Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

This blog post is about a variety of situations that are relevant to my interests.

Breaking News, Via Wikimedia Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

1. China might be building vast database of federal worker info, experts say : This is an interesting crossroads between computer science and politics.  

         Speaker: Hemanshu Nigam is a founder of an internet security company called SSP Blue.  Additionally, he has been working with the United States for multiple years on the subject of security and is credited with many feats of internet security and protecting identities.  "From 2000 to 2002, Hemu was Vice President of Worldwide Internet Enforcement at the Motion Picture Association of America" where he applied his skills to the issue of pirating movies.  His long list of prior experiences gives him a lot of credibility.


          Audience: In this news interview, the audience seems to be the general public, and the information is relatively easy to understand.  There is not too much technical "jargon" and the majority of the information spoken about is focused on the political side of the issue.  This is because the general public is likely not tech savvy enough to understand the specifics of what happened, and they can get the story without these specifics.

          Context: The context of the information is that there is a silent battle between all countries to gain information or "intel" from the government or companies. The context to this specific event is part of the battle for information, china has compromised the information of many federal workers, which may be used in various ways against the individuals or the country.





 2. artificial intelligence is a tool, not a threat:

        Author: Rodney Brooks is a member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and an artificial intelligence expert.  He is also active on the website "Rethink Robotics" where he has posted multiple articles.
         Audience: The audience that Rodney Brooks is addressing is somewhat versed in technology, because the original arguments posted were not in the mainstream media.  This is not entirely important though because there is little technical jargon in this as well, as it is more an opinion piece that focuses on the possibilities of the future as opposed to the technical specifications of the present.
        Context: This is in response to an open letter and call for action by many artificial intelligence experts and technology experts in general.  Because there was generally very many big figures that were 'against' artificial intelligence, Brooks is one of the few who stood up with a strong opinion the other way.  This alongside his credibility as an expert makes this a very significant post when there are not many people giving their opinion on the matter.

3.  The Big Problem With Self Driving Cars :
        Author:  Will Oremus, is described on the website to be a "Senior Technology Writer", he also linkes to his facebook and twitter.  He is from New York City, however there is little about his credentials on his page.  He has many articles about a variety of technology subjects, but it seems that he does not focus on one certain subtype of technology.
      Audience: This article is written with the average person in mind who does not necessarily focus on technology.  Once again, it is clear that though this is a topic that has technology in it, it is not focused on the specifics of technology and is more focused on its implications and what it means.  Certainly there is little to no talk of specific reasons behind the technological subject of the article.  This is all intentional with the audience in mind.
        Context:  With the new wave in cars that has been propelling their features and peripherals, there are inevitable security weak points that allow for breaches.  However, when faced with the issue that cars functioning properly is an important part of keeping society safe, the issue becomes important.

Reflection:
I commented on
http://atjorhom.blogspot.com/2015/09/evaluation-of-rhetorical-situations.html?showComment=1443898873681#c3158276122171658582
and
http://michaelmcmillin109h.blogspot.com/2015/09/evaluation-of-rhetorical-situations.html?showComment=1443897245797#c6455478941136926857 

I found that there were many interesting rhetorical situations in the various other topics.  My situations could probably benefit by being more opinionated as well.  Aside from the content, the formatted blogs that were organized into a table were far easier to read, and I should look into formatting my posts in this way for future posts.

Developing a Research Question

In this blog I will be covering the various topics that I might be interested in researching.

Marcin Wichary "Tatung Einstein computer" via Wikimedia Attribution 2.0 Generic

The issue of net neutrality:  Although the battle for net neutrality has been won in many ways, it is an issue that will inevitably resurface, which has already been confirmed by multiple politicians. It is an interesting debate because of the huge butterfly effect it has on everything that the internet effects.

 Hacking for information:  While hacking is often seen as something used by scammers to gain access to money or a personal system, hacking is a vital source of intelligence for governments.  This is often centered around China as they have been traced back to a multitude of times.  The silent battle between information is interesting and constant in the present.

