Thesis With Photo

 

The ASPCA advertisement for help is focusing on the sympathy humans have for mans best friend by picturing a sad dog that can be fed for only a small sum of 60 cents a day.

Rhetorical Blog

Ethos, Logos and Pathos, or the Rhetoric triangle if you will, are commonly referred to as the art of bull$#!@. But in my opinion, is far from the truth. Take this picture for example. I believe it will speak to my demographic quite clearly using rhetoric devices.

     This picture is a perfect example of the use of rhetoric. Firstly, the question itself on the poster is a rhetorical question. "Is it worth it?". Though the reader knows the answer to that question, they don't need to say it. The picture and text answers it for them. It says "Alcohol could end your career before it even starts". This is logos, or the appeal to logic.

     I'm assuming all students attending college are here for a degree and even more importantly, the skills required for a job. Now, it is also safe to say that college students LOVE to have fun. Some in a more unorthodox way than others though. These students often throw ambition to the wind and just let loose on the weekends. 

     "It's Friday! Let's get crazy!". 10 beers and some unprecedented amount of shots later, our party goer finds himself in the back of a troopers cop cruiser on his way "downtown". Our student in this example has just found out the answer to the rhetorical photo and he wishes he could take it all back.

     Not only would this be a waste of our example student's intelligence, it would also be a waste of his vast amounts of money that he'd invested towards his education and it would ultimately lead to the disappointment.

     As for me, my parents are helping with college dues, and I assume most parents are. Let us assume our example student was getting full tuition through his parents. Imagine the disappointment in their faces as they pay bail to get him out of jail. Imagine the disappointment of his grandmother, who had thought example student to be her perfect little angel. Imagine all the let down faces example student would have to see for the rest of his life as he made minimum wage at the local fast food restaurant for the rest of his life. Not only did the image apply logos, it also applied ethos, as I just described.

    As far as ethos goes, I believe that if I have captured your attention for this long, that I have implemented ethos in my writing. I mean, I kept your attention for this long, didn't I?

Media Crap of Today

Assignment: "Think about what kind of visual images you see on a day to day basis. What kind of images do you see everyday? (ads, Facebook, newspaper, tv, computer etc.) How are these persuasive, what makes an image more effective or less effective? 200-300 words. Use some pictures, or videos, or whatnot. Have a good time."


      Well, the first thing I did when I read this assignment was hop on to facebook. What a surprise! After chatting with a few people and checking out my notifications, I took note of the ads popping up on the website. They were semi catchy, but very centered around my interests. It seems like the ads had knowledge of things I had "liked" in the past and only ads that applied to my interests popped up on the side with a simple image next to them to help display the product. 


     Then I checked my homepage and realized the number of photos I see a day. Ranging from the few on my desk to the hundreds online, I see tons of photos! On facebook they are usually of my friends' new puppy or their wrecked car. And then I thought of the website that I sometimes find myself on when I am just wasting the day away. http://failblog.org/


     There is no better feeling in the world than watching someone else fail. It makes you feel like you won. Or that your better than that person. Even if just a little bit. So yeah, the images I see there make me laugh and they are things I share with my friends. But as far as negative images go, I try to watch the news as little as possible. 

     You can't turn a tv on without some depressing story of a local high school senior killing himself in a car wreck just weeks before college or some terrible news over in the Middle East or some crazy economist discussing how America is so fu.... you get the point. Its something I don't see on a day to day basis, but it isn't something I WANT to see, ya know? But that doesn't mean you have to be ignorant. I usually find that online articles leave the drama out of it and just tell the story. The tv though, has thousands of images I see daily.


    Today is about being skinny, and having wealth, and driving the best car. Of course, tv ads and shows all support these ideals. I can't watch tv without seeing an add for Proactiv or some stupid weight loss plan. It's impossible to watch tv or a movie without some semi-skank coming on the screen and just putting herself out there. My brother was watching Disney tv the other day and I watched a full episode of some show with high schoolers in it. Reflecting on the plot of the episode it taught children that stealing was okay if no one knew, lying was okay if it didn't hurt the person, and disrespecting parents was just dandy. Tv is garbage these days and I watch as little as possible.


     So in reflection of all the things I see on a day to day basis, I'd have to say I'm frustrated. The only things I see are either sad, violent, sexist, stupid, or just plain bad. There is no intelligence behind the images I see. It's like white noise for my eyes. A waste of my time. And on that note, I think I'm going to go for a walk.