Reflection of Rhetorical Analysis

When I started planning and writing my rhetorical analysis, I had a hard time because I was not familiar with the type of paper we had to write. In high school, the writing assignments that I was mostly assigned were persuasive essays and research papers. I was not familiar with ethos, pathos, and logos. So as I was reading Cro-Magnon Karma: One Dude and his Body Image Issues, I wasn't sure at first what kind of appeals Godsey used in his essay or even what to look for in the text. I read the text over and over and took down lots of notes on the text. I went to the Writing Resource Center and they were a great help! My tutor helped me to understand each appeal. In addition, the activities done in class and the assigned readings were also of great help. I especially thought the most challenging was when we had to read "Passing Before Life's Very Eyes" and having to analyze the pictures. After having a good understanding of what falls under each appeal, writing the paper was also challenging. I looked over the sample paper in the CILCTE book so I could see how to format and organize my paper. Looking over the sample paper helped me to organize my paper, how to get my paper to flow from one idea to the next. But I think the most challenging part was to find what was stated in the text to support my ideas. Finally, I think most of us had some difficulty with grammar. I know I did, considering how I had a lot of mistakes in my conventions when my rough draft was handed back to me. After going over my paper and fixing up the kinks, it turned out to be a very well written paper. I feel that I've learned a lot from writing this paper. I learned a new type of writing that I've never done before. Also, I feel proud of myself for completing this paper. I did have difficulty at first writing the paper. I didn't think my paper would have been up to standards, but in the end it turned out ok.

"Allegory of the Cave" and "The Banking Concept of Education"

In "Allegory of the Cave", Plato mentions details of comparing two realities, one of being a prisoner in a dark cave and the other of being out in the light, seeing the outside surroundings. He mentions how in each setting there is a certain perspective. For example, since the prisoners are only allowed to face forward and were chained up, they did not get the chance to see the true object. They only saw the shadows of the object and therefore had to memorize the shadows of the object to recall it. Where as if one were exposed to the light and the outside surroundings would have a different perspective than that of a prisoner. Plato also mentions how one would think that their reality is more true than another reality. Because they do not expose themselves to other realities, they limit themselves from taking in new information. Therefore, by being more open minded to different perspectives lets us take in new information, expanding our knowledge.
In "The Banking Concept of Education", Freire goes into detail about two different concepts of learning between the teacher and student. The Banking Concept views the teacher as having all the knowledge and that the student knows nothing. The student's role is to listen, memorize, and repeat the information. The second concept that Freire goes into is the Problem-Posing Education Concept. This concept opposes the banking concept. It no longer poses the student as just a listener, but lets the student interact with the teacher. It lets the student ask questions to have a better understanding of the content. In addition, questioning the world around us makes us more in tune with ourself and our reality, therefore expanding our knowledge.
In both texts, both authors seem to be aiming towards the same idea, knowledge and experiences. The main emphasis is the perception of our reality to expand our knowlege. By memorizing information and being told what our reality is does not let us learn or experience things for ourselves. If we are more open minded to different perspectives and we question the world around us, we can become more educated and in tuned to our surroundings instead of just adapting to the world.

Anxious America: Smyrna, Tennessee; Foreign Investment brings a town jobs--and worries too

This article tells us about how the Japanese make, Nissan, decides to build its plant in Smyrna, Tennessee where it created thousands of jobs for the people of Smyrna. "With 5,700 employees, Nissan remains Smyrna's largest employer...". But from the competition in the auto industry, Nissan decided to offer a buyout plan. This cut 770 jobs at Smyrna and the hiring of temporary workers has the full-time workers concerned they'll be "pushed out to make room for less expensive labor". Rick Bratcher, who opened up a car dealership in 1992, sees how American companies have moved to foreign destination. Although Nissan says that they do not plan to shut down their plant at Smyrna, Bratcher and other people of Smyrna are concerned that Nissan might resort to moving over seas.
Although many companies start out in the United States, they end up taking their business over seas so that they can make more profit by paying workers less. As said by GM lobbyist Tom Kay, "Businesses need to stay competitive in today's economic climate". But in certain countries such as Asia, the U.S. currency is worth more. So Japan might have wanted to build the Nissan plant in the U.S. so that they would make more profit.
This article relates to the documentary "Roger and Me" because they both had a similarity in their story, that an automobile plant provided the people in the city their jobs. As stated at the beginning of the documentary by Michael Moore, "Roger Smith's plan was to close 11 GM plants, move to Mexico and build 11 plants there, paying workers 70-74 cents an hour", which relates to how Nissan is hiring temporary workers for less expensive labor.

