Month: September 2021

Essay Introduction and Speech Outline

Megan Horan on

Rhetorical Analysis Introduction:

What if I told you one of the most popular feminist icons and commonplaces was in fact created by men as a way to manipulate women to do their bidding? Ironic, I know. However, this is the history behind the famous Westinghouse “We Can Do It!” poster and Rosie the Riveter figurehead that circulated in the United States during World War II. The war created a higher demand for products such as ammunition, weaponry, uniforms, helmets, and much more. This higher demand of manufactured goods then led to a higher demand of workers, however there was one problem. Most of the able-bodied men who would typically take on these jobs were busy fighting the enemy overseas. Quite frankly, there was nobody left in the United States to work besides the women. The original artist and manufacturing executives who later spread the poster had a great understanding of the rhetorical situation. The poster uses pathetic appeals of the patriotism found within their audience to make them feel like a part of the war effort, utilizes bright and inspiring visual rhetoric to entice the viewer, and plays on the kairotic opportunity of the current rise of feminism within the United States.

 

Brief Speech Outline:

  • Attention grabbing first line (Same question as in the intro paragraph)
  • Identify my civic artifact (“We Can Do It!” poster)
  • Introduce rhetorical situation (World War II, female audience, need for more workers)
  • Discuss use of pathetic appeals (makes women feel like a part of the war effort, helping the United States win the war, patriotism)
  • Discuss visual rhetoric and style (bright yellow colors, masculine representation of a female worker, use of the word “we”)
  • Discuss kairotic opportunity of the rising feminist movement (women already looking to prove they can handle more than just domestic roles, trying to enter the workforce)
  • Brief conclusion and afterthought of how this can be considered “performative activism” and how that is increasingly popular today

Season Ticket Setbacks

Megan Horan on

In case you missed it, Tuesday morning was the sale date for student section season tickets for Penn State men’s ice hockey games. The tickets were sold solely online at Ticketmaster.com, and the sale began at 7 a.m. While it may seem like purchasing tickets online would be a much easier process than purchasing at a venue in person, this was not the case. The virtual sale was met with many problems and program errors throughout the process.

Fortunately, I was able to be one of the lucky students who snagged season tickets. However, this was not the case for many fans. The Penn State men’s ice hockey team’s Instagram and Twitter accounts were flooded with negative feedback and criticism this morning regarding the sale. Many users reported receiving error messages or said that their payment was declined, despite having a valid credit card. One user even commented, “Can we switch to a platform that works?” My fellow football fans know from prior experience that Ticketmaster is definitely not the most user-friendly platform.

Although hockey is much less popular than Penn State football, its problems echo those of the football student section ticket sale to a T. Hundreds of students were not able to purchase tickets despite following all the steps and typing in all of their information correctly. Many once again received multiple, mysterious error messages, and when they tried to refresh the page to see if they could fix this mistake, Ticketmaster bumped them all the way to the back of the queue. At this point, there were now thousands of students in front of them. Despite being in line first and doing everything right, these students were no longer able to acquire tickets.

The hockey ticket sale was also at an extremely early time. The sale started exactly at 7:00, but they suggest being in the waiting room by at least 6:45 to secure a good position in the queue. I found this time to be a little unreasonable, considering the target audience is already exhausted college students. I personally had a very hard time waking up for the sale and felt super tired the rest of the day.

Despite all of these setbacks, the student section season tickets sold out in just under two hours. This was no surprise, considering the amount of thrilling overtime wins last season. The team recorded four overtime wins and nine total wins in the 2020-21 season. These included upsets over hockey powerhouses University of Michigan, Ohio State University, and University of Notre Dame. The season was also cut short, as many games were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is no surprise that people are itching to get back into the Pegula Ice Arena and see some Penn State hockey.

Unfortunately, many will not be able to experience this due to the difficult and ineffective Ticketmaster sale process. Hopefully the athletic department will hear the complaints of hundreds of students regarding the platform and will change the sale process by next season.

Is Hockey Really For Everyone?

Megan Horan on

“Hockey is for everyone” is a recent campaign that the National Hockey League has promoted in the past few seasons. It looks to show that the game is inclusive and accepting of all races, gender identities, and sexual orientations. However, many still question: is hockey really for everyone?

There was a grand total of 43 Black players out of 700 total players in the 2020-2021 season. Yes, you read that right. Less than 5% of players in the NHL identify as Black. This is an extremely alarming number considering the NHL calls itself an inclusive and diverse space. While the NHL does boast a great number of players from differing countries, these countries are strictly European. The NHL has been overwhelmingly white for its entire history, and it is time for that to change.

It isn’t that Black players aren’t good at hockey. In fact, some of the best athletes in today’s game are Black. Take a look at P.K. Subban, for example. He is one of the most elite defensemen in today’s game and has even won a Norris Trophy, which is awarded to the league’s best defenseman. It clearly isn’t that people of color don’t have the skillset, it’s that they don’t have the resources or opportunities due to decades of stereotyping and systemic racism.

