Blog Post 1

Photo courtesy of Google Images.

This advertisement features a product called Smart Water and a celebrity endorser; actress/model Jennifer Anniston. Advertising campaigns often use a celebrity as a face for their products because the mass populations are more likely to look up to someone of a higher social status. Jennifer Anniston is well-known actress and fitness enthusiast, and therefore seems to have some creditability toward endorsing this product of a health drink i.e. ethos.  Logos is represented here through the quotation in the center of the image, which states “Smart because life is best distilled”, indicating that their product is a “smart” purchase because of its distillation, which would appeal to an audience through logically concluding that purer water is better for the body, and therefore it should be purchased.  Pathos is exemplified by the image itself; an attractive celebrity with an easy-going smile speaks to the emotions of those who want to be attractive and easy-going as well.

Winning an Academy Award is an honor for most actors, even being nominated is considered a great achievement. Hearing rumors of who might be nominated is certainly a cause for rhetorical discourse, or an exigence. Seeing as it is all just rumors, the persons being nominated are subject to change until it is announced officially. In the rhetorical situation, an actor might hear a rumor of their nomination and begin campaigning members of the academy to vote for them and be officially nominated in the hopes of winning the award. Therefore the audience is anyone is influenced by the discourse (rumors of nominees), such as other actors, members of the academy, and anyone who wants the actor to be nominated or does not want the actor to be nominated. The constraints of the situation might be the audience finding an interest in the actor’s work (the film they were nominated for) or the actor themselves, or taking a stance in said actor’s non-official nomination.

In my mind, rhetoric is simply a means of communicating one’s thoughts effectively and fluently. Whether the goal is persuasion or just expressing a thought or attitude, I always believed rhetoric is a form of speaking which one would use to ensure that they’re understood. Now I understand rhetoric to also be inclusive of everything people do, such as body language, tone of voice, facial expressions, etc. We should study rhetoric to be able to express our thoughts clearly, effectively, and fluently. The way many people attain desired outcomes in various situations depend on their rhetoric, and therefore we should all understand its impact.