Post 11

A discourse community I am familiar with is the running community, or a little more narrowly, the OU cross country team.  The broadly agreed set of goals for the team is to work hard and have its results show in meets.  Placing high, or hopefully first, is the goal of the team.  They also have the goal of becoming a "family."  They count on each other as friends and as teammates.  The team has information exchange through facebook and emails.  They participate through workouts and practice, and they also participate in meets and races.  There are also a lot of magazines the team and other runners pay attention to.  Runner's World is very popular and so are athletic gear magazines.   Its hard to define a genre of a group.  I think the genre of this group varies from informal to serious.  It depends on which activities are being participated in at the moment.  Pep talks are common to get fired up before a race.  This might be considered a genre.  Specialized terminology is very prevalent in this community.  The team has certain runs they go on.  If someone is not on the team, they would not know what Flat Dudes and Bart's means.  These are particular routes only OU cross country runners would know.  These names have been around for a couple decades and have become part of the XC community here on campus.  Most of the runners are recruited and persuaded to come run here.  Only a handful walk on to the team.  Generally with age, runners improve over the years.  The upperclassmen become the fastest and the underclassmen are learning the ropes of the team.  Once the NCAA eligibility is used for a member, they are done with the team, but the friendship still continues.  They are then veterans of the team and are always welcomed back for a visit.

Post 10

I can remember in grade school going to the computer lab to work on typing skills.  Ever since then, classes have always required writing to be typed in Word documents.  Schools have been deeply affected by technology growth and so has children's educations.  Along with Word, Excel and Powerpoint have also advanced for people to use in school and in work.  My literacy of these programs is still pretty elementary, but I know enough to get by.  I suppose I am just old fashioned and prefer to write out problems and homework assignments.  I would prefer an actual book rather than a Kindle.

I could definitely relate to the idea Baron commented about how spellcheck would make people forget how to spell.  I do well with spelling, but I am not as adamant about knowing how to write out different words because I know spellcheck is there.  While spellcheck may make me a little lazy in that area, I tend to use the thesaurus a lot in Word.  I really feel this expands my vocabulary.  Sometimes texts and social medias like facebook seem to decrease my literacy to an extent.  I am more knowledgable about technology with these but I get so used to writing informally.  These make me need to rely more so on spellcheck because errors like "tho" cannot replace "though" in a paper.

The internet is really amazing and helps me to learn so much about various topics through Google searches.  I think these types of benefits can outweigh the negative effects.   I feel as though technology helps to feed my literacy but also detracts in some ways.  I suppose it's the angle with which you look at all this.

Non-alphabetic writing I do is limited.  Mostly I just take pictures and videos.  Sometimes these get posted to facebook.  I love music which I can feel a relationship to, so I would say the songs I download to my ipod would fit into my composing.  I also like to play classical music on the piano.  How I interpret the piece on the keys is composing, as well.

Post 9

Heath defines a literacy event as, "a conceptual tool useful in examining...the actual forms and functions of oral and literate traditions and co-existing relationships between spoken and written language. A literacy event is an occasion in which a piece of writing is integral to the nature of participants' interactions an their interpretive processes."  The town of Trackton does not really approve of reading; exceptions included religious affiliated readings.  Any reading was done in larger groups that did not focus on the individual.  This was so they would be social, and to ensure this, they told narratives and jokes, along with sidetracking talk, and negotiation.  Reading along in the Bible with the pastor at church was an example Heath had for a literacy event.

Sherman Alexie learned to read by looking at comic books and narrating aloud what was happening in the pictures.  The other Indian children did not know how to read so well.  They were expected to be stupid by the non-Indian teachers at the school.  Alexie states, "they struggled with basic reading in school but could remember how to sing a few dozen powwow songs."  Now, as an adult, Alexie goes back to these schools to help teach the children to read and to talk about what happens in his narratives.

