This week we have been learning about rhetoric and rhetorical analysis. Use this opportunity to locate a video that you can analyse for your rhetorical analysis. Find something that interests you in order to begin understanding how they are persuading us and what their argument is.
- Rhetoric
- Ethos, Logos, Pathos
- Rhetorical Appeals
- Gender stereotypes
- Gender roles
- Integrity
- Hypocrisy
- Evidence
- Purpose
Requirements are still the same. About 250 words, summary and response to the article/post/news/etc; aka text.
Comment below with a link to the text and your summary and response.
Professor Ramos' Blog 
Considering Trump seems to be a hot topic almost consistently every class, I decided to see what was really wrong with him and why he does what he does. Firstly, he is completely ignorant to history of the US which is extremely concerning considering he in the president…. of the US. He is extremely narcissistic and thinks he is the best creation to ever happen. He constantly slanders many people over social media to make him feel even more powerful, he degrades women, is an extreme racist, sexist and misogynist and he has no remorse for anything he does or says, why is that? Well, according to Psychology Today, “To date, no psychological or neurological category seems to explain or contain him.” Although this seems to be illogical, it seems as though he is just an idiot with a huge childish attitude problem who should absolutely not be in charge of a puppy, let alone an entire country.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/minding-memory/201707/what-is-wrong-donald-trump
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While I was looking through the list of topics to talk about, “Gender stereotypes” seemed to speak to me, maybe because we talked about said issue in class today. I remembered an article that I scanned through recently and thought it would be appropriate for the subject.
The Los Angeles Times wrote last month that toy company Mattel is beginning to make
gender inclusive dolls for children.
Just reading the title of the article, “Barbie toymaker Mattel makes room in the toy box for gender-inclusive dolls” gives a very distinct message. It gives the impression that Mattel, mostly known for the Barbie doll (or Hot Wheels as the story further states) is evolving with the times by including dolls that can identify with any child instead of just specifically boys and girls. The article further claims that Mattel did their research, interviewing 250 different families “and they wanted a doll line free of labels” (Saad). This portion of the story can be interpreted as the logic since it proves the point that all of the families surveyed wanted change – using facts and reasoning to come up with something new for the company. Mattel itself can serve as ethos – a trusted toy company throughout the years that is now changing their norm to serve kids of a new
generation – the theme of evolution that I mentioned earlier in the paragraph.
The article itself doesn’t really delve into pathos, failing to give any specific stories. However, it
does contain a quote that Mattel gave to the Los Angeles Times about the dolls: “Mattel’s new line of gender-inclusive dolls…are expanding to reflect how diverse children and their families actually are” (Saad). This quote can kind of serve as pathos since it gives the promise that any child can play with a doll that is not assigned to a specific gender.
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I decided to look up videos about Gender Roles and one of the first to pop up was a video from CNN of a little girl at a store ranting to her Father about how companies make girl toys pink because they assume all girls love pink and barbie dolls when their are some girls who just like to play with super heros; just like how their are some boys who do not like playing with super heros but they like to play with princesses. She also goes on to say that girls toys are only pink and boys toys are different colors, because companies think that’s all that boys and girls like.
So as I was watching this video I was thinking about what the ethos, logos, and pathos was for this; firstly I think the ethos for this is because CNN took time to show the video discuss this and pointed out “If all of our complaints about how our society is going could be succinct and articulate as this little girls.” I think CNN wanted to show this so they can point out if a little girl can realize why gender roles are such an issue in our society then us as adults can as well. The logos about this video is what I discussed earlier is that a little girl is pointing out the problem of big toy companies only making toys that they think only boys will like, and the same thing for girls as well. The reasoning through the little girl’s eyes is that these companies should stop making toys that’s only exclusive to one gender but make all toys inclusive for all genders. Lastly the pathos is that it’s a cute little girl discussing a big issue that is still going on in today’s society, but luckily now toys are becoming inclusive to anyone who wants to buy a super hero because they like them and the same thing for barbie dolls, Because children’s toys should be a form of expression, not gender roles.
