Who You Are

Who You Are

By: Marvin Mui

Table of Contents PG I. Reflection………………......3-4 II. Are You a Cigarette…….5-8 III.“Chinese Niggas Ain’t Meant to play Basketball………………….9-12 IV.Does Racism determine the sports we play?.........13 V. Mad for Mad Men……………14 VI.The More you know, the madder you get…………….15 VII.UB GYM………………………….16

Reflection Before coming into English 101, I felt like I was a decent writer who could free write an entire essay and hand it in with no problems what so ever. I never did any drafts, and I certainly almost never re-read my own work. However, after taking this course, I grew a lot from revising my rhetorical analysis substantially and changing the genre of my ethnography entirely. After many revisions and workshops that helped improve my writing skills, I’ve seen the gradual steps of my improvement from my first draft, to “what seems to be� my final.

While reading my rhetorical analysis I noticed that it needed touching up. I wrote about Mad Men and how the show uses the metaphors of the first episode in order to portray Don Draper. I had some great ideas, and I discussed these ideas with my professor, but only a tiny amount of the things we talked about made it on paper.

Throughout my rhetorical analysis, I was too obsessed with the actual show rather than analyzing it, which defeated the purpose of the assignment. I did not critique the show for what it was, and I felt like I needed to fix up the paper a lot more. In my substantial revision of my rhetorical analysis, the entire essay was about Don Draper, rather than the episode itself. However, it uses the metaphors of the first episode in order to describe the type of person Don Draper is. In the rhetorical analysis, I never expanded on Don Draper as a lifestyle and how it portrays Don Draper as a cigarette. The information was there, but my own analysis of it was not. I learned that, while revising the paper, I tend to restate the same thing over and over again just to meet the word limit. After realizing this, I tried cutting down the repetition and using more new information. In the end, I was able to make full, connected circles in my paper. Rather than having a bunch of summaries and not connecting them together, I

was able to make full, connected circles in my paper. Rather than having a bunch of summaries and not connecting them together, I was able to connect it, analyze it, and see the new piece flow. I was also able to look up new information using sources to see if anybody had the same ideas as I did. My analysis was different from any online articles I could find.

After finishing the rhetorical analysis, I had to start on the genre change of my ethnography paper, something which created a conflict within myself.

There is a background to the reason why I wrote the ethnography.

The first time I stepped into the basketball gym in the Alumni Arena, I realized that there was a huge segregation between races except for this one basketball court that had mixed races playing on the court. While admiring the beauty of the establishment, my mind started to run in tangents and I had a flashback of something that happened to me 4 years ago. I was the victim of a hate crime at a very young age that changed the course of my life. While doing the ethnography, it was very difficult not thinking about the reason to do it and while writing the genre change, it was difficult to detach myself from the paper since it had such a huge impact on my life. However, I wanted to try writing something personal without taking criticism of my personal writing personally. I never wrote a memoir before, so it would be my first time talking about myself. At first, I felt quite conceited with the paper. I wasn’t content with it, because I felt like I was showing off, but as I continued writing, I figured that that was what a memoir was about. I was supposed to write about myself and who I am. I decided to put more emotions on the paper after going to my professor for help.

While writing both the papers, I knew I needed a lot of help from my professor and friends in order to maximize the potential of the papers. So I spent a lot of time editing and re-editing the two papers. I also started both of them fairly early so I could get more work into both of them. While writing both of these essays, I noticed that my repetition has become scares and my writing has become easier to read. While revising the essay, I felt like re-reading the paper out loud was very helpful in catching silly mistakes which I would not catch if I did not do so otherwise. These two pieces of writing really helped me with critical thinking and creative writing.

One thing that stuck with me while writing this paper was something I heard from my professor. “Writing is a life long journey.” In the very beginning of the semester, I did not put much thought into it.

However, as I continue to write more and more, I could see the change and improvements of my papers. My journey as a writer will continue on and as I improve more and more, I will never stop because even the greatest writers never have “final drafts”.

Are You a cigarette?

