WP3

Sugarland is one of the best new up coming bands in country music. Their hit song Baby Girl came out in the summer of 2004. Most of the video takes place inside a small café in a small town, one of which looks exactly like a small café called “The Western” in Schuyler, Nebraska. As a child, countless hours were spent sitting and eating their famous chicken fried steak and watching my grandparents drinking coffee. Eventually, time took its toll and eventually childhood faded. Throughout high school, numerous lunches were ate sitting at the dark red glittery counter with fancy bar stools. After home sport events, all the students could be found in The Western eating their favorite dish and slurping down milkshakes. Entering The Western is like entering into the world as it was seventy-five years ago. The inside is decorated with pictures of John Wayne and old cowboys. Every different type of person could be found inside. Watching the video is like sitting in the same café I sat in as a child. It is extremely similar and it seems like my memories have been collected inside the video instead of inside The Western. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Shannon Brown is not as famous as most artists, but she sang the anthem for farm kids everywhere in the summer of 2006, Cornfed. The video takes place in the middle of a corn field in what appears to be a very small town. Everything in this video reflects on my life. The lyrics, “Green fields for miles and miles; Ain’t nothin’ but country on the radio dial,” and seeing the corn, old barns, combines, and tractors, takes me back to Schuyler, Nebraska. All of the equipment is used on every farm throughout Nebraska. Combines are particular pieces of machinery that farmers, including my father, use to harvest their crops. Most of the crops grown in this state is corn, however beans and alfa alfa are also found. In rural Nebraska, everything in this video can be seen. Combines are found everywhere in Colfax County in the fall. During the spring and summer months, planters can be seen. Planters are used to put the crop into the ground. This machine enabled me to spend countless hours with my dad. Hours flew by as I sat shot gun in our Case IH Combine. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Ashton Shepherd is one of the newest country stars on the map. Her first single, Sounds So Good, came our earlier this year. In small towns, there is not a lot going on. So, finding things to do is a challenge. However, there are some things that have and will always be a tradition of the summer. For example, getting a cooler and going to the river. In the video, the first thing they do is get a cooler, load it in a truck, and head to a river for the day. The Platte River runs directly through Schuyler. The “Colfax Boundary” runs from two miles past Columbus and seven miles out of Schuyler. Air boats and fishing poles are obvious tools found at each cabin. Volleyball courts, basketball hoops, boats, docks, swim suits, and dogs can also be found. The Platte River is becoming much smaller and shallower each year. Most of the river is less than seven feet deep. The Platte River has aided in nine-teen years of summer fun. It holds most of the memories made with friends and family. Holidays and summers are all held here. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Firecracker came out in the fall of 2007. It was the third hit for the new comer, Josh Turner. Most of this video is taking place inside a fire work stand. Every Fourth of July weekend, getting to watch one of the states best fire work displays is at the top of everyone’s list. The display lasts for about forty minutes. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are spent on these fireworks annually. Different kinds such as, rockets, fountains, air bombs, roman candles, wheels, and shot cakes are all fired into the dark night. Finding people sitting everywhere along the river and in our park is very common during this time. The firework display is ran by local fire fighters to ensure safety. Every single summer time is spent waiting for this beautiful display. For about forty minutes getting lost into the deep black sky with bursting colors is one of the most amazing sights that can be seen. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Trace Adkins is known for singing Swing. The video is shot in the middle of a baseball field. The bleachers and diamond are obviously shown in the video. In the song, “swing” is stated too many times to count. However, at Merchant Park in Schuyler, “swing” can be heard twice as much. Schuyler is home to the minor league baseball team named the Merchants. In the “glory days,” they were unstoppable. They won every single game by more than five runs. The team was stacked with five players who eventually went semi professional. The park itself is just like all of the originals. Walking through the front gate, the cash is taken through the window. Once the ticket is given, heaven waits for you through the next blue gate. The smell of pop corn over takes the air as the sound of crunching sunflower seeds comes from underneath feet. The team itself is always dressed in a blue top with gray striped pants topped with a blue hat with a “M.” Watching all of these games is a huge part of my past. Now that I am getting older, I actually know everyone playing, which makes it even more fun. Merchant Park is one of the best, most visited parts of town. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Jason Aldean came out with the farmer’s anthem in 2006. Amarillo Sky is a song that says everything a farmer lives by and believes in. The video is taking place on a farm in the middle of the country. Tractors and combines are everywhere in the background, as well as corn. They also show farmers throughout the video. These people are exactly like my brother. He does the same work that is shown in the video. Our farm has been apart of our family for four generations, Clint plans to keep it that way. It amazes me on how much he loves being on a farm, he would hate going off of it. He just turned twenty-two and does the same work that my father does. It is in his blood. The words, “He takes the tractor another round, Pulls the plow across the ground, He says I never complain, I never ask why, Please don’t let my dreams run dry,” is exactly what Clint thinks every day. He is one of the most hard-working, dedicated people many have ever seen. He is determined to keep this farm going in the tough times we are having in our nation today. Regardless of the prices of fuel and crops, he will stay strong and make our family proud. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

