My life

Hank Williams, Jr, "A Country Boy Can Survive": Throughout this whole video, one can observe that the basis of this song is centered around good, wholesome, hard-working folk that don't have much but what they do have, they're mighty proud of. One can tell by the looks on their faces that they don't take much crap off anyone. You watch Hank, himself, ride down what one could guess the Mississippi River on a barge, between clips of individuals working, hunting, fishing, and so on. When a person gets an image of a river, the first thing that comes to mind is the countryside. Growing up, myself, I've had many fond memories on the Blue River and it's tributaries, since the river itself runs very close to my house. My father would take my brothers and I deer hunting, and we would watch him gut the deer, being very careful not to waste any of the good meat. The whole central object that "country folks can survive" ties into my life because, simply, I've lived in the country most of my life and I have the skill and knowledge to do things that other people don't have a clue how to do such as: skinning a buck, running trot lines, living off the land, and such. In one clip, it shows a flag flying high, showing pride and patriotism. I would say this suits me right down to the bone. I take pride in my country and can think of no better place to live. If that ain't country, I don't know what is.

Chris LeDoux, "Stampede": I've drawn quite a few connections with this song. The only thing that separates this song is the fact that around these parts, there are no more "cattle drives", so a person really doesn't have to worry about stampeding cattle. Modern day stock trailers and pickups have replaced the need for cattle drives and horses, although horses have still an important useage if desired. It's nice to have a horse when working with cattle because they have the capability to go where the cows go, whereas larger vehicles cannot. As you watch and is stated in the song, longhorn cattle is the breed being used, since it has a long history with cowboys. Longhorns are known for their ability to defend themselves and their high meat yield. I can't say I've ever been in the situation where I was about to be trampled by stampeding cattle, but working around cattle enough my entire life, I can sort of grasp what the situation would be like. Ever since I've been old enough, I've been kicked, stepped on, charged at, and head-butted by cows. Back in the "old west", the cowboys would worry about stampeding cattle because there were no fences to keep them in the certain area they needed to be in. Should they stampede, they risk the chance of losing multiple cattle, which today would be an approximate value between $800 to $12,000.

Keith Anderson, "XXL": This video is based on how that a boy is quite a bit larger than the rest. He's born a big baby, grows through elementary in the larger physical state, and eventually grows to be a "XXL". I find certain lyrics humerous, such as: 'all the girls love a XXL' and 'I'm a lean mean love machine that likes to be held' because these attributes are oh, so true with me. I know what it's like growing up as the big kid in school, as I was, in fact, a large baby, and bigger than the rest of my classmates all through school. Traditionally, being the big kid meant you were the oddball in the class. It used to be looked down upon, but with this video, it is now actually sought after to be 'bigger than average.' It is being more and more accepted in today's social 'norms' and not so much a bad thing anymore. Now also in this video, there's obviously pretty girls in skimpy outfits (who doesn't like that?). Also, you see drummer Tommy Lee and NFL running back Eddie George. I'm not quite sure how these guys quite fit in to the music video, but looking at the comment posts on Youtube, you can probably figure it out for yourself. On the other hand, Eddie George is used as a 'symbol' if you will, as the big kid on the football team that 'can go pro'.

WP2: Chevrolet

As I walk towards the sale barn, I look around me and see rugged, dirty trucks and trailers. I smile, as I notice a majority of them are one brand: Chevrolet. As I notice this, I feel a sense of pride. This is my favorite brand of pickup, and apparently, many other individual’s as well. All the things that represent Chevy are being put to use, right here in front of me.

As a working, blue-collar individual, the qualities and attributes I look for in a pickup are simple: power to get things done, reliability that I know this truck will perform to my expectations, and style so I can show it off on a Saturday night. Since I was a boy, that pickup has been Chevrolet. I have the confidence that the engine will supply enough power for me to tackle any job I throw at it, and also the quality that I will use it over and over again, knowing it will last me a long time.

To me, the classic ‘bowtie’ symbol represents quality. With the experience I have, I know that Chevrolet has a long history of quality. Through three generations of blue-collar type families, I know that my Chevy truck will be there a long time for me to use. Ever since I was a child, nothing was more American than a Chevy pickup.

In this commercial promoting Chevrolet trucks, all three styles of rhetorical appeals are being used. The main points of this commercial is to use the credibility of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in order to persuade the consumer that Chevrolet trucks are the best made, most dependable line of trucks on the road today. The commercial is based as an interview with Dale Jr., starting with him giving the audience his background and experiences with the Chevrolet brand company. Earnhardt explains no other brand of truck was more enjoyable to work on than Chevy.

As the commercial begins, the rhetorical strategy “ethos” is used as Earnhardt, Jr. explains to the audience about his past experiences with working on Chevrolet as a mechanic. Now as a professional racecar driver, as most people know him, the audience is to rely on his ‘professionalism’ and know-how in order to gain a sense of trust in his judgment on his brand of cars. Earnhardt, Jr. emphasizes that he enjoys working on this particular brand, so as a result, one without experience would think to themselves, “well, if Dale, Jr. likes workin’ on this brand, then I probably will, too.” This thinking goes hand-in-hand with the trust factor on Earnhardt’s credibility.

