Writing in the Social Sciences vs. the Humanities - A Comparative Rhetorical Analysis In writing, there are several disciplinary conventions that categorize a piece of writing. Writing is most often split into three disciplines; the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The conventions structure, language, and reference found in a piece of writing help further organize the writing into a discipline. At first glance, John Streamas’s “Narrative Politics in Historical Fictions for Children” and Lora E. Vess’s “Examining Race & Racism in the University: A Class Project” do not appear to be difficult to categorize; Streamas’s article is for the humanities, while Vess’s article is for the social sciences. However, the line between the two article’s …show more content…
“Examining Race & Racism in the University: A Class Project” somewhat focuses on descriptions of observations and experiments, and Vess gives reasons as to why she chose to do this or why she chose to do that, such as when she tells the reader that “When I made decisions without students, I did my best to explain my decisions and obtain their buy-in” (4). Throughout the duration of the article, Vess uses colorful language, and is descriptive and personal. The article presents itself as somewhat of a personal narrative of the experiment. Vess describes her feelings towards certain aspects of the experiment, for example: “Listening to other people’s stories made me feel better about my own. I’m sure it was a relief for some of our interviewees to get those stories off their chests and I’m glad we gave them a chance to” (5). Such personal opinions are not often found in writing in the social sciences, and instead tend to be found almost primarily in the …show more content…
Lora E. Vess’s “Examining Race & Racism in the University: A Class Project” is, for the most part, a clear example of writing in the social sciences, while John Streamas’s “Narrative Politics in Historical Fictions for Children” follows the writing conventions for the humanities discipline. Writing in the social sciences and humanities present different ideas and perform different tasks for their readers; Vess’s article tended to guide the reader through her conducted experiment, and she writes to achieve her goals. Streamas’s article presented the reader with his opinions on the subject, and was intended to almost persuade the reader to think about what exactly he is saying. Writing in the humanities and social sciences will almost always have different rhetorical situations, and Vess’s “Examining Race & Racism in the University: A Class Project” and Streamas’s “Narrative Politics in Historical Fictions for Children” clearly divide the line between the two
Attempting to break free of social constructions and otherness, Rochelle Brock delves into deep inquiry for the advancement of her pedagogy. Brock utilizes an interesting style of writing where she inserts an explanation, through a quote or internal dialogue, about the situation at hand; whether it be with her students or with the god to whom she was seeking guidance, Oshun. Dissecting the conversations inside her own head and those of the four students invited over for dialogue on the matter, she is able to examine the difference in rhetorical strategies used to suppress others and to combat otherness. The chapter, “Sista to Sista to Sista,” takes up a decent portion of the book and revolves around dialogue between Brock and four students regarding their experiences as Black women.
In the second chapter of the book, Whistling Vivaldi, the author, Claude M. Steele, makes a number of fair assessments on how people’s prejudices and preconceived notions can interfere with someone’s ability to live up to their full potential. Even those who don’t notices these preconceptions can be unintentionally placing them on others, unwittingly experiencing them, or both. There are several key points that Steele raises in his writings which reinforce the aforementioned thoughts, one being that the students are unconsciously aware of the biases they place on themselves, another element is that when students feel bigotry being placed upon them, they oftentimes underperform, and lastly the lack of balance which can be found in experiments.
In the PBS documentary A Class Divided third grade teacher Jane Elliot tried an experiment to let a class of her third graders experience discrimination. For Jane Elliot’s third grade class in a small town in Iowa discrimination was unheard of because there was only white Christians living in the town. She separated her class based on eye color, so one day she made the kids with blue eyes be superior and the kids with brown eyes be inferior. She did multiple test to see if the way they were treated changed the way they learned. The next day she switched it, so the kids with blue eyes were now inferior and the kids with brown eyes were superior.
With Schutte’s background in journalism, social activism, and writing, she is able to bring out emotions within the reader. Schutte understands the past events relating to racism and is able to discuss the issues with the reader, with an informed background. The wording within the article demonstrates Schutte’s passion on the subject, and uses words such as defenseless, shock and horror to express her opinions on the racism that blacks fear and encounter daily. Schutte includes personal stories of victims of racial profiling and harm to establish pathos. Schutte discusses the discrimination that blacks face daily: being judged based on the color of their skin and not their intellectual ability or personality.
As we study the reason behind why and what elements play a role in theorizing about the role that race plays in various rhetorical cultures. The essay argues that by incorporating theoretical insights and critical race theory insights, we can better understand and study of race and race relations. There are two forms of racism, traditional versus modern. In our history of time, as our way of
In both of these articles, the authors show similarities of discrimination however the articles highlight differences using diction, anecdotes, and tone throughout their writing with the soul purpose to account for racism. The authors write and project towards a certain audience to acknowledged the racial issues the people are still facing.
