In Class: Freewrite

My three texts are all news related and very factual about the events panned out during the Olympic bombing. They all make this seem like a horrible and tragic act of terrorism with their descriptions of the scene and the bomb exploding and all of the injuries and deaths sustained as a result of this event. All of them use emotional appeal as the primary appeal and instill fear in the reader. The first source used the sight of ambulances and emergency personnel rushing to a scene where people were panic stricken and covered in blood. The others make it sound like terrorism is a rising trend and we should be on the look out because we never know when it could strike again. They mention past events involving terrorism such as the Oklahoma City bombings and an airplane crash that happened just weeks before and the events at the Munich Oympics in the 1970s.
They are different because of the different viewpoints of the authors. The first one which was a video was this news anchor's own recount of what happened as he had just left the park shortly before the blast occurred. He seemed more concerned with himself than the well-being of the people that we actually in the park. The second article was an editorial making the claim that terrorism cannot be eliminated and that our society would not want it to be eliminated. I thought that was particularly odd because nobody really wants terrorism to plague our country. The third article was from Sports Illustrated and really made this sound like a truly horrible event and that the bombers only objective was to kill. Even though the main objective is to inform all of them are different in their own way.
The general knowledge we must have is that terrorism is a horrible thing that happens around the world. We need to know that America is vulnerable and that we are not an exception to the violence. Terrorism is not a thing that just happens in Israel and Baghdad. We must also assume that the person who planted this bomb wanted to kill a lot of people, as he did place the pipe bomb in a crowded area. Terrorism is often associated with making an underlying statement, even though we do not know what that statement or purpose may be at the time. We must know what Centennial Olympic Park is and what goes on there to explain why it was so crowded during the time of the explosion at 1:25am.
I do think that we live in a culture of assertion. The news is there to not only inform us about events but also to put some fear in our heads. The news primarily covers tragic and sad events that occur in the world and not so much the happy ones. We as a society do not know the bomber's intentions at all when he planted that bomb in the park. He even went on to call the police and warn them there was a bomb in the park and that it would detonate in 30 minutes. Maybe he really did not want people die, he simply wanted people to notice him or make a statement. We turn these people who are in the news into bad guys who should be shunned forever.

Unit 2 Proposal

For this unit I was really struggling to come up with a topic. I really love sports and they have always been a huge part of my life. I was thinking and I remembered that the 1996 Olympics were the first summer games I that I really remember watching. Then I was trying to think of some scandals or controversial events that occurred and I immediately thought of the Olympic bombings. So for my rhetorical case study I will be writing about the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. To find sources I plan to look for articles, political cartoons or opinion pieces from old Atlanta newspapers and possibly national news/newspapers. Since the Olympics are such a huge event, I would assume that if bombings occurred, especially when the U.S. was hosting them that it would make national news. Like I said before, sports interest me the most and the Summer Games are the best collective display of athleticism out there.

In Class: Free Write

I don't know what I am going to pick for my topic for unit 2. I just feel like all of the so called controversial topics out there are just overdone and boring and I'm sick of them all. And then once I do pick a topic I have no idea where I am going to look for sources or what I am going to say about these things and how I am going to put the Toulmin method into my paper and have it sound all nice and pretty . So for the most part I am just lost.
I am pretty much just ready for spring break. I have checked out and am in dire need of a vacation. I am struggling to find a reason to get up and go to class because I think I can just get notes from a classmate or whatever. Which is not a good thing and mom will be upset if my grades suck this semester. I let my grades fall just a little bit last semester (nothing horrendous, just a few Bs that should have been As) because I was all sad and emo about my broken leg. So I am supposed to make this "come back" this semester and redeem myself by getting my GPA back up. I am tired and grumpy and just want to sit on my butt and do nothing. That is all.

Thinking Rhetorically...?

The primary text I chose for my post is an AIDS awareness poster. At the top of the poster in gray and black it says "Just because you cant see it doesn't mean it's not there." Below the words is a picture of a woman that is naked and wrapped up in a gray sheet laying on a bed. There is also a buy standing up pulling up and buttoning his pants as if to suggest they just had sex and on his t-shirt it says "HIV" in red capital letters. At the bottom of the poster in small white print it says "Trust us. It's there" with a red AIDS awareness ribbon to the left of the text. 

