Semester in Review

It's absurd that this is the last blog I will be posting this semester. When I first started this class I was excited to begin writing again. But then after all of the assignments assigned to me I thought "oh no, what have I done..and am I going to make it through." Well now I learned that I stuck it out and did it for the best. I learned so much about my writing this semester. My favorite blog that I posted this semester was the Pumped Up Kicks one. I loved analyzing it, and learning so much about the background behind the popular song. Understanding what the actual meaning of the song was was very interesting and it makes me look at other songs differently as well. These blogs make me look at everything differently and open my eyes to things I would have never seen before this class.

It seems surreal to think that this will be my last blog post of the year. Many of the blogs we posted were about a variety of topics, but the one that I enjoyed the most was the one about Dr. Tae's video. It taught me that it is good to relate to your audience real life situations that a majority of people can relate to or at least get an idea of what the speaker is trying to convey. It would be easy for Dr. Tae to talk above people’s heads, using analogies or dialogue a normal person may not have but he kept it at a level that most people could understand. The assessment made me look at my own writing and think of new ways to make my writing more relatable to my audience. Even though I may know what I am talking it does not mean my audience is viewing it in the same way or getting fully what I am trying to convey.

-168

Ashley Kocanda

Semester in Review Blog post

When I first decided to take a rhetoric class, I was frightened. I thought I would be writing a billion papers and I set myself up for the worst. I also thought I was a hopeless writer and I was never going to get better than what I already was. I ended up proving myself wrong. I learned a lot, especially from these blog posts. I think that the blog post that taught me the most about rhetorical situations was definitely the “Pumped Up Kicks” one. I never really thought about analyzing a song and seeing what it actually meant, especially a song that was just a big hit like this one. When a person listens to a song, they usually are looking for a good beat and stray away from really paying attention to what the words are. I think that after being able to take a song and figuring out an actual (or alternative) motive/meaning is really cool and definitely helpful when critical thinking, which is basically what it has taught me.

Priyanka Bhakta

Word Count: 174

Semester in Review

        If I were to choose one of the blog posts that really seemed to help me get a better understanding of rhetorical situations, I would be inclined to choose the post that dealt with Dr. Tae and his insight on how we learn in schools compared to how we learn in life.  Taking a system that has been in place for centuries finding ways to try to make it appeal to the learning process more than it currently does is something that takes quite a lot of critical thinking.  Looking beyond something at face value and finding reasons why it does not seem to be working effectively really takes a lot of ability to see the bigger picture in things.  The way Dr. Tae supported his claims was in a nice and easy to understand example which was how he went through a learning process by his lonesome and came out of it feeling like he could learn more than any instructor could have done for him.  This is because at the end of the day, one either learns something, or they do not, and that is why I feel like I was able to learn a lot from this blog post assignment.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 203

Semester Review-JF

This class has taught me a lot about rhetoric and the rhetorical situation. Obviously, that was its intent, or at least, I'd hope that would have been the intent. While we had many assignments, the blog posts taught me the most about the rhetorical situation. Of our many blog posts, the one that taught me the most would have to be the workplace rhetoric. It not only demonstrated the idea of author, audience, text, purpose, and setting the best, but it also gave me a chance to learn something more about my boss. My favorite part of that post though, was that the sign I chose provided a bit of humor on a normally serious topic. I thought it was funny how my boss put the second sign up because the first wasn’t working, and I was happy that I had the opportunity to share that with others. Overall, I learned a lot from all the posts, but the workplace rhetoric taught me more than any other, and it was also my favorite post.

Word Count: 174

its the final blog post

It is hard to say which blog post helped me understand rhetoric and what a piece or rhetoric is. This is because I am mentally incompetent and had no idea there was such a thing as a piece of rhetoric. After the first few post I think I understood what rhetoric is, but it is hard to gauge just how much of something you know about when you don’t know how much of it you don’t know about. I hope that made sense. So I can’t really say which blog post helped me learn the most. The blog I enjoyed the most would probably be the one concerning workplace rhetoric. I have always thought that sign was funny and I got a chance to at least tell some people about it without sounding whiney. Some of the comments I received made me laugh as well. I don’t know how much it taught me, but at least I enjoyed it and that isn’t something I can say about most assignments.

-Codie Rome 169

FINAL BLOG POST :)

I think my favorite blog this semester that showed me what a rhetorical situation really was and what it meant was the workplace blog. I never thought of signs as a rheotrical situation, not that I ever knew what that was before this class though...... I think that is a good way to help people really understand what is meant by the term so that they can understand from personal experiences. I mean, I don't know about any one else that has a job but at mine there are times when I have to put up signs that I wrote myself and I actually tend to put a lot of thinking into them. I always think about how I don't want to be the person that spells an easy word wrong, so they take a picture and put it on instagram or twitter. Futher more I think I can honestly say that I understand the word thanks to this blog post. I will miss sharing my thoughts with you all, even though half of you probably don't read them....(haha)

karah trinkle
word count 180

Semester In Review

I think that out of all the blog posts I have done this semester, I would have to say that the Advertising Rhetoric post helped me understand the idea of a rhetorical situation the most. The advertisement's within the blog posts really helped me see why determining your audience is important. One of the reasons why it's so important is because if you know who your audience is then your message will get across easier and more powerful, which is one of the key factors to writing. My advertisement was about the affects of smoking, so right away I know that this advertisement is mostly towards the smoker audience.The advertisement can also be towards anyone because it warns us about the dangers of smoking. This assignment over advertising really made me think about the components to not only a successful advertisement, but a successful piece of writing as well.

