https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mSNtTFbY8O5E6uDX-kJ6a6P8Hvfqg7bP2yu4RScyR-8/edit?usp=sharing

Idea #1 – Finding Positivity During Tough Times: After a trip to India right before the start of my second grade, my family ended up in the hospital, as my parents and brother had contracted malaria. The situation became very severe, and was one of the most difficult times in my life. Although it seemed extremely tough at first, I tried to stay positive and happy, which really helped me to get through this event, as well as led to a better future.

Idea #2 – Slowing Down in Life: On my trip to India over this past winter break, I spent five days in a small village in Kerala that I had never visited before. The lifestyle there is very different from the normal, fast-paced life that most of us are used to today. This experience really showed me the importance of slowing down to enjoy the little things in my everyday life that I do not always take the time to appreciate.

Here is the link to my TED talk: https://youtu.be/83EAZ_pG4b0

My TED talk was about technology use and the psychological effects it can have on a person’s mind that create an addiction. I really liked the content that I was presenting, as it is information that most people are not aware of, but is really relevant to our everyday lives. The information is important to know in today’s technology-driven world.

I thought starting my TED talk with a personal story was clever, as it was an anecdote that the audience could relate to. Throughout the rest of my talk, I had several facts and statistics that supported my points and further proved the existence of addiction to technology. I felt like the use of factual based evidence strengthened my argument and made my talk more captivating.

Additionally, my visual to go along with my TED talk consisted of pictures on each slide to complement my speech. I tried to balance out the pictures, so that they did not distract from what I was saying, but instead enhanced my presentation. I think that this aspect of my TED talk was done pretty well, especially the slide showing the cycle between technology, happiness, and sadness. This truly captured my message in a simple and direct way. In general, I thought that the visual was laid out nicely and did a nice job of accompanying my talk.

Although I did think that these parts of my TED talk were done well, I noticed some other parts that I can improve on in the future. For example, there were some parts during the speech where I started talking at a faster pace. During presentations, I tend to feel nervous and often talk at a faster rate than I intend to without realizing. I have continuously been trying to improve on this point, and I think that I was better at pacing myself overall in this presentation than I have been in the past. Even though there has been improvement, I still think that my pacing can be better. While rewatching my talk, I noticed that there were certain parts during which I started talking faster, which caused me to stutter during the presentation. I gave myself less time to process and think about what I was saying, and a couple of times, I took longer pauses than I wished to take. I want to continue working on slowing down my pace throughout my speech, so that my whole presentation sounds smoother.

In addition, I want to find a balance between practicing too little and too much. I kept running my talk over and over again before presenting, which led me to subconsciously remember certain parts of it. Although I did not have a prepared script, there were phrases or portions that it almost seemed like I had memorized, because of how much I had practiced. I started wording these parts the same way each time I practiced, so in my mind the wording became familiar, and I would say it in a similar manner every time. As a result, I was searching for that specific wording while talking during my actual presentation, which distracted me from what I was saying. This also contributed to my presentation not being as smooth as it could have been. I want to move away from this habit and be more confident in the fact that I know my material, so that my presentation flows better.

One other element that I could improve is my movement while talking. As I was watching myself present, I noticed that I seemed stiff. Although I was looking around the room, I was not freely moving and turning due to my nervousness. I was also looking back and forth from the screen behind me to the audience frequently, but I feel like I should have been looking at the audience more consistently. I want to avoid doing these things in future presentations, and reach a point where I can feel comfortable in front of an audience. This way I will feel more at ease, and the audience will not notice my nerves as much either.

A side effect of my stiffness while presenting was that I was not using my hands as much as I had hoped. While practicing, my hands were moving around a lot more freely as I was talking, but once I got up to present, my hands were stiff and by my sides for most of the presentation. I think the use of my hands could have enhanced my presentation, but I completely forgot to think about them in front of the audience.

Through this reflection, I noticed both strengths and weaknesses in my presentation. While I am happy with the way my presentation went overall, I definitely still want to use it as a learning experience to improve my future presentations and hopefully become a better speaker.

Here is my rough outline for my TED Talk.

