Week 15

Our multimedia project is going well.  We filmed our commercial last Sunday.  We included four scenes.  The first scene was a shot of my legs running through the "woods," (a few trees by the intramural field), followed by a scene of Michelle running through the woods.  Then it went to a close-up shot of BuJu Juice, our sports drink, perched on the branch of a tree.  My hands, as well as Michelle's, are shown struggling to reach for the drink.  Neither of us manage to grasp it, and then the shot zooms in on the label.  The next scene has moved to the gym, and starts with the camera zoomed in on the bottle, so that the viewers would hardly know that the location had changed at the beginning of the scene.  Then Trae drinks the BuJu, while Katies doesn't.  They stretch and then beginning a running race.  Trae takes off super fast, and Katie is no competition.  She then says "Why didn't you bring me a bottle?"  Then she says "From the jungle to the gym, BuJu."

There are many reasons behind the choices we made for our commercial.  Our target audience is males between ten and thirty, and as Trae pointed out, and our research showed, males in this age range are very vulnerable to advertising that involves sex appeal.  So we had three females running in our video.  We also present BuJu as an intense drink that is not for the weak, by having people running and struggling to get it.  We also showed the athletic prowess it provides, which should appeal to many males in this age range.  We had exciting music that will pump up our audience.  Jungle drum beats that implied strength and danger were used in the parts of our video shot in the "woods."  The "woods" scenes are exciting and invoke pathos and curiosity in the audience.  "Eye of the Tiger" was played during the gym scene, which is a song that is synonymous with athletic prowess, being a prominent song in the Rocky movies.  This end scene appeals strongly to logos, because

I am responsible for the print advertisement in our group.  I am drawing a male dangling off a cliff to reach for some BuJu Juice perched in a tree on the edge of the cliff, with a deep ravine below.  It is appealing to those who like adventure and danger, typically 10 to 30 year old males.  I am also emphasizing the two most appealing colors to males: blue and green.

Week 14

Rhetorical Analysis of a Song- "The General," by Dispatch

This is an anti-war song that uses appeals to ethos and pathos, as well as logos to make its argument against warfare.  It begins by describing a "decorated general with a heart of gold."  The lyrics continue to establish his ethos by describing how experienced he is, and the "respectful fame" he earned with "many medal of bravery and stripes to his name."  The song then appeals to emotion in the listener by stating that the general "grew a beard as soon as he could to cover the scars on his face."  The lyrics get the listeners sympathy by hinting at the sordid side of war.  This appeal to pathos continues as the song describes the general being unable to sleep because he was not sure that leading his infantry into battle was the morally right thing to do.  He gets up the next morning, and it is a "gray morning," which foreshadows the misery that will soon be present on the battlefield.  He then tells the infantry, who are lined up and courageously ready for battle that he has seen the "others" and their "mothers," and that "this fight is not worth fighting."  This is an appeal to pathos; by pointing out that their opponents are real people with mothers, which are a symbol of love and protection, the listener begins to sympathize with the general and see that perhaps killing other people is not the right thing to do.  Pathos, as well as logos, are then appealed to with a carpe diem argument.  The general tells his troops that as "young men" they "must be living," and that they "got no time to lose."  This not only seems logical, but it strikes an emotional chord with the audience, who is mortal and is sensitive to the argument that life is short and should be lived to the fullest.  The soldiers eventually take his suggestion and leave the battlefield.  The general, however, stays for the battle and we can see he will basically martyr himself for the good of his troops, which adds to his ethos.  This chorus in which the general tells them to go home is later repeated to add power to the argument.  The phrase "go now you are forgiven" is also repeated through out the song, and especially at the end.  It is reminiscent of the Christian refrain "go now in peace," so it appeals to those who are a part of or at least respect Christianity.  This phrase is also comforting in a secular sense.  The general, who we respect because his ethos was well established, tells them they are forgiven, and it also implies that the soldiers forgave their enemy.  It is a phrase that gives them a clean palette on which to start living life to the fullest, and to not hurt others just because a group is their supposed enemy.  This argument, with the appeals to pathos in the audience, combined with the well-established ethos of the emissary of the pacifistic message, is highly effective.

The music does not have a distinctly militaristic sound, and does not seem to have a direct correlation with the message of the song.  There is very catchy acoustic guitar that makes a person want to listen to this song even before they get the meaning from the lyrics.  The instrumental part of the song does have the power of drawing in people who might not even sympathetic to the pacifist cause.  They think they are just listening to a catchy, fun song, but they eventually  pay attention to the lyrics and may realize they agree with the message.  It is a subtle way of changing people's opinions about warfare.

