Rhetorical Situation and Analysis

If I were to explain a "rhetorical situation" and "rhetorical analysis" to a friend I would first clear up how rhetoric plays a role in writing. It is important to focus on four key elements, who the writer and reader are, as well as the text and medium within the piece. Lets say you write an academic essay for class. It is super important to be able to add your own voice and word choice into the essay, but when it comes down to it, its an academic essay, not a fantasy story. In that rhetorical situation you need to use common sense and understand that some writing has to be a certain way. It is important that the readers understand the essay and its relation to academics. A rhetorical analysis of writing is when someone uses their past writing experiences for future essays or stories to come. They can draw from their own experience as the writer, reader, speaker and listener. There is always room for changes and improvements when people analyze their past work.

When I write online, I think that I appeal more with pathos. Whether I am writing a creative story, persuasive essay or research essay I try to always add my own voice and emotion into it. I think that it is very important to engage your readers with great language and word choice. It is best to draw them into the essay from the beginning because there is nothing worse then a story or essay that is cut and dry without voice or emotion. I have the freedom to add my own experiences, beliefs, and values into my work and that is pretty cool.

Kairos is the idea of knowing what is appropriate in a given situation, or any piece of writing. It is knowing when to say or write something at the right time. From reading this weblog there were not any modern concerns that I had. I do think that when people choose to post things on the blogs or internet, they did to understand that anyone can read what they post. The internet is not a place where people should be posting very private things. In some cases people are ignorant and don't think about the consequences that may come from posting or writing things on a weblog.

The meaning behind Voyeurism is when a person receives sexual gratification from seeing or witnessing certain sexual behaviors of other people. In the modern world today there are plenty of bad things that can be found on the internet and people seem to take a liking to seeing or reading about sexual things that happen to other people, especially celebrities. It is something that fascinates and captures peoples attention and people will always want to read a story about a certain scandal that is occurring online.

Questions:
1. How popular have weblogs become over the years?
2. Do weblogs have all the same genres'?
3. Have people become smarter with posting private things on online blogs?

While I was watching this video, I noticed how the republicans had lots of concrete evidence to back up their claims and questions for President Obama. Rep. Mike Pence (Indiana), was the first speaker and used a story about a boy to get his point across to the President. It was very emotional and heartfelt. He used the ideas of pathos since there was sad emotion and serious tone behind his views on how the President should consider "across the board tax reliefs." While answering the Republicans questions, President Obama was very calm, serious, and sometimes defensive on certain topics. He was asked a lot about job losses, and Obama stated that " there were 650 jobs lost in December [of 2009], and 65,000 jobs lost after [he] was sworn in." Obama did his best to articulate his point of view about how the economic depression in 2009 was not from his Administration, stimulus or laws. Another speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) was very energetic and determined when taking to Obama about how to fix the national budget. Paul Ryan used logic while explaining his budget plan because he had specific logical and mathematical ideas on how to fix the budget for the country. Also, Rep. Peter Rosco (IL) was very complementary of Obama since they worked together long ago. When he explained his concerns to President Obama, he used ethos and pathos when expressing how Democrats and Republicans should try and work together on issues to help strengthen our country. Peter reminisced emotionally about their past and also gave credibility to Obama on his viewpoints when needed. I could sense that there were times when President Obama seemed frustrated with some of the Republicans' questions. And vice versa the Republicans tried to make their points as respectfully as they could to the President. Of course these things went unsaid, but each political party tried to remained respectful to one other.

The blog that I choose to write about is called Pop Candy, and it is a blog that gives readers updates on entertainment and news across the country. The writer of the blog is Whitney Matheson and she has been the founder of this blog for about fifteen years. Her blog posts are found on USA Today’s website and she has many followers and avid bloggers that contribute to her readings and open conversations. In 2006 Pop candy won the weblog award for “best pop-culture blog,” and her blog posts have been shown in other entertainment blogs including Entertainments Pop Watch and Rollingstone.com. Pop Culture discusses everything from movies, music, comics, and television. In 2008 she also was voted as the Best Entertainment blog. Overall this has been a very successful blog and online community for quite some time.

