This was one of my favorite assignments we’ve done this year. At first, it was difficult to think of my story, but I actually decided to scrap the draft I had written and swap it with last week’s “Personal is Political” assignment because I liked that idea so much more. After I had my idea, it wasn’t hard to write the script and record the podcast, especially since it was just over audio. Overall, I think it was an enjoyable assignment, and I’d like to think I made the most out of it!

Our group discussed choosing a topic that relates to life at Penn State in some capacity. For instance, one of our ideas was to research the Joe Paterno conflict and discuss topics like whether the family name should remain respected to the degree that it is today. Should they have a library dedicated to them? We also want to discuss the school’s handling of the issue and whether or not we approve of it.

We had a couple of other ideas related to PSU as well. One of them was to find out why they changed the colors from pink and black, and to analyze the biases that were a part of that decision. Furthermore, we considered discussing the issue of behind the We Are story, where other schools wouldn’t let Penn State play them in football with Black players on our team. This could be tied into a greater issue as well.

A very rough draft of my TEDTalk slides:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FohjD2fsLKB9Am_oAYb6-rOy3v39GbKttwtvsi3ydNc/edit?usp=sharing

This is the link for my elevator pitch! https://psu.voicethread.com/share/25177501/

My favorite TED Talk is a speech by Social Psychologist Amy Cuddy called “Your body language may shape who you are.” While she begins by discussing posture and confidence within business schools, specifically how power dynamics are influenced by body language, she ends with a heartfelt anecdote about a student who struggled with confidence just like Dr. Cuddy herself did until using these techniques to improve her life. My favorite part about this is how she includes both statistics and examples from her research and life in order to provide methods of enhancing one’s self confidence and increasing career success. Personally, I’m fascinated by physiology, so the fact that she connected body language to hormones that account for leadership skills and confidence was really interesting to me. LINK TO TED TALK

For my speech, I’m considering researching a topic related to wellness or self-efficacy, somewhat similar to what Dr. Cuddy did. My favorite TED Talks are always ones that include methods of improving one’s life, so I think I’d like to incorporate that into my project as well. I could research how attitudes towards meditation or therapy have shifted over time or specifically how gender plays a role in achievement, self-image, happiness, and success in relation to the different waves of feminism. I think that because gender roles are ever-changing in our society, connecting my topic to them would be a helpful way of measuring real developments in our opinions or perspectives on whatever subject I choose.

Despite only having seen one portion of her analysis of Greenpeace’s ad campaign during her elevator speech, Avery’s speech stood out for its thorough analysis and eloquent delivery. She undoubtedly maintained this quality in her full speech, and I’m even more impressed after hearing the full analysis. 

Her introduction is engaging and relevant, connecting the image to Life360’s logo, effectively capturing the attention of her audience by finding a similarity that most people would miss. She then goes on to connect the campaign to commonplaces like the carbon footprint, which was the first thing that I thought of when I saw the ad; her invention, however, stood out when she connected the fingerprint to crime, highlighting how to ad makes us consider our actions as kinds of “crimes” against nature. She even connects it to the “digital footprint,” which is another modern and relevant take on the ad, and it makes perfect sense considering that young people are likely the target audience. Avery’s arrangement also stuck out to me, especially toward the end of the speech, when she tied her message back to the Life360 connection, allowing us to fully appreciate the ingenuity of that comparison. Her concluding line, which proposed that we are all responsible for protecting our collective “circle” (nature) was an impressive call to action and my favorite line in her speech.

Looking back on my speech after watching Avery’s, I noticed some similarities between our presentations, in addition to some parts about mine that I would change. I really liked her slideshow, and I think I would try to format mine using a couple more words on the slides like she did, as opposed to just images. I also think that her delivery was excellent, and she rarely paused or used filler words. I’m proud of the fact that I was able to keep a slow pace throughout my speech and maintain my vocabulary, just like Avery did, but looking back, I really like how confident and prepared she seemed. I would definitely work more on speaking so smoothly if I were to do it again. Finally, I loved the hand gestures that Avery used, and in the future, I will definitely try to incorporate more physical movements into my speech. I think that Avery’s speech was excellent from her delivery to her analysis, and I think that seeing someone else’s take on the assignment broadened my horizons in terms of my presentation.

INTRO:

In recent decades, American schools, which have long served as bastions of our societies’ values, have found themselves under attack by various forces, both tangible and social. Most notably, gun violence has made its way into classrooms across the country, taking the lives of students and teachers at an increasingly alarming rate with minimal legislative response. At the same time, proponents of so-called “traditional values” have launched attacks on progressive ideas that they believe will influence impressionable children, and in order to curb this perceived indoctrination, their first strategy has been to ban books that even mention these ideals. Among the books challenged in the last decade are the famous children’s stories “The Lorax,” Charlotte’s Web, and “Little Red Riding Hood.” While these discussions may seem trivial, in reality, they have fervent support, and as the organization Moms Demand Action highlights, they distract our attention from dangers that are actually harming children. This idea is emphasized in a speech by Vice President Kamala Harris, in which she reiterates the necessity of using common sense when considering and contrasting political issues like gun violence and censorship. Both the advertisement and the speech garner support for their cause, which advocates for quality education and peace, justice, and strong institutions, through their uses of commonplaces that depict American ideals, their use of visual rhetoric and diction, and by evoking the emotions of viewers.

