What is Joy?

Joy: Noun. Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice.

When I experience JOY, I feel a rich sense of peace and fulfillment. I may not look happy, because it's a very internal feeling that doesn't always show up on the outside. I like how Corey and Sam put it:



“When you are comfortable with your surroundings and have time to put aside any stress or worries.” --Corey

“I think joy is a very personal feeling, but is easily displayed publicly by smiling, laughter or just being in a whimsical mood.” --Sam

Sam + Corey= “Joy begins with a personal, internal mood and it becomes visible through a variety of outward expressions.”

Visual Rhetoric

First things first, I want you to remember when we talked about how EVERYTHING is a text. This includes the more obvious advertisements and news stories to the less expected music videos and architecture.

For your next blog post each of you will find an image online, save it, and post it in your blog and analyze it. You should identify the purpose (what the image is trying to tell you), the audience (who are they targeting?), and the kinds of rhetoric they are using to convey their message (pathos, ethos, logos). You should also explain how it is effective, how it fails, what it shows us about our society, etc. Feel free to critique it and/or what is says about our culture.

To the right is a sample of an image and a very brief analysis of the argument. I'm only giving you guidelines for this assignment, make it yours by using your voice, wit, humor, insights, knowledge, everything.

The text in the upper-left corner says: "Super. That's how milk makes you feel. The calcium helps bones grow strong, so even if you're not from Krypton you can have bones of steel. got milk?"

"got milk?" has a been using American heroes in their campaign lately. So, when looking at Superman or Hulk with a fake milk mustache I ask myself, "What does a superhero have to do with milk?" and the answer is simple: NOTHING. Although superheroes may not be logically connected to the importance of a healthy diet, they are connected to the nostalgic American idea about superheroes, superpowers, adventure, and gender constructions.

As far as the target audience of this ad...One might say that the audience is young boys who idolize Superman, but I would expand that group to include anyone who knows who Superman is. No, I'll take that back. Anyone who is at all interested in being powerful, attractive, influential, and ripped (not to mention those people who just like wearing spandex). While the 5 year old boys might actually believe that drinking milk will make them as strong as a superhero, the older and wiser onlookers buy into what this ad promises as well. It promises strength, good looks, popularity, celebrity, adventure, and, of course, heroism.

Yes, this ad uses (unsupported) logos by referring to the calcium content of milk and the fact that calcium is needed for strong bones, but the rhetorical heavy hitter is pathos. This image of Superman conjures images and memories of childhood, of a belief in something supernatural and otherworldly, and the secret desire to have those powers and that kind of impact on the world. Although the argument is not sound, the advertisement is effective, which says a lot about the population of this country and the culture which surrounds us.

The Writing Process

In the first blog assignment, students are responding to Anne Lamott's essay, "Shitty First Drafts" by reflecting and discussing their personal writing process and how it aligns with or differs from Lamott's. You will find as many different processes as you will find writers. Each of us has strengths and weaknesses that we need to recognize in order for us to succeed in any kind of writing assignment and not drive ourselves crazy in the process.
Everyone's process is different. Some writers slowly work through each word, sometimes taking hours just to write an introduction. Other writers speed through a first draft, but spend more time revising. Personally, I do both. It depends on the day and what I'm trying to write. Recently, my writing is limited to literary analysis and research papers.
For a term paper in one of my Literature classes, typically I begin by typing out notes, quotes, and ideas that I want to include in the final essay. Usually, at the end, I delete almost an entire page of quotes and notes because they no longer fit into what is important for me to say. I try to ignore the feeling that all that initial work of finding and typing out the notes was essentially a waste of time and effort. I try to remind myself that it's all part of my journey towards the final product.
The bulk of my time and brainpower goes towards making the connections between all my ideas and the ideas of others that I use to support my thesis. Throughout this whole process I am returning to the question: "SO WHAT??????". (The number of question marks, exclamation points, and creative expletives varies according to my frustration level). At this point I usually face an existential crisis, which involves but is definitely not limited to doubting my ideas, my discoveries, my voice, and even doubting my purpose in life.
After I calm down a bit I usually make a discovery. I have an "a ha" moment. This moment isn't usually quite as dramatic as the more popular "eureka!" moment, but still very fulfilling. The last two areas I work on are the introduction and the conclusion. I save them for last because I rarely know exactly what the point of my paper is until the end. Some of you might think this is crazy and counterintuitive, but I've heard from very successful and respected professors that this "backwards" process is pretty typical, especially with women. I still wonder how my gender can influence my writing process, but after seeing that this is my way of writing, I really don't care if it's because of my gender or not.