PB1A Computer Craigslist Ads

The genre I picked was Craigslist Ads for computers. So, what make a computer ad a computer ad. Probably the most noticeable thing is price, after all it's the most important thing when it comes to ads. All of the ads had specified prices, but another convention I saw that went with this was negotiation. Some of the ads said there was room for negotiation with the price, and this was mostly due to the ads being from craigslist. Another important convention was the title of the ad, which was just the name of the computer. None of the ads that I saw did not use the name of the computer as the title. Every computer ad also showed pictures of the computer, and the pictures showed things like the screen, the keyboard, cables ports, accessories, and boxes. When it came to the audience the ads were either directed towards gamers, or to no one is particular. Many of the ads are designated as gaming PC’s, which indicates that it is directed towards gamers. The purpose of the ads is to influence you into buying the computer, it's kind of self explanatory. A convention that every computer ad had was describing all of the specs of the computer. One spec that the ads include is the CPU, and its described by things like the brand, model, hertz per second, and the amount of cores. Another spec is the computer's RAM, which is described as the amount, and type of RAM (e.g. DDR3, DDR4). GPU is another important spec, especially in ads directed towards gamers, and are described by brand, model, and the amount and type of VRAM (e.g. 16gb, GDDR5). Storage is another spec that is described as amount of space(e.g. 256gb, 1tb), and type of storage(Hard Drive vs Solid State Drive). The screen was also a spec, but mostly for just laptops, and was described by size, and resolution (1920x1080). All of the computer ads in the description included what operating system the computer was running, and some even said things like it’s the newest and best operating system available. Also the ads would tell you whether the computer has access to wifi, bluetooth, and what kind and how many of each kind of port it has. Some of the ads would say it is in perfect condition, it works great, or runs fast, and would say these thing throughout the entire ad. The ads would also tell you what was included with the computer if there was anything, for example mice, keyboards, monitors, headsets, charging cables, HDMI cables, and extension cords. One ad even talked about its competition, another computer for sale on different website. They explained what the differences between the computers was, and why his was better. Some of the ads included what they originally paid for the computer compared to what they are selling it for, I think this was done to make it seem like you were getting a good deal and entice you to buy it. The ads also included their contact information, so you could get in touch with them.

Examples

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/apple-macbook-pro-13-great/6679768846.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/intel-i7-gtx-1060-gaming/6682655686.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/msi-tridenz-3-gaming-desktop/6682379868.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/dell-xps-8700series-pc-2tb/6676714112.html

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/sys/d/dell-xps-studio-pc-500gb-14gb/6668054021.html

Annotation Styles

When I annotate I use a few different methods. Mostly I highlight or underline important stuff, write down when I agree or disagree with something, mark things I don’t understand or things I find interesting, also I make an annotation when I relate with something. Mostly when I don’t highlight stuff, I’ll write down questions or write what I think about it.

Somethings that other people tend to do things like summarizing paragraphs. They like to put things into their own words, so later they can go back and read it easier. Also they mark certain quotes that they may use in the future. Sometimes they write down where they experience something from the text in real life.

About Me

My name is Jacob Myers, and I am from Souderton PA. I decided to come to Penn State because it has one of the best engineering schools in the country, and I have always wanted to come here since I was a kid. Also I'm from Pennsylvania so it’s a little cheaper as well, which is always nice. Originally I was going to major in computer science, but after taking basically every computer science class in high school I decided against that. Then I figured I would major in astrophysics, because space is cool, physics is my favorite type of science, and my favorite scientist is Neil deGrasse Tyson. Although after realizing I would have to go to college for 4 more years and I would most likely just become a teacher for it, so I've also decided against that. Eventually I decided to do mechanical engineering because it was one of my top choices, and some people, like my brother, have influenced me towards it. I used to play football in high school, and I played right tackle, and nose guard. Eventually I had to stop because of a chronic knee injury. Some of my favorite hobbies are playing video games, fishing, hunting, and watching movies.