Preparation outline and checklist

Speech Topic: Discuss the Spanish language and its influence on the world. Touch on its origins, where it is spoken, and its global and economic importance.

Purpose (speech goal): To explain the influence Spanish has on the world

Introduction: Spanish is the world's 3rd most spoken language, after Chinese and English. With more than 400 million Spanish speakers in the world and growing, its global and economic importance is undeniable.

First Main Point: The Spanish language originated in Spain and was carried to the Americas and other continents through Spanish conquest.

Second Main Point: Spanish is the official language in 21 countries and the second most-common language in the United States after English.

Third Main Point: The Spanish language is extending its global and economic reach yearly

Conclusion: The Spanish language has grown from its birth in Spain to the outreaches of the world. As the world 3rd most spoken language, its global and economic power will continue to grow and influence the world we live in.

Real world blunder - Week 14

This is an easy one. One of the latest blunders in the news was from President Obama on the Jay Leno show. He compared his low bowling score to that of someone from the special olympics.

Below is the youtube clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE0yAEvVsUo

When you hear a blunder like this it makes you wonder if the comment reflects the personal feelings of the person or was just based on jokes heard in our pop culture. Clearly this was a disrespectful comment towards anyone with special needs and I read an article that said the President apologized before the show aired. The question remains, "Does the President really feel this way or not?" You be the judge.

Gendered and unbiased language - Week 14

In my literature class last week, we were watching the film “Much ado about nothing” with Denzel Washington. At the end of the movie the teacher asked us what differences we noticed from the book and the movie. One of the students raised their hand and said, “I didn’t expect Don Pedro to be black.” This was a valid point in my opinion, but the teacher looked at the student in a shock and said, “The politically correct way to say that would be African American.” I’m not sure what the politically correct term is anymore since I’ve heard some people say Black American is more politically correct than African American. Either way I don’t think the student meant to offend anyone and we continued to talk about possible reasons that Don Pedro could be black. We came to the conclusion that Don Pedro demanded a prominent actor and Denzel Washington fit the role. We also talked about the fact that Don Pedro was from a part of Spain that was pre-dominantly inhabited by the Moors.

Real world advertisements - Week 14

Three good real world advertisements

1. Contains headlines that are not lengthy but get the point across. "Want great buys?" "Check these out" "Hot brands at hot prices"

The theme of the message is highlighted twice and sticks out to the reader. "Hot" (in bold) twice.

Reader understands what they are getting from the add. The "percentages off" by each item clearly explains this.

2. Important message "20,000 GIVEAWAY!" is in capital letters and shows the purpose of the advertisement.

The sentance "ENTER TO WIN ONE OF FOUR $5,000 ROOM MAKEOVERS!" is spaced out over three lines which breaks up the message.

3. Headline is broken into to motivational statements. The first "Go Green" states a benefit of buying, and the "Go Newegg" states the company who is offering this green benefit.

The advertisement is visually pleasing to look at. It contains small icons that are not too loud, but at the same time represent the theme of the ad (going green).

Two bad real world advertisements

1. Contains reversed type which makes it hard to read the headline "We are expanding!" since it's in front of two black shirts. The messages are hard to read because they are set agaisnt reversed colors.

Isn't visually pleasing and is too loud. Isn't attractive to all audiences and is very loud. Not professional.

2. The headline is not visually interesting. It is easily to read but as the article says, "If it's too safely legible, you mights as well just lay the type out like a textbook page.

Nothing in the advertisement makes the reader want to buy the item being featured. There's no flashy buttons to press or statements telling the reader how much they are going to save.

Week Twelve: Parallelism, Modifiers, and Research Papers

Comment from teachers “Real World Example”

In the real world example, it seemed to me that the writer was not trying to persuade the reader to join the group, but more inform them. By adding bullet points such as their website and contact number, it appears more as information or some type of awareness. This information could have easily been listed at the bottom of the flyer and the bullet points could have contained more persuasive and motivational information.

Original “Real World Example”

We will pay the Utah sales tax.

Plus, get six months interest free.

Plus, new lower pricing on our clearance items, including bedrooms.

Re-written “Real World Example”

We’ll pay the Utah sales tax, give you six months interest free, and extend you our new lower pricing on clearance items, including bedrooms.