Group B (Cultural Perception) on Effective Websites
How effectively does a website convey its argument? In our most recent video conference, we looked at different websites related to our respective individual topics and examined to what extent they establish their credibility (ethos) and how they could be useful in a research argument.
The most unreliable website from our group is "Equal Marriage for Same-Sex Couples: queer gay marriage equality" (URL: www.samesexmarriage.ca or www.equalmarriage.ca) because of the abundance of advertisements, some of which have nothing to do with the topic of same sex marriage, but which stick out more than the actual information of the site. Also, the language of the site has unreliable diction and an unobjective stance, as evidenced by the article title "John Tory's faith-based funding is a loser." However, since it has lots of news articles, the website could still be a useful source.
In contrast, the website for the Embassy of Vietnam in the United States (URL: www.vietnamembassy-usa.org) is the group's most effective and visually complex website. The first picture you see, which is of Bush and a Vietnamese leader, portrays friendly relations between the two countries. The photo gallery shows a peacefulness and happiness among the smiling citizens, recasting the image of Vietnam and its usual associations with the war. The top picture, a Vietnamese woman in a rice hat with a rice bowl, illustrates the preservation of tradition and identity. In addition, the content of the website has links to Visa information, encouraging people to travel and shows how easy and welcome Vietnam is to visitors. Like the same-sex marriage page, the Embassy's website has many news articles that are useful for research, but as an official government organization's website, it is more credible.
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| A comparison of two websites | |
By Kristine, Trisha, Victor, Gaëlle, Madina, and Budi (not present)