Rhetoric has been the basis of what we have learned so far in this course. It is the basis of what we write and why. What is the point of writing in a changing world if we are not writing about how our world is changing? Thoughts, ideas and opinions are what surround what we have written about so far in this course, which has led us to argue or explain how we feel about certain situations. Rhetoric keeps us honest in what we write because it forces us to think of all of the possible angles of our topics to ensure we are speaking with a scholarly opinion. Context would have to be the second most important concept that we have learned about thus far. Context is a very important writing concept because without it our readers would not understand what our writings were trying to convey and how we are meant to be understood. Exigence is another concept that is important in writing. When writing any paper, article or book, you have to know what it is you will be writing about and according to Introduction to the Conversation “what caused you to write in the first place.” Knowing what inspires a person to write allows that person to clearly convey their thoughts and feelings in writing form.
When this class started I had no idea what rhetoric meant and considering it's one of the major words that this class is centered around I'd say it's pretty important. It has everything to do with writing and language. We learned that it meant the art of persuasion in other words the way one writes or speaks to an audience. Since day one we have been discussing the word rhetoric and many of us have included it in our wikipedia/encyclopedia project and I'm certain that it's one of those words that even after this class is over we will continue to use it. Next word would be exigence. This is word that I have never heard of yet it's importance in this class is the same as rhetoric. It has everything to do with writing which is surprising how I've survived all of my pervious writing and english classes without learning about it. Exigence means imperfection marked by urgency and it requires positive modification. It has everything to do with how we shape what we write. The last word that I would consider to be important would be audience. An audience is whose minds we are trying to persuade an influence. We write what we write because of them.
I feel “rhetoric” is an important concept that we’ve been studying because it includes the study of communication and words which are very powerful tools when people know how to use them. Therefore, they will be better at conveying their thoughts to others and being more persuasive. Also I find “Audience” is an important aspect too, because it’s important to know the audience you are targeting when writing a book or preparing a speech. Thus you’ll know how to choose the appropriate words and phrases that will help you deliver your message. Each type of audience has a different writing style and terms that the writer should use. And finally the term “genre”. I find it important because it helps categorizing the different types of art and literature into smaller categories known by specific features that the writer should usually follow. It’s also helpful when looking for a book, an article or a movie to know its genre. It’ll make it so much easier to find it.
I feel “rhetoric” is an important concept that we’ve been studying because it includes the study of communication and words which are very powerful tools when people know how to use them. Therefore, they will be better at conveying their thoughts to others and being more persuasive. Also rhetoric studies teach people how to come with a good argument and make a logical discussion about it. Also I find “Audience” is an important aspect too, because it’s important to know the audience you are targeting when writing a book or preparing a speech. Thus you’ll know how to choose the appropriate words and phrases that will help you deliver your message. Each type of audience has a different writing style and terms that the writer should use. Using a simple language may help the writer to reach a broader group of people which is different in the case of using more academic terminology. And finally the term “genre”. I find it important because it helps categorizing the different types of art and literature into smaller categories known by specific features that the writer should usually follow. It’s also helpful when looking for a book, an article or a movie to know its genre. It’ll make it so much easier to find it.
I have learned many concepts from this course. I will say three concepts which I think is important for me. First term is technology, the first thing comes out my mind about technology is something related on electronic products, such as computer, phone. However, through this course I learned not only electronic products can stand for technology, but also writing or speaking can stand for technology. Because when people speaking or writing something, they should use technology into them speech draft or paper which can help audience easy to understand the author’s main point. Second term is rhetoric, I think this is a very important concept to use into our paper which can helps our paper more powerful and vivid. Moreover, it can attack audience pay more attention to your paper. Third term is genre, this term means different types category. For instance, different types movies, such as horror movies, thriller movies and so on. The reason I think important is once we look a book or article and we have already know what category is, it is really help us easy to find it, and also save times.
In other words, rhetoric concepts can attack audience and let audience pay more attention to the paper. Sometimes, I used rhetoric concepts into the paper as examples to explain or support the augment that I made before, meanwhile, it can help audience to better understand my purpose.
