Is It Farm Fresh?

Thesis: With a significant rise in the knowledge surrounding the “shady” fast food industry and the rise in obesity awareness, the American population as a whole has made an incredible switch from easy, fattening food, to an obsession with farm fresh, organic products.

I. Fast food take over

A. History

B. Why

II. Breaking the barrior

1. Exposing the Industry
   1. Fast Food Nation
   2. Food Inc.
2. Obesity increase

III. Healthy food craze

1. Fad diets
2. Marketing

IV. Organic Industry take off

1. Industry Popularization
2. Sustainability

WORKS CITED THUS FAR:

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,    2001. Print.

Weber, Karl. Food, Inc.: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter and Poorer — and What You Can              Do about It. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print.

Freedman, David H. “How to Fix the Obesity Crisis.” Scientific American. 18 January 2011: n.p. New insights into Obesity. 31 October 2013. Web. 29 October 2013.

(http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-to-fix-the-obesity-crisis)

Whew. Holy confusing RCL blog topic. Although stasis confused me, it made infinitely more sense when the reading compared it to being essentially an issue.  Not only can stasis help us to really narrow down the issue of our paradigm shift paper and TED talk by focusing on specifics, but I believe that finding the stasis in our TED talk/paper can help us determine when exactly the paradigm shift occurred and what people think it has evolved into. Knowing when the paradigm shift occurred is crucial to our paper/TED talk because without it, we may not have enough information to back up out idea. By using stasis to determine all the arguments for and against our paradigm paper, we can also better contradict the opposing side and better enforce our ideal of a paradigm shift!  Having proofs to back up your stasis (thus backing up your paradigm shift) is also crucial. Without the correct evidence, we will be delivering completely ineffective TED talks after all.  Although long and dry, the reading about stasis provided us with 4 logical steps to take in order to correctly determine our stasis. By using the step system, we will be able to thoroughly research our topics and make it more specifically tailored and focused around our issue.

For some reason, the paradigm shift paper really got me thinking. Unfortunately, after trying to pick a topic right after my Passion blog post, I automatically shifted to food.

My first paradigm shift idea was the shift from a fast food nation to the nation’s more current health craze. Even McDonalds has joined the crowds by trying to put healthier options on the menu (or make more options appear to be healthier).  I would be claiming that the recent health craze in the United States has helped to revolutionize the fast food industry and has bought an increase in healthy eating. Some of the sources I could use to back up this work are the movie Supersize Me and the book Fast Food Nation. There have also been numerous FDA stipulations put into place in the recent years. Along with those sources, investigating fast food restaurants and their “healthier” menus would only prove my thesis that fast food companies are attempting to re-advertise to better fit public mentality.

My next paradigm shift was a little trickier to come up with. Because I have always found the outsourcing of American jobs fascinating, I wanted to investigate that. My paradigm shift would be based on the shift from US made products to jobs being given to overseas corporations (outsourcing). I think I would focus on the positives and negatives and how this paradigm shift is affecting culture and product quality in other countries and within the United States. I could use multiple articles to back up my research, as well as polls and consumer reports focused on outsourcing.

Did you know that 36% of your life is spent on sleep? Neither did I.  When I saw the Ted Talk “Why Do We Sleep” pop up on my Ted.com page, I was intrigued. One of the first things I noticed that I wanted to include in my presentation was props and sound effects. A brain prop was used as well as the sound of the alarm clock. Finally, instead of boring words on a power point slides, pictures were used! I want to use color on my slides! I think both of my paradigm shift topics would be good for TED talks. I could use props and plenty of pictures to describe both! The speaker did use a paper with notes, and obviously I would be doing my presentation without. I think this will allow for more hand motions, however, and a better overall presentation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/russell_foster_why_do_we_sleep.html

Shannon Greenbaum

137H

Unit 2 Assignment

11 October 2013

Red White and Blue HOPE

Copyright infringements aside, the iconic “HOPE” poster of Barak Obama became an overnight sensation hours after its first printing. The image, which every politically interested person has seen, quickly morphed from a simple sketch, to a viral sensation and one of the Obama 2008 campaign’s most popular propaganda. How was a poster with only the emblazoned head of Obama thoughtfully looking off into the distance and one word emblazoned at the bottom able to create such a stir in a society that is known for its appreciation of details and that is constantly bombarded with political campaign slogans? Simple. The posters color scheme,  use of certain styling techniques, a simple one word logo was able to convey the rhetorical appeal President Obama to a skeptical audience.

