Image Analysis

Trevor McCoy, Thomas Smith, Sydney Wallace, Max Schroeder, and Adam Perrez

We used a picture of a poster from Woodstock found at: http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1508&bih=763&tbm=isch&tbnid=8gjcLiM2gRmNCM:&imgrefurl=http://www.alvinlee.de/alvmems8.htm&docid=rP73GJ7VWeud2M&imgurl=http://www.alvinlee.de/page8hs1/3days.jpg&w=300&h=407&ei=VlKxTvbnH4nqtgfS15yTCw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=351&sig=105751343978970807379&page=1&tbnh=163&tbnw=120&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:17,s:0&tx=91&ty=104

The first thing that is noticeable about the poster is that it has multiple icons of peace and music, especially in the symbolism of the dove sitting on the guitar. The colors of the poster are different than normal colors. They stand out and seem to look like something from a picture book. The poster also had basic information such as where and when the concert would be as well as who was playing. The color choices for the words, "Days", "Peace", and "Music" cause them to pop out at the reader first. The font for these words seems to be written very casually. It was especially aimed towards the youth of the time.

Group 5 Picture analysis

http://www.hollywoodmegastore.com/Images/5759_Mustang_Shelby_Poster.jpg

This image is of a 1967 Mustang Shelby GT-500, Eleanor, from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. This is actually a poster, so the main objective was for it to be appealing to people and to be sold. The giant flag superimposed over the sunset in the background gives the whole picture an American identity. The car appears to be on water which could show that the car is extraordinary and magical in some way.

iPhone

This image portrays a typical iPhone user: a white male, likely upper middle or upper class in society. The average iPhone user is of this stereotype and the product marginalizes society in terms of who can obtain an iPhone. The iPhone has many applications and uses. Whether for business, fun, productivity, or social applications, the iPhone disconnects people from society. In the photo, the individual is text messaging another white male. Text messaging is viewed as real communication by the young generations; in this photo the content of the message is banter. The iPhone demeans the idea of having a real connection with those they communicate with. Instead, impersonal relationships are almost favored. Society is becoming isolated as a result of the use of the iPhone, as well as the economic divide preventing many from having an iPhone.

Website Analysis

Group Members: Vishnu, Sarah, Cody, Eric P.

1)

A) “Professional” Source:   http://www.mcspotlight.org/company/

This website focuses primarily on research and highlighting controversial issues about the corporation.

B) “Popular” Source:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7501092/ns/business-us_business/t/after-years-influence-mcdonalds-still-felt/#.Tq6w7UMg_UA

This website, MSNBC.com, features an article written by the Associated Press about McDonald’s influence.  It mostly discusses the history of the company and how it grew to where it is today, but also begins to delve into some of the negative aspects of it such as obesity.

2)

A) This site seems to focus its efforts and information on propagandists. It uses information on

the environment and a heavy reliance on sensitive issues of health in order to perhaps cast

McDonald’s in a negative light.

B) The audience for his site is the general American public.  It has an average use of language and doesn’t address anyone specifically, but assumes that the reader has been to McDonald’s and knows about the company and the influences it has made.  It has a slightly attacking tone at times.

3)

A) The top of the home page has dozens of McDonald’s food items, like hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, and French fries. Scrolling down a bit, the eyes land on an image of Ronald McDonald with his mouth covered by the word grease. This imagery serves to let readers know that they are about to find information about the faults of McDonalds. The site also uses a warning symbol in order to inform readers that propaganda is present in a given article.

B) The website has graphics in its header, as well as a picture of the first McDonald’s restaurant.  It relates to the topic because it follows the history of the company that the article discusses.  The graphics do not draw attention away, but some of the advertisements do distract the reader.

4) 

A) After reading through several of the article pages within the organization’s database, we found it to be more based on propaganda than fact. Questionable citations (e.g. “29/10/01 . Unknown . Yahoo . U.S.A.”) or a complete lack of citations (e.g. ending the article with a simple “this is complete unadulterated fact”) cause the site to lack reliability. It seems that the site is highly bias, as they use only facts that make McDonald’s look bad. No article present on the site highlight any traits of McDonald’s that one would deem beneficial. The majority of articles are based on political and corporate hierarchy or health problems associated with the corporation.

B) The information seems credible because of the source.  The author seems well versed in the history and facts about McDonalds, which shows that sufficient research was performed about the company.  He uses quotations from a variety of people as references, such as an owner of several McDonald’s chains and a customer at one of the first McDonald’s restaurants.  All of these aspects solidify his credibility.

