Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

For my topic of research I’ve decided that I wanted to move away from all the theories and theoretical ideas usually covered in our class. Something that is of interest of me lately is music. Music being a form of rhetoric, having a wide effect on the population. What I wanted to find out is who is the primary rhetor (or song writer) for the music industry and compare the rhetoric to the rhetoric of the past. I would like to see if there is a trend in how music is changing and if it is for the betterment of society or not.

Reflecting on how I got to this topic, I’ve recently had a surgery that allows me to listen to music better than i’ve ever experienced it. I was listening to music with my sister and we were going through the major hits of different decades when I noticed that the lyrics along with the melodies where getting less complex and varied the closer you get to modern-day.

So my question that I want answered is ” What is the effect the of rhetoric from the music industry?” I believe this question is important because the music is a constant rhetoric. when you want to relax you put on music, when you want to party you put on music, music is a constant that shapes societies and cultures. So, it’s only natural that I would want to know who is shaping the society and how they are shaping it.

discusion post #11

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Keith Grant-Davie examines Bitzer’s definitions of Exigence, Audience, Rhetor, and Constraints. The Rhetorical situation is controlled by the situation in Bitzer’s view, but Grant-Davie suggest that the Rhetor creates the situation. For Exigence Grant-Davie suggests that it isn’t the situation that prompts the writing, but Exigence is the perfect moment for the rhetor to write to capitalize on the audiences reaction. Audience is still the people the rhetor is trying to reach, but Grant-Davie also adds that the rhetor is part of the audience. The Rhetor is the speaker or writer, that is trying to make a change with rhetoric. Constraints in Grant-Davie’s view have a negative connotation and he wanted the readers to know that it also has positive connotations as-well.

Prior to watching Johnson’s video I’ve thought that my best ideas happened when hanging out with my buddies. I thought that this was the case because ideas worked like rolling a giant snow ball, the idea bounces from one person to another picking up bits here and there while the weaker bits tend to crumble off while it rolls on. I did and do think learning is spurred on by having a motivation to solve a problem or expand your skill set. Learning comes from necessity you take the information that is available around you and utilize what is useful, but tend to forget the rest.

The knowledge making process in general is strait forward, people gather information and compile it and what ideas are made is the result of all the information coming together. writing creates new knowledge by preserving viewpoints, ideas, and information. By preserving this information it can be spread and used to create new ideas uncovering knowledge that was previously unknown. This leads to innovation, the clearest example that comes to mind when I think of available information leading to innovation is the creation of the Samual colt’s revolver. “In 1830, Colt sailed on the Corvo as a seaman, where he first became fascinated with the way the ship’s wheel worked. From that idea, he carved out a wooden prototype that would lead to his invention of a rotation-type firearm with a six-barrel cylinder.”

Citation

“Samuel Colt.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 19 May 2020, http://www.biography.com/inventor/samuel-colt. 

Discusion post #10

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

At the before reading John Swales’ work I never heard of the term discourse community. After reading his work I learned what discourse community was and the six traits that define it. I’ve also learned that there is a term similar to discourse community which is speech community. The main difference between the two as far a I can tell is that the social aspects and obligations are opposites.

A speech community tends to be a more naturally formed community that is more focused on socialization and community. Where as discourse communities is less social and focuses on accomplishing a goal. Discourse communities are a lot like clubs, while the speech community is like a family.

This assigned reading is perfect for reflection, the reason for this is if you didn’t reflect you would never realize that this class is a discourse community. I really enjoyed that little bit of detail that was worked into the course. Inclosing swales has really helped me in defining what this class really is.

Blog post #6

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

A discourse community is from John Swales’ description “In a discourse community the communicative needs of the goals tend to predominate in the development and maintenance of its discourse characteristics”(Swales pg.20) or a community that is shaped and controlled by its’ goals. Swales tries distinguishing discourse communities from speech communities by defining discourse community with 6 traits. A discourse community which I’m a part of would be the class that I’m writing this post for.

