Essay Questions

1) Are we allowed to use other sources as well as the video to provide facts and credibility to our candidate?
2) What is the best way to write my paper without inserting my own opinion about the topics?
3) Is there a certain outline for the number of paragraphs we should use?

Muslim Rage

The Newsweek cover photo definitely shows the outraged and furious emotions of the Muslims in the photo.  It’s very clear that the two men in the photo reflect the emotions of many Muslims in response to the YouTube video posted that was making fun of Muhammad.  The title “Muslim Rage” in huge font on the cover draws a lot of attention to the article.  Depending on the viewpoint, some people were mad and irate just like the men in the photo.  Others took things from a humorous perspective and started a trending topic on twitter called “#MuslimRage.”  This just shows the affect that media and social networking sites can have on the issues in society.  Whether or not the topic affects you determines how you will react.  The men in the photo are wearing Muslim headdresses, which is quite often pointed out and ridiculed by Americans.  This is such a huge part of the photo on the cover of Newsweek, and most definitely gives the public what they want.  The people in the photo are obviously starting a riot of some sort due to their anger about the video.  There is also a caption along the bottom of the photo that says “How I Survived It; How We Can End It.”  This caption gives out the idea that this could be ongoing for quite some time.  The trending topic on twitter has also brought up a lot of controversy.  While many people find it humorous and continue to participate in the trending topic, others find it highly offensive.  Again, this just depends on how much the situation relates to you and how you choose to react to it.  The whole riot began in the first place to gain publicity and awareness towards the outrage of the Muslims.  By making the front page of Newsweek, I’d say that was accomplished in a way.  More people are aware of the situation, even if it brought on the ridicule on twitter.  

Visual Rhetoric Paragraph

The visual element that grabs my attention first is President Obama sitting in a chair with the camera focused completely on him.  Everything in the background is blurred out, which makes you concentrate on Obama even more.  The background music also captures your attention and makes everything seem a little bit more serious.  The most important point of the video is the choice Americans have to make in the next four months.  He talks about Romney’s plans and how they have already been attempted in the United States.  He then proceeds to tell viewers how he will improve the economy by strengthening the middle class.  The video is mainly focused on Obama himself, so color and style don’t make much of a difference.  The only text included in the video is “The President’s Plan: Strengthen the Middle Class” which he reinforces by explaining how he plans on doing that.  The argument being made is simply that Obama thinks he will do a better job at strengthening the economy than Romney will.  This was made during the presidential campaign and intended for all Americans in order to gain popularity and votes.  The video provides lots of ethos towards President Obama.

Visual Analysis of Video

 What visual elements grab your attention first?

President Obama is sitting in a chair, the camera focused completely on him.

 What other details reinforce that impression? How?

Everything in the background is blurred out, which makes you concentrate on Obama even more.  The background music also captures your attention and makes everything seem a little bit more serious.

 What is more important? Less important?

The most important point of the video is the choice Americans have to make in the next four months.  He talks about Romney’s plans and how they have already been attempted.  He then proceeds to tell viewers how he will improve the economy by strengthening the middle class.

 What about color and style? What impact do they have on your impressions?

The video is mainly focused on Obama himself, so color and style don’t make much of a difference.

 How does the image direct the viewer’s eyes and reinforce what is important?

Like I stated earlier, everything in the background is blurred out, making you focus on the main person in the video.

 What text is included? How does the text relate to the image? 

The only text included in the video is “The President’s Plan: Strengthen the Middle Class” which he reinforces by explaining how he plans on doing that.

 What argument is being made? Consider: when this was made (kairos), who is the

audience, what is the purpose (exigency). 

The argument being made is simply that Obama thinks he will do a better job at strengthening the economy than Romney will.  This was made during the presidential campaign.  The audience is all Americans.

 List details that provide ethos, pathos, logos.

The video provides lots of ethos towards President Obama.

Chapter 6 Precis

In chapter 6 of “Choices 2.0” (2010), author Joe Marshall Hardin emphasizes the affect media has on the daily lives of people, and how it easily captures the attention of most viewers.  He believes that the media is influencing people in the ways that they advertise such as radio, internet, television, billboards, or magazines.  The author analyzes the ways of media in order to educate the reader on how to evaluate the media from a writer’s point of view and use it in their own writing to catch the reader’s attention.  This chapter was intended for college students, but anyone can benefit from it.

Plagiarism Precis

In the article “Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age”, Trip Gabriel explores the world of plagiarism and how it has affected society over time.  He explains how plagiarism is becoming easier due to the fact that the internet has expanded so much in the past decades.  People don’t necessarily believe they are plagiarizing if there isn’t any author information to cite the source.  Gabriel believes that in order to minimize the amounts of plagiarism going on in the world, we need to make people more aware of how serious it is.  This article is intended for all age groups in order to raise awareness.