Backdoors and spyware: Recently, the company Lenovo was caught pre-installing spyware onto their computers, and this wasn't the first time.  There are multiple examples of tech companies essentially violating the rights of those who buy their products and I think this would serve to be an interesting topic that is often avoided for some strange reason (excluding the NSA scandal which seems to have simmered down somehow)

Project 1 Complete

Geralt, "100% complete" via pixabay CC0 Public Domain

Here is the link to my complete version of project 1: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jnA85t-7-plRvoOpcWCacWexzYm4vfQlNktZGBkggFg/edit?usp=sharing

Clarity, Part 2

Gary Richardson "Three Clear Bubbles" via Flikr,Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

 In this post I will summarize the things I learned while reading four more sections of "Clarity" within the "Rules for Writers" book.

Active verbs: I did not know that the placement of the verb has direct impact on its effect.  It also helps to name the person or thing that preforms the action in a way that puts emphasis in the right places.  The active voice means that "the subject does the action" and is structured as such to provide a more clear and more direct message. 

Eliminate distracting shifts: There are common errors, typically involving a confusing shift in perspective or emphasis. One distracting shift that may effect me is making my verbs "consistent in mood and voice" which states it is important to maintain a certain degree on consistency, especially in verb usage.

Exact words: Connotations are an important and often overlooked aspect to word choice.  Connotation, or "emotional colorings", are essential to the emotional effect of word choice. Additionally, keeping nouns specific is nearly always beneficial to conveying something.

Appropriate language: It is important to use language that is inclusive and universal.  Also, in most situations, being overly wordy comes across as pretentious and is far more difficult to understand.  Sticking to more plain English is typically a good idea.  Additionally, slang and nonstandard English should be avoided in a majority of situations. 

Going through my draft, I found some things that I think apply to these sections.  There are a few times where I could use these to improve upon the draft.  For example, the sentence "His polarizing opinion epitomizes the opposing views that participants in this argument take." comes across as slightly too wordy and confusing.  I rewrote the sentence as "His polarizing opinion is evidence of the divide within the community" which seems to be easier to convey. A distracting shift in my sentence structure can be found in the sentence "Artificial intelligence should be taken seriously is the clear consensus, but the question is, should it be feared?" which is more effective when written as "The clear consensus is that artificial intelligence should be taken seriously, but the question is, should it be feared?"

Identifying Basic Grammar Patterns

 This following link is to my longest paragraph in which I analyze the various sentence structures and parts that make it up.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TxF55s72lsXBg7kDUn8jh3iUFtd4hjVsBbsA4f38ZNc/edit?usp=sharing

Silsor "Pilcrow" via Wikimedia, public domain

Personally, I think it is good to recognize what makes up a sentence to provide more variety in my writing.  However it is not worth the time to analyze every sentence I write.  Typically when I let myself type as if I were speaking, it creates a natural flow, albeit long winded at times. It is important to know what makes up a proper sentence, but sometimes I think it's best to go with what feels right.

Copy for Paragraph Analysis

 This page is used for my copy of the QRG for paragraph analysis.

Gothberg, David "edit-copy purple" via wikimedia Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dwEFUWIbLM0VM6KwtuPZXCR_qEhKkZ8f-LxYiJYL18I/edit?usp=sharing

I am relatively confident about the content of my QRG but I definitely think that it could use some changing around to be a better read.  I think that I could possibly change around the structure of a lot of my sentences, but I am confident about many of my decisions in the QRG and the general direction.

Reflection on Project 1 Draft

In this post I will go over the various constructive criticisms of my draft of the quick reference guide.
I commented on Chloe Claire Ashley Wills's and Charles Novak'  QRG's.

Porbital "Perfect Reflection" via Deviantart Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

 Audience:

• Who is reading this QRG: The QRG is technically only going to be read by my peers and my professor, but I am writing as if it is going to be read by anyone on the internet who wants to learn more about the issue of artificial intelligence. 

•  What are their values/expectations: They expect to get a relatively full understanding of the issue based on the information that I provide them.

• How much info do I need to give them: The QRG is essentially all information, so I need to give as much information as possible or the QRG will not be effective. 

•  The language needs to be relatively academic, though not entirely formal.  It needs to convey emotion but efficiently provide information and not go onto a tangent.

• What tone should I use: I should use a tone that is informative, as if a teacher in a lesson.  I should use it the whole time in order to be effective in providing the information I do.

 Context:

• What are the formatting requirements: It is required to follow the strict formatting requirements of the quick reference guide genre, including title, relevant image and more.   My QRG meets these requirements.

• Content: The  content requirements are similar to the formatting requirements and overlap in some places.  I meet the requirements in my QRG.

