Final Reflection

Final Reflection 

Growth is something we all strive for. During this semester we’ve done a lot of different
writing assignments that have been very beneficial for my academic growth. We have done
everything from Annotative bibliographies to research papers, all for the benefit of growing as
writers. I learned to appreciate every assignment done, and I have seen how it has helped change
my writing in a very positive way. I took a gap year in-between graduating high school and my
freshmen year of college and I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with big
assignments. As I started to ease my way back into student life, I started to adapt, and I ended up
doing a lot better than I expected. This list of assignments that I completed act as a timeline, as
well as a showcase for my progress in English composition. I fell that I have accomplished a lot,
and that I have met my academic goal for this semester.

For my first assignment (Project 1), we had to write about an academic challenge or
struggle that we had faced in school. I decided to write about being bilingual and learning
Spanish at home with my mom. Writing about being bilingual was special to me. Usually,
teachers would give students a generic topic to write about and share our thoughts on and there's
nothing wrong with that. At the end of the day its special when you get to construct your own
idea and story with minimal borders, and that’s what this assignment was for me. It was freeing
in a sense and really gave me the liberty to introduce characters, themes, and ideas with no
boundaries. I chose to write about my experience with being bilingual because I am proud of my
languages. I am proud of all my mom and I went through to get to this point. There are a lot of
challenges that come with being bilingual and I want people to see that it isn't easy. It took a lot
of time and dedication from me and my mom. It’s something that I have worked hard on and
something that I am very proud of. It is something that is worth sharing, and that’s why I decided
to write about improving my language skills.

This project was a good icebreaker for me. Do you know that feeling you get when you
meet new people for the first time? That’s kind of what this assignment was to me. It was a sneak
peak, and a good introduction, to what this class was going to consist of. One thing I thought I
did well on, was how I portrayed my mom as a character. Usually, I'm not good at describing
characters at all, but I feel like I'm starting to develop characters and that adds a lot to my paper.
I’m really happy about how I described my mom and what she means to me. I feel like I am
improving that part of my writing. One thing that didn’t feel successful was my editing. I don’t
know why I've never really been good at editing my own papers. It’s almost as if my brain
blocks out the spelling and grammatical errors. It was hard for me but the more time I spent on it,
the easier it was to edit. It also helped that I got some peers, my girlfriend, and my sister to read
it.

The second assignment was very difficult for me and was honestly not my best work. The
second assignment we did was an Advertisement analysis and breakdown. We had to choose an
argument that was published in the past decade and break down the meaning, audience, ethos,
logos, pathos, etc. I struggled with simple grammatical errors as well as spelling. The topic I
chose to write about was gun control.

I started off by choosing a topic and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to reflect on. I started by
browsing the internet for possible ads to use. As soon as I saw the “Moms Demand Action” ad I
knew that I had stumbled upon a gem. I was super excited and posted the ad in blackboard as
soon as possible. Picking the ad was not hard at all but getting started was difficult. I covered the
basics by describing the ad, the audience, emotional appeal, etc. I also talked about how the Grey
Agency network wasn’t an American company and it was brave of them to get involved in this
way. I then gave my opinion on the ad and reflected on how it made me feel, and how it would
make the intended audience feel. It was my first time doing an assignment like this and I found it
to be very interesting and challenging at the same time. I would say the process of writing this
paper was very different and challenging for me. Usually I could start writing about a topic
comfortably, but I had to really take my time and analyze the actual advertisement and what I
was saying about the topic as well.

I think this was a successful assignment for me overall, but I also think I could've
elaborated and done better on some aspects of the assignment. I think that choosing a good
advertisement was a big success for me because it set me up to have more freedom to express my
opinion and gave me more things to talk about. I was able to really get descriptive with the
image and break down what the advertisement was about. I think that this assignment really
helped me further improve my descriptive skills. I'm learning to use more description and
attention to detail instead of describing things to my audience in a dry boring way. I am also
getting better at organizing my paragraphs in a more effective way. I'm not perfect at it but I see
some improvement. I see a lot of successes that are starting to develop through these assignments
and I'm proud of that but there are also things to improve.