The three of the most important concepts that we have covered in class so far I would say are: Technology and the changes/imact it’s had on writing, that of the rhetorical situation, and finally that writing is inherently social. I picked these since I feel they are rather fundamental in starting to understand writing. On technology, it hadn’t really occurred to just how many technologies we use in writing today, including that writing itself is a technology. As technology has progressed we have seen some large changes in writing, a lot of accessibility and form changes, which can cause some to be resistant to the newer technologies. But technology is always going to change and writing is going to change along with it, and that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still writing no matter the form it’s currently in. The concept of the Rhetorical Situation is also one of the important ones. Rhetoric cannot exist without situations we wish to, and are able to change. In these situations discourse is possible because of the problem, and the will to change. The situations themselves are made up of Exigence, Audience, and Constraints all of which are important concepts on their own but also fall under the rhetorical situation. We use and shape our writing based on those to try and change these situations towards something we feel is more positive. The situations could be big or small, but our ability to try and change them using rhetoric is important. Lastly we also talked about the concept of writing being an inherently social activity. You are using the experience, tools, and knowledge of others before you, therefore you’re never truly writing alone. You’re also always writing for an audience, even if it’s yourself and this shapes your writing at fundamental level. You have a purpose and goal in your writing, and keeping that audience in mind can make you a better writer.
I feel as though the main concept that I find most important is this class is just simply writing. I never thought of writing as so many different things before taking this class. Always just assumed writing to be simply typing or writing out a paper and then turning it in. Never did I think of it as something much more. The relationship between writing and the new world today is interesting. Writing can be Facebook, emoji’s, or even simply just a text. Which brings me into my next term that I find most important so far, which is technology. I feel that a lot of our material has us referring to online sources and using technology. Along with how writing is technology. The name of the class “writing in a changing world” I think refers to how as the world is relying more and more on technology and that we need to change the way we think about writing along with that change. My final concept has to be rhetoric. Although I still don’t fully understand what rhetoric entails, I know enough about it to realize how important it is in writing. I think of rhetoric as kind of the reason as to why we are writing. What is the meaning behind what we write and why are we writing it. If there is no one to write to why are we writing? Even if it is to yourself you are always writing for someone to read.
I feel like we have covered a lot of very important information so far in class, but there are a few things that do stand out to me as being most important. The three concepts that I feel are most important are rhetoric and its three constituents, the role that technology has played in changing and shaping writing, and also that writing is social. Rhetoric is a term that we have consistently used in class from day one. It's important because without rhetoric we wouldn't have any communication and writing would be lost. In order to have rhetoric though there are three constraints that compromise everything relevant in a rhetorical situation. They are: exigence, audience, and constraints. These three constraints shape rhetoric and allow it to function, without them, there is no rhetoric and we need it to survive in our society. Another concept that I feel is important is the fact that writing is a technology. In every form that writing can be acted out, whether it be by a pencil, computer, or cell phone, it is a technology in itself because writing allows us to communicate in ways that speech cannot. A few examples is that writing allows us to easily communicate over time and space, history can be documented and saved and then referred to later, and writing enables us to communicate with audiences all over the world. The last concept that I believe is important is that writing is social. This may be the most important of all because it connects both of the concepts I discussed above. Rhetoric would be impossible without social interaction and writing was invented as a form of communication which makes it a technology. Writing is social because it is always connecting us to other people and those people influence ideas, bring their own interpretations, and it draws upon peoples experiences. Writers are always engaging in making meaning for audiences so they are continuously connected to people, whether they know it or not.
In this class, I have been introduced to many new concepts that I hadn’t known about before. One of the concepts that really influenced me was how writing is a heavily influenced by technology and vice versa. Through the Wikipedia/encyclopedia analysis, I was able to see how technology was able to connect many different ideas, and make it easily accessible to readers. Wikipedia is a way that the both the reader and the writer can connect to make their thoughts/ideas one. Although it is not the most reliable source, it is still a cooperative forum available to masses. The second concept that struck me was rhetoric. In general, I knew that rhetoric was the art of persuasion, however during the discussions in class I learned much more. Rhetoric is also a way of altering the reality by bring up a discourse that can change the way an audience thinks about a particular subject. Lastly, I also wanted to highlight the concept of how writing addresses and invokes the audience. Whenever we write something, we right it knowing that it is going to be read. Writing is very collaborative and involves the reactions of both the reader and the writer. Today, technology makes it easier for the collaboration to occur, so that the readers and the audience can communicate with each other.
