Final Project

I found this video on www.youtube.com. This same video is also a commercial often seen on TV. The video/commercial is addressing those watching who have the means to donate to the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA). However, its strong use of pathos provokes viewers to change the channel every time it comes on.

In the reading titled “Pathetic Proof: Passionate Appeals” by Crowley and Hawhee, Crowley and Hawhee specifically address how advertisements appeal to the audience’s emotions in order to get the audience to respond to advertiser’s messages. Crowley and Hawhee state: “Contemporary advertisers and political spin artists also understand the important role played by emotion in our responses to their messages. The most obvious modern use of emotional appeals appears in advertisements that appeal to consumers’ desire for success (“be all you can be;” “just do it!”) or their fear of losing status in their communities (“don’t let this happen to you!”).” (Crowley and Hawhee, 3) Although the BC SPCA video does not appeal to consumers’ desire for success or their fear of losing status in their communities, there is still a clear use of emotional appeals within this video working to appeal to viewers’ love of animals (the interpretation here being “don’t let innocent animals suffer”).

The main emotions provoked by this video are sadness and pity. According to Aristotle, “pity may be defined as a feeling of pain caused by the sight of some evil, destructive or painful, which befalls one who does not deserve it, and which we might expect to befall ourselves or some friends of ours, and moreover to befall us soon.” (Aristotle, 77) Aristotle goes on to define what people pity as well. “All unpleasant and painful things excite pity if they tend to destroy pain and annihilate; and all such evils as are due to chance, if they are serious. The painful and destructive evils are: death in its various forms, bodily injuries and afflictions, old age, diseases, lack of food. The evils due to chance are: friendlessness, scarcity of friends (it is a pitiful thing to be torn away from friends and companions), deformity, weakness, mutilation; evil coming from a source from which good ought to have come; and the frequent repetition of such misfortunes.” (Aristotle, 77) This video provokes pity as these animals have experienced bodily injuries and lack of food. These animals have also endured owners who were sources of pain and suffering rather than sources of good.

One way the video provokes sadness and pity is by zooming in on the sad faces of the animals. The audience sees an example of this right away as the camera slowly zooms in on the first dog shown that is being cared for by a professional. The audience doesn’t know what has happened to this dog, but the dog clearly has a sad look on its face, appealing to the audience’s emotions and making them wonder what has happened to the dog. The video also provokes sadness and pity through the text presented at the beginning of the video. The BC SPCA utilizes the emotional impact of three statements in order to appeal to the audience’s emotions: “every single hour in BC, an animal is violently abused,” “3,000 animals were rescued last year,” and “for hundreds of others, help came too late.” The last statement is especially powerful as it leaves the audience to only imagine what horrible things happened to the hundreds of animals that were helped too late. The viewers’ feelings of hatred toward abusers in this situation are addressed within the reading titled “Affective Economies” by Sara Ahmed. Ahmed states, “Such figures of hate circulate, and indeed accumulate affective value, precisely because they do not have a fixed referent.” Ahmed goes on to say, “The impossibility of reducing hate to a particular body allows hate to circulate in an economic sense, working to differentiate some others from other others, a differentiation that is never ‘over,’ as it awaits for others who have not yet arrived.” (Ahmed, 8) In this situation, the viewers are differentiated from the abusers. The emotional affects of the statement are circulated more intensely as the viewers do not know specifically who or what the actual threat is to these animals. In addition, in order to further break your heart, the video shows animals with various handicaps. The German Shepard that can’t walk strongly provokes sadness and pity as the dog tries to walk across the room in pain and, eventually, cries out for help.

Finally, the video utilizes Sarah McLachlan’s song, “Angel,” to put the viewers in a more emotional state. Within the reading titled “Pathos and Katharsis in ‘Aristotelian’ Rhetoric: Some Implications” by Jeffrey Walker, Walker discusses that music can be used to draw out specific emotions from listeners and to put the souls of the listeners into a specific state. Walker states: “While in medicine the application of a pharmakon causes the secretion of ‘juices’ from the body, resulting in a pleasurable feeling of well-being, in the case of logos or music, the pharmakon is a particular techne – such as the application of a particular rhythm or melodic mode – that causes the soul of the hearer to be ‘put into a state’ or to have its ‘disposition’ rearranged according to the ‘disposition’ of the pharmakon or techne applied, and this ‘state’ is expressed behaviorally and physically as a particular type of pathos: ‘fearful shuddering’, ‘much-weeping pity’, ‘lament-loving longing’, and so forth. The expressed pathos is caused to ‘come out of’ the soul by the pharmakon/techne, just as ‘juices’ are caused to come out of the body. But the different pathe that logos or music may draw from the soul are not necessarily bad or harmful ‘juices,’ for the listeners may be ‘put into a state’ of courage or delight, as well as any other mood, and the katharsis of a pathos from the soul does not involve its being ‘purged away’ but rather its becoming manifest.” (Walker, 4) Sarah McLachlan’s song, “Angel,” causes viewers’ souls to be put in a somber, disheartened state. This state is manifested behaviorally and physically when viewers’ eyes begin to water and their faces begin to reveal their feelings of sadness and pity.

