Vans, previously known as Van Doren Rubber Company, is an American based manufacturer that creates skate, BMX, and snowboarding shoes along with a wide variety of clothing. This company, since the start, has had a cultural impact on the youth because of the consistent interest that youth has in these activities they create clothes for. One ideal that vans has stood by since creator Paul Van Doren and his two friends Serge D’Elia and Gordy Lee were creating shoes in 1966 was creativity. If a customer wanted a specific design of shoe, Van Doren would inform the consumer asking for something specific that they have to come back later to pick them up. Van Doren would then scramble to put together the color or design that was requested. Still today, on the Vans website, customers are able to create and fully customize the shoes they want.

In regards to the sustainability of Vans, it is currently one of the highest priorities for the company. As time goes on, and the move to sustainable means of production becomes more prominent in most companies, Vans began to figure out different, more sustainable ways of operating their production. According to vans.com, “As part of our commitment to inspire youth culture, we recognize that we must protect the planet and its resources for future generations.” With the use of solar panels on their headquarters, providing nearly 50% of energy needed to operate, along with the implementation of LED lighting to reduce energy use, the company strives to have any little change in order to move towards complete sustainability. In regards to the products themselves, Vans struggles the most with dealing with the carbon footprint that is created by using cotton in their products. Their goal, by 2025, is to source 100% sustainable cotton. Currently, 13% of the weight in a pair of Vans is cotton which accounts to nearly 43% of the companies carbon footprint. The outcomes of the issues that are presented by attempting to become 100% carbon neutral are threatening to the company which makes the transition difficult. 

One of the reasons the company evolved, and got a jump in the economy is because of a film known as Fast Times at Ridgemont High. In this film, Sean Penn American actor is a teenage surfer and is seen wearing a pair of Vans slip ons throughout the whole movie. Although Vans was already prominent in the surf and skate scene in California at the time, the recognition that is given to vans by the actor wearing the shoes in this movie influenced the scene by creating a want for the shoes across the board. It became the norm for the youth in most of California to obtain these shoes and this norm is still prominent in today’s society. 

Vans, since early on in the company, has always encouraged creativity when buying their shoes by always providing a way for consumers to customize and create whatever shoes they want to wear. Their mission, or “purpose” according to vans.com is, “To enable creative expression – and inspire youth culture – by celebrating and encouraging the Off the Wall attitude that comes from expressing your true self.” A company that really only has 3 or 4 designs of shoes, enables customers to create whatever version of these designs that represents them and fully customize the colors to make them one of a kind. 

Through my practice of analyzing many forms of rhetoric, one thing I can definitely take away is the fact of how powerful it can be when presented correctly. Many pieces of writing might have strong rhetoric that persuades readers, but if the audience who is reading it is not intended, the exigence might not be interpreted or believed by the reader. Another thing I can take away from my work with rhetoric is the fact that any and all writing pieces with rhetoric have constraints that limit the argument in some way. This can often lead to holes in the argument that makes it weak and might result in the reader not being persuaded to do whatever the writer wants them to do or believe in.

Critical thinking/reading plays a big role into the understanding on a writers rhetoric. Being able to notice and understand the argument and possible flaws that come with it allows for the reader or consumer to make the correct decision as to support or resist the argument. Being able to understand companies strategies to persuade consumers into buying their products can help anyone become a smarter and more efficient consumer. Rhetoric is thrown at us in all different directions and being able to critically read and understand allows the audience to make a valid opinion on the matter.

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The main strategy used in this meme is use of facial expression to show the emotions. This allows for the audience to have an immediate appeal to their emotion by showing the disgust in the female’s face on the right, and the interest the man in the middle has for the women on the left. The combination of these emotions is key to what allows this meme to persuade the reader.

The argument being displayed in this meme is the fact that Trump has consistently followed the path of profit in return for the destruction of the environment. For example, in recent news the Trump Administration has proceeded in attempting to put a plan into action that allows for 98% of America’s coastline to be available for oil refineries to drill. The issue with this is not only the affect the oil refining has on the atmosphere, but also the constant possibility for large amounts of oil to accidentally spill into our local oceans and beaches.

