In “Soon There Will Be No Survivors” there is a good blend of texts, audio, and pictures. There was audio and a picture for each person being discussed which I found to be helpful. I also found it helpful how when you slid your mouse to the top of the screen it gave a line directing throughout the entire site. I was like a video scroll guide but for the website. By having a separate section for each person it is an easy way to focus on one person at a time. I found this to be a helpful technique for this site.  I think it made it more person to add a big picture of each person and allowing zoom in and out. The audio was a nice break in the reading and well placed. When reading a long article it is a good strategy to include things to break it up and make it seem less intimidating. People may turn away from an article that looks like a ton of straight reading. I also enjoy how there is a quote for each picture and audio. I did notice though that some of the color choices made it difficult to read.

I learned for my profile piece that I would make a few dancing videos and have them clickable to play and spread out throughout the article such as the audio in the holocaust article. In the Bulgar article there was surveillance that just played nonstop and I found that it was distracting while I was trying to read. I also take from this the idea of breaking up the story into sections to make it flow better and easier to read. I like the idea of an interactive website as I don’t see many of them.

Orleans uses simple language throughout her writing. She talks in a way that seems to me like Biff would be able to understand her. There were never any big words used and I noticed how this nicely flowed the writing along. With the simple sentences you could understand what Orleans was talking about. Instead of difficult word choice, she uses a different tactic to give the reader a hook and interesting twist. She chooses not to mention that Biff is a dog until the second page. This makes the things she is saying seem more funny and shocking because she writes as though she is talking about a human. There is a lot of praise for Biff throughout the story and it seemed as though it were an ad campaign to get across how he does not need a blow dryer and other things, he does not mind being in his crate, he wins many shows, and he is a great breeder. There was never really anything bad said about Biff and I got the feeling that this was a review of Biff that he was going to read himself because he was spoken of so highly and like he was a person. I thought this was a really good way to tell the story because anyone with a dog would say that they are people too.

My favorite part was the paragraph that started with the list of items in his suitcase. I thought it was a little comical that a dog has a suitcase in the first place, which goes with a bunch of other things in a show dogs life that are pretty out of the ordinary. This paragraph creates a long list of items that gives an idea to the reader of what kind of dog uses them. I like the idea that Orleans makes this list of all the things to make him look nice and then goes into how Biff was scheduled “to make a semen deposit” and “had a date that same week with a bitch named Diana.” The list sums up Biffs appearance and how he is easily maintained in the sense that he does not need to be blow dried or use curlers, just some powder and baby oil. This leads really well into the breeding life of Biff. Orleans does a good job of creating a transition between two separate subjects with one line about a schedule. The idea of giving the list then talk about breeding adds a funny element to this paragraph as well as throughout the whole story.

I think I would take away the idea to use clever transitions in my own profile article. I would use my words carefully to reflect the story that I am going to tell. I like the idea that Orleans waits to tell the reader that she is describing a dog which is also something I may thing to play around with.

In the article about Bernie Goetz, I liked how the first two paragraphs were set up. I did not know who this man was previous to this article so when I first started reading I thought it was just the one story of this man and his love for squirrels but then in the second paragraph I was thrown a curveball. I like the idea of how this was structured because instead of starting with the cool little side fact about this man, he was first described as a regular man. I think that the back story of this man was something that largely contributed to its success. If this were just a story of a man saving a squirrel it would have just fallen into the same category with all the other savior stories. The plot twist of how this mans seemingly irrelevant past is incorporated into this narrative was smart.

In the article about Sean Casey, I find that the pictures are the most vital aspect to the structure of this story. While hearing about animals, people always want to see them as well because their so cute so the article did a really good job of connecting the pictures with the text. It is mentioned that Casey saved a legendary “ghost dog” and if the reader does now know the legend then there is a helpful picture that captures the heart of the reader. Who wouldnt want to see the picture of a dog that had been rescued. The content connection between the text and the pictures really helps give more connection to the reader.

