Maura McCann's e-Portfolio

Hello and welcome to my portfolio! I am an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University, working my way to a degree in International Relations with a concentration in National Security.

Although my academic interests rage from British literature to physiology, I immediately settled on an International Politics major because I find it fascinating that through government, history impacts our very way of life every single day. I am also currently exploring English, Security and Risk Analysis, or Crime, Law, and Justice as potential second majors and expect to graduate with two degrees in May 2014. Another important goal of mine as a college student is to take advantage of the fantastic study abroad opportunities Penn State offers; I intend to spend at least one semester earning credits from a university in Europe and hope to fit in as much additional travelling and exploring as possible.

Since my first semester at Penn State, I have immersed myself in an honors-level course load that has been both challenging and enlightening. My growth as not only a scholar but also a young adult has sparked a passion for excellence in critical thinking, research, and particularly communication. I am ardently invested in expressing myself with the most effective, articulate, and eloquent writing possible. This ePortfolio will serve to exhibit my progress in these areas throughout my academic career.

Click here to access my e-Portfolio.

What Do You Want to Do Before You Die?

In 1852, British poet Matthew Arnold wrote,

But often, in the world's most crowded streets / But often, in the din of strife / There rises an unspeakable desire after the knowledge of our buried life. / A thirst to spend our fire and restless force / In tracking out our true, original course.

In 2010, MTV premiered a reality show about four Canadians on a mission to cross off ambitious items on their "bucket list" of a hundred things to do before they die. Titled, "The Buried Life," the show followed these devastatingly handsome twenty-somethings as they traveled the country on a reclaimed purple transit bus and got themselves into various shenanigans in order to attend a party at the Playboy Mansion (number 6), and make a toast at a stranger's wedding (number 41). For every item they cross off their list, the boys help a stranger do the same, such as the episode in which they helped Queen locate her mother's grave after she died in Hurricane Katrina. The inspiring nature of the boy's mission, their great senses of humor, and undoubtedly their good looks combined to make a popular primetime spot that got picked up for a second season last September. With two seasons of a television show (number 53 is "start a television show") under their belt, the Buried Life team is riding out their popularity by touring the country and speaking a colleges. On Friday, April 1st (no fooling), the Buried Life cast came to Penn State. As an avid Buried Life fan, I was in the sixth row and checking their twitter feed to follow their progress from University Park airport to the HUB. While I think the presentation was great because the entire cast is incredibly charismatic and likable, I couldn't help but notice a few weaknesses in their presentation -- LA 101H ruined my perception of rhetorical situations by actually educating me about them...

Jonnie Penn, 24, speaks to Penn Staters at Alumni Hall.

The cast put quotes on the screen such as, "Right now you are the youngest you'll ever be," to add some inspiriation to the PowerPoint, but the words were just left up on the screen without being read and then a new slide came up about a certain list item. In an audience participation section, Jonnie, one of the cast members, made an audience member stand there awkwardly while he found the perfect music on his iTunes to soundtrack giving her a hug. The boys each took turns talking, but during their individual scripted parts the rest of the cast was joking around with each other. As a presentation, they could have done a little better. But as an experience, the Buried Life was awesome -- they're funny, friendly, play awesome music, and have important things to say about going after what you want in life. And everywhere they go, they ask, "What do you want to do before you die?"

Take a side.

So a few minutes ago, my glorious Van Morrison Pandora Radio streaming was interrupted by an advertisement. This was confusing. Instead of more smooth oldies, I heard Jersey Shore star Pauly D.'s voice declaring his adamant distaste for Miracle Whip. Although I had never seen this specific ad, I recognized MiracleWhip's even more confusing theme for for the advertising campaign, in which they draw a line in the sand(-wich) and order lunch eaters across the country to "take a side." Check out the Pauly D. ad below. You can see the rest of the commercials for the campaign on MiracleWhip's YouTube channel, as well.

