Journal September 4

This year in ELA, I want to become a better writer. I plan to do this by expanding my vocabulary, reading different styles of writing, and just practicing. I think that my writing could be greatly improved through out the year. I also would like to work on being able to pick out symbolism in books. I plan to do this by just reading more and more book that have multiple layers of symbolism. I would also like to just read some interesting books, as well as develop my video making skills.

Journal May 23

1. Critique of The Fault in our Stars. MONTROSE MAVENS ROLL OUT!!!
My book, The Fault in our Stars, is a very interesting book. I was really excited to read it because it is so popular, so I assumed that it must be great. However, I found that it was overrated. The plot was predictable and followed the same plots as most generic love stories. It was written very well, and I seemed almost like the main character was writing it. However, I predicted the ending as soon as I opened the book. I thought that the author did a great job of making the book very realistic, and he must have done a lot of research on cancer. I also liked how the plot was similar to the cancer the main character has. Everything was good and happy, but then one day basically, s*** hit the fan. After s*** hits the fan, the 'fan' breaks and things further deteriorate at a faster speed, until everything stops. This is similar to the protagonist's cancer because everything seems good until the cancer gets worse. Things deteriorate in their body faster and faster, until everything stops. Everything stops when the cancer finally wins, and the protagonist dies.

Journal May 17

*SPOILER ALERT*

My book, The Fault in Our Stars, contains many different climaxs. However, I think that the main one is when Agustus, the protagonists lover, says that he has cancer. Before this the book is on an uphill slope, and everything seems to be getting better, but after this things start to mess up and spiral downwards. Agustus gets more sick and eventually dies. I think the main conflict in this book is man vs. self or man vs. nature. I believe that it is man vs. self because it is all about people coming to terms with the fact that they are going to die soon. However, it is man vs. nature because it is also people battling cancer. I believe that the protagonist loses her man vs. nature battle because she is terminally ill, and her boyfriend dies from cancer. However, she wins her man vs. self battle because she comes to terms with the thought of death.

Journal May 10

2.  

 My book, The Fault in Our Stars, starts off with Hazel Grace, the protagonist. She is going to a support group for people with cancer. She is friends with Issac, a member of the support group who is going blind from cancer. Through Issac, she meets Agustus, or Gus. Agustus has overcome cancer, and is in remission, Agustus and Hazel meet and become friends. They are both teenagers around the age of 17. It is unclear, what Agustus's goal in life is. However, I believe that Hazel's goal is too overcome cancer, or just live a happy life for as long as she can. It also seems like another goal of her's is to fall in love. This book is set in the present time, and in Indianapolis.  

Journal April 26

Feed, or feed, as it is written in the book, was a mind-boggling book. One thing that I noticed through-out the book was the lack of correct capitalization. For example, on the first page of the book (where it said the title), I noticed that feed was not capitalized.

At first, I thought that this was just a simple mistake, but then I noticed that none of the chapters were capitalized. I believe that this was to further enforce the point of the book. I believe that this book was showing that society is getting dumber and dumber because we are getting more connected to technology, and we are not having to do as much for ourselves. I also noticed that none of the pages, which said the chapter name, had page numbers. I think that this is also put in their to further enforce the point of the book. 

Journal April 19

1. 

http://youtu.be/uKoTpcs8ip8

This commercial is for the 2015 Dodge Challenger, and it is filled with tons of logical fallacies.  It starts off with having an abundance of elderly people talk about their life and to live yours with no regrets. They give advice and make you proud and happy. This is an example of the Appeal to Emotion fallacy. Dodge wants you to associate proudness and happiness with the 2015 Dodge Challenger, so they fill the commercial with things to make you proud and happy. The second fallacy committed is Appeal to Authority. It has many elderly people in its commercial, which makes the viewer think that it is a good idea to buy the car, since many people with tons of life experience are supporting it. The third logical fallacy committed is Bandwagon. It has lots of happy people supporting this, which makes the viewer want to be happy, and thus "join" the bandwagon. This commercial also commits False Cause. It makes the viewer think that the 2015 Dodge Challenger causes people to live long, happy lives, since it shows all of these elderly people before it shows the car. It tricks the viewer into thinking that there is no other reason that these elderly people would be in the commercial, except for the fact that they are happy because of Dodge. In conclusion, this commercial contains many logical fallacies, such as Appeal to Emotion, Appeal to Authority, and False Cause. 

Journal April 12

http://youtu.be/dP3r3SPXgKs

This video is a commercial for Proactive, aka one of the most persausive acne brands. It uses pathos and logos to persuade the viewer, but mostly ethos. The main way it uses ethos is by having one of the most famous pop stars, Katy Perry, act and promote this product. She starts off talking about how she has tried all other acne medicines, and says that none of them work. She then says she finally tried Proactive and it was fabulous. This makes the viewer feel like they need to buy it since one of the most famous people in the world buys and uses it. People watching feel as if they can trust Katy Perry because she is a famous person. She opens up to the camera about her insecurities and backstory, which makes her seem vunerable and even more trustworthy. It uses pathos by playing upbeat music, which makes the viewer happy and more likely to want to buy the product. It also shows lots of people smiling and Katy Perry performing, which makes people watching think that all people who use proactive are happy or successful. It finally uses logos by providing many before and after pictures, which show how well Proactive works. Overall, I believe that this commercial does a good job of balancing pathos, ethos, and logos, and persuading many people to buy Proactive. I think that it is geared towards mostly younger people, who would know who Katy Perry is. It is also filled with young adults, which makes me think even more that it is geared towards young people.