This assignment was difficult for me. I need to work on making all my paragraphs the same
quality. I felt like I was running out of things to write about towards the end. I also found the
directions somewhat confusing at first and it was hard to go back and fix my mistakes because
everything wasn’t lining up the way I wanted it to. I wish that I would've included more of my
opinion and a little bit of research to add more depth to my paper. I think that I got overwhelmed
with the number of things that I could've done that I ended up doing less rather than more. I saw
this project as a success because I believe that I did a good job and I also saw a lot of mistakes
that I can improve on in future assignments.

By the time I hit the third project I had seen both success and some failure with the
advertisement analysis, and I knew it was only going to get harder. The third assignment was a
research report. Writing reports scare me a little bit because you must be very specific and have
to do a lot of research on the whatever topic you chose. There is a much longer process top a
research report and more room to make mistakes. I decided to do my research on Rap and Hip
Hop and what kind of effects it has on people. I wanted to do research on something that
involved music, so it was difficult choosing a topic. I chose rap because it is a fairly new genre
of music and it wouldn’t be extremely difficult to find information about it. Rap is one of my
favorite genres of music, so I knew some information coming into it, but I didn’t know specifics
and details. It was interesting to find out how and where rap started. It's interesting to see how it
started as a super small project but has become a very powerful movement that influences a lot
of people.

The hardest part of this project was finding a topic. I needed something fairly new that still
had some history to it. I needed something that had a lot of information on it and I really wanted
it to be related to music. I finally decided to do my research on rap and how it has grown and
how it influences people from all cultures, ages, etc. For my articles I spent a lot of time
browsing the internet and checking to see if the authors were reliable as well as the web sites. It
was a very long process, but I was finally able to find some creditable articles that had exactly
what I was looking for. By the end of this project I had completely surprised myself. I did so
much better than I could have ever imagined. A lot of my success was based on the amount of
help and in class assignments that we did to help us do research. I was proud of my work.
We had a lot of projects both in English Composition, and Composition Review. One of the
projects that stood out to me in the composition review class was the PowerPoint on lower order
concerns. The class was divided into pairs based on the things that we had difficulty with. One of
the things that I had problems with was comma splices and comma placements. I didn’t feel
confident using commas in my work because I was afraid that I would place the comma in an
incorrect spot. My assignment was to create a PowerPoint on commas and how to use them
correctly and present it to the class. I was very nervous and didn’t like the idea of presenting it to
the class, but it ended up going well. I started by looking up information on how to use commas
properly and creating my PowerPoint. The hardest part of the assignment, and the area in which I
could've done better was presenting in front of the class. I feel that I could've spoken more
clearly and been more interactive with the class. I thought that it went well overall and it was a
nice change of pace from writing.

My final project was a persuasive composition. The final assignment had a lot of different
parts to it and combined everything that we had learned in class. For this assignment we had to
choose a topic that was both interesting to us, and that was a relevant and somewhat
controversial. After choosing the topic we would do research and find a point that is debatable
within the topic. Are goal being to try to convince our audience of the point that we were arguing
with a thesis-based argument.

I chose to do this topic on cyber bullying and what would be the best way to stop cyber
bullying. After I chose my topic, I started to do a lot of research on how cyber bullying affects
people, who is affected, how are we trying to stop it now, etc. I found about seven or eight
reliable sources and started to build my argument. The research was the hardest part of this
assignment. It took a long time to find reliable sources that had information that would be
beneficial for my argument. As soon as I found the information, I started to write. I used the
quote sandwich to build most of my paragraphs because that was the easiest way to build my
arguments while incorporating my quotes by saying “Monica Lewinsky was recently featured on
a TED talk and talked about how her mistakes where blown up by the internet stating, “this was
not something that happened regularly back in 1998, the stealing of someone's private words,
comments, and conversations and making them public. Public without consent and context”
(Lewinsky). Lewinsky was talking about her life experience. She was explaining the mistake she
made by falling in love with the president of the United States and having her mistake made
public on the internet, television, and news.” 

