Health Eating: Avoid the sweets this holiday season

       This article, by a dietician named Joan Endyke, addresses the issues of holiday weight gain. Everyone wants to show their appreciation during the holiday season by buying or making sweet treats. However, this could lead to weight gain and unhealthy eating habits. She gives readers unsweetened gift ideas for the holiday's that are just as appreciated but a little more healthy.

      The purpose of this article is to show readers that giving cookies and candy is not the only holiday gift option. Instead, giving unsweetened treats is the better direction to go in. The exigence of this article is the holiday season has approached us which brings with it sugary, sweet, and unhealthy treats. The audience of this article is adults who are looking for better gift options this holiday season. 

      The most important rhetorical devices Joan Endyke uses are ethos, logos, and structure. She introduces herself as a dietician with a masters degree. This establishes a trust between the reader and Joan Endyke and the reader further believes what she is writing. Also, she cites several different studies that prove her point throughout the article. For example, she mentions that when candy is in the site of an employee, a study showed that they ate an average of nine pieces of candy a day, and did not realize how much they actually put in their mouths. Lastly, at the end of the article she lists many different unsweetened holiday gift ideas that will avoid unhealthy eating. By listing the gifts the reader is able to take a better inventory of the ideas in their minds. It also helps them to remember the ideas when they do not have the article in front of them. 

     I think that Joan Endyke achieves her message to readers in this article. Her point to stop giving candy and sweets as gifts during the holiday season is a valid one that I think many readers recognize; although they may not want to accept it or stop it. She cites studies and shows the reader that the holiday season can become very unhealthy if we do not watch what we put in our mouths. With all the treats that are going to be given through out the next month, Joan Endyke proves that her message is valid and should be taken into consideration when buying gifts. 

     

Dettol Hand Sanitizer Ad

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        The visual I chose was a Dettol Hand Sanitizer ad from inspiration.com. The ad has a picture of a hand with many smaller hands on it holding things such as a teddy bear, a dog, food, bugs, and a coin. The hands holding the items on the larger hand are little kid hands. The ad then has the hand sanitizer and brand name on the right corner of the page reminding the reader to that this is an ad for Dettol hand sanitizer. 

      The purpose of this ad is for people to realize how many things they actually touch a day, and the pictures on the hand allow the reader to really grasp this concept. Hopefully this further convinces them to buy the sanitizer. The exigence of this visual ad is Dettol wanting people, especially parents, to buy their product and then to realize that sanitizer really does help. The audience of this ad is parents who have young children. This is shown through the small hands on the picture. A parent is always scared of what their young children are touching and putting in their mouths. This ad plays on that fear and illustrates it to parents. Through this ad parents realize how many things their kids really do touch in a day and it sways them to buy the product. 

     The most important rhetorical device used in this ad is logos. Through showing the picture of little hands touching bugs, coins, and animals it convinces the reader that the only logical solution is to buy the Dettol hand sanitizer. It is perceived from the picture that if you do not buy the hand sanitizer than your children will have germs on their hands that will eventually go in their mouths and get them sick. Unless you want them to be sick,  it is better to buy this product to kill off the germs.

     I do believe that the author got their point across in this visual ad. When the reader looks at it they are immediately intrigued to figure out what the ad is for because there are no words just pictures. Once they figure out it is for Dettol hand sanitizer, the visual ad does a nice job of showing the average person how many things kids touch in a day. Mother and fathers out there want their kids to stay safe so it convinces them to buy the sanitizer. The ad does a nice job of conveying its message to the average reader. 

 

The Know-It-All

For my IRB I am reading The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs. As I said in my previous blog, this book is broken up into chapters based on each letter of the alphabet. This week I am going to blog about letter D. In this chapter he describes letters from the Encyclopedia Britannica ranging from death to George Darwin.  He also gives us insight about his life such as stories from work and from his home life with his wife Julie.

The purpose of this chapter was to inform the readers about the fourth letter he has read on his journey to become the smartest man in the world and to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. The exigence of this chapter is that he would like to write about all 26 letters in the alphabet and explain his journey through reading each letter. This was just the fourth letter in his long journey. The audience of this book is individuals who enjoy memoirs and personal stories. It is also geared towards individuals who do not need a very interesting drama-like plot or a climax to keep them hooked. A book about a man trying to read the entire Encyclopedia is very interesting, but is not going to be like a soap opera, as this book is compromised mostly of facts.

The three most important rhetorical devices A.J. Jacobs uses are anecdote, satire, and structure. In order to keep the story from being a book solely on example words from the Encyclopedia Britannica, the author adds personal stories to the words and shows the reader how those words connect to his life. For example, under the word disease he talks about how his friends think he is a hypochondriac and recalls times when he was sick. It may seem boring, but these little personal touches add a lot to the story. A.J. Jacobs also utilizes satire throughout this chapter, and the whole book. To offer an example, under the word dance, he talks about a way to spice up the plot of American Idol, and ultimately makes fun of the show. These funny comments make the reader laugh inside and keeps them turning the pages. Lastly, structure is very important in this book. A.J. Jacobs lists the words in alphabetical order. He also bolds the word and then under it provides a brief explanation of that given word. This not only helps the reader organize each word in their minds, but also lets the reader know exactly when he is going to start a new word so all the information does not get meshed up int one.

I think that A.J. Jacobs gets his message across to the reader. He wants to show us one step in his journey, while adding personal stores and humor to lighten up the mood. He certainly does that by connecting the words with personal stories. This makes him more relatable and seem like a normal guy, not a crazy person who wants to read the Encyclopedia Britannica for fun. These personal stories and funny sense of humor make the reader want to turn the pages and read more.