The Sale of concept; not the sale of a product

A man with a beige trench coat puts on his hat and walks out the front door. He notices the clouds darkening and sky falling while he stands underneath the awning of his office building. He contemplates about his next assignment for his big corporation and, while doing so, takes a cigarette out of his pocket. He looks at the stick of poisonous delight. The slim, paper-covered tobacco looked so tempting, and the buzz that the smoke would bring feels so enticing. Why did he want one so bad at the moment? Why did anybody want one so bad? His skin begins to crawl from the lack of nicotine in his body, so he decides to place the cigarette in his mouth and lights it with a match. He takes his first puff of gaseous tar, enjoying every second of his smoke-filled lungs before finally exhaling it all out. He stares at the cigarette, knowing it was bad for him, wishing he hadn’t fallen in love with it. The man takes a last big drag, finishing the entire cylindrical tube, and throws it out. He walks back into the building, takes off his trench coat revealing a three-piece suit, and heads back into his office where he sits down trying to come up with a pitch for one of his clients, Lucky Strikes. Like many advertisement workers on Madison Avenue, he was a “Mad Man”.

Mad Men is a TV Show that premiered on July 19, 2007 on the American Cable Network (AMC). The show is currently up to its penultimate season. The show takes place in the 1950s in a fictional advertising agency named Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City. The show focuses on the business of the agency and the lives of the characters who work in the agency. One of the main characters, Don Draper, is a creative director in Sterling Cooper. Though the first episode portrays what society was like in the 1950s for advertisement agencies, it also portrays the protagonist Don Draper using the metaphors of the episode. The first episode revolves around Don Draper trying to come up with an ad pitch for the Lucky Strikes Company. In doing so, the pilot episode manages to sell us Don Draper as a lifestyle, as an aspiration, and ultimately a concept.

Not only does the pilot episode sell us Don Draper, it is also crucial in selling the concept of an advertisement. Through the first episode, they sell to us the idea of Don Draper through the advertisement of cigarettes.

In fact, the pilot episode’s title is “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” The song by “The platters” is about being blinded by love, thus the term “smoke gets in your eyes”. Since love is such a strong emotion, it often blinds people in to seeing pass the other’s flaws.

The title is used perfectly in this first episode because advertisement is all about deception. The advertisement agency creates ads that are meant to entice consumers by blinding them from the truth. Much like how smoking can kill you, the advertisement agencies convince you otherwise by distracting you from reality (Song Meanings). At the same time cigarettes are a physical

way that can get smoke into your eyes. The song can also be interpreted to be about the addiction of a cigarette smoker and how one cannot survive without the other. The smoker gets withdrawal symptoms if he/she does not smoke, and the cigarette is a useless cylindrical tube if it is not smoked (Song Meanings – 1brightday). All in all, the whole point of advertisement agencies is utilizing the art of deception in order to convince the consumers to buy their products or services and, inevitably, buy into their concept. One of the scenes in the first episode shows Don Draper talking to one of his clients about love and how it does not exist. It is just created by advertisers like Don Draper himself in order to sell a concept. There and then, Don Draper was describing himself as a person of deception. He talks about how the “lightning bolt to the heart” emotions are all made up by people like him.

During the meeting with Lucky Strikes, Draper offers the idea of a slogan for the Lucky Strikes Company which sell cigarettes. “It’s Toasted” was a way of reassuring the audience that there is nothing to worry about. The word “toasted” perpetuates positive thoughts for the audience. When we hear the word “toasted”, we usually think of camp fires, or marshmallows. A sense of comfort is felt through a single word. Draper begins to describe happiness, using beautiful similes to make happiness, an intangible emotion, seem tangible. “Happiness is the smell of a new car.” “A billboard on the side of the road screaming with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is okay.”(Mad Men) Not only did this scene sell the concept of a cigarette, it also sold the concept of Don Draper. Draper is in fact the cigarette. When he comes up with the word “toasted”, not only is he describing the cigarette, he is also describing himself. Draper is a very charismatic man. His handsome looks make men want to be like him, and his sleek hair and smile makes woman want to be with him. He offers a formal sense of security because of the way he dresses and acts.

