Three Questions Regarding The Paper

1.) I forget, do we use MLA format for citing our sources?
2.) We must remain unbiased, true or false?
3.) Is meeting a word requirement important?

Messy Outline (online version)

Ever increasingly, politicians are known for being influential and important within society. The older population knows to vote as what’s right for the future of the country, and the youth are persuaded daily to vote for their first time in order to see a difference in their world. Knowing this, politicians of importance capitalize on these people, knowing that the average citizen will make their vote.  Presidential candidates distribute advertisements that are seen nationally. With the ever changing world, as quickly as it does, election days approach with a velocity unrealized by the average citizen. Before the world has a chance to catch up, the day is already here and many people have not yet gotten the chance to analyze their options. This is precisely why it is important to do so. For example, one cannot merely look at an ad and know everything about the politician. They must look deeper. Such as the case with the Romney advert aired all over Ohio, one may assume it’s great and factual, but when looking closer, you see it’s not just that. It’s important to recognize the rhetorical importance within the video, such as the facts he presents, the graphical interpretation within the video, and the background music to aid.

Facts presented

Graphical interpretation within the video

Background music and more subtle effects

Conclusion.  Plato once said, “Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men.” After analyzing this video, it is evident that this candidate comes close to doing just that. The people running the advertising of Romney’s campaign are experts in this art. Not only can they create a stunning compilation of videos and photographs to reinforce Romney’s campaign ideals, they also bring an impressive advert to the table. Along with the credibility of Romney, and the visual greatness of the video, the subtle affects adds tremendously to the persuading argument presented.

#MuslimRage

This Newsweek cover depicts anger, or frustration within a group. The group, which nearly looks to be a riot due to the distinct hands grabbing and distressed faces, has a man in the foreground of the picture. While his face could be anger, it also shows a mild amount of sadness. This man is wearing a regular Muslim headdress which would regularly be very provocative to many American readers and Muslim readers alike because of the nearly rude moment in which the photo was taken. American journalists know their readers many times are drawn in by the covers and headlines on their magazines. This journalist, this photographer has done a fantastic job emphasizing the things many Americans find interesting, and even provoking their feelings. Readers of magazines are often older as StateOfTheMedia.org reveals. In 2011, the median age of news magazine readers was 49. [1] The older populous, generally more conservative, emotionally responds to the visual rhetoric on this cover. Because of this response, people become interested, often driving them to buy an issue, causing higher sales, which is, in part, what the company is interested in. Another important thing to note about the cover is the title, "Muslim Rage" and the effect that title has had on Muslims internationally. On the popular social networking site, Twitter.com, many people have taken to using the hashtag #MuslimRage (defined as "The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet")[2] to a comedic level, in response to this Newsweek cover. In part, this reply to this title, these people will tweet average parts of their lives that would normally be considered to be not worth noting and then follow their sentences with that hashtag to be ironic.

[1] http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/magazines-are-hopes-for-tablets-overdone/magazines-by-the-numbers/
[2] https://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols

Visual Rhetoric (9/18/2012)

The advertisement displayed by the Romney campaign to the citizens of Ohio was both very well done, concise, and rhetorically influential. Visual elements that grab the viewer's attention first are Romney's powerful speaking in front of a large audience, as well as his black and white images of Obama. Then he goes to show the labor of Ohio. Along with this, other details that reinforce this impression were things like Obama's facial expressions differing in each of his black and white snapshots. They showed him frustrated at one point, and happy in another while a fact is being presented. The fact is deprecating of Obama's presidency, yet the facial expression (smiling) portrays that Obama may not care, despite the irrelevance of the picture to the text. More importantly is Romney's colour video shots of people working and his explanation of what he is going to do for the country as a president. This video directs the viewer's eyes to Romney initially, then to facts over solemn pictures of Obama with multiple expressions. This reinforces the importance of how Obama is failing to create jobs (according to Romney,) and how Romney will be able to do better. The text included are facts about Romney's plans for the jobs issue versus Obama's current plan and how it's failing. The images are grey and bleak while sporting white large text made to draw the eye to the text, and second to Obama's figure. The video argues why to support Romney in the presidential election of 2012 by using facts and appealing to the working class of Ohio.