To prove that this class is a discourse community I will compare it to the 6 traits from Swales work. Swales first trait is that there has to be a set of agreed upon goals. In this class the syllabus defines these goals, one goal of this class is “identify, respond to, and write effectively for various rhetorical situations”. The second trait is the members have a system of communication. Members of this class communicate in the comment section of each others posts and can send each other emails. Which leads to the third trait, members use their communication to primarily provide feedback and information. This trait is also meet by the class with the majority of the posts providing feedback and helpful tips or suggestions. Discourse communities “possess” a genre or genres, this is the fourth trait. The genre of my class would be composition or how to compose writing. Having a specific lexis would be the fifth trait. The lexis of this class would be our key terms that we use in our writings such as “Genre, Audience, and Rhetorical situation.” The sixth and final trait would be, members have a threshold that members have to meet with discourse knowledge and relevant content. This class has that as well, there was a placement test to see if you could get into this class or an other class that had to be taken. Their is also different levels of membership, the Instructor being the expert and the students being the novices.

A discourse community that I’ve had trouble assimilating to would be this hearing impaired support community. I’ve always had trouble assimilating with this group because I really don’t notice my impairment most of the time and when I do it doesn’t bother me. This lead me to leaving the community, because I didn’t feel like I contributed or received anything from going.

Discusion Post #9

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

After reading the 2nd chapter of John swales’ book “Genre Analysis”, I’ve been exposed to the idea of what a discourse community is and how it differs from a speech community. Swales defines a discourse community as “The communicative needs of the goals tend to predominate in the development and maintenance of its discourse characteristics” “Discourse communities are centrifugal” (Swales pg.220) Discourse communities “own” a genre or genres through expansive use of a subject with limitations, and by having clear goals.

Speech communities and discourse communities are different in a couple ways. Speech communities are born into, discourse serves the group in creating a homogenous unit and is more focused on socialization. A discourse community one has to be indoctrinated into, the language is focused around a specific goal or genre, and are people who get together to pursue a particular goal. The transfer of informations is important to discourse communities because they consist of members that are wide spread and have a degree of separation that speech communities don’t have. The information transfer is also the discourse that makes the community and holds them together.

I belong to a discourse community called the WCOMC or “West Central Ohio Manufacturing Consortium”. I became a member through studying manufacturing, and passing a series of tests to be certified.

1. The WCOMC has a broadly agreed on goal, of certifying members in manufacturing knowledge, clarifying the processes, and expanding the use of manufacturing.
2. The WCOMC has an online forum for learning more about the subject.
3. There are feedback threads on the community pages.
4. The WCOMC’s genre consists of the safe use of manufacturing machinery, and the processes of how to improve efficiency.
5. An example of some specific lexis that is associated with the WCOMC is TPM, spindle, chuck, and quill.
6. I was certified as a tech basic which is the second level or degree of certification. There are four levels of certification in total “Advanced” being the highest level.

Which sums up the six characteristics of a discourse community. The only thing that might make it less a discourse community and more so a speech community is that it doesn’t spread out side North Central Ohio.

Discusion post #8

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Reflection on Yancey’s work I’ve learned that reflection is fundamental to learning. I’ve also learned from my peers and from being in this class that major terms like reflection have connections. The major terms that we have in the class so far includes Audience, Exigence, Genre, Rhetorical situation, and now Reflection. How Reflection is related to these terms so vague of a long shot at best.

Reflection being the process of learning and the product obviously relates to the terms in the class through learning all that these terms encompass. The from the term Rhetorical situation we reflected on it and related It to genre. The way we did this is by reflection on what genre is “traits or restraints that are use to categorize writing”. Realizing that rhetorical situations had restraints we equated it to a genre. If that is correct is up to how one defines genre.

I’ve notice that in this class every thing is built up one thing after another. starting with audience (The reason to write) and then going on to the substance, genre, rhetoric, exigences. Leading me to believe that there will be some sort of payoff, like a capstone to this foundation. Something or some term that leads writing to an inevitable conclusion. Which I find intriguing, because I’ve always looked a writing as more of a cycle than as a structure.