Draper gives you that buzz that puts you in a relaxed state of mind, much like a cigarette would. As a matter of fact, he might even offer you something as intangible as happiness.

Through his looks and his charm, he is able to reassure you. He is able to sell you his dangerous lifestyle which he leads and make it seem like it is comfortable. Even though you know it isn’t good for you, you want it. You want to be happy.

However, too much “happiness” isn’t always good for you. Cigarettes contains very deadly carcinogens. Over 4000 chemicals enter the human body in one puff of smoke (unfilteredtv.com). Cigarettes are dangerous, and can kill. So why do people still choose to smoke, knowing the side effects of smoking? This idea parallels Don Draper. The fact that Don Draper is so dangerous and such a bad man wants people want him even more. There are specific scenes in the first episode which shows us that he is a dangerous man. The Purple Heart that he looks at shows us that he was a lieutenant in the military. However, he is very mysterious about it. Later on in the show, we find out that his real name isn’t Don Draper, it is actually Dick Whitman, and he lived two different lives after he got out of the army. He cheats on his wife with an independent artist which is the exact opposite of what a good husband should do in the very first episode, and he continues to do so with different woman in throughout the entire series. We know that he is bad, but why do we want to aspire to such a life style? One very important idea that could explain it would be the Freudian concept “Death Wish”. In the pilot episode, Pete Campbell, one of the Don Draper’s workers, searched through Draper’s room and found the document in the trash can. This document stated that people subconsciously want to die, and thus the reason why they smoke. Draper knew this piece of information wasn’t going to work, so threw it out in the trash, but Campbell wanted to use it as a back-up plan if Draper had nothing to

say, so he could seem like the hero. During the meeting, Draper choked and when Campbell tried to step in to save the day, he failed miserably (The Partially Examined Life). However, even though people don’t like hearing about their subconscious, this concept is quite true. The concept of death is mysterious and dangerous. We want to know more about it, but we don’t want to die. The only thing stopping us from finding out more about death is the fact that when we die, there is no return. Human beings are very curious creatures, anything that is dangerous both repels us and draws us towards it. This concept parallels the lifestyle of Don Draper. We know that Don Draper is a bad man, we know that he is dangerous, we know that he isn’t healthy for us, but he brings a sense of mystery. Even though we know that he can’t be good for us, he satisfies our thirst of knowledge. We want to find out about Draper so bad, it’s like smoking a cigarette. Each puff you take, you find out more and more about him, and in doing so, you lose more and more of yourself to the cigarette and towards Don Draper’s lifestyle.

Not only is Don Draper a dangerous man, but his lifestyle in itself is dangerous. The whole series of the TV show revolves around the fall of a man because of the precarious actions he takes. The struggle between climbing up to the top and staying there is shown as very difficult and sooner or later, will lead to a fall. In the title sequence of the show, we see a man continuously falling. This man is Don Draper. In each episode that revolves around Don Draper, we assume that he will fall because of the dangerous actions he pursue, he always hits a bump, but never actually ends up falling, and in the end of each episode, always find a way to persevere. The day Don Draper falls would be the day he actually fails to get back up. For example, in the very first episode, Don Draper is thinking of an ad pitch for the Lucky Strikes commercial. He fails throughout the entire show, until the very end where he reaches an epiphany and is able to come up with a pitch in the very last seconds. This episode shows the struggle of the advertisement agency, and the struggles of Don Draper which, more importantly, sells us the lifestyle of the struggle that he has to go through. The reason why we want to be like Don Draper is because of the fact that he never ends up falling. He would hit many bumps in the road, but in the end of each episode, he will always find a way to climb back up to the top. This also goes back the end of the title sequence where we could see a black and white version of Don Draper sitting very relaxed on his couch and smoking a cigarette. Though he falls, he always ends up back in an office building, far away from the cement pavement which he is already supposed to hit. Although he falls, everything always ends up falling back in place for him. His lifestyle of never failing is a quintessential one, which causes men to want to be like him. His success makes woman want to be with him. The fact that nothing is given to him and he has to struggle to make it to the top is the reason why people want to be him. Although he always succeeds, nothing is handed to him. He has to work to get it.

