Rhetoric and Civil life

I decided to look upon the rhetoric of one of the most viral and famous advocacy campaigns in recent history. The ‘Invisible Children’ group, the ones behind the Kony 2012 video, were up until 2015 an organization that was still trying to advocate for the rights of children in central Africa and to eliminate the influence of war lord Joseph Kony. While much can be said about the rhetoric of that campaign, I aim to focus on their most recent efforts and most recently updated website.

The first thing that stands out when you look through the site is the clear focus on pathos. Whether it is the artsy shots of a child soldier, the background images that depict AK-47s or the calm and almost peaceful shots of the jungle, all of the media involved in the website is clearly aiming for the audiences emotions. While it seems to be overkill, it makes sense that they would do so; as in making the audience realize that the situation is dire, they are more likely to donate and feel the need to participate and get involved. The problem is that it does not stop with the media; all of the headings also include an attempt on appealing to emotion. “Our liberty is Bound together” and “We will stop at nothing” are great examples of phrases that are catchy and seem deep. However, upon reading the supporting text, we can see that in fact there is not much explanation of why exactly the liberties are bound together proof of the organization’s determination. Clearly, the biggest hook in the campaign is to use emotionally jarring media to hook potential donors.

Another important thing to notice, which was previously alluded too is the fact that the campaign is essentially nothing more than a bunch of smoke and mirrors. While the website makes it easy to see images, videos and obviously donate, you have to scour through the depths of the webpage to find text that refers to the history of the war and the ‘call to action’. Granted, the purpose of the text is to persuade and if they feel that their best shot of that is to come at your emotions from every angle possible, then so be it. However, I believe it would be more effective to add more easily available and better quality statistics, historical facts and information that does not seem so heavily biased.

With that being said, something that seems to work quite effectively is the way they have framed the problem. What I mean by this they very clearly and effectively make the problem seem like it belongs to the reader. Headings such as “Everyone deserves to be free from violence, but not everyone is.” and quotes like “We have been forgotten. It’s as if we don’t exist.” Calling it a guilt trip would not give it justice, because it is more than that. It is as if you had forgotten about the problem and now because of that it is more imperative that you acknowledge it. Additionally, they were able to spread awareness for their campaign effectively due to good kairos, for using social media as a platform which mainly incorporates visuals and audio, just like the majority of the campaign.

Thesis: The role of analytics in sports should be reduced in order to maintain the Integrity of the games we love.

Audience: Sports executives and governing bodies.

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The 2009 World Aquatics Championships was probably the most historic and most competitive event in competitive swimming history: 43 world records were set during the meets and a total of 38 out of 40 events saw their records lowered! Anybody that sees this statistic will say one of two things. The first are a group of naive and passive sports fans who would say something along the lines of “wow the athletes must have been working extra hard and competing on levels we have never seen!” The second group would say, “Something is definitely not right.” If you were in this second group well let me tell you; you’re on to something. It turns out that starting in the 2000 Olympics swim suit producers were developing technologies that were improving buoyancy, speed, and endurance for swimmers. But it wasn’t until after 2009 that the swimming governing body decided to ban these ‘super-suits’ because they determined it took away from the integrity of the sport. In a world of ever evolving technology it is no surprise that engineering and data sciences have flooded and attempted to take over sports. And while they have made many important contributions to improve safety and quality of performance, we have to be careful to make sure that we keep sports as fair and competitive as possible, whilst not detracting from the skill and physical ability that is expected of the athletes and competitors.

Arguments and framing.

• We expect sports to be based on physical ability and skill, if we allow access to different equipment and technology then we are turning sport into a science and engineering competition. (logical and definition based)
• Improvements to technology can make a sport easier. Eg. specialized golf balls that reduce curve and slicing.  (Example based)
• Technology reduces competitiveness because it gives sport an economic barrier (like Formula 1).
• Against the integrity of a sport because it changes the conditions of previous competitors, belittling their achievements. Eg. Jesse Owens vs Usain Bolt. (Narrative frame with exemplification.)
• However it does improve safety, consumer experience, and gives a broader strategic understanding of the sport.

