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Daniel Tomberlin English 1101 Professor: Elizabeth Hinnant October 6, 2013 Rhetorical Analysis To a physically active person running shoes are very important. Being very conspicuous, there are little details that make up the affinity for the shoe that most people do not recognize. These little details also help it attract to different people. The audience of a Nike runners shoe is for all audiences for all ages and genders. All the major companies like Nike, Under armor, Asics, and Brooks study what impresses certain genres of people and they put their studies in the looks of their shoes. What draws a person to a certain type of shoe is how the product is advertised. There are key components of and ad and the ad is designed to make the product stick out. There are many different ways companies can do this, and the analysis of the shoe can show why there are small details such as the color of the shoe, the color of the shoe compared to the background, the shape of the shoe, and the emphasis of the text, to reach the overall goal of the shoe. Every major company has a goal for their shoe's and the goal is for the shoe to appeal to the right person. One way they reach their goal is by color. The color of a shoe is very important for reaching the right audience. Think about if somebody wants to buy some boots, they are not going to get a pink colored boot. They are more than likely going to get a brown boot so they can blend into the environment. The Nike ad is about portraying a light shoe, and they chose two shades of purple for the color of the shoe. There are two reasons why Nike chose purple. The first reason is purple is not
Comment [B3]: This introduction doesnt really give me an idea of what your text looks like, and thats something I might need moving forward. Also, when you bring in Underarmor and Basics, I get confused and wonder if youre going to be talking about them as well. Make sure you keep your reader on the right path. Are you analyzing an actual shoe or an ad? I already feel kind of confused. Comment [B4]: Shoes. This is plural, not possessive. Comment [B5]: This is an over-generalization. Im certain there are plenty of girls who would get pink boots! Im also wondering why you havent begun speaking about your text specifically yet. Comment [B2]: Watch your language. Im not sure what you mean here. Comment [B1]: Id like a more creative title!

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a heavy color. The two colors that make purple are red and blue, and purple is a lighter color than both of those colors. This helps because a light color makes a shoe look lighter. The other reason why they chose purple is because the color deals more with women and the weight of a women is normally less than of a man. This helps to sell the point of the shoe not being heavy because purple normally deals with a women. The other colors of the shoe are black and white. The simple reason black is chosen is because it helps the purple show. It almost makes the color purple pop out. This helps to focus on the weight of the shoe because the color purple is being noticed more. Another reason black was chosen for the shoe is because black also deals with durability. The color black is less likely to look dirty because it is harder to see dirt or scuffs on a darker color. When you have runner who likes purple and white together, then runner cares about what they look like and black will help the shoe look clean. The last color on the shoe is white. The color white is the plainest looking color out of the color spectrum and is great for the feeling of light. White also helps the purple pop out as well. This gives the shoe all the feelings it is trying to portray about the weight of the shoe. The white and purple contrast together to get the feel of a weightless shoe and then the black helps to bring out the purple and white even more. Now when all the colors come together it gives the feel that the shoe is durable and light. If the company knows what color the shoe needs to be then they pick a background for the advertisement that will make the color pop and will correlate to what they are trying to sell. Nike chose Silver and white because both of those colors make purple pop even more. Silver was chosen because it a light color and that reflects on how light the shoe is. White was chosen for the same purpose as the color silver. Not only is the background silver but it gets lighter in the center. This adds the ultimate effect of the shoe because the corners are darker and it is lighter where the shoes is.
Comment [B9]: Huh? Comment [B8]: You move around a lot within this one paragraph, and Im still not sure I understand the argument youre trying to make about the lightness of the shoe and why it matters. Comment [B7]: Im not understanding your argument here. Are you saying that women need light shoes because they weigh less than men? Comment [B6]: Why does it matter that the shoe look light?

