Class #5

(Wednesday, October 4, 2006)

I was disappointed today after our media autobiographies were returned and I did not achieve a mark that I would have at least been satisfied with. I realized upon submitting the written portion of the assignment that it was not my best work, as it was a little rushed; However, I did not anticipate that my grade on the written portion be as low as 50%. I think that it will be worth my while to write a persuasive letter in order to achieve a higher grade, which I think that I am deserving of. Perhaps I focused too much of my energy on the creative process, rather than being overly concerned with the description and outline.
Following this class, I also feel a lot more confidence regarding my search for the topic of my semiotic analysis. I was impressed with the example of the Gap commercial, which Mark used to illustrate his argument, ‘Madonna’s on top.’ He was very effective in presenting evidence to support his argument, as nobody in the class even attempted to refute his argument. I think that doing that is important in our analysis’ as well. It is my understanding that Mark is looking for each of us to present our arguments in a persuasive way, so that none of our points can be refuted. Therefore, it makes more sense to me that we cannot select something that is a great deal to work with. Otherwise, it would be easier for someone to pick on things that we may miss in our discussion.