In class exercise ; synthesis essay

     We see ads everywhere; on televisions, radios, and streets, in subways, local libraries built by some company, restaurants, and hair salons, and even at school. They all urge us to buy some product, to call a counselor, to donate money, to finish what's on your plate, or to recycle properly. Such advertisements greatly influence the way people think, both positively and negatively. Either way, advertisements block people's ability to resist the conveyed beliefs that may or may not be true, subjecting them to manipulation. Such influence is most effective for those who are not aware of the claims made in advertisements.

     For example, although we may not call the red cross immediately after spotting a picture of crossed band-aids and a paragraph below explaining the advantages of blood donation, we would think that blood donation is desirable. We would not be able to consider that there are people who are opposed to donating blood, or that donating blood can bring any negative side effects. The ad itself may seem like, and is, a positive propaganda. However, it can be quite dangerous because we never think that this 'advertisement for a good cause' intends to manipulate our behavior, thus accepting any belief suggested by advertisements without criticism.

     A more typical example that shows the influence of advertisements would be the success of cigarettes. In the 20th century markets for cigarette continued to rise, because the advertisers knew how to attract the individual consumers to a particular brand that would suit their needs. When people saw a handsome man in suits getting out of a tall building carrying a certain brand of cigarettes between his fingers on TV, they would have associated the brand with good looks, success, working ability, and break time, not with lung cancer or death. The positive and popular image of cigarettes created by such ads stopped consumers from thinking that they should avoid smoking, or that the number of people who smoke might actually be smaller than what they know.

     Schrank claims that although people deny of this fact, such influence of advertisements are especially strong when people are not aware of the message that advertisements try to convey. In both examples stated above, people do not concentrate on what the intentions of ads might be. Instead they just take the information in their subconscious, keeping all the messages in the back of their mind. If you had picked out a random consumer of a certain brand of cigarette,

material for synthesis essay

It's a famous video clip that shows the life of an average high school student in Korea

Pink Plastic Flamingo

     In the essay Jennifer Price brings up two major reasons why the pink plastic flamingo was such a phenomenon in America. Instead of directly stating her opinion, Price weaves it into the usual facts through her careful choice of  examples and words, setting signs here and there that lead to associating the pink plastic flamingo with certain natures of the American market.

     Price starts the essay by letting the readers know that she will be discussing two major characteristics of the pink flamingo that made it so impressive. 'It was a flamingo' in lines 2 and 3 seems so obvious that it catches the reader's attention quite effectively. Giving some information on what flamingo meant in America, Price particularly uses the words 'flock' or 'wealth and pizzazz' and the example of hotels, creating a somewhat comic image of a group of 'eager' consumers ready to 'flock' to hotels, and so prepares the readers with a basic idea of what the pink flamingo may symbolize. Then she adds that this commercial popularity of plastic flamingos came after the indiscreet hunting of real flamingos, suggesting that it is 'a little ironic' which is an understatement. Now the readers would think that whatever the Americans love about pink plastic flamingos has nothing to do with the real flamingo, nature or life. The example of Las Vegas, the ultimate symbol of extravagence and entertainment in America, makes the idea quite concrete. A simile in lines 28 and 29 compares the appearance of services employing the image of flamingos with 'semiotic sprouts' which adds to the image already set with hotels, tourists, Las Vegas etc.

     Price then moves to the second point, again with a very obvious observation, that the flamingo is pink. She uses quotes from Tom Wolfe and Karal Ann Marling that effectively emphasizes on how much the generation that overcame the great depression loved to comsume bright colors. Price uses the phrase 'celebrate its new affluence' in lines 38 and 39, which suggests that the popularity of flashy colors is closely related to blind consumption of goods. Along with examples of many bright colored products that were sold at the time, she mentions a pink Cadillac that Elvis Presley, a huge icon of American culture, has bought. Reading until here, the reader would now think the pink plastic flamingo as a symbol of a commercial culture, and on the negative side, which is exactly what Jennifer Price seems to have intended. She then explains how much flamingos stand out in any environment; with a metaphor in the last few lines that flamingos were sent 'wading across an inland sea of grass', which probably is an indirect mention of American lawns decorated by plastic ornaments.

