewhat of an African theme into the melody, using some flute and drums. The song also has a rather long introduction, allowing time for these elements to sink in. The relation of the song's qualities says a lot about the place it is connected to.
Citation:

Toto. Africa. Toto IV, Columbia, 1982.