Ancient Style & YouTube FINAL DRAFT
Style can be applied to most aspects of our everyday life: how we dress, how we talk, what we do, and so on. In Crowley and Hawhee’s “Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students,” we learn that ancient rhetoricians defined style as “persuasive or extraordinary uses of language” (229). The ancients applied a number of ideas to help define style. These ideas included levels of style, figures of speech, figures of thought, and tropes. Many of these ideas are still relevant, and can be applied to the media in a number of ways.
Commercials have much to say about a society. They inform us about the world we live in, the realities we face everyday, and the things we need to live a better life. They entertain us, and in turn, we end up listening to whatever they may have to say about us or the world we live in. The ancient rhetoricians definitions of style can be applied to most commercials that we see on our television every day. We don’t always watch closely, but there are many aspects of commercials that mirror the ancient’s idea of style.
For my project, I chose a commercial for Nationwide Insurance. The premise of the commercial is to show us that “Life comes at you fast,” and that being prepared by having Nationwide Insurance will benefit us in the long run. I chose this commercial to analyze because I thought that it had a number of good qualities that adhered to the ancient definitions of style.
The first aspect I analyzed was the level of style. In Crowley and Hawhee’s book, there are three levels of style presented to us : grand, middle, and plain. After watching the Nationwide Insurance commercial a few times, I decided that the style could be considered grand. We read in Crowley and Hawhee that: According to the author of ad Herennium, discourse was composed in the grand style ‘if to each idea are applied the most ornate words that can be found for it, whether literal or figurative; if impressive thoughts are chosen…and if we employ figures of thought and figures of diction which have grandeur’ (IV viii, 11) (234).
These elements of grand style can easily be applied to the Nationwide Insurance commercial. In the beginning, we see a man walking out his door with a cup of coffee. Suddenly, the neighborhood comes to life and everyone joins in song. While there is not much dialogue in the ad, we consider the use of music as a language, as well as the use of people, animals, and nature to portray a certain idea.The visual and musical aspects work well together and very nicely reflect the elements of grand style. While the creators could have easily used dialogue to portray the same message, they chose something instead, something bigger, something more impressive–something grand.
The second aspect I analyzed included the use of ornaments, and in this case: figures of thought, and tropes. Personification, anticipation, and irony are all elements of sententia that are present in this commercial. Regarding personification, Crowley and Hawhee state that, “we can represent some abstraction as though it had human characteristics. We can represent animals or nature as having human qualities” (252). From the very beginning of the commercial, we watch the flowers and the sun come to life and join the neighborhood in song. This use of personification is helpful in simulating our emotions and keeping our attention.
The second figure of thought that is portrayed in this commercial is anticipation. The ancients defined anticipation as “a generic name given to any figure of thought wherein a rhetor foresees and replies to possible objections to his arguments” (250). Anticipation is present in this commercial from the very beginning. We see everything come to life and we know that something else must happen that either enhances or takes away from the happy moment. This feeling also helps keep our attention throughout the commercial. Our anticipation subsides once we reach the climax of the commercial, which includes a tree branch falling and smashing the mans car. Along with anticipation comes reaction, and while the audience’s reaction may be shock or laughter, the actor’s reaction in the commercial is simply more song and dance. This reaction is very exaggerated, and we can later classify this as hyperbole. The anticipation in this commercial helps to keep our attention until the end, when everything is resolved.
Immediately following the anticipation is irony. We read that, “simply defined, irony occurs when an audience understands the opposite of what is expressed” (253). In ironic situations, what we expect to happen does not happen. Usually, something worse happens, and we must alter our reactions to fit the situation. In the Nationwide Insurance commercial, happiness is expressed through song, dance, and animation. This is briefly interrupted by a tree branch falling on the mans car. During this moment we are given the tagline of the commercial, “Life comes at you fast,” and immediately afterward, the singing and dancing resumes. This is ironic to the audience because the reaction is not normal. We would not sing and dance if a tree branch fell on our car. Although the reaction is not normal, the irony is used to demonstrate the message of the commercial: Life comes at you fast, but with Nationwide Insurance, you do not have to worry.
The ancients classified some language as tropes. Although they did not fully agree on a definition, they knew that a trope was characterized by the substitutions of words and phrases. There are many figures of speech that fall into the category of a trope, and the most notable one that is expressed in this commercial is hyperbole. A hyperbole is an exaggeration. It is used for effect in stories and media. An example of a hyperbole could be celebrity gossip, which stretches and exaggerates the truth just to get a reaction from an audience. The use of hyperbole in the commercial was very strong. While the creators of the commercial could have easily told us that Nationwide Insurance would benefit us, they chose to show us using a hyperbole. The carefree feel of the commercial is exaggerated through the neighbors and creatures who sing and dance. The message at the end of the commercial ensures us that with Nationwide Insurance, we have no need to worry. Although we do not always dance around the street when we feel protected by our insurance agency, some people may. This exaggeration helps us to understand what the creators and salesmen are trying to tell us. In turn, the use of hyperbole helps to actually sell the product by grabbing an audience’s attention.
The ancient style that we studied in class is very relevant in our world today. In relation to this project, it is safe to say that when it comes to advertising, style plays a huge role. I chose the Nationwide Insurance commercial because I thought that the style was successful in catching our attention and sending out a message. In Crowley and Hawhee’s book, we read about many elements that make up certain styles. The elements provided to us in this text are very useful in making us feel certain things, such as anticipation, and the end result is more attentiveness, and even appreciation. There are many styles that are used in writing, advertising, and performing. Elements that are used can help or hinder the kind of reaction that is received from the audience. If an audience is watching something that is colorful, funny, and enlightening, it is more probable that they will remember what they saw. This, in turn, helps bring about new ideas, and sell new products. As in both the ancient world and the world we live in today, we can come to one conclusion based on the elements of style that we see everyday: Style is everything.
Works Cited.
Crowley, Sharon and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2004.
