TOW #16: "The Glass Castle: by Jeannette Walls (Part 2)

     The second half of the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls consists of her life as a young adult and is filled with themes and ideas pertaining to growth and the loss of innocence. Once the Walls pack up their ruined life in Phoenix, they plan to move to Jeannette's father's hometown of Welch, West Virginia. There, Jeannette and her siblings, Lori, Brian, and Maureen, meet their paternal grandparents, Erma and Grandpa, and their Uncle Stanley. The Walls are forced to live in the basement of Erma's and Grandpa's house, where they can stay safe from Erma's cold personality. There, Jeannette learns many lessons about racial discrimination, family life, and why her father is the way he is. At the end of the book, Lori discovers what it is like to be a normal kid and decides to move to New York City. She is then followed by Jeannette, Brian, and Maureen. Walls wrote The Glass Castle for those who had normal childhoods so she could share the story of her eccentric childhood. In the last section of her novel, Jeannette Walls uses juxtaposition to achieve her purpose of conveying the themes of hypocrisy and selfishness in her mother's and father's parenting.
     Throughout the novel, Walls characterizes her father as an erratic and aggressive alcoholic and her mother as an aloof, irresponsible bystander. In fact, in one section of the book, Walls wrote about how her father once came home in the middle of the night and asked her to stitch up his arm, regardless of her obvious disgust and reluctance. Walls also wrote about how she and Brian once found a diamond ring, but rather than selling the ring to pay for food and other necessities, their mother wanted to keep it to "boost her self-esteem." Walls later contrasts these moments of selfishness with her and her siblings' hard work and determination in their work. As adults, Jeannette, Lori, and Brian made so many sacrifices in order to do what was right for them and their loved ones. With this use of juxtaposition, Walls effectively achieves her purpose of conveying the themes of hypocrisy and selfishness throughout her childhood.

TOW #15: The Golden Globes Promo (Visual Text)

      Tomorrow night, the red carpet in Hollywood will be filled with various television and movie stars who come together to celebrate their successes in acting, writing, and directing. The 71st annual Golden Globe awards will be held at 7pm ET/4 pm PT on NBC and will be hosted by actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for the second year in a row. An assortment of promos have been aired on the Internet and on TV for several months. These promos show Fey and Poehler goofing around together and having a good time. The comedic affect of these promos really appeal to TV-watching audiences, because who wants to watch an award show hosted by dull, boring characters? Particular promos (posted below) depict Fey and Poehler in a very formal setting, which contrasts with the somewhat unserious nature of the two. The Golden Globes were created by the American Foreign Press Association in order to recognize achievements in television and film, and these entertaining promos were created to pull audiences into watching the program.
     These promos are effective in achieving the American Foreign Press Association's purpose because they take the name of a very well-known, glamorous award show and make everything seem so much less elite and elaborate; the use of humor reaches out to audiences and makes them feel like they are a part of the celebration. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are definitely the right people to be hosting the Globes because they are very well-known comedy actresses (who, I might add, both star/starred on two of my favorite TV shows) who add a more welcoming feel to the otherwise seemingly exclusive award ceremony. Promos portraying Fey and Poehler also reach specific target audiences of comedy-lovers and women. If someone hears that the actress from his or her favorite TV show is hosting an award show, they are more likely to tune in, even if they don't really care about the actual awards. Women are also a target audience; they are also more likely to watch the show because it is being hosted by two successful, hard-working women who serve as role-models for girls everywhere.

The Biggest Hollywood Party of the Year

Watch the Golden Globes tomorrow night, January 12, at 7pm ET/4pm PT on NBC!

TOW #14: Subaru Car Advertisement (Visual Text)

     Car commercials are one of the most popular kinds of advertisements found on the TV, internet, and in magazines. While some of these commercials appeal to audiences through the use of "cool" images—the car racing down curvy mountainside roads, being driven by tough, masculine men, or sometimes even flying through the air, they are missing one important factor in a person's decision to buy a car: the car's overall worth. The car company Subaru effectively achieves the purpose of demonstrating why people should buy its car in its commercial through its use of facts and juxtaposition.
     This advertisement is found on many car dealership websites, so its audience is made up of people who are looking for cars to buy. Subaru takes advantage of this by first of all stating, "Well done to Audi and BMW for winning the beauty contest. From the winner of the 2006 International Engine of the Year." This ad juxtaposes luxurious car companies like Audi and BMW to the more casual Subaru—beauty versus brawn. Juxtaposition effectively helps Subaru in its pursuit of finding more consumers because it reminds those consumers that value is more important than looks and it guarantees them that they will get more bang for their buck. This ad additionally employs the fact that Subaru won the title of the 2006 International Engine of the Year, which appeals to both the audience's ethos and logos. It establishes credibility because the company was awarded this title by car professionals who know what they are talking about, and it once again stresses the importance of a good engine over the importance of how the car looks. Subaru overall effectively achieved its purpose of demonstrating why people should buy its car by evaluating the importance of how well the car runs as opposed to what the car looks like and by stating that it won the title of the 2006 International Engine of the Year.