Blog #7

          Two issues that I have thought about our “going green” and tanning. These are two topics that I think need change and society needs to focus on more.

          First, I will talk about going green. A big part of going green and also one of my pet peeves is littering! I can’t stand when people litter. It is so rude and it makes everything look dirty! Who wants trash blowing around the world? It’s disgusting. Another few examples would be using paper vs. plastic or car pooling so you do not have so much pollution out in the environment. These are just a few examples but it is something I am interested in. I wish I practiced it more and im a trying to as much as I can. Everybody is affected by this and everybody can take part in this. If people do not go green the world will not be in good shape. This affects humans and animals, you always hear people saying “save the polar bears”, well that relates back to going green. Everybody can participate in going green, especially adults and older people who know more about it. A way you can reach the audience is definitely by visuals. Once people see how dirty and disgusting littering can be maybe it will help them not litter. You can show people polluting the air. I think visuals would be very affective. You could also have logos included and show the number of people who actually participate in going green and those that do not. You can show how bad littering is just in the state of Texas alone. These numbers will make people realize how big the problem is and how something needs to be done. Another way of reaching the target is to appeal to pathos. Get to people’s emotions and make them feel bad for not participating in going green and this might affect how much they are active in the process of going green.

          The second issue is tanning. I choose this topic because I do go tanning and I used to a lot before I knew how bad it was. Young and old people are affected by this. I know there are some really young adults that go tanning and they have no idea how harmful it is to their skin. People need to realize how dangerous it is and how easy it is for you to get skin cancer just from going tanning. I used to go tanning a lot until I realized the damage that can be done to your skin, and it is not just temporary damage it is there for the rest of your life. I could go about reaching the target audience by first showing really harsh pictures of what has happened to people when they use tanning beds as well as logos and facts about the percentages of people who get cancer or have other damage. This will then appeal to pathos because they will be shocked and disgusted by what they see and hear they will probably be too scared to step foot in the tanning bed again. Like I said I do go tanning a lot and I am an audience of this topic so if i actually stopped being naive about tanning beds and acted like they did not cause skin cancer then I would probably stop tanning all together.

Blog #5

          When thinking of a person I felt was an effective rhetorician, I really could not think of anybody. I had to think about what I enjoyed doing and what I was interested in. Another thing I thought about was who did I really look up to and actually take their rhetoric seriously and thats when I thought of it. I am Catholic and I feel my priest is an effective rhetorician as well as Catholicism in general.

          The methods my priest uses are just reading from the gospel and when he speaks to all of us about the gospel. Other methods are just the background of Catholicism and the church. They are very pro-life and that has been a big thing with Catholicism. They use their rhetorical appeals mostly in the church. They are affective in the way they teach Catholics about pro-life and to really be against abortion, birth control, etc. Most people look up to priests because they are at a higher level and we want to do as they say and live as though they want us to leave. Priests have a lot of credibility because they are the one’s teaching us how we should live our lives.

          One thing that I deduce about their methods is they really rely on church and they do not really get the church involved in other ways and this might be a downfall and really hurt them when they are trying to persuade people.

          I have always been a member of this audience but I was not very active in church when I was little. I got baptized when I was only a few weeks old and I was taught to wake up and go to church every Sunday morning. My family and I went every Sunday and we never missed one and I never really got the point. As I grew up I started to realize why we go to church and what it means. I started listening to the mass a little more closely and when we went to CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine). This is when you go to classes and learn more about the faith. I started learning more about what Catholicism is really about. They made it clear that it is very pro-life.

          By having knowledge about priests and Catholicism I can help people change and be more pro-life. I learn the positives and negatives about it all and I can help them change their mind. When they know how important Priest are they will have some credibility and they will know that Priest do know a lot  about the religion and what they are talking about so they might belive more of what I tell them. This might also change their mind and become more religious or even switch to Catholicism. I can inform them more about the religion and what I know from past experience and what I have learned from the Priest.

          Overall, I think my Priest is very effective in the way he speaks about religion and by understanding him and how he helps us change, I can help others change as well.

Blog #4

          WHO refers to the gender as, “the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women”. According to them they are referring to it as masculine and feminine categories. To me that is like the way we are acting whether that is more like a girl or more like a boy. When a girl is younger she usually grows up and plays with Barbie’s and dolls. Boys are usually playing with army guys and trucks. Some examples that WHO gave us are:

• In the US, Women earn significantly less money than men for similar work.
• In Viet Nam, many more men than women smoke, as females smoking has not traditionally been considered appropriate.
• In Saudi Arabia, men are allowed to drive cars while women are not.
• In most of the World, women do more housework than men.

          I think these are all characteristics that people look at and compare gender and masculinity vs. femininity.

          Green stats, “I conceive of gender as an aspect of personality, of the way we manifest who we are in the world. When we express negative judgment about another person’s gender expression, we are expressing a lack of tolerance for diversity, a lack of appreciation for individuality”. To me this means it is the way we act and how we want to act and no one can tell us whether that is right or wrong. He also says that “gender cannot be assigned by others, but only interpreted or misinterpreted”.

          I think Green feels the need to redefine gender because no one else has really challenged the definition and everyone has kind of gone along with it. Green realized that he did not match the definition so he thought others might not as well. He felt like it was wrong and since it did not fit him then it should be changed. He stats that he “always felt like something “other”". He knows that there are other people out there who feel the same way.  