Now as the commercial goes on, the audience can observe an obvious change of pace not only in the voice of Earnhardt, Jr., but in the strategy of the commercial itself. It begins to turn to the rhetorical strategy “logos.” Earnhardt, Jr. begins to give information about the line of Chevy trucks that makes them ‘better’ than the competition, such as a ‘fully boxed frame in order to give a much smoother ride’ and ‘a trailer hitch that tows twice as much as the competition’ in order to achieve more goals you might throw at this truck. Earnhardt also tells the audience about the ‘legendary’ Vortec engine put in the Chevrolet pickup that in his opinion ‘the right balances of efficiency and power.’ Also, Earnhardt explains that Chevy continues to topple the competition with constant upgrades to excel the needs of today’s working class citizen. Every few years, new challenges are met and exceeded by the Chevy company such as fuel economy, frame stabilization, and safety standards.

Towards the end of the commercial, Earnhardt uses “pathos” to appeal to his audience. He explains that ‘his grandfather raced Chevy’s, and his father raced Chevy’s, and as long as he’s racing, he’ll be racing Chevy’s too.’ If you’re a NASCAR fan, then you can’t help but feel emotion when he explains that his family raced Chevy’s. If you’re not a NASCAR fan, you don’t know the legendary Dale Earnhardt, a man that was known as ‘The Intimidator’ and died on the racetrack. A man with a blue-collar reputation and long history of growing up, making a name for himself in the racing world. Now knowing this, you can’t help but feel these emotions pulling at your heartstrings.

The argumentation used in this commercial is mainly comparison-contrast. This tactic is generally used with all car brands. They’re telling us all the benefits to buying their product, from quality to performance. They’re constantly showing the viewers how their product is better than the competition with the things most people want out of a pickup. In this specific commercial, the ‘example’ argumentation is used as well. Earnhardt tells us the benefits of this brand of pickup and how simple jobs are when using this brand of pickup. Definition is used; clarifying that Chevrolet pickups can be used as a rugged work truck, as well as a good quality ‘Sunday driver.’ There’s one scene where ‘process’ is used as you watch the blue Chevy pickup pull a rather large boat out of the water. In another instance, you watch as a Chevy pickup plows through a muddy road, as well as driving smoothly down a highway.

In this other commercial, you watch more working class citizens using the Chevrolet product. You watch, as the truck is used in the most extreme conditions, and still performing to the highest standards. As you listen, you hear the old classic theme song from Bob Seger “Like a Rock” which tells the audience their brand is a good quality, solid product, like a rock.

To sum up the purpose of commercials like these, the Chevrolet company is trying to persuade the consumer that Chevy is the best made truck on the market today. They show everyday working class people using their product with much success over and over. Generally, they show that Chevy can handle the extremes that life throws at it, and still run at the same quality it was at when it rolled off the assembly line.

As an avid supporter of Chevy, I cannot imagine myself being content with any other brand of vehicle. I have experienced the quality of the Chevrolet brand, as well as my father and his father. The Chevy brand has been embedded in my family for generations, therefore, in my eyes, there is no other brand that exceeds expectations like Chevy. They’ve always held true to their legendary slogan: Like a Rock.

Current Favorite Song

Ok, so I can't say I have a 'favorite' song at the moment, but this one strikes me as good, so I'm just going to go with it. This song is a parody of Toby Keith's "How do you like me now." That's pretty much what Cletus T. Judd does is make parodies of country artists' songs. I enjoy listening to songs like these because of the simple humor used. Watching the video, Cletus is from the big city and has a relative that lives on the farm. He thinks it would be fun to go to the family farm and do things such as huntin and fishin, but he finds out the family has given him a list of chores to do to expose him to farm life. In the video, he has no idea of what to expect, nor how to go about doing things. I find things like that funny because it shows how people from the city have no idea about farm life, or how things are in the country. I have done and experienced just about all there is to do on the farm, as far as work goes. I have milked a cow and fed chickens and things like that. I would have to say probably the most physically exhausting thing to do on the farm would be throwing hay, which Cletus finds out that you can't fit many bales into a fancy sports car. All in all, the focal point of the whole song is to crack fun at Toby's song. It's all done in good humor, as you can see Toby is in the video himself. Not many artists can say they'd be comfortable with crackin jokes at their own work.

Commercial Observation

I chose this commercial because of many aspects. First off, I’m familiar with the Bud-light or Budweiser beverage. I’m not going to explain to you how, but you can use your imagination. I would say I’ve become more accustomed to this brand than any other brand. Second I like horses and obviously, there are horses in this commercial. I have a lot of respect for Clydesdales because they are a large breed of horse. They’re known for their work capacity and power, like me. Third, I'm a country oriented person, which is where this takes place so I enjoy that aspect. I would say I prefer to be in the mountains than somewhere else like on a beach. I like the beauty and how majestic the horses are. I grew up around horses so this only adds to the liking for them. And finally, the horses are playing football, and I love the game of football so that works out as well. When I watch this commercial, I see the mountains and trees off in the distance. I don't hear much, but the sound of the replay machine. I love peace and quiet in the countryside. There’s not a lot of noise going on which adds to the scenery. Now, as I continue to observe, the horses are waiting for the replay, which I'm accustomed to because as I stated earlier, I love football. It’s funny because eventually, you see a zebra with his head in a replay video machine. It’s also humorous how referees are often referred to as “zebras” because of their stripes. At the end one of the cowboys stated: "this referee is a jackass," and the other replies "no, I believe that's a zebra." Just some old fashioned humor to go with the solitude of being in the mountains.