Reflective Post

) What information did you find useful in this class?
The sample essays in the book were very helpful for my own writing process.
2) What was your favorite part of this class?
I really liked the emphasis on writing. I love to write and this class allowed me to explore a new way of writing that I had not done before.
3) What do you think was the most challenging aspect of this class?
Keeping up with the blogs was quite difficult at first but became much easier once we started getting email reminders about them.
4) How might you incorporate the knowledge and experiences gained from this class into your life beyond this classroom?
Some of the methods of critcism will be helpfuil when examining things in my everyday life; they are just new ways of thinking critically.

Second Essay

For my second essay I have decided to use metaphorical criticism to analyze the recurring metaphor present in music of "Love is a fire" by examining the songs "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash and "Going Down In Flames" by 3 Doors Down.


Metaphorical criticism is a method of criticism that assumes the metaphors that a rhetor uses are necessary and important to the overall message of a rhetorical piece. A metaphor is the linking of two items that compares the first to the second. These metaphors are used to impart the rhetorical vision within something.

Music is full of metaphors; it is difficult to listen to a song from any genre and not see the implications that the lyricist, rhetor, was trying to communicate. I have chosen to look specifically at the recurring metaphor of "Love is a fire". There are many songs that try to describe and use the illustration of love being a fiery thing that takes it's physical and emotional toll on a person. For example, in the Doors Down song "Going Down In Flames" (Lyrics at bottom), the rhetor says "I'm going down in flames, I'm falling into this again". This symbolizes the act of "falling" into love even though love is not a physical action, but an emotional one. He says he is falling into it, saying he is falling simultaneously into flames and into love. Likewise, Johnny Cash uses a similar metaphor for "falling" into love in "Ring of Fire" (lyrics at the bottom). He says, "I fell into a burning ring of fire, I went down, down, down, and the flames rose higher." This indicates that the further you fall into love the more fire there is.

The fire of love could be indicative of the often times rocky and crazy trip that love is. These artists are comparing love to a fire because it is a constantly changing and evolving thing that can help or hurt the individual involved.


"Going Down in Flames"
Don't tell me what to think
Cause I don't care this time
Don't tell me what to believe
Cause you won't be there
To catch me when I fall
But you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again

Don't tell me how life is
Cause I don't really want to know
Don't tell me how this game ends
Cause we'll just see how it goes
Catch me when I fall
Or you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah

Now, I'm all the way down here
I'm falling
I'm all the way down here
I'm falling down again
I'm falling down
I'm falling down
I'm falling down

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again,
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again

Now, I'm all the way down here
I'm falling
All the way
All the way down here
I'm falling down again now I'm falling down


"Ring Of Fire"
Love is a burning thing
And it makes a fiery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell into a ring of fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire

The taste of love is sweet
When hearts like ours meet
I fell for you like a child
Oh, but the fire went wild

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire

I fell into a burning ring of fire
I went down, down, down and the flames went higher
And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire

And it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire
The ring of fire
The ring of fire
The ring of fire

Going Down In Flames

For fantasy-theme criticism, I chose to write about the 3 Doors Down song "Going Down In Flames", lyrics at bottom of post. The song is about falling in love and not having anyone to catch you. There's a lot of symbolism that we hear all the time about love and the process within the song. For example, the song includes the word falling a lot; this is related to love because the accepted way to describe a relationships progression is to say that you have "fallen" in love with that person. You obviously don't actually fall, but it's the symbolic illustration of deepening a relationship with someone.

The song also goes on to ask for someone to catch him as he's falling saying that if they don't they'll miss him once he's gone. That's symbolic of people being in uneven and unhealthy relationships where one person is really into it and the other person is not and is not willing to "catch" the other person that is "falling".

Don't tell me what to think
Cause I don't care this time
Don't tell me what to believe
Cause you won't be there
To catch me when I fall
But you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again

Don't tell me how life is
Cause I don't really want to know
Don't tell me how this game ends
Cause we'll just see how it goes
Catch me when I fall
Or you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah

Now, I'm all the way down here
I'm falling
I'm all the way down here
I'm falling down again
I'm falling down
I'm falling down
I'm falling down

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again,
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again

Now, I'm all the way down here
I'm falling
All the way
All the way down here
I'm falling down again now I'm falling down

Film Festival Assignment

I watched the movie "Field of Dreams". The movie is about a man that owns a farm and hears a voice that he should build a baseball field in the middle of it. He goes through a lot of trouble, mainly financially, to build the field and faces a lot of criticism for taking good farming land and turning it into a baseball field. No one really understands his need to build this field or the need to have it sit empty. Eventually the ghosts of old famous baseball players start showing up to play on it and his family is privy to private games of some of the greats. This illustrates his passion for baseball and the way that he always wished to see this great players in action.

