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.