The show is actually an advertisement in itself. It tries to sell us the concept of Don Draper’s life style, something we can aspire to be or to be with. It sells u the three piece suit, the sleek black hair, the dangerous lifestyle he leads, and the ideal man. He’s toasted, and he’s poisonous at the same time. Men want to be reliable and dangerous.

Women want to be with a man who gives her a sense of security, but at the same time, is mysterious and precarious. Mad Men manages to portray both these desires through the main character Don Dreper. Through the metaphors of the show, we can understand the type of man Don Draper is and the reason why he can be seen as an aspiration.

Looking at the show from a boarder point of view, the show is an advertisement about advertisements. It sells us what we believe to be the

advertisement agency making advertisements to corporations. Through these advertisements, we begin to understand more and more about how a certain concept is introduced and ultimately how it influences the mass media. What the viewers don’t always realize is that the show that they are actually watching is trying to sell them the concept of selling concepts. Through the show, we get a good understanding of what selling a concept is, but thinking outside the box, we could see that the show itself is trying to sell us what selling concepts are like, and ultimately, it manages to sell us Don Draper.

Sources - “The platters – Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” Song Meanings. N.d.

Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

- “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” Mad Men. Writ. Matthew Weiner. Dir. Tim Hunter. Lionsgate Television.

- “Mad Men on the Death Drive.” The Partially Examined Life. A philosophy podcast & blog. N.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

- “Chemical in Cigarettes.” Unfilteredtv.com. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.

“Chinese Niggas Ain’t Meant to Play Basketball” “Shut up!” I moaned, as my eye lids cracked open to search for the mysterious sound in the dark. The rhythmic screams of my alarm clock always annoyed me and the green digits that flashed before my half-opened eyes stung. This was the seventh time I woke up at five-thirty in the morning. I took my hand and slammed it down on the button on top, not sure whether or not I broke the alarm clock. I didn’t care, it was annoying me. I got up and brushed my teeth with my eyes closed. The clothes I laid out the night before were staring at me, telling me to put them on. I dragged my feet towards them and got dressed, putting each article of clothing on one slow step at a time. I walked out the house with a bottle of ice-cold water on my left and a basketball on my right. I was getting tired of this daily routine, and wasn’t sure if I could keep this up much longer. The sun began to rise as I watched the shadows of the project buildings come to life. The walk to the basketball court was always the longest, but the cool, morning, summer breeze kept me awake whenever I got sleepy. I reached the basketball courts to look at the bent rim with disgust. I felt tired and groggy, and I just wanted to go back to bed.

I started to dribble the basketball to listen to the beautiful rhythm of the ball bouncing on the concrete floor. I closed my eyes to listen to the instrument I was playing, each note ringing with determination. This is why I continued to play. Everywhere I went, there was music, and basketball was no different. This went on for a couple of seconds before I finally opened my eyes to take a quick glance at the basketball hoop. I shot the ball to hear the last, beautiful note of the song: Swish.

My mind started to drift as I was doing basketball drills. Something was different about today, basketball just didn’t seem to have the same ring to it as it used to. The morning sun began to beat down on my back as I was looking at the metal rim. That was when I heard voices behind me smirking, so I turned around to see who it was. There were five of them approaching me and looking at me with phony smiles. One of them finally spoke, “My mans, you wanna run threes though?” I reluctantly said “sure,” not completely sure why they were smirking. The idea of a three versus three early in the morning didn’t seem like a bad idea, but these guys didn’t really look like they wanted to play. They looked like they wanted something else. I don’t know why I didn’t say no. I didn’t want to play with them because their body language, their fake smile, even their bloodshot eyes hinted that they were not going to take the game of basketball serious. Still, we began the game. At first, they seemed like they were really interested in the game, maybe too interested, but I realized that, though I was on the court, I was not one of the players. I never got to the touch the ball once. I didn’t realize this until one of my “teammates” looked at me and decided to shoot a wild shot rather than pass it to me. They weren’t playing basketball, they were just trying to keep the ball away from me. One of them shot the ball, and I went up to grab the rebound. When I tried putting the basketball back into the hoop, one of them swung his arm at me. That was when I realize that this became so much more than a game of basketball. . I was scared, but there was nothing I could do but to continue the game. I felt threathened and with every attempt I made to leave, m body didn’t want to leave without the basketball, so I waited. I waited for the game to be over. The rest of the game end up being the people on my team scoring the final points. When the game was done, I took my ball and decided to leave, glad that it was over with. “Nice playing with you guys, I’m

gonna head off.” I started walking towards the exit, but two of them stood in front of me.