Emily Shouse
(150 words).

I think that the "Pumped Up Kicks" blog post helped me understand the rhetorical situation the most.   "Pumped Up Kicks" had a very upbeat tempo, but when you read through the lyrics it was completely different. In trying to analyze this song you had to answer many questions.  You had to figure out what was possibly going on and why. You had to figure out why Foster wrote this song the way he did and really the rhetorical situation is trying to figure out the answer to a bunch of questions.  These questions range from what the author thinks and why, if it is effective, who is the intended audience for the song, and whether the author gets his point across.  I think that this post alone made me use pretty much the whole rhetorical situation to correctly figure out the analysis of song and the lyrics.

Semester in Review

The assignment from this serious that has helped me the most with understanding rhetoric would definitely have to be my creative nonfiction paper. My creative nonfiction paper made me understand rhetoric the most because it allowed me to open up my thinking and put my thoughts in a way so that other people could understand them. Before writing my creative nonfiction, I was not really able to understand the whole fact of putting your perspective in a way so that your readers will understand too because I always thought that they would understand my writings just because I did. After writing my creative nonfiction, I was a lot more familiar with allowing my readers to understand and feel what I would feel. Since I was able to do this, it has made me a better writer and has definitely made me understand the definite meaning of rhetoric now. I am happy to say that I can now walk out of this class with a better understanding of rhetoric.

Brooke Kinney (169)

Semester in Review

The assignment from this semester that helped me understand the idea of rhetoric and the rhetorical situation is the blog posts. Each week I have had to do a blog based on different topics and I had to analyze them and then discuss it. After doing so many of the blog posts each one became easier to do and how to analyze what we have to read or watch. Also, writing a two paragraph response helped me know what I need to put in response to different topics for the future. Also, the blogs are an excellent way for people to learn how to express their different ideas and opinions on many topics. It helped me to express my ideas more and how to expand them so that I have a four hundred word response. I may not have wanted to do the blogs in the beginning of the semester but now I am glad that I did them.

Megan Grimes (159)

With all these different topics we had to post to the blogger website I think that helped me understand rhetoric and rhetorical situation would be the Workplace blog.  The main reason being that before I had to actually sit down and thoroughly think about what the sign means.  Up until that point the sign was just another sign hanging in our locker room.  Now that I have thought about it every time I see it I stop and think about what it really means.  So I am glad in a way that we had to do all these blogs on different topics each week because it really has helped me change my thinking on certain things, even though most weeks I didn't want to the blog which I think most people didn't want to but at the end of the day I'm glad I made myself do them.

The Semester in Review

I feel like the blog assignment that affected me the most was the "Workplace Rhetoric." The “Workplace Rhetoric” assignment is where my entire outlook on rhetorical situations began to change. Before we were given this assignment I felt that rhetorical situations were always formally written and conveyed, especially after the assignment on the e-mail from "President Obama" in which we critiqued his lack of formality. In the beginning of these assignments I never thought that a rhetorical situation would be a part of my everyday life, because I would only do formal writings for school, but this wasn’t the case at all. During the "Workplace Rhetoric" assignment I realized how much rhetoric affects my daily life and that it's not just formal means of writing ideas down on paper. I began to open my eyes and later realized that rhetoric can be displayed in so many diverse ways, such as a song, an advertisement sign, or a funny television commercial.

Breanna H.

(154 Words)

Semester in Review

I think my favorite assignment that helped me learn the idea of the rhetorical situation would be the lyrical rhetoric blog involving the song "Pumped Up Kicks," by Foster the People. That assignment made me really think about all of the aspects involving the rhetorical situation. From looking at the song writer's background, to the song's beat, I learned all of the parts included in a rhetorical situation. I remember getting into groups and discussing how the songs beat and the lyrics may have a hidden meaning. The assignment as a whole just kind of put everything in perspective for me. At the beginning of the year, I kind of had a tough time with the idea of a rhetorical situation, but now I just look back at that blog to remember all of the aspects involved. Instead of looking back at the sheet Ms. Jarmer gave us at the beginning of the year about what a rhetorical situation is, I just use the blog as a reference.

David Sacre
(168 words)

This Year in Review

This year, out of all the assignments we have had to do I would have to say that the blog post about "The Woman in the White House" has helped me understand more about rhetorical situations. It showed how she would make the song so that way it would be a good seller, not necessarily true statements in the song though. She talked about how a woman in the White House wouldn't fight and they wouldn't spend money. But those are the opposite of a stereotypical woman would be. Instead of making a true song, she was just more worried about how she could sell the song and make good money out of it rather than getting a true point across and trying to make a difference in society today. She also had the CD cover a woman in high heels with the White House in between her legs. So she didn't put true statements into the song and showed how people really think about women in politics. That helped me realize how people really are in the world today, they will say just about anything and do just about anything if it means they are going to make money whether it is true or not.