According to Crowley and Hawhee: “Emotional appeals are based on the
assumption that human beings share similar kinds of emotional responses to events: fathers everywhere weep for lost sons; an old man who has lost his family is pitied by everyone, even his enemies. While this may not be true across wide cultural differences, it certainly is the case that people who live in the same community have similar emotional responses. If this were not true, governments would not be able to incite great numbers of people to volunteer for military service during wartime (which is an irrational thing to do, after all).” (Crowley and Hawhee, 7) Here, the emotional appeals within this video are based on the assumption that most people care about animals and how animals are treated.

This video works to inspire the audience to donate money to the BC SPCA. The interpretation that ties the affect of the video to this desired behavior is that the audience does not want more innocent animals to experience what the animals in the video have experienced. Therefore, the audience is asked to believe that their donations will save animals from being abused and neglected.

“In other words, the ancients taught that emotions hold heuristic potential. The emotions even seem to be a means of reasoning: if someone becomes afraid, realizing that she is in a dangerous situation, she quickly assesses her options and takes herself out of danger as quickly as she can. Emotions can also move people to action. If someone feels compassion for someone else, he helps the suffering person.” (Crowley and Hawhee, 8) Here, the audience feels pity towards the animals. This acts as their reasoning and moves them to donate money to the BC SPCA.

It is important to note that Sarah McLachlan is an actual supporter of the BC SPCA as this contributes to the video’s successful affect on viewers. Viewers learn this about Sarah McLachlan within the video as the BC SPCA introduces her as a “BC SPCA supporter.” The persuasive power of a rhetor is discussed within Rhetoric by Aristotle. Aristotle states: “Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible. We believe good men more fully and more readily than others: this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided.” Aristotle goes on to say, “It is not true, as some writers assume in their treatises on rhetoric, that the personal goodness revealed by the speaker contributes nothing to his power of persuasion; on the contrary, his character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion he possesses.” (Aristotle, 7) Sarah McLachlan establishes ethos and credibility as she is a supporter herself. Viewers are able to put their faith in Sarah McLachlan as she is a good person. Her personal character as a humanitarian easily wins over and persuades the audience.

I also found this next video on www.youtube.com. This same video is also a commercial often seen on TV. This video/commercial is addressing those watching who have the means to donate to the Christian Children’s Fund.

This video can be compared to the BC SPCA video as they both have a lot of similarities that can broadly be attributed to most charity ads. Both videos do not want the public to allow suffering to continue (in this case, now the focus is on children rather than animals). In addition, both videos provoke sadness and pity in similar ways. The Christian Children’s Fund video zooms in on the sad faces of the children just as the BC SPCA video zooms in on the sad faces of the animals. The last child shown within the video strongly provokes sadness and pity as they zoom in on his face and stop the video just as he appears to frown.

The Christian Children’s Fund video also utilizes music to set the mood for viewers. This video features a slow version of “Amazing Grace.” “Amazing Grace” is a powerful song choice as the song usually provokes strong feelings of joy, patriotism, and sadness. Here, the song provokes sadness. The singer’s deep voice demands seriousness from the audience while the slow pace of the song allows the audience to focus on the children and the lyrics together, provoking sadness. The video of the children together with the words “amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see” provoke viewers to think of how the children are “saved” and “found” when they donate.

Works Cited

Ahmed, S. (2004). “Affective Economies.” Social Text, 22. Retrieved May 4, 2011, from http://instructors.dwrl.utexas.edu/davis/files/Ahmed--affective%20economies.pdf

Aristotle. (2004). Rhetoric. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, Inc..

The BC SPCA ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc&feature=player_embedded

The Christian Children’s Fund ad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9fDpfsorcw&feature=related

Crowley, S., & Hawhee, D. (2004). “Pathetic Proof: Passionate Appeals.” Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Studies (3 ed., pp. 251-284). New York: Pearson.

Gross, A. G., & Walzer, A. E. (2000). “Pathos and Katharsis in ‘Aristotelian’ Rhetoric: Some Implications.” Rereading Aristotle's Rhetoric (pp. 74-92). Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press.

Revision of Visual Pathetic Appeal

Note: I have explained the emotions provoked by each image within this revision. I have also added a closing statement to conclude my prezi since I didn't have one in my first submission. In addition, I edited the look of the prezi and have added another image.

In my prezi titled “Unarmed but not Unharmed,” I am arguing in support of concealed carry on university campuses. My main claim within the prezi is that without concealed carry laws, universities fall victim to anyone who chooses to bring a gun on campus. I feel the only reason campus shootings are as tragic as they are is because no one could defend themselves with a gun and stop the shooter. Without concealed carry laws, the only people with guns are criminals who chose to break the law.

The first image in my prezi depicts a street sign that prohibits anyone from carrying a weapon on the campus of The University of Arizona. This image provides a nice starting point for my prezi as it works to show that the students and faculty on the campus are unarmed. This image also works as pathemata that provokes anxiety as it displays the vulnerability of the campus to anyone who sees the sign, including those who want to commit random acts of violence. One cannot control what types of individuals see this sign and what they do with this information. The young woman walking in the image alone and unarmed demonstrates the vulnerability of the campus.