The Melting Earth

Rhetoric is a constant occurrence in the daily life of every person.  Many of these encounters we do not even realize are actually rhetoric.  An example of this would be how past experiences cause us to make assumptions and perceive individuals, objects, events and ideas in certain ways.  A very common example of rhetoric in daily life is advertisements.  Laura Bolin Carroll, an English academic scholar, studies this idea and defines the parts of rhetoric in her article “Backpacks vs. Briefcases.”  Carroll explains to us, all advertisements are rhetoric no matter the purpose it has or who creates the piece, and each of these ads contains exigence, rhetors, audience(s), and constraints.  Exigence is the problem or situation that causes a reaction.  The rhetors are those who create the ad and direct it at an audience.  The most complicated part of rhetoric is constraints, which Carroll declares, “can be beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, [and] motives.  Constraints limit the way the discourse is delivered or communicated” (49).  An organization can be a typical rhetor, and one of these many rhetors is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) which creates many advertisements to try to bring awareness to people of the world about what is happening to nature.

The credibility, or rather, ethos, of the WWF is absolute.   Work is done in over 100 countries and there are around 5 million supporters.  This organization focuses on conserving nature and reducing urgent dangers, which threaten all types of life on Earth.  Many advertisements focus on particular endangered animals, but some of them concentrate on larger problems.  One particular image is a metaphor of the earth and an ice cream cone (the image seen to the left).   The exigence of this ad is it was created in hopes of helping people to understand the earth is going through a temperate cycle of global warming, and something needs to be done about it.  The caption under the picture reads,

The first signs of global warming are visible.  We urgently need to limit greenhouse gas emissions.  Nothing and no one will be spared from climate change.  This warning is therefore to all people, all countries, and, in particular, to the Belgium Council of Ministers, who on the weekends of March 20 and 25, will have to decide what action to take regarding essential measures linked to the Kyoto Protocol. (7)

            What the WWF wants all people to know is global warming is a very real issue all countries have to face. There are many facts of which people may not be aware.  Global warming is caused by an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and by a potential an orbital shift that could be occurring at this time.  The earth has always gone through warm and cold cycles, but those cycles took place over several hundreds of years.  This warming is over a period of less than a century.   The average temperature has raised about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the normal average, and this is the highest average in the last four hundred years or so.  Carbon dioxide is being produced by deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.  The plants and ocean cannot absorb this at the same rate it is produced.  Not all scientists agree with the notion this change is happening, but global warming is accepted by the national science academics and also by all key industrialized countries. 

             Other facts about changes occurring are the Arctic ice is disappearing, coral reefs are bleaching due to stress, there is an increase in extreme weather episodes, and glaciers and mountain snows are melting.  WWF partner National Geographic observes, “Montana’s Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910.  In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later” (Global 1).  These glaciers have decreased at a rapid speed of 82 percent in a century.  WWF puts out advertisements like the melting ice cream earth to let people know they really need to educate themselves.

While the caption for the image is small, the rhetor, the World Wildlife Fund, words very well the situation all peoples are in.  Every single person on this planet is the audience, for many people contribute so much extra carbon dioxide being placed in the atmosphere.  The audience is everyone, but as the caption states, the image is directed toward the main audience, the Belgium Council of Ministers.  This council passed the Kyoto Protocol, which is directed at fighting global warming, and “since the start of negotiations…the Belgian authorities have always taken favourable position towards an ambitious climate change regime, both at the international and European level…The Belgian position also results from the clear awareness that a global threat calls for a global solution” (Van Hecke 3).  What actions taken within this protocol are of great importance.  For an organization focused on issues such as global warming, it comes as no surprise they would direct this image at the council.  The advertisement’s date of creation is unknown, but it is obvious the World Wildlife Fund created it shortly before the Belgium Council met to discuss further actions through the Kyoto Protocol. 

            The caption and ad, in general, do not appeal to the logos, the, “argument from reason” (Carrol 52), of the audience.  No statistics are stated along with the warning, but there are so many details and so much data, which are important, it would be too much to write on the ad.  One could argue the ad does at least invite the audience to learn more by posting the WWF logo on the bottom right so audiences could visit the website to gain knowledge on the issue.             