I think that metaphorical criticism would be a good way to dissect this film. Metaphorical criticism is looking at one thing as if it were another. So by saying "this farm is a baseball field" it symbolizes the man's dream of seeing great players play together and his ability to control some of the action and do what he wants and achieve his goals.

With a broader metaphor of "life is a baseball game/field" the movie gives way to the thought that you generally get another chance at things. For example, an old man comes to the farm just to see the field. But upon getting there he is able to walk onto the field and turn into one of the ghosts and he gets to play with the teams. This is his second chance at playing with the greats because he played on game in real-life but struck out during his one at-bat. He's able to face the same pitcher again and get a good hit out of it which is all he wants.

Summary of In-Class Presentation of First Artifact

I have chosen the code of ethics for public relations representatives/members of the PRSA as set by the Public Relations Society of America. This code of ethics is strongly encouraged for every representative, but is a mandatory moral standard for the members of PRSA. The PRSA code of ethics contains segments on advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness; these help to make up the ideology of PRSA that public relations professionals are ethical by way of a strict code of provisions and values.

I am personally very interested in ethics and the way that they relate to public relations practices. Ethics are a very large portion of any industry and when a representative is trying to promote their company in a positive, inform the public about the company’s work, and keep the public updated on any crises information it can be a thin line between what is ethical and acceptable. I find it interesting the way that the PRSA has gathered a list of essential and basic ideas about what is acceptable and what the field leaders have decided is appropriate.

The reason why I find this artifact significant is because the code really reflects the ideological stance of the PRSA and its administrators. I would like to figure out more of their stance on what constitutes ethical behavior and what morals are appropriate for an entire profession.

I am planning on using ideological criticism to analyze the PRSA code of ethics. The majority of it, in my opinion, is an ideological stance about what is suitable behavior and fitting responses to situations that arise in the profession. I think that looking at the ideology in comparison to the audience being targeted is interesting; for example, the intent of describing the ideology to PRSA members is different from describing it to potential members.


Once again, the PRSA Code of Ethics can be found at http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/.

PRSA for Pentadic

I once again chose the Code of Ethics for public relations professionals as set by the PRSA. I though that it would be interested how many different purposes would be right on that on page. The site is still :http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/CodeEnglish/.

The elements of the Code of Ethics are:
Agent: The Public Relations Society of America (and its administration/board that writes and updates the code)
Act: Inform the members and potential members of PRSA of the standards by which they will be held ethically.
Scene: The internet which would translate into mostly office spaces.
Purpose: To inform the members and potential members about the code of ethics that they will be/are bound by and the consequences of breaking those conditions.
Agency: PRSA uses a web site in order to distribute the pertinent information about the society and the individual rules and codes that are part of what the society is all about.

Ideological Critique of PRSA Ethics

For this assignment I will be analyzing the Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) Code of Ethics. The full coding may be found on PRSA's web site: http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/CodeEnglish/.



Ethics, in general, are an important aspect of any business; the ethical ideology of a company can make, break, confirm or deny a sale or collaboration. The ethical stance that a company or group of individuals takes is vital to the overall identity of that particular organization. While the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is not a technical "company" it is a collaboration of public relations professionals with the common ground of wanting to further their field. The PRSA is a professional society that is meant to coordinate the specialized knowledge learned by all individuals. The code of ethics includes a short preamble that discusses the intentions of the code and also the consequences of violation. “Ethical practice is the most important obligation of a PRSA member” (PRSA Website). The PRSA code of ethics contains segments on advocacy, honesty, expertise, independence, loyalty, and fairness; these help to make up the ideology of PRSA that public relations professionals are ethical by way of a strict code of provisions and values.

The code of ethics includes the obvious of ethical provisions of behaving in a way that reflects well of the PRSA and the public relations field as a whole. Not only does the PRSA hold its member accountable for unethical behavior, it can collaborate with the authorities and decide whether a questionable member should remain in the society. The organization itself cannot punish a member further than expulsion from the society; it does, however, advocate the legal punishment of its member, and any public relations representative, that behaves unethically and unprofessionally. Another less perceptible aspect of the code of ethics is the desire to further the field of public relations and improve the reputation of the public relations representatives individually and the reputation of the PRSA as a whole. The code of ethics implies that each representative and member is accountable for their own actions and they are responsible for knowing the consequences of unethical behavior.

