1.  My argument is how clothing advertisements have changed today and are mainly sold using sexual innuendo.  Commercials today use the idea that”sex sells.”  I will examine the abercrombie and fitch clothing line and how it has changed today and is mainly selling through ads that show sexy young adults almost naked showing a bit of their clothing.  It is mainly sold to teens through their twenties and really sells with sex instead of the actual clothing. 
2. I hope to discover how advertisements used to be and how they have evolved over the years.  I want to understand how they sell so well and really attract todays generation of young adults.  I really want to discover more about how the clothing line started as well. 
3. I have used a few dicfferent sources including  news paper article I received when hired at A&F back at home and also their website.  The newspaper article I received when hired there showed how I was supposed to dress, how I was supposed to work and act there and basically when you work there you are basically modeling the clothing.  Most of the people that would work there were all good looking and basically you had to be good looking in order to work.  So it was as if they were selling the people instead of the clothing.  It was kind of strange.  I will also use their official site because it shows plenty of pictures of the models for their clothing line and all the clothes they sell and to whom they sell to.  It will give me good information about their clothing line and how they advertise. 
4. I should still look for more sources to work with and really understand the history to their clothing line.  Some elements that aren’t clear to me are the history to the clothing line and the type of people they sell to, gender to ethnicity.  I want to learn more about the clothing line and why sex sells so well and how it is aimed at the young generation.  I will need a few more sources as well.

 

1) When Freire talks about classes today and the “problem-posing” class in for example english, the professor isn’t the only one teaching anymore they are learners as well.  Professors and student now a days both have their say in class and pose different opinions and ideas on topics which are raised in classrooms.  Students have just as much say as the professor and professors can also learn from students instead of just the students learning from the professor.  Students are allowed to have their own opinions and think openly and be creative.  They can have their own reflection of the topic.  In the discussion of “consious of consciousness”, it means being aware of your conscious state.  This would mean knowing your thoughts at a certain point and only you know about your thoughts, no one else.  Being aware of your thoughts and ideas on a subject.  This made a difference in my school work when I sit in class and while others answer a question asked by the teacher, I have my own thought on it but no one else knows what it is.  I have my own conscious creative idea.

2) The term praxis is defined as practical application or exercise of a branch of learning.  This type of learning goes along with the banking system.  This system lets students come up with their own ideas and theories while at the same time learn about theories known today.  However this does not give students the chance to think freely.  Alienation is defined as the state of being withdrawn or isolated from the objective world as through indifference or disaffection.  Students can feel alienated in a sense that their own thoughts aren’t accepted because they are not law and students are not given the chance to open their minds freely . 

3)  In this reading, I think Friere is like a teacher and we the readers are the students.  He attempts to give us information that we should accept.  Kind of like the metaphor of making deposits in a bank, he is filling us with his ideas instead of letting us think freely and open our thoughts and ideas.  He attempts to feed us information and we should accept it, instead of letting us have our own ideas and opinions. 

 

For my research project, I have chosen to do it on clothing advertisements.  Over the years advertisements have really changed for designer clothing.  From actually commercializing the clothing to now just advertising the male and female body, ads have come a long way.  I would like to do my essay on this because I like designer clothing and I find it interesting to see how advertisements have changed over the years when looking at designers ranging from Levis to Abercrombie & Fitch, and how their ways of advertising vary to different groups of people.  I plan to do my research online and at the same time get sources from the library.  I intend to use the sites for certain clothing designers, like perhaps Ralph Laren, Calvin kKlein, and A&F.  This is an interesting assignment and I would really like to look back at ads and how they’ve changed.

 

1) In Susan Bordo’s essa, she really emphasizes sexuality and pleasure in adds today. She is a slow writer, in the sense that this is a long essay but she really puts a lot of detail into her writing. In this essay, Bordo starts by talking about how she almost knocked over her coffee after seeing an add of a sexy male model. She puts a lot of detail into it and talks about how it sexually arouses her and her friends that she showed the picture to. I could use this strategy because it is very useful in emphasizing the topic and how it affects people in society. It is a lot of detail and really gets the reader going.