The purpose of this argument is to raise AIDS awareness and to acknowledge the importance of being tested and telling our sexual partners if we are HIV positive. This poster is intended for all sexually active people, and especially those people who are HIV positive and not telling their partners. It uses all three kinds of appeal. The emotional appeal is if the viewer had slept with someone they would hope and pray that their partner would tell them if he/she had HIV/AIDS. They use logos by stating that even if there are no physical signs or symptoms and we can't see them, the person could still have HIV/AIDS. The ethos is that this ad was made by an AIDS awareness campaign which makes it credible. The creater seems trustworthy by using the logical appeal and also by saying "Trust us" on the poster itself. This arguments seems to instill some fear in the audience by insinuating that ANYONE could have HIV because we cannot see the signs and symptoms. The scare tactic seems to be an effective argument because a lot of people know that when someone has HIV/AIDS they often don't know because the signs are silent. 

The Vagina Monologues

When the Vagina Monologues were first mentioned to me, I asked one of my friends what they even were. All she told me was that they were hilarious and that I should go and see for myself what they were all about. I am so glad I went because that was one of the funniest performances I have seen. The actresses were so great at getting into character and really playing the part. The one skit I was very confused about was Hey Miss Pat and I had no idea what exactly it was talking about or how it had anything to do with vaginas other than the fact that she was a female. Although I didn’t get what the message was, the actress, Ehleshea Woodruff, did an excellent job and even shed real tears. The Flood was a great skit because the actress had to play an old woman and referred to her vagina as her “down there” and even a cellar. I had a couple of favorite performances included My Angry Vagina and The Woman Who Loved To Make Vaginas Happy. I thought these two were the most hilarious out of the bunch, and My Angry Vagina was definitely the most relatable since almost every girl has experienced the unpleasantness of a tampon, thong, or a gynecological exam. The impressions of the many different kinds or orgasms had everyone in the crowd rolling with laughter, including myself. I was shocked at some of the facts about the numbers of females and little girls that were being raped or circumcised as a use of warfare around the world. I am glad I went and will definitely recommend seeing it to my friends and family.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos of Public Space

This is a hard post for me this week. I don't think that I have observed the TCU Bookstore enough to understand the ethos, pathos, and logos of the space. A logical appeal that the Starbucks Cafe makes is that people like coffee so why not have a coffee shop in a bookstore because in both of these places one can find comfort. I think the book posters they have hanging up on the walls of old classic books makes both an ethical and emotional appeal. It shows us that the bookstore supports these credible well-known authors and recognizes them as great writers, which many audiences in the store may also agree and feel a sense of pride that they have enjoyed some or all of those classics. All of the TCU gear, memorabilia, and apparel makes an emotional appeal because people are proud enough of the school they go to to wear TCU on their clothing. I am sure there are many more specific appeals and arguments the bookstore makes but I will need to do further observations to fully see and understand them.

In Class: "Candy Cigarette"

My attention is immediately drawn to the girl and how she is portraying herself to be much older. The way she stands makes me think this. She looks like she is casually out having a smoke with her arm folded across her stomach, her hunched over stance and "I don't give a crap" stare at the camera as she holds a cigarette between her index and middle fingers like what she is doing is the norm. She has obviously seen this and has been trained or conditioned to think this is what people are supposed to do.
The image as a whole is just kind of there... I really noticed the look on her face first and how mad and angry she looks. Then I saw the cigarette and the girl's stance. I noticed how much older the girl with the cigarette looks compared to the other little girl. This probably has to do with her pony tail and how she is standing with her hands on her hips like she does not approve of the girl holding the candy cigarette like that. The background is black and white and pretty blurred out, but that makes the girl with the candy cigarette stand out more and the other little girl kind of blend in as if the girl in white is the message that we are supposed to see.
This photo is kind of sad. The color and the girl's face and expression are what bring this emotion out of the photo. Perhaps what they are trying to tell us is that smoking makes people unhappy and that some people don't approve.
The purpose of this photo is to show us the effects smoking has on our youth and children. That we need to be better role models so that our children don't think they need to smoke because their parents did. I don't think the photographer is a fan of smoking and is trying to make a stand and a little girl is a powerful appeal to many audiences since most people like children and their innocence.