Challenge 5: Magazine Covers

     Kim and Kanye were on this month's cover of Vogue magazine. In my opinion, it is undeserved on her part because she has not done anything but star on reality tv and the star of a sex tape. Kanye, however, is a performer, and performers have been on the cover of Vogue before. Performers like stars of shows and even family of singers. Saying that the cover is a setback to fashion is over-exaggerating. Non-fashionable people or people who are not involved in the fashion world have been on the cover of Vogue before. It's to sell units. This (Kim and Kanye on the cover) is another form of selling more magazines. It is a controversy for the moment that will be forgotten by most people if given time.

Challenge 4: Audio Monitoring

Friday March 21, 2014
Start:          Stop:               Medium:             Comments:
12:07 pm   1:24 pm           iPod                    Started to listen to it while cleaning and eating
3:02 pm     6:39 pm           iTunes/Laptop    Got on the internet and listened to music while browsing
7:23 pm     11:20 pm         iTunes/Laptop    After a break, I continued as before


     I would say my means of using audio are constant. The above schedule is how I spend most of my days. If it's not using iTunes on my laptop, it would be watching and listening to shows on my laptop, and then continuing to listen to my iTunes library whilst browsing Tumblr.  I was definitely not surprised by my findings. I know that I spend most of my time on the computer, so any audio would be from my iTunes, shows, or Youtube. I don't really use the radio, and if I do, it's internet radio (Pandora).

Challenge 3: Music Industry

The Future of Music: iTunes?
     On December 13, 2013, Beyonce dropped her album, which had been kept secret until the day of release. The complete album was not available in stores, but through iTunes, and the only way to hear it was to buy the complete album. Observers of the music industry have been predicting that this is the new way to sell albums and that other artists will do the same.
     Releasing an album online helps cuts cost from distributors, record labels, and promoters as well as prevent piracy. The music industry has not been well for a while; artists have not earned enough to pay for studio time and have to keep touring to make money. By releasing albums online, it is more cost effective and will leave the artist with more money. I do agree that more artists will follow Beyonce's footsteps, but the success of doing so will not be in the same level as Beyonce. Some artists do need advertising because they aren't as popular as others. Whether releasing full albums online will catch on is still unclear, and whether it will completely replace the traditional method is even more unfathomable, but I do believe more artists will go digital. Saying that online albums will completely replace physical ones is the same as stating print books will go extinct. 
     Personally, I don't think it would make me want to buy music, unless it's an artist/band that I am obsessed with. Even if it is a band that I love, I would rather have a physical copy than an online one, the same goes for books. 

Challenge 2: Print vs. Digital

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

     I reviewed the book, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan for this challenge. I own a paperback copy and a digital copy of this book. I prefer the paperback copy to the online version. Reasons to prefer the physical copy are that it won't disappear out of your hands because you don't have to charge it, there's no artificial screen to look at, and it feels more personal to hold the book in your hands rather than to hold a device. 
     This series is my favorite and I have reread them a couple of times before, so it feels more special to read than just any other book, which is why the reasons why I prefer physical copies of books rather than electronic versions is even more justified. I enjoy the experiences of reading a real book; smelling the pages, holding the book in your hands, and turning pages. Words on a page of a book cannot be replaced by a screen; they are vastly different experiences. 
     Of course, with an electronic version of a book, it will be on record so there's no way to lose it unless you forget your sign up information or lose your device. However, the experience of reading a book whose spine you've felt, pages you've turned, and cover you've closed with your hands as you finish it is an experience an electronic book won't give you. Of course, others will disagree or not care, but there are people who think as I do, therefore physical books will still exist. Maybe there will come a day when no one owns a physical book, but that won't be for a while.

Challenge 1: TV Commercial Analysis

5 Points of Literacy

1. Who Created it?
        The company, GEICO, created the commercials.

2. What creative techniques were used?
        There was personification, rhetorical question, and humor.

3. How is it interpreted by different audiences?
        People without GEICO insurance would remember this type because of the humor and characters that were used in the commercial. GEICO insurance holders would see it with familiarity, considering they are insured with their company and what it offers.

4. What values does it show?
        It is insinuating that the people watching own a vehicle. Another assumption could be that they are either not insured, or are but with another company.

5. Why was this message created?
        The commercial was created to entice people to switch to GEICO. In beginning lines, they mention how much can be saved before it cuts away to the 'answer' of the rhetorical question that was used, which is the pig crying out on its way home.

Analysis 

Step 1: Describe the commercial/ad.

The commercial begins with the announcer asking the viewer(s) if switching to GEICO could save them up to 15% on car insurance. He makes his point by rhetorically asking if "the little piggy [cried] 'wee, wee, wee' all the way home." The camera then cuts away from the announcer to a scene in a car. There is a woman in the front seat driving, a little boy in the back right corner, and on the left is a little pig holding a toy wind spinner in each hand, crying 'wee, wee, wee' with his head out the window. The humor used is that the woman and the boy- which suggests they are mother and son- show annoyed expressions as the little pig is crying out, implying that the pig has been doing so for a while. The car stops and the woman calls out to the pig, which we learn is called Maxwell, to tell him that they are at his home. The commercial ends in another humorous moment, which is hearing Maxwell talk; Maxwell has a deep voice and talks casually to the woman, saying "Cool. Thanks, Mrs. A."

Step 2: Explain precisely who the “target” audience is for this commercial.

The target audience would be people with cars who are uninsured or are with another company other than GEICO. A precise answer when considering other factors would be middle-class vehicle owners who have enough money to buy a car and want to insure it. The advertisers persuade the audience by stating they can save money right off the bat, and then using a humorous way to emphasize their point.

Step 3: Identify the purpose(s).

The purpose is to get more people to switch over to GEICO insurance. The advertisers want the audience to think that they are reliable enough that all they had to do was state what good can come off from being with them, and using more than half of the rest of the commercial to expand on their use of a rhetorical question.

Step 4: Identify tone.

Overall, the main tone that came across the commercial was overconfident. Reasoning for this is that most of the commercial was used to get a point across. GEICO can save you 15% or more was the main point that was supported by a common line, "Did the little piggy cry 'wee, wee, wee' all the way home?" that in the beginning seemed like it was going to be used rhetorically, but expanded on it by showing an actual pig crying out on its way home.