2) In Bordo’s essay, she divides it into sectons, discussing different adds. In one section she discusses homosexuality, in another she discusses race and culture, and there are plenty others. It starts with “Men on display,” then “Thanks Calvin,” “Rocks and Leaners,” “Honey, What Do I Want to Wear,” “Male Decorativeness in Cultural Persepctive,” and last “My World…and Welcome to It.” Bordo talks about homosexuality and really emphasizes on this topic and how it involves modeling. She talks about all different types of adds and the style of selling through these adds. They are placed in order, with homosexuality then race and culture, and so on. They each give different arguments and different sides to the add business using models.

3) In Bordo’s essay she discusses many topics including race, ethnicity, color, stereotyping, etc. In her essay on page 171, she talks about how a young Latin American student was walking down the hall early in the morning when no one else was there. An administrator walks by and asks if he was the new janitor! This is very insulting. This is an example of a stereotype that is known today. People all have a certain view from their own eyes of a certain person and their “subject position.” That is what she is talking about. Like the saying goes never judge a book by its cover.

4)

For my project on adds that have changed since the past, some ideas I have are makeup commercials like Maybeline, or clothing lines like Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein. I was also thinking maybe Pepsi or Coca-Cola, but I am not positive yet.

 

1) In the two pictures for Kotex from adflip.com, each has a different approch in advertising their product.  In the one comic for Kotex, one reads about different situations where a young lady is with a man.  It talks about how to act in a situation, and then in the end of each Kotex is mentioned and it says how this is the best choice for that time of month especially in a situation like the ones shown dealing with men.  Kotex is advertised as a product that will help you in a situation and is like a “poise-preserver.” 

The second picture shows a beautiful lady.  At the bottom of the picture, there are a few words talking about a young ladies beauty and then right at the end they mention Kotex which is saything bascially that wearing this product during that time of month keeps you beautiful.  And it even has “feminine deodorant!”

Each of these advertisements are selling to the world not only Kotex for ladies during that time of month, but also an improvement to a ladies well being, like “poise-preserver” and “feminie deodorant!”  It is no longer just a product to protect but is sold to make women look better and feel better and even in situations helps with men!

2)  http://www.adflip.com/addetails.php?adID=13060

In this advertisement for Subaru, it shows that when you buy this vehicle you are not only buying a nice car but an adventure as well!  “Rugged. Dependable. Weather-Resistant.”  This car will get through any adventures, especially the Outback since this is what is being shown in the background.  The approach for selling a Subaru and many other cars as well is the sense of adventure; that when you buy this vehicle you can do anything with it, from climbing the highest mountains to driving across the dryest deserts.  This car is not just a car anymore but a fun and adventurous time as well.

http://www.adflip.com/addetails.php?adID=99&showLargeJpg=yes

When I first came upon this picture, I was scrolling down and all i saw was the car.  The first thing I thought that was being advertised was the movie “Back to the Future,” since that was the car from the movie.  But when I scrolled down to the bottom I realized it was nothing even close to the movie, but instead it was actually selling Scotch!  This picture, in my opinion barely even advertises their product.  It talks about how “One in every 100 new businesses succeed” and at the bottom it finally shows the product and is basically saying let us buy this drink and make a toast to those who succeed and “take the odds.”  I believe they are advertising that this drink is for those who succeed. 

 

1) In Susan Douglas’s essay, she write about how women are portrayed as beautiful ladies that are meant to look very “womanly” and sexy.  She says how they are meant to be beautiful and wear makeup and look pretty.  But she does not talk about equality of women and men, and how women are not just expected to be beautiful and look good but can also work just as men do and do not have to be perfect and beautiful as media portrays them to be.  These are the underlying assumptions in Douglas’s essay.  It explains how women are portayed as all makeup and beautiful, not as plus size or as hard working women that can do just as men do.

2) All throughout this essay, Douglass talks about narcissism and how women are portrayed in the world of men.  The essay discusses narcissism as liberation and about all the debate over cosmetic companies and commercializing of their products as showing women as having to be beautiful.  All over the media there are commercials for makeup, perfume, and all these products that portray women to look more beautiful.  It is the media and cosmetic companies that are responsible for what people think of women and how they are shown.  Women’s bodies are shown on television as slim and beautiful, with plenty of makeup and perfume and smooth skin and very sexy.  Even today this is still how women are portrayed.  But this is not good.  Women as well can do work just as men do. 

