food for thought.

Rhetoric:

the study of the effective use of language.  This, in one sentence, effectively describes our class objective of the semester.  More specifically, we were taught to learn how to write as an argument.  Persuasion, the use of the rhetorical triangle and of reliable sources, when all combined in the right way, creates an argument that we have all strived to achieve.  An effective rhetorician learns from his/her previous writings.  They should take their strengths and master them, understand their weaknesses, and work on them until they are no longer this way.  Learning from previous works is the best possible way to prove you are a master of rhetoric, in this class anyway.

Paper 1 started out just as an informative paper, analyzing a source’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos.  Paper 2 moved on to multiple sources, and we had to analyze how all of these sources combined made an effective argument.  Then we turned over a page and started a new style of writing, our OWN argument.  Paper 3 was intended to define a certain word or thought process, and we had to argue whether or not this definition needed to change and why.  And now Paper 4, we integrate several people’s opinions, and make a cohesive argument on something that relates to us that we want to change.  The semester has progressed to add a new dimension for every paper we write, and that in itself has made me a better writer.

Everyone can say that they have learned a lot in this class, but I feel especially affected by it.  I didn’t even know what a claim was at the start of the semester!  Now I have learned to make a clear, defined statement that can direct the rest of my paper, just from one sentence.  The rhetorical triangle has also greatly influenced my progression in this class.  Knowing what each of the three parts are makes researching and using sources so much easier, because my brain automatically separates sections out into ethos, pathos, or logos.  From knowing these three, I can choose my audience that I want to direct my paper towards, and use the parts of the rhetorical triangle that I think would have the most influence on that type of individual.  For example, if I was making a claim towards a large group of successful businessmen, I would use more logos than pathos.  Simply thinking about how your audience can best be affected the way you want them to be can make a huge difference in how you go about writing a paper.

I am not an effective rhetorician just yet, but I am definitely on the right path to becoming one.  I still have many problems to fix in my writing that keep my paper from being incredibly persuasive, but each opportunity in this class has given me a chance to improve, and I do feel like I have gotten to be a much better writer from this.  To be honest, I don’t know if I could have done this well without such an incredible professor who took the time out of her day to work with me on a one-on-one basis.  I now have a very different outlook on rhetoric and what it really can accomplish if used in certain ways.  Thank you again for such an amazing semester and allowing me to grow.

Success.  A successful group has good group dynamics and is open to conversation and new ideas. Everyone needs to have an open mind, which will lead to interlocking ideas to get more done.  They also need to be able to cooperate well together in order to have good teamwork: there can’t just be one leader and a bunch of followers. Everyone has to contribute equally and be willing to help and put in a solid effort. When working in groups, each person needs to be organized and take responsibility for what they say they are going to do.  For example, in our group, we have started an email chain where we hit “reply all” to keep everyone informed so we can stay more connected as a group instead of seeing each other only 3 days a week.  All group members have to be considerate of each other’s ideas as well. Each person’s ideas should be treated with courtesy so that everyone gets along well and they get the most out of the experience as possible. The group has to want to work on the task given to them or there will be no motivation and it will not get done.

Group Dynamics.  In order for there to be a good group dynamic, one of the main contributing factors is that the group has to communicate.  Each member needs to feel comfortable enough to express any ideas that they may have as well as complaints. If certain group members are afraid to voice their true thoughts about the assignment and how the group is progressing, this can lead to tension and dissatisfaction in the group. As a group, each person can make sure that they have an open and approachable personality so that their other members can feel comfortable. We also believe that it is extremely important to establish an agreement at the beginning of the group planning process that states the expectations and goals that all group members have agreed on and hope to accomplish. If expectations for the group’s relationships are laid out at the start of the group planning, then great group dynamics are sure to follow.

Colaboration.  As a group of 4 girls, we are never short on words. One of the biggest things that has been beneficial to our group is being comfortable with everyone. While we initially were timid to speak up, once we got to know each other a little by making small talk, we now throw out many ideas and are not afraid to question what others say. You may ask what happens when you get too comfortable and start to disregard the feelings of others? In order to not kill each other, we take into consideration what the others have said and try to use that in whatever new idea we want to share. For example, Lindsey had an idea for a solution to our problem and Briana incorporated this idea into another to come up with our final solution.  We split up the tasks based on strengths of the individuals in the group.  If someone feels they can write a very good solution section, then that responsibility becomes theirs, and at the end we will come back together to smooth over the bumps. Overall our group works well together because we are considerate of each other and we know a little about everyone in the group outside of the classroom.