5) 

A) At first glance, the website seemed reliable and well-organized by a reputable group. After looking into the site and delving into the individual articles, we found that these initial interpretations were far from correct. One could, therefore, argue that information on the Internet can be useful and much of it may, in fact, be true; however, as a general rule of thumb, a critical eye and a certain level of skepticism must be maintained when doing research online.

B) Initially McDonald’s was a groundbreaking idea when it first opened, especially the drive-thru.  It discusses the fast-paced food production assembly line that it created, the availability of cheap food that it produces, and the extent to which it has grown today.  It also talks about some of the negative impacts, such as the low wage “McJobs” that it creates, problems with obesity, and hitting on Americans’ desire for bigger and better things.  While this source is useful initially to learn the basic information about McDonald’s, it does not go into specific detail about any one aspect of the topic.  Sources must be evaluated wholly and must be viewed in the larger picture.

6) Our “professional” website included random facts and cited websites improperly.  The information used didn’t seem totally reliable.  Our “popular” website had solidified information with a variety of sources, which generated a great deal of facts as well as quotations.  Though the second choice was the more popular source, it also happened to be more professional than the first source. The popular website appealed more to the general public and was fairly neutral in its portrayal of McDonalds, while the professional website was very one-sided.

Website Analysis

AJ, Jordan, Eric, Randy

Popular Website

http://www.losangelesdodgersonline.com/fernandovalenzuela.php

1. This website provides an overview of Valenzuela’s career including his baseball statistics and honors.

2. The audience is mainly for Dodgers fans. Along the side panel are links to famous dodgers players and there are links to buy season tickets at the bottom of the page.

3. There are few graphics in the article. Most are simply pictures of Valenzuela. They seem to stand-alone and only fill space in the article.

4. The website has very little creditability because at the bottom the page reads, “This site is meant to be a fan site of the Los Angeles Dodgers only”. The information is blatantly biased because it only gives the positive aspect of Valenzuela’s life because that is what Dodger’s fan what to read. Moreover, the bottom has a link for fan’s opinions on topics.

5. Locating creditable sources on the web is difficult. We must read all the information on the article and look for bias before we decide to use the sources. We must simply be cautious when using websites.

6. The main difference between popular and profession sites is that professional sites are either written by an expert or have citations from experts. Moreover, professional sites seem to use a more professional language and appeal to a more professional audience.

Professional Website

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/03/30/fernandomania-the-fernando-valenzuela-years/#/4

1. This website gives an overview of Valenzuela’s career.

2. The audience is targeted is people who are looking to find out more about Valenzuela’s career without doing a lot of reading

3. The graphics are provided to give insight to the text that is below.

4. The credibility is high because a world-known newspaper wrote the article and the photographer and writer are professionals.

5. Look above

6. Look above

Group website classwork

Trevor McCoy, Max Schroeder, Sydney Wallace, Adam Perrez, and Thomas Smith

Personal Website

1. http://www.woodstock.com/ This website contains information pertaining to the Woodstock concert of 1969 as well as the Woodstock group.

2. The audiences of this website are mainly the younger generation and possibly the older generations that went to the concert. This appeals to the younger generation, because the format is very colorful. It almost looks like a picture book. In addition, there is not much writing, mainly pictures. However, it appeals to the older generation, because they were there.

3. The graphics are mainly pictures of the different concerts that took place. There is also a very simple image of a dove on a guitar. These pictures show the Woodstock message of peace through music. These graphics are designed to capture your attention and make you become interested in the Woodstock concert. The graphics add to the website by keeping the reader interested instead of taking away from the content. Some of the graphics stand alone, but most of them are directly related to the content pictured on the page. There are quite a few graphics on the website, but they are tastefully used to the point that they are interesting without being distracting. The audiences for the graphics are the older generations looking for nostalgia as well as the younger generation interested in the musical movement of 1969. The clues for this are the very old pictures of the concert itself along with the much newer pictures promoting the movement.

4. There are a great deal of clues about the credibility of the sites. Since the website is made by the actual Woodstock group it is very close to the original source. In fact, Woodstock supports other groups such as the WWF and Doctors Without Borders. The credibility of the website can be determined by different aspects including the merchandise. It is possible to conclude that the website is actually made by the Woodstock group by looking at the copyrighted merchandise that they sell and the official logo that is carried throughout. There is no list of sources on the website, mainly because the website is all about an event that the corporation created. The main reason that the website was created was to sell merchandise as well as promote the Woodstock message.