I see what they did there. Pauly D., much like the rest of his Seaside Heights roommates, is "a little loud," and "a little tangy." Like MiracleWhip tastes! And -- don't judge me -- I love Pauly D. So I probably love MiracleWhip, because they have so much in common.
Oh wait, I hate MiracleWhip. And apparently so does Pauly D. Which, according to the commercial, means I can be his girlfriend. Even better. Thank you, MiracleWhip, for establishing a mutual distate for your product between the spokesperson and the audience.
That's not the only problem with this ad, though. In general, this entire campaign urging the audience to "take a side," is a thinly veiled attempt to be edgy and interesting. MiracleWhip acknowledges their sub-par stigma among other classic sandwich spreads such as mayonnaise and mustard by saying, "We're not for everyone." Then, not unlike the Statue of Liberty holding her torch, a fist raises into the frame, clenching a delicious-looking sandwich. It's worth noting that the sandwich looks so good because of all the ingredients together, not just the condiments, and that the MiracleWhip on it actually looks like mayo.
This ad might have worked if they were blatantly making fun of Pauly D., a public figure who despite massive popularity lacks significant credibility. The narrative would then be something along the lines of, "Pauly D. doesn't like MiracleWhip. And we all know he's stupid. Therefore, we can gather that he is wrong about MiracleWhip and it's actually awesome. Buy it." However, MiracleWhip actually identifies its product with Pauly D.'s vivacious personality, so they can't be making fun of him because they would then be making fun of themselves. But if they're not saying Pauly D. is wrong, they're saying he's right -- that MiracleWhip is, in fact, disgusting.
I get that MiracleWhip is trying to be funny and confident by facing the haters head on, but echoing sentiments about how gross their product tastes isn't going to sell any more jars of the stuff. Especially when, instead of contradicting this popular opinion by touting its benefits, MiracleWhip closes with an open-ended question: "Are you MiracleWhip? Get a taste and decide." Nah, I'm good.

RSAnimate.

In class this week we talked about the several aspects of visual aides in rhetorical situations. After going over what makes effective PowerPoint presentations, posters, and the like, I immediately thought of the folks at RSAnimate. RSA, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, is a multidisciplinary institution based in London dedicated to enriching British society. Founded in 1794, the RSA aims to be a "cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress," and past members have included Benjamin Franklin and Charles Dickens. RSA has an enormous breadth of projects in field ranging from the environment to education to business development, but one of their cooler ones (in my opinion) is RSAnimate. Amazing speakers come to the RSA and give inspiring presentations on almost anything. Then, some gifted animators take the audio recording of that presentation and illustrate it, writing out almost every single word amidst cartoons and graphics. In the videos RSAnimate releases on YouTube, you can listen to the speech as an animator playfully and creatively draws or writes each word at hyperspeed. The speeches themselves are worth listening to in their own right, but what makes them special is the way in which RSAnimate makes them come even more alive with simple doodles and notes. Check out this one, appropriately about language and communication (if you have the time, or ever get bored, I highly recommend watching as many RSAnimations as you can on all sorts of topics):

Our textbook says that whiteboards are not usually the best choice for effectively enhancing your visual presentation. While this may be true in real life, the quick hand in these videos moves around a humongous white board, carrying us with the words and zooming out to the entire illustration at the end to literally give the audience the big picture. RSAnimate videos are a great example of how well-thought, simple, yet creative visual aides engage the audience in an entirely new way.

The Seminar.

Another great show I'm going to analyze the rhetoric of is The Office. A few weeks ago, the show aired an episode called, "The Seminar," in which salesman Andy held a small business seminar in an attempt to bring in some extra income. However, most of his scheduled "keynote speakers," refused to speak, and Andy had to scrape together whoever else was willing to make a few short presentations to salvage his seminar. I thought it was a great example of the approaches most people take to public speaking and how some can or cannot be successful. This episode was a little dramatic of each style addressed for the sake of humor, and it worked because it was hilarious. Click here to watch the speech section of the episode on Hulu. The actual speeches start at about 7 minutes and 50 seconds into it. I loved how wittily each public speaking style was dramatized by some of my favorite characters on television:

• Kevin goes with the hardcore, inspirational, intense style by playing music more commonly heard at a basketball game and running around the small conference room giving high fives to pump up his audience. Unfortunately, Kevin is not the most athletic of individuals and his speech is cut short, as was his breath, by some vomiting because the physical exhaustion made him a little nauseous.
• Kelly starts out strong with a confident demeanor and smooth tone, but she fails a little on the ethos by calling an apparently successful businessman who only remembers her from a romantic rendezvous. I love how she says, "It is important to brand yourself, so I have a couple things in the works: the business bitch, the diet bitch, the shopping bitch, the etiquette bitch..." These personas have actually worked for several women in the past, at least as far as achieving fame and fortune, but Kelly isn't well-versed enough in business or relationship skills to make any of these work.
• Creed is probably the weirdest guy in the office and maybe even character on TV, and he stays true to this reputation by starting out with an odd anecdote that makes absolutely no sense. All in all it's just creepy.

These three examples of approaches to pubic speaking might be great entertainment when we watch The Office, but they're also great lessons about what to avoid and be aware of when we approach our own rhetorical situations and how we want to present ourself.

iH2O

I StumbledUpon this funny image a few weeks ago, and since we've been analyzing advertisements recently I thought it was appropriate to share it. You can click here to see the image up close and read the text.

The clever people at scoopertino.com have added a new product to Apple stores, and they're marketing it in traditional Apple style. It's.... get ready.... water!! Something we all need. Scoopertino has made it embody everything Apple is, "Clean. Simple." and also what water is, "Wet." The clean and simple design of their ads is one of Apple's trademarks, and Scoopertino has created one so perfectly that I actually wondered if Apple was seriously selling water. Although this image is entirely satirical, it highlights some commonly-used strategies in their advertising. It looks just like the ads on the real Apple's website! A simple photograph of the backlit product they're promoting, with pointers to break down all the great details. My favorite is, "Molecular perfection. Literally twice as many hydrogen atoms as there are oxygen atoms." The word choice is straightforward and a little informal, but informal in the way a respected boss would casually say something to you. Although this ad says that, "Apple Water says everything they need to know about you," it's really saying everyone most people would say about Apple, that it's "beautifully packaged [...] and perfectly overpriced." Everything in this image seems silly, but in the real ads for iPhones and iPads, we fall for the same design and word choice. At least I do (simultaneous blogging on a MacBook and texting on my iPhone...)

It's complicated.

Part of the allure of Facebook, besides keeping tabs on what all 934 of your friends are up to, is the ability to completely control how you are portrayed to others. Sure, you can carefully choose the clothes you wear and how you act, but you're bound to leave an unflattering impression on at least one person after many an awkward moment. Maybe that's just me. But on Facebook, I can untag any photos in which I don't look red-carpet ready (and sometimes persuade the poster to delete especially heinous shots all together), remind everyone I know that I listen to interesting music by posting some Avett Brothers' lyrics as my status, and let even strangers know that I'm witty by posting something hilarious and clever on my friends' walls. My Facebook profile is really a carefully maintained image of myself, but not statement I can make about myself on Facebook is as crucial as the "Relationship Status."

Now we know how the Facebook powers that be
 in Palo Alto voted on Prop 8!

The powers that be at Facebook recently added "In a civil union," and "In a domestic partnership," to it's now eleven different options to set as one's relationship status. This addition alone is a triumphant gesture made by Facebook, but the fact that so many options are available in a fabricated world of social networking emphasizes the importance one's "Relationship Status" holds in today's culture. With Facebook being a relatively new facet of social life, there is no official etiquette for posting these statuses (stati?), but below I have listed what I have perceived to be the general consensus about a few common statuses:

• Single - A pretty standard status. Some people choose just to not have this status appear on their profile at all, either to simplify their page or to hide the fact that they're sad and alone. (Just kidding. All mah single ladies!)
• In a relationship - In my age bracket, this status is reserved for the most serious of couples. The kind whose names are said together as if they're one, such as, "Mike-and-Emily." These duos have usually been dating for several weeks, at least, and have already met the parents, etc. In other words, going "Facebook official," with your relationship with someone is the younger equivalent to moving in together or whatever old people do. 
• Engaged & Married - I've combined these two because they're pretty self-explanatory. The only actual married couples I see with this status on Facebook are my friends' parents. One of my friend's status reads "Married to Da Streets." I think that's a different kind of relationship, though...
• It's complicated - I'm going to spare everyone my rant about this status, but if you're taking time out of dealing with whatever issues you're having with your significant other to change your relationship status on Facebook to something nobody cares about, things are more complicated than you think. 
• In an open relationship - This kind of goes with the one above. If you want to have a relationship status that says you're still open to hooking up with other people, you might as well just leave it at "Single."