Blog post #5

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Kathleen Yancey’s Definitions of reflection in here first chapter is “1) the processes by which we know what we have accomplished and by which we articulate accomplishment and 2) the products of those processes (eg, as in, “a reflection”). In method, reflection is dialectical, putting multiple perspectives into play with each other in order to produce insight.” The website grammar.yourdictionary.com defines reflection as “Reflection is a mental process. It is contemplation or a long consideration. Thoughts or opinions that come to you while you are reflecting are called reflections. Unlike a reflection in a mirror, it is an interpretation of what is going on between learning and thinking.”Yancey builds on grammar.yourdictionary.com definition by adding the idea that reflection is also the product as well as the process. According to Yancey, reflection also enables the writer to learn.

You can reflect on the audience, like who is reading your writing, who you want to read your writing, or how they read your writing. Refection on genre would be examining the traits of your writing or the writing of others and determining what makes them fall into this or that genre. Rhetorical situation fall close to reflection for rhetorical situations often make you think (or reflect) on events, and make you take action based on the reflection.

These connections to the three key terms that are used in our class Audience, Genre, and Rhetorical situation; seem to align with the views expressed by The website grammar.yourdictionary.com. The major differences is that the website the website focuses on the process of creating reflective writing with tips to start. A major similarity is the “Interpretation” phase of writing which is similar to Rhetorical situations in the fact that you focus on events and how it effects you.

Refection is a lot about learning from past actions. The actions that people tend to learn most from are those with consequences or mistakes. I drew this sketch real quick to represent a learning moment that could be reflected on. Also this is a common saying that goes with it “When a horse bucks ya, ya get right back on”. I heard this saying a lot from my grandfather growing up, mostly when I was upset. But, the sentiment of this saying rings true even today.

Discusion #7

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Kathleen Yancey’s “On Reflection” was an insightful read, but it was wordy and took forever to get to the point. She provided more than ample information, which is too much at times and could cause confusion between the different points of view. Most of the information was useful, but a lot of it felt redundant by the end of the chapter. The biggest struggle with reading this text was to retain all the information that was given right off the bat. Learning about the process for creating a theory on how students learn and how reflection is involved really kept my attention, which made the reading easier.

After reading Yancey’s first chapter I see that my Major Assignment #1 lacks a goal and clear direction. In my text I’m just analyzing what I’ve read and written, for no reason but to analyze them. Seeing a clear end goal as to what I’m trying to create would improve my draft immensely. Yancey’s style is far more narrative as well, she has applicable first hand experience that relates to the subject. I have a lack of that experience, so replacing the narrative structure with something just as engaging is in order.

Yancey’s definition of reflection “(1)the processes by which we know what we have accomplished and by which we articulate accomplishment and 2) the products of those processes (eg, as in, “a reflection”). In method, reflection is dialectical, putting multiple perspectives into play with each other in order to produce insight.” (Yancey pg.6) My understanding of reflection was that “it is a process of analyzing past information and comparing it to current knowledge.” Which lines up with #1 of Yancey’s definition, #2 is agree able we could say that reflection is both a product and a process. The multiple points of view goes without saying for reflection is always on a past point of view or another person’s views. So in conclusion her definition of reflection is completely agreeable. The only course of action that I can take after what Yancey’s text says to me is to try being more conscious about what I’m reading, and how it affects me as a writer/learner.

Citation

Yancey, Kathleen B. Reflection in the Writing Classroom, by Kathleen B Yancey, NetLibrary, Inc., 1999, pp. 1–22. 

