August 29, 2010:
The reading assignment was interesting in that it described how ancient rhetoricians taught the skills of rhetoric. I found the reading interesting because it discusses grammar school and how in ancient times boys were sent to learn rhetoric at grammar schools. This is similar to what we do in the United States. We send our children to elementary school to learn aspects of the English language. The children start small and eventually by the time they are ready for secondary school they are ready for the more difficult assignments. The goal is to build up their skills slowly so that the skills are ingrained in the children's brains. This makes the skills hard to forget and the children are not overwhelmed by vast amount of knowledge they must learn.
Practice, practice, practice...this part of the reading was a very good example as to what it felt like to go back to school after many years. I found that since I had not kept up my writing skills it was very difficult to remember what to write, how to write, and most importantly the rules of writing. Not only had I forgotten the rules I also forgot what situation to use different rules.
With three of my classes based around rhetoric I should learn a lot this semester. I hope by the end of this semester I should have a much better grasp on rhetoric. I also hope not to ever forget what I am learning now as it is much more difficult to go back and relearn than to keep up the skills by practice, practice, practice...
August 31, 2010:
As I am reading about the difference between composing to learn and composing to communicate I am reminded about the freewrite exercise I had to do in English 101. At the time of doing this exercise I thought it was lame but in retrospect I looked back and discovered that my freewrtie not only help me figure out how to word things but it also helped when I ran out of things to write. I looked at my freewrite as a prompt. Also interesting is the idea of an artists sketches before drawing a big piece of art but as writers we tend to want to skip this step...I wonder why writers like myself never considered freewriting or outlining to be like a sketch and not just an assignment my teacher wants to complete.
September 02, 2010
Reading about kairos was very interesting to me in that I see a lot of what politicians do in their speeches. The good politicians are excellent at using kairos where the not so good politicians (Sarah Palin) are horrible at using kairos.
I can see how using kairos will not only make a more interesting paper it will also broaden the scope of a topic I am writing about. An example of this is when Feinstein gave a speech about the Virginia Tech, shootings. Feinstein was able to bring in the other horrible events to remind people why she is saying what she is saying. This will remind people and reinforce her point about gun control.
September 08, 2010
I found it interesting the two different versions of the book cover for Naked. The image definitely can change perceptions between ethos, logos, and pathos. I need to remember when during a rhetorical analysis that I should mention these things as I am doing an analogy.
It was also good to be reminded of a warrant. I am not sure why the warrant wont stick in my head. I always have to research what it is. I need to find a way to get it to stick.
September 09, 2010:
Stasis is a balance between two people to agree to disagree. Since the word stasis comes from the Greek word meaning stand. It can signify taking a stand on something.
September 13, 2010:
I am still trying to wrap my head around what commonplace is. Part of me thinks it is similar to jargon in which vocabulary and language is unique to an occupation or culture. An example of this would be at a hospital the jargon would be medical terms. However in a pizza hut the language would be about baking, eating,and drinking..
September 15, 2010:
Commonplaces and Ideology is interesting because they are both critical to ones culture yet many times they conflict. I think in America we see this more often because we have so many cultures trying to coexist. The Internet has also added to this conflict as many people are able to see how other cultures live.
At one time in America people would be born, raised, and die in the same house. The world back then, seemed very small as compared to now. Currently, we are able to turn on the computer and see a world that we normally would not be able to see. This capability can open minds and take the mystery out of other cultures.
September 29, 2010:
The reading s were interesting to me because I have taken both ethics and symbolic logic classes. My background in these classes helped with the reading. I feel the more I am reminded of logical proofs the better I am understanding them. This is a difficult subject which requires more than the small amount of time we have to study it.
October 6, 2010:
I found the readings about 1st person, 2nd, and 3rd person discourse interesting because I have not realized what this discourse is about. and person is weird because it is an implied person of you and used in advertising. 3rd person establishing the greatest distance between writer and reader.
October 11, 2010:
When Priam first tried to use his emotional appeal on Achilles I thought I have seen this ploy before. Whenever one goes to a car lot the first thing the salesman tries to do is persuade you into believing you are the same kind of person. I also see this when people go door to door trying to sell something. The first thing they ask is your name. They then go to your neighbor's house and say "Colette" bought my product. This is why some of my neighbors and I decided to use a funny and fake name to give the salesmen. This will be hilarious to see especially when the salesman gives the fake name to the neighbor in hopes of persuading the neighbor to buy from them.
October 13, 2010:
Wow... in re-reading Obama's speech about the Iraq war I am impressed with his ability to call all the war mongers dumb and at the same time be patriotic. This to me is impressive. He starts his speech discussing dumb wars and also ends the speech the same way. Freaking Awesome! It sure beats Bubba Bush's speeches.( Oops, sorry my rhetoric is hanging out.)
