Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Holiday Rhet


If you have never heard the phrase "Peace on Earth" during the Christmas season, you must be living under a rock. Everywhere you turn you either hear the phrase in a song or you see it on a decoration of some sort. According to Merriam Webster dictionary it states that peace means " harmony in personal relations", and "freedom from disquieting thoughts or emotions." Have any of you ever just sat around and thought about why this phrase is mostly just brought up around Christmas time. No one goes around during the year saying this, only during the holiday season. Christmas is the time of year when everyone is generally happy and they want to enjoy themselves and their families. Of course we would all love to have peace all year around, but lets get real..unfortunately things just do not work like that. I find myself always wanting peace on earth that just like any other human being, and I wish things were just that simple.
I somewhat believe that this phrase is brought up around this time of the year because it is the most joyous time of the year, but it also has a lot to do with the real reason we have Christmas. I think that since Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ, and this is why peace on earth is such a big deal around this holiday. When I think of Jesus I think of peace, and happiness. I kind of think this is a negative look on peace on earth, because we should have this hope all year around, not just around this holiday. I think that not only Christmas  should be peaceful, i think that all 365 days of the year should be this way. I cannot tell you how many times I have sang the song "peace on earth" throughout my nine years of chorus and i never really thought about the words, i just thought it was a christmas song, I now have a whole different outlook.


Not exactly the quid pro quo...

Thanks to Google Images for the pictures.

The holidays are a time of family, friendship, and all around together-ness. We're supposed to all get together and everyone be happy and loving and just have a great time with our little 2 adult, 2.54 children and 1.58 pet household. I mean, that's the average, so it's to be expected, right? My parents are divorced, remarried, and have children with their new spouses. The new children (2 of my younger siblings, Averi and Reid) call each other cousins and call the other parent of mine who isn't their parent Uncle and Aunt. So we don't exactly fit into the mold.

It's not unusual for families to be different than the norm. We live in a diverse society. We really don't have the cookie-cutter 2 adults and 2.54 children households with the stay at home Betty Crocker moms and "Honey I'm home!" dads anymore. We live in a society where families sit down to fast food between basketball games and volleyball practice; where the lines between divorces are blurred, and in laws are closer than blood relatives; where it's not as big of a deal to spend part of Christmas with someone else, or with friends at the movies. The ideas we have of families in Christmas sweaters implies a family mind-set that only seems to be present at Christmas. Not to say that the way things run now are bad- that's simply how some families, like mine, are now, and I love my family exactly the way we are. Not everyone fits the mold now, but that's what makes each holiday celebration unique and special.



Holiday Rhetoric

Both found on google images.
During Christmas you always hear the phrase "joy to the world", rather it be said or found in a song sung at church. According to Webster, the word joy means an emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of processing what one desires. So why do we chose to say this just around Christmas time? Around the holidays everyone wants to be seen as this perfect family, as Arola talks about in her video. She talks about how everyone gathers around the tree trying to look happy for that brief moment while a photo is being taken. Is our joy brief too? When I think of joy to the world I think of world piece, and happiness. Most people would agree that we could use this all year round and not just on Christmas right? But who I am kidding, no one goes around in the middle of May saying joy to the world, that is unless it is a teenager getting out of high school for summer break. 

I think people have this false thought that everyone should be happy and perfect during this season because of all the stories and shows we see on tv. Let's face it, when we were young we learned about Jesus being born, and how everyone was grateful and happy to be around their family. If anyone, I think my family is a prime example that this is not what really happens behind the Christmas photo. Two or three years ago, my grandpa and my uncle were messing with his guns, and identically shot a whole through the wall the had barley missed my aunt's arm leaving a scrape. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Joy to the world? I do believe that familys can and should be happy around this time, but why do we chose to try and over do it and seem perfect to everyone around us? Although the saying joy to the world will always be around, we should make it something and bring back the meaning. Let us actually be joyous, and be who we are. Maybe that is what we need to make the world a better place. In this day and age, it all seems to be based of the saying fake it till you make it.
-Karah
word count 388

Holiday Rhetoric-JF
















Gifts


Typically, when most of the people I know, including myself, think of the word, “gifts,” we think of items given from one person to another in care. When I think of gifts, I personally think of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a larger group though, we all consider gifts to be wrapped presents given by the (spoiler alert!) fictitious Santa Clause/Father Christmas/St. Nicholas/Kris Kringle to children as a reward for their good deeds. Essentially, gifts are associated with winter, particularly, the Christmas holiday. As a child, I was always told that the giving of gifts originated with the three Wise Men bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Christ. I was once told that Santa was Jesus in disguise, and that seemed to make perfect sense to me when I was at that young age. Regardless of my thoughts of gifts, everyone to whom I’ve mentioned the word seems to have the same idea. Ideally however, I think many should have a different idea when that word is stated.

 

In my opinion, every day on Earth as a human being is a, “gift.” Whether you are religious or not, we can all agree that someone else created us (God, parents, scientists, etc). First, being human is a gift considering we’re the most advanced species on the planet. Second, we (at least all of us on the blog) are American; by this I mean to ask, when was the last time your life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness was genuinely threatened? As an American human, we have the greatest gift in comparison to all other people. Sadly, instead of being content with this great gift we have all been given, we trample each other to get sales or cry when we don’t get whatever present we wanted. By holding this false definition of gift, we throw this true gift we have away. If we continue this selfish behavior, I have no doubt that we will lose our true gift. I implore all of you this holiday season not to overlook our true gift. It certainly wouldn’t hurt any of us if we took some more time to be thankful rather than needful (and, hey, look at it this way: If you spend all your time being thankful, you may be able to use that as an excuse for not giving any presents).
 
Word count: 394
Picture count: 2
Sarcasm count: a lot

Holiday Rhetoric-Family



Images from Yahoo images.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of family is loved ones. I agree with Mrs. Arola when she says that the stereotypical family is a heterosexual white family and their kids. I come from the stereotypical American family, however, I do not think race matters, nor do I think having kids is something required to be qualified as a family. In her case, I would say her and her husband alone are a family. The fact that they are loved ones qualifies them as a family in my book. I would include all relatives into the loved ones category.

Also, I do not believe family does not have to include immediate family. For example I have multiple friends who I would consider as family because they fit into the category of loved ones. In addition to friends, I would say I am part of a family of teammates. Team sports have multiple similarities to immediate families.  Successful teams have people sacrificing for each other, communication, trust, honesty, and bonds that form just like successful families have. 