“Nah, you not leaving nigga.” I didn’t know what to do. This was the first time this ever happened to me, and my fight or flight reaction was all jumbled up. I did neither, I stood still. “Yo Shaquan, you know this Chinese nigga ain’t leaving us hanging without a ball like that right?” One of them said. They all nodded. So they got personal, I knew one of their names. Still, I stood in place, staring at the one that just spoke. They all looked at me with discontent, almost contempt. I never had claustrophobia, but I began to feel closed in. The sweat on my back begin to increase from either my panic attack or the heat of the sun. For that split second, it felt like everything stopped. There was no music. No basketball. No love for the game. Trapped. Enclosed in a box. Suffocating Silence. Smothering heat. Choking, gasping for air, but silently. I didn’t want to disrupt the silence. Asphyxiating ball. Everything around me felt oppressed. That was when I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head that caused me to move out of my position, I began to fall towards the pavement. I curled up into a ball while they took turns kicking me with horrid rhythm. I heard the sound of my basketball bouncing away from me slowly, leaving me. My instrument became silenced in the background. I closed my eyes and my mind went blank, all I thought about was when this horrible song was going to stop. If this was music, if this was basketball, I don’t want to be a part of it anymore. The jarring sounds they made as their fists and legs came in contact with mine sounded off tune; each note they played inflicting pain on my legs and arms. My back began to swell up with the mark of their shoes. “Chinese niggas ain’t meant to play basketball! Don’t forget it, lil nigga!” The song stopped, but I still had my eyes shut, just in case if they decided to play an encore. I didn’t want to open my eyes, I didn’t want to get up, I wanted to lie there and wish it never happened. I felt broken and shut down, but, I couldn’t take the heat from the sun much longer; I needed to leave. I cracked my eyes open looking for my basketball, hoping my instrument was there, but they took a piece of my passion away from me. I ran home with tears welling up.

When I reached home, the first thing I did was look in the mirror. The first thing I saw were bloodshot eyes followed by bruises on the arms and legs. I felt the bruises on my back begin to heat up. The shower stung, the cuts I received from hitting the pavement went unnoticed until the warm streaming water came in contact with the opened wound. I allowed the warm water to wash out my injuries, knowing that it would hurt, hoping the pain would ring louder than the sound of the broken notes that kept playing over and over again in my head. I looked through my drawers for a long sleeved shirt, and went to lay in my bed. So that’s it? I couldn’t play basketball because I was Chinese. Because I’m not like the rest of them. Because I had so many other stereotypes surrounding me that took away my privileges to do something I love. I became an emotional rollercoaster. The images of their faux smiles replayed in my head over and over again. What if I didn’t show up that day? What if I let my tired-self lie in bed instead of going out early in the morning? None of this would have happened. If only I had a gang with me, if only I had a weapon on me: If only. I slept, I woke up to eat, and I went back to bed. That became my schedule. The outside world was too precarious. I did not want to leave the safety of my home. The hot sun and sweet summer breeze sneaked through my window, turned bitter, and baked my room. My parents would question me why I was wearing long sleeved shirts in the summer time. I would tell them that my arms felt cold. This continued on for three days.

I woke up one early morning to grab some breakfast in the kitchen. While walking there, I passed by a mirror which I didn’t take much noticed to, but while looking back I took a glance at it and saw my own reflection. Something was different about me. I put down the

food and stared deep into the mirror. What did I see that changed? My bruises healed, my blood shot eyes were back to normal, but the same spark I saw before the event happened was missing. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t me. That’s when I realized that that event changed my life for the worse. I gave up on so many things in my life, and I was just letting these people have their way. I was letting these obstacles get the best of me. I wasn’t angry at them, I was angry at myself. That was when I clenched my fist and I said out loud to myself, “I’m going to push through. I’m not going to let these obstacles hold me back from doing something that I truly love.”

