ENGLISH120

MEMO
To: John R. Mortenson
From: Rachel Martinez
Date: 9/16/2014
Re: ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
Sadly, our companys reputation has recently taken a downturn due to the recent lawsuit. People are
beginning to perceive us as a cheap, selfish company whose only concern is profit and our own
paychecks. This downfall can bring a huge negative effect upon us if we do not do something about it
relatively soon. As you may know, in the recent months, the ALS ice bucket challenge has been all over
social media and the Internet. It may seem like the ALS ice bucket challenge is just a whimsical attempt of
young people to show their support for something they know nothing about; however, it is much more
than that. The ALS ice bucket challenge is a micro genre in itself. It uses rhetorical appeals and patterns in
order to accomplish a common task. This can be seen through Bill Gates ice bucket challenge video. We as
a company have the opportunity of gaining our reputation back by creating an ice bucket challenge video
of our own and using rhetorical appeals and patterns within it to capture our audiences attention and
potentially change their views toward our company.
A genre is a style of expressing yourself through writing. It differs depending on a number of factors such
as audience, medium, etc. Each genre has its own special conventions that it must follow; however, each
genre has its own unique characteristics. The ALS ice bucket challenge is a micro genre in itself therefore
we can follow these rules of a genre in order to make our video. The conventions of this genre are usually
an introduction, a description of the nomination, description of nominees, the challenge, and a reaction.
The Bill Gates ice bucket challenge video conforms to all of these conventions, as well as incorporating
new things by using rhetorical appeals and patterns in order to persuade the audience. This is a great
technique, which if incorporated into our video, can have lasting effects.
The first thing we must do through our video is gain credibility with our audience. Gates gains his
credibility with his audience by using the appeal of ethos in his video, which we can do as well. Gates uses

ethos by stating I accept this challenge. I want to do it better. He further states he will give to the ALS
foundation. This allows Bill gates to gain credibility with his audience as well as show that he has good
character and a heart. We all know Bill Gates has a lot of money, so we would expect him to donate. When
he states he will in fact donate, it helps him to gain the audiences trust. Bill then proceeds to design and
build the machine he is going to use to take the challenge, helping him to gain credibility with his
audience as well. We can attempt to gain credibility by donating to the ALS foundation as well. If we do
so, people may change their views about us being a selfish company.
Gates ice bucket challenge video also uses the rhetorical appeal pathos. He uses pathos by showing his
emotions throughout the video. He makes his video exciting, rather than boring. Bill Gates shows his
happiness when he states, Im glad to give to ALS. He also shows his enthusiasm and excitement for the
challenge when he says, This is gonna be great! By showing his happiness and excitement, Bill is able to
rev up his audience and make them excited about the video, along with showing his audience that he has
compassion toward ALS and cares about helping. For us, something like this can show that care about
more than just our paychecks. It can also show that we have compassion toward others.
Gates video is logical, well organized, and follows the basic conventions of the micro genre. He states who
nominated him, nominated people to do the challenge, and takes the challenge. This logical organization
of the video helps the audience to know what to expect and when to expect it. He also adds in his own
unique parts in order to make his video more interesting and personal. This prevents the audience from
getting bored, which would be a very bad thing. We wouldnt want our audience to get bored either, so
incorporating our own unique parts into the video like Gates did could be extremely beneficial. We could
incorporate something such as a bucket made out of candy since we are a candy company.
Along with the rhetorical appeals, using rhetorical patterns could make our video more interesting. Gates
video uses several rhetorical patterns, which make a huge difference in his video. Gates uses narrative
throughout his video to make his video more interesting. He tells his story of why he is doing the
challenge and who nominated him. He also turns his whole video into a story by having a plot. He starts
off with his exposition of why he is here. He then goes into the rising action of building his machine,
which leads to the climax of him dumping water on himself. Finally, he wraps up the video in the
resolution. Gates pretty tells the story of his ice bucket challenge nomination, and the execution of the
challenge through his video. By explaining why we are doing the ice bucket challenge, we can accomplish
the same thing as Gates.
Two other rhetorical patterns that Bill Gates uses in his video are description and definition. In his video,
he encourages his audience to use their senses in order to have a better understanding of the video. For
example, Bill Gates describes how he will do his challenge, shows his device, and explains how it is going
to be made. He also defines ALS for anyone that may not know what it stands for by calling it Lough
Gehrigs disease, which is more commonly known. Bill does a great job in describing what is happening in

