Rhetorical Activity 2 p.318

After hearing many speeches from President Obama I have come to these conclusions about his speech process
1-He does use insinuations, but rarely and rarely in a derogatory manner
2-He does use narratives
3-He also uses partitions and perorations

From these findings I have concluded that in order to be a good rhetor and orator it is necessary to use all of parts of discourse. While all of these are not used in all of Obama's speeches, many are used in all of them, and not a single one doesn't have atleast one example of atleast one of these types discourse. They are necessary in good speech giving, and while not all of them are necessary all of the time, they cannot be ignored.

Mapping Space p.233-241

For this exercise I chose to observe one of my friends with one of her classmates during one of their regular study sessions.

I was invited to a study session that my friend Nora has with one of her classmates a couple of times a week. I expected it to be a very serious situation in which they focused on specific topics integral to the course. I thought that there would be very little talk of anything outside of class, and that there would be some sort of study plan laid out for them to follow. I had these assumptions because my friend is 4.0 student who regularly talks about how much studying she has to do and how hard and stressful her classes are.

When I got there I saw that they were sitting at the kitchen table with their books piled around them, and their computers in front of them. Neither of them were speaking, although when I got there they both looked up to say hello.

They remained like that for about 20 minutes before I realized that neither of them was actually doing any studying. Nora was on Facebook and her friend was checking her email, although I suspect that that was not the only thing she had been doing for the past 20 minutes. They remained like that for about another 10 minutes then Nora mentioned something funny about what one of her friends had posted. After that they stopped messing around on the internet and began talking. They talked about boys, the weekend, the professors they didn't like, and a number of other things, none of which had anything to do with their poli. sci. class.

They discussed those things for about half an hour then Nora's friend got up to get some food. She went to the fridge but it was empty so she went to the store. After she left Nora picked up a notebook but quickly put it back down and began talking to me. We talked about pretty much the same things that she talked about with her friend. Then we went outside for a smoke break and her friend returned.

Once her friend returned they both decided that it was time to get to work. They went back inside and picked up their books. Once this happened there was alot of looking between their notes and their books, and sighs of frustration. Occasionally one of them would ask a question about what they were studying and the other would give an answer or a shrug then it would become silent again. There would also be an occasional remark about something that they were studying, and we would all laugh for a bit. It remained like this for a long time, I would say about an hour and a half. By that time it was around 11:30 and Nora's friend decided it was time to go home, so she left after saying goodbye. After she left Nora and I went outside for another smoke break then she went back inside and sat back down at the table. When she sat back down she immediately got back to work.

It appeared to me like Nora's friend, while sweet and obviously intelligent, was a distraction to her, and Nora was a distraction to her friend. The entire time that I had been there, which had been over two hours very little studying had gotten done.

Imitation Exercise 2 pg.372

For this post I chose a passage from The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

Believing this, he is still frightened. That is due to the fact that he cannot change. I can feel it. He adjusts things to his beliefs. If a thing is dark he believes it is light. If a thing is light he believes it is dark. He argues with everything that is said to him. He makes everyone feel as if they are the foolish ones. Then they must argue their point to know what to believe.

Anyway, once that confrontation ended, he was furious and could only lay in his chair going over that man's haunting comments. He reminded himself that that man would always be the one to make such callous comments. He was the one that didn't understand anything. Then, once he no longer wished to recall those comments, he searched for another topic to contradict. He went to a bookcase and drew out a book he bought at a second hand store, a secondhand book bought at a secondhand store.

Rhetorical Activity 3 pg. 364-365

I chose to revise Rhetorical Activity 1 from page 186

In this blog I will discuss an article from the DA addressing Facebook, the complete lack of necessity involved in Facebook, and the misuse of information found on Facebook. In this article the writer discusses how the information one puts on Facebook can be used for profit because it, like a diary, holds secrets that you believe to be safe, but can be used once it has been attained. Furthermore, why even put up such trivial information about yourself? Such information does not reveal the person that you are; you cannot judge a book by it's cover, and you cannot truly understand a person by the few pictures and updates they put on their Facebook profile.

The writer uses examples and maxims in his article to make his point known, and they are used so well that they fully illustrate how ridiculous the Facebook community is becoming. Also used are enthymemes, which the writer uses to lead the reader through a series of postings put up by various users. The writer leads us through these postings, pointing out the unnecessary information, user indulgence in such information. By the end of the article the reader can see clear as day, through the writer's use of enthymemes, examples, and maxims, how Facebook has become a monster that feeds on that personal, useless information.