While the image does not appeal to the logos, it does appeal to the ethos, as already stated, and it appeals to the pathos of the viewers, the pathetic appeals.  Pathos alone cannot persuade, “but [is] very powerful when used in conjunction with the other two appeals” (Carroll 53).  While logos is not an option, the image does create a good impact by using the other two appeals.  The World Wildlife Fund utilizes pathos by using a black background that creates a sullen picture ensuring audiences despair and darkness for the earth is coming.  The surrounding glow creates a sense of worth of its power and beauty.    The world is melting, and anyone who has had an ice cream cone understands the ice cream is going to continue melting at an exponential pace unless refrozen.  So the earth will continue to warm unless we find ways to “refreeze” the world.  This has a very real chance of creating a sense of sadness.  This world is the only one people have.   Space programs are searching for other habitable planets, but these can be light years away and setting up communities at these places will take decades upon decades to happen, if it ever does in the first place.  So, the WWF evokes sadness and urgency to peoples’ perceptions.

The realization of people “consuming” the earth like they would consume an ice cream cone also taps into the pathos appeal.  Shame and sorrow for what people do to this planet is felt when viewing the image.  We use Earth tirelessly and brashly consuming it as though its resources will never fade.  The outlook people have of this is childish, and the World Wildlife is making a point of using a childish past-time in which people have for pleasure, like an ice cream cone, to show our indulgences are creating global warming. 

            The last part of the rhetoric to study is the constraints and for this image includes: a limited audience, doubt, and answers.   The World Wildlife Fund is a fairly well known organization.  Shirts baring the panda logo can be seen and there is much support by followers, but a problem from them is so many daily rhetoric encounters are due to television.  WWF has very few commercials, and of those that are, they are aired in other countries such as Australia and Canada.  Advertisement in other countries may be stronger, but in America, common methods of advertising are not as prevalent.  The main ways of gaining support for this institute in America is by Youtube videos and by gaining support and partnerships with companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Johnson & Johnson.

            The beliefs of people play a large part the constraints of the image.  Some people do not think our emissions of greenhouse gases are the cause of this problem.  If they believe there is even a change at all, they feel this is just the natural cycle of Earth.  Then there are other people who look to their general location and construct an opinion from this.  For example, a handful of people in the state of Ohio feel the weather is just as cold as always in the winter and will make comments showing disbelief in the theory of global warming since their region does not seem to be affected. Earlier stated was the fact of the earth freezing later and warming earlier; these two extra weeks of warmness are not exactly going to be noticed by the average person.  The World Wildlife Fund cannot put the many facts of global warming with image, but hope the image encourages these people with closed minds to research this issue.  

The last constraint is the lack of answers. People are scared of facing a large-scale problem like this, so naturally some are in denial they individually can cause this or contribute enough to make any kind of difference both positively and negatively.  The best way to help them deal with it is to give them answers.  The World Wildlife Fund tells us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but sometimes people do not understand how to do this.  There are many small ways to contribute to cleaner air.  One can reduce the amount of electricity used, pack the refrigerator tightly, use less water, use energy efficient light bulbs, and carpool to work.  The advertisement is not the right placement for so many options like this and the many other options out there.  The ad is really constrained to only bringing awareness about the problem of global warming.  A label “To learn more about global warming and how to make a difference go to:” along with a web address to educate people would have been a good addition to the advertisement.  People are not as open when they are only told they have to start making a change.  They become much more receptive when also given an option and/or better solution. 

