Final Paper

A Rhetorical Analysis of Advertisements: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

At first glance most advertisements appear to be direct and to the point with an intended message and clear selling point.  Many consumers look and watch ads without looking at the advertisements through a rhetorical perspective and are unable to decipher some of the deeper and cultural messages that an advertisement can convey. Rhetoric, as defined by Charles Bazerman, consists of “…how people use language and other symbols to realize human goals and carry out human activities…ultimately a practical study offering people greater control over their symbolic activity.”  Print and commercial advertisements use a visual type of rhetoric that combines language, symbols and human activities to encourage and persuade the intended audience to purchase or buy into the item being marketed. Visual rhetoric, which can also be described as visual metaphors are “similar to verbal metaphors yet visual metaphors can also be characterized as visual argumentation in that it employs the syntactic structure of visual persuasion (Jeong).”

  Advertisements are in every direction we look.  They are posted on billboards in every town, on every highway and interstate.  They are also posted on web pages, scoring the screens of social media websites and networks, encouraging consumers to purchase the product because it will help “clean the house faster” or “make the whites in the laundry whiter.”  Advertisements are a type of visual rhetoric that are used to persuade an intended audience to purchase items that will ideally help the consumer reach a better lifestyle whether it be regards to a cleaner kitchen or losing the last 10 pounds with a diet pill.  Overtime the ways in which advertisements reach the intended audience have changed with all the new technological advancements since the early 1990s.  Before these advancements most advertisements were seen in newspapers and magazines, reaching a very specific audience in respects to the corresponding publications.  Now, however, advertisements are posted everywhere from the traditional newspapers and magazines to the more modern modes of communication such as Facebook and email.  Regardless of how the consumer becomes aware of the advertisement, the ultimate goal is to convey the message that the product is somehow a necessity that the intended audience needs.

                The means of persuasion that advertisements utilize are the three modes of appeal of rhetoric: ethos, pathos, and logos.  The three modes work together in visual advertisements to rhetorically convince the audience that the product being advertised is the best out of all the other products of its kind.  Ethos is used to establish the credibility of the speaker.  Depending on the type of advertisement the credible speaker could be portrayed as a stay-at-home-mom who is selling a cleaning product, which would be significant to most mothers, or the credible speaker could be a young celebrity who found success with a certain brand of face wash that many teens could relate with.  Pathos, on the other hand, is used to convey a specific emotion to the intended audience.  Some advertisements send a happy and excited message with the speaker smiling and laughing, while other advertisements will draw on the consumers frustrations with, for example, other similar products by demonstrating how the comparable product failed to do what was advertised.  Logos, the third component of the modes of appeal, uses “…patterns, conventions, and modes of reasoning that the audience finds convincing and persuasive (Covino).”  Advertisements can convey logos with a number of different situations such as using a cleaning product because it won an award, or to convince a consumer to join a certain phone company because it has the broadest network.  The three models work together and if done successfully, “…ethos moves an audience by activating their faith in the credibility of the rhetor and pathos stimulates their feelings and seeks a change in their attitudes and actions, so logos, accompanied by the other two appeals, mobilizes the powers of reasoning (Covino).” Because of the different appeals that the visual metaphors utilize, the advertisements “tend to be more implicit and complex than verbal metaphors and allow for several possible interpretations (Jeong).”

           

         Using these three modes of appeal, five different advertisements will be looked at to compare and contrast how overtime, although the modes of appeal have remained the same, the means of persuading the audience have changed in regards to the authority of the speaker in the advertisement, the emotional means of persuasion, and the logic being used due to the changes in cultural beliefs and values over the past 50 years while specifically looking at how women were the targeted audience based on cultural traditions, beliefs, and stereotypes of the time. 