Introduction:

• Background on IFAW and its overall purpose as an organization
• Discussion of IFAW’s campaign which contains this ad
• Background on the Washington Post
• Discussion of Tom Toles as a political cartoonist
• Thesis: Although the two ads have contrasting ways of presenting their information, as one has a more serious tone, while the other plays with a satirical approach, IFAW and the Washington Post both utilize the exigence and dominant ideology related to an environmental issue to make the ads more persuasive in order to achieve the purpose of calling to the civic to take action and improve the condition of the environment.

Claim: IFAW uses stylistic choices to create a serious tone in order to show the severity of the animal welfare situation.

• Juxtaposition of digital elephant to natural background
  • Words to create elephant (skeletal look)
  • Color scheme and symbolism of background
  • Comparison of elephant and background
• Message at the bottom of the ad
  • Syntax: Question, then exclamation, then command
  • IFAW logo

Claim: Tom Toles takes a different approach than IFAW by making a cartoon style ad to ridicule those who are in denial of climate change.

• Antithesis between “Reality” and “Climate Change Denial”
  • Crack between two phrases
  • Statement: “The crack just grew another 17 miles”
• “Still no increase in see level.” statement
  • Use of “see” instead of “sea”
  • Placement of person saying the quote

Claim: With IFAW and the Washington Post’s differing styles of portrayal, they both use the exigence and dominant ideology of the deteriorating environmental situation to create a call to action to aid the environment.

• IFAW: Rate of animal extinction is same as growth rate of new charities
  • Shows severity of situation
  • Asking a global audience to help protect the animals
• Washington Post: Majority of people believe in climate change
  • Use of dominant ideology to mock those that do not conform with it
  • Focused on making climate change deniers see the reality of climate change and help take action to stop it

Conclusion

• Restate main points
• Two very different approaches can be used to achieve the same goal when targeting different audiences.

Topic: IFAW’s Elephant Ad from the “Will Only Words Remain?” Campaign

Purpose: To analyze IFAW’s ad to show their successful use of persuasion to convince their audience about the importance of wildlife conservation

Thesis Statement: In this ad from the “Will Only Words Remain?” campaign, IFAW effectively utilizes intrinsic proofs to further the pathos, logos and kairotic moment in order to call to the civic to protect the elephants and their habitat.

Introduction

Attention Strategy: I will put a picture of the ad up on a slide and start with the question that is central to the campaign: “Will Only Words Remain?” I think asking this question will engage the audience, as it is thought-provoking and captures the idea and importance of the ad.

Orienting Material: The “Will Only Words Remain” campaign was a series of images, videos and other ads that the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the largest animal welfare and conservation charity, used to emphasize the urgency of species conservation. It was started in 2007, and included animals, such as polar bears, whales, tigers, lions and zebras. IFAW stated that the rate of animal extinction is equal to the growth rate of new charities, and pointed out that humans are largely responsible for this destruction. This specific ad focuses on elephants, but is similar to the other ads in the campaign and conveys the same message to the audience. IFAW was founded in 1969 and has projects in over 40 countries to help protect and save wildlife.

Preview: In this analysis of the ad, I will touch upon Aristotle’s three artistic proofs to show how IFAW combines them to create an effective ad. I will look at how juxtaposition and symbolism contribute to pathos, then proceed to consider the organization of the ad impacts the logos and finally discuss the use of ethos in a kairotic moment.

