Last Meals

The authors/photographers of the two pieces presented obviously had a point to make and a story to tell about last meals for inmates and the death penalty yet they do not explicitly state their opinions on the matter.  These authors let their images and sparse words do the talking, which can often make a more poignant statement than any essay or video ever could.

The two websites exemplify strong visual rhetoric in different ways.  No Seconds uses beautifully posed, well cooked meals as the main focus of the image with a backdrop of a table that changes from image to image – possibly to give each inmate displayed a unique image and feel for the reader to better grasp.  Next to the image is a list stating the inmates name, age, state imprisoned in, charges, sentence, and description of last meal.  Through these statements we are able to get an image of the prisoner in our head of what he/she enjoyed and what they did to deserve the death penalty.  The visual of the font type also affected me as it was very plain and sterile, much like a prison. 

The Last Meal Project was also very good at manipulating an image in order to get a response from the audience.  The images in this album however are very different from those in No Seconds, they give a photo of the inmate that is dark and somewhat haunting with very plain images of the food they had requested as a last meal.  The text on the side was similar to that in No Seconds in a plain, typewriter-esque font describing the inmates name, last meal, and sentence along with when and where they were executed.  The most poignant of the images in this album for me was that of Jonathan Wayne Nobles as he requested the Eucharist and Sacrament, wanting a piece of himself that he had forgotten when he because a criminal.  I believe the photographer was trying make his/her audience more aware of the fact that these were people about to die and not just about a nice meal a prisoner had with in prison.

              Both photographers did a wonderful job in attempting to elicit a response from their audiences and I have no doubt that they received one.  No Seconds affected me the most through both its images and text, for we were given a better look at who the person was on paper and what their last meal was.  The Last Meal Project was also wonderful, the text along with the photos of the inmates made the album more personable, but there was something in the album that just did not affect me nearly as much as that of No Seconds.  Visual Rhetoric is a very important aspect in media that many of us do not consciously think about, it gives us new ways to see a situation and can sway an audience’s opinion without the audience being aware of what is occurring.

Awkward Shark Tank Proposal

The process of writing and presenting this Shark Tank proposal was a tough task for me as I have always been extremely shy and nervous in front of people, even a small group of four or five people.  Though I have overcome a lot of my social awkwardness and anxiety during my first month of college, I still have a long was to go before I will ever be comfortable in front of a group.  I was both impressed and horrified with my video, as I could have done a lot better if I had known I didn’t look as awful as I imagined up there; I could have dealt with my fidgeting and looking up at the ceiling had I just taken a deep breath and calmed down.  I have a tendency to blank on all logical though once in front of a crowd, I can barely remember my name let alone new information, and that definitely showed in my presentation.  Though there wasn’t any difficult or confusing material to know, I still panicked as I stood up.  Once I figure out how to control the panic, I end up doing fine in whatever I am attempting to accomplish, I just need to believe in myself a little more.  You told me to project more as I tend to have a soft voice and I completely agree with you.  I hope that once I battle my shyness, I can present and apply all that I have learned to give an amazing speech.

Rise of the NBA Nerd

Wesley Morris’ essay “The Rise of the NBA Nerd” is subtitled “basketball style and the black identity”.  Morris begins his essay by describing how Kevin Durant, an NBA star, has started arriving to press conferences dressed in nicer, nerd-like clothing, standing out in the sea of basketball sweats and ill-fitting clothes that many of the other players wear to such events.  Though Morris’ essay is roundabout, his point is clear – black men are finally being looked at with respect regarding their place in society and intelligence.  Throughout the past twenty years, there has been an evolution in the outlook of black people and the clothes they wear.  It is no longer about symbolizing the fact that they were often too poor to afford nice clothes or too athletic to wear suits; it’s about showing that they can now dress as the average white man does and have an equal place in today’s society.  Whereas ten years ago, sweater vests, glasses, and suit coats were the epitome of the nerdy white boy about to get picked on, they now give an air of class and education to the wearer.  Morris refers to characters from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and current figures such as Kanye West to exemplify this style and attitude evolution in black society.  These men stepped out of the stereotype associated with black men and turned it around, showing that there is no one way a man should dress to show his identity and he should not have to dress a certain way to simply remain in his stereotypical group.  Visually, these men are showing that what one wears does not define him, he may be a star on the court and in the workforce, but what he wears is not the determining factor.  I believe that Morris is stating that there is no longer a norm for the black society, as they have been started to individualize themselves, showing that they can have many things to offer and that the outward appearance of a man does not determine what is inside.