“Retailers had long identified women as the principal buyers of domestic items” and this vintage advertisement from Tide laundry detergent demonstrates the stereotypical and traditional values of the time when the ad was published in the 1950s (Howard).  The intended audience is very much directed towards women and the homemakers of the time.  In the advertisement, the woman shown is used to create a relatable image of the “established homemaker,” which is using ethos to attract the audience’s attention at the viewer’s first glance.  Pictured, is a woman with perfectly done hair, polished nails, and make up that appears to be flawless, creating the idealized wife that women of the time were to aspire to become.  The wedding ring on the woman’s left hand should also be mentioned when assessing her credibility in regards to the intended audience.  Many women were expected to marry at an earlier age than what is now expected culturally.  Her ring, implying that she is in fact married, establishes her credibility as wife and homemaker, not just a woman who is doing the laundry.  Much of the pathos of this advertisement is created with the woman’s excited expression and the words next to her bright smile stating, “What! Can anything be better than Tide?”  Her overall expression of excitement over the product sends the message to the audience that Tide is the best product for a happy woman and that they will be just as happy if they use Tide detergent also.  Logos is expressed to the audience in the written text of the advertisement with the announcement of “New Tide.”  In the last sentence of the advertisement, the text continues to explain the woman’s necessity for Tide by stating that, “When you see the new New Tide gets that dirt line out, you’ll wonder if there’s anything it can’t do.”  As a whole, the three modes of appeal come together in this advertisement by effectively demonstrating a speaker to the intended audience that they can relate with who displays a positive emotion towards the product as well as to the act of washing laundry while the added text is used to reiterate why New Tide is the best detergent around, similarly addressing the stereotypical belief that women of the time loved nothing more washing clothes with the newest and best brand of laundry detergent.

The next advertisement is a commercial that Tide detergent aired in August 2012.  Again, taking a look at the three modes of appeal – ethos, pathos, and logos – there are some very similar approaches to persuading the intended audience, women, as well as noticeable differences in respect to traditional cultural beliefs as well as stereotypes.  At the start of the commercial a women’s clothing store is shown before Betty White, a well-known actress, appears in a clean, white outfit.  Within the first 5 seconds of the commercial Tide has established a certain amount of credibility with the speaker to the audience by using a well-known celebrity, especially since the commercial is intended for women consumers.  Betty White establishes credit with older viewers who recognized her from earlier years, as well as with the younger audience who would be familiar with her recent movies and appearances on late night television shows.  The pathos of the piece is fun and playful which adds a twist to the piece when Betty White states, “And don’t even think about working up a sweat in the club,” implying to the younger women in the store that she goes ‘clubbing.’  Unlike in the previous Tide ad, the pathos in this piece uses a lot of humor to get the audience’s attention instead of conveying the image of a happy housewife who stays at home all day.  Making the advertisement more lighthearted demonstrates that women do, in fact, have better things to do than wash clothes, which was not depicted in the earlier advertisement.  Because the women are shown at a clothing store, the ad is implying that clothes are important to women young and old and that is why they should buy the product being sold.  This is effective because Betty White is known for her sense of humor as well as her youthful spirit and young-at-heart attitude.  If she were to have appeared in the commercial with too serious of an attitude the pathos of the piece would have failed and White’s credibility would have been lost.  The logos of the piece is found at the end of the commercial when White expresses that she’s not worried about her whites (which could be a play on words) getting dirty because she uses Tide.  The commercial uses a feminist platform that includes a mission of securing nontraditional advertising accounts in an effort to change the way advertisers and audiences think about the “women’s market” (Howard).”  By using the nontraditional approach of stereotypical women expectations of doing laundry, the commercial’s playful approach is less offensive to modern women shoppers.

          

          

            Budweiser and beer advertisements are historically known for using women to sell their products.  In this advertisement, it appears that women are the intended audience for the purchasing of the product.  Ethos is being displayed by using a beautiful woman, notably of color, and the hand of a white man is pouring her a beer.  This goes against the cultural perspective of the time that a woman should be the one serving the beer to the man.  In the advertisement, the woman is wearing in a white dress which indicates a higher level of economic status along with her white, crystal-like jewels.  Her credibility is established as being a wealthier woman who drinks Budweiser also has access to the pleasures of materialistic items that goes hand-in-hand with drinking the product.  The background of the advertisement helps establish a playful pathos with the use of the pink background and the pink record player.  Rather than placing a background that matches the woman’s attire, as well as the man’s business suit sleeve, the pink, childlike background creates a feeling of relaxed freedom that can still be enjoyed by two seemingly mature adults. Pathos in this advertisement is being used to help establish the ethos of the piece as well. While the woman smiles and eyes the beer being poured, she gives off a relaxed, joyful feeling.  This is trying to imply to the audience that they too will feel this happy and relaxed when they drink a Budweiser.  “Budweiser.  Where there’s life…there’s Bud,” is the message splashed across the top of the advertisement in a youthful and feminine font.  The logos that is used in this case with this message is very weak and does not strengthen the “argument” of the advertisement.  Although implying that life without Budweiser is unbearable, to the point of death essentially, the argument becomes unrealistic to the audience and would have been more effective had it been more playful like the methods of ethos and pathos in the advertisement.

