Joe Biden's Ethos

Throughout this essay, Biden shows many examples of different styles of ethos. Some of the most obvious examples that can be found in this debate are the simple ideas such as when he is constantly critisizing the opponent's character. Even though the question proposed what "What are some of the promises that YOUR campaign made that they aren't going to be able to uphold?" He speaks about Obama and his plan for about five seconds and then continues to talk about how horrible McCain's plan is for the rest of his time. He talks about what McCain is doing wrong with his plans and how all of the tax cuts are ridiculous and not what America needs right now and so on. Then at the end of his time to speak he says that he WOULD say many more things about what his campaign would do but the light was blinking at him and telling him that he was out of time to talk. He spent so much time ragging on his opponent and making him look worse that he couldn't even properly answer the proposed question. This is a perfect example of Ad Hominen.

Biden also trys to make himself look like a "regular old joe." He wants to be seen as just another citizen who cares and wants to make a change in the world. He works to create the correct image with his suit and the flag pin properly placed on his collar. I remember when the press had a huge fit with Obama when he wasn't wearing his flag pin because they wanted to all be able to pull the card and say that he isn't patriotic. I think that Biden understands that he is already behind other people in the ethos race because many people know about his outspoken personality and many aren't too huge of fans of him. He has to create a guarded character to make sure that he can be what the people want from their Vice President. So throughout the whole debate he tries very hard to keep his cool and not offend anyone because he knows that many of the critics are just waiting for him to slip up so that they can slit his throat in the media.

Post #11 Presidential Elections

In this clip, Senator John McCain brings up the idea of Senator Barack Obama's tax plans and how that would effect small business owners. He uses the example of "Joe the Plumber" by saying that he has worked at the same job for many years and worked many hours, probably 10 to 12 hours a day, and now he wants to buy the business and become it's owner. Because of Obama's tax plan, McCain fights that Joe the Plumber didn't get the chance to own the business because his taxes would become so much higher that he couldn't afford to pay his workers. Obama fights back by saying that he's cutting the taxes for over 90% of the people in America and that Joe the Plumber wouldn't be as effected as McCain said. Pretty much, it's two men arguing over the same thing again and again.

McCain appeals to logos when he says the line "nobody likes taxes so why raise them." It's a pretty, "well duh..." kind of statement. Obviously no one likes taxes and all the people would love to be able to beleive in that statement. It's only logical that the people don't like the taxes so it will make the people happier if you promise not to raise the taxes. I think he makes this statement because he just wants to be able to say what everyone's been thinking all along. Why raise them any higher? Everyone is already stressed enough about what they have to pay now, why in the world would to people be happy to hear that they are yet again going to have to pay more.

McCain appeals to pathos here when he says the line "why would you want to raise taxes now? when the economy is so horrible?" This appeals to pathos because many of the American people are very scared with the economy and the recent stock crashes. It really plays of people's emotions when the each senator talks about taxes because they are all scared of loosing all of their money. with things being so bad as they are right now, the last thing the American people want to hear is that their taxes are going up. By doing this McCain is making Obama out to be the bad guy in the situation because McCain makes it seem that he is the only one who is going to be raising any taxes.

Both candidates appeal to ethoes when they talk about each other. They seem to never stop criticizing each other and what the other stands for. Neither of the men seem to be able to even see the other man's point of view. I hate it how in politics they talk down each other by calling them hypicites and liars. It makes it seem as if the men for get that they even have any beliefs in common. In this situation they use ethos in a very negative and degrating way towards each other. All they focus about is the other person's flaws.

I think it's so hard to not be jaded in these present day elections because of all the slander the politicians use against each other. I wish that there exsisted some person who what truely unbiased who could just come on and say, "This is what McCain stands for and doesn't stand for and this is what Obama stands for and doesn't stand for. Now you make your decision." I want the facts without all the crap and petty topics. I just want to know simply what YOU want to do for our country, not what your oponent DOESNT want to do.