All these assignments brought new challenges, but I was able to apply the things that I
learned in previous assignments. One of my biggest struggles with writing coming in to this class
was organizing my ideas and paragraphs. My first assignment where I talked ab out being
bilingual and my advertisement Analysis where big examples of that. I was having a lot of
difficulty placing paragraphs in the correct order. I conquered that in my research paper about the
History of Rap music and how it affects people. I was able to organize my ideas to make my
thesis statement very effective. I also noticed that my ability to organize my thoughts made its
way to my final project where I was able to talk about cyber bullying and how we should stop it.

A good example of this is the way I incorporated quote sandwiches throughout my final project.
“A study conducted by child family studies did some research on the negative effects of cyber
bullying as well as studying what factors lead to bully behavior states, “a number of practices
could be launched in order to actively support parents and schools in their role to prevent the
manifestation of cyber bullying”. (cf. Kaplan and Assor 2012). This article states that change
starts where the problem begins which is at school. There would be workshops and school events
focusing on the effects of bullying, not only online but in real life.”

My writing knowledge has increased by so much and I have gotten a lot more comfortable
with writing, and you can see that in all the assignments that I have done throughout this
semester. I have learned to fix both lower order concerns as well as higher order concerns. I
learned that comma splices and be fixed with a coordinating conjunction (F.A.N.B.O.Y.S) as
well as a comma. I've also learned how to Cite my sources. Here is an example of a website that
I used in my final project. Cole, David A., et al. “Longitudinal and Incremental Relation of
Cybervictimization to Negative Self-Cognitions and Depressive Symptoms in Young
Adolescents.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 44, no. 7, Aug. 2016, pp. 1321–
1332., doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0123-7. Accessed on Oct. 29, 2018. There is so much that I have
learned, and I know that I still have a lot to learn. This class has been a very difficult yet
rewarding experience and I'm glad that I was able to learn and grow in different ways.

Cyber bullying is so destructive!

Imagine this scene.
Note: I couldn't afford to buy a subscription to Storyboard That! but I think it's really cool to work with.

We must make people aware of the damaging effects of cyber bullying. (Major Project 4)

I chose to research and write about cyber bullying. Through my research, I learned more about who is affected and how people are affected. 

Cyber Bullying

Since the rise in technology and social media use in the past couple of years, there is no doubt that the use of these devices and platforms has greatly influenced the way we interact with people around us. Social media is a powerful tool that could be used to promote both positive and negative things. The biggest negative outcome that has formed through social media use is cyber bullying. Cyber bullying has affected millions of people and has grown out of control in recent years. There have been efforts to try to control the amount of cyber bullying that happens, but I believe that there are better ways to go about it. Cyber bullying has spread like an uncontrollable wild fire and people can't find how to stop it from occurring. The best way to stop cyber bullying is to raise awareness through campaigns and advertisements to make society aware of who, how, and when people are affected.

The Internet can be a cruel and unforgiving place for people that have been bullied online. The first major example of online harassment and cyber bullying happened to be in the late 1990s. Monica Lewinsky was recently featured on a TED talk and talked about how her mistakes where blown up by the internet stating, “this was not something that happened regularly back in 1998, the stealing of someone's private words, comments, and conversations and making them public. Public without consent and context” (Lewinsky). Lewinsky was talking about her life experience. She was explaining the mistake she made by falling in love with the president of the United States and having her mistake made public on the internet, television, and news. She was completely shamed publicly and had no way of escaping her reality. Cyber bullying was not a well-known issue when it happened to Lewinsky.

Lewinsky was devastated and didn’t know what to do or how to handle all of this negative attention. She would receive death threats, shaming, and a lot of horrible comments. Sometimes Cyber bullying seems to be a force that can't be stopped. A force that can bring deadly consequences. People need to understand that it's not just about calling people out or using profane words against people. Society tends to forget that they are talking to a person, someone with feelings and emotions just like them. The consequences can be catastrophic. Raising awareness for the effects of cyber bullying would change the way society would interact with people online. People would come to realize that things that happen online effect someone just as much as things that happen in person.

With raising awareness against cyber bullying comes concerns about how the issue is addressed. Many people are scared to address the topic on a national scale because they are afraid of violating freedom of speech.  Some people believe that the best way to control cyber bullying is to monitor and control what people are allowed to post, say, and see on the Internet. This would be an extreme way of trying to stop cyber bullying and I believe that it's not the correct way to stop it. Instead of viewing the internet as a problem, we should focus on using the internet to spread the effects of cyber bullying. The key to stopping cyber bullying is to make everyone aware of its effects. To show people that it’s a horrible thing to go through. Cyber bullying is real, and it has taken the lives of many people. Everyone who uses the internet can be affected by it especially young adults.