The second image in my prezi depicts a gun in a backpack. The image works as evidence to show that shooters have and will continue to go to the lengths necessary to commit a shooting by unlawfully bringing a weapon on campus. The image works as pathemata as it pairs the innocence of the backpack with the danger of the gun. The backpack exhibits innocence as one immediately relates the backpack to a young and harmless student. The bright colors in the image also contribute to a sense of innocence that is contrasted with the darkness of the gun. The image specifically provokes shock as one would never suspect a young student would contemplate shooting fellow classmates or themselves on campus.

The third image in my prezi is very startling as it shows an example of a shooter that has gone to the lengths necessary to commit a terrible tragedy. This is Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter responsible for the shooting at Virginia Tech. The pathemata at work in this image is Cho’s threatening pose with two guns along with the anger written all over his face. This pathemata provokes fear as it works to show the types of evil and coldhearted individuals university campuses are susceptible to without concealed carry laws.

The fourth image in my prezi really hits home and works as evidence as it depicts The University of Texas massacre in 1966. The image works as pathemata as it depicts smoke coming from Charles Whitman’s rifle at a meaningful location to the students and faculty at UT. The image provokes terror as not only were the students and faculty unarmed in this situation, but they were also powerless to Charles Whitman’s skills as a sniper and his range from the tower. Charles Whitman was able to terrorize anyone within close range of the tower as he had control of their lives.

The next image is also from The University of Texas massacre in 1966. The image works as pathemata as the woman in the image is desperately cowering behind a flag pole. One can also see a dead body on the left side of the image. This image provokes sadness and hopelessness as one knows the flag pole was this woman’s only means of protection. However, one also knows that she still could have been spotted from the top of the tower.

The sixth image in my prezi works as evidence as it depicts the shooting at The University of Alabama. The image also works as pathemata that provokes pity and sadness as it depicts two innocent victims being taken to the hospital. One cannot help but feel pity for these innocent victims as well as their families. The seventh image in my prezi works as evidence as it depicts the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. In addition, the image works as pathemata that provokes despair and hopelessness as the innocent victim is bleeding and needed to be carried to safety.

The eighth image in my prezi is of Colton Tooley, a student who shot off rounds into the air at The University of Texas and killed himself in the library. This image works as pathemata that provokes fear as Colton appears to wave at the camera and looks very frightening in his mask and suit. What provokes fear here is the uncertainty of what Tooley is thinking and what he wants to do. The last image in my prezi acts as a conclusion. Numerous memorials have been held in memory of those innocent victims who have lost their lives in unnecessary tragedies like these. The image works to leave the viewer in a mournful state.

The specific emotions I’m trying to provoke in my audience are fear, shock, hopelessness, and sadness. I appeal to these emotions strictly through the images in my prezi along with the last line and the title of my prezi. I also want my audience to change their attitude toward concealed carry laws on campuses. The interpretation that connects the audience’s emotions to this attitude is that prohibition of weapons on campuses is not preventing these random acts of violence from happening. Therefore, the audience should then support concealed carry laws in order to better protect students and faculty.

View my prezi here: http://prezi.com/a6de51mdswqx/unarmed-but-not-unharmed/

Photo Credits

Bates, Gordon. Street Sign. http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/public-debates-guns-on- campus- 1.1121002. 31 Mar. 2011.

Campbell, Matthew. Lights. http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/7092846.html. 31 Mar. 2011.

Cho. http://netwmd.com/blog/categories/virginia-tech-shooting. 31 Mar. 2011.

Conn, Robin. University of Alabama Shooting. http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/2010/feb/13/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Gun. http://collegecandy.com/2011/02/23/university-of-texas-student-speaks-out- against- allowing-guns-on-campus/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Ohio State University Shooting. http://pinoytutorial.com/lifebytes/ohio-state- university- campus-shooting/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Tower. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30075905/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/. 31 Mar. 2011.

The University of Texas. PCL. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared- gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/10/14/utpd_offers_additional_details.html. 31 Mar. 2011.

Woman. http://blogs.chron.com/txpotomac/2010/07/. 27 Apr. 2011.

“Unframing Models of Public Distribution: From Rhetorical Situation to Rhetorical Ecologies”

This reading was very interesting and informative. I truly learned a lot from the reading. For starters, I learned the concepts behind the sixth sense people often experience in certain situations or surroundings. On page 7, Jenny Edbauer states “what we normally take as ‘sites’ are not only comprised in a situs or fixed location. Reynolds explains that these ‘sites’ are made up of affective encounters, experiences, and moods that cohere around material spaces. This is why sites are not just seen, but (perhaps even more so) they are felt.” I can definitely understand what Edbauer is explaining here. I, myself, can think of numerous times when I’ve had a feeling of fear or discomfort due to my surroundings. All of a sudden just because of a feeling you get, your senses will heighten, and you’ll begin to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I notice this tends to happen a lot when it’s late at night, and I’m somewhere alone.

