Three Questions for Video Essay

1. Will we be penalized, in terms of a grade, for a certain argument we make (Can the argument be too personal or based on opinion)? 
2. Is there a certain way that the candidates should be addressed in the essay? (i.e. President Barack Obama, or Republican Candidate, Mitt Romney)
3. Is too much factual evidence of recent happenings going to hurt the essay?  Does a more casual approach need to be taken for the essay?

"MUSLIM RAGE" Newsweek Article

Overall, the rage and utter disbelief of the Muslim people is presented, simply by the photo.  True anger is represented with their mouths open, yelling; and their faces clenched in emotional pain.  They are all together, somewhat in the form of a riot, plus their hands are either toucing each other or in a protest gesture.  The image was captured at a time that actually "captures" the intensity and turmoil of the situation.  The photographer was able to take a photo of a moment involving protest, anger, scattered emotions, and violations; due to the mocking of their highly loved and regarded deity of their people.  The text at the bottom, read "How I survived it.  How We Can End It" also sends off the message that "surviving it" was a hassle in itself but was able to be done. It sends an amount of hope that it can be escaped.  A major part of it, was the large, headlining text, "MUSLIM RAGE".  The title directs the viewer's attention to the primary subject of the photo.  The cover is also extremely simplistic, so the reader's main focus is the cover story and the importance that is associated with it.  There is not only rage with the Muslim people, but there is also turmoil and sadness, due to the reason that they have a deep love for Muhammad.  The '#muslimrag'e hash-tag trend on Twitter is a more of a sarcastic approach of Muslim people saying what actually makes them angry.  The Newsweek photo portrays all Muslims, in general, as being enraged, when in reality it is only the ones that are so-called 'extremists' that are angry.  It is a positive way of the Muslim people showing how a majority of them are average people with a negative label recently that leaves impressions. 

Obama: For Decades to Come - OFA Colorado

Starting off with a massive group of Fort Collins college students, Obama's speech video includes him speaking to a large amount of hopeful students.  Their reactions are then shown, and many of them reveal a powerful impact they are recieving from Obama's speech.  Not only are they being impacted, but many of them are leaving an impact by promoting the election, registering to vote, and convincing others to vote.  Through the duration of all events held in the video, Obama's speech is playing, which is important to the montage of people 'making a difference' and explaining his statement of how young voters made a large percentage of votes in 2008, and can make an impact by doing it more in the future.  Less effective in the video, are the reactions, due to the reactions not being powerful enough to be highly convincing.  The overall mood of the video is positive, simply due to the color, editing, and music.  The editing of the video is simplistic but impactful, due to the montages of the students 'making a difference' coinciding with the speech, and the upbeat, motivational score.  The overall impact that such things make on a personal impression are positive impressions that leave me thinking of a young voter and how I, as a young voter, can make a difference.  A major, but subtle find was that when students are holding up signs at Obama's speech, they are all faced in a direction that says 'FORWARD.", a simple word that is impactful to people due to the idea of the country moving forward.  When viewers see the sign multiple times, the word will stay with them.  The argument is simply that the young people of today's America are the key for the future and decades to come, which is represented by him mentioning record numbers of young voters in 2008 - a form of logos.  There is much pathos in the campaign video, mainly due to the audio of the speech and montage of average, hopeful people making the difference that Obama mentions throughout the speech.  The compiled clips of young students is a form of ethos, mainly due to the reason that them doing what Obama mentioned is a credible way of saying that the difference is being made.

Presidential Campaign Video - Visual Analysis

Obama: For Decades to Come - OFA Colorado

1. What visual elements grab your attention first?
     - The visual elements that grab my attention first, are the large majority of students standing and watching Obama's speech, along with their reactions.  Obama is also shown campaigning with more students behind him, which portrays a large crowd.

2. What other details reinforce that impression? How?
     - Other details that reinforce the impression, are the many small clips of students trying to make a "change" by promoting Obama's run for president by going door-to-door and holding conventions.