            

           In this minute long commercial, Budweiser takes its audience through the last 100 years of American history.  The commercial runs through the last 100 years by portraying each decade since the end of the prohibition, and then ending with more current times by showing a large block party in the city.  With each transition from the different decades a woman is shown from the old era to the next one, never is a man used for transitional purposes. This puts a highlighting factor on the women of the commercial, rather than placing them at the center of the advertisement.  The ethos of this piece is lacking because the credibility of the characters is missing since there are no actual speakers, just a continuous group of people partying, essentially demonstrating how much fun consumers have had drinking Budweiser over the years.  Women are included in the commercial essentially as objects that are meant to provide entertainment to the men that surround them through the different decades, mainly being treated as eye-candy.  The men in the commercial are seen wearing business attire as well as army and navy uniforms, while the women are more often than not, wearing dresses  that were appropriate for the stereotypes of the times being portrayed.  There are no professional or occupational outfits worn by the women, ultimately suggesting that women didn’t work throughout the last 100 years.  Pathos is used in this commercial to make the intended audience feel that they can also have as great of time as the people portraying the events from the past.  Men and women alike are seen throughout the commercial smiling and laughing with one another.  The “good time” attitude that the previous advertisement had is even more present in this commercial by means of showing groups of people celebrating different events, suggesting the old slogan of Where there’s life…there’s Bud and that those who are not celebrating with the different crows are not living life to the fullest.

The advertisement above is trying to persuade women to purchase the brand of Virginia Slim cigarettes. Without reading the text, one can establish the use of ethos from the picture of the women, in order to establish the credibility of the character, is a more modern looking woman who appears to be enjoying the cigarette with ease.  The use of the blonde woman, who has noticeable perfectly done hair, nails, and make-up – much like the woman in the first Tide ad – send the message that if you smoke these cigarettes, you will also appear beautiful.  While maintaining her feminine characteristics, the woman also portrays a sense of strength to the audience, which leads to the use of pathos in this specific piece.  Now looking at the text that states that, “We made Virginia Slims especially for women because women are dainty and beautiful and sweet and generally different from men.  You've come a long way, baby.”  The text is creating the emotion for the audience that they are better than men because of their feminine qualities, rather than the implied characteristics of men such as course, ugly, and unsavory.  However, with the closing line of “You’ve come a long way, baby,” the advertisements suggests that women, before smoking Virginia Slims, were more manly in character.  The logos used in this piece, as in most cigarette advertisements, does not send a convincing reason for women to start smoking the cigarettes, especially because the characteristics of a woman who smokes Virginia Slims does not correlate with the woman pictured.

                The above advertisements are just a couple of examples of how women have been directed as a target audience to advertising strategies and how rhetoric has been used to persuade women consumers with uses of ethos, pathos, and logos, as well as with visual metaphors that allow for multiple interpretations from different members of an intended audience.  By looking at the advertisements using the three different modes of appeal, the audience can gain a better understanding of what the advertisement is really suggesting in regards to cultural traditions, beliefs, and stereotypes of the time of the advertisement.  Advertisements not only market a specific item or product but also highlight what is happening in society at the time of its print or initial broadcast on the television, leaving consumers with a much more insightful understanding of how the advertisements of the time not only influence their thinking or purchasing choice, but also displays what they value in their own lives and connections with society.

               

               

Works Cited

Covino, William A. "What Is Rhetoric?" Part I An Introduction to Rhetoric (n.d.): 3+. Web.

Howard, Ella.  “Pink Truck Ads: Second-Wave Feminism and Gendered Marketing.” Journal of Women’s History 22.4 (Winter 2010): 137-161. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. <http://muse.jhu.edu.proxybz.lib.montana.edu/journals/journal_of_womens_history/v022/22.4.howard.html>.

