Oeuvres Under Construction

Section 1: Advertisement Rhetorical Analysis

 

     Matt’s advertisement for project 3 depicts a man a dressed up in a suit on top of a rocky mountain that has shadowy words like “ Ever, world, science, student, one, many, always, love child, little” and more on it. The man is looking through a telescope. At the right-hand corner reads the text  “Strengthen your skills in reading, speaking and writing to get the job you WANT and not the job you HAVE” with significant emphasis on the words ‘’WANT’’ and ‘’HAVE’’ in bold and bigger font size. On the top left corner, a logo of The American Literary Council. At the very bottom, enclosed in a circle is the number 50% followed by the text “Of the 2 million immigrants that come to the U.S. each year lack high school education and English language skills.”

 

This advertisement explicitly calls out to the immigrating community to take it upon themselves to become literally fluid in order to get from the job that they have to the job that they want. It is implicitly asking the immigrant community to enhance their literacy levels to become the kind of people that they would like to become, in other words, to not conform themselves with what they have gotten, but rather work to obtain that which they have always desired. This advertisement implies that without literal skills, one would not go far in life. The person would not be able to look above the mountain into new horizons, in other words, be successful, if they are not able to sustain skill in the English language.

Thus, this advertisement also holds a fallacy, it is not necessary that a person only be literate in the English language to attain success. Immigrants, although not proficient in the English language may already hold expertise of a subject within their home language, and this could be applied anywhere else where the English language is not necessary, thus becoming successful to sustain a dialogue or some type of interaction with others in a different language.

Continue reading “Final Exam” →

The most important thing that I’ve been able to learn from this course is the fact that I can now approach a variety of artefacts differently. It’s extremely important for me because when I first stepped foot in an English class, I hadn’t the slightest idea of what I was supposed to do. I found myself lost, from nowhere to start while trying to write a five-page analysis paper. Thanks to this class, I am now able to step back and before diving into the material, educate myself first on what my task is, what the professor has asked me to do. I try to take in every word, search it up if I don’t know it and become familiar with my topic.

I feel that now I am at a place where I can start from and develop forward, through thorough research of the material. for instance, when coming in…

Another aspect of being in this class was the fact that with all of the given assignments and projects, I was able to see improvement in my writing. Continue reading “What have I learned from this class?” →

Rhetorical Analysis

Podcast: WORDS

1.The genre of this artifact is an educational podcast.

2.It’s intended audience could be students (studying philosophy) as well as anyone learning about language.

3. The characteristics of this specific genre, one would say, would be through the use of appealing language/words that engage the intended audience. In this case, students should be approached through the use of terminology that they are used to/ enough for them to understand.

4. The artifact’s purpose was to inform its audience of what it would be like for a person/the world be like without the use of words. It uses a form of storytelling with the use of special sound effects, that is entertaining enough for the listener to stay engaged in the topic.

6. The way this artifact has been designed is specifically impacting for me due to the fact that it is a podcast, designed for a listening audience. Personally, I am a person who likes to see the words out in front of me to better grasp what I am being informed, in order to avoid trying to remember an idea that I most likely would struggle to go back to. I figured out that along with the podcast, there was a transcript that I could use to follow along. It became useful, almost as similar as reading a script.

Podcast Questions:

1. This science-based podcast interestingly combines the use of storytelling and research in a way that keeps its listeners hooked. The research provided gives support to the anecdotal instances in which the storyteller tried to make a point.
2. Ways in which a science-based podcast might be similar to an advertisement might be in that they are both trying to make a point and with it provide a specific type of supporting info, such as facts, research studies results. Another way could be in the way that each of these platforms are designed, while it is clear that a podcast requires speakers to deliver a message and an advertisement concentrates on the visual aspect, they could both make use of similar tactics, in the choice of language. An instance would be, how casual do they want to sound to appeal to their audience?
3. The functions of the facts in this podcast provide a basis as a form of proving the points that the anecdotes are trying to make. There are instances in each of these in which the speaker has experienced something that in order for the audience to understand is retold through the use of simpler terms that ultimately prove the initial claim, as such was the study involving rats. For the first segment, the anecdote of a Man Without Words was much more persuasive because it described in vivid detail the encounter that one of the speakers had with this man. Someone who ultimately is languageless, and whose frustration gets the best of him or not understanding appeals to the listeners’ emotions, and in turn empathizes with him. The second segment becomes persuasive for the use of facts that derive from the study involving rats. With each experiment, the audience is able to come to a deduction of where/what the study is trying to lead to. plus, with the implementation of children in order to use as a comparison to the rats, one gains a more personal perspective of the point being made about one’s ability to think before the age of 6. On the third segment, the anecdotal use to tell the story of the way in which the signers make up their own language to communicate becomes persuasive, because it is told from a point of view of a witness at firsthand. Through the use of imagery, this firsthand told story paints a picture for the listener, one can visualize how older signers are interacting with newer signers and in step by step process, learning how to communicate with one another, all through the use of imagery,
4. The use of audio for this specific podcast was beneficial to it in my opinion. I believe that it had a great effect on me, in the way that it served as an engaging support in order to stay and listen to the entire podcast. An example of the many instances could be when Jill Bolte described the encounter when her brain when totally shut. she starts off by describing her brain chatter going completely silent, feeling stressed relieved and lighter in the body. All of the sudden there’s this sudden instant, in which she is alerted of what’s going on, yet with the use of what would be a slow rewinding sound she dazes off again. This sound becomes helpful for me in order to better understand what the character is saying. more than that to vividly put myself in her place and feel her emotions at the exact time. It is almost safe to say for me, that they served as cues to know when something was coming.
5. If my next project required me to do a podcast ad rather than a visual one, I think that my choice of words would definitely be a big difference. I would like to play a lot with how persuasive I can be towards my audience trying to figure out ways to appeal to them. A must would be the use of my own experience with language/literacy. An anecdote of my first year in a college English course can serve me as a story that many other college students might be able to relate to. By pointing out the struggles that one might go through n silent while trying to accomplish specific assignments would be a problem that my podcast would address and come up with a solution for in the most
6. After having listened to this, One thing that I didn’t know was the fact that children do not think in the way we would normally describe as thinking. It was interesting to learn that they can be compared to rats up to the age of 6 simply because of the way they reason out up until then. Another thing I was able to grasp, was the fact that many of the words we use today for instance words with the prefix “un” came from Shakespeare. I’ve always admired the ways his works are outlined, and it was really useful to get to know that at the time that he wrote he was only forming new languages through the formation of words that could associate with one another, in turn creating phrases that have endured until today. One last thing would be the fact that after all stories presented one does think about what language would be without words. I mean, I believe there would still be a form of communicating, but I also think that there would be a lot that we would be missing out on by ignoring the fact that we are able to speak.
7. I really like this podcast. Knowing that it would be an hour long and never having heard about Radiolab were a little discouraging. I dreaded the fact that I’d have to listen and later struggle with trying to go back to an idea for future reference. Yet, after having listened to it, the experience was definitely interesting. I got to learn, but more than all, I enjoyed the way in which the tactics used by the podcasters were able to drag me in and keep me hooked until the end. As I previously mentioned, sound was crucial, especially for me. I think it was part of being able to make a good narrative entertaining enough, an aspect that makes it stand out from some of the previous podcasts I’ve listened to before. I learned about the subject of language, and the topic has sparked curiosity to keep finding out more on my own of What would the world be without language? words?

This latest post is now up on Blog Posts as Blog Post 4: Reflection on Literacy Narrative. 

            Read about my current reflection while still working on my narrative. I end up with an overall recount of how my perspective of writing is starting to take a shift.

Enjoy 🙂