Post #10 Envasion Questions

Chapter 1

1. When there are so many different versions of writing and different interpretations, how are you sure that you are getting the authors main idea?

2. Can different groups of people interpret a political cartoon differently? how does the artist ensure that he's getting the point HE/SHE WANTS across to the audience?

3. When you are trying to connect with your audience, what tactic do you think it the most successful? Are you more interested in their logic or their emotion?


Chapter 2

1. Where do we see visual rhetoric in our everyday life?

2. What are some of the ways that people trick others and create false needs?

3. Why do you believe that arguments set up in a cause and effect format are so successful? Do these types of questions appeal more to our emotions or our logic?

Writing Project #1

I have always been a strong believer that a child’s greatest adventure is discovering everything that this world has to offer, and as I passed the statues of children playing in marching band and stood before those great doors painted with bright greens and reds and blues, I realized that this place could be one of the greatest discoveries for any adventurous child. “The Children’s Museum,” stated the door very bluntly with a cursive font that curled and twisted to suggest that the mood of this place was much more relaxed than the door of a business with a Times New Roman entrance. The moment I walk in, I’m instantly greeted with the smiling face of a young woman working behind the red, blue, and yellow ticket counter. She seemed very nice and caring but a little bored with just sitting all day. Looking around the towering hall I thought to myself, “Wow! You can’t put a price on how many memories a child could make here!” At that moment the young woman stated shortly, “Six dollars please.” I was wrong, I guess you can put a price on it.

Once you pass the primary colored counter, you are suddenly overwhelmed of all the options and adventures. It almost makes you realize that if an adult can be stunned with the opportunities of this place, imagine how the children would feel. The three story building was packed floor to ceiling with varying opportunities for each of the kids to explore. The children had the option to explore space, fly a hot air balloon, become a newscaster, and live in a tree house all in one day. At the center of the building sits, what I remembered to be one of my favorite attractions; the prairie dog exhibit. Here, the children were able to crawl into a series of tunnels that intertwine together, much like a prairie dog town. Children would eagerly crawl in one side, vanish for a few moments and then suddenly reappear on the complete opposite side of the mound, smiling from ear to ear. As many different children popped their small heads out of holes and imitating Timon from The Lion King, I realized that I wasn’t just seeing the same few smiling faces over and over again, they were each different kids. It’s almost incredible when you realize how many children those tunnels even hold! The children became more and more ecstatic every time they popped their head up and shouted “SURPRISE” to wherever their otherwise occupied parents were sitting. The kids were so excited every time they came up and went back down, as if every time they entered the tunnels again, they thought they would discover a whole new adventure.

After awhile, the difference between the way each parent watched their kid became more interesting. Many of the mothers were sitting together and chatting about the latest thing their child did or whatever the newest drama on the soaps, but one father in particular caught my eye. He was sitting alone staring at his little girl as she sprinted into the tubes like all the other children, almost tripping, and before she disappeared he shouted to her, “Anna, be careful!” but she just waved him off. As he sat down, it seemed that he had given the warning more as a comfort for himself than her. During the time she wound about the tubes, he never took his eyes off of the exit he was expecting her to come out of. After seconds turned into minutes, the father scooted farther forward on his chair. A few minutes longer he seemed like he couldn’t take it anymore and he stood up. Not wanting to be too hovering, he took a lap around the mound. After still not being able to see her, a flash a panic crossed over his concerned face and right as he opened his mouth to call her she popped out the opposite side. “Daddy!” she squeaked, “There are so many tunnels! It’s so cool!” And with a sigh of relief the father grabs her by the hand and says, “It sounds like fun, but let’s see what else there is.” He scooped her up into his arms and tickled her to make ensure that she didn’t vanish into the tubes once more and scare him all over again. As the little girl, Anna, skipped away in her princess Velcro shoes and twirl her already curly hair, she begged her father to take her over to the grocery store section of the museum.

