Commercial Language

Lately, I've been doing a lot of analyzing and commenting on issues and whatnot. So, I've decided to bring it all back down to Earth and talk a little bit about me and what has been on my mind lately (with a language twist of course).


Being a sports fan, this weekend I watched the Green Bay Packers win Super Bowl XLV. Now, I won't say I was happy that the Packers won, but I was thrilled that the Steelers lost. Moving on, what really inspired me to write this blog was of course.......Super Bowl commercials. Gotta love 'em right? Anyways, as I was watching them, I realized how numb I have become to the actual words being uttered in each commercial. The sensory overload that happens as a result of constant advertisements, causes me to completely tune out any commercials unless they are 1) funny or 2) have high enough shock value. Nowadays, it seems as if many companies are dead set on creating a commercial that is as funny as possible, and then, they slap their name at the end of it.

When I thought about why that is, I came to a conclusion: obviously, the funny/shocking commercials are the ones I remember and even if I don't know what the advertisement is promoting, I remember the company's name. However, it doesn't stop there. Commercials that try simply using language to describe a product, without humor or shock value, are dull and obsolete. We have been overloaded by so many advertisements that the words in commercials are no longer important because everyone is saying the exact same thing: their product is the best. This can be seen almost everywhere, especially with car commercials. With out even listening to a commercial, I can already assume that a classic car advertisement is going to mention the car's awesome performance, excellent safety rating, great fuel efficiency and likely some sort of sale or promotion going on at the dealerships. What else is new? Subconsciously, I know what these car/beer/paper towel/fertilizer/etc. commercials are all going to say, so I tune out.

It seems companies have begun to realize this and thus, are focusing more and more on the funny/shock factor and less and less on the words. I will tell you this, I can only remember two car commercials the Super Bowl off the top of my head. Neither of them said one word about the actual car.

The first is the Volkswagen commercial with the kid dressed as Darth Vader.

The second was a Kia commercial where the car was "caught" by a helicopter but then Poseiden came out and grabbed it, sent it into a UFO where it drove into a black hole and emerged in a Mayan-like civilization. Yeah, quite strange, but I remembered it for some reason.

In a nutshell, thinking about this new breed of commercial made me recognize the limitations of language in our modern society due to information overload. However, understanding this concept made me further appreciate the power of language that comes in the form of a great book. It is unparalleled.

Winning the Future

Yesterday, like many Americans, I watched President Obama's 2011 State of the Union and Republican Representative Paul Ryan's response. While it did give me a little hope, I was still frustrated with the mixed signals regarding the economy and the budget deficit. Obama stated that we are going to reduce spending, while investing in the future. Huh? And, the Republicans are convinced that cutting spending will create jobs. I'm not so sure about that one either. AND, everyone is talking about reducing the deficit but there are no concrete plans to touch Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. Despite all this, there was one idea that Obama carried throughout his speech that resonated with me:

"Winning the Future"

Now, this is a language blog. So, let's talk a little about the language here. President Obama (+ his speechwriter) is an excellent speech writer and he chose these words for a reason. Beginning with this phrase, the speech placed an overwhelming emphasis on the future. This may seem a little obvious because the high unemployment levels and ballooning deficit are major threats to the country's wellbeing. However, we should note that there was almost no mention of Obama's accomplishments to this point aside from his defense of health care reform from Republicans attempting to repeal it. Obama showed that he has felt the people's sense of urgency and by using the entire speech to address fears about the deficit, unemployment and America's weakening hegemony.

Winning is the other key piece of this phrase. By declaring that we must win the future, Obama has simplified the fate of America into a game. By doing this, Obama skillfully unifies the American people by putting them all on the same "team."

There are two different ways Obama employs this game metaphor. The first is a sort of competition where our opponents are China, India and the other nations on the rise that are threatening American dominance. In his speech Obama acknowledged the competition and identified where we need to focus our attention in order to "win." His strategies included investing in education and small businesses to encourage innovation.

However, the other game is a little more like Tetris. It is a one-player game where America is given a domestic puzzle that we have to solve: how to fix the economy, create jobs and reduce the deficit all at the same time. A game like this demands efficiency and foresight. However, the strategies that Obama offered in his speech to solve this puzzle were lacking in these areas and it was frustrating. I did not hear any concrete plans or specific moves to solve these major problems. Despite this, I thought the idea of winning the future was a very effective way of uniting the country.

Book Review: The 7 Habits...

A lot of the literature that I have discussed on my blog has been from my English class. So, I figured it was time to mix things up a bit and share some of my thoughts on a book that I read over the summer. It is called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. Now, I know what you're probably thinking. Why would I ever consider reading some lame self-help book for teens? And, even worse, what was I thinking when I decided to write a post about it on my highly respectable blog? Well, I will answer both those questions (and any others if you decide to comment on this post). First, I was required to read it for my school-sponsored Habitat for Humanity trip. Second, I am writing this post because 7 Habits is a worthwhile read.