A study conducted by child family studies did some research on the negative effects of cyber bullying as well as studying what factors lead to bully behavior states, “a number of practices could be launched in order to actively support parents and schools in their role to prevent the manifestation of cyber bullying”. (cf. Kaplan and Assor 2012). This article states that change starts where the problem begins which is at school. There would be workshops and school events focusing on the effects of bullying, not only online but in real life. The article also states, “regarding the effects of online bullying, or the provision of immediate information about the dehumanizing consequences of bullying or cyberbullying in school, in order to foster empathy in a non-controlling way” (cf. Kaplan and Assor 2012). This would prove to be the most efficient way to go about a sensitive topic. Kids need to understand that actions have consequences even if it does seem that way. Words are very powerful, and they have a huge effect on people even if they are said online.

Sometimes it's hard to notice the effects of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying flies under the radar most of the time and it's hard to notice when someone is being bullied. Not being able to notice the effects of internet bullying makes it very difficult to help someone in need. There are so many things that could be done to help people who are going through any kind of bullying, but we need to be able to identify the effects first. I believe that the first step to acceptance is understanding. If people understood the effects of bullying, then they would realize that it shouldn’t be acceptable. Raising awareness will teach people how to help someone who is being bullied, as well as, how to prevent it for, happening again.

Cyber bullying is an activity that occurs behind the scenes and that is a major reason as to why society overlooks it. It effects every aspect of your life without you even noticing. It starts on the internet, but it slowly starts making itself very present in school, work, with friends, everywhere. Before you now it everyone knows a secret about you, or everyone has seen a picture of you, etc. The scary part about it is people do it for different reasons and sometimes don’t even know that they are participating in cyber bullying. “In a recent online pilot study, young people who engage in cyberbullying behavior reported the following reasons for their actions: posting without thinking they could hurt anyone (72%), to get back at someone (58%), the target deserved it (58%), for fun or entertainment (28%), to embarrass the target (21%), to be mean (14%), to show off to friends (11%) and other reasons (16%)” (Cole).

The most concerning part of these statistics is that some people don’t even know that they are participating in cyber bullying. Some people just think that they are commenting a joke on someone's post, but it's much more than that. The study shows that 72% of people participated in cyber bullying without ever thinking that they hurt someone. The majority of people that took part in this study, where not aware of their hurtful actions and didn’t have the intention of hurting someone. I think that this is a huge wake up call for society. We are not doing our job in taking care of our communities, kids, friends, family, etc. We need to change that statistic by making people aware that there is a very fine line between joking around and bullying. It's not possible to fix or correct something if you don’t acknowledge that there is something wrong first. If people don’t know that they are taking part in bullying, then how are they supposed to stop? That is why we need to raise awareness and teach people the difference in joking and bullying and how that can affect someone's life.

Like Monica Lewinsky, there have been many people whose lives have been changed because of cyber bullying. Lewinsky was affected so much by her situation that she started raising awareness for future generations that will have to deal with online bullying. I believe that the best way to address cyber bullying is through raising awareness. Once society starts to see how it affects people, they will start to understand that there needs to be something done to stop it. Its thorough understanding and hard work that the cyber bullying epidemic will start to change. Once we manage to stop cyber bullying through campaigns, advertisements, and exposure to the topic, we will start to see the positive effects it will have in the lives of our friends, schools, jobs, community, and our lives.

