If there was a problem that affects 25% of women on campus, then why wouldn’t there be a persistent effort to curb this issue? According to Penn State’s Gender Equity Center, one in four women, and one in sixteen men are sexually assaulted during their time as a Penn State student. This current situation has been prolonged by a lack of education as well as a societal enforced rape culture. The advertisements “Unacceptable Acceptance Letters” and Penn State’s own “All In” campaign focus upon displaying how sexual assault on college campuses has been enabled through victim blaming and a demeaning mistrust towards victims. These notions are highlighted through commonplaces about college, an accusatory tone, and pathos in the form of imagery.
JOJI.
This week, we’re going to slow it down a bit and talk about the artist Joji. You may be thinking, wait, is this another band? Or, cool let’s hear about it. Or just maybe about how slugs have four noses–really I’d never know. However, to answer your most plausible question, no, this isn’t another band, but rather a pretty good lo-fi singer. But, I’ve had enough of this self-squabbling, so let’s get into it. You’ll like it. I promise.
Joji, formally known as George Miller, is a musician, singer, songwriter, and producer from Osaka, Japan. Previously, Miller had a career of being a shock-comedy Youtuber under the name Filthy Frank, and produced content such as the viral Harlem Shake video or eating and swimming in a bathtub full of ramen. However, don’t be intimidated by this outlandish appearance of Miller as Joji represents the subtle and sweet 
melancholic side of his soul. In December 2017, Miller took a leap to pursue a career in music, and since then has successfully released two albums under the name Joji, In Tongues (2017) and Ballads 1 (2018). Joji’s music is best described as slow, raw, soulful, and quite minimalistic in terms of production, with simple beats and melodies as background noise. The genre of his music also falls within R&B, trip hop, and lo-fi.
The best way to explain Joji is to relate his music as something that you listen to when you’re sad, and immediately connect with. The beat within his songs are easy and slightly pulsate throughout your mind, as his soft voice guides you word by word through the lines of verses. Joji doesn’t use complex structures and keeps his songs smooth and easy to understand, like flowing chocolate. Often his songs feature electronic accents, occasional percussion sounds, and a dark bass. Recurring themes are modern romance, lost love, emptiness, sadness, sacrifice, among other deeply relatable things.
One of Joji’s memorable songs is “Slow Dancing in the Dark” which portrays someone that longs for a romantic relationship, someone to fulfill their deep emptiness, and to share a part of their life with. But, this person is heavily lost in their own path of life, whether they are too deep inside their own head, or facing other issues, 
and thus do not have the mental capability to sustain a functionable relationship. The lyrics are pretty simple, yet have a reservoir of deeper meaning behind them. Many of Joji’s songs have this ambiguous nature surrounding them, and promote finding your own meaning and purpose within them. The especially pleasing aspect of this song is that there is a very, very satisfying key change which occurs at the climax of the song, and possibly signifies a breaking point within this character.
It’s safe to say that Joji is the fix for modern heartbreaks. Or, for those times that are especially clouded by that special someone, now they can be drowned out by some slow, savory, and soulful trap beats.
Top 5 Songs:
Artifact Speech Outline
Thesis: Explore how imagery is used to form personal and memorable meaning (pathos) for the audience, as well as how it uses statistics to call for immediate action and reform.
- Statistic as a hook
- Pertaining specifically to the sexual assault rates on penn state campuses
- Short background on issue and how it connects to the audience (use how we are all freshman, new to campus, looking for new experiences, don’t expect anything bad like this to happen to us→ expectations vs. reality)
- Pertaining specifically to the sexual assault rates on penn state campuses
- Background on advertisement (introduce it)
- Campaign, where did it come from, year it started
- THESIS
- Explore how imagery is used to form personal and memorable meaning (pathos) for the audience, as well as how it uses statistics to call for immediate s
- Explain imagery
- How it makes people feel personally connected to the ad/empathetic
- Imagine themselves/friends/family members in that position→ reality
- Raw and straightforward, doesn’t hide the truth and exposes the lack of safety on campus
- Forces audience to become a part of a real like scenario, put themselves in the places of sexual assault victims
- Puts a face to an issue rather than just words and numbers
- shocking/ eye opening reality, blunt, straightforward, “in your face” → accusatory tone makes the reader feel uncomfortable
- Explain use of statistics
- Without a context they are out of place, cold hard facts, not as effective
- Here they are perfectly placed at the end of the ad to tie ideas together, make a long lasting punch
- Makes the issue more blaring, want attention drawn to it
- Impactful, impetus for change
- Makes the advertisement credible
- Facts that can’t be argued with
- Proves that it is an issue that needs to be addressed now!!
- Closing Statements
- Strong, personal, possibly relate to psu?
- CALL TO ACTION!!!!!
VUNDABAR.
“What’s your favorite band?”
–A question that I get asked quite frequently, yet my reply often leaves people feeling puzzled and confused. Of course my natural answer is VUNDABAR (with all the intended enthusiasm)! This hidden gem of a band is unlike any other that I’ve listened to, with their overall lighthearted seriousness, self-aware cliche sadness, and carelessly fun live performances. Vundabar has it all, and it is in fact quite wonderful.
