Reflection : A Personal Analysis Of A Taylor Swift Music Video

“The Rhetorical Situation” by Lloyd Bitzer discusses what a rhetorical situation includes for a situation to be identified as a rhetorical situation. Bitzer states that a rhetorical situation occurs when an issue has the possibility of being changed in a positive way. Bitzer discusses that a rhetorical situation must include rhetorical exigence, audience, and constraints. Rhetorical exigences must be receptive of positive change and can only be changed through discourse. Bitzer explains that discourse is a type of social practice or a way of thinking.

Our teacher, Mrs. Hetrick, provided the answer to our question: “These essays could have easily been generated by a computer program. They tell me nothing about yourselves; why in the world you are telling me all of this? You need to make me care about the message you are conveying, otherwise, your writing is useless.” She then told us that while we were all communicating in the proper format, we had failed to take into consideration whom our audience was. In order to truly persuade and influence our audience, we had to do more than place complicated ideas into a grammatically immaculate sentences; we need to show the audience why they should care about our writing; otherwise, they will just lose interest. I realize now that this experience provided a stable foundation for what I consider to be an example of passionate rhetorical ability, which helps me reflect on what authors Wallace deems as “good” through their rhetorical strategies.

As a student, it is important that we use Rhetorical Analysis as a strategy to communicate effectively. For example, when we write an essay, we need to show how the text convinces us of its position. As a citizen, it is important to use rhetorical analysis in our daily life since it is a great tool to sort out questions about politics and relationship. For instance, during the election period, we need to use rhetorical analysis when analyzing a candidate’s message to determine whether or not their words are true.

The first chapter introduced the reader to the art of rhetoric. He describes how rhetoric works through real life examples. He demonstrates ways that rhetoric persuades us like, argument from strength, and seduction. He tells the reader that the sole purpose of arguing is to persuade the audience. He showed that the chief purpose of arguing is to also achieve consensus, a shared faith in a choice.

The primary aim of English 1101 is to prepare the student to effectively communicate, and identify or create new knowledge in various spheres of life. English 1101 assisted me to have control over the writing conventions through extensive writing practice or reading, guided by evaluations and feedbacks from my course instructor. The course contains several topics namely; effective writing processes, rhetorical organizations methods, academic writing formats and styles, critical reading skills, researching, and citing the researched sources.

Over the summer, we were asked to write a rhetorical analysis essay. I vividly remember reading the prompt and having no idea what to do. At the time, I had only a limited understanding of the words ethos, pathos, and logos, but somehow I managed to write a three page essay on the rhetoric of Cesar Chavez’s article. When we got back from summer vacation, we learned more about how to write a rhetorical analysis. We learned about SOAPStone, which stands for speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. I applied my knowledge of SOAPStone to analyzing “Two Ways of Seeing a River” and “To My Old Master”. Through SOAPStone, I was able to easily develop an introduction to my rhetorical analysis essays. Next up was learning how to identify rhetorical devices. Through reading Robert F. Kennedy’s

The rhetorical situation helps the audience understand all aspects of which the rhetor writes. When an audience understands the rhetorical situation, they are able to make a judgment on whether they believe the author to be credible or not, or their writing to be effective or not. Mary Crow Dog and Maya Angelou are both effective rhetors because their rhetorical situations work together to make their essays compelling. “Civilize Them with a Stick” by Mary Crow Dog and “Graduation” by Maya Angelou each introduce effective rhetorical situations as they establish their individual identity through their educational experiences.

In Grant-Davie’s article “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents” he quotes Bitzer who defined rhetorical situation as “a complex of persons, events, objects, and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decisions or action as to bring about the significant modification of the exigence” (350). Many articles in the news use rhetorical situations to have an effect on their audience to do something about the issue. Politics, for example, uses rhetoric to persuade the audience to take the side of an individual candidate or even battling companies will use rhetoric in articles about their products so that the public will choose them over a different company. Rhetoric can be found all over the news and while doing research I came upon the article “Are We Fracking Away our Health?” To analyze the rhetoric of this article, we must look at the exigence, audiences, constraints, and any unforeseen ramifications of the article.

