Long Term Effects of English 402

As this is my last blog post for the class I thought it would be appropriate to write about what I have learned and what the long term effects of this class may be for me. As I stated in my first blog I have never been a fan of English classes. I am happy to say that this one was a different animal all together. This was the first time I enjoyed an English class and felt that it would be directly applicable to my real life. Of course not everything was applicable as I do not see myself becoming a copywriter or a freelance author. Although I enjoyed those sections as well. Actually I had the most fun with the pitch letter because I got to write about something I knew. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I had no idea that anyone could write in to a magazine. In fact it sparked my interest a little, not because I want to become a writer, but because the challenge of being published sounds intriguing. Will I actually follow through with it? Probably not any time in the near future, but at least now I know the opportunity exists. If some day I become passionate about something and feel the need to be heard, I know where to start. If that doesn't work I can always take what I learned from Tom and publish a book on Amazon.

The most important thing I took from this class was an awareness of rhetoric. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately) this is the one thing that will definately stick with me and that I have seen in my life already. I notice rhetoric in everything now, and I suspect people of trying to sell me something with every word they speak. Which leaves me with the question, have I become aware or paranoid? Probably a little of both, but for now it doesn't seem to be hurting anyone so I choose to believe that it is a useful tool that I can use to my advantage.

Tom Sumner's Lecture

Guest speakers are always very interesting because we get to hear how technical writing is applicable in different facets of the real world. What struck me most was the fact that Tom edits computer science books but is not an expert in the field. I was very surprised to hear that editors do not have to know the material to be effective editors. I think it would have been beneficial to have a non-computer-science person edit the books that were used during my initial training. Tom mentioned that sometimes people are able to write their own book and get it published without editing if they are the professor of the class that requires the book. I believe this is what happened in my experience. The books I was assigned for Comp-Sci at the University of Colorado in 1999 were all written by a professor at that school. Which explains why they didn't make any sense at all. It was basically just a collection of excerpts from computer programs with virtually no explanation as to what it did or why. It was fun to hear Tom's perspective on it and get a little confirmation that I was not fully insane.

Another thing I found very interesting was the idea that people can publish their own work through Amazon. It is exciting that anyone can get published and really opens up the possibility that I could be published if I felt so inclined. It is a little concerning however, that ANYONE could publish their work and the market will become saturated with books written by people like me. Which quite frankly is disturbing because I would most likely write crap. It seems like it would become extremely difficult to weed out anything that was worth reading from the mass of amateur attempts at greatness.

The Persuaders

I had noticed over the past couple of years that the product placement in TV shows had become more obvious and the frequency had increased. What I didn't know was the reason behind it. After watching the Persuaders it makes perfect sense. I had thought it was just the actors selling out like Bob Harper on the biggest loser. He went from being a personal trainer to a spokesman for sugar free gum and nalgene bottles. The show went from an inspirational reality show to a two hour infomercial. It was very disappointing to find that it was a direct result of my actions. I am guilty of recording all shows and fast forwarding through the commercials. I almost never watch live TV any more. With Comcast On Demand there is virtually no need to watch a show when it is being broadcast. It is interesting to note however that Comcast has found a way around the consumers impulse to fast-forward through commercials during on-demand programming. At least with my box the On-Demand programming is not as responsive to the control commands and will not jump forward or back to the intended stopping point. Because of the way it is programmed you are forced to watch at least a portion of the commercial or miss part of the show you are trying to get to. Very frustrating, but now I understand why they do it. They ensure that the product is seen, sometimes 3 times if you are persistant like me and try to get it to stop at the right place. I hate commercials, but frankly I would much rather have commercials that can not be skipped than have them take over the show.

Don't get me wrong, product placement is ok when it is done well. It has become a game in my house to identify what type of cars NCIS or CSI's drive. If you watch closely you will see that in certain episodes every vehicle you see them drive is a single brand. In the next episode they mysteriously have new cars. Sneaky product placement but it is smart because it peaks my interest and now they have me looking for it specifically. This is a brilliant tactic because it doesn't annoy the viewers.