Deliberation Nation has come and gone and with it many lessons where learned and a whole new experience was lived. Overall I was satisfied with the effectiveness and atmosphere of both the deliberation I attended and the one I led. With that being said I was also able to find errors and improvements that I could apply to future discussions with a deliberation setting.

The first thing that was refreshing to see was the fact that the deliberation style really does encourage healthy participation amongst the participants. In almost every debate I have attended previously it has been easy for tension to build up and for the discussion to go off on a tangent; however, I think this structure allows for a clearer and simpler form of dialogue. With this being said, I also noticed in both deliberations that it was easy for the discussion to be dominated by two or three people with a limited point of view, and while this may have to do with the size of the groups (and possibly the fact that some felt forced to attend) I believe that moderators and approach leaders should look for ways to draw out participation by different people in order to enhance the experience.

While guiding my approach I found it was difficult to effectively stimulate discussion without expressing an opinion or creating a biased front. The participants seemed to participate the most when they were asked about their opinion on the interpretation of a statistic or on their opinion on a given event. The discussion would stray when we would focus too much on personal experience, and this was tricky. Many participants used personal stories to exemplify a point, however, there were also many occasions where this lead to a tangent in the discussion. In the future If discussion would be held more focused if we relate personal experiences more to the discussion rather than continue the discussion based on the experience.

Something that caught my attention was that the deliberation I attended broke down the audience into two groups and explored the approaches with the groups separately. While this was effective because it encouraged participation, it made it seem like two different discussions were going on and it was hard to connect points between the groups despite them generating similar ideas. With that being if we can find a way to bridge the communication between the two sections in a more effective manner I think that it could have work well.

It is clear to me that framing a discussion as a deliberation rather than a persuasion style discourse can have a lot of positives effects on the participants. In general, it seems that deliberation encourages the participants to be more inquisitive, tolerant and participative than a persuasion environment that causes the participants to become defensive and narrow sighted. The following aims to summarize and explore the effectiveness of deliberation and to highlight tools and techniques that can be used later on during my team’s deliberation based on Scott London’s article “Thinking Together: The power of deliberative thinking“, and “Framing for deliberation” by Allison Kadlec and Will Friedman.

London emphasizes throughout the article that the reason deliberation is an effective method of framing a problem is because it focuses on thinking as whole to agree upon a solution rather than having individuals argue which solution is more effective. The role of the moderator is minimal, a role which involves simply ‘getting the ball rolling’ and outlining the topic that will be discussed. This allows the participants to be able to express their own understandings, ideas and dilemmas rather than get into discussions about values. Ultimately it’s effectiveness is based on the idea that allowing people to think together rather than separately eliminates conflict and creates a system which encourages teamwork and collaboration.

Similarly, Framing for deliberation highlights many of the same points but mainly the fact that all of the participants involved in the discussion feel more inclined to share and collaborate and not fight. The participants in a persuasion group seem to be more likely to rehash the same issues, and have to get stuck on issues without progress. A deliberation styled group is more effective because there is no right or wrong answer, rather a group of people trying to solve a problem. This type of group dynamic proves to be effective because it allows for solutions to be generated that are independent of group values and dependent on the means to a solution.

It can be concluded that the main reason why deliberations are effective is because they avoid conflict and are inclusive to different opinions and beliefs. They focus on the method of obtaining a solution rather than possible solutions. In my deliberation, as I am tasked with writing the issues guid for the third approach, I must keep in mind that the goal of this type of frame is to not provide a judgement, but instead to present the problem and to open a dialogue that can then enable the people in attendance to present their opinions and relate to the problem.

The Nu Era of Greek Life: Can We Make Fraternities Beta? How Should It Be Delt(a) With?