The lyrics of the song can be found at the following location: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dispatch/general.html

Week 13

Our multi-media assignment is coming along nicely.  We actually finished the planning that is due on Tuesday on Thursday.  We also went to the library and found books that will give us great information about advertising, such as what our appeals to our audience (athletic people, especially males, from ages 10-30) and how associating yourself with a brand can improve your argument through ethos.  Our group has decided to get together next weekend to film our commercial, in which a man will be running through the jungle.  We made a few changes to our project, as follows:

commercial:  We will have an omniscient person filming someone running through the forest, and grabbing the BuJu.  He will then gulp the drink, and the camera will zoom in on the label of the drink.  When the camera zooms out, the same person will be drinking the drink, but in the middle of a soccer field.  We transition it into a situation that will our viewers can relate to.

print ad:  A person will be on the edge of a cliff, reaching for a bottle of BuJu that is perched on a tree that is leaning out over a very steep ravine.  This person is clearly risking his life to get the coveted juice.  The word BuJu will be written in the rock of the cliff.

We have decided on yellow, green, and black for the billboard, but this is subject to change depending on our research of what our audience enjoys.

Week 12

Our group for the multimedia assignment got together for the first time on Thursday, and actually made a lot of progress in our short meeting.  We quickly decided on a product: a sports/ energy drink.  We brainstormed names, such as LiquidRush, and eventually came up with BuJu.  It sounded intense, and we thought a name that rolled off the tongue would quickly gain popularity.  This name also steered the direction of our campaign.  We decided that BuJu was from a tree deep in the jungle and until it was recently discovered, only the fierce natives of the area where the BuJu fruit grew knew of its powers.  We found this idea enticing, and tried to expand it into all areas of our advertising campaign. 

 

radio ad- drums in the background, a deep, intense voice telling how this secret fruit has been discovered in the heart of the jungle

billboard- an image of the bottle (which will look somewhat similar to a tree trunk) and branches growing out of it, the word BuJu and a slogan featured prominently on the sign

print ad- a glowing bottle of BuJu up on a pedestal deep in the forest, possibly fierce natives around

commercial-shaky camera- person filming is running through the jungle, saying how they must find the BuJu juice, war-painted natives w/ spears come out of forest/  person running with camera finally reaches the juice (up high on a pedestal, like in print add) and gulps it down

pathos-the excitement of these scenes, and the intense that the juice seems to invoke will make people want that intense feeling with more energy as well as better sports performance 

logos- if all these people want this juice, and it is a secret that makes these natives so fierce, it must make me strong and energetic

ethos- perhaps BuJu could be from the makers of a famous drink, such as Gatorade, to give it credibility

audience- athletic/active people from age 11-30, it is slightly more geared towards males (the advertising campaign is more typically masculine), but woman can also find this promised athletic prowess enticing

Week 11

I did not learn much about my paper from my peer reviews.  A few grammatical errors were corrected and I was complimented on clear thesis and good paper.  Talking to Jessica about my paper, however, was more productive.  I summarized each paragraph and read these summaries to her.  She gave me good advice to eliminate a paragraph which I saw did not relate to my thesis once she suggested removing it.  I had forgotten to include captions for my visuals, so I formulated them with Jessica's guidance.  Having never written captions for a research paper before, it was helpful to have the guidance of a more experienced writer.  I was concerned that he synopsis in my conclusion was too short and left the reader feeling unsatisfied, so I added another sentences, and Jessica felt that my paper was well concluded.  

While self-editing my paper, I noticed a few mistakes in my paper.  I had not capitalized some proper nouns and had to fix some tenses.  I worked very hard on my first draft, so editing for the final draft has been fairly simple.  Other than the three major problems I talked to Jessica about - organization, captions, and the conclusion - my editing has been minor.  I am very happy with my paper, and feel that I wrote a very persuasive argument with a lot of good sources.  I started early on my paper in order to finish it early, but instead I wrote nearly 4500 words and did not finish early!  Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately considering all the extra work I did, I picked a topic that fascinated me and so I had more than enough to say about it.  In fact, I had to leave out many topics that were in my original outline.  It was probably the most enjoyable paper-writing experience I have ever had, considering how much I was interested in the subject.