The intended audience for this meme is mainly liberal based people who don’t like trump, but can also be intended for anyone who wants to see earth’s environment improve. Someone who the writer might not want to see this, or the possible “unintended audience”, could be someone who strongly supports Trump to a point where any input or persuasion doesn’t affect their judgement.

A constraint with this is simply the fact that it is a meme and most likely wouldn’t be heavily interpreted by people. Although if there is people out there who would interpret it to a deeper level, very strong ideas and movements can be seen.

The company Patagonia has been a leading force in the fight for climate change ever since the company started up. In this article written by Patagonia themselves, discusses the strategies that the company uses to attempt to reach “carbon neutrality”. This means that the company will eliminate, capture or otherwise alleviate all of the carbon emissions they create. One issue that concerned me as a reader was why many of these other “short-sighted profiteers” can’t adapt to the clear evidence of global warming. Throughout this article, Patagonia expresses the importance of adapting to new means of production for companies.

Furthermore, they go into depth about the many ways that they, as a company, do in order to strive for carbon neutrality. For example, Patagonia plans to use only renewable electricity for their retail stores, distribution centers, regional and global offices and headquarters by 2020. In order to do this, they plan on reducing energy use throughout their supply chain, and to work with suppliers to convert to renewable energy and eliminate carbon emissions.

One issue that Patagonia runs into while trying to achieve their goal of total carbon neutrality is the methods their suppliers are using to produce materials emit carbon into the atmosphere. One method they’re using to tackle this issue is to communicate with their suppliers and discuss different methods that can be used to emit, if not all, less carbon. In conclusion, this article talks about the difficult goal that this companies attempts to tackle which is to have 0 carbon emissions.

With the still growing rise of social media, applications such as YouTube and Instagram are now being used in more ways than previously intended. They have now become platforms for anyone to grow an audience and have a platform to spread their ideas. People having the ability to take a video of themselves and share it on youtube for millions to watch comes with the responsibility of spreading the correct ideas for people. A lot of these youtubers have a pretty solid idea of the audience they have so using the correct rhetorical themes could influence and persuade a lot of people to either do good or bad things. For example, a rapper named Lil Dicky made a music video about Climate Change and how we need to change for the sake of the human race. This video uses plenty of ethos and pathos to persuade the hundreds of millions of viewers watching that video.

9/24/19

Exigence is the condition that invites a response within a rhetorical situation. Carroll uses examples such as complex conditions like the need for a new Supreme Court Justice, or a simple situation such as receiving an email about going on a road trip. Understanding the Exigence helps the audience understand what the discourse is trying to accomplish.

Audience are those(intended or unintended) recipients of the rhetorical message. Having an incorrect audience will make the Exigence of the rhetorical message non important because they can possibly not help at all. Carroll uses an example of a student emailing their friends back home about meal plan issue in school that should be dealt with someone who is part of the school. Addressing this problem with someone who works within the schools meal plan program might do more justice simply because they can do something to possibly adhere to the Exigence.  Audience determines many factors that go into rhetorical messages such as formality, the delivery of the message, and even the types of reason used to make the rhetor’s argument. Understand the audience better assists the rhetor into making correct judgements on how to deliver their message.

In the essay, “Backpacks vs. Briefcases” by Laura Carroll, she thoroughly explains the ways one person can use to understand the rhetoric being thrown at them in day to day life. Additionally, she believes that media rhetoric surrounds us and that it is important to understand how rhetoric works. I strongly agree with this point because as one lives life, they come across many different attempts of the use of rhetoric to persuade them into buying or doing something. Understanding how companies’ use of rhetoric to persuade consumers works generally leads to becoming a smarter consumer.

What stood out as the main point of this whole essay was simply to inform the reader on the many, often sneaky, tactics company use to persuade. Throughout the entire essay Carroll uses examples to prove the points she is explaining. The examples she uses are very common everyday scenarios that most people have gone through. With using examples like these, she further proves her point to the reader about how people should understand how companies use rhetoric. I guess one could say that Carroll is using logos, or reason, to prove her point by using the examples.

