Week 7 - ready for posting
King of the Hill, movie reviews, Thoreau in a jail cell, music videos and considering your audience....
What does all of this have to do with rhetoric, and furthermore, what does it mean to YOU?
Don't respond with the answer you think I want. What do you want to say?
King of the Hill is related to rhetoric because in the episodes we are shown how persuasiveness is used in each episode. For example, in the last episode we watched, Hank was trying to convince the Dallas Cowboys why they should build a practice facility in his hometown. He made a video in which he tried to show the team how great his town was. Writing this movie review has made me realize how rhetoric is used so much without me ever really noticing it until now. Thoreau in the jail cell shows how something as simple as "What are you doing out there?" means way more than just those six words. There is a whole different meaning when really understanding what Thoreau meant when he said that. The music videos to me do not show as much rhetoric as the other genres but the words in the music videos do have meaning that is persuasive to the audience. While considering your audience, you have to think about what they want to hear and what will persuade them the most. Whether it be words, signs, or examples, in order to convince the audience of something, you must make sure you have proof and good reasons for them to think the way you want them to.
ReplyDeleteKing of the Hill, movie reviews, Thoreau, and music videos all have to do with rhetoric because they all involve persuasion. In each episode of King of the Hill, there is a problem. The solution is always achieved by some sort of persuasion. For example, in one episode Hank and his father were fighting, their relationship was fixed because they were both convinced by Jimmy Carter to cooperate with each other. Rhetoric is used in the storyline to make it interesting. Movie reviews show rhetoric because the review itself is trying to persuade people either to see the film or not to. Thoreau in a jail cell is an example of rhetoric because he uses persuasion to portray his message. I do not think of this scenario as a distinct example of rhetoric compared to other examples we have looked at. Also, I do not recognize rhetoric in the music videos as much. The music videos use rhetoric to show the meaning of the songs. When considering the audience we have to think how the audience is affected by rhetoric. This helps to determine who the audience is. Rhetoric is the means by which persuasion is used. It is important in to know how the author convinces their audience using rhetoric.
ReplyDeleteAll of these have to do with rhetoric in similar ways. Each one composes a message to their audience in the most appropriate way they believe possible. King of the Hill provides subtle messages to their viewers through comedic relief. Thoreau provides his message by asking a simple, but deep question. He does because he knows that he is very intelligent and wants to prove his point by having his audience connect the points themselves to way he is in the jail cell. Music videos also consider their audience by employing rhetoric in a way better suited for their given audience. For example, if a band followed by college students tries to provide students a message about supporting America, the band may carry more merit than a PSA sent out by the government in the students’ eyes.
ReplyDeleteI think King of the Hill has shown lots of rhetoric in the episodes we have watched in class so far. For instance, the most recent episode was about Hank and everyone working on a video to persuade the Cowboys to come to their town. This is what rhetoric is all about. In another episode, Hank is fighting with his dad so they have Jimmy Carter come in and persuade them to admit they love each other. In movie reviews, the rhetorical situation is often used to describe the movie itself and how it's made to touch the audience. I think in the "Thoreau in a jail cell" situation, rhetoric is there, just not as obvious. By the response of "what are you doing out there?", Thoreau is basically trying to say/persuade that if you aren't in a jail cell, you aren't making a difference. I personally don't notice or think about much rhetoric in music videos. I think they can be persuasive in certain ways but definitely not as effective as other mediums. To me, it helps to understand the use of rhetoric and persuasion. It very helpful in analyzing different situations.
ReplyDeleteAll of these things involve the aspect of persuasion, which is a key part in a majority of situations. Hank was trying to persuade the Cowboys to come to his city, Thoreau was trying to convince others that they weren't doing enough if they weren't in jail with him, and the music videos and lyrics are all trying to convey a message about a certain topic while persuading the audience to view that topic a certain way. There was even that one episode of KOTH where hank was fighting with his father and jimmy carter was trying to persuade them that they loved each other, and it eventually worked to some degree. A lot of the time, people may just be saying what they want you to hear just to get you to agree to the message they're conveying or a particular opinion they have. this is why the audience is so important because if you don't employ rhetoric the right way, you message may end up skewed and not perceived the way you intended. You have to be clear and effective about what you are trying to get across without coming off too strong and making it obvious that your only intention is to persuade. If correctly and efficiently put to use, the concept of rhetoric is a valuable tool.