Makayla Stark
Word Count: 206

Holiday Rhet

If you have never heard the phrase "Peace on Earth" during the Christmas season, you must be living under a rock. Everywhere you turn you either hear the phrase in a song or you see it on a decoration of some sort. According to Merriam Webster dictionary it states that peace means " harmony in personal relations", and "freedom from disquieting thoughts or emotions." Have any of you ever just sat around and thought about why this phrase is mostly just brought up around Christmas time. No one goes around during the year saying this, only during the holiday season. Christmas is the time of year when everyone is generally happy and they want to enjoy themselves and their families. Of course we would all love to have peace all year around, but lets get real..unfortunately things just do not work like that. I find myself always wanting peace on earth that just like any other human being, and I wish things were just that simple.
I somewhat believe that this phrase is brought up around this time of the year because it is the most joyous time of the year, but it also has a lot to do with the real reason we have Christmas. I think that since Christmas is celebrated because of the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ, and this is why peace on earth is such a big deal around this holiday. When I think of Jesus I think of peace, and happiness. I kind of think this is a negative look on peace on earth, because we should have this hope all year around, not just around this holiday. I think that not only Christmas  should be peaceful, i think that all 365 days of the year should be this way. I cannot tell you how many times I have sang the song "peace on earth" throughout my nine years of chorus and i never really thought about the words, i just thought it was a christmas song, I now have a whole different outlook.

Not exactly the quid pro quo...

Thanks to Google Images for the pictures.

The holidays are a time of family, friendship, and all around together-ness. We're supposed to all get together and everyone be happy and loving and just have a great time with our little 2 adult, 2.54 children and 1.58 pet household. I mean, that's the average, so it's to be expected, right? My parents are divorced, remarried, and have children with their new spouses. The new children (2 of my younger siblings, Averi and Reid) call each other cousins and call the other parent of mine who isn't their parent Uncle and Aunt. So we don't exactly fit into the mold.

It's not unusual for families to be different than the norm. We live in a diverse society. We really don't have the cookie-cutter 2 adults and 2.54 children households with the stay at home Betty Crocker moms and "Honey I'm home!" dads anymore. We live in a society where families sit down to fast food between basketball games and volleyball practice; where the lines between divorces are blurred, and in laws are closer than blood relatives; where it's not as big of a deal to spend part of Christmas with someone else, or with friends at the movies. The ideas we have of families in Christmas sweaters implies a family mind-set that only seems to be present at Christmas. Not to say that the way things run now are bad- that's simply how some families, like mine, are now, and I love my family exactly the way we are. Not everyone fits the mold now, but that's what makes each holiday celebration unique and special.

Holiday Rhetoric

Both found on google images.

During Christmas you always hear the phrase "joy to the world", rather it be said or found in a song sung at church. According to Webster, the word joy means an emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of processing what one desires. So why do we chose to say this just around Christmas time? Around the holidays everyone wants to be seen as this perfect family, as Arola talks about in her video. She talks about how everyone gathers around the tree trying to look happy for that brief moment while a photo is being taken. Is our joy brief too? When I think of joy to the world I think of world piece, and happiness. Most people would agree that we could use this all year round and not just on Christmas right? But who I am kidding, no one goes around in the middle of May saying joy to the world, that is unless it is a teenager getting out of high school for summer break. 

I think people have this false thought that everyone should be happy and perfect during this season because of all the stories and shows we see on tv. Let's face it, when we were young we learned about Jesus being born, and how everyone was grateful and happy to be around their family. If anyone, I think my family is a prime example that this is not what really happens behind the Christmas photo. Two or three years ago, my grandpa and my uncle were messing with his guns, and identically shot a whole through the wall the had barley missed my aunt's arm leaving a scrape. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Joy to the world? I do believe that familys can and should be happy around this time, but why do we chose to try and over do it and seem perfect to everyone around us? Although the saying joy to the world will always be around, we should make it something and bring back the meaning. Let us actually be joyous, and be who we are. Maybe that is what we need to make the world a better place. In this day and age, it all seems to be based of the saying fake it till you make it.

-Karah
word count 388

Holiday Rhetoric-JF

Gifts

Typically, when most of the people I know, including myself, think of the word, “gifts,” we think of items given from one person to another in care. When I think of gifts, I personally think of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. As a larger group though, we all consider gifts to be wrapped presents given by the (spoiler alert!) fictitious Santa Clause/Father Christmas/St. Nicholas/Kris Kringle to children as a reward for their good deeds. Essentially, gifts are associated with winter, particularly, the Christmas holiday. As a child, I was always told that the giving of gifts originated with the three Wise Men bringing gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the baby Christ. I was once told that Santa was Jesus in disguise, and that seemed to make perfect sense to me when I was at that young age. Regardless of my thoughts of gifts, everyone to whom I’ve mentioned the word seems to have the same idea. Ideally however, I think many should have a different idea when that word is stated.

 

In my opinion, every day on Earth as a human being is a, “gift.” Whether you are religious or not, we can all agree that someone else created us (God, parents, scientists, etc). First, being human is a gift considering we’re the most advanced species on the planet. Second, we (at least all of us on the blog) are American; by this I mean to ask, when was the last time your life, liberty, or pursuit of happiness was genuinely threatened? As an American human, we have the greatest gift in comparison to all other people. Sadly, instead of being content with this great gift we have all been given, we trample each other to get sales or cry when we don’t get whatever present we wanted. By holding this false definition of gift, we throw this true gift we have away. If we continue this selfish behavior, I have no doubt that we will lose our true gift. I implore all of you this holiday season not to overlook our true gift. It certainly wouldn’t hurt any of us if we took some more time to be thankful rather than needful (and, hey, look at it this way: If you spend all your time being thankful, you may be able to use that as an excuse for not giving any presents).

