Author: Daniel Libertz

Genre, can be seen anywhere in our daily lives. It’s a method that people can show their opinions or thoughts to others. Therefore, it’s not restricted to a specific form. It can be communication between people through different ways, including writing or writing. It can even be a drama, a portrait, a poetry, etc. In the following paragraphs, I’m going to focus on the genre of writing specifically.

According to the reading, Miller studied a lot on different people’s opinions on genres. Campbell and Jamieson considered inductivity to be one of the characteristics, which is more open class and less restricted by certain frames. On the other hand, Harrell and Linkugel more focused on theory rather than social actions.

After reading this article, I do have some thoughts that can be applied to public writing. In public writing, after we figure out who our target audiences are, we do have to think about how we can reach to our target audience. By this way, studying the characteristics of target audience and how they are going to respond will be very important to make the public writing successful. Therefore, classifying genre by social actions is very helpful in public writing. In addition, in order to make sure to deliver the messages to target audience, it will be a recurring activity. Therefore, studying how past audiences react and respond to our writing will be very helpful for us to think about how we may improve our writing to make it more acceptable to audiences. However, even social responses are really important in public writing, I’m not saying that we don’t need to consider theory or or any restrictions that may affect. Sometimes regarding various topics, there might have specific rules that will affect the style of the writing, which can lead it to work better in a closed set.

In summary, I do agree with Miller’s opinion that current social situation and people’s social actions have a lot impacts on genre of writing. Therefore, when we work on public writing, we do have to figure out what factors in current society can influence our writing and how it will be delivered to target audience.

I think that when we choose a genre to write, we are first thinking about our topic.  After considering the topic we are writing about, we have to think about the best way to convey this information to our target audience.  Once the target audience and topic are defined, it is then time to choose a genre of writing.  In the reading, when discussing society’s impact on genre, Miller says, “… a society establishes a way of ‘acting together’. It does not lend itself to taxonomy, for genres change, evolve, and decay; the number of genres current in any society is indeterminate and depends upon the complexity and diversity of the society”.  I think this quote does a good job of explaining Miller’s ideas regarding society and genre.  She talks about how every society is different and every group of people will react to different genres in different ways.  I think that there is not one genre of writing that will fit the needs of every demographic.  This is why it is so important to know the audience you are trying to reach.  The same genre of writing can be used to write for different audiences, but they may be used in different ways.  This is because there are other elements to take in to consideration when writing.  For example, things like word choice and the audience’s reading level are extremely important when writing for a specific group of people.  Later in the reading, Miller says, “genres serve as keys to understanding how to participate in the actions of a community”. In this quote, I think she is talking about the importance of audience when choosing a genre to write about.  I think that this article will benefit my own writing for this class.  I need to be able to pinpoint the best way to reach my target audience.  I hope that through further consideration, I will be able to find the best way to communicate my message.

This far in class, we have attempted to describe many seemingly undefinable words such as rhetoric and public. These terms prove to be tough to label because a single phrase, sentence, or small group of sentences cannot accurately depict them. They are complex. The term, genre, appears to be no different. Carolyn Miller argues that genre is more focused on social action rather than just a set of rules that say how to write or in what style. Miller writes, “Since ‘rhetorical forms that establish genres are stylistic and substantive responses to perceived situational demands,’ a genre becomes a complex of formal and substantive features that create a particular effect in a given situation. Genre, in this way, becomes more than a formal entity; it becomes pragmatic, fully rhetorical, a point of connection between intention and effect, an aspect of social action.” In this excerpt, Miller describes how genre is not a physical means. It is not about the organization of the words on a page or about the size/font of the text.

Genre is about the reaction a rhetorical piece instills on its audience. Genres are to provoke action based on a given situation. Miller quotes Lloyd F. Bitzer stating, “From day to day, year to year, comparable situations occur, prompting comparable responses.” It seems as if genre is a tool that rhetoricians can use to get their message across. By analyzing situations that frequently repeat themselves, rhetoricians have the ability to predict responses. This allows them to contact their public and convey their message in the most effective way possible.

To provoke certain responses, rhetoricians can use the same formal qualities such as formats, layouts, and lengths. Miller argues that these formal qualities are often mistaken for genre when it is actually the social action that the formal qualities provoke that is genre.

Having knowledge of genre can definitely be beneficial when writing for a public. The writer needs to be aware of and perhaps try to manipulate his/her public’s reaction to the piece. If the writer can control or predict the reaction, the writer can choose formal qualities that allow the piece to reach its maximum effectiveness.

The topic I will be discussing over the next few weeks, educator training in America, has an incredibly broad audience. As such, the “public” I am trying to address with my campaign is very complex. To participate in and engage with such a diverse public sphere it is important to understand how timing and approach play into the reception and reaction of the audience. This rhetorical concept of ‘timing’ is best understood when considering the overarching concept of kairos. Kairos is more than simply the temporal judgement of your discourse, Sheridan et al. point to Sheard for a concise definition:

Kairos is the ancient term for the sum total of “contexts,” both spatial (e.g., formal) and temporal (e.g., epistemic), that influence the translation of thought into language and meaning in any rhetorical situation.

