Link to Emily’s Hair Video

1.  Introduction
   1. Show video clip of little girl
   2. Explain background of video
   3. Talk about how I like kids
   4. Talk about when I participated
   5. The video uses pathos, logos, and ethos to elicit a change in behavior in its audience
   6. We’ll talk about the pathos, or emotion, it elicits; the logos, or logic it uses; and the ethos, or credibility, it establishes

1. The video uses a lay testimony to show how donating hair can affect the donor, as well as the person receiving the donation
   1. shows that if a 3-year-old can comprehend how much this would help, everyone else should be able to as well
      1. Uncle Matthew cuts the doll’s hair first
      2. Emily explains that these women don’t have any hair and if she has so much, she is able to help them with little sacrifice
   2. Emily is adorable
      1. audience is mainly women who have long hair
      2. women are more likely to be affected by a cute little girl than men
2. The video format makes the audience trust the message being conveyed
   1. It is sponsored by FlyPress Films ***music
      1. “Our goal is to create video that will engage your audience and communicate your key messages.” (FlyPress)
      2. they were hired to get the message out about hair donation
   2. Emily is the daughter of Amy (Exec. Director) and Richard (Founder) James
      1. makes it seem more legitimate because they didn’t hire a professional child actor
      2. can see how anyone can help out
3. Conclusion
   1. Through the use of lay testimony and professional videography, the video establishes pathos and ethos in order to convey its message
   2. Show pictures from when I did it
   3. Show other clip from video
   4. The specific audience is mainly women with long hair
      1. also shows how everyone can join the fight against cancer, no matter the age, gender, race, or background

I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, when I came to this picture. One of my friends had shared a link on her news feed. This was the cover photo. The link led to a website cataloging “40 Of The Most Powerful Social Issue Ads That’ll Make You Stop And Think”. All of the advertisements on the list were utterly shocking, but this one stuck with me.

It turns out that Star Models is a modeling agency centered in Brazil. The agency released an entire ad campaign discouraging women from seeing themselves as anything but perfect. Models and designers are some of the world’s experts on eating disorders and poor body images. Imagine having to spend your days listening to other people talk about your body and how it could be improved. Eating Disorders are common among models all over the world; they are sometimes celebrated, because they allow the model to look “better” in whatever design they are wearing. The fact that a renowned modeling agency is putting out an ad such as this speaks wonders to the consumers who are seeing it. Women everywhere see something like this being sponsored by a modeling agency, and take it more seriously because modeling agencies are the ones who know what they’re talking about when it comes to looks, right? Having the background that this company does, adds exponentially to their ethos when trying to convey their message.

Look at the designer’s sketch on the left. It is not unlike any other sketch we have seen in the past. It’s not out of the ordinary to see something like this on the pages of a sketchbook. Now, look at the woman standing on the right. What would you think if you saw her walking down the street? The way the artist depicted her is grossly underweight and hollow-looking. It’s worrisome that the people designing our clothes picture women looking this way when wearing an outfit like this. The detail in the illustration is haunting. It makes the audience afraid to see anyone at that point. The emotion it elicits only adds to the impact this advertisement has on its viewers.

For my passion blog, I have two main ideas:

• “Humans of Penn State” – If you’ve ever heard about the Facebook page, “Humans of New York”, it is a page dedicated to getting to know strangers on a deeper level. They go around to random people and try to capture their “story”. Everyone has a “story”. The unfortunate truth about the world we live in today is that we rarely get a glimpse of what goes on behind a stranger’s face. I would like to find out.
• “Cross Country for a Non-runner” – I’ve always played soccer. It’s my sport. Sure, I’ve had my bouts with just about any sport you can name (lacrosse, volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming, water polo) . But I’ve always loved soccer. What I never did was running — cross country or track. For whatever reason, when I came to college, I decided the best decision for me to make friends and stay in shape was to join club cross country. What was I thinking? I don’t know how to run without a ball to chase after. Here’s the story of how I learn to run just to run.

Steve Jobs’s speech to the Stanford Class of 2015 urges the graduates to live life to the fullest, not to wait until it is too late, and to follow their hearts. The overall style in his speech is largely informal, to effectively reach his audience of college-age students. He finds a balance between sound advice and content that will keep the graduates interested. His Rogerian Argument established common ground with his audience and trust among those who might have questioned his authority to speak on the issue. Jobs uses a classical structure centered on three specific anecdotes.

