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  1. TOMS Civic Artifact- Outline of Speech

    June 25, 2015 by Olivia Kathleen Richards

    toms

    Topic: Toms One for One Campaign

    Introduction: What does voting, giving blood and buying Toms shoes have in common?

    Thesis Statement: Toms began the One for One campaign to provide free shoes to children affected by the current poverty levels across the globe. With their campaign and usage of rhetorical strategies, the Toms company manages to raise awareness while considering the ethos, pathos and logos of their audience and calling upon them to uphold their own civic duty.

    Purpose: The purpose of this civic artifact and contemporary Toms advertisement is to motivate citizens to help the world by purchasing a pair of new shoes.

     

    Body 1: Description

    1. Bringing the audience into the real day to day situation that millions of children live in every day. Use rhetoric and the imagination of the audience to “reel them in.”
    2. History of Toms
    3. Start of the “One for One” campaign

     

    Body 2: Relation to text

    1. As we look to the text and examples presented by the authors of our RCL book, it becomes obvious that Toms calls upon the civic duties of its audience and addresses a prevalent issue that they need help to solve.
    2. Relation to Ancient and Modern Rhetoric- Appeals to the logos, pathos and ethos, of society as a whole, have always been standard and effective modes of persuasion.
      1. Reference to Ideologies
      2. Reference to Civic Commonplaces in America

     

    Body 3: Impact for today and tomorrow

    1. This civic artifact has clearly been successful in that it has definitely inspired members of society to action…even if they were unable to buy a pair of Toms.
    2. Their success is obvious as we analyze the numbers of shoes, bags, glasses and services donated.
    3. 100 giving partners in 70+ countries

     

    Conclusion: Toms Campaign- working to make change in the lives of children across the globe by appealing to our American civic nature with many rhetorical strategies

    Category RCL Blog | Tags: , | No Comments

  2. Kairos in Happy Valley

    June 22, 2015 by Olivia Kathleen Richards

    The Family Clothesline                                                                                                                                        The Jerry Sandusky scandal rocked the Pennsylvania State University community in 2011. Following a two-year grand jury investigation, Mr. Sandusky was arrested and charged with 52 counts of sexual abuse of young boys over a 15-year period from 1994 to 2009. After a few were dropped, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 remaining charges on June 22, 2012. Sandusky was sentenced on October 9, 2012 to 30 to 60 years in prison which is a life sentence at his age. Penn State became involved because the actions of several Penn State University officials were questioned in terms of whether they met ethical, moral, and legal obligations in reporting any suspected abuse.

    As a result of this scandal, the NCAA used the Freeh Report instead of its own investigation to impose sanctions on the Penn State football program. The NCAA imposed a $60 million fine, four-year postseason ban, scholarship reductions, and vacated all victories that occurred between 1998 and 2011. These sanctions were some of the worst ever imposed on a member school.

    In September of 2014, the NCAA realized how severe the consequences were, for the wrong people, and lifted two of the sanctions that were put in place. On that day of renewed athletic scholarships and bowl game eligibility, students gathered and celebrated this victory for the community which was given the opportunity to be civically engaged as the football sanctions were lifted. The community joined together to share its passion for Penn State University and its culture.

    In light of the celebratory circumstances, the Penn State Family Clothesline released t-shirts with “We’re Back” written on them, promoting the excitement and unity of the Penn State community, as it slowly returned to normalcy. The Family Clothesline displayed this ad on its windows and around campus during the kairotic moment that followed the sanctions being lifted.  The t-shirt wouldn’t have much meaning had it not been such an exciting and emotional time for the community. The business wanted to capitalize, financially, while relying on kairos. As a result, people purchased the shirts since the prior events increased their interest. The issue was extremely relevant to the time, place and community in which it originated. There was a clear sense of urgency for the business to maximize profits. This place-based event of the lifting of the sanctions was a kairotic moment and opening for opportunity.

     

    Category RCL Blog | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

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