Author: stephmariaaa

i chose to do an image analysis of a vintage 1970’s ad for Midol, a pain reliever specifically marketed for menstrual cramps. The picture on the ad is of a young man, with the words “Your Guy: Your No.1 Reason for Midol” underneath. My immediate interpretation of the point this ad was trying to get across was this: the reason women should take Midol is not to relieve the pain of their period cramps, oh no. Women should take Midol so that they don’t give their husbands a headache from their constant whining about how much pain they’re in.

While this ad is quite blatantly sexist by today’s standards, in 1974 this was fairly commonplace. The feminist movement was just catching on at this point, so most people weren’t exactly “woke” yet. The culture at the time was that women were homemakers, men were the breadwinners of the family, and wives always put their husbands first before themselves. This is why this ad would make sense at the time.

It’s only in the teeny tiny print at the bottom of the ad that they mention the actual effects of taking Midol. Even then, their closing statement is “when you feel good, you’re good to be around. So use Midol. You’ve got a beautiful reason.” Because pain relief is not a legitimate enough reason, apparently. The only real reason you’re taking Midol is so that you yourself don’t become a pain. 

For this paper, the only thing I’m worried about is keeping it coherent and not going off on tangents. There are potentially a lot of different things I can cover and I don’t want to get carried away. My plan is to outline what I want to cover in each paragraph and make sure I stick to it so it stays on track.

for my paper, I will be researching the phenomenon of the glass cliff and its effect on women and minorities in the workplace. I hope it will shed light on the practice of gender and racial discrimination thats still very present in our society.

For my project, I would like to research the phenomenon of the “glass cliff”. I only heard about it recently, as it is a fairly new concept in our society. The gist of the theory is that women and minority groups are more likely to be put in positions of power when a business or company is doing poorly, and therefore have a higher likelihood of failing. I think this is a very interesting concept, especially since gender and racial disparity in the workplace is still a huge issue. I plan on researching instances of where the phenomena of the glass cliff occurred, and it’s repercussions. I’m excited to dive deeper into this, and I would love some feedback from anyone who is interested in the topic as well!

Maya begins her essay by talking about her personal struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts. She claims that internet memes about depression/suicide was a key factor in her mental health issues, which is essentially the crux of her argument. She goes on to explain that memes are largely a part of millennial and generation z culture, and today’s most relatable meme trend is mental illness. Mental health itself has lost its stigma in recent years, making people on the internet much more willing to share their struggles. Maya is arguing that the dark humor memes that have become popular across social media platforms normalize unhealthy behavior, putting internet users at risk of copying those unhealthy behaviors. She concludes that the manifestation of these memes in real life can have potentially deadly effects on the youth of America.

What makes Maya’s argument most compelling in my opinion is the relevance, or kairos, of it. We are living in a society dominated by social media, and memes have become a cultural norm amongst the younger generation. It’s significant, it’s timely, and it attracts human interest. Speaking for myself, I’ll say that Maya’s article is the one that immediately jumped out at me compared to all the others. 

I’d say that Maya successfully presented her argument. Her topic was relevant, she was clearly informed, and knew which tactics to use in order to sway her audience.

Thesis:

• “Internet memes played a role on my depressive spiral.”
• located at the end of the first paragraph to really drive home the point

Target Audience:

• youth (specifically gen z)
• people struggling with mental illness

Ethos:

• author establishes her authority by sharing her personal experiences
• uses strong, credible sources to back her her claims
• presents her argument in an assertive and well-informed manner

Pathos:

• appeals to the readers emotions by describing the struggles of today’s youth
• personal stories about her struggle with depression/and suicide makes the target audience inclined to feel empathy towards her

Logos:

• includes quotations from credible scientific studies
• includes examples of harmful memes
• uses statistics to back up her arguments

Kairos:

• she is writing about a topic that is incredibly relevant in today’s culture
• we use social media and the internet every day, so it’s practically ingrained in us

Let me preface this by saying that the story you are about to read was dragged up from the deepest depths of my memory, so forgive me if I used some creative license in order to fill in the gaps. The basics of what you need to know is that I was a chronically shy child, sometimes to my own detriment, and my worst fear was being noticed. With that, let’s begin.

Our tale takes place in Mrs. Sap’s kindergarten class, during circle time. Mrs. Sap was reading If You Give a Mouse of Cookie to the class when Yours Truly suddenly felt an impending nosebleed. Now, to quote the great John Mulaney, “Remember being 12, when you’re like, “No one look at me or I’ll kill myself?”” Thats exactly how I felt in most social situations. So, despite my urgent need for a tissue, I did not have the courage to get up and acquire one, because that would mean going to the front of the room where everyone could see me.

So instead I waited until another girl got up to get a tissue, and in my infinite five-year-old wisdom, I concluded that if I followed her to the tissue box I would practically be invisible. So thats exactly what I did.

However, Mrs. Sap decided to put me on blast, because apparently I was being “disruptive”. So there I stood, in front of the entire class that was now staring me, tissue box merely millimeters away from my fingers. And that, my friends, is when it finally happened. I had the most epic nosebleed of my life, perhaps of all time. And with that, the classroom was plunged into chaos.

You might be asking what the moral of this story is, and honestly there isn’t one because it’s a very stupid story. However, it taught me a valuable lesson about who I am as a person and how that affects my life. I’m an introvert, always have been an always will be. But I’m not going to let that be a downfall anymore–instead, I’m going to use it to my advantage. And hopefully, if I ever feel a nosebleed coming on, I’ll get a damn tissue.

Hi everyone! My name is Stephanie Maria, but most people call me Steph. I’m from East Windsor New Jersey and I am planning on double majoring in English and Environmental Humanities. My hobbies include reading and writing, and it’s my dream to be an author one day. I love all animals (thats why I’m a vegetarian) but cats have a special place in my heart. I don’t really have a favorite genre of music, but currently I’ve been listening to The Japanese House a lot. I hope I get the chance to study abroad in Italy, because my entire family is from there and I want to get better at speaking Italian. My experience here has been great so far, and I can’t wait to see what else UD has to offer!