Tag: COMM 441

Gabriel Fatooh

Pentadic Criticism of Tim Tebow’s “Live a Life of Significance | Live for Jesus”

Tim Tebow uses the story of Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer award winning photo to highlight his point that being successful is not as fulfilling as living a life of significance. I analyze his speech using Kenneth Burke’s “Pentadic Criticism” method, which requires critics to first identify the act, agent, agency, purpose, and scene of a rhetoric and determine which of the five elements outweighs the others using a pentadic ratio. In my criticism, I argue that purpose outweighs all of the other pentadic elements on the basis that Kevin Carter blatantly ignored the cry of human suffering for the success of his career.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

10 AM – Noon

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John Stephens

National Eulogy

In 1999 President Clinton gave a speech at Columbine High School addressing the mass Shooting and in doing so created a new Genre called National School Shooting Eulogies. Generic criticism attempts to sort types of speeches into categories in order to either give them new meaning and find what is interesting about them or just organize ideas. Generic descriptions asks if this is a new species, what the style and substance is, and what the organizing principle is. Clinton specifically addresses the people of Columbine  since he is at the high school which is what was unique about this speech at the time. However he also speaks o the entirety of the United States as it is televised. His speech patterns are then more empathetic and personable for these specific small town people. The substance of his speech was story telling that empowers people and he also provides solutions through politics when he says “You have provoked Hillary and me and the Vice President and Mrs. Gore to reach out across America to launch a national grass-roots campaign against violence directed against young people. You can be a part of that”. The organizing principle is leadership and caring. This tactic has been used to rally much of the nation together but what is required in a tragedy in order for a president to visit the town to give a speech? Is it the terror or the political climate?

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

Bucher Room

10 AM – Noon

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Jasmine Aguilar

Rising from Rags to Riches

Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” poem is a piece of literature that has continued to be loved and recited by many despite being written in 1978. Metaphor criticism will be used to study how Maya Angelou used metaphors to convey her message. The metaphors in her poem were put into groups, which are nature, history, violence against her person, and expansive descriptions of herself. Speaking to people who held racial hatred in their hearts, Maya Angelou used these metaphors to confront their vision of themselves being rich and powerful by describing herself as rich with the gifts from her ancestors. Keywords: Maya Angelou, metaphors, rhetorical criticism

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

L203

10 AM – Noon

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Jordan Strehlow

A Lesson Learned

Kyle Martin delivered his valedictorian address, titled “The 16th Second,” during the King’s Academy Graduation on May 30th, 2019. His statement was brutally honest and had such a powerful impact on the audience that it went viral across multiple social media platforms. Using Herbert A. Wicheln’s Neo-Aristotelian criticism to examine Kyle Martin’s speech, it was revealed that the speech was effective because of how canons were presented in his speech, as well as his audience, who place great importance on their accomplishments rather than their relationships.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

L203

10 AM – Noon

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Bethany Taylor

Chef Doesn’t Love You Back

As an ideological critic, I found that the 2004 commercial created By Chef Boyardee titled “Rolling Can”  was used by the company of Chef Boyardee to convince young girls that one must eat high-calorie ravioli to avoid experiencing loneliness.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

L203

10 AM – Noon

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Flint Du Tell

Changenge the world by making bu bed

What has been dubbed the “If you want to change the world, make your bed” speech, was given as a commencement address to the 2014 graduating class of the University of Texas as Austen by Admiral Wiliam McRaven. It is a Rhetorical vision composed of ten different life lessons he learned in Navy Seal book camp. Life lesson he believes the graduates and anybody else, could use to help them follow the university’s modo, “what starts here changes the world.  

If one wants to change the world, they must take action.  So, it only makes sense if Admiral McRaven is going to give advice on how to change the world, he would tell you what actions to take. Although his speech contains some vivid character and setting themes, a fantasy themed analyses of this speech reveals in most of these settings and character themes are overshadowed by the actions someone could take to help them change the world. In accordance with a fantasy themed analysis,  Admiral McRaven calls into existences the group of people who want to change the world.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Alyssa Perovich

Neo-Aristotelian Criticism of Aly Raisman’s Court Speech in the Larry Nassar Case

During the trial of Doctor Larry Nassar, dozens of women came forward and filed civil lawsuits against Nassar. Aly Raisman was among the 150 women to come forward with compelling testimonies and victim impact statements to help determine Nassar’s sentencing. A Neo-Aristotelian criticism is applied to the speech to analyze organization, style, delivery, memory, and success. Aly identified her abuser as Larry Nassar, and used language such as “sick” and “manipulative” to describe him. She used imagery phrases, spoke in a formal format, and made a case for the #MeToo movement. Aly’s speech is analyzed to prove the connection between her method and the sentencing of Doctor Larry Nassar.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Nicholas Rodriguez

Really Real

In African American communities, there are a disproportionate amount of people that are affected by generational poverty. Now while many of these people choose to embrace this lifestyle and the things that it has to offer, there are others who try their best to rise above it and make a better life for themselves than what their parents had. Kendrick Lamar’s song “Poe Mans Dreams” is written from the perspective of a man who came from the hood and has since escaped that lifestyle and sees the wrong in his old ways. It is easy to listen to this song and see the surface level messages, but Kendrick makes use of several terms that have a very prominent connotation and uses them to convey something else. Using Kenneth Burke’s Cluster Criticism to analyze the song, it is unveiled that Lamar is trying to persuade African Americans to not accept the circumstances that they were born into and to seek a better life.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

10 AM – Noon

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Gabrielle Morales

‘I’m Tired of Not Being Home’: A Rhetorical Fantasy-Theme Analysis of Huerta’s Speech on PTSD

It is common knowledge that many veterans hold symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); however, as active soldiers, most neglect to acknowledge the early symptoms.  Chaplain Carlos Huerta (2012) explores this in his speech. While the speech may read as an autobiography or personal account of his experiences battling with PTSD, the artifact embodies the experiences of all military members who struggle with the condition.  When Ernest Bormann’s fantasy-theme criticism is applied to analyze Huerta’s speech, it is made clear that Huerta is creating a shared worldview of soldiers, both past and present, who are in constant battle with PTSD both on and off the physical war battlefield.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

Banquet Room, Poster #10

1 – 3 PM

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Gianna Rains

Give Extra, Get Extra’: A Narrative Criticism of Wrigley’s Extra Gum Commercial “The Story of Sarah & Juan”

Wrigley’s Extra gum commercial became popular immediately after being aired. Commercials strive to associate their product with positivity, and Wrigley took this goal to the next level. They created a love story that consisted of a young couple, events of their love story, creative settings, and an organized timeline. The audience gets to see how Sarah and Juan’s love story unfolds, as well as how they commemorate their history of love with giving the other a piece of gum. A narrative criticism looks for key characteristics: character(s), events, and setting(s). These three features help determine what the objective of the commercial is. In this commercial ad, Wrigley’s primary objective is to sell their gum. The secondary objective is to have the audience associate Extra gum with Sarah and Juan’s history and commemoration of their love story. Their unique story also reveals that gender roles and racial norms are challenged, while the tradition of a proposal and marriage remains the same. Therefore, their objectives are effective because of the supporting characteristics of the ad.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

Banquet Room, Poster #12

1 – 3 PM

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Rory Rice

Feminist Criticism

Taking  the speech by Chamamanda Adichie “Everyone should be a Feminist” and, then learn the theory of feminist criticism so that we can dig into the different ways a feminist critic will dissect the artifact and then we can come up with the conclusion of what the speaker is saying.

COMM 441, Rhetorical Criticism

Doyle Srader

Banquet Room, Poster #14

1 – 3 PM

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