Thought Provoking Question

Herrick defines rhetoric as the systematic study and intentional practice of effective symbolic expression.  This symbolic expression ranges from writing and speaking to the arts and other typical self-expression outlets.  Herrick then also goes on to define five main characteristics of rhetorical discourse, an important one being that rhetoric is responsive to a certain situation or statement.  Under the guise of art, how is that famous artwork from the 16th and 17th century are still relevant today if they were created in direct correlation to their time?  Is there a general theme that crosses human nature throughout the ages that allows certain symbolic expression to resonate for many generations and years to come?  And if so, what are some rhetoric discourses today that will turn into a “masterpiece” in the future?

The Central Point

In almost all essays, from narrative to expository, there exists an essential moment that captures the point and main theme of the literary work.  In  “Joyas Voladoras” and “A Tale of Two Markets, the central moments are imperative parts that allow the reader to fully understand the idea of the essay.

Although both pieces are extremely different with the authors utilizing a different technique to demonstrate their theme, they each have a turning point which encapsulates the entire essay and puts forth their deeper thoughts.  In Joyas Voladoras, Brian Doyle chooses to change from a focus on specific examples to a broader idea in order to convey his central moment.  Doyle uses an almost scientific-like tone for the majority of the essay talking about the hearts of many animals, especially the Hummingbird and Blue Whale.  It is when he moves from the facts to the opinion where his turning point is obvious.  With the lines “We all churn inside. So much held in a heart in a lifetime. So much held in a heart in a day, an hour, a moment”, we come across the true purpose of the piece.  Brian Doyle uses the factual descriptions of real hearts to lead us into his supposition that the heart is a fragile yet beautiful intangible concept that is dependent on our experiences and others.

“A Tale of Two Markets” takes a different approach.  Through the use of relaxed story-telling the reader is transplanted into the story and comes upon the central point as the piece progresses.  Through witty language and metaphors, the story comes alive.  The turning point is discovered after using a contrast between two grocery stores: one an over-expensive store catered towards the upper-middle class and the other a cheap “ghetto” store where one could get enough food to last a week on a measly paycheck.  The central point is uncovered in the lines “I realized now that it’s not just a lifestyle for sale.  When I scan my membership card and move through the checkout line, I add fragments to the pixelated image of who I am…”  In these lines the author is able to clearly connect how the two stores make the customers feel which thereby changes who the customers are and who they wish to be.  In this short narrative, consumer identity and how this shapes us is examined.

 

Screen Literacy Notes

After reading Kelly’s On Becoming Screen Literate, here are the notes we discussed in class.

Screen literacy is dissecting films or media on the screen like you would dissect a book or the writing. Like putting together a story with different visuals, images, and scenes. Screen fluidity is important in how the media is set up and edited.

Collaboration in the world through technologies enables screen literacy to go beyond what people in the past would think.  With twitter, vine, etc. everything is moving faster and shorter.  Screen literacy in the 21st century is similar to that in the 80s and 90s yet the difference is accessibility and personalization. With the internet everything can be searched much quicker and cater to specific needs better.

In 5 short years, so much has changed especially with technology that has completely changed the way we go about certain activities.  The iPhone alone has revolutionized screen literacy and affected our personal relationship.

Technology increases globalization and makes everything more accesible. With website like Kickstarter and Etsy, people can feel personally affected by the internet. “Technology is the language of the world”. Internet is accesible to almost everyone and the spread of ideas through the internet.  The screen literacy allows everyone in the world to understand the main point regardless of language, culture, etc.

The whole world has been revolutionized and changed by the technology. Like the stock exchange is all done through the media. It might have also changed the way we interact with others.  We feel safe behind the screen.

Screen literacy is the ability to find search bits on the internet and reassemble it in a different way.  Without this though, we take away originality.

“Thump Thump”

     This narrative essay was an interesting and compelling example of what a writer needs to do in order to keep the reader/listener engaged.  In “Thump, Thump” the author took a pretty average story and transformed it into a complex narrative through his use of imagery and dialogue.  He is able to capture the listener’s attention with an interesting opener and sound effects intermittently dispersed.

     The story begins with a mysterious monologue talking about the pain the main character is enduring and how he must overcome it.  This is a great way to start the story because it is unique and interesting and makes me wonder what is this character  experiencing to make him think like this.  Right after this short prelude, the author begins the story in a somewhat familiar way that allows the listener to understand and sympathize with the situation.  The character is easy to relate to, especially with the author’s display of the character’s informal thoughts.

     As the story progresses, the author uses very descriptive verbs and adjectives that bring the story to life like “surging downpour” and “steep incline with rust colored mud”.  His use of sarcastic humor also kept the essay entertaining and engaging.  Throughout the telling of his story, the author is able to subtly tie his main theme and moral of the story throughout the entire essay.  He is also able to end the story in a positive way that tells the moral without being preachy and annoying.  Overall, it was a compelling essay that transformed a typical camping story into an engaging tale of bravery and strength. 

Multimedia Literacy

In today’s world where technology is the key to survival, multimedia has begun to rule us all. From iPads to TVs, from newspapers to films, our daily life is constantly being influenced by these outside forces. But how do we use these different mediums to express ourselves? Is their a significant difference from each?

When using crayons and paper a certain type of work is expected, as well as using a Word document will garner a different feel. These expectations almost limit the possibilities for what we can portray through the medium. My choice of medium was a collage through cut-up magazine pictures. Like any medium it was difficult to fully explain what I wanted to say, but it allowed a higher sense of creativity that was impossible through the others.