Out of all the different topics we have discussed in class there are three that stick out to me so far those are, writing as technology, the fact that where you read information can change the information you are receiving, and rhetoric and rhetoric. I never really thought of writing as a technology, honestly I never really thought about writing much deeper than grammar and following rules before this class. To think of how writing as a technology has changed over the course of history and how it has been seen as good thing and a bad thing to different people. Starting with simply just writing things down with ink to have computers and being able to share and find information and writing instantly. This brings me to my next concept of where writing and information is found and how it changes depending on the platform that it is being found on. The Wikipedia and Encyclopedia analysis really drove this concept home for me. I had never taken the time to see that writing on the internet and the way people write for encyclopedias and things like that is completely different. I feel like that is such an important thing to realizes, I know question everything I read and I want to find it somewhere else just to see how its written in a different media. Lastly, rhetoric is such an important concept and before this class I never knew what it meant and now I do. This is the art of persuasion, knowing who the audience is that you are writing to and find how to evoke change within that group. I would have never known any of that before this class. All of these concepts are important and there are also many other concepts that we have gone over that are just as important. But these ones made me really open my eyes and taught me something that I would have never even thought about before this class.
Three topics that stuck out to me was writing is technology. I never thought that at some point in history everything that we currently think of today as "old style" was "new style". For example when the typewriter came out people acted the same way that people do towards computers and smart phones. Saying that technology is ruining our lives and other things. Another thing I thought was interesting, was learning about rhetoric. I am not a big writer and do not know much about the terms behind writing. The only thing I knew was like a rhetorical question. Now I know that writing is a rhetorical activity, such as we know that we are writing blogs here. But as students we are sending it to our professor so we have to be professional. We can't type here how we would in a Facebook post or a tweet. Doing the wiki project I learned how exactly technology has enhanced our lives. Throughout my entire school career I do not think that I have cracked an encyclopedia, I have always used a computer doing research. And it showed me how easy technology has made research, now you can google a concept and get 30,000+ articles in 2 seconds. Instead of looking through encyclopedia after encyclopedia to find one or maybe two articles.
Our discussions about writing as a social activity have struck me as one of the most important. Writing is the biggest platform for communication, especially now that the technological explosion has made it so accessible. It's a clear way to convey messages across time and space. As Kevin Roozen described in our textbook, writers are always drawing upon the works and ideas of others, and they are always addressing an audience. Whether the intention is to reach large numbers of people or simply one's own self, it is a productive exchange. This is why it's true that even reading and writing in solitude is communicative. Just as important as the sociality of writing is the rhetorical situation that produced the writing. Defined by Bitzer as a complex of people, events, objects, and relations, the rhetorical situation is what fuels each piece of writing. The situation provides relevance and significance for the writing and its intended audience. It drives the message being conveyed while creating discourse. Without a rhetorical situation, there would be no discourse and thus, no need for rhetoric. Rhetoric is also a concept that is extremely important. It’s a powerful mechanism used to invoke action. While readers perceive pieces of writing through their own interpretation, rhetoric is a way for a writer to sway the readers’ opinions one way or the other. This is tremendously important in conveying a certain message to a certain audience as a means of enacting change. And since writing is such a large platform for communicating, it’s important for writers to understand rhetorical tactics in order to write in a productive and effective way.
