writing assignment 6- allison stein

Summary of Chapter 6

The author explains how different techniques of advertising are used in our society today.  Many products are sold and promoted as being “green” and not harmful to our environment.  However, most commercials are misleading by falsely advertising their “green” standard. Advertisers try to use nature as a backdrop in their commercial in order to appeal to consumers’ want to “go green”.

 

Summary of Chapter 7

In the chapter, the author discusses how we view certain animals. Many animals such as the lion and the hawk come off as strong and brave. While as the wolf, us Americans tend to view in negative terms. Many of our ideas on animals come from the media and stories. Most Americans have actually had face-to-face time with the certain animal. Therefore, some animals do not deserve their bad reputation.

 

Summary of Chapter 8

In Chapter 8, the topic of media is brought up and how issues of the environment are usually less important. However, the author makes a point that any news story can be spun and be made into an environmental story because so many aspects of this country affect our environment. Also, the author explains that reporters are normally fed stories from sources instead of finding the scoop for themselves.

 

Reflection:

I thought chapter 6 was the most interesting since advertising and commercials are such a huge part of our lives. I never noticed how many commercials appeal to nature and try to sell their product as natural. After reading this section, I feel that I will pay attention to more commercials and not be fooled by what they are trying to sell me. In regards to chapter 7, I thought the author made a good point about how animals are portrayed. It is true that wolves have such a bad reputation, but really they would normally never harm a human. But, the media and television has always given a wolf a bad name. Furthermore, chapter 8 discusses how the media leaves the environmental issues to the bottom of the list. This is unfortunate because the environment affects us all and we all need to be aware of what is happening to our planet.

Haiku’s

Snow-capped mountains
hot cocoa and laughter
A white Christmas

Flowers bloom
Bird’s and bee’s start buzzing
School is in session

Dark sky
Picnic in the moonlight
First Date

Chapter 6, 7, 8 Summaries and Reflection

Kim Chick

Ch. 6, 7, 8 Summaries and Reflection

Ch. 6 Summary:

This chapter focuses on how the environment is used in different types of ads. Ranging from those that aimed to sell something to ones promoting a green image or issue. Corbett mentioned the four types of ads featuring the environment; nature-as-backdrop, green-product attributes, green image, and environmental advocacy. It also considered the powerful and frequent business of advertising and its development. She also discussed the psychology of advertising and how the ads affect the viewer.

 

Chapter 7 Summary:

This chapter looks into the effects that media and pop-culture have on our perceptions and attitudes of animals. The way an animal is portrayed will categorize it into an overall societal view.  Corbett discusses the aspects of animals as symbols, why animals matter to us and how the labels of animals (predators, prey, etc) influence the way we perceive them.

Chapter 8 Summary:

This chapter’s center of attention is the impact that News has on us about our environment.  The persuasive aspects of the News and how easily the viewers believe whatever is told to them affects peoples perceptions on current environmental events. Corbett discusses the free speech protection is the main cause for how the unrealistic stories that are showed become believable. She further discusses the different ways in which environmental stories are told and performed as well as the sources for them.

Reflection:

After reading these chapters it has really opened up my knowledge of how much mass media really influences the way we perceive certain categories in our life. With something as intangible as the idea of the environment as a whole it’s hard to create your own opinions, so the rest of it comes from media performances. It’s unfair how much they trick us into thinking certain ways about things but it’s a part of the process to have societal views. Although the topics of all three chapters have ways of creating negative and positive connotations of things, it’s hard to know what the actual intent the media is trying to give when concerning environment.

Chapter 2 Summary

Kim Chick

9/14/2011

Ch. 2 Summary

 

This chapter takes a look at the vast spectrum of environmental ideologies. The furthest end of one side of the spectrum is Anthropocentric, stating that humans are the focal point of the Earth’s existence. Everything on this Earth is for the human race. At the other end is ecocentric ideologies, which is the exact opposite, stating that humans are not superior to Mother Earth and relates the idea that no one species is more important than the other. She discusses the other ideologies that fall upon the spectrum; unrestrained instrumentalism, conservatism, preservationism, ethics and values-driven, and transformative. Corbett relays the message that even if you don’t think of yourself as an environmentalist, everyone still falls onto some part of the spectrum.

