Extra Credit

Dear Editor,

My name is Elizabeth Jones and I have been working as a nanny for several years. I believe that kids need to be taught how to respect there parents and elders around them. Today parents are letting their kids get away with talking back and doing whatever they please. Some of the kids I have nannied recently are out of control the way they act towards their parents. Kids need discipline in order to become respectful young adults.

The problem with parents is that they let their kids boss them around and do what they please. Not disciplining our kids is turning them into rude, inconsiderate people. When they go out into the real world they believe they can still act this way. Disrespecting teachers and elders around them is not okay. Talking back and disrespecting is causing these kids to get intro trouble in other ways. The crime rate in our state has risen, and 23% of the kids from our county are in the CRJ. I have heard kids saying, "I'm 15 years old and you don't tell me what to do," and, "It's a matter of free speech." When I was younger my mother would never tolerate this.

I have helped the families I have nannied in getting their kids under control and being more respectful, but I cannot help everyone. Parents need to lay down the law on their kids. Give them chores, curfews, and make sure they are doing their homework before they go out. Setting rules like these will keep the kids in line and become more responsible. If all the parents begin to do this we will have a much friendlier community and I am almost positive crime and the kids in CRJ will descend.

Creative Practice

Pathos are an appeal to emotions.  Knowing the definition of pathos you can tell that the people that designed this ad were definitely thinking of pathos when they were making it. This whole ad is to make you feel bad for the handsome, sweet guy who cannot keep a girl because of his bad breath. The girls in the background are talking about how he will not even make it around the dance floor twice before the girl leaves him. Even the girl dancing with him in the picture has her head turned like she is already hating the dance, but the guy looks so happy that he finally got a girl to dance with him. Which makes you feel even worse because he looks so excited and the girl looks like she is about to walk away from him. This ad also uses pathos by asking are you guilty? It makes you feel like what if thats the reason I am not getting a date. You think I am good looking and attentive, maybe it is my bad breath. Then you will start to feel like you have halitosis and have to buy Listerine to get rid of it and save your dating life.

They have also used logos and ethos in this ad. They used only a little bit of ethos by saying that Listerine Antiseptic sweetens your breath and keeps it fresh for hours long instead of just minutes. Some other logos used in this ad were when they explained halitosis. They explained that the disease comes from a systematic disorder and that you yourself will not notice it but others around you will. They also definitely used ethos in this ad because they thought out the structure of the ad to make you feel like you could have this bad breath so you need to buy there product. I think that the copywriter chose these arguments in this order because it makes for an excellent ad. First you feel bad for the guy that cannot get a girl, and then they make you think what if you have halitosis? Lastly, they explain how this sweet tasting antiseptic can make all of you problems go away, provoking everyone to buy their product.

Commercials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm0RxTqj7ig&feature=related

Chapter Preview Questions

Specific strategies of argumentation that work as persuasion are cause and effect, example or illustration, and comparison-contrast.  Cause and effect demonstrates the benefits of using each product. The picture below shows an example of cause and effect. The ad is saying that without their phone your life will be chaos, but once you buy there phone you will be a much more organized person. An example or illustration shows how to use a certain product or how this product can change someones life. Lastly, comparison-contrast compares their product with someone else's product to show that theirs is better. 

Logos, pathos and ethos all play an important role in helping sell a product and keeping it popular. Without these rhetorical appeals the audience would not stay interested. The producers of every ad think of these three things carefully to make sure there ad is appealing to everyone. The best ads are a mix of all three things.  Logos is based on logic, statistical evidence, quotations from authorities, and proven facts. Pathos appeal to emotions. Adding emotion to ads really gets the point across. Seeing the effects of things in an emotional way will lead more people to believe it. Ethos appeals to character and authority. Aristotle states the ethos establish a goodwill or credibility of the writer. Almost everyone uses ethos. Ad artists construct their idea and then put it down on the paper while thinking about their word choice and tone. I think the picture below shows an excellent example of all three. It has a quote that persuades the audience, and the quote is an actual fact that can happen to real smokers. It also conveys ethos by feeling sorry for the man who has a hole in his throat. This ad also uses ethos because I'm sure the artist thought of this idea and found someone with this horrific problem to show how bad the effects of smoking are. 

Exaggerating logos causes the post hoc fallacy which confuses cause and effect, the cum hoc fallacy which interprets correlation as cause, the hasty generalization which draws conclusions too quickly without providing supporting evidence, the either or argument which reduces an argument between two choices ignoring other possibilities, stacking the evidence which offers evidence for only one side of the issue, begging the question which uses an argument as evidence for itself, or the red herring which distracts the audience rather than focusing on the argument itself. Exaggerating pathos can cause over-sentimentalization, the scare tactic, the false need, or the slippery slope fallacy. Over-sentimentalization distracts the audience from evidence or relevant issues causing a person to focus on just the picture and not the facts. The scare tactic scares the audience by picking out their worst fears to prove a point. The false need amplifies a perceived need or creates a completely new one. Lastly the slippery slope fallacy suggests that an event will send the audience down a slippery slope to a serious consequence. Exaggerating ethos causes parody. Which is when deliberately mocks a text or convention. For example, the new Kotex commercial which sells their product by making fun of other feminine product ads and saying that it shouldn't be so dramatic.