 

Word count: 394

Picture count: 2

Sarcasm count: a lot

Holiday Rhetoric-Family

Images from Yahoo images.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of family is loved ones. I agree with Mrs. Arola when she says that the stereotypical family is a heterosexual white family and their kids. I come from the stereotypical American family, however, I do not think race matters, nor do I think having kids is something required to be qualified as a family. In her case, I would say her and her husband alone are a family. The fact that they are loved ones qualifies them as a family in my book. I would include all relatives into the loved ones category.

Also, I do not believe family does not have to include immediate family. For example I have multiple friends who I would consider as family because they fit into the category of loved ones. In addition to friends, I would say I am part of a family of teammates. Team sports have multiple similarities to immediate families.  Successful teams have people sacrificing for each other, communication, trust, honesty, and bonds that form just like successful families have. 

I, like Mrs. Arola, want people to rethink what family is. Family does not have to include a mother, father, and kids. Race does not matter either. There are plenty of families who are not in the stereotypical category that display the same love as the stereotypical families. I believe if a group of people or even two people show characteristics of a family, then they are a family. The holidays seem to put an importance on kids and relatives, but as long as there are the characteristics of a family like love and compassion, the number of people should not matter. My advice for people is to think about the people in their lives who are important to them whether they are a part of their immediate family or not, and ask themselves if they feel like those people feel like family. 

David Sacre (323 words)

"Jesus is the reason for the season."

                As children we often would stay up all night wondering what we were getting for Christmas this year, but rarely did we ever think about what Christmas was actually celebrated for. It seems like the history of Christmas is shrouded in history and not many people really know why we do any of the things we do. I did not learn till years later that Christmas was actually rooted in ancient Pagan holidays. Powered by religious reforms in England, the once Pagan holiday, was converted into a Christian Holiday. It was not until there was a surge in popularity in America that Christmas became a truly commercial holiday. In the past many kept traditions such as commemorating the birth of Jesus or going to church on Christmas. Now most American’s cannot even tell you why we celebrate Christmas except that we get gifts from some man in a suit. What was the cause for such a drastic change in America’s demeanor?

                The most obvious change is families themselves. The United States is much more accepting of different styles of living then they once were. People who are gay, atheist or of other ethnic groups are not as socially un-accepted as they once were or as pressured to take on more socially conventional practices such as following the Christian traditions for Christmas. Being more accepting of different cultures or practices can cause even the socially conventional to go about their own Christmas rituals a bit differently. The commercial aspect of Christmas is also starting to change the way we celebrate Christmas. Instead of going out and buying just a few gifts for the family, we now go out to events like Black Friday to race through mobs of people, while fighting for the newest electronics. So as for the old sang “Jesus is the reason for the season!” is beginning to lose its meaning in our country

-316

An anosmic Christms

pictures were found using google

When celebrating Christmas most people think of it as a joyous occasion where people gather to give each other gifts. To me it is becoming less and less joyous as the years go on. This is mostly due to me realizing things as I got older. I saw more and more of people taking rather than giving. When I was small I remember Christmas at my grandmothers with all sorts of distant relatives, but I was always my grandparents only grandchild and although I received many gifts, they were never expensive and I didn't expect them to be. My grandfather spent time to make me things and I still treasure those gifts to this day. Now it is all about which grandchild they spent the most amount of money on and who they favored the most. I am at a point where all I see is my grandparents suffering to please all of their kids’ kids. For all of the children it is a joyous occasion because they get all of these gifts and for the parents it is a contest and if some kid got a gift more expensive than their child’s all manners of hell is unleashed. Yet everyone still behaves as if everyone should be happy. Last week when I went to my grandparents for Thanksgiving my grandmother asked for all of our Christmas lists. Being who I am I asked for a Delorean, a flux capacitor, and some plutonium. Obviously I am a back to the future fan and I was joking, but my cousins gifts amazed me more.

                I saw my cousins asking for $60 video games and dolls that cost $100 or more. I could not believe that they would ask for such things especially when there is roughly 12 grand kids. There is no way that my grandparents should be expected to pay so much for each child. Yet this is going to happen just like every year. They do this to make not only the kids, but the parents happy as well. All of this stress is put upon two individuals who should have retired years ago, but because of their children’s greed and inability to take care of themselves, are forced to keep working. I am at a point where I am going to call it out and get branded the black sheep of the family because no one wants to bring it up. I am not going to say that my grandparents shouldn't spend their money how they please, but I will call out my aunts and uncles who deliberately ask for it when they don’t need it. These past few years Christmas has been like torture to me seeing my grandparents’ life sucked out of them and it fills me with rage. So much for joy being associated with Christmas. As long as everyone keeps acting like everything is joyful and fine, my grandparents will continue to be run into the ground.

-Codie Rome 493

                             Home

1. Images are from Google Images.

     I chose the word home for the holiday rhetoric assignment because home to me is somewhere I can always go and feel welcomed. As for the holiday season, it is a place for gathering of all of our family members especially for those relatives that you only see during Christmas time.   Some ideals of home would be comfort, love, and sharing.  Personal experiences for me has been pretty close to those ideals but there are people out there who hasn’t been as lucky to have family provide that for them. They may see only sadness and sorrow. The only repercussion I can see that would happen would be that families fight with each other and make the whole experience uncomfortable for everyone there.  I would have to challenge everyone try and get along with everyone while they are with you since they only are around for a short time. 