Week 10

Reading articles about digital remixing was really interesting to me, because my friend is a huge fan of these musical mashups.  "The Hood Internet," a site where mixers who go by the name The Hood Internet, post their remixes.  The site has just come out with its third album, which feature titles such as: Fleetwood Mac vs. Daft Punk- "You Make Lovin' Harder, Better, Faster Stronger," and "Three 6 Mafia vs. The Long Blondes - Lolli Lolli Pop That Century."  I find my friend checking this site every time he goes online, and he has a The Hood Internet t-shirt that he ordered offline.  

While there is no question that these are quality pieces of musical creativity that add to the music scene and certainly have a large following, their legality is another question.  New technological advances make mixing others' work and posting them for the world to listen to accessible for anyone who takes the time to learn the technology.  Yet major issues come out of this practice.  Firstly, if the original artists' permissions are not asked, the song could be remixed into something that would offend the artists, or not be consistent with the image they are trying to portray or what they stand for.  And if people begin selling these remixes for their own profit without negotiations with the original artists, then it becomes stealing.  As Dexter Holland, the lead singer of offspring comments about the potential selling of the Grey Album, which mixed the Beatles and Jay-Z, "It's the Beatles' musicianship, songwriting and performing that you're benefiting form.  It's the actual recording.  That's what they own.  They own the masters.  You can't take something someone else owns."

In this age, taking others' digital work and slightly altering it into something new is simple, yet the basic law that must rein is respect.  It would be terrible to stifle the creativity of this new art form, but it would be equally deplorable to change artists' music into something they are against, or to give them no money for selling what was originally their work.  Communication and respect for the artist must be key in this new age of digital remixing.

Week 9

Chapter 13 discussed the danger of video games romanticizing violence.  Not only are games becoming more visually realistic, but they are merging real-life situations with fantasy.  Games that simulate fighting against Arab terrorists have become popular.  People think they are modeling reality in these games, and so gain a perspective on world events through these games.  Yet, as Anne-Marie Schleiner, a professor at the University of Colorado, points out, while these games are realistic in some ways, a "number of complexities [are left out] such as economics, religions, families, food, children, women, refugee camps, flesh bodies, and blood, and smell, among other factors.  Osama Bin Laden has been put into many video and computer games as a target, which mirrors a military aim of our country.  However, some of these games encourage stereotyping Arabs.  One game has Osama Bin Laden as owner of a corner grocery store in a city.  This is a common motif in America, and so stereotypes the Arab store owners as terrorists.

Interestingly, one organization trying to make its games exactly match reality, even if it is less fun or exciting for the player.  This organization is the United States Army.  They make simulated war games such as Full Spectrum Warrior, which attempts to give a thorough and realistic view of what modern day warfare truly is.  Clive Thompson, a 2003 Knight science-journalism fellow at MIT, tried the game out and found that, while he is a skilled gamer, it was easy to lose all his men in under three minutes.  Unlike other video games, this one showed that cars are not actually good cover from snipers.  This game is meant to teach judgement more than straight shooting skills.

Comparing two screen shots from a 1980's Atari game and a modern-day game, Kuma/War, reveals interesting similarities and differences.  The poor graphics of the first game made it seem very far from reality, while the visual of the second shot almost made my heart start pounding because I felt that I was about to be shot at by two Arab terrorists.  Though both games put you in the position of the soldier, the second one was much closer to reality, but still lacked the complexities noted above.  This skewed picture of reality can be dangerous for the player's understanding of the world.

Week 8 Continued

My research paper is going well.  I believe that I have set myself up with a topic that I am very passionate about, and I have also done a lot of research so that I can make strong arguments.

My outline is extensive and should make the paper-writing process much simpler.  In doing some last minute extra research before the outline was due last Tuesday, I found some very helpful sources.  One such source was from the Christian Science Monitor, and it made the argument that even some evangelists, who share Bush's religious views, have problems with his infusion of religion into politics, especially in foreign policy.  Iraq and Israel were two countries where even evangelists felt that Bush was making poor, rash decisions due to his religious perspective and the mentality it gives him.  

One claim that I am making is that Bush has given too much federal money to religious groups during his presidency.  An article from the New York Times provided a statistic that displays how much Bush has given, and will greatly help my argument.  Between 2003 and 2005, due to a new federal department created by Bush Administration, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, the number of federal grants given to religious groups increased by 38 percent.  I plan to argue that this government action is unfair, because it favors religious groups over secular ones.  This is just one example of how bush has violated the First Amendment.

