Blog-crazy

Starbucks in Beijing

What struck me the most about the blog entry entitled, ‘Starbucks in Beijing’ was its use of pictures and the comparison between American chain stores and Chinese chain stores. From these two details alone, I felt that what was most important here was the implied audience, that is, people who are curious about other countries within the context of what seems familiar to them. This implied audience didn’t seem to like they would be too concerned with culture or ways of living, but rather to make simple comparisons of how another country compares to the U.S. For example, the author doesn’t include any pictures of the people or any of the surrounding environment, but chooses to strictly limit her photos to those of the products in a Starbucks and her child; this narrow focus on the products of a store that is already familiar to the author and, most likely, her readers, reveals that her implied audience is probably quite comfortable in their home country and may not have done much travelling. Even in her introduction, the author compares the stores to stores in the U.S.:  “There’s a lot of foreign brands in Beijing, like Walmart (same as the states except completely different products/brands) and Carrefour (a French supermarket chain) and Lotte’s (South Korean – Japanese conglomerate) and from the inside all three of them look almost exactly the same to me — but totally wild — I’ve never seen anything like it outside of China.” By relating her experiences to things that are widely known in the United States, the author also keeps her audience quite expansive, but offers limited insight to the actual culture (besides maybe a little bit about food and dietary concerns).

Whitewater Rating at the Source of the Nile in UgandAAAAAAAHHHH
The blog on whitewater rafting focused many elements of its writing on recreating the excitement and adrenaline of the trip. The text is mostly focused on external action, which reflects the author’s preoccupation with what was going on around him and his limited time to think about the circumstances. Even during his brushes with death, the writer makes extremely brief mention of his emotions:

I snapped to the surface and started a new breath; before I could finish I crashed mouth-first into a wave and was underwater again. The deep stillness had left me; asphyxiating alarm took its place. I counted out: One. Two. Thr – Yes! I was on the surface, coughing, breathing.

Aside from his quick mention about the “asphyxiating alarm” that he experienced, the only notion readers have of his emotions is with the use of the exclamation mark after ‘yes’. The limited number of details also pushes the action forward and reveals the sharp focus of the writer on his task at hand. His focus on the external action drives the movement of the piece, which is increased by the short sentences and small paragraphs and also reflects the fast, dangerous rapids and the way that the author was being tossed around in them. Lastly, the author utilizes the reader’s knowledge of stereotypes to fill in the characterizations of the people who were rafting with him: “Two Norwegians, two Brits, one Greek, and one South African”. By doing this, he keeps the focus on the action while also including details that help the reader imagine the scenario.

The Best Guest: Information and Expectations

What stuck out to me about the article, ‘The Best Guest: Information and Expectations’ was the author’s tone. It struck me as very motherly and very proper, as if the author were the parent and the reader were the inexperienced child. The first thing that I noticed within this vein of thought was the author’s very brief introduction to her article. She simply writes, “This is the first post in “The Best Guest” series, and I am so excited to get started!” From there, she launches directly into advising her reader, revealing her strict focus on directing the reader in their travels as opposed to creating any kind of relationship with her audience. An example of the author’s motherly tone is here: “We should never put our gracious hosts in such an uncomfortable position!” First, the writer refers to both herself and the readers as ‘we’, reminding me of the stereotypical etiquette-obsessed mothers who both guide their children firmly and soften the directness of the statement by taking responsibility through communalizing the statement. Additionally, the writer describes the hosts as “gracious”, directing all potential fault on the reader/visitor, should they fail to acknowledge and appreciate the hosts’ graciousness. The writer’s properness arises when she apologizes for sharing instances where visitors were not considerate towards their hosts: “I’m sorry to bring up such unpleasant examples”. This apology comes with the notion an archaic ideal (or, at least, archaic to me) that conversation should always be ‘pleasant’ (it’s also been a while since I heard the word ‘pleasant’ or ‘unpleasant’ used seriously).


Anxiety Towards Flying: You're Not Alone
I found that one of the main intentions of this blog was to give hope to the reader. By entitling the piece with the phrase, "You're Not Alone", gives the reader a sense that they are not alienated in their struggles, but rather that there are other people to whom they can relate and seek advice from. Also, the writer chooses to interview several people; this not only enforces the idea that the reader is not alone, but that there are people who have successfully overcome their struggle with flying anxiety, and thus, it seems more plausible. Additionally, the writer begins her blog by saying, "I get nervous about...well..many stupid things in my life." By sharing her own weakness with the reader, she creates a sense of intimacy and trust and also shows the reader that she can relate to them on some level on the topic at hand. The way that the questions are set up are ordered so that the reader builds up to the feeling of hope: "How has anxiety with flying impacted your travels...or life in general?...What steps did you take to overcome this fear, or at least minimize it?...What was your motivation to overcome this obstacle?...Advice you'd give to someone with similar issues?" First, the reader gets an inside look at what the fear of flying may really be limiting them from in a way that he/she may or may not have noticed before. With that new insight, the reader can then see the different methods people had of overcoming their fear of flight. In addition to that, the author asks about motivation, which is another form of method to conquering their fears and gives a positive spin on what might be possible in contrast to what the fear of flight was limiting them from. Lastly, the blog finishes by asking directly for advice about accomplishing a similar goal, giving the reader the tools to try beating their fears as well.