Day 5: Dove Ads

The Dove article that you read for last night, "Fat is an Advertising Issue," always rings true with a lot of students.  Body image issues run deep with guys and girls.  And a large part of that issue is a rhetorical perspective that we are given by various media.  Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty offers girls a fresh and healthy look at this issue, and I am so thankful for it.  I've known many dear friends that have struggled with body image issues.  You probably know someone who has struggled with them as well.  Here are some of the videos that were developed from the campaign that the article discusses.  In class, we often discuss what's going on rhetorically and visually for them to make their argument.  Think about those things as you watch them.  How do they use music?  How do they use text?  What about pathos?  What is the logos, or the logic, of these arguments?  Who is their audience?  Who is the persona that's crafted in each?  What's effective?  What's ineffective?  You can ask all these same questions, and answer them, in your papers that you're working on!


But first, sit back and watch:


"Evolution"

"Onslaught"

"Amy"

When you write, you should strive to make it powerful every time, just as these arguments above are powerful.  One way to do that is to make it personal as the videos have done.  Did you like the ads, or did you feel manipulated?  It's a tricky issue with rhetoric.  They're using some strong pathos throughout.  But how do they execute it?  What makes something emotional?  


Along with adding something personal or unique, it's time for you to move beyond the five paragraph essay.  You can do five paragraphs in two pages, which is all that's due tomorrow.  But the traditional approach isn't going to cut it if your paper has to be 8 pages.  (Good editing tip: if you look down the left margin of your paper and don't see any indentations, you might have too long of a paragraph).  


Your introduction can be fun and interesting.  Think about the way the essay from last night introduced it's topic. It wasn't lame or boring.  It was natural and interesting.  Aim for that.  Put in some interesting fact, make a joke, create a beautiful metaphor.  (You remember what metaphors are, right?)  Then, finally, in the conclusion, you finally get to say everything you've been trying to say the whole paper very plainly and matter-of-factly.  People worry about conclusions, but they're just closing up and recapping.  You've taken such effort to say your argument throughout your paper by using examples and whatnot, but in the conclusion you can just state it straight-out.  Conclusions are your friends.


There is a writer that I like, named Anne Lamott.  She says that writers should take a step and be comfortable writing a "shitty first draft" (her words, not mine! but good advice nonetheless).  This is what she writes in her book, Bird by Bird:

“For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous.  In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

“The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.  You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page.  If one of the characters wants to say, “Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?,” you let her.  No one is going to see it.  If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional territory, you let him.

“Just get it all down on paper, because there may be something great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means.  There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you’re supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go — but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.”

So, there you go.  Good luck as you start.  Some of you have started.  That's good.  Others...

Just write.  Writing takes time, but you can do it.  You just need to get your behind in chair at your computer with Microsoft Word open, and then start to play in there.  Have fun.  I know that it's like me asking you to step off of the edge of a cliff, but what else are you going to do?  Hang around on boring dry land?  

Your Daily Assignment:


I was going to have you respond to the Dove ads, but I've decided to give you more time with your papers, so just get started on those.  Finish those first drafts.  2 pages done by tomorrow.  I'll give you until midnight instead of noon tomorrow to finish the first drafts.  I want you to really think about them.  Just e-mail them to me!


Wait a minute!!!  Tomorrow is the 4th of July!!!  That means no class.  So you have until Thursday the 5th at midnight.  An extra day!  But don't write tomorrow night... go shoot of some fireworks or something.  But be careful!  And I'll be back in The States tomorrow, which is a good thing as far as this class goes.  All right.  Good luck as you write!  Meet back here on Thursday morning.




Grammar Review:


Check out The Oatmeal on how to use a semicolon; it's funny!

Day 4: Observation

Before we get into the real content for the day, we need to have a brief discussion about ethics.  Now, you already know that ethics and ethos are different but related things.  But we do need to talk about ethics too.

Where do ethics come from and why are they important?

Since I can't let you answer me back like I normally do in my physical classes, I'll try to summarize where our discussion usually takes us.

Ethics come from lots of places, but mainly its either natural or cultural.  We may be born with a certain amount of knowing what is good or evil, or it may be taught to us by our environment.  This debate is known as the nature vs. nurture debate, and we're not really going to get into that.  Ethics comes from your parents, your religious background, your education, the government, and so on.

