Blog post #4

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Lloyd Bitzer defines rhetorical situation as follows “a natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which strongly invites utterance.”(Bitzer pg.5) Bitzer then provides three key terms that is associated with Rhetorical situation. These terms being exigence, audience, and constraints. Exigence being the catalyst for the situation, audience being whom the rhetoric is directed, and constraints defining the rhetoric.

An example of situational rhetoric would be an article from NBC news. The exigence would be the DHP confiscating vaccines from a clinic in Georgia for administrating them to teachers. The audience is the people that read NBC news or watches their broadcasts. The constraints would be what happened and how the orator wants the audience to act.

How I would define rhetorical situation after reading Bitzer’s essay would be, speech or writing that produces change in a “positive” manner. This relates directly with genre, for genre is “communicative patterns that other people are familiar with, they may recognize more easily what we are saying and trying to accomplish.”(Bazerman pg.316) This definition of genre makes a rhetorical situation a type or style of genre. For the restraints that are imposed on rhetorical situations make them a communicative pattern.

Citation

Bitzer, Lloyd F. Pennsylvania University Press, 1966.

Bazerman, Charles What Writing Does and How It Does It: an Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices, Erlbaum, 2009, pp. 316–317. 

Gosk, Stephanie, et al. “Rural Community in Shock after Georgia Raids Clinic Vaccinating Teachers.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 5 Feb. 2021, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rural-community-shock-after-georgia-raids-clinic-vaccinating-teachers-n1256858. 

Discussion #5

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Rhetoric is pragmatic because it deals with what is real and can be seen, and It changes the world in some way through discourse. Rhetoric produces action through this discourse, much like a speech act creates action through words. Rhetoric relates directly to Bazerman’s work for it can be used in contrast with speech act. A speech act being an utterance that provokes an expected action. Rhetoric being speech or writing that is done to make change in a “positive” manner.

Now, the biggest difference between Rhetoric and Speech acts is that Rhetoric is situational. The Rhetorical speech is used situationally and is rooted in this world. So, rhetoric wouldn’t be fictitious or deal with fictitious thing, but it would be used in response to what the world deals out. For example Game-stop lost $200,000, in response a memo is released to calm the employees and reinsure them nothing is wrong.

Rhetoric has three main features Exigence, Audience, and Constraints. Exigence is a need or demand that requires immediate attention. Exigence is extremely important to Rhetorical situation because it is the catalyst, the demand for the rhetoric. Audience is always a factor, because Rhetoric works though the prompting of action from others by inviting discourse and changing minds. Meaning you need an audience for it to be Rhetoric unlike poetry. Constraints allow for the rhetoric to be defined, providing consistency, and in short makes rhetoric more effective.

This passage from Biter’s essay “Let us regard rhetorical situation as a natural context of persons, events, objects, relations, and an exigence which I strongly invites utterance; this invited utterance participates naturally in the situation, is in many instances necessary to the completion of situational activity”(Bitzer pg.5) encompasses rhetorical situation as wholly as one can. I would use this passage to help me define rhetoric as a sort of genre in its’ self.

Citation

Bitzer, Lloyd F. Pennsylvania University Press, 1966. 

Discusion #4

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

The post of the classmates that I have read are by Adam Helwig, Even Kallas, Ryan Aberle’s, and Sophia Hand. After reading my peers definitions and what passage they will use on their MA1, I’ve found that my definitions are shallow.

The fact that my definitions are shallow becomes especially clear when looking at Miss. Hand’s definitions. I trie and keep my definitions shallow and broad so that the essential components are highlighted. Hand adds detail that roots the definitions more in line with what we’re learning in the class.

Reading all the examples of speech acts was enlightening. Everyones scenario was different and had outcomes that where just as varied. Helwig’s speech act was interesting because of his Perlocutionary act, because he didn’t just leave which was what was expected. Ryans act is interesting because you have to assume more what he wanted the Perlocutionary act to be. But, it demonstrates that friend groups have a more intuition based way to communicate that is based on knowledge of each other.