The video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srnaXW9ZgZc&feature=youtu.be
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While I was looking through the list and came across hypocrisy, I remembered some of the videos watched in class and so on the search for something similar was undergone. I was looking for something that mocks a product or so by highlighting how ridiculous it truly is. On it I stumbled, the video “E-Meth” by SNL. As I was watching the video numerous questions arose, the main one was why was this created; the answer came, and it was to highlight the issue of Electronic Smoking such as the current ones of Juul and such. It is highlighting that although it is ‘vapor’ and not smoke the effects of it are the same and should not be ‘acceptable’. The video is rather short only about 1:45 minutes, so it might be designed for quick views and likes and shared easily. It addresses a serious topic in the form of pathos with humor and makes fun of the stereotype of E-vapes being used everywhere because they don’t have the smell lingering. The ethos would be the producers themselves at SNL (Saturday Night Live) because that is where the credibility comes in as they are known for their sketches that bring humor to heavy topics. They also bring in known actors to their skits and in this case, it was the actor who played Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad Aaron Paul. It doesn’t seem to devel into Logos as it is mostly about pathos with a story it creates which highlights the absurdity of E-Vaping by comparing it to E-Meth.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ec6KsB67vI
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I didn’t see anything about abortion on the list but we talked about it on Monday. It’s a very interesting topic to me so I’ve decided to look up some new laws about it. Sacramento now has universities that provide access to abortion pills on campus. University of California and California State University systems required to offer students medical abortions. A medical abortion is a nonsurgical way to terminate a pregnancy that involves taking two prescription pills hours apart during a woman’s first 10 weeks of pregnancy to induce a miscarriage. It is different than the morning-after pill, which releases a high dose of a synthetic hormone found in birth control pills that delays or stops the release of an egg. I think this is a pretty crazy thing that is happening, but now people have the choice to go and get the pill or they can decide to keep the baby if they want.
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At UC Berkeley, students Scarlett Luo and Jonathan Wong think the abortion pill should be on their campus. In fact, they were actually surprised to learn it wasn’t already available here to students.
“I think it’s a right that students should have especially since this kind of thing unfortunately would happen at universities more often,” said Wong.
Students should be able to make a choice on or off campus, but for a lot of students on campus medication would be better because they would be able to afford it instead of going elsewhere.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-11/abortion-medication-california-college-health-centers-legislation%3f_amp=true
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The song i chose to do is “Girls & Boys” by Blur. It isn’t one about gender stereotypes but one about gender identity. This song was a massive gender-swapping pop hit in 1994. “There’s an undercurrent of sadness to this anthem of hedonism, which is typical of Blur’s work. “Girls & Boys” is about cheap holidays, still a staple of mainstream young adult culture in the United Kingdom, and the basic premise of these getaways is to make Magaluf Shagaluf – to drink, party, and get laid. Boys and girls feel the same; there’s no discrimination at all. Everyone’s into the same brand of getaway relief.” To me this song is mostly about loving who you want and how you want without being ashamed of who you are. I grew up listening to Damon Albarn, he is such a quirky character even in all of his projects not only in blur but many of the other groups he was/ is apart of. Throughout the years he’s released many influential records but this one is one that i, like many others can relate to. It’s also one of my favorite blur songs so that is why i chose it, for its message.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/Blur-girls-and-boys-lyrics
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In this weekly journal, I am going to talk about what I will be analyzing for my rhetorical analysis in this class. Since we all get to choose what we want to analyze, I have decided to do it on a music video that always caught my attention no matter how many times I have seen it. The song in the video is known as “Wide Open” by the British electronic music duo, The Chemical Brothers. These two are known all around the world, except for the United States; only a small percentage of the population here in the United States know about them. They have been around since 1989, released their first album in 1995, and continued their way from then until now. in 2015, they had released an album, after not releasing one since 2010, and their album is known as “Born in the Echoes.” In this album, they have hit songs, such as “Go”, “I’ll See you There”, “EML Ritual”, etc., but the one song that stood out the most from that album was “Wide Open.” This five minute and fifty-five-second song is most unique out of all their songs in this album because of the well known American singer, Beck is featured. The video is more compelling as the song itself because, in my eyes, it tells a story through interpretive dancing. It features a woman dancing and slowing changing into something more than what she already is. I will explain more about this song and music video in my rhetorical analysis.
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I chose a SNL sketch called Harassment Awards. It was a spoof on award ceremonies like the Emmy awards or the Oscars, but instead it is The Grabbies to honor “this year’s worst behavior in entertainment.” In it they interview multiple men that are up for awards like Handiest actor and Most Open Robe, as well as one woman.