Jeong, Se-hoon.  “Visual Metaphor in Advertising: Is the Persuasive Effect Attributable to Visual Argumentation or Metaphorical Rhetoric?.” Journal of Marketing Communications 14.1 (February 2008): 59-73. Web. 9 Dec 2012. <http://www.tandfonline.com.proxybz.lib.montana.e du/doi/pdf/10.1080/14697010701717488>.

Ad

http://wellmedicated.com/inspiration/50-inspiring-vintage-advertisements/


This ad is using rhetoric to convince its intended audience (younger men) that by wearing these Career Club shirts they will be better dancers. Both the man and the woman appear to be having an absolutely great time and it is because of his orange shirt.  This ad sends the message that by wearing this shirt, you're going to have a lot more fun than if you were to wear a different shirt brand.

I like how they also give directions on how to do the "skate".  "Skate right, clap hands...Skate left...Shake shoulders, roll hands.." Epic. 

I also find it funny that although the shirt is a Career shirt, they are encouraging that the man wearing it go out and "cut loose" on the dance floor.  And in the lower fine print it reads "Career Club tapered shirts in cotton...Get free dance booklet at your Career Club dealer."  So not only are they selling shirts, but "sophisticated" dance moves as well.

Visual Rhetoric Article

Visual Rhetoric, Photojournalism, and Democratic Public Culture

John Louis Lucaites and Robert Hariman

Rhetoric Review , Vol. 20, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2001), pp. 37-42

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466134


I found this article to actually be pretty interesting and helpful when looking at visual rhetoric.  The author quotes that "visual rhetoric refers to a large body of visual and material practices, from architecture to cartography and from interior design to public memories."  Mostly this article was about how iconic photographs are used to summarize and represent the state of "specific conceptions of civic identity that have developed as key features of liberal-democratic polity."

For our convo on Wednesday..

Rhetoric

In Grant-Davie's article, he quotes Bitzer's definition of a rhetorical situation where "the context in which speakers or writers create rhetorical discourse."  My example of using rhetorical discourse comes from my WRIT 371 course that I took this past summer.  We had to create a multi-model project where our audience was the class.  For this, I focused on an issue that all my classmates could easily relate too: How the internet and social media sources influence our learning and education.  I focused my argument around the different uses for blogs, Facebook, and email.  Each of these are used to present information to an audience, each for a specific reason.  Blogs can focus on any topic, and and be as long or short as the author would like, whereas Facebook statues are generally short and to the point, and emails can be as formal or informal depending on the authors audience.

My project can be viewed at http://jwilsonwrit371.blogspot.com/2012/06/critical-photo-essay.html 


For this project, audience was the main focus and how the author, depending on the presentation of the information, focused on addressing the issues they were discussing.

That's Debatable.

While watching the debate, I found myself paying more attention to the candidates body movements and facial expressions than what was actually being said.  It was humorous to watch the reaction of the candidate who wasn't speaking while the other one rambled off on some tangent, making sure to point out their opponents flaws, lies, etc.  The sitting candidate would laugh, shake their head, and sometimes even interrupt if there was an immediate correction that needed to be made. I think that they were more relaxed this time in order to give a personal feeling to their direct audience.

I also liked how they would make sure to greet and welcome each audience member that asked a question by name.  This definitely makes the audience member feel more welcomed and appreciated, giving them a sense respect, rather than just being another member in the audience.

Romney did a good job, and was persistent in correcting Obama in his statements.  I think this has a powerful effect on the audience because it shows that he's not just going to sit back and let Obama incorrectly represent his campaign.

Obama's closing statement with the 47% comment was DEFINITELY planned.  I'm sure he was instructed to save this comment for the very end (I don't think he mentioned it any other time) because that is what America would be left with.

The most frustrating thing for me during the debate was how BOTH candidates would speak minutes after their clock-timer had run out.  I know that they have a lot they want to say, and also clear up but come on! I don't know how the mediator does it...

Speaking of the mediator, she definitely over stepped her boundaries when she commented on the Libya terrorists attacks by agreeing with Obama.  It brought her into the debate more than she should've been.

Romney seemed to have done a good job at explaining and justifying his plans for the future of America and how he would help the economic status we are currently in.  To me, Obama just focused on what he's done during his four years, not really elaborating on what he would do differently if he were to be re-elected again.