I, like Mrs. Arola, want people to rethink what family is. Family does not have to include a mother, father, and kids. Race does not matter either. There are plenty of families who are not in the stereotypical category that display the same love as the stereotypical families. I believe if a group of people or even two people show characteristics of a family, then they are a family. The holidays seem to put an importance on kids and relatives, but as long as there are the characteristics of a family like love and compassion, the number of people should not matter. My advice for people is to think about the people in their lives who are important to them whether they are a part of their immediate family or not, and ask themselves if they feel like those people feel like family. 

David Sacre (323 words)


"Jesus is the reason for the season."



                As children we often would stay up all night wondering what we were getting for Christmas this year, but rarely did we ever think about what Christmas was actually celebrated for. It seems like the history of Christmas is shrouded in history and not many people really know why we do any of the things we do. I did not learn till years later that Christmas was actually rooted in ancient Pagan holidays. Powered by religious reforms in England, the once Pagan holiday, was converted into a Christian Holiday. It was not until there was a surge in popularity in America that Christmas became a truly commercial holiday. In the past many kept traditions such as commemorating the birth of Jesus or going to church on Christmas. Now most American’s cannot even tell you why we celebrate Christmas except that we get gifts from some man in a suit. What was the cause for such a drastic change in America’s demeanor?
                The most obvious change is families themselves. The United States is much more accepting of different styles of living then they once were. People who are gay, atheist or of other ethnic groups are not as socially un-accepted as they once were or as pressured to take on more socially conventional practices such as following the Christian traditions for Christmas. Being more accepting of different cultures or practices can cause even the socially conventional to go about their own Christmas rituals a bit differently. The commercial aspect of Christmas is also starting to change the way we celebrate Christmas. Instead of going out and buying just a few gifts for the family, we now go out to events like Black Friday to race through mobs of people, while fighting for the newest electronics. So as for the old sang “Jesus is the reason for the season!” is beginning to lose its meaning in our country


-316

An anosmic Christms



pictures were found using google








When celebrating Christmas most people think of it as a joyous occasion where people gather to give each other gifts. To me it is becoming less and less joyous as the years go on. This is mostly due to me realizing things as I got older. I saw more and more of people taking rather than giving. When I was small I remember Christmas at my grandmothers with all sorts of distant relatives, but I was always my grandparents only grandchild and although I received many gifts, they were never expensive and I didn't expect them to be. My grandfather spent time to make me things and I still treasure those gifts to this day. Now it is all about which grandchild they spent the most amount of money on and who they favored the most. I am at a point where all I see is my grandparents suffering to please all of their kids’ kids. For all of the children it is a joyous occasion because they get all of these gifts and for the parents it is a contest and if some kid got a gift more expensive than their child’s all manners of hell is unleashed. Yet everyone still behaves as if everyone should be happy. Last week when I went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving my grandmother asked for all of our Christmas lists. Being who I am I asked for a Delorean, a flux capacitor, and some plutonium. Obviously I am a back to the future fan and I was joking, but my cousins gifts amazed me more.
                I saw my cousins asking for $60 video games and dolls that cost $100 or more. I could not believe that they would ask for such things especially when there is roughly 12 grand kids. There is no way that my grandparents should be expected to pay so much for each child. Yet this is going to happen just like every year. They do this to make not only the kids, but the parents happy as well. All of this stress is put upon two individuals who should have retired years ago, but because of their children’s greed and inability to take care of themselves, are forced to keep working. I am at a point where I am going to call it out and get branded the black sheep of the family because no one wants to bring it up. I am not going to say that my grandparents shouldn't spend their money how they please, but I will call out my aunts and uncles who deliberately ask for it when they don’t need it. These past few years Christmas has been like torture to me seeing my grandparents’ life sucked out of them and it fills me with rage. So much for joy being associated with Christmas. As long as everyone keeps acting like everything is joyful and fine, my grandparents will continue to be run into the ground.


-Codie Rome 493

                             Home


  1. Images are from Google Images.


     I chose the word home for the holiday rhetoric assignment because home to me is somewhere I can always go and feel welcomed. As for the holiday season, it is a place for gathering of all of our family members especially for those relatives that you only see during Christmas time.   Some ideals of home would be comfort, love, and sharing.  Personal experiences for me has been pretty close to those ideals but there are people out there who hasn’t been as lucky to have family provide that for them. They may see only sadness and sorrow. The only repercussion I can see that would happen would be that families fight with each other and make the whole experience uncomfortable for everyone there.  I would have to challenge everyone try and get along with everyone while they are with you since they only are around for a short time. 

   
    As for Arola’s thought on what is a family and what isn’t. My opinion on that is what ever you believe is your family or whoever is a major part of your life should be considered family.  There shouldn’t be a set criteria on what a family is but should be based on who is always there for you and will do whatever to help you should be called family.  In Arola’s video she discussed the dynamic and make-up of family. Most families have the grown ups, they are the parents regardless of whatever the dynamic might be. Does it really matter if you have two dad’s or two mom’s? Some families might even be a single parent with one or more children home with them. Families might even just be the two adults and a dog or two. The family is who in your life is their for you no matter what the situation.

Holiday Rhetoric

             The holidays are just around the corner, which can only mean one thing; everyone reuniting with their loved ones, especially their family. In Arola's essay, she discusses about the term "family", and how it does not always mean the stereotypical mom, dad, and kids. There is a lot more elaboration to the word and meaning. I'm the same way as Arola whenever I hear the word family. Family is not only consisted of mom, dad, kids, and pets. It has a lot more definition and meaning to it. Whenever I hear the word family, I don't only think about my mom, dad, brothers, and pets, but I also think about my closest friends; the ones that were always there for me through thick and thin. I count them as family just as much as I do with my immediate family, even if it breaks the social stereotype of what most of our society thinks of what a family really is.
             There are a ton of TV show's out there that show us the stereotypical family on the holiday's, but there isn't a lot of TV show's that show us the other side of what a family really means. The two pictures I chose are from TV show's that are an example of the other meaning to family. They show us that our loved ones don't always have to come from our immediate family. You can have an immediate family that hate your guts, but still have close friends that show unconditional love towards you and you consider them family. Overall, I think the definition of family is a group of people who care and love for each other and they would be willing to help them out in any situation given to them. Spending the holidays with your family is a positive experience, no matter who you classify your family as.

Emily Shouse
(312 words).


