Responding to Others

I really enjoyed reading other's blog posts and responding to them, because even though we all read from the same textbook, all three main points I read from theirs were different from mine, and each other. As I started to write, I came up blank on what I should write my post about, because I only really grasped the basic concept of thinking and acting rhetorically. But after reading a few peer's, I understand that rhetoric is used to be effective, audience friendly, and to get a message across. It makes understanding your message interesting and possibly even enjoyable.

Thinking and Acting Rhetorically

Thinking and acting rhetorically, to me, means you understand how to communicate effectively. To be specific, acting rhetorically is understanding the context of your audience and using an effective way to communicate with them. To give an example I saw in the text, Martin Luther King Jr. was thinking rhetorically when he spoke to his target audience: other African Americans who felt hopeless. Since his topic wasn't something you could prove with numbers or facts back then, he took a different way of acting rhetorically when arguing with his opponents. He continued to oppose them even as they started to lose control of their emotions, and he continued to analyze their motivations and ways of communication to shift his message. When they started to get violent, he would set up a march, or address people who agreed instead of trying to fight. He understood they couldn't be simply persuaded by words and that they wouldn't listen to him, so he communicated more efficiently by giving his people hope. It communicated that he wouldn't give up. 
Thinking rhetorically is a different matter because it is best used not just when you have an English paper, but when you're speaking to someone day-to-day, or any form of communication period. Thinking rhetorically is considering your audience and how you would possible communicate with them. In chapters two and three the textbook covered rhetorical situations and the writing process, and the preparation and thinking period they describe would be thinking rhetorically; it isn't something anyone but you knows you're doing, but it is just as important as acting rhetorically.

Rhetorical Situations -- Narratives

Chloe, Corben, and Riley

Lydia’s Story

For the first question all of us agreed the purpose could be summarized in the last line in the essay: “It represents the essence of hope and determination in the face of terrible adversity.”

For number two, I answered that it was in Lydia’s POV, Riley said it was from 3rd person, and Corben said both.

For the second question, we all agreed seeing it through Lydia’s perspective made the story more intense because it was as if you were in the situation with her, and the story only got worse and worse. Seeing it through her perspective allowed you to feel her rising panic. It started to create an emotional experience for the reader.

When we answered for the third question, all of us had different answers but they made the same point. Corben said that words like “cracked lips” and “dry mouth” were phrases that really specified what Lydia was experiencing and portrays those emotions in detail to the reader.

Chloe said words and phrases like "rushing" water, "horrified", her place on the kitchen counter becoming "precarious", and speaking of the water levels compared to Lydia's height made the writing more vivid.

Riley said that words like journey, cramped, precarious were important to the overall tone.

For number four, Riley said that when Lydia was rescued by the group of medical professionals, it was especially Important to the audience as they would have to think of the lives of other people who were left and the complete lack of preparedness that led to the death of so many people during Katrina and Rita.

On question number four, we agreed the audience would be to a “higher class” or more educated reader, such as a doctor, researcher, or a first responder. Their precise choices in diction such as the words “abscessed” and “enormity” further show this point.

Chapter 2 Guidelines and Lydia’s Story comparisons

(Corben) Lydia’s story was highly thought out and worded to a certain style of reader. The word choice and phrasing is written for a more advanced reader. It is also styled to be informative and get the point of Lydia’s determination across to the reader. Most of the writing I have done is with a certain reader in mind, usually a teacher. My writing has been formal and edited very carefully, learning about rhetoric has helped me understand why I was writing so formally to my teachers.

(Riley) The story was stylized and it was easy to see how the narrative would be a good example for demonstrating how different parts of writing can affect the overall meaning, and how the story comes across to the audience. By having read chapter two first, it was much easier to do the questions associated with the story because we had already been given what to look for when analyzing the writing to answer the questions. The writing I've done also follows this general rule of shifting and changing small pieces or parts of your writing to give it a different function or allow for a different conversation to occur. You will definitely be writing differently for a research essay than you would be for a quick text to a friend. Understanding how small changes can have large effects is very helpful when considering your own writing as it allows for a greater level of understanding how to get your point across in the most effective way in terms of the audience.

(Chloe) Personally, as a narrative and fiction writer for fun, the style was similar to writing I've done in the past: it’s a story that follows a character that overcomes the problems in front of them. It was your standard narrative design with a purpose to inform a more educated audience than my writing, but the genre was the same. This shows how powerful one small change in writing can be and how different your end result could turn out.