In this class we have learned many terms that have helped us understand exactly what it means to write in a world that constantly changes. Three of these terms, however, have stuck out more to me than any of the others. The first of which seems the most obvious: rhetoric. Rhetoric has shaped much, if not all, of the writing and reading we have covered in not only this class, but many of the other classes we have taken over the years. Even the ancient Romans and Greeks used rhetoric in their society in order to influence their culture. Rhetoric, known as the art of persuasion, uses most of every other method and term we learn of in order to turn favor toward the writer, or speaker, and to get a point across and make a change. Because of its prevalence and need, it is very clear why this would be my top choice of most important words. My second most important word is Kairos. Kairos is choosing the right moment in time. Speaking of something only has impact if it is relevant. You wouldn't talk about how a Nokia phone could be improved upon in today's day and age, because almost no one has a Nokia anymore. (And with so many better options out there, who can blame them?) Rather, you would want to mention how the IPhone 7 has no headphone jack, because that is what people are talking about today. Picking the right time and place in history to write about a topic is crucial to how your writing will be received. "Timing is everything" is a very common phrase, and it is that way for a reason. If you do not choose the opportune moment, you might as well not write the paper. My third term is audience. Audience is another one of those terms that seems like such an obvious choice on the list of importance. If you do not have an audience, or if you do not have the RIGHT audience, then refer to one line I have written above and don't even bother writing the paper or making the speech. No one in a disability group will want to hear about how important it is to learn gymnastics at an early age, and it is doubtful that a motorcycle gang will want to learn about knitting. Having the correct audience for a particular topic is crucial for your success, as audiences can either make or break your work. If it is a medicinal paper, don't give it to art students who couldn't care less or who wouldn't know the lingo (read: jargon). If it is a study on the memory of rats, don't give it to someone who is afraid of rats. Having the right audience can not only help your paper be successful, it can also boost your confidence in your writing when you get feedback that is actually helpful. This is why I have chosen this term as one of my most important ones we have discussed so far.
Although Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation”, is the most complex texts so far in the semesters, it is also the most informative for understanding the importance of rhetoric by defining exigence. Bitzer defines exigence as “an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle”, but in order for an exigence to be rhetorical there are certain specifications it must meet (6). For example, “not all [situations] are rhetorical exigencies. An exigence which cannot be modified is not rhetorical . . . death, winter, and some natural disasters . . . are exigencies . . . but they are not rhetorical” (6). Understanding a rhetorical exigence helps to define the purpose of writing, in order to change something of urgency. Rhetorical writers are not those who write about fiction, but those who strive to use language to address urgent issues in order to enact change. Bitzer explains that writing is an active engagement of events with an audience in mind who can direct and powerful act toward a solution, giving writing a grander goal than passive observations. Sherry Turkle’s TED talk “Alone Together, provides an interesting critical examination of a correlation between an increase in electronic media-based communication and the amount of meaningful communication taking place. As a student of writing, it is important to understand the arguments and observations discussed within the field. With the increased reliance upon instantaneous communication devices using internet or telephone connection, Turkle concludes that people have become “addicted” to the technology: “When you take our phones away from us, we become anxious, we become impossible really. Modern technology has become like a phantom limb, it is so much a part of us.” Turkle’s analysis of the technology surge sense the internet traverses the idea that people have developed an unhealthy obsession with the medium through which they converse, identifying a sickening reliance or dependency upon cellphones and internet. While it may or may not be just as Turkle observes, considering more closely how people engage with technology and incorporate it into their language production is an important point in understanding how a society interacts. Finally, identifying the vital role of the audience of rhetorical writing provides a writer means for resolving its exigence. Lunsford in Threshold Concepts of Writing mentions that rhetorical writers are affected by both their exigence and their audience’s medium of communication when addressing an audience: “The digital age has brought with it the need for even closer consideration of audiences. We can no longer assume, for example that the audience members for an oral presentation are actually present. . . . Writing cannot only address and invoke but also create audiences” (21). If people are as attached to technology as Turkle may believe, it surely benefits a rhetorical writer by opening access to greater audiences. Lunsford states that “writers whose works have ‘gone viral’ on the web know well what it means to create an audience that has been unintended and indeed unimagined”, making the possibilities of resolution exponential (21). With unimaginable opportunities for a resolution, rhetorical writers must understand and reach their audience accurately.
Rhetoric has been the basis of what we have learned so far in this course. It is the basis of what we write and why. What is the point of writing in a changing world if we are not writing about how our world is changing? Thoughts, ideas and opinions are what surround what we have written about so far in this course, which has led us to argue or explain how we feel about certain situations. Rhetoric keeps us honest in what we write because it forces us to think of all of the possible angles of our topics to ensure we are speaking with a scholarly opinion.