3. What is more important? Less important?
     - The most important things, are the audio of Obama's speech playing throughout the entire video as montages of everyday students are 'making a difference'; and the less important things are the reactions of the students, because the have no major value on the impact of the video.

4. What about color and style?  What impact do they have on your impressions?
    - The colors in Obama's video are vibrant, which makes the entire mood positive.  It is simply edited, but impactful, and the score is upbeat, motivational and positive, which coincides with the edit of the video portraying Colorado students working hard to promote Obama.

5. How does the image direct the viewer's eyes and reinforce what is important?
    - Throughout the video, there are many different camera angles, but most of them prove to be important to the impact that the video makes as a whole.  One major method that is somewhat subtle, is that when students are holding up the Obama signs, the word 'FORWARD' is seen in all of the signs in the same direction; which resembles Obama's plan and goal to move 'forward'.

6. What text is included? How does the text relate to the image?
    - Obama's campaign video first includes the name of the city, "Fort Collins", so that the viewer knows where the video is taking place.  Throughout the video, the word, 'forward' can be seen many, many times; which is major to the video, due to the fact that Barack Obama wants to move 'forward' to making America a more ideal country.  At the end, 'Obama - Biden' can be seen, so the viewer is informed about who is running for president.

7. What argument is being made? Consider: when this was made (kairos), who is the
audience, what is the purpose (exigency).
    - The argument that is being made, is that the young people of today's America are the key to the future and for decades to come.  In Obama's speech, he explains to young people in 2012 for his new campaign, that four years ago, young people had record numbers in votes; and he basically explains that they have the power to make a 'change' and drive the country 'forward'.


8. List details that provide ethos, pathos, logos.
    - The only logos that was noticed in the video, is when he mentioned the young people having record votes four years ago.  There is much pathos, especially towards the young audience, due to the constant mention of young people, registering to vote, voting, and influencing future generations to vote.  The montage of average students registering to vote and promoting what they believe is also somewhat in the range of pathos; but also in ethos; because they credibly portray what Obama is trying to represent in his speech.

Précis - Choices 2.0: Chapter 6

In chapter six of his book, Choices 2.0: Situations for College Writing, Joe Marshall Hardin asserts that though advertising works well with a mass amount of the population, one must truly understand the many methods, such as inhibiting cultural myth, rhetoric, etc. to make a proper argument when critiquing an advertisement.  A major example that Hardin used, was the "Marlboro Cowboy" advertisement that explained showing masculinity and and rugged attitude; which would be highly admired by the majority of male viewers, due the desire of a man wanting to be like such - along with the Diet Coke critique example.  His main purpose in Chapter Six, is to inform readers of methods used in mass media advertising to make one "media-savvy", in order to allow the reader to give a professional, well though out critique towards media.  The audience that Hardin is writing the chapter for, is mainly an audience of students who he wants to have knowledge of the media, their methods, and examples of media critique; so the reader will possess a higher understanding of arguments that need to made and what kind of 'problem approach' needs to be made.

"Plagiarism Lines Blur" by Trip Gabriel - Précis

In his article, "Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age", Trip Gabriel argues that with today's technology, students gather information from other sources without knowing that they are committing the act of plagiarism; but it is more of an act of borrowing ideas such as modern television and music does today.  Gabriel begins the article by explaining incidents involving students leaving the purple shade copied from a website, copying and pasting from Wikipedia articles, as well as a German student who had a best-selling novel that lifted passages from other material.  The authors purpose is to show examples of how having access to any intellectual material obtained legally or illegally is becoming common action for young people, in order to portray the idea that students unknowingly plagiarize material from others due to a decline in authenticity; only being attributed to the technology of today.  Gabriel's main audience would be the young audience that is specified in the article; due to his tone and presentation being casual, and explaining the certain aspects of todays technology that encourage young people to 'steal' intellectual property - which would give young readers the impression that he understands why they do so.