When I found out I had to read this book, it did not go over well. I was expecting a cheesy, condescending tone from an author that preached all about how to be a good kid that never breaks any rules or has any fun. I think that's why I liked it so much. The author, Sean Covey, does his best to actually connect with teenagers, mixing in humor and stories from his own life. I'd say that he does a fairly decent job keeping his writing style engaging and not annoying or preachy. However, there were certain points when his language made me feel like I was being given a lecture. Since my expectations were already low, these instances didn't come as a surprise and I didn't let them ruin the book for me. There IS a lot of good stuff in this book and I think that the best way to approach reading 7 Habits is to take it with a tiny grain of salt.

The entire book may not apply to you. There may be areas of your life where you are completely satisfied: school or friends or family, etc. But, for the areas that you are not happy with, I think this book offers some great strategies and basic attitudes/philosophies that can be really useful. Reading this book gave me an opportunity to take a step back and look at many of the aspects of my life. I was able to see where I wanted to improve myself. And that's the great thing: I saw where I wanted to improve. Don't view this book as the Bible or an instruction manual. Use it to your benefit. Pick and choose what you want to take away from it.

I realize I haven't talked much about the actual book. I'm not going to give you much because the experience of reading 7 Habits is much better than any quick summary I could give. The best part is being able to connect to all Covey's tips, suggestions and strategies and seeing where they fit in your own life. However if you must know, some of the basic concepts in this book include being proactive, prioritizing, dependency, relationships, self-worth and lots of other things every teen should think about. All in all, if you read this book right, I think you can get a lot out of it.

Sean Covey's website

FYI - Sean Covey is the son of Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If any of you have read this book and/or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, feel free to comment with your views on the books and this post. Thanks!

URL change!!!

Hey all! I have just changed my URL to http://languageartsandcrafts.blogspot.com/. Considering that is the title of my blog, I thought it would be more convenient for web surfers across the globe.

Sup? Nmu? Nm. Aight ttyl.

Recently, I was exploring the world wide web and blogosphere in search of ideas for my blog. My quest was momentarily interrupted by an instant message on Facebook sent by one of my friends. It read: sup dood, howd the test go 2day? ugh i effing hate dat class... * I was absolutely appalled at his abuse of the English language. Haha, only kidding. Truthfully, I talk like that all the time over the internet. However, this is the first time that I've ever wondered about the ramafications of chat-speak.

After some perusing (if you haven't noticed from my past posts, I like that word a lot), I found this little number: Social Criticisms of Chat Rooms and Texting Language. One of the major concerns brought up in the article is how writing is changing as it aquires "some of the functions and figures of speech." The critics fear that this new branch of hybrid-English made up of slang words and abbreviations is gradually taking over common grammar. Adolescents, the most egregious offenders, are "changing the face of literacy" worldwide.

Now, for my big two questions:
Is this a bad thing?

What are the implications of this phenomenon?

I decided to write this blog because of my appreciation for language. I love to see how writers use language to convey emotions, to make us think and to capture the beauty of the world we live in. So, my initial reaction to this chat-speak takeover was negative. Can you imagine Hamlet starting with 2 b or not 2 b: that is the Q...? I really don't see the beauty in that. It's hard enough (some may say impossible) to adiquately capture emotions and the human experience using complete words. I cannot envision chat-speak even coming close to expressing those complexities.

Despite this, I cannot say that I am vehimently opposed to chat-speak. It's convenience is unmatched, (especially on my old, keyboard-less phone). In fact, it is very probable, perhaps inevitable, that I will continue to use slang words and abbreviations. In today's world where time is money, it pays to be quick. The world is becoming faster-paced each day as technology advances. Young people are simply adapting to what they are given and in doing so, they have become innovators in many fields including communication and lanuage.

I find that a similar connection can be made to the evolution of music. As technology has advanced, the sound of music (no pun intended) has changed dramatically. From the electric guitar to the 808 drum machine to music computer programs that autotune sounds, music has progressed over time. Young people of each generation have adapted to these technological developments and changed the way we listen to music. Now, y music-language metaphor is not perfect and eventually breaks down. It is easy enough to continue listening to music from the past. Not as easy to speak in a language from the past. But, this metaphor has helped me keep an open mind to chat-speak. I like music from many time periods and appreciate the different styles and genres. If music can go through such significant transformations and still be "good" (very subjective), then I think it's possible that language can as well.

Feel free to COMMENT with your view on the evolution of the English language regarding chat-speak

Also, I stumbled across Peter Lee Johnson on Youtube.com. He is an extraordinary violinist in the Popular Music Performance Program at USC. In his videos, he takes a traditionally classical instrument and improvises over pop songs, creating something incredible.

Evolution and adaptation at their finest:

*I'm going to be completely honest. I made up that message entirely because I couldn't remember any of my recent instant message conversations. However, a message like that could have easily been sent by one of my friends; of that I am certain.

Why Memoir?

