Blog Post #5

Dear English 110 students,

When I first got to this class I thought it would be another easy composition class just like in high school but I soon realized it wasn’t. From the very first paper I knew this class would be a lot different and a lot more challenging. The papers we wrote in this class were very in depth and analytical and require you, as a writer and a student, to really get into the topic of your papers and be attached to your topic for the entire quarter.

As a student of this class I recommend that you do not procrastinate on writing these papers and actually take your time to extensively prepare yourself for a paper. I feel like this class makes it a little easier on the student because it allows you to pick the topic and source that you would like to be writing about and that you would truly enjoy writing about, unlike other classes that would just throw a topic at you and expect you to enjoy writing about it. In order to use this to your advantage you need to actually take time and pick a source that you actually would like to write about, don’t wait till the last minute and just pick a random advertisement because you will make this class a lot harder than it needs to be. Pick a source that you like and can be attached to.

I was smart in picking a commercial that I would truly enjoy writing about but I regret the effort that I put in the first couple papers. I would not do my papers till late at night the day before they were due and would basically just crank out a paper to get over and done with. I do not recommend this and I wish I didn’t do this not only cause the grade I received on these papers but the stress I put on myself the night before. I did this for my secondary source paper especially and it was not fun staying up till 7 AM and waking up the next day for classes. The grade I got also reflected the effort I put in on this paper but I was determined to change this and become a better writer. As the quarter went on I worked on the next papers a little ever day or every other day and the grade on the final paper reflected that and I recommend to you all that you do this, it will make things a lot easier and make this class a lot more enjoyable.

Sincerely,

George

Blog Post #4

The first two comments I chose to analyze were comments from an article “Phys Ed: If You Are Fit, You Can Take It Easy” from the New York Times website. The article briefly explained studies about exercising at an elderly age and how if people stop exercising when they are old they will rapidly lose health benefits from years of exercise in their youth, but say that exercising once a day can immensely help this deterioration. These two comments were, as most of them, all helpful and usually use a personal experience to compare with the article. These people seemed to leave these comments to try to give an idea to others reading the article of what they are going through and to give these people a real life example and help out as much as possible. Both commentators left their names on their comments to allow others to look for their individual profiles. The comments were also very appreciative of the article and the author. The first comment I chose began his comment by saying “Great article” then goes on by relating this to his personal life by saying how he had gotten a gym membership for Christmas and how he hoped that it would help him with his bad back, because he is a farmer. This man was just trying to explain a personal experience of his and allow others to get an insight into what he’s going through. The next comment talks about how his hot flashes and muscle cramps are gone and how he has been off his medication for 6 weeks. Although this was a little less helpful he still tried to help by using an example from his life.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/phys-ed-if-you-are-fit-you-can-take-it-easy/

The second article that I decided to use was “Super Bowl VIPs complaining about their game experience” located in the yahoo sports pages. This article was about how Super Bowl fans were upset about their treatment at the Super Bowl and the NFL’s neglect to help and only compensated them for their tickets. Many fans had complained that the service inside the stadium was not very good and also many fans were left without a seat to sit in. However unlike the other article’s comments these comments are mainly unhelpful and negative, focusing on calling out the NFL and talking bad about the organization. The first comment I chose was “NFL is getting too big and greedy!” which is only focused on talking negatively about the NFL and not trying to help people viewing the article at all. The second comment is “Life is rough” which is also not helpful at all and is there for no reason. These comments were mainly emotion based and gave no actual help to the viewers; they were only there to give the opinions of the people leaving the post, in an immature.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Super-Bowl-VIPs-complaining-about-their-game-exp;_ylt=Ar6yt3Qtj4voZAEKkRjSw8nTrYZ4?urn=nfl-323354#comments

After reading these articles I feel that comments can be a very helpful tool for people viewing these articles but not always. I feel that since the first article was more formal and focused on an older, and maybe more mature audience, that there comments were very helpful and useful for viewers. Since the other article was posted on yahoo’s page I feel that since the audience viewing the page is more diverse and can maybe include younger adults, that many comments will be very immature and not helpful. I feel that comments can be very helpful if they have some thought put into them and I feel that I will continue leaving more educated comments or comments that can actually help someone out or state my opinion about a topic.