P.S.: It's worth noting here that good friends who think they're funny will enter any two-person Facebook relationship with each other so everyone can know they're best friends. That girl is probably not engaged to her roommate. There are other people that defy the unspoken laws of relationship statuses as well, like my friend who refuses to change her status from "Single," even though she recently celebrated her 19 months anniversary with her boyfriend. Okay. If you want some other tips on how not to be hated on Facebook, go here.

"I'm not your sweetheart. Just let me walk!"

Photo credit goes here!

Okay, okay. So I know last week I praised the Fresh Prince for his pick-up lines. It’s just that I love Will Smith so much, I think everything he touches turns to gold. I have to admit, though, that my bias towards him overshadowed my opinion about pick-up lines outside Bel-Air. There’s a fine and tough-to-walk line between being confident and being offensive. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Holly Kearl wrote a great piece for the Guardian providing lonely lovebirds with tips on how to approach someone new without borderlining on sexual harassment. She encourages suitors to approach the first conversation between strangers as a specific rhetorical situation. In fact, her rules for a happy Valentine’s Day echo our course textbook’s third chapter, “Preparing to Speak with Commitment and Confidence,” particularly the bullets under, “A Checklist for Preparing a Design Plan for a Talk,” on page 73. Although the entire article—and her own blog Stop Street Harassment—is worth a read, I’m just picking those tips that lend themselves to a great example of a rhetorical situation:

Physical context – The textbook asks you to consider the physical environment in which you will be speaking. Similarly, Kearl suggests that whoever you may want to talk to may feel unsafe or unsure if it is:

-       late at night, or in a dark place in general

-       deserted

-       an exit is not easily visible or accessible

Social context – I would interpret part of this as determining what circumstances have brought your audience into this specific space. I think that Kearl would place the following pointers under this textbook-designated category:

“They want to get from point A to B or enjoy fresh air. They may be in a hurry or be preoccupied. Therefore, chances are that a person you approach is not going to want to talk to you or interact with you. That has nothing to do with you personally.”

Audience – What can you determine about your audience before and as you speak? Kearl indicates that certain features, such as your size, apparent strength, and age in relation to those of the target of your flirtation will call for different approaches. This makes sense: a six-foot college student might not make me feel uneasy at first, but a six-foot-eight retired NFL offensive lineman probably would. She asks you to pick up on your audience’s reaction to your small-talk, as well:

“Make sure there is consent in your interaction. Does their body language, including eye contact (not lack thereof), and tone of voice indicate they want to interact with you, too? If you are unsure, you can always ask, is it OK if I talk to you?”

Several initiatives have been taken to start a dialogue towards ending street harassment, including programs in Washington, DC, Wales, and India. DC’s The Consensual Project has an especially well-written take on “sexual communication” and where it’s headed. Kearl and her peers around the world are shedding light on first-time flirtation as a specific rhetorical situation that, when not regarded as such, can result in harassment. 

This I Believe Podcast

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8607917661f0f983/

Your feet must be tired.

Everyone knows that Will Smith is the man. Even Barack Obama has picked the Fresh Prince as the frontrunner to star as the President in a potential biopic. But before he was slaying aliens in Men in Black, overcoming the odds in The Pursuit of Happyness, playing matchmaker in Hitch, and being a legend in I Am Legend, he was sweeping ladies off their feet in the best sitcom ever to grace the tube, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The quality one-liners and freestyle raps are endless, but this compilation captures the best of Will's pick up lines.