        "Joy to the world" is a phrase that is commonly sung in the Christmas carol of the same title.  Around the holidays, one would only need to simply say this phrase or partially sing in order to either get others to sing along or press the repeat button on the "radio" in people's heads and having them thinking about it for the rest of the day.  But what does this phrase truly imply?  Oftentimes, it is shown by itself with pictures such as my first one I chose.  All around the world, everyone stops what they are doing because it is the holiday season and are happy and merry. Father America puts off the war with uncle Afghanistan, Grandpa Economy graciously gives us some spending money to get a gift for our sister, Debt, and of course Aunt and Uncle PoW did not make it because of some unforeseen consequences, yet again.  Guess who's getting coal under their tree this year!

        All joking aside, this phrase and the implications of it are ones that are somewhat silly in the sense that things do not magically get better because it is the holiday season in the nations and countries that do celebrate during this period of time.  International affairs stay the same no matter the season; in-fact, the possibility of the relationships between particular nations might even have the possibility of getting worse because one of the nation's representatives might be at a Christmas luncheon with the rest of his or her department while the representative on the other end is left tapping their fingers on the table, waiting to hear from the other with regards to some important issue that was left as a voice-mail when the two just missed each other last time.  Of course, though, this could be completely off base with how things are actually done, I'm not really too hip on the government's handling of international affairs.

        But I digress,  the phrase "Joy to the World" is one that is somewhat similar to the phrase "Peace on Earth" in that they both imply that things magically get better at a certain time of year.  Of course, the intention is often on good terms but it does feel quite odd saying it and trying to mean it when in the back of my mind I think of all the terrible things that are happening worldwide.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 400

Holiday Rhetoric- Family

 
 I chose a picture of my family because when I hear the word family they are the first thing that comes to mind . During the holidays we will get together with our extended family who we only see a couple of times a year. As you can tell we arent really close to them. I dont really see anybody outside of the people in my picture as my family because my mother, father, and sister are the only ones that are involved in my daily life, and they take care of me. Since I dont really speak to the rest of my family I wonder where I'd be without my parents. I also think about the kids who are cared for by their extended family rather than their parents and I dont feel that it's society's place to say that they arent a family.
 
 Before choosing a picture of my own, I spent a short amount of time searching for a good picture to use. I typed the word family into google images and all of my options were the same. There were the stereotypical white and black families There were no interracial family images, or anything involving two gay parents and their children. I thik that shows that people look at a family as something specific. I feel that some people look at certain types of families as wrong because thet break social norms. I dont feel that it should be the place of society to define a family. I think that a family should be defined as a group of people who are close,love eachother unconditonally and take care of each other no matter the circumstances.
 

Holiday Rhetoric


Closeness
 

 
When I think of family, I think of a mom, dad, and their kid(s) if any.  Growing up, this has not always been the case for me. I have never lived with my dad nor do I talk to him much.  As for my mom, I see her seldomly, but not enough.  Am I supposed to call me, my mom, and dad a family?  When holidays come around I see neither.  My family is my Grandma and Grandpa, then the rest of my family members come in and complete my family. I don’t think “family” should have any certain definition put behind it because some instances can alter the meaning.  When its Christmas or Thanksgiving and I sit down to eat, I look around the table at all of my family.  Some I only see a couple times during the year.  I don’t think this is a family.  When I’m watching Christmas shows, and they show all of the family members is that really their family?  To be considered family, you should be close to that person and see that person more than just the holidays.

All of my life I have been close to my aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters.  I classify them all as my family because they have always been there for me and I think it would be too hard to say my only family was my grandma and grandpa when they’re not.  There are exceptions though.  When I was younger I would go with my dad for the holidays and I would always be around his side of the family, but I don’t consider them my family.  There are people I have never seen before on Christmas that were my “family,” and I have never seen them since.  Family is defined by the circumstances someone wants it to be.  If I grow up, don’t get married, but still have a kid, I think my family would be me and my kid.  I could also have a family as diverse as the Duggar’s who have 19 children.  It all depends on your situation.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Holiday Rhetoric

Reunite 
       Around the holidays is when families start to reunite. When Thanksgiving and Christmas come around, that is when you start seeing more family members and see some members of your family only on holidays in some cases. I have a certain family members that ONLY come around during holidays and call me and try to talk to me like we are close as can be and like they are always there for me. This is something that never made sense to me because why would you want to distance yourself from family members and then just all of a sudden take an interest in them? I think for some people holidays are there way of getting in contact with their whole family and doing things that make them feel better about never talking to them. People buy gifts for one another and visit each other’s houses and have dinner with each other when in reality they can’t stand each other and that is why they only talk to each other once a year.
       There are the instances where family members live very far apart and they cannot be in regular contact with each other and do not have time to check up on one another, especially if you have a big family. This is where the whole idea of families coming together for the holidays can be a good thing. Holidays can be awkward though because there always those couple people in the family that you don’t really like coming around but they do anyway and its ok because it’s the holidays and people are supposed to “come together.” I realize that not everyone has a dysfunctional family but I would guarantee that almost everyone has that one grandma or one uncle or whatever that they should probably talk to more often and feel bad about not doing so. When holidays come around that is when everyone comes together and it is supposed to be all happy and everything is ok. I think that people should not wait until holidays to get in contact with one another and that they should be for them year round as much as they can. You are supposed to be there for your family always, not just for holidays to support a superficial idea coming together for the holidays. 

Friday, November 16, 2012

I totally agree with you. Dr. Tae definitely knew what he was doing when he gave this lesson/lecture/demonstration thing. He knew how to relate to students using a common interest, and he used that common interest to make a semi-difficult topic easy to understand. His choice of example was stellar too. Skateboarding truly is a teach-it-yourself activity. There are no teachers, no "middle" grades, and the ground doesn't get any softer when you fall just because you "tried really really hard." Honestly, this lesson has a lot to do with life. Life isn't fair. When we fail, we fail, there is no middle ground. And we don't succeed or fail any more or less because of our efforts- we either do it, or we don't. We don't have someone to sit by us and hold our hands and help us through everything step by step. Either we teach ourselves or we fall behind the curve. The lessons taught by Dr. Tae is his lecture-thing are lessons that everyone could learn and apply. He did an amazing job and I believe you analyzed his speech very well.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Juxtaposition Post 2