Works Cited

Cole, David A., et al. “Longitudinal and Incremental Relation of Cybervictimization to Negative Self-Cognitions and Depressive Symptoms in Young Adolescents.” Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, vol. 44, no. 7, Aug. 2016, pp. 1321–1332., doi:10.1007/s10802-015-0123-7. Accessed on Oct. 29, 2018

“Cyberbullying.” National Bullying Prevention Center, National Bullying Prevention Center, 2018, www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/cyberbullying/. Accessed on Oct. 28, 2019

Etzioni, Amitai. “Liberal Communitarian Approach to Privacy and Security.” Privacy in a Cyber Age, 2015, pp. 101–112., doi:10.1057/9781137513960_7. Accessed on Oct. 29, 2018

Lewinsky, Monica. “The Price of Shame.” Ted.com, Ted.com, Mar. 2015, www.ted.com/talks/monica_lewinsky_the_price_of_shame. Acessed on Oct. 29, 2018

“PreventCyberbullying.” StopBullying.gov, www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/prevention/index.htmlAssessed on Nov. 3, 2018

White, Martha C. “How Do You Stop Bullying? Advertisers Try to Help.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/business/media/monica-lewinsky-bullying-ad.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Cyberbullying&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=collection. Accessed on Oct. 28, 2018.

This was my first draft of my report.

My first draft of my report on rap was not as successful as it could be. After peer review, I made some changes. 

Research on Rap

Rap has been one of the most controversial genres of music since it originated. It has evolved from a small neighborhood invention to one of the most influential genres of music in the world. Unlike other genres of music, that have been around for a long time, Rap is relatively new and has been a huge part of American culture in recent years. It is well known for its unique style and ability to relate to multiple age groups and cultures in an inclusive way. Rap has become the most influential music genre in the world because it has the ability to connect with people on a deep level unlike any other genre of music. Rap is constantly changing with time and has reached a peak in popularity in our modern day.

Rap started off as a small creative form of music fusion. People would take different types of music and would break down individual parts to get specific sounds. This style of picking apart music and fusing it with other music was called sampling (Dye). Rap originated in the late 1970s in New York City. At this point and time, it wasn’t seen as much, just a hobby and a sort of street related activity (Pelton). There isn’t a specific person who invented rap but by this point there where a lot of people picking up on rap and adding different characteristics to it. By the 1980s rap had reached its peak of popularity and is often referred to the golden age of rap (Dye).

Rap has become a staple of different cultures around the United states. It has become a Powerful from of art and expression. The great thing about rap is how controversial it is. For some, it is seen as a negative form of expression. For example, in an article written about the influence of rap on youth, Brianna Tong states “Lyrics of rap songs typically feature an abundance of slang and profanity”. The norm of rap is to express both positive and negative feelings. A lot of current rap artists grew up in very challenging situations and made their way out of their difficult situations. They found their comfort in music and that is why rap relates to a lot of people. Everyone has their own opinion on rap and how it affects people, and, in some ways, it helps the genre grow in popularity.

Everyone has a pinion on rap but as of recent the poplar genre of music has been growing in a positive way. It has become a very powerful therapeutic genre of music that people have grown to love. In the article written about how rap influences youth Brianna Tong states, “Artist use their life experiences to channel their memories and emotions into their productions... Because hip hop is set In reality, it allows listeners to relate to events in the song.” People relate to rap. because its real. Its full of emotion and real-life events. This is the key to its growth. People find comfort in rap because they find that they are not alone.

  

Works Cited

Dye, David. “The Birth of Rap: A Look Back.” NPR, NPR, 22 Feb. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7550286.

Pelton, Tristan m. “Rap/Hip Hop.” Rap/Hip Hop | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/aah/rap-hip-hop.

Huynh-Tong, Brianna. “Home.” Thematadorsghs.us, 28 Sept. 2017, thematadorsghs.us/index.php/2017/09/28/influence-of-rap-on-todays-youth/.

George, Nelson. “How Hip-Hop Transformed New York.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/t-magazine/hip-hop-music-1980s.html.

Want to learn more about rap music?

I researched the origins of rap music and discovered some new information. I found that rap's influence is wider than I'd imagined. This report is the first essay I ever wrote that used outside sources. I learned how to successfully create in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

Rap

Rap has been one of the most controversial genres of music since it originated. It has evolved from a small neighborhood invention to one of the most influential genres of music in the world. Unlike other genres of music, that have been around for a long time, rap is relatively new and has been a huge part of American culture in recent years. It is well known for its unique style and ability to relate to multiple age groups and cultures in an inclusive way. Rap can connect with people on a deep level unlike any other genre of music. Rap is constantly changing with time and has reached a peak in popularity in our modern day.

