Month: September 2021
intro to rhetorical analysis essay
introduction:
“Want it all”, 3 words with a powerful and unforgettable message. We all know how much effort Nike puts in its marketing to create awesome advertisement videos, one of these projects was the “Want it all” video. The main message Nike wanted to communicate in this project is that perseverance and ambition are key to success. The advertisement starts with a little kid watching older boys playing basketball, as the video goes on he starts imagining what his future life could be as a professional basketball player if he continues his hard work, and follows his dreams. Nike’s main strategy is relying on the lens of trust, which includes ethos, pathos, and logos, to get to the audience and persuade them to buy more of their products. A similar idea is reflected in Adidas’s “break free” advertisement, which shows an old man trying to escape from what looks like an asylum, he wants to be free and is capable of doing it while using Adidas shoes. The author of this video uses visual rhetoric to create a reaction from the audience, it provokes positive emotion and gives value to the product.
Speech outline:
analyzing rhetorical situations of Nikes “Want it all” and Adidas’s “Break free” advertisements
The main message of both: perseverance and ambition are key to success.
Main topics:
~Use of pathos, logos, and ethos in both of the ads for comparison (similarity)
Ethos: Both use renowned athletes to advertise their products…also they both are known sports companies, they get their credibility by being the authors of the videos.
Pathos: Both use inspirational ideas to appeal to people’s emotions…
Logos: “Perseverance and ambition are key to success.” People can connect to logic in this idea…
~Commonplaces in both ads
First football game ever!
This weekend was the football game. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was very excited about the experience. Before coming here I used to watch videos of the beautiful fireworks and amazing cheering songs the students sang in the stadium, the players coming into the court, the Nittany Lion boosting everyone up, etc. Everything about Penn State football sounded so thrilling, and I wanted to feel part of this awesome body of students encouraging their team.
My friend and I were the only ones that got student section tickets, so I thought I was going to watch the game only with him, but then we had the idea to sneak my other friends into the student section. I was so afraid because I thought we were going to be caught, even me because I was helping them, but it was the easiest thing ever, I don’t know If I should be writing about this but it was so funny. My friend was the first to pass the line where the student section and non-student section are separated, when he was inside, he tried to distract the person checking the tickets and gave me his ticket for my other friend, then we sneaked her in by showing him the same pass and oh my god it was so scary, I felt such a rush and overwhelming feeling, but in a good way.
My experience was marked by a lot of screaming, meeting new people, being so confused about what was happening in the game, being shoved around, being screamed at by people I don’t know, but overall, had lots of fun. I’m so glad I went through it, I feel like it’s good to experience different activities just for the laughs in the future and get out of my comfort zone more often. The tailgating was also new for me, I didn’t even know what that word meant before coming here. People sharing food, beverages, taking a lot of pictures, having fun, is an experience every person should have. The screaming and cheering is the best part, more than a thousand students making noise and being animated and exhilarated is contagious, even I that didn’t know what was happening in the game wanted to scream my lungs off. I felt like I was part of something big, a more important community, although I didn’t know more than 5 people in the stadium it was like we were family.
Feels like home?
Lately, I’ve been feeling a little off because I’m missing home more than usual. I say it like I’ve been here for a long time but it kind of feels like it. Me calling my parents every single day since I came here is not enough for me anymore but I have to bear with it. It’s not like I can ask them to come to pick me up or go on a bus to them. However, I’m feeling confident this is just a phase that eventually will change for the better, I’m not saying I’m not going to miss them anymore but maybe I’ll get used to the idea of not having them with me all the time or see them often.
At the same time, having so much freedom here has taught me about being an adult and how hard it gets. I’m in another country and if something goes wrong I don’t have my parents to go ask for help. For example, I’ve been very concerned about the covid situation in-state college, people seem to not care and act as the virus was never here, which is opposite to Ecuador because people are still recovering from all the material and human losses. Not gonna lie, when the mask mandate came back to Penn State I was so relieved, I felt safe again although it was only for classes. It was so funny when some students created polls to present to the university’s administration and end the mandate. I get that “My body my choice” can be applied here but when this decision can help or protect someone from getting exposed to this sickness is enough reason to cooperate.
Moving on from serious matters, this weekend is going to be my first American football game ever! I’m so excited because I’ve heard so many cool stories about what happens in these games, and also I’ve watched some videos of the thrilling experience I’m about to live. I’m not sure how this works though, I don’t even know the rules of it, but neither do my American friends so I think I’m okay. I missed the first game and I felt so left out because everything everyone talks about this week is how Penn State destroyed the opposing team, I would’ve loved to see it in person, so I’m not missing it this time. People even say this is one of the biggest games of the season, “The Whiteout”, I don’t even know what that means but I’m exhilarated about experiencing a football game.
