Each day, I try to spend at least a few minutes catching up on the latest news at Penn State by reading Onward State.  While much of this website’s “news” is more opinion than fact, I think that they have used the website as an excellent source of rhetoric.  

Onward State invites rhetoric in more ways than one.  As stated on their website, their main purpose is “to generate honest conversation in the hopes of enriching the Penn State community and experience.”  I think that this is very appropriate because it does exactly that.  It is a great place to go if you want to know more about what is going on around campus or where the best place is to go for coffee.  It’s purpose in and of itself is to encourage civic engagement both on and off campus, and, by informing the general student body, it is definitely fulfilling its purpose.

I think the most effective way that this website invites civic engagement and furthers its rhetorical boundaries is by having a “comments” section at the bottom of each article.  By using this tool, the writers of the articles can get direct feedback, while allowing Penn Staters both on and off campus to interact with each other and form a stronger community.  I think that this is one of the most important ways that Onward State achieves its goals.

One last way that the website invites civic engagement is through the “submit content” page.  Now, I do not know much about who can actually submit content to the site for publication, but the fact that they have a page to do so makes me think that  they might want every student to have the opportunity to submit articles and entries for consideration.  This creates an even greater sense of community, as it encourages participation and civic engagement among an even wider audience.

Onward State does an excellent job of implementing different forms of rhetoric to encourage civic engagement.  All of this is so influential, as it makes many students feel like they are more a part of a small community, rather than on a huge campus of over 40,000 students.  I encourage everyone to check it out, and let me know what you think it’s effects are on you!

I have chosen to write my rhetorical analysis essay on Lyndon B. Johnson’s speech, “We Shall Overcome.”  As I was looking through different speeches, this one  caught my eye because of it’s title.  Not only is this the title of Johnson’s speech, but it is also a famous African American spiritual, which has always been a favorite of mine.  As I scanned through the text, I was mesmerized by the rhetoric used by Johnson in his attempts to get equal voting rights for African Americans.

I think this is an excellent choice as the topic for my essay because it has a very strong contextual presence.  During the time period in which this speech was given, there was a lot going on with civil rights for African Americans, and I think it would be very interesting to delve into the contextual and historical aspects of the time period and how they affected Johnson’s speech and the way in which he presented his points.  I think it would also be interesting to look into the audience and their views as a whole on the subject that Johnson was addressing.

I believe that “We Shall Overcome” will be a very interesting speech to research and write on because of its strong contextual references and its audience.

I personally feel that my speech went very well!  Was it perfect? Absolutely not.  But it also didn’t completely stink, so I will take it!  As I said in class one day, I have always been terrible at public speaking.  It has always really freaked me out, so this was a really great opportunity for me to improve my public speaking skills.

I felt that most of my delivery was pretty effective.  I am definitely a work in progress in this sense, so I was happy with the way that my delivery was overall for this speech.  I tried to use hand motions and walk around the front of the computer lab a little bit, which I think accomplished two main goals.  One, I think it helped the audience stay more engaged, and it also helped them relate more to what I was attempting to get across to them.  Secondly, I think that it helped me keep my nerves under check, which was important for me, as I get nervous very easily and very quickly.

One thing that I would really like to improve on for my next speech would be my conclusion.  My conclusion was severely lacking, which is one thing that has continued to bother me about this speech.  In the future, I would like to include a more thoroughly developed conclusion so that my audience remembers the main points.

Overall, I was very happy about the way my speech went.  Again, I know that it was not in any way perfect, but I personally feel that I have already improved leaps and bounds in the public speaking department, which, to me, is progress.

Since I’ve taken the last few weeks to discuss what I see as good examples of rhetoric, I thought it would be equally as interesting to write a little bit about a bad example of rhetoric that I saw this week.  As I was walking to class the other day, I noticed a girl trying to hand out flyers.  It was obvious that she was from a sorority and that the flyers she was trying to hand out were directed towards girls who might be interested in rushing that week.

Now this would be perfectly normal-we all see this kind of thing all the time around campus, but I noticed something different about this particular girl.  As she was attempting to hand these out, I did not hear her say a single word.  Most people who are given that job are outgoing (whether or not they are actually outgoing or just acting that way to get their point across is beside the point) and will at least say a few words about what they’re trying to promote.  Even a “hi” and a smile would be better than what this girl did.  She did not crack a smile once, and she certainly did not look people in the eye when trying to get people to take the handout.