Week 8

Terrance Smith made the argument that war coverage with new high-tech media equipment and embedding of journalists in the troops is worthwhile yet dangerous and with possibly lessen the objectivity of journalism.  The format of his argument, a roundtable interview/discussion, is incredibly effective.

Ethos is relied upon heavily through the use of the opinions of many high ranking individuals in the media, such as Dan Rather, Walter Rodgers, Ted Koppel, and Donald Rumsfield.  In this type of formatting, the audience can trust that no one's words are being twisted, because their full quotes are being directly stated. 

Terrance Smith would give background information about each topic, and then the others would voice their opinion.  This helped the audience to understand the context of the other's statements.  Sometimes, however, the statements did not seem to be from the roundtable discussion, but rather from actual wartime.  For example, after Terence Smith describes journalist Walter Rodgers embedded in troops who came under enemy fire in Kuwait, a quote from Rodgers thats seems to be during the attack is placed in the same manner that the other speakers, who make statements during the discussion, is placed. At this point I do not fully understand the formatting, but it adds to the pathos of the argument because recalling that time when an American journalist was under fire evokes our emotions.

Week 7

My research process is going fairly well.  My proposal ended up being about four pages long.  This meant that it took a lot of work, but I now have a solid idea about the content of my paper.  After looking further into my sources to write my research paper, I determined that both of my books are written by people who are employed at religiously affiliated schools.  While both attempt to give a balanced view of religion in the Bush presidency, I think that I will mostly likely need to find more sources that are not written by those with strong Christian affiliations.  Finding new sources will be especially necessary if I would like to quote an expert who shares my opinion that the separation of church and state has been violated during the Bush presidency.  I think that such a quote would improve the ethos of my paper.  Statistics that speak in my favor would also most likely be found in a source that is more of an academic critique of Bush's behavior than a proponent of it.

I had difficulty finding visual texts.  I have liked to find more political cartoons, but was only able to find one.  It deals with vouchers, which I plan to discuss in my paper, so this should work out.  I have not yet search for a video clip, but I clip of Bush spouting a religious message of the variety that I plan on quoting textually would most likely increase the potency of my argument.  

In doing such an intense proposal, I began to get a sense of what my formal outline will contain, but have yet to put these ideas to paper.  Although the outline is not due until Thursday, I plan to at least get a bare-bones outline by Tuesday.  Some of the filling out and exact sources can be completed on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I would like to get as much of my outline completed by class on Tuesday morning.  

I think that this step-by-step approach to the research paper will set me up for success.  I have a paper due for another class of mine on Monday, and I only started it on Saturday.  I am glad that I am not allowed to get away with that in this class because it will create a much more in-depth and well written paper.  

Week 6

I am evaluating the book Religion and the American Presidency.  It is a part of The Evolving American Presidency Series.  

The editor of the series is Michael A. Genovese.  He seems so be a very credible source.  He got his Ph.D. from USC in California.  He has written sixteen books, largely about the presidency and democracy.  He holds the Loyola Chair of Leadership Studies, is a Professor of Political Science, and is a Director of the Institute for Leadership Studies as Loyola Marymount University.  He was made a Fellow Commoner at the Queens College, Oxford University in 2006.  has won over a dozen university.  He has been rewarded more than twelve university and national teaching awards.  In 2004-2005 he was the President of the Presidency Research Group of the American Political Science Association, and he often appears as a political commentator on national television.  He has lectured for the United States Embassy and is the Associate Editor of the White House Studies Journal.  Thanks to his experience, he has a very strong ethos.

This book was published in 2007, and therefore leaves out information from the past year and a half.  However, I am examining the presidency of George W. Bush, and this book covers 6 1/2 years of his 8 year span.  The was published after the majority of his time in office, so it will still be a very useful source.  I also don't have to worry about it being outdated, because it was published last year.  It offers a relatively recent and fresh perspective.

Palgrave Macmillan is the publisher, and it is an academic publisher.  This will give me the best information for my topic. It publishes books in the humanities and social sciences.

As an academic title, the book attempts to give a fair overall view of how Bush's faith affects the presidency.  The company seems to strongly support separation of church and state, however, and so may slightly lean away from Bush's faith-influenced politics.  However, the authors of the particular chapter that I am focused on both teach at Georgetown University, which is a catholic-affiliated university, so they might have a slight preference for Bush's faith-based policies.  It is difficult to determine from reading part of the book what its rhetorical stance is, which is probably a good thing, because it is giving a balanced view.

