Watch the trailer here.
1- Argument: Watching Monsters vs. Aliens will entertain you because the movie has an interesting plot and humor.
2- Audience: I think the target audience is elementary to middle-school age children, and their parents. The subject matter for the movie (monsters and aliens) identifies it as designed for children. However, some of the humor shown was a little bit more grown-up oriented, which might appeal to parents.
3- Goal: To convince the audience to watch Monsters vs. Aliens when it comes to theaters.
4- How the argument was made:
Ethos: Authority is established when the DreamWorks logo is shown at the beginning of the trailer, because DreamWorks is a legitimate film studio.
Pathos: The music used invokes a feeling of urgency. Mostly though, this trailer uses humor to attract its audience. If the audience feels that the humor is actually funny, they will be attracted to the movie.
Relevancy: All scenes shown are relevant to the topic (the movie itself), since they come from the movie. It also seems that all of it is relevant to the audience, since anyone watching is likely to understand on one level or another.
5- Effectiveness: I believe that this trailer is effective for its intended audience. Children will be attracted by the humor, and parents will be accepting because it looks fairly interesting and mostly clean.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Source for Paper A: Rat helps hook school to Internet
1- Argument: Rats can have a positive effect on society, because rats can be trained to do useful things.
2- Audience: Elementary or middle school children who read Current Science.
3- Goal: To cause people to change their ideas that rats are just filthy vermin by introducing people to the idea that rats can be trained to do useful things.
4- How the argument was made:
Ethos: Because the article is directed toward schoolchildren, the very first sentence establishes a connection by referring to students using computers at school.
Typical: The example used in this argument is not entirely typical. Not all rats can be trained to perform this kind of work. However, it would be more typical had it been mentioned that the rat involved is a fancy rat, not a wild rat.
Pathos: The word choice used in this article encourages the reader to think of a rat in a positive way. "Tiny" emphasizes the small, cute nature of the rat. Referring to the rat as "she" and "her" instead of "it" personifies the rat, as does referring to favorite foods and retirement time.
5- Effectiveness: This article probably convinces much of its audience that rats can be useful instead of gross.
2- Audience: Elementary or middle school children who read Current Science.
3- Goal: To cause people to change their ideas that rats are just filthy vermin by introducing people to the idea that rats can be trained to do useful things.
4- How the argument was made:
Ethos: Because the article is directed toward schoolchildren, the very first sentence establishes a connection by referring to students using computers at school.
Typical: The example used in this argument is not entirely typical. Not all rats can be trained to perform this kind of work. However, it would be more typical had it been mentioned that the rat involved is a fancy rat, not a wild rat.
Pathos: The word choice used in this article encourages the reader to think of a rat in a positive way. "Tiny" emphasizes the small, cute nature of the rat. Referring to the rat as "she" and "her" instead of "it" personifies the rat, as does referring to favorite foods and retirement time.
5- Effectiveness: This article probably convinces much of its audience that rats can be useful instead of gross.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Song: "Take a Chance on Me" by ABBA
1- Argument: Taking a chance on me will not be a waste of time because if you try dating me, I'll always be there for you.
2- Audience: A man who has previously not been willing to date the singer.
3- Goal: To persuade the audience to date the singer.
4- How the argument was made:
Pathos: Flattery is used by implying that there is a line of women waiting to date this man, encouraging him to think favorably of the singer because of her high opinion of him.
Logos: Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of logic used in this song. The singer makes suggestions of all sorts of activities that she would be interested in doing (going for a walk, listening to music, et cetera) in order to get to know him better. These low-key activities do not seem intimidating, and probably really would facilitate learning about one another. Also, she makes the argument that she will be around any time he needs her. She repeats this point, in different words, to emphasize the fact.
Sufficiency: The argument is fairly sufficient. The only thing that seems to be missing is statistics, and these are probably better left out ("94% of past boyfriends thought I was a great girlfriend!").
5- Effectiveness: Overall, this argument looks pretty good. The main problem with it is that people are generally not easily persuaded concerning whom to date. If the audience has really made up his mind not to date this girl, he probably will not be convinced.
2- Audience: A man who has previously not been willing to date the singer.
3- Goal: To persuade the audience to date the singer.
4- How the argument was made:
Pathos: Flattery is used by implying that there is a line of women waiting to date this man, encouraging him to think favorably of the singer because of her high opinion of him.
Logos: Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of logic used in this song. The singer makes suggestions of all sorts of activities that she would be interested in doing (going for a walk, listening to music, et cetera) in order to get to know him better. These low-key activities do not seem intimidating, and probably really would facilitate learning about one another. Also, she makes the argument that she will be around any time he needs her. She repeats this point, in different words, to emphasize the fact.
Sufficiency: The argument is fairly sufficient. The only thing that seems to be missing is statistics, and these are probably better left out ("94% of past boyfriends thought I was a great girlfriend!").
5- Effectiveness: Overall, this argument looks pretty good. The main problem with it is that people are generally not easily persuaded concerning whom to date. If the audience has really made up his mind not to date this girl, he probably will not be convinced.
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