Blog Post 6

For project three, I have chosen to use essay one.  This essay was a lot more interesting to me than the second essay and I understood it a lot better.  I like the subject of non-smoking and the world of advertising is very interesting to me.  In my next project, I plan to go deeper in the realm of smoking and discuss the negative aspects and how the world of advertising affects smokers positively and negatively.  I believe strongly that smoking should not be legal.  I know many people who have died of lung cancer due to smoking, or even secondhand smoke.  These people were close to me, so I feel very strongly on the topic.  If I could help convince people to quit smoking, or at least one person, I would be very pleased.  Smoking is dangerous and does not include any benefits.  It is all negative, but once people are addicted they do not usually want to put the effort into quitting because it is so hard to quit.  My mom used to smoke when I was young, but she quit cold turkey when she got really sick.  I think she is inspiring in that way, and I wish that many other people could do that.  I also think that people aren't aware of how bad it actually is.  I think people believe that "it won't happen to me." Well, it could very well happen to you, so you should prevent it.

Blog Post 5

To analyze my website, which is the Urban Decay make-up website, I will be using Helmer as a lens.  I am using Helmer as a lens because in her essay she analyzed websites, where in Jenkins’ essay, video games were analyzed.  Although my website is a lot different than the websites that Helmer was analyzing, I will be analyzing it with some of the same techniques.  Helmer was analyzing memorial websites that were created by random people who just felt like they needed to make a website to remember a celebrity.  The website I am analyzing is a professional website done by a company to sell make-up.  I will be analyzing how effective the website would be to sell the product, how the website is set up to attract an audience, and accessible the website is.  From what I have viewed on the website so far I have not found any really negative aspects of it, besides for the price.  But one may argue that the price doesn’t matter if it is a quality product, which I believe that Urban Decay is.  (It is my favorite, by far. But I still don’t spend that much money on it. Occasionally I will, but not for all my make-up.)  I am also analyzing the fact that they sell animal-friendly products that are listed on their site as vegan.  This was exciting to me, because I am all for animal rights.  I just wish that I had $17 to spend on make-up that is vegan.  My working thesis will be: The Urban Decay website is a successful website in attracting an audience that would be interested in buying and using their product. 

Blog 4

www.urbandecay.com is my website.


I chose this for Paper 2 because not only is it my favorite brand of make up, but when I visited the website I decided that I really enjoyed it.  I looked at a few websites that I like to shop on, but this one was definitely the most eye-catching and fun to look at. The colors are very attractive and exciting to look at. In my opinion, doing make-up is art so it helps that the site is very artistic-looking.  It is easy to access all options of the site.  They have separate sections for each kind of make up you are looking for (eyes, face, lips, etc). They also have a wide selection of vegan items that are easily viewable on the website, which I greatly enjoyed! I am thinking about switching all my make-up to these vegan items, although they are very expensive. It's about $17 for an eyeshadow, but that's about the same price range as the rest of their make up. It isn't any more expensive just because it is vegan, which is a good thing.  I like the fact that they are addressing the vegan alternative, not many make-up brands do this.  I am willing to pay the extra money for all of my make-up because I care about animals.  It also includes a little paw-print on the website to indicate whether an item is vegan, if you see it in another menu so you know.  On the header of each menu, they have a picture of a model with her make up done beautifully.  They are different pictures for each menu.  On the eye menu, the model has amazing eye make-up.  On the lips menu, the lips are accentuated.  On the face menu, the skin looks flawless and the blush and bronzer look perfect.  They also have many search options if you are looking for a particular item.  You can search a keyword or an item number.  There is also an option for customers in the UK and a helpful place to get giftcards.  I really enjoyed the website and thought it was effective.

Blog Post 3

These ads are all using the consequences of smoking to convince people to stop smoking.  My argument is that they are correct, smoking causes death, and it should never be put lightly.  I think people should know that if they smoke they will most likely die. I think that blatantly saying that smokers will die is the most effective way to get them to stop smoking.  It isn't something that should be put lightly, because it is a serious matter.  My main claim will be that these ads are effective and useful.  People need to know that smoking can cause death, and the more that they are reminded the more it will get them to realize that they need to quit smoking. 

blog post 2

These ads are meant to be appealing to people who smoke.  They are meant not to sell a product, but to convince them to stop smoking by using the extremities (and the truths) of the effects of smoking.  The top one says that smoking is suicide, this means that by smoking people are still smoking, knowing that it is going to kill them.  It basically is suicide.  The second one is trying to convince people not to start smoking.  It is doing this by saying that smoking kills and listing off the negative health effects of smoking.  The last one shows a statistic of 53,000 nonsmokers die every year from secondhand smoke.  This is another extremity used to show smokers that they are not only killing themselves, but their secondhand smoke is killing innocent people who have chosen not to risk their life by smoking.  In my opinion, these ads are very effective.