This is what struck me as “bad rhetoric.”  She was doing absolutely nothing to try to promote her organization or even to promote herself in handing out the flyers.  I truly think that she missed an opportunity to invite civic engagement among different people on campus or to at least spread the word about her sorority.

Now, I understand that some people are shy, and that is perfectly fine.  But it struck me that she didn’t even attempt to connect with her audience.  Without using eye  contact, it is really hard to even get someone to want to listen to your points, no matter how concise or drawn-out they may be.  I believe that this girl missed an excellent opportunity to put herself and her sorority out there.

Don’t get me wrong.  This girl is not the only one I have seen doing this.  I have seen this in many places, both on and off campus, and this is something I think everyone could improve on.  So, next time you are trying to promote yourself or a certain cause, start with the basics: eye contact, a smile, and a greeting.  Those simple things can go a long way.

Apparently I’m on a roll with seeing rhetoric in different areas of politics, so I’d like to spend this week discussing John Kerry.  In the last few weeks, we have heard a lot about what is happening in Syria, and we have also heard a lot about what our country plans to do about it.  From the beginning of September, there were countless debates in various chambers of Congress and an abundance of news stories about and live feeds from these debates.

One of the key players in these debates was John Kerry, our Secretary of State.  For some reason I never got good vibes from Kerry.  I don’t know what it is about him, but he was just never someone who impressed me a great deal.  After watching about five minutes of one of the debates, though, I discovered that, at least in my opinion, he is an incredibly well-spoken man.  I was surprised that, in watching him, I was mesmerized by the words coming out of his mouth.  They were all clearly thought out, and I believe his points came across very well.

Now, I know that politicians, especially ones with such a prestigious position, tend to have that effect on people.  That’s their job-to be so well-versed that people will listen to what they have to say.  I find myself, however, viewing many politicians in a negative sense for this, because many of them are just not good at it, or they are way too obvious about it.

Kerry, though, kept my attention and made me feel like he truly meant what he had to say.  I believe that he took a very strong and confident approach to these debates, and I think that he was able to answer any questions that came at him with great direction.  This was very impressive to me, because even presidential candidates sometimes have time trouble answering the questions that are fired at them.  Even when they can answer the questions, they tend to circle the question and not actually answer what they are being asked.  Kerry, on the other hand, did an excellent job of being straight to the point.

In these ways, I believe that Kerry practiced some excellent rhetoric in these Syria debates, and I was very impressed by his outstanding performance in these debates.

CROP Walk for Hunger Poster

Thesis: This poster was created and designed to encourage people to come together to benefit a mutual cause.  It uses the convention of pathos, appealing to emotions and the imagination.  The viewers of the poster are encouraged to imagine what their life would be like if they were in poverty, and it then challenges them to help those whose shoes they have just stepped into by donating and participating in the CROP Walk.

1. Civic Engagement
   1. Invites civic engagement
   2. CROP walk is to help end world hunger
   3. Invites people to come together to benefit a mutual cause
2. Rhetoric used
   1. Language-“we walk because they walk”
      1. this phrase describes the fact that in many third world countries, people have to walk sometimes miles to get food or water
      2. puts partipants in the shoes of those who are hungry
      3. relates the hungry to those reading the flyer
      4. pathos
   2. footprint
      1. the fact that they used a footprint in the poster is significant because it’s something that relates to everyone
      2. we all have and frequently use our feet
      3. some more than others though
3. Ideologies and commonplaces
   1. Religion
      1. Religion in many cases is a call to help those in need
      2. Call for community support and giving back
      3. The CROP walk is organized by religious organizations
      4. These organizations often call for community support in helping others
   2. Spreading awareness of the poverty worldwide
   3. Creating a sense of community
      1.  CROP walks take place in local communities to help support poverty at the local level and at the worldwide level
      2.  Bringing people together to benefit a mutual cause
      3. Sending a message that more can be done as a community
   4. Equality among all
      1. A push for more equality
      2. Not racial or gender equality
      3.  A move towards helping the poor get to a better state
      4. We are giving of ourselves so that they can have more food
      5. The money from the walk goes towards giving people the resources to support themselves
      6.  It is not just to give them food and water

