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!