John Green Video 9/27

 

I would characterize John Green’s argument of “Is College Worth It?” as a complex way of explaining a simple question. This argument is delivered in a very informal setting but it is also very relatable to his directed audience. The main argument of this video is “Is College Worth It?” John Green uses examples such as his own experience of working at Steak n’ Shake, then going to college and working at a much more enjoyable place even though he was paid one dollar less per hour. He backs up his argument with facts such as how much you would need to make an hour to pay off college debt and to make college “worth it.” John Greene engages his audience by, first of all, picking a topic that relates to his audience of high school/college students, and but the use of visuals in the back ground, talking extremely fast, moving in the video from one position to another, and by talking with his hands a lot. These all engage a younger audience because high school/college kids are drawn into fast talking, cool visuals, and fast-paced videos. He also made a choice to put this video on YouTub, which also brings in a younger audience because they are more familiar with YouTube and how to look up videos versus people in an older generation. John Green’s audience engagement supports his argument because his audience (high school/college kids) are the ones that ask the question, “Is College Worth It?” They are the ones that will defend his argument and make his argument more dominant by agreeing with him that college is worth it. Once John Green explains why he believe college is worth it, because of the group of people he is directly talking to, he is able to convince them that college is worth it (which makes his argument more credible), and he is able to bring in viewers who already agree with him which only backs up his argument even more.

Inquiry 2 comment reflection

After reading my comments from Andrew, I found that I needed to make more of sentences clear so that reader, who may not have seen the video, can understand what’s going on. I found that I need to switch around the sentences and sections of my paragraph, and also go more in-depth on how the video appeals to the audience to express the argument of society and how it affects us as people. I need to go more in-depth on what I mentioned in my first paragraph as “an audience that appeals to almost everyone,” since I didn’t not extend the comment in my paragraph about audience. The comments that Andrew wrote, especially the one about making sure I am clear on the introduction to one of paragraphs, really helped me focus on how to make the reader understand this analysis. I need to write it in terms of assuming that the reader hasn’t seen the video. I should be spending all of my time talking about what the video is about, but I should explain in what ways the video expresses an argument. 

Inquiry 3 Rough Draft

1. Describe the main argument of your video/text; consider the following questions:

• What is the main argument of the text? The main argument for this music video is not just the simple expression to be “brave” and to “be yourself.” I think it goes beyond that. I think the main argument of this music video is to show these “Certain people” in the video and use that to explain and show how society can effect people in their daily lives. It expresses the problem that we have in society, mostly within the media, and how celebrities, movies, actors, models, etc. really effects us as a person. It does express the importance of being yourself and to not worry about what others are thinking, but that is really just the surface because some could say that those are problems we have in society, but almost everyone could argue that society/media has an effect on us. In the song, Sara says “Everybody’s been there, everybody’s been stared down, by the enemy.”

• Who is the rhetor/creator/author of the text? Sara Bareilles is the creator of this video, and I would consider her to be the author of the argument that is being expressed. She obviously felt that this was a big enough problem in our society that she could write a song about it.

• You may consider briefly mentioning the specific audience of the video, but leave analytical work to another paragraph. The audience of this video is mostly directed towards a younger audience. The reason I say that is because of the way the “average people” are expressing themselves in the video –> they are dancing and jumping around and moving around quickly. If this video was directed towards an older audience, those average people may be going out to get a job (as a way of being “brave” and doing what you want), or joining a club that others wouldn’t approve of. However, the average people in the video are dancing, and dancing is definitely a “young audience” appeal. Also, this is a music video. The older generations may not be familiar or even find this video because it is a music video and it is considered “pop music” which is also something that does not appeal to the older generation, but it does appeal to a younger audience.

 

2. Contextualize your video/text:

 

• What is the context of this video? What of an issue, event, etc do we need to know about for the video and your analysis to make sense?

 

• While working with your group members, consider the kinds of sources you may need to appropriately and effectively contextualize your work. What does the audience of your analysis need to know about the events surrounding your video to make your work significant? Ask yourself, why am I analyzing this video? How am I tied to the events surrounding this video? Post at least one useful source in your blog post.

 

3. Construct a focal point/thesis for your analysis:

 

• Overall, make sure your rhetorical analysis introduction has some kind of thesis statement or statements (meaning, your thesis can be longer than 1 sentence). Essentially, you’ll need some kind of focal point that articulates what you’re analyzing, for what purpose you’re analyzing the text (what do you think its doing?), and what the context of your video is.

Blog Update: Inquiry 2

So far in this inquiry, I have been torn between two videos to write about. They are both super good, and I just can not decide. I have any idea of what each video is about, so I think I could write a good paper on either one. Since the next question is what video I’m considering analyzing, I will choose the “Brave” music video by Sara Bareilles. I believe this video is against hatred and bullying because it talks about how people need to be “brave” and branch out and be how they truly are inside instead of worrying about all the hate and bullying in the world or what others will think of you. When I first saw the video, the first thing I noticed was that Sara wanted these people to be themselves. The video did a great job of constructing that position because they did not use gorgeous models in the video or celebrities, they used average people. Average people that may think they have to fit in with the rest of the world, when really they just need to be “brave” and be themselves. I believe this video is working with larger society because the topic of this video is a very common topic in America. The topic of fitting in or standing out. It is something that every single one of us faces at some point in our lives, so it has definitely become a huge discussion in America, I believe. A lot of it comes from society, and the way society makes us feel about ourselves, when in reality the coolest and “bravest” thing that we can do in our lives is be ourselves.

ENG 111 Inquiry 1 draft blog post

Since I had someone read over my draft and comment on what they think would make my inquiry better, the only change I have made to my draft has been the last paragraph and a few rewordings of sentences throughout my short story. However, I am not finish with the final draft, I am still working on improving my draft through the comments my peers have left. There was one comment that was left about my last paragraph and how I could improve it. They suggested that I rephrase it or change the tone because the ending was very anti-climatic. This will definitely help me write my final draft because I will be able to rephrase or even completely change my last paragraph so that I do not lose my audience at the very end. Most of the comments I received, however, weren’t critiquing my paper at all. Instead they were just agreeing with some of the questions I had and letting me know that my story was just fine. These are some of the comments that I will be ignoring only because they do not help me revise my draft or improve my writing.