My name is Sara and this is my embarrassing story. My cousin and her husband had just bought a gigantic home in West Richland, on the top of what seemed like the highest hill! We were invited to her house warming party, and knowing my cousin she was going to invite a lot of people and it was going to be a well organized beautiful party to go along with that beautiful house of hers. My family drove over and it seemed like it took forever to get there, there was so many up hills and down hills it seemed like a maze, and what was worse is it was winter! Snow, icy roads and uphill drives is not a good mix let me tell ya!
So after our long careful drive up the hill, we finally got there! There were people I knew people I didn’t know and family members I hadn’t seen in a long time! Which makes this embarrassing story really embarrassing! Everyone knows you need people you don’t know and a lot of them I might add to make an embarrassing story an embarrassing story, which just my luck is what I had! If what I’m about to tell you happened only with close friends and family I probably would have just laughed it off…but I didn’t.
The appetizers were severed, the visiting had been started. It was such a beautiful home, filled with lots of beautiful furniture, among other things like candles. But I’ll get to that. Of course I was hungry, and of course I just had to accidently drop my appetizer all over the floor. This wasn’t the embarrassing part, or it was for about a minute until the real embarrassment began. I spilled the food on tile floor which made me feel bad…but it was tile! No stains, no carpet, no one slipped on the food I was in the clear! For now…
Feeling bad about the food that had been spilled on the floor I see napkins on a table that a couple of women whom I didn’t know were sitting at. It was pretty crowded at that table, but those were the only napkins I could find. I approach the table, apologize for my interruption and reach over the table for the napkins to clean up my mess. Remember those candles I mentioned earlier? Yeah they were all over this table. Being concerned about the mess on the floor and someone slipping on it, the candles were the farthest from my mind. Having long hair like I do you can only guess what happened next….Yes that’s right my hair caught on fire! I didn’t even notice until I smelled something immediately and someone was screaming! I quickly patted my hair like I had never patted my hair before! When I saw the fire was gone I quickly ran to the bathroom, to hear people all around asking each other “What’s that smell?” Hair smells so bad when it catches on fire, no clue why but it does…I know from experience! It being a new home, there shouldn’t be that kind of smell in the air…I felt terrible not only for my burnt hair and my embarrassment of the people who saw it happen at that table, but for my cousin having to be embarrassed about the new smell that was in her house!
Someone found me in the bathroom crying I was 14 years old I was filled with embarrassment! The stench was in my hair so bad too all I could do was spray perfume on it and hope it would get better. It didn’t! And neither did the house! When I finally got the guts to walk out of the bathroom I just felt everyone’s eyes were on me knowing I was the stupid girl that caught her hair on fire at a house warming party! It was pretty bad…My names Sara and no matter how bad the mess is on the floor, it will never be as bad as the stench in your hair, always pay attention to your surroundings aka candles! Come to think of it I never cleaned up that mess on the floor. Oh well! I’d say I hope someone slipped on it to get the attention off of the fire smelly hair girl…but that’s not good karma. Haha
Reading McClouds comic provided much insight and thought to the question “What is dangerous about amplification through simplification.” McCloud explains that we let ourselves at an early age “travel in a another realm, we don’t just observe the cartoon we become it!”(7). I think what he was getting at is that when we let ourselves be entertained by something so simple as a cartoon we can sometimes miss the full picture.
McCloud, Scott. The Vocabulary of Comics. Print.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Blog Number One
The authors of “Contemporary Perspective on Rhetoric” provide many different examples and definitions for the audience to better understand the in’s and outs of Rhetoric. Foss, Foss and Trapp describe Rhetoric by stating, “It is an art and a discipline that facilitates our understanding of the nature and function of symbols in our lives”(1). Throughout the article the authors mention three main topics connecting to rhetoric that allows the audience to grasp a better understanding of rhetoric which are humans, symbols, and communication. Foss, Foss and Trapp explain that humans have the ability to create their lives through symbols. We constantly use symbols in our everyday lives to communicate with one another.
