Lit Review: In-Class Work Day

In about 200-300 words, explain your visual representation: what's your purpose of your lit review? What are some of your themes? What sources will you use within each theme? Finally, then discuss what's next: where do you need to do to start drafting your lit review.

Why Write and Why Research?

Auster answers his question "why write" through different experiences. For this blog post, you need to respond to this question on two levels: (1) why write in relationship to yourself (use examples from your own life as Auster did) and (2) why research, in other words, why do you need to know how to research? Pull on your own experiences again. 

As you respond to these two questions, you also need to draw on past readings and use key words to begin to make connections between readings and key words and to your own writing identity. 

250-400 words. Respond to one another. 

Due: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 by class time. 

Emily & Dre

Our key terms revolved mainly around rhetorical situation and its role within activity theory-- basically how our rhetor, Chuck Norris, is “learning through doing” (giving) his speech (Russell & Yanez).

The rhetorical situation is spurred on by an exigence, as seen in the explosion bubble near Chuck’s head. Chuck then makes choices as to how he well present his response to this exigence since, after all, “No situation can have a nature independent of the perception of its interpreter or independent of the rhetoric with which he chooses to characterize it.” -Vatz (p. 154).

Next, we placed our audience in the path of the “salience” rays being emitted by Chuck. After this the waves are interpreted, which is a key step in any rhetorical situation. Finally, “logos,” “pathos,” and “ethos” are on top of the audience because they modes through which Chuck’s argument is conveyed upon his crowd.

Our visualization is strong because it is simple AND comprehensive. It’s also highly imagistic, so it’s easier to understand and commit to memory. Plus, it’s Chuck Norris. He’ll kick your ass if you don’t.

DJ, Keegan, Jack

We set up the representation based on a hierarchy within the connections of the key terms. Going off of Vatz’s definition, the rhetor creates the rhetorical situation and thus it is the largest word in our collage. The reason that Vatz has the rhetor in such high regard is because he gets to choose the salience and reinterpret the situation. The second largest word is rhetorical situation because it encompasses some of the other connections like audience, purpose, and salience. Bitzer is the reason we have rhetorical situation as a large word because he includes the whole process, he has the exigence and the audience (the cause and the responder). It shows that we need to be responsive to all parts within the context in order to have the most successful persuasion and so it represents that part of our research, writing, and thinking. It connects to the course because we have discussed these terms in depth more than a few times and it shows how we think the terms have been presented in importance.

Hannah and Will (Vote for us)

Will and Hannah

We chose to create a flowchart to show the connections between several key concepts. We started with rhetorical situation, collectively defined as the cretion of reality. This creation of reality can be thought of using either the definition given by Bitzer or the defintion given by Vatz. Bitzer claims the sitution affects the rhetoric, and therefore Bitzer’s key terms relating to rhetorical situation include exigence, audience, and contraints. Exigence refers to the problem that the rhetor solves through his or her discourse. Audience refers to the people receiving the message. Contraints are the factors that shape the response to the rhetorical situation. Vatz claims that the rhetoric controls the situations, and his definition of rhetorical situation includes the terms salience, choice, interpretation, and rhetor. The rhetor is vital to Vatz’s definition the rhetor chooses, based on what they feel is important (or salient) what they convey. The rhetor is responsible for how the audience interprets the situation that they present. Regardless of whose defintion is used to explain rhetorical situation, the creation of reality synthesises together to provide the final product, which is discourse. 

This flowchart makes sense because different interpretations of the same concept lead to the finished product, discourse, through unique processes. The flowchart also represents both of us as writers because one of us agrees with Bitzer’s view of rhetorical situation while the other agrees with Vatz’s definition. In this course, as with in other courses, we can connect this image to our researching, writing, and thinking skills. For example, our perception of the discourse we produce can be viewed throught the lense of this flowchart.

Ben and Jackie

Here is the link to our online crossword puzzle. After you're on the link, scroll to the bottom and press "solve online" the answer key AKA our key terms are also available at the bottom of the page. Click on "Answer key HTML"
http://www.armoredpenguin.com/crossword/Data/2013.04/2213/22134207.684.html  

For our representation of the key terms of rhetoric we decided to create a crossword puzzle. A crossword puzzle formats the answers in a way that connects letters from one word to another. Therefore, the crossword is an accurate representation of rhetoric. The puzzle illustrates the interconnectedness of the words. Without a rhetorical situation, salience, choice, ethos, pathos, logos etc. would not exist. Although Vatz and Bitzer’s key terms differ immensely, both styles are important when considering the key terms of rhetoric cumulatively. In Vatz’s article, he proposes that, ‘“The very choice of what facts or events are relevant is a matter of pure arbitration. Once the choice is communicated, the event is imbued with salience, or what Chaim Perelman calls ‘presence,’’’(Vatz 157). Therefore, our decision to include salience, choice, and rhetor in our key terms is logical. This statement also reveals how the words are related. The situation would not be interpreted if not for the rhetor. Without the rhetor, a choice would not have been made. In turn, there would be no salience in the situation because the choice of what to make salient would not exist. In an article based on Artistotle’s perception of rhetoric he also references the rhetorical appeals that Bitzer explains. The article states, “According to Aristotle, the available means of persuasion are based on three kinds of proof: logical (logos), ethical (ethos), and emotional (pathos)” (Artistotle 280).

This format represent us as writers because as each word in the puzzle relies on another word to be complete, we rely on all of these aspects of writing in completing a given piece of writing. The crossword relates to the course because we do not only study one aspect of rhetoric. We need to understand all of the different terms in order to build an argument. Just as you use the other answers in a puzzle to determine another solution, we rely on our knowledge of certain terms to guide us in our interpretation of the others. In an article based on Artistotle’s perception of rhetoric he also references the rhetorical appeals that Bitzer explains. The article states, “According to Aristotle, the available means of persuasion are based on three kinds of proof: logical (logos), ethical (ethos), and emotional (pathos)” (Artistotle 280). 

Abdullaziz and Paul

We chose a Venn diagram to best depict the key terms accumulated over the quarter for a couple of reasons. The first and most important reason was to connect the rhetor and audience and show how the two create the rhetorical situation.  A picture tells 1000 words making a Venn diagram easy to follow and understand.

The representation we created makes sense, because according to Vatz, the rhetor holds a big portion of the power that creates the rhetorical situation; that’s why you can see more terms in the rhetor category. The audience’s interpretation and perspective allows for the creation of the Vatz’ rhetorical situation.

Due to our similar styles of thinking and writing, a Venn diagram was a logical choice to represent the key terms. As writers, we both describe ourselves as grammatically and logically organized. As researchers, we collect data and find connections in order to generate an accurate idea based on the acquired knowledge. This also relates to Johnson’s ideas of how good ideas get created; he says that good ideas come from many perspectives coming together to create a new unique fully developed idea.

This is connected deeply within the course as to how we always discuss new ideas in class and find connections in-between different terms and concepts. This method moves on with us as thinkers into other courses that demand writing in college. Key terms and concepts in writing will be utilized by everyone including us throughout our studies, jobs and professions.