Occupy Art Photo: Visual Analysis

With the photo presented, the first thing that caught my attention was the middle class man who seems to be alone, lost, and hopeless.  Compared to the buffalo, the man is far away in terms of distance. He is identifiable as being a middle class man by the words "middle class" printed on his torso.  The words on his torso are important, because if the words were not there, one would assume he is just an overweight male in the middle of the field, possibly looking for buffaloes to hunt and eat; or he has dementia.  On another note, the caption above the adult buffalo's head represents the point of the visual clearly, but is not mandatory to get the point across.  Compared to the smaller buffalo's eyes, the adult buffalo has weary, tired eyes; which can imply it is knowledgeable and had experienced an era in which the middle class race was high in population.  Due to the style of the visual being colorful and cartoonish, a sensitive and serious subject transforms into a more comical and simple representation of the current struggle for the middle class man.  As mentioned, the distance of the buffalo and the man are relatively different.  Due to the man being farther away, it appears that the buffaloes, though they are an endangered species, are less scarce than the middle class population who are very low in population and are close to what may be extinction.  Altogether, the argument that is being made, is that the middle class population is becoming a dying race, and they will eventually be low enough in quantity to the point that they are more "endangered" than the aforementioned animal.  Also, it is seen in nature, as opposed to being in society; meaning that there is really no use for them at the time of the visual due to advances in technology and a decline in jobs or careers for middle class citizens.  Though it seems that the image is comical and not serious, one can identify that it is a striking visual; because it thoroughly explains in a subtle manner how the future of the middle class man may be in a more exagerrated form.

Romney and Obama Campaign Videos - Visual Analysis

Due to the different positions of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, their campaign videos took unique approaches in terms of the portrayal of their career and their visions for the country's future.  With Obama already being president, he made the argument that mistakes were made, and lessons were learned from mistakes; which would give the voters a thought to give him a 'second  chance'.  On the other hand, Romney made use of his wife to give the credibility that he is dedicated to get the United States back on its feet with whatever it takes.  When viewing the videos for the first time, the beginning of each one is completely different.  Obama's video shows homes of what can be considered the middle class then portrays Wall Street and the struggle of the American people to find jobs along with the 9/11 attack.  By displaying the aforementioned details, it shows that Obama understands and is not blind to today's struggles in America.  To juxtapose with Obama's video, Romney's was much different in the introduction of the video.  Romney's video displayed a happier, more enthusiastic America by showing the Olympic games and successes of the country. 
Both Romney and Obama had their wives speak in their videos, so there was a sort of credibility in the wives speaking.  Michelle Obama spoke of Obama's struggles in the office and his strong determination to get America back on its feet.  Ann Romney did not speak of Romney's determination, but spoke more of their marriage and her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.  Ann Romney explained more of a dedication to family, which could give viewers the idea that Mitt Romney would have a strong dedication to the country as well.  The visuals in the videos were similar in some aspects and different in others.  Both of the videos portrayed America and its successes and downfalls, such as happy families and the Olympic games, or the attack on the World Trade Center and financial struggles.  Romney's was more uplifting in terms of the visuals, music, and him and his wife speaking together as what seems to be a happily married couple.  Obama's was still positive, but it seemed to show the reality of today's economy and that he understands that measures that need to be taken to commence the slow process of getting America back to where it once was.
At the end of Romney's video, there is a montage of people speaking highly of Romney and what he has done in the past.  In Obama's video, Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, and Bill Clinton all highly regard Obama and speak of him as the better choice.  Both did not use much Logos, but both used a large amount of Pathos.  The pathos is used to emotionally convince the viewer that one candidate is better than the other in terms of their hardships, their past, or just their family dedication.  Both videos presented the points rather well.

