Thinking Through Production

Look in Chapter 3 for projects that stretch across both Chapters 3 and 4. Also, here is a project to help you think more about how we construct ethos:

• Pick a range of very different profiles at MySpace or Facebook, and analyze how each person constructs her or his ethos. There has been a lot of analysis over time of how writers construct an ethos using words, but not as much about the construction of ethos using words, pictures, and (sometimes) sound.

  As you explore, consider how the structure of the website (MySpace or Facebook) constrains what someone can show about herself or himself, but also consider the range of choices each person has made, ranging from photographs to profile answers (and word choice) to music selections. How also do the friends“ links contribute to your sense of the person whose page you are examining?

  Use Photoshop for cutting and pasting of photographs and words to play with different ways you could present yourself on one or both of these sites. Can you make several different profiles of yourself that still tell the “truth” about you but that present yourself in widely different ways?