Rhetorical Analysis Essay

For my rhetorical analysis essay, I plan to summarize my speech briefly and then dig into a broader investigation of America’s sports-centered culture, and the implications of the power that sport holds over American citizens. I hope to prove that we as a society are a little over-obsessed with sports.

Civic Artifact Outline

penn-state-2
The Penn State Nittany Lions Nike Train Speed 4 Week Zero College Collection Shoes.

 

The Question: Nike, one of the largest companies in the world and inarguably the top sportswear manufacturer in the U.S., made a shoe just for us. One pair costs $109. We’re college students. And yet, some or maybe even most of us are tempted to buy them. Why? How as Nike put this thought into our head?

Point 1–It’s Nike: A credible, popular brand that “makes” you an athlete or at least an athletically inclined person. It’s a brand you trust–and a brand that the civic accepts. It’s a classic example of a commonplace–the fact that Nike as a brand is quality and produces good products. You’re cool if you wear the swoosh.

Point 2–It’s Penn State: Nike’s product is the ultimate example of audience awareness–released in the beginning of the year when football is played and school pride is highest. This is an appeal to our emotions for our school and our community–for the next four years, we will be absorbed by these colors and this logo because it is the mark of our tribe–it’s our shared enterprise. And with this shoe, Nike is celebrating that.

Point 3–It’s Athletics: Kairos and emotional appeal bundled into one–Most college students exercises extremely frequently, so this product absolutely applies to them–another example of nike’s audience awareness. Also, our campus athletes, who are also our biggest celebrities, are given these shoes for free and where them to class and in practice. Nike uses an appeal to emotion here (I want to be like the athletes) and logical conscience (these shoes are good enough for the athletes so they must be of the highest quality).

Conclusion: How is this civic?: Well, If this was found buried deep in the ground five thousand years from now by the next species of earth inhabitants, they’d be able draw lots of conclusions from it. It represents us–our passion for athletics and our loyalty to our school. And on a broader, national level, when put into context of our love of brands, they would be able to analyze the power and influence of large and popular companies in america today.

Circle Post 2

2016 will probably set new records in light-post related injuries. Pedestrians are no longer focused on the path ahead of them—they are completely engrossed in the screen of their smartphone, causing them to run into various sidewalk obstacles.

Smartphones give us access to the more data and more data recording capabilities than ever before. This has created a new reality, in which the data and information we gather from our devices replaces actual real-life experience. We stop seeking novel experiences, we become obsessed with recording our lives and in the end, our instincts are destroyed by our over-reliance and complete immersion in our information-centered culture.

Mae’s experience at the Circle exhibits this steady progression. Soon after she’s hired, she’s chastised for not participating enough on the company’s social media platforms. She is told that she should share her experiences with others, so that they can benefit from her observations and actions. Similarly, Eamon Bailey’s first Dream Friday initiative focuses on the company’s new portable cameras. They allow, for example, a hiker to tape his hike in point-of-view format, thereby allowing viewers to “experience” the hike as the hiker himself has.

The problem lies in the user’s perception of these products. Mae and her coworkers believe that consuming digital posts about a concert or watching a video of a cross-country bike trip offer the same intrinsic value as actually doing those things themselves. Real life experience is thereby replaced by the intake of data, and an experience that once engaged all of the senses at once is now limited to partial visual and audio coverage.

All of this recorded data exists because of the obsessive compulsion of modern day citizens to record. After she begins posting regularly on social media at the Circle, Mae feels compelled to record and publicize every aspect of her daily life. She is told to include everything from the story of the progression of her father’s disease to the narrative of a lazy Saturday spent watching basketball. If someone is completely focused on recording and sharing data as Mae is encouraged to, it cannot be possible for that person to truly be present or live ‘in the moment’. Their attention is held by a device, and they miss the true experience that exists in the appreciation of their surroundings.

This constant distraction has led to a drastic change in the human condition with regard to basic instincts. After page 100, the reader begins to feel slightly uneasy about the Circle. The sharing based culture starts to feel excessive and the lack of privacy is unnerving. Mae feels this uneasiness, but doesn’t act upon it. Her relative obliviousness with regard to social networking and her recognition of the hypersensitivity of her coworkers exhibit this. Oversharing eventually causes her to believe that the act of sharing and publicizing oneself is normal, and therefore is nothing to be afraid of. The constant presence of the crowd in our lives today prevents us from acting on our instincts gained from experience. We are so caught up in the opinions and decisions of others that we lose our individualism and natural gut reactions.

The sharing of data is, to an extent, extremely helpful and necessary. But a culture that overshares and over records destroys the basic currency of life—experience. Society must make more of a point of seeking wholesome experience, avoiding the constant urge to record, and keeping instincts intact. Otherwise, life becomes a never-ending twitter timeline.