   
    As for Arola’s thought on what is a family and what isn’t. My opinion on that is what ever you believe is your family or whoever is a major part of your life should be considered family.  There shouldn’t be a set criteria on what a family is but should be based on who is always there for you and will do whatever to help you should be called family.  In Arola’s video she discussed the dynamic and make-up of family. Most families have the grown ups, they are the parents regardless of whatever the dynamic might be. Does it really matter if you have two dad’s or two mom’s? Some families might even be a single parent with one or more children home with them. Families might even just be the two adults and a dog or two. The family is who in your life is their for you no matter what the situation.

Holiday Rhetoric

             The holidays are just around the corner, which can only mean one thing; everyone reuniting with their loved ones, especially their family. In Arola's essay, she discusses about the term "family", and how it does not always mean the stereotypical mom, dad, and kids. There is a lot more elaboration to the word and meaning. I'm the same way as Arola whenever I hear the word family. Family is not only consisted of mom, dad, kids, and pets. It has a lot more definition and meaning to it. Whenever I hear the word family, I don't only think about my mom, dad, brothers, and pets, but I also think about my closest friends; the ones that were always there for me through thick and thin. I count them as family just as much as I do with my immediate family, even if it breaks the social stereotype of what most of our society thinks of what a family really is.
             There are a ton of TV show's out there that show us the stereotypical family on the holiday's, but there isn't a lot of TV show's that show us the other side of what a family really means. The two pictures I chose are from TV show's that are an example of the other meaning to family. They show us that our loved ones don't always have to come from our immediate family. You can have an immediate family that hate your guts, but still have close friends that show unconditional love towards you and you consider them family. Overall, I think the definition of family is a group of people who care and love for each other and they would be willing to help them out in any situation given to them. Spending the holidays with your family is a positive experience, no matter who you classify your family as.

Emily Shouse
(312 words).

        "Joy to the world" is a phrase that is commonly sung in the Christmas carol of the same title.  Around the holidays, one would only need to simply say this phrase or partially sing in order to either get others to sing along or press the repeat button on the "radio" in people's heads and having them thinking about it for the rest of the day.  But what does this phrase truly imply?  Oftentimes, it is shown by itself with pictures such as my first one I chose.  All around the world, everyone stops what they are doing because it is the holiday season and are happy and merry. Father America puts off the war with uncle Afghanistan, Grandpa Economy graciously gives us some spending money to get a gift for our sister, Debt, and of course Aunt and Uncle PoW did not make it because of some unforeseen consequences, yet again.  Guess who's getting coal under their tree this year!

        All joking aside, this phrase and the implications of it are ones that are somewhat silly in the sense that things do not magically get better because it is the holiday season in the nations and countries that do celebrate during this period of time.  International affairs stay the same no matter the season; in-fact, the possibility of the relationships between particular nations might even have the possibility of getting worse because one of the nation's representatives might be at a Christmas luncheon with the rest of his or her department while the representative on the other end is left tapping their fingers on the table, waiting to hear from the other with regards to some important issue that was left as a voice-mail when the two just missed each other last time.  Of course, though, this could be completely off base with how things are actually done, I'm not really too hip on the government's handling of international affairs.

        But I digress,  the phrase "Joy to the World" is one that is somewhat similar to the phrase "Peace on Earth" in that they both imply that things magically get better at a certain time of year.  Of course, the intention is often on good terms but it does feel quite odd saying it and trying to mean it when in the back of my mind I think of all the terrible things that are happening worldwide.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 400

Holiday Rhetoric- Family

 

 I chose a picture of my family because when I hear the word family they are the first thing that comes to mind . During the holidays we will get together with our extended family who we only see a couple of times a year. As you can tell we arent really close to them. I dont really see anybody outside of the people in my picture as my family because my mother, father, and sister are the only ones that are involved in my daily life, and they take care of me. Since I dont really speak to the rest of my family I wonder where I'd be without my parents. I also think about the kids who are cared for by their extended family rather than their parents and I dont feel that it's society's place to say that they arent a family.

 

 Before choosing a picture of my own, I spent a short amount of time searching for a good picture to use. I typed the word family into google images and all of my options were the same. There were the stereotypical white and black families There were no interracial family images, or anything involving two gay parents and their children. I thik that shows that people look at a family as something specific. I feel that some people look at certain types of families as wrong because thet break social norms. I dont feel that it should be the place of society to define a family. I think that a family should be defined as a group of people who are close,love eachother unconditonally and take care of each other no matter the circumstances.

 

Holiday Rhetoric

Closeness

 



 

When I think of family, I think of a mom, dad, and their kid(s) if any.  Growing up, this has not always been the case for me. I have never lived with my dad nor do I talk to him much.  As for my mom, I see her seldomly, but not enough.  Am I supposed to call me, my mom, and dad a family?  When holidays come around I see neither.  My family is my Grandma and Grandpa, then the rest of my family members come in and complete my family. I don’t think “family” should have any certain definition put behind it because some instances can alter the meaning.  When its Christmas or Thanksgiving and I sit down to eat, I look around the table at all of my family.  Some I only see a couple times during the year.  I don’t think this is a family.  When I’m watching Christmas shows, and they show all of the family members is that really their family?  To be considered family, you should be close to that person and see that person more than just the holidays.

All of my life I have been close to my aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sisters.  I classify them all as my family because they have always been there for me and I think it would be too hard to say my only family was my grandma and grandpa when they’re not.  There are exceptions though.  When I was younger I would go with my dad for the holidays and I would always be around his side of the family, but I don’t consider them my family.  There are people I have never seen before on Christmas that were my “family,” and I have never seen them since.  Family is defined by the circumstances someone wants it to be.  If I grow up, don’t get married, but still have a kid, I think my family would be me and my kid.  I could also have a family as diverse as the Duggar’s who have 19 children.  It all depends on your situation.