note: our group members are Nicola Welch, Lindsey Kresta, Stephanie Saling, and Briana Saldana

Nicola: {nik-uh-luh}

-noun:

1. someone who likes to be herself.  Typically seen drinking Starbucks coffee and/or participating in music.  Loves great food.  She is both a lover and a fighter.  Original, passionate, driven, determined.  Often over thinks things, which can prove to either be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the situation.  She is the artistic type that strays away from most things that are fads, just to be different.  Aviators.  Frequently she likes to work out and eat healthy, because she enjoys feeling good about herself.  Excellent multi-tasker, positive, loyal, friendly.  Works well under pressure.

2. although not an athlete by any means, she does enjoy athletic wear, such as Nike.  Practical, yet an optimist—often loves and trusts too easily.  Enjoys many things: rock climbing, horseback riding, photography (Canon), marching band, racquetball, camping.  Her style can be reflected by Anthropologie and Fossil, yet is too frugal to want to spend the money for it.  Inspiration comes often, likes to create artwork to reflect it.   Musical. Very educated in music to the point where she gets particular with audio quality—Bose.  Lives each day to the fullest, smiles because she can, and laughs to lift spirits.  Outgoing only when comfortable in her surroundings.  Likes to rummage through racks of clothing rather than have a personal shopping assistant, it’s therapeutic.  Einstein’s Bagels.  No one is like her.

The pressure of the cosmetic industry.

Why do we let it affect us?  Due to the strong commercial advertising from many beauty companies, many women have very low self-esteem.  The media expects bodily perfection, which is near impossible for women to attain and that does not go over well for many of them.  Girls resort to “solutions” such as choosing to not eat, overwork themselves at the gym, buying the best of the best makeup, etc.  Dove’s Campaign For Real Beauty is one solution to this problem that has already been put in place.  We could localize the target audience to just TCU female students, and perhaps start an educational seminar or at least play the videos that Dove has already created that many girls have not seen before.  This was my topic for Paper 2, and I feel very educated in this to make this my top choice for the collaborative proposal topic.

Parking at TCU.

This is definitely a problem for the entire TCU body, including both students and faculty/staff.  Parking tickets are given out constantly, and the high rates of such little mistakes are very frustrating.  TCU keeps building more dorms and other buildings, but these new entities are taking parking lots away, but nothing else is being created in replace of them.  There are two very small lots for all of main campus parking that are always full, and freshman parking is about a 15-minute walk away from some dorms, such as mine in Clark.  I think the solution to this needs to be a parking garage.  Due to the fact that we are a small school placed in the middle of Fort Worth, we can’t exactly expand outward, we can only expand upward.  I understand that there are risks such as rape and other sort of violence that is generally associated with parking garages, but there could easily be some sort of escort service, similar to Froggie 5-0. One thing for sure though is the fact that this does need to change, and soon.

The plus/minus system.

In cases, the plus/minus system can be a good thing, but it also messes up the GPA scale.  The most noticeable thing that many students at TCU don’t like about this system is the fact that there is only an A-, not an A+, therefore not balancing the GPA scale.  In the schools defense, professors try and make a more accurate depiction of students’ grades, but something needs to change.  There should either be an A+ added to this category, or just take the plus/minus system away entirely, as it is affecting TCU students and their GPA.

“Gender refers to the socially constructed roles, behavior, activities and attributes that a particular society considers appropriate for men and women.”  In other words, what society has already defined for you and how you must act in order to stay in the norms.  The World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition of gender may be politically correct, but is there more to gender than this?  Jamison Green, a transsexual, seems to think so.

Green defines gender as “another system of classification that describes characteristics and behaviors that we ascribe to bodies, and we call those characteristics and behaviors ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’.”  In his words, gender is more of how you define yourself to be, which sex you can relate with more.  One’s sense of self, or gender identity affects everyone on a daily basis, which can be very difficult for transsexuals and transgendered people.  Jamison Green asks a thought provoking question: “What’s more valid, your feelings and your certain knowledge or yourself, or your body, the thing that other people see which signals to them what they can expect from you?  Imagine what it would feel like to live with that discrepancy.”  Because of this misalignment between gender identity and outward appearance, Green might feel like the WHO’s definition of gender may need to change.  Instead, gender should be defined as the interface between our psyche and our cognitive mind/body/sex because gender is more than just what other people perceive of someone—it is also how they feel on the inside.  Without this change of how gender should be viewed, society will continue to make judgments on “confused” people in society who don’t fit into either a female or male persona.

