My Home vs. "No Place Like Home"

I grew up 18 years in the same house on the same street. My neighborhood does not have a community name or CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions) like Green Valley in Las Vegas. There were no rules on the size of the mailbox numbers, the number or types of pets one could have, the place of a barbecue, etc. Unlike the Green Valley suburb, there were plenty of grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and shopping centers all around my home. When my parents first bought the home I grew up in they did not pay a "family initiation fee" of $1000 similar to what the residents of Green Valley had to pay.
However, I did not live in the city, and similar to Green Valley all of the houses on my street all looked similar. Each of my neighbors were mainly old married couples whose kids had moved out by the time I reached elementary school. There was no gang activity, unkempt lawns, trash & clutter, wild animals for pets; everyone understood how to be civilized and good neighbors. My neighborhood did not need a community association or CC&Rs to tell us how to keep our homes looking good.

My Home

Memories
1. Playing in my backyard
2. Mowing my lawn on Sundays
3. Watching cartoons Saturday morning
4. Sleeping in on Sundays
5. Planting a garden every summer

Mowing my lawn on Sundays
Wearing a hat to block the sun's rays
Riding around on my lawnmower
Soaking the sun by going slower
Lots of grass to cut
Got to nip them at the bud
I love the smell of fresh cut grass
Smells much better than a smelly ass
Round and round all over my yard
People saying it's so hard
I make it look easy
Because the weather is breezy
That is my home
Trying not to mow the garden gnome

What makes a man or woman "Hot"?

What makes a man or woman hot is his/her physical appearance. For both sexes they must be clean, as in they take showers. Women who are hot typically are curvy and have an hour glass figure, similarly to celebrity Kim Kardashian who is very curvy. A pretty face, with a nice smile and eyes only helps make either sex hotter. For men, they must be tall and of a robust figure, like Shaq. Also his athleticism adds to his sex appeal and makes him hotter.

Context of SNL Skit

• funny Alaskian accent
• Clinton undressing
• Simple thoughts of Palin
• ? Bush Doctrine
• humorous competition between Palin and Clinton
• shots at McCain's age

To understand the humor behind the SNL skit of Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton is to be up to date with the current political race for the White House. Tina Fey uses a comical Alaskian accent to portray Sarah Palin's voice; if someone did not know that Palin is from Alaska, they would not understand the use of the accent, which other viewers find amusing. Also the juxtapose Sara Palin's sex appeal, to Hilary Clinton's lack of sex appeal because the media has criticized the republicans for nominating Sara Palin for the vice presidential bid because she is a woman and to some a "MILF." SNL pokes fun of Hilary's masculinity and lack of sex appeal because she has been portrayed in society as hardassed senator which shadows her feminity. As a result, SNL uses this to say that Hilary has testicles.

If I was the opposite sex for a day

I would pee sitting down, and play with my boobs.

The Lawn Man

Observations:

• There is a man


• The man is wearing a towel on his head


• The man is standing on a lawn surrounded by shrubbery


• The man is wearing a blue shirt


• The man is wearing sunglasses


• The man is outside probably during the afternoon


• The man is wearing linted or khaki pants

Inferences:

• The man must enjoy staying cool in the heat because a towel is covering his head and he is wearing light color clothing


• The man must work on the lawn around him because his clothing appears to be that of someone doing lawn work


• The man probably takes care of his health because he shields his eyes and skin from the sun


• The man must take pride in his lawn and bushes because they are very green and luscious

Summary:

The man in the lawn is an interesting image. The are contrasts and comparisons throughout the image. The man's clothing is culturally assumed to be that of a lawn maintenance man, this assumption is backed by the lawn in the background. The lawn and bushes only emphasize how effective the lawn man is. However, there is contrast between the light colors the man is wearing and the dark shadow that covers his face. The man might not actually be a lawn man because the shadows on his face and cynical expression raise suspicious emotions in the viewers' eyes that make the lawn man appear to be a "shady" lawn man. However, the image would be more effective if the man was placed under the tree because then the shady man would be in the shade. What is effective is the image demonstrating the temperature. The towel on the man's head is assumed to shield him from the sun as well as his long sleeve, light colored clothing, and sunglasses. Also, it is common for people to work on lawns during hot temperatures mainly in the summer and spring.

Brain on Drugs

Observations:

• There are frying pans in both videos


• Eggs are getting cracked in both videos


• There is lady with a pan breaking an egg, plates, a clock


• The egg symbolizes a person's brain in both videos


• The video demonstrates what happens to "your brain"/ egg when you take drugs

Inferences:

• The video warns the audience about the effects of drug
• The effect of drugs are harmful to one's brain
• Negative results come from taking drugs
• Drugs are not good for you

Compare and Contrast Analysis

Both videos demonstrate the effects that drugs have on someone's brain. The intended audience is aimed at teenagers. The second video appeals more toward teenagers because of Rachel Lee Cook who was a teen star. She appeals to teenagers because in the eyes of teenagers, she was one of their own which allows for a bond or trust between the teen audience and Rachel's meesage. The first video is short and suttle, and it only leaves an image of how the brain is "fried" after taking drugs. However, the tone of the second video starts out similiar to the first one, but the tone is turned up when Rachel takes the frying pan and smashes the egg, dishes, clock, etc. Not only is Rachel demonstrating how damaging drugs are to one's brain, but also how drugs affect everything else around you. The first video only shows the effect of drugs on your brain. The second video touches people on deeper emotional level because of all the other extranalities that are brought into picture with the violence that Rachel employs with the pan or "heroin." Both videos are effective in demonstrating the effects of drugs, but Rachel's video does a better job of delivering a public service announcement on drugs because it is deeper in pathos. Rachel's video shows how a brain is destroyed, a family is destroyed, money is lost, etc; the video does not stop at the damage on the brain like the first video, and that is why it is more rhetorically effective.