The skateboarding presentation by Dr. Tae has a lot of positive things. People who watch his presentation will see good things that they can learn from. The video to me in my opinion presents that no matter how many times it takes, or how hard anything can be to never give up on it. Dr. Tae does a great job comparing skateboarding to the learning process in a classroom. He is trying to teach us and send us a message to never give up on anything, strive to make yourself better. Dr. Tae used skateboarding as an example. He showed us many tricks that he had accomplished in the past years. It took him years to perfect the tricks. As much as he wanted to give up on them he didn't, he kept practicing and practicing until he could finally do the tricks. I believe with him using skateboarding as an example is something everyone can relate to. Everyone has a talent that they are trying to get better at. Dr. Tae's point to me if you work hard enough at something you will become successful. Dr. Tae also mentions in skateboarding you don't have a teacher you teach your self. You have to be motivated to want to get better. With this being said I think he is referring to, that you have to motivate your self to get your education. When it comes to school work no one can make you do your homework, only you can discipline yourself to get the grade you deserve. you're only as good as you make yourself be. (254) The target audience in my opinion can be anyone. It can be from someone who is eight years old to someone who is forty years old. The audience is anyone who wants to make themselves better and successful. Dr. Tae sends out a positive message throughout his presentation.

(302)

Juxtaposition Post 2

        The ideas that Dr. Tae discusses in this video are ones that, if they were to be used, could revolutionize education and schooling in not only our nation, but worldwide.  The idea that a grade cannot and should not be placed on the process of learning is one of these ideas.  Dr. Tae showed the viewers that letter grades cannot be successfully placed on the trick he was trying to do.  In actuality, the "grading process" was as simple as: "Did you complete the trick? If so you have learned it, if not, try again."  This could change how students are educated quite drastically, where they received no grades.  Instead they either learn something, or they do not learn something.  This process can be most definitely applied to my own personal experience with regards to writing.  This is because learning how to write effective college-level papers was something that I initially found very challenging.  I had bad thesis statements, little to no support of my ideas, even a lot of run-on sentences, and the list goes on and on.
        At first I found myself to be very discouraged; I even found myself thinking that I would never be able to get the hang of writing these types of papers.  But I stuck with it, though, much like Dr. Tae kept trying to land his trick.  Some attempts were better than others and the later papers were showing a little bit of progression, but I had not yet really landed my trick.  After many attempts, however, I finally found myself "getting it all" and found that I was actually making it harder than it needed to be.  With respect to skating, I was trying to land an amazingly hard trick when all I really was trying to do was a much simpler one.  Finally, with regards as to who I believe the intended audience of Dr. Tae's presentation is, I feel that the message was trying to be given to anyone who wanted to learn something from now to basically forever.  I think that all students, in any sense of the word, and educators alike could benefit very much if these ideas were implemented.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 365
This week we were asked to view a video of Dr. Tae’s presentation. Although he wasn’t the best speaker in the world I rather enjoyed this presentation. It was very interesting to watch and see the examples that he used to help support his statements. His statements were also very clever and very well thought out. The remote for instance was something that really caught my attention in a positive way. Anyone that uses props during a speech gets major points from me. It really grabs my attention and makes me pay attention to them to figure out what it is that they are trying to do rather then sitting there trying to force myself and listen to their thoughts on an issue. He also did very well at adding in visuals which always makes things easier for me to understand and it made it easier for me to relate his two topics.

It was also really neat how he was able to take skateboarding; a sport that not very many people do or understand, and make us more aware of the hard work that actually goes into what they do. He also demonstrated how those situations can relate back to real life situations and the school environment as well. I believe that we could all take something from his presentation. Whether we learned to never give up on something that we are working towards or that we need to learn how to widen the horizon of what we choose to see. One thing that everyone really needs to understand from his speech though is that failure really is ok. It’s natural and it’s expected of us. It’s something that happens a lot more often then succeeding actually. If we didn’t have failure then what would we really be working towards?  

Juxtaposition Post 2


The age old method of trial an error is a very effective method of learning anything. No one is perfect the first time doing anything. The intended audience for the video is anyone who wants to get good at something. I know when I fail at something the first time, my confidence drops, but I have to keep going and after a while, I get better and better at it because I am fixing everything that I am doing wrong. The speaker used juxtaposition of skateboarding to a student because when you learn a new trick, you have to practice in order to know how to do it, same way with school, if you take the time to practice what you are doing wrong or studying, you will eventually learn what you want to learn and master it, just like a skateboarding trick.
With talent comes practice. The speaker in the YouTube video talks about how he had to do the 360 kick-flip about 53 times in order to finally learn the trick he wanted to master.  Before I began this Rhetoric class, I felt like a lost dog in a big city when it came to writing anything. After weeks and weeks of being in this class, I finally understood how to get a good “grade” on my papers, try to fix my mistakes. Before, I always believed that your first draft can be the best, what I came to find out, that’s not necessarily true. For example: my first draft for my writing about literature paper was absolutely terrible. It made no sense, what so ever. After weeks of revising it, I still was not getting any better. Just a week ago, I sat down, redid the entire paper, and now reading it, I am so proud of what I have accomplished. Practicing writing will only improve a writer. Practice makes perfect.


Priyanka Bhakta
Word Count: 314

Schooling and Education and Skateboarding- oh my..


Mark Twain once said, "I've never let my schooling interfere with my education."
This quote makes sense. We live in a country where schools are trained with one basic purpose- teach what's on the curriculum, throw the information out there, test the little children, and break out the red marker when it's time. That's schooling. Schooling is turning out as many viable "passes" as possible. Education is a different matter. Education is learning something because it needs to be learned, not simply for the sake of learning. Education is what life teaches you, not a curriculum board.

Dr. Tae is attempting to teach us something that we usually don't learn in school- how to never give up. A lot of times we get a homework assignment and when we turn it in, that's it. We take a test and it gets graded, that's it. In this class, however, we write a paper, turn it in, get it back, and are told to make it better, to keep with it and DO something. Trying to learn something by teaching ourselves teaches us a lot more than simply what we're trying to learn. So I taught myself piano, right? Well, I didn't have a teacher, so I had to figure it out on my own. If I failed, it was my entire fault, no one else's. If I wanted to learn this, I would have to maintain my diligence. I did, and I learned. That's what Tae is trying to show us. He uses skateboarding as his example. Skateboarding provides instant feedback and a cut-and-dry evaluation- either you did it or you didn't. Using skateboarding as his example proves very effective, because it's something that a lot of people can relate to, either through skateboarding directly or through some other activity. Because of this, he related very well with the people he was speaking to it seemed, and I could definitely relate. I believe he did a great job overall and the randomness in the connection between the subject matters proved to be effective and exactly what was needed for him to effectively get his point across.

