Rhetorical Analysis Formal Proposal

The topic I want to discuss is the effects of adolescence playing violent video games. Some people say that violence in video games have negative impacts on kids while others say that it has no effect at all. The main reason I want to chose this topic is because, I can relate to it and I want to find the answer for myself. Who knows maybe video games did effect me and I might not even know it. This is a topic I am interested in. and it does come up in conversation in some of my social circles. Therefore, I really want to address this situation; I have the motivation.It is a relevant topic because violence has increased in the past years between youth. Also the video game market is constantly increasing and has been promoting violent games to kids. I still consider myself a kid at times, but I’ll try not to be bias. There are many perspectives I could analyze for this assignment, I’m just not sure which one I should use. Some of the writers are gamers themselves, while others are scientists. They both are people who care of the topic and have their own ethos. In a situation like this pathos doesn’t really come into play based on the articles I have read. Most of them are simply using logos. I think I’ll have to chose better articles because the ones I currently have are very similar. I personally have my own opinion and I will try my best to resist the temptation of wanting to voice it. (I’ll save that for the next assignment.) One question I have is based on a statement said in class. How would I go beyond just saying the pros and cons of the situation. Also I want to ask how the intro or thesis would be formatted, is there an example that can be given in class; maybe referring to Emma Watson’s speech?

The Rhetorical Situation

There are three main points in Blitzer’s passage. He speaks of the three aspects of the rhetorical situation. The first is exigence, he essentially says it is something that cannot be altered in the situation. The examples he uses are death, or natural occasions. He states that is any given rhetorical situation there can be at least one controlling exigence and it helps specify the audience. This leads to the second point he speaks of which is the audience. In a rhetorical situation there has to be an audience because the point of a rhetorical situation is to persuade an audience. The third main point is the constraints. The constraints could be anything that tries to alter the exigence. For instance beliefs, attitudes and traditions can alter the exigence. The constraints all depend on the audience.  Thus these are the three points which make up a rhetorical situation.

Through the passage there was several points that caught my attention. However the conclusion is what really stuck to me. The passage in general was rather confusing for me. The last section just seemed to really make sense to me. He speaks of how in the real world, there are many rhetorical exigences. He also mentions how the “world invites change”. He essentially summarizes rhetoric as the art of persuasion and the practicality of it in the real world. Through several examples he describes how it used in every day life. (Blitzer uses historical examples.)

Audience: The members of the United Nations and whomever is listening in, secondary audience.

Constraints: I think it would be anti feminists because they are opposing her because of their beliefs. Her past can also be considered a constraint because it under values her point in some people’s perspective.

Exigence: The exigence would be the inequality between men and women in society whether it be social status or wages, etc.

 

Ideas for rhetorical analysis project

For this essay I want to inform the audience about the pros and cons of raising minimum wage.

Sources:

http://www.timeforaraise.org/benefits-of-raising-the-minimum-wage/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/05/the_gop_and_the_minimum_wage_republican_ideas_about_the_minimum_wage_are.html

 

Another topic i would like to address are the effects of violent video games on adolescence, whether they influence them or not

Sources:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/get-psyched/201401/violent-video-games-decrease-self-control

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/08/27/in-new-study-video-games-not-tied-to-violence-in-high-risk-youth/58934.html

 

 

Fergeson News Analysis

In Ferguson, Missouri, two completely different news networks covered the violence taking place in the city happening over the original shooting by police of 18 year old Michael Brown. While it would be expected a news station would just report the news, opinions of each are subtly slipped in. For Fox News, the news reports they attempt to persuade of their believed case that Ferguson has overall become a place a violence and it is spreading into New York. They stress the current situation and how black on black violence is never stressed as much as white on black violence rather than the actual shooting itself. As for Democracy now, they stress their belief that the situation revolves around police crack down on the black community, and even go as far to use “militarization” and “mainly targets communities of color” in their title of the coverage segment. Both stations hold the same purpose of covering the situation and giving the news, but its obvious each tells the viewers how they specifically view the situation. Fox news tries to convey a purpose of convincing their viewers the general violence is the issue, whereas Democracy Now tries to convince police brutality is outrageous in Ferguson and how they are currently militarizing against the black community. Their intended audiences are both very different in that Fox News holds a conservative audience while Democracy Now holds a liberal audience, however, those without a party belief also may watch in the interest of knowing what it is that is happening in Missouri. The demand for the coverage lies with the question of whether or not a race issue is present or if police brutality is an issue. The cultural context of the whole situation exists with the U.S. culture of race sensitivity, and the constraints of both coverages would be their social inability to outright preach their opinions. For the Aristotelian appeals for both would be pathos and ethos for Fox, as Fox uses both emotional appeal and are probably the most well known news station for credibility, whereas Democracy Now holds a Logos appeal where they try to use logic to persuade concern of police violence. Both also share an pathos appeal with their use of violent and almost disturbing pictures and videos. As a result of everything mentioned, different opinions clash in an effort to perceive the whole situation.

Response to “What is Rhetoric”

Ethos,pathos, and logos are all apart of rhetorical triangle. They all connect to each other and are very important when it comes to persuasive writing. They all naturally work together well. Most of us have used it unknowingly as well. In order to fully understand the rhetor we can use ethos, pathos, and logos. Using those contents we can understand who wrote it, why she wrote it, and who the audience is. Therefore I agree that it is important to fully understand it.

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