RCL blogging #7

    
   Whitney Houston, the pop star, died at the age of 48. Her funeral was held last Saturday.

Several celebrities spoke to honor her, Tyler Perry, Kevin Costner, Alicia Keys, and Stevie Wonder.

      Among those honoring Whitney Houston, Kevin Costner perfectly used the pathos, by using storytelling and associated emotions with audience.

      Kevin Costner spoke at length about his experience with Houston. He told the story of how he got to work with her in that film, what the two had in common and what it meant to him to lose her. Sharing stories of getting in trouble at his Baptist church and how he delayed filming the film to wait for her to stop touring, and consoled her when she felt insecure of her ability to nab the role that made her a superstar.

      Costner first called for the audience to “suspend our sorrow, just our anger, just long enough to remember the sweet miracle… never forgetting that Cissy and Bobbie Kristina are still among us.”

     The audience cheered as he noted that he, too, was in a Baptist church, that he had gotten in trouble for stealing small cups of grape juice used for Communion, for being dragged out by his parents for misbehaving. He noted that he shared this with Houston and that he could see her getting in trouble similarly as a child, and then told the story of how he got Houston to play the lead role in The Bodyguard.

     “Why don’t you think of another singer, maybe somebody white?” he noted that many studio executives implied to him, when they asked why he was so dead set on having Houston in the movie. “I told everyone I had taken notice that Whitney was black, the only problem was I thought that she was perfect for what we were trying to do.” He postponed production for a year while she was on tour.

     “Her greatest setback and greatest strength”, Costner said, was her insecurity. “Am I good enough, am I pretty enough, will they like me?” he said she wondered, then speaking to her to say “you set the bar so high that professional singers, your colleagues, don’t want to sing that little country song, what would be the point? Little girls like you who dream of being you someday sing that song.”

     He left the audience with the knowledge that, now, “there is a lady in Heaven making God Himself wonder how he created something so perfect,” and spoke to Houston to tell her to never fear again that she was not the great she was on Earth.

     By sharing very special experience between Kevin and Whitney, which was very personal, Costner was able to engage with the audience. Because of this, audience could understand how much the Whitney meant to him and they all shared sorrow together.

"Rhetoric in international politics"

From google image

      International politics concern relationships among the world’s government. They cannot understand in isolation so many countries form some kind of alliances or organizations to share the collective goods. Therefore, countries have been struggling with the conflict and corporation mix in relations among nations and to solve how to provide something that benefits all members of a group, regardless of what each member contributed to it. This is especially true where there is no central authority, such as a world government, to enforce on individual nations the necessary measures to provide for the common good. The study of rhetoric and politic examines the role of persuasion in the political process. Classical scholars conceived of rhetoric as “a practical art involving the performance of public oratory in the contexts of politics, law, and ceremonial occasions.” When these kind of conflict begins the actors(presidents and diplomats) of each states(governments) hold a committee and try to find a resolution.

     For example, all countries share an interest in the collective good of peace and stability. However, when few countries like North Korea tested its first nuclear bomb and Iran continues uranium enrichment that could lead to a nuclear bomb, intergovernmental organizations like UN tried to convince them to give up their nuclear experiment. This is when the rhetoric plays its role. To solve this problem “The big five” (USA, France, England, Russia, and China) send the delegates to prevent potential threat the world security. Well, here is the kicker; few years ago “The big five,” with the largest nuclear arsenals, held veto power on the UN Security Council. Through agreements like the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Proliferation Security Initiative, the existing nuclear powers actively try to keep their exclusive hold on these weapons and prevent smaller nations from getting them. They are eventually using a form of logos, and considering their status in the international level ethos as well, in order to fulfill their point.                                                                                                                         

"Kobe System, Beyond Success"

Few months ago, Nike released the Kobe system, which basically is a Kobe VII sneaker with two separate inserts, in other words, two different bottom layers inside of the shoe.

As a former basketball player and Big Lakers/Kobe Bryant fan, I had to watch the whole commercial series, seven in total, as soon as they were released. However, they didn’t make sense at all!!

In the videos, Kobe Bryant plays a motivational speaker to guide people who have already achieved success, even beyond success. Kobe starts speaking in front of these successful people like Kanye West, Serena Williams, Virgin CEO Richard Branson, Chinese mega star Hong Lee, and more.

Kobe gives one simple message,

“The Kobe System is about adaptation: attacking fast and strong," Bryant says. "How do you know when you're in the Kobe System? Look at your feet. How do you use the system? Listen to me."

 And with that, Bryant dunks a basketball, and behind him, the highlight reel of his memorable plays are shown on a large LED screen. But it goes beyond that. Bryant asks a question that truly defines how he never remains satisfied: "Where do you go from the top? You go over the top."

The commercials make no sense to anyone but Kobe. It is funny and ridiculous but strongly symbolic. It asks a question; what comes next, after you achieve success?

During the class yesterday, we discussed about the role of successful celebrities in commercials. This Kobe System commercial emphasized more on the success compare to other commercials: success at success, and beyond success. It is a great example of Ethos by using Kobe Bryant. The commercial puts Kobe above all the other successful people, which stresses ethos over ethos. Through this strategy, if people buy the product which is advertised by a successful celebrity, they feel like they can achieve success like that person in the advertisement. People know that this is not true, but at least they can have the feeling of Kobe’s “success.” The audience wants to feel it too.

 If you like the commercial, check out youtube. There are 7 more of them.

This I believe Yun Shik Park

http://www.personal.psu.edu/yxp5053/blogs/yxp5053%20podcast001.mp3

RCL #03 "Please comment"

"PLEAZE COMMENT!"

     Last week during class, we shared about how to make good comments on blogs. Since we are writing blogs and leaving good comments can be good civic engagement through the technology. I’d like to discuss some tips I use to avoid making bad comments.

1. Make a useful comment

     Being useful is the most specific way to be valuable to the readers and to the blogger. There are many ways to be helpful to the bloggers and readers. If you feel the post is missing something, or just want to add some additional information to the post, comment about it. If you leave a beneficial comment on people’s blogs, the blogger can take advice to make their post better and the other readers can understand the post more clearly. So it is win-win situation.

2. Do not go off topic

     Be relevant to the topic and the post, or your comment will make no sense. I said ‘and’ because the post might not be what you thought it was, so you have to read the post several times and understand the topic before you comment.

3. Explain why you like or dislike the post

     Do not leave one or two word comments like “I like this so much.” Or “This is great.” If you want to tell that the post is great, explain more details so the blogger can get some feedback. Isn’t it the point of commenting? Be more precise.

4. Think deeply…plz

     Think before you post a comment. Ask yourself, “Should I post this comment?”, “Is this comment useful?”, “Does this comment affect the readers?”. By commenting without thinking, your words can hurt the writer or other readers. Be considerate!

     Let's think about why we need good comments. :)