ReplyDeleteKing of the hill, movie reviews Thoreau in a jail cell and music videos are all related with rhetoric, because they need to express the message they want to show to the audiences. For example, Hank persuades Cowboys to come to their town by making a video. Besides, the reason why Hank no longer fights with his father is that both of them are persuaded by Jimmy Carter. In the movie review, the rhetoric is used to show what the movie tells and express that to their audiences. Thoreau in a jail cell also is also an example of rhetoric. The real meaning of Thoreau is different from what we understand. The music videos can also contain rhetoric, but the music can’t like the other media to persuade their audiences well. Because audience can only get the message by their auditory sense which is thin when compared with others.
ReplyDeleteAll those things stated above have to do with rhetoric because all of them have been made with the idea in mind that they will inform, convince, or persuade the audience that are seeing the arguments. To me personally, music videos, king of the hill, movie reviews, etc, they are all just things to entertain me or keep me busy when i'm bored.
ReplyDeleteKing of the Hill, movie reviews, and Thoreau are all related in that they all implement rhetorical devices in order to change the way the audience is thinking. The use of logos, pathos, and ethos is evident in all three cases, and the use of these devices was carefully implemented by the author. To me, King of the Hill, movie reviews, and Thoreau all prove that rhetoric can be found anywhere and everywhere. It makes me want to look for how rhetoric is affecting me in ways that I may not even realize.
ReplyDeleteRhetoric, in a general sense, is try to get some one else to act or think a certain way. And generally speaking, people often want you to act or think a certain way because they feel it's whats best for both you and them. King of The Hill, movie reviews, Thoreau in a cell, and music videos all relate to this idea because they all, in some form or another, attempt to influence you. King of The Hill often tries to push some sort of moral, or message through its episodes, movie reviews try to explain to you why you should or should not go see a movie, Thoreau in a cell attempts to make you take action against injustice you see in your community, and music videos often want to convince you that the artist is the "best in the game," and that you should act a certain way. Inevitably most everything we see or hear can be broken down into rhetoric at its most basic level. However, as college students, the 4 things listed above are sources of rhetoric that we see a lot. We consume television like KOTH, and music videos in our free time. We are exposed to Thoreau, and other such intellectuals in the class room. And as movies grow in popularity, movie reviews have become more desired the general population. The 4 sources exemplify the bulk of rhetoric that we are exposed to college students, and it can often influence our actions and behaviors in more way than we give it credit for.
ReplyDeleteTo me, rhetoric is being able to successfully carry a point across to an audience. With the video proposal it may entail more challenges in being able to appeal to all audiences and varying view points. In King of the Hill, for Hank, he struggled with filming his video to convince the football team to move to Orlin. His video lacked professional skills and quality, and in the end he did not persuade the Dallas cowboys to move to Orlin. Similarly to Hank's video rhetoric, Thoreau tried to convince his audience while in a jail cell. There are different forms of rhetoric that can all be successful. To me it's finding a form of rhetoric that works for me and my topic.
ReplyDeleteThe three of these relate to the class through rhetoric in different ways. The king of the hill episodes usually portray the lesson that we learned about in class recent to the episode, for example the cowboys episode portrayed a visual persuasive argument in a video which is the next project that we are working on. The Thoreau in jail question is a type of loaded question where the question that is asked back 'what are you doing out there?' has an underlying persuasion to action. The music videos have us analyze the rhetorical properties of them and allow us to practice the methods to find the rhetorical parts.
ReplyDeleteI think that rhetoric is very important because it is often very necessary to grab the attention of a large audience and convince them of something. For example, when Thoreau says "what are you doing out there?" from inside the jail cell, he is trying to convince his audience to take action. Movie reviews use rhetoric to convince the audience to either watch or movie or not watch a movie. I believe rhetoric is especially useful in entertainment because it is something that all people pay attention to in someway. For example, many people watch TV, like King of the Hill, so being able to integrate good rhetoric into a show can be very important for convincing a large audience to take a stance on something.
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