RA: Art Analysis

I saw this painting before when I took an art history class. I found it emotionally moving, and it came to mind when I thought about it. Picasso painted this after war had broken out and Germany started bombing cities. It is titled [Tragedy of] Guernica.

WATCO bombing civilian cities during war?

Enthymeme: Bombing civilian cities violates principle rules of humanity during wartime because fire bombing completely ends the lives of innocent victims who have nothing to do with war motives.

Audience: Policy makers

Implied Assumption: Whatever ends the lives of innocent victims who have nothing to do with war motives violates principle rules of humanity during wartime.

Ethos: Picasso painted it. Historical event.
Pathos: By showing the mother holding a dying child, a burning man, dead citizens, and even burning animals, Picasso relates the tragic effect of fire bombing. He shows homes burning, cities being destroyed, and even a helpless old man (front left) who has perished in the attack.
Logos: EVERYBODY dies when it comes to bombing cities.

Sufficient: Yes. He shows all types of people and animals that sends a bold message.
Typical: Yep. Everyone who decides to drop a bomb understands this effect.
Accurate: In the case of Guernica, yes. Children, parents, and animals were all killed.
Relevant: All is. Every piece of the painting reflects the terrible pain of the individuals caught in the flames. Even the light at the top of the painting represents the explosion of the bombs. The fire and houses also show the complete destruction of everything.
My opinion is that this is a very effective painting. One can’t look at it and NOT be disturbed. This had to be the effect Picasso went for. It strikes home to everyone and helps them realize the unfairness in bombing civilian cities.

FW: "The World is Our Campus" It's a Lie!

Why are the lives of every BYU student enveloped in the game of football? It seems to me that the only important news event to hit the BYU audience is how well the football team plays. If not a headline on how well/terribly we played, then it is a headline on how well they WILL play the following week. Does anybody care? Does asking coach Mendenhall help us prophesy the outcome for the oncoming week? Does he provide any new information for us to dwell on? Will asking Max Hall how he thinks we can outscore the next team help the planets align and spark a victory for us? No! Every article is the same—and every player who is interviewed provides us with the exact same insight on how they are going to win the next game. “Play better.” Oh wait, I have one: “play better on offense.” Original! Thanks Mr. Linebacker! The point being, why does it make the front page of the Daily Universe every single week? Why can’t we hear about the presidential campaign without scoring through the other pages—which, deep down on the inside everybody hates because the pages bend the exact opposite way you want them to. The ink smudges all over your fingers—so after disposing of the paper you have to keep your hands clear of your pockets for fear of smearing it on your clothes! Please, Daily Universe, make “the world” our “campus” and provide us with some sort of information that will impress our students into slamming those greasy little fingers of ours onto your pages!

TA: Forming the Contract

Here we go—one of my contracts seemed a little vague, so I thought I could practice a few introductions to see if I could create a contract with my reader.

Look! Once again, a picture of Max Hall throwing a football skews the front page of The Daily Universe. It seems to me that the only thing occurring in this dying world is BYU Football. Hilary who? Obama what? Korea has nuclear missiles? But what about an original shot of the BYU bench for new—but not really—news? If we as a university want to start producing the academic elite in this country, then I think it is time to sweep away the old, and properly educate our students through the Freedom of Press.

Before my mission I heard a few entertaining stories about the Jehovah’s Witnesses. “They believe in a driven and beaten slave as their leader,” or my personal favorite, “they believe that only 144,000 of them will be saved.” Others take their jabs (probably due to some long past incident or quarrel with the sect) and say, “they preach to hate the Mormons,” or “they are trained not to look into your eyes when you testify.” Mormon culture has started to take strong biases towards this particular faith. But what if the rumors weren’t true? Do Mormons still believe in plural marriage? Do they sacrifice animals in their temples? The Jehovah’s Witness sect of religion deserves the fair title of an active, community-strengthening faith that promotes positive aspects to its acquaintances.

These are just two more shots. They both seem a little long—and my sarcastic side comes out a little, but I think that adds a little cream to the pie (hah! That line was terrible).

TA: Using the A1 in an enthymeme

I just wanted to make sure I get the idea down about using the A1 in an enthymeme. We talked a little about it in class—in fact, had a quiz on it—and I feel pretty confident about it. I just really need to get in the habit of providing the general reason first (A), and then breaking it down to a specific reason (A1) in my enthymemes.

