https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lyKNf0QXH4g9UPPyaYhDfYqzqA4gvy8TMc1gCW4IfFw/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DvRu5N9gxN-5JRTZy_4J2qdshqWfafK9i7-LpdO7ZzY/edit

chttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Mq__63VvZKbZ4GN-iCd68Cy6nfW71slVI43sFl2mcg/edit

The brand I decided to research is the makeup company Colourpop. Colourpop is a popular makeup brand known for having great quality at a very cheap price. Colourpop was founded in 2014, and is owned by Seed Beauty. Seed Beauty also owns large makeup companies such as Kylie Cosmetics and KKW Beauty. Colourpop started selling their makeup only online, and promoted their products through social media, mainly Instagram. Colourpop also collaborates with popular video creators on Youtube to help promote their products, and it also gives the creators the opportunity of making their own makeup. Colourpop has grown from a small online company, to a widely known makeup brand that can now be found in Ulta, a popular makeup store. Colourpop is also cruelty free, meaning they do not test on animals. On their website it says, “We test our products in the nicest way possible, leaving fur babies to be fur babies and experimenting on people instead (the people at ColourPop HQ to be exact!).” A lot of Colourpop’s products are vegan, but not all of them. The reason I chose to research this brand is because last winter break, my sister and I explained to my mom, a big fan of Colourpop, how Colourpop is equivalent to “fast fashion”, but makeup. Although Colourpop is known for being a great brand, they are very unsustainable. Colourpop is always coming out with new products and collaborations, trying to keep up with trends while also creating something no other brand has. By doing this, they are creating products that the consumer has not shown interest in. They mass produce their products, which is why they have such cheap prices. If you look on their Instagram, they have a new makeup launch every week. Whether its a product, a collection, or a collaboration with other people or makeup brands, Colourpop always has a new product coming out. A lot of the time, the products are barely different than ones they already have, and sometimes it is the exact same product just packaged differently. Colourpop also has a skin care brand called Fourth Ray Beauty, and a body makeup brand called Sol Body. Both of these brands follow the same production and distribution patterns as Colourpop. Because millions of people shop at Colourpop, they produce millions of products, and therefore creates a lot of waste. Each product has to be packaged individually for sanitary reasons, but a lot of their packaging is unnecessary. For example, PR (public relations) packages are given to celebrities, influencers, etc. to promote Colourpop products to their audiences. I personally have multiple Colourpop products, and as I stated before, my mom has a lot too. But as I had researched and learned more about how companies can be sustainable, I have not bought as many products as I used to. Although it is a great option because of how cheap all of their products are, I would feel better supporting them if they did not produce as much product as they do. A new makeup launch every week is unnecessary and their own customers can’t even keep up.

In the first 70 pages of Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard, it compares the relationships humans have with each other and the relationships humans have with the Earth. He explains how humans treat the Earth as if its disposable by throwing our trash everywhere and creating pollution. He compares this to the way humans treat each other, again as if people were disposable. Chouinard also explains the effects factories and industrial corporations have on our environment. He stresses the importance of companies becoming more sustainable to improve the environment by producing less harmful gasses / chemicals. I really like how most of the book is about his and other people’s experiences in helping improve the environment. Chouinard goes in depth about his own personal life stories and how he got involved in helping improve the environment. He also includes photographs to show his experiences, which I really like because it makes the book more personal. Also, because you would not really expect personal stories and photographs in a book about business. His business, Patagonia, is an example of a business that is environmentally friendly and sustainable. His business shows that larger corporations are choosing to operate unsustainably because it is easy or cheaper, even though that is not the only option. I like that Chouinard is one of the few business owners that are trying to improve the world through their business and encourages other businesses to do the same. I also like how even though his book is about business, he explains the ways all businesses can be sustainable.

My meme addresses the environmental issue of global warming. The audience is the people who do not believe in global warming and ignore the evidence science has given us. Many people believe that global warming and climate change is a hoax, and accuse scientists that do research on it of being corrupt. The meme suggests that even if you do not believe in climate change and global warming, it will still occur. According to https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ , ninety seven percent of scientists concluded that Earth’s climate is warming, and it is primarily due to greenhouse gases emitted by humans. These gases mostly come from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Often times, large companies ignore the scientific evidence of global warming because they are making money with their factories and incorporations that add to the greenhouse effect. One of the most popular climate activists is seventeen year old Greta Thunberg. She has raised awareness on the issue of climate change and global warming through strikes and protests. She has been mocked and ridiculed by many people, including the President of the United States, Donald Trump. Trump has denied climate change and global warming many times and even tweeted that the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese. In 2017, Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Change Agreement, an agreement between many countries to help reduce the effects of climate change and global warming. The meme appeals to logos because it is a fact that ignoring something does not make it go away, even though many people in power seem to believe it does.

Rhetoric is a form of persuasion. Rhetoric has three parts to it: pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is persuading someone using emotion. Ethos is persuading someone using one’s credibility. Logos is persuasion through logic. Rhetoric is used to influence a person or an audience’s decisions or ways of thinking. Rhetoric relates to critical thinking and reading because it is sometimes used to express an opinion or to change someones opinion. After learning about rhetoric I’ve learned that it is used all the time in politics, news articles, and other places where you think you are getting straight forward facts, when in reality they are using rhetoric to persuade you.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IRhxqCD0E1BicIsB0mRBgMLh-4sunKaVls9E-v39Smc/edit

The main purpose of Backpacks vs. Briefcases: steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis is to explain rhetoric, its meaning, and when and how to use it. I was not very familiar with rhetoric before college because my high school English classes never went over it. I think lots of times people know when they are being persuaded, but as the article explains, rhetoric is used for almost everything we do in our lives, even if we are unaware of it. Although it seems fairly simple, there is more to rhetoric than just “persuasive language”. Something new that I learned was that there are three parts when analyzing a rhetorical moment: exigence, audience, and constraints. I liked how the article explained how in depth rhetoric can be in any kind of argument, and how to know if you or someone else is using it. I also have never really thought about how important the audience is when using rhetoric. I think rhetoric is very important to know, especially during important situations. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos make up the rhetorical triangle. Ethos is persuasive language relying on ones credibility. Pathos is persuasive language using ones emotions or attitude. Logos is persuasive language using logic. I think the article explains how to analyze rhetoric correctly, which will be useful when writing a rhetorical analysis. It gave specific examples and explained how to find certain pieces of rhetoric within them. This will be a good article to look back on when trying to get all of the different points of rhetoric in an analysis.

I think “influencers” use ethos when promoting certain products (makeup, clothes, hair products, etc.), using their credibility to get sales. They are basically ensuring it is a good product since they are using it, even though they are being paid to promote it most of the time. Pathos is definitely being used in that one commercial with all of the animals in cages and the “in the arms of the angels” song. The commercial is trying to get people to feel bad for the animals so they will donate to the organization.