The ideal audience for this blog would have to be for young adults in the mid twenties to older men and women in their thirties to mid forties. The author and writer is in her late thirties and most of her posts appeal to things that the younger to middle generations can relate to more. From reading some of her posts she talks about current authors and books and well as new music artists to look out for. The best way to describe Pop Candy is how Whitney explains it by saying “it’s [her] take on fringe, indie and retro culture.” She writes with passion and integrity and is not afraid to break free from the standard rules of society, especially in writing. She chooses to rise above the mainstream and her followers most likely feel the same way.

One thing that is very clear to me about the readers of Pop Candy is that they are very loyal with the author Whitney Matheson and all that she writes about. They will follow up and respond to her stories with kindness and agreement and its nice to see that. There are plenty of blogs out there that are so negative and super criticizing, but Pop Candy is not. They value the stories she writes about and always come back each week for more! There are more women than men that follow and keep up regularly with Pop Candy. It is a very respectable blog and has been for many years.

The author Whitney has done a great job from the beginning with capturing an audience. I could tell that people enjoyed reading all that she had to write about and the stories each week were different. There are always new things that everyone in the blogging community could talk about and Whitney would actually respond back with them. She is very engaged with the weblog and that is pretty amazing.

To James Paul Gee, Literacy is the socially acceptable way to use language, and how to properly think and act in society today. People learn how to speak, think and act based on watching and learning from parents, siblings, strangers, and teachers. James Gee also believes that there are a certain set of values and viewpoints on how someone should speak and act around others. A good example of this is the wealthy vs. the non-wealthy people in society. People who have money, power and status will often have a better literacy than someone who never went to school or cannot afford it. Very wealthy, literate people will speak more formally and more proper and will be use to conversations where their acquaintances will talk the same way as they do. Learning new things requires knowledge, and people gain knowledge by going to school and being taught by many different professional teachers. James Gee also acknowledges that people learn through "trial and error." People need to be able to read, write and think in a school. That way they can be in a natural setting to make mistakes and learn from them, because that is how we learn.
These viewpoints on literacy by James Paul Gee did change my viewpoint on literacy. I never knew how much money and social status plays a role in how people become literate and illiterate. Being raised in a family where I had the opportunity to go to school, get an education and learn how to proper read and write is how I became literate. There are so many different cultures and there are cultures where women done have the opportunity to learn how to read or write. Times have been changing and we are now in a world where cell phones, commuters and i-pads are becoming part of everyday life. People who are more "old school," are becoming more literate with new technology and the younger generations will learn how to read and write differently than from the past. No matter how things change, learning how to speak, read and write is essential to life.

Walter Ong states in "Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought", that "Literacy is imperious. It tends to arrogate to itself supreme power by taking itself as normative for human expression and thought. This is true in high-technology cultures, [which] encourage the impression that literacy is an always to be expected and even natural state of affairs. The term illiterate itself suggests that persons belonging to the class it designates are deviants, defined by something they lack, namely literacy." This is a long quote, but sums up perfectly what Ong's main argument is. Ong is comparing literacy between the people who don't read or write, and the people who do. The people who go about each and every day reading, using computers and other technology are much more literate then say people who live in cultures with no reading, writing, or language. To us everyday Americans, literacy is normal and natural but to poorer cultures around the world, literacy is not even existent. Walter Ong really makes you stop and think about all the advantages of being a literate human being. There are so many more opportunities out there for literate people, then there are for illiterate people. Technology also plays a big role in the advancement of literacy because each day people are learning how to use and understand things that relate to technology. Technology is being used way more in schools now too, and that is changing the ways of writing and reading.

