Im one confused fellow in the crazy world. Frustrated with society and life in general. Society is the dumbest thing i can think of, it pressures people into terrible situations just to crown them with "acceptance." People change their entire priorities and morals just to find their place among others that society calls popular. Its is hard to find a person's own niche, people become trapped by different circumstances that are beyond control and become their slave. I admire those that do find their niche, and do not betray themselves. They are truly genuine, but society pretends to give these people acceptance. Its makes it seems that this is a good thing. But when someone tries to be themself and by doing this they cross the line of what is considered popular they are immediately alienated. Being genuine is extremely underrated, being at peace with yourself is what all strive for, but as soon as you give in and substitute society's values for your own you become fake. All people are fake to different degrees. Some people in music stive for this genuineness. When they play for the fans they are false, what makes a group unique is when they play for themselves. And if the public happens to enjoy the music then good for them. Societal pressures are killing the idea of the individual.

Kenny Rogers, “The Greatest”: This song depicts the quintessential picture of a little boy playing baseball. He walks outdoors dreaming of all of his baseball heroes that he sees on T.V. carrying his baseball and Louisville Slugger baseball bat. He pictures them and then himself in their position, in front of thousands of screaming fans, playing the sport he loves. He thinks about the pressure situations, in the game, that make names go down in history. This was me too, at one point in my life. My love of the game came from my father, who taught me to play baseball. We used to spend hours upon hours of playing catch and talking about anything, but mainly baseball. After I came to be the age that I could play organized club baseball he would always be there with my mom, yelling words of encouragement from the bleachers. I cannot remember a game where my dad was not there, even with his packed busy schedule, he found a way to make it to my games. I think he could see a lot of himself in me, because he had been an avid ball player himself, when he was a little younger. He had played on some city league team in Indiana, and still held onto his old uniform. There were times when he would be driving me to baseball practice when this song would come across the radio, and the two of us would sit there silently and share the love of the game by listening respectively and thoughtfully to this beautiful song.



Chevelle, “Vitamin R”: Not only does the name of the band remind me of times spent with my brother and my father, it has literal meaning too. Over the course of my high school career, during the summer my brother would come back from college classes and the three of us would work on his ’69 Chevelle. Over the course of a couple of summers we transformed a broken, rusted out, beat up car into a fully restored classical muscle car. But the most important and memorable aspect of these summers of my life has to be the time I spent with my brother and father. We spent hours and hours sweating profusely underneath that car tearing out old broken parts and installing new ones, trying to restore a piece of history. Also we would often travel to nearby parts stores to buy new parts rather than order them by catalog, which allowed us to speed up the restoration process, and also spend more time together in the car talking together. The car has now become a symbol of many things for me. On one hand it symbolizes my dad, because it was he that imparted his vast knowledge to my and my brother (mainly my brother) and also because the car reminded him of his youth, when he would drive cars similar to this one. On the other hand the car reminds me of the summers of my youth spending time with my family, which I can see now, even when this was not so far in the past, is a commodity that is going to be rare in the future. And finally the car reminds me of my brother, for when he looks at it I can see pride in his eyes, which gives me satisfaction, knowing that I helped to create something that can instill such emotion in someone so close to me.



Jibbs, “Chain Hang Low”: One of the more memorable times of my youth was time spent with my school buddies. These are people I will never forget, having spent the better part of my life thus far with them. Playing sports was our thing to do, it is what we loved. My senior year before the basketball season started we had a couple weeks of practice. After all of the hard practices and the near impossible conditioning sessions, we would play this in the locker room and relax. This became the theme song to our senior basketball season. What was once just a catchy tune is now filled with meaning and memories. Upon hearing this song, memories of shooting around before practice come flooding back. When we used to practice free throws we would try as hard as we could to get the guy shooting to laugh and in the process, mess up his shot. Memories of these crazy antics come up when I hear this song. After successful home games, we would crank the volume up on the stereo we had in the locker room and take turns trying to keep up with the fast paced lyrics, and everyone of us would fail miserably. Any more it is hard to try to enjoy the song based on the musical attributes themselves. I can’t help but think of the season of our dreams, playing in a state championship game with all of my closest friends, when I hear this song. It will forever be representative of our senior season of basketball and spending so much time with friends playing basketball.