Blog Post #3

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Before I read Bazerman’s ideas on genre and speech actions, I would define genre as a grouping texts based on styles or traits that are distinctive to that grouping. Having read many westerns, action adventure, and fantasy books I seen that specific plot points, and character archetypes define genre. For example in westerns it is. typical for there to be a strong message about overcoming hardship and doing what must be done because it needs doing. Fantasy plots tend to follow battles between an ultimate evil and a band of intrepid heroes how fight despite the overwhelming odds. Now, most people might think setting is a key to defining genre but I would argue it isn’t, for you could set a western in space and not in a desert or you could have a fantasy story set in 1950’s New York and still have it follow a typical fantasy plot.

After reading Bazerman’s Definition of Genre which is “communicative patterns that other people are familiar with, they may recognize more easily what we are saying and trying to accomplish.” The main difference in Bazerman’s definition is that it focuses on communication and is easily recognizable. The fact that it is a pattern that works for delivering certain messages or stories is the main similarity between the two definitions.

Commencement speeches have a couple defining traits such as giving friendly advice or warnings, and trying to leave the audience with some hope for the future. A common commencement speech has a story coupled with it about the trials the speaker has dealt with and overcame. From the three commencement speeches that I’ve read they all share the first two traits that I mentioned (friendly advice and hope).

In Steve Jobs speech there was three stories that helped reenforce his message. The first story was about “connecting the dots” was about his early life dropping out of college and finding his passion. While looking for his passion he joined a calligraphy class and that is how 10 years later the Mac had typography. The message behind the story was how you couldn’t see the future and you just had to have faith that the dots connected when looking back. The second story was about “Love and Loss”, his story was about how he was fired from apple the job he love. Yet, he felt a weight lifted and started a new company called NeXT. Which was bought by apple, Jobs later says that this is all do to him doing what he love and “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it”.(Jobs) The final story was about death, Jobs had a cancer scare that prompted him to share with the audience a quote he lived by “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”

Mr. Rogers also has some antidotal stories, but the difference with Rogers is he had multiple stories that relaid the same message and strengthened the emotional impact. The advice was ” To appreciate our life – and do what we can so others might appreciate theirs.” (Rogers) Rogers ended his speech with a song that perfectly encapsulated the message that his speech meant to get across this song is called “It’s You I Like.” This is different to jobs speech, but it shares a similar vein to Collin’s speech where he shared a poem.

Rogers, Fred. “Fred Rogers Commencement Speech.” Fred Rogers Commencement Speech // University Honors // Marquette University, 2001, http://www.marquette.edu/university-honors/honorary-degrees/rogers-speech.php. 

University, Stanford. “Text of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (2005).” Stanford News, 12 June 2017, news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/. 

Text of Steve Jobs’ Commencement address (2005)

Discussion #3

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

• Locutionary act
  • The first part of a speech act, this is what is said that prompts a response from the listener.
• Illocutionary act
  • The second part of a speech act, this is the acton that the speaker wanted the listener to do.
• Perlocutionary act
  • The final part of a speech act, this is how the listener of the speech interperpates/full-fills the Locutionary act. This also sets the stage for further interaction.

A speech act that I had made this week would be commanding my dog to come. The Locutionary act would be me saying “come here”. The Illocutionary act is wanting my dog to come to me. The Perlocutionary act was my dog coming over to me. I chose this to speech act to demonstrate the simplicity of the concept.

• Genre Set
  • The type of writing that someone in a specific position is likely to produce.
• Genre System
  • How a Group of Genre sets work/interact with one another in an organized way.
• System of activity
  • How text helps people reach their objectives, organize, and stay within social/economical norms. Or perhaps, the actions spurred on by Genre systems.

An example of a way that genre systems create a system of activity is, Law makers make a law, or pass some bill. While most people will follow this law, some express their discontent through writing articles, or through civil disobedience. Another action caused wold be a creation of a petition to have the law changed or removed.

Bazerman’s passage on the complexities of genre “Methodological Issues and Analytic Tools: What Is a Genre and How Do You Know One?” seems like a good passage to use for my MA1. I would use this passage to help me define genre and how it is formed in relation to an audience. The information in this passage also can be used explain how genre is bested used by a writer.

