Hi, I’m Jonathan and I’m 17. My major is undecided. I like basketball and my favorite team is the Knicks.

Bandwagon:
1. Many Companies will sponsor a sport or sports team so they can be the exclusive sponsor of said sport, causing more people to be interested in that company since the sports league or team solely uses their products, and the athletes tend to do the same. Such as Nike being the exclusive NBA sponsor for their jerseys and Little Caesars being the exclusive pizza sponsor of the NFL

2. Commercials that show celebrities using certain products that they probably don’t use, but they use these celebrities to allure people to buy these products so they can be “similar” to the celebrity in the ad. An example of this is Beats by Dre sponsoring Drake in his music video “Forever”, and Sponsoring many athletes such as LeBron James and Jayson Tatum.

Name Calling:
1. When a smaller sibling is getting called something mean or derogatory by their bigger sibling. Such as being called stupid by your older sibling.

2.When someone does something of note such as someone achieving a level of greatness in an area of life, they could get called names such as “The G.O.A.T”.

I think that the speaker uses these appeals to try “relate” to the audience by using people and terms they know to sell their products or ideas.

Hyperbole:
1. School is so far away that it takes years to get there
2. My friend Ryan jumps so high that we fear that he may hit his head on the gym’s lights
3. It was so hot that I felt as if I was melting
4. The Lakers are so bad this year that if they were to play against dogs, I would bet on the dogs to win.
5. I’ve been waiting so long for Jujutsu Kaisen season two that I got married and started a family during that time.
6. Foo Fighter’s music is mind-blowing.
Understatement:
1. The Meal was Ok
2. Our team could win some games
3. The TV Show wasn’t the greatest
4. The Band sold a few seats
5. As a performer he did alright

Exercise 2:
Swift’s use of Understatement was effective in portraying his point about the living conditions and population in the town in both a humorous and serious tone.

Litotes:
1. The Food at checkers is not bad at all
2. God of war is no easy game
3. Mark Zuckerberg is not poor at all
4. Mcdonalds’ is not tasty
5. The man was not tall at all

Exercise 2:
1. I will multiply them, and they will be many: I will make them honored, and they shall be massive.
2. That [sword] was useful/ to the warrior now
3. it is serious. I have this tumor on my brain,
4. For life is real/And death is just as real.

Antithesis
1. Life is not one long ride, but a series of short rides
2. Men do not create to gain, they create to fulfill
3. Light is not there to blind, but to destroy the darkness
4. Space is meant to be filled with conclusions, not projects.
5. Walls are meant to protect, not constrict.

Exercise 2:
1. Caught in War, Wanting Peace. By division, wanting unity.
2. Help the many who are poor, Save the few who are rich.
3. Bury Caesar, Not Praise Him.
4. The tossing sea, Firm Ground. Cause and Theory, Result and Fact.
5. No vice, No virtue.
6. Not that I loved Caesar less, that I loved Rome more.
7. The Best of times, Worst of times. The age of wisdom, The age of foolishness.
8. Too black for heaven, yet too white for hell.
9. To err is human, To forgive, divine.
10. Fair is foul, and foul is fair.

Humor Appeal:
1. Liberty Mutual has these ads about commercials being remembered more when they portray people having fun, so they showed a bunch of young people having fun at a pool party and then they incorporated insurance into it.
2. There is an M&Ms commercial where they show two M&Ms (the red and I think the yellow M&M) and they are talking about how lucky they were for making it through the year without being eaten, Then it cuts to the yellow M&M and he is a ghost and he doesn’t realize it.

I think the speaker chose this strategy to try to have the audience remember the ad, and subconsciously think about the ads and the product until eventually gain the desire to buy said product.

Fear Appeal:
1. Anti-Smoking ads that show smoking victims and what the side effects of smoking are
2. Political ads that show the opposing candidates’ beliefs, and what they can potentially do if they get into office.

The speaker uses this strategy to cause panic within the audience and cause people to fear using said product, or doing said action.

Hypophora:

“Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work”. “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be Or call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary”.”Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t negotiation a better path?”

Exercise 2:
1. Whatever the founding father’s believed
2. Believe in the people who are elected
3. So People can be more fairly equipped financially to take on the world
4. Because of the expectations of being loved
5. We are more diverse and Individualistic than other animals.