But why have these stupid rules?  If you lie, it's not going to hurt anyone is it?

Rules keep us safe.  If I agree to follow the rules, and you agree to follow the rules, then we won't hurt each other, and then we can safely live in a community.  So, rules are about living well.  If we didn't have rules, well, things might become chaotic, and people might even start dying.

So, here's another question?  Why is death bad?

I mean, is it bad?

It's the unknown.  Unless, you think you know what may linger after this world...

So, death is kind of bad.  So we have these codes of ethics to follow.  And that means I need you to promise me that you won't plagiarize or cheat on your papers this semester.  See your daily assignments for that part of your blog posts today.

*** horrifyingly unnatural transition***


So, you guys did a pretty good job describing those crocodiles.  But you can do even better.

Description can make such a difference in your writing.  Boring writing is vanilla, but adding that special touch of style is what often makes the difference between an A paper and a B paper.

Observation can be key when making an argument, to describe those little aspects to really captivate your reader in interesting ways.  Sherlock Holmes, for example, was a master of making little keen observations that made all the difference in his cases.

So, go get your favorite piece of candy...


I'm serious.  Go.

Run to the gas station if you need to.

For this assignment, when I am teaching class in "the real world," I usually pass out Starbursts, but any piece of candy will do.

You should know that there is a difference between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.  The distinction is "elementary, my dear Watson."

Deductive reasoning starts with a thesis or a hypothesis.  Then tries to find facts based upon observations to support that original thesis.

Inductive reasoning begins with observation first, then arrives at a thesis based on the observations.  Sometimes this way takes a little longer to reach a conclusion, but it can be really helpful because you're not coming to a problem with preconceived notions.

Sometimes practicing inductive reasoning about things that we're already familiar with can reveal really surprising results.  This sometimes happens with ads because we're bombarded with them daily, so we don't think about them very well.  So... let's try it with a piece of candy...  (Check the daily assignments for the next steps.)

(Please also note that we are loosely following my calendar from the syllabus.  I would like for you to keep up with the readings there from Envision in Depth, but you really only need to skim the chapters unless I specifically tell you to read something in particular like tonight.)


Your Daily Assignment:

1. Write me a paragraph on your blog promising me that you won't plagiarize on your papers and think about why you won't.  Why is that important to you?  (I know that the syllabus says that you don't have to do this post until tomorrow, but I want to make sure you take time for your papers tomorrow.  I thought we could push this back, but I think it's best to do the ethics claim here.  If you need more time with the posts though, just let me know).
2. Secondly, get out that candy.  Put on a timer for 3 minutes.  You can use this one if you want.  Now, write down as many observations as you can about that piece of candy.  Just make a bullet point list down your post and go as fast as you can.  Add a picture of your candy to your post.  If you had another minute, you could make even more observations.  If you had years and years, and infinite amounts of funding, you could make even more observations!  This is what scientists do.  And then they draw conclusions.  And then they make rhetorical arguments about the way that the world is.  It's amazing.  The person with the most observations gets a "You're the Bomb!"
3. Read the short article by Orbach in Envision in Depth, on page 386.  It's an important issue that we'll talk about over the next few weeks a bit.

(You can make these two separate posts if you'd like.  That seems most natural.)

Grammar Review:

Introductory Commas:

Commas are supposed to go after introductory material.  And here's the trick to that.  Look for the subject.  So, the structure looks something like this...  Blah, blah, blah, blah, S-V.

If you only have three words or fewer before your subject, then you don't need a comma, but it's not wrong to put one in.  And I usually recommend putting one in unless there's some reason not to.  Another example would be:

First, take the knife and put it into the peanut butter jar.

So, where should the introductory comma go in this sentence?

When we were calling the young boy to the road after a long day at the lake in the middle of summertime because of his bandaged feet the dogs barked.

Look for the subject.  The comma goes before that.

Here is the extra credit opportunity that I offer each semester.  If you can find an introductory comma on a piece of packaging, like the wrapper from your candy bar today, take a picture of it and post it to your blog, and I'll give you an extra 500 points.

You say, "That's crazy, Mr. B!  That's too many points for just for a little comma."

I reply, "I know...  I know..."