(355 words)

Juxtaposition Post 2

There are a lot of good things people can learn from Dr. Tae's message. In my opinion, his most important aspect in his presentation is perseverance. To display this message he proves his point many times how skateboards have to constantly cope with failure to eventually succeed. As a student and a writer, perseverance has been a huge part of me becoming a better writer. I believe Ms. Jarmer has incorporated this concept into her course requirements. She requires us to use perseverance to revise our papers and use our resources to improve our papers.

Dr. Tae does a good job at taking something that has negative stereotypes surrounding it and relating it to something very practical. The lessons he teaches his audience can be used in real world situations, especially in school. I think he is trying to reach out to school students to prove how hard work can get them somewhere in life. Being a successful student himself, I think his message becomes even stronger because he is an example of where hard work can get people. When Dr. Tae talks about how skateboarding doesn't have a teacher, I believe he is trying to say that students need to be self-motivated. Students can't rely on teachers or other people to be there to hold their hand through everything.

Overall, I believe that Dr. Tae does a good job a taking two things that do not seem to relate to each other at all, and making them work together to illustrate a life lesson. I believe he is intending his message to the younger generation to prove to them how hard work and determination is key to success in any situation. He discusses how failure is a part of life, but it is also a part of reaching a goal and becoming successful.

David Sacre
(305 words)
  The video with the skateboading/instructor, Dr. Tae he was very direct at getting his point across. Using this type of teaching is beneficial because it is direct in your face kind of learning. The teaching is direct, he uses the skateboard as a prop. Using props in a class can be sure to hold a groups attention. People often learn by the hands on approach. When he used the skateboard, it was as if he was using the direct approach or the hands on approach. The principles that he discussed, such as failure is normal. He discussed how it took several tries to get something right. As a writer I feel it often takes me many tries to get my articles correct. Also, I agree with his comment that nobody knows how long it takes to learn. Finding the right teacher, right class, and the right way to learn may be the way that someone can learn in the future. If the student struggles one way, they should try another. The student shold always  be self organized, commited and ready to learn.

     To be a better writer, I feel that I have to learn to ask for help if I need it. Dr. Tae said that sometime you may have to tey repeatedly. Dr. Tae, in his video also discusses that learning is not fun and you should always find something to challenge you that is just above your level. I feel that he is trying to talk to the students to challenge them to be better at what they need to do. The intended audience was both, the students that was in the classroom, as well as the skateboarders attempting the tricks. In futher his message he used video, as well as the written word on the black screens. In the real world, would a teacher really use that type of prompts to get  his message across? The academic world would be more worried about grades and assignments completion.

word count:335

Juxathingamajig 2


Dr. Tae did a very good job with his presentation. The audience that would most likely view his presentation would be college level students and it seems that his presentation was tailored to that. The fact that he compared learning in a class to learning on a skateboard also helped his presentation because even if you don’t skateboard, it is easy to understand what he is saying. It becomes a much more interesting presentation by making use of activities relevant to the age group he is trying to appeal to. Dr. Tae also makes use of good visual aids that are both entertaining and informative. This also helps further his points. The real world and academic world comparison he makes also appeals to his audience. To most students, they see either the real world or the world of school. They do not view them as the same, and this is because they are not. In the real world the only thing you get graded on is the health inspections at restaurants. He helps students understand that learning should occur beyond the academic world.

I believe Dr. Tae does a good job using juxtaposition to help prove his point. Learning to me is very much what Tae mentioned in that most of what I have learned has actually been from outside the school and the whole purpose of learning it was the end result. To me there is no difference between the real world and the academic world for I view them as the same. For most of the current classes I am taking, I already know the material we are going over with the exception of this class and my logic class. If I have ever wanted to learn something about science I would go online or to a library to learn it. The same goes for me as a writer. If I don’t know what part of my paper needs to be improved I don’t stare at it until I know how to do it, I either ask someone or I try to do it repeatedly until I am satisfied with the result. It should be that way for all learning. The teacher’s main purpose is to provide real-time feedback as to what you are doing wrong. 

-Codie Rome 378

Juxtaposition Post 2


I think that what Dr.Tae says applies to me.  With every paper that I write, the paper goes through a series of revisions to make my end paper better than the first.  Most people learn something by completing repetitions, not just doing it once and boom you’re perfect at it.  Throughout this semester, I have learned a lot as a writer.  I have learned that I should keep submitting revisions and going to the writer’s room until I reach my intended grade.  I have learned that every time I fail, I am one step closer to succeeding.  Dr. Tae goes through the same process with skateboarding.  He states that it took him a couple of years until he could finally master the kick flip.  He also said that if he would have quit after one or two months he would have never been able to do it.  It is that exact process that makes people better at the things they do.

Dr. Tae has a broad audience he is talking to.  I think he is talking to mainly students, but anybody who is trying to do something and they don’t quite get it.  Dr. Tae is telling these people to hang in there and you will eventually get it. In Dr. Tae’s video he compares a student/skateboarder, and the real world/academic world.   The way Dr. Tae uses juxtaposition is that he compares two similar things that people do, and the different effects of both.  Dr. Tae states that you shouldn’t grade a skateboarder if he fails the trick, because it doesn’t teach him to do better, he already knows what he did wrong, he just needs to correct it.  The same thing applies to a student in school.  Why should you grade a student on homework when homework might be their way of trying to understand the concept.  A teacher shouldn’t go ahead and give the student an F, but rather, the teacher should help the student figure the concept out.

Juxtaposition Post 2-JF


In Dr. Tae's video, he does a great job of explaining how skateboarding is similar to the learning process in the classroom. Like most everything else put on the internet, Dr. Tae's session is a rhetorical situation. The author is obviously Dr. Tae. The setting is his classroom and the places in his short videos where he learns to skateboard. The text is simply the videos he uses as well as some demonstrations; there are no written words, only spoken. The purpose is to convey Dr. Tae's message. The audience is the classroom as well as everyone else who watches the video. I feel that this video is probably one of the most effective rhetorical situations that we have blogged about so far. Dr. Tae does a very good job at explaining how his difficulty with learning new skateboarding tricks related to the educational system. In my opinion, Dr. Tae is right in saying that the current educational system is flawed and should be changed to a system that incorporates the ideas behind learning to skateboard.