At the Children’s museum the kids have the option to temporarily become almost any profession they wanted, with the exception of pimp and drug dealer of course. The grocery store section draws in a lot of the children’s attention because it’s something that they are familiar with. Every kid loves going to the grocery store with the mom and helping her pick out what to eat for supper and in this module, the children are in control. They shop for whatever groceries they see fit and when their cart is full and they’ve gone through check-out a volunteer kindly takes the cart and puts all the food back in the correct location. On the far side of the tiny store, a small girl in a plaid dress and pigtails cleared every item off of the pretend produce self and packed it into her midget-sized cart. She scooted her way past a young boy who seemed to be comparing two pieces of plastic meat much like he saw his mother do before. The children were so engrossed with the hollow food that they seemed to totally forget that it was all just make-believe. At one point, another little girl dropped a neon yellow banana to the ground and promptly picked it up, handed it to a volunteer, and stated, “This food was on the ground. It’s too dirty to sell now.” The volunteer struggled to stifle her laugh to make sure that she didn’t discourage the small girl’s obviously serious statement and the girl continued on her merry way. As a volunteer scanned the food for the pigtailed girl, she made small talk about the weather and other “grown-up” things. After she bagged her fake food into little plastic bags she pushed the cart about five feet out of the store. Once she was out of the store and back into the walkway, she stopped and turned to volunteer and said, “What do I do with this now?” Then it was back to reality. She wasn’t really a grown-up going grocery shopping for an insane amount of vegetables; she was just a little girl on a big adventure.

A further tour of the giant museum offers a great variety of adventures for the children. Just walking down a single hall, you pass a pizza bakery where a boy stopped making the messy pepperoni pizza to pick his nose, a police car where the small boy was informing the other car that they were going a “bazillion miles per hour,” and a veterinarian where, if that stuffed dog were real, PETA would definitely make sure the little boy lost his veterinary license for what he was doing to it. Each of these tiny rooms offered a new discovery for the children but they saw each of these tiny rooms as just another adventure. It was amazing to me how excited these kids were just for the future. Things that the adults in this world take for granted or even dread doing, are the same exact things that these children dream about. Each of these kids were using their creativity and also their memory to play these grown-up games. They were reenacting all the moves that they saw on TV or that they had watched their parents do before. But another point that this museum offers that is very important to the children is the fact that they are able to be much more independent. Throughout the whole time I was there, there was never a crying face. I did however, see children with the freedom to paint each other’s face instead of letting a grown-up do it, children telling their parents all the dreams they had for when they grow up, and children taking the time from a somewhat hectic world to create their own adventure and to just stop and discover.

