Iman's RCL Passion

For my subject analysis for my Rhetorical Analysis essay I have chosen Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s Historic LGBT speech. The speech was spoken in respect of International Human Rights Day. International Human Rights Day is December 10th of every year. The day is a great opportunity to highlight the various human rights issues and universal struggles in society. It is a day of commemoration and justice for all people. Thursday, December 6, 2011 was when this speech took place. It is one of the foremost LGBT speeches recognized because of how highly publicized and apparent it is.

I consider myself to be a humanist. I am very drawn to humanist ideologies and I hold high respect for things in regards to these ideologies. LGBTQ rights are extremely important to me. They are one of the less favored marginalized groups in society and I resent that. I became particularly drawn to this artifact because it has made a direct impact on my beliefs. I absolutely agree with everything that was stated in this speech and hold it dear to my heart.

I believe that this is particularly appropriate for an in-depth rhetorical analysis because the speech covers a wide variety of specific points and arguments. Hillary Clinton was far from shy when she gave this speech. She hits several pointers on why we are all ‘Free and Equal in Dignity and Rights’. The speech also touches on an artifact in itself. The main highlight of the opening of the speech deals with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It deems that, “All human beings are deemed equal in dignity and rights.” I also feel that this speech can benefit a lot of people and has a lot of rhetorical analysis built in that deals directly with what we’ve talked about in class. Most importantly the speech calls for the entire world and their governments to engage in their civic duty to all persons. I find this to be very remarkable and highly influential.

There is one main rhetorical and civic engagement that has been keeping my attention. I live in Pollock, specifically Beaver hall and I am surrounded by a lot of the sorority girls. It has been brought to my attention lately how a lot of the sorority girls interact together. I find it rather amusing to watch and observe this interaction.

I feel that sorority life in general is a form of civic life because one of the main things about the lifestyle is social events and sisterhood. There are many things you have to learn in order to be accepted into this environment.

For one, you have to be either a sorority member or someone a female who is rushing. In order to join a sorority, you must rush. This means that you must sign up, pay your dues, and go through the process.

Next, there are the things you need in order to prepare for rushing. There are apparently specific outfits you must wear at certain times for each of these social events. I have observed many of the sorority girls at night that are dressed up and practicing things, I am assuming, they must memorize. I’ve witnessed the stereotypical ‘sorority girls are loud’. But I also have realized that they are loud for the purpose of interaction with one another.

Lastly, you have to make an impression. It’s hard to differentiate the different sororities, but to the members this is important. Each sorority has their reasons for why they pick specific girls or what they are looking for. The drawback to this is that the girls who are rushing must find a connection with the members.

Basically, even though sorority girls get a lot of flack, they essentially embody civic engagement. This could be seen in positive or negative connotations, but I think they deserve some respect.

I have mixed emotions on how I think my presentation went. My plan for the project was to basically show the artifact of the ‘Meet the Greeks’ flyer I was handed during the first week of college. I wanted to explain what it was and what it meant to me. That flyer was more than just a ‘come to this event’ type thing.

In my family, Greek life is a big deal. I come from a family line of over thirty Alphas and in some ways, I am expected to follow suit. It’s intense pressure but it is also family tradition.

For me, ‘Meet the Greeks’ is one of the easiest ways to show my interest. I wanted to explain how attending the event is more than just watching a show. It is a chance for your voice to be heard and for you to be recognized.

In order to be in the Divine 9 you have to catch the Greek’s eyes somehow and show them that you’re interested. It’s unlike any type of rushing that is done here on campus by the other Greek Organizations. There are many restraints. You actually aren’t even suppose to ever say, “I’m interested, how can I join?” You will be dismissed.

I also wanted to explain the different reasons why there is ‘Meet the Greeks.” People of color are far and few in between on this campus. More specifically, the African American community is far and few in between on this campus. So ‘Meet the Greeks’ is there to bring the black community together. It is not just for people who are interested in Greek life. It’s all in good fun.

Overall, I think my presentation went well and I tried to get my point across. It was kind of hard due to the time constraint but I also feel like that challenge is there for a reason.

WE ARE!

Directly above includes a clip of clear civic engagement put out by Penn State in 2011.

I decided that I wanted to see what results I would get if I googled Penn State University. As a current student, I wanted to see what type of reaction and image is still associated with the university after the previous history. The first thing that came up was Penn State videos on my google results. Before I came across the above video, the only video results applied to the football team and recent plays. However, this video came up shortly after.

The video is very effective at displaying the type of environment that is felt at Penn State. The video also represented the feel for the campus around the chaotic media by somewhat turning the other cheek. The images of the campus banding together and supporting the university shows that there is more to what is in the media. It showed that the school, as a whole, can band together. The simple title “We Are Penn State” is perfect for this video. In a way, the message that comes across is, here we are and we are one.

I didn’t necessarily see this video as civic engagement until the last statment. Penn State’s current President, Rodney Erickson stated, “We are a community. Our work is as vital as ever. We remain committed to our core values and we will rebuild the trust, honor and pride that have endured for generations. Please join me in this effort. We are Penn State.”

I believe the words in this statement are powerful and give insight into the purpose of the short video. The President is inspiring civic engagement by telling everyone to band together in an effort to rebuild the Penn State community and reputation. I think that the effort since then has been extremely successful and the Penn State pride lives on. We are!

Meet the Greeks 2013 – The Divine Nine

The Divine Nine

–          There are only five of the divine represented on the Penn State campus

• 5 black fraternities
  • Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Phi Beta Sigma, Omega Psi Phi, Iota Phi Theta
  • 4 sororities
    • Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Zeta Phi Beta, Sigma Gamma Rho
    • Recognized by the National Pan-Hellenic Council (Black Greek Letter Organizations)
      • Created at Howard University

The difference between black sororities/fraternities

• BGLOs are known to be a lifelong lifestyle
• Known to have more legacies
• Hazing process on HBCUs are significantly worse
• Older and well established

What is Meet the Greeks?

–          Every year the Divine Nine at PSU puts on a show

• Introduction of the divine nines

–          Establishes who they are

• Presents powerpoint
  • Who they are
  • What they do
  • What they stand for
  • What they’re looking for

–          Performs a step and a stroll

• Display how they are apart from the other BGLOs
• Represent their colors

–          In short, a way to start recruitment for future members

–          Social Event to entice civic engagement

–          Afterwards there is a panel

• Ask questions
• Start conversation
• Introduce yourself to show interest

For my passion blog I was considering numerous topics. I came down to these four topic ideas. My favorite of the four would be Grey’s Anatomy/Scandal and Trending Topics on Tumblr. Those two topics are the closest to what i’m most familiar and can identify with.

– Sorority and Fraternity Life (video)

– Grey’s Anatomy/Scandal (1|2)

– Trending Topics on Tumblr (tumblr)

– Social Media (impacts)