It was a comedic response to something very real happening today in America. People of power take advantage of it by sexually harassing people in the workplace and at home. Both in Hollywood and just everyday people. At one point it was joked that a molester was happy about the large gun problem because it took the attention away from sexual harassment. Also one woman happy about breaking the stereotype that women can’t be molesters. It was all too true, They did a good job to show the truth with examples and provide comic relief to it. I think many may find it offensive or too soon, but I think it is a good way to get attention to such a sensitive and real topic.
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So in this video they try on costumes but also switch genders. The video starts off with two best friends trying on costumes of the opposite gender. The girl goes on to explain how all costumes for women tend to be more on the cheap side on the materials but more expensive in price. The costumes for women tend to be a bit more “sexy” shorter, and tend to show more skin, The male costumes are usually simple and cheaper but does not show as much. Once they got the costumes and put them on they both seemed comfortable in the costumes, surprisingly the female costumes on the guy didn’t seem so cheap or show a lot compared to how it looked on the front of the costume label. The male costume was no surprise and looked as expected. I believe when it comes to costumes they make the female costumes cheaper and sexier to attract the customers to make sales, since halloween is seen as something for children as people get older they decide it’s not for them anymore, but when they see costumes such as the ones the male was wearing on women thats when everyone becomes interested, making sales in the costume industry.
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This week in class we discuss and view many topics in regards to stereotypes in gender roles. We also discuss hypocrisy and evidence. I chose this article and clip cause it relates to myself and to the class. It discuss the topic of Asians being bad drivers. It’s funny cause I think a lot of them are. It’s interesting to learn from the article that they are rated as the least cause of fatality in auto accidents and most likely to wear a seat belt. The police obvious assume the Asian is at fault because of his race even though he was just there to help. I even thought it was funny that the cop would explain he’s not racist because he knows someone who is Korean. This I believe require further research in order to make a fair assessment. I mean Asians don’t make up the majority of the population so we might be low base on that unless further research is done.
This topic relates to personal experiences. Growing up in the area I did, many of my friends of other races, who get pulled over, would get pulled for no reason. Some get pulled over saying the car was claimed stolen or that some people said u have a gun and search us for no reason. I even been in a car when he assume IDs and paperwork were fake. Well as an Asian when I get pulled over hey would make me pop my hood. Perhaps it was also the time period when racing was a trend, but it was definitely because of the color of my skin. Though I believe racial profiling has improved I don’t feel it has ended and racism is definitely still around.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fresh-off-the-boat-highlights-ridiculous-bad-asian-driver-stereotype-truly-is_n_5bdcaf99e4b04367a87c8a8e
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The recent uproar in the nfl has been the referee interference with them ultimately deciding how games come out because of the replays. There has always been referee interference in every sport since the beginning but with the advancement of technology and how the we as the audience can see the blatant mistakes the referees miss has now led every fan to believe the refs are screwing their team out of wins. With the most recent game being the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions where the fans feel the Packers were helped out by the refs because of two questionable calls on the defensive lineman stating the defensive lineman used illegal hands to the face when watching replay he clearly does a traditional technique of grabbing the shoulder pads by the chest plates and pressing upward to the helmet so that the offensive lineman has less head movement which means less eye vision to correctly drive the defensive lineman where the play needs him to go. Never did the defensive lineman even touch the facemask of the lineman out the lineman dramatically whipped his head back like that did happen and got the flag he was hoping for to help his team gather a first down.
That’s the game of football, its strategic not only in the plays and schemes put also knowing how to manipulate the rules so that you can have an advantage in any ways the rule allows you too. A lot like how our society sees American culture is that anything is game as long as your interpretation of the rules is credible and can be seen as a good interpretation. Much like the infamous saying by every coach in football, “Holding happens every play of every game, the best guys just know how and when to let go.” The Referee do deserve some of the back lash they are receiving as some of the calls or missed calls just don’t merit the explanation given but that’s the price that is paid in a game that is ultimately played with quick interactions that’s hard to catch with the human eye.
https://www.theoaklandpress.com/sports/pat-caputo—nfl-integrity-in-question-after-lions/article_e06598f4-ef01-11e9-84e7-93fbca7ae7d2.html
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David Rodriguez
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https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2019-09-25/barbie-toymaker-mattel-introduces-gender-inclusive-dolls
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