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.