 

The current grading system can be misleading. A student may have a 4.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, but his or her testing scores may rank averagely compared to other students around the nation. Likewise, a student may have a lower grade point average, but his or her scores rank amongst the highest. In my personal experience, I find that most of my grades are towards the top of the grading scale. My scores on aptitude tests are also high but don’t reflect my grades because I’m not at the top of the chart in terms of scores. Most of the current classes are grading students the wrong way. The class that shows this the most is Band. In band, we get graded on whether or not we participate, try, and if we play at required events. I feel that we should get graded on whether or not we know how to play our instruments and whether or not we know our music. In my opinion, there is no B-D in terms of grades in band. Either one knows how to play and earns an A, or they don’t know and earn an F.

Word count: 372

Juxtaposition Post 2

         In Dr. Tae's video, "Can Skateboarding Save Our School?" he discusses about the relationship between skateboarding and school. The main purpose in Dr. Tae's lecture is that we have to set goals and keep trying if we want to succeed in a particular subject. In his demonstration, he explains how teachers, grades, and cheating do not affect your ability to skateboard. However, those key factors apply in a big way in learning at school. His demonstration is some what effective because you can try as many times as you want to nail the perfect trick in skateboarding, but you don't necessarily have a lot of chances to succeed on the first try in school. I think Dr. Tae's target audience was towards young students and adults because he wanted to influence them and show them that determination is the key to success. He also wanted to show that each situation has different learning styles.

       Even though skateboarding and school are two totally different things, there are still some similarites between them. When it comes to learning in school, there is not a lot of options. You either know the material, somewhat know it, or don't know it at all. I think that skateboarding can relate to that factor as well. Another key factor that both of those subjects share is the repetition method. In the beginning of Dr. Tae's video, we see him attempting a certain skateboarding trick. At first, he doesn't nail it and it took him a lot of tries to finally nail it. That kind of learning style can reflect on classroom learning as well, because the more we look at the material and study it, the more familiar we will be with it. Overall, I think Dr. Tae did a good job with his presentation. There were some flaws here and there when it came to comparing skateboarding and school, but as a student we can learn something from this video.

Emily Shouse

(325 words).

Juxtaposition Post 2

In Dr. Tae's presentation "Can Skateboarding Save Our Schools?" he really does a great job at comparing school and skateboarding. You can really tell that he thought out all of his points and examples throughout the whole presentation which made it very clear to understand. I believe that many of his examples are exactly the same as writers go through. While skateboarding, its not just something you pick up and can accomplish in an hour, it takes work. Becoming a good writer takes a lot of time and effort, just like skateboarding. Writers and skate boarders will try and try to perfect their work, before it actually is perfected. Just like in our rhet class, it takes us a few times working on the same paper to make it perfect. Just like trying to get down a skateboard move, us working on the same paper over and over will result in a good way. If you keep working on something, you will get the results that you wish for.

I believe that Dr. Tae's target audience is really young adults, teachers, and also parents. I think hes trying to target them all because they really are all effected by what is being said. I agree with Tae's statement that grading is being misused. I believe that your work shouldn't be presented with some stupid letter grade. In High school I had pretty good grades, but if I were to ever get a D or an F I was in trouble. Having a D or an F means trouble for a lot of people. Even here in college these grades mean that you aren't doing so well. I think that its okay that these grades make us aware that we need to step up our game but I also see it as just making us feel bad. I believe that these grades just point out the obvious. I see that learning common sense and the things that we learn in a class room are completely different. How much of the things we learn in a class room do we actually obtain and use in our everyday lives? I think common sense is learned by experience.

Juxtaposititon Post 2


In the video "Can Skateboarding Save Our Schools" Dr. Tae relates how to learn how to skateboard with the process of classroom learning. In this presentation, he states very many points that are well thought out. He basically says that just because you keep failing at a specific thing to never give up, no matter what the problem is. In this case, he uses skateboarding as his example. He keeps trying and trying at a specific trick and even though he keeps failing at it, he never seems to give up. This can relate to students many ways in the classroom. This can tell students that even though you are doing badly in a specific subject, to keep trying and trying until you succeed. The intended audience that he is addressing is definitely just about anybody, but it is really addressed to students and even teachers. Since Dr. Tae was once a student and is now a skateboarder and teacher, he can really relate to how others learn in multiple ways.

When it comes to skateboarding, your progress is determined on how well you land the trick. In school, your grade is based off of the homework that you have to do and how you do on the test and quizzes. Even if we seem to get a bad grade on a test or quiz, we usually tend to do better the next time; not because we studied more, but because we do not want to make the same mistake over and over again. We tend to learn better with experience. We also seem to improve with practice. Dr. Tae finally lands his trick because he keeps on practicing and figures out what he is doing wrong, we can also do this in the classroom. When we get a test back, we do not need to look at the grade. It is better to look at what you did wrong rather than just the outcome. This presentation by Dr. Tae is mainly related with skateboarding and school, but it can also relate to any real world situation.

Brooke Kinney (350)

Juxtaposition Post 2


The video in which Dr. Tae says that learning how to skateboard can help with the process of classroom learning is both right and wrong.  Dr. Tae says that there are no teachers and grades in skateboarding. That obviously does not apply to school since we have to teachers to teach us the material. A student is not going to automatically know what they are supposed to learn or how to even learn it. Also, we have to have grades for school instead of the reward of just learning it. How do we know that we have learned something correctly if we are not tested on it? Having grades helps students know what they need to study more and what they already know pretty well.  The video’s audience is for educators and students so that they can be informed of other classroom learning techniques.  Since Dr. Tae is a skateboarder and student he can relate to what he explaining to people. By him being both a skateboarder and a student he has a better understanding of how the two different things relate to educating people.

There are some points that he made that can be applied to learning in a classroom like keep practicing until you get it right. Just like in skateboarding you have keep practicing tricks until you get it right. The same rule can apply to writing; if someone keeps practicing writing papers they will eventually get it right. No one does things perfect the first time it always takes practice. The rule can also apply to math. The more math problems a person does the more that they understand how to do them. He also says to keep working at it until you figure it out. The statement he said can be applied to learning how to write. A person has keeping working on their piece of rhetoric until they find a way to write it correctly. While Dr. Tae’s video on how skateboarding can be applied to classroom is both right and wrong it does have some interesting points that can help classroom learning.