I strolled to Chinatown and bought a basketball for 10 dollars. It was nothing compared to the previous ball I had, but it could play a note like any ball can. My footsteps started to head towards the same basketball courts where I had my life changing experience. I don’t remember what I was thinking at the moment, but it had nothing to do with what happened at the courts three days earlier. The second I reached the basketball courts, I started to do the drills I always did during the early mornings. The environment around me went blank, and it was just the basketball, the rim, and me. I dribbled the basketball to the beat of my heart with my eyes closed, changing directions to whichever way I felt was right, until I felt a rush that came over me and I had no choice but to aim the ball at the hoop and release it to play that last beautiful note again. This went on for about an hour before I heard a slight whisper coming from behind me. At first, I thought it was only the wind. But it only grew louder and I couldn’t help myself but to turn around.

It was them. I only took a quick glance, but I recognized the way they stood there, I recognized their faces, I even recognized their voices through their whispers. I couldn’t focus like I was focusing before, I didn’t want to play basketball anymore if it meant that they were going to hurt me. I was getting ready to leave when suddenly something stopped me from fleeing. I thought to myself, they are nothing but obstacles, stopping you from what you want to do, what you love to do. Keep shooting that basketball. So I did, not paying them much mind, but still feeling their eyes piercing through me with every jump shot I took. It got up to the point where I started to sweat, not knowing whether or not it was from the visible summer heat wave, or from the nervousness of being around a threat. It got up to the point where I could not take it anymore, and I thought they were walking towards me. I quickly turned around and got ready to receive the blows again, but as I put my hands up over my head, they were gone. I could not see them from where I was standing, but those obstacles were gone. It was just the basketball, the rim, and me.

Sometimes, I would look back and wonder how my love for basketball would have been like if those 5 offenders never showed up 4 years ago. Would I be where I was now?

Would I work as hard as I did? The answer lies lost in the deep abyss of the “what if” world.

All I could tell myself is that they were a life changing experience, and even though they hurt me physically, they strengthened my passion so much more. My eyes were fixated on the basketball rim in a gym while I was thinking about this. That was when the coach blew the whistle and I snapped out of my deep thinking. “What are you waiting for, captain?” He smiled at me. I looked around at my teammates to see them all pick up a basketball. We all began our dribbling drill. I closed my eyes again to listen to the music of our percussion ensemble and the excitement of my heart every time one of us makes a basket.

While walking to the Alumni Arena in my basketball clothes, I saw a big, black cloud slowly covering the ceiling of the campus. I saw the drizzle coming from afar and I knew I had to rush into the gym if I didn’t want to get soaked. From the outside, the Alumni Arena doesn’t look like much. You would never

even noticed it was a place for athletics if it wasn’t for the big football stadium in the back of the building. While walking in, you could see all the hard work that was put into putting up all the trophies, banners, and pictures of sports players that came out of this University. The Gold and Silvers probably served as motivation for when people walked in and out of the gym. I walked past the workout room (which is always packed) and right into the basement where the basketball courts are located. I stepped in expecting there to be a lot of people, and the gym didn’t disappoint. The symphony of shoes squeaking, balls bouncing, and people shouting as I walked into the gym felt like an orchestra. I saw a full court scrimmage running on the far end of the gym and then four half court games going on. There were the traditional Asian group on one basketball court, a mixed group in a different basketball court, an all-white group in another basketball court, and an all-black group playing a full court scrimmage. Is it racism that separates them? Or is there a different reason? My mind flashed back to the old basketball courts while I began pacing around, looking for the right basketball court to begin a basketball game.

Does Racism determine the sports we play?