Discussion Post #2

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

An audience is a group of people whom participate with the speaker by consuming the speaker content and responding. I’ve started with my definition for audience for clarity, because many different definitions can be held. For this discussion post I’ve chosen to use the change in views of these peers listed Aleksei Nechaev, Even Kallas, Ryan Aberle, and Sophia Hand. Starting with how my view of audience has changed, before reading Anzaldua’s work I haven’t given much thought to audience. After reading her work I now believe that audience is an integral part of writing.

Nechaev and Hand had a lot of the same ideas about audiences relationship with language. Both Nechaev and Hand felt that by sharing a piece of her culture Anzaldua made herself relatable and draws readers in. Hand also discusses that these different audiences take away from the piece will be different because of the language and cultural barriers. “The audience that understands truly her point of view would be people who relate to those blurred cultural and linguistic lines.” (Hand)

Ryans’ view of audience didn’t change much, but he exposed to the idea of speaking to multiple audiences at once much like the rest of us. Kallas pointed out in addition that by speaking to multiple audiences that you could get more points across as a result. Kallas also points out that you don’t have to speak directly to an audience. That last point is plain in light of my reading of Anzaldua’s work. I say that because I don’t belong to any specific audience that she intended to reach but her words still carried weight. I believe they carried weight because she appealed to those that dealt with hardship.

Blog post #2

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

The similarities between Chris Wilcha’s documentary and Gloria Anzaldua’s work are quite surprising. Tho Wilcha’s and Anzaldua’s come from two very different back grounds they share experiences that . Wilcha changed how he presents himself when working for Columbia House, because he is a punk that got a job that was meant for a corporate guy. Now, before continuing clarification on the word punk is in order. A punk is someone that has issues with authority or doesn’t agree with certain aspects of society. At the beginning of Wilcha’s documentary he has little responsibility and is well like and trusted by everyone working with him. After Wilcha’s boss quits he is given her work load and the people he works with see him differently do to this. The people on the 17th floor (the media designers) aren’t as open to him and some resent the fact that Wilcha is now their superior. While management on the 18&19th floors start seeing Wilcha as a dependable worker and keep giving him more work/responsibilities. This is a prime example of two cultures or audiences, sees the same thing (Wilcha) in two completely different realities. This mirrors Anzaldua’s work where one speaker presents multiple versions of herself depending on the audience by changing language or dialect.

My definition of audience before watching Wilcha’s documentary was a group of people whom participate with the speaker by consuming the speaker content. After reading Anzaldua’s work I realized that most writers belong to the same audience that they intend to reach. Knowing this helps me understand the obligation that the audiences of Wilcha and Anzaldua demands from them, and how Wilcha and Anzaldua get the desired response. Wilcha is a profound demonstration of this because Wilcha had to appeal to a universal audience for his job at first by working within the corporate guidelines which gets a minimal response. How ever when Wilcha is charged with the creation of a alternative music catalog, he throughs off his corporate shackles and lets loose showing he’s a person that had a passion for this music. With this passion and Wilcha knowing the audience he got an overwhelmingly positive response in comparison to his work before.After combining the two views of Wilcha and Anzaldua I find my view of audience strengthened.

Audience is important to writing it provides motivation and boundaries that elevate what is writen. There is no way to separate audience from writing, no matter what you write intended to be read or not it will have an audience even if that audience is only you. From the extreme code-switching of Anzaldua’s work to the everyday audiences of Wilcha there is something to learn if you just slowdown and be aware like Billy Collins says in his speech.

Anzaldua Discusion Post #1

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

“How to Tame a Wild Tongues” by Gloria Anzaldua gives a strong example of how speakers change the way they present themselves to different audiences. At the beginning of page 79 Gloria explains how when talking to different groups she literally changes the dialect or language she uses entirely. My view on audiences has changed a-lot after reading this passage, because I now see that audiences make demands on the speaker even if it’s unintintional. There are many audiences beyond my reach because of the demands they make and what I’m capable of doing. Being mono-linguistic I haven’t thought about the extremes of code switching or the demands made from the audiences.

I will quote a piece from a key passage that I find is integral. “The first time I heard two women, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban, say the word “nosoiras,” I was shocked. I had not known the word existed. ” (Anzaldua pg.78) This passage speaks to Spanish speaking women. Anzaldua speaks to the Spanish speaking women by pointing out how the language is male oriented. Sharing an antidotal story about how Anzaldua was shocked about hearing “nosotras” which is a female plural. The fact that she didn’t know the word existed demonstrated how even people that speak the same tongue holds back the discourse and language.