This is one of the biggest issues within our education system. Based on the article from Atlantic, “History Class and the Fictions About Race in
Delgado and Stefancic (2011) stated that Critical Race Theory explores how “race, racism, and power intersect to create different circumstances for people of color within society [...] and in postsecondary institutions” (as cited in Quaye, 2013, p. 172). Within the field of higher education, it is important for student affairs professionals to recognize how race permeates all aspects of an individual’s life to fully understand their students’ experiences. Unlike other student development theories, such as Baxter-Magolda’s (2008) self-authorship and Abes, Jones, and McEwen’s (2007) Model of Multiple Identities, CRT places race at the “center of the analysis and assumes that race is omnipresent” in an individual’s life (Quaye, 2013, p. 167).
For this rhetorical analysis essay I decided to reflect upon the somewhat recent documentary titled “The Social Dilemma”. From gen-zians to baby boomers, this film was dedicated to educating people on the impact of social media on today’s society as we have entered a tech-frenzy world. Just like many other people, I wanted to see what the craze was about when this film was produced back in 2020. From interviews with former tech company employees to societal examples, Jeff Orlowski used various rhetorical strategies to convey an important message within his world-famous film. Growing up during a time where social media was just developing and kids weren’t glued to their iPad’s, I have very clearly noticed the effects social media has had on,
The decision to attend a white school is a tough one and Junior understands that for him to survive and to ensure that his background does not stop him from attaining his dreams; he must battle the stereotypes regardless of the consequences. In this light, race and stereotypes only makes junior stronger in the end as evident on how he struggles to override the race and stereotypical expectations from his time at the reservation to his time at Rearden. How race and stereotypes made
When kept in the curriculum, it can have a portion of students uncomfortable in a classroom when discussing the topics because of events that took place within their lives. Racism is a continuing problem in the twentieth century, and continues to be a problem in the twenty first century. During Perry’s time in an orphanage, there were nurses who “… hated me… being half-Indian. There was this one nurse, she used to call me ‘nigger’ and say there wasn’t any difference between niggers and Indians” (Capote 128). Racism is still occurring well into the twenty-first century, but with a new aspect, social media.
The documentary titled, “ A Class Divided” introduces us to the experiment made in an elementary school in Iowa by the schoolteacher named Jane Elliot. The documentary begins with Mrs. Elliot reuniting with the students who she did this experiment with the first time. The students are much older now, and they willingly want to watch the experiment that they were part of when they were elementary kids. The experiment was done days after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Mrs. Elliot has always thought about doing the eye color experiment, but she was never sure of when to do it. She asked her third grade student if it would be interesting to see what would happen if they were judged by their eye color.
They claim, “...students of color are showing that they feel disconnected from their respective schools, that implicit yet institutionalized racism creates emotional distance between them and their white peers and faculty. Being a black student on a predominantly white campus certainly, doesn’t guarantee that the student will develop mental-health issues. However, various studies suggest that perceived or actual discrimination can make it hard for students of color to engage with their campus in the way that their white peers do.” This explains how students sometimes feel like they don’t get enough support from their universities and this is dangerous because it can lead that student to drop out of school.
In order to change history, people must learn from their mistakes. Segregation in North America has been a big issue in North America that unfortunately still happens in the world today, however, it is not as bad as it once was. In the poem “History Lesson” by Natasha Trethewey, the author uses mood, symbolism and imagery to describe the racial segregation coloured people faced in the past compared to more recent times, where equality is improved and celebrated. The author uses language and setting to influence the mood and meaning of the poem.
Steele begins addressing the issue by saying that “ By making black the color of preference, these mandates have re-burdened society with the very marriage of color and preference( in reverse) that we set out to eradicate.” In essence Shelby states that by allowing blacks to get a free privilege that whites do not have, the same issue that people were attempting to eradicate had just been reversed except this time in favor of African Americans. Shelby further explains that “ In integrated situations where blacks must compete with whites who may be better prepared, these explanations may quickly wear thin and expose the individual to racial as well as personal self doubt.” By using the example of college Shelby shows people that just because something is free does not mean it is beneficial in fact it may have the opposite effect it set out to achieve. At this point the audience has been made aware of a problem on several occasion and at this point in time Shelby begins to elaborate on the issue creating more intricate situations in which the free privilege will affect African Americans in the future.