Blog Post 2 for Ind. Viewing Project

Two essential questions and their answers according to the documentary I watched: 1) How do modern modes of communication affect the rhetorical devices individuals have at their disposal?

With this particular documentary I feel rhetorical devices are the only way that a point would have been achieved.  This mode of communication, which I believe is an informational documentary (visual communication to a wide audience), used the appeals heavily in order to make a point.   It is because this is a visual mode of communication that the appeals are needed because when people see results such as people losing weight it affects them and their mood more so then if they heard someone using a rhetorical device such as an anaphora which would not be so effective in this case because that is used for written communication and not so much visual communication.  Since the video has been invented and more modern forms of communication have formed, written forms of rhetorical devices do not deem effective anymore. To keep up with the times, the appeals are very reliable to either inform, persuade or to connect with the visual audience.  It is in this way that modern modes of communication affect rhetorical devices that people can use, because not all rhetorical devices will be affective and it is obvious that this is so through the documentary I watched and through every other form of modern communication.

2) How have modern modes of communication been perceived and received by the global community?

The modes of communication in our modern world have varying affects on people depending on the age group or generation or maybe even gender.  However people are taking advantage of the new forms of communication that are available. For example, ads in magazines are vibrant and creative with less words then there are colors, commercials attract people through sounds, visual appeals and connections to their inner thoughts.  Texting and phone calls get information to people quickly and easily. E-mails can send messages, pictures, attachments, documents, and videos.  Every form of communication today has so much more involvement then communication a few decades ago.  In my eyes, it is easier to persuade people of today then it was to persuade people to buy something when television was not around. People of today easily receive information through these modes and depends on their mind set on how they perceive it.  The documentary I watched was clearly going for a dramatic affect and showing before and after pictures of people losing weight because of this new juice diet and how they are taking care of their bodies.  This communicated to the public that they should not only eat healthier, but they should exercise, and if they do they will look as beautiful and feel as healthy as every person in the documentary felt at the end of their journey.  People easily believe what they see in this world.  “You have to see it to believe it” is a quote I highly believe relates to modern society and how they perceive the world around them.  Anyone can say a diet works, but if they have hard facts, quotes from doctors, and pictures then most people will take this credibility into consideration and realize the connections they could make to their own life.  Modes of communication of today aim to persuade and connect with the people, and thus far that is how they perceive it. 

Blog Post 1 for Ind. Viewing Project

Bibliography:  Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Dir. Joe Cross. Dir. Kurt Engfehr. Joe Cross, 2010. DVD.

The documentary I chose to watch for my independent viewing is called “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”.  The documentary is cut in half, one half of the documentary focuses on the life of a man named Joe who realizes his death may come prematurely because of his rare auto-immune disease and his severe obesity.  He finally decides to do something about it by going on a “Reboot” diet where he drinks nothing but vegetable and fruit juice that he squeezes himself and drinks for every meal.  He does this for 60 days and reaches a healthy mark.  The next half of the documentary is about a different man named Phil,  Joe is the creator of this documentary and he meets Phil at a truck stop and they begin talking about Joe’s diet.  Soon Phil begins to do the same diet because he happens to have the same disease and is more than 200 pounds over weight.  This documentary shares their success stories and how this new diet has helped people all over the world to achieve the success that these two men have achieved.

The most prominent rhetorical device from this documentary is ethos.  Throughout the entire documentary the credibility of the diet and this one man’s mission to lose weight and become healthy is conveyed through evidence such as a doctor weighing him and telling him how much weight his diet has made him lose, to the end where the film closes with saying all these mini success stories of other men and women who have lost certain amounts of weight because of this diet. With evidence like this, it is hard to turn away from hard facts and it proves that this new juice diet actually works and could help save America’ obese population. The appeal of ethos affects the audience by having a large movement where more people start doing this diet and more people start to exercise and try to make a healthier life for themselves.  The use of statistical data on how many colors of chicken fill up your stomach compared to how many calories of vegetable fill up your stomach is astounding. This data affects the audience and pushes them to take action to save their health and their lives before they end up being a “cheese burger away from a heart attack” as Phil said during the film when he was in the middle of his diet.