As a product of a single-sex Catholic high school built upon the principle of empowerment (bordering on feminism), I'm a firm believer that only creeps with no respect for my gender use pick up lines. But I have to say, the Fresh Prince's lines are pretty charming. Notice in every scene a few similar qualities of rhetorical mastery:

• Pathos - About forty seconds into the linked video, Will approaches an attractive young female and ropes her in with an emotional appeal that at once makes him appear more sensitive than his brutish counterparts and invites his ladyfriend to feel the need to comfort him in his emotionally fragile state. A pity date is still a date.
• Logos -  In another instance, Will cites the dictionary (probably a more liberal version than Meriam-Webster) and tells a girl he recognizes her from under the entry for "Kablam!" Using an authoritative source of language makes it official, even if this interjection is not officially recognized in most orthodox dictionaries.
• Gustos - Will Smith might be the coolest person on the planet. But even he knows that such an aggressive and potentially offensive approach is anything but cool. Nevertheless, he goes all out with whatever insanity he's saying. The guts and enthusiasm eliminate any creepiness and instead allow his counterparts to see his attempt at humorous, and therefore charming. 
• Praise - Pick up lines get a bad rap (not the Fresh Prince's cup of tea) because most of them are requests for sexual favors thinly disguised in slime and hair gel. Flattery, on the other hand, can get you pretty far. 
• Confidence - Even the sleaziest pick up artist will tell you that confidence is key. Will Smith definitely has that on lock. Notice the eye contact and cool facade he maintains as he wins the ladies over with ridiculous words. 
• Creativity - Did it hurt when she fell from heaven? Maybe the first few times people asked her that, but now she's used to it. Will Smith takes pick up lines to a whole new level. Perhaps you want a cappuccino. Will is "dark, hot, sweet," and he'll put a spoon in his mouth to solidify the connection between an espresso drink and a boyfriend. And he's not afraid to use words like they've never been used before. Being told you look like some "good god wrapped up in some have mercy" is flattering and unique. 

As Will says at the beginning of the linked video, "Half the battle is the lyrics you toss at the honeys." So next time you find yourself out on that battlefield, ask yourself, "What would Will say?" Telling someone she's synonymous with the interjection, "Kablam!" might seem scary. But at the end of the day, word choice makes not only for a great date later, but also for some great TV-watching now. 

Mischief Managed.

A few days ago, my mother was once again pillaging for non-existent weaponry and drug paraphernalia under the pretense of "cleaning my room and looking for things to donate." She found a little note I left her in high school, a picture of which (below) she sent me from her Droid, which is disturbing considering she recently asked me how to copy and paste. 

After following the arrow prompting her to flip the card over, my shocked mother had read a post-script I had written along the lines of:

P.S. Mom, none of that is true. I just wanted to remind you that I could do worse things than skip a little school, the detention slips for which you need to sign. They're in the blue folder on my desk. Love ya! You looked radiant today. Call me when it's safe to come home. Forever your little girl, Maura

Just a junior in high school, I was known to have pulled a couple Ferris Buellers every now and then. The disciplinary action came when I bumped into my theology teacher, who had called in sick that Friday, at the Phillies' World Series parade. He was such a Principal Rooney. 

You may be wondering if this artful manipulation of context surrounding my unexcused absences worked. It did not. There's only so much perspective a fabricated context can give. I was hoping the emotional roller coaster inching up to fear, plunging through disappointment, and looping several times through disgust and horror would provide a flattering comparison to getting a few detentions. In hindsight, my mother has told me since my first day on this planet that I would be disowned if I ever a) dyed my hair, b) got anything but my ears pierced, or c) got a tattoo. Focusing on these three methods of aesthetic disobedience could have perhaps had a stronger effect.

This isn't the only time I've used rhetoric to exonerate myself from the various instances of mischief I've accomplished. There's that time I pretended to be devastated when I got my first speeding ticket so my mom would console me, forgetting about the fine and pending court date. Or the time I acted uninterested in the case of Corona she foolishly left in the garage before Senior Week. Sometime it works, sometimes it doesn't. I had plenty of time to think about it in the additional detention she petitioned the school to give me.