Presidential Rhetoric - Part 1

Women and their role in the upcoming campaign have become an important aspect to the candidates when seeking votes.  In the 2008 elections 10 million more women voted than men, making their voting decisions more important than in any election ever before.  The issues that have been the most important to women voters are those concerning health concerns such as birth control and abortion rights, as well as issues concerning supporting a family and feeding their children. The candidates of the campaign have taken notice to the important, possibly deciding role that women will play in the upcoming November elections, as “this campaign has been marked by an unusual intensity of debate over women’s issues, particularly reproductive rights (Riccardi).”

Obama is a huge fan of using the media to attract and recruit the younger generation of voters.  He uses accounts on Twitter and Tumblr to have access to all those who are accessing social media sources at an almost constant rate.  Often, Obama uses these accounts to update followers with campaign issues, such as the important subjects concerning women and women issues.  While some advertisements have gained successful popularity among women voters, other ads have caused uproar and backlash.  The ethos, pathos, and logos of each determine how the intended audience reacts to the piece of advertisement.

In the picture shown below, Obama gives the audience the impression of a strong and concerned man.  Although his face is stern, it gives off the fatherly expression which shows compassion and understanding, rather than that of an all-knowing dictator who would tell a woman what she could or couldn’t do with her body. By doing this, he is establishing an ethos that makes him relatable to women, as well as to fathers who are concerned about their daughter’s well-being.  More ethos is also created with this image and statement for those who know Obama has two daughters of his own, as well as a wife.

In the statement, “Women are not an interest group.  They are mothers, and daughters, and sisters, and wives.  They are half of this country and they are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health,” Obama begins with generalizing women together as a whole.  This strategy of pathos, by banding women together, sends the message that all women are in this fight against health care together.  With the next words “…are not an interest group,” he addresses the issue that all women are not the same; not raised the same, educated the same, or have the same access to medical care, so they should not all be grouped into one definitive group.  The breaking down of the different generations and relations of women as individual human beings solidifies his message that all women should be treated equally, but on individual terms and bases.  This creates a strong sense of pathos for all ages of women who come from all different types of backgrounds, which gives the sense of empowerment individually, as well as a whole.

“They are half of this country and are perfectly capable of making their own choices about their health” puts the power and credibility into the hands of the women as voters.  This is meant to make the women feel as if they are now in control of their own health care and personal choices, and that Obama is there to help.  This is effective because it sends the message that Obama believes that they do not need instruction from him or his campaign, or anybody else when it comes to their personal health choices.

This statement that was posted on Obama’s Twitter account has a very clear and gender-specific audience – women.  The effectiveness of posting this to Twitter is an obvious attempt to attract the younger audience who will see it and share it with others more so than if he would’ve stated it in a speech or discussed it on a late-night talk show visit. How it was presented to the audience shows that Obama and his campaign believe that younger voters will relate to this style of advertising and find it more effective to address the issues concerning them in a social-media centered fashion.

The ethos that is established in this post is made believable because it comes from President Obama, himself.  Which many voters, and tweeters, find to be an extremely credible course without much, if any, question.  Emotion and pathos play an important role in the message of this Tweet because it is centered on women and the issue that has become most important to many of them.  When Obama says that, “The decisions…they’re up to you,’ the image of Uncle Sam pointing his finger in recruitment is hard to suppress. “You” is a very powerful statement because it individualizes each and every reader, rather than summarizing them as whole and saying “they’re up to women”. If “women” were to replace “you” a less powerful message would have been sent to the readers.  The “you” individualizes each reader, each woman, sending an empowering message that suggests, again, that she is in control. 

The picture shown below was reportedly posted to the official Obama campaign Tumblr page.

Although the Obama campaign claims to be highly supportive of women and their bodies, the posting of this advertisement suggests otherwise.  This card is using mostly pathos to address the issues concerning women’s rights to abortion and contraception in a very brief and “dumbed-down” way.  Its target, young women voters between the ages 18-25, are being encouraged to “vote with their body parts” rather than with their own intelligence. 

The image of the young girl to the right gives the image of enthusiasm as she raises her hand in support to the statement that is to the left of her.  This perceives the notion of a woman who really doesn’t have a clear understanding of what she is voting for and saying “yes” to.  The only thing that suggests she understands what she is voting for is the fact her legs are closed and crossed as if protecting her “lady parts.”