Speaking of Bush...It really bugs me that I can't call some people "dumb ass" without knowing I am using my pathos. Will this deter me from calling certain people "dumb ass"? No, if Obama can do it and still sound cool I guess I will just have to be more eloquent when I make such a statement. :-D
November 4, 2010:
In reading this chapter I found there many different aspects to language I have never been taught before. Learning the vocabulary helped me to put something in perspective as far as our language is concerned. It does not surprise me that English second language people have such a tough time learning this crazy, rule filled language. I wish I would have been taught much of this earlier in life as I would have found it useful in many situations.
November 10, 2010:
In todays readings I was reminded of my statistics class. In class we were told we must not believe all statistics as being facts. We must question the writers credibility and their ideology. If a poll is taken on a website it is not a good measure of opinion. This is due to targeting only people who go to that website and alienating those who do not.
Also interesting to me was the different publishing companies ideologies. I have not seen this broken down i this way before. I will keep this in mind when doing research. Although I have known different publishers are biased (Rupert Murdoch) I like that the book breaks the different publishing companies down by their affiliations.
December 06, 2010:
It is interesting to me how I am learning similar information in all the classes. In the past this did not happen. I enjoy this because I have a larger group of resources for each class. This allows me to build upon each class. It also allows for repetition so this will all sink in to my brain.
September 08, 2010
I found it interesting the two different versions of the book cover for Naked. The image definitely can change perceptions between ethos, logos, and pathos. I need to remember when during a rhetorical analysis that I should mention these things as I am doing an analogy.
It was also good to be reminded of a warrant. I am not sure why the warrant wont stick in my head. I always have to research what it is. I need to find a way to get it to stick.
September 09, 2010:
Stasis is a balance between two people to agree to disagree. Since the word stasis comes from the Greek word meaning stand. It can signify taking a stand on something.
September 13, 2010:
I am still trying to wrap my head around what commonplace is. Part of me thinks it is similar to jargon in which vocabulary and language is unique to an occupation or culture. An example of this would be at a hospital the jargon would be medical terms. However in a pizza hut the language would be about baking, eating,and drinking..
September 15, 2010:
Commonplaces and Ideology is interesting because they are both critical to ones culture yet many times they conflict. I think in America we see this more often because we have so many cultures trying to coexist. The Internet has also added to this conflict as many people are able to see how other cultures live.
At one time in America people would be born, raised, and die in the same house. The world back then, seemed very small as compared to now. Currently, we are able to turn on the computer and see a world that we normally would not be able to see. This capability can open minds and take the mystery out of other cultures.
September 29, 2010:
The reading s were interesting to me because I have taken both ethics and symbolic logic classes. My background in these classes helped with the reading. I feel the more I am reminded of logical proofs the better I am understanding them. This is a difficult subject which requires more than the small amount of time we have to study it.
October 6, 2010:
I found the readings about 1st person, 2nd, and 3rd person discourse interesting because I have not realized what this discourse is about. and person is weird because it is an implied person of you and used in advertising. 3rd person establishing the greatest distance between writer and reader.
October 11, 2010:
When Priam first tried to use his emotional appeal on Achilles I thought I have seen this ploy before. Whenever one goes to a car lot the first thing the salesman tries to do is persuade you into believing you are the same kind of person. I also see this when people go door to door trying to sell something. The first thing they ask is your name. They then go to your neighbor's house and say "Colette" bought my product. This is why some of my neighbors and I decided to use a funny and fake name to give the salesmen. This will be hilarious to see especially when the salesman gives the fake name to the neighbor in hopes of persuading the neighbor to buy from them.
October 13, 2010:
Wow... in re-reading Obama's speech about the Iraq war I am impressed with his ability to call all the war mongers dumb and at the same time be patriotic. This to me is impressive. He starts his speech discussing dumb wars and also ends the speech the same way. Freaking Awesome! It sure beats Bubba Bush's speeches.( Oops, sorry my rhetoric is hanging out.)
Speaking of Bush...It really bugs me that I can't call some people "dumb ass" without knowing I am using my pathos. Will this deter me from calling certain people "dumb ass"? No, if Obama can do it and still sound cool I guess I will just have to be more eloquent when I make such a statement. :-D
November 4, 2010:
In reading this chapter I found there many different aspects to language I have never been taught before. Learning the vocabulary helped me to put something in perspective as far as our language is concerned. It does not surprise me that English second language people have such a tough time learning this crazy, rule filled language. I wish I would have been taught much of this earlier in life as I would have found it useful in many situations.
November 10, 2010:
In todays readings I was reminded of my statistics class. In class we were told we must not believe all statistics as being facts. We must question the writers credibility and their ideology. If a poll is taken on a website it is not a good measure of opinion. This is due to targeting only people who go to that website and alienating those who do not.
Also interesting to me was the different publishing companies ideologies. I have not seen this broken down i this way before. I will keep this in mind when doing research. Although I have known different publishers are biased (Rupert Murdoch) I like that the book breaks the different publishing companies down by their affiliations.
December 06, 2010:
It is interesting to me how I am learning similar information in all the classes. In the past this did not happen. I enjoy this because I have a larger group of resources for each class. This allows me to build upon each class. It also allows for repetition so this will all sink in to my brain.