ReplyDeleteContext would have to be the second most important concept that we have learned about thus far. Context is a very important writing concept because without it our readers would not understand what our writings were trying to convey and how we are meant to be understood.
Exigence is another concept that is important in writing. When writing any paper, article or book, you have to know what it is you will be writing about and according to Introduction to the Conversation “what caused you to write in the first place.” Knowing what inspires a person to write allows that person to clearly convey their thoughts and feelings in writing form.
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ReplyDeleteWhen this class started I had no idea what rhetoric meant and considering it's one of the major words that this class is centered around I'd say it's pretty important. It has everything to do with writing and language. We learned that it meant the art of persuasion in other words the way one writes or speaks to an audience. Since day one we have been discussing the word rhetoric and many of us have included it in our wikipedia/encyclopedia project and I'm certain that it's one of those words that even after this class is over we will continue to use it. Next word would be exigence. This is word that I have never heard of yet it's importance in this class is the same as rhetoric. It has everything to do with writing which is surprising how I've survived all of my pervious writing and english classes without learning about it. Exigence means imperfection marked by urgency and it requires positive modification. It has everything to do with how we shape what we write. The last word that I would consider to be important would be audience. An audience is whose minds we are trying to persuade an influence. We write what we write because of them.
ReplyDeleteI feel “rhetoric” is an important concept that we’ve been studying because it includes the study of communication and words which are very powerful tools when people know how to use them. Therefore, they will be better at conveying their thoughts to others and being more persuasive.
ReplyDeleteAlso I find “Audience” is an important aspect too, because it’s important to know the audience you are targeting when writing a book or preparing a speech. Thus you’ll know how to choose the appropriate words and phrases that will help you deliver your message. Each type of audience has a different writing style and terms that the writer should use.
And finally the term “genre”. I find it important because it helps categorizing the different types of art and literature into smaller categories known by specific features that the writer should usually follow. It’s also helpful when looking for a book, an article or a movie to know its genre. It’ll make it so much easier to find it.
I feel “rhetoric” is an important concept that we’ve been studying because it includes the study of communication and words which are very powerful tools when people know how to use them. Therefore, they will be better at conveying their thoughts to others and being more persuasive. Also rhetoric studies teach people how to come with a good argument and make a logical discussion about it.
DeleteAlso I find “Audience” is an important aspect too, because it’s important to know the audience you are targeting when writing a book or preparing a speech. Thus you’ll know how to choose the appropriate words and phrases that will help you deliver your message. Each type of audience has a different writing style and terms that the writer should use. Using a simple language may help the writer to reach a broader group of people which is different in the case of using more academic terminology.
And finally the term “genre”. I find it important because it helps categorizing the different types of art and literature into smaller categories known by specific features that the writer should usually follow. It’s also helpful when looking for a book, an article or a movie to know its genre. It’ll make it so much easier to find it.
I have learned many concepts from this course. I will say three concepts which I think is important for me. First term is technology, the first thing comes out my mind about technology is something related on electronic products, such as computer, phone. However, through this course I learned not only electronic products can stand for technology, but also writing or speaking can stand for technology. Because when people speaking or writing something, they should use technology into them speech draft or paper which can help audience easy to understand the author’s main point. Second term is rhetoric, I think this is a very important concept to use into our paper which can helps our paper more powerful and vivid. Moreover, it can attack audience pay more attention to your paper. Third term is genre, this term means different types category. For instance, different types movies, such as horror movies, thriller movies and so on. The reason I think important is once we look a book or article and we have already know what category is, it is really help us easy to find it, and also save times.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, rhetoric concepts can attack audience and let audience pay more attention to the paper. Sometimes, I used rhetoric concepts into the paper as examples to explain or support the augment that I made before, meanwhile, it can help audience to better understand my purpose.
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ReplyDeleteThe three of the most important concepts that we have covered in class so far I would say are: Technology and the changes/imact it’s had on writing, that of the rhetorical situation, and finally that writing is inherently social. I picked these since I feel they are rather fundamental in starting to understand writing.