The logos behind this image and its posting  was meant to be humorous and appealing to the younger audience that Obama is always trying to impress with a relatable, friendly appearance.  Because it was on his Tumblr account and not on a national news stations website, the lax, entertaining piece of media gave the appearance of Obama and his campaign to be taking women and their issues less seriously than had been previously expressed.  The sloppy appearance of the woman and the belittling statement she is posed for sends a disturbing message (enthymeme) to the women who viewed the page and saw the post: a woman should vote solely based on her gender and the body parts it came with.

Women who saw the ad responded saying that the "statement was misogynistic, and they plan on voting with their brains...also pointing out that abortions aren't really in their gender's best interest, especially when those abortions are sex-selective. (Hamilton)"

These three images used by the Obama campaign use different methods (and sometimes a combination of) logos, pathos, and ethos, with the intent of influencing and encouraging the voters to believe in Obama and his beliefs.  Although some are more popular than others, they are all effective in using convincing messages to sway the audience towards Obama, or frighten them away with fear for their body parts.

Works cited

Hamilton, Amelia. “Obama campaign removes ‘vote like your ladies parts depend on it.’” Red Alert Politics. N.p. 2 Oct. 2012. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://redalertpolitics.com/2012/10/02/obama-campaign-removes-vote-like-your-lady-parts-depend-on-it-tumblr-post-after-conservative-backlash/>.

“Riccardi, Nicholas. “Women’s Vote Battle Defines 2012 Presidential Election.” Huffington Post. N.p. 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/womens-vote-2012-election_n_1832825.html>

Notes for myself

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/27/womens-vote-2012-election_n_1832825.html



http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghancasserly/2012/08/29/ann-romney-chris-christie-declare-war-for-the-womens-vote-in-election-2012/

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/highway-2012/campaign-2012-todd-akin-war-on-women-stupid


 http://usconservatives.about.com/od/thinkersanddoers/p/Ann-Romney-2012-Game-Changer.htm


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/28/planned-parenthood-presidential-debate_n_1923855.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular#slide=1059003

Words

Adage - One of several terms describing short, pithy sayings, or traditional expressions of conventional wisdom.
     Example - "Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
                   "Count your blessings."

Diaphora - Repetition of a common name so as to perform two logical functions: to designate an individual and to signify the qualities connoted by that individual's name or title.

          Girls will be girls.

Orcos- Swearing that a statement is true.

         He swore on his own mother's grave that his story was true.

Metonymy - Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes

     The child ate his dish of vegetables with a scowl on his face. 

      He gave her a helping hand.

Project...thoughts?

I'm not exactly sure what I would like to research for this project.  But as far as the rhetorical aspect, I am really interested in pathos, ethos, and logos and how they are used to persuade an audience.  As far as a topic? Maybe how the two presidential candidates present the same issue in (possibly) different ways to their audience in ad campaigns, debates and speeches.

Vote Our Future

This ad uses a lot of logos that is intended to raise awareness to the issues and financial problems that our generation will face in the future if changes are not made.  I like this video because it introduces these problems in the kind of "I'm really excited to be living with my parents again!" (said no one ever).  But behind the humor and smiles, its pretty obvious that the issues they're talking about are extremely serious. It breaks down the real issues that should be important to this generation of students and workers and places them in relate-able settings.

Pathos is also being used as a means to make the audience more concerned for their future financial outlook, which some students may not even know about.

I think it's an effective ad for college students and those who are recently out of high schools.

A=Obama

B=Clean up the mess (of America)

C=Make the right choice


Sooo, here goes nothing...

(A) Obama = (B) Making the right choice
(B) Cleaning up the mess (of America) = (A) Obama

Therefore...
(B) Cleaning up the mess (of America) = (C) Making the right choice

I'm not entirely sure this works???

Maybe, though....

Enthymemes and Syllogisms

The video I posted has a couple of examples of enthymemes and syllogisms.

The enthymeme that I found works like this A=Mitt Romney, B=Believes in America, and C=Running for president (vote for me).  This is found in the later part of the video..around 50seconds.

So this is how I think it works:
          A=C, Mitt Romney=Running for president (vote for MR)
          B=A, Believe in America=Mitt Romney
     Therefore...
          B=C, Believe in America=Running for president (vote for MR)

I could be totally wrong, but I think it works....

And for the syllogisms, basically I found Romney stating, "Your children will have a better life" (If you vote for me).

