ARCS p. 263 #1,4, & 6

1.) Visiting the pet store to select a family pet is often an exciting experience for all. Meeting your new pet for the first time brings feelings of enthusiasm and joy. Choosing a family pet means selecting a new member of the family who will need nourishment and care to grow into a healthy and happy companion. The most important thing on the minds of new pet owners is the safety and wellbeing of their new family member. Proud new parents of cats, dogs, and other pets want their animals to grow up to be healthy and strong. Ensuring the health of your new pet is setting the foundation for a strong lifestyle for your new friend. However, if you fail to provide your animal with the nourishment he or she needs, you could be paving the way for health problems to arise in the future, causing unneeded pain for your pet and possibly shortening the animal’s lifespan. Therefore, it is essential to provide your new kitten, puppy, or other baby animal with proper nutrition. You must grant your pet the best, most nutritious food and plenty of water so that the exciting feelings you experience when first meeting your pet will continue to grow as your pet matures into a healthy adult!

2.) Advertisers often rely on consumers’ fear of missing out on something that is essential and valuable in the community in which they live. For example, EHarmony advertisements rely on individuals’ fears that they will never find a mate and never experience the emotions associated with love. Love, which often leads to marriage and child bearing, is very valuable within the community and is seen as essential to a person’s happiness and wellbeing. EHarmony offers resources for individuals to find “matches” and potential mates. This company highlights the importance of love in their commercials, and often makes those who have not found love feel like outsiders within the community. For example, one commercial features a couple discussing their love for one another and how they discovered each other through EHarmony. The man describes how all of his friends told him he would “just know” when he found the right woman, yet he never knew exactly what they were talking about. He then says how as soon as he met the woman he the commercial, he understood. This specific commercial demonstrates how the company’s advertisements rely on persons’ fears that they may never truly understand what love is. Therefore, EHarmony is able to sell their product by offering a means to find love for those who have previously been unsuccessful.

3.) After examining a variety of writing selections, I discovered several common themes throughout the writing that reflects community values. I found that our countries’ values are focused around family, trust, hard work, perseverance, and love. Since these topics are relevant on various levels to almost all audiences, writers often appeal to these common values. Time Magazine features an interview with Stephenie Meyer, the author of the Twilight saga. When asked, “Do you have a message about love that you want the reader to walk away with?” Meyer responded, “I never write messages. I always write things that entertain me, and one of the things that I find really enjoyable to explore is the idea of love. I like looking at my own life and my friends and family and how love changes who you are. It fascinates me.” Meyer’s response demonstrates how the idea of love is central to her life and the life of her readers. I also found that images of personal appearance are very important to our community. Many articles in the media focus on the fitness and diets of celebrities and how these contribute to their body image. Consequently, body image has become a common topic in written works and a valued attribute among many Americans.