In Class: First Paragraph

Barnes & Noble has a very quiet, peaceful atmosphere. The lighting is warm, the walls are a mustard yellow, the carpet is a dark green, the music typically jazzy, the air smells like a mix of pages of new books and coffee, the employees are friendly and the customers are calm. When you walk in, there are two sets of doors. When you open the first set of doors, there are bargain priced books of all categories surrounding you along with calendars and journals. In front of you, you will see the second set of doors. Once you open these doors, you will see the cash registers to your left, the magazine section to your right, and the books, calendars, journals and accessories directly in front of you that encompass the entire store. The Starbucks that is attached to the bookstore is to the left of the cash register. In the back and various corners of the store there are chairs and couches that customers use to study and relax. Depending on what you came to the Barnes & Noble to do, whether it's buying a book, grabbing a cup of coffee, or relaxing, will determine where in the store you will find yourself.

In class: Thoughts on In-Class Peer Workshops

It's been a long time sinceI have been involved in an in-class peer workshop. I believe the last time I took part in one was my senior year of high school, so that was about 3 years ago. In-class peer workshops aren't my favorite thing in the world, but I don't loathe them. To me, these workshops are simply uncomfortable, kind of like a doctor appointment. On some level, I'm afraid that my peers are going to judge my writing and therefore make me feel insecure. This depends on how well I know my peers. If I'm friends with them, it makes the process even more uncomfortable because I especially don't want people I have actual relationships with "judging" my writing. If I'm only acquaintances then I only dread it a little bit.

On a positive note, from what I remember, in-class peer workshops result in constructive criticism that helps me write a better paper along with forming relationships with people who I don't know, even if it isn't the most pleasant thing.

In Class: Thoughts About Peer Comments

Two things that my peers mentioned/questioned about was the different types of day and the kinds of people who are at Barnes and Noble at these different times. People during the day seem to be people who are taking a break from work or stay at home moms with their kids. People at night are people who are studying...they are in their "comfy" clothes with a cup of coffee and a stack of books. Regardless, it is quiet both times of the day as one of my peers commented on.

One person asked about the types of people and their personalities that go there. He said that there are not too many interactions among people in the bookstore, which is true (unless an employee is helping a customer) and asked what this suggests about the personalities of people who go here. I have never thought of this, as I go to Barnes & Noble pretty often for different reasons and don't give a second thought as to why people might like this quiet, somewhat "anti-social" environment. I will have to think about this since I am a part of the target audience and not simply a fly on the wall with no background whatsoever about this place.

I agree with the comments of my peers and nothing surprised me or caught me off guard. The questions were constructive and will be helpful when I go back to observe next time and when I write my first draft.

In Class: Observing Experience

I'd say I saw about 80% of what I expected to see when I was observing Barnes & Noble. A few examples of things that that didn't surprise me were things like the warm lighting, the numerous amounts books/magazines, the smell of books with a hint of coffee (because of the Starbucks that is attached to B&N), the calming music, people studying and relaxing, the sound of cash registers and employees talking to customers, etc.

So far I have observed during lunch time on Tuesday, and very late last night. I plan on observing at least one more time, probably in the morning to get a feel for what the atmosphere and customers are like at different times of the day. I have always thought of Barnes & Noble as having friendly employees and have yet to have an unfriendly experience, until last night. It was about 11:45pm and an announcement was made that said something like, "Barnes & Noble will close in 15 minutes, please take your items and bring them to the register." I was sitting on the couch where other people were studying and reading, and an employee comes and looks at us and says, "It's time to go guys. Get out." That really caught me by surprise. I understood that the store was closing and it was almost time for people to leave but felt that he could have been a little nicer about it as it was only 11:50pm. Maybe yesterday was a long day and he just wanted to go home, I don't know.

Ethical, Emotional, and Logical appeals B&N makes.

Barnes & Noble makes an appeal ethically and logically to its customers by presenting itself as one of the best bookstores in the United States. The textbook book says, “we observe people, groups, or institutions making and defending claims all the time and ask ourselves: Should we pay attention to them? Can we trust them?” If you simply google Barnes & Noble, their website claims that “Barnes & Noble is the nation's top bookseller brand for the seventh year in a row, and is rated number two in trust among all retailers for the second year in a row according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®.” This is a statistic, so it is not necessarily a fact, but it is evidence. This seems pretty credible to anybody who reads this. Additionally, if you walk in Barnes & Noble, you are bombarded by many different categories and subcategories, books, journals, magazines, periodicals, accessories, music and DVDs. A lot of bookstores only have a couple of what is just listed above, but Barnes & Noble seems to have literally everything in the eyes of the customer.

The emotional appeal that Barnes & Noble is evident because of what the store itself is selling. Barnes & Noble’s products are geared towards the heart. They sell games to make you laugh, journals to write your deepest thoughts in, books that evoke a plethora of emotions, same with DVDs, along with a quiet atmosphere that is conducive to studying and relaxing. People go to Barnes & Noble typically to find something that is going to make them feel a certain way. For example, I went to Barnes & Noble a couple weeks ago to by the new Ray LaMontagne CD because of the way the music makes me feel. Additionally, Barnes & Noble claims (on their website) that their stores “hosts close to 200,000 community events every year.” This makes B&N seem interested in philanthropy and the needs of others too, which feeds on the emotion of its customers.