These contexts may seem out of the rhetor’s control but it could be argued the rhetor has the ability to influence these contexts to develop the right time and space for the discussion. Sheridan et al. demonstrate this by examining the structure of scientific writing in which the scientist identifies and explains an existing gap in knowledge, therefore creating a need or an opening through which the author can engage with the reader. I intend to employ this strategy by beginning my campaign with an analysis of the real problems facing not just the education system, but how those challenges impact the prosperity of America and how this solution has not been seriously considered to date.

The public sphere I am faced with cannot be simply defined as a singular group of people engaged in common discourse. In fact, the public sphere I am attempting to engage with is a complex amalgamation of small specialized communities, government entities, and citizens. When I initially planned my campaign I proposed the idea of creating social media snippets to grab the attention of citizens, what I did not consider is how to use that attention to establish a conversation. As Sheridan et al. point out, simply publishing a text does not create a public. Kairos must be considered to ensure the text that is produced is circulated iteratively. This is not to say the social media snippets are not important, but I need to create intertextuality with additional resources in the public sphere.

In their critique of the liberal bourgeois public sphere, Sheridan et al. challenge the notion that the public sphere is limited to the “social space[s] where rational-critical debate leads to public opinion”. This assumption risks dismissing multimodal rhetoric altogether in a time when multimodal rhetoric constitutes a growing avenue for social discourse. Sheridan et al. redefine the function of “public-sphere practice as [the] poetic world making that shapes consciousness and identity through the captivation of attention.” This opinion makes clear the value of multimodal communication as a tool to engage and entice the audience. This confirms my decision to use a multimodal approach during my campaign, engaging the professional public with a white paper and the general public with a social media snippets and news articles.

With my campaign, I hope to reach teenagers and young adults who use technology heavily. There is minimal talk around the possibility that radiation from electronic devices can cause harm to the body’s biological systems, but I plan on bringing this issue to light. This audience would be best targeted by creating a series of documents that can be readily shared via social media.

From The Available Means of Persuasion, I believe that it will be crucial to work with the idea of Kairos–simply put as “timing” or “the right time” (Sheridan, et al). I struggle with this concept since the ideal time to enter the conversation would be once a study is released or if the news reports a person injured due electronic radiation. It would be unethical to wait until this “opportune” time, because public health could be at risk. Thus, using a rhetorical approach to “ripen the time” would be more beneficial, since this is a public issue regardless if people know it or not. The approach to this issue is not me saying that electronics should be avoided, rather reducing the use of these devices could potentially protect you from harm. If I do not join the conversation soon, it could be too late.

I’m also struggling the idea of “public” and “public sphere” discussed by Sheridan et. al. Originally, I liked the idea that my public would “exist only by virtue of address;” however, this seems limiting to the potential audience that I could reach. I can sit here and say that because I am using social media to relay my content, only those individuals whom I share my content with would be my audience. There is no real conversation around my topic, thus I cannot simply enter a “public sphere” of people concerned with this issue. Instead of creating a bubble for people to enter and leave whenever, I hope to keep people linked with one another in a sort of web or network. Recognizing that when my target audience shares my content, they are providing me with access to many others that were not in my original “public.” This means that my public will include my target audience as well as the vast number of subgroups that reside on social media. This includes, but is not limited to: the elderly, minimal-technology users, parents, aunts and uncles, etc.

One sentence really stood out to me from The Available Means of Persuasion. The authors note that “a kairotic approach to public rhetoric means being aware of available options, aware of possibilities and constraints that operate at any given moment of action” (Sheridan, et al). Integrating the concept of Kairos to my campaign has made me aware of possible limitations I may face and broadened my idea of the public that I am writing for.

 

References

Sheridan, D. M., Ridolfo, J., & Michel, A. J. (2012). The available means of persuasion: Mapping a theory and pedagogy of multimodal public rhetoric. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.

The topic I wanted to advocate for is the removal or limit of government funded school vouchers. If school vouchers are allowed to expand in the manner that Trump’s school choice proposal calls for, then parents with children attending public schools would be footing the bill for those with children in private or religious schools. As such, those parents with children in the public school system would be the public that I address. These parents are the perfect target as they have the right to vote or impose change, have the wherewithal to rally themselves to combat, and have a vested interest in the development and care of their child.

In the modern outrage culture, issues do not enter the mainstream unless new legislation is being discussed. Once a topic is presented to the public, those with even a modicum of interest can become engaged. This happens through a flurry of news coverage and social media shares. This has happened several times previously and include examples such as when Donald Trump announced his $20 Billion proposal to fund school choice during his campaign and when he nominated Betsy DeVos, a staunch supporter of school choice, as his Secretary of Education. These key times when the Trump administration pushes for school choice are the most opportune time to release condemning information. It is in this way that Kairos implies.