The book was intended to be used or those who would like to become more informed on the topic, rather in a strictly academic sense or for pleasure.  It is written in a way that is easy for those without specialized knowledge in the area to understand.  

This book is very helpful for my paper.  The last chapter is titled "The Faith of George W. Bush: The Personal, Practical, and Political."  I am studying the use of faith in GWB's policy's, so this is great information.  It gives a lot of background information, and mentions the effects his actions and believes have had.  There are some statistics, and quotes, but mostly there are claims made about GWB with proof that led the authors to these conclusions.  It gives information that would allow a person on either side of the issue to formulate an argument.

Week 5

After discussing the research paper in class, I realized that my previous topic was over-used.  I also got interested in a few other topics when looking at the database we went to in class.  Here are a few of the topics of interest:

Religion and the Bush Presidency-

-Are Bush's faith-based policies constructive?

 They give a moral structure to his actions and have helped in the difficult time since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

-Are Bush's faith-based policies harmful?

They alienate non-Christians, and cross the line of church and state separation.

This is a topic that I would love to research.  I believe that Bush has infused his own personal religious beliefs into public policy far too much.  Our nation that is supposedly built on religious freedom, but apparently this is only religious freedom for Protestant Christians.  There is much insinuation in politics that the Republican party has true values while the Democratic party has no moral compass.  I would enjoy doing research on this topic and arguing that Bush's infusion of Christian religion into his politics is biased and inappropriate.

Another topic that I am interested in is the genocide in Darfur.  Here are the two arguments about U.S. involvement in that region:

The U.S. has no obligation to interfere in Darfur.

It is the responsibility of a country that has the means to aid other countries in need.

I believe that we need to give aid to Darfur, but I know few details of the situation.  I would love to get a broader world-view by learning about this topic.

Currently I am leaning toward Bush's infusion of religion in the state for my research topic, because this is a topic I get very upset about.  Considering the political mindset on Clemson's campus, this would also be a good topic, because I would get to research a side of that situation that is not often presented in my current environment.

Week 4

It was interesting to see others' visual rhetoric assignments.  In one person's paper I noticed overly long paragraphs, with sentences that repeated previous sentences in new ways.  It was rather boring to read and obvious that this person either did not understand what he or she was trying to write, or was just writing filler in order to reach the word count.  Another person started with a good idea in his or her paragraphs, but many of them were not thoroughly developed.  He or she would not explain how it was related to the topic.  From these two mistakes I realized that re-writing the same idea in multiple sentences is very obvious to the reader and severely decreased the quality of the paper.  Also, often how ideas connect needs to be spelled out to the reader.  This is difficult for the writer to understand, because he or she has spent so much more time with the topic.  

I also learned that introducing a new idea in the conclusion can be difficult.  Some of the conclusions I read were abrupt and left me confused and unsettled.  The conclusion needs to still relate to the thesis and be fully explained. 

For my research paper I will examine persuasive arguments in advertisements both for and against tobacco use.  I am very interested in this topic; I have always been upset by the fallacious but effective arguments of tobacco companies.  When I was little I used to see posters displaying these advertisements, and I would try to cover them up so that other customers would not see them and be tricked in smoking, and therefore purchasing the product.  I was very excited to finally see visual texts promoted to the public with even more effective (and factual) arguments against smoking.

I am still formulating the stance I will take on this issue, but I believe I could point out the rhetorical methods that both sides use, while emphasizing the spurious nature of the tobacco companies' arguments.  Exposing that the tobacco companies' arguments are truly only a facade with no validity will prove the weakness of their visual rhetoric.

There are many studies conducted about cigarettes and their effects.  Online resources will most likely be the most prevalent.  Harder to find, but also helpful in my paper would be the effect of anti-smoking propaganda.

Most of the research will not be conducted in the field, although I could ask some college students (smokers and non-smokers) about how this advertising affects them.  However, I will not mind that most of my research will be archival.  

Week 3

The image was taken by Lewis Hine in 1909.  He worked as a photographer for the National Child Labor Committee, which aimed to lobby against child labor.  The picture attempts to persuade the Americans and the American government that child labor is cruel and inhuman.  Many elements in the photograph make this argument.  The girl appears ragged and unkempt.  There is dirt on her face and hands, her dress is wrinkly, and her hair is messy.  She stares at the camera with none of the naive hopefulness that is seen in most children.  Instead she looks solemn and haunted, forced into an adult world at the age of ten.  The black and white photograph with distinct contrast adds to the dramatic, somber air of the photograph.  The machinery on the left side of the image seems to extend endlessly behind the girl.  This implies that her work and laborious lifestyle will continue for many years.  This photograph depicts a person who should be in her youthful prime, innocent and bright, but due to the practices of her country, she is exhausted and jaded in the first decade of her life.  This is a powerful image that affected change in the policy of child labor in America.