Foss, Foss and Trapp constantly provided the reader with examples of symbols in our lives that we use to communicate, and through these examples I noticed rhetoric’s in my life as well. While reading the authors example of the women going into the hospital because of her severe pain in the arms and chest, it reminded me of the signs we receive from our bodies every day no matter the problem. For example when I feel cranky, drained, and not able to concentrate on my everyday tasks I begin to realize that these are signs that I’m being sleep deprived. I’ve noticed my throat has been itchy lately and that I have developed a terrible cough, I took these signs and communicated with my mother about what cough medicine would be best to buy. We take these symbols and communicate with our doctors, family and friends about the problems we are experiencing. Foss, Foss and Trapp state, “The signs and symbols often intertwine is typical of human communication”(3). We often use signs and symbols without realizing it.
Works Cited
Foss, Sonja, Karen Foss, and Robert Trapp. Contemporary Perspective on Rhetoric. 3rd ed. Carol Rowe and Neil Rowe, 1-15. Print.
rhet•o•ric (r t r- k)
n.
1.
a. The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.
b. A treatise or book discussing this art.
2. Skill in using language effectively and persuasively.
3.
a. A style of speaking or writing, especially the language of a particular subject: fiery political rhetoric.
b. Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous: His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric.
4. Verbal communication; discourse.
Works Cited
The Free Dictionary . Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. Web. 24 Aug 2010.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rhetoric
rhet•o•ric
ˈrɛt ər ɪkShow Spelled[ret-er-ik] Show IPA
–noun
1.
(in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.
2.
the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech.
3.
the study of the effective use of language.
4.
the ability to use language effectively.
5.
the art of prose in general as opposed to verse.
6.
the art of making persuasive speeches; oratory.
7.
(in classical oratory) the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.
8.
(in older use) a work on rhetoric.
Works Cited
Dictionary.com. 25 Aug 2010.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rhetoric.
Foss, Foss and Trapp constantly provided the reader with examples of symbols in our lives that we use to communicate, and through these examples I noticed rhetoric’s in my life as well. While reading the authors example of the women going into the hospital because of her severe pain in the arms and chest, it reminded me of the signs we receive from our bodies every day no matter the problem. For example when I feel cranky, drained, and not able to concentrate on my everyday tasks I begin to realize that these are signs that I’m being sleep deprived. I’ve noticed my throat has been itchy lately and that I have developed a terrible cough, I took these signs and communicated with my mother about what cough medicine would be best to buy. We take these symbols and communicate with our doctors, family and friends about the problems we are experiencing. Foss, Foss and Trapp state, “The signs and symbols often intertwine is typical of human communication”(3). We often use signs and symbols without realizing it.
Works Cited
Foss, Sonja, Karen Foss, and Robert Trapp. Contemporary Perspective on Rhetoric. 3rd ed. Carol Rowe and Neil Rowe, 1-15. Print.
rhet•o•ric (r t r- k)
n.
1.
a. The art or study of using language effectively and persuasively.
b. A treatise or book discussing this art.
2. Skill in using language effectively and persuasively.
3.
a. A style of speaking or writing, especially the language of a particular subject: fiery political rhetoric.
b. Language that is elaborate, pretentious, insincere, or intellectually vacuous: His offers of compromise were mere rhetoric.
4. Verbal communication; discourse.
Works Cited
The Free Dictionary . Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. Web. 24 Aug 2010.http://www.thefreedictionary.com/rhetoric
rhet•o•ric
ˈrɛt ər ɪkShow Spelled[ret-er-ik] Show IPA
–noun
1.
(in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.
2.
the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including the figures of speech.
3.
the study of the effective use of language.
4.
the ability to use language effectively.
5.
the art of prose in general as opposed to verse.
6.
the art of making persuasive speeches; oratory.
7.
(in classical oratory) the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.
8.
(in older use) a work on rhetoric.
Works Cited
Dictionary.com. 25 Aug 2010.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rhetoric.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)