Major Assignment #1

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Gloria Anzaldua’s “How to Tame A wild Tongue” gives wider context to what Audience is and its’ importance. Within this work Anzaldua gives the reader a glimpse at her world, where linguistic complexities are overwhelming to most readers such as myself. Covering topics such as forced assimilation in her school years, and how the Spanish language is male centric. Throughout this passage Anzaldua uses different language and explains how with different groups she changes the language. The best example of this would be this passage “With Chicanas from Nuevo Mexico or ArizonaI will speak Chicano Span­ish a Little, but often they don’t understand what I’m saying. With most Cal­ifornia Chicanas I speak entirely in English (unless I forget). When I first moved to San Francisco, I’d rattle off something in Spanish, unintentionally embarrassing them. Often it is only with another Chicana tejano that I can talk freely.”(Anzaldua pg.79) This passage shows that there are consequences to not knowing how to speak with your audience (the Chicanas being embarrassed), which highlights the fact that audiences make demands on the speaker.

Audience according to Merriam-Webster is “a group of listeners or spectators”. Which is correct, but there is more to audience than that. There are many types of audience as well, but the three that hold the most relevance are Immediate audience, Mediated audience, and Pragmatic audience. Immediate audience is a face to face audience that can interact with the presenter. Mediated audience is an audience that is separated form the presenter by time and/or space. Pragmatic Audience is an audience that depends on situations to arise, dealing with reality, and pressing matters. Pragmatic audiences can be both Immediate or Mediate. My thoughts on Audience is that it doesn’t have to be a group of people, as long as some thing is being produced the audience exists even if it’s just the producer themselves. People tend to forget that even thou they’re creating content, they belong to an audience as well. Now knowing what audience you are participating with is the next step.

Audiences consume content that is divided into genres, Charles Bazerman’s “What Writing Does and How it Does it” defines genre and how it works in Chapter 11 “Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems”. In this chapter Bazerman introduces Speech acts, which is “a set of words said at the proper time in the proper circumstances by the proper person”(Bazerman pg.313) which creates acton or obligations. Bazerman breaks Speech acts down into three parts Locutionary acts, Illocutionary acts, and Perlocutionary acts. Locutionary acts are what is said to prompt a response or action. Illocutionary acts are is what you want the audience to do or pick up on. Perlocutionary acts are the final outcome, the action taken by the audience based on their interpretation of the Locutionary act. After this Bazerman brings up Genre, Genre sets, Genre systems, and Systems of activity. Genre sets are the type of writing someone is likely to produce based on their position. Genre systems are how groups of Genre sets are organized and work together. Systems of activity are how people reach their objectives, organize, and stay within social/economical norms. In addition, Systems of activity are the actions spurred on by Genre systems.

Genre is the base for these systems and sets, which is why it is important to define what it is. According to Merriam-Webster Genre is “a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content”. Bazerman defines genre as “communicative patterns that other people are familiar with, they may recognize more easily what we are saying and trying to accomplish.”(Bazerman pg.317) From these two definitions we can synthesis that Genre is “a category of writing based on particular traits, with the motive of clarifying content and purpose”. For example the traits of a “western” is it’s set on a frontier where society is fluid, is usually governed by violence, and physical deeds of heroics are idolized. The purpose of a “western” to entertain or to show a glimpse at more primordial way of life.

Rhetoric or more specifically Rhetorical situations could be considered a genre set. Lloyd Bitzer’s essay “The Rhetorical Situation” gives us a better understanding of what Rhetorical situations are. Bitzer’s opening remarks “If someone says, That is a dangerous situation, his words suggest the presence of events, persons, or objects which threaten him, someone else, or something of value.” which sound similar to what a speech act is. Bitzer then brings up some historical examples of Rhetoric, such as “The Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, Churchill’s Address on Dunkirk, John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address” pointing out that all these examples are bond to situations. The term Exigence is then introduced, which according to Merriam-Webster means “a state of affairs that makes urgent demands”. Audience and constraint are two terms that are also associated with Bitzer’s essay on Rhetorical situation. The term audience in conjunction with the term constraints invokes the term genre to come to mind. The reason for this is because audiences are divided by constraints called genres. The constraints associated with Rhetorical situation are, it’s pragmatic, it spurs “positive” change, and it’s situational.