I will now go through the steps to create a working thesis for my paper about this photograph.  1.  Observations-

This image depicts a ten year old girl working as a spinner at a North Carolina cotton mill.  The photograph is stark and haunting due to the expression on the girl's face and her dirty state, the achromatic color scheme, the emphasis on the large, seemingly never-ending machine, and the decrepit appearance of the building.  The photograph makes a case against child labor by showing the terrible conditions and the innocent that it steals from children.  These scene seems so opposite of the childhood most Americans would like their children to experience.

2.  Preliminary thesis statement-

The photograph focuses on the Child Labor policies in the early 19th century by featuring a young worker.

3.  More Specific Revision-

In 1909, Lewis Hine captured a photograph of a ragged young girl that makes a powerful argument against child labor.

4.  Working Thesis-

In 1909, Lewis Hine captured a stark, haunting photograph that would eventually affect change in American child labor policy through its depiction of a ragged ten year old girl working in poor conditions in a cotton mill.

Week 2

I chose a web ad for John McCain to analyze.  I was highly impressed with the high rhetorical quality of this piece.  I have never had any interest in voting for John McCain, but I must say after watching this ad I was nearly convinced, if only for a minute.  

The creators of this ad used pathos, logos, and ethos to convince the viewer that John McCain is not only a legitimate candidate, but truly the only option who is right for our country.  Pathos is the most prevalent form of rhetoric.  The ad begins with inspiring piano music and a scene of clouds with the words, "The time has come."  The sky scene invokes a sense of hope in the viewers, and the words give a feeling of excitement.  The ad then calls upon Americans sense of patriotism, showing video clips of old presidents and soldiers.  Multiple previous presidents are shown giving speeches about America's military prowess.  John McCain is then depicted giving a speech, saying "America will never surrender, they will."  This statement is powerful, but in case it came off as too harsh, it is followed with a clip of him smiling and looking benevolent.  The ad continues to encourage patriotism in its viewers by showing other images that represent what is beautiful about our country.  Night city scenes are shown, as well as a young girl holding a small American flag.  

Ethos is utilized as well in this video clip.  Images and videos of John McCain as a prisoner of war serve to support his character.  He is also shown talking about how long he has served his country, and the pride he has felt for America in everyday of his life.  These clips make him seem like a honorable citizen, and in fact inspire viewers to share in that same national pride that John McCain possesses.  The well crafted film, with smoothly transitioning images, beautiful, inspiring music, and powerful images and text, also give John McCain credibility.

Logos is misused, creating a logical fallacy.  The clips of past presidents who felt that war was necessary imply that such behavior is the proper thing to do in this time, and that John McCain will be as celebrated as past famous presidents were.  The ad ignores the fact that times are different, and there is no correlation between past presidents that performed well in office because they chose to go to war and John McCain.  They are also "stacking the evidence" by only showing clips of presidents whose choice to go to war worked out for the better.  It has often hurt America and made the president highly unpopular.

This ad also really only addresses one facet of the presidency- national defense.  He implies that by sending men and women off to war, our children can run free in the fields (there is a scene of a young child frolicking in a grassy field).  This implies that by simply securing our country, everything else will work itself out.  We have dire situations within our country, and only focusing externally will not resolve this issues.

Go to "John McCain Web Ad: Man In The Arena" on YouTube to see this video.  Also, Deanna, if you know how to add a video directly to my blog post that would be awesome if you could tell me, thanks!

Week 1

So I did my reading for this week, which was fairly interesting.  I enjoyed looking at the political cartoons.  They definitely were about topics that I am interested in and am familiar with.  The piece by Doug Marlette was very persuasive.  Seeing how he argued his point so effectively was a good way to learn about rhetoric.

I am having mixed feelings about this class.  It is very similar to my AP English Language class, which makes sense, because I am basically re-taking it due to the four I got on my exam.  I enjoy argument and rhetoric, but one semester was enough for me.  I feel like I have not had an english class that is literature based for a few years and I think that type of course would be good for me.  This class seems entertaining, however, and hopefully I will get a lot out of it.

Setting up my blog was easy, and I do feel cool now that I know how to "blog."  Well until next week, I'm out!