Holiday Rhetoric

Reunite 

       Around the holidays is when families start to reunite. When Thanksgiving and Christmas come around, that is when you start seeing more family members and see some members of your family only on holidays in some cases. I have a certain family members that ONLY come around during holidays and call me and try to talk to me like we are close as can be and like they are always there for me. This is something that never made sense to me because why would you want to distance yourself from family members and then just all of a sudden take an interest in them? I think for some people holidays are there way of getting in contact with their whole family and doing things that make them feel better about never talking to them. People buy gifts for one another and visit each other’s houses and have dinner with each other when in reality they can’t stand each other and that is why they only talk to each other once a year.

       There are the instances where family members live very far apart and they cannot be in regular contact with each other and do not have time to check up on one another, especially if you have a big family. This is where the whole idea of families coming together for the holidays can be a good thing. Holidays can be awkward though because there always those couple people in the family that you don’t really like coming around but they do anyway and its ok because it’s the holidays and people are supposed to “come together.” I realize that not everyone has a dysfunctional family but I would guarantee that almost everyone has that one grandma or one uncle or whatever that they should probably talk to more often and feel bad about not doing so. When holidays come around that is when everyone comes together and it is supposed to be all happy and everything is ok. I think that people should not wait until holidays to get in contact with one another and that they should be for them year round as much as they can. You are supposed to be there for your family always, not just for holidays to support a superficial idea coming together for the holidays. 

I totally agree with you. Dr. Tae definitely knew what he was doing when he gave this lesson/lecture/demonstration thing. He knew how to relate to students using a common interest, and he used that common interest to make a semi-difficult topic easy to understand. His choice of example was stellar too. Skateboarding truly is a teach-it-yourself activity. There are no teachers, no "middle" grades, and the ground doesn't get any softer when you fall just because you "tried really really hard." Honestly, this lesson has a lot to do with life. Life isn't fair. When we fail, we fail, there is no middle ground. And we don't succeed or fail any more or less because of our efforts- we either do it, or we don't. We don't have someone to sit by us and hold our hands and help us through everything step by step. Either we teach ourselves or we fall behind the curve. The lessons taught by Dr. Tae is his lecture-thing are lessons that everyone could learn and apply. He did an amazing job and I believe you analyzed his speech very well.

Juxtaposition Post 2

The skateboarding presentation by Dr. Tae has a lot of positive things. People who watch his presentation will see good things that they can learn from. The video to me in my opinion presents that no matter how many times it takes, or how hard anything can be to never give up on it. Dr. Tae does a great job comparing skateboarding to the learning process in a classroom. He is trying to teach us and send us a message to never give up on anything, strive to make yourself better. Dr. Tae used skateboarding as an example. He showed us many tricks that he had accomplished in the past years. It took him years to perfect the tricks. As much as he wanted to give up on them he didn't, he kept practicing and practicing until he could finally do the tricks. I believe with him using skateboarding as an example is something everyone can relate to. Everyone has a talent that they are trying to get better at. Dr. Tae's point to me if you work hard enough at something you will become successful. Dr. Tae also mentions in skateboarding you don't have a teacher you teach your self. You have to be motivated to want to get better. With this being said I think he is referring to, that you have to motivate your self to get your education. When it comes to school work no one can make you do your homework, only you can discipline yourself to get the grade you deserve. you're only as good as you make yourself be. (254) The target audience in my opinion can be anyone. It can be from someone who is eight years old to someone who is forty years old. The audience is anyone who wants to make themselves better and successful. Dr. Tae sends out a positive message throughout his presentation.

(302)

Juxtaposition Post 2

        The ideas that Dr. Tae discusses in this video are ones that, if they were to be used, could revolutionize education and schooling in not only our nation, but worldwide.  The idea that a grade cannot and should not be placed on the process of learning is one of these ideas.  Dr. Tae showed the viewers that letter grades cannot be successfully placed on the trick he was trying to do.  In actuality, the "grading process" was as simple as: "Did you complete the trick? If so you have learned it, if not, try again."  This could change how students are educated quite drastically, where they received no grades.  Instead they either learn something, or they do not learn something.  This process can be most definitely applied to my own personal experience with regards to writing.  This is because learning how to write effective college-level papers was something that I initially found very challenging.  I had bad thesis statements, little to no support of my ideas, even a lot of run-on sentences, and the list goes on and on.
        At first I found myself to be very discouraged; I even found myself thinking that I would never be able to get the hang of writing these types of papers.  But I stuck with it, though, much like Dr. Tae kept trying to land his trick.  Some attempts were better than others and the later papers were showing a little bit of progression, but I had not yet really landed my trick.  After many attempts, however, I finally found myself "getting it all" and found that I was actually making it harder than it needed to be.  With respect to skating, I was trying to land an amazingly hard trick when all I really was trying to do was a much simpler one.  Finally, with regards as to who I believe the intended audience of Dr. Tae's presentation is, I feel that the message was trying to be given to anyone who wanted to learn something from now to basically forever.  I think that all students, in any sense of the word, and educators alike could benefit very much if these ideas were implemented.

-Matthew S.

