Pathos blog

In my opinion, the most interesting of Aristotle's appeals is pathos.  The other two appeals seem more concrete to me.  A logical appeal is obvious and straightforward.  It includes facts and statistics.  In building ones ethos, they simply have to state what makes them a credible and reliable source.  However, in pathos, the writer must skillfully create his argument in a way that appeals to his specific audience's emotions.  Certain words draw more emotion from readers than others.  For example, "heartbroken" evokes more emotion than "sad."  This intrigues me because it takes a lot of thought and effort from the author to be able to evoke emotion from the readers through his or her writing.

One blatant example that comes to mind when I think of pathos is the ASPCA commercial that tries to entice people to donate to their organization in order to help animals.  They play the saddest music and show gut-wrenching pictures of abused animals that are extremely difficult to look it.  This is a very obvious use of pathos because I think that everyone watching these commercials becomes sad and sympathizes with those poor animals.  This means that the commercial has done its job because many people will decide to act on that and donate to ASPCA.  I think it is interesting to see how effective using sad music and horrific pictures can be to make people open their wallets.  Obviously it is for a great cause but I am just saying that it is interesting to see how they went about marketing their business.

Another example that comes to mind is how products often have a "Made in America" sticker that is set on an American flag.  I consider myself a very patriotic person, so I enjoy seeing this on products I buy.  One could even say it makes me feel like I am completing my civic duty.  This sticker evokes an intense feeling of patriotism from a lot of American consumers.  I think it is very interesting to see how these companies market their products through the use of pathos.    

Embracing the Freshman 15

So since my blog is about fitness and combating the dreaded "freshman 15,” I thought I would start out by telling you a all little bit about my fitness history.  I was a chubby kid all throughout middle school, a major drawback of having an Italian mother.  I finally lost most of my baby fat when I grew about half way through high school.  I played tennis throughout high school and went to the gym consistently for my last two years of high school.  I actually started going to my crazy Chilean bodybuilder tennis coach who was nothing short of a drill sergeant.  

I came into college at 189 lbs and I weighed myself the other day at 191lbs.  That being said, I am not too worried about my slight weight gain.  I have never really been a healthy eater, and I have seen that it can be very difficult to eat healthy, given all of the options they have in the dining halls.  These include ice cream, cookies, other desserts, bread, etc.  Last week I actually ate a salad one day and I texted my mom because I was so proud.  I even texted her when I got vegetable pizza at the Big Onion one day (which I highly recommend by the way).  

Once in a while I'll go through phases where I try to eat only protein and fruit and all that good stuff, but that never lasts long.  However, I think I am pretty good at staying away from junk food for the most part.  My biggest problem is probably just eating too much in general. 

Obviously the quality of food you consume is going to decrease most likely when you go to college.  Thats why I think that exercise is the real key to fighting off those unwanted extra pounds that many students before us have gained.  Being in ROTC, I do a lot more running than I would like, but I am ultimately grateful that it is helping me from falling into the unfortunate trap of college food related weight gain.  In fact, my friends will tell you that I have been complaining non-stop for the past few days about how sore my legs are.  Sitting down, getting up, and taking stairs are always accompanied by groans and complaints.  Indian sprints, alternated jogging/sprinting, running stairs in Rec Hall, and tons of squats and lunges were just some of the exercises that were on this weeks agenda that successfully destroyed my lower body.  

Also adding to my fight against the freshman 15 is my crazy friend Jimmy.  I met Jimmy at NSO and he immediately stood out as one of the strongest kids I've ever seen.  Jimmy and I kept in touch and it turns out that we are on the same floor in Brumbaugh now.  Not only does he ask me to be his gym buddy consistently, but he also acts as my personal trainer and pushes me really hard.  Whenever I start to struggle a little I hear Jimmy yelling in my ear like a Marine drill sergeant and I am forced to finish my rep.  So, up to this point in my freshman year, I have gained 2 pounds and extremely sore legs.  

  

Passion Blog Topics

Picking a topic for my blog was not an easy task, especially because I often have difficulty making important decisions.  Seeing as though I would have to write new and interesting ideas about this topic for an entire semester, I considered this to be a fairly important decision.

My first idea for the passion blog was something to do with fitness, because I like working out and all sports.  Then it occurred to me that this is a very relevant topic for college students especially.  So my first idea was that I would spend this semester blogging about the dreaded "freshman 15."  I was never too concerned about this issue myself, considering I grew up with a very Italian mother that forced food in front of me 24/7.  So, naturally I did not think college food could have too much of an effect on my already horrible eating habits.  However, I realized this is a relevant topic for many people here and I think it would be a good idea to track myself as I go through my first semester at Penn State.  This will help determine if my Italian mother prepared me to not gain too much weight in college or if the "freshman 15" will get the best of me.  I feel that this blog could be fun, humorous, and informative, especially for college freshman in the same position as me.  I absolutely hate running (even though I am required to do it for ROTC) so I might be able to add some humor in that part of the blog.  

My second idea for the passion blog would be a guide for men trying to communicate with women.  Although I am certainly not an expert in this subject, I think I would be able to make an interesting blog about my experiences in this area.  It would include tips for other guys who are trying to communicate with girls.  And no this would not be a blog about how to "pick up girls."  I currently have a girlfriend (who goes to a different college) so it would be about how to effectively communicate with girls and how to keep them happy.  Also, it would certainly include some of my mistakes for other guys that will be in my position in the future.  Since my girlfriend goes to a different college (University of Alabama to be exact), this blog would also provide tips for couples that are in long distance relationships.  I generally consider myself pretty good at communicating with the other sex, since I grew up in the middle of two sisters.  But lets be honest, I'm sure all guys have stories about how they said the wrong thing at one point to a girl and it had disastrous results.