Introduction:

Attention getter: On the 100^th birthday of the Statue of Liberty people went crazy. Photos were being taken and t-shirts were being sold. It was most likely photographed from every angle possible.

Relevance: The statue of liberty is everywhere in America. From the back of the $1 coin to every postcard sent from New York the statue is omnipresent in America. It’s a symbol whose existence is as important as the preservation of the constitution itself.

Thesis: The Statue of Liberty prompts all current and potential citizens of the United States to engage as civic individuals by reminding them of their vested ideals in the United States.

Preview: It is a commonplace that the Statue of Liberty Stands for the United States. Individual citizens respond to this commonplace with their own ideologies.

Transition: When we look upon a symbol we personal associate an ideology with we are reminded of that connection.

Main Points:

1. The Statue of Liberty’s prominent visual prevalence creates a commonplace among all individuals who cast an eye upon it.
   1. The commonplace is that the statue is associated with the United States and its values.

Transition: Just as seeing the cover of your friend’s favorite movie might remind you of them, so does the Statue of Liberty remind you to be civic.

2. The Statue Acts as a catalyst to spark engagement thought the ideologies that each global citizen has pertaining to the United States.
   1. If they feel passionate about voting the mere sight of the Statue is enough to remind them of their duty.
   2. If they feel that being a citizen of the United States means they should join the army the Statue will remind them of that.
   3. It is the second flag of the United States.

Transition: The Statue itself is said to stand for a variety of values. When looking at it rhetorically through the lens of commonplaces and ideology the only ones that it can be said to spark are unique to every individual. The mere fact that the localized ideologies about America will be sparked is far reaching.

Conclusion: The Statue of Liberty is omnipresent around the world. Everyone who sees it is then reminded of their ideologies pertaining to the United States. Each citizen who has this connection with the Statue shares a commonplace. Globally and nationally we are joined by this, symbol of freedom.

My comparison artifact is the last public statement by Col. Roosevelt before his death in 1919. It is often misquoted as a statement he made in 1907 while he was still president.

In the letter/speech, Mr. Roosevelt talks about immigration and what it means to be an American. In essence, he welcomes all those who wish to call themselves American as long as they truly commit to the idea.

My speech item, the Statue of Liberty, provides a good point of comparison for dealing with America’s attitude on immigration from a different angle.

The text of his speech is good for an in-depth analysis because it has a similar message to the Statue of Liberty while elaborating on it further and going into more detail on this issue than just the states short text can provide.

The Statue of Liberty, as a comparison artifact, is more ideological in nature, whereas Mr. Roosevelt not only talks about welcoming those that wish to become Americans but also elaborates on what needs to happen for them to be accepted here in America.

This further elaboration will be the basis for my extended analysis on the speech.

Some of the topics to be touched upon include:

Language in America, Our Flag, The Melting Pot, and Discrimination Based on Birthplace.

Topic 1: Interesting Interviews

The basic idea here is that every week (or blog post). I would interview a different unique and interesting person. I have always considered myself an extrovert. In fact, one of my favorite traits of mine is the ability to walk up to a random stranger and start up a conversation.

While that might not sound like anything special. I assure you the amount of people that are just too scared to do it is quite high. People want to stay in their “bubble” and don’t meet new people. I on the other hand like to extend out and reach as many people as possible.

This blog topic would allow me to share my experiences with you in a casual way suited for blogging. It would be as if we were in a room and I was just telling you about this cool friend I met. It’s perfect for blogging.

In terms of notable examples of this type of blog Everything Everywhere might be the closest, I have found. He does a travel blog and on it, he talks about the great people he has met.

Topic 2: Tech Blogging

One of my biggest binges/past times is reading tech news. I love staying informed on all the latest news, reading reviews, catching up on advancements in the industry. This would be a chance for me to condense all the news I have read so far that week and share a tidbit of information with my audience.

Nothing crazy, but just a cool update on where I think the industry is headed or what I think is the coolest advancement in tech that week.

There are a TON of tech blogs out there. My personal favorite would have to be The Verge. While they have started to branch out into other topics they are still primarily a tech blog.

As of right now my phone has had 1 hr. and 11 min. of screen on time since its last full charge. It got unplugged from the charger when I woke up at 7. It is now 10:47 am. Within 3 hours and 47 min I have been awake, my phone has been on for 31% of it. The kicker in this whole situation is that I consider myself a light user.

Technology is ever present in today’s society. If you don’t have a smartphone people will look at you weird. You will be judged by other people and ironically miss out on different events that get scheduled because “What do you mean you didn’t get the Facebook invite?”

In 2017, it is expected.

Everything we do in college, for the most part, can be done on a laptop or phone. You can read, highlight, and write your way to a degree right from your computer.

Technology, it would seem, is a passive addiction. If I was an alcoholic, my friends, the people around me, and society, in general, would be quick to point out how much time and money I was spending on booze.

Technology is different. It is slyer than booze. With technology, nobody pays it any mind because “It’s making the world better!”

Facebook is to keep up with the family!

Computers are a great way to do homework!

Snapchat is a great way to keep up with friends!

iPads are great for reading!

Instagram is great to see what is going on with my friends!

Smartphones are truly one of the greatest advents of this generation!

On their own each piece of the grand puzzle is a benefit, it serves a purpose. But put them all together and you get a recipe for a lifestyle. A lifestyle centered around screen time.

Is this truly that bad? That is not for me to say. Significant evidence has linked phone use to sleep deprivation, social media use to loneliness, and screen time has been linked to unhappy thoughts and maybe even depression.

Humans evolved 200,000 years ago as hunter gathers that roamed the countryside. The lifestyle that humans have lived has changed over the course of time, but I don’t think anyone would argue that since modern smartphone technology, the lifestyle we are living is the furthest it has ever been from the environment for which humans evolved.

And that is something to consider.

Augustine:  “There are two things upon which every treatment of the Scriptures depends: the means of discovering what the thought may be, and the means of expressing what the thought is” (Source).

Foucault:  “In every society the production of discourse is at once controlled, selected, organized, and redistributed by a certain number of procedures whose role is to ward off the powers and dangers, to gain mastery over its chance events, to evade its ponderous, formidable materiality.…discourse is the power which is to be seized” (Source).

St. Augustine of Hippo was an early philosopher and bishop in northern Africa. Over his lifetime (354-430 C.E.) he made a number of significant contributions to western philosophy. Foucault was a 20th-century French philosopher and historian who sought to deconstruct systems and whose teachings are associated with the structuralist movement. (Gutting 2003).

St. Augustine comes from a time where education was concentrated in association with religion. His definition of rhetoric illustrates this focus. He is defining rhetoric as the discovery and formation of an idea about scripture and the expression of that idea to others. If a person’s disciples misinterpret his/her intended message then how can they have effectively ministered? St. Augustine recognizes the power that language holds for discourse regarding religious communication.

In Foucault’s time, access to a superior education was far more common than in Augustine’s. Literacy rates had comparatively skyrocketed and so had the techniques used for communication and persuasion. For Foucault rhetoric was no longer about effectively interpreting scripture, it was about the raw power that could come with persuasive and convincing language. Just as the education had evolved, so had the power that could come with profound rhetorical arguments. In general, people now had access to more wealth than ever before in history and weapons were more destructive. A single armed man could easily kill a number of his brethren. Therefore convincing people to be on your side became that much more potent of a skill.

As society advances and becomes more powerful so does the importance and value of effective rhetoric.