A Night in Casablanca

           The speaker of this letter, Groucho Marx, wrote a letter to Warner Brothers to show how annoyed he was by the legal warning he received from them not to use the name “Casablanca” in his new movie.  However, it was never proven that Warner Brothers tried to block them from using the name “Casablanca.” There are many that believe that this was a publicity stunt on behalf of the Marx Brothers. The subject of this letter is the Marx Brothers production of “A Night in Casablanca.” The occasion is the fact that the Marx Brothers were producing a movie that had the name “Casablanca” in the title and also at the same time, Warner Brothers made a movie called “Casablanca.” The audience is Warner Brothers and ultimately the citizens of the United States. The purpose of this letter is to inform Warner Brothers Studio, in a sarcastic and comedic way, that even though they have made a movie called “Casablanca”, they do not own that name. However, this letter also serves as an enormous publicity stunt that would draw a lot of attention toward their new movie.  The tone of this letter is comedic, colloquial, and somewhat aggressive.  Groucho Marx, by writing a friendly and witty letter, is using the opportunity to say what is exactly on his mind and to actually become accusatory towards Warner Brothers. However, he leaves room for Jack Warner to back down by saying that Warner Brothers does not even know about this legal dispute and someone in their legal department has sent this warning.

"Why Aren't There More Women Conductors?"

By Clemency Burton -Hill
bbc.com/culture
August 21, 2013

As a classical music lover, I have often wondered what would be the highest level of achievement a woman can accomplish in this arena. Perhaps a music teacher or even performing in a prestigious classical orchestra was the answer I always ended up with. Marin Alsop’s discussion with Clemency Burton-Hill in Why aren’t there more Women Conductors? opened my eyes to the harsh reality of gender inequality that exists not only in classical music also throughout society today. Marin Alsop is the first female to conduct Britain’s Last Night of the Proms concert in 118 years. However, Alsop did not reach these great heights overnight. After finishing her studies at New York’s Julliard’s Art School, Alsop had to establish her own orchestra in order to become a conductor, since the opportunities for female conductors were very scarce. Alsop believes women have to overcome a great prejudice as well as a general lack of comfort that society feels about women in leadership positions. She states that women have to be superb at what they do also look gorgeous while they do it. Society expects women to have superhuman strengths to accomplish all this. Her dream is to see the glass ceiling of women’s achievement in classical studies shattered. Recently, Alsop has launched a highly successful fellowship for young female conductors.

The Greater Journey

 

The Greater Journey by David McCullough is an epic story of how America was shaped. Unlike the common belief that America was this global force that prospered overnight, this book gives an insight of the actual story of how America was molded by nineteenth century Paris. McCullough shows the intellectual legacy the 1800’s Paris leaves on it’s American visitors. People such as James Fennimore Cooper, Samuel Morse, and Charles Sumner went to Paris originally to study and educate their minds from 1830 until the 1900’s. However, they ended up exporting many ideas and inventions that profoundly altered American history. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician in America, returned from Paris to open a hospital that was run entirely by women. Samuel Morse, a devastated artist, returned to become the inventor of the telegraph. The Greater Journey is a collection of short stories put together masterfully to portray the American artists, writers, doctors, and politicians evolution throughout this historic journey.  This book is made for people who are interested in the unbiased truth of how America emerged and became what it is today. McCullough is a historical nonfiction writer. This book is as exhilarating and exciting as a fictional thriller that you cannot put down until the end.



Capital One Commercial (the cute version)

The advertisement above shows Jimmy Fallon holding a teddy bear and holding a huge sum of cash trying to convince a baby to accept the extra savings bonus that Capital One is offering. However, the baby keeps denying it.  Many rhetorical skills are used in this advertisement. The subject of the advertisement is obtaining a credit card. The audience is any adult that has spending powers. The purpose is to convince the audience to use a Capital One credit card. Capital One tries to entice the audience by offering fifty percent annual bonus. Also, they are implying that only a baby would refuse fifty percent annual bonuses. Anyone older than a baby should understand the benefits of having cash back. The speaker is Jimmy Fallon, a famous comedian, who is talking on behalf of Capital One. Capital One is also the speaker of this advertisement. The tone is very comedic, relaxed, and family oriented. This advertisement has an automatic ethos. Jimmy Fallon, who is a famous and popular comedian, is sure to draw the attention of the viewer. The other ethos is Capital One because they are promoting their credit card to the viewer (or trying to). The logos is the factual statement that Capital One offers an annual fifty percent cash back, which is written on the chalkboard behind Jimmy Fallon. The pathos is the baby, which is not shown together with Jimmy Fallon, the teddy bear, the cash, and the chalkboard. The chalkboard shows that Jimmy Fallon is not relaying the message in complicated terms. He is simply trying to relay Capital One’s message in a friendly way. The cash is meant to draw the viewers’ attention in a way for them to reach out and take it away from Jimmy Fallon’s hands. A cute child and a teddy bear have always a positive effect on the audience. This is an effective advertisement because it uses all three rhetorical skills to grab the attention of the viewer.