Rhetorical Questions:
1. Why are Oranges called Oranges?
2. What makes the world go around?
3. You can’t see that? Are you Blind?
4. Why aren’t you listening?
5. Why are there so many questions?

Scarcity Appeal:
1. Companies making limited editions of a product and letting the scarcity be known, such as making a limited amount of a certain Funko Pop, or making a certain amount of Phones in a certain color.

2. A returning fan favorite fast food items such as the McRib, or the Taco Bell Mexican-style Pizza.

This technique is used to inform the audience of the obscurity or rarity of an item so that it drives up sales. It activates FOMO (fear of missing out) in people and makes people react more irrational.

Cognitive Bias:
1. (Anchoring) Being told that you are expected to be 5’7 when you grow up, but you only become 5’5. This might be unsettling or annoying to the person that it was told to because they feel like they were cheated out of two inches.
2. (Confirmation) Only surrounding yourself with and befriending like-minded people with similar ideologies as you
Cognitive Biases play on your preexisting beliefs, so people use this to better “relate” with their audience or to make their audience believe that the speaker has and always will be on their side which leads to a more loyal following.

Romance Appeal:
1. Jewelers such as Kay’s or Pandora have ads about their products being the perfect gift for your significant other’s birthday/anniversary or Christmas gift
2. Mattress companies advertise mattresses that have controls for both sides, so both people that sleep on it (usually a couple portrayed in the ads) can be comfortable without the other being uncomfortable

Sex Appeal:
1. Fragrance companies such as axe or old spice make their products seem irresistible to the ladies in the ads
2. Hardees or Carls Jr using Supermodels in very suggestive positions to advertise their fast food items.

Gender Appeal:
1. Nugenix’s ads show famous athletes talking about how since they hopped on Nugenix, they have been stronger, faster, and better sexually.
2. Makeup companies using their products in commercials and using words such as “beautiful”, and “perfect” to make the women or men watching feel like they aren’t beautiful or perfect without their product.

These 3 techniques are used to try to capture the audience’s attention using their desires or insecurities and using said desires and insecurities to have the audience go out and buy their product.

Procatalepsis:
I read an article on the effectiveness of the three-point shot in basketball, and the author talked about Why are three-point shooting teams dominating basketball recently, isn’t it harder to shoot threes? Then he answered by simply saying that threes are greater than twos. Another example was when the author asked, who is immediately responsible for this boom in three-point shooting, and why hasn’t it worked before. Then he answered by saying that Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors is responsible for this boom and that his team’s system is directly tied to him getting himself and his teammates open from three so that they have an easier time shooting. Lastly, he quoted NBA hall of Famer Charles Barkley when he said that “Three-Point shooting and jump shooting teams cannot win the championship”, then he talked about the 4 championships that the golden state warriors won while being the most prolific three-point shooting team in NBA history.

Exercise 2:
1. Many people say that we live in a diluted world today since everything is at the finger’s reach, but today we live in a world with the most understanding of everything around us.
2. Love isn’t real, Love is as real as one believes it to be.
3. The necessary changes to society won’t come because of the reluctance of man, but this claim has been said before, and then the necessary changes had been made.
4. History repeats itself and we are destined to fail, But we learn from our mistakes.
5. The waste left by man isn’t man’s problem, but it is as we put it there.

Exercise 3:
1. Opposition (A): Nuclear bombs are good deterrents from other nations threatening us.
Rebuttal (A): But the use of Nuclear bombs are deadly, and can cause great damage to our world.
Opposition (B): The Meer thought of this deters other nations from using them due to said damage.
Rebuttal (B): But the eventual necessary use of them will be very deadly.

2. Opposition (A): Religion should be taught as it is an important part of human history.
Rebuttal (A): The teaching of religion is harmful as biased educators can force their biases onto the students.
Opposition (B): The teaching of religion is the same as the teaching of science, and math. It should be a part of the curriculum.
Rebuttal (B): The difference is that science and math are based on fact, while religion is based on faith and belief. It should be the individual’s choice to follow religion or not.

3. Opposition (A): Music and art are non-required subjects so their funding should be cut.
Rebuttal (A): The creativity that these classes provide to the students is essential in their development as students and as people.
Opposition (B): The creativity that comes from these classes can be replicated in other classes, such as English or math.
Rebuttal (B): But then the student never gets to experience art or music, and may not find their passions which may lay in that class.

