Definition of Rhetoric 2.0

            Throughout this class, I have had many opportunities to practice my rhetorical skills and really learn what rhetoric is through practice. After this semester, I would say that a good condensed definition for rhetoric is the definition used for this class in vocabulary quizzes, “the art of effective expression.” However, I think this definition can be expanded upon.

            One of the most important facets of rhetoric is audience. One has to take into consideration the kind of people that will be listening to a particular speech or reading a particular text. If the audience were a group of pre-school aged children, then one would need to use smaller, simpler words and concepts. However, if the paper is part of one’s doctoral thesis, the words, sentences, and concepts can be a bit more in-depth and complicated for that particular level of work. One would not use the same kind of words for both of these audiences, because one style would not always be appropriate for the other audience. Audience determines almost everything about how one forms their essay, speech, presentation, or other persuasive piece.

            Another important aspect of rhetoric is diction. The words used are very important in order for an argument to be understood. The concepts of audience and diction are very intertwined; the type of words and phrases used in order for communication to be effective can differ based on who will be listening to or reading that particular communication. Just as described above, different words and ideas would be used based on who the argument would be aimed towards.

            Finally, another important aspect is the type of appeal towards the audience that is used. Ethos, logos, and pathos can all be used to help persuade an audience on a particular subject. Ethos is the appeal to the audience by proving the credibility of a source or author, and can be used to show that information is reliable and valid. Logos is the appeal to logic, which can be used to show the logical, reasonable side behind an argument. Pathos is the appeal to the audience’s emotion, and forms an argument that evokes an emotional response from the audience. Each of these appeals towards the audience can be used, depending on who the audience is. These appeals can also determine the kind of diction used as well, which makes all three of these aspects rhetorically intertwined.

            There are many ways that I have learned everything that is involved in rhetoric, particularly in this class. Fight Club has helped me learn argumentative tactics for oral argumentation. Blog posts have helped me argue for or against certain topics and take into consideration my audience and also write in a more informal manner than would be used in a formal essay. Finally, this class has helped me successfully write a long argumentative essay. I have never written a paper this long before, and this class made me confident that I can write a paper of this length without detracting from the strength of my argument or being too repetitive.

            In conclusion, my definition and understanding of rhetoric is “the art of effective expression, in regards to audience, diction, and tactics of appeal.”

Multimedia Presentation

https://prezi.com/lcvahetei1f9/obesity-in-saint-louis/

Clicking the play button on the presentation should play my recordings and automatically change the slides after each recording. Enjoy!

Research Paper Rhetorical Analysis

            Overall, I think the assignments that were done to help write this paper were effective. It really helped to have the annotated bibliography, because it forced me to read and analyze my sources well in advance. I also think it helped to have multiple drafts due – this made me sit down and write the paper without procrastinating. It was really helpful to turn in multiple drafts and get feedback on each of them, so we know specifically what we can improve on the next draft and know exactly what we should be including in the paper.

            I believe the most helpful assignment in this process was the outline for our paper. Making an outline for my paper helped me organize my points in an order that helps the flow of the paper. If I just wrote my paper without having done an outline first, I think it would have been very difficult for me to find a good organization for a paper of this length.

            I think Strunk & White was introduced at a good time in our writing process – I don’t think we would have taken the material as seriously if we didn’t already have a paper written that we could apply it to.

            Short papers, such as our proposal and audience paper, were helpful for me in analyzing what exactly I’d be writing in my paper – what my solution was, and who I should be targeting my paper at.

            If I have any suggestions, it would be with Fight Club in relation to our papers. It might be interesting for us to use some of our paper topics for Fight Club (some are more in-depth and may be difficult to find research on, but others could work). I think this would help each of us find counterarguments to our proposal that we didn’t think of ourselves, but someone who is unbiased on the topic could come up with.

Fight Club 11/19- Analyzing the President's Move

Pros:

• He should have stepped in and stopped the racism. 
• The President had plenty of time to address the issue, and by him choosing not too it portrayed him poorly. 
• A good President is involved with his students and their well-being. If there is ever any sign of a President who lacks this there purpose is absent. 
• By having a new President it will give students hope, and will help them move on from the issue. Even if the current President were to attempt to solve the problem, the students may still resent him. In other words, in times if stress there needs a be a change. 
• Ethically speking, by the President being uninvolved it shows his lack of pride towards the University. He put himself before the well-being of the students. 

Cons:

• By stepping down he isn't solving the problem. Maybe he should have taken the threats as a symbol to take action. 