Professional Website

1.http://bethelwoodscenter.org/museum/festivalhistory.aspxThe site is for a museum that has a main exhibit of Woodstock. It has a lot of facts on the festival at Woodstock in 1969. In addition to that it has a performer and set list for all of the artists that were there.=
2.The audience is mostly young adults and people that attended Woodstock. The site is for a multimedia museum that appeals more towards young adults. The museum looks very modern, because it has things like a large HD theater, an outdoor terrace stage, an interactive multimedia exhibit, and much more. There is a bullet point list of much of the facts of the event. This makes it easier to read, because its not drawn out in long paragraphs. This appeals more to many young adults.
3.There are only a few graphics on the site. One of them being a picture of the museum, and the other is a picture of the event. This gives it a more academic feel because there isn't a ton of pictures, but there is a lot more text. The picture of the museum is designed to grab you attention so that you may click on it and learn more about the museum.
4.It is a reliable source because the site is from a Museum which contains a “.org”. This shows that it is a museum organization and its only agenda is to get you to visit the museum. The actual museum helps its credibility as well, because Woodstock is one of the main exhibits within the museum.

5. We learned that the community was not prepared for the number of people present for the Woodstock concert. The area had become an enormous traffic jam. In addition Jimi Hendrix played the highlight of the concert on Monday when only a small fraction of the crowd was left. There was a large difference in the number of pictures between the professional and the personal websites. We learned there is a lot of bias on websites, even if they don't appear to be so.

6. The main rhetorical difference between popular and professional sites is the way that the information is displayed. Popular websites display information in a way that is fun and interesting while professional sites are more focused on the facts.

Statue Of Liberty Website Analysis - Connor, Taylor, Keith, Kevin

National Park Service Statue of Liberty Website

1. http://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm

a. This is the homepage of the Statue of Liberty from the National Park Service. It documents the origin and history of the statue. It also discusses how people can visit the statue. Information for teachers is included which provides an outline for a lesson plan to teach to young students.

2. The intended audience includes tourists, students, and teachers. The website has explicit sections like “For Teachers” and “For Kids” that give appropriate information. Information on how to plan a visit shows that tourists are likely to read this information.

a. The language used is basic and non-technical. The tone in the “For Teachers” and “For Kids” sections caters to the stated audience. For example, the “For Kids” section is colorful and gives many different exciting ways to get involved. Very little knowledge is assumed; the website provides a simplified and complete description of the history and background of the Statue of Liberty.

3. Almost all pictures included are of the Statue of Liberty from various angles. The section with info for teachers gives a picture of a helpful Park Ranger who seems happy to teach young students. The section for kids includes more varied and colorful images which will capture young minds. These images definitely support the text by providing visuals for many important points. While many of the graphics are similar they are varied enough to not be boring or distracting. The different pages cater to their separate audiences, such as students and teachers, by being separated on to different pages.

4. This website can be assumed to be credible because it has been developed by the National Park Service. The National Park Service is responsible for all National Parks in the United States and provides information about all of the parks. It is clear that the National Park Service is credible because it is a well-known and well-established government institution. The information provided is backed up by the fact that the National Park Service is a highly regarded government program. Because it is a government website it is biased towards admiration of the Statue of Liberty and encourages everyone to visit and donate to the park. The site is nonpartisan and the only agenda is obvious, to foster learning about the history and culture surrounding the Statue of Liberty.

Statue of Liberty Info Site

1. Liberty Enlightening the World. This website discusses history, environment, and services around the statue of liberty.

URL: ww.thestatueofliberty.com

2. The audiences are mainly tourists. We made this conjecture because we saw tabs such as food service, group plans, and games for kids which gave us hints that this was more commercial than strictly informative. The website also had a casual tone like a tour guide.

3. There are a lot of pictures. The interface is friendly. The website can be read in multiple languages. The graphics are designed to be catchy and attract the reader’s attention. The graphics help the reader see what the scenes around the Statue of the Liberty are like. The website is fairly simple through navigate and find information you need for travel and tour purposes.

4. This website is fairly credible because it is operated through an authorized concessioner to the National Park Service. Even though concessioner mainly runs it for commercial purpose, but the fact that the concessioner is authorized by the National Park Service gives some credibility. The disclaimer notice from the website states that “this website and the information it contains are provided as a public service by the National Park Service (NPS), U.S. Department of the interior, and Evelyn Hill, Inc.” This claimer lets us know that the information is approved by the National Park Service and other credible sources. However, one of the purposes of this website is to gain profit through advertising so it has some built-in bias to promote its content.

Professional VS Commercial

5. Through our sources we learned more about the history of the Statue of Liberty, its present functionality, and many ways to learn more information. The info provided is very useful because the sources are credible and robust. However, in our future research we will be sure to approach each possible source critically in order to ensure that it is credible and that our argument is backed by well-supported facts.

6. For popular websites it is more important that they catch your eye and keep you interested. With professional, governmental websites their credibility is established almost immediately. Professional websites are more focused on providing detailed content, while commercial websites work to keep people interested.