Song Selection

Two of the songs that I think would represent my topic well are: Lana Del Rey's This is What Makes Us Girls and One Direction's That's What Makes You Beautiful. I think that This is What Makes Us Girls is a good fit for the This I Believe Speech because it captures almost perfectly the sentiment that I was trying to express about objectification. I feel that One Direction's song provides a good contrast because it is far more up beat and it focuses on a girl who is beautiful both inside and out.

Video in Pictures: Roses

After watching the music video for Roses by Outkast several more times I found several pictures that are able to tell the story without the entire narrative of the video.


(This screen capture shows that Caroline is in charge of the school)


(Benjamin starts the song by praising Caroline)


(But then the song turns into being about how she needs the best of the best)


(He also emphasizes that she is a "witch" for how she treats everyone)


(The video is rather unclear as to whether Benjamin like her or not because although he makes fun of her, he still fights with Big Boi Freddy Floater for her.)



(The yearbook pictures of Benjamin and Freddy are important to the story because it shows that two popular guys with a lot going for them both like Caroline but she is too blind to see that and she is only looking for what she perceives to be the best.)



(Even while the song is making fun of how vain and selfish Caroline is, she pretends to check herself out)



(Freddy is trying to win Caroline over and is even willing to fight for her but she is still incredibly uninterested in him.)


(Caroline perceives this stranger to be the best of the best and is wooed by what he has to offer)

Music Video Analysis

I spent a lot of time looking for a music video that had an narrative worthy enough to critique and I eventually settled on Outkast’s Roses. The video uses rhetorical devices to make the message of the song clearer. The main rhetorical device that the video uses is metaphor. The metaphor of the rose is repeated though out the song I also thought that the metaphor of the “golden calculator” was interesting. Based on the song it seems as if the infamous Caroline is only looking for the best of the best  and isn’t willing to really work hard at anything. The video works well for the audience because it shows seemingly suitable guys competing for her love while she ends up with a guy that she perceives to be the “best of the best.” 

This I Believe

Growing up I was the “ugly duckling.” All I wanted do was be as beautiful as the girls in the magazines. After being verbally abused by my peers in middle school I decided that I wanted to prove them wrong. I began to change a lot of things such as the way I dressed, the way I acted, and the activities I participated in. By the time I got to high school I was becoming the person I thought I wanted to be. My older sister’s male friends were paying attention to me. I had mistake objectification for beauty.  When I moved to Knoxville from Cincinnati I was recruited to model for an up and coming boutique. I thought my life couldn’t get better. I had finally shown them. The more involved I got in “the industry” I realized that people didn’t care that I had climbed LaConte (the third highest mountain in the Smokies), that I am a great photographer, or that I am a certified scuba diver. They did care, however, that I had relatively big boobs, a little waist, and a good butt.

            Last spring there was a large poster that was put up in downtown Knoxville with a picture of me on it. I went to being anonymous at school to being anything but. People that had never talked to me wanted to be my friend. I thought this was what I wanted until I started dating a boy I had been friends with for a long time.  That week the local newspaper had pictures of a fashion show I had been in over the weekend for a charity called Scarecrow. He showed me the picture and commented, “who would have thought I’d date a model.” I was shocked. I was dating him because of his personality and because I thought he was a good guy while he was only dating me because of my job. I have gotten other comments like that throughout high school but the most offensive was “it would be fun to be seen with you.”

            Since I graduated I have spent a lot of time working on my digital image. I have changed a lot of things on my Facebook in an attempt to show my other interests and skills instead of just showing off the latest pictures from a recent show I was in. I have spent a lot of time trying to show that inner beauty truly is more important than anything else. I am not cocky enough to see my self as beautiful but I do see that I have been objectified. I want to show the world that I am more than different parts of a whole. I realized that I would much rather be known for my obsession with 90s music, or my love of books than that I was in a fashion show. Although I am still in love with fashion and what it says about one’s personality I want to be known for more than just being shown in the clothing. I want to show my worth to society. I believe in personal worth. 

TIB Critique

After listening to Hilary Kambour’s “The Freedom of Baseball” I can appreciate her love of baseball although I don’t necessarily share it with her. She used a variety of tactics to show her love including metaphors and imagry. Although I wasn’t interested in the topic she did use at least two interesting metaphors. She used the example of the baseball game and how it brings strangers together with a common love or common hate of something. She also used a more personal example, which was more effective. She talked about how her love of baseball began when she spent time listening to it in the car with her dad and how it has since grown. 

This I Believe Reflection

After reading Kevin Kelly’s “The Universe is Conspiring to Help Us” I have gained greater faith in people. His story about always getting picked up from work and never being turned away from a “likely yard to pitch a tent” surprised me. The generosity that strangers showed toward Kelly returned my faith in humanity.

Kelly started out with a story that really grabbed my attention because I see hitchhikers all the time and have never been gutsy enough to pick one up because of all the things I have been warned about. The people in his story however embrace his situation and unfailingly take him to work although it doesn’t benefit them in anyway and it could be potentially dangerous for them.

I also thought that his ideas as to why people always let him into their home were intriguing. The though that people were living vicariously through his journey across America really resonated with me. I also appreciated that at each house he asked for permission (although the obvious choice) instead of just pitching his tent until he was chased away.

The imagery he used to describe knocking on the door, asking for permission, and being invited in was seemed as if it was out of a story and it was heartwarming. Kelly showed his vulnerability through his obvious need for help that could only be provided by other people. I love the idea that instead of the world conspiring against us, it was conspiring for us. Kelly took a different approach to what a lot of people think and it really worked with what he had to say. He also realized that the people who showed him grace also knew how to receive grace, that they felt indebted to the universe and he was the one who was the benefitted from that debt. Kelly’s repetition and use of stories really drove his idea home and made it interesting for the reader/listener to follow along with. His use of stories allowed for the imagination of the audience to take place and think of instances where they experienced miracles of the universe in their own lives