This passage speaks to a different audience, but shares a similar theme. “I remember being caught speaking Spanish at recess-that was good for three licks on the knuckles with a sharp ruler. I remember being sent to the corner of the classroom for “talking back” to the Anglo teacher when all I was trying to do was tell her how to pronounce my name.” (Anzaldua pg.77) Anzaldua starts by addressing the oppressed. Sharing a story that most people can relate to about injustice. Showing that she is part of the audience, someone that has the same problems as those she speaks too. Throughout this piece every audience that she speaks to is being suppressed by one group or another. Be it the chicanos women suppressing each other or the anglos suppressing Spanish speakers.The implication that there is multiple audiences give us is that these audiences have something in common. Another implication could be that people belong to more than one audience. Something else to consider is that Miss Anzaldua was writing with a universal audience in mind as well as her intended audience.

Now, all this is meaningless without me discussing how this piece has changed my thoughts on writing. An audience is a group of people whom participate with the speaker by consuming the speaker content. Anzaldua’s writing made me realize most writers belong to the same audience that they intend to reach. Sometimes people don’t realize that they belong to a group/audience which is something that writers should be conscious of. Knowing your audience should be the same as knowing yourself, for when writing you should know what you would enjoy reading.

Blog post #1

Joshua C. Cook English 1001 (006)

Writing is the inescapable conversations that make no sound. Scrolled on walls, emboldened on signs, slapped on labels, writing is a core component to everyday life. Not only is it inescapable, writing comes in many different forms called genres, and if that wasn’t enough there are different mediums that you can write with. Thought made preservable to the eye, through characters being arranged to form words. It’s immortality, a magic spell that can raise or crush armies, it’s both heaven and hell. The scope of what writing is and capable of doing is vast. To ask “what is writing” seems simple but it is very complex the more you think on it the more comes to mind as to what writing is. For writing is all these things and more.

Successful writing, is writing that has fulfilled its purpose. For a fictional novel entertainment would be its purpose, for the dictionary reference would be its charge. Now, fulfilling its purpose isn’t enough to make writing successful alone. Preservation is another mark of successful writing, for that is the whole purpose of writing in the first place. Think on this: everyone has had the most fantastic idea jump into their head, right? What do they do with this idea? Well, they write it down to save it, and the beautiful thing about writing is it doesn’t just preserve it for the writer but for anyone who can read. Organization is the final mark of successful writing. The reason for this is that organization makes reading or finding information easier for the reader.

I like to make up setting and character and just write details about them in my writing. Though the writing I practice the most is calligraphy, the process of embellishing words and characters is relaxing.

5 Key Terms

• Genre
• Organization
• Media
• Thought
• Preservation

We learn from this text that it is all too easy to get caught up in what we think we know, that we don’t stop and just look around to see how things really are. How we try and keep pace with the world, but don’t realize where the world is headed as a result. Throughout his speech Collins raises a good point that with all this advancement and rushing around we lose something. Our ability to memorize and to be present in the moment is greatly diminished by the speed we chase. I say that this text is successful, It’s successful because it made me stop, look around, and to think. Fulfilling the intention of Collin’s which was to make the audiences slow down and to be aware.

Genre I would keep because it helps narrow down the content of writings .

Organization I wouldn’t change because writing is closely associated with organizing.

Media I think is becoming more prevalent with the introduction of digital media and people moving away from traditional medias.

Thought I think I could change because it is a pretty broad concept and could be applied to most subjects.

Preservation is still a core component to writing, so I would keep it.

Key Terms used for English 006

• Genre
  • Is the classification given to a form of media to quickly explain the nature of its content.
• Audience
  • A group of people that consume the content presented by the creator.
• Rhetorical Situation
  • The use of Audience, Genre, purpose, and context in conjunction when writing.
• Discourse Community
  • A group of people that share a common purpose and communicate to reach that purpose.
• Knowledge
  • Information that is known to a person.
• Purpose
  • The motivation behind the writing or the end-goal.
• Context
  • Information that clarifies the meaning of a word or situation.
• Reflection
  • looking back at previous works and evaluating how much you have changed or grown.