Considering the context in an argument makes sure that you are using it in the right time and place.  Thinking about what's going on in the world at that moment and using it in your ads will be a more persuasive argument. Audience, text, and context are the main things to out into an ad to make it persuasive. I can use all of these ideas in my own writing to make persuasive arguments. Just as they are persuasive with ads they are also persuasive in writings or television shows. Making sure I am using pathos, ethos, and logos and focusing on the context will make for an excellent paper. Also, using examples, comparing and contrasting, or using cause and effect will all make a paper have a stronger point and persuade my audience to believe my point. 

Political Cartoon

A Day in the Life of Me

My day started as usual, the most annoying alarm waking me up and interrupting my wonderful dreams.  I then continue to complain about waking up at 8am. I start my day with fresh breath.  Today, was the first time I realized I have a Colgate toothbrush, but I use Crest toothpaste... A little hypocritical. I then decided to make my self look a little bit presentable for class by fixing my hair and using Maybelline's new Falsies mascara (which works wonders if anyone was wondering).  Next time for the outfit, I choose to go with a Wild Wing Cafe t-shirt, blue shorts, and my Nike's of course. I grab a Kellogg's breakfast bar (less calories than the Reese's Puffs which I really wanted) and off to Child and Adolescent Psychology I go. 

Lil' Wayne, Drake, Nikki Minaj, Kanye West, and Trey Songz entertain me as I walk to class. I notice some chalking advertisements about OU Movies and Allen Student Help Center, but I don't really care for them.  I love looking at people's shoes because shoes are my obsession. If I had more money I would own every pair of Nike's there ever was. I saw a girl wearing the Nike's below and I loved them because they reminded me of the Flinestone's. When I got to Baker I noticed that it is full of ads. Latitude 39 advertising there delicious specials of the day, upcoming concerts and plays, and then you get to the bottom and there's people from Kegfly and Chase advertising what they have to offer.  Everywhere just money to spend on so many different things. 

After my psychology class I had some time to kill before my next class, so I went to the computer lab in Porter and I noticed a big banner that said "Now Accepting Psi Chi Applications."  This was probably the most persuasive ad I saw all day because I listened to that add and applied for Psi Chi.  On my way to my social work class I noticed a bunch of people wearing Kegfly shirts. My roommate is also a Kegfly girl so she warned me about it, but I didn't realize how much advertising they really were going to do. They're really doing there job also because I checked out their website today and they do got some pretty sweet deals on food, posters, and coffee. Making cheap college kids lives easier!

Later that day, I was watching TV with my roommate. We had seen previews for the World of Jenks on MTV and really wanted to watch it. Just our luck, two episodes in a row. My first time watching this show and I loved it. The first episode he lived with an autistic boy and his family. I worked with autistic kids this summer so it brought back all my memories with the kids I had. The show was awesome and I just wish I would have thought of the idea before he did. Of course, during the show there was the usual TV commercials. My favorites are always the Sonic commercials, they make me chuckle.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/?id=1645654

I couldn't figure out how to post this video, but here's a trailer of The World of Jenks.

And what a coincidence, you get to watch an ad before the trailer!

Before bed I always check the wonderful world of Facebook to see what's going on. The first ad that popped up was a Trojan Brand Condoms ad, and then an ad for the movie Letters to Juliet titled Love Romantic Movies? showed up. Obviously, Facebook knows my love life is a mess right now and just wanted to rub it in, but that's okay because thanks to People Magazine I know that Robert Pattinson is also going through a rough patch. Makes me feel a little better, even though I have never seen any of the Twilight movies and probably never will. 

What is Art?

Many people see art as a drawing, a painting, or a sculpture, but art is much more than that.  Art, to me, is anything that someone uses to express themselves visually.  In art, I feel that anything can be used as a canvas.  For example, the pair of shoes above, someone took a plain pair of sneakers and created them into a beautiful piece of artwork.  I think people use art to express certain behaviors or emotions that they are feeling while creating that piece of work.  If someone wants to create a picture about losing someone they love it would probably be made with dark colors to show the darkness that they are feeling.  Art is used around the world, and I think people use it as an escape.  Whenever they are feeling overwhelmed or stressed painting or drawing a picture to show what they are feeling or a place they wish they were can relieve that stress and put them in their own little world. 

Photographs are also something else that I consider artwork, and they are my personal favorite.  Pictures capture memories or can show you the beauty in nature, and they help you remember things for a lifetime.  All these beautiful pieces of artwork do come with a responsibility though.  To me being an artist comes with a number of responsibilities.  Once you make your biggest and best piece of work, or capture the most magnificent photograph, you have a responsibility to keep taking excellent photos and drawing beautiful pictures.  I also think that artists have a statement to make about the art, but I think that it is their responsibility not to offend anyone with their work.  Art gives people a responsibility to entertain people in a creative way with a dance, a sculpture, or even just graffiti written on the side of a train.

Art plays a hidden role all over the world.  Art is a great way for people to express themselves and get it shown to several people at one time. It can be used to symbolize almost anything.  For example the World War II memorial in Washington D.C. which salutes all the fallen soldiers.  People also do art projects all around the world just to get people's attention.  The picture below is in the city of Rotterdam where an artist put 45,000 stickers all throughout the city to tell people to stick together.  I was just in New York city over the summer and they were working on a project where they put black figures at the top of random buildings.  I'm not sure what the meaning of this project was, they said it was still a work in progress.  Art is also used in many houses as decoration for the walls because if your walls are bare, you are boring. Even the buildings around us are pieces of art that someone drew out, and then someone else put the drawing to life.  Art is all around us, whether you like it or not.