Rap started off as a small creative form of music fusion. People would take different types of music and would break down individual parts to get specific sounds. This style of picking apart music and fusing it with other music was called sampling (Dye). Rap originated in the late 1970s in New York City. At this point and time, it wasn’t seen as much, just a hobby and a sort of street related activity. There isn’t a specific person who invented rap but by this point there where a lot of people picking up on rap and adding different characteristics to it. By the 1980s rap had reached its peak in popularity. People from all shapes and sizes were coming together and creating music. Rap began to grow and made its name by the 1980s. The 1980s is often referred to the golden age of rap (Dye).

Rap has become a staple of different cultures around the United states. It has become a Powerful form of art and expression. For some, it is seen as a negative form of expression. For example, in an article written about the influence of rap on youth, Brianna Tong states “Lyrics of rap songs typically feature an abundance of slang and profanity”. The norm of rap is to express both positive and negative feelings. A lot of current rap artists grew up in very challenging situations and made their way out of their difficult childhoods. They found their comfort in music and that is why people connect with rap. 

Artists like J. Cole and Tupac are great examples of this. J Cole is known to be a great lyrical artist that has the ability to connect with so many people on an emotional level. On his 2014 Forest Hills drive album, J Cole addresses his childhood, popularity, and what happiness is to him by stating “Its beauty in the struggle, ugliness in the success... I grew up in the city and though sometimes we had less/ compared to some of my brothers down the block man, we, were blessed.”  J Cole is famous for connecting with his audience and being aware of society and events around him and implements that into his music.

Throughout the years we have seen rap grow on music charts all over the country. It has become a therapeutic genre of music that people have grown to love. In the article written about how rap influences youth Brianna Tong states, “Artist use their life experiences to channel their memories and emotions into their productions... Because hip hop is set In reality, it allows listeners to relate to events in the song.” Tong suggests that people resonate with rap because they want to feel accepted and understood. Society is set up in a none inclusive way. Its popularity based, and rap is slowly challenging the norm.  It is creating a relationship between artists and listeners.

Rap is inspiring and has affected millions of people across the Unites States. “There is a song by Tupac called ‘Dear Mama’ and that one always gets to me” states senior Jason Gonzales from an interview conducted by Brianna Tong. “It's him rapping about his mom saying about how she was a single mother and she did all these amazing this for her family” (Tong). Rap has a unique quality to connect with people from different ages, cultures, and backgrounds. 

Works Cited

Dye, David. “The Birth of Rap: A Look Back.” NPR, NPR, 22 Feb. 2007, www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7550286. Oct 15, 2018.

George, Nelson. “How Hip-Hop Transformed New York.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/t-magazine/hip-hop-music-1980s.html. Oct 16, 2018.

Huynh-Tong, Brianna. “Home.” Thematadorsghs.us, 28 Sept. 2017, thematadorsghs.us/index.php/2017/09/28/influence-of-rap-on-todays-youth/. Oct 15, 2018

Pelton, Tristan m. “Rap/Hip Hop.” Rap/Hip Hop | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/aah/rap-hip-hop. Oct 14, 2018.

That Time I Wrote a Rhetorical Analysis (My Second Major Project)

I wrote this project to analyze an ad. I used what I knew about the text and the audience to describe the decisions that the ad's creators made.

Rhetorical Analysis of "Moms Demand Action" Ad Campaign

Moms Demand Action

The main purpose of an Advertisement is to persuade an audience to act or change their way of thinking.  Advertisements use various tools to get there point across including, connecting a product to an idea, using things that trigger emotion, wording, colors, and endorsements all to persuade their intended audience. It is very important to understand ads and how they are created because they have a huge impact on the things we buy, what we believe, who we believe, and what we support. In the advertisement, the Grey Agency Network used what is known about American values to compare something as harmless as a chocolate Kinder egg to something as lethal as an assault rifle, all in the context of gun control in America.

My ad was created by Grey Agency Network, in Toronto Canada. It was intended for the American public, more specifically parents, moms, and families. The creators of this ad used what is known about American culture and tragic events to convince their audience to question gun control laws that are in place and demand more safety for their kids. The setting that the Grey Agency used was that of a class room. There was writing on the blackboard, desks, books, etc. Everything you would find in a normal class room. At the front of the room you see two characters that are brighter than anything else in the room. Two kids, an Asian boy and a Caucasian girl standing with familiar objects in their hands. They are young, probably in the third or fourth grade. The boy is holding a kinder egg (chocolate egg) something small and harmless and the girl is holding an Assault rifle something much more serious and potentially dangerous.

