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Posts/Digital Receipt #2/Week #2 Response

Digital Receipt #2: Backpacks vs. Briefcase Response

Posted by Ashraf Alam on

Summary of Reading

The article describes what everyone does every day: analyzing a situation or entity based on perspectives, actions, what they see visually, and what they hear; the concept itself—rhetoric analysis— is the idea of understanding/interpreting a given argument with the notion of identifying the purpose, targeted audience, and the main reason behind making the argument in the first place. There are three main parts to understanding rhetorical moments/events: exigence, audience, and constraints. Exigence is the reason why the person (who created the argument) made it this way. The audience is the target group for that said argument. Constraints are the limits of exigence; this can be any form of limitation: forcing the exigence to be that way. The ethos, pathos, and logos of an argument also help shape the structure and strength of an argument and can change the way people perceive that said argument. When looking at a statement or argument, it is best to identify these things: which will make you understand the rhetorical analysis better.

My personal experience

Aside from the mobile ads and online sponsorships that make you want to buy a product or item of clothing, the best example in which I analyzed a situation or person (that I can think of) was when I was paired up with a research partner in my junior year of high school. The person whom I had the option of working with had a negative/not-so-popular reputation among our class. Most of the people that knew him personally said that he could be hot-headed at times and that it was not fun to work with him; he always wanted to do things his way. The ethos of such arguments made by such individuals was not of a question as they knew him better than me, some even working with him in prior years. The exigence of these arguments might have been based on the negative experiences they may have had with him, but the constraints with that exigence would be that they had not worked with him for a while, meaning he could have changed his habits. He also could have had personal issues that they were unaware he was attending to result in such work behaviors. Despite all the warnings, I still choose to partner up with him. I found out that he was hot-headed, but not due to his lack of decency, but rather his obsession with being perfect. He set an almost impossible standard for our work, one in which everything needed to hundred percent correct at all times: being with grammar, data, statistics, formatting, and more. Using opinions that I heard from close people to judge him based on his work and how he manages to work with others, I made the wrong decision of disregarding him as a tyrant: when he was not.

Week #2 Response/Week #2 Response

Week #2: Backpacks

Posted by Lis Osea Castro Colmenares (they/them/their) on

Carroll’s article discussed how we practice rhetorical analysis in our daily lives without realizing it; we have also become informed consumers of rhetoric. I may have practiced rhetorical analysis while commuting to my classes without knowing. As I enter a train cart my first instinct is to look at the other commuters around me on the train. Who is standing alongside the doors in an empty train cart? Why does an individual make their way across the cart to sit in a specific spot? When analyzing the commuters on the train, I analyze how they dress and often compare their sense of style to mine. Though it might seem a bit unsettling to analyze strangers on the train, I do this as a way to pass my boredom. When comparing my style to a stranger, I first look at the color palette as a whole. Choosing to wear bright colors or a more neutral tone can inform a person about their personal interests or values. For instance, as a nature-loving person, I often wear more earthy tones such as green or brown. The conclusions that I drew based on whether someone wore a dress or a pair of jeans are influenced by social media: TikTok and Instagram. Fashion trends that are circling around the internet are always followed by assumptions about those who follow them. Whether I am fully aware of it or not, the conclusions I made, based on clothing, are a result of the social influences in the fashion industry. The way that an individual presents themselves allows me to understand the context when practicing rhetorical analysis. 

A rhetorical situation that I found myself in is asking for an extension on a final paper. The framework of the situation or the exigence was the abundance of workload in other classes; therefore, making it more difficult to allocate time to spend on writing my paper. My teacher at the time was my audience and I had to develop a well-thought-out argument to support my case. Yet, there were constraints as the deadline for the paper was already discussed and students other than myself may have already finished writing the paper.

Digital Receipts/Digital Receipt #2/Weekly Responses/Week #2 Response

Digital Receipt #2: Backpacks vs. Briefcase Response

Posted by Shahed Ahmed (He/Him) on

When you think of rhetorical analysis, you think of another literary skill that we’re going to have to learn to use in this class. But upon reading this article, I’ve learned that it’s prominently used throughout our everyday lives. Whether it comes from politicians and their campaigns, advocacy about environmental reforms, or from the ads we see online, rhetoric surprises us in the different shapes and forms it comes in. Rhetorical analysis is used just as often. It took me reading this article to figure out that I wasn’t the only one doing it. When we’re presented with something or someone unfamiliar, we as humans inherently try to analyze a situation before it’s fully presented to us whether we’re aware of it or not. We often do this when we’re presented with things we’re unfamiliar with like meeting someone for the first time or trying foods you’ve never tried before.

A prime example of this in my life is every time I’m about to read a book. “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Even though this is an important principle to follow through, I often judge things based on my first impressions. So whenever I read a book, I read the title, the author, and the synopsis at the back of the book. When I was handed the book, Hamlet, I thought it’d be boring since it was written by Shakespeare but his name itself has its credibility so I gave reading the synopsis a shot. The cover page looked dramatic but it also looked like there was something more to the book than just the play. And as it turns out, the book has an amazing plot and it was worth the time to read it. I continue to use rhetorical analysis everytime I’m given the opportunity to read a book to see if it’s worth my while.

Announcements/Posts

Class #3: Asynchronous Only

Posted by Jesse Rice-Evans (she/they) on

Hi all,

If you missed our Thursday meeting, you can view the recording here. One major thing we discussed was that I messed up our course meeting time. We are scheduled to meet on Tuesdays: same time, same Zoom link, just a new day. If you cannot make this time work, please contact me. I apologize for the confusion!!!!

Tomorrow I will be attending a conference, so instead of meeting synchronously, I am asking you to respond to at least two of your classmates’ responses to the Backpacks v. Briefcases reading by our next class meeting on TUESDAY SEPT 13, 2022 using the comments feature: what did you learn from this post? what questions do you have for the post’s author?

I’ve updated the course schedule to reflect this and I have added one additional short assignment:

Please closely read the WLLN assignment and make notes of your questions, concerns, and requests for resources. We will discuss this prompt in more detail on September 13, 2022. Please bring your questions with you to class that day!

Digital receipts are due this week as normal!

Thanks again everyone for your patience as we get into a regular routine!

Jesse

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