Aermotor Windmill

On old Aeromotor Windmill stands in the pasture along my family's driveway. The windmill is about 25 feet tall and has fan blades that are about 6 feet in diameter. It's the smallest type of aeromotor windmill built to serve its function. At one time, its fan blades would spin constantly, pumping water from a well into a cattle tank to quench the thirst of grazing cattle, and long ago, before electricity had arrived on the farmstead, even people. As mentioned earlier, it was purchased in the early 1900's by my grandpa's father before electricity had reached the farmstead. It was then that it functioned as both the source of water for his family's water and his cattle's water. Even after electricity had arrived on the farm, it continued to serve as the source of water for the people up until shortly before my father was born. Then, a well was finally dug and hooked up to an electric pump. It's been through alot, its blades and tail fins are riddled with bullet holes from .22 rifles. It served as target practice for multiple generations of teenage boys. Some of the rungs of its ladder that lead up to the blade and generator box have broken or become detached, and a few of the legs and supports have been bent in accidents over the years.

Today, it no longer stands at the old farm where it lived most of its life, instead, its stands at our home in the pasture some 150 miles away from its original location. Its blades have been locked in place, no longer able to spin, and it no longer stands above a well from which it can pump water. Still, it serves a purpose. It has been given a shiny new coat of silver paint with red tips painted onto the ends of the blades, and the bends in its supports have been hammered back to nearly their original shape. Now it stands, alone in our pasture as simply something to look at. It is a symbol, a reminder, of the farmstead for my dad and his brothers that had sustained and been the lifeblood for our families over multiple generations. Although the farmstead is now sold and gone, they still recognize the importance it had in raising them and building our families into what they have become today. The windmill is all that remains as a symbol and reminder of those days.

Aaron's Ethos

Photobucket" border="0">

In Aaron Carter's music video "I Want Candy," a rhetorical appeal to ethos is made through use of the rhetorical strategy of compare and contrast. This appeal is developed throughout the video in the comparisons of Aaron and Candy verses Aaron's three friends. On multiple occasions throughout the video, this appeal to ethos creates an appearance for Aaron and Candy that causes them to appear more mature than Aaron's friends. This is achieved by the places that each of them is placed within the video, and the behaviors shown being performed by each in those places. For example, at the movie theater, Aaron and Candy are sitting next to one another with no one around them. By their actions (i.e. smiles, touch, and conversational appearance) it is obvious that they are on a date. This is a very mature thing to be doing for Aaron and Candy's age of people. Conversely and comparatively, Aaron's friends are also at the movie; however, they appear to be less mature. They are sitting together but they happen to be all boys; therefore, they are not on a date. Furthermore, they are laughing, talking loudly, and throwing popcorn at Aaron and his date. This is very rude behavior and their lack of dates and practicing proper theater etiquette lead to a decreased appearance of their maturity and an increased appearance of Aaron and Candy's maturity through comparison of their actions.
Another time when this comparison leading to an ethotic appeal occurs while Aaron and Candy are again on a date, but this time they are in a restaurant eating. Aaron's friends are in the booth behind them. During dinner, while Aaron and Candy appear to be maturely having a conversation, his friends are laughing, making noise, and interrupting their date immaturely. The grimace or look of disgust on Candy's face makes the statement that this is not proper behavior or display of maturity and the comparison between the two groups once again builds an appeal to ethos.

Timothy Liu Extra Credit

During Timothy Liu's poetry reading at NE Wesleyan, one line of his poem's that particularly struck me was "Barns loomed in the distance like bison grazing."
This line had particular significance to me because of its reference to Nebraska, the Great Plains, and the relatively recent changes that humans have caused in this landscape. He makes a statement that connects the now with the past. Replacing the herds of Bison that characterized the Great Plains before it became the heartlands and cornbelt, are herds of barns, farms, and fields that displaced the bison and altered their livestyles. Although his statement may not have been meant for this reason within context, it was I immediately thought of when I heard it. It also made me reflect a little bit on the lifestyle that I and many people within the Midwest live.
Much of my family's income is based on farming the land that was taken from bison and entire prairie ecosystem. Prairie has basically disappeared from the Midwest, although the farms that replaced it are the source of food for much of our nation, it is frightening to think about what longterm negative effects this could have. What significane does the loss of species and ecosystems play in the success of the human race? Does each individual species really matter? Timothy Liu's statement sort of woke me up to the fact that humans can greatly alter landscapes and systems within the world. I have no opinion to how good or how bad this is. But I think it is necessary to think about what long term effects actions can have before they are undertaken.