Overall, pathos, logos, and ethos seem to all mesh together a lot of the time. I believe that most public spaces that sell something use all 3 of these appeals to grab the attention of the customer so they will buy something. Is this manipulative? Possibly. But it works.

In Class: Logos

For my logos artifact, I brought my student ID. My student ID represents that I am a TCU student and had to apply to get into TCU. The application process isn't easy to get into college, especially a university like TCU.

Logos is the use of persuasion by demonstration of the truth, real or apparent. It appeals to logic and reasoning. Logically, anyone who sees my student ID automatically knows that I am a TCU student and I worked hard (and still work hard) to remain here as a student. The ID has the TCU student logo along with a picture of frog fountain which is a landmark at TCU, which is obviously logos-driven.

Unit 1 Proposal

My chosen place for Unit 1 is Barnes and Noble.  I go there very often because I enjoy books, magazines, journals, music, coffee, and the quiet atmosphere, so that is why it is appealing to me.

People from all walks of life frequent Barnes and Noble: the elderly, students, middle-aged adults, teenagers, children with their parents, among many others. From my personal experience, different ages of people seem to go to Barnes and Noble at different times of the day. Younger people tend to go there later in the day and older people go there earlier.  This is probably partly due to the fact that younger people are in school ( and are also night owls) whereas elderly people for example are less busy during the day. Different people also go to different sections of Barnes & Noble depending on their occupation/personality, etc. This is just what I have gathered from previous visits there.

Everybody goes there for different reasons. A lot of these reasons pertain to logos, pathos and ethos. Some go to simply read a book in the quiet section. Others go to buy a CD they have been dying to listen to. Some may go to buy accessories like a journal, a calendar, or a bookmark. Some may go to peruse the magazine section. Some may go to simply sit in the café and people watch. Some may go to buy school books and have no interest in reading at all. Barnes & Noble is a place where people buy things, but it is also a “hangout” place like Starbucks. You don’t have to buy something if you don’t want to.

I feel that I am a part of the target audience since (like I mentioned earlier) I like to read and listen to music. I also really enjoy the warm environment of Barnes & Noble. 

Some pre-conceived ideas I have that may influence my objective observation is that mostly “nerdy” people who enjoy reading (and peace and quiet) go to Barnes & Noble. In order to overcome this obstacle I feel I need to keep an open mind.  I must carefully observe  as many aspects as possible about the people who visit Barnes & Noble. For example, when observing a person I could ask myself, “What are they looking at? A book? What kind of book? How does the book they are looking at relate to them as a person (age, occupation, appearance  etc,) I can’t be judgmental and quick to infer that just because somebody is going to Barnes & Noble means that they enjoy the same things I do.

In Class: Ethos

For my ethos artificat I brought two things: my violin and a copy of my scholarship. The book states that ethos is, "the presentation of self that a writer or speaker brings to an argument." The concept of ethos rasies the question, "Can we trust them? are they credible?"

These two artificats pertain to ethos because the copy of my scholarship proves that I have a very strong work ethic in regards to music which resulted in such a prestigious scholarship. I have served as principal 2nd violin of the TCU Symphony and prior to college, I made Texas All-State Orchestra, was in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, New Conservatory of Dallas, various quartets, won awards from competitions, was concertmaster of one of my youth orchestras along with my high school orchestra in addition to others.   Even though it is simply a piece of paper, it verifies my credibility as a musician. I don't carry my violin around for fun, it's what I do and what I love.

In Class: Pathos & Analyzing a Public Space

As of right now, I am leaning towards analyzing Barnes & Noble.

People go to Barnes & Noble for many different reasons. Some may simply to buy a book for school. Some may go to sit in the back of the store and read a book quietly, away from the hectic world outside. Some may go to try and find a book in the children's section that their grandma read them when they were a kid. Some may go to to purchase a journal that they can write and express their feelings in. Some may go to purchase a CD they have been dying to own. My friends and I go to look at the different books about different cities, countries, and places around the world to dream about where we want to travel at some point in our lives.

People typically go to Barnes & Noble to find something that is going to appeal to them emotionally. Books, music, journals, peace and quiet, and everything else appeal to pathos.

In Class: Pathos

I brought a picture of my dog, Dixie for my pathos artifact. Since pathos pertains to emotional appeals, I felt this artifact was appropriate because put in simple terms,  I love my dog. She is the sweetest dog and the first dog I ever had.

I keep this picture of her on my desk and have had this same picture of her for many years. This picture was taken when she was 4 years-old, right after we found her after her being lost for two days, so this particular picture of her is important to me. Right now, Dixie is 8 years-old. While this is not terribly old for a dog, she struggles with a few medical issues,the most serious one being pancreatitis.

I miss her when I'm away at school and am always praying she stays well and lives a long, normal life despite her ongoing illness.