4: Opposition (A): Animal testing helps test the efficacy and safety of products.
Rebuttal (A): The testing that these animals go through is potentially life-threatening and inhumane.
Opposition (B): It’s much better than using Human testers.
Rebuttal (B): The use of Human testing may be more efficient and effective as they are mostly testing products made for humans.

5. Opposition (A): Violent movies don’t affect kids because it isn’t real.
Rebuttal (A): It may not be real but it does give kids a twisted and sick sense of what the “real” world is.
Opposition (B): Mostly the real world is depicted, and they should be getting prepared for the real world.
Rebuttal (B): This isn’t the real world that is being depicted, they are getting prepared for a dramatized fake reality.

Distinctio:

Exercise 1:
1. The sky was very colorful in the evening, by colorful I meant diverse and wide-spanning in range.
2. The hole was very deep, by deep I mean shallow and large.
3. My schoolwork is annoying, by schoolwork I mean papers.
4. The standard that is set is really high, by standard I mean expectations.
5. The stars are very bright tonight, by bright I mean blindingly bright.
6. The dog is crazy, crazy wild.
7. The kid was very smart but didn’t apply himself, street smart that is.
8. The book bag was very common, everyone had it.
9. The parent isn’t always right, often they can be wrong.

Exercise 2:
Effective:
1. Football, American football I mean.
It is effective because it makes the necessary distinction between American and regular football.
2. The food was the best, the best of the best.
It clarifies that the food is at the top of the top.
3. The kid was fast, and by fast I mean fast.
Another example of clarification is that It is at the top of the top.
4. The helpfulness of the attendant was absolutely necessary, it was required.
It defines necessary
5. My phone is almost dead, which means that I need to charge it.
Defines dead
6. My lottery winnings will provide me for years, generations maybe.
It put a timeline on the vagueness of the word “years”

Ineffective
1. The computer was new, which I mean expensive.
The two contrasting words do not affect each other.

2. The wind is strong and cold.
Again the two contrasting words do not affect each other.

3. Water is very blue like an ocean.
Comparing virtually the same thing to each other

4. My phone alarm is loud, not quiet but scary.
No need to contrast loud and scary.

5. His typing was fast, compared to my cat.
No need to compare the speeds of his cat and the typer.

6. Sleeping is required like blue is to the sky.
The sky isn’t always blue, and the two things are not connected at all.

“Have you ever had something taken from you that you’d never forget? February 2008. I’m 3 years old. 7:30 A.M. I’m walking with my mother to her car so she can drive me to pre-school, and we see broken glass.

My Mother: “F*cking hell, why me?”

I’m confused as to why my mother is now cursing and looks angry. Did I do something? Is she cursing at me? Before I can ask what’s happening, she hops on the phone with either my father or the police.

My Mother “Some f*cking idiots broke into my car.” she said with an angry tone, but ended with a sigh

I’m not sure because they both showed up. At the point everybody shows up, I’m just bored out of my mind sitting on the curb. My father asks me if I am ok, and I respond yes not knowing the bombshell that’s about to be dropped on me. Some losers broke into my mother’s car, stole the TVs, and stole my bookbag which had some of my toys.

My Father: “Jonathan, are you listening buddy?”
Me: “Yes?”
My Father: “Someone broke into your mother’s car and stole the tv’s and your bag” 

Who the f*ck steals a bookbag full of toys? What value can you get out of that? That’s just lame. Anyways, once my father tells me I go ballistic. I started crying, screaming, and trying to hit anybody in sight. My mother grabs me by the arm and looks me in my eyes with the most intense look I’ve ever seen. Genuine fear struck my body, and I froze. I had no choice but to listen to her and calm down because her anger for this situation was and still is much greater than mine. She had to deal with the damages done to her car, deal with the jerkoff police officers who insisted it was her fault for parking by an elementary school, and she had to deal with my anger towards the whole situation. I have no idea how she didn’t explode and curse out everyone. I think any rational human being would freak out in these moments but not her. Anyways after I was forced to calm down the police officers told my parents that there was no working security camera, or any evidence left behind, so we were shit out of luck. At this moment my mother should have freaked out, but she kept her cool. I think she held it together for me which I appreciate but the damage was done. I was angry that some degenerates broke into the car and stole my stuff. I was very angry. That car was the car that drove me home right after I was born, I watched SpongeBob on those TVs when I was nervous before going to the dentist or the doctor, some of those toys were given to me by my great-grandmother who had passed away a year before. I remember in particular a specific toy that got stolen. It was a cheap knockoff batman toy that my great-grandma gave to me. I had no idea it was a knockoff, or who the hell batman was but I loved playing with that toy. I called him the batman. Like he was the only batman ever. I didn’t realize he was gone until later but when I did, I wanted to freak out.

