Free Write Blog #2

I received this video in an email and it truly hit my heart. This video speaks volumes, and anyone that sees it will be affected in one way or another. If they aren't, they must not have a heart.

I was raised that having an abortion is wrong. My mother is a nurse and sees many children die due to cancer and other diseases, at young ages. The significance is that these early diseased babies got a chance at life, even if it was plagued immediately by sickness. Abortion is wrong, in any form it takes.

This video focuses on partial birth abortion, and I admit prior to this video that my knowledge on this particular form was limited. After hearing the video, I was shattered. In partial birth abortions, the babies are sometimes killed inside the womb or actually born and left unattended. They induce labor on the mother deliver the child, and watch it die. Sometimes the babies are alive for minutes, or as long as 8 hours. A lot can happen in eight hours, as I've witnessed many times in my life. These babies don't even get a choice, they are born, meaning they are citizens of the United States. What about their rights? Isn't this murder?

Although the videos intent was to demote Obama, I refuse to look at that aspect because it is not important. What is important is that this is real. Its not a made up campaign attack to make the Republicans look better or hurt Obama's character, its evidence that babies are getting murdered. I know I'm not a mother and I have never been in the situation of pregnancy, but I shouldn't have to be to know that this is wrong. But not only is it wrong that the mother consents, but that the doctors AGREE to perform this horrible operation.

I know I can't change the laws on abortion, and I know that this won't stop unless our Congress comes together to create a law. Since this hasn't happened in years, I have a feeling I might not ever see the day it passes. But I just want other people to understand what is happening, and realize that this is unmoral, and it is murder.

Free Write Blog

Browsing YouTube, I came across a clip of one of my all time favorite movies. This movie is Dirty Dancing. I understand this could put a label of being a sap on my part, but this movie is amazing for many reasons.

Being a girl, I know what it is like to make the transition from being Daddy's little girl, to being an independent woman who is ready to face this world. In Dirty Dancing, we see Baby (Jennifer Grey) make this transition, by falling for dance instructor Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze). The two meet at a faculty dance party which is forbidden to visitors. Baby is then exposed to the new way of dancing in the 60's. After sharing a dance with Johnny, and watching him dance with his partner, Penny, she is mesmerized to learn more about the dancing couple. After discovering Penny's surprise pregnancy, she agrees to do a dance competition with Johnny in Penny's place in order for Penny to have an abortion. After complications and Baby's father having to help Penny with her failed abortion, Baby has a night with Johnny that sparks their relationship.
The rest of the movie details their ongoing secrecy of their relationship. Knowing its wrong because staff is not allowed to get involved with visitors, the two must hide their dance lessons and alone time from everyone. However, Baby finally admits to her father about their relationship in order to provide an alibi for Johnny. However, this actually gets him fired, and he must leave before the final show of summer, where he usually does a dance number. We see Baby's devastation, but she attends the end show anyways.

At the show, Johnny emerges and delivers the famous line, "No body puts Baby in a corner." They then perform their dance together, in front of everyone, which is what my video clip is of. This dance is one of the most memorable dance scenes of all dance movies because it requires grace and its one of passion. They dance to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. Of course no one can forget the famous ending, where Johnny lifts Baby above his head, and she is gracefully outstretched in midair. Afterwards, she finally gets her father's approval for Johnny.

This movie is historical, with the recent 20th anniversary DVD release, and Swayze's recent diagnose of cancer, no one can forget this movie. Whether you've seen it or not, everyone can recall it by name. But for those who haven't seen it, you are truly missing a classic love story movie.

Sarah Palin's Response (Ethos)

In this video, both candidates were both asked what are promises they have made to the people that they might not be able to keep. Joe Biden was the first to respond, followed by Palin. She opened her statement with "John McCain doesn't tell one thing to one group and then turn around and tell another thing to another group." Palin immediately uses the concept of ethos in her opening statement. She gives credibility to her partner in the race for presidency. She establishes that she is running alongside McCain because he does what he says he'll do and not switch sides. It appeals to his character by putting a sense of trust in him that he will not lie, and that he does what he says he will do.

Following this sentence, she then focuses on the topic of energy. She looks at Joe Biden and reminds him that Obama voted for a tax break in 2005 for big oil companies. This is a form of logos because it tells us exactly how Obama voted on this particular energy plan. She then directly goes into description about her own efforts in Alaska. She states that she had to personally confront the oil companies and tell them that it wouldn’t happen in her state. She promotes herself by appealing her efforts as a Governor and standing up to the oil companies. She uses ethos once again to show her authority and that she is a strong woman who can stand up to the big CEO’s of Exxon and multiple oil companies.

