For this free write, I chose the topic of Halloween because it's tomorrow!!! I'm very excited about it because it's one of my favorite holidays and it worked out perfect this year because it's on a Friday. That could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it because Halloween is often one of those nights where kids are always up to no good and looking for trouble. It's easy to get involved into mischief because it's easy to just put on a costume and get away with stuff at night when it's dark out, not that I've done that before but you get the point. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because you can always be someone or something else besides yourself. I think it's fun to pretend to be a superhero or monster or whatever people choose to be. If you use your imagination, anything can be fun. As a child, my most favorite part about Halloween was definetely the candy part. Getting as much candy as possible was always a challenge and competition between my friends and I. Now, Halloween is more about enjoying the holiday and dressing up and just enjoying yourself, and staying out of trouble of course. This year I have no clue what I'm going to dress up as, but I need to figure it out soon. Above is a picture of my little brother Sutton who is now 17 months old. He dressed up a little early this year and chose to be a cat I guess, haha. Hopefully this year's Halloween will be a very fun and safe time for everyone.
In the Vice Presidential election, each representative or candidate was asked the question, "What promises, given the events of the week, the bailout plan, have your campaigns made to the American people that you are not going to be able to keep?" Both Vice Presidents used different tactics or strategies in rhetorical skills to attempt to persuade the audience. They used different methods to reach the people in a variety of ways. Using different appeals such as logos, pathos, and ethos, each Vice President is effectively arguing or debating their opinions and beliefs.
After Joe Biden's response, Sarah Palin opens up here argument by saying, "The nice thing about running with John McCain is that he does not tell one thing to one group and then turn around and tell something different to another group." By opening with the statement, Sarah Palin is able to effectively give credibility to John McCain using an etho. It is a rhetorical appeal that provides John McCain with credibility that he is responsible as a potential President. It presents him as an authoritve figure that can be trusted.
After speaking about John McCain, Sarah Palin uses a different approach and talks of herself. She once again uses ethos by noting about the energy plan, "You know what I had to do in the state of Alaska? I had to take on those oil companies and tell them that their mode of operation was wrong and that it was not going to continue." By providing the audience with this information, she is establishing herself as a very powerful figure who has a lot of control and authority. By using this ethical approach, the speaker's character is persuading, for she shows what she has accomplished at a position already as a leader. She's showing that she is very capable of being in a position at a level of high authority and control.
Additionally, Sarah Palin makes more statements of herself that shows the goodwill of her character. She furthermore presents information by quoting, "What I had to do was break up monopoly and say that the people are going to come first and make sure we have value given to the people. This can be considered an etho because she speaks of the goodwill she has a person but it may also be interpreted as a patho. It may be considered a patho statement because it also applies to emotion, for it directly relates to the people and it is a subject that the audience can easily relate to.
Finally, Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin uses ethos to wrap up her main points. She says, "I had to turn around those tax breaks as a governor of an energy producing state, which is my own expertise (energy)." She is showing that she is very experienced in the area of energy conservation, which is very important for she able to have even more credibility as a leader. Palin then claims, "I do not believe that John McCain has made any promise that he would not be able to keep either." This is a very bold statement that is an etho, for she is showing the reliability and trustworthiness that John McCain has as a potential President. It puts him in a very high position with a great amount of authority and control. Through Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential debate, there are various examples of ethos that she used to attempt to persuade and convince her audience.
On the third and final presidential debate, both candidates were asked many questions that allowed them to give answers to convince or persuade the American audience to vote for them as President. Very rarely, the presidential candidates agreed, which forced the two representatives to use rhetoric strategies to move and convince the audience. Through logos, pathos, and ethos, both Presidential candidates were able to provide concrete examples to support their beliefs and have an impact or influence on the viewers. The interviewer of the show asked both Barack Obama and John McCain, "Why would your vice president be a better choice of a respresentative rather than the other other candidate's running mate?" Both Barack Obama and John McCain were able to each give their own opinions and applied rhetoric skills.