Enthymeme: Allowing my wife to drive consistently will breach our bond of trust because her reckless driving and high percentage wreck-rate destroys any positive thinking that I might have towards her driving.
Implied assumption: Anything that destroys positive thinking towards her driving will breach our bond of trust.

Enthymeme: Not allowing my wife to drive consistently will cripple our bond of trust because her seeing my stubborn, panicked attitude everyday makes her feel insecure.
Implied assumption: Whatever makes my wife fell insecure will cripple our bond of trust.

Enthymeme: Changing your baby’s diaper in front of me will stagnate any chance of me being your friend because seeing your baby’s gross little poopies will repulse my good intentions of befriending you.
Implied assumption: Whatever repulses my good intentions of befriending you will stagnate any chance of me being your friend.

I think they all look good. Of course, this isn’t something I would extensively write about but let me know if anything looks wrong.

RA: RC Willey and the Frame Man

Over the past week, as a wedding present, my parents kindly decided to buy a bed as a wedding present for my wife and me. To RC Willey we went. Upon entering—oddly enough—no sales people came and greeted us. They were all huddled on the other side of the room talking. But as we moved into the bedding area, an RC rep. soon came to greet us.
“Hi there, how are you today? (Without waiting for a response) How can I help you?” Ah ha! So, he wasn’t just after the knowledge of my current situation, the “how can I help you?” question provided me with his motives…$$$$.
My wife and I told him that we were looking for a bed. “We’re just college students” my wife added, emphasizing that we needed something easy to pack and move. He took us immediately to the metal-frame section with beds ranging from $300-400. He asked us a few nice questions about what college we were attending and replied that he also attended BYU years ago. The small talk was cheap as he kept looking at his watch—implying he was ready to move on.
It wasn’t until I mentioned aloud that my parents were providing the money for the bed that he immediately pulled us out of that metal-hole and moved us to the carved wood frames! Prices ranged from $1000-$2000. The salesman slipped behind and started talking to my dad instead; this time he was more patient, he walked slowly with my father, discussed his upbringing, asked some find-out questions about my dad’s family. Laughing at every remark, the man completely changed his approach!
Anyway, to make a long story short…based on his audience he changed his “sales tactics.” When the audience was a poor college couple, he expected little out of the visit. He DID understand our situation and provided all the frames that might fit into our budget. But when the audience became my father (the man with the real money), he slowed down his previously “busy” day, and walked, talked, laughed, and helped my dad make a good steady decision about a frame. He provided details, stats, and every other piece of information you would want to know about the frames.

FW: What's the BIG deal about anime?

Do you remember the last time you walked by somebody wearing a T-shirt of their favorite Japanese cartoon character, and you thought to yourself, “what a loser?” Maybe you aren’t one of those terribly quick judges of human behavior and you think to yourself, “Oh, that guy watches cartoons…kind of childish but I guess that is cool.”
To you, I speak out.
When was the last time that you watched a Japanese Anime—other than advertisements for Pokemon or Dragon-Ball Z? Or have you ever? Have you ever been to Asia? Probably not. Then you don’t realize the world that they grew up to live in is just like a cartoon. Everything advertised in Asia is done through animation. Newspapers, hair products, foot gels, etc. Their “cartoons” are adult story lines put to animation. Even modern literature is all drawn out in comic book style. What is your favorite movie? Imagine it animated, and you now have what most Americans will judge to be a stupid cartoon.
TO THE END WITH IT.
Yeah, I watch anime. I am proud of it. What do you do in your free time? Work on your muscles? Beat another man down in football (wearing pads, because it would hurt you too much if you didn’t—which is ironically making you a girl anyway)? Try to twist one more time to a hip-hop- beat? Run a lap in record time? Think about all of your hobbies—they are just as pitifully stupid in the eyes of anybody else as watching anime is to you. You would rightfully desire to defend your hobbies too right? Well then, no more bashing the anime watchers.

