Explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations.
For this, I have pictured a subway poster after the mask mandate had been lifted. There is a use of humor appeal with this poster, specifically on the “you do you” image. This image was used in an in class discussion for a free write. We spoke about the rhetorics of the poster and the message it is trying to convey to the audience. Before this the mask mandates were tight and there was even a version of this poster with the masks mandated.
Develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing.
I have displayed my first and last drafts of the This I No Longer Believe essay. I tend to be stubborn with my writing and ignore a big chunk of feedback because I’m not sure how to tweak it the way they mean. Following suggestions that others have to offer can be the difference between a good essay and an excellent essay. This semester I have made it a goal of mine to adhere to feedback that I think is beneficial to my writing overall. This is clearly pictured in these two drafts that have gone through peer review. They are significantly different and have been revised many times.
Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.
During the semester we have been engaged in many writing situations to strengthen our understanding of rhetorical devices and how to use them in our writing. I have pictures the romance, gender, and sex appeal rhetorical devices. Textbook exercises have prompted us to take a closer look at rhetorical devices.
Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.
The use of peer review on blackboard has allowed me to connect with my peers and strengthen my writing process. I am able to know where they stand in writing and where I stand in comparison to them. In addition, I am able to get the help of a fresh set of eyes.
Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.
An example of digital technology we have used all summer is our Commons website. The website allowed for us to connect, post our responses, and facilitate the semester altogether.
Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.
In order to use the evidence in my research paper, I had to search for credible sites that were relevant to my topic and were accurate in information. My sources cited shows the different sources I have gone through in order to compose my writing piece.
Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation.
For the Rhetorical Analysis of social movements paper, I was able to create an argument and advocate for BLM while speaking against discrimination of people of color. I was able to summarize the impacts police brutality had on the people and interpret the actions of the police officers.
Practice systematic application of citation conventions.
In my research paper, I have a sources cited page where I show in MLA format where I have retrieved each piece of evidence from.
People Pleaser In the 7th grade, I moved schools. This would have been fine if it were a move from elementary to middle, but this was in the middle of the school years when everyone had already been acquainted with one another. The cliques had already been formed and the friends had already been made. Everyone knows that middle school kids can be brutal, so I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. And to make matters worse, I was transferring from a private school with kids I’ve known all my life, to a public school with kids who were practically strangers. In other words, I was transferring from comfort and familiarity to change and the unknown. Private to public school was a big jump for me and fear of the unknown made me hesitate. My private school experience was very comfortable, not just physically, but socially. It was a small school, so everyone knew each other, and teachers were friends of parents. I remember at times my teachers would show up at my house as guests. It was more so a community than a systematic school. And to tie it all together, it was a predominantly Turkish Muslim school which I fit right into. Whenever kids from other backgrounds attended the school, I would hear remarks like “I hate this school” or “I miss my old school.” Hearing that always made me wonder: “what’s there not to like at this school?” I had never realized that I naturally fit the standard of my school. However, when I entered public school, I was in a completely different world. There were kids from all kinds of backgrounds, kids who already knew each other from elementary school, and A LOT of profanity. I felt like I was in a jungle every Monday to Friday. During my first weeks at my new school, I had made one or two friends, but I was too shy to speak so I didn’t say much. I was sitting at the lunch table, and a classmate who always had a high ponytail and that classic mean girl look on her face asked if she could speak to me. I knew that couldn’t be good but wondered what she could possibly have to say. She crouched down in front of me, as if I was some child in time out and said “I heard you were talking about me and my friends behind my back”- mind you I barely knew her or her friends, she continued, “I know you came from a private school but that’s not how we do it here”- as if we were in Scared Straight or something. She proceeded to tell me to stop talking about her behind her back. So, I sat the rest of the day thinking: “What was she talking about???” I don’t even know her friends’ names so clearly someone told her false information. As a kid in an unfamiliar setting, it made me panic it a bit. I thought if