Final Project Preview

For our final project, my group and I have decided to choose and design three visual arguments of our candidate's image after the election. I don't want to give too much away, but we will probably design a billboard ad for a reality show. We might also do an Vietnam veteran themed T-shirt. We still have a lot of decisions to make regarding this final project. We will, however, some rather clever and humorous visual arguments.

Presentation Day

For our group presentation, we chose to perform a satrical concession speech for John McCain. We felt that with McCain we would be able to include more elements of humor than with Obama; we also wanted to create something that we would enjoy and our audience would enjoy. Our speech will include a lot of old man stereotypes, and it will be an especially grumpy old man at that. Our McCain will be extremely upset and slightly vulgar with the outcome of the election. We wanted to do the opposite of what McCain did for his actual concession speech. We didn't want a kindly, humble, let-down grandfather figure. We wanted a scary, rude, hard of hearing old jerk, with some humor to spice things up.

Challenges

This project has actually been rather entertaining. The easiest part would have to be the choice of a candidate. After we made our decision, the ideas seemed to flow like a neverending stream of ideas. The most challenging would have to be the actual writing of the speech. I am not sure is the writers of the actual speeches work in groups, but I am certainly not used to writing a final piece with anyone other than myself.

McCain's Concession Speech

This was solid proof that John McCain is a good man. He handled his concession to President elect Obama with respect and dignity. He also tried to preserve the dignity of his former opponent. His pathos was strong. He promised to continue working hard for the future with all of the American people regardless of their political ties. His ethos was effective. He utilized quotes from Roosevelt and Washington that help to shine him in a good light. He acknowledged all who helped him and he praised the winners for this historic event in history. This speech was, overall, extremely well put together and executed.

Bush's 2000 Victory Speech

President Bush's Victory Speech actually surprised me. I was shocked that Bush, who believes that God wanted him to be president, only mentioned God once. Kerry spoke about God at least seven times in his seven minute long concession speech. I was also impressed with Bush's ability to use repetition and use it effectively. His paragraphs that began with "Together," and the restating of the issues that he would try to better, was an admirable use of rhetorical strategies. He also spoke a lot on the unity that America must strive for; that was something that both and he and Kerry talked about. They both discussed the differences of Democrats and Republicans, and yet how they are all a part of one nation, America.

Sources for Unit #2

In my journey to locate primary sources for my "Polar Bear" rhetorical case study, I found the research overview on e-college to be extremely helpful. Lexis Nexis Congressional Publications had two extremely relevant and rather current sources from credible, educated people. They were both published within this year. I found two other sources from the Lexis Nexis Academic database. One is a humorous look at Palin, Polar Bears, and Alaska. The other is a news article from Alaska that deals with a first hand account of the environmental changes and Polar Bears. I think that all of these will be extremely useful in composing a case study.

Topic for Unit #2

For my topic, I have chosen to follow what I brainstormed in class: the Environment. I narrowed the topic down to Endangered Species, and more specifically: Polar Bears. Those who would have experience in this subject area would be Animal Rights Activists, Environmental Protection Agencies, even Hunters. Whenever we hear about a specific animal falling onto the Endangered Species List, almost all liberals and many conservatives voice their concern and desire to save that race of animal. With Global Warming arguments being on the rise, the threat to all forms of life becomes a major concern for the American people. Global Warming's ideas stem from the polar ice caps melting and the polar bears losing their natural habitat. The fear is that they will die out. The primary sources that I could find would be news articles, environmental statistics, interviews, activists protests, and published academic sources.