Learning About Advertisements By Tee Li I used to hate advertisement in any form, no matter it’s a leaflet or one on TV. However, a workshop of Communication Institute at WashU this summer not only changes my perspective on advertisements, but also helps develop my writing skills. In this workshop, we interpreted some interesting advertisements and we made some of our own. This class helps me learn that a decent advertisement must be concise, factual and creative. During the process of making our own advertisements, I found that building a good one is not an easy task. Now I start to enjoy reading various kinds of advertisements and analyze their similarities and differences. This learning experience also helps me improve my own writing. Since usually an advertisement has only limited space, it is crucial to make it both clear and compelling. This is particularly important for me because although I have a good story, I sometimes use redundant words and destroy the brilliancy of the original story. But now, I learn that I can use several powerful words instead of a tedious paragraph to make my writing both intriguing and clear. For me, this summer is all about new experiences. This program in general has taught me a lot of new types of writing such as news stories and feature stories, and advertisements turn out to be the most fascinating one. I hope I can learn more in communication field and continue to improve my writing by trying different styles.
What Do You See? By Jenifer Trujillo “A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world.” – John Le Carre It was from a desk that I discovered how to look at things with a new perspective. When Dr. Bloomquist started assigning places to each student I knew I wanted the professor’s chair. When I sat in the professor’s chair I could see the window, the leaves moving lazily back and forth; I could see everything, or so I thought. I no longer had access to the board unless I craned my neck and I also couldn’t see the floor due to the large desk hiding it. Just by moving I had the opportunity to write so many observations. Changing perspectives in the world of communications is extremely vital otherwise the writing becomes static, it comes from one sole source. When a communicator changes perspectives, however, he or she is able to bring so much to the table. Furthermore, when writers change perspectives the readers become engaged in the story. The reader obtains an active change in angles that makes him or her formulate their own assumptions and even question the overall message being presented to the reader. One thing I also discovered though this institute is things are not what they seem like. For instance, visiting the Kemper Art Museum was a life changing experience to me because I realized that those “funky” paintings are not as easy as they seem; it takes creativity and a purpose to paint. We analyzed a painting by George Caleb Bingham, never in a million years would I have thought that the twigs were arranged in a way that would convey crosses. This says a lot about perspective, I went from just seeing people in a painting to grasping onto historical background to make assumptions about the piece, which resulted in the artist portraying the illuminated caravan as pure. The new information allows us to see how this life is multidimensional. John Le Carre says a desk is a dangerous place, but I’m guessing he meant the desk of a student since a student can only learn what the teacher wants to instruct, be it evil or good, factual or false. Or maybe he meant a teacher’s desk since he or she can never stop learning. Teachers will always learn from students the same way students learn from them. Perspectives are not right or wrong they just provide us with a new insight of what something can be. I learned from a desk, a dangerous place that can oversee everything, but at the same time, it hides things from me.
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