I just minded my business no one would have anything against me, but I turned out to be wrong. From then on, I made sure to always be aware of how I present myself to others. How did other people perceive me? What kind of person was I to them at first glance? Was I nice? Was I a pushover? Was I likeable? Through middle school I continued to wonder what makes a person likeable. I wanted to know how I could become appealing to others. So, I did what a kid does best. Imitate their surroundings. I paid close attention to those around me. Not only in school, but in life as well. How did people who were well liked act? How did kids who were popular act? What was it about them that people were drawn to. After “careful consideration” I thought if I was overly nice to everyone, even if I didn’t want to be, I would be liked. I found myself always agreeing with others and refraining from forming an opinion of my own out of fear of being judged. If I changed my personality to cater to everyone else’s expectations, I wouldn’t be judged. But that only made people take advantage of my kindness. I would take on most of the work in group projects because I believed it would make my peers like me more. I always brought one or two extra of the snack I would have for lunch that day because other students liked it. I took favors from people who would never do the same for me. I even let others copy off my work. I had made it so easy for others to mold me into whatever they wanted, all in efforts of being accepted. Nevertheless, after a few months, I started feeling a bit more comfortable. I thought I had gotten the hang of things. My environment wasn’t as unfamiliar as when I started off. I laughed louder, I took up a bit more space, and felt bit of relief. Until one day at lunch, one of the girls in my friend group told me that I had changed and that she liked the old me better. At first, I was confused as to what she meant but when I asked all she would say is “you just changed”. I’m glad that even though I was confused at the moment, I let her know that just because she told me she likes the “old me”, doesn’t mean that I’m changing back. I constantly think back to that event, and it is one of the very few things I actually remember from middle school. As I got older, I realized that she meant she liked it better when I was shy. When I was afraid to speak my mind. When I was afraid to say no. I was moldable to her standard and now that I had started forming my own personality, she was unable to get what she wanted from me. After high school, many of us went our separate ways and attended different schools, but now that people were free to say whatever they wanted, many things came to light. My best friend that I still that I still spoke to at the time would report back to me the things said behind my back. I found that despite my efforts to be liked, others still spoke badly about me behind my back. Even those who I thought were my friends spoke about me. It to me came as a shock that even people who I have never spoken to before had something to say about me. However, I had recently gotten back in touch with another friend from middle school. She was one of the few people who didn’t have unexpected or hidden harsh feelings towards me. We were sitting on big marble stairs and catching up while other college students were bustling around us, meeting new people. While so much had changed around me, my friend had remained almost the same as how I remembered her, even after all those years. That was a relief to see after all this drastic change we’ve been thrown in to in college. We caught up and spoke about our current happenings and laughed about our memories of the past. However, what caught me off guard was when the topic of our old classmates came up. She went on to mention how she noticed many of them strived for drama and recalled instances where they weren’t the best example of a good friend. This took me by surprise. I had spent so long thinking about how I felt I had been wronged in my past, but it was only ever an inside thought. Now that I had someone else to validate my feelings on the topic, I couldn’t help but do more thinking. It was only now that I realized my middle school “best friend”, who had reported everything said back to me, never tried to stop all the gossip. Instead, she pretended not to be my friend too. At the time I thought she was helping me be able to hear what people had to say with no restraint. I thought she was helping me see the true colors of those around me. But after another look with a fresh set of eyes, is clear the only reason she did so was to fit in. Having the same opinion as others meant validation but she wanted the validation of others at the cost of our friendship. When my friend and I parted ways, it dawned upon me that it doesn’t matter how you look, think, or act, people will always have something to critique about you. So why not do these things for yourself instead of others. Everyone in my past had different standards of what they considered “likeable” traits and because I wanted to be liked by others I tried to mold myself into these traits. It took me a while to learn from my experiences and finally realize that it is impossible to meet everyone’s standards at once. My standards and morals shouldn’t be molded by others, but instead, myself.
Recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations.
Engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes.
Peer Review:
Understand and use print and digital technologies to address a range of audiences.