ReplyDeleteOn technology, it hadn’t really occurred to just how many technologies we use in writing today, including that writing itself is a technology. As technology has progressed we have seen some large changes in writing, a lot of accessibility and form changes, which can cause some to be resistant to the newer technologies. But technology is always going to change and writing is going to change along with it, and that doesn’t change the fact that it’s still writing no matter the form it’s currently in.
The concept of the Rhetorical Situation is also one of the important ones. Rhetoric cannot exist without situations we wish to, and are able to change. In these situations discourse is possible because of the problem, and the will to change. The situations themselves are made up of Exigence, Audience, and Constraints all of which are important concepts on their own but also fall under the rhetorical situation. We use and shape our writing based on those to try and change these situations towards something we feel is more positive. The situations could be big or small, but our ability to try and change them using rhetoric is important.
Lastly we also talked about the concept of writing being an inherently social activity. You are using the experience, tools, and knowledge of others before you, therefore you’re never truly writing alone. You’re also always writing for an audience, even if it’s yourself and this shapes your writing at fundamental level. You have a purpose and goal in your writing, and keeping that audience in mind can make you a better writer.
I feel as though the main concept that I find most important is this class is just simply writing. I never thought of writing as so many different things before taking this class. Always just assumed writing to be simply typing or writing out a paper and then turning it in. Never did I think of it as something much more. The relationship between writing and the new world today is interesting. Writing can be Facebook, emoji’s, or even simply just a text. Which brings me into my next term that I find most important so far, which is technology. I feel that a lot of our material has us referring to online sources and using technology. Along with how writing is technology. The name of the class “writing in a changing world” I think refers to how as the world is relying more and more on technology and that we need to change the way we think about writing along with that change. My final concept has to be rhetoric. Although I still don’t fully understand what rhetoric entails, I know enough about it to realize how important it is in writing. I think of rhetoric as kind of the reason as to why we are writing. What is the meaning behind what we write and why are we writing it. If there is no one to write to why are we writing? Even if it is to yourself you are always writing for someone to read.
ReplyDeleteI feel like we have covered a lot of very important information so far in class, but there are a few things that do stand out to me as being most important. The three concepts that I feel are most important are rhetoric and its three constituents, the role that technology has played in changing and shaping writing, and also that writing is social.
ReplyDeleteRhetoric is a term that we have consistently used in class from day one. It's important because without rhetoric we wouldn't have any communication and writing would be lost. In order to have rhetoric though there are three constraints that compromise everything relevant in a rhetorical situation. They are: exigence, audience, and constraints. These three constraints shape rhetoric and allow it to function, without them, there is no rhetoric and we need it to survive in our society.
Another concept that I feel is important is the fact that writing is a technology. In every form that writing can be acted out, whether it be by a pencil, computer, or cell phone, it is a technology in itself because writing allows us to communicate in ways that speech cannot. A few examples is that writing allows us to easily communicate over time and space, history can be documented and saved and then referred to later, and writing enables us to communicate with audiences all over the world.
The last concept that I believe is important is that writing is social. This may be the most important of all because it connects both of the concepts I discussed above. Rhetoric would be impossible without social interaction and writing was invented as a form of communication which makes it a technology. Writing is social because it is always connecting us to other people and those people influence ideas, bring their own interpretations, and it draws upon peoples experiences. Writers are always engaging in making meaning for audiences so they are continuously connected to people, whether they know it or not.
Britney Dillon
In this class, I have been introduced to many new concepts that I hadn’t known about before. One of the concepts that really influenced me was how writing is a heavily influenced by technology and vice versa. Through the Wikipedia/encyclopedia analysis, I was able to see how technology was able to connect many different ideas, and make it easily accessible to readers. Wikipedia is a way that the both the reader and the writer can connect to make their thoughts/ideas one. Although it is not the most reliable source, it is still a cooperative forum available to masses. The second concept that struck me was rhetoric. In general, I knew that rhetoric was the art of persuasion, however during the discussions in class I learned much more. Rhetoric is also a way of altering the reality by bring up a discourse that can change the way an audience thinks about a particular subject. Lastly, I also wanted to highlight the concept of how writing addresses and invokes the audience. Whenever we write something, we right it knowing that it is going to be read. Writing is very collaborative and involves the reactions of both the reader and the writer. Today, technology makes it easier for the collaboration to occur, so that the readers and the audience can communicate with each other.
