Compose
Compose arguments in a variety of genres, using rhetorical strategies, claims, and evidence that are appropriate to the rhetorical situation.
For project 1, the genre used would be rhetorical analysis. Using chapter 8 in Writing Today as a guide, I was able to compose an argument for the effectiveness of Dr. Quinones-Hinojosa's essay "Terra Firma". Working within that genre is important to my own work being effective. In my essay, I claim "Dr. Q is effective because he is honest about his past and relates many instances where his life was not easy. Many people living in America at present can relate to these hardships or have followed similar paths to get to where they are today." I go on later to provide evidence of this by using logos, pathos and ethos to analyze his story. For example I say, "Pathos is a very effective tool that generally evokes emotional response to a text." I relate the colorful nature in which he describes his living conditions from when he started to using the same hands that used to pull weeds to now perform brain surgery. Using his vocabulary and language to cause the strong human emotion of hope, I support my claims of how Dr. Q's story is effective in its purpose.
Project 1 was explicitly a rhetorical analysis. Project 2 was a different genre; this time it was to be written within the profile genre. Writing Today again was extremely important to the project. Chapter 5 helped to define what a profile should be. Using the "At-A-Glance" section on page 64 I was able to structure my project in a way that is consistent with the profile genre. I was able to introduce and describe my subject. A strategy I used to help "hook" the reader was to ask the reader questions directly in the introduction, like "what drives someone to become a Nuclear Engineer?" I felt this would help engage the reader from the beginning. Anyone who is not a nuclear engineer (which was specifically my audience!) might really want to know why it is someone would choose a major so complicated and uninteresting to most! And so, on they read! In the end I provided silly anecdotes in the form of a word association type game to highlight a part of my nuclear engineering community and concluded with a statement that hopefully left the reader with a connection with the community, even if not directly apart of it by showing the importance of the community to others, to help "build an improved tomorrow."
Project 3 was a commentary so there was plenty of room for arguments and statements within the piece to be opinion. I stated my opinion, which was that text speak is not destroying the English language, and supported this argument with personal experience as well as some scientific studies I was able to find. Referencing the citation section of project 3, you can see I was able to support my opinion and argument with scientific studies. I was also able to support my argument using personal experience and comparison appropriate for a commentary by saying things like "Examine the language used in our country’s founding documents like the Bill of Rights or the Constitution. We no longer write in those styles, yet English has not crumbled. The language evolves with time and culture."