Body

1. The juxtaposition of natural and digital elements in the ad and the symbols within this juxtaposition parallel the endangerment of elephants to create a feeling of sympathy in the audience.
   1. Elephant made out of words using technology
      1. When originally looking at the image, the audience sees an elephant against a sunset background. After looking more closely, however, the public can more clearly see that the elephant is actually not real and is instead merely made out of words. The gaps in the elephant created by the letters represent the disappearance of the elephant population on Earth.
   2. The real background behind the digital elephant
      1. Color scheme: The colors of the sunset, yellow and orange, are usually considered happier tones. In this image, however, the sunset also has a red component to it that overshadows the orange and yellow. The red can be thought of as symbolizing bloodshed. The different colors are used to show that this beautiful place that is supposed to be the habitat of elephants is being destroyed because of the lack of animal protection.
      2. Sunset: Not only are the colors of the sunset important, but the sunset itself is a symbol. Sunsets occur at the end of the day when the day is winding down and almost over. In a similar way, the ad is showing that the period for elephant life is coming to an end if no action is taken to try to protect them.
      3. Elephant vs. background: The digital elephant against the natural background shows that in this real habitat that still exists, the elephants are starting to not exist and instead disappear. If things continue the way they are, the elephants will soon be completely gone, or close to it, and the habitats will be more empty.
2. The structure of the advertisement with the placement and organization of some of the elements creates a more thought-provoking scene.
   1. Elephant bigger and then words towards the bottom
      1. Elephant: The first element of the image that is clearly visible to the public is the elephant, as it is the biggest part of the ad and is placed in the center relative to the other parts. The elephant is the focus of the ad, so it makes sense that this is most likely the first element that pops out. The elephant gives off a reflection that leads to the words at the bottom of the ad.
      2. Words: At this point, the audience has seen the elephant and knows that the ad is about these animals. The words help to give context to the elephant picture and explain the message of the ad. These two elements put together convey the idea that IFAW is trying to get across regarding wildlife conservation.
   2. Line at bottom with main message
      1. Question: The message at the bottom of the ad starts off with a question. The question gets the audience thinking about the deeper meaning of the image and the possible negative effects of not taking into consideration the importance of animal protection.
      2. Exclamation: The question is followed by an exclamation to emphasize that action needs to be taken fast. The question has already gotten the audience thinking about the severe situation and the exclamation is making the point even more clear. The question and exclamation together demonstrate the urgency of the situation and make the audience think more about the protection of elephants.
      3. Command: At the end, there is a command to visit the IFAW website. After proving to the audience that action needs to be taken quickly, IFAW inserts a command to show the audience how they can start getting involved and save the elephants. This strategy of using syntax in a certain order is effective in getting the audience to understand the severity of the situation and then providing them a way to help out.
   3. “Will Only Words Remain?” and elephant made out of words
      1. The use of the slogan “Will Only Words Remain?” along with the elephant made out of words directly relates the image to the words. This connection makes the ad seem like one unit and the image visually portrays what the words are communicating, which creates a stronger impact than just using one technique.
3. IFAW uses its ethos in this kairotic moment to push the audience to support the dominant ideology of wildlife conservation.
   1. IFAW logo in bottom right
      1. The use of the IFAW logo in the bottom right hand corner of the image builds the credibility of the ad, as IFAW is a well-established charity. As stated earlier, the organization has projects running in over 40 countries. They are known in many areas, and this credibility gives the ad more value, as it is viewed as an image that is supported by a popular and trusted organization.
   2. Part of bigger campaign
      1. The “Will Only Words Remain?” campaign involves several ads that go beyond just this one elephant ad. By spreading the message with various ads, IFAW’s message becomes more prevalent and is therefore made more relevant. The bigger campaign spreads the significance of the ad and overall campaign to a broader audience, and makes IFAW more popular and well-known.

Conclusion

Summary Statement: The juxtaposition and symbolism in the image along with the structure and IFAW’s brand name create an effective ad through the use of Aristotle’s three means of persuasion to show the importance of species conservation.

Concluding Remark: The big picture – “Will Only Words Remain?” – is the main idea of IFAW’s overall campaign is a statement that will stick with the audience after viewing this elephant ad and others similar to it.

Possibly useful sites

• IFAW: Stopping Illegal Wildlife Trade
• IFAW: Will Only Words Remain

Reference Page(s)

Will Only Words Remain – Elephant. 2007, http://www.unep.fr/scp/communications/ad/details.asp?id=6684518&cat=7. Accessed 20 Sept 2019.

For my artifact, I wanted to choose something related to an issue that is important to consider in today’s world. One topic I learned more about recently is ivory poaching and trade. I found an advertisement from the International Fund for Animal Welfare that advocates for the protection of elephants:

This ad has various elements that can be analyzed for rhetoric, and I want to use this piece for the artifact speech. Some ideas of works that I could compare to the above ad for the written portion of the assignment are below:

This ad is similar to the elephant ad in that it is also focused on the protection of a specific animal. There are some aspects that are similar in both pieces, such as the organization names in the bottom right. There are also differences, including the use of digital versus natural images.

The three ads above are related to the elephant ad, because they focus on other important environmental issues. Each of them uses rhetoric to convey the urgency of the portrayed issue.

This ad again deals with an environmental issue. It is a bit different, as it is a different type of work. Unlike the other ads, this piece is a comic and uses satire to communicate the message.

These are a few ideas to show my thoughts on good examples of works to compare to the elephant advertisement, but I am not yet sure if I will use one of these or find something else.