Ann Romney & Michelle Obama - Speech Response

Both Ann Romney and Michelle Obama gave speeches that can be deemed as "powerful".  Ann Romney gave the impression that she is listening to America when she said, "I have heard your voices" which may appeal to the audience that feels as if they are not being heard.  Michelle Obama, on the other hand, appealed to the audience that are struggling or have struggling families due to her claim that she grew up with a family who was low on money and were not materialistic.  Both Obama and Romney both gave speeches that did not attack other politicians or political races, which made it much more bearable to watch without being biased or hateful towards their biased statements.  Romney and Obama did not make any appeal to logos, which made it slightly less convincing than it could have been; but too much logos would make it seem to be robotic.  They used a high amount of pathos by stating past struggles, love stories, or national disasters and sympathy for the victims.  For example, Ann Romney brought a recent earthquake to light and mentioned her sympathy for the tragic event.  As for Michelle Obama, she mentioned her father with multiple sclerosis who struggled, but still hardly missed work; just to support his family.  They are both powerful uses of pathos that can definitely "touch the hearts" of viewers.  Something else they did similarly, was the portrayal of how they met with their husbands, who are both presidential candidates, and how the experience has not changed them as individuals.  They also mentioned how their husbands were hard working, family-oriented, caring individuals who built their success.  Romney's statement, "You'll hear women sighing more than men", is a statement that may appeal to a female audience; due to it's qualities of being more representative towards the female race and their 'hard working' qualities of raising children, being sisters, etc.  Stating their struggles as examples also appeal to ethos, due to the credibility of them dealing with situations that an 'average' American deals with today.  With me being an independent voter, my views did not alter my perception of their message.  I listened with an open mind and took note of both their faults and enlightening statements.  The speeches had the potential to be much more convincing, but their approaches were still portrayed well.

Choices 2.0: Situations for College Writing (Chapter 3) - Précis

In Chapter three of Joe Marshall Hardin's book, "Choices 2.0: Situations for College Writing", he claims that one must decide how to support a main idea, purpose, and thesis of a piece of writing in order to make a larger, more efficient impact on the reader.  Marshall supports his claims by explaining how one can gain credibility in ways such as self-experience and the experience of others and how they all tie in with ethos, logos, and pathos; along with taking a "problem approach" to make an argument that seems minimal become an argument that is actually worth bringing to light and creating an argument about.  The purpose of Marshall's writing is to inform and educate readers about the proper approach to writing a more credible and impactful piece of writing, in order to have a valid argument that will convince the reader to think of the writer's approach and thoughts; without the use of opinions or unrelateable experiences.  Clearly, the audience that Marshall is writing towards, are people, such as students, who should be informed of proper ways of making valid argumentative claims and the methods that make an argument more impactful.

The Web Means the End of Forgetting - Response

"The Web Means the End of Forgetting", by Jeffery Rosen, is an article which deals with modern day risks of posting certain content online to sites such as social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter).  The jobs of people and their reputations are at stake with how far social networking has come.  Rosen provided very valid information by explaining a study about how 75 percent of U.S. recruiters and human-resource professionals report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates and applicants.  It means that any content posted online that is deemed as "inappropriate" behavior can cost them their chances of getting a job.  A perfect example is Stacy Snyder's "Drunken Pirate" photo, which was a Myspace photo that had gotten her terminated from her job as a student teacher.  Rosen uses many credible sources in the article such as citing the University of California, a Harvard Law School teacher and graduate, along with book writer, Viktor Mayer-Schönberger.  Rosen claims, "The internet is shackling us to everything that we have ever said, or that anyone has said about us..." along with, "...being so shackled by our digital past that we are unable to evolve and learn from our mistakes."  The statements made have an emotional impact, because being 'shackled' by mistakes or a reputation made online makes life seem as if it got much more difficult to cope with, due to easier exposure of things that were kept private in the past.  Overall, Jeffery Rosen's presentation given in his article is extremely logical and makes one look at how the online world has caused an unfortunate risk in the real world.  He explained how at one time in Babylonian Talmud, any form of gossip or tale-bearing was a sin.  Today, it is nothing but a mere "rumor".  Rosen was logical, added credible sources, and created a strong emotional impact in showing how the internet today can impact a person's life.