Feist, “1,2,3,4”: Everyone at some point in there life gets nervous for various reasons, one of them, in my case, was the first meeting with my college roommate. I applied for a random roommate that I had no idea who they would be or what they would be like. After meeting my roommate, while everything was still new and awkward, this song came across the radio. At first glance, or listen rather, you may not think that this would be a favorite tune to two college guys. But little did I know that both of us would have similar taste enough to both enjoy this song. Ever since it has been representative of the friendship that has blossomed between my roommate and I. The feeling of nervousness and then the following relief are all brought back when I hear this song. From that first meeting to the first real bonding moment when this song came across the radio, this will remind me of awkward moments dancing and attempts to sound like the girl in this video. The tone of the song almost speaks the relief I felt about my roommate situation with the soft voice of the, “Feist” singer. Even in describing the video to a friend, my new friend and I use the same adjectives and phrases to explain in our own same words. The entire uniqueness of the scenario and similarity is evident in the song, comparatively, more so in our tastes than in the actual content of the song.



Andy Griffith, Theme Song: This song along with the series has always been a favorite of my father’s. The series began in his childhood and has continued, as the two of them have gotten older. In a way the series has mirrored his life. When I was smaller, my father and I would watch reruns on T.V. I have many fond memories of sitting on his lap as a child and laughing at the many hilarious antics of some characters and thinking on the thoughtful behavior of others. All the while this was going on I was building a lifelong bond with my dad, or rather building a stronger bond. Most sons have relationships with their fathers, but I like to think that because of times like these spent bonding has made our relationship stronger. Many life lessons are taught, or were, in the many different episodes throughout the length of the show’s life. In the show, sheriff Andy Taylor has a son, Opi, who are very much like my dad and I. Opi often gets into various sorts of mischief, much like myself, and the widowed Andy Taylor plays the part of the stern, but loving father figure, that sorts him out. As well as the similarity in behavior, Andy and my dad share many of the same personal attributes. Both have a sense of humor and a powerful sense of right and wrong. The theme song to this series will always remind me of my dad and the many life lessons that are evident in the show, that are also a part of my history, that my dad imparted to me.



Reading Rainbow, Theme Song: The television series that this song opens to has been a large part of my life for many years, granted years earlier in my life. The principle of a love for reading that is obviously forefront in this series was imparted to me early on. I grew accustomed to watching this show on Saturday mornings and became a part of my weekend routine. I would watch longingly as the host used different methods to try to make reading interesting, and showing how many different things can be learned about in books. This is shown in the opening sequence where so many things are shown that children, who were most definitely the target audience, could not normally do. For instance the illustration of the astronaut shows how children can interact in something that would be impossible for them in any way outside of books and reading. This caught my attention early on and gave me a hunger for reading that I have carried with me through my life. Very early on, before I could read, I would have my parents read to me and after learning to read I could hardly quench my thirst for reading. Literature was a big part of my childhood and early years, largely on the part of the Reading Rainbow show. I was a big fan of science fiction, for I loved to be more than what a child in the world was, limited on account of my age. Reading gave me a window into much more than my sheltered life. The series shaped the early part of my life in a good way that I am thankful for today.



Nebraska, Tunnel Walk: This song has been lodged into the hearts of Nebraska boys for years. The song being the signal for the Nebraska football team to come charging onto the field. Growing up in Nebraska, I have been familiar with this, “Theme Song” for a while now, and each and every time I hear it, it sends chills up my spine. Automatically I think of all the times I’ve spent watching the Huskers on Saturdays, and sitting around the television with my family. At the same time I think of the feelings I had when I saw my first Husker game in person. I can feel the Goosebumps long before they come, and all my hair stands on end. And finally when the team comes out of the tunnel, they transfer their enthusiasm to the crowd they respond by screaming at the top of their lungs. Its more than just a song to get you pumped up though, the song has tradition all around it, to the Husker football team along with families all over the state. I can hardly count the number of times I have heard this song and watched the home state Huskers come out and trounce the opponent. It changes little kids all over the state, changing their love of the game of football into almost an obsession. This song has definitely sparked something inside of me, because ever since all those Saturdays ago, hearing the tunnel walk, and then seeing the Huskers come charging forth, I cannot quench my love for Husker football.



Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, theme song: This song, a good couple of years ago, jumpstarted a fad that rampaged throughout the United States. Ninja Turtle fans came jumping out of the woodwork as the show reached its peak of popularity when I was young. The foursome made it cool to be teenagers, and also popularized some slang words such as, gnarly, radical, and cowabunga. The show spoke to young people and indirectly put adolescents in a good light, where as before they were kind of displayed as the bad eggs of the next generation. The four brothers put a new spin on crime fighting that appealed to young kids. Their karate fighting style went along with other televised programs at the time too, like Karate Kid, and others like it. When me and my close cousins would get together, we would play Ninja Turtles and we would always fight over who got to be which character, because everyone wanted to be Leonardo, the fearless leader. Raphael was more of a rouge and an independent, and Donatello was the technology whiz. And finally there was Michelangelo who just loved to party, so I guess there was a little something for everybody but in our case Leonardo was just the personal family favorite. This aspect of being able to relate to so many was another reason that the program was so popular during this time. I spent many hours watching their crime fighting moves, just to go out in the backyard and try them out on invisible bad guys. I never really got the hang of all the karate, but it was fun while it lasted.