BODY 1: FOCUS ON COMMONPLACES IN AD

• Idea of what school is/comfort
• Little Red Riding Hood – children’s stories/innocence
• Library/rocking chair/fiction isle
• Patriotism and American flag
  • Responsibility with lawmakers

BODY 2: FOCUS ON VISUAL RHETORIC IN AD

• Sullen faces of children
• Dulled colors
  • Ties back to commonplace of happy childhood
• Only children in vivid color
• Size of gun in comparison to girl

 

BODY 3: PATHOS AND LOGOS IN AD

• Pity for children
• Use of the words
• Name of organization
  • Implication of mothers losing children
• Dramatism

 

BODY 4: ANALYZING SPEECH

• Commonplace of “common sense”
• Repetition of statistics about deaths of children
  • Pathos
• Demographics
• Dramatism of going to Florida
  • Going to the site of the conflict

 

CONCLUSION: Tying them together

• Public memory
• Rhetorical situation in current times
• Call to action

Essay Outline

INTRO

A teacher in Texas is sent to her boss’s office because of what was reportedly found in her classroom. It’s inappropriate, it’s deplorable, and it’s illegal. It’s a book. Meanwhile, a six year old in Virginia placed his mom’s gun in his backpack and walked right out of the door and into his elementary school.

 

INTRODUCE ARTIFACT #1 – AD

• Analyze different elements in the visuals

SCHOOL LIBRARY

• Commonplace of classroom / safe childhood
• Comfort

LACK OF COLOR

• Commonplace of looking back on childhood with fondness.
• CONTRASTING it with today’s children’s realities

KIDS IN VIVID COLOR

• Innocence
• PATHOS
• Visual rhetoric
• Dramatism

AMERICAN FLAG

• Commonplace of patriotism
• Turning civic duty to mean restricting guns
• Call to action – legislation

CONNECT TO BANNING BOOKS AND ARTIFACT #2

ARTIFACT #2:

 

SDGs

• Quality education
• Peace, justice, and strong institutions

LOGOS AND ETHOS

• Demographics
• Her own experience working in law

DRAMATISM

• Diction
• Demanding action

 

CONCLUSION AND CALL TO ACTION

(very rough) INTRODUCTION:

As censorship in southern states like Florida, Texas, and South Carolina reaches dystopian levels with record numbers of banned books, “Don’t Say Gay” laws, and anti-Critical Race Theory curriculum, schools are being fortified to withstand every possible perceived danger – except the one that is taking tens of thousands of lives every year. As we endlessly debate the pros and cons of gun control legislature and wait for lawmakers to leisurely enact change as they see fit, the clock is ticking in real time for those who are actually victims of gun violence; in this case, they’re innocent children. Regardless of the political ramifications that gun control would create, immediate change is necessary if only because there are lives being taken every day and because we need to shift the focus from trivial social issues to real life crises.

SPEECH OUTLINE:

1. Teacher sent to office for having children’s book. Student takes mom’s gun and walks into school.
2. Analyzing background of artifact.
3. Connecting it to patriotism, nostalgia (commonplaces).
4. Analyzing faces of children.
5. Tying it to SDGs.
6. Not a political statement.
7. Conclusion.
8. Thank you.

SECOND ARTIFACT:

The artifact that Avery chose for her elevator pitch was particularly thought-provoking considering all of the different lenses that can be used to analyze it. While Avery looked at the image and saw an allusion to Life360, I immediately thought of the idea of a carbon footprint, but even just analyzing it from one viewpoint, she had more than enough material to fill up her speech. With the focus of invention, I appreciated how she compared the Earth to the children of those who parent closely using Life360, implying that it is our responsibility to care for the planet like parents care for their kids, which is a perspective I never would have thought of on my own.

The arrangement of her elevator pitch was also interesting because she concluded with the idea about personal responsibility, which tied together the whole comparison to Life360. Her style and delivery stood out to me the most because she was succinct, articulate, and easy to follow, which helped her deliver her message in a convincing manner. Additionally, her tone conveyed the urgency of the issue of pollution, and she had notecards but didn’t rely on them, which made her seem prepared and confident. Overall, I think that this was a great start to her rhetorical analysis, and I’m excited to see what other perspectives she covers when she has more time for her speech! 

A teacher in Texas is sent to her boss’s office because of what was reportedly found in her classroom. It’s inappropriate, it’s deplorable, and it’s illegal. It’s a children’s book. Meanwhile, a six year old in Virginia placed his mom’s gun in his backpack and walked right out of the door and into his elementary school.

As censorship in southern states like Florida, Texas, and South Carolina reaches dystopian levels with record numbers of banned books, “Don’t Say Gay” laws, and anti-Critical Race Theory curriculum, schools are being fortified to withstand every possible perceived danger – except the one that is taking tens of thousands of lives every year. Freedom of diversity and inclusion has become freedom from both of those values, and as we shift to become more politically divided, prejudiced legislature just becomes more extreme than ever, even if it is only meant to prove a point.

The real danger, however, is that this radical and symbolic legislature is actually being passed, which only normalizes it and gains support for hatred. As the attention shifts from the issue of gun violence, mass shootings get buried under headlines of the multiplicity of injustices being produced by single states.

There must be definitive and effective action today combatting gun violence through legislature. Will it polarize the nation? Yes, but that doesn’t seem to be a consideration from the people promoting censorship, hatred, and propaganda.