MEF Video

I thought the video was really interesting, especially considering the photo I chose for my paper. I hadn't really thought about how pressure from the media on girls has been a problem for a long time, I had always thought of it as a more recent thing. I had also never considered the impact of the media on boys. I think it's really interesting how even after hearing over and over that commercials, advertisements, etc have such a negative influence on us, we're still attracted to those advertisements that feature beautiful, thin women and tough, strong men. I question how much of the desire to fit into those norms actually comes from the media and how much is just human nature. It seems logical that we would be attracted to beauty and health and desire to look better from an evolutional perspective, and that the media might just be capturing a natural human behavior.

I decided to use this image for my paper.

An important thing to consider for this image is the context it came from. It is from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. This particular image is from a video they made called Evolution. The woman starts as she looks on the right side and even after makeup artists and hair stylists transform her, the video continues to show her makeover as a computer editing program stretches her neck and enlarges her eyes and mouth. As the video closes the words "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted". This has proved to be a very effective marketing campaign because it's widely discussed and instead of showcasing a new product it discusses an issue in our culture.

These are two pictures I could use for my analysis of arguments in pictures. I chose the first one because it looks like it was once a nice home but it has been abandoned, I think it represents broken dreams. The second picture is from the Dove campaign for real beauty and I think it's very interesting to see how the woman is changed to fit the ideals of society.

Toulmin Argument

Claim:

Students should not take 8 am classes.

Data:

Research from the National Sleep Foundation shows that teenagers' levels of melatonin (a hormone that promotes sleep) don't begin dropping until after 8 am on average.

Warrant:

Students who are more alert will be able to learn more and perform better in classes.

Qualifier:

Usually

Rebuttal:

Unless they enjoy waking up early

Backing:

Experience shows that it is easier to pay attention in classes later in the day.