PETA Member

(1) Textual Artifacts

• PETA releases tons of flyers monthly all promoting ethical treatment of animals. The flyers usually give examples of companies that treat animals in a cruel way, asking you to boycott them.

• PETA also keeps a blog on their website. Through this blog they keep you updated on all different things going on with animal cruelty movements and also give you advice on what to make being a vegetarian or how you can help the cause. 

• The PETA website gives as a member gives you tons of ways to support their organization. By just clicking  on a link you are shown a list of what to do as a member.

• The PETA website allows all members to comment on articles and campaign ads posted on their website. This gives members the opportunity to communicate their opinions on different issues.

(2) First Day Narrative

• I've always been an animal lover, always asking my mom for a new pet since I was a child, I've had hamsters, frogs, fish, and my favorite dogs! My sophomore year in high school I met my a short, bubbly, outgoing, brunette who would soon end up being my best friend. I soon learned that my newest buddy Lindsay was a full-on vegetarian. I can remember sitting there asking her so many questions, and the one question that received the longest response was why. She had told me that she was always against animal cruelty and was urged by a friend to check out PETA's, people for the ethical treatment of animals, website. She watched video upon video of animals being skinned for their fur, or tortured for their meat. After this life-changing talk I myself decided to visit PETA's website. I spent hours on that website, watching the same videos Lindsay did and reading articles on the truth behind fast food restaurants and products tested on animals. Soon after I decided to become a member and a full-on vegetarian. Becoming a member of PETA meant that I had made an account on their website and signed many pledges, such as agreeing to give certain donations a month and pledging to be a vegetarian and not wear fur. I had access to message boards and comment features throughout the site. I had actually felt like I was giving back to a cause that I cared so much about. It made me feel like a was standing up for something I believed in. I was so proud of myself. Now, almost four years later, I am still a vegetarian and proud member of PETA.

My Discourse Community

Never Shout Never Fan

How large is this community?

• Never Shout Never's fan base is not very big. The band that plays indie and alternative music has not quite yet made it to the big leagues yet. Christofer Drew, the lead singer, only plays small shows with an audience of probably around 100 big-time fans.

Does your discourse community have a forum or discussion/communication?

• Yes, Christofer Drew has his own personal twitter were he updates fans about upcoming private shows and about new EP's he is working on. Also, he has his own personal Youtube and website where fans, like me, can go and catch up on what's coming next for Never Shout Never. The website also includes a forum where people can go and write about other Never Shout Never news and opinions.

Does your discourse community have a certain purpose?

• The purpose of my discourse community is to listen to the music that I love, become inspired by Christofer Drew's lyrics and messages, and show up to all his shows for support. Without the fan's Never Shout Never would not be able to keep making music and keep doing their shows.

Is your discourse community bound by rules?

• Basically, the rules for being a Never Shout Never fan are to just support Christofer Drew, buy his music, and show up to all his shows.

Does your discourse community offer useful textual artifacts for analysis?

• Yes, Christofer Drew writes all his own songs and the lyrics of his song's can be deeply analyzed to get a clear, meaningful message. Also. all of Never Shout Never's shows can be analyzed by the way he presents himself and his music. 

Intertextuality in Glee

This video clip is taken from an episode of Glee where they perform songs from the musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show. This clip displays intertextuality because they use a very popular song from the musical called "The Time Warp" and incorporate it into their act, dressing up as the characters and recreating the dance. Although the song and dance number is taken directly from Rocky Horror, the cast somehow makes it their own.

Discourse Communities

Discourse Communities I am apart of:

• Graduating Class of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School 2010
• UCF Class of 2014
• Facebook Users
• Dorm Roommates
• Gleek (Glee Fan)
• Warnke Family Member
• Blackberry User
• Colts Football Fan

Peer Review Feedback

I really enjoyed the peer review we did in class. I wasn't sure if my essay was working well but after Kacie looked it over and wrote down her comments it really helped me see what I needed to still work on and what my strong points were. I also liked that the whole process was anonymous so the reader didn't automatically put a face to the paper or judge it right away. I will now be more positive with my work when I go to revise it because I know what's working well.

How to Get Over the Guy You Can't Get Over - Analysis

Voice: helpful, supportive, sympathetic

• The author of this article, Erin Zammett Ruddy, uses a helpful, supportive, sympathetic voice. This is shown clear through sentences such as "Either way, you deserve to move on- and yes, it is possible."Another example is "You will survive. Read... and stop weeping." She uses long then short sentences, pushing her point. She also uses quotes to make herself more creditable. For example, she uses a 29-year old women Kathleen who says "My friends helped me see that I fall for men I could never have a future with. They live across the country or they work 24/7 or they're way too young". When I compared the voice in this article to the one in "Editor's Note" is very similar. Cindi Leive, the cute, short, bubbly, editor-in-chief of Glamour writes all about her journey to help fight the BP oil spill in the gulf. She writes in a caring, sympathetic voice saying "Choosing this year's cause was, alas, an easy one; as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico became the worst such disaster in United States history." She also emphasizes on how bad this incident was using words such as disaster, ravaged, and underprivileged. 
• The author speaks to the writer rather casually as if she was talking to a friend. She uses sentences such as "You will survive." and "You can gloat later about how your floating-above-it-all attitude drove him crazy". Ruddy repeats a lot of words such as you, tempting, breakup, positive, and suffering. She probably does that to push the message that yes break-ups are hard but you need to stay positive and move on. Based on reading this article I can tell that the main audience for this magazine are older women who are established in life and are looking for more mature relationships. This article relates to the target audience by giving the women advice on how to move on from a bad break-up and how to eventually have a healthy relationship. The purpose of this article is basically a six-step plan on how to get the one guy under your skin out for good. Ruddy wants the readers to get over the guy they left behind and move on and be happy. 
• Reading this article it shows me that the aspirations of Glamour readers are to be established in a great, healthy relationship and not be stuck weeping over their past love. Through the writing style it also shows that Glamour is all about giving advice and helping their readers in problems they may face. 

TOC Analysis

The table of contents is located on the 13th page of Glamour, followed by tons of ads for products such as Olay Anti-Aging Kit and DKNY Jeans. It is organized in sections based on the topic of the article, such as news, men, fashion, look, and love. It also gives you the pages of the cover stories. Their is not a lot of text used, just titles and three word descriptions. The titles of the articles are written in bold font followed by descriptions of their content in a smaller, less exciting lettering. The main color scheme is girly, keeping it similar to the cover. The titles and numbers are written in a baby blue and the rest is a simple black and white. There are very few pictures used but the ones featured are eye-catching. A picture of a couple kissing is placed up top and a cute lipgloss is pictured below, each with a description of the article they are referring too. Some conclusions I can draw from looking at this table of contents is that the readers are mostly women based on articles such as, "Best in Shoe," "Beauty News," "Stud Meter," and "Fall's Sexiest Hairstyles." Also, I can tell they want to appeal to a younger audience because of how "risque" the pictures and articles are. Most older women wouldn't want to read about "New Ways to Bring Down the House," or "Seduce Him!" Taylor Swift is profiled and interviewed, also proving they are appealing to a much younger audience.