I also learned how the slogan “Keep Austin Weird” came about. I always thought this slogan had something to do with the stereotype that people in Austin are weird (like, for example, have you ever heard someone remark “only in Austin?”). I also always noticed how Austin is full of small businesses, and now I know why. Being from San Antonio, I’m used to chains and big businesses all over. The two cities definitely have their differences.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I want to rhetorically analyze the pathetic appeals in one of Sarah McLachlan’s SPCA commercials. These commercials pathetically appeal to viewers through audio, video, and written/spoken language. I specifically want to analyze the SPCA commercial below.

In the equivalent of a double-spaced eight page research paper, I will rhetorically analyze the commercial for its pathetic appeal.

· Describe the context (Where did I find the video? Who is the audience, given the context?)

· Explain the emotion(s) this video provokes and how (Here, I will focus heavily on the imagery and audio within the video. I want to also research what affects audio can have on us, especially music by Sarah Mclachlan with a somewhat somber tone.)

· Explain what sort of behavior this video inspires (What does the video want the audience to do? Does it want the audience to buy something?)

· Explain the interpretation that ties the affect to the desired behavior

· If the video appeals to stereotypical “types”, say so. If there are any ideas or symbols within the video that will likely resonate with a certain segment of a population, say so.

· Include video or audio that may help explain anything within the analysis

I will submit my final project for in-class review and review the final projects of my partners on the assigned class day.

“Affective Economies”

There were a couple of things within this reading that I wanted to comment on. The discussion on page 7 was interesting regarding how the words used within the speeches by the previous leader of the British Conservative Party, William Hague, and the current British Home Secretary, David Blunkett, generated effects. The words created impressions of others as those who have invaded the space of the nation, threatening its existence. Immediately after reading about this, I thought of connotative words. The use of connotative words is lightly demonstrated here as David Blunkett replaced the word swamped with overwhelmed. The word swamped or overwhelmed would have worked within the speech, however, Blunkett had to replace the word due to the negative connotation of swamped versus overwhelmed.

On page 9, Ahmed states “we can see that the affectivity of hate is what makes it difficult to pin down, to locate in a body, object, or figure. This difficulty is what makes emotions such as hate work the way that they do; it is not the impossibility of hate as such, but the mode of its operation, whereby it surfaces in the world made up of other bodies.” I definitely can relate to what Ahmed is saying here about hate. Personally, whenever I feel intense anger or hate, I always expect it to be at something specific, like a specific individual or thing. If I have trouble figuring out what specifically I hate or am mad at, I notice I get unsure of my feelings and don’t know what to do with all the emotion running through me. In cases like these, my emotion often stems from something that is not specific. When I’m caught up in my emotions, however, I can’t seem to figure this out until later when I am calm and in a rational state.

“Executive Overspill: Affective Bodies, Intensity, and Bush-in-Relation"

At the beginning of “Executive Overspill: Affective Bodies, Intensity, and Bush-in-Relation,” Jenny Edbauer quotes George W. Bush saying “I’ve changed my style somewhat, as you know. I’m less – I pontificate less…And I’m interacting more with people.” This quote pretty much sums up Edbauer’s whole introduction addressing how Bush hardly ever delivered a line particularly well. It baffles me though that Bush would often have this problem considering he went to Yale. Did Bush do well at Yale? Does he think before he speaks? These questions would always come to my mind when I would hear him speak. I couldn’t figure it out.

Edbauer not only discussed Bush’s public speaking but also Reagan’s. After I finished reading the article, I realized I could probably connect more with the reading if I experienced Reagan’s public speaking for myself. I have included a video of one of Reagan’s speeches below. After viewing a few of Reagan’s speeches, I couldn’t make out any body language that “was so jerky and unsmooth.” I also thought for the most part Reagan followed “a logical line to its conclusion.” Maybe Edbauer could have used a better example to demonstrate her main points throughout the article?

"The Autonomy of Affect"

For me, the chapters by Massumi were very hard to read. I’m not sure if it was the vocabulary Massumi was using or the content/subject matter of the chapters. A lot of times I just found myself reading a sentence over and over again before moving on to finish the chapters.

However, Massumi’s discussion in "The Autonomy of Affect" regarding how affect is often used as a synonym for emotion caught my attention, interest, and curiosity. Massumi states on page 27 that “affect is most often used loosely as a synonym for emotion. But one of the clearest lessons of this first story is that emotion and affect – if affect is intensity – follow different logics and pertain to different orders.” First of all, I didn’t know affect was commonly getting used as a synonym for emotion. Second, I agree with Massumi that we need to recognize that affect and emotion follow different logics and pertain to different orders. Affect doesn’t really say intensity to me but rather is mostly used as a verb to indicate influence or change. Emotion is a noun indicating a strong state of a specific feeling. Although affect and emotion mean two different things, emotions do have strong affects. This fact, I think, is what would cause one to think that the words affect and emotion are synonymous. What are your thoughts on this issue?

Visual Pathetic Appeal

In my prezi titled “Unarmed but not Unharmed,” I am arguing in support of concealed carry on university campuses. My main claim within the prezi is that without concealed carry laws, universities fall victim to anyone who chooses to bring a gun on campus. I feel the only reason campus shootings are as tragic as they are is because no one could defend themselves with a gun and stop the shooter. Without concealed carry laws, the only people with guns are criminals who chose to break the law.