Overall, the advertisement has purpose and credibility.  An image is supposed to make audiences feel strongly enough to take action in favor of the rhetor’s wishes.  The image is very effective and has ethos and pathos, so it could really change the views and actions people have toward global warming.  The problem is this image is not advertised well enough.  This image at this time seems to only exist online with at least 10 or more other photos by the same rhetor.  The image does not stand on its own to draw attention, so the effect is a lot less since other intriguing images can be viewed at the same moment.  Maybe when first issued, the image was popular because it had a strong purpose, but global warming is a continuing issue, so the ad, as well, needs to be of continuing focus.  It really is a beautiful and thought provoking piece of art.  The metaphor of ice cream and the world was very genius for it fits the response The World Wildlife Fund wants to get from the audience: the realization our world is literally melting and we have to make a change to prevent any further damage.  

References

Carroll, Laura Bolin. “Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Toward Rhetorical Analysis.”

            Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing. Vol. 1. Parlor Press. 2010. Pg 45-58. Web.

            5 February 2012.

Global Warming Fast Facts. National Geographic News, 28 October 2010. Web. 5

            February 2012.

Van Hecke, Karel, and Tania Zgajewski. “The Kyoto Policy of Belgium.” Egmont: Royal

            Institute for International Relations. February 2008. Pg. 1-34. Web. 5 February

            2012.

30 Amazing Environment Ads for Earth Day. DesignCrave, 2009. Web. 1 February 2012.

Post 8

In "Sponsors of Literacy" by Deborah Brandt, a sponsor is defined as the figures who influence the level of literacy in others.  They tend to be those who are higher in society in like teachers, priests, editors, authors, military officers, or they are those who may hold a personal relationship like family members.  Sponsors will, "lend their resources or credibility to the sponsored but also stand to gain benefits from their success, whether by direct repayment or, indirectly, by credit of association.  

The first sponsor Malcolm X ever had was his 8th grade teacher. Normally, teachers are positive sponsors, but his teacher told him his race would prevent his dream of becoming a lawyer.  This deterred his want for knowledge at this age and caused him to drop out during that year.

His first positive sponsor was probably Elijah Muhammad.  X wanted to be able to write what he thought to Muhammad but was not able to express himself.  This frustration caused him to yearn for knowledge, just as his second sponsor, Bimbi, had.  In the Charlestown prison, Bimbi had "a stock of knowledge," and Malcolm began "reading" books, even if all he read was only a few words he already knew.  The next sponsor he gained was the Norfolk Prison Colony.  This is where he became very serious about wanting knowledge and knowing how to write properly.  As he learned and copied the dictionary, he gained literacy, and was able to read many articles by Muhammad and others and learn about the white man's oppression of all types of colored peoples.  

These sponsors were those of X because of his position in life.  He was a child raised in various foster homes.  He had nothing and was on the streets for years of his life.  Poverty leads to crime, and crime leads to prison.  So, coming to prison is mostly due to socioeconomic conditions and low class position.  Muhammad and others writing of African and other colored people were popular with X because this was the history he came from since he was African American.

His sponsors were a very positive part of his life.  He really defined who he was with their influence.  If he did not have them and had not taken the initiative he would have ended up in some other prison.  The sponsors really helped to give him a bright future and follow his beliefs until, unfortunately, he was assassinated.  These sponsors could also have been slightly negative to the point where this seemed to be  the subject in which X was educated.  This was his choice, though, not that of the sponsors.

Project 2: Rhetorical Analysis

Rhetoric is a constant occurrence in the daily life of every person.  Many of these encounters we do not even realize are actually rhetoric.  Past experiences cause us to make assumptions and perceive individuals, objects, events and ideas in certain ways.  Laura Bolin Carrol, an English instructor, studies this idea and defines the parts of rhetoric in her article “Briefcases versus Backpacks.”  Carrol explains to us, all advertisements are rhetoric no matter the purpose it has or who creates the piece, and each of these ads contains exigence, rhetors, audience(s), and constraints.  Exigence is the problem or situation that causes a reaction.  The rhetors are those whom create the ad and direct it at an audience.  The most complicated part of rhetoric is constraints, which Carrol declares, “can be beliefs, attitudes, documents, facts, traditions, images, interests, [and] motives.  Constraints limit the way the discourse is delivered or communicated” (49).  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) creates many advertisements to try to bring awareness to people of the world about what is happening to nature.