 

One example of how women are portrayed in media today that is alternative to what Douglass is talking about is plus size models.  In Douglass’ essay, she talks about how women were portrayed with plenty of makeup for commercials of skin products and also other media that shows off womens legs and bodies which were slender and pretty.  This media gives everyone the idea that they must look like this and buy these products to be beautiful.  That women must be a certain size and look to be beautiful.  But this isn’t true.  And this picture is one example that you do not have to be like what media portrays you should be. 

 

Questions on Ways of Seeing

1) In this essay by Berger, he discusses history a lot.  He talks about artwork and how it “embodies a way of seeing.”  When he discusses history he mentions that we are “situated” in history. When we look at beautiful artwork, we situate ourselves in it.  We don’t just look at it, we invision ourselves in this artwork and situate ourselves in it.  It is more than just seeing it is being and feeling as well.  It can also be political when talking about ruling classes and the history behind this.  If we are prevented from seeing this art we are deprived of the history which belongs to us. 

 2) Berger talks about how many people view Hal’s paintings of high authority figures and people’s positive remarks on them.  Critics use words like harmonious and unfogettable. However, Berger seems to view Hal’s work differently.  While people may talk about how the art seduces us, he disagrees and says that this is “nothing less than the paintings working upon us.”  We accept the fact that his painting is of his sitters.  Berger observes teh peoples gestures and facial expressions.  His impression of this artwork is based mostly on what he knows about this artwork, and that is that he has painted pictures of those Governors and the Governesses of the Alms House who gave public charity. 

 

My first english essay

After reading Percy’s essay The Loss of the Creature, my ideas of a liberal arts college experience was really influenced by his ideas.  In his essay, he discusses ideas including “preformed symbolic complex.”  In the first picture of my dorm room, this is a typical example of preformed symbolic complex.  Ever since before I came to college, I always pictured what it would be like in my mind.  How classes would be, what the campus would look like, how my room would be arranged.  I always had this vision of what college would be like from what I’d see in movies and what others would tell me, like this was what it was supposed to be like.  The picture of all the books on my desk is also another example of Liberal Arts College and another typical example of preformed symbolic complex.  After reading this essay, I realized his ideas were very true and I had a much different view on college. 

Another thing Percy talks about in his essay is “consumer receiving an experience-package.”  When it comes to this idea, it is basically saying that everything is laid out for us in school now days.  We don’t need to make our own choices anymore, everything is done for us, and we just have to take it as it comes to us and make something of it.  Liberal arts open a variety of different courses for us to study.  And in this, we are given the opportunity to take or leave the knowledge and use it.  It is all laid out for us and all we have to do is use it and make the right choices.  It is the same basic idea that we are free to keep our mind open to many different courses and learn what we want. 

In the picture of the white board and me holding a baseball in one hand and a book in the other, you see an example of “consumer receiving an experience-package.”  They both show how I am offered plenty of knowledge and it is my choice of whether or not I want to take this information and use it.  When I hold the book in one hand and the baseball in the other, this shows me being given the choice to take what I have been offered and decide whether or not I want to use the knowledge or not.

 

Loss of The Creature

1) After reading “The loss of the Creature” I start to see the connection between the tourists and the students.  The progress of thought represented from tourists to students shows similar ideas.  In the tourist reading, it explains how the tourist goes to Mexico and enjoys the stay but still feels something is missing and need more.  Same with the student in a way, when it talks about how even though a bio major is there to learn bio, one who isn’t a bio major can learn more from one simple experiment than the bio major that studies it their entire life.  This is showing, in my opinion, that it is the simple thoughts and ideas that matter most.  Something unspoiled and untouched.  Something new is always best for the simple eye of someone who hasn’t seen before.  From the Mexican Indian tribe to the dogfish. 

2) The loss in the essay by Percy, in my opinion, is the loss of the simple things in life.  We do not appreciate the simple things in life.  We always look for more.  Like at the Grand Canyon.  Instead of taking pictures, one should stop and admire the beauty, instead of thinking of more.  This is a matter of concern, because people don’t appreciate the simple things anymore.  The interests represented here show that even the simple eye of someone can appreciate and learn more than the eye of someone like the biology major.  People have lost the sense of happiness of nature.  We must stop for a minute and enjoy.