This deliberation aims to bring to the attention of the community some of the issues surrounding fraternities and how these affect the safety of the community and the individuals that are members. We aim to lead the deliberation with respect to three different approaches: The fraternity as a national organization; The University and its role as an overseer; The member as an individual and his responsibility. Through these three different frames we aim to effectively discuss what the roles of each actor are and how we the public can solve some of the issues that affect us and the community as a whole.

Within the deliberation my role is to lead approach three (the brother as an individual) alongside Matthew. We will research the topic in order to successfully lead the discussion. In order to gain some insight we are aiming to conduct some research; a survey of some members of a fraternity in order to gain an understanding of why the joined and what their goals are as a member. More along the line we will contribute to the issues guide which aims to give an overview of our approach, summarizing the key points and some of the discussion prompts we will use.

Currently we are in the research and preparation phase, we are gathering our information and constructing and conducting the survey. Within the coming weeks we aim to have a full outline of our information and a clear path that we wish out deliberation to follow.

This I believe

Picture this. You wake up and realize the power is out; naturally you are running late and have 25 minutes to eat breakfast and shower before your first class all the way across campus. The madness begins. It seems absolutely nothing could possibly be going your way today. You brought the wrong notebook to the next class. After that an unexpected trip to the restroom throws you even further off schedule to the point where you’re late to your quiz. The stress is unreal. After that you think about all the homework you have to finish tonight and that midterm that slowly but surely is sneaking ever closer. The work has piled up so naturally you should get to work as soon as possible because that can make things better right? No, of course not.

Think about it, do you really want to continue the rest of your day with that negative momentum you have going? I mean, part of it has to be luck but the fact that you already characterized the day as a bad day means that you already have a predisposition to negative outcomes. So, kill the bad streak. Restart the day. Take a nap. Seriously, just 17 minutes set aside every day to relax and regroup from the accumulated stress changed the way I look at my life. It really makes more sense than it sounds like at first. But whether I am tired or just stressed, taking a moment to breathe and doze off for a while has the potential to re-write the script of an otherwise disastrous day.

Even though it seems like I’m procrastinating or not using my time wisely, napping helps put me in a better position to get my everyday tasks done. It forces me to organize my day and to set small and focused goals which can make daunting tasks doable. It’s short enough that I don’t start a sleep cycle, which would make it impossibly difficult for me to wake up. But its long enough for me to rest, and that’s really the goal of it.

After the nap, I always wake up calm and with a newfound clarity, almost as if I found a way to slow down the pace to a day that seemed to be going a thousand times faster than what I could keep up with. I believe that napping can improve the quality of my everyday life and improve my efficiency when I’m working. It keeps me energized, relaxed and even better than that I have at least 17 minutes a day where I can keep my mind off the things that give me anxiety or cause me to worry. It’s all about discipline, if I know that I take no more that 10 minutes to wake up and then I get straight to work right after. I can hit the ground running and continue my day knowing that I relaxed and reenergized. Taking a nap gives me confidence and determination that would otherwise be fading as the day goes on. Because of my 17-minute nap I can handle anything that comes up after it in that day.

 

Group Members: Sophia Boudreau, Cameron McGovern, Matthew Hladik, Henry Deteskey, Mitchell Dobbs, Emilio Olay.

 

Topic: The commercialization of Christmas and other holidays

 

As a member of this group, I will take equal and fair responsibility of my assigned duties to make sure that this project is finished on time and completed to the best of our group’s abilities.

 

Signed,

 

Emilio Olay

My paradigm shift, as clarified in the previous post is analyzing the how Americans have shifted their taste in music from Rock to Hip-Hop. On a similar track, I would like to give my TED talk based on an idea that I like to play with, the fact that rap lyrics are similar to poetry. I think that this talk will be interesting as it will allow the viewers to be able to think about not only rap music, but all song lyrics as poetry, a fact that we commonly disregard. Additionally, it will help show that many of these artists have a greater social awareness and artistic vision than what they commonly get credit for, as they are seen as gang members who are just trying to make fun music and make some money. Below is the outline I will use:

Introduction:

• Poetry as we know it has died, and has given way to a similar but unconventional medium for wordsmiths alike. Rap music is the new poetry. Poetry for the everyman but most importantly, for the minorities.
  • Use of a quote to spark their attention.

