Your textbook describes genres as “ways of writing and speaking that help people interact and work together” (Johnson-Sheehan & Paine, 2010, p. 2). List a few different genres in which you write (such as academic papers, text for social networks, business documents, diary entries, or poetry), select one, describe the specific kind of document you typically produce, and then discuss your process for creating that document.
Essay Writing (graded)
Your assignment this week is to write a draft of your rhetorical analysis. First, read this week’s lecture. Then go to the search engine of your choice and search for this phrase: “vintage ads.” Include the quotation marks to search for exactlythat phrase.
Tell us about the ad you chose: name the product and the year the ad was published.
Remember that the goal of advertising is to make you spend your money on products and services. Does the ad motivate you to buy the product or service?
How does the ad useethos,pathos, orlogosto make you desire the product?
Ethosrelies on the credibility or the authority of the ad itself (“I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV.”);
Pathosis an appeal to your emotions (“Coke adds life.”);
Logosis an appeal to your intellect (Ads that show great gas mileage numbers for a car appeal to your intelligence—they imply that you have the brains to buy the most efficient vehicle.).
What elements create ethos, pathos, or logos in the ad that you chose? Discuss 2-3 elements that work to create therhetorical appeal(ethos,logos,pathos) that you detect. Some elements you might analyze are
The use of colors
The appearance of people in the ad or their expressions
The way the product is photographed or displayed
Words used in the ad
Here is some advice. In your discussion:
1) Avoid summarizing the ad—let’s not look at the ad and describe it. Keep in mind that this is not a description paper.
2) Avoid talking about your experience with the product or service depicted in the ad. Keep in mind that this is not a testimonial paper.
Make sure that you are writing about how the ad makes you want to spend your money on a product or service. Ethos, pathos, logos…
By working on this now, you will write material that you can use in your draft to turn in this week.
Week 2 discussion
Rhetorical Analysis (graded)
The purpose of “rhetorical analysis” is to determine if, how, and why something is influential or not. As a consumer, you are exposed, every day, to messages designed to get you to buy a product or service. Select some kind of advertisement from television, radio, a magazine, or the Internet; briefly describe the message; and discuss its use of reasoning (logos), credibility (ethos), or emotion (pathos) in persuading you to take action.
Analyzing (graded)
Look at the draft of your working analysis paper and think about the overall topic, angle, and purpose. How well does the draft state what the topic is, describe some sort of fresh angle, and accomplish its intended purpose? Assess the draft’s strengths and weaknesses, and propose two ideas for revision that could help clarify the purpose, narrow the topic, or develop the angle.
Week 3 discussion
Audience (graded)
If you were asked to create a brochure or give a short presentation on bicycle safety to a group of 4thgraders, how would you profile them, as an audience? What values would they have? How can you generalize them as an audience without stereotyping? What information might you need, in addition to the fact that they are fourth graders, in order to create an effective message for them?
Week 4 discussion
Evaluating Sources (graded)
When using sources of information to support your own ideas, you are making your own writing more credible and believable. This way, your writing has more authority, but how do you know a source is credible and believable when you’re searching for sources of information to support your writing?
Editing, Proofreading, and Citing (graded)
As an improving writer, you are learning and employing many new strategies in every document you write. Working as a class, use this discussion area to create a revision, editing, and proofreading checklist for college students (and yourself) to use when writing academic papers that include citations in American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Week 5 discussion
Outlining (graded)
This week you begin working on your final paper, the position paper. A position paper explains both sides of the issue, but argues one side over the other. After you have read Chapter 11 and this week’s lecture, choose your topic, one that has at least two clear points of view that can each be defended.
To help you choose a topic, think about what issues have come up in your own life or what you have heard in the news lately. Consider topics that are controversial, like the topic of “social networking” in the lecture:
Social Networking:
Some feel that social networking is a valuable tool for communication.
Others believe that it is a medium for cyberbullying and biased information.
Do not choose topics that are moral or religious in nature (e.g. creationism vs. intelligent design), as sources will be inherently biased.
In your own words, tell what you see as the two sides of the story:
The point of view you wish to build upon about this topic and the supporting details you will use, and
The point of view that contradicts your point of view and the supporting details you will use.
In this discussion, comment on one another’s ideas, giving pointers so that you can each improve or take your paper in another direction. This is the time to “bounce” ideas off each other. Other people might point out aspects of your topic that you never considered, and you could do the same for them.
By working on this now, you will write material that you can use in your outline to turn in this week. The outline is the foundation of your position paper, so getting valuable feedback now will help you write a successful paper.
Perspectives & Reactions (graded)
After reading “TV Watching: The Top Environmental Hazard for Children” by Todd Huffman, note your initial reactions to the essay. In one paragraph, record your strongest reaction to the essay and explain why you think you may have reacted that way. From what perspective are you reacting, that of a parent or that of a child? What factors outside of the essay might have influenced your reaction?
Week 6 discussion
Persuasion (graded)
Earlier in the course, we discussed ethos, pathos, and logos in the context of advertisements, which are generally persuasive messages. Persuasion is a more general purpose, wherein one’s main goal might be “to persuade” or it might be “to justify,” “to convince,” or “to argue.” To create an argument, you must begin with an arguable claim—one that is neither factually “right” nor factually “wrong” nor based solely on personal judgment. Of the many strategies for creating an effective argument is the practice of avoiding logical fallacies. Identify a logical fallacy and discuss, briefly, how its use could harm the integrity of an argument
Writing Process (graded)
Describe how your writing process has evolved since the start of this course. Explain exactly what you are doing differently, and how the new practices have contributed to your overall improvement as a writer. Name one aspect of the writing process you still want to work on even after you complete this course.
Week 7 discussion
Writing to Print Vs. Writing for the Internet (graded)
If you’re asked to present information, you may have the option of oral or written delivery. Each medium has unique requirements. Further, where written information is concerned, print versus electronic texts also have unique characteristics. Please click on the link and read the attached essay,”Writing Style for Print vs. Web,” by Jakob Nielson. What are the similarities and differences between writing for print and writing f