• Why would the new President be any better? Now that the school is without a President, nothing can be resolved until another one comes in. 
• They are just delaying the issue. 
• College students tend to over-react to sensative topics. 
• Gahndi and MLK would never ask anyone to step down, instead they would try to resolve the problem instead of making it bigger. By the President leaving, that just shows how unstable the University is. 
• Politically speaking, if the President were to leave everything would blow up and matters would only get worse, It is important for leaders to be responsible for their actions. 

Fight Club: Women CEO's

Pro

1.     Lack of equality in higher positions works against overall productivity of companies and economies.

2.     Disadvantages relative to men for women increase as the climb the ladder in companies

3.     Organic change will not be sufficient to fix the problem

4.     Women control around half of private wealth, so they have the ability to introduce useful perspective in how to convince people to invest that wealth in a given business

5.     Tensions will decrease when companies better reflect society at large and people adjust after the initial change.

Con

1.     Affirmative action only tends to help white women, and leaves other women out of the solution.

2.     People hired because they can fill a quota are not necessarily the best person for the job.

3.     Discrimination should not be the solution to discrimination. i.e you shouldn’t discriminate against the most qualified person because they aren’t a woman.

4.     Trying to get more women CEO only helps already well-off women, instead of the majority.

5.     Increases tension in the workplace, because it creates the feeling that women hired to fill a quota don’t deserve to be there.

Argument Culture, Part 2

Argument Culture - 9/25/15

I can’t say I necessarily live in an argument “culture,” but I do hear arguments occasionally around me. For example, a few days ago someone in my hall thought it would be funny to hang his full-sized Confederate flag on his door, and quite a few people on my floor weren’t too pleased with him. Most of the “arguments” I hear are mostly people seeing something on the Internet that makes them mad, and then trying to get people around them to agree with their own opinion. For example, one of my roommates is very passionate about women’s health, and she’ll see things that make her mad and tell us about it to try to get us to agree, which happens most of the time. When I was still living at home, my mom would often bring up something controversial, usually involving politics, at the dinner table, which would lead to my dad and me arguing about our opinions on it – those arguments usually didn’t end well, with one of us too angry to continue and leaving the room.

            I can say with a pretty good amount of confidence that none of these arguments accomplish anything, except for making everyone frustrated. My roommate usually ends up frustrated with the world, and my dad and me usually end up mad at each other and avoid each other for a few hours afterwards. I’d say that my arguments with my dad are harmful and helpful; they’re helpful because we learn each others’ opinions, but harmful because it ends up getting both of us mad for no reason.

            I haven’t been in a class where argumentation was the focus of the class, but I have been in classes where arguments have taken place. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school, and with Catholic education comes with theology classes. My junior year my theology class was an ethics class, where many controversial topics were brought up and then we learned the Catholic social teaching about each. Several topics came up without anyone arguing, like the death penalty and the environment. However, when the topic of abortion came up, one of the most tense arguments I’ve ever experienced occurred. It wasn’t between students, but between the teacher and students. Despite my teacher being a bit socially awkward, he handled it pretty well – he kept up his position on the issue, and answered questions thoughtfully, although maybe not to the satisfaction of those who disagreed with him. The argument ended with people frustrated and crying, and most people in the class were dying to get out of the classroom at the end of the period, just because it was not typical for students in the class to question what a teacher is teaching. I won’t comment on who “won” the argument, exactly, but that class was still one of the more tense moments I’ve had in school.

            Like previously stated, I can’t say I’m surrounded by arguments at all times, but I do overhear occasional disagreements that aren’t particularly severe. I haven’t participated in an argument in a while, but when they do happen, I’m pretty stubborn, so I stick up for myself and make my point clear and logical.

*******

As I have come to realize since September 25^th, we do live in a bit more of an argument culture than I had believed. However, I think we live in a culture of passive-aggressive argumentation. I think people today are always concerned about hurting other people’s feelings or offending someone with something they say, which in some ways is good. It is important to phrase things well when you say them so that you can avoid possible hurt feelings and escalate a problem even more. While confrontation is always pretty difficult for most people, sometimes it’s important to face problems head-on.

            As far as being passive aggressive, for example, it seems normal to address issues through a text or a sticky note. I will even admit that, for me, this approach to addressing conflict is more comfortable for me most of the time with people that I’m not very close to, but if there is a conflict in a friendship or family relationship, that is not acceptable, when people think it is. I think that some things can be accomplished in this “sticky note” situation, if it’s only a minor issue, but no one will understand each other in a text message if there is an actual, serious issue that comes up.

            Confrontation is difficult, but it’s part of life. However, I think an argument in person gets things across more easily, better than in writing, because emotions can’t be understood in a text message, usually. As our use of technology and other forms of impersonal communication increases, so does the lack of in-person argumentation.