Body:

Why can Hip-Hop be considered poetry?

1. Use of literary devices such as metaphor, simile and phonetic devices, rhyme, repetition, play on words. Basically, these writers are wordsmiths.
2. They address themes relevant to the world’s current situation, they have a unique vision and idea of what they want to say and why they are saying it. It is not only about sounding good anymore.
3. They are well educated in terms of musical competence, literature and pop culture, which makes their music more appealing, and relatable.

 

Hip-Hop has just unthroned Rock as the most consumed genre in the United States, accounting for 25.1% of the total music consumption, against 23% for Rock. We can point to music streaming, sociological factors or even the fact that there has not been a break through world know rock band like the ones in the 60s and 70s to justify this; but undoubtably, this change not only represents a change in the taste of music; but also a change in the music industry, the composition of music and the way we appreciate music. Yes, as much as it pains me to say, Rock has not had any important or noteworthy bands that can stand up to the giants that came before them. However, Hip-Hop has been able to improve, evolve and pivot into more popular, more conceptual, and to a more socially significant position.

Different approaches can be taken in this discussion; but due to a restriction in the amount of content I will limit myself to discuss the following.

• Changes in Hip-Hop; specifically rap: We can see that big strides have been made in changing from the ‘thugs and gang members’ of early rap to the artists and visionaries we see today.
• Changes in the music industry: from vinyl to streaming the way we listen to music and even the accessibility of it has changed incredibly in the past 30-40 years.
• Changes in the way music is made: The growth and increase in popularity of sampling, overlaying autotune and other which have favored Hip-Hop over Rock.
• Hip-Hop as a voice for minorities, and for social change, much like Rock was in its origin, Hip-Hop has turned into a genre known for controversial themes and for strong stances the give a voice to the voiceless.

In the end I wish to prove that this shift is layered and includes many important elements, but mainly that it is relevant to the society that we live in and the way we appreciate music in this day and age.

For a writer like Addario pictures help enrich her text considerably, as she writes about experiences and places that most of us have never experienced. She writes about what is foreign to most, and therefore adding pictures is an essential supplement to her writing. I had previously written that Addario’s description usually allows the reader to imagine the scenes she describes effectively, however, adding images gives it an important dimension; reality. The pictures give the reader something to attach to when they read making the book more memorable and effective due to the way it appeals to emotion.

My one of my favorite images appear in part IV of the book. the first is on page 211, and is a picture of the British Consulate minutes after being attacked by a bomb. Two things catch my eye in this image. The first is the sense of chaos it transmits, and the atmosphere is hazy and ominous due to the shrapnel and dust the pollute the scene.  The effectiveness of this image is based on the fact that it so clearly captures the sentiment and the anxiety that most were probably feeling at that time. A struggle to remain composed while simultaneously attempting to escape from the rubble and destruction of the bomb. .Once again I point out that as in general it is safe to assume that the audience has not experienced such an event, that images are even more impactful as they highlight the emotions of a circumstance that they have not lived through.

The other image I am writing about appears in on page 147 of the book. It depicts what seems to be the silhouette of a woman in what appears to be a chador walking amongst the baron landscape with the aftermath of war to her left. What astonishes me about this image is the fact that it was so powerful in demonstrating the devastation war can bring to a community. It really speaks to man’s capability for destruction.

For my blog writing I think I can learn many thing from Addario. The first is that images and media can aid in creating a more effective post as images can appeal directly to the audiences emotions and in some cases logic to help more effectively transmit the intended message. In addition I think it helps add a dimension of familiarity and knowledge that the reader cannot usually obtain on their own. In my blog, I can use media to help inform the reader more effectively and hopefully create a clearer image of the emotions I am trying to communicate.