Vundabar is based out of Boston, Massachusetts and consists of Brandon Hagen, Grayson Kirtland, and Drew McDonald. Their first album Antics, was released in 2013 and their most recent album Smell Smoke, was released in 2018. This may likely sound like a nobody band to you, but this by no means insinuates that they shouldn’t be paid attention to. After all, the best finds are the hidden ones. So, I encourage you all to keep an open mind and ear here on out.
One of the most blaring and lovable characteristics of this band is their funky, upbeat, and catchy way of performing music. The lead singer, Brandon Hagen, sings with a calm and controlled voice which sporadically dips in all sorts of directions and registers, without leaving a remnant of tension. This bizarre contrast is a satisfying opposition, which provides an essential basis for the structure of their music.
On top of this, Vundabar’s lyrics seem nonsensical at times and feature playful scenarios, such as a man losing a hat, getting over his loss, seeing everyone else wearing his same hat, and then later buying the same hat all over again. This simple instance represents consumerism, materialism, as well as conformity in our society as the song “A Man Loses a Hat” mentions “But then I lost the hat/ Where does that leave me at?/ I know I am only what I show.” These lines directly question the value that we place on material items in relation to our own worth and self expression, in a “silly” yet effective way. Whether or not this specific analysis was implied, Vundabar doesn’t hesitate to question society’s norms and conventional human behavior.
Another aspect within Vundabar’s music is their humorous, yet dark self-awareness of themselves in their lyrics. One lyric that perfectly exemplifies this is from the song “Holy Toledo” as Hagen whines in a childish, mocking voice, “Bullet in the brain ‘cause my life’s a cliché.” This statement in itself is, you guessed it–a cliché. The rest of this song is otherwise imaginative and playful, with its incoherent storytelling and hallucinogenic, strung together type of style, “I went to the store today/Met a purple John he said/You’ve got eyes in your head.” I hold a dear admiration for this song because it was the first Vundabar song that I listened to and I immediately fell in love with its incomplete and quirky nature.
If you want to listen to something explorative and sad and fun, make sure you check out Vundabar’s website and listen to their songs linked below!!!
Top 5 Favorites:
Rhetorical Artifact
Concerning the rhetorical situation, kairos is an essential aspect when formulating a rhetorical analysis, as this moment of opportunity could significantly aid one’s credibility and relevance. Kairos is an unidentifiable moment of time that can’t be predicted or replicated in which certain issues are highlighted over others. Thus, making it the perfect time to strike and propose an examination of that issue or event, sustaining a more influential impact than if brought up on regular terms.
The artifact that I have chosen is an information poster that addresses the stigma surrounding sexual assault and harassment. I found this poster in the hall of my dormitory, in a public place where everyone frequently passes by. Reflecting on my short time here at Penn State, I’ve noticed the countless posters, flyers, resource pamphlets, seminars, etc. that mention the topic of sexual assault and harassment. Even before I became an official “Penn-Stater” I had to take a required course on consent and the warning signs of a possible rape situation. Of course these are not light topics to be welcomed with, but this is the unfortunate reality of living on a campus inhabited by thousands of other unpredictable people.
The kairos associated with this topic is the surge of misconduct within fraternity houses and the rising numbers of sexual assaults on campus among the past couple of years. This intoxicating culture is complex, and is sustained by things that are too big to explain and understand. Society’s imposing values of a “tough” male and “subordinate” female would just be scratching the surface of the system. This artifact specifically flourishes because the topic of sexual assault is a living reality for men and women on campus, as well as because this topic is also becoming more acceptable to talk about. Relating to the world, the Me Too movement in 2017 has allowed many survivors of sexual assault or abuse to come forward and share their stories with confidence, and be embraced in a supportive atmosphere. Additionally, this movement has brought forth a committed motivation for preventing these occurrences from happening and educating against the stigma.
Don’t Sleep on PUP
PUP- a four-piece punk rock band from Toronto.
I have this theory that the best music is discovered by word of mouth and through friends. I uncovered PUP’s music through both of these routes and by far have not regretted my decision to start listening to them. Initially, when I first listened to their music I thought that their sound was a bit too scratchy and screamy. But, after reclicking and replaying a few of their songs, I finally recognized the appeal behind the lead singer’s ferocious and quirky style.
First off, a little background information about this band is that they are from Toronto, Canada and are composed of Stefan Babcock, Nestor Chumak, Zack Mykula, and Steve Sladkowski. Their style of music is generally described as pop punk, punk rock, and hardcore, as it meshes 
clanging guitar riffs with sweet and catchy hooks. PUP formed in 2010 under the name “Topanga,” which was a tribute to their “first middle-school crush” who was the character from the Disney series Boy Meets World. The band was created in college after recording a song for a project, which inevitably furthers the cliche of a punk band full of college kids. A few years later, the band changed their name to the acronym “PUP” which was inspired by the lead singer’s grandma who said that playing in a rock band is a “pathetic use of potential.” Currently, the band has three released albums, with their most recent album “Morbid Stuff” released in early 2019.