The first anecdote Jobs mentioned is one about his college experience. He starts out bluntly, saying that he never finished college. Here are a group of highly motivated students, just finishing four years at one of the most prestigious schools in the nation; and he, of all people, is giving them advice on what to do now. There were most certainly people in the audience who questioned his authority to give advice to college students, having never graduated himself. By leveling with the graduates, Jobs begins to establish his ethos, acknowledging the fact that his never having graduated should not affect his ability to give sound advice. He still went through many of the experiences they went through, including failures and successes.

The second anecdote Jobs chooses to share centers around the setbacks he encountered, and how he dealt with them and how they affected his life in the long run. The writing style he uses in this section is nostalgic, using pathos throughout. He tells of his time working with “Woz”, his colleague and co-founder of Apple; about the tireless work they went through to become successful – only to have it ripped away when he was fired from his own company. His choice of words begs for the sympathy of the audience. It pulls at the audience’s heart and forces them to listen to what he has to say. While he has their attention, he slips his advice in at the end of the anecdote, to offer a solution if anyone were ever in the same situation.

The final anecdote he uses focuses on his brush with death. This third story is proved through a heavy use of pathos. From the language he chooses to use, to the emotion he uses while presenting the speech, it is clear how he wishes his audience to perceive this last story. He explains to the graduates that time is limited, and that they should have the courage to follow their hearts. By mentioning how he felt about his kids, his wife, his accomplishments in life, Jobs forces the audience to take a look at their own lives and imagine what would happen if something like this were to happen to them. He ends with a piece of meaningful advice, followed by a mantra he once read in a publication, repeated three times in order to leave that one lasting impression with the students.

Steve Jobs was chosen to address the Stanford Class of 2005, and given the task of composing a speech that is entertaining, yet meaningful. His writing style was effective in establishing a common ground, after which he was able to communicate his thoughts more effectively. Although there were some minor lapses in effective rhetoric, his overall speech managed to complete the task he was given.

Here’s a link to the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

Did you know that the lead male character in Disney’s The Beauty and the Beast is named Adam? Most people don’t because he is known solely by his appearance as “The Beast”. Ifemelu is “The Beast”. But hasn’t everyone been “The Beast” at one point or another?

Ifemelu feels as though she is surrounded by people that are not like her. She moved to America, but she does not feel like an American. In her first chapter, Adiche details the inconvenience Ifemelu encountered by having to go to a different town to do something as simple as get her hair braided. No one else has to do this. All of the people around her are not like her, and what’s worse, is that they are all like each other. Or are they?

Ifelelu writes a blog she calls, Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by an Non-American Black. She began this blog talking about the lifestyle of an outsider in America, but the message she communicates goes well beyond her situation.

The titles mentioned in the first chapter include:

• “Not All Dreadlocked White American Guys Are Down”
• “Badly-Dressed White Middle Managers from Ohio Are Not Always What You Think”
• “A Peculiar Case of a Non-American Black, or How the Pressures of Immigrant Life Can Make You Act Crazy”

In all of the anecdotes Ifemelu tells, there is a common theme: she seeks to look beyond the surface of the people she meets, and really understand where they come from, just as she hopes others will do for her. As someone who had been on the other side of these assumptions for so long, she realizes that there isn’t one mold that everyone fits into, both from her personal experiences and from the people that she meets. Without saying it, Ifemelu asserts that, as part of civicness, it is every person’s responsibility to learn about a person, in a deeper way than what color skin they have, what they wear, or where they are from.

Ifemelu reflects on a situation she encountered: “The rude stranger in the supermarket — who knew what problems he was wrestling with, haggard and thin-lipped as he was — had intended to offend her but had instead prodded her awake” (pg. 8). Even while being offended, Ifemelu still manages to acknowledge the fact that she knows nothing about this man. Because she took the time to consider other factors, she was able to take a mean-spirited comment, and gain something from it.

As an “outsider” herself, Ifemelu knows very well that there is far more to her, and every person she meets, than is depicted by her appearance. It is our civic responsibility to look deeper.