In “Backpacks vs. briefcases: Steps towards Rhetorical Analysis”, Laura Bolin Carrol explains the importance of the rhetorical analysis to understand the purpose and intent of every situation. She points first how people always focus their first glance to the others physical appearance even though there is a saying that “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Through our past experiences or moments, we can conclude quickly that person or thing we are observing or analyzing. Most of the time this is done even without noticing that we are doing it, without understanding there is something behind it, and Carol explains that is the rhetorical analysis. She also explains how understanding it, and becoming proficient in it, will help to “become better

In Grant Davie’s “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents,” he stresses the importance of both the rhetoric and the audience in various situations.

Rhetoric can push users farther than the normal argument, and past the habits of the natural human mind. When one comes to understand the theory of words, argument and how opposition thinks, then can the situation fully be revolved for their favor and their future. Rhetoric is a valuable skill that should be taught in schools in order to assist in high school environments, and help prepare for a future in the workplace.

The advantages of Rhetoric is that it is, (Rhetoric of Teaching and Learning pg 20) “a powerful notion of how we get our thoughts and feelings across to others”. With rhetoric, through participation and practice, students can learn that it is a useful tool, and can enhance one’s communication skills. Understanding what rhetoric is has helped many students, to include myself, how to structure and deliver a clear and persuasive message. What we write, say, and

Writing takes on varied shapes and genres, but all are connected through the use of rhetoric and its elements. These elements –exigence, audience, and constraints – are present throughout all of writing and contribute to the effectiveness of the work. To demonstrate the universal character of rhetoric, I analyzed two very different pieces of writing I wrote. One, a research paper on the environmental impacts of excessive carbon dioxide emissions, I wrote in high school as part of my senior project. The other was a journal entry I wrote to myself in my first semester of college. The different works both exhibit the elements of the rhetorical situation, though they implement them in very different methods that suit the genre in which they were

Proficient writing is an essential skill in all aspects of academic and professional achievement. English 101, Introduction to Composition and Rhetoric, provided the framework to good writing, teaching me composition and rhetoric fundamentals, polishing up my grammar and style, and expressing a clear message. English 102, Composition, Rhetoric, and Research, continued to build on the skills I learned in English 101, focusing on the subject matter research process and employing various rhetorical and literary devices to better express a clear message to the reader. The course also improved my critical thinking capacity, allowing me to culturally evaluate my target audience, present logically flowing arguments using appropriate language and structure, and critically reviewing my writing projects for content and expression. Every writer inherently knows there’s always room to improve and I hold fast to this mindset in all academic, professional, and personal writing projects. English 102 has both challenged and inspired me to grow into a much better writer than before I began the class, providing the necessary skills to be not just a good writer, but a great writer.

In the view of Lloyd Blitzer, he explains what makes situations rhetorical that is identical to a “moral act”. His definition of a moral act is when you act or preform by any situation. He shows examples of different types of rhetorical analysis that happened in the past. Blitzer states that a rhetorical analysis is a change in reality. Therefore, he is saying that it is an action or new information that is to be addressed or known. He states that rhetorical analysis should be followed by a rhetorical method. Blitzer mentioned that there are three main components when writing a rhetorical analysis. One component to look for is referred to as exigence. Exigence is the reason you are proving something. Audience is the part of a rhetorical analysis that involves people that you are trying to get to understand your situation. Lloyd stated that everyone is being capable by the change of speech. From my perspective, Blitzer’s rhetorical audience consists only of people who are more likely influenced by discourse and have the possibility of becoming mediators of change. The final component is constraint. Constraint deals with limitation and restrictions in a rhetorical analysis. Charleston Hope provides a great opportunity to become involved and assist with its mission throughout the community.