 

Ideas: Civil Artifact Speech/Paper

These Ideas are not ranked with regard to preference.

Idea 1: This photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKEHn4RD7gr/?taken-by=realdonaldtrump–Trump is obviously the name on everyone’s lips because of his overall outrageousness, and this picture is right up there with his boldest attempts at publicity. He’s comparing himself to Ronald Reagan, who many consider to be the greatest conservative leader of all time…

Idea 2: Nike Penn State Running shoes–Nike released custom Penn State trainers last month in Happy Valley. I’m pretty sure that varsity athletes here got them for free. I think they say a lot about our culture and can be analyzed.

http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pd/train-speed-4-amp-mens-training-shoe/pid-11056126/pgid-11571608?k_clickid=9127d181-6eee-4ca8-a684-5b605174cbc2&cp=usns_kw_nike_null_pla!g!c!nobr!&k_clickid=9127d181-6eee-4ca8-a684-5b605174cbc2

Idea 3: “It Happens–” an Ithaca college student released a photo essay about sexual assault upon Brock Turner’s release. It’s powerful and sort of graphic, but it’s relevant to us here.

http://mashable.com/2016/09/08/photo-series-sexual-assault-it-happens/#n1PvWDH3wsqw

Idea 4: The rush shirt– It’s rush season, and these are all over campus. I think they deliver a strong persuasive message and are sometimes clever.

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Circle Response 1: The Circle and Penn State

Mae Holland’s first few days of work at the Circle sound exactly like NSO at Penn State—“Welcome! Where are you from? Let me get you set up in our system, Lionpath. It doesn’t work.”

Maybe they aren’t that similar. But the two organizations, Penn State and The Circle, are comparable in their treatment of newcomers, their emphasis on cooperative work towards a cause, and their overwhelming pride.

New students are treated with care upon their arrival in State College. They are made to feel welcome through orientation, which is designed to introduce them to their new home and instill in them a great sense of loyalty to it. They are recognized through class speeches that highlight their accomplishments.

Mae faces a similar welcome at the Circle. She, along with the other new members of the Circle “family” are recognized at the first Dream Friday meeting and work with supervisors to acclimate themselves to Circle life. Both organizations attempt to make new community members feel at home and confident.

After they’ve settled, each community goes to work. Penn State students work towards a common goal—receiving an education that will prepare them for the next stage of their life. Although their majors and specific goals differ, this general purpose applies to all. They all reach their personal goal while simultaneously enhancing the reputation and name of the university with their work.

Similar to this collective enterprise is the effort of the Circle workers to expand their company. Each has a specific job and desired goal, yet all work to “close” the Circle. Mae improves the company’s customer service department while Francis focuses on a new child-saving device.

This commonality creates a culture of empathy because each member of the organization is working under similar conditions and motives.

To continue this systematic work ethic, both groups depend on pride. At Penn State, students display their pride at football games. At the Circle, workers attend Dream Friday meetings to marvel at their colleague’s new findings and initiatives. Both organizations use these events to create a unique and exclusive community identity that makes its members want to contribute even more.

Penn State and the Circle aren’t completely identical. But their cultures are very similar with regard to their treatment of newcomers, collective and exclusive pride. Both inspire action—it’s their purposes that differ.

 

Passion Blog Idea

Reading the Passion Blog assignment description made me nervous.

This wasn’t because it seemed difficult. Writing about something that excites you is supposed to be invigorating, right? Of course. It’s easy, it flows, and it feels effortless because you enjoy talking, thinking and writing about that thing.

My problem is that I don’t have a “thing.”

It used to be soccer. I loved to play. When I stopped last year, I was sad for a little while. Now it’s not the same–I don’t love it as much as I used to. Way back in kindergarten, I loved dinosaurs. But I doubt that you all would enjoy reading about them now.

I like to write. But I don’t think I have enough experience to write about writing in a productive way.

So instead of trying to find a passion or actively look for one, I’m just waiting for it to hit me. I’ll try new things and get involved and all, but I’m not rushing into anything. I just want to write.

So what will I write about for my passion blog? I have one idea–it’s below. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for it.

IDEA: Posts explaining my observations of freshman life at Penn State. Sometimes I observe something or find myself in a situation that provokes an idea, and I know how I feel about that idea, but not how others feel. I’d really like to make my blog an open place for discussions about little things that we all experience on a daily basis, like eating alone in the dining halls or finding a new group of friends or seeing something that makes you miss home. I want to make it funny and visual.

I would call it “You’re in the Right Place,” because I think we all know that we want to be here, but sometimes we forget that fact when things are new. I’d just be writing about new and interesting things that I experience around campus that could hopefully be relevant to you.

-Jim