Rhetorical situation according to Biter is “a natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which strongly invites utterance; this invited utterance participates naturally in the situation, is in many instances necessary to the completion of situational activity, and by means of its participation with situation obtains its meaning and its rhetorical character.”(Bitzer pg.5) This passage also shows that exigence is the catalyst that provokes the rhetoric. This can also provide a strong argument to why exigence, audience, and constraints are the three parts of rhetorical situation.

My analysis of Genre, Audience, and Rhetorical situation synthesized form the texts above highlights that Audience is the driving factor in all writing. Anzaldua writes to an audience, so that they can understand the struggles of a people caught between two cultures. Bazerman writes to an audience to expand knowledge for knowledges sake. Bitzer writes to persuade the audience that Rhetoric is situational. Genre divides writing and writing styles, making it easier for a particular audience to find content that holds their interests. Genre is another tool used to help the author reach their intended audience.

Rhetorical situation is an example of a broad writing tool or style. Rhetorical situation has an intended audience, which is usually a pragmatic immediate audience. Rhetorical situation also has constraints and traits that make it similar to a Genre. To say that Rhetorical situations are a type of genre might be a bit of a stretch. Rhetorical situation is also similar to speech acts as well, but a speech act isn’t a Genre either. A Genre set is likely what Rhetorical situation is to be categorized as. The reason for this is unlike rhetoric that can pop up throughout any form of writing within any genre, Rhetorical situation is a text that is fully comprised of rhetoric. Rhetorical situations are also likely to be written by people that hold a specific position, like a journalist, a teacher, or a senator.

A theory of writing must naturally be an outline of the steps taken or the train of thought that a writer follows to produce a successful piece of writing. From my analysis determining audience must be the first step, followed by genre. After determining genre the use of rhetoric or rhetorical situations can then be determined.

Citation

Anzaldua, Gloria “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” in Borderlands: The New Mestiza – La Frontera, (San Francisco: Aunt Lute Book Company, 1987), 76-85

Bazerman, Charles. “What Writing Does and How It Does It: an Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices.” Erlbaum, 2009. 

Bitzer, Lloyd F. “The Rhetorical Situation.” The Rhetorical Situation Lloyd F. Bitzer, University of Waterloo, 1968, www.arts.uwaterloo.ca/~raha/309CWeb/Bitzer(1968).pdf.

“Dictionary by Merriam-Webster: America’s Most-Trusted Online Dictionary.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/. 

Discusion #6

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Here’s reflecting on what I’ve learned after reading Lloyd Bitzer’s essay and my peer’s initial posts. Rhetoric has been defined for me after this reading assignment. Before this assignment I’ve never given it a thought as to what it meant. One thing that was pointed out to me by Evan Kallas was that rhetoric is always persuasive. This is important to remember, because it helps the reader determine motive when reading a piece of rhetoric.

I’ve also learned that there are three terms linked to Rhetorical situation by Bitzer. These terms are Exigence, Audience, and Constraints. Exigence is the only term that I was unfamiliar with in the beginning. After some research and reading my peer’s posts I learned that exigence means “a need that is pressing or urgent.” Sophia hand in her post proposed that exigence was a challenge to overcome or change, but wasn’t always needed. I disagreed with it not being a necessity. The reason for this is exigence is what prompts the situation which the rhetoric responds too. Adam Helwig Defines this quite well “Exigence in rhetoric is the point in where an action occurs politically or otherwise, that causes someone to act, speak, or write about it.” (Helwig ph.3)

From Aleksei Nechaev’s post I realized that exigence is important for more reasons than being the catalyst for rhetoric. As Nechaev points out it is also used to keep the audience interested in the conversation. This is something that I failed to realize in my initial reading of Bitzer’s essay. Knowing that rhetoric could be used as a tool to keep an audience engaged is useful for a writer to know. Rhetorical situations being akin to a genre has also crossed my attention, this is something to think about because it relates Bazerman’s Activity system to rhetoric in a convenient way. Rhetoric is also similar to speech acts, if it’s not already considered one.