The first image in my prezi depicts a street sign that prohibits anyone from carrying a weapon on the campus of The University of Arizona. This image provides a nice starting point for my prezi as it works to show that the students and faculty on campus are unarmed. This image also works as pathemata as it displays the vulnerability of the campus to those who want to commit random acts of violence. The young woman walking in the image alone and unarmed demonstrates this vulnerability. The second image in my prezi depicts a gun in a backpack. The image works as evidence to show that shooters have and will continue to go to the lengths necessary to commit a shooting by unlawfully bringing a weapon on campus. The image works as pathemata as it pairs the innocence of the backpack with the danger of the gun. The backpack exhibits innocence as one immediately relates the backpack to a young and harmless student. The bright colors in the image also contribute to a sense of innocence that is contrasted with the darkness of the gun. The third image in my prezi is very startling as it shows an example of a shooter that has gone to the lengths necessary to commit a terrible tragedy. This is Seung-Hui Cho, the shooter responsible for the shooting at Virginia Tech. The pathemata at work in this image is Cho’s threatening pose with two guns along with the anger written all over his face. This pathemata works to show the types of evil and coldhearted individuals our university campuses are susceptible to without concealed carry laws. The fourth image in my prezi really hits home and works as evidence as it depicts The University of Texas massacre in 1966. The image works as pathemata as it depicts smoke coming from Charles Whitman’s rifle at a meaningful location to the students and faculty at UT. Not only are the students and faculty unarmed in this situation, but they were also powerless to Charles Whitman’s skills as a sniper and his range from the tower. The fifth image in my prezi works as evidence as it depicts the shooting at The University of Alabama. The image also works as pathemata as it depicts two innocent victims being taken to the hospital. The sixth image in my prezi works as evidence as it depicts the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. In addition, the image works as pathemata as the innocent victim is being carried to safety and is bleeding. The seventh image in my prezi is of Colton Tooley, a student who shot off rounds into the air at The University of Texas and killed himself in the library. This image works as pathemata as Colton appears to wave at the camera and looks very frightening in his mask and suit. The last image in my prezi acts as a conclusion. Numerous things have been done in memory of those innocent individuals who have lost their lives in unnecessary tragedies like these. The image works to leave the viewer in a mournful state.

The specific emotions I’m trying to provoke in my audience are fear, shock, and sadness. I appeal to these emotions strictly through the images in my prezi along with the title. I also want my audience to change their attitude toward concealed carry laws on campuses. The interpretation that connects the audience’s emotions to this attitude is that prohibition of weapons on campuses is not preventing these random acts of violence from happening. Therefore, the audience should then support concealed carry laws in order to better protect students and faculty.

View my prezi here: http://prezi.com/a6de51mdswqx/unarmed-but-not-unharmed/

Photo Credits

Bates, Gordon. Street Sign. http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/public-debates-guns-on-campus-1.1121002. 31 Mar. 2011.

Campbell, Matthew. Lights. http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/7092846.html. 31 Mar. 2011.

Cho. http://netwmd.com/blog/categories/virginia-tech-shooting. 31 Mar. 2011.

Conn, Robin. University of Alabama Shooting. http://www2.ljworld.com/photos/2010/feb/13/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Gun. http://collegecandy.com/2011/02/23/university-of-texas-student-speaks-out-against-allowing-guns-on-campus/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Ohio State University Shooting. http://pinoytutorial.com/lifebytes/ohio-state-university-campus-shooting/. 31 Mar. 2011.

Tower. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30075905/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/. 31 Mar. 2011.

The University of Texas. PCL. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/10/14/utpd_offers_additional_details.html. 31 Mar. 2011.

Brennan, Ch 5-7

These chapters were very interesting to read. However, there were a couple points in chapter five that really caught my attention. On page 105, Brennan says “The twentieth century conclusion that the difference between good and bad is no more than the difference between ‘I like it’ and ‘I don’t like it’ follows logically from a situation in which human action has been explained in terms of a succession of passions and passionate judgment mediated by more or less deliberation. In these deliberations the guiding principle is self-interest.” I disagree with this discussion as I don’t feel that the difference between good and bad is no more than the difference between “I like it” and “I don’t like it.” There is also the difference between right and wrong which must be considered here. For example, someone can like something that is wrong but this doesn’t make it good.

On page 115, Brennan says “The decline of the generation is understood in relation to what he calls the ‘defining moment of Sinai,’ when those in touch with the direct revelations of Moses understood them through the heart as well as sight and sound.” Brennan goes on to say “In Abramson’s terms, as we move further and further away from the defining moment of Sinai, our hearts have become more and more 'sealed' – and less and less 'communicative' – to apprehending the affect which others transmit to us.” I thought this discussion was interesting as, personally, I feel that my heart is very sealed. It makes sense to think that people who were in touch with the direct revelations of Moses had more open hearts and minds than people today. They were much closer to Jesus than we could ever hope to be.