Rhetorical Activity 3 pg.263

A situation in which an appeal to anger would be appropriate would be a speaker fighting for change in his community or country. First the speaker would have to get everyone on his side. He could do this by talking about issues such as state or government neglect, or any public issues that would rouse their anger. Then he would talk about how those circumstances have consequences that affect everyone, personally and communally. After that he would discuss changes that would ensure better community care which would rouse the anger of the people even more, and help them to see the speakers side of the issue.

An appeal to shame would be effective in a situation where a speaker is trying to get a person to help with a volunteer project, such as helping the homeless. The speaker would begin by telling the person everything he has that he takes for granted such as food or a bathroom. Then the speaker would explain the living conditions that homeless people have to endure, through winters and rainstorms, to try and make the person see that he's got many things that he doesn't even need, which would begin to make him feel ashamed. Finally the speaker would talk about how little effort this person would have to put forth in order to help a homeless person immensely. All of these arguments would help the speaker to make the person feel ashamed for not helping more which would make him want to help.

Rhetorical Activity 1 pg.63

I read three articles concerning President Obama and the direction that our country is headed in. These three articles were from Time Magazine, Black Enterprise, and National Review and they were all from the month of March.

The article from Time Magazine was written by Barack Obama himself and the issue that he was discussing was a national expansion of community service. Little had to be said to explain the purpose behind his article; it was clear throughout that he was speaking to the American people about lending a hand in their country. He created his kairos mainly through epideictic rhetoric; by stating how people could change their own communities through their own work. There was a little deliberative rhetoric in which he discussed his own plans for change. This was when he tactfully changed the subject to the greater issue of how he plans to lead the country.

The article from Black Enterprise was written by Derek T. Dingle and it addressed the changes that the country has already gone through, and what to expect from the new administration. Dingle created kairos by talking about how the people were affected and moved by the inauguration of our first black president, and his promises of growth and change. Very little had to be done in this article to explain the articles relevance because it was more based on opinions about the new president than political facts. You either agree with this writer or you don't, on this particular issue.

The article from National Review, written by Mark Steyn, was about President Obama and the horrible consequences of his election. Steyn used deliberative and forensic rhetorics to create his kairos. He brought up other countries and the terrible state that they are in due to their choice of politics, and he voiced his opinion about the President and his changes in policy. There had to be alot of explanation in his article because he went back and forth between American policy and European policy, comparing the two and listing differences, but other than that, the point and relevance of the article was very clear.

Activity3 p.303, WWD

The website that I went to was the American Association of People with Disabilities or AAPD, at http://www,aapd.com/.

I found that this site does a very good job of reaching its audiences and achieving its goals. It's audience is anyone who wants to help their cause, and their goal is to use that help to help Americans with disabilities.

First of all the site uses epideictic rhetoric to appeal to people's sympathetic and understanding sides. In this site there are articles concerning all manner of issues from hate crimes to convincing people to stop using the word retard. All of these writings are meant to influence people to help their cause. The site also tries to influence the public by offering rewards for donations, and assuring the public that those donations will be put to good use.

Overall the site is very well suited to its aims and its audience. It mentions its goals, and has many writings to influence people to help attain those goals.

Pg. 230 Rhetorical Activity #1

For this blog I decided to use two straightforward news columns, two movie reviews, and two opinion editorials from different sources. While reading these different articles it became clear to me that all of the writers of the articles had one method in common; the use of reliable information to help their "case". Other than that, for each specific area of writing different methods were used:
1-3rd person for distance in fact based news stories and reviews
2-1st Person for opinion articles
3-Qualifiers
4-Knowledge of culture

The authors convinced me that they were well informed in all the different styles of writing because there were references to cultural facts that helped me understand, and to know that they are well-informed of the facts. The authors also convinced me of their good will in the news stories by stating the facts without outside opinion, in the movie reviews by stating what was thought of the movie and why, and in the opinion editorials by stating their opinions frankly while at the same time making the reader understand they are only opinions, even if they are well-informed opinions.

Ethnographic Research Questions

Three questions that I feel will bring depth to my research project are:

1-How and where do you come up with your characters?
This question will be add depth and be important to the project because in order to understand my subject's writing process I must understand where that process begins, and discovering the history of the characters seems to be a logical starting place.

