The Good Life

As you cruise out of Colorado heading down Interstate-76E at a safe 75 mph and your seat belt safely buckled you get all excited, you’re that much closer to your destination and all the sudden what was Interstate-76E turns into Interstate-80E. The pavement all the sudden seems to be a redder than red, traffic out of no where doubles, and you continue to cruise by when all the sudden for a quick flash of no more than 3-4 seconds you see a sign that says,
"NEBRASKA..the good life." As you continue to pass the state line the only thing that comes to mind is, "wow" this sign is making quite a heavily opinionated statement, saying that Nebraska is home to the good life is like a slogan, and is just one of the many "rhetoric" strategies employed in the sign. The sign uses many rhetoric strategies such as "illustration," "cause and effect," "analogy," "classification and division," as well as "pathos," "ethos," and "logos" to sell the point that in fact Nebraska is home to the good life.

The sign is taking a "ethical" or "ethos" stand in that it is giving the good will intent of the writer saying that, "Nebraska..the good life." The writer is trying to tell the audience the goodwill he/she really has for the state of Nebraska itself and how he/she feels about Nebraska. Embedded within this "ethos" appeal there is the "logos" or "logical argument," which means that it is an attempt to persuade the audience through a definition, which is as stated plain and simply, "Nebraska..the good life." On the sign itself the sign says that Nebraska is home to the good life so this is taking a "ethos" or "ethical argument" in that the sign is giving the goodwill that it is "home to the good life," but it is given through a "logical" or "logos" argument which is in fact the plain definition of what Nebraska is, that is; "home to the good life."
As you continue driving pass it, only getting further from your rear view mirror, one can imagine an a-ray of other "rhetoric strategies/ arguments" employed such as "illustration," "cause and effect," "analogy," and in some ways "classification and division."
The "illustration" in the sign as a whole was that the sign in fact was old and beat up, it was rusted and one could imagine how much longer it will hold together. The back round if not paying attention to the rust was a settle and warming green, a nice touch to the sign itself as well as it transcends the surrounding green landscape. With a white outside line wrapped around the entirety of the sign, in the upper left extending all the way to the middle was the words in bold white letters, "NEBRASKA...the good life." On the right side of the sign was a picture of a cowboy who has one hand in the air and is sitting on the horse who is standing on its hind legs. The sun in a big yellow oval is behind the cowboy. The cowboy gives off an image of "Nebraska" being a "wild west" state, which means that there are always exciting things to do, and things that happen, a sort of adventurous place to be.
Because of the cowboy you might be thinking that Nebraska has an adventurism side to itself. This demonstrates a "cause and effect" which is the benefits of using their "product" in this case living in Nebraska, and never seeing the same thing twice as well as always being an adventurous state of mind.
This is where you begin to have "analogy" to set up a subjective argument of Nebraska being the good life. However as much as the writer or sign artist is setting up the sign to make a point that, "Nebraska is home to the good life" to everybody this is in fact a "logical fallice" which is a misuse of "logos" the "logical argument". Not everybody thinks that Nebraska is the good life and I guarantee not everyone is happy here in Nebraska. The case in point however, is that whether it is a logical fallice or not, the "sign artist" is only trying to utilize "pathos" which is to put the audience in a particular mood that is to think that Nebraska is home to the good life.
The final and probably most important argument used is "classification and "division." This is to help the reader conceptualize how the product fits into a larger scheme of things with in life, this means that the sign is taking a place of trying to tell the audience that Nebraska is where you should raise your family, live your life, retire, and be happy. The overall point of "classification" is that it is telling the audience this is the place to be and to live and, its not as important that its a logical fallice as that it is the advertisement just like any, its trying to tell the audience Nebraska and all it's beauty is the quintessential place to live.