Why Write of Education? Matthew Tulley Speaks

            Matthew Tulley is a journalist for the Indianapolis Star. He is fairly well-known for his column on what goes on inside of Manuel High School. He came to Ball State University to speak about his experiences as a journalist in the classrooms there. Tulley believes that “watching a great teacher in action […] is like watching a concert.” Just as a concertgoer isn’t typically a well-trained musician, Tulley is “not an education expert, just a trained observer.” Tulley spoke fondly of his times at Manuel, he spoke of the teachers and students with a smile on his face. One story he told really captivated me. He told us of two students, Kelly and Allison, whom he encountered shortly after his second Manuel article had been published. He was standing in the hall near two girls, one girl (Kelly) was pushing the other to go speak with Tulley.

            “Can I ask you a question?” Allison didn’t wait for an answer, “Are you gonna write about the kids at Manuel who are doing the right thing?”
            This surprised Matthew Tulley, but he came up with an answer quickly, “Absolutely. I can’t only write about the good things though.”

            Kelly and Allison were both students who had been on the wrong path, but discovered that they wanted to go to college and they wanted to succeed. They were involved in every extracurricular Manuel was able to offer to them so they would have a better chance for scholarships, since they would be unable to afford further education on their own. Tulley wrote about the girls and letters quickly came pouring in asking how people could help the girls pay for their college educations. The article reached Vincennes University, and they offered both of the girls full-ride scholarships.

            Tulley cares about education because he “went to Gary schools. When [he] was ten, [his family] moved to Portage. They saw [he] had all A’s and put [him] in honors classes. [He] immediately flunked.” That is when he learned the difference between schools lied within the school-system. He could get by at Gary, which had a poor educational system compared to Portage, where he later failed all the honors classes he was put into because of the differences between the school systems.

Belated Observations (September 27)

      I entered the classroom early, as usual, and watched as a stream of students quickly filled up the room. As each student took their seat, they got out their laptop and began to open pages such as facebook and twitter. I observed solitaire as well as a photo editing software within the class period. Mrs. Evans spoke to the class about what to do and what not to do when posting to the class blog. Things such as do include a creative title and don’t put your heading on as you would a paper. Then it was time to get down to business, the business of our essays. A slideshow was shown for what to include in the essays, they should have a works cited page and be in MLA format. However, since this was our argument essay, there should only be one citation, thus the title of the citations page should be work cited.

       In the second half of class, we were split up into groups to discuss falicies. A falicy is convoluted logic when used unintentionally to confuse you or make you think something that isn’t true. As this definition was explained, someone particular popped into my head. I know a particular person who uses falicy in every day conversation. Falicy makes my head hurt. Everyone in class began to pack up ten minutes early, I suppose they figured they were done, even though we weren’t allowed to leave class early.

Jeannette Walls: An Inspired Person

            Last night I went to see Jeannette Walls, author of “The Glass Castle,” this year’s Freshman Common Reader, speak. When I heard at orientation that we would be reading “The Glass Castle” I was more excited than I had been throughout the entire two-day orientation process. I was that much more excited to learn that Jeannette Walls herself would be coming to Ball State University to speak to us about her life and her book. I had previously read “The Glass Castle” as Summer reading for my high school Freshman English class and I fell in love with it. It amazed me that someone who grew up in such poor conditions could come out on top in such a big way. The book inspired me in many ways, coming from a background of living with a single mother who also happened to be an alcoholic. I was never as poor (or “po” as Walls said, “too poor to afford the o and r”) as Jeannette and her family, but it was still a depressing time in my life.

This book was easily one of the greatest assigned readings I have ever read. Going into Emens, all of the excitement came rushing back. I don’t know what I was expecting at that moment, but I know it was fulfilled. Jeannette Walls never once seemed as though she felt pity about her life, all the anecdotes she told were presented in a way that seemed upbeat and humorous. She even told one story about her alcoholic father where she was afraid of the “demon” under her bed. Her father told her to look the “demon” straight in the eyes and tell it she’s not afraid. She says how she took this advice from her father, from when she was five-years-old and frightened of what was lurking under the bed, and applied it to life as a whole. Never have I seen someone so positive about such negative times in their lives, who can look back and think about things their parents did that may seem atrocious to most but be able to accept the way they were. Jeannette Walls has been an inspiration to me since the first time I read her book four years ago, and she will continue to be an inspiration.

It All Ads Up: Use of Rhetoric in Advertisement

            Whenever I would look at an ad I would see it for what it appeared to be, a combination of words and images urging consumers to purchase some product or another simply because it existed. I never realized that advertisements used rhetoric to appeal to consumers in a big way. Every advertisement falls into one of three rhetorical categories: logos, pathos, and ethos. I myself learned these terms and their specific meanings in my sophomore English class. Even then I didn’t realize they were not only used in writing, but in everyday life. Envision states that the average adult will encounter around 3000 advertisements every day. This is attributed to the fact that advertising is everywhere. Advertising can be logical (logos), emotional (pathos), or characteristic and authoritative (ethos).

            Logical ads tend to make a point through facts, evidence, and reason. Nearly every advertisement features logos because they relate to before and after situations. Ads with logos make a statement that says, “if you buy this product, then such and such will happen.” For instance, a shampoo ad may say that if you purchase the shampoo, you will have strong and healthy hair. Ads that appeal to emotion or pathos generally use ad campaigns that will appeal to the highs and lows of human emotion. There has been a car commercial on television for a while which first shows a little boy sleeping in the backseat while his mother glances at him in the rearview mirror and smiles to herself. All the while a voice is whispering about the safety features the Chrysler Town and Country offers. The ending statement is “we don’t think safety or technology should be optional.” This appeals to the viewers’ maternal instincts, wanting her child to be as safe as possible. The third ad type, ethos, draws from the credibility or goodwill of a person or statement. This applies to the Visa commercials that were on during the Olympic Games a few years ago. These commercials featured the voice of an iconic American actor, Morgan Freeman. Those who love Morgan Freeman’s work would recognize his voice thereby transferring that trust and credibility onto the Visa card.

            Reading chapter two of Envision made me realize that commercials and advertisements I have seen relate to rhetoric in many different ways. Logos, pathos, and ethos are not only for use in rhetorical writing, but they surround us in our everyday lives. We see rhetorical advertisements everywhere, on television, on the Internet, on billboards and even on clothing. Every ad uses rhetoric to persuade the consumer to buy. Wherever ads are found, rhetoric is there.
Lauryn Wiseman