 

After reading this chapter, I gained a sense of where I fall on the spectrum. I had never thought about where I stood prior to reading this. I knew these types of ideologies existed but never took a second to see which one I believed in. I feel I fit best as a preservationist because I believe that we should conserve our resources for the present and future use, but that we should also be preserving resources that go beyond their instrumental use. We never know what could be beneficial to us at some point down the road. I can see where the other standpoints along the spectrum get their ideas from but I will never think of the human race as more important than everything else, nor will I be so into the environment that I’m going to advocate the social change of people to better the environment.

Summary of chapters 1-6 Ericka Martin

In the 6th chapter of Communicating Nature the author speaks about “Advertising and the Natural World.” Advertisers use nature to tap into peoples’ emotions. Advertisers use nature to convince the public of a product in four different ways. First is by using Nature as a backdrop by using animals or landscapes, second is by green product attributes which vaguely tells the consumer that they consumer is helping the world by buying the product, third is green image and this is why the company tells the consumer that they themselves are helping the planet, and fourth is advocacy ads which gets people to believe something which is not necessarily true because they are “expressions of political belief and are not regulated.” She also explains how people buy products because of their green advertising that a lot of times is misleading and doesn’t tell the whole story. Or adds with try and sell a product by more than just influential music or pictures but by actually trying to portray a meaning or show an ideal life that most Americans want. In my opinion I think that lying about your product should be more tightly regulated and that companies should face severe legal charges if they lie. If companies just want to brag about the things they have done for the environment (small or big) as long as they are true they should have every right to do so.

In the 7^th chapter “Communicating the Meaning of Animals” the author speaks about advertising and which it is used to convey a message, which in turn gives the consumers a different understanding of animals. It is a “ perfect shorthand communication tool.” Advertising uses animals’ characteristics to link things like cars, sports, book to human emotion. Cartoons of animals make children believe that those animals are your friends and can speak and wear human clothing. Advertising companies use animals in their ads because consumers tend to connect more with animals and share a common fear of not having them anymore. However, just as ads promote animals they can also stereotype different species like wolves, raccoons, skunks, and foxes to be mean, scary, and pests in a community. The way people feel about certain species of animals is highly subjective and ads, books, and movies are responsible for a lot of our stereotypes. Humans are very interested in animals and how they relate to where we live, but not so much about the animals native environment but more about when animals cross the animal/human barrier and wind up in the Safeway parking lot or in your backyard. In my opinion, I believe all of these generalizations are naive and poorly constructed but I too am to blame for believing in media. I cannot say that I did not think that lions ate people, and elephants were only in the circus, and monkeys talked. Now being older I am lucky to finally have a different viewpoint.

In the 8^th chapter the author talks about news media and how environmental issues are covered. News broadcasts cover things very one-sided leaving out facts and persuading viewers of a certain idea. The reports that cover environment are said that to have the environment beat. It seems that this “beat” takes the backseat when it comes to other news stories, unless it directly affects humans (i.e. Hurricanes and tornadoes).  Plus a lot of environmental news released is by government agencies, which means that the public will never know what facts have been tempered with. News reporters also are seen as gate-keepers and that they “allow potential news items to pass through but not others.” According the author, It will have to be the public that causes a social change so that media starts reporting more on nature. For right now, news reporters have a job to withhold and that is to report news that the public wants to see and that doesn’t necessarily include environment. In my opinion I believe that this is going to be an ongoing problem unless we change the way news works. But how do we do that? Until that question is answered environment and the issues that concern our world and how we live will forever take backseat.

 

By: Ericka Martin