Writing Post #1-Rough Draft

I have always been a strong believer that a child’s greatest adventure is discovering everything that this world has to offer, and as I stood before those great doors painted with bright greens and reds and blues, I realized that this place could be one of the greatest discoveries for any adventurous child. “The Children’s Museum,” stated the door very bluntly with a cursive font that curled and twisted to suggest that the mood of this place was much more relaxed than the door of a business with a Times New Roman entrance. The moment I walk in, I’m instantly greeted with the smiling face of a young woman working behind the red, blue, and yellow ticket counter. She seemed very nice and caring but a little bored with just sitting all day. As I looked around the towering hall I thought to myself, “Wow! You can’t put a price on how many memories a child could make here!” At that moment the young woman stated shortly, “Six dollars please.” I was wrong, I guess you can put a price on it.
Once I passed the primary colored counter, I was suddenly overwhelmed of all the options and adventures. I realized that if I was even stunned with the opportunities of this place, imagine how the children would feel. The three story building was packed floor to ceiling with varying opportunities for each of the kids to explore. The children had the option to explore space, fly a hot air balloon, become a newscaster, and live in a tree house all in one day. First, I sat myself by what I remembered as one of my favorite attractions when I was younger, the prairie dog exhibit. Here, the children were able to crawl into a series of tunnels that intertwine together, much like a prairie dog town. I watched as children would eagerly crawl in one side, vanish for a few moments and then suddenly reappear on the complete opposite side of the mound, smiling from ear to ear. As I watched and noticed many different children popping their small heads out of holes and imitating Timon from The Lion King, I realized that I wasn’t just seeing the same few smiling faces over and over again, they were each different kids. At this point I wondered to myself, how many children did those tunnels even hold? The children became more and more ecstatic every time they popped their head up and shouted “SURPRISE” to wherever their otherwise occupied parents were sitting. After awhile, I started watching the parents more than the kids. Many of the mothers were sitting together and chatting about the latest thing their child did or whatever the newest drama on the soaps but one father in particular caught my eye. He was sitting alone staring at his little girl as she sprinted into the tubes like all the other children, almost tripping, and before she disappeared he shouted to her, “Anna, be careful!” but she just waved him off. As he sat down, I realized that he had given the warning more as a comfort for himself than her. During the time she wound about the tubes, he never took his eyes off of the exit I’m assuming he was expecting her to come out of. After seconds turned into minutes, the father scooted farther forward on his chair. A few minutes longer he seemed like he couldn’t take it any more and he stood up. Not wanting to be too hovering, he took a lap around the mound. After still not being able to see her, I saw a flash a panic cross over his concerned face and right as he opened his mouth to call her she popped out the opposite side. “Daddy!” she squeaked, “There are so many tunnels! It’s so cool!” And with a sigh of relief the father grabs her by the hand and says, “It sounds like fun, but let’s see what else there is.” I laughed to myself and realized that this was his way of ensuring that she didn’t vanish into the tubes once more and scare him like that all over again. As I watched the little girl, Anna, skip away in her princess Velcro shoes and twirl her already curly hair, I decided it was time for me to move on as well.
But again, I struggled with the problem of the unlimited choices. The children had the option to temporarily become almost any profession they wanted, with the exception of pimp and drug dealer of course. I strolled over to the grocery store section and watched while a small girl in a plaid dress and pigtails cleared every item off of the pretend produce self and packed it into her midget-sized cart. She scooted her way past a young boy who seemed to be comparing two pieces of plastic meat much like I’m sure he saw his mother do before. The children were so engrossed with the hollow food that I’m not sure they didn’t forget it was all make believe. At one point, another little girl dropped a neon yellow banana to the ground and promptly picked it up, handed it to a volunteer, and stated, “This food was on the ground. It’s too dirty to sell now.” I had to stifle my laugh to make sure I didn’t discourage the small girl’s obviously serious statement and she continued on her merry way. I then stood next to the volunteer and inquired if the children always took these modules this seriously and she smiled and said yes, all the time. As a volunteer scanned the food for the pigtailed girl, she made small talk about the weather and other “grown-up” things. After she bagged her fake food into little plastic bags she pushed the cart about five feet out of the store. Once she was out of the store and back into the walkway, she stopped and turned to volunteer and said, “What do I do with this now?” Then it was back to reality. She wasn’t really a grown-up going grocery shopping for an insane amount of vegetables; she was just a little girl on a big adventure.
As I kept on touring the museum, I passed a pizza bakery where a boy stopped making the messy pepperoni pizza to pick his nose, a police car where the small boy was informing the other car that they were going a “bazillion miles per hour,” and a veterinarian where if that stuffed dog were real, PETA would definitely make sure the little boy lost his veterinary license for what he was doing to it. Each of these tiny rooms offered a new discovery for the children. Each of these tiny rooms was just another adventure. It was amazing to me how excited these kids were just for the future. Throughout the whole time I was there, I never saw a crying face. I did however, see children with the freedom to paint each other’s face instead of letting a grown-up do it, children telling their parents all the dreams they had for when they grow up, and children taking the time from a somewhat hectic world to create their own adventure and to just stop and discover.