What I would take from these two articles would be the idea of having an element of a twist like the Goetz story. I really enjoyed how it was kind of like a story inside a story and one little piece of information (he shot four people) added a new insight into a minor story of saving a squirrel. So I think that is the biggest thing I would take from this: keep things interesting!

https://jessicagiannelli.exposure.co/red-roof-plus

Avril Lavigne is a singer who takes on the look of punk rock. Her website is a lot of dark colors with a black background. Seeing as she is the main focus of the website there is a large picture of her on the home screen. There is then a tab bar that lets you know you can be directed to events, her bio, news, and pretty much everything Avril. The language is very simple so that anyone of any age who went there could understand where to go. You can find out a bunch of things about Avril Lavigne through the options on the top bar of the screen and are directed with simple to understand words such as: “music, events, bio” etc.. There is also a screen next to her picture that shows her newest song and gives you the option to listen to it, obviously a scheme to get you to listen to the new song and have incentive to buy her new album. What is most successful about this site it the fact that no matter where you go in the site it is all information about Avril. The only reason anyone would be on her site would be to attain information on her and this site makes it clear that they have it all. They also do a good job at keeping it dark which is what goes with her style. I would take away from this site the fact that they keep it to the point. If i have a website I would want people to be able to go on it and be able to navigate themselves through everything with ease instead of like some websites where you have to hunt for what you’re looking for.

(I will upload the picture later when I get better service, it will not upload at the moment)

http://www.avrillavigne.com/us/home

This audio clip uses many component parts to make this a more interesting story to listen to. When the people being interviewed are telling their stories, you get the whole point of the clip. The story could have been relayed just by her telling it but by using the other components there is more detail embedded into it. The scripted narration adds information to further look into what the people are talking about. It’s like when you are writing a story and you use a quote to make your point and then follow it with a few sentences of more description. The persons commentary is the quote and the narration is adding more insight into the depth of the issues that these people are facing. An example of this is when the people in the same apartment building are explaining the problems they have with bed bugs and then the narration comes in and puts the issue more into perspective and talks about how there is furniture all down the street with signs saying “bed bugs do not use” (minute 25-26.25). This is also a good example showing how the interviews created a short story of their own by having multiple people talking back to back about how they all are having the same troubles. These are helping the story work because it is meshing them together nicely and getting the points across in a way that is interesting and easy to listen to.

This clip also uses background sounds of what sound life roaches during the beginning of the clip. This adds to the effect of the story because the people being interviewed are talking about how roaches have been crawling into their ears. This helps put the listener into the mindset of the speaker and helps them understand what these people were hearing. It helps the listener get a better idea of the story and feel more attached to it. Then the audio clip uses music to separate each story. Between interviews there is a kind of please hold type of music to let the listener know that another story is coming up (minute 25.22). This helps make the clip more clear as to when a new example story is starting. This helps make the story worth listening to because instead of just bouncing from point to point there is some separation.

These components make the story worth listening to because they made it interesting and helped relay the message easier. Most people don’t want to hear horror stories about bed bugs and roaches so by using these techniques the story is more appealing to the listener. There is more of a connection made with the listener and instead of just listening to someone tell you one story of their life, you are made to feel for them and think about it more in depth.

What I would take away from this story and apply to my audio feature would be the use of multiple commentary to get across the same point and then summing it all up with a short scripted narrative. I feel like if you have more than one person saying different versions of the same thing it really adds some good dimensions to the story as a whole. Then when you have all of those little stories, the points that you make in narration to wrap everything up and reel in the listener will be much more interesting.

He leaves with luggage and she stands there laughing, smoking her cigarette.

The luggage was extremely heavy, he was forced to use a cart. While he was leaving, the blonde stood near the doorway inhaling a Marlboro red after a long night.

The vending machine as out of his favorite soda, he walked away disappointed. His thirst was unquenchable.

I chose the last image (number 14) in “The Peculiar Beauty of Flotsam.” This image stood out to me because it was the only one that had a person in it. All of the photos leading up to this were of things that were found in one day along a river. This closing picture packs a punch because it is an image of the person who is actually collecting all of the trash that we are looking at. Instead of just telling a story through all of the images of trash I thought it was clever to add the man that made these pictures possible, creating an ending to the story.

This picture used the “Rule of Thirds” discussed in “Top 10 Photography Composition Rules.” The main object in the picture, Willis Elkins, would be at the two intersections of the right vertical line. Then there are small buildings on the top left of the picture to ensure that there is no dead space and everything is balanced. This picture also uses the lining of the shore as a border. The shoreline creates two cuts at the top and bottom of the photograph to bring the attention to the main image. Also, the use of pattern is being used to draw attention to the main point of focus. Elkins’ shirt is plaid which draws the focus immediately because it is the only patterns that are in the picture.

This picture gives me a better understanding of all the preceding images. When I was looking at all of the trash it made me think of all the forgotten things in this world that no one thought twice about forgetting. Then I see this man who decided to remember the things that were left behind. The pictures created by the objects he found were beautiful but I was really inspired when I saw the man who decided to go out and find the things that no one bothered to remember. It seemed like the most fitting way to end the story.