Gaige Wessling's Rhetoric Shtuff

Intro:    *Talk about trend in commercials      -Relying more on humor/absurdity then the past      -Has to catch the watchers attention    *Commercials distract us with humor to not think about marketing stratigies    *Crowd participation:      -What commercials made this trend so popular?      -Old Spice; extremely memorable because of its absurd content    *Watch the commercial    *Thesis: This particular Old Spice commercial goes by the same principle; it uses humor and absurdity to hide more subtle marketing strategies like ethos building meta-criticism and specified pathos First Focus: Use of Absurdity    *Several uses of absurd visuals      -Flying Bear      -Octopus      -Young Man Dancing    *Act as a hook      -Goes against our preconceptions of commercials      -Intrigues us, draws our focus and attention    *Acts as a blanket      -Absurd visuals before and after the important information      - Draws our focus so much that we almost don't notice th

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woXzxKid5qM For this Old Spice commercial, I want to focus on three main points through the speech. 1) Absurdity/Humor: the commercial uses absurd and over the top visuals for humorous camera shots, which creates a sense of fun and joy. It also serves to create intrigue, as such odd visuals go against our mythos, or previous preconceptions of commercials, and makes you want to stay and watch. 2) Meta Criticism/Self Awareness: This is used in a fantastic way, as it jabs at other commercials that have also started using the absurd style that Old Spice has. This actually provides some ethos in my opinion, as it makes them suddenly seem very knowledgeable about the industry. However it's also used as a comedic turn, which is amusing to most audiences, if the blunt absurdity wasn't.  3) Slant/Audience: Strangely, this commercial targets two audiences. One being young men who are the primary users of the product, which is the demographic

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I had some considerable difficulty trying to connect with someone in order to get my interview, which I think was partly because of my indecisiveness in choosing someone, but I was luckily able to get together with a T.A. of mine in the Chem. department eventually. Although he was my third choice and may not be as credible as, per say, a professor, I still think he was a good source with lots of writing experience in the field of chemistry. Christian Haas: *first year Ph.d student in the chem. dep. *In field research experience w/ geology and synthetics. *Published author in Geoscience. *T.A. for Principles of Chem. Notes; N-A writing is considerably more frequent; up to 60 times a week -20% Academic, 80% Non-academic -Jargon is significant; not black and white, adjust vocab to audience significantly. -structure of Academic papers is rigorous; must be ACS style. -Writing background is extremely helpful in the field, made academic writing much much easier for him -A. writing

Intro: -Relevance of writing in chem.    -Diction and effects on tone    -Use of APA and it's informal counterparts    -Primary v. Secondary research    -Tie to purpose; reflecting audience, purpose, etc. (Brief) Nonacademic Section: -Use of non-acad. writing; when and why.    -Varying diction throughout different sources, slow build up    -Structuring; expectations and variations of different types, their purposes. Transition:    -Nonacademic educational piece; how it demonstrates the scaling diction and a mingling of diction; why. Academic: -Use of academic; when and why.    -They stress of extremely learned diction    -Primary v. Secondary sources: (may split into their own two sections)       -Differences in referencing       -Use of diagrams/variations in structure    -Use and purpose of APA Conclusion: -The relevance of writing in chem.    -The scaling diction throughout various sources    -APA v. the informal variations and their uses.    -Grey areas;