Rhetorical Revision

Remind readers of the context and give an overview of your argument for Essay 4

In my Essay 4, I addressed the issue of building natural gas wells in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I argue that the negative aspects of building the wells far outweigh the positive and that the community should be against it. 

Describe what medium you have chosen for the rhetorical revision

I have chosen to use a billboard as my medium for the rhetorical revision. I believe this would be the most efficient way of informing an entire city about the issue. I plan for my billboard to revolve around a picture. In this picture I want to show a nice beautiful home, then have the gas well in the background completely ruining the positive image and attractiveness of the home.

Explain in detail the choices you made in turning this into a visual ad for mainstream culture (as opposed to a more academic setting)

I have taken the visuals and descriptions of those living near oil wells and exaggerated them for a much more powerful impact visually. I believe if the sign is cluttered with too much information then no one will understand it. The people only have a short moment to see it. I want the sign to be clear on what the issue is and what side of the issue the sign represents. 

What did you learn about the rhetorical process (issues of audience—including location, form, visual appeals, etc.)

Layout- The picture on the billboard will take up the whole sign. I plan for the house to be centered with the gas well behind it. I will have a short sentence centered at the bottom of the sign that says..."Is Gas Worth It?" or something to that effect. 

Images- I will show a very beautiful house, with a sharp contradicting background of a gas well that makes the house unattractive. 

Colors- The house will use bright colors, with nice green grass giving it a lovely look. The gas well in the background of the house will be very dark with smoke a soot polluting the air, creating a very negative atmosphere. 

Font- the font for the sentence will be bold and in white. The lettering will be large and simplistic to make sure the drivers and passerby's can easily read the word and comprehend the inference being made. 

Ethnographic Essay Topic

After much confusion and technical difficulty, I can write on my blogg again!

This has been the most difficult essay to choose a topic for. One of the few interesting subculture ideas I came up with, that I'm not a part of, was local bowling league members. I have been bowling multiple times, but at most twice a year. I enjoy the bowling, but by no means am I proficient in the sport. Every time I've been to the bowling alley, I notice a certain group of people, the hard-core bowlers. Most bowling alleys host leagues and have specified nights in which they compete. This group always interested me because of their passion and love for the game.
This subculture I believe meets all the qualifications. There are multiple local alleys where the groups gather that I have access to and would be able to do my research in. This topic does in fact interest me, and I am not nor have I ever been a part of this subculture.
This subculture, while broken apart further into specific teams, all identify with each other. They do share similar behavior and motivations. Bowling has many terms and a jargon that is unfamiliar to many. They invest in many artifacts relative to their sport. From the little i've seen of this subculture, i can tell they spend a lot of time and money on their sport.

Research Topic

Topic

The topic I chose for my research essay, is the evolution of communication through computers. I want to explore how the computer evolved from communication such as e-mails, to telecommunication, instant messaging, and video chats across the world.

Question

Has the availability of instant communication damaged our culture's desire for face to face communication?

Rationale

This interests me because this technology has developed significantly within the last 15 years. I have found with a lot of the recent technology developments, that they take away from personal communication. I hope to research the steps that have lead us to today's new computer communication technology. I think this question is very important because I believe that the lack of human presence in communication could become a negative aspect of our society. 

Draft Revisions

My feedback from Workshop 1 was very helpful. Most of the comments I received were minor but will help me over all.

First of all, my sentence structure in my essay was very choppy and direct. I spend little time on elaboration and basically just spurted out my thoughts quickly. I plan to go back add expression to my sentences to add more "showing" elements to my story. 

At many parts of my essay I gave examples, or short stories, that supported the other part of my main story. I kept them very short and at some points incomplete. I plan to go back and elaborate more on these events to hopefully help translate emotions within my essay.

Lastly, I had multiple place where my grammar was incorrect or I switched tenses. These spot will cause confusion for the reader, so I will make sure to have all of them correct.