Now the question is, why is this music interesting? What makes PUP’s songs so distinguished from other music in the same genre or any other genre? A lot of their songs feature a driving tempo, a steady upbeat rhythm from the drumset in the background, a catchy guitar riff, a thrumming bassline, perfectly accompanied by the scratchy, distinct voice of the lead singer. Common themes in PUP’s music feature hardships in life ranging from toxic relationships, the death of a loved childhood pet, or the feeling of a seemingly-endless sludging gloom. PUP is raw, exciting, earnest, dismal, and passionate all at the same time.
One characteristic that I absolutely adore in PUP’s music is their ability to bring out a hopeful undertone throughout their songs, and assure their audience that even though things may be messy and bad, there is always a possibility for things to be less bad. One song in particular that embodies 
this theme is Dark Days, as the lyrics state, “We’ve had some dark days/We’re in the thick of it now/And when the ice breaks/There will be no one around.” This songs mentions that even though troubles may plague us at times, pushing through while keeping our chins up is our best bet. Additionally, that there doesn’t need to be an immediate solution to these problems and that it’s perfectly okay for these instances to happen, because others feel the same way too.
Life happens at its own pace and it’s better for all of us to hang around, scream a little bit, laugh, cry until snot drips from our noses, and feel this way together. And maybe listen to PUP while we’re at it.
Analyzing Advertisements
Identifying rhetoric and its usage in real life seemed like a tricky task at first, but once I opened my eyes to the hundreds or maybe thousands of advertisements that I see everyday, I started to understand the impact that rhetoric has on me. The target of these advertisements is mainly focusing on me as the consumer, and whether I’m scrolling on my Instagram feed, watching videos on YouTube, or even walking down my dorm hallway, I’m constantly bombarded with ads that are trying to catch my eye. In regards to catching one’s attention, rhetoric is not only used to draw an audience in but also to persuade them and keep them interested. One company in particular that uses rhetoric heavily to persuade their audience is Old Spice. The product that they are trying to sell may just be a men’s deodorant, but these commercials use a bombastic tone with pompous visuals to portray the “manliness” of Old Spice in a humorous way. The ad “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” is no different as the main character is presented to be better than the average man because he uses Old Spice, compared to another man that uses “lady-scented body wash.” This claim is supported by the commonplace that men that use floral or “woman-like” body washes appear less masculine because of their choice in product. Later in the advertisement the main character is on a boat in the middle of the ocean and is shown holding “two tickets to that thing you love” which seconds later, turns into diamonds. This example refers to the audience of women and the commonplace idea that women love gifts and diamonds, in particular. The inclusion of this serves to deepen the idea that men who wear Old Spice are perfectly romantic, masculine, and can satisfy any woman’s needs.
Passion Project
According to the Oxford Dictionary, passion is defined as a “strong and barely controllable emotion.” Initially, when I inspected this definition I felt intimidated, as what could possibly bring me these intense sensations? Could my liking and frequency of cooking instant mashed potatoes be deemed as a “barely controllable emotion”? Would that even be considered a healthy or palatable “passion” or more of a weekend side-hobby? I still haven’t been able to produce a suitable answer to these questions, and I don’t think I really want one. However, through my pondering I have in fact discovered a true passion of mine– music. Coming to this conclusion involved realizing my consistent desire to blast music in my earbuds while knowingly embracing the possibility of becoming hard of hearing in the 
future. Exploring the meanings behind each song I come across is an exciting task, as I feel a connection to the artist’s life, as well as a freedom to take a piece of a song and make it my own. To explain what I mean, I see music as something that is available for virtually anyone, and something that no one really owns physically. You choose to make what you want of it. Whether that’s just casually listening to songs on the radio on your drive home, listening to only Chopin for the entirety of your life, hating the country music genre, or analyzing the political emphasis in Pink Floyd’s album “The Dark Side of the Moon.” Music can be as flexible as you want, or as deep or lighthearted as you want it to be, and no one can really tell you that you’re wrong, and that’s why I love it. Thus, one idea for my passion blog would be writing about certain artists and exploring some of the meanings behind their songs, or commenting on their newest albums. Through this I think that I would share some exciting and important music to others, while also making the read pleasurable
Another passion of mine is nature. I enjoy the soothing presence and peacefulness of nature when I go hiking, or even when I’m just speed walking to my morning classes. The comforting green hues and bright purples, or the presence of mischievous squirrels and other animals bring me a pleasant joy. I often stop to examine flowers or attempt to feed squirrels acorns (while also refraining from catching rabies) because these 
simple actions allow me to be more mindful and in tune with the environment around me. Nature is always available for me whenever I need a place to clear my head, or just need some inspiration. Therefore, my second idea for my passion blog would be writing about some local hiking spots or writing about certain species of plants. I believe that this would encourage others to go outside and explore their surroundings more, and give some energy, love, and appreciation towards their environment.
Thanks for reading, and see you soon..
Sylvia Klimachefsky