This week I had the chance to witness Steven Spielberg’s interpretation of history in the movie Lincoln.  This was my second time viewing the film, but it was the first time I paid attention to the rhetoric at hand.  For anyone who hasn’t seen the movie, here is a brief summary:  the movie opens in the middle of the Civil War, and Lincoln feels that if Congress will pass the 13th Amendment, which would abolish slavery, the war might end.  The chances of passing the amendment, though, are slim in the House of Representatives, where even some members of Lincoln’s own party (the Republican party) are skeptical of what passing the amendment would do for the country.  Even with one hundred percent Republican support, he still needed about twenty members of the Democratic party to vote in favor of the amendment for it to pass with a 2/3 majority.  Throughout the movie, Lincoln and some of his cabinet members try to convince members of both parties to support Lincoln in passing the amendment.

The Abraham Lincoln portrayed in the movie (which I have heard is very close to how he was in real life) is an outstanding rhetorician.  He is able to persuade and convince many different representatives that backing him in this is a good idea.  He is even able to convince some of the nation’s most intelligent minds, his cabinet, that backing him is the right thing to do.

One question that was running through my mind throughout the movie was, “why can’t these tactics be used in our government today?,” and I realized that the answer to that is quite simple.  The men who had the difficult task of deciding whether they should support Lincoln or not had a real choice.  Most of them had not been reelected for the next term, so they really had nothing to lose in terms of losing the support of their constituency.  This, of course, does still happen in our country today, but it seems like it doesn’t have a huge affect on outcomes of votes.

The main difference that I notice, though, is that today’s politicians (and the rest of the country, for that matter) are extremely stubborn and narrow-minded in their viewpoints.  We are not easily persuaded to follow something that is completely opposite from our ideological viewpoints unless a major event happens to change these.  Even if that happens, though, we make our own decisions on when we want to change our whole belief system.  If Lincoln is a decently accurate portrayal of how politics worked during that time period, it appeared that politicians were much more open to changing their opinions, whether it corresponded with their party’s views or not.  I feel that if today’s politicians were faced with an issue such as the thirteenth amendment, they would be unwilling to vote in a way other than that which benefits their party or themselves.  With this, they would be totally unwilling to budge on their views, even if a person with the opposite viewpoint brought excellent arguments to the table.  In this way, I don’t think it is possible for most people to be convinced, even if the rhetoric used was excellent.

Believe me, I’m not saying politicians are the only stubborn and narrow-minded people.  I know plenty of people, myself included, who refuse to listen to anyone else’s viewpoint unless it corresponds with their own.  I’m just saying that it is interesting to see how times have changed so much, even in the language we use and the way our minds function.  I’m also not saying that political action would be successful if we were to take on the mindset that many politicians of Lincoln’s House of Representatives did.  So here’s my question to you: do you think that, if we (citizens and politicians alike) were less stubborn about our own opinions and more open to different ideas, our government would run more smoothly, or would it complicate things more?

One of the biggest steps in a young adult’s life is the step that leads them to a whole new world that is unlike anything they have ever experienced: the transition to college.  Your time at college has the potential to be the best four years of your life, but, if you don’t know how to approach it, it can be extremely hard to cope all of the changes that you will be going through.  One idea for my passion blog is to write about this new experience from the eyes of someone who is going through this: me.  As the oldest child in my family, I had no idea what to expect the day that I left my old life behind and started a new one.  My goal is to help other students have a better idea of what to expect as they start this new period of their life.   I will write about the new experiences I have had, and I will provide any advice I can give to future college freshmen to help them have a successful transition to college.  I don’t want any future freshmen to be this guy, and with that in mind, I hope to share my successes and failures (at my own expense), in hopes that others won’t make the same mistakes that I did.

Another idea for my passion blog is to pick a different movie each week and write a review for it.  My hope is that I would be able to choose a different genre of film to keep things from getting too repetitive.  With that in mind, I would be reviewing both newer and older movies-anything that seems like it would interest both me and my audience.

I personally like my first idea better, as I feel that I would have a more personal connection to it, but I would take any other ideas, suggestions, and critiques into consideration as well!