Personal Essay Topic

Choosing a personal essay topic has come to be one of the more difficult tasks i've had recently. Out of all the possibilities, the one that stood out was from the day we brought our own object to class. 

My topic is the miniature marimba keychain given to me after making All-Region band in 7th grade. This is very symbolic of who I am as a person today. I chose this because it was so dear to me and a big turning point in my life. The question I have for my topic is how such an insignificant gift can give me motivation that would craft the rest of my life. I hope to explore this in my paper and the ways competition has both helped and hindered my life.

Artifacts of my Writerly Roles

Write a blog entry reflecting on the following:

- What writerly roles you play

- How your writing stlye, purpose, content, etc. differs from character to character

- What recipients or audiences are assumed in those characters

 After collecting all my writings for this week, I have picked them apart and have been able to analyze my roles as a writer. I have come to find that I have a large amount of writing personalities and different roles, each with their own style. 

First of all, I am a friend. My close friends are who I talk to the most, and the majority of it is texting. For me texting is fast and simple. All rules of grammar and spelling are thrown right out the window. The goal is to get as much information passed along saying the fewest words possible. Looking back on the conversations they seem almost pointless. They begin with one side saying "Hey whats up?" followed by a typical "nothin." No new information was given, and yet it seems necessary to ask. 

This is far from how I act as a student. There are still two parts to me as a student. I am a note taking student, then an assignment completing student. When taking notes I write neatly, but quickly. I sometimes don't have time to write full sentences so I abbreviate. The abbreviations all make sense in my head, but may look like nonsense to any other people. Like "Y = C + I + G + X - M" looks confusing, but I know it means "Gross Domestic Product as expenditures equal the sum of consumption, investment spending, government spending, and exports, minus imports." When do assignments that will be turned in and graded, I use my best writing skills. I use my knowledge of grammar and sentence structure as best as I can. Never do I use slang or profane content.

 

Most importantly, I am a son. My parents and I have a good relationship, and we tend to keep up with each other  and how our lives are going on a daily basis. Most of our communication is done through the phone. In the scarce amount of written communication to my parents, I found my role differs slightly between my mother and my father. My mother is very technologically challenged. She is utterly confused by  the operations of a computer, and texting is as time consuming as a full phone conversation. My writing to her is usually on a question, answer basis. I use complete sentences and appropriate language when her, no slang words. Its usually kept to a maximum of two sentences, or a short phrase such as "I love you." When writing to my dad, my son role is more on business terms. My father and I have many opportunities to lead worship at different churches and since I don't get to see him during the school week we communicate through e-mail. I set up schedules and an order of worship down to the timing. I act very efficiently and professional. Often one of us needs something done. "Can we get twelve copies of the song with the horn charts in a separate folder by Tuesday? Also, I will send you a file of the second song I transposed tomorrow that I'll need five copies of."  Even though he's my father, I must also act as a co-worker. 

I Believe That I Can Learn To Write Well

"One belief, though, undergirds them all: the most important thing that influences a writer's growth is believing that he or she can write well." 

Ballenger's concept relates directly how I live my life. As a child I was brought up with the belief that there are no limitations on my success. I was free to be my own person, but taught to do so full heartedly. The challenges and goals set out for myself could not be face without full belief in myself. My parents were amazed by the variety of things I did growing up. I wanted to do well in school, so I got straight A's. I wanted to play football, I started on varsity. I wanted to play percussion, so I made 1st chair All-State twice. I wouldn't have been able to do such things without first believing I could succeed. I believe that confidence enables further success, beyond the success of hard work. One can only grow so much by just putting forth effort. If you have no belief in yourself and what you're doing you limit yourself. 

Writing is difficult for me. Often times I doubt my ability to do well at writing, and it hinders my potential. This class is made to make me a better writer, and I completely agree with Ballenger's way of thinking. For me to get all I can out of this class, I must believe in myself. I must  believe I can write well. My skills will develop with an optimistic point of view. 

I can write well.