Teenage Crushes: A Reflection on Aaron Carter's "I Want Candy"

First of all, can you look at Aaron Carter and not think PIMP?... Didn't think so.

Everyone can remember their first teenage crush. The time when they first realized they were actually attracted to a single member of the opposite sex. These crushes are often short lived and based on confusion in understanding the new feelings and emotions that come with a crush. Do you remember your first teenage crush or any teenage crush in particular?

I remember my first teenage crush was during the 6th grade on a girl I attended school with. She was the typical sporty, competitive, tomboyish type of grade school girl. She played football and basketball with the guys everyday during recess, and because of her jump start in the physical maturity category, she was taller, stronger, and beat most of the boys. However, she didn't stand a chance at beating me simply because of the sweet skills and human instinct I was born with. Anyways, that is beside the point. Turns out that I was on her list of people that she liked at the time and before we new it we heard head over heals in a serious grade school relationship similar to Aaron Carters. We sat together at lunch attempting to talk with one another about the nights upcoming homework assignments over the murmurs, giggles, and quick glances towards us by our friends. We would meet together on afternoons during the weekends, always bringing with us the protection of one or more of our friends of the same gender and play basketball on the play ground or attend movies. Than one weekend, I thought I hit the jack-pot. We met at the school playground as we had on numerous other occasions; however, this time we met alone. We decided to go on a real date and walked to the ice cream shop where we ate ice cream. It was amazing.
Unfortunately, a week or to later, we both realized that it was possible to be attracted to other people, and since we had rounded all the bases culminating with the precious ice cream moment and had no where to turn next, we decided it would be best for us to take a break and weigh our other options. Aaron Carter's video reminds me of this. It is fun to remember how thoughts involving pony-tailed girls bouncing around on the playground could have so contently filled my wandering daydreams in grade school. Even more humorous, are the memories of the activities like the movie dates with posses of friends as is seen in "I Want Candy." It is almost a right of passage into life and understanding how to control and find meaning in those crush based emotions while learning how to be the catch for that one lucky person.

"I Want Candy" by Aaron Carter: Brandon's Favorite Music Video

In this video we are introduced to a handsome Aaron Carter, and his teenage crush that "sets his heart on fire" Candy. Within the video, the editing and filming styles work/employ a relaxed or nonprofessional approach in appearance. Scenes within the video are deliberately made short and choppy with a lack of any clear cut smooth transitions. In general, the angles used in the filming are abstract/tilted as if taken using a home video. This home video appearing aspect is important to the overall argument of the hybrid text. This quality helps to create and tell the story of Aaron and his teenage crush on candy through his youthful eyes. In the opening phone conversation, a pathetic appeal is created that causes Aaron to appear nervous yet excited for his date with Candy. Through this pathetic appeal and the seemingly unprofessional methods of filming, the youthfulness that characterizes Aaron and Candy's relationship, one that is present in nearly all teenage crush based relationships, is developed as we see them attempting to participate in romantic activities.
Within the video there is a recurring pattern of Aaron's friends habits of busting his and Candy's romantic moments. This may be an attempt to develop an effective ethos in Aaron's favor, by showing his ability to have friends but also his maturity level that may be slightly higher than theirs because he is on the date. Furthermore, the introduction of Aaron's friends and there frequent busting/tampering in of Aaron and Candies moments of romance my expand the argument of the youthfulness that is present in Aaron and Candies relationship. This is mainly a result of the friendships that appear to be strong between Aaron and his still youthful and immature appearing friends.