2-When beginning a story how much and what sort of research is undertaken?
This question will help me to understand how my subject comes up with her stories, how much is meant to be based in reality for a moral or lesson, and how much is meant to be simple entertainment.

3-What are some of the restrictions that you find, or place, yourself in in order to remain "appropriate" for your audience?
This question will add depth because it will bring into light just what sort of guidelines from the audience, editors, and personal moral code my subject must deal with in order to actually get her work pubished.

Rhetorical Activity 1 Pg. 186

For this activity I chose an article from the DA discussing Facebook and it's lack of necessity and misuse of information. In this article the writer discusses how unimportant the information is, and yet how it can be used for a profit because it reveals so much about our lives. Examples and maxims are used very effectively in this article to illustrate just how ridiculous the entire Facebook community is. Enthymemes are also used very effectively. The writer leads the reader through a series of postings put up by different users, how unnecessary the information is, and how everyone on Facebook indulges in writing such information. He makes the reader understand that Facebook is just fragments of lives thrown up on the spur of the moment without any real purpose or desired effect. The use of entymemes, examples and maxims are used quite effectively in this article because by the end of it you find yourself agreeing with the writer about Facebook.

Rhetoric Activity

One place where I notice rhetoric used on a regular basis is at my home with my mother and stepfather. They are constantly using rhetoric to resolve arguments with my younger brother, to make plans for the week and weekend, and to deal with issues as they arise. I've noticed that with my mother there is alot of opinion. She likes to think about how she feels on a subject, make a decision based on that feeling and then try to convince my stepfather or brother. With my stepfather it is very different. He prefers to to focus on the facts of an issue; how much will something cost, how long will something take, are there more positive consequences in doing something one way as opposed to another. He will usually have as many facts as possible before entering into a discussion.

After reading what James wrote I realized that there really wasn't much left unsaid about the scarf. It really isn't all that important to me even though I think it is very nice. After reading the interview account I feel like James understood that because of what he wrote about how I acquired the scarf.

As an interviewer I feel that one of my strengths is listening. I think that I tried very hard to listen and understand all the things that James told me about his bag. One issue that I had about the interview is that I already know James, and knew that he was a biker, so I don't know how much of our discussion was based on informant/interviewer trust and how much wasn't. Many of my assumptions about the bag turned out to be true, but I feel like that is because I already know so much about James.

James and I worked together before we had this class together so I already knew alot about him. I already knew that he was an avid bicyclist so many of his purchases are for someone who wants to be comfortable while riding. Knowing this I chose his bag.

This particular bag is a red Chrome messenger bag with black edging and two black straps. There are clasps and velcro, and the bag is expandable. Also there are many pockets, and some of the pockets have smaller pockets. There are very few zippers, and the bag is completely waterproof. The outside of the bag is made of a waterproof material, but the inside is also lined with a waterproof material so that any liquids carried inside will not leak out if they spill.

When I first saw this bag I automatically assumed that it was a bicyclists bag, and I turned out to be correct. Due to the materials used to make it I also assumed that it would be very heavy. I thought that James had gotten the bag just as a replacement of some kind, and that it probably wasn't all that important. I also thought that he would use the bag for school and bike trips specifically and have other bags for other trips.

Some of my assumptions turned out to be true. It is a bicyclists bag, and it is rather heavy to pick up, but once it is on the back it is not uncomfortable. Also, James does use the bag for classes and bike trips, but he uses it for weekend trips as well. Because the bag is so big James told me that he could fit the necessities for an entire weekend if he packed it correctly.

I thought that the bag was simply a replacement for an old bag but it turned out to be different. This bag was a gift that James got for himself on his birthday. It was picked out specifically for its special attributes because he special ordered it and it had to be shipped. It was also important because James was willing to wait a couple of weeks for it even though it was for his birthday. I know that James spent time picking it out because he went into detail about how he chose one with two straps instead a chest strap for comfort, and he chose red because he likes that color.

Activity 1a

All textbooks will have similar features because all textbooks have to relay information to the student in a comprehensible manner. Such features include chapters, chapter titles, page breaks, parapgraph headings, bolded or italicized vocabulary, practice exercises and chapter summaries. These different features are necessary in order to convey information in an organized manner so that it is easily understood. Ancient Rhetorics uses all of these features along with some others because it makes understanding the curriculum simpler.