Word Count: 365

This week we were asked to view a video of Dr. Tae’s presentation. Although he wasn’t the best speaker in the world I rather enjoyed this presentation. It was very interesting to watch and see the examples that he used to help support his statements. His statements were also very clever and very well thought out. The remote for instance was something that really caught my attention in a positive way. Anyone that uses props during a speech gets major points from me. It really grabs my attention and makes me pay attention to them to figure out what it is that they are trying to do rather then sitting there trying to force myself and listen to their thoughts on an issue. He also did very well at adding in visuals which always makes things easier for me to understand and it made it easier for me to relate his two topics.

It was also really neat how he was able to take skateboarding; a sport that not very many people do or understand, and make us more aware of the hard work that actually goes into what they do. He also demonstrated how those situations can relate back to real life situations and the school environment as well. I believe that we could all take something from his presentation. Whether we learned to never give up on something that we are working towards or that we need to learn how to widen the horizon of what we choose to see. One thing that everyone really needs to understand from his speech though is that failure really is ok. It’s natural and it’s expected of us. It’s something that happens a lot more often then succeeding actually. If we didn’t have failure then what would we really be working towards?  

Juxtaposition Post 2

The age old method of trial an error is a very effective method of learning anything. No one is perfect the first time doing anything. The intended audience for the video is anyone who wants to get good at something. I know when I fail at something the first time, my confidence drops, but I have to keep going and after a while, I get better and better at it because I am fixing everything that I am doing wrong. The speaker used juxtaposition of skateboarding to a student because when you learn a new trick, you have to practice in order to know how to do it, same way with school, if you take the time to practice what you are doing wrong or studying, you will eventually learn what you want to learn and master it, just like a skateboarding trick.

With talent comes practice. The speaker in the YouTube video talks about how he had to do the 360 kick-flip about 53 times in order to finally learn the trick he wanted to master.  Before I began this Rhetoric class, I felt like a lost dog in a big city when it came to writing anything. After weeks and weeks of being in this class, I finally understood how to get a good “grade” on my papers, try to fix my mistakes. Before, I always believed that your first draft can be the best, what I came to find out, that’s not necessarily true. For example: my first draft for my writing about literature paper was absolutely terrible. It made no sense, what so ever. After weeks of revising it, I still was not getting any better. Just a week ago, I sat down, redid the entire paper, and now reading it, I am so proud of what I have accomplished. Practicing writing will only improve a writer. Practice makes perfect.

Priyanka Bhakta

Word Count: 314

Schooling and Education and Skateboarding- oh my..

Mark Twain once said, "I've never let my schooling interfere with my education."

This quote makes sense. We live in a country where schools are trained with one basic purpose- teach what's on the curriculum, throw the information out there, test the little children, and break out the red marker when it's time. That's schooling. Schooling is turning out as many viable "passes" as possible. Education is a different matter. Education is learning something because it needs to be learned, not simply for the sake of learning. Education is what life teaches you, not a curriculum board.

Dr. Tae is attempting to teach us something that we usually don't learn in school- how to never give up. A lot of times we get a homework assignment and when we turn it in, that's it. We take a test and it gets graded, that's it. In this class, however, we write a paper, turn it in, get it back, and are told to make it better, to keep with it and DO something. Trying to learn something by teaching ourselves teaches us a lot more than simply what we're trying to learn. So I taught myself piano, right? Well, I didn't have a teacher, so I had to figure it out on my own. If I failed, it was my entire fault, no one else's. If I wanted to learn this, I would have to maintain my diligence. I did, and I learned. That's what Tae is trying to show us. He uses skateboarding as his example. Skateboarding provides instant feedback and a cut-and-dry evaluation- either you did it or you didn't. Using skateboarding as his example proves very effective, because it's something that a lot of people can relate to, either through skateboarding directly or through some other activity. Because of this, he related very well with the people he was speaking to it seemed, and I could definitely relate. I believe he did a great job overall and the randomness in the connection between the subject matters proved to be effective and exactly what was needed for him to effectively get his point across.

(355 words)

Juxtaposition Post 2

There are a lot of good things people can learn from Dr. Tae's message. In my opinion, his most important aspect in his presentation is perseverance. To display this message he proves his point many times how skateboards have to constantly cope with failure to eventually succeed. As a student and a writer, perseverance has been a huge part of me becoming a better writer. I believe Ms. Jarmer has incorporated this concept into her course requirements. She requires us to use perseverance to revise our papers and use our resources to improve our papers.

Dr. Tae does a good job at taking something that has negative stereotypes surrounding it and relating it to something very practical. The lessons he teaches his audience can be used in real world situations, especially in school. I think he is trying to reach out to school students to prove how hard work can get them somewhere in life. Being a successful student himself, I think his message becomes even stronger because he is an example of where hard work can get people. When Dr. Tae talks about how skateboarding doesn't have a teacher, I believe he is trying to say that students need to be self-motivated. Students can't rely on teachers or other people to be there to hold their hand through everything.

Overall, I believe that Dr. Tae does a good job a taking two things that do not seem to relate to each other at all, and making them work together to illustrate a life lesson. I believe he is intending his message to the younger generation to prove to them how hard work and determination is key to success in any situation. He discusses how failure is a part of life, but it is also a part of reaching a goal and becoming successful.