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The words on the advertisement make sense to what they are selling. The words are located on the left which is what you read first. This makes the merchant not forget about the text after they look at the shoe. There are two fonts on the advertisement and the first size is a bold darker color font which displays the theme of the shoe. The reason the text is dark and bold is because it will definitely get your attention. The ad's bold font says "freedom for your feet." The article wants you to read this font first because the shoe is meant to be light, flexible, and mainly comfortable. Those underlining meanings are put into your head when you read the bold text and then look at the shoe. Under the bold font is a lighter and smaller font that is not bold. The smaller font says that the "shoe is flexible, lightweight... Just like your feet." The reason the font looks like lightweight is because it is right under the bold text and this helps it look more flexible compared to the bold text. The article has the three pictures of the same shoe at different flexing points. The photographer took snap shots of the shoe flexing. The middle picture is fully colored and the shoe is flexing at a normal running angle. The next picture taken in the snap shot is the shoe flexing at an unbelievable acute angle and it is watermarked, meaning that it is faded. The last picture in the snap shot is the picture of the shoe at a no bend angle, the shoe is also watermarked. The snap shots essential display the flexibility of the shoe and why the shoe would be just like someone's foot flexing. The reason they chose the snap shot image, is because it effectively shows how flexible the shoe really is. It allows the viewer to see the same shoe but a different bending angles. The snap shot technique was very creative and your eye picks up on it almost immediately. Nike really got the concept across of the shoe being flexible. If you are a runner your shoe needs to be flexible and also needs to be durable. The acute angle and the no bend angle shows how flexible the shoe is while still being durable.
Comment [B12]: These last few sentences all appear to say the same thing. Avoid repetition. Comment [B11]: Im not sure how a font can look flexible. You probably need to explain this to me. Comment [B10]: Is this the term youre looking for?

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Temperature is very important to a runner. A runner wants to do whatever they can do to stay cool, and one way they can stay cool is by having shoes that can breathe or let air out. Your feet and your head let out the most heat because they are the extremities of the body. So if your shoe can let air come in and out, then a runner is able to release heat and take in cooler air. This is why Nike's shoe has netting all over it. The Netting on the Nike shoe will let the shoe breath better than a regular shoe. When a reader looks at the netting, they automatically know the shoe can breathe better and are more likely to like the shoe. Even the shoes purple outer shell has holes in it. This shows even more openings in the shoe and definitely takes out the question that the shoe cannot breathe. Running shoes have to be comfortable because runners are constantly pushing off their feet. Being comfortable while running is what runners care most about. If a runner knows the shoe is comfortable and will not hurt their feet then they will really like that aspect of a running shoe. The size of the sole cushioning in Nike's picture conveys that they shoe is really comfortable and will last a long time, while still being light. This again gives the shoe the look that it has all the characteristics of a running shoe because it looks flexible, durable, and weightless. Overall Nike's advertisement used the strategy of Rhetoric very well. Rhetoric is the art of influencing thought and conduct in an audience. Nike knew all the concepts that make a good running shoe and they effectively put all the concepts into one shoe that they advertised. Nike also knew what colors would contrast with the shoe to bring out the shoe to make sure all runners wanted to buy it. Nike might have made girls attracted to this specific shoe but even males could want this shoe or a different color because males runners like all the concepts of a runners shoe
Comment [B13]: Alright. I think this is a strong connection.

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too. Nike not only attracted female runners but also male runners. Which will most beneficially help the overall company.

Daniel, While theres definitely some strong and detailed information in here, I feel like youre still missing a lot in terms of actual analysis and argument. From the beginning Im a little thrown off because I cant tell what brand youre going to be talking about, or whether youre working with an actual shoe or an advertisement for a shoe. Make sure that youre making all your points very clear so that your reader can follow you throughout the entire piece. You spend a lot of time addressing color, but Im still not sure how youre making a correlation between the color purple and something lightweight. When I think of purple, light is not the first term that comes to mind, so you really need to explain to your reader how you came to such a conclusion. Your arguments all also start to sound repetitive after a while. I feel like youre still analyzing the surface meaning of the ad and thus telling me things I could probably interpret for myself. In revision I really want to you to find depth in your text. Say something to your reader that he/she wouldnt think of on their own. Also, follow your connections through. An example would look something like this: The shoe is purple (describe the image in detail), which makes it lightweight because (explain how)and heres why it matters. I dont see a whole lot of focus on answering the how o r why questions in here, and thats essential to analysis. You also need to watch your language. There were many, many points in here that threw me off due to improper spelling or grammar. Make sure youre always proofreading before submission.