"Will restore opportunity and freedom" (because Obama ruined it)

And after looking through some of the posts that you all have made, it's clear that pathos is the most popular use of rhetoric for many of the campaign ads.

 

Campaign Ad

"The greatest and most important of all things in an ability to persuade and give good advice is to grasp an understanding of all forms of constitution and to distinguish  the customs of legal usages and advantages of each."

This video plays a lot with pathos. The video gives snapshots of America and all the different types of people that live in America, doing the things that Americans do (all generalized, obviously).  It starts off with the sunrise and the Statue of Liberty, which is very strong imagery as the statue is a staple of America.  During the beginning of the speech he reminds the audience that immigrants came here for a better life, because anything was possible - maybe to give a sense that this is no longer possible, but it could be if he were president.

The video shows a lot of diverse people in diverse settings which helps connect with a broader audience, rather than just one main set of voters.  I also noticed that they show him doing "American" things, like the chili cook-off.

At the end, the soldier and the graveyard of American soldiers is used to reiterate that the believes in America and recognizes the importance of the foundational values that it was built on.

Friday, September 14

Aristotle defined chance as "those things whose cause is undefined and which do not occur for a purpose, and not always, or not usually in some ordained way." (86)  I'm all about the life motto about it all working out in the end, but I'm still not convinced that *chance,* as Aristotle describes it, truly exists.  I don't believe that anything in life just happens for absolutely no apparent reason at all.  Nobody becomes poor for no reason, nor does anyone prosper without some defined cause.  Sure miracles happen, but there's a defined cause.  I guess what I'm getting at is does chance exist? And if so, where and what are some examples of the undefined causes happening?

Presidential campaign

I would say that this one is playing mostly with Ethos and Pathos.  Ethos because it is questioning the credibility of the speaker, President Obama, in is statement of "doing fine."  I would say that it is using pathos because the use of "fine" is not a very powerful word, or one that should be used to describe the economy, so Romney is using this statement to his advantage in order to get emotion out of the audience.

Questions for Friday

Socrates says to Gorgias, "If he is ignorant, you who are teacher of rhetoric will not teach him--it is not your business; but you will make him seem to the multitude to know them, when he does not know them; and seem to be a good man when he is not."

Throughout history, rhetoric has been used to convince people to believe or buy into whatever the leader of their nation or country is *selling,* no matter how wrong or awful the message or product is (I'm thinking of Hitler).  What is it of rhetoric that makes it capable of having such an overwhelming effect on people that they forget their own personal morals and beliefs?

Introduction

Hello!

My name is Jodi and I'm a writing major.  I will finally be graduating this December! After that, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing with my degree, but I'm not to worried about it *yet*.

I have always enjoyed creative writing and wish to one day create a memoir (which can sometimes be considered creative) or novel of some sort.

Rhetoric is actually very interesting to me.  I think politicians are the best at it, whatever it actually is - but so are kids who know how to con their parents into getting that iPad for them.

Pre-writing

"Start thinking about your topic early, well before the due date."

 This is the most common piece of advice that I have received in regards to pre-writing. It makes sense, I mean, the earlier you start to think about a topic the more you'll have thought it through by the time you start writing it. With other things to also think about like other courses, work, life, friends, and Facebook, thinking about a topic, thoroughly, and early in advance, is not always possible.

 "Quick write."

 I have also been told to write without stopping when pre-writing for a piece. It's supposedly meant to help the writer have a starting point to see what kind of ideas come out of the quick writing. I hated it when my teachers instructed this type of pre-writing, it never worked for me and I was more distracted by the fact that I couldn't STOP writing than I was focused on what was being written.

 "Organize your thoughts."

 I actually find this to be the most useful form of pre-writing, especially when writing research based papers. Many teachers have required an outline for part of the pre-writing process. This allows me to organize my thoughts and also helps me decide what I want to include in my paper, and where to place it in according to the other points that I will make.

 Mainly, I think, that in my middle school and high school instruction of writing, pre-writing was used to help students jump start their writing. This was to help students, and the teachers, see if the writing was headed in the right direction or how to edit any needed changes before getting too far with the writing.

 Leontini

 I guess I am most confused about who Leontini was trying to persuade? I found the whole thing to be a bit confusing because of ALL the wordplay...