Commons:
Locate research sources (including academic journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles) in the library’s databases or archives and on the Internet and evaluate them for credibility, accuracy, timeliness, and bias.
Compose texts that integrate your stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation.
As mentioned in my reflection on the Rhetorical Analysis of Social Movements, I believed the paper was not written to the best of its ability due to the limit on the page count and the fact there were no drafts. This may count as a draft, however, I still feel that the paper could improve beyond my revisions. Because a fresh set of eyes would be able to point out revisions I myself wouldn’t be able to, I am not able to revise it to its full extent. Peer review is a great way to hear what others have to say, and it gives me new ideas every time. If this was peered reviewed by a partner, I would then be able to write a fitting paper.
I still believe the revision has made some changes in my analysis for this paper. This time around I focused more on the background portion of the writing, specifically on police brutality. It is clear to see that the advantage that the police force is given has led to an essentially inflated ego. This power trip mixed with racism and discrimination is the very reason Black Lives Matter exists. I mention that “When given weapons, these officers believe take advantage of their position of power and become the main driving component of racial profiling.” No matter how compliant these victims are, officers will take any sign as aggression. People of color are constantly labeled as aggressive. Specifically black women. The aggressive black woman stereotype has been around for a long time. This calmness that POC must have when being assaulted by police officers is for their safety.
This connects to the fear appeal in the second example where the child is missing from the image. Black children will have to be taught from an early age how to behave so they are not misunderstood as hostile, simply for their skin color. This may strike fear in a parent’s heart as they know it is not something they can protect their children from. This is yet another reason for the people to keep fighting against racism and discrimination in the system and society.
This essay was the most challenging out of the three as it was a struggle to compile all of the possible information about the topic I had chosen: mummies. I specifically focused on mummies around the world and if the process of mummification which they went through was ethical or not. I picked a bit of a challenging topic since there is a vast amount of types of mummification around the world. However, this was not the only challenging part. Judging whether or not a cultural practice is ethical or not is hard to determine. In addition, it could easily sound biased. Since this is only a beginning research paper on mummification, one of my worries was that I could not judge whether or not these sacred practices were ethical or not. I am not experienced enough to make such a call. Also, establishing an opinion could make the essay sound more persuasive, rather than factual and informational. It was a struggle to sound academically accurate while approaching such a topic. To add to this, an informational paper is at a higher level for me since you cannot type whatever comes to mind like you would in a personal essay. The facts must come from sources, diligently picked with accuracy, and must all be cited. Despite all this, I still thoroughly enjoyed writing on this topic as it genuinely intrigues me and taught me much about cultures around the world and in the past. I knew there was a lot to write on for this topic and although I was not able to touch on all aspects of mummification, which would be nearly impossible, I feel that I did a good job summing up major examples.
The examples I used specifically were Ancient Egyptian Mummification, Sokushinbutsu, and the Chinchorro mummies. They are significant in their processes but a general recap is that Ancient Egyptian mummies have intricate tombs with many offerings available for the Gods and the soul of the deceased. In addition, they have offered a lot to our knowledge of anatomy. In my essay I state, “the Ancient Egyptians were able to learn human anatomy and more about the body in general due to the fact that the process involved the removal organs. By practicing mummification, the Egyptians were able to learn to make stitches, fix broken bones, and perform basic surgery. They would record their knowledge on papyrus and pass it forward to future generations.” which summarizes how they were able to contribute.
I also touch upon the process of Sokushinbutsu, where Buddhist monks self mummify themselves in order to achieve an eternal state of meditation. I mention that monks believe the spirit is the main body and they go through practices to try and ignore their physical body. This process shows the great lengths gone to achieve this idea as a monk will essentially mummify himself in order to completely ignore his physical body. As Japan became a modern nation, this practice became known as “backwards” and “barbaric” and was eventually outlawed in the 1800s. To tie this all together I mention the Chinchorro mummies in Chile which are the oldest known intentional mummifications. They have natural, black, red, mud coat, and bandage mummies.
