Article/Editorial

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/opinion/18cohen.html?_r=1&sq=the%20king%20is%20dead&st=cse&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&scp=1&adxnnlx=1222455666-xKyeP0Xcacdp/6gpKJC5aA

failing that showing up NYTimes.com The King Is Dead by Roger Cohen

Audience: I believe the main audience for this article to be Ivy League college seniors, especially those considering careers in investment banking. A secondary audience might be the world of investment banking and Wall Street finance.

WATCO college seniors going into investment banking for the money on the greater good/Wall Street.

Enthymeme Whatever is gone into for the money is dismal for the greater good/Wall Street.

Ethos: I think there are some good appeals to ethos, for one thing he mentions that he has been a professor at Princeton. Another appeal comes from what one of his former students had to say on the subject, someone the audience can easily relate to. Cohen also quotes authors of books on the subject for another dose of ethos.

Pathos: There are good appeals to pathos as well, I am not quite the target audience but I was drawn to the article when I realized it quoted one of my favorite songs by Coldplay. A younger age group is more inclined to listen to those who can see things or at least be in touch with their view on life. There is a wonderful appeal to pathos about the freshmen who are eager to change the world and end up in investment banking, it's a slightly low blow mini guilt trip to remind seniors what they started off for and how they've drastically changed.

Logos: The investigation into why people went into investment banking, and further why that might not have been the greatest idea, seems to appeal to logos, it seems very clear cut and 'if, then' similar to train of thought.

STAR
Sufficient: I feel that the information and arguments made are sufficient for the audience, a little more might not hurt since the target audience are Ivy League seniors but, still quite sufficient.

Typical: Yes, it is typical, talking to and quoting people who are authorities, this is exactly what highly educated people would be looking for. The quotes from Coldplay are also typical to the audience on another level, to a generation of young adults who's music is full of political and social statements.

Accurate: He hit several guilty areas right on the head, the things people might want to ignore but can't.

R: As far as I can tell the information all seems quite relevant.

Effective/Goal: The goal of this article seems to be aimed at getting people, specifically college seniors, to realize that going into investment banking, simply because it promises a large salary is not the best idea and really to think about that and the consequences it brings.

To Kill A Mockingbird

I decided to branch out and actually use this blog for more than just my English assignments. So for anyone's reading pleasure is my review of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. So last Saturday I was invited to see the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, I wasn't too enthusiastic about it but I knew that Gregory Peck was in it and so I figured it couldn't be too bad.(if you don't know who he is then look him up right now and then go watch one of his movies, Roman Holiday and Spellbound are both very good.) At any rate I saw the movie and I absolutely loved it, it was funny, persuasive and powerful. After having read the book I can also say that the movie does the book pretty good justice, I believe the author worked with them on it. I watched the movie before reading the book and I think I liked it that way, the movie followed the book quite well and so in reading the book I enjoyed knowing what was coming up and seeing what was in the book that wasn't in the movie.
Getting more to the book, I think Harper Lee did an excellent job in telling this story. I enjoyed the p.o.v. of the story, it's told from the point of view of Scout/Jean Louise Finch a sort of looking back on her childhood in the little town of Maycomb. The details were very vivid, and the characters well developed. I found my self hooked on the book and looked foreword to each 'visit to Maycomb'. This isn't really a technical review and I didn't really plan out what to say but I loved this book and the movie and I think you should go out and read/see them both.
One word of caution, if you're like me, you may pick up southern colloquialisms after reading this book

Commercial(TV)

http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=tv%20commercials&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

The commercial I will be analyzing is #9 on the clip (the second)

Argument: You should buy a Soken DVD player because the DVD won't skip as it might on other players.

Audience: People who watch DVDs, people who are likely more technologically inclined, this commercial seems to be from when DVD's were a newer thing. The intended audience seems to be Japanese but could be for America or some other English speaking country. The age range is people from their twenties to their forties.

How: The commercial also produces a very strong argument for it's non-skipping product by recreating the annoyance of a skipping DVD so that it is fresh in the audience's mind, reminding them how they have felt when this has occurred to them, this is an appeal to logos and pathos; the audience can experience for themselves the annoyance of a skipping DVD and realize that something that could eliminate this would be better, the appeal to pathos comes in the frustration felt from something skipping and not functioning as it ought. There is an appeal to ethos if this is intended for an America audience, the individuals in the commercial are both Japanese, it's pretty well known that if not now, then at the time when the commercial was produced, Japan's technology was very advanced; as it is a piece of technology being promoted, this all makes sense. The appeal to ethos for both a Japanese and an American audience is derived from the professional business setting and the dress of the individuals, they seem to be successful adults and therefore worth trusting or emulating.

Effective: I would say that this is a fairly effective commercial, in studying it for analysis I found myself cringing each time the woman started skipping and wishing for a way for it to play smoother, though I am not strictly speaking the target audience for this commercial, I feel that the negative reaction to the skipping is probably fairly widespread and would be shared by the target audience.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5969141464970481430&hl=en

Print Ad

I got this ad online and I'm not even positive that it's in English, but it's also such that it's okay if it's not.

Argument: The argument in this ad is that the featured motorcycle is really cool and that it is essential in your life, you should go get one right now.

Audience: Presumably young adult to midlife crisis aged males, particularly ones who might not be secure/satisfied in their manliness.

How: This ad uses pathos and slightly to ethos. The picture shows fit athletic men straining to get a hold of the motorcycle, this is an appeal to the pathos of the target audience, the men in the ad are manly and fit specimen of 'ideal' men and they want the bike; at home Joe Shmoe is not an athlete, he probably doesn't have an exciting job either, but he can want that bike just like they can, more than that he can buy the bike and have something going for him in the 'ideal man' category. The ethos of the ad is not so credible but none the less, as the men in the ad are athletes, the supposed leaders of the social scene since elementary school, the lend credibility of the social implications of the ad.

Effective?: I'm not totally convinced of the effectiveness of this ad, granted I am not the target group, but I would think that for someone who wanted a motorcycle in the first place, this would have a good chance of swaying their decision.

The End.