Alfonso Vasquez

Future small-business owner. RWS student.

[amvasquez5-blog]

RWS Advice

Well guys, I made it to the end of the semester. My grade is probably going to be average like most of the work i submitted. It was mediocre and, to be quite honest, not the best I could have done. If you are a person who is satisfied with mediocrity, then do what I did: procrastinate. I promise if you do this, you will get that average grade you’ve worked oh-so-hard for. BUT, if you want to be above average, if you want that A, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! Do all your assignments as soon as possible and you will pass this class with flying colors. 

If I had this little baby, I would definitely apply my own advice. Have a good break everyone.

[amvasquez5-blog]

Film Doc. Reflection

1. What is the purpose of submitting a video in a writing class?

The purpose is to teach us how to use rhetorical strategies through a different medium. It also teaches teamwork (group project).

2. Explain how you composed your message (purpose) in multiple forms 

I took the main idea of the purpose and adjusted it according to the medium I was working with.

3. Why do you think the structure and delivery of the film doc worked to achieve its advocacy?

By using the format of a newscast/psa, the video was able to advocate the need for the halt of air pollution in the El Paso area in the most time-effective way. (Not too long, but long enough)

4. Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question.

When answering question 3, I felt the use of a gif with the comedic portrayal of an anchorman would engage my audience and i followed that with a typographic explanation of the image and my answer to the question so my audience would fully understand my idea.

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Opinion Piece Layout

The topic for my opinion piece is Soccer in the United States. The “policy” change I would like to emphasize with this topic is the need for a rise in popularity for the sport Stateside. I chose the typographic (with hints of the iconographic) genre to create a more traditional opinion “letter-to-the-editor-type” piece. I feel this is the best way for me to express my thoughts clearly and concisely for all audiences to understand. Using this genre will help me score a goal and get an A on the assignment.

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Lit. Review reflection

1.  Describe the rhetorical choices you made in writing your research questions (use multiple images/sounds, etc.) in order to get an A on this assignment.

In order to get A for my research questions, I thought long and hard (like this skeleton here) about what aspect of my topic would be both the simplest yet informative for my audience to understand. Because of this I decided to write my research questions on the marketing aspect of Major League Soccer.

2.  What patterns did you find in your research methodology?

This picture is my research methodology. Surfing the web until I found the proper sources for my lit. review.

3.  Why do you think this methodology works? Does it always? Why?

I think this research methodology works MOST OF THE TIME, simply because of the vastness of the internet and all the information it contains. However it sometimes does not work because not all of the information you seek is available to the public (ebooks, scholarly articles, etc.)

4.  Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question. For example, why did you select that visual to answer the question? I chose the dog typing gif because that is how I felt surfing the web in one spot over and over again looking for information. I’ll admit, I also found the animation very amusing. 

[amvasquez5-blog]

Research Process

My research process is something like this..

It is chaos. I take a look at as many sources as possible and if they have the potential of helping my assignment, I save them as bookmarks. I search through google, google scholar, and just about every other place i can find useful information. I then narrow them down even further as to which provide the most useful and proven information to help my assignment. The end result is..

Tranquility. At which point I can start the cycle over again by beginning to write my drafts.

[amvasquez5-blog]

Literature Review Troubles

Does this hurt your head? Because that is how my brain feels as it is frying trying to come up with the perfect research questions. This is the hardest part for me. Trying to concoct the ideal research questions. As soon as I think I have the perfect question, an impurity peeks its little head up. Finding the perfect research questions is hard because of my topic. The topic I chose for the semester is far more challenging to research for than I thought. Once I get over this obstacle, I’m confident that the rest of the paper will be a... 

[amvasquez5-blog]

Genre Analysis Reflection

1. What are the complexities of using genres?

Using the right genre:

Using the wrong genre:

2. How does studying genres impact your writing?

Studying genres provides one with the knowledge on how to best write and deliver a message to their target audience.

3. What is the value of studying and/or writing about genres?

Writing is a lot easier to understand and therefore fun!

4.Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question.

I chose to answer question one by using those two gifs because I thought they were the perfect pair to compare how a specific audience can react to an author using an appropriate genre to deliver a message to that author using an inappropriate one. I also found the second gif to be humorous and felt that my audience (peers and professor) would share this sentiment.

[amvasquez5-blog]

Nike Football: Winner Stays GA

Genre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_SX5f1bJeM

This Nike Football (soccer) commercial is primarily an iconographic example with a few dependent oral and typographic elements. Without the video, the oral and typographic elements would not make sense.

Purpose: The purpose of this commercial is the same as any other product advertisement. Nike’s goal is to get the audience of the video to purchase their soccer products.

Audience:

This image illustrates who Nike’s target audience for this commercial is. They intended this commercial to be viewed by: 1. individuals who are familiar and enjoy using their products. And 2. The adolescent/young adult soccer player.

Ethos:  Nike is able to establish credibility with their audience through the use of branding. Those familiar with the Nike brand know the quality of product that the company produces.

Logos: Nike’s use of the best/most popular players in the sport is to support their branding efforts. By doing so, Nike allows the audience to logically infer that their products must be worn by the best for a reason, thus supporting their credibility.

Pathos:

This gif illustrates an example of the pathos within the commercial. Nike is essentially giving their audience the opportunity to infer that if they wear/use their products, they will be loved (by the audience or beautiful women).

Delivery: By using a video commercial to advertise their products, Nike is able to grab their audience’s attention with ease as opposed to the use of a oral or typographic presentation. The excitement and the visual stimulation the video has to offer is the reason Nike’s marketer’s chose this medium to demonstrate their line of soccer products.

[amvasquez5-blog]

HI MY NAME IS...

I’m Alfonso Manuel Vasquez. I’m a simple guy. I like to enjoy life with friends and family. Here are a few things you should know about me: 1. I’m funny (I’m pretty sure I’ve added quite a few years of life to people who are constantly in my presence.)  2. I’m outgoing....to an extent. You have to know me to experience my “outgoingness”, otherwise I’m really ‘laxed and reserved. 3. I’ve played soccer since I was three years old. It’s a big part of my life, so much so that I want to own my own soccer store, hopefully a few years after i graduate. 4. I’m an aspiring entrepreneur, which is basically a fancy way of saying small business owner. 5. Star Wars is my thing. It has been for as long as I can remember, literally. Some of my oldest memories are of me pretending to be Luke Skywalker. 6. I’m into men’s fashion, because of this I dress nice (at least I think I do). 7. I like all types of music. Lately, I’ve been bumping Alternative Rock, Hip Hop/Rap, and R&B.

That’s me. Make my acquaintance, I’m friendly.