Observation 6

My research topic is on drinking age campaigns and whether the legal drinking age should be lowered or not.  I'll be looking at both sides of the story, looking at campaigns that do not want the age to be lowered and campaigns that are pressing for the legal drinking age to be lowered to 18.  I'm going to interview a random group of students asking them:

1. Which campaign side do they agree with?

2. If they think it should be lowered, what is their reasoning behind their decision. 

3. What they think about legal drinking ages in Europe.

4. What they think about drinking while 18 year olds can enlist in the army.

Observation 6

My research paper is over anti-drug campaigning and whether not it is effective as a whole, if some ads are effective which ones are they. I have found a great deal of researching saying that anti-drug ads are very ineffective but I have also found some that said ads that target certain groups, such as thrill seekers or realistic commercials were the most effective. I plan on interviewing students and have them watch a few different video's, then I will ask them these questions:

1) What commercial made you not want to try drugs the most?

2) Why do you feel this commercial had the greatest effect on you?

3) Do you feel as though you related to this commercial?

4) Do you think you will remember this commercial next time you are offered drugs or do drugs?

Observation 6

In my interview, I will be interviewing half of my peers whose favorite superhero is Batman and half who have another favorite. The questions I will ask are:

1. What qualities do you like about your superhero
2. Have they influenced you as you grew up
3. When did you out grow them
4. Are you still intrigued when you see the character today
5. What is your favorite part about the superhero
6. Describe the superhero in a few words
7. If you could change something about your superhero, what would it be
8. What aspects of rhetoric does the media use to portray this superhero

observation 6

Creative Writing Reflection

This paper helped me develop my persuasive writing and argumentation skills very much. Having to find the good in something or someone that is normally portrayed as bad is a tough thing to do. I analyzed the notorious killer Charles Manson and I read his testimony right before he got sentenced to get some insight on what was going through his head. This gave me an advantage because he doesn’t see himself as a bad person so I was able to see his thoughts and built and argument around that. I could have done a few things better in the encomium though. I should’ve have quoted him so I could have given the audience proof of his thoughts and it would just make my argument more solid overall. I also could have looked up his background before he became this bad person to see if he had any credible qualities before he started his life of crime. Overall I think doing this creative writing paper improved my argumentation skills and will help me argue my point better in my research paper.

Observation 6

I have not decided if I will do an interview yet. But, the people that I would interview for my research paper paper would be past sailors that enlisted during times of war and ask what convinced them to join the Navy.

When did you join the Navy?
What significant events, if any, were happening around the time you enlisted?
What first attracted you to join the Navy?
How did you find out details of what you could do?
Was there any poster/commercial that was pro-Navy that appealed to you?
Do/did you plan to make a career out of the Navy?
What keeps you in the Navy?
What opportunities has the Navy provided?

Observation 6

What types of visual rhetoric capture your attention when looking at a website for a University?
Which sorts of visual effects do you like the most?
Which sorts of visual effects do you not like?
How do these various effects make you feel about the University?
Does Clemson’s website portray these certain effects?
Do you think that the pictures displayed on the websites affect a prospective students opinion of the university?
Are some pictures more affective than others?
Did Clemson’s website affect your decision on coming to Clemson?

Observation 6

I would like to conduct an interview for my research paper. Some questions I would ask are:

1. What was your opinion of the movie Wall-E?
2. What do you think the writers of the film were trying to get across to the audience?
3. Do you think this message was delivered effectively?
4. Would you change anything in your everyday life as a result of watching Wall-E?

Observation 6

I havn't decided yet if I am going to use an interview in my research paper, because I'm not sure if the interview would add anything to my paper or provide any extra information to my paper. However, if I do choose to do an interview I will interview people who are vegetarians and try to find out what made them decide to become vegetarians and if the vegetarian campaign by PETA had any effect on them. Some possible interview questions would be :
1) When and Why did you decide to become a vegetarian?
2) Did the Vegetarian Campaign by PETA or any other organization influence your decision to become a vegetarian?
3) If you have seen the videos or pamphlets provided by PETA about vegetarianism, what do you like about them?
4) What is included in the pamphlets and videos that you think is helpful in persuading people to become vegetarians?
5) Do you feel that PETA offers a lot of opportunity and ways to stay healthy while maintaining a meat-free diet?

Observation 6

I think I may conduct a survey to enhance my paper. I think it would be interesting to see what people really think about themselves compared to celebrities and if people are willing to admit if their opinion of beauty is affected by the media. Some possible questions would be:
1. Do you frequently compare yourself to celebrities in the media?
2. What does “beauty” mean to you?
3. Do you think your concept of beauty ahs been altered due to figures in the media?
4. Are you more likely to buy a product if a celebrity endorses it?
5. Are you more likely to buy a product if the model or spokesperson is skinny, young, and tall?
6. Do you believe people must be skinny and young to be pretty?
7. Do you judge yourself by the media’s standards?

Observation 6

Reflection of Creative Writing Essay

Well since my research paper doesn't involve a survey of any kind, i chose to write about how superior my bright side of the dark side essay was. I wrote about the bad and good points of lying. My main idea of the bright side was that lying can get someone out of trouble, avoid drama with friends, and keep the ones who love them from getting mad. I expressed my argument and elaborated on each point. I believe my paper used a very complete vocabulary and was very successful in my persuasive argument.  I also believe that it is pertinent to practice the rhetoric skills that we were taught to help us improve our writing and persuasive skills.

