Adele- Someone Like You

This song, Someone Like You, describes a recent breakup the singer Adele has had with her boyfriend, and how she is using the pain to make her a stronger person. The author of this piece is Adele, an English singer/songwriter who has won numerous awards as well as being awarded Artist of the Year by Billboard in 2011. The context of this piece is causal because Adele wrote this song after a breakup with her boyfriend, which was a very low point in her life and she was experiencing a jumble of emotions too strong to comprehend, so she decided to put a tune to them. The purpose for this song was to show to the world that Adele is not afraid of how she feels, and she is using this experience to make her stronger, especially when she states "never mind I'll find someone like you." The audience for whom this piece was written for was all of Adele's fans both in the UK and the USA who have ever been hurt by a loved one and need a song to give them courage. Within this song, Adele uses a plethora of rhetorical devices to persuade her audience that she is growing from this experience. The chosen use of repetition of the line "Never mind I'll Find Someone Like You" continuously reinforces the claim that Adele is a strong woman and she is not going to let one man ruin her chances at love forever. In addition, the use of metaphorical language throughout the song describes scenes well in her past love life to give the audience a depiction of how the relationship was. Finally, the repetition of "I wish nothing but the best for you" shows Adele's gratitude towards her past lover even though he found someone else. She is acting very mature in the situation, which establishes her credibility for, she is recognizing the other side. The use of pathos with the strong, emotional diction engages the audience because they can almost relate to in one way or another Adele's experience. Adele effectively accomplished her purpose because this song won a multitude of grammy's and awards, which display her success through writing a passionate, from the heart song.

IRB #3- Post 1

Payment in Full is a novel written by Henry Denker, an American novelist and playwright. During the Great Depression, Denker left his job at a bar to pursue a career in writing, which as always been his passion. His first ever script was given the Peabody Award, the Christopher Award, the CCNY Outstanding Program of the Year Award, and the Variety Award of the Year. From then on, his novels and plays have been a success. The prologue to chapter 13 of Payment in Full begins the story when Mr. and Mrs. Rosen, a young Jewish couple living in New York, find out that they have miscarried yet again, making this their fourth time losing their baby. After this time, they decide to adopt an orphaned African-American girl by the name Elvira. Elvira is very attached to Mrs. Rosen, and they meet each other in an orphanage for the first time when Mrs. Rosen decided to keep her for good. The bond between them is very strong. Mrs. Rosen is determined to not take Elvira away from her own culture and heritage, so she decides to send her to church instead of synagogue. The context of this book is spacial because it is based on cultural as well as historical origins. The purpose of this novel is to propose a compelling novel that shows the audience that even though they may not come from the same backgrounds or are not technically blood related, their feelings for each other are more alike than anything. The audience for whom this novel was written is former Denker fans who enjoy his compelling and thought-provoking novels. Also, anyone interested in reading a touching story about the live of an African American girl growing up under the watchful eyes of Jewish parents. The rhetorical elements used in this book are foreshadowing to provide the audience with suspense for the next chapters, informal diction to describe the orphaned girl's secludedness from any proper learning, allusions of Mr. Rosen's previous live living in Poland, as well as narration to describe events as the novel progresses. The author accomplished his purpose through these rhetorical devices as well as describing every detail to engage the audience and move them through an emotional roller coaster as they laugh and sometimes cry during parts.

Doritos Super bowl ad: 'Man's Best Friend'

This advertisement shows a family whose cat goes missing, and the father sees a dog burying the cat's collar, implying that the dog killed the cat. The dog persuades the father to not tell the wife by offering a bag of Doritos, and the father quickly accepts the bribe. The source of this advertisement is Doritos chips, which are a very popular brand and produced by the hugely successful Frito-Lay Company. Doritos alone brought in 1/3 of the entire sales for the company. The context of this piece is causal because it was brought about during the Super Bowl game since Doritos is a popular snack eaten during this day. The purpose for this commercial was to persuade Americans that Doritos is so irresistible that it makes people forget about important issues (such as a household pet going missing) and makes them focus on the deliciousnesses of the chip. The audience was directed towards the American citizens watching the Superbowl game because this snack is often eaten during sports events. The rhetorical elements used in this commercial are pathos created by the humor of a dog outsmarting a human through persuasion of the Doritos chips as well as an upbeat musical background to keep the suspense throughout the commercial to make the audience wonder what will happen next. The author accomplished his purpose because he showed to the audience through this scenario that Doritos chips are so delicious that they can be replaced with any important issue.