For those of you who don't know Kinder eggs have been banned in the United States by the FDA. It was considered unsafe and a choking hazard to put a toy in a candy bar. The Grey Agency Network did a very bold thing by comparing something as small as a piece of candy to a weapon with such caliber. There are so many differences between these two items, but the Grey Agency executed this idea perfectly. If something so small and essentially harmless is banned from being sold in the United States. Why aren't guns, something that can be potentially lethal, being held to the same standard? Especially know because of so many shootings and tragic events that have happened in schools in the United States. The creator of this ad used this comparison as a sort of wake-up call to moms, parents, and families. The Grey Agency knows how much the American culture cares about family and sticking up for what you believe in. That is why they used kids as the main characters in the ad.  

The kids in the gun awareness advertisement are used to connect the audience to the topic. In the ad the kids are both standing tall. No emotion on their face. Almost as if they have grown used to the items in their hands. It doesn’t faze them anymore, they have grown numb to it. The creators of the ad used this description and detail to capture the attention and compassion of the audience. The ad creators know how the consumer will respond and that’s why they used kids. To convince the audience to act and protect their kids from something dangerous. A parent would do anything for their kid and that is why the Grey Agency cleverly used kids in a normal setting holding dangerous items in their hands.

Gun control has always been a very controversial topic in the United States. It's always been discussed and talked about in school, politics, etc. It’s always been a topic that has been attached to a lot of bias depending on how it is being presented. The Grey Agency presented gun use as a very negative thing. The creators of this ad had an outside opinion on gun control in America and that’s why they were able to create something powerful. The past couple of years have brought a lot of tragic school shootings in American and other countries are starting to notice. The world is wanting to help make a change by creating ads like this to persuade the audience to take a stand. We’ve seen too many events like this happen in recent history, and it will only get worse if we don’t address gun control and gun violence in America.

After looking into the ad and analyzing it I realized that this ad wasn’t created by Americans. It was created by an outside party, in this case Canada, for the American audience. I think that is a key part in understanding this Advertisement. On the bottom right hand side of the poster it shows the campaign for the ad and it reads “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America”. The tone that the campaign sets is a very urgent and almost demanding tone. It was made by a Canadian company For an American audience, hence the urgent and slightly demanding tone. If the ad was created by an American company, it would've been approached in a different less emotional way. The Grey Agency really wanted to make sure to grasp the audience's attention. At the bottom of the ad it reads “We won't sell kinder chocolate eggs in the interest of child safety. Why not assault weapons?”. The grey agency is using powerful and direct language to let the audience know their main concern.They really want parents, and the American public to act and start making choices that will keep their children safe.

The first time I saw the ad, I didn’t really understand it completely. I was so impacted by the image of a child holding a fire arm that was almost as big as her. It was powerful and almost frightening. The child wasn’t in action or anything but just the image of her standing there gave me goosebumps. Her fascial expressions made me feel almost as if she thought it was normal, almost as if she had grown numb to gun violence and to recent tragic school events. The creator of the ad clearly did an amazing job at capturing my complete attention. The Grey Agency was not beating around the bush and gave the audience a very clear image. An image that was hard to forget.

The Grey Agency did a very good job of capturing my attention. They used the correct images, wording, ideas, etc. To make their point be known and impact their audience. We need to act and make sure that our kids are in a safe environment. We need to be urgent and smart about how we protect our children. We need to stand up for what we believe in and make sure that the next generation grows up without fear of losing their lives in a classroom.

Work Cited

“Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense In America: Kinder Egg.” RSS, 1 July 2013, www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/moms_demand_action_for_gun_sense_in_america_kinder_egg.