            The credibility, or rather, ethos, of the WWF is absolute.   Work is done in over 100 countries and there are around 5 million supporters.  This organization focuses on conserving nature and reducing urgent dangers, which threaten all types of life on Earth.  Many advertisements focus on particular endangered animals , but some of them concentrate on larger problems.  One particular poster is a metaphor of the earth and an ice cream cone.   The exigence of this ad is it was created in hopes of helping people to understand the earth is going through a temperate cycle of global warming.  The caption under the picture reads,

The first signs of global warming are visible.  We urgently need to limit greenhouse gas emissions.  Nothing and no one will be spared from climate change.  This warning is therefore to all people, all countries, and, in particular, to the Belgium Council of Ministers, who on the weekends of March 20 and 25, will have to decide what action to take regarding essential measures linked to the Kyoto Protocol. (3)

            While the caption is small, the rhetor, the WWF, words very well the situation all peoples are in.  Every single person on this planet is the audience, for many people contribute so much carbon dioxide being placed in the atmosphere.  The Belgium Council of Ministers passed the Kyoto Protocol, which is directed at fighting global warming, and “since the start of negotiations…the Belgian authorities have always taken favourable position towards an ambitious climate change regime, both at the international and European level…The Belgian position also results from the clear awareness that a global threat calls for a global solution” (Van Hecke 3).  What actions taken within this protocol are of great importance.  For an organization focused on issues such as global warming, it comes as no surprise this article would be directed at the Council.

            The caption and ad, in general, do not appeal to the logos, intellectual reason, of the audience.  No statistics are stated along with the warning, but there are so many details, which are important, that it would be too much to write on the ad.  One could argue the ad does at least invite the audience to learn more by posting the WWF logo on the bottom right so audiences could visit the website to gain knowledge on the issue.              The poster certainly appeals more to the pathos of the viewers, the pathetic appeals. The black background creates a sullen picture ensuring audiences despair and darkness for the earth is coming.  The surrounding glow creates a sense of worth of its power and beauty.    The world is melting, and anyone who has had an ice cream cone understands the ice cream is going to continue melting at an exponential pace unless refrozen.  So the earth will continue to warm unless we find ways to “refreeze” the world.  This has a very real chance of creating a sense of sadness.  This world is the only one people have.   Space programs are searching for other habitable planets, but these can be light years away and setting up communities at these places will take decades upon decades to happen, if it ever does in the first place.  So, the WWF evokes sadness and urgency to peoples’ perceptions.

            Constraints of the advertisement include a limited audience, doubt, and answers.   The WWF is a fairly well known organization.  Shirts baring the panda logo can be seen and there is much support by followers, but a problem from them is so many daily rhetoric encounters are due to television.  WWF has very few commercials, and of those that are, they are aired in other countries such as Australia and Canada.  The main ways of gaining support for this institute in America is by Youtube videos and by gaining support and partnerships with companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Johnson & Johnson.

            The beliefs of people play a large part the constraints of the article.  Some people do not think our emissions of greenhouse gases are the cause of this problem.  If they believe there is even a change at all, they feel this just the natural cycle of Earth.  Then there are other people who look to their general location and construct an opinion from this.  For example, a handful of people in the state of Ohio feel the weather is just as cold as always in the winter and will make comments showing disbelief in the theory of global warming. 

            What the WWF wants all people to know is global warming is a very real issue that all countries have to face. There are many facts of which people may not be aware.  Global warming is caused by an increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and potentially by an orbital shift at this time.  The earth has always gone through warm and cold cycles, but those cycles took place over several hundreds of years.  This warming is over a period of less than a century.   The average temperature has raised about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit above the normal average, and this is the highest average in the last four hundred years or so.  Carbon dioxide is being produced by deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels.  The plants and ocean cannot absorb this at the same rate it is produced.  Not all scientists agree with the notion this change is happening, but global warming is accepted by the national science academics and also by all key industrialized countries. 