his video and defining things that not everyone may know. Doing this puts his audience more at ease,
because they are able to fully understand the video. I believe we should follow in Gates footsteps.
Bill Gates uses classification in his video by organizing it into several different categories. While watching
his video, you can notice the categories relatively easy because they are distinct from one another. The
first category of his video is his nomination. Into that category, he puts everything involving his
nomination such as, who nominated him and why he accepted the challenge. His next category is his
preparation. In this part of the video, he designs his machine and prepares to take the challenge. He
nominates three other people and gives a time frame in the third category. In the final category, he
executes the challenge. Having these categories makes Bill Gates video more organized and easy to
follow. It also gives the audience something to expect, since he does follow the basic conventions of the
genre. If we were to organize our video into different categories, it will make is more organized and
easier for the audience to understand.
Gates uses cause and effect on a larger scale as well as on a smaller scale in his video. His whole video
uses cause and effect on a larger scale. He opens the video with the video of the person who nominated
him taking the ice bucket challenge. He uses that nomination as the cause of him taking the challenge. The
rest of his video is the effect of his nomination. Cause and effect is also used on a smaller scale when Bill
Gates is designing his machine. When Bill Gates shows his audience the blueprints of his machine, he
shows the effects of pulling on the string. If he pulls on the string, the effect will be a bucket of water
being dumped. We can use cause and effect as well in our video as well. The effect of the recent lawsuit is
our company making this video.
The final rhetorical pattern that Bill Gates uses in his video is compare and contrast. Gates compares his
video as a whole. In the beginning of his video, Bill states that his video is going to be the best ice bucket
challenge video. He states, I want to do it better. Bill Gates is comparing his video to all other videos out
there of the ice bucket challenge, and is saying that he wants his video to be better. This can be a good
and bad thing for him. His audience can either take it in two ways. They can either assume he is an over
achiever and always strives for the best, or they can assume he is cocky, arrogant, and thinks he is better
than everyone else. It would be best not to include this in our ice bucket challenge video just to be safe.
People already have a negative view of us therefore we shouldnt chance gaining even more negative
views toward our company.
The medium of a video is the best way in which to do the ice bucket challenge. It pulls everything
together in a way that expresses exactly what the author is trying to express. It also makes is very
understandable to the audience, and more personal. Explaining pouring a bucket of water over ones head
is a lot more dull and boring when it is in text rather than a video. It would be a lot more difficult to
express emotion through something other than a video. This is why a video is the best way to do the ALS
ice bucket challenge.

Components For a sucessful video

Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Rhetorical patterns

I already have a plan for our companys ice bucket challenge video. In our companys video, we can use
pathos by showing just how concerned we are about ALS. We could also throw in a tear here and there.
We can use ethos in our video by simply donating a significant amount of money to the cause. People
know we are a very wealthy company so not donating can only do us harm. We can incorporate logos into
our video by following the basic conventions of the genre. I also have several ideas for how we can
incorporate the rhetorical patterns into our video if we do decide to do it.
Overall, all the rhetorical appeal and patterns that Bill Gates uses in his video in order to persuade his
audience makes his video unique and inviting. Because of the appeals and patterns he uses, his video
isnt like all other ice bucket challenge videos out there. Instead of being boring, the video revs up his
audience and gives them more insight as to what ALS is and what the ice bucket challenge is. Because his
video conforms to the conventions of the genre, it does a great job of keeping his viewers interest and
gains him credibility with his audience. If we as a company follow in Bill Gates footsteps while creating
our own ice bucket challenge video, we can gain credibility like he did, and we can get our reputation
back to where it was before. All we have to do is show that we are selfless, and generous rather than
selfish by showing our support for ALS through our video. Using basic rhetorical appeals such as ethos,
pathos, and logos and patterns such as classification, description, definition, cause and effect, and
narrative throughout our video we can accomplish this. I hope you take into consideration my request, as
it could be our first step in solving our lost reputation problem.