As mentioned before, it is difficult to deem these mummifications ethical or not, so instead I base this on what the mummification has contributed to us. By this standard, I feel the Ancient Egyptians are the most ethical and the monks are the least ethical of the methods I have mentioned.
When asked to use a social movement as a topic of focus for my paper, the first thing my mind went to was the Black Lives Matter movement. This is a currently relevant movement that has a lot of interesting material to work with. Specifically the rhetorical aspect of it. This paper would be informational with accurate background knowledge and proper analysis of rhetoric within the movement. By using examples of BLM movement images, I was able to further analyze the use of fear appeal as the use of speaker, message, and audience. The latter is used in almost every political rhetorical analysis because when trying to make a point or send a message, one naturally uses these four elements.
For my specific examples, I analyzed the image of a BLM American flag, as well as a Time Magazine cover. Both are significant on the speaker aspect for different reasons. The man holding the BLM American flag is completely covered, meaning you are unable to see his skin tone. In my paper, I state, “You do not have to be black, or even a person of color to fight for justice and equality for those who are oppressed. However, the reason for his gloves and mask may have also been the mace that is known to be thrown during these protests and demonstrations. This is specifically done by the police who are called to detain any protestors and cease the protest, leading the people to be prepared.” in regards to the man who is covered up from head to toe. A part of my writing that I specifically liked was where I state, “The man is speaking out against discrimination, while the message is the effect of discrimination, and the audience is the discriminator or the discriminated. In a way, they are all a product of discrimination, linking them together.” I believe I did a good job connecting all the aspects of this rhetoric message together here.
I also touch on the speaker element being used for the Time Magazine example, since this specific magazine is very popular and respected as well. The sheer status Time hold as a company is enough to bring attention to whatever is on its cover. This is even more apparent when such a controversial topic is spoken about. Fear appeal is also seen to be used in the Time magazine cover, in which a baby is completely removed from a picture of a mother. When I mention that, “It is a way to show the severity of the situation and show mothers and family’s that their kids can be impacted by the discrimination and oppression of black people. In a way, it scares them into making a stand.” I am explaining the use of fear appeal and how it impacts the audience. Again, this idea of the speaker, message, and audience is used.
When focusing on the writing process of this paper, I would say it is not as successful as my other papers. Given that it is a short 3-4 page response, there is a limited amount to which you can say. In addition to this, there were no drafts to this paper, meaning it was not revised or edited to its full extent. The result of this paper reflected this. Although it addresses the prompt, there is no second or third look over with a fresh set of eyes, which I personally feel, heeds its true potential.
I remember the This I No Longer Believe Essay being truly challenging for me to start. I wasn’t sure what to write about when given such a broad topic. This could have been about any belief in my life thus far so this prompt pushed me to look deeper and truly think. I also learned how to begin an essay and I don’t mean how to write an introduction. When doing such big writing tasks, like writing essays, I feel that I have so much to say that I don’t even know where to start.
The process for this essay came to be a lot easier when given the opportunity to have multiple drafts, along with feedback. It’s in this essay that I picked up a tip in order to help me write future essays, which is to simply start typing and don’t stop, even if I do not like where it’s going. By doing this I am able to at least have something down to work with. If I don’t like what I have started with. I can simply make edits and work with it along the way.
When it comes to the actual essay itself, I had to sit and think about my past which is where my values have most likely changed. I remember the most uncomfortable time of my life, middle school. It was a time of change, physically, mentally, and environmentally. When I look back at this period of my life I am now much more aware of the true meaning of events that have happened to me. In this essay, I was able to reflect on my naivety as I mention in the essay I believed I had friends, but in the future, I realize that it was never really true. When my so-called best friend tells me she claimed to others that she wasn’t my friend, I believed it was for good reason. I go on to explain “ after another look with a fresh set of eyes, is clear the only reason she did so was to fit in.” This essay not only taught me how to get my words out but also taught me a little about my past by allowing me to do some self-reflection. I would never have expected this from a school paper.
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