The second most used rhetorical device was logos.  Logos was used every time a doctor was being filmed or a trained physician was giving facts.  The logical facts of what the doctors said cannot be false, otherwise that would be illegal.  These facts help the video because it states this basic general concept, “if a doctor is saying I will die at the age of 45 if I eat 20 hamburgers a day, then it must be true, and I need to take action to stop myself eating too many hamburgers and dying an early death” (this was not said in the video, but it is an example of logos used).  The statistics the doctors use move the audience to take action because it is a reliable source that is telling them to change, which relates back to the idea of credibility and ethos which made the movie as effective as it was. 

Blog 28, IRB POST, 3-26-12

As far as my independent reading book goes, I have stopped reading "The Cider House Rules" by John Irving because no matter how much I read of it I could not get into it.  I found that I was dreading the time when I would actually have to sit down and read the book.  I realized that's not what I wanted to have to do with my IRB book, I wanted to read something I was passionate about and would look forward to reading.  This is why I have dropped that book (with permission) and began reading another book that I simply can not put down and will still be finished by the time the third marking period is over so that I do not run behind with my independent reading.  

The new book I have picked out is called Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  This book is the second book in a trilogy called The Hunger Games.  I read the first book in a series that was actually called The Hunger Games, and I fell in love with it.  I bought it only because I heard several people telling me about it being a good book and when I began reading it I could not believe a book could be so addicting.   I finished the first book within a week, and had not picked up the second until I realize I wanted to read a different book for my independent reading novel.  Catching Fire, the book I am reading now is just under 400 pages long and I have already gotten to page 252 in just a few days time.  I am more then elated that I am now able to look forward to reading... to the point where I am sneaking it under the desk in class (not in AP English of course!) or constantly waiting to have a few minutes to sneak a few pages in.

Now, for those who are unfamiliar to what the series is about... The basic summary is that there is a world, most likely in the future, that consists of a country named Panem that holds 12 districts (as if they are states).  The districts are controlled by an overwhelming power called The Capital, where the President lives with all the richest and most glamorous people in the world.  The ruling is harsh, unjustifiable, and gruesome.  There was an uprising a few years before the book's setting, where there were 13 districts, the 13th district led an uprising that got the entire district obliterated.  As a result, each year there is an event called "The Hunger Games" where a male and female tribute between the ages of 12 and 18 will be chosen at random from each district to take part in an event where they fight to the death leaving only one lone victor to riches and prosperity. The Capital uses this to maintain power and to make sure another uprising never happens again. The captivating plot and world of fiction and fantasy lead me away and is the reason I am so enthralled with this book.

However, the book "The Cider House Rules", I read over 100 pages of the massive book and still was not interested.  This is resulting from a few aspects. First of all, the type of writing was unfamiliar, somewhat wordy and with a dialect I could not altogether connect to.  The characters were boring, the story was not that interesting and I realized that after 100 pages of reading it was still not brimming with excitement or a captivating plot.  If the book was shorter, maybe I would have finished it.  But there was no way I was going to finish a book over 500 pages by the end of the marking period that I had absolutely no interest in.

Going through this process has made me realize a few things: One, that not finishing a book is alright... and if it's not interesting DON'T read it and two, I noticed I am a reader that looks for a captivating plot that pulls me into the world of fiction and steals me away from reality for hours on end.

NEW BOOK TITLE: Catching Fire

AUTHOR: Suzanna Collins

Blog 27, Week 4, (visual), 3-19-12

SIDE NOTE: Since I usually do a four week rotation with the fourth week being an IRB post..... I wanted to do a BIG IRB that I will do as my "fifth" week cycle blog post next weekend.  Therefore I can get a lot of reading done... and analyze it in the same post instead of doing two IRB blogs next to each other. (Thought this would be best for such a large book).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE: http://bleachedbrain.wordpress.com/tag/political-cartoon/

For this AOW I decided to do a political cartoon, and I chose this one because I feel it is really prevalent... especially among the young people recently.  Joseph Kony and his leadership in the Lord's Resistance Army has become an apparent "popular" issue in American ever since the youtube video of the current event went viral over night on march 5, 2012.  The video has currently 82.5 million views and explains in detail about Kony's group and about how an American group is planning to stop him by the end of this year.  Now, Kony's group is pursuing to create a world where children live in hell.  He is kidnapping all children from their parents.  He forces the boys to become soldiers, killing their own parents and purposefully mutilating people's faces.  He kidnaps the girls and he makes them sex slaves.  It is devastating and unreal, but most of the world has no idea what the issue is or who Joseph Kony is.