Brennan, Ch 1-2

I find the subject of the transmission of emotions to be very interesting. On page six, Brennan discusses projected feelings and the different possible energetic dimensions of these feelings. She states “the more cognitive emotions may appear relatively bloodless, precisely because they are projected outward. Via a forceful projection, they may be felt and taken on board by the other, depending on circumstances.” Brennan goes on to say “[emotions] enhance when they are projected outward, when one is relieved of them; in popular parlance, this is called ‘dumping.’ Frequently, affects deplete when they are introjected, when one carries the affective burden of another, either by a straightforward transfer or because the other’s anger becomes your depression.”

I’m sure we have all experienced these occurrences for ourselves on many occasions. Personally, I have carried “the affective burden of another” due to a straightforward transfer. On this occasion, a friend started texting me about his feelings towards a recent break up. I was in a relatively good mood before we started texting. As we continued to text, his feelings gradually began to depress me. I even got to the point where I felt I had to say something in order to stop this emotional downward spiral for both of us. In the end, however, I can’t blame him for this as I often find it difficult to keep my anger and sadness to myself most of the time.

Revision of Visual Analysis

Note: In order to improve my visual analysis, I have added more explanatory information about the ad. I have also explained what the ad asks viewers to believe in order to better tie the affect to the desired behavior. Finally, I have improved my explanation regarding how the ad appeals to Aristotle's analysis of the young. Within this paragraph, I have also added more information.

This ad is about the dangers of texting and driving. The ad was created by a company called Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile communications companies. I found this ad online at www.adsoftheworld.com, an advertising archive and community. Given the context of the ad, the intended audience includes teenagers and young adults as well as their parents. The ad appeals to a younger generation as it utilizes commonly used abbreviations among youth today. The ad also appeals to their parents as the text at the bottom right encourages the audience to “make sure you and your teenagers stay safe on the road.” In addition, ads like this one always attract the attention of parents, who are constantly worrying about the dangers out in the world that their children are exposed to on a daily basis. The text “to find out more go to vodafone.co.nz/driving” at the bottom right also reveals that the ad is from New Zealand. In New Zealand, drivers drive on the left side of the road. This is why the texting begins in the left lane.

This ad provokes fear as the primary emotion, nervousness and disappointment as secondary emotions, and alarm, anxiety, uneasiness, and worry as tertiary emotions. Primarily, these emotions are provoked by the words. Each word has its own shadow, giving each word its own physical form and showing that each word carries its own danger along with it when typed by the driver. Each word with its own physical form gradually leads the viewer into the wrong lane and eventually to the accident at the power line pole. This progression catches the viewer’s attention and adds suspense. These emotions are also provoked by the trivial nature of the text message itself. Telling a friend that you have been invited to a party isn’t worth having an accident. Finally, the absence of people, cars, and the accident makes the viewer focus completely on the words as the driver would have done in this situation. This provokes the emotions listed as it recreates the immense distraction of texting for the viewer and, consequently, brings the viewer into the experience. The absence also makes the viewer think “what if?” Since the ad works, the exclusion of pedestrians and the accident at the power line pole or a collision with another car that could have raised the pathetic appeal of this ad demonstrates that the issue itself is powerful enough to stand on its own.

The ad is mainly aiming to educate the public about the issue of texting and driving. However, the ad also inspires people to change their behavior if they text and drive and inspires parents to talk to their children if they are drivers. In addition, the ad asks viewers to believe that texting and driving leads to accidents. No one would want to get into an accident and endanger the lives of innocent people. Therefore, the ad will cause viewers to change their behavior if they text and drive or talk to loved ones since they don’t want that to happen to them or their loved ones. Through this ad, viewers see the severity of the issue of texting and driving and that the importance of safety immensely outweighs any text message.

The ad does appeal to some of the stereotypes Aristotle describes in his analysis of the young. Aristotle states in chapter twelve of Rhetoric that “[the young’s] hot tempers and hopeful dispositions make them more courageous than older men are; the hot temper prevents fear, and the hopeful disposition creates confidence.” This analysis is appealed to by the ad as teenagers have hopeful dispositions when they text and drive. These hopeful dispositions make them confident in their abilities and courageous enough to multi-task while driving. They often think that nothing like what is depicted within this ad will ever happen to them. The “expectation of good makes [them] confident.” As I thought of my own stereotypical characteristics of the young, I thought of carelessness. Aristotle does not mention anything about carelessness in Rhetoric, but this characteristic is clearly cautioned against by this ad. Teenagers are often careless when they drive as they always think they have a good handle on their driving situation. There are also ideas and symbols within the ad that resonate with certain segments of the population in a particular way. For example, the commonly used abbreviations resonate with the younger generation who uses them when they chat online or via text messages. The ideas of safety and possible danger on the road resonate with parents as these ideas are very significant to them.

Texting and driving can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving. Therefore, the pathetic appeal of this ad is necessary in order to impact those who do text and drive.

