Tag Archives: #RCL

RCL: Two Possible Topics for Rhetoric Essay

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1.  My first possible topic I thought of was the GEICO “hump day commercial” being as possesses a memorable quality yet at the same time a slightly over-memorable quality–the memory of the humorous camel makes one forget the name of the company.  I remembered this advertisement almost vividly, quoting it frequently even–as many people do–, but I had to look up what company it was for; maybe it’s just me, I believe this commercial contains not only positive rhetoric within it, but some negative and/or wrongly used rhetoric which lower the effectiveness of the add.  Unlike some ads which contain a catchy jingle incorporating the company’s name into it, their ad focuses on the pathos filled humor of the camel and what he says as opposed to emphasizing the barely noticeable slogan of “get happy, get GEICO”.  As well, aside from pointing out the fact that this will make us happy, there are minimal facts ( barely any logos or ethos) to support their stance, though they use kairos well in timing the humor.   I could examine the positive and negative aspects of this ad.

2.

Or another advertisement–also a commercial– I could analyse is the dove “real beauty “sketch” which is about a true experiment (gains ethos here) where a artist had ransom people sit behind a sheet so he couldn’t (he had no clue what they looked like) see them and asked them to describe themselves to him; he drew a drawing of them based off of this.  Then he got the same people and had them sit without a sheet there and drew them as he saw them.  When the pictures were compared, the ones where the people described themselves appeared uglier than the ones drawn from actual life.  The point made here–one endorse by Dove–is that everyone is more beautiful than they think they are; this majorly appeals to pathos.  I think it would be also fun to write my essay on this on just because it’s very unique for a commercial and captures a true essence to sell the product.  I also could try to go against the positive flow of rhetoric and find some instances where the rhetoric could be  better and more factual. Either way I will be happy with my topic, though I’m leaning toward the first just because I think it will be the more fun out of the two.

RCL Speech Outline

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Erin Servey- Civic Artifact Speech Outline on Pennsylvania State University Acceptance letter–September 6, 2013

1. Intro- My name, about visual aid/receive through the mail (took effort to receive) and how I relate to it:

  • How this one piece of paper connects us all as an invitation.

2. Description–simple yet attention getting, not so much about the appearance but what is behind that:

  •    Appeals to Ethos though it’s great reputation of education and community service (Thon example) and for being one of the best colleges in the U.S. How the letter invokes a feeling of citizenship.
  • Immediate appeal to pathos through the warm “Congratulations”–as if they personally know you.

3. To be civic, how does this help?

 

  • This invites us to fully embrace a civic life by taking up the challenge of an education with will further inform us and prepare us for further civic activities, but also provide us will more easier accessible opportunities for civic engagement which would otherwise be a lot hard to achieve.
  • The article, “The Definition of Civic Engagement,” quotes Civic Responsibility and Higher Education, edited by Thomas Ehrlich, published by Oryx Press, 2000, “Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.”

4. Goals

  • Preparing us with knowledge, skills, values and motivation.
  • “Opportunities”
  • Give us the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation we need.

5.Methods

  • “penetrates into everyday life
  • what we are called to attend to and what to ignore
  •  joining with others in common enterprises
  •  we become civic when a civic infrastructure allows, encourages, and supports individual civic engagement. ” (Schudson)
  • Give the resources needed: languages learning for abroad mission work, programs for mission trips and fundraisers that benefit the community, enhances a community feel through campus. Classes such a this on strengthen our sense of awareness for civic duty and actually taking action .
  • Form connections.

6.Common place– there is a commonplace of an idea that community service is easy and anyone can do it.

  • This isn’t just community service, it is civic engagement which does not only include playing bingo with the seniors at the nursing home or painting a neighbors fence, but doing more such as seeing that the nursing home needs rebuilt and so contacting the manager about it through a well worded email.
  • It’s a learning experience and the invitation calls us to

7. Conclusion.

Making simple connections through the calls and responses of “We are” and “Penn State”. These connections make it easier to engage with the community.