Observation 6

In writing my encomium, I learned how to rhetorically highlight negative aspects of a person or thing. I found this technique to be surprisingly difficult. It will prove helpful when writing my research paper because abortion is not always something that people view as "good" or "positive". It is a controversial topic that is surrounded by negative media and is used as a swaying weapon in politics. Trying this creative writing assignment has helped me practice my rhetoric techniques to persuade or inform an audience about a negatively viewed topic, such as abortion.

Observation 6

I doubt that I will interview anyone to get information for my paper, simply because the information I could gather from personal interviews wouldn't be all that valuable toward advancing my understanding of my paper's topic. A survey given to many people would be more valuable. A survey is similar to an interview, but it is generalized to make it applicable to many different people. Here are the questions I would pose were I to use this tactic:
1. Who did you vote for in the recent presidential election?
2. At what point did you make the decision to vote for that candidate?
3. Where did you obtain the majority of the information that led you to choose that candidate?
4. How did you feel about the various political ads you saw for the presidential candidates? Were they effective?
The goal of this series of questions is to gain an understanding about how much of an effect the recent presidential ad campaigns had on each interviewee.

Observation 6

I haven't decided yet if I am going to conduct interviews for my research paper or not, but I feel that it may be beneficial. I would interview a variety of people, including students in high school, students at Clemson, and adults. The adults would be able to tell me how they feel that anti-drug advertisements have changed since they were younger, and if they think that the advertisements were effective then and if they are now. The students would only be able to tell me about the advertisements that they see now, so I would be asking if they think that they are effective and what message they get from watching or seeing recent anti-drug ads.

Possible Questions

Adults:

1. What major changes have you seen in anti-drug advertisements since you were a child?

2. Do you think that the anti-drug advertisements today are more or less effective than ones in the past?

3. (If they feel that the ads are more effective..) What strategies or aspects of the advertisements make them seem more effective?

4. (If they feel that the ads are less effective..) What strategies or aspects of the advertisements make them seem less effective?

Students:

1. What do you think of when you see anti-drug ads?

2. Do you think that anti-drug ads are effective in persuading you to not use drugs? Why or why not?

3. What strategies do the campaigns use to make the advertisements persuasive and effective towards their audience?

4. What could the campaigns do to make the advertisements more persuasive and effective towards their audience?

Observation 6

If I were to incorporate an interview piece into my research project, I would aim to generalize the American public opinion of how other countries most likely reacted to 9/11. I would then compare this to the research I found, probably showing the differences in what we assume other countries felt about the attacks vs what they actually did feel. I hope, and presume I will find a disconnect between the two, showing that American’s might not be as aware of our surroundings as we think we are.

I doubt I will, but if i decide to use this technique in my research project, then I will interview random college students, as most everyone is familiar with the terrorist attacks and can offer an opinion on them. Questions that I would ask would include

1. How would you describe the overall American reaction to the terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001.
2. How do you think the international reaction to the response would differ from our domestic response (if there is any difference) ?
3. What assumptions would make about the media coverage of 9/11 given in
a. Hong Kong, China (Asia)
b. Brazil (South America)
c. Bosques, Spain (Europe)

Observation 6

In my report I am not going to conduct an interview, mainly because I do not think that it would help my project. I believe that I have enough sources other than interviews to portray my argument in a successful way. But if I was going to interview someone about my project, I would interview someone older, who was around to see Coca-Cola commercials and comment on how the use of rhetoric is different in those commercials then as compared to now. I would ask:
1. What different Coke commercials do you remember from the past?
2. How do these commercials differ from the Coke commercials that are shown now
3. Do you believe that the political events at the time of the commercials play a role in the type of commercials that is shown?
4. Does it makes sense to you that commercials are based on political events of the time of the commercial?

Observation 6

Interview:
I will interview people that are still in high school about their views on wearing uniforms and how they feel it affects their education.
1) How do you feel wearing uniforms has affected your education and your learning abilities?
2) Do you think that wearing uniforms unifies the school and brings about more school spirit?
3) Do you think that in schools that do not have uniforms, the students are more distracted by their own clothing and the clothing choices of other students?
4) Do you feel less peer pressure and like you "fit in" more wearing a uniform as opposed to not wearing a uniform?
I will also interview people that have graduated or gone to schools that required the students to wear uniforms.
1) Are you grateful that you wore a uniform in high school?
2) Do you feel like you were able to concentrate more on your schoolwork in high school because you did not have to worry about clothing choices?
3) Now that you are out of high school do you feel more pressure on wearing the right thing than you did in high school?

Observation 6

Research Interview Questions:

1.) Growing up did you ever watch the Smurfs?
2.) What did you think of the show?
3.) As a child, did you or your parents ever question the morality or purpose of the show?

(at this point I would present facts from the cartoon that would suggest my thesis: that capitalism is shown in a negative light and communism is shown in a positive light)

4.) Given these observations, how do you feel about the cartoon now?
5.) How much do you personally know about communism and capitalism?
6.) Do you think the cartoon agrees with my thesis? Why or why not?

My purpose in conducting this interview would be to identify someone's prior knowledge on the topics of communism and capitalism, to gather others' opinions on the cartoon, and to gauge if my thesis is relevant to my observations from the cartoon. I think that I would get many mixed responses.