-Megan Grimes (349)

Juxtaposition 2

I think Dr. Tae has a very well thought out point in his presentation. In the presentation, he talks about how skateboarding is try try again, until you succeed. I believe this is the exact same for writing. I have learned in Rhetoric class that I am not going to get a satisfactory plus on my first try. I have to go back, look and what I did wrong and try to fix it, just like he says about learning a new trick. I also believe that once you succeed, you have to keep practicing. You want to be able to do that trick forever right? Well if you just stop, you might forget how. The same goes for writing, if you just stop writing, you aren't going to be very good when you start again. You may forget the rules, or not be as fluent as you were before.

I think Dr. Tae's target audience would be adults such as parents and teachers. In his presentation he talks about how grades are misused. I believe he is correct in this. I mean, all of my life if I received a C or below in a class, or even on a paper, I was punished by my father. So what do you think I did? Made sure I didn't get a C. That doesn't mean I actually learned anything more though. I think that yes there should be a way of keeping track of a child's progress, but I do not think grades is the right way. Like he says, you get a C, you kind of know the information. So now what? You just move along, how well is that information learned? I think when he says that there is a bigger world out there besides just schools that he makes a really great point. Half the things people learn in their lives are from experience. Think about how much you learn outside of school, all of that information could be just as useful as what you are being forced to learn inside a classroom.

karah
word count 346

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Juxtaposition Post 2


       Dr. Tae was a Grad student working on his PhD in Physics when he says he learned one of the hardest things I had been trying to learn for a very long time. He said it didn’t take place inside of a classroom or a chemistry lab, but outside of an elementary school. It was there that he had successfully landed the 360 flip on a skateboard. He said this was something that he had been trying to do for a very long time but could never accomplish. It took him years before he finally landed it. Why did he finally land it? It was because he never gave up on landing it and always tried it. Now it is one of his most consistent tricks and he almost always lands it now. In his presentation he goes on to talk about how skateboarding and public schools are much different in terms of how you learn. In skateboarding, you try a certain trick over and over until you finally get it. In school, you do homework and take test and those are what are used to determine how well you have learned something and they give you a grade for it. Dr. Tae states that some things going on outside school, like learning how to skateboard, show just how broad the spectrum of learning really is.

       It is obvious that skateboarding is much different than going to school. When you start skate boarding the first thing you do after you learn how to ride it is try out different tricks. You do these over and over until you finally get it. School is not the same way at all. You are taught something and given homework over it and then finally, you are tested over it. Then you are given a grade from a teacher that is “real-time meaningful feedback” and this is what teachers add to the learning environment according to Dr. Tae. Failure is normal in skateboarding but in school it is not. You are not given grades in skateboarding you just finally land the trick after failing to do so many times. The two learning environments are much different and what I got from the video was that learning is all around us in many different forms and that we learn things not just in the classroom. (391 words)

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Juxtaposition in Sheryl Crow Song

        The song, "Woman in the White House," by Sheryl Crow is riddled with juxtapositions.  And based off of the CD cover image and the lyrics themselves, it is quite apparent that this was the intended purpose.  The first of the many juxtapositions at play here is the overall feeling of the song and the actual message of it.  From simply hearing the song, one can recognize that it is somewhat of an upbeat country song; something that would not feel out of place if it were played at some kind of party.  Upon actually listening to the song, the message that is trying to get out is that change is needed because the way the country is being run now and in the past has been nothing short of sub-par.  Not just any kind of change is acceptable, however.  As Sheryl has said, she wants a female president to be elected as president of the United States.  This would be quite a monumental moment for American history and would even do great things for female empowerment.  Which is another feeling that I believe this song is playing on, especially because of the line, "Girls, how 'bout you?" as well as the entire message itself.
      I feel that, while the song potentially does good for Crow's "Girls," it fails to really get the right message across.  No mention is made of any of the recent potential presidential candidates that were female, such as Hilary Clinton.  Since this is a song that is meant to entertain (due to the tone of it), the solid details would be out of place.  If Crow were to go into detail of why it would be a good idea to elect a particular candidate, the song would start to feel more like an ad for a future campaign.  I can only imagine how hard it would be to make a good song with a line like, "And if I'm elected, I'll reduce funding to this and increase benefits to that!"  The lyrics are not the only thing holding the true message back, however.  The CD cover itself does very little in explaining anything, to be frank.  A picture of some legs with high heels standing either over or very far in-front of the White House (depending on the intended purpose) does not really tell me as a listener why it would be a good idea to elect a female president.  Maybe if Crow were to go back and try to make the CD cover and lyrics a bit more meaningful than, "Elect a female president for the novelty of it," her message might be able to be taken more seriously.  Don't get me wrong, if there was a female candidate that had great policies and so on I'd be all for her election.  But I'm not going to elect someone just for the simple fact that it's not yet been done.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 487

Juxapositionally, I stand by this issue

Politics and gender equality haven't always gone together in the course of American History. We've never had a female president, we have very few major female political figures in our overall history, and women weren't even allowed to vote until relatively recently. So in Cheryl Crow's song "Woman in the White House" she explains all the reasons why a female president should be elected: a little bit of female common sense, a woman's knack with money, the general loving, cooperative attitude a woman has with dealing with issues, among others. Now is it just me, or is there a bit of stereotyping going on here? She says a female president needs to be elected because men have obviously messed it up for 230 years. Stereotyping on top of the fishnet-and-high-heel clad legs she has plastered on the cover art for this song paints an interesting picture.

The idea that the cover art gets across to me is one of a no-nonsense attitude; the woman in the picture is about to storm in (looking great, mind you), tell some people how it is, clean things up, and start running the country by sheer force of will because dang it, that's how things are gonna be. That's the idea that the image gets across to me. The song, however, is just so stereotypical. I don't know how to take it seriously. Although, perhaps she is running along the same lines as Pumped Up Kicks? Maybe the addictively simple banjo line and melody are the best ways to get the idea of a female president into the minds of a majority of our nation? The stereotypical woman as described by Crow, who does sound like an amazing president, on top of the "Here's how it's gonna be" image on the cover art makes us think that, hey, maybe the next time we have a battle-of-the-sexes on the ballot, maybe we should vote for a member of the fairer sex? The methods used are crude and stereotypical, but hey, they worked. Who knows? Maybe in four years we'll have a Mrs. President. It could happen. And I kind of hope it does. It's about time that our nation is truly equal. At least on the gender front.

