Dr. Kelly Ballard Essay Example

(Student’s Full Name)

CRE101 – College Critical Reading
Reader’s Log that focuses on the Practice of Heuristics and a Comparative Practice
Responses to Lesson 10 Discussion Thread
Reflection on Personal Experience
My personal experience with heuristics has to do with stereotyping. I remember I was going to the grocery store at a very late time, almost 11 o’ clock. I wanted to buy some ice cream. I noticed the reflection of a large, black guy in the mirror while I was taking it up. He was wearing a hoodie. I didn’t even want to turn around. It appeared as if time stood still for a moment. I began to ask myself whether this man was here to rob me or if he had a gun. I was so scared. Then he came right by me, nodded his head, and took up some ice cream for himself before walking away. I felt so embarrassed. I can’t believe that I misjudged that guy so much on the basis that he was black and wearing a hoodie. I was embarrassed that I maligned this guy because I know some blacks that are criminals and failed to realize that all blacks are not criminals.

Response to other student’s (Michelle Tawney’s) Post

Michelle, I am very glad that the affect heuristic worked in your favor as it relates to your job selection. Personally, I wouldn’t want to rely on this heuristic too much because “gut” feelings can’t always be trusted but I’m glad that it actually worked in your case.

Comparative Practice

The media that my analysis will focus on will be the Turn Out for What video by Lil’ Jon which was used by the Rock the Vote campaign drive for November 2014. The video features celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg, Tracy Anderson, Natasha Lyonne and Darren Criss. Lil’ Jon remakes his popular song, “Turn Down for What” to motivate persons (especially young persons) to vote on November 4, 2014. The heuristic that is being used in the video is association. It can be implied that this heuristic is used because ideas connected with the popular song created by Lil’ Jon are used to connect with the theme song of the video so as to trigger excitement amongst young persons to vote on Election Day. Lil’ Jon’s popular song, “Turn Down for What” is about excitement and fun and when the song is re-made to “Turn Out for What” then that same feeling of excitement is triggered when that song is being played.
The message of the video and the song passes the familiarity test because most young persons (which the audience that the video targeted towards) would be familiar with Lil’ Jon’s song, “Turn Down for What” (which has the same rhythm of the song “Turn Out for What”) since it is played a regular basis on music radio stations and online.
The message of the song and the video is simple as it highlights the various reasons why a young voter would ‘turn out’ at the voting polls on Election Day. The video shows various celebrities sharing their reasons for voting on Election Day. Testing the message of the video for comprehensiveness is problematic because the words “Turn Out for What” can not only be linked to Lil’ Jon’s popular song, but it can subtly imply that it is pointless to go out and vote when someone thinks of those words as a question. However, the video ensures that it highlights to the young voters the reasons why someone should vote on Election Day by showing the celebrities.
Therefore, it can be inferred that although there are celebrities present within the video who indicate the various reasons why someone should vote, the video’s message could be counterproductive because a young person could misinterpret the intended message of the song “Turn Out for What.” This potential young voter could interpret the song as saying that is pointless to “turn out” on Election Day to vote; hence, it could cause this person to ask: “Turn out [on Election Day] for what?”
The effectiveness of the Rock the Vote video, “Turn Out for What” has already been tested, as evidenced by the article, “Why Turning out the Vote Makes a Huge Difference in Four Charts” by Sean McElwee. McElwee accurately predicted that despite the “best efforts” of the “Turn Out for What” video campaign the turn out for the November 2014 midterm election will be “one of the lowest” in the last five cycles (par. 1). The writer noted that “41 per cent of non-voters” claim that their vote will not have an impact on Election Day (McElwee par. 10). McElwee also alluded to the point that “restrictive voter registration laws” compounded the situation and allowed voter turn-out to be biased to wealthy individuals (McElwee par. 10).
Therefore, to improve the message of the Rock the Vote video campaign, I would not use the song “Turn Out for What” because it could be consciously or subconsciously misinterpreted by potential young voters allowing them to think that their votes do not matter. I would have chosen another pop song or created a song with lyrics that would inspire young voters about the power they have to make a change through exercising their democratic rights. This explains why Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” online campaign worked. The slogan of this campaign reinforced the power that the individual voter has in making a change through the democratic process.

Works Cited

McElwee, Sean. “Why Turning Out the Vote Makes a Huge Difference in Four Charts.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sean-mcelwee/why-turning-out-the-vote-_b_6056028.html?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000065>.
“Rock the Vote!” Rock the Vote. Rock the Vote, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2015. <http://rockthevote.com/turnoutforwhat/?source=rtv-tumblr>.