The legendary Brooks and Dunn have many songs that have become famous over the years. However, Red Dirt Road is one of their best. The video takes place on a deserted road. Having to be creative in planning every Friday night after hometown football games, a random dirt road became one of the first choices to hang out. After the Schuyler Warriors took on their opponents on the football field, the chit chat throughout the student body was to head out to “The Road.” Even though it was just named The Road, everyone knew it meant in the middle of Road 15 and 16. Every kid would carpool into the middle of the country to sit and talk to friends. The Road is still undiscovered by the police. (Well, as far as we know it is!) Almost every single Friday night was spent this way. That old dirt road has seen everything from break ups to hook ups, from sober to non sober, and from hellos to good-byes. Things like this can only be found in my hometown.

Final Post

This class has been a good experience for me to go through my first sememster of college. I have learned a lot of things from being in here. One of which, is my high school english department is awful. Every different style of writing that we did in this class I have never heard of before. Hearing about all these new ways to write essays and papers really opened my eyes. I realized that I still would like to major in english. My attitude about writing didn't get worse, in fact, it grew in a more positive way. I realize that I am probably not very good at writing all these different styles, but I am excited and willing to continue to practice.

In the past, peer reviews haven't always meant that much to me. I would always try to really analyze my partner's paper by giving them advice of their actual writing to change, not just punctuation and grammar. Having people here that can give me advice of paragraphs to delete and better ways to word sentences is very beneficial and it is something that really helped me write. Also, learning exactly what to look for in other people's papers really helped me on the other end of peer reviewing.

Good writing to me is something very broad that I cannot put my finger on. Good writing can be analyzed in so many ways. To me, it is an essay or paper that can keep your full attention the entire time you are reading it. You should not have to force yourself to read the work. Also, it should have good information in it that actually makes you think or learn something from it. There should not be parts of the paper that you don't understand. Full comprehention is very important because the reader cannot be confused.

This class has helped me outside of here. I have done papers and other peer reviews in numerous other classes, including LAS. Having to write an eight to ten page paper is difficult. Learning how to put things specificaly and word things correctly really helped. Doing peer reviews in this class, I knew exactly what I should be looking for. I also knew how to help them by giving them advice on what to change specifically and how to change it.

One of my favorite kind of writings that I did was Penguin Society. In the beginning, I was completely confused and had no idea what I was supposed to be observing and reflecting upon and how exactly I should do it. I still don't know if I got the exact idea of how to do it, but I enjoyed it. Being able to go and observe something that was interesting to me, and reflect it back to something I think is important to the world was a lot of fun to write.

Another type of writing that I specifically enjoyed was when we were talkinga bout the Presidential Debates. This huge part of history was happening as we were writing about the topics. Being able to exactly understand what each Vice Presidential candidate was saying helped in my decision for who I voted for. Being able to uncover what each person was really trying to get at through what they were saying and how they said it was really beneficial and interesting.

How do I see myself as a writer? I thought I was pretty good. Leaving this class, I'm not so sure anymore! I don't think I am the worst writer there ever was, but I know that I have a lot of room for improvement. I am going to take every bit of advice and criticism I got from this class, and use it to improve my writing. I still enjoy writing and I am anxious to get into more english classes to learn and improve more.

Old Chevy Truck

In the year of 1970 my dad bought his very first Chevy pick-up truck. It was his prized possession that drove him to and from school each day and to every Friday night football game. On December 12th 1989, I was born. This truck made its way to David City, Nebraska to pick me up from the hospital. This truck has seen every single year of my life. For as long as I could remember, you couldn’t even see the exact shade of green that it was painted. There was more rust on the fenders and bumper than paint. The window had a huge crack from side to side right down the middle of where you look out. Once the transmission went out, my dad couldn’t stand to send it to the junk yard, so my brother, dad, and I decided to work together to fix the truck back up to its glory days. Once the engine and transmission were fixed, we began to paint the truck. It is now back to the perfect shade of green it was over twenty years ago. The windshield no longer has a crack down the center, and all of the rust was sanded off completely. We even re-did the interior with dark gray leather seats and a chrome steering wheel. The truck is basically a part of our family. It has been there through thick and thin and we wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

My Angel

Every year around Christmas time my house transforms into a Winter Wonderland. The Christmas tree appears in the corner of my living room and all of the decorations spread the house with cheer. With all of these decorations around the house, my favorite can be found in the center of the kitchen table. The porcelain angel, name Faith by its creator, is a fragile woman with two wings pointing downward. Her reddish brown hair is put up neatly on the top of her head. The magnificent purple gown with green and dark purple dots is flowing all the way to the ground. The angel’s two hands are held tightly to her chest and are clasped together. Her eyes are focused straight as if she were saying a prayer. This beautiful doll is so important to me and my family because it was purchased in memory of my grandmother when she passed away about seventeen years ago. Every single Christmas it has been placed in the center of all of the ruckus and excitement. The angel is in the middle of the kitchen because it is where most of the people are found around the holidays. When you walk into the house, you have to pass through the kitchen. In a way, grandma is almost greeting everyone when they enter, just as she did when she was still here. This porcelain angel is just an angel if you don’t know the reason and story behind it. However, my whole family knows it is there to remind us of the loss and the love of my grandma so many years ago.