The point of this political cartoon is to show that everyone all of sudden knows the term "Kony 2012" and wears the propaganda and fights for the cause... Yet most people have no idea what they are advocating.  In this cartoon it is showing a person wearing a shirt supporting to the current advocation to stop Kony by the end of 2012, but the person wearing the shirt in the picture does not know what the issue is and is only supporting it because of the popularity it has gained. It is a cartoon showing the ignorance of people towards an issue that really does need knowledge in order to help the cause.

Out of the few rhetorical devices evident the most important one is logos.  The cartoon promotes the idea of logic because I believe the author's purpose was to show that in order to support a cause, one must know and understand what the issue is and how they can help.  It is only logical that it shows ignorance and rudeness to support a cause for popularity reasons rather then for the greater good of the people involved.  The audience for this political cartoon is all ignorant people who are blind to the real reason for the "kony 2012" slogan.   The people in the cartoon look young, which means the people that are targeted for this issue could be as young as teenagers or younger or even a little bit older.  In my opinion, the author's purpose to promote knowledge on the issue has been achieved because when I came across this photo I looked into the issue because I always saw the slogan but did not know what it was for.  Now I do know what it is for and I can support a cause I understand and believe in, instead of blindly following a crowd only following a cause for popularity reasons. 

- Ali Mason

Youtube video of "Kony 2012" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Blog 26, Week 3, (Written), 3-12-12

Article Title: “Obama Plans Big Effort to Build Support Among Women

Author: Jackie Calmes

Source: NY Times

   This article is about Obama’s new laws, regulations and plans in order to gain more votes from women for his 2012 presidential campaign.  The article discusses what he has done in the past with his actions compared to the future and engulfs Obama’s plan as to get more votes from the women population… which he believes is crucial in order to win the election.

    Since this article was on the front cover of the New York Times newspaper… that enables it to be a credible source and therefore helps to push the author’s purpose further.  I believe Calmes’ reason for writing this article is to one) possible push women to vote for Obama or look into his new work on their behalf, or two) for people to gain more information about politics and make an informed opinion on their own about how they feel about this situation and the upcoming election.  The audience for this article could be women in this country or any potential voters looking to get their vote in for this year’s presidential election.

    There are a few rhetorical devices the author uses to create a credible article and one of which is her use of statistics… statistics help this article because when people are reading about politics they want facts.  They want something they can look at and make an opinion off of, and that can not happen if someone is writing a political piece with no idea as to what they are talking about or if it is true or not.  She uses statistics to explain the different bills and acts Obama uses as well as other aspects of his presidency.  Another rhetorical device that is used… but not intentionally is her use of ethos to present her credibility.  Although, this is established through her work in the NYTimes and her status as a front-page writer.

    I was able to analyze this piece easily because I am a girl in this country…  and in less then a year I can vote.  It is because of this that I chose to read a political piece that could help me understand what is going on this country and since this piece related to women I was even more enthralled to read this.  The author has reached her purpose and I know this because I am a reader and soon-to-be voter in this country and it is articles like these that make information ready and available to me when I need facts to make decisions. 

Blog 25, Week 2, (Written), 3-5-12

Article Title: "Whitpain Fires Police Officer Charged With DUI"
Source: Ambler Gazette News (online)
Author: n/a