Right away, Barack Obama answers the question by applying ethos by stating, "I believe that Joe Biden is one the finest public servants that has ever served this country. It's not that he has some of the best foreign policy credentials of anybody, Democrats and Republicans both aknowledge his expertise there." This is a very bold statements that uses ethos because it gives a great deal of authority to Joe Biden's character, for it proves that he is respected very well by both parties. It also presents Joe Biden with a lot of credibility, for Obama states that he is very well-known and familiar among politicans. After those statements, Obama begins to use a different style of rhetorics buy applying pathos to his argument of persuasion. He uses pathos by noting, "Biden fights on behalf of the working families and remembers what it was like to see his father lose his job and go down through a downward spiral economically. He has a consistent pattern that has been to fight for the little guy. It helps working families get a leg up." These are prime examples of pathos because Obama refers to an appeal that applies to the emotions of the audience. He uses a sad story from Joe Biden's life of his father losing his job because it is something that will affect the audience strongly because it may be something that they can relate to. And finally, by backing up these pathos of Joe Biden, Barack Obama backs up these examples with facts. He supports his previous statements by saying, "When it comes to helping working families, he has passed the Landmark 1994 Crime Bill and the Violence Against Women's Act." By backing up and supporting his statements with facts, Barack Obama is using logos to rationally argue his point. He is appealing with reason and attempting to persuade his audience by providing proof and evidence.
Right away, John McCain uses ethos to argue his point by noting that Sarah Palin is a "role model" to women and reformers all over America. By saying this, McCain is giving her a credibility and appealing to a character of authority. Furthermore, McCain uses rheotoric skills by providing facts of what Sarah Palin has done in her past as a politician. He says, "When she was head of the energy board, she saw corruption and resigned. She has given money back to the tax-payers. She's cut the size of government. She's negotiated with oil companies." Once again, by providing facts, McCain is able to use logos to make an attempt to persuade his audience through reasoning. He uses facts as proof and evidence. Finally, McCain makes some very clear points by using pathos. He notes, "She understands families with special needs. She understands that autism is on the rise. We need to find out what's causing it and reach out to these families and help them." This is a clear example of a patho because it targets a very emotional subject. He targets autism and families with special needs because they tend to have some sad stories and an emotional state that may be easily reached by the audience.
Chapter 1 1. Why are visual rhetorics so effective in persuasion? What elements of visual rhetorics are the most important on influencing or impacting the viewer?
2. In our everyday lives, how are rhetorics used to get a certain point across or make a persuasion in an argument?
3. What is propaganda and how is it used through visual rhetorics? How are the viewers able to "read" texts visually to understand the certain idea or point from the author?
Chapter 2 1. What are logos, pathos, and ethos? What purpose does each of them serve? Is one of these more beneficial or more persuasive than the other, and why?
2. Why are figures of authority sometimes considered to be persuasive or trustworthy? Should people rely on authority and base their opinions and reasoning on their credibility or should they be more cautious?
3. What is a fact? Are "facts" more appealing and persuasive to an audience in an argument? How much of a role do "facts" have in reasoning?
"Objects in the mirror may seem closer than they appear." This title, from a poem by Peter Gizzi, really caught my attention to reflect on certain areas. He explained that its important to look more in depth at things rather than just seeing what it is. Gizzi noted that everyone should examine things in a detailed way and find their true meanings and what they stand for. When analyzing this title, the person is looking back on what is behind them in their rear view mirror. In a deeper reflection, it can be seen as someone looking back on their life and their history and what is left behind them in the past. Even though things have already occurred and are left behind, we may not realize how much they still influence us inour future. Our pasts have an impact on how we live our lives in the future through the decisions we make. This quote or phrase is very beneficial because it makes a point that examining your past is very necessary as a person. Sometimes we tend to ignore things from our past, maybe because we do not want to remember them for negative reasons, but it is still important to relfect and learn from those mistakes. Everyone should be open and willing to look past on their past so they can improve their futures.