In the Basketball courts of the Alumni Center, It has become self-evident that there is much segregation between the races. Each court is filled with a different ethnicity. I can't tell if it's because of the skill level of the Basketball players or if the players themselves are uncomfortable playing basketball with a different race. I decided to choose this topic because when I was younger, I was a victim of a hate crime related to both race and basketball. My hypotheses to this dilemma would be the fact that it isn't so much about the race but rather, it is about skill level of these players that causes segregation between these races. It could also be the fact that these basketball players only enjoy playing basketball with their friends as oppose to strangers. Some of the questions I pose to interview my interviewees with would be why they choose to play with only their own race. I would also like to find out more about the person like their background to see if they are faced with segregation outside of basketball. I am aware that there may be many groups at a time that will play basketball and it would be impossible to interview all of them, so I plan to interview about 1-3 members from each group that I interview.

I understand an ethnography should not be a topic which could get you emotionally attached to because it would disturb the analysis of the analysis. However, I feel that it would be a great opportunity to try to detach myself from the paper I am writing. I plan on starting this project as soon as possible. The gym is opened from 5 p.m. until 11:45 p.m. which gives me plenty of time to interview the people that are there.

Mad For Mad Men

Mad Men is a TV show that premiered on July 19, 2007 on the American Cable Network (AMC) and has been running ever since. The show takes place in the 1960s in a fictional advertising agency named Sterling Cooper on Madison Avenue in New York City. “Mad men” was a slang term coined in the 1950s by advertisers working on Madison Avenue. The show focuses on the business of the agency and the lives of the characters who work in the Agency. One of the Main characters, Don Draper, is a creative director in Sterling Cooper.

I am interested in this TV show because I believe that the first episode uses the metaphors of the show in order to portray the main character Don Draper. My understanding of the show is that it uses specific metaphors of the first episode, such as cigarettes and the Freudian theory of the death wish, in order to portray a character in the show. My Rhetorical analysis will focus on deeply analyzing the metaphors of the show rather than the show itself. I will only briefly summarize the show so the audience will get a pretty good understanding of the show without watching the show itself. However, after re-watching the show, the audience will realize all the metaphors that the writers of the show are trying to portray. While researching this topic, I could not find an online article that talks about how a cigarette is comparable to Don Draper, and I feel like it will be very eye opening. The method of which I intend to approach analyzing this TV show would be to compare a cigarette to Don Draper and seeing how similar they are to each other. The three topics on which I will discuss will be the slogan of the cigarette company’s slogan which is, “It’s Toasted.” I will talk about the Freudian theory of the death wish, and I will also talk about the struggle of the falling man and how all of this relates back to Don Draper and causes him to become an ideal man and someone to aspire to.

The More You Know, the Madder You Get

I wish to do a substantial revision on my rhetorical analysis because, the first episode of Mad Men was very well directed. However, I feel like there is so much more information I could include into the paper that I did not do so in the rhetorical analysis. My rough draft of the rhetorical analysis was very shaky. It was more of a summary than an analysis of the first episode. However, my revised version and my final version was a whole lot better, though I still feel like I can do a better job on it. I intend to change this assignment entirely by researching each metaphor of the show intensely. In the past, I only covered the rhetoric of ideas and how it portrays Don Draper. Since the first episode is about creating ad pitch for cigarettes, we can tell that the first episode defines what kind of person Don Draper is. The pilot episode is usually used to introduce characters, and Mad Men’s pilot episode did not disappoint. I feel like I left out a lot of ideas that portrayed Don Draper when the first episode is chock-full of them. I just need to figure out of a way of incorporating these ideas with my essay. The main point of my rhetorical analysis was: the first episode uses the metaphors of advertisement in order to sell a concept and construct the main character, Don Draper. Though this was my main idea, I did not do a good job of writing the paper. It did not flow and there were many points that were not connected to each other. Since 90% of the paper has to be changed, I will be starting the paper from scratch, but taking some ideas from my rhetorical analysis and putting a lot of effort into the new paper, thus copy-editing and proof reading would be done after I finished the my first draft. Copy editing and proof reading will be done by re-reading the paper while looking for punctuation and grammatical mistakes. I believe the easiest way to do this would be to read the paper out loud to catch any silly errors.

choose to be Ub