If you have been keeping up with my blog, then you'll know that I am currently reading a memoir entitled Reading Lolita in Tehran for my English class. Now, I have not had a ton of experience with memoir, so I set off to learn a little more about it. As I was perusing the blogosphere, I came across the blog of one of my classmates: Style and Structure: The Art of Writing (it's a quality blog that I suggest you check out in addition to mine). She had written a nice post about what makes a good memoir. It seemed to me that what makes a good memoir is almost the same as what makes a good novel: the story must not be too mundane, it must have structure along with developed characters and should include "situations with high-stakes circumstances." The question I still have though, is why memoir?

Throughout RLiT, Nafisi praises fiction and novels to the highest degree. Perhaps she is a little biased being an English professor, but I tend to agree with her when she discusses the power of great novels including their ablity to make us question reality. I don't want to dishonor her by paraphrasing so I'll just list a few choice quotes where her affinity for fiction is apparent...

• "Every fairy tale offers the potential to surpass present limits, so in a sense the fair tale offers you freedoms that reality denies."
• "There is an affirmation of life [which] lies in the way the author takes control of reality by retelling it in his own way, thus creating a new world."
• "The perfection and beauty of form rebels against the ugliness and shabbiness of the subject matter"
• "This other world that is only attainable through fiction...becomes their refuge in a life that is constantly brutal."

I think Nafisi's passion for fiction is awesome. But, the question of "why memoir?" is bouncing around my head even more now. If she truly believes in the power of fiction, then why write a memoir? Why not a novel? Isn't it easier to get your message across if you can manipulate the story and the characters? I'm sure at some point in writing RLiT, Nafisi wished she could tweak something or write in a few fabricated details.

I guess the obvious answer to "why memoir?" is that memoirs do not allow the reader to dismiss the story if it makes him/her uncomfortable. The reader cannot merely brush it aside by labeling it made-up or pretend. Memoirs force you to acknowledge the reality of the story being told. But, I felt like there was something more. So I typed in "why memoir?" into google, and this blog post showed up right away: Why Memoir? by Louise DeSalvo on Writingalife's Blog.

Despite the typo in the first paragraph ;), it gives some quality insight into the benefits of memoir. DeSalvo, asserts that memoir is about revealing the experience of life through memory. Memoir creates an intimate connection between the author and reader. Because the author is writing from their own memory, the reader sees everything the author sees, feels everything the author feels. The reader of a good memoir will get to know the author, empathize with them and become a witness to their story. This direct connection to the reader is what allows the author to effectively "transmit to humankind the memory of what we endured in body and soul." Empathy and connection to characters are big parts of fiction as well, but I believe that the level of intimacy between author and reader is unique to memoir and Nafisi probably realized this when deciding how to best tell her story.

Perspective

In class, we have just begun reading the book Reading Lolita in Tehran (quick summary) by Azar Nafisi. Initially, I was not too excited about reading this one. A memoir about an Iranian woman professor holding secret book club discussions about literature is generally not my cup of tea. To my surprise, it has held my interest for the most part thus far. I am only 77 pages in, but Nafisi is doing a great job keeping me engaged and thinking about some of the insights she and her class have made and parallels they've drawn.
Reading Reading Lolita in Tehran (haha reading x2) is different from reading other novels. In the book, the women are analyzing literature and making connections and tracking themes and all that good stuff. However, as I read the novel, I am making annotations and drawing conclusions of my own. So, I find that a lot of the time I am analyzing the analyses of all the different women. DOUBLE ANALYSIS! Yeah, pretty crazy. All of these unique perspectives, as well as some of the literary analysis in Reading Lolita in Tehran (RLiT) have inspired me to write this post.

The first section of RLiT is entitled Lolita and discusses the reaction of the women to reading works of literature by Vladimir Nabokov. The two they focus on are Lolita (obvi) and Invitation to a Beheading. One of the themes throughout the section focuses on imprisonment and identity. In Lolita, a twelve-year-old girl (Lolita) is seduced by a middle aged man named Humbert Humbert. He turns Lolita into his fantasy and in that process, confiscates her life. Her identity is relient upon him. She is his prisoner. The book is written from Humbert's perspective, so the readers image of Lolita is inextricably linked to that of Humbert. Quoting Nafisi, "Lolita on her own has no meaning; she can only come to life through her prison bars." Her own self image and perspective is through the lens of Humbert, which is incredibly sad (at least I think so).

Craft-wise, Nabokov has triumphed in choosing Humbert as his narrator. By, seeing the story through his eyes, we are able to understand the degree of Lolita's imprisonment and its implications. A while ago in class, we briefly discussed "personal narratives," identity and the way we view ourselves. In terms of Lolita, it is almost as if Humbert has robbed her of the ability to formulate her own personal narrative and he is writing it for her, where she is his mistress in his sick fantasy. And that's all she is. Here, we can see how the choice of perspective gives some quality insight into the relationship between the characters. In the case of Lolita, it shows the twisted intimacy between victim and jailer.