Rhetorical Artifact Analysis Essay Outline.

I plan to begin my discussion of each point in my essay with a Nike add clip that especially highlights that point.

 

  1. Introduction providing a summary of my own speech and then delivering my own thesis.
    1. A general description of the topic of my speech: the specific marketing skills of Nike and why we buy their products so often.
    2. Thesis: “Our cultural dependence on and perception of Nike is a narrow example of a much larger American problem—our obsession with professional athletics.” (Points of discussion will be outlined in actual thesis.)
  2. The false perception of masculinity that athletics enhances
    1. Explain the three stages of masculine accomplishment for men as outlined in Season of Life—Athletics—sexuality—economic status, and note that professional athletics are nowhere close to being equal in terms of gender status.
    2. Recognize the intense cockiness and selfishness that this attitude develops.
    3. Describe the psychological and relationship-related meltdowns that this causes in athletes and men who were once athletes.
    4. Relate this concept to Nike ads and the athletes portrayed in them.
  • The implications of putting sports before the arts, academic achievement, and school.
    1. Note that most children dream of being athletes, not scientists.
    2. Provide statistics showing America’s decline in just about every academic subject and the arts.
    3. Provide examples of athletes not completing their college degrees in order to begin their playing careers early.
    4. Examine what happens to athletes after their playing careers are over.
    5. Research—does America’s scientific and industrial decline correspond with the rise of competitive and professional athletics?
    6. Provide examples of Nike’s marketing to younger consumers, and the constant emphasis on “following your dreams” in sports.
    7. Note that there is nothing wrong with competitive athletics between children—there is only a problem with the way in which we perceive them.
  1. THE MONEY
    1. Calculate how many people could be fed if athletes combined to give a small percentage of their salary away.
    2. Provide statistics on the highest athlete salaries and contracts (like Nike’s with Penn State) and highlight how ridiculous this is.
    3. Ask the question—is this really what we want to be spending an extreme amount of money on?
    4. Highlight Nike’s extreme deals and global revenue.
  2. Conclusion: restate three points, and emphasis that sports can be extremely useful when it comes to having fun, learning how to be a part of a team, developing leaders, and growing as a person. But note that as a society, we often see sports as the pinnacle when we should view it as a rung on the ladder.

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