My First Comp One Project: a Literacy Narrative

Bilingual Blessing

Language is a huge part of life and it can be used as both a bridge and a barrier when it comes to connecting with people. My mother truly understood the power of language and because of her, I am blessed to be able to speak, read, and write in two different languages. As a kid, I would spend a lot of time with my family. For those of you who don’t know family time is a huge part of life in the Latin culture. My mom and I spent a lot of time together but the most memorable thing for me was when we would all gather for breakfast. I would wake up on Saturday mornings to the sweet smell of freshly made pancakes.

My mom's pancakes where very fluffy and on the thin side because they are made from organic ingredients.  My mom has always been into nutrition and making sure you keep your body healthy. Nevertheless, I would wake up to the sweet smell of pancakes and the loud sound of gospel music ringing through my ears. I was always a morning person, so a little music wouldn’t bother me especially if it meant waking up to pancakes. When it was time to eat mom would turn down the music as she hummed the last note of a song and would serve the food. I would usually go first because I was the youngest and my sister would be mad about it, but it didn’t faze me.  For us meals weren't about food, they were about conversing, storytelling, sharing, and laughing. It was a special moment in our house, that was all done in Spanish, not English.

Once the table was cleared off and all the excess syrup was wiped off the table, my mom would pull up one of the old beat up chairs and sit next to me with some Spanish books. I was enrolled in a bilingual course in school, but my mom wanted to take part in teaching and helping me develop my Spanish skills. After every Saturday morning breakfast, this dedicated woman would pull up the same beat-up chair and either help me with homework that was all in Spanish or teach me something new when it came to the language. Some days it was enjoyed and some it was forced but we would sit their rain or shine. At times I would remember listening to the clock tick away while I desperately tried to finish my readings in time. The thing that impacted me the most was seeing how much importance my mom put into developing my language skills. It was something that has stayed with me to this day and something I will never forget.

I was in third grade when I really started seeing the effects of learning Spanish at home. I was ahead of the whole class when it came to reading and writing in both English and Spanish. My parent teacher meetings didn’t last long at all because the teachers didn’t have anything for me to work on. I remember the smile it put on my mom's face to hear about how good I was doing in school. It made her feel like she was doing her job as a mother. My mother was a huge support to me in school and was a big part of my academic success. Growing up in an encouraging environment is something that I didn’t take for granted and I am very thankful for.

At a young age I realized that my family was different from a lot of my friends' families, but I never really thought much of it. We looked different, spoke different, had different traditions, etc. But it really didn’t bother me. My mom set up our household to be confident in our culture and be okay with being different. My mother was a single mom with three kids, she is a strong confident woman that has everlasting faith in God. She was always committed to us and did all that she could to see us succeed. I remember her teaching me everything from the ABCs to reading “La Casa en Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros and having discussions about the chapters. As I grew up our study sessions started to seem more and more like bonding time and less like studying. I started enjoying it and realizing that my mother used the Spanish language to grow a bond with me.

As I grew up, the Saturday breakfasts continued to happen and so did the Spanish study sessions. The funny thing is I thought that after a while my mom would get tired or forget about wanting to help me learn. But as the years went by I realized that I underestimated the persistence and dedication that my mother has. I learned to cherish the time that we spent together and saw it as an opportunity to get closer to my mom, my culture, and my language. It was something beautiful that you don’t see very often. Something that has stuck with me and something that I will one day pass down to my kids. I promised myself that I would spend time with my kids to teach them about our culture and pass down my language to them. Just as my mom did with me. I want to have that special bonding time where I get to pass down something that will help them in their journey of life.

A couple of years ago on a cold and foggy Saturday morning, I sat down with my mom after eating and we had an important conversation. I asked her why she made time for us to learn Spanish and why was she so passionate about it. She looked into my eyes and told me that being an immigrant in this country is not easy. She told me that she wanted me and my siblings to have a better life then she had growing up. She wanted us to have an advantage, an upper hand, and that’s what being bilingual would do. It would open the doors to better jobs, pay, benefits, etc. My mom wanted us to succeed.

She was right, being bilingual has opened so many doors and I'm thankful for the time my mom took to teach me. Because of her, I've got to be a part of mission groups, internships, schools, etc. I've impacted the lives of many sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through song and scripture. I've translated many letters and articles and done so much more. I have an advantage in life because of my mom. I will always be grateful for the sacrifices she's made for me. With this experience, I have learned the true beauty of language and how important it is.