-Kaleb

(378 words)

Twang twang Cheryl Crow


                Cheryl Crow’s original concept of wanting to advocate women in politics was actually a valid statement. In her song “Woman in the white house” though she took what she was trying to spread to the public and made it into a bunch of stereotypical statements.  Just because a women is elected does not mean they are going to ‘clean’ up Capitol Hill.  The fact she put in that women are going to clean up just seems overly sexist. She is going back to when women usually were home makers and speaking as if things are the same way as they were then. Much has changed though from the past, house work is often split between spouses. Cheryl is also not only discriminating against males, acting as if they do not have common sense enough to learn how to spend money or work to together. Putting a women’s common sense into the White House though as dear old Cheryl mentioned though would add common sense ;).
                Her cover for her album is way misrepresenting females. She is over sexualizing a job that should not be taken that way. I have yet to see a female politician wear a secret that short or stand with their legs that far apart. The legs are spread apart to symbolize a women standing tall and independent but all I really notice at first is that she looks like a street walker. Maybe this picture was chosen to try to get more male viewers on this song, which is the only use I see of it.
                Toning down the upbeat melody would have helped as well. The music seemed inappropriate for the situation and too much of a non-serious single along. Slowing down the lyric’s a bit and not incorporating as much banjo and upbeat tones would have helped me get her message more. Instead of having the awkward feeling that a square dance was about to break out in the middle of Ms. Jarmer’s Rhetoric class.

-330
-Ashley Kocanda

 
In Cheryl Crows new song “Woman in the White House” she does not make a good juxtaposition with the song lyrics or with the cover of the album. The song is very sexist and does not represent women that would be serving as president of the United States of America. When choosing the image for the cover of the CD Cheryl Crow should not have used the picture with the White House between the legs of a woman wearing high heels. This image is not very sophisticated look for someone who would be running the country. Instead of using said picture she should have used a picture of a woman in a long dress or a suit to better fit the image that Cheryl crow is trying to present.

Also the lyrics of this song are sexist and downgrading to women. I believe that this song is not going to help a woman get into the oval office because she calls the women girls throughout the whole song. When you are trying to get someone elected as president you need the majority. This song is directed away from the majority in the United States of America. Women are the minority when it comes to population. Also Cheryl Crow is trying to say the women are better at saving money and only spending what they have and not go in debt. I believe that this is false information because I know more women that in debt because of shopping then men. This will end up just making the male races mad and they will not vote a woman into office. This song is also set back in an old country style, which I do enjoy listening to, but it is not going to help a woman get elected or get this song to be as popular as the newer country that we have today.

Juxtaposition Post

Since it's that time of year for electing our new president, we are going to see a lot of political advertising. In Sheryl Crow's song,"Woman in the White House", we are presented with a type of song that has to deal with politics and the current election. Sheryl Crow's song talks about how America will be a lot more civil if we had a woman president. This type of song is an example of juxtaposition because of the stereotypes that Sheryl Crow uses towards woman that are mostly not true. In her song she assumes that if America has a woman president, then there would be a lot more money towards the economy and everyone in the country would get along. She explains how there would be more money towards the economy because if a woman is president, then she wouldn't be spending all of the money. Just from my personal experience's, I believe that those statements are mostly false.

The album cover for this song is an example of a juxtaposition as well. Sheryl Crow tried to go for a type of sex appeal when it came to her album cover. When people are listening to this song and they see the album cover, I think that they will not take her song seriously because I highly doubt that a woman president would where something like that in office. The album cover also contradicts itself from her point in the song. Overall, I think that this juxtaposition isn't very effective towards her sales. Since the song is upbeat and somewhat "catchy", the audience will not be able to comprehend the real message behind the song and they'll just think that the song is a joke. I believe that this song will not be taken seriously in the future as to whether or not America should have a woman for president.

Emily Shouse

(312 words).


Juxtaposition Post.


In Sheryl Crow’s song, “Woman in the White House,” she uses a woman who is standing with a picture of the White House between her legs which is the main focus point in the cover photo. This represents what the song is about or going to be about before the song even begins, without even looking at the title. The idea of having a woman as President has been brought up many times before. Sheryl’s use of the lyrics to the song explains how our country is in a deep hole because for the last 230 years, men have been running our country. If we, Americans, have a woman president, the way “we” as in women, (I use that turn because I, too, am a girl) think is completely different from a man’s way of thinking. Women do not “fight” and “fuss” as much as men do, according to the lyrics. “There’d be a lot more loving.” Women tend to be a lot more nurturing and loving rather than arguing and fighting which would change our country completely. Her message is very clear with how she thinks having a woman president will fix our country.
                
Sheryl also implies how the “mess we are in” was caused because men have been running our country since we had one. She states in the song how we can “Clean up capitol hill, with a shovel and a pair of high heels.” What she is saying when singing this is that because we have had no women run our country, they are just making it “dirtier and dirtier.” The stereotypical woman is someone who cleans up after a man. So by the use of these lyrics, she is somewhat using the stereotype of women to get her point across. She may have used this to attract males to this song as well, instead of just men. I feel she sold the song to both genders very well and definitely got her message across by the use of her lyrics.


----------------------
Priyanka Bhakta
Word count: 335

Juxtaposition Post-JF


In her recent song, “Woman in the White House” Sheryl Crow sings about how it’s time for a woman President. The picture on the cover of the CD that contains the song is a woman in pantyhose, high heels, and a relatively short skirt (considering she is in a professional setting) standing with her legs spread abnormally with the White House in the background. The picture on the front cover makes it seem that the woman is facing the white house, but the picture does not show anything above the thighs. The picture itself, I can only assume, was intended to be eye-catching to sell more copies of the CD. I can understand why this would be the reasoning behind the image. The American public seems to enjoy looking at relatively degrading pictures of women, and the White House in the background also assists in the visual appeal of the CD. If the picture on the cover was meant for the lyrics, however, it does not make much sense. The song is supposed to present the image that women are ready for the white house, but the picture is somewhat degrading and stereotypical. It does not seem to support the overall message of the song, but rather it seems to be intended only to be visually appealing.
The lyrics of the song could be considered the same way. The lyrics and music are likely more directed at the sale of the CD than they are at the message the CD appears to deliver. The lyrics also include some stereotypes about women including, but not limited to: women like to shop; women are more sensitive than men; and women are smarter than their male counterparts. The lyrics, to me, seem to support the genre of music and only seem to be directed at an audience who appreciates country music. Along with the stereotypical lyrics, the lyrics have some grammatical errors in them that is common in country songs, but not on Capitol Hill. The lyrics do not successfully support the message that a woman should be President, in fact, the lyrics actually seem to argue otherwise. I certainly would have to consider another option if a woman were running for President and seemed to fit the idea behind what Crow was singing about.