“Think About” Summary

Overall, we decided and found out that people talk a lot, and almost every story they share is a narrative. We found out many conversations are just a series of narratives.

Even when we got off topic talking about sign language instead of the assignment, Riley shared a narrative her brother and his sign language class.

“Think Beyond Words” Summary

We all agreed that the videos were more powerful, most importantly because their body language shows more than words ever could. You would see them talking and know it was painful for them to remember because of the look on their face, even if their words were neutral. You can’t capture trying to hide pain in writing because you need to communicate more through your words, and that ability is something you gain when you watch their video.

“Compare Narratives” Summary

The two medias we chose to compare were in person and an essay. There are some obvious differences that we spotted right away is in person is much less formal, the emotion is easier to see because it’s on their face and in their tone, and the person you are speaking to probably isn't as worried about being proper as getting their point across so you understand how they feel.

In an essay however, proper grammar and spelling are two issues that limit the ability to convey the message in a simple way because it’s not about how you feel as much as the presentation of the idea itself. It’s a lot less personal than in person because it’s to a wider audience of people, but you lose so much when you can’t relate as well to the author.

"Think Beyond Words"

I think the videos were more powerful than writing because then you have a face to match to what they say, and it makes everything a lot more real not having to imagine the person in your head, and that it's actually happening to the person you see on the screen. It may not be as deep as you may get to read about in writing, but there is so much communication through their body language it more than makes up for it.

"Think About"

Narratives I heard today so far:
1)My friend and I talking about her Spanish and Math classes at her school.
2)Living In Shadows, the story I found that I wrote 2 years ago.
3)Lydia's Story.
4)"How was school?"
5)"How was work?"

Lydia's Story

Questions 1-4 on page 131:
1) The main point I gathered from the story is what they wrote at the very end of the paper: "It represents the essence of hope and determination in the face of a terrible adversity," similar to when Lydia said she was proud she'd kept her head up even though her house was being flooded.
2) Lydia has the main point of view throughout the story, which helps clearly define exactly how bad the circumstances were. Overall it made the story more powerful reading about a near death experience and how she got saved then reading rom Brideau's POV and reading about how wounded people were. This was a story about hope.
3) Brideau used words like "rushing" water, "horrified", her place on the kitchen counter becoming "precarious", and speaking of the water levels compared to Lydia's height such as once the water had receded, it was still up to her skin. It helps create a more vivid picture in the reader's head and makes them relate that panicky feeling they may have had before, and empathize with Lydia in the story.
4)The original audience for this piece would probably have been search and rescue crews, but specifically the nurses who help rescue and heal people in those situations. Other doctors may have been targeted by the piece as well, because Brideau used phrases and words like "abscessed", "tender", "extracted", and the number of days she went without food, all with a medical goal in mind. Because her cheek was tender, the tooth probably needed to be extracted, etc.

Chapter 2 page 23

What I've written in the past week:
1) Editing an old piece of writing I'd written two years ago.
2) Texting back and forth with friends. (Example 1)
3) Tweeting.
4) Writing a chapter in the novel I'm writing. (Example 2)
5) Notes for my classes.
6) On this blog.
7) Research for my speech class. (Example 3)

Texting my friends is always casual, just sharing my thoughts with people I talk with a lot. Sometimes we argue over something silly, but usually it's ranting about how things are at home or the homework or a guy I know my friend likes, and it's simple because there isn't really a specific template for how to write a text. It can be one word long or a long paragraph.

In the book I've been writing recently (I have two I'm working with on and off) it's a realistic fiction about a girl becoming a book editor. Because I chose such a society-based genre, it has many many restraints. For example I can't really write into the novel "and then the dragons attacked." A problem with this book is I don't necessarily know who it will reach, I only know I'm writing the book so if I picked it up not having written it I would want to read it and enjoy it. Thankfully I have a tablet I can write it on because my handwriting is slow and sloppy, so if I have a good idea I can write up to 1,500 words in an hour, and since I love to read the design is something I've seen thousands of times before.

The research for my speech class is a bit harder than I expected, because they are originally written in a note format but later on I know they will go into a speech outline. The things I pick to take notes on have to layer nicely so I have a well formatted outline that is easy to speak about. I know since I am speaking to a class who all had to do the same thing there will be a little grace, but since my teacher has been hearing speeches for so long even deciding what my topic would be about was a little nerve wracking. Thankfully since it's an informative speech I didn't have to pick a controversial topic or pick a side, instead I'm just supposed to teach the class about what I picked, and the research helps me find out exactly what else is known about my topic.