Visual Rhetoric (9/16/2012)

• What visual elements grab your attention first?
  >Visual elements that grab my attention first are Romney's powerful speaking in front of a large audience, as well as his black and white images of Obama. Then he goes to show the labor of Ohio.
• What other details reinforce that impression? How?
  >Obama's facial expressions differ in each of his black and white snapshots, showing him frustrated at one point, and happy in another while a fact is being presented. The fact is deprecating of Obama's presidency, yet the facial expression (smiling) portrays that Obama may not care, despite the irrelevance of the picture to the text. 
• What is more important? Less important?
  >More importantly is Romney's colour video shots of people working and his explanation of what he is going to do for the country as a president.
• What about color and style? What impact do they have on your impressions?
  >As previously discerned, the black and white, somber tone of Obama's snapshots portrays what Romney makes his presidency out to be: poorly run. They have very little impact on my impressions because I do not favor either of the candidates for many reasons, although, to an average citizen, this advert would do well with persuading one to believe Romney has the better idea for jobs.
• How does the image direct the viewer’s eyes and reinforce what is important?
  >The image directs the viewer's eyes to Romney initially, then to facts over solemn pictures of Obama with multiple expressions. This reinforces the importance of how Obama is failing to create jobs (according to Romney,) and how Romney will be able to do better.
• What text is included? How does the text relate to the image?
  >The text included are facts about Romney's plans for the jobs issue versus Obama's current plan and how it's failing. The images are grey and bleak while sporting white large text made to draw the eye to the text, and second to Obama's figure.
• 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 to support Romney by putting Obama's current plan on jobs down.
  >This has been made recently, August 2012.
  >The audience for this was ordinary citizens who watch television.
  >This has been made recently to support Romney in the 2012 presidential election
• List details that provide ethos, pathos, logos.
  >Ethos: Romney speaking to very large audience
  >Pathos: Appealing to those in the work force by talking about the jobs to be created
  >Logos: Facts about Obama's failed trade policies with China causing thousands of jobs to be lost, 450,000 new jobs to be created,

Rhetorical Precis (9/13/2012)

Chapter Six of Choices 2.0 (2010) by Joseph Hardin discusses the choices one makes when they must approach culture and media from a writing perspective, and the possibilities that can be explored when writing a critique. Hardin exemplifies the importance of how rhetoric surrounds us in our daily lives within the media that so heavily influences our culture and that 'writing about the media takes form of a media critique.' The chapter's purpose is to highlight the choices made when writing media critiques, and the methods and styles used when doing so, as well as the audiences and topics to be chosen. The chapter is constructed so to be informational as well as interesting so that students and teachers alike can use this as a tool to gain skill in writing media critiques

Rhetorical Precis (9/12/2012)

This article, "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age", written by Trip Gabriel (2010) explores how students are unfamiliar with how the rules of plagiarism work on with Internet resources and that how nothing is ever original anymore. Gabriel discusses how students have little idea of what belongs to who online, as well as how students are not prepared well enough for college writing and therefore are more tempted to plagiarize in this digital age. This article's purpose is to emphasize the importance of respecting original authors so that their work gets due credit, and also to highlight the lack of education about plagiarism in college students of America. When examining the way this article was constructed, the article seems to appease audiences who want to read quickly and learn as much as they can; using short paragraphs this author gets his point across effectively so that students, teachers, and daily readers alike can understand the plagiarism problems arising within the universities of the United States

Visual Rhetoric (9/9/2012)

In class, we viewed the videos preceding both of the presidential candidate's speeches. The first thing that I noticed about either of the videos was the use of pathos within each of the videos. Each of the videos used an incredible amount of attention-grabbing phrases to draw in the viewer. For example, Mitt Romney's video  began by appealing to families, and they he goes to say, "If we give everyone a fair chance, we are going to see this country come roaring back." Similarly, Barack Obama's video begins by appealing to families by mentioning his grandparents coming out of the great depression and knowing what it is like to be poor. He goes to motivate people by saying, "[Americans] don't quit, they don't give up; patriotism and pride in this country." These videos both do a great job of catching the attention of the audience, but both have less important details such as the over-emphasis of their families. Despite this, they both did a great job of being very uplifting, due to the style and color in the videos. The music in either of the videos was very good, in my opinion. Romney's music was much more noticeable, but not in a bad way. It was uplifting and happy, changing subtly with the scene. Obama's was quick and hurried, but motivating at the same time. The images presented in Obama's video were great, snapshots of him working, his family, etc. Romney did not have these snapshots, but the videos of his family with him, speaking, interacting; they did fine as well. The argument being made was that of proving themselves to the audience as a candidate to become the next president of the United States. There were many aspects with in each video proving very much pathos. Ethos was harder to come by. An example of that would have been Obama's time spent in office, his credibility in establishing a new health care system. Romney had his state of Massachusetts in three billion dollars in debt, and he gave them a fantastic foot hold to get them out. That fact both stood as to prove Romney's credibility as well as logos. Pathos was prevalent throughout the videos: the stress put on Obama's marriage ring, Romney's children speaking highly of him, Romney's "cheap" attitude about spending, Obama's mentioning that he sits around the table with his children at dinner nearly every night-- all of this appealing to the emotions of the audience.