Jamison Green seems to be reaching out in particular to anyone that hasn’t questioned gender before.  Even me just reading a few chapters of his book have already eliminated some stereotypes that I had previously held for people.  Green gives his argument as if his audience has never questioned how they know what sex they are before.  The either male or female population doesn’t really think about that on a daily basis, and Green effectively states a claim that could be different than previously thought about gender.  The scientific experiments and statistics provided in the first chapter of his book strongly appeal to logos, and it shocks the viewer of the reality of how common transgender and transsexuals there really are in the world.

Before reading this book, I had a very similar definition of gender to the WHO’s definition in my mind.  I knew there was a difference between sex and gender, and gender was the one that was more of a role played and less of a biological factor.  However, after reading this, everything I have previously thought has been eliminated.  I didn’t even realize how much variety there was in the world in regards to gender identity, and in no way would I judge them for that.  I guess just in the area I have been raised in, not many transsexuals openly displayed themselves, because this is a topic that I’m not too familiar with, but it is extremely interesting and I now want to read the rest of his book!  His book was very effective with the way that he had his audience think about gender, and how things are not always how they seem to be.

On Thursday, February 25, 2010, the killer whales we have always heard about since our childhood watching “Free Willy” held true to its name.  Tilikum, an orca whale held at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, attacked and drowned its trainer, Dawn Brancheau.  Witnesses at the live performance say the whale grabbed the woman’s ponytail in its jaws and pulled her in, playing with her like a toy until she drowned.  Shockingly, this has not been the first time something like this has happened with Tilikum.  In 1991, he was blamed as one of three whales who killed a woman who fell into a pool tank in British Columbia, and eight years later, the body of a naked man was found with bite marks from Tilikum.

Why is this okay?  The chief of animal training at SeaWorld parks stated: “…we have to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Well… it already happened three times, how many more chances are you going to give this killer whale?  Simply a change of habitat at different theme parks is obviously not proving to be the answer.  I truly hope that SeaWorld can come up with some sort of solution that will actually work this time, because too many lives have been taken already. She was more than just a trainer, she meant a lot to different people, and played the role of “…someone’s daughter, mother.” A U.S. Department of Agriculture spokesman says, “for the most part, they run a top-notch facility.”  For the most part, eh?  Not convincing to me.

I feel like SeaWorld should increase the size of the captivity of Tilikum because this could decrease the stress put on the whale and make him more at ease.  Creating a little more space for him to move around in (a 6 ton creature with almost not enough room to turn around in would make me a little frustrated too).  I understand the importance of keeping this animal for breeding purposes, as he is the largest and oldest orca in captivity today (which must have good genes to carry on to younger generations), but safety is the number one most important thing, and what SeaWorld has done in the past is not cutting it.  Soon the blame will be taken from Tilikum itself and be placed on SeaWorld, his captivity, instead.  It’s time to try to give this captive orca a better, more respectful life.

Article found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35566392/ns/us_news-environment/

I have recently read the lyrics to this particular song by Public Enemy as well as watched the music video, and with the combination of these two particular methods of addressing an audience, I feel like I have obtained a very good idea about what message this group of musicians wanted to get across.

The purpose of this song/music video is to explain to listeners that there was a major difference in response time for police officers to show up when someone called ‘911’ from a white neighborhood versus someone calling from an African American or Hispanic neighborhood in the 1980’s.  This never occurred to me as an actual problem, but when some of the lines in the song are “they only come and they come when they wanna,” and “they don’t care ‘cause they stay paid anyway.”  “They,” referring to the police officers of course, are portrayed as lazy people acting exactly as the lyrics describe them.  In the opening “scene” in this video, there is a dinner setting and an old black lady seems to have suffered from a heart attack or some other sort of physical condition, because she collapses on the floor and her family members and friends surround her not knowing what to do.  30 seconds later in the video, two cops show up slowly walking in with a sub sandwich just chowing down rather than paying attention to the condition of the woman.  An example such as this truly sets up the stage for Public Enemy’s message they are trying to convey.