     In many types of advertising rhetorical arguments are utilized that appeal to the intended audience using many different techniques. Some advertisements may favor strictly audio appeals, which usually constitute some kind of radio advertisement where there can be no visual interaction, while still others favor visual appeals. Both of these can be used effectively but I am going to focus on the visual appeals for the most part.
     The Reebok company uses many different rhetorical techniques that are employed in the commercial series that includes the character of, “Terry Tate, Office Linebacker.” Terry Tate is a real life person who has had his name affiliated with the Reebok company and who is a former college football player. In these series of commercials a false job is created which is that of an, “office linebacker” to help the made up company of Felcher and Sons boost productivity in the workplace. The job is mainly concerned with the position of linebacker in football and taking this idea into an office setting. In football the linebacker is a person who plays defense, or tackles people who have the ball in their possession. In the workplace the, “office linebacker” then roams the office building looking for slackers and employees who do not take their work seriously or to its full extent.
     In the course of the commercials that Terry Tate and the Reebok company he works for, there is not much dialogue that mentions the name of the company or the products that are intended to be marketed. In place of these dialogue and audio appeals a large variety of visual and implied appeals are used. Reebok is a company that manufactures many kinds of athletic apparel that can be seen throughout the Terry Tate commercials. Tate can frequently be seen sporting the Reebok brand spandex athletic gear and also wearing a necklace with the Reebok company logo easily visible upon it. In most circumstances these alone would not appeal to many people, but through the context of the advertisement, with Tate being a healthy and strong human being with many desirable attributes. This mainly deals with the ethos method of rhetorical appeal where the character of the speaker or the reader is used to for better effect in the area of argumentation. In this case the character of Terry Tate is being built up with his positive attributes emphasized so the audience will be more likely to listen to any message that he may have. Like I said earlier Terry Tate is a very strong person with a very muscular body. Society today dictates that this kind of body, for a man, is desirable. Society determines that men are more likely to be aesthetically pleasing if they have muscular bodies and are strong. Through these dictations men are appealed to Terry Tate’s message because in the eyes of society he is more likely to be successful and perhaps the audience may think that by listening to Tate and emulating his actions they may also be successful. The effect that is being looked for is that the audience can associate the Reebok brand name with being athletic and performance.
     Another example of ethos at work in rhetorical appeals is the masculinity that is appealed to in men that is evident through the entire advertisement. Another socially acceptable concept and idea is that of masculinity. Masculinity is basically an unwritten code of how to act and how to think that has become expected to be the norm in mainstream society. One part of this masculinity is the toughness that is expected of men. In the video Tate is injured in a particular segment and his character makes a big deal of, “playing” or doing his job through the pain. This is another chance that is taken to help build his character. But being tough as portrayed in the video Tate plays to social norms which makes him more appealing to the audience as well. The more norms that can be achieved by Tate the more acceptable the character of Terry Tate will be.
     The fact that the advertisement takes place in an office building in an urban environment is no accident either. The author of this video uses the pathos effect which plays to emotional appeals found in the audience to help them to identify with the message and achieve the purpose of the advertisement. The office setting is one that a large part of most demographics can relate to. This plays to the emotion of belonging and being able to identify with what is taking place and what is being said by others, which are those that belong to the majority of the middle or working class. But the main use of pathos in the video goes into the portrayal of humor. Humor falls into the category of pathos because it plays to the emotion of the audience. Many humorous elements can be found in the advertisement, such as the ludicrous association of the game of football to that of life and work in an office building. The irony of the brutality of football is apparent in the setting of the office, where such acts of physicality is rarely if ever seen. Also humor can be seen in the way that the video goes blatantly against so many obvious morals. Under no circumstances would we ever resort to violence in modern western society to increase productivity, but in the ad the office workers even embrace the source of their physical pain and torment. And finally the boss of Felcher and Sons gives some dialogue where he condones the use of the out of place, “office linebacker” and even states that he wished that he had more of them.
     Another method of argumentation used in the commercial is that of narration. In the video the C.E.O. of the fictional company tells how the office linebacker is used to improve and boost productivity. In the commercial the C.E.O., Ron Felcher says, “I’m a firm proponent of paradigm breaking, outside the box thinking…” and then tells how the Felcher and Sons company’s productivity has gone up forty six percent because of the use of Terry Tate, their office linebacker. Through the narration of Ron Felcher the advertisement again hopes to have the audience associate indirectly the Reebok name with productivity and enhance performance.
     Analogy is another method of argumentation utilized by the advertisement. They analogize football and the position of linebacker to the office atmosphere. Incorporating football in the office setting helps a larger demographic associate with the message of the commercial, namely buying Reebok. This is also effective because it shows that the athletic apparel of Reebok is not only useful in sports but in other not so specific situations.
     The cause and effect method of argumentation is used to great effect in the advertisement as well. In the commercial the portrayal of the use of the Reebok brand would be the cause, while the effect would be the increased performance and better productivity. In the advertisement it is all about glamorizing the product and making the brand more appealing with the unstated message that if you use this brand you will be better. Also the cause and effect method can be applied to the situation where Tate is displayed as a generally aesthetically pleasing character and the advertisement then uses this method to send the message that if you use this product you will also be socially accepted.
     One other argumentation evident in the advertisement is the use of process, which shows how the product can be used. In the context of the commercial this can be seen by the use of Reebok’s athletic apparel by Terry Tate. His action in and throughout the office area gives an example of how the product can be used, although in an unorthodox manner. Tate shows how the product of Reebok’s would be used in the game of football, as opposed to the venue shown in the commercial. This is one of the author’s clever ploys to grab the attention of the audience.
     Throughout the Terry Tate Reebok commercial many types of rhetorical techniques are employed. They are used for many different purposes. Specifically in this commercial many visual techniques are used, rather than audio. There is audio in the advertisement but the author doesn’t use the dialogue as in depth as the visual cues evident in the rest of the video. These techniques are used as methods of argumentation, which ultimately are used to try to persuade the audience to purchase the product.