     Overall, Price appears to be analyzing the reasons for the popularity of the pink flamingos, however she is actually going much further than just giving objective information. She sees the pink plastic flamingo as a symbol of extravagant American culture, and so carefully chooses vocabularies and examples to support the idea, emphasizing on the artificial and commercial feature of the pink flamingos.

Muckraker

          Unlike what Theodore Roosevelt intended with the term 'muckraker', the name is now given to two groups of people; one in pursuit of companies or of the government to reveal underground misconducts to which the public holds rights to criticize, and the other keeping a close watch on celebrities for gossip. Either way, they dig out hidden information filthy as 'muck' to expose to the public, which, unfortunately, is often misleading, causing the public to miss out on some other major misconducts that really need attention.

          Muckrakers in any of the possible two ways have their sources of information, usually the economical or political enemies of the target. It is not uncommon for investigative journalists to be used as a tool of retaliation between rival enterprises, celebrities or politicians, as any good reputation can easily be ruined, even with groundless rumors. When suspicion of drug possession, ill treatment of workers, inappropriate relationships or bribery, already made widespread by the press, is proven by fervent muckrakers to be true, the target is severly condemned. The accusation being just, such treatment is well-deserved. Nevertheless it is questionable whether the informant here, or the muckrakers themselves, are entirely free of faults. Considering that a number of able politicians, entrepreneurs and artists have ended their careers with the exposures of trivial flaws triggered by competitors, Jessica Mitford's crown as the queen of muckrakers should be less than glorious, although her accomplishment was entirely of a different nature.

          As for a few muckrakers who are devoted in revealing muck that may actually be of use in making a cleaner world, another obstacle awaits. It is the governments' and the press' wonderful faculty to fabricate conclusions with given information. Julian Assange, the representative of Wikileaks is a perfect example of a muckraker caught in such a trap. In the last few days of November 2010, mass media including CNN, the Guardian, the New York Times etc covered how China was loosing patience with North Korea, showing specific interest in the word 'spoiled child' allegedly used by senior figures in Beijing to describe the regime in the North. The source of this information, as the press mentioned, was Wikileaks. Why this 'leak', of all other 'leaks' shocking enough to keep the public's attention for years, was so worthy of special mention remains a question to be answered. Julian Assange, accused of molesting two women, was arrested in England. Wikileaks has a banner that reads, 'keep us strong', and the battle between Wikileaks and the governments still goes on. While the results are unknown, the broadcasted information about China and North Korea was misleading enough to degrade the term 'muckraker'.

         Those who are accused of being 'Muckrakers' may believe that they are raking muck out of society, but before they become proud of themselves of the name, they must remember that what they throw to the public does not always deserve full attention, and that they have yet to win over giants with accumulated experience in dealing with unwanted exposure. As long as these tasks remain unfinished, being a 'muckraker' should not be a pleasant accusation.

A response to the 'I like turtles' boy

 
    
       Whether this video is funny or not should be a decision left to the viewers. Unfortunately, however, the common crowd is seldom the best judge especially for something as wide ranged as humor, because an individual as a part of the general public tend to follow the opinion of the general public. This tendency has become stronger since the widespread use of the Internet.
     The phrase, 'famous for being famous' not only explains Paris Hilton’s popularity but also shows a possible explanation of the fuss over this ‘I like turtles’ boy. If we were to analyze such factors as the angle of the camera, the boy’s painted facial expression, and his unexpected answer, we could find out an element within the video that would attract 27 million people. Nevertheless, such efforts would be a waste of time because his ‘well-knownness’ has undoubtedly affected his fame more critically than what the video itself displays.
           On youtube, usually the clip with the most clicks within a period of time is the most exposed. If there are few other videos posted at the time, a video needs only a little amount of attention, that is, about a few hundred views in an hour, to be exposed. People who fool around on youtube to find out what’s ‘hot’ at the moment would definitely check out the zombie boy while it stays on the main page, and are likely to think that there must be something funny about the video for it to make it up to the list. As this cycle goes on people post parodies that attracts even more viewers who may or may not like the video. After a few weeks Jonathan finds himself famous on the Internet, although no one knows how the viewers would have responded to this video had they not known that it was well-known.