My Peer Review Reflection

I learned several things from reading other people’s papers concerning effective argumentation strategies. I read my partner’s paper fully through to get an overview. Then I reread the paper again and this time looking for persuasive writing techniques, including style, arrangement, logos, pathos, ethos, and kairos, in his paper, as well as the techniques described about his visual in the paper. In doing all this, I fully realized that I had a good understanding of what the techniques were, and that I knew how to apply them to my writing in an effective manner. One of the best ways to completely learn how to do something is to actually try to teach it to someone else. I was able to point out to my partner that he should group his aspects under specific paragraphs pertaining to that technique. Furthermore, I showed him how to make effective transitions from one paragraph to another, using transition words and linking topics. When an author is writing an essay, a paper, or a book, it is so easy to leave out words that they may have meant to put in. Some of these words are very crucial to the meaning of a sentence and they get over-read because the writer is thinking they meant to write word. Also, it is common for a writer to mis-communicate what they are trying to convey. The style, words, and paragraphs of your paper may make sense to you, but will they always make sense to a reader? This exercise demonstrated to me just how useful peer revision can be, and the constructive criticism that can improve your writing is a definite positive.

Visual Rhetoric Thesis

The music video for Green Day’s song, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”, promotes the idea of America’s youth engaging the present with the goal of bettering the future, no matter how vigorous and challenging it can be, by showing a situation between a developing young man and his girlfriend and using persuasive techniques within this situation, including logos, ethos, pathos, kairos, and several other key techniques.

At a Glance

The visual I chose for this assignment was the Green Day music video of “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” This image attempts to persuade the audience very well with its ethos, pathos, logos, kairos, and other persuasive techniques. A full range of emotions are depicted in the film, with everyday people trying to convey a message of building the future for the betterment of society. So many different visuals all in one creates a large view of topics in which to discuss and should be sufficient in elements to be analyzed.
The author is Green day of course, but Green Day represents this ages youth, and this is exactly to whom they are speaking to. The audience is people there age, late teens to twenties. This gives them some credibility of how they are representing the present day, and the ideals that are shared among most of our age.
My interpretation of this visual is that it promotes the betterment of society and of our world that we live in for the benefit of the future. They show a specific scene in which a young man signs up in the military in an attempt to make his future a better place for him and his girlfriend. They use several different scenes in which the viewer can comprehend all of the different feelings surrounding the situation.

"I have a Dream"

“I have a dream.” These words were not only spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his I have a dream speech, but by many people throughout history. Yet, when we hear this line, all minds turn to Dr. King. His speech has been made one of the most known in history, right up there with most presidents’ speeches. This is because King believed in what he was saying and he knew how to use arrangement, style, logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos, even if he did not know they were labeled that. The video watched online not only showed the aspects that Dr. King used, but it also showed the ones that the people who made the video used.
Arrangement was used on Kings part, particularly using block structure and thematic structure. He would give accounts of events that happened, like the injustices in Mississippi, displaying his block structure. The themes he used included patriotism, racism, religion and hope. He refers to the constitution a good deal as well. Proper visuals and pictures were created for positive support of the cause. In the short film, Dr. King wears a suit to look professional, is clean shaven with a neat mustache, American flags everywhere, and there are all types of people there that are shown. Children, adults, senior citizens, uniformed soldiers and sailors, lower class people, and upper class people are all shown, and they are white and black cheering all together as one America that wants to move forward.

Style was used by Dr. King in his careful selection of words and the way in which he presented them. King’s voice is formal, educated, with a large vocabulary, and hestarts of almost monotone and gets more into it. He uses phrases and metaphores like, “Chains of discrimination”, “ the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in an Ocean of prosperity” and that America gave African americans a bad check which has come back marked as having insufficient funds. Everyone can relate to these situations, and it helps give a picture when he states that they want to now cash that check. King says” his children”, confirming he is a father, and knows responsibility. This says taking care of those who depend on him is what he is knows, and it makes him a father figure to all. King’s references to god reestablish his pastor status and thus people follow him. This contributes to his ethos as well.

Ethos played a large part, he was a pastor and people followed him. He spoke intelligently and with confidence. He spoke of history and showed that he knew what he was talking about.
The pathos in Dr. King’s speech was that which inspired. He made people feel hope of change, patriotism, and pride in the African American race.
The logos of the speech is fairly obvious to all Americans. Dr. King talks about how the constitution was set up with promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that it was made to all people, white and black, as one American people. He talks of having equal, and not greater, rights. He talks about children going to the same schools and getting along with each other. He tells of the problems and the need to fix them. He even cites examples of problems, like the injustices of Mississippi. He says he has a dream. America is the land of opportunity and were dreams come true.
Kairos was very planned out for the speech and was key in its success. It was set in Washington DC, in front of the Lincoln monument, during the height of the civil rights movement with a large and diverse audience cheering in happiness. The location showed a powerful political message to the government asking for change, and to the all Americans, having Washington just as a representation of us all.
Dr. King was a great visionary, not to mention a wonderful public speaker and a master of arrangement, style, ethos, logos, pathos, and kairos. His command of this principle is what made him persuasive and spurred people to listen to him.

Carl Jewell is a dashing young mechanical engineering major, and is a sophomore at Clemson University in South Carolina. Though Carl was raised in New Jersey all his life, he has had a fascination with traveling, and since his move to Clemson, has traveled to Europe. He studied in renewable energy sources and international studies in Germany, and examined the elaborate architecture of both Germany and Italy. Jewell plans on doing an internship come Fall 2009 in an effort to expand his mechanical horizons, to gain experience and further comprehension of the work place, and to save up financially for a chance to study abroad in Australia come Spring 2009. Carl believes strongly in hard work, quoted saying, "If you're going to do something, take the extra time to do it right, and be persistent. It's the key to success!" He devotes countless hours in the betterment of his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and plans to apply all the lessons he has learned in college to the "real" world. After college, Jewell hopes to put his mechanical engineering degree to use, getting a job with Disney, Hollywood set design, or potentially NASA. In Carl Jewell's words "I believe my creativity and love of constructing things would make me an excellent candidate for the inventors' realm, maybe making a lasting mark on society. I only wish to do great things, and not just for myself. "

Goal

The goal that I wish to achieve in ENG103 this semester, is to expand on my writing capabilities after a long absence from any serious writing.

Hello

this is just a test...