Kairos is a complex idea that deals with the timing at which an audience is engaged and placement of the author’s material. If the message is received too early, the audience will no understand the context in why it is important. On the other hand, if delivered too late, the audience may have already made their decision on the issue and currently have a fleeting interest in the issue. The perfect time to release an editorial would be when the education budget is addressed to Congress. This will correspond to when most people search online for more information about the subject after hearing about it on the news or from a friend. Partnering with a mainstream news site such as CNN could capture the most readers so it would be the ideal placement. Correctly utilizing Kairos will be essential to making my message more of a paramount issue rather than just the hot topic of the day.

Kairos is a word that cannot be easily defined, often having a definition based on the opinion of the rhetorical scholar. The given definitions included ideas such as “timing”, the “opportune moment”, or the sum of “contexts”. Well when considering the audience of a millennial generation, it may be important to consider the timing of the argument. The audience that I am targeting to talk about the water crisis in America is of a product of “perfect timing”. This millennial generation is at the forefront of their careers and can choose whether they could positively affect the current dilemma. By choosing an age group that is too young or too old, my argument to the audience may not take on a purposeful meaning. This would hinder the possibility of solving the problem. Therefore, I can compare myself to the analogy of the archer. I have an opportune time in which I can give my argument to the audience and effectively change their perspective on the water crisis, which also depends on the past experiences and training that I have received about the issue.

Shifting the focus to the public sphere idea, I must be able to have a “common ground” with the audience so that I am able to communicate with them effectively. This common ground is that I am of the same age group that I want to speak to. Being that I am a millennial myself, I am the most qualified to speak to this age group because I can relate with them. Using the social language of Twitter and Facebook and the meaningful language in my blog, I can present my argument to the audience in a way that we are now accustomed to. This may be the most effective way to reach the public sphere in question. However, an important part of the public sphere is having public-sphere participation. Without audience participation, my argument may not flourish and reach the entirety of the millennial audience. Therefore, if I combine giving the ability to participate to the audience, having a “common ground” on which I need to be able to reach my audience, and timing of the argument, my appeal to the audience would have the most effect.

The fine people who attend Bellefield Presbyterian Church in Oakland comprise the public I seek to address. Do you know how I know they are a public? I know they are a public because I anticipate they will be attentive to my message in the steeple context. The three authors in Available Means of Persuasion underline there must be an audience to address for there to be a public, and said audience must be attentive, something I anticipate if these people, by their own volition (or without their arms a twistin’), attend the Wednesday night gatherings I seek to host on mental health awareness. Furthermore, Sheridan et al. emphatically suggest that kairos implies an “opportune moment” and not simply opportunism (or merely selecting to do something out of the blue without plan or reason). Kairos is linked to ethics (p.12) because ethics leads to action which calls for such a moment to address the ethical dilemma. (Thus, the prayer is that there will indeed be peace when that kairos moment comes. The Kansas reference in the heading was not opportunistic.) Holding that my topic is timely, I seek to engage a public, people who will clearly give attention to my message, in a space in which allows a “rhetorical performance” to take place, that is, in a public sphere where I and others can address our willing audience. Because of the pervasiveness of mental health ignorance in the evangelical church, the moment is an opportune one and not merely opportunistic, as defined above. Ethically speaking, there is an issue (or injustice here). There is a timely and ethical word to be spoken in that context to a church public which I anticipate to be attentive (since they volunteer their time to listen to my cause, something I have highlighted for the third time). The mental health awareness issue is an appropriate issue to address since many are being hurt by those calling themselves evangelicals. Awareness is necessary concerning this very morally-based matter. If indeed persons with mental illness are made in the image of God, then they should not be rejected for dealing with biochemically-based brain disorders just as much as the old women should not be scolded for serving purple JELLO. (Its not their fault they are cheap. They grew up post-Great Depression where they had to make their own soap out of chicken butt lard.) Awareness needs to be now, especially as Bellefield looks outward to a hurting world in need of the good news of grace in Jesus Christ.

The public I am writing towards is a segment of the population that is dissatisfied with their congressional representatives. According to a Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of the 115^th Congress, Americans’ approval of that legislative body is at 19%. Remarkably, according to CNN, federal legislators serve, on average, for over a decade. Counter intuition aside, there is a lopsided majority that is prepared to consume my message. I need to consider that having substantial leisure time to participate in the political process is not a privilege every American in that 81% can enjoy. My observation invokes the criticisms in the reading of the public sphere. Ideally (and naively) it is supposed to be an equitable, universally accessible, and egalitarian platform for discourse.  So, whatever technique I use to appeal and some of the ways I invite the public to involve themselves in the campaign will need to consider their finite time. Having limited opportunities to attract the public to this campaign is conflicting with the best practice of kairos. The understanding I lifted from the reading is that kairos is a tactic of waiting for or manufacturing the ideal conditions in which a rhetor can most effectively persuade their audience. It was challenging for me to separate the concept of a physical public sphere to what it actually is, but I didn’t necessarily agree with the assessment that it isn’t a place. I thought about the Internet and the platforms for connecting members of the public sphere there, particularly blogs like Reddit, or quasi-blogs like Twitter and Facebook. In our speech we say that we are on them, but in our minds we are going to them. Not unlike coffee shops or other gathering places, they are distinct spaces that we can navigate, entering and exiting whenever we so choose.