Blog Post #3

The first website I decided to view for this post was www.beachbody.com. This is a website that at first glance, because of the name, I expected to be very flashy and filled with advertisements like most “get slim quick” websites and advertisements but to my surprise it actually wasn’t. This site actually seems like a very reliable and realistic source to try to find new ways and dvds to exercise and get into shape. The website offers fitness programs, supplements, gear, videos and even success stories. The first thing that came to my attention when going to the site was the quick view at success stories shown in the before and after photos on the home page. These pictures show multiple people who have lost a considerable amount of weight by using the dvds sold on the website’s page. Beside the one lady who was 39 years old and lost 74 pounds it had a quote from her saying “P90X gave me strength. It gave me hope. It gave me power. I started believing I could once again be the person I was before MS.” Below this the website lists and describes some more popular workout videos that are sold on that site in their own little boxes almost like advertisements for their own site and in these boxes there are flashy images to persuade people to use each individual dvd but the flashiness doesn’t come from the site itself only the dvd advertisements on the site. This makes the site seem more reliable and realistic by separating itself from these flashy advertisements and trying to actually explain which of these workout videos are worth using and which are not good at all.

The second website I looked at was www.bodybuilding.com and this website once again unlike I expected was not very flashy at all. Although this website wasn’t flashy it showed images of almost unrealistic people and bodies after using their programs and videos but what I noticed the most is that the company focuses their advertisements and goals more towards selling their products, mainly pills and supplements. Like the other website there was a picture towards the top that showed an image but instead being an image of a person the first image they showed was and image of bottles of supplements and pills saying things like “Worlds #1 online supplement Store” or “Award-Winning Customer Service” to try to persuade people to buy supplements from their site rather than trying to help people find the best workout for them and being more informative. Looking more into the site it is mainly based on these pills and supplements and the people or models shown are extremely unrealistic. If I were trying to find ways to exercise and find dvds and information to help me with my workout I would definitely go to www.beachbody.com but www.bodybuilding.com isnt completely useless because I myself like to use supplements when I work and I would not mind using this site to shop for a product to help with my workout.

#2 The Ohio Stadium

The Ohio Stadium, or commonly referred to as “The Horseshoe” or “The Shoe” is located on North campus and is the home of our favorite Ohio State Buckeyes. The stadium was finished in 1922 but has gone through many restorations over the years to make it larger and more modern. For almost 90 years the stadium has been a place for every Ohio State student to get together on the same side and cheer for their team together which has made this stadium the center of Buckeye pride, companionship and unity.

Walking up to the stadium to attend my first OSU football game was a moment I will not forget. Thousands of people were walking around the stadium to the entrance; they were happy, cheering and yelling chants to each other. The stadium was huge and amazing with massive columns on the sides. I liked how the old architecture part of the stadium blends into the new steel part of the stadium so naturally but you can still tell it’s very old. The North Rotunda is another amazing part of the stadium. This is the entrance on the north side, which has been designed to look like the dome at the Pantheon in Rome and is filled with stained glass murals of the offensive and defensive squads of older Ohio State football teams. It can hold up to 102,329 people, most of which are Ohio State students and fans which makes for a great way for people to interact with each other and make new friends in the process. Sitting in my seat it was almost hard for me not to talk and interact with the people around me. I had a great time at the game; we beat Eastern Michigan that day. Attending that game and every other game has been such an amazing time. The feeling in the stadium is nothing but happiness and excitement and has been an amazing experience for me and for many others.

Blog Post #1

When people first think of exercise they commonly think of professional athletes, famous actors and popular figures. When I first think of exercise the first thing that comes to my mind are professional football players because that is my favorite sport and I believe that they are the best overall and most balanced athletes. Because I am used to watching and picturing these incredible athletes, I will find it interesting to study more about the average person. It is true that America has found itself in an obesity problem but this can be misleading as many Americans strive to model themselves after these famous figures by exercising and staying in shape in order to fit in in their communities. There are also many other reasons that a person exercises like for personal satisfaction, preparing for a sport or physical event, or even just to relieve stress after a long day of work.

I myself am able to connect portrayals of exercise in the media to my own interests because these people have mastered exercise and are popular in the public image and have become almost the standard or desired look which helps motivate me to exercise and get in shape. Of course this is not the only reason I exercise. Exercise also helps me to relieve stress and calm down and is my favorite thing to do after a long day of work or school. Also exercising is an important part of staying healthy and in shape. It is important for someone to stay physically active whether you’re working out for 2 hours at the gym or simply taking a walk after work.