IR Choice (MP 3)

Payment in Full
Henry Decker
Section 1: Prologue-13
Section 2: 14-27
Section 3: 27-Epilogue
I chose to this book because since this unit is the only unit that contains fiction, I wanted to take the opportunity to read a fictional story. This novel was recommended to me because it tells a very emotional story about a Jewish woman who adopts an African American girl who overcomes many obstacles to later become a successful and strong-willed woman. I am very excited to immerse myself in this story and use my knowledge of Burke's Pentad and the 'aspects' of fiction to discover the rhetorical devices that are used to tell this fictional story.

President Barack Obama's State of the Union Speech

On January 24, 2012, President Barack Obama gave his annual State of the Union speech which summarized the successes and downfalls within the year, and where our country stands today. As President of the United States, it was Mr. Obama's duty to deliver this speech in order to revive the American spirit during this recession, as well as to show the immense amount of progress he has made during the four years of his presidency, with hopes of getting re-elected in 2012. With this being said, the context of this piece is causal because it was caused by a tradition that the president must make a State of the Union speech, as well as speaking to the entire American nation about himself and reminding America in his possible last year of presidency that he is a very efficient president. The purpose for this speech had two aims- to inform the American nation about the issues still needing to be fixed with a proposed solution, as well as to convince the public that President Obama is capable of being an ideal president for the next four years. The use of rhetoric in this speech was flawless, as it effectively helped to accomplish Obama's purpose. The president used a multitude of patterns of development such as narration through the story of single mom Jackie Bray and her job opportunity, cause and effect through the issues within America and Obama's plan to tackle them, as well as definition when the President defines America as he leaves a memorable impact on the citizens. The tone of this speech was ambitious because it sparked a need for motivation within America. The diction and syntax helped to create this tone by pertaining to the audience with choice of saying "we" as a whole, including the President as a common person. Finally, the conclusion of the speech with the use of an anaphora of repeating the phrase "this nation is great" helps the reader to remember why America is the world power and how we achieved this position, with the use of pathos.

Newt Gingrich's Standing Ovation at South Carolina GOP Debate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka0LMt5ciRc

This video contains the Republican Debate in South Carolina for the race to candidacy in the 2012 presidential election against current president Barack Obama. In this clip, candidate Newt Gingrich is answering the question given by moderator Juan Williams about his views on unintentionally belittling poor Black-Americans about getting jobs, as well as referring to Barack Obama as the "food stamp president." Gingrich sharply defends himself and turns the negative image Williams has painted of Gingrich back on Williams, which in return receives a standing ovation by the crowd of supporters. The author of this piece is Fox News, which is a leaning-conservative radio station, and establishes credibility for the debate is for the Republican candidate, not the Democratic candidate. The context of this piece is causal because the 2012 Presidential Election is quickly approaching, and a Republican candidate will soon be chosen through debates and votes from the American citizens. The purpose of this debate is for Newt Gingrich to convince the state of South Carolina (audience), as well as the American public that he is the ideal president and will be able to turn the country into a more positive direction than the other candidates. As Gingrich spoke, he used a plethora of rhetorical devices to allude to a very convincing and effective debate. His strong and determined tone when speaking gave a sense of leadership and passion, which are two important qualities of a president. Also, Gingrich's use of parallelism towards the end when summarizing his thoughts left a lasting impact on the audience, for they now know exactly what Gingrich's plan is for America and how it will be effective in the future. Finally, the factual information established credibility because it backed up Newt's claims and showed the audience that he knew exactly what he was talking about. Due to the feedback of the supporters in the background of the moderators, Gingrich effectively accomplished his purpose, and also won the South Carolina primary. He is one step closer to becoming the Republican candidate to run against Barack Obama in the 2012 election.

IRB #2- Post 3

Chapters 6-7

In chapter 6 of Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, the rhetor discusses how facial expressions dictates one's interpretation of another's feelings and inner thoughts. However, sometimes, people can misread the expressions of others in a process known as mind-reading failures. These misunderstandings result in disagreements, arguments, and hurt feelings. Others do not even look in the eyes of the person they are talking to. Autistic people, for example, look away and read the signs of the environment to pick up a vibe from these people. In the final chapter, chapter 7, Gladwell discusses society's bias to others as we use our eyes and ears to judge rather than our instincts. He leaves the audience thinking about if resists the temptation of rapid cognition through immediate tasks rather than intuition, this could possibly change our reality for the better, or for the worse.

In the final chapters, Gladwell uses narratives to later describe the cognitive reasoning behind these examples. This arrangement pattern helps the audience to connect a story to the science behind that problem. In addition, Gladwell's use of scientific diction enhances the piece and establishes credibility for the rhetor, for it reflects knowledge and in-depth research of the psychological field. However, Gladwell's use of the sophisticated words still pertains to the audience because he explains each term through his work, which helps the audience understand what he is talking about, as well as to make connections in one's repertoire. Finally, the syntax of the piece is very diverse, which is appealing to the audience and grabs their attention through the varied length and types of sentences.