She also uses pathos largely when she states “the people are going to come first.” To any American, that is exactly what the people want to hear. It shows us that in this case, she was focused on making sure that the people wouldn’t suffer from the tax break, and that the people were going to get value from those resources, not the oil companies. However, it does illustrate that she is concerned about the well-being of the people and this is also another form of ethos. It enables us to see that her focus is to make sure that the citizens of Alaska are happy and that she is doing what is best for them, even if it means the oil companies are not happy with her. She ends that part of her response, saying “I, then, had to turn around as a Governor of an energy producing state and kinda, undo in my own area of expertise, and that’s energy.” This is the most effective and obvious form of ethos that Palin uses, because she tells us that she is an expert in the field of energy and she understands what needs to be done. If you are an expertise in a field, you usually know what you are talking about.

The end of the video, Palin uses ethos one last time in a statement about McCain’s and her campaign promises. She states there isn’t a lot she has promised, only running for the past 5 weeks, but she wants, “to do what is right for the American people, put government back on the side of the people, stop the greed and corruption on wall street, and the rescue plan has gotta include that massive oversight that Americans are expecting and deserving.” We see that she is confident in what she and McCain have promised to do and that each of them has not promised anything that they can’t or won’t fulfill if they are the ones to win the presidency.

Hofstra Presidential Debate (Abortion)

I think this topic is one that allows us to effectively see how both candidates used logos, pathos, and ethos is their arguments over abortion. It’s obviously a topic that hits each individual different and obviously divides us all, and these two candidates both have strong feelings on this argument, however they are both different.
Pathos are used right off the bat. He states perfectly that we need to change the culture of America by persuading young woman that during their difficult time of pregnancy, adoption is the best alternative and that abortion is not their only option. McCain also kind of jokes and makes a comment that Obama will respond with something relating to Roe vs. Wade, which in a way mocks Obama because he later does make a reference to the court case. Obama then responds that he wouldn't "vote to withhold lifesaving treatment from an infant." He also says that an alternative needs to be present for the mother's health, which is a form of pathos because it responds to the emotional needs of a woman who might consider having an abortion, and it also makes abortion sound like it will save a life, instead of just ending one.
Another example of pathos is the story of McCain and his wife adopting their child. This appeals to people and displays why he is so pro-abortion. He has a very strong opinion about it because he adopted his child, and if it would have been aborted, he might not have a child. This will appeal to those who are pro-abortion because it shows that without abortion and adoption as the way to go about with the child, he got a child.
Logos is obviously the most used of rhetorical appeals, since both states facts numerous times throughout the debate. Starting with McCain, he states the accounts of when Obama voted certain bills, did not vote, or voted present. He states exactly Obama’s record and exactly how he voted each time. Obama then responses to defend why he voted the way he did, and the exact guidelines for each law that he either voted for, against, or present.
Ethos is a tough appeal to exactly target in this debate, but I think it can be traced through the stances of both candidates on the issue. McCain makes himself seem like the better guy because he is pro-abortion, and Obama makes himself sound not so bad because he wants to ban partial birth abortions, but allow an option for the health of the mother. Both try to display their stances as what should be done, and it’s up to the audience to make their opinion.
The topic of abortion is a touchy subject that most people don’t like to talk about because it raises arguments and tempers fly. Most people believe it is unmoral, and that by performing an abortion or by having it, you are committing murder. But others believe that it’s better to not bring a child into this world if the mother can’t take care of it, or there’s the issue of abortion will protect the health of the mother. Depending on your moral beliefs and what you think is acceptable, it is up to the voters to decide what is more acceptable.

Questions for Chapters 1 & 2 on Rhetoric

1. What form of visual rhetoric do each one of us have in our dorm rooms, t-shirts, etc. on a daily basis?

2. What are some different ways we can use the rhetoric to get our point across,other than visual means?

3. How do our current politicians use the rhetoric to convey their ideas to voters?

4. Name one ad that uses the rhetoric efficiently, and why does it work? How does it persuade its consumers to buy its product?

5. Give one example of each of the following and why it can be categorized as one of the three: logos, pathos, and ethos.

6. What is another example of parody, other than marlboro and truth commercials?