Hockey is a very exclusive sport. In order to make it big, you must attend camps, be on club travel teams, and typically attend expensive private schools with great programs. This is one of the main differences between ice hockey and other popular American sports, such as football and basketball. If you want to play basketball, all you need is a new pair of shoes. However, hockey equipment can cost up to $3,000. Studies also show that being a member of a travel hockey team can cost a total of $10,000. If you are a great football player, all you have to do is perform great! College scouts constantly attend high school games, and you just have to catch their attention. However, hockey scouts typically have agreements with certain development programs to recruit their future prospects. If you are a great player but only play for your public high school because you can’t afford to play club, it is extremely unlikely that you will be noticed by anyone.

Hockey has been this way since its development programs first started, and not much progress has been made since. There are very little opportunities to play the game in inner-city neighborhoods, and there are little to no rinks in areas of low-income. The game itself has also typically never been marketed to people of color, which is a big mistake in my opinion. How many phenomenal players did the NHL miss out on simply because they were Black? How many kids would have developed into superstars if given the same resources and attention as their white friends? The next Wayne Gretzsky could have been right in front of our eyes but we never saw him simply because he wasn’t white.

The prevalence of racism in hockey was really exposed during the Black Lives Matter movement, so I am hopeful for the future of the game. Many initiatives have been started since then to help grow the game and make it accessible to people of all races. Come back for next week’s blog post where I will highlight some of these initiatives, such as the Hockey Diversity Alliance and Black Girl Hockey Club.

Martina’s Marvelous Elevator Pitch

Megan Horan on

I found Martina’s elevator pitch very intriguing. Not only was the artifact itself very interesting, but Martina’s phenomenal delivery made the speech that much more interesting. She made great eye contact and kept a very steady and strong tone.

The arrangement of her speech also made her ideas and thought process very easy to follow. I liked how she pointed out other times this commonplace has been used throughout American history. I never really realized how popular it was until hearing all of the examples back-to-back like this. We really apply this phrase to all of our problems! I think it would be really interesting to compare this poster with another time this phrase was used and analyze the difference in rhetorical situations. This might work well in an expansion of the civic artifact essay.

I also think it would be a good idea to perform an in-depth analysis of the visual rhetoric of the poster.  The art has an ominous, almost disturbing feeling to it. The United States flag being the symbol of division in the poster is definitely an odd choice. It feels like it is conveying the wrong message. For this reason, I think it would also be beneficial to add some criticism of the poster. Does it really do a good job at getting the point across? Personally, I find the poster confusing and vague. I also don’t understand the “promise” that we are trying to beat. I think analyzing these strange choices made by the artist would make for an excellent speech and essay!

Elevator Pitch: The Original Performative Activism

Megan Horan on

What if I told you one of the most popular feminist icons and commonplaces was in fact created by men as a way to manipulate women to do their bidding? Ironic, I know. However, this is the history behind the famous Rosie the Riveter poster that circulated in the United States during World War II.

The war created a higher demand for products such as ammunition, weaponry, uniforms, helmets, and much more. This higher demand of manufactured goods then led to a higher demand of workers, however there was one problem. Most of the able-bodied men who would typically take on these jobs were busy fighting the enemy overseas. Quite frankly, there was nobody left in the United States to work besides the women.

At the time, women were not typically accepted to work in factories, let alone encouraged to do so. However, the U.S. needed all the help they could get, which is where Rosie the Riveter came in. This propaganda poster was created as a way to encourage women to join the workforce and help the war effort by manufacturing necessary war equipment in factories.

The creator of this poster really understood his exigence and audience. They needed women to join the workforce, and at the time, there was a heightened sense of both patriotism and feminism within the female community. He played on these values in order to make women feel empowered. They were willing to do anything to help their country win the war, and they were also dying to prove that they could handle more than just domestic roles. He appealed specifically to this audience by depicting a strong female telling other women that “We can do it.”

For this reasoning, I am aiming to analyze the rhetorical situation surrounding this civic artifact. I also want to analyze the visual rhetoric of the poster itself to examine the stylistic choices that were made to appeal to the progressive female population of the time.

This poster also provides a great example of how companies or firms might use performative activism as a way to attract their audience. While the “We can do it” phrase has now been reclaimed by the feminist movement, its origins weren’t really about fighting for women’s rights, but rather for the country’s gain. This is very common in today’s world. Companies will promote progressive ideas not to actually support the cause, but to garner support and customers. Because of this, I believe it is important to be able to analyze these types of advertisements and determine whether they are sincere or not. Can you think of any examples of companies only partaking in performative activism? Thank you for your time and feedback.

Saying Goodbye to Broadway

Megan Horan on

Losing a sibling is one of the most painful things a person can go through. It is especially hard when you did everything together. In these situations you don’t just have a sibling; you have a best friend. This was the case with Jimmy and Kevin Hayes.

The Hayes brothers have been a staple in the hockey community since, well, since they were born. Kevin and Jimmy are first cousins with Tom Fitzgerald, the New Jersey Devils general manager and former NHL player. They are also related to hockey legend Keith Tkachuk. It was only right for Jimmy and Kevin to become NHL stars themselves.