Overall, I’m liking it so far, people are so nice and I love when they ask me about my country, it makes me feel like I have something big to be proud of. Can’t wait to be back though, hopefully, time pass by fast, and I can get to see my family again soon.
feedback on classmate elevator pitch
Crystal’s elevator pitch interested me a lot. The topic she chose is a very controversial matter to discuss and I think she explained her ideas well, in an entertaining and easy way. Personally, I don’t know much about these different social issues that are of great importance, as a person that didn’t have a lot of knowledge of it I think I understood what she was talking about and why.
When she started with the slogan “My Body My Choice”, she got my attention immediately, because this is such a powerful group of words, and I don’t know if I’m right but I feel like because I’m a girl I felt like I can relate with that sentence. I like how Crystal mentioned the different meanings this group of words has in different people, for example as she said, for some, it means being able to wear whatever they want wherever they want, for others it can mean the right to accept or decline to get a vaccine, and at last that in this century the main meaning for this sentences is referring to abortion.
She used the lens of trust to explain the rhetorical situation of the artifact. More specifically appealing to ethos because women are the ones carrying the signs and people will be more likely to get the effect or reaction of people about the posters.
Overall, I think her speech was effective in showing her point of view about the “My body my choice” social movement. She explained very well the rhetorical situation of the artifact giving specific examples for example exposing the visual rhetoric of the women writing in big and bold words in the posters.
Nolan’s cheddar cheese / mouse advertisement: elevator pitch
The advertisement starts with a normal mouse looking for a snack when he finds the cheese and the mousetrap “kills” him, or that’s what the author is trying to make people think. Then he wakes up and becomes strong enough to lift weights.
There are a lot of strategies used by the company to persuade people to buy the cheese. For example, the music they used, at first it was a calm and gentle song, but then they presented the mouse working out with a particular famous song, the eye of the tiger, which people can relate to as victory and power, so the next time individuals buy cheese they can remember the well-known song and relate it to Nolan’s cheese.
The ad also shows the lens of trust, which includes pathos. When presenting a cute mouse as being a victim of animal cruelty when the mousetrap “kills” him, the author appeals to the audience’s emotions, specifically sympathy and pity. Then when he resuscitates and starts lifting the mousetrap it appeals to humor. This is presented so that people can understand the idea that Nolan’s cheese has a strong cheese flavor, not that it will make people strong, also there is no logic in the video because no mouse can lift the mousetraps or be stronger just by eating cheese, but that is what makes the ridiculously funny and at the end successful in its main purpose, which is entertaining people and persuade them to buy their cheese.
Thank you.
My first 2 months in State College
My first 2 months here were interesting. I came on the 22nd of June 2021, and today is the 7th of September, 2021, I don’t understand how time passes so fast. How can I start talking about something that I have no idea how’s happening, I think I’m not conscious of how far I’ve come and how the experiences I’m living are the stories I’m going to tell my grandchildren. I’m in college, in another country, without my friends and family, I’m alone. Well, sometimes it feels the opposite, I can say it’s the least alone I’ve ever felt in my life. I still do not understand how I’m sleeping in the same room as someone I’ve never met before coming here, talking to people from all over the world, people like me, afraid of what’s happening, and excited about the future.
I’m going to start talking about real experiences now. I’ve met so many nice people, I even think I met my new best friend, Paige. I’m so thankful for having met someone so different from me but that I can relate to a lot. My mom was nervous when I came here because she thought I would have no friends and now she calls me every day to make sure I’m still talking to Paige, and they both talk, well, she tries, none of my parents speak English.
I need to be honest, I miss Ecuadorian food so much, food here is just not it. My friends tell me it’s just college food, but even restaurants do not fulfill my expectations. I miss a good encebollado, Arroz con menestra, ceviche, I’m sure none of the people reading this know what those words mean but it’s okay, you should try it though. I miss the good Korean food too, when my dad used to wake me up at 6:00 in the morning just to eat with him, I miss that so much.
College life is hard, everyone is studying all the time, including me, and it can get exhausting to have to socialize every day, so I’ve created a space for me to go and relax without people or work, just me and a book. However, I wouldn’t change anything. I’m so thankful for the life I’m living right now, I think I’m going to remember it forever. I’m proud of myself, not everyone can be independent living in a different country at this young age. Hopefully, I’ll make it till the end and can share my story with friends, family, and pretty much everyone interested in how a mixed Ecuadorian-Korean girl got to live alone and go to college in State College, Pennslyvania.