The functions of the features of Ancient Rhetorics are easily understood because the layout of the book is so basic. One specific feature that has a clear function is the bolded vocabulary words. The obvious function of this feature is to call the reader's attention to an important word or phrase. Once the reader sees this word/phrase he knows that it is important and pays more attention. Another feature is the use of page breaks and headings. The page breaks are used to tell the reader that a new section is beginning so the topic or content is changing, and the headings are used to explain what is going to be discussed.

Student Activity in textbooks is meant to help the student understand the chapter content by putting it to some kind of practical use. For example in Ancient Rhetorics the student acitivities ask the reader to take the information in the chapter and apply it to everyday life somehow. It asks the reader to remember the given information, observe aspects of daily life and take the information from the textbook and apply it to that life. Other textbooks, such as mathbooks, for example, ask the reader to do sample problems similar to those in the book, and history books ask questions to test the readers understanding of the chapter's contents.

WWD Activity 1

Selzer's article on writing in the workplace uses past studies and his own research to determine how someone composes a scientific text. He mentions studies done on the writing habits of high school students and professional writers to make clear that the basic writing habits of these people are understood while the lack of study into scientific writing makes a scientist or engineers writing habits less understood. Selzer goes into great detail about how he studied Nelson making all of his findings legitimate. Through his explanations of his research he is able to list the different ways in which Nelson maps out his works and how he organizes them. For example Selzer explains Nelson's writing process from start to finish so that it is clear, then he mentions different writing techniques such as recycling certain material, and doing very little revision due to the planning process. This is all a pre-cursor to the point of his article that not enough is known about the technical writing process and more research is necessary. Selzer makes this clear by explaining that in his research he discovered many differences between Nelson's writing and a professional writer's work, but because there are not more studies to compare technical writing techniques are not as understood, or well taught, as is necessary.

Development of Cover Letter and Resume

It is clear that between the initial cover letter and the final draft the writer did alot of work correcting and revising certain aspects. Not only did minor grammatical errors get fixed but information became more organized, and the content became more relevant. More emphasis was put on how the writer could learn and adapt while working for the company but that did not detract from the fact that she already had experience working.

Within the different drafts the suggestions that were given also seemed to make an impact on the final letter. It is obvious that the writer listened to, and put to use, the different ideas and suggestions. Not only did the letter become more fluid, but the tone became more authoritative.

Social Perspective

According to Faigley's definition of the "social perspective" a person cannot communicate effectively without researching and understanding the environment that they are trying to communicate within. Bearing this in mind it is necessary to study the environment that you are writing in so that your communication is understood by all necessary parties. If there is no understanding of the environment then you run the risk of being completely misunderstood. It is also necessary to be flexible in your communications because the environment will continue to change after you have finished your writing. If you cannot continue to change and develop your ideas then the communication becomes hindered and therefore unnecessary.

Selzer is very convincing about his research of Nelson's research, and that is due to the fact that his knowledge of Nelson's writing habits is so extensive. He proved many times that he had studied Nelson's style and observed his work and writing. One way that he proved that he had studied Nelson's work was to mention how Nelson would reuse information from past reports and writings. Another form of proof is that he knew Nelson's writing style so could safely say how he used contractions, personal pronouns and formed sentences. Selzer also fully understood Nelson's revision method and knew approximately how long it would take to write, revise, and have typed the report that he was working on. Such extensive knowledge of Nelson's writing style can only suggest that he spent time carefully studying and observing Nelson so that he could understand his writing style.

Professional Writers and their titles

Professional writers have many different titles due to the fact that there are so many different fields for professional writers to work in, but three job titles that professional writers could have are corporate writers, editors and authors. A corporate writer is someone who writes for a corporation in fields such as marketing communications and public relations, technical writing, and internal communications. Editors look over a writer's work, offer suggestions and propose revision ideas. An editor can also plan specific publications, decide what readers would be most interested in and oversee certain publications. An author is either a fiction or nonfiction writer who creates original material for many different types of publications.

For me the most interesting aspect of professional writing would be learning the finer points of fiction writing so that I can one day work in a publsihing house. More specifically, the editing aspect would be what I wanted to learn more about so that once I graduate I can find work in a publishing house as an editor of some kind.