Visual Rhetoric

There are a couple things that caught my attention when I first saw this photo.  First, the seven different animals lined up next to eachother.  The different animals don't necessarily have any importance.  The important factor is that they are all different species and therefore some are able to climb a tree while others can't.  Another thing that captured my attention is the quote bubble.  This is the main part of the photo, and the overall image wouldn't be getting its point across without it.  The photo is black and white which makes you concentrate on the main idea.  If there were bright colors and patterns, they would distract from the overall focus of the photo.  The main point of this photo is that modern day education systems treat all students the same.  The picture is making a point that if you give everyone the same test, some would fail simply because they don't know how to complete it and they were never taught.  The photo isn't directed to a certain group of people, but just making everyone more aware of the way our education systems work. 

Visual Rhetoric

The two videos we watched from the recent political convention both showed huge amounts of support and love for the United States.  Both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney talked about past events that tug at the heart strings of almost every American.  Romney’s video makes a reference to the 9/11 accident and how people were afraid something even more terrible could happen.  People questioned whether or not the
United States would be able to put on the Olympic Games.  It was not only a public relations turn around, but a governmental turn around.  In Barack Obama’s video, he referenced the death of Osama Bin Laden.  His death made a huge impact on the United States and because it was during his presidency he got lots of credit for it.  By making references to past events, both videos made a point to show how the country has changed and what we can do to change it even more.  Both Obama and Romney include personal stories that also make a huge impact.  Romney talks about his wife, Ann, being diagnosed with MS and how much it changed his life.  He makes it a point to explain how much love he has for his wife, and knows they can get through anything together.  Obama mentions how his mother had cancer, and he saw first hand what it was like to have no money to support your family.  Both of the personal stories included in this video have nothing to do with what the president will do for our country, but it’s all a part of the campaign.  Stories that hit close to home with the majority of Americans will just bring in more support for both candidates.  Each video has a fairly even amount of ethos, pathos, and logos.  The videos were very well made and definitely show how much goes into the political campaign for each man. 

Response to Political Speeches

The speeches made by Michelle Obama and Ann Romney were very much alike, but they had a few differences.  In the end, both of these women have the same goal in mind and that is to get their husbands as much support as possible.  Both ladies did a wonderful job of bringing emotional appeal to their speeches and including numerous examples of pathos.  The speeches were very similar in the ways that both ladies talked about the importance of family.  Ann Romney focused more on the effect women have on society and how important it is to be a good mother.  At one point she said that women hold the country together.  Michelle Obama on the other hand focused more on family as a whole.  She spoke about how your past can influence your future, but only you determine whether it’s a good or bad outcome.  She states that even if you don’t start out with much, you can work hard and build a decent life for yourself, and an even better life for your kids.  Both ladies included a few examples of logos relating to their own lives, and only a couple examples of ethos.  Considering the speech they were giving and who they were addressing, more emotional appeal is necessary in order to capture the attention of your audience.  Watching the two of these videos makes it very hard to critique them without putting your own political opinion into it.  I tried watching the two speeches with an open mind, but it still makes it difficult to compare the two videos without choosing one that you prefer more.  The audience reactions actually make a huge impact on how I viewed the two speeches.  It was very interesting to see which speech got more credibility from the audience, and which parts of the speeches were appealing to them.  Emotional appeal is probably the most important thing in speeches like the two of these, and both women definitely did a good job in grabbing the attention of the audience.  They both made very good speeches, and it ends up coming down to personal opinions as to which one you preferred.  

Chapter 3 Precis

In Chapter three of Choices 2.0 (2010), Joe Marshall Hardin claims that structured writing is a key component in a good paper.  A well organized paper revolves around the thesis and has facts to back it up.  In order to convince your reader about your thesis, it is necessary to include illustrations of ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as more support such as personal stories, facts and statistics, or good arguments.  His professional way of writing helps anyone, specifically college students, to better their thesis and overall structure of writing is this chapter.

"The Web Means the End of Forgetting"

In the web article, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting” Jeffrey Rosen explains how the internet has many social networking sites that have the potential to make you lose your job or even ban you from entering the country, all depending on what you post.  He gives an example of a 25 year old teacher from Conestoga Valley High School, Stacey Snyder.  She posted a photo of herself at a party on her MySpace page, with the caption “Drunken Pirate.”  The photo was viewed as unprofessional and a way of promoting under age drinking to her students.  Snyder was denied a teaching degree all because of one photo on a social networking site that is thought to not influence your professional life.  Everyone seems to think that if a photo or video is posted on a site such as Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter, no one will see it other than their friends or followers.  In today’s society, employers want people working for them that not only work hard at their job, but leave a good impression of the company outside of work.  It was said in the article that “The worst thing you’ve done is most often the first thing everyone know about you.” The majority of the population pays more attention the bad people do, instead of focusing on the good.  Society has come to terms with the fact that humans evolve over time and can learn from past experiences, but that doesn’t always mean you get a second chance.  Jeffrey Rosen talks about how we can’t control what other people think about us or how they view us.  What we can do is control what they are basing their judgment off of.  The point of this article isn’t to stop people from partying and having a good time.  It’s just to make people aware of how much your life can be affected from what you post on a social networking site.  People in today’s society just need to learn how to keep their personal lives private, and not let it interfere with their professional lives.