TA: To My Geico Friends

There I sat, listening to the different Geico commercials and waiting for each commercial break to end so that I could continue watching the BYU football game. It was fairly crowded. Every loose-end that BYU has running around its campus could be found there…meaning, at least one from every type of person was there. The game was being shown publicly in the park behind the law school. Each and every commercial drew a response from the crowd; I would like to focus on Geico’s advertisements (meaning, I’m writing this to you, GEICO ADVERTISEMENT BOARD!). Why? you ask? Well, Geico, your commercials drew NO response from ANYBODY there. Whether they be old, young, car insurance over-payers or car insurance under-payers, no effect! Thus I propose: TV advertisements that are more informative than (absolutely, extraordinarily, pre-viewed and approved) retarded, will improve sales of car insurance because a more specific ad will help persuade individuals to invest.
As we discussed defining an audience for each argument in class—I tried applying those “narrowly find your audience” skills. But I couldn’t. I watched countless Geico commercials, and not a single one to which I could say, “This commercial is for car insurance payers.” That was about it. Other than the fact that each commercial hinted at car insurance, it replayed more of a “look at this stupid clip and then look at our logo” kind-of-feel. Convinced yet? Audience needs to be more specific—just as pointed as this is to your advertising board!

FW: Otsukaresama? What the? Huh?

Ah, Otsukaresama. Possibly the most anticipated, highly decorated, flattering compliment you have ever heard—in Japanese at least. Say it with me: “Otsukaresama.” To say the least, Americans are stubborn and this compliment would only provoke an angering emotion in English. Imagine yourself as a construction worker. No, no, not the guy who risks his life climbing towers and pounds in bolts to steady high-risers. You’re not him. You’re the guy who stands with a SLOW sign while your fellow friends slave away at breaking up concrete. Yep, you are THAT guy! You watch to make sure old grannies pass safely as you proudly and craftily hold that sign. Had it not been for you, all hell and chaos would unleash itself…right? Then, after feeling like you are the scum of the world (around noon-ish), you see a beat-up vehicle of teenagers who “slowly” pass by and shout, “You’re a hard worker (otsukaresama)!”

What is your initial response?

Murderous intentions? Anger? Hate? Well, all are possibilities.

And for that precise reason, “Otsukaresama” won’t work in English. We live in a world where one can’t distinguish sarcasm and compliment. Had you been in Japan, holding that SLOW sign, protecting innocent children as they crossed the sidewalk only meters away, “Otsukaresama” would be music to your ears. Had you seen an old-man, pushing a cart of apples in the local grocery mart and called him an “otsukaresama,” he would bow his head in acknowledgement and reply, “Doomo (thanks). I know I am. I AM an Otsukaresama.”

So there you have it. Otsukaresama. You ARE a hard worker.

RA: "Television for Women"

Yes, the long awaited for, “Television for Women.” Before moving on with the rhetorical analysis, I just want all who read to know that I have no intention of selling, or re-distributing this catchy phrase (meaning, I didn’t know how to add the copyright mark onto it!) You can access the ad at: http://www.scoloncs.com/magazine-ads/adimages/TVV0002.jpg
This ad’s argument is simply to invite women to view the Lifetime television broadcasts. It does this effectively as it appeals to women in all situations, ages, and ethnicities. No, I am sorry all of you SPIKE TV lovers, this moment of reflection is not for you.
How much more could they point out an audience than that? I do not see any invading male figures. There is of course the terminator-looking figure immediately below the red box—whom appears to be masculine. It is in this point that this ad is (in my opinion) effective. Women of all ages and ethnicities are found all over the ad. Their faces are even different as they move through the motions of life. For example, in the upper-left we see a woman pondering the things of life (whether they be serious or not is up to the viewer). In the bottom-right, a black woman is bursting into laughter. Those with babies and those retired are plastered over the entire page. This helps the ad appeal to any woman (even the insensitive ones who can appeal to the terminator character).
Another effective trait in the ad is the addition of repeating “Lifetime.” Although not completely subliminal, the words are found in the same boxes with the pictures—but broken up so the word “Lifetime” is scattered around the page. This reemphasizes the argument to help invite women to watch the broadcast station.
There you have it. Lifetime appeals to all women to view into its broadcasts through this ad. In my opinion it is effective—just thanks to our masculine friend with glasses (see picture—this allows me to say “appeals to all women”).