Rhetorical Reflection Memo

The first section of your syllabus entitled “What We’re Doing in This Course, and Why” intrigued me. Specifically, due to its mention of the concept of rhetorical thinking being used to figure out what to say and how to say it. To me, this section encompasses all disciplines who tend to use different words to describe how you present an argument both in a correct and incorrect manner (framing, bias, logical fallacies ect.). I’m interested to see how different disciplines utilize this skill from simply being as bland and logical as possible such as in a scientific paper, or to making an effort to persuade an audience in a speech such as in a debate.

Based on the readings and videos that you read/watched during week one, how would you describe “rhetoric”? What is “the rhetorical situation” and how do you see an awareness of this concept affecting your writing and behaviors?

When registering for this class, a wave of worry ran through me, because I had minimal skill when it came to writing, particularly in the field of formal writing. The high school I attended was academically poor, we never wrote formal papers, just informal book and movie responses. Therefore I was apprehensive about this class. This course was quite intricate, but I attend skills that will aid me for the rest of my academic career. Rhetorical knowledge, critical inquiry, process, and conventions are all concepts I have acquired. To display my understanding of the four-course outcomes, I selected my summary and rhetorical analysis of Bruno Bettelheim's "Fairy Tales and the Existential Predicament," and my in-class writing "Seattle Versus the

Political ads are a way to persuade you to vote for one political party or the other. Every 4 years, there is an election between democrats and republicans that will help decide the next president of the United States. These campaigns between the democrats and the republicans are the strategies candidates use to win your vote. During the election season, there is many speeches made by both the people who are running for president. Debates between the two sides can sway your vote to one side or the other depending on what the candidates say.

My definition of rhetoric before the readings was simply: successful written or oral communication with a clear purpose & audience in mind. After completing the readings, I have decided that is not specific enough and does not encompass what rhetoric really is. The readings by Crusus, Channell, and Drucker helped establish a clear relationship between argument, “mature reasoning”, and communication as a mode used to communicate. Both of the readings provided a clearer understanding of argument and communication, key components to rhetoric, but did not change my definition until I read “The Rhetorical Situation” by Bitzer. The idea of a rhetorical situation, provided a clear application of the question: “What is rhetoric?” in a historical, realistic

Speeches are used to commemorate points of history, and inform the general public of the product of their history but what makes a speech so impacting on it’s audience? Rhetorical devices give speeches and works of literature a way that can convey feelings or ideas to a viewer. When addressing during times of war or chaos, people such as Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill used these terms to better connect with their audience. Without these tools of the english language, dialogue and literature would be all the more dull and unappealing. However, with these useful instruments, writers and speakers can better communicate through some of the many rhetorical devices.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.--Daxter Miles Jr. scored 23 points as No. 10 West Virginia University defeated No. 24 Iowa State 87-76 on Senior Night in front of a sold out Coliseum crowd.

Differences are often produced during the conversation, reduce differences, won the approval of the people is the focus of the third chapter. Twelve method completely summarized how to better won the approval of the others, and others on the same point of view. There are several kinds of twelve method is my father taught me before. Article 3 the If you 're wrong, admit and article 8 stand in others point of view. When I was a child often makes mistakes when my father was often criticized me. I am a very like to debate, I 'm with my family go to great lengths to explain why not because of my own and make mistakes. But the fact is that or did I do wrong, hurt, are spending their parents money, dad didn 't want to quarrel with me, but said to

I agree with the message of this clip, which is to be cautious when looking for love and be certain that a deep and meaningful connection is present prior to engaging in intercourse with another. I think this is important because we live in a world that is over sexualized and as a result teaches our youth the wrong messages and leaves women feeling that they must seduce a man in order to entice and keep a man. In my opinion, Pastor Paul quoted two of the most profound statements which was King Solomon 's quote "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires" this was a crucial message because it was directed at women who throughout history have had a tendency to seek love and in many cases try to force love when it is non-existent. Too many women today confuse intercourse with love and they end up with their hearts broken because they believed that a physical relationship would heighten their emotional

Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” examines the proposal of consuming human flesh in order to solve the dilemma of the Potato Famine, in which drought was exacerbated by crop failures, and this tribulation of the Irish was largely snubbed by English landowners. His ironic persona (speaker), is one of confidence, reason, and worth. In addition, this persona presents a multitude of rhetorical strategies to prepare the audience for this overly deranged proposal, ranging from juxtapositions, to using emotion, reason, and credibility, to persuade the reader. Therefore, the ironic persona in “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift illustrates a wide assortment of rhetorical devices to convey the solution to the Potato Famine, and more broadly, Swift intended this ironic platform to serve as an expository of the avarice of landowners and their gain for self-interest.

The piece of writing which I felt was unsuccessful for me was the Rhetorical Analysis of an article relating to a topic from our course book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. This piece of writing was difficult for me to organize my ideas around. The article that I decided to use for my rhetorical analysis highlighted mass incarceration among African American and the effect of civil liberties being are taken away from these individuals. I had a lot of repetition because many of the examples I used demonstrated more than one type of appeal. I found myself repeating what the purpose of the example was and how it demonstrated proper use of ethos, pathos, and logos. This also made it difficult

Politicians call for missile defense projects. Many defense projects have failed and cost not only the government but taxpayers over 50 billion dollars. Lee Fang, a writer for The Intercept, shows how ineffective these programs have been in the past. The persuasiveness of Lee's argument in his article “Politicians Use North Korea H-Bomb Fears to Pitch Wasteful Missile Defense Projects” is based on a logical approach using facts, (logos), an emotion approach trying to rally us up (pathos), and on his credibility and the creditability of his sources (ethos).

The most effective rhetorical appeal used in the passage was logos and pathos. King used reasoning and experiences to try to persuade the clergymen or ministers, to bring unity and pacifism. In his applauding and jaw dropping letter, he writes from jail, to the ministers about his aspect on racism and segregation. Additionally, King uses allusion to refer to unconventional events in the past, that support his work.

Over the course of the semester, my main goal was to become a more precise writer and develop my identity as a writer. According too, the Portfolio Letter assignment sheet, becoming a better writer consists of precise planning, draft and revising. It also includes understanding a variety of academic genres by examining the basic characteristics that defines each type. In order too efficiently meet my goal of becoming a better writer, it was very important to have my work evaluated by others and myself as well. The use of rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, reading and writing all are the important aspects in this course. All of which helped tremendously with becoming a more precise writer and developing my identity as a writer.

Past leaders such as Andrew Jackson, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Marc Antony are evidence that society does not reward morality and good character in leadership. Society is drawn to leaders that have good rhetoric, propaganda, and charismatic personalities, and society supports them despite their immorality. Society is concerned about stability more than the morality of their leaders and will support immoral leaders in times of crisis to provide stability.