ReplyDeleteRupa Ramanathan
DeleteOut of all the different topics we have discussed in class there are three that stick out to me so far those are, writing as technology, the fact that where you read information can change the information you are receiving, and rhetoric and rhetoric. I never really thought of writing as a technology, honestly I never really thought about writing much deeper than grammar and following rules before this class. To think of how writing as a technology has changed over the course of history and how it has been seen as good thing and a bad thing to different people. Starting with simply just writing things down with ink to have computers and being able to share and find information and writing instantly. This brings me to my next concept of where writing and information is found and how it changes depending on the platform that it is being found on. The Wikipedia and Encyclopedia analysis really drove this concept home for me. I had never taken the time to see that writing on the internet and the way people write for encyclopedias and things like that is completely different. I feel like that is such an important thing to realizes, I know question everything I read and I want to find it somewhere else just to see how its written in a different media. Lastly, rhetoric is such an important concept and before this class I never knew what it meant and now I do. This is the art of persuasion, knowing who the audience is that you are writing to and find how to evoke change within that group. I would have never known any of that before this class. All of these concepts are important and there are also many other concepts that we have gone over that are just as important. But these ones made me really open my eyes and taught me something that I would have never even thought about before this class.
ReplyDeleteThree topics that stuck out to me was writing is technology. I never thought that at some point in history everything that we currently think of today as "old style" was "new style". For example when the typewriter came out people acted the same way that people do towards computers and smart phones. Saying that technology is ruining our lives and other things. Another thing I thought was interesting, was learning about rhetoric. I am not a big writer and do not know much about the terms behind writing. The only thing I knew was like a rhetorical question. Now I know that writing is a rhetorical activity, such as we know that we are writing blogs here. But as students we are sending it to our professor so we have to be professional. We can't type here how we would in a Facebook post or a tweet. Doing the wiki project I learned how exactly technology has enhanced our lives. Throughout my entire school career I do not think that I have cracked an encyclopedia, I have always used a computer doing research. And it showed me how easy technology has made research, now you can google a concept and get 30,000+ articles in 2 seconds. Instead of looking through encyclopedia after encyclopedia to find one or maybe two articles.
ReplyDeleteOur discussions about writing as a social activity have struck me as one of the most important. Writing is the biggest platform for communication, especially now that the technological explosion has made it so accessible. It's a clear way to convey messages across time and space. As Kevin Roozen described in our textbook, writers are always drawing upon the works and ideas of others, and they are always addressing an audience. Whether the intention is to reach large numbers of people or simply one's own self, it is a productive exchange. This is why it's true that even reading and writing in solitude is communicative.
ReplyDeleteJust as important as the sociality of writing is the rhetorical situation that produced the writing. Defined by Bitzer as a complex of people, events, objects, and relations, the rhetorical situation is what fuels each piece of writing. The situation provides relevance and significance for the writing and its intended audience. It drives the message being conveyed while creating discourse. Without a rhetorical situation, there would be no discourse and thus, no need for rhetoric.
Rhetoric is also a concept that is extremely important. It’s a powerful mechanism used to invoke action. While readers perceive pieces of writing through their own interpretation, rhetoric is a way for a writer to sway the readers’ opinions one way or the other. This is tremendously important in conveying a certain message to a certain audience as a means of enacting change. And since writing is such a large platform for communicating, it’s important for writers to understand rhetorical tactics in order to write in a productive and effective way.
-Kelsey Bercher
DeleteIn this class we have learned many terms that have helped us understand exactly what it means to write in a world that constantly changes. Three of these terms, however, have stuck out more to me than any of the others.
