Evocative Language/ Ledger's Funeral

Article Used: Heath Ledger's Final Farewell ends in sunset swim

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Summary: Heath Ledger, the critically acclaimed actor who died several weeks ago of drug-related causes, was buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia. More than 500 people attended the memorial service. After the service, there was a wake near his favorite beach. About 50 people entered the water at sunset in celebration of Ledger's life.

Prompt: How does the author of this article use language to evoke images and feelings in the reader?

While we generally think of news articles as objective and unbiased accounts of events, journalists can affect the way that readers process information by choosing their language carefully. For example, in this article the writer says that the people at the wake "threw off their clothes," evoking the image of clothes flying through the air in a cartoonish way. It also evokes the feelings of a playful loss of control and reckless abandon. At another point in the article, the author describes the event as a "sunset wake." He could have described the time at which the wake occurred in several ways (such as late afternoon, the actual time, or dusk), but by choosing 'sunset' he evokes the feelings of peace, beauty, and awe that people associate with watching a beautiful sunset. It also taps into feelings associated with endings in general because sunsets are often used as symbols or metaphors for closure and death.

Making Inferences

URL: Winehouse rejected for visa

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Summary: Amy Winehouse, the English music star who is currently caught up in a drug scandal, will not be attending this year's Grammy awards. She was scheduled to perform at the awards ceremony, but the United States embassy rejected her visa application, making it impossible for her to enter the country.

Prompt: What information can you infer from the article that was not EXPLICITLY stated in the text?

Whenever issues involving celebrity scandal arise in the media there is more to be understood than first meets the eye. For example, the article says that Winehouse's "application for a visa to enter the United States of America has been rejected at this time by the American Embassy in London," but it doesn't say why. The U.S. doesn't withhold visas from UK citizens without good cause because the UK is a close ally and we have an open door policy. Therefore, Winehouse must have done something really wrong for the embassy to deny her entry, especially considering she's a celebrity coming here to perform. Also, the fact that she's even under investigation for possibly having smoked crack tells me that she's got some major issues. People don't accuse you seriously of a thing like that unless you're showing major signs of being out of control. The only truly positive thing I can infer from the blog is that she seems serious about getting her life together. Based on the statement she made, it sounds like she understands why she didn't get her visa and wants to get better. I wish nothing but the best for Amy Winehouse!

Comparing Articles

URLS: Fox News Article on Super Tuesday; CNN Article on Super Tuesday



Summary: Yesterday was Super Tuesday, the closest day our country has to a national primary. Nearly half the states in the country selected their party nominees for president. On the Republican side, John McCain emerged as the clear front runner, winning a majority of the most important states. For the Democrats, the result of Super Tuesday is less clear cut because Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton virtually split the field.

Prompt: Compare and contrast the way in which two different media sources covered this event.


For this post, I looked at cnn.com's and foxnews.com's coverage of the Super Tuesday primaries. For the most part, the reporting was similar. They presented the same facts about wins, losses, and delegate counts. Both articles also mentioned that John McCain is now the Republican front runner and that Mike Huckabee is reemerging as a legitimate candidate. Both sites also agree that the Democratic race is as split and undecided as it has been at any time during the campaign.

While the sites presented the same basic facts about the election, they differed in the way they presented the information. For example, the headline on CNN.com was "No Super Tuesday Crowns." This headline emphasized the fact that despite the hype that Super Tuesday is a "national primary," none of the elections were officially decided. They article focused more on looking forward to the coming races than Foxnews.com did. The Foxnews.com headline, by contrast, read "McCain emerges as front runner while democrats spin Super Tuesday wins." This headline seems designed to present the Republicans as united and the democrats as divided, 'spinning' the results to make it fit their purposes. In keeping with this focus, the rest of the article focused on McCain's acceptance speech in which he declared himself the front runner.

Predictive Questions

URLs: "Rhianna's 'Umbrella' was the perfect storm that almost didn't happen"


Summary: Rhianna's song "Umbrella" was probably the most popular song of the year in the United States and definitely at CIS 339. According to this article, however, it was almost never made. The song was originally written for Britney Spears, but because of the personal issues with which she was dealing it didn't work out. Then the song almost went to Mary J Blige, but Rhianna's people were more persistent. According to the article, "Two days after "Umbrella" was created, Rihanna was in a Los Angeles studio laying down her vocals. Stewart said he was still unsure whether Rihanna was the right choice for the song, but when the singer nailed the now famous "ella" refrain, he knew they were all onto something." The rest, as they say, is history.


Predictive Questions I asked before reading the article:
1. Who as Rhianna before "Umbrella" came out?

2. Why did "Umbrella" almost not happen?

3. What was Jay-Z's role in making the song.


I found the answers to all of these questions in the article that I read. I learned that Rhianna was a lesser known pop artist whose future as a star was uncertain before "Umbrella" made her world famous. The song wasn't originally written for her, but fate was looking her way that year. Britney was distracted by a personal meltdown and Mary J Blige was too caught-up in Grammy fever to close in on the gold gem of 2007. Jay-Z became involved in the production process AFTER Rhianna had recorded her vocals. They were never actually together in the recording studio. He actually recorded two different versions of his rap because after hearing the first cut of the track he wanted to make his lyrics tie-in more closely with the rest of the song.

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