The Hayes brothers started their career together in youth hockey programs in Boston. Jimmy was two years older than Kevin, so he soon became a hockey mentor for Kevin. Kevin has even said himself in numerous interviews throughout the years how much he loves and looks up to his brother. The two were really with each other every step of the way.

They played together in high school at the Noble and Greenough School where they both developed their skills tremendously. However, it soon became evident that Kevin was becoming the more talented player. Jimmy graduated high school without being drafted by any NHL teams, so he took his talents to Boston College. Kevin continued to better his game, and when he graduated two years after Jimmy, he was selected 24thoverall by the Chicago Blackhawks. Getting drafted in the first round straight out of high school is the dream for every high school hockey player, but Kevin knew he had something much more valuable in his life—his brother Jimmy.

Instead of “going pro” right away, Kevin deferred his offer at the time being to play at Boston College with his brother. The two were a dynamic duo, and everyone loved them. Kevin and Jimmy became known as Hollywood and Broadway, respectively. They were great locker room guys and everyone on the team gravitated toward them. Sadly, the two parted ways when Jimmy signed with the Blackhawks and Kevin signed with the New York Rangers.

Left: Kevin performing his beat man duties at Jimmy's wedding. Right: Jimmy and Kevin playing against each other later in their careers.
Left: Kevin performing his best man duties at Jimmy’s wedding. Right: Jimmy and Kevin playing against each other later in their careers.

While Jimmy wasn’t necessarily the most talented player during his NHL career, he was still a player and fan favorite for other reasons. Jimmy was known as the team jokester, and it was said that he could make anyone laugh, even after a bad loss. He was also an extremely kind player and could always be seen flipping pucks to young fans in the stands or signing autographs after games.

Sadly, Jimmy’s acts of kindness were forever halted when he passed away on August 23rd. This news absolutely shocked the hockey community and devastated his close family and friends. Although Jimmy is no longer with us, his legacy will live on forever. He will always be remembered for his kindness, humor, and leadership. Kevin illustrated an example of one of Jimmy’s many acts of kindness in his eulogy speech, all while fighting to hold back tears. It was shocking to see such a goofy, light-hearted guy so broken up, but that is just a testament to how much Jimmy meant to him. It had always been the Hayes brothers vs. the world, and I am sure Kevin will carry on that legacy.

You Can Do It Now! (Because Men Said So)

Megan Horan on

When we hear the phrase, “We can do it,” we immediately think of the feminist movement. While today this commonplace is often interpreted as empowering and meaning that women can do anything men can do, its original context is a little less pure.

The famous “Rosie the Riveter” poster was originally produced as World War II propaganda as a way to entice women to join the workforce. At the time, many of the able-bodied men in the country were deployed and fighting overseas. As a greater demand for war products arose, there were less and less men back home to produce them. This led to higher-ups having to resort to their last option—women.

J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” poster from 1943.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Can_Do_It!#/media/File:We_Can_Do_It!_NARA_535413_-_Restoration_2.jpg

After analyzing this poster, I have to give props to the creator, J. Howard Miller. The persuasiveness of the message is outstanding, and he thoroughly understood the rhetorical situation. The exigence of the poster is fairly obvious. They needed more goods manufactured, and there weren’t enough men around to do it. Moreover, the timeliness of the message is perfect. Not only were all U.S. citizens extremely patriotic and would do anything to help the war effort, but more importantly women were fighting for equal rights and respect in the workforce. These heightened feelings of patriotism and feminism within the audience made it the perfect time to release this persuasive, urgent call to action.

The creator also knew the audience they were looking to attract. They needed women who were willing to roll up their sleeves (pun intended) and get the job done. “Rosie” isn’t depicted as overtly feminine. In fact, her hair is tied back, she has a determined look on her strong facial features, and she is even muscular. Female activists who wanted to break their gender stereotypes and domestic roles at the time would be instantly drawn to this. Rosie enthusiastically yelling “We can do it!” adds a special sense of enthusiasm. The use of the word “we” in this commonplace, especially since it is being delivered by another woman, would make any girl at the time feel like she belonged in the factory too.

Stick and Puck or Scully and Hitchcock

Megan Horan on

Oddly enough, some of the things that bring me the most happiness in my life also stress me out to the extreme. I love hockey. I love everything about the game itself and the sense of community within the fanbase. I love when my team wins, however, I am a Philadelphia Flyers fan, so that hasn’t happened very much recently.

Watching games and studying the playoff standings stress me out, but this all adds to the thrill of the game. I would love to write a blog about the game of ice hockey and everything that comes with it—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I am also a huge fan of sitcoms and would thoroughly enjoy writing a review blog for weekly episodes of shows. Sitcoms like Brooklyn 99, Letterkenny, and Bob’s Burgers all provide enough material for a good laugh and in-depth analysis. However, if I had to choose, I would pick a hockey blog. When given the option between a game or comedy on the television, I will always pick the game.