Lloyd Bitzer's Rhetorical Essay

Thinking about the importance and significance of food respective to our health, ethnic culture and society can cause cavernous, profound, and even questionable thoughts such as: “Is food taken for granted?”, “Is specialty foods just a fad or a change in lifestyle?”, and even “Is food becoming the enemy.” Mark Bittman, an established food journalist, wrote an article called “Why take food seriously?” In this article, Bittman enlightens the reader with a brief history lesson of America’s appreciation of food over the past decades. This history lesson leads to where the social standing of food is today and how it is affecting not only the people of America, but also the rest of the world.

Misrepresentation of Natives on screen throughout the 20th century has had an adverse effect on them. Whether it was positive or negative stereotypes, Natives felt the effect of Hollywood and began to lose their self-identity, their honour, and their pride. Reel Injun takes a look at how movies have defined an entire race and also documents the rebirth of the Native identity after decades of destructive Hollywood movies by interviewing notable Native actors, actresses, and activists. By doing so, director Neil Diamond hopes to silence Hollywood stereotypes and get Hollywood to properly represent the Native people.

In the movie, Native Americans are often portrayed as spiritual, noble, and free this ideal image of Native Americans captured the world’s imagination at one point. It all began in late 1800s when Native Americans were among the first to shot silent by Thomas. One of the common attraction that made

Living in a country that provides access to great health care, one would expect the United States to have a sufficient supply of medical professionals such as doctors. After all, the country has a booming population and is home to many respected institutions with driven and compassionate medical students. However, in the March 3, 2015 edition of The Washington Post, Lenny Bernstein addresses a relatively new problem in healthcare. In the article, “U.S. Faces 90,000 Doctor Shortage by 2025, Medical School Association Warns”, Bernstein successfully creates a real sense of this crisis through his use of logos and diction to address the expected shortage of medical doctors.

Adam shows audiences how to move from theory to action, no matter who they are or what role they perform. He has an

Ben Brumfield, of CNN news, wrote an article about the death of three sons, who were murdered by their mother. They were all killed at different times and after the first one was described as just an accident, no action was taken against the mother. After the second death, while suspicious, there was still no evidence of foul play. After the third, however, the police got a confession from Pilkington that sent her to jail for three counts of murder. Strong techniques of logos helped Brumfield in his exposition in showing how the three boys’ death, while tragic, was unforeseeable.

In addition, that trait shares Hall’s ‘racialized regime of representation,’ of how people of color are in a constant historic struggle around the stereotypes fixed upon them by the dominate culture. Richard Dyer, a Professor in Film Studies, clarified that “in stereotyping the dominant groups apply their norms to subordinated groups, find the latter wanting, hence inadequate, inferior, sick or grotesque and hence reinforcing the dominant groups’ own sense of the legitimacy of their domination” (pp.356). The European colonies were the dominate culture that established the normalcy of US society. These perceptions can lead the subordinate group, or race to be internalized the dominate culture and racially stigmatizes others and themselves. Neil Diamond, one of the directors of the documentary Reel Injun (2009), conveyed a reasonable example of the indoctrination of negative stereotypes; while he was growing up in a remote community as a child. Diamond mentions that although the children were actual “Indians,” they all wanted to play the ‘good guys’ a.k.a. the cowboys in their children’s’ game. Young Native Americans are continuously exposed to mainstream misrepresentation that can cause them to develop insecurities, to devalue and dehumanize themselves and their own culture.

In reading Lloyd F. Bitzer's essay The Rhetorical Situation, my understanding is that there are several components needed to complete a rhetorical situation-- including the situation. According to Bitzer, if there isn't a situation existing that compels an exigency-- the rhetoric will be empty. I agree with Bitzer's viewpoint. He points out how "rhetoric is essentially related to a situation". Lloyd Bitzer also goes on to say that if there is no situation, there will be no response or utterance from the audience, and it is most important to invite a compelling need to have an utterance. Bitzer also implies that during a speech, the response has to fit the situation, have relevance, and only this will make the rhetoric significant. Overall,

Barry uses diction in order to say that scientific research is uncertain, but can sometimes be good. For example, he says, “If a researcher succeeds… the perfect tool will be available for purchase, just as laboratory mice can now be ordered from supply houses.” The use of simile suggests that scientific research can be rewarding when done correctly, as shown through the comparison of results to something as simple as buying supplies at a store. This tells the readers that uncertainty is not always a bad thing, and good things come to those who deal with it well. In addition, the author states, “If [scientists] are at least partly correct their probing acts like a crystal to precipitate an order out of chaos.” The use of imagery suggests that

Throughout the passage, John M. Barry uses a variety of methods to describe the process of scientific research. The author gives us long metaphor where a scientific investigator is like a pioneer in an unexplored region of the world. The author also gives us a little bit of background information on characterizations needed for scientific research.

In the writing, Buehler discusses the importance of rhetoric to technical editors. She mentions that most information on technical writing is director toward the writer rather than the editor. The writer discusses how rhetoric offers a framework for an editor to approach unique situations he or she has in his or her work. Buehler believes technical communications is “a set of situations in which rhetorical choices are made.” Buehler also discusses how the pain style of technical writing itself is a rhetorical choice. This, she says, leads many to think proper grammar is all that is needed, when the really is a variety of situations when rhetorical choices are very important.

In The Rhetorical Situation, Lloyd F. Bitzer argues that what makes a situation rhetorical is similar to that which constitutes a moral action as he writes that, “an act is moral because it is an act performed in a situation of a certain kind; similarly, a work is rhetorical because it is a response to a situation of a certain kind”.(3) By defining the rhetorical situation in this way, Bitzer further contends that rhetoric is a means to altering reality. (4) It is through the use of discourse that one is capable of changing reality through thought and action. (4) Bitzer then elaborates upon the nature of a rhetorical situation by explaining that rhetorical discourse enters a situation when: providing a response to its state of affairs;

Throughout world history, it is evident that Native Americans have struggled in society ever since the landing of Christopher Columbus in North America. Ever since the film industry began in the 1890s, Native Americans have been depicted in many negative ways by film makers. One particular way film makers degrade Native Americans by making their white characters convert into Indians or “go Native” and eventually they always become better than the original Indians in the film. This notion has been repeated in many films, three significant films were it is evident is in The Searchers, Little Big Man, and Dances with Wolves.

Native American representations in film is particularly important in influencing public opinion regarding depictions and beliefs of what Native people are like. Often associated with popular film in the United States is an Anglo constructed representation of a dated, drunken, and traditionally dressed Native person that seems to perpetuate these stereotypes. Because some shows are so popular in the United States, the effects can be powerful. The influence of these pictures comes from the large viewing audience, the cultural majority of the audience, and a failure to accept modernity of Natives. Still in the twenty-first century, there are several representations like this that imitate stereotypes, impact the majority culture, and negatively impact Native American communities. In this essay, I will analyze a case of this stereotyping of Natives in a modern comedy television show called Family Guy.

In Benjamin Banneker’s 1791 missive to government officials, the son of former slaves contends against enslavement and servitude of African Americans. Banneker critiques those who support slavery and defends this with specific documentation from the Constitution. Banneker’s purpose is to prove the fundamental rights of African Americans in order to demolish slavery in the United States. He writes this forceful but respectful letter to Thomas Jefferson in order to prove this unconstitutional act.