The style of Obama’s “HOPE” poster is a peek into modern culture that artists have been trying to emulate for years. In todays fast pace society, simplicity is ingenuity. The particular style of the “HOPE” poster encompasses everything from color scheme to facial expression and posture. A good advertisement is one that conveys an entire message in one glance. In the “skater” image of Obama, he is printed only in red, white and blue, almost color scheme and block shadowing meant for a comic strip. Fairley’s three color scheme used in the poster, manage to draw the attention of the audience as well as convey a form of bipartisan government with only a single glace at the poster. By mixing red (the color traditionally used to represent the Republican Party) and blue (the color traditionally used to represent the Democratic party) Fairley manages to allude to a president that will be willing to overcome stereotypes and cross party divides.  The white in the poster also gives it the traditional “American” appeal by using the nation’s colors of red, white and blue.  After the Obama campaign faced harsh criticism for Obama appearing “un-American” by the initial absence of an American flag on his lapel, and his supposed falsified birth certificate, the poster seemed to be a depiction of “100 percent Americanism.”

With racial profiling also proving to be a hot topic in the 2008 election, the color scheme of the “HOPE” poster, also seems shifts the focus away from skin color and back to real American values. The color of skin should not be playing a huge part of any election as long as American ideals, represented by the red, white and blue are displayed in both candidates.

Along with the poster’s color scheme, the stance and facial expression of Obama also was used to persuade the audience of his leadership and comically take a swipe at some of his critics. Seemingly modeled after a poster of Lenin, the poster takes a comical jab at critics who suggested that Obama was a socialist intent on pushing socialist policies through the US government. Although playful and clever, this subtle hint at opponents was overlooked and was part of an ineffective rhetoric as it only was overlooked and seen not as a joke but as a representation of a socialist Obama.

The three quarter head shot of Obama is similar to that seen with Lincoln on the five dollar bill and with another similar poster that was made for the Kennedy presidential campaign. Also similar, is Fairely’s use of hatching. Hatching, a technique which is basically composed of tiny lines that are used to add detail, is used in the “HOPE” poster to dispel Obama’s inexperience. By using the hatching on the outer border of the face, Fairley adds depth to the image with also seem to depict a depth in Obama’s experience with politics. No more is he a fresh faced newbie but an experienced and somewhat aged politician.

Although Fairley’s artistic devises are important in delivering the rhetoric associated with the “HOPE” poster, Obama’s posture and facial expression also factor in.  With Obama’s posture mirroring famous and popular politicians and presidents, the message is that Obama will only continue to achieve what those two great men did. Obama’s uplifted expression pensively gazing off into the distance seems to exclude leadership and a strength that would be necessary to lead the United States.

Although not an original design, Obama’s sunset pin logo that was incorporated into the poster, is also used to convince the audience of Obama’s electability. A sunset is a symbol typically viewed with a new beginning or a new start. After a turbulent and unpopular end to the Bush administration, both candidates in the 2008 election sought to be recognized as bringing a breath of fresh air into the government. Obama’s campaign effectively communicated that message with the slogan “Change You Can Believe In” as well as the use of the sunset symbol. In the shape of a circle, or an “O”, the symbol ads more Obama appeal to the already overflowing poster.

Finally, once again drawing on the idea that simplicity is ingenuity, Fairley was able to channel the entire meaning of the Obama campaign behind one word, “HOPE.” Of course, by using only one word, Fairley also leaves a little of the rhetorical interpretation up to his intended audience. Is the audience supposed to believe that Obama is the hope that we have been waiting for or that the audience is supposed to be hoping for something in particular. By making the audience think about the meaning of the one word logo, Fairley effectively made his advertisement stay in the mind of its’ audience. By using once word easily emblazoned across the bottom of the poster, HOPE also became interchangeable with words like “PROGESS” and “CHANGE” that was also expected to influence voters.

By using styling techniques such as color scheme, hatching and body positioning, Fairley was able to effectively able to downplay most criticism to Obama’s campaign and market Obama as a seasoned leader whose American values made him ready to be the next President of the United States. By using a simple, interchangeable one word logo, Fairley also was able to make the audience think about the Obama campaign’s message and make it more marketable. By combining all of these techniques in one modern day poster, the “HOPE” poster became one of the greatest rhetorical campaign advertisement to date.

This weeks RCL assignment was tricky. Although I could stick with my previous topic of Mike the Mailman and his use of rhetoric convincing people to use the postal service, I feel like that is still a little bit of a stretch to make. That being said, I now have to look for a brand new topic. Oh bother.

After pondering and pondering, my political science test eventually gave me some inspiration. The Obama campaign poster from his original campaign. This image of Obama in red and blue has so many rhetorical significances that would convince people to vote for him. The red and blue could symbolize him coming across party lines in an attempt to unionize the government.  His facial expression, with the stern look of a determined individual and the creases in his face implying wisdom, could also be used to influence voters.  The sunrise campaign slogan on his lapel symbolizes a new beginning and an end to the Bush administration’s unpopular policies. The large lettering “HOPE” at the bottom of the page is the main focus. For millions of Americans who had lost faith in the Bush administration and its ability to represent the public, the Obama campaign was the hope for a new beginning.

Those are only some of my ideas! I am sure that after more in-depth analysis and some research and I can come up with many more significances for the Obama poster.