The entire morning had been cold and misty from the rain, and the softball fields were dense and muddy. The scoreboard read four to zero, and there were only two more innings until the end of the game. During the whole game and entire weekend tournament, I couldn’t get a single hit. All I did was strike out, or ground out to the infield. My confidence was at an all time low, and luck would have it, I was the next better up just as the bases were loaded. My team had two outs, and it was up to me to bring in the runs. The pitcher had a cocky smile, and probably thought it would be a piece of cake to strike me out. Her first pitched fired off her hand like a gunshot, and I swung. “Strike one,” shouted the umpire. From that point all the bad thoughts consumed my mind. I felt defeated and embarrassed that I couldn’t get a hit, just one hit was all I wanted. I readjusted my feet in the watery puddles in the batters box, scuffed my cleats, and set up to swing again. A dirty curveball ricocheted off the top of my bat, and that was strike two. A furious feeling rose up from inside of me, enough was enough. I took a deep breath, looked around the field, at my coaches, teammates, and finally my family sitting on the sidelines. Now I was ready, and the final pitch floated off the pitchers hand right to the sweet spot on my bat. Before my eyes, this bright yellow ball flew high up in the air and drifted farther and farther back, until the last thing I saw was my ball fly past the field’s fence. I had finally done it. Seven years of playing the game of softball came down to this one amazing moment. The cheers, claps, and screams were finally for me. I hit the winning grand slam.
Throughout the tournament I was not playing up to my potential and there were more negative thoughts flowing through my mind than positive ones. I remained down in the dumps after I kept striking out, while my teammates where hitting the crap out of the ball. I told myself, “snap out of it,” “just do your best,” but I don’t think I really meant it. It wasn’t until the last game, when bases were loaded with two outs that something inside me changed. I took a deep breath and said to myself, “do this for you Em, do this for you.” The next thing I knew I not only hit my very first homerun, I hit a grand slam.
My teammates were supportive of me and told me to “be patient,” and to “look for something good to hit.” They cheered me on at every at bat, especially the last at bat. The girls in the dugout were clapping and supporting me, and my three teammates on the bases told me to take a “deep breath” and “find my pitch.” All their positive support must have rubbed off on me because I finally achieved my biggest goal in softball. It was because of the support of my team, coaches and family that we won that game, and I had one of the best experiences of my life.
My five senses:
• The cold brisk air chilled my body and my hands. My hands were cold when I held my bat while up at the plate.
• I could hear my teammates saying my name and cheering me on while I was at bat, even after all my other bad at bats before this game.
• I saw my family on the sidelines.
• I saw the softball I hit fly over the fence.
• I felt my feet touch the bases as I ran around all of them.
• I felt all the hugs from my team when I took my last step on home plate after the big hit.

Some great lines of dialogue in Hemingway's "Hills like White Elephants," were " "Ill go with you, ill stay with you all the time. "The girl was looking off at the line of hills. They were white in the sun and the country was brown and dry." "That's all we do, isn't it - look at things and try new drinks?" "Please, please, please, please, please, please, please stop talking." I liked these quotes because although this story used descriptive words, it was never clear as to what the man and woman were talking about. Something was going on between them, and the man in the story needed to reinforce his love for his girlfriend or wife. I think that the girl is deciding whether or not to get an abortion, and the man in the story is trying to comfort her and guide her to making a decision. These quotes helped me understand what may have been going on in the story. Hemingway's style of writing was very unique because the underlying message was never clear, and the reader had to do all the inferring for themselves.

My literacy story is about how I hit a grand slam in softball, and how I had to overcome different obstacle to achieve this life long goal of mine in this sport. The article that I found is about a girl named Anna who is also a part of the softball discourse community. The author, (Anna) does a great job explaining how Gee plays a role in softball literacy, which was perfect since we have been learning about Gee in class. In the article she goes on to explain how people who play softball know the importance of team communication, practice, and good sportsmanship. The coach of a team has signals and signs that the players need to know. The players need to be able to identify is a sign means to steal a base, to bunt, to "hit and run," or to not swing at all. Another important part of literacy in softball that this article talks about is the importance of scorebooks and record sheets of the games and players. These scorebooks and record sheets are what shows the players and coaches what they are doing well and bad at in the games. These things help make a softball team better, and help the players understand what they need to practice and work on for the next game!