Me: “Mom!!!!!! they took the batman!!!!” I said while holding back tears.

My Mother: “Jesus Christ, why was he in your book bag?”

Me: “I try to bring him everywhere!!!!” I said with rivers of tears rolling down my face.

My Mother: “I’m sorry.” 

My mother said something that stuck with me

My Mother “If I could go back in time and stop them I would.”

That sentence lit a fire. The way I interpreted that sentence at the time was that no one besides her cared. Not the police officers, not the guys who broke in, not the innocent bystanders who walked past the broken glass and windowless car while they walked their kid to school. No one.

I never got any of that stuff back by the way. I was confused by the lack of effort that the police officers gave. I know that it seems petty, I know that it seems selfish to blame the officers that were there, but I felt at the time and still a little bit now that they did the bare minimum. NYPD couldn’t find two more enthusiastic or dedicated officers? These two idiots try to blame this whole thing on my mother like she parked the car there so it could be broken into. I remember that one of the cops started listing off a bunch of reasons that it was her fault. They blamed her for parking by a school, they blamed her for moving the car afterwards so that more people didn’t try to steal stuff, they blamed her for the type of car she had. It was possibly the dumbest situation I’ve been involved with to date.

After the cops left my mother brought me home while my father brought the car to the mechanic to get the window fixed. I took a mean ass nap. I woke up with my hair all messed up

and I still felt angry. If I could have, I would have hunted down the guy(s) that broke into the car. And it’s not like all the cars on the block were broken into, only her car was and only my shit was taken from the car. I walked around the house like an angry old man. I was mad at the world. I entered the living room where my mother is on her laptop and asked,

Me: “Why?”
My Mother: “Why what?’
Me: “Why me?”
My Mother: “God knows. There’s a bunch of a*sholes in the world.”

Those words that came out of her mouth changed me. “There’s a bunch of a*sholes in the world”. I appreciated and still do appreciate her honesty and looking back I wouldn’t have been able to say it any better if I was her, but to say it so bluntly to a child might not have been such a good idea. Up to that point I had no idea that people did stuff like that. I thought that the world was all about coexistence and trying to help others if you can, because that’s all my parents taught me. But that idea was shattered in my mind, just like the car window. It didn’t help that the cops were two barely qualified losers who probably had no other choice but to become an officer and I know you think that I should probably be less harsh on those guys since it’s been 14 years, but I need a face to blame, and they fit that bill perfectly. I understand that this whole thing can be seen as trivial and minor in the grand scheme of everyone involved life but still to this day, I feel that this event changed everything. It’s almost like I had rose tinted goggles on up until the event and then after they stole those too. I’ve been told by my family that I was/have been more negative, pessimistic, and closed minded since then. Unfortunately, I must agree. If I could change my perspective on life I would in a heartbeat, but I can’t. I don’t even think that the next day I was the same person I was before. I vaguely remember going to pre-school the next day and not wanting to talk or play with anyone. I was just angry. And when it got to lunch time, I protected my life with my life as if anyone was going to take it. I hope those idiots enjoyed the tv’s that they most likely broke, removing them for the back of the front seats, and the toys that were half broken and had almost no value. If I had to put a number on the cost of the stuff, they stole I’d have to say about $200. But that might have been the most important $200 in human history so maybe I’m mad for no reason. But now I don’t trust my parents leaving their cars anywhere near that school. I have constant anxiety about potentially getting robbed or worse, and I think I might have stopped the average person as a person. I almost see them as a potential threat and try to plan for any sudden actions or moves. I don’t know if this makes any sense to you but to me it makes perfect sense. It would take a positive event in that magnitude to potentially change me, and God knows if that would revert me back. At the end of the day the thieves not only stole my bookbag and the TVs. They stole my childhood joy from me, and they took my belief in the world away. But that’s just another day in the Bronx. Now that I think about it, this is one of like 10 times that one of my parent’s cars got broken into in the Bronx. If this had been in the newspaper, I would have put it in here but since getting your car broken into over here is a common occurrence there wouldn’t be enough space in the newspaper to cover every instance of this happening every day.”