There are many different things that I don’t like about this music video. One of the things that jumps out at me the most, is how sexist and crude it is. You can tell this through the lyrics and through the way they portray women in the video. This is an edited version of the song which cleans it up a bit but you still get a large amount of lyrics that deal with sex and a negative view of women that comes out in the song. The actual words to the song, if used anywhere else in society, could legitimately be used in a sexual harassment case. Basically through the lyrics the, “Webbie” is demanding sex. Over and over in the song multiple phrases can be found that contain negative connotations, double entendras, and sexual innuendos. In the video there are many women walking around in very revealing outfits. I’m not going to lie, I do enjoy looking at good looking women and some eye candy every once in awhile, but in the video there is no real purpose to it. It just comes off as bad taste to me. The girls are there just to be there, to associate rap music with good looking women. To me, far too much of rap and hip hop music is devoted to sex and drugs. The way this is glamorized is a bad idea when younger generations choose these people as role models. I do like to listen to rap occasionally but when there is thought and some kind of lyrical purpose behind the words, not just elementary rhyming. Also at the beginning of the video when Webbie is outside of a southern gas station rapping, this comes of as ironic to me. I find it hard to believe that a major rap artist as himself would ever leave the comforts of his mansion and limos and chaffeurs to go perform at some gas station. Most rap videos these days show the artist in some kind of humble beginnings wearing his now fancy name brand clothing, only pushing the rags to riches stereotype. Rap videos in my opinion are far too predictable and lude.

What has happened to society? The news is filled with all kinds of articles concerning violence and negligence. Too often we see people in power, authority figures, in the media for doing something wrong. Sometimes we justify it because it takes place in the grown up world or in places that are far away from here, but not anymore. In this great state of ours, in just the past five years, 42 different teachers have been penalized in some way for sexual misconduct on the part of the teacher. In the Lincoln Journal Star there is an article filled with different statistics on sexual misconduct incidents in Nebraska, a place where students are praised for their accolades where the average teacher salary is near the lowest in the United States. What does this mean? Does this mean that because the teachers are paid lower than their colleagues from other states, that we justify their illegal and morally wrong behavior? Of course it doesn’t mean this but why does type of thing always seem to be present with ever growing frequency? Should we blame the teachers? Should we blame society and their upbringing? Who or what do we point the finger at in this situation? This is also not an isolated issue; this is taking place around the country. In the same time period where this has taken place in Nebraska, combined in the United States there have been 2,570 different cases of sexual misconduct. That is 2,570 individuals whose lives have been forcefully altered beyond repair. Once again I raise the question of who is to be blamed for this societal trend of collectively moving away from traditional values and morals. It seems that every generation takes it upon themselves to push and stress social norms to their limits. Each and every day there seems to be something that makes you cringe more than you thought would be possible. Each time you think you’ve seen the worst and you’re always surprised to find you’re wrong. What do we need to do to bring society to its senses? What do we do to snap people out of this horrific daydream? That is the answer to the question that we have to find to save humanity.