End of This Semester, part 1

Well this semester has seemed to have gone by very fast. And English class has been very exciting and interesting this year. Unlike traditional Engish classes in high school, this one has been focused around lots of different technology and has been computer-based as far as classroom work and outside of the classroom. I have been very priveledged to have been in this English class, and I must admit it's been a lot of fun.

Now, the assignments that we were assigned were constructed very specifically to allow for us to expres ourselves in our papers. And blogs are a great way to do this. And they allow for our own personal ethos in all of our papers. What is ethos? WELL, for lack of a better website, and because I already sold all of my English textbooks, I am going to quote the definition from Dictionary.com. It says that ethos is the "character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc."


-Blog to be continued....eventually

Topics for This Paper That we do over Spring Break

Military and Technology-Well I really like the idea of this topic. I was watching something on the military channel at home about this one day. Apparently the military's technology is 25 years ahead of whatever us civilians have right now. That's hard to grasp, I mean, who know's what all they might have!

Megan Meier's Suicide-I don't know what to believe. Some people (mostly parents) blame MySpace, but the only thing that can commit suicide is a person. And MySpace didn't have any direct links to it, it just acted as a medium through which she recieved information.

And that's basically the two issues that really have any interest to me. The others don't really genereate any feeling. Well, maybe the feeling of dread if I had to do them. But I'm dreading this paper anyway, so i guess it doesn't really make any difference.

Caterpillar C7 ad

http://ohe.cat.com/cda/files/720255/7/ledt7014-01%20C7.pdf?mode C7 brochure ad

For this post I have decided to analyze an ad for the Caterpillar C7 mid-range diesel engine. The C7 is a 7.2 liter turbo diesel engine that is built for a variety of applications, from agriculture to marine and industrial needs. This particular ad, however, advertises the C7 in its on-highway transportation application. It can be used for many duties, such as delivery and pickup, school buses, fire and emergency truck, RV and motor homes, or any type of commercial medium duty truck. The C7 is an inline six cylinder engine capable of putting out anywhere from 210-360 horsepower, depending on the tune that is loaded into the engine computer. Torque specifications range from 520-925 lbs./ft. It is the successor to the renowned Cat 7.2 liter diesel, the 3126.

The ad was made to convince the audience to put the C7 in their truck or bus fleet instead of other competitors' engines. The author's intent was to convince the reader of how reliable, durable, and strong this engine is. The ad explains how the engine is able to comply with 2007 EPA regulations through special emissions equipment and Caterpillar's patented ACERT technology and is still able to deliver an increase in fuel economy compared to earlier models. It also explains the simplicity of owning and maintaining the engine, and how simple it is to do service work on the engine from lots of authorized locations all over North America. This ad was made to target commercial truck owners and truck fleet and bus fleet owners. Since I do not own a fleet or a commercial truck, this ad does not apply directly to me, but I do drive school buses so I can relate to using these engines regularly. This ad was presented in a written genre, a brochure. This is an effective way I believe, for it presents the author with the advantage of explaining certain things and presenting a bigger picture of the product. The ad is structured in sections, starting with general information on it and all the benefits and features of the engine. It then goes on to explain how the emissions equipment filters out harmful gases and particles in the exhaust and how all of the components work together. It then goes on to charts that show horsepower and torque ratings, and finally explains the simplicity of having the engine worked on from one of the many dealerships and authorized service centers across the continent.

I identify with this object because I use it a lot at work driving school buses. The majority of buses that we have use C7's. Out of all the engines we have, the C7's have the best performance record out of all them. Caterpillar engines in general are some of the most reliable and durable I have worked with. Some of the older buses I have driven have some of the older 3116 and 3126 engines in them, and although they are good, they aren't as strong as the C7's are. Some of the newer buses use the Mercedes MB900 and Navistar MaxxForce DT turbo diesels, but we have had a lot of problems with both of them, especially the Mercedes engines. They are almost always in the mechanics' shop for engine trouble. This engine does represent me a lot. I have always been a fan of Caterpillar equipment, I've been around a lot of Cat construction equipment most of my life. And I am a big diesel fan. I have a truck, a 2007 Chevrolet 2500HD with the 6.6 liter Duramax Diesel in it. And using this engine almost everyday just makes me a bigger fan of it. If I could put a C7 in my truck I would, but it won't fit unfortunately. This advertisement does persuade me as a consumer, but there again I may be a bit biased on my decision. I mean I have had experience with other engines like it, but for someone who wasn't familiar with Caterpillar engines, this brochure may not be enough. To me, what this ad is lacking is a comparison to other engines. The MaxxForce DT, Mercedes MB900, and the Cummins ISB are all engines of around the same size and are competitive with each other in the same over-the-road applications. I believe that a comparison to these engines would make the advertisement more persuasive to a consumer.

http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=8703&x=7 Caterpillar website