           Green’s target audience in my opinion is transsexuals who have actually gone through the process and those who are thinking about going through it as well. He might relate to those who are lost in themselves and really do not know what they want to do. Green can help them feel more comfortable with themselves so they do not judge themselves and they do not let others judge them as well. I think those people will likely read his book because they need answers to their questions and Green can definitely help transsexuals and give them the answers they are looking for. He targets this audience because he wants to help them out and reach out to them because he has been through all of it before.

          I have never thought of gender as a contestable definition until I saw Green’s argument. It really gets you thinking that maybe we do judge others on their “gender” and there is really more to the definition then we think about. It also makes us realize that there are probably a lot of other definitions out there that we overlook and we stereotype just by going off the definition.

          I think Green did a good job with his argument and he opened society’s eyes to a lot of other things that we probably have never thought about before and that we might look past. Some might not be important to us but it changes the lives of others.

definitions

1. student-athlete: I can interview other student-athletes and non student-athletes. Also my teammates.

2. daddy’s girl: I can interview other daughters especially the youngest and see what they think about this. Also the internet for sources about what a daddy’s girl really is.

3. high-maintance: look up the dictionary for this and talk to other people, probably close friends or even strangers, about what they think it is and how they stereotype people who are high maintenance. Other sources might be magazine and newspaper articles.

Blog #3

          The video by M.I.A, paper planes, is a very unique video and sometimes hard to understand. Her accent can throw you off a little bit but once you really start listening to the words you will be able to see a clear message. The argument is really about how to grow up in poverty and what you really go through. She is just arguing that you might have to hustle and go through the hard times just so everything will work out in the end. The whole video is really about how she is hustlin and do things so she can survive. She refers to doing strictly business. She does not joke around with anything. She gets what she wants and she moves on.

          The audience would be young teens who listen to pop music and like a good beat. The beat to this song is popular and usually when people hear it on the radio they want to turn it up. I do not think I am a part of the audience. I listen to the song and really this song is the only one I listen to by M.I.A. But you won’t see me going around and hustlin!

          It really makes you think about people who do live in poverty and there are a lot of people out there struggling to get by. It shows and tells you what people are doing so they can live in this world. It makes you feel a little sad when you listen to the song. If you arent listening to the lyrics then the beat will cheer you up, but if you sit back and listen to the message she is trying to get across you will see she is not playing around with her business. She is letting everyone know that “No one on the corner has swagger like us”, so you better not mess with her!

          I think she chose a music video because a lot of young teens listen to them and enjoy watching them. She wants to get the message across to youngsters about hustlin in the streets and what you have to do to get by. She also is making it clear that how you start acting when you are a child will affect what you do and how you act when you are older as well. I think her approach to doing a music video was very affective. There have been a lot of viewers on the music video which lets you know that  a lot of people have watched it. Hopefully, some are listening to the words and not actually the beat. I know it is hard sometimes to focus on the beat and completely ignore the words but you can tell she wants you to play close attention to what she is saying as well.

          She does not have any humor in her video, and I think she does this because people would not take her as serious. She wants people to know it is serious business and in some way it is what you have to do if you are dealing with poverty.

Blog #1

          When I sat down to do this assignment, I wanted to blog about something that pertained to me personally. I researched various topics and products, including health care, cosmetics, athletics, and nutrition. I was especially drawn to the topic of athletics because I am a student-athlete at TCU. I thought about the athletic gear, nutrition, equipment, and training. Nurtrition has always been an important part of my daily routine, therefore I decided to goolge Gatorade as my visual rhetoric logos. Gatorade can be both a logo and a symbol. Their symbol is a capital G with a lightning bult going through it. Their Logo is all different types of inspiring and motiviational messages for athletes. It is an advertisement for athletes of all ages. Numerous companies and teams at all levels use Gatorade for the purpose of providing hydration and energy to their athletes. There is a variety of gatorade drinks each designed for a specific purpose. Some of these include: Jordan series; 6 limited edition bottles, Gatorade G; hydrate, replenish, and refuel, Shine On; rise to the occasion, Bring it; B vitamins to help metabolize energy, Be tough; Vitamin E to help protect your body, No Excuses; crisp, clean flavor, Gatorade tiger; hydration for concentration, G2; less calories for more athletes, and Elite; specially formulated tools for endurance athletes. As stated above, Gatorade has many varieties to choose from and can be used for a wide variety of purposes depending on the athletes needs and goals.

          The target audience is athletes and others who are involved in fitness activities. This can include young children whether they are athletes, children playing in the park, camping, hiking, or participating in a field trip. This can also include young adults who are actively participating in fitness activities whether they are performing in high school, college, or interamural sports. Active adults from middle age to senior citizens who participate in fitness or athletic activites are also part of the target audience. This can include persons going to the gym, being active in their country clubs, or avid walkers. I am a part of this audience and have been since the 4th grade. This is when I started my basketball career. Ever since I was little and attended camps the coaches would serve us gatorage during our breaks and for every meal just to make sure we stayed well hydrated. In high school and college coaches and trainers gave us our personal gatorade bottle so that we could refill them with gatorade as needed. I still have my gatorade bottle with my name on it from 8th grade.

          Gatorade is an appeal to logos because it is a claim that this beverage has nutritional benefits for athletes. It accomplishes this appeal through creative advertising, visually attractive packaging, and inspiring words and messages to attract potential consumers. Gatorade is advertised through a multi-media approach including: radio, television, billboards, remote units, vendors, and search engine marketing. I recall seeing gatorade being advertised through all of these methods throughout my years of being an athlete. I found my information through search engine marketing using google.

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