•  Does this reflect my knowledge gained: Yes it reflects my knowledge gained on the subject that I am writing about and my knowledge of the QRG genre and its conventions.

•   Have I addressed any grammatical issues: I have addressed the grammatical issues that have been pointed out to me.

 

Clarity Part 1

In this post I will summarize the various ways that I can improve upon my 'clarity' through tips in "Rules for Writers"

MAWarrior "Promotional Poster" via Wikipedia GNU Free Documentation License

 1. Balance Parallel Ideas: In order to get an idea across in an effective and pleasant to read manner, write in parallels as much as possible. Things such as the length and all other manners in which something is written all play a part in the ability to effectively understand a sentence. This is especially effective when presented in pairs.

3. Variety:  A lack of sentence variety will inevitably end up monotonous, especially in the openings of sentences.  An interesting trick that may work at times is to invert a sentence structure to make it varied.  The name of the game is variety, and too much of any one thing is a recipe for monotony.

4. Tighten Wordy Sentences: This is an issue I have, with sentences that could be shorter without losing much meaning.  Unnecessary repetition and phrases that can be cut without losing meaning are only serving to make a sentence less coherent and concise.   The structure of many sentences can also be simplified. Essentially, it is important to know where information is important and where it can simply be cut out.

Reflection:

After reading my classmates, I realize a lot of each persons problems with writing in relation to my own.  I probably could have talked more about the various ways in which each section affects me personally. I also liked reading a lot of the lists that had bulleted points, that generally made it easier to read.

Posts that I commented on:

http://mlubniewski.blogspot.com/2015/09/clarity-part-1.html?showComment=1442710409198#c3110290830754244599

http://thomascortez.blogspot.com/2015/09/clarity-part-1.html?showComment=1442711354485#c495069127946380525

Thoughts on Drafting

In this post I will comment on the various ways that the advice in "Students Guide for First Year Writing" is relevant to the quick reference guide and touch upon the ways that it is not.

Littero, Anthony "The Power of Words" via Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0

Points that are relevant and helpful:

• Paragraphs in PIE format:  This is useful to the QRG, even though the format of the quick reference guide is different in many ways, following the PIE format ensures that information comes across in a meaningful and comprehensible way. Although the 'point' in the situation of a QRG is typically just the presentation of new information
• Writing introductions:  Most of the points made for writing introductions definitely apply to the quick reference guide. Grabbing attention, forecasting direction, a short 'thesis' and avoiding generalizations are all relevant to writing a successful QRG.
• Organization:  Organization is very important to the QRG, though not necessarily in all the same ways as an essay.  For the QRG the organization is significantly different because of the many areas that it has to cover and thus jumps around in some ways.  However, its structure has to remain "purposeful" as the guide states, which is extremely relevant to the QRG because it has to stay efficient in its giving of information or it is not effective

Not so helpful:

• Writing conclusions: Although the QRG has a beginning middle and end as an essay would, the entirety of a QRG covers a vast majority of the advice given by the guide and would be redundant and carry on far to long if a writer follows it exactly. 
• Drafting a thesis: Although in the QRG you need a definite introduction, a thesis as defined by the guide is not necessarily relevant to the QRG.  This is because the QRG is about a single subject that is quickly introduced to be expounded upon in the body of text, which does not need a thesis, although it does typically pose a question. 

Reflection:

Interestingly, my peers had answers that varied a reasonable amount, though all with valid reasons.  I think that I could have expanded upon my points slightly better, but I think also that it is important to keep them brief and organized.  That middle ground is where I am trying to reach with my blogposts.

Posts I commented on:
http://engl109hblog.blogspot.com/2015/09/thoughts-on-drafting.html?showComment=1442699480395#c4352357421496733055

http://snorrixeng.blogspot.com/2015/09/thoughts-on-drafting.html?showComment=1442699603270#c3940459510151148632

Draft of Quick Reference Guide

"DRAFT Rubber Stamp" Enokson May 2 2013 via Flikr

 I intend to flesh out some of the portions of the QRG in time as I find places which I would like to expand upon.  I also want feedback as to where I should expand upon the article because I want to lengthen it, but I was slightly unsure as to where I should expand upon.  Criticism welcome, obviously it is a first draft and I intend to change things quite a bit as they come to me.

QRG Draft Link