 Other very real facts about changes occurring are the Arctic ice is disappearing, coral reefs are bleaching due to stress, there is an increase in extreme weather episodes, and glaciers and mountain snows are melting.  WWF partner National Geographic observes, “Montana’s Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910.  In the Northern Hemisphere, thaws also come a week earlier in spring and freezes begin a week later” (Global 1).  These glaciers have decreased at a rapid speed of 82 percent in a century.  These two extra weeks of warmness are not exactly going to be noticed by the average person.  WWF puts out articles like the melting ice cream earth to let people know they really need to educate themselves.

The last constraint is the lack of answers. People are scared of facing a large-scale problem like this, so naturally some are in denial they individually can cause this or contribute enough to make any kind of difference both positively and negatively.  The best way to help them deal with it is to give them answers.  WWF tells us to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, but sometimes people do not understand how to do this.  There are many small ways to contribute to cleaner air.  One can reduce the amount of electricity used, pack the refrigerator tightly, use less water, use energy efficient light bulbs, and carpool to work.  The advertisement is not the right placement for so many options like this and the many other options out there.  The ad is really constrained to only informing and bringing awareness about the problem of global warming.  A label “To learn more about global warming and how to make a difference go to:” along with a web address to educate people would have been a good addition to the advertisement.  People are not as open when they are only told they have to start making a change.  They become much more receptive when also given an option and/or better solution. 

Overall, the advertisement has purpose and credibility.  It really is a beautiful and thought provoking piece of art.  The metaphor of ice cream and the world was very genius for it fits the response WWF wants to get from the audience: the realization our world is literally melting and we have to make a change to prevent any further damage.   

Post 6

Grant-Davie's article "Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents" seemed to be very much like like "Backpacks and Briefcases."  I felt Grant-Davie's article went more in depth on the the topics of exigence, rhetors, audience, and constraints.  Very similar definitions of exigence are given in both articles, but Grant-Davie uses the idea of discourse to explain this.  He ask three questions, what is the discourse about, why is the discourse needed, and what is the discourse trying to accomplish?  He discusses rhetors as possibly a sponsoring corporation, an ad agency, or famous people acting as spokesmen.  The audience(s) are the people the rhetors are trying to reach through discourse.  The constraints is said to be the hardest part to analyze of a rhetorical situation. Grant-Davie explains the first man to define rhetorical situation, Bitzer, defined constraints as more of an aid to the rhetor.  He is saying there are both positive and negative constraints.  There are constraints by the audience, like their beliefs and attitudes, and there are constraints by the rhetor, like his/her style and character.  Then Bitzer also believes there are constraints in the rhetoric itself.  Grant-Davie chooses to exclude the constraints of the audience and the rhetor.   

The rhetor of my advertisement is the World Wildlife Fund, an organization working to bring awareness to protecting and supporting the environment.  The main focus of this particular picture is the effect of global warming.  Earth is "melting" like ice cream.  While maybe not too terribly at this point, the effects of global warming are being noticed as shown in the dribble of liquid down the cone.  The exigence is to bring awareness to the fact that the world is changing and growing warmer.   The ad has no words so it invites audiences to consider the causes to global warming in hopes we can change, even a little bit, to help battle this growing problem.  The audience would be anyone around young adult and older.  People who drive to work and emit carbon dioxide into the air or large corporations doing the same and causing other pollutions.  I can already see that working out my constraints will be hard for me if I am to follow Grant-Davie.  I think a constraint would be who the ad reaches.  WWF has many ads and this is probably only the fourth or fifth one I personally have seen.  I am assuming many people have not seen this or any other ads of theirs.  If I include rhetors and audience in my constraints, I think the attitudes and beliefs have a huge role in this.  Ohio has crazy weather and when it gets extremely cold, people make comments, and I have seen cartoons saying something to the effect that global warming is fake.  Some people really do not think this is a matter to be concerned with.  One little state on this earth does not account for overall temperatures.  Some people just do not see past their own area.