This article was so helpful and now I have a better understanding about the different discourses and literacy that are involved in softball that I never thought about. There is so much communication that goes on in softball, and I can expand on that in my paper by explaining how players talk to each other and how coaches talk and motivate their players. Another huge part of softball is the scorebooks and record sheets of players. These show the coaches how many errors, or great plays their team has. It allows teams to learn from their mistakes and players can then work on what they need to improve on themselves. Now I can write about so many more literacies that play a role in softball. This article was so helpful and the author explained so many things that I never even thought about that played a literate role in softball!

Works Cited
Adams, Josh. "Medicalization and the market economy: Constructing cosmetic surgery as consumable health care." EBSCO host. Taylor & Francis, n.d. Web. July 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2013-21208-006>.

Ashikali, Eleni Marina. "The Effect of Cosmetic Surgery Reality TV Shows on Adolescent Girls’ Body Image." PsychINFO: 141-53. EBSCO Host. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&vid=6&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2014-08110-001>.

Calogero, Rachel M. "Cutting words: Priming self-objectification increases women’s intention to pursue cosmetic surgery." Sage Publications 38.2: n. pag. EBSCO Host. Web. June 2014. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2014-21438-003>.

Gimlin, Debra L. "“Too good to be real”: The obviously augmented breast in women’s narratives of cosmetic surgery." EBSCO host. Sage Publications, n.d. Web. Dec. 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2013-40328-007>.

Gregorio, Pérez-San M. "Quality of life in women following various surgeries of body manipulation: Organ transplantation, mastectomy, and breast reconstruction." EBSCO host. Springer, n.d. Web. Sept. 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2013-30325-004>.

Luo, Wei. "Aching for the altered body: Beauty economy and women's consumption of cosmetic surgery." EBSCO host. Elsevier Science, n.d. Web. 10 May 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=13&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2013-15405-003>.

Swami, Viren, and Jakob Pietschnig. "Blame it on patriarchy: More sexist attitudes are associated with stronger consideration of cosmetic surgery for oneself and one's partner." ESBCO host. United Kingdom, Taylor and Francis, n.d. Web. Dec. 2013. <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=29ffc1ca-9d28-4e3f-ab43-3940bbb47862%40sessionmgr113&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=psyh&AN=2013-43779-023>.

Plastic Surgery Outline
Question: How are teenage girls influenced into making the decision that they need plastic surgery?

Intro: In the world today, plastic or cosmetic surgery has become an increasingly popular way to correct certain flaws that people don’t like about their bodies. In a recent statistic, “According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), 236,000 cosmetic surgical procedures were preformed on people age 13-19 in 2012, and almost 75,000 were surgical procedures such as nose reshaping, breast lifts, liposuction, and tummy tucks”(Zuckerman).

Thesis: Adolescents who get plastic surgery are influenced by many forms of media, pressured by their peers, and support by their parents play a role in if plastic surgery can be considered.

Body Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence: Having constant exposure to the media’s perfect body type, watching reality television, and looking at advertisement’s and magazines have effects on how teenage girls portray their own body image.

Body Paragraph 2:
Topic Sentence: Another type of pressure that adolescents face is peer pressure to look as good or better than groups of their friends.


Body Paragraph 3:
Topic Sentence: Parents play a big role in influencing whether or not their child will go through with plastic surgery.

Conclusion:
Media is the biggest form of influence for adolescent girls. Bullying plays a huge role in adolescents wanting cosmetic surgery because they don’t feel normal. Finally, parents are the last deciding influence on an adolescent getting surgery. Some parents are so against it, but others will fall under guilt and let it happen if their child is being bullied or is depressed about a certain body flaw.