   According to the article a police officer of the Whitpain township was fired after 24 years because of driving under the influence of oxycodone and alcohol and was also charged with striking his wife 5 times during the drive.  It has been reported that he is awaiting a court date and that on the day of this event the man and his wife were drinking in a bar and got into a quick fight which continued into the dangerous car ride that ended this mans career. Although this took place in August of 2011, he was arrested for his actions on January 23 2012.
  A scary thing to think about is that this man is a police officer.. a symbol of comfort in the eyes of the community and in society as a whole.   A man who is not even new to the force, but has actually spent a quarter of a century in police work and still is able to cause this type of destruction.  This leads me to believe that anyone can become anything despite a title and that even the people who are supposed to be the leaders in society can mess up their lives and become the aspect of their lives they have spent so much time preventing.
  The context of this article is during the end of last year into the beginning of this year and is showing a new shift into the police work of Whitpain township.  The purpose of this article is one, to get general information to the public about a situation that could potentially effect other people, and two, it is possible an article to show people that even the "good" guys mess up and the people we depend on could become the people we never thought we would need to worry about.  Personally, I respect and fear police officers because of their prominent role in society as the law regulators who are the tell all and show all of laws and regulations in our area.  And now that this has happened it is hard to believe that someone we all trust has let us down.  The audience is then the surrounding community that has to endure this information and understand it in order to benefit their lives.
  I'd say this is credible because it is from an official local website.. and the article establishes credibility (ethos) through statistics and quotes from the actual people involved that could not be made up without a reliable story line.  This story is also on other websites which gives more proof that it is real, therefore the credibility is established and then proven to be true.  Another evident rhetorical device is the use of pathos (briefly) when the article leans towards discussing the wife of the police officer and how he beat her when he was drink.  This pushes the audience to feel a sense apology for the woman and realize the wrong that the husband did to her.  Pathos is also used when the article states how long the man has been  a working police officer.  It my eyes, it makes me feel sad and regretful for the man because he just messed up the rest of his life and will not be able to take it back.  This will always be on his record and a part of his life and that is what connects me to this article... the way in which i feel bad for this man.   It is also in this way the way the author is using their inner voice to connect with mine.  They wanted me to feel this way at certain parts of the article, at times objective and other times filled with emotion.
   The purpose of the author was achieved because it is now a well known story on the internet and it has gotten me, as a reader, to think about this situation and apply to every day life.  Everyone is able to make mistakes, even the people that seem the most trust worthy or seem as if they are the icons of the world.  People as important as police officers make decisions that ruin their lives, it isn't just drug addicts and alcoholics.  This article has opened my eyes to a more broader view.

- Ali Mason

Blog 24, Week 1, (Written), 2-27-12

       For this article of the week I read a famous short story called "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.  The short story is about a town in the context of a time period that is fiction but placed in the distant past (maybe present, it is questionable), that hosts an event each year called The Lottery.
       The event takes place in the midst of June where every person in the town gathers around to draw slips of paper from a black box.  The papers are all blank except for only one that has a black dot.  Within the first round, whoever draws the black dot now has to move on the second round where that person and their immediate family have to draw again.  This time when they draw a slip of paper the person who gets the black dot is then stoned to death by the rest of the town. The creepy part is that it is a ritual and no one thinks anything of it... family and friends kill their loved ones because it is a tradition.  The history behind this is that the person killed is a sacrifice for a good crop season.
      In some ways this connects to other parts of the world in the ancient civilizations... some tribes of people who have human sacrifice for their goods or to promote good weather or health.  In this case it is a civilized town that does this through a lottery and apparently (it is implied) every other town does this as well.  
     There are many different interpretations as for the purpose for this short story.  The author's intention could be among a plethora of ideas. However, the way I interpreted the story was that the author was trying to convey modern society and how in some ways we are just as corrupt.  Although society today does not do go around killing people in order to give up sacrifice, we have laws and proper authority and civility but it might be a parallel to other things in society that have become a prominent issue. Otherwise it might have been just a pure imaginative story worthy of writing down. The main target audience would be anyone in the general public.
   From a rhetorical standpoint, a device used most evidently was suspense.  This is because from the very beginning it starts out with misleading cliffhanger adjectives that make you think of spring time, and a quant little town that is quite calm and peaceful.  The discussion of the lottery is not filled with hatred or bewilderment yet it is described objectively making the reader guess for the entire story what exactly is the main point of this lottery.  It is only in the end that it is revealed the lottery is actually a quite nefarious event that results in the murderous death of a citizen, and even then all is not revealed.  It ends with someone being stoned to death with no follow up events. The final lines are, "...and then they were upon her."  This is referring to the people all gathering around Mrs. Hutchinson which was the woman who "won" the lottery.
  In this way juxtaposition is also used because the word lottery is usually associated with money, or something beneficial to the winner that results in the overwhelming feeling of felicity, but in this case something so special does not occur and the lottery is associate with death.  These two elements posing next to each other is an example of juxtaposition through written rhetoric.


   After reading this story (a few times) I was still astonished by the ending.  The first time through I literally had chills from how gruesome and blunt the story really was.  The author almost tricks readers into thinking the story will be calm, kind, simple, possible and most likely happy... That is until Mrs. Hutchinson begins to sound frightened and scared to go through with the lottery when she realizes her family has "won" and is moving on to the next level.  But by that point in the story I was completely confused and trying to understand what was going on.  I was thoroughly misunderstanding what was going on from the very beginning.  The lottery was not really a prized lottery at all, rather it was a picking for the next sacrifice.  




- Ali Mason