The Public Relations Society of America’s code of ethics is designed to integrate the values and morals of the society into its members’ lives. The ideology of PRSA is the stance of ethical behavior through certain provisions. The PRSA believes in its members being advocates to the community while being honest and demonstrating expertise while continuing to develop new skills and acquire novel knowledge. A member of PRSA must be loyal to the organization and also to the company that he/she is representing; since representing a company or organization is the individual’s choice and an independent decision it should not be a difficult decision for the representative to remain loyal. PRSA expects its members to maintain fairness with the organization they are representing and also with the society. The PRSA believes that each member should uphold the strict, moral behavior as qualified in the code of ethics that has been developed.

Possible Artifacts for Criticizing

One artifact that I could criticize using the ideological method of criticism is the book "Crystallizing Public Opinion" by Edward Bernays. A specific section of the book would be most easily assessed as it deals with the ethics related to Public Relations which is a highly debated subject within the academic world. Bernays presents his beliefs within the section which gives a perfect example of an ideology.

A second artifact that would be relevant for me to criticize would be the Public Relations Society of America's guidelines of ethical behavior (http://www.prsa.org/AboutPRSA/Ethics/). I think this would be an interesting artifact to analyze because it shows the generally accepted code of ethics that PR Representatives are expected to uphold and maintain as set out through the beliefs of the PRSA.

A final artifact that I would be interested in analyzing through ideological criticism would be the novel "A Color Purple" by Alice Walker. It does not directly have anything to do with my major and my future career, but the book is full of ideologies and references to them. Walker does a great job of displaying both sides of certain ideologies and it would be interesting to go through some of them and compare the basic principles of each.

Chapter 7: Ideological Criticism

1) What is an ideology?

An ideology is the combination of beliefs, values, and assumptions surrounding an artifact. This ideology would be strongly influenced by the person's or group's individual culture, as well was, the person's economic, political, and social interests.

2) What are the primary components of an ideology?

The primary components of an ideology include evaluative beliefs, or beliefs that have an opposing judgment.

Chapter 3: Neo-Aristotelian Criticism

1) How does the textbook define "neo-Aristotelian criticism"?

Neo-Aristotelian criticism is the use of the five canons of rhetoric for analysis of an artifact; it breaks down the artifact (it's typically only used on speeches) to see the mechanical aspects of it. This form of criticism provides an in-depth look at how a presentation works, is planned, is performed, etc.

2) What are the three basic steps in analyzing the artifact?

The three basic steps for analyzing an artifact through neo-Aristotelian Criticism include:
1. "Reconstructing the context in which the artifact occurred";
2. "Application of the five canons to the artifact"; &
3. "Assessing the impact of the artifact on the audience."


3) What are the five canons of rhetoric?

The canons of rhetoric stem from ancient Greece and Rome when rhetoric was divided into five stages or parts; the five parts all contribute to the process of public speaking. The steps are: "1. invention, the location and creation of ideas and materials for the speech; 2. organization, the structure or arrangement of the speech; 3. style, the language of the speech; 4. memory, mastery of the subject matter, which may include the actual memorizing of the speech; and 5. delivery, management of the voice and gestures in the presentation of the speech."

Introduction

Hi Everyone!!

Obviously, my name is Jessica Bedenbaugh :); I go by Jess, Jessie, Jessica, or by my last name since quite often there are numerous Jessica's around. I'm 19, and will be 20 next month. I am a military brat so I've lived in a variety of places, but home for me now is Colonial Beach, Va which is super small. (My graduating class had about 40 kids in it, and, yes, I went to a public school.) I am now a junior at ODU; my major is communications and I have a focus in public relations. I'm hoping to earn my master's degree in humanities with a focus in communications once I graduate with my bachelor's and eventually work public affairs for the military. I love to read and will curl up with a book at any chance. I also love movies; one of my favorite things to do is have movie marathons with friends. I am a beach bum, and love spring and summer. I like to play volleyball and watch sports, even if I don't always know what's going on.

The purpose of this blog is to answer the writing prompts set by my instructor and meet the requirements of the class. I imagine that it will entail some definitions, essays, and critical questions about the assigned readings having to do with rhetorical criticism.