http://wf2la4.webfeat.org/

Roger and Me

I think the purpose for Michael Moore making his documentary "Roger and Me" was to inform and give people insight about what happened at the time GM closed in Flint. At that time, the news about the closing of GM and the lay-off of 30,000 people was nation wide, but people were only hearing about it. By making this documentary, Moore let people actually see what was going on, letting people have a visual perspective of this tragedy. By interviewing people, using their expert testimony, and having his film crew showing the visual evidence of what was happening in Flint, Moore effectively appeals to his audience by using logos.
Some visual evidence he provides on his documentary were that after GM closed, the city started to look poor, since the lay-off affected the majority of people living in Flint. The crime rate had gone up and he shows us that there weren't enough jail cells for the incoming inmates. People had to look for alternative modes of making money. Moore interviews a few people about their alternative such as the color consultant, the lady who raised bunnies and butchered them, and the manager of the Taco Bell. In addition, from Moore's interviews of people who were ex-GM workers, from their tones and their facial expressions, you can sense a feeling of anger from them which I feel leads to Moore's use of pathos.
This documentary affected us emotionally as well. Although most of us weren't there when this tragedy happened, by watching this documentary and seeing what the people of Flint had to go through, it almost makes us feel sorry for them. I think that Moore used this appeal to relate to his audience emotionally. As he uses logos and pathos he effectively raises awareness and informs his audience about the situation in Flint.

Passing Before Life's Very Eyes

I didn't really understand this comic at first. But after looking over it several times, my interpretation of the comic strip is that an old man dies and sees his life playing like a film right before his eyes. There is an image of him as a boy that explains to the older man what is happening. It is as if the boy and the older man take the journey towards death together.
At the beginning of the comic strip, the old man is on a hospital bed and it looks as if something is coming out of him. As what most people have been told about death, that when someone dies, their soul is seperated from their body. In that first (p.216), without using any words, I feel that that is what Wolfgang wanted us to interpret from the picture, that the old man's soul is seperated from his body. The next few images are of the old man flying by different scenes, some with people in them. I think that from these pictures, it shows his soul taking him on a journey through his life, but the old man sees this happening as if from an outsider's point of view. The old man then sees himself as a child and they come face to face. The child then explains to the old man that their heart just stopped and they they're basically strolling down memory lane before they come to their final stop, their final ending when everything fades away.
There are many different views that people have about what happens to the soul when we die. I feel that Wolfgang's use of visual pathos lets us see how he visualizes the journey towards death. He uses images as if to describe a scene towards death; the image showing is that of our lives passing before our very eyes, as shown in the comic from how the old man flies through different places. I also think that his use of words explains his interpretation of the stage before and at death. For example, the author has the child saying, "So, our brain has us mixed up in cocktail of serotonin and endorphins which creates for us a little 'film' to watch while life is yanked from our body" (p.227) and "Some folks choose 'the light at the end of the tunnel/dead relatives' package. Others ride an albino tiger into the sky with Elvis. We've opted for the 'Good ol' life before our very eyes memory lane special" (p.229).

The Southland

The south is a place where many battle scenes have taken place. The remains of those scenes are very impressive. It lets people see the story of the past. The southerners have a different mindset. Even though they were enemies with the North and were defeated by them, they do not view themselves as defeated or wrong.
If you are from the North, you do not have the same visual perspective that the southerners have for their area. The northerners only see an area of defeat. They do not realize that the dream like images portrayed in poems are those of the landscape and charm of the south. When the author states "Little by little this dream world is being penetrated by the spirit of the North. The South is crumbling under the heel of the conqueror," I feel like the author is saying that nowadays, people only give recognition to those who are victorious.
Many of the places in the South hold memories of the war, as the author stated "Charleston is a beautiful memory, a corpse whose lower limbs have been resuscitated." He mentions many places that still hold the beauty and heart of the war, that it's like by looking at them, it takes you back into that time. For example, as he stated, "There are trees, plants, shrubs, flowers such as are seen nowhere else, and which are not only extraordinary beautiful but haunting and almost overwhelmingly nostalgic," he emphasizes on how seeing these images of these plants haunts the person about that time. Another example is where the author states, "Savanah is a living tomb about which there still clings a sensual aura as in old Corinth." The way he compares Savanah to an aura that still clings tells us that there's still something there, something from the past that still holds on, that makes it memorable, or in relation to the other quote, it makes it a haunting.
There are many great splendors that have developed, being influenced from places as Charleston, Savanah, and New Orleans. These great cities inspire people and arouse them with great emotion. One example that the author uses in relation to these cities is the statue of the Buddha at Avery Island. The statue of the Buddha is impressive, sitting tall and showing great poise. I feel that this statue inspires people to go on by representing hope, desire, courage, and belief.
I feel that in this essay, the author uses a great amount of ethos and pathos. His use of ethos lets us see that he is very interested in this particular subject. He shows a great amount of passion and is profoundly moved by the events of the south. His passion about this subject also leads us to the pathos he uses. His use of descriptive words lets his audience visualize the battle scenes and the places that he's been to. I also think it shows how inspired by the subject he is and how he wants his audience to be more informed about the South.