Written Pathetic Appeal

In my written pathetic appeal, I am trying to change my audience's attitude towards magazines retouching images through the use of Photoshop. An outrageously large majority of images in magazines have been retouched but, yet, it seems as though this fact does not penetrate the minds of society. As a result, retouched images are negatively affecting society's health, self-esteem, self-consciousness, and body satisfaction. The pathetic appeals within my written pathetic appeal include questions, my own emotions and feelings, and a fictional but plausible situation involving a young girl. With these appeals, I aim to evoke outrage and disgust in my audience. The interpretation that connects these emotions to a change in attitude is that magazines are deceiving and influencing society by retouching every image through the use of Photoshop.

View my written pathetic appeal here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HYivUWfj8BmU35uzXRAu2kPu39xin18wKDE8uekL0Bk/edit?hl=en&authkey=CPSDn58K

“A Hoot in the Dark: The Evolution of General Rhetoric”

After reading “A Hoot in the Dark: The Evolution of General Rhetoric” by George A. Kennedy, I realized that I agree with some of Kennedy’s views of rhetoric but not all of them. For example, I agree that tropes and figures of speech in literature are rhetorical devices and that rhetoric can be identified with the energy inherent in communication. However, I do not think that animals have their own rhetoric. There is no doubt animals communicate with one another in their own way, but I think rhetoric is something exclusive to humans. When I think of rhetoric, I think of argumentation, persuasion, and the use of language in a manipulative way. I just don’t think animals purposefully use their own verbal and nonverbal communication to exemplify rhetoric. I feel like Kennedy proves my point when he says “I have yet to encounter the term "rhetoric" in social biology.” Since my view of rhetoric concerning this subject was drastically different from Kennedy’s view, I decided to look up the definition of rhetoric. According to dictionary.com, rhetoric is…

1. (in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.

2. the art or science of all specialized literary uses of language in prose or verse, including figures of speech.

3. the study of the effective use of language.

4. the ability to use language effectively.

5. the art of prose in general as opposed to verse.

6. the art of making persuasive speeches; oratory.

7. (in classical oratory) the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience.

8. (in older use) a work on rhetoric.

I think one’s view regarding this subject is also dependant on whether or not he or she thinks that animals have their own languages. However, Kennedy states that “whether animals can be said to have languages is controversial.” Thoughts?

Damasio, Ch 1-4

Rene Descartes is known as the father of modern philosophy and is most well known for his quote, “I think, therefore, I am.” I love how the title, Descartes’ Error, refers to what we have learned from Descartes regarding mind/body dualism.

Chapters 1-4 of Descartes’ Error give a lot of insight into the relationships between emotion, reason, and the brain. However, this reading was very technical and made me feel like I was just learning about the brain all over again. I had difficulty writing this blog post because I felt as though I didn’t really have any insight with which I could wow readers. The chapters along with Gage and Elliot’s stories are very compelling and insightful alone. Gage and Elliot’s stories surprised me though because I had expected more damage to be done after experiencing such serious brain injuries. For example, any sudden violent movement, such as whiplash, or blow to the head can cause brain damage. Don’t get me wrong. What they experienced is very sad, but I feel as though things could have been much worse for them.

"Pathos and Katharsis in ‘Aristotelian’ Rhetoric: Some Implications"

On page three in “Pathos and Katharsis in ‘Aristotelian’ Rhetoric: Some Implications”, Walker begins to discuss the analogy Gorgias makes between medical katharsis and emotional katharsis. The analogy basically conveys that different drugs draw out different fluids from the body just as different speeches draw out different emotions. I am currently taking a course in ancient Greek medicine and, from what I have learned so far in this course, this analogy has a lot of truth to it. Ancient Greek medicine involves the belief that there are four humors (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) within the body. It was understood that these humors needed to be in balance in order to for someone to be in good health. Therefore, when someone was sick, it was believed that they needed to expel humors from the body in order to correct the imbalance by bleeding, throwing up, etc. It interests me how the Greeks seem to rely on this concept of forcing things out even concerning two completely different topics such as medicine and emotions.

Visual Analysis

This ad is about the dangers of texting and driving. I chose to rhetorically analyze this ad as I heavily support its message. The message of the ad is also conveyed in a simple, creative, and unique way that I have never seen before. The ad was created by a company called Vodafone, one of the world’s largest mobile communications companies. I found this ad online at www.adsoftheworld.com, an advertising archive and community. Given the context of the ad, the intended audience includes teenagers and young adults as well as their parents. The ad appeals to a younger generation as it utilizes commonly used abbreviations among youth today. The ad also appeals to their parents as the text at the bottom right encourages the audience to “make sure you and your teenagers stay safe on the road.” In addition, ads like this one always attract the attention of parents as they are constantly worrying about the dangers out in the world that their children are exposed to on a daily basis.

This ad provokes fear as the primary emotion, nervousness and disappointment as secondary emotions, and alarm, anxiety, uneasiness, and worry as tertiary emotions. Primarily, these emotions are provoked by the words. Each word has its own shadow, giving each word its own physical form and showing that each word carries its own danger along with it when typed by the driver. Each word with its own physical form gradually leads the viewer into the other lane and eventually to the accident at the power line pole. This progression catches the viewer’s attention and adds suspense. These emotions are also provoked by the trivial nature of the text message itself. Telling a friend that you have been invited to a party isn’t worth having an accident. Finally, the absence of people, cars, and the accident makes the viewer focus completely on the words as the driver would have done in this situation. This provokes the emotions listed as it recreates the immense distraction of texting for the viewer and, consequently, brings the viewer into the experience. The absence also makes the viewer think “what if?” Since the ad works, the exclusion of other things that could have raised the pathetic appeal of this ad demonstrates that the issue itself is powerful enough to stand on its own.