Carroll finishes off her whole essay by saying that, “Individuals who understand rhetorical analysis and act to make change can have a tremendous influence on their world.”. One question that was raised when I read this was what type of influence Carroll is talking about. I believe she is referring to one being able to influence the world through the use of rhetoric. But, one might also believe that Carroll was referring to rhetorical analysis being the road to riches.

The National Geographic encyclopedia entry about geography was a very informative and enlightening piece of writing. It covered all bases of geography including the history of it and different types of geography. One type in particular, Human Geography, stands out because of the conversations that we have been having in class. Where geography is the “the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments”, human geography focuses more on what has been talked about in class. In class discussions talked about how human culture interacts with natural environment, more specifically how environment and locations can have an impact on people’s identity.

One thing that I found interesting while reading this piece of writing was the impact that Geography has on many other subjects of education. For example, Geography plays a big role in the study of chemistry, economics, and philosophy. For example, chemists search for where chemical elements such as silver or gold can be found. Economics uses geography in a way where a nation can look at another nations possible resources to trade based on what grows in that area. Knowing which nation needs what you have an abundance of is a key to power back when geography was first being introduced. Furthermore, philosophers use geography in a completely different way. Philosophers can analyze the responsibility that people have to take in order to take care of earth. Knowing the geography of areas in which certain issues are rising can be extremely beneficial to solving the issues at hand.

The Great Barrier Reef located off the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia is considered the largest living thing on earth at 2,500 miles long. The colossal reef stands as a home to many different species of marine life and as the condition of it is considerably declining, humans are left with a task of cleaning up after their mess.

Author and marine life activist, Wayne Lynch, grew up in Australia always hearing about how amazing the reef actually is. It wasn’t until Lynch went and saw the reef that he realized the true complexity and beauty of it. With having grown up in Australia, the ocean has a spot in Lynch’s heart and identity. So seeing how some parts of this magnificent and intricate reef are dying, this upset Lynch.

After reading this article, I came to the realization that the point Lynch is trying to make is not that the reef is dying, but more-so the fact that it is and people are not doing anything about it. Lynch says and I quote, “It would be an act of total irresponsibility and moral corruption to allow the reef to die through inaction.” Furthermore, He exposes the blatant evidence linking global warming to the declining sustainability of the reef. Not only is global warming having a big impact on the reef, but the bigger issue at stake is the ignorance of people in society about this issue.

Lynch finishes off by stating the importance of actively trying to help out the cause. Along with knowing the importance of this issue, he states that the reader of the article should look up the facts behind the issue for themselves. The lack of knowledge is an epidemic issue that prevents the reef from becoming more healthy.

The essay, “What is Academic Writing?” by L. Lennie Irvin thoroughly goes over the expectations for a college writing assignment. Throughout the paper, he points out some common misconceptions that students often believe when entering college. For example, Irvin explains a common misconception that saying “I” inside of a writing assignment is a flawed idea. Although many believe in this misconception, Irvin states that much of college writing can be done in a formality where using the word “I” is acceptable. A problem that I see with this point is a possible habit of using the word “I” arising in a writer that could lead to them using it in a situation where there needs to be some proof behind what they are stating.

I believe the main point throughout Irvin’s essay is to explain the secrets and tactics that can help early college students get a jump on academic writing. He stresses that success does not depend on the students writing ability, but more so depends on the students ability to understand the writing assignment and also how the student approaches the assignment. Having a step by step plan to write every assignment will not always work in the case of some college assignments. The ability to adapt to other styles of writing, depending on the assignment at task, will lead to better pieces of writing. Furthermore, Irvin states that writing is not a one step process. Often times good writers will begin by writing their ideas down on the paper leaving blanks or mess ups here and there. The reason for this is to get the ideas on the paper and focus on finding the right words and perfecting the grammar later. In conclusion the ability for a writer to improve his or her writing ability is ultimately up to them. Believing that they “can’t write” due to them being born like that is simply a misconception that creates a barrier for writes to succeed.