Blue Moons

Blue Moons is a painting created by Ray M. Swartz. Its deep and mysterious colors combine together to make a hidden meaning that must be analyzed and looked into deeper. Looking at the picture, the viewer’s eyes automatically go to the muscular white horse with the long haired blond lady lying aimlessly on its back. Staring more closely, the horse is quickly identified as a unicorn. According to Marianna Mayer, “The unicorn is the only fabulous beast that does not seem to have been conceived out of human fears. In even the earliest references he is fierce yet good, selfless yet solitary, but always mysteriously beautiful. He could be captured only by unfair means, and his single horn was said to neutralize poison." This puts a new twist on the picture because the audience quickly identifies that there is no possible way that this is a reality; it must be a fantasy. The long haired blonde lady is stretched carelessly across the unicorn’s neck. She appears to be completely relaxed and confident she is in the correct place. Her hand is draping onto the shoulder of the unicorn. The two blue moons in the far right corner are drifting in the sky of darkness. The overlapping twins seem to be holding onto one another.

Rhetorically analyzing this piece of art, there are numerous different answers to the questions floating in our minds. Compare and contrast, illustration, and irony are all used to make this picture come to life. The fact that the unicorn is from a fantasy and the woman is from reality is very enticing. Many different examples of ethos and logos are apparent in this oil painting.

This painting is so unique because the author uses many different rhetorical strategies to make his point come across. The first he uses is compare and contrast. The point of the painting is to make the connection between reality and fairy tales. It is very obvious that a human girl and a unicorn are from two completely different worlds. This use of pathos is trying to inform the audience that it is indeed possible for two different worlds. The author is comparing the fairy tale land of unicorns to the real world in which we live. The way that the lady is carelessly lying on the unicorn, shows that we could comfortably live together. We do not need to be fearful of one another.

The second type of rhetorical analysis is illustration. Putting another moon next to the moon that we believe is already there is a clever way of showing that there could be another life out there that we want to strive to someday meet. Putting the moons in an overlapping state shows that we are connected in some way. We are not overtaking the other one, so harmony could be accessible. One moon is much smaller than the other one. This could mean that the belief is much different between fantasy and reality. The smaller moon is the fantasy world. Not many people have a strong belief that there is another world out there. On the other hand, the bigger moon is taken as reality. Everyone has a belief that there is reality because they are living it.

Irony is also used in this painting. The artist was trying to use something opposite to get his point across. Putting a unicorn instead of a horse makes the viewer realize that the fantasy world and reality could indeed someday be connected. If a real horse was used, no one would think twice about the meaning behind the painting. However, allowing a human female to be so close and comfortable with a creature that we know isn’t even real, it gives us a sense of comfort and confidence that there is a possibility that we will be able to connect with a different life someday.

In this painting, the unicorn and second moon are combined to show that a fantasy world and the human world are closer than we initially thought. The blonde lady in the picture is clinging onto the unicorn very tightly, showing that another world would not be a scary place to be. Having another place to be and thinking there is some other world out there is a major possibility.

Seeing the other moon in the background is a way to show that the second world is available for the taking. Possibly, they are on another planet, where two moons can be seen. This would explain the reasoning for the unicorn to be real. The lady in the picture is relaxed and calm. This gives the illusion that there is something better for the taking. Her hand is not tense; it simply dangles on the upper leg of the white giant. Being relaxed and calm is a feeling that everyone strives to gain. It is better to be in a place of comfort rather than in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the real world. Seeing the beautiful view of the moon in the background is a way of showing the viewers that it is taking place in another place.

Ryan M. Swartz is an amazing artist that has painting for over forty-three years. He discovered his gift while he was very young. He specializes in pencil portraits and oil paintings. Swartz loves creating art work that is unique and catches the viewer’s interest. He enjoys painting animals, especially dogs.

This painting is a unique one that has made many heads turn. It is a beautiful piece of work that will be very popular for years to come. The meaning behind it is dark and mysterious. This is one of the reasons why so many people have traveled to see it. Is the meaning behind it obvious or not? Do people really believe that there is another world out there that we are all striving to become a part of? Is it possibly your after life, or is it where you are trying to go while alive? These are the many questions that are asked while looking into this painting. The only way to know for sure is to analyze it yourself, and make your own decision.