The ad is mainly aiming to educate the public about the issue of texting and driving. However, the ad also inspires people to change their behavior if they text and drive and inspires parents to talk to their children if they are drivers. The ad does this through its interpretation that ties the affect to the desire behavior. For viewers, the interpretation is that they don’t want that to happen to them or their loved ones. They don’t want to endanger the lives of innocent people, and they don’t want to get in an accident. Through this ad, viewers see the severity associated with texting and driving and that the importance of safety immensely outweighs any text message.

Aristotle’s analysis of the character of the young can be applied to the ad as the ad appeals to stereotypes of the young. However, the ad does not appeal to any other classifications or symbols that resonate with certain segments of the population. Aristotle states in chapter twelve of Rhetoric that “[the young’s] hot tempers and hopeful dispositions make them more courageous than older men are; the hot temper prevents fear, and the hopeful disposition creates confidence.” This analysis can be applied to the ad as teenagers have hopeful dispositions when they text and drive. These hopeful dispositions make them confident in their abilities and courageous enough to multi-task while driving. They often think that nothing like what is depicted within this ad will ever happen to them. The “expectation of good makes [them] confident.” As I thought of my own stereotypical characteristics of the young, I thought of carelessness. Aristotle does not mention anything about carelessness in Rhetoric, but this characteristic is clearly appealed to by this ad. Teenagers are often careless when they drive as they always think they have a good handle and assessment of their driving situation.

Texting and driving can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving. Therefore, the pathetic appeal of this ad is necessary in order to impact those who do text and drive.

Aristotle: Book 2, Ch 12-26

The first question I have is about chapter fifteen. I didn’t really understand what Aristotle meant by good birth. I know Aristotle stated that it “must be distinguished from nobility”, but I still wasn’t 100% sure what being well-born means. Does this mean you come from good genes or that your ancestors were exceptional/well known? Do people value this quality today?

In chapter sixteen, Aristotle mentions the saying of Simonides. In response to whether it is better to grow rich or wise, Simonides answers rich because “I see the wise men spending their days at the rich men’s doors.” I am curious as to what Aristotle’s answer would be to this question. Personally, I disagree with Simonides’ answer as I do not think that would be the fate of wise men. Wise men may not be born with money, but they have the potential to earn a great deal of money using their wisdom. However, I do agree with Aristotle that “the type of character produced by wealth is that of a prosperous fool.” After reading this chapter, lottery winners automatically came to my mind. They are a perfect example of newly-enriched people that do not know how to handle a great deal of money. As a result, they usually end up worse off then they were before they won the lottery.

Aristotle: Book 2, Ch 1-11

Initially, I noticed in the reading that Aristotle pairs up opposite emotions as he defines and discusses them (anger vs. calm, friendship vs. enmity, etc.). This technique interests me as I do not know the reasoning behind it. My guess is that Aristotle was attempting to show the drastic differences between emotions by contrasting opposites.

Aristotle states that “fear is associated with the expectation that something destructive will happen to us, plainly nobody will be afraid who believes nothing can happen to him.” However, this description of the conditions under which people feel fear seems a bit inadequate to me. This description made me wonder how Aristotle would explain the fear associated with scary movies, spiders, etc. These are harmless things which do not make people “feel that they really are in danger of something,” and yet these things cause certain people to feel fear.

Aristotle also states that pity is “a feeling of pain caused by the sight of some evil, destructive or painful, which befalls one who does not deserve it, and which we might expect to befall ourselves or some friends of ours, and moreover to befall us soon.” Aristotle’s discussion of pity made me think of the poster Professor Davis showed the class on the first day of classes. Considering my own feelings of pity towards the girl on the poster, I realized Aristotle really does accurately define pity and state the conditions under which people feel pity.

Enargeia

One day at school, my fourth grade teacher projected a red, bloody, irritated sore on the projector screen and began to lecture the class. The image immediately made me feel anxious and restless, causing me to look everywhere else besides the projector screen. I tried to fight through it and pay attention, but this only made things worse. I began to feel very hot and a little lightheaded. I even began to lightly sweat from the feeling of heat radiating off my body. I tried to control what was happening, but it was no use. I started to feel even more lightheaded and weak. I could feel the blood rushing away from my head, leaving me pale and lifeless. I looked around the room to see if anyone noticed my fidgeting or my worried expression. Thankfully, I seemed to have kept my composure. I could not understand what was happening. All that was running through my mind was how badly I wanted it to stop. All I wanted to do at that moment was lie down. I only continued to feel horribly as I began to get very dizzy. The room was spinning and slowly fading from my vision. Then, all of a sudden, my world went black. I did not know it at the time as I had already mentally left the classroom, but I had fainted. Consequently, I fell out of my desk and onto the floor.

Hi!

Welcome to my blog!