Am I the I in iPhone?

     

              Ah, our glorious smartphones. What would we do without them?  How would we send countless text messages to our friends who are in the same room as us?  How would we surf the web when we should be listening to our compelling professor explaining the wonderfully exciting world of derivatives?  And how would we be able to stalk that cute guy seconds after we meet him at that dorm party?  All joking aside, our generation’s obsession with our iPhones has surpassed any cheesy 1980s science-fiction movie could predict.  If we spend so much time on this tiny metal contraption, it must say something about ourselves, right? 

     My iPhone has pretty much never left my side since getting my first one sophomore year in high school.  I have had almost every edition due to my totally amazing propensity for breaking the screen a week within getting one.  Thankfully, my ability to actually grasp the damn thing and not drop it every second has evolved along with the actual content on my iPhone.  In that way, my smartphone seems to mimic and follow who I am as I grow older.  So what does this Apple product reveal about my identity? And does the picture the phone paints true to who I actually am?

    The most effective step to any major creeping on someone’s phone is to casually check out the variety of apps present.  Are there mostly news apps pointing to a culturally literate individual, is there a large volume of game apps to possibly pass the time for someone who does a lot of traveling, or does this person have an obnoxious amount of social networking apps to ensure he or she is able to let everyone know just how adorable his or her niece is?  The list goes on and on from what you can uncover from just observing what apps this person possesses. Another interesting personality trait that can be determined from a quick glance is how the apps are arranged.  Is there an obvious arrangement and order possibly showing a systematic, maybe even borderline OCD, or is there no rhyme or reason to the apps at all displaying a free spirit owner who might be completely scatter-brained?  There are a multitude of assumptions one can make from this simple aspect.  My phone seems to have an interesting mix of social media apps, sports update apps, entertainment industry apps, and education apps.  The variety shows a large range of interests that might make me either really curious about the world or unable to commit to one such passion.  I have several folders that house similar apps, but there are still about 5 or 6 apps that randomly placed with no set position.  This shows that I possibly began to file and order my apps, but got lazy halfway through and never had the time nor patience to finish it.

       While some of the assumptions people would make about me from my phone would be correct (an ungodly amount of texts means she’s talkative and too lazy to delete texts), others would be altogether wrong (only pictures of cats means she has no friends and will possibly die alone).  While the jury is still out on the second part, I actually do have real friends that are not just cute little kittens.  Which brings about a real problem to the whole “our identity is our iPhone”: many misconceptions can be born by trying to understand a person by looking through their smartphone.  While our cell phones may be our life, our life is not our cell phones.  If you actually understood what I just wrote, then bravo!  For the rest of you normal people that means we depend on our phones for a multitude of capabilities; it helps us get through the day.  But unlike our overly expensive and way too delicate friends, we are more complex than a piece of metal.  More than almost all technologies, human beings are filled with beautiful little contradictions and nuances that can barely be understood by other complex humans let alone an artificially intelligent machine.  And although Joaquin Phoenix’s indie flick Her tried to tell us differently, machines are not people and therefore not capable of fully capturing the essence of one’s full identity.

Writing Introduction

Before we start this long journey into the fundamentals of writing and rhetoric, here is a brief profile on my writing style:

        If I’m going to be honest, I really hate writing.  Just the entire process of sitting down, outlining an essay, then putting into an actual workable form to only re-write it later doesn’t really work for me.  I have all of these ideas and thoughts and to put them into actual comprehensive written words is extremely difficult.  I have mostly extroverted tendencies which allows me to talk out what’s going on in my mind easier than putting them on paper.  When writing a formal essay, I usually overthink every little detail which leads to a less focused topic with several themes present.  Since coming to Notre Dame, my teachers have definitely helped me to pinpoint my intentions, yet is still something I struggle with.  As for my strengths, I truly love creative thinking.  I’m an aspiring actress and love all kinds of wonderful and complex characters.  Creating stories with these types of people is something I’d really love to do.  I hope that this course allows me to not only do this, but also sharpen all of my writing skills in a way that makes it easier for me to compose any type of literary work.

       Although I tend to do very little writing outside of class, it is almost impossible for me to put down any book.  At home, I would read almost a book a week, with genres ranging from science fiction to romance to historical dramas.  I truly love to read any and everything, with a special passion for dystopian novels.  I think my avid reading has helped to mold my creative side, but left something to be desired for typical essays.  I find myself switching between formal and informal writing a little too often.  Last semester Professor Brogan was my literature seminar professor and she did a wonderful job with helping me discover what teachers want from an essay.  I did a comparative essay on the Color Purple film and novel which was my best formal essay.  

      Technology is a wonderful way for people to explore their thoughts and writings in an informal stress-free way.  Many sites allow people to post their thoughts in a way to be free from too much judgement, especially one as daunting as a grade.  I use a tumblr to not only speak my mind on certain issues, but also learn about other people’s point of view.  I also like that we can talk about things that we are passionate about which allows the words to flow easier.  For example, I absolutely love fashion and everything Hollywood.  In my blog I combine these two things to create posts to talk about major trends on the red carpet and analyze every Oscar-nominated film for the year.  Although technology has some obvious drawbacks (making things too informal and impersonal, etc.), I truly believe it is a great way to get young people involved in so many different aspects of life. 

     So that’s definitely enough about me.  I hope that with this blog I’ll be able to see my progression as the semester goes on.