Exploring the Rhetorical Effectiveness of Ann Romney and Michelle Obama's speeches (9/6/2012)

Ann Romney and Michelle Obama are both the wives of the two political candidates running for office in November 2012. After watching the two women's speeches, I can see the difference in beliefs between the two women, as well as their husbands. For example, the liberal nature of Michelle Obama appealed to the democrats in which she aimed to please, and the conservative nature of Ann Romney's speaking did the same for her, and her following party. Though the speeches had their differences, in beliefs, and the women's speaking styles especially, the two speeches had many similarities. For example, the rhetoric used in either of the speeches was very similar. Both of them lacked ethos and logos, but excelled in pathos with things being said like "God bless!" on both of the women's speeches.  Both Ann and Michelle tried to appeal to the audience's religion, as well as their common place level in society by retelling their life stories in a way that any person could relate to. Ann had her story about dating and falling in love with Mitt, both being poor and such. Michelle had, essentially, the same story to tell but with different little details here and there, regarding her and Barack. Both speeches were very rhetorically effective, even with their lack of logos and ethos. The heart-string tugging stories and phrases caused feelings toward each candidate's wife to occur. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to remain unbiased when watching these women speak. My own political learnings definitely swayed my thoughts on both of the women. For example, I disliked Ann's speech, and I felt the same way about Michelle's. I was not very impressed by both, largely in part due to the fact I don't care about the future president's personal life. Although I had my own personal beliefs, it was very evident in the way the crowd reacted to what had been said that they felt for both the candidates. The uproars of applause at Michelle's mentioning of equal rights for homosexuals was something to be amazed at, and the joy that people seemingly had found when listening to Ann was incredible. Their modest pasts and their elegance was spectacular, and both of these women had well thought out speeches. 

Rhetorical Precis (9/4/2012)

The third chapter of Choices 2.0, written by Joe Marshall Hardin in 2010 examines the structures of writing, descriptions, citing one's sources and opinions. It is discussed further by explaining the different ways to support the thesis of any writing project, such as the importance of analytical structures as well as narrative and argumentative structures, but also going into detail about the necessity of citing sources and matters of opinion and arguments. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the different structures used in writing that can enhance one's work, as well as the do's and dont's of opinion so that students may present their pieces with eloquence and credibility. When looking at the text within chapter three, it is evident that Hardin wrote this in order to persuade students to want to be better writers.

The article, "The Web Means the End of Forgetting" by Jeffrey Rosen was featured in the NYTimes in 2010. It's about how, on the the Internet, nothing is forgotten, due to the fact all things posted are never truly gone. The author discusses internet privacy at a length to prove his point. For example, he brings up a women who was legally drinking at a party, but, because of her teaching position of underage teens, she was fired from her position. This issue brings up many concerns within the work-internet relationship. Microsoft did a survey of job recruiters in the United States and it was found that 75% do online research about job candidates before bringing them in for an interview. That being said, they author went on to include a fact about a 60 year old Canadian man who was turned away at the border because of an LSD experiment that happened thirty years ago. The author also uses many things to trigger the emotions of the reader about internet privacy, saying that, "Without forgetting, forgiving becomes a difficult undertaking." This is regarding how nothing on the internet truly goes away, and without it going away, it never can be forgiven.

To further prove his point, I have delved into his credibility. He brings up different people who have credibility, such as Paul Ohm, a law professor at the University of Colorado, and Daniel Solove of George Washington University. Beside his great points he makes with the different people he includes, Rosen himself has two bachelor's degrees (one from Harvard, the other from Oxford) and a law degree from Yale Law School. He is known for being a great American academic and commentator. All of this, his emotional appeal, his logical appeal, as well as his outstanding credibility go to show that this article is well written, and in my opinion, very persuasive about the topic of internet privacy. Not only does one risk a job opportunity when something foolish is posted on the internet, that person's act of foolery will never be forgotten, because... the web means the end of forgetting.