ReplyDeleteThe first of which seems the most obvious: rhetoric. Rhetoric has shaped much, if not all, of the writing and reading we have covered in not only this class, but many of the other classes we have taken over the years. Even the ancient Romans and Greeks used rhetoric in their society in order to influence their culture. Rhetoric, known as the art of persuasion, uses most of every other method and term we learn of in order to turn favor toward the writer, or speaker, and to get a point across and make a change. Because of its prevalence and need, it is very clear why this would be my top choice of most important words.
My second most important word is Kairos. Kairos is choosing the right moment in time. Speaking of something only has impact if it is relevant. You wouldn't talk about how a Nokia phone could be improved upon in today's day and age, because almost no one has a Nokia anymore. (And with so many better options out there, who can blame them?) Rather, you would want to mention how the IPhone 7 has no headphone jack, because that is what people are talking about today. Picking the right time and place in history to write about a topic is crucial to how your writing will be received. "Timing is everything" is a very common phrase, and it is that way for a reason. If you do not choose the opportune moment, you might as well not write the paper.
My third term is audience. Audience is another one of those terms that seems like such an obvious choice on the list of importance. If you do not have an audience, or if you do not have the RIGHT audience, then refer to one line I have written above and don't even bother writing the paper or making the speech. No one in a disability group will want to hear about how important it is to learn gymnastics at an early age, and it is doubtful that a motorcycle gang will want to learn about knitting. Having the correct audience for a particular topic is crucial for your success, as audiences can either make or break your work. If it is a medicinal paper, don't give it to art students who couldn't care less or who wouldn't know the lingo (read: jargon). If it is a study on the memory of rats, don't give it to someone who is afraid of rats. Having the right audience can not only help your paper be successful, it can also boost your confidence in your writing when you get feedback that is actually helpful. This is why I have chosen this term as one of my most important ones we have discussed so far.
Although Bitzer’s “The Rhetorical Situation”, is the most complex texts so far in the semesters, it is also the most informative for understanding the importance of rhetoric by defining exigence. Bitzer defines exigence as “an imperfection marked by urgency; it is a defect, an obstacle”, but in order for an exigence to be rhetorical there are certain specifications it must meet (6). For example, “not all [situations] are rhetorical exigencies. An exigence which cannot be modified is not rhetorical . . . death, winter, and some natural disasters . . . are exigencies . . . but they are not rhetorical” (6). Understanding a rhetorical exigence helps to define the purpose of writing, in order to change something of urgency. Rhetorical writers are not those who write about fiction, but those who strive to use language to address urgent issues in order to enact change. Bitzer explains that writing is an active engagement of events with an audience in mind who can direct and powerful act toward a solution, giving writing a grander goal than passive observations.
ReplyDeleteSherry Turkle’s TED talk “Alone Together, provides an interesting critical examination of a correlation between an increase in electronic media-based communication and the amount of meaningful communication taking place. As a student of writing, it is important to understand the arguments and observations discussed within the field. With the increased reliance upon instantaneous communication devices using internet or telephone connection, Turkle concludes that people have become “addicted” to the technology: “When you take our phones away from us, we become anxious, we become impossible really. Modern technology has become like a phantom limb, it is so much a part of us.” Turkle’s analysis of the technology surge sense the internet traverses the idea that people have developed an unhealthy obsession with the medium through which they converse, identifying a sickening reliance or dependency upon cellphones and internet. While it may or may not be just as Turkle observes, considering more closely how people engage with technology and incorporate it into their language production is an important point in understanding how a society interacts.
Finally, identifying the vital role of the audience of rhetorical writing provides a writer means for resolving its exigence. Lunsford in Threshold Concepts of Writing mentions that rhetorical writers are affected by both their exigence and their audience’s medium of communication when addressing an audience: “The digital age has brought with it the need for even closer consideration of audiences. We can no longer assume, for example that the audience members for an oral presentation are actually present. . . . Writing cannot only address and invoke but also create audiences” (21). If people are as attached to technology as Turkle may believe, it surely benefits a rhetorical writer by opening access to greater audiences. Lunsford states that “writers whose works have ‘gone viral’ on the web know well what it means to create an audience that has been unintended and indeed unimagined”, making the possibilities of resolution exponential (21). With unimaginable opportunities for a resolution, rhetorical writers must understand and reach their audience accurately.