Although the target audience is not directly stated, I feel like it is aiming to reach every possible person they can to let people know what is happening and why this is politically and morally wrong.  It does appeal more towards the younger generation (preferably high school and college people), simply because of the means of how it is produced—a funny rap video including Flava Flav as one of the rappers.  This video was shown on MTV in the 1980’s, which at that time, not many black videos were around, so this definitely was a change for the viewers and may have called more attention than normal to the message.  I believe that our generation is still considered part of the target audience because this problem still does exist, just not as badly anymore and there are more intense problems that have arisen since then, such as terrorism, etc.

Humor is dramatically used throughout this music video, and for the majority of the time, it is very effective.  Due to the seriousness of such an issue of discrimination, especially by the police force, humor is used to soften the appeal of this argument, and makers it easier to connect with for the younger generation because they can still get the point without slapping them in the face with a more serious method.  BUT humor can also do the very opposite and detract from the “older” population, who might not respond well to people simulating a health condition by flopping all over the floor with their tongue sticking out.  For me personally, I found this music video a bit strange.  I will admit that I did laugh at parts because of how ridiculous it got, but until further analyzing this piece, I didn’t get the whole effect.  For the most part however, I do feel like this music video was rhetorically effective due to the well-combined lyrics and visual representation.  The lyrics were very pathos-driven, explaining what the police officers were doing and how they were feeling towards the African Americans calling in for 911.  In addition, the music video created a more logos-driven appeal, by visual representing a very overdramatic situation that minorities felt like they were put in to by the delayed response time when they called 911.  Overall, the combination of the lyrics put together with the music video did not only give the audience something entertaining to listen to and watch, but it also educated a vast population on a very serious issue occurring in the late 1980s.  Thank you Gabby for introducing us to such an interesting group  🙂

This video above is one of my favorite lines of rhetoric.  This was selected as an interlude in the band Story of the Year’s album “The Black Swan.”  It is titled “Pale Blue Dot.”  It further underscores a point not made nearly enough in today’s world: our differences are far outweighed by our similarities, our commons interests and desires. Though there are individuals in positions of power who profit from perpetuating petty differences, it is our responsibility to realize that we are one; an insignificant knot in an immense web of harmony cast out over trillions of light years.

When first given this assignment to analyze some sort of visual rhetoric, my thoughts immediately shot towards comedy.  I am not a comedy junkie who can spout out YouTube video after YouTube video of hilarious footage, but when it comes to advertising, those with humor seem to peak my interest the most.  Thinking about funny advertisements, I started brainstorming some of the best Superbowl commercials I remembered from the last few years, and obviously this one had enough impact on me to want to write about it as my first blog entry.

This video was an advertisement shown mainly in 2008 for E*Trade Financial Corporation, which is an online discount stock brokerage service aimed for self-directed investors.  E*Trade allows investors to buy and sell securities such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc.  Although the advertisement aims at the target audience of people of 18 or older who are interested in financial affairs, the ad greatly increases its range of viewers simply because of the comedy angle that it takes.  It starts out with a baby in a high chair facing the camera with a wooden crib and several baby mobiles in the background.  The advertisement then proceeds to have the audience watch the baby, who seems to be around the age of one or two, speak in a grown man’s voice.  The baby shrugs off any assumed thoughts from the audience that might be strange (such as the manly voice coming from a baby), and then in one click he buys stock.  “You just saw me buy stock, no big deal!  If I can do it, you can do it” are said soon after, implying to the viewer that E*Trade is very to use, and even a baby can do it.  Thinking about this on a deeper level, maybe the baby even symbolizes the baby boomer generation and that population is probably the bulk of the target audience.

The E*Trade Baby advertisement is an appeal to pathos because it obviously strikes the emotion of comedy and humor in viewers.  Lightening the mood makes the people who watch them be more lighthearted and “more open to a proposal you have to offer.  It’s hard to say ‘no’ when you’re laughing” (Everything’s an Argument.)  This form of advertising is probably the most effective way of familiarizing people with the company, because in truth, many people find the subject of finance as a whole pretty boring.  Therefore, the insertion of comedy into the advertisement can jolt people into laughing about it, talking about the ad with their friends at school, looking it up on YouTube the next day just to watch it again to get another laugh, and that is more and more times the company has it’s purpose displayed to viewers.   This discussion of this advertisement has been focused on just one of these commercials, but E*Trade over the past few years has created many commercials that use the same baby, expanding to new settings and new lines of humor.  I believe this corporation has done an excellent job of getting their name out there in the public and educating the viewers on its’ functions in the financial marketplace.

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