David Sacre
(305 words)

  The video with the skateboading/instructor, Dr. Tae he was very direct at getting his point across. Using this type of teaching is beneficial because it is direct in your face kind of learning. The teaching is direct, he uses the skateboard as a prop. Using props in a class can be sure to hold a groups attention. People often learn by the hands on approach. When he used the skateboard, it was as if he was using the direct approach or the hands on approach. The principles that he discussed, such as failure is normal. He discussed how it took several tries to get something right. As a writer I feel it often takes me many tries to get my articles correct. Also, I agree with his comment that nobody knows how long it takes to learn. Finding the right teacher, right class, and the right way to learn may be the way that someone can learn in the future. If the student struggles one way, they should try another. The student shold always  be self organized, commited and ready to learn.

     To be a better writer, I feel that I have to learn to ask for help if I need it. Dr. Tae said that sometime you may have to tey repeatedly. Dr. Tae, in his video also discusses that learning is not fun and you should always find something to challenge you that is just above your level. I feel that he is trying to talk to the students to challenge them to be better at what they need to do. The intended audience was both, the students that was in the classroom, as well as the skateboarders attempting the tricks. In futher his message he used video, as well as the written word on the black screens. In the real world, would a teacher really use that type of prompts to get  his message across? The academic world would be more worried about grades and assignments completion.

word count:335

Juxathingamajig 2

Dr. Tae did a very good job with his presentation. The audience that would most likely view his presentation would be college level students and it seems that his presentation was tailored to that. The fact that he compared learning in a class to learning on a skateboard also helped his presentation because even if you don’t skateboard, it is easy to understand what he is saying. It becomes a much more interesting presentation by making use of activities relevant to the age group he is trying to appeal to. Dr. Tae also makes use of good visual aids that are both entertaining and informative. This also helps further his points. The real world and academic world comparison he makes also appeals to his audience. To most students, they see either the real world or the world of school. They do not view them as the same, and this is because they are not. In the real world the only thing you get graded on is the health inspections at restaurants. He helps students understand that learning should occur beyond the academic world.

I believe Dr. Tae does a good job using juxtaposition to help prove his point. Learning to me is very much what Tae mentioned in that most of what I have learned has actually been from outside the school and the whole purpose of learning it was the end result. To me there is no difference between the real world and the academic world for I view them as the same. For most of the current classes I am taking, I already know the material we are going over with the exception of this class and my logic class. If I have ever wanted to learn something about science I would go online or to a library to learn it. The same goes for me as a writer. If I don’t know what part of my paper needs to be improved I don’t stare at it until I know how to do it, I either ask someone or I try to do it repeatedly until I am satisfied with the result. It should be that way for all learning. The teacher’s main purpose is to provide real-time feedback as to what you are doing wrong. 

-Codie Rome 378

Juxtaposition Post 2

I think that what Dr.Tae says applies to me.  With every paper that I write, the paper goes through a series of revisions to make my end paper better than the first.  Most people learn something by completing repetitions, not just doing it once and boom you’re perfect at it.  Throughout this semester, I have learned a lot as a writer.  I have learned that I should keep submitting revisions and going to the writer’s room until I reach my intended grade.  I have learned that every time I fail, I am one step closer to succeeding.  Dr. Tae goes through the same process with skateboarding.  He states that it took him a couple of years until he could finally master the kick flip.  He also said that if he would have quit after one or two months he would have never been able to do it.  It is that exact process that makes people better at the things they do.

Dr. Tae has a broad audience he is talking to.  I think he is talking to mainly students, but anybody who is trying to do something and they don’t quite get it.  Dr. Tae is telling these people to hang in there and you will eventually get it. In Dr. Tae’s video he compares a student/skateboarder, and the real world/academic world.   The way Dr. Tae uses juxtaposition is that he compares two similar things that people do, and the different effects of both.  Dr. Tae states that you shouldn’t grade a skateboarder if he fails the trick, because it doesn’t teach him to do better, he already knows what he did wrong, he just needs to correct it.  The same thing applies to a student in school.  Why should you grade a student on homework when homework might be their way of trying to understand the concept.  A teacher shouldn’t go ahead and give the student an F, but rather, the teacher should help the student figure the concept out.

Juxtaposition Post 2-JF

In Dr. Tae's video, he does a great job of explaining how skateboarding is similar to the learning process in the classroom. Like most everything else put on the internet, Dr. Tae's session is a rhetorical situation. The author is obviously Dr. Tae. The setting is his classroom and the places in his short videos where he learns to skateboard. The text is simply the videos he uses as well as some demonstrations; there are no written words, only spoken. The purpose is to convey Dr. Tae's message. The audience is the classroom as well as everyone else who watches the video. I feel that this video is probably one of the most effective rhetorical situations that we have blogged about so far. Dr. Tae does a very good job at explaining how his difficulty with learning new skateboarding tricks related to the educational system. In my opinion, Dr. Tae is right in saying that the current educational system is flawed and should be changed to a system that incorporates the ideas behind learning to skateboard.

 

The current grading system can be misleading. A student may have a 4.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, but his or her testing scores may rank averagely compared to other students around the nation. Likewise, a student may have a lower grade point average, but his or her scores rank amongst the highest. In my personal experience, I find that most of my grades are towards the top of the grading scale. My scores on aptitude tests are also high but don’t reflect my grades because I’m not at the top of the chart in terms of scores. Most of the current classes are grading students the wrong way. The class that shows this the most is Band. In band, we get graded on whether or not we participate, try, and if we play at required events. I feel that we should get graded on whether or not we know how to play our instruments and whether or not we know our music. In my opinion, there is no B-D in terms of grades in band. Either one knows how to play and earns an A, or they don’t know and earn an F.

Word count: 372