What I've learned.

In ENC 1102, I have learned many valuable lessons that are sure to help me in my professional life. Chiefly I have learned how to make writing an enjoyable experience rather than a chore. I also learned how to make my writing effective with the use of rhetoric. I learned a certain kind of versatility from the many different genres I had to write and I learned how to make subjects that are usually not very interesting to the public accessible and enticing. Lastly, I learned how to approach writing to guarantee a successful piece. What still eludes me is how to write a book. I don't understand how people find enough to say to provide the length of a book. I am guaranteed to use writing in my future as a physicist. As an Undergraduate student I will probably have to write research papers and reports on the topic of physics accompanied by the subjects of history, literature, etc. As a Graduate student I will have to get many different articles published in scientific journals to establish my name and to receive my Ph.D, I will have to write a dissertation that contributes to the knowledge already had by scientists. Furthermore, I will have to write books to get published to make myself more marketable for tenure as a professor at a university. These all seem like very daunting tasks, and they are. However, I feel better equipped to take on these tasks after taking ENC 1102 and I even look forward to them.

Distribution

The genres I chose for MA3 were the speech, the presentation, and the obituary. In regards to the speech, it would be distributed by me speaking it. To make the speech effective, I need to think who my audience is going to be and appeal to their concerns and emotions. I would have to use profound words and enticing analogies. The presentation would be distributed by a lecturer explaining it. It should contain images that further demonstrate a point that is trying to be made and the images should be entertaining enough as to hold the audience's attention. The obituary would most likely appear in a newspaper in the obituaries section. It should very briefly recount the events and people in a person's life that made them who they were and reveal what contributions they made to the world. A speech would be circulated either by word of mouth or through databases. If a speech was successful to a certain degree, it would be quoted and used as a model for other speeches (i.e. Lincoln's Gettysburg address or MLK's "I have a Dream"). It could also serve as a source for research to analyze the time period the speech was written. A presentation would circulate by means of knowledge. The different facts and figures contained in it would be made apparent to others by the people who were actually given the lecture. Obituaries circulate, again, by word of mouth. I imagine when obituaries were more used, they were read often and talked about.
 "Did you see Mr. X has passed."
"Yes I have, I saw an entry for him in the obituaries. What a shame. At least Mrs. X wrote a beautiful obituary for him to contribute to his memory."

Genre

Genre is a very powerful concept in writing that can completely overhaul the rhetoric style someone uses in terms of word choice, sentence length, layout, etc. I am ashamed to admit that as an adolescent the genre I deal with mostly are Facebook posts. The audience of this genre varies widely but is mostly concentrated with teenage users. Users have the ability to put a lengthy post on Facebook (as I am guilty of) but it is usually expected that a post be short and witty. On the contrary, users sometimes expect to see political cartoons, media and the like posted by someone who shares the ideology with those pieces. Furthermore, posts from icons and celebrities are also expected. I do find difficulty in relating a Facebook post with any other genres I am familiar with. The best relation to a Facebook post I could think of is a casual conversation where people try to keep interesting by being witty but not so deep so a three hour conversation results. My favorite "genre benders" are monologues, speeches, etc. where a person gives audible meaning and emotion to the words. It makes the writing extra-dimensional since the writer knows exactly what he is trying to express to his audience and has the opportunity to in his/her own voice with varying inflection and annunciation. Speeches and monologues themselves have a better chance of bringing an audience to action, in my experience, than any other genre. Speeches are generally very strong logically and emotionally. They appeal less to ethos since you have already established it; you have to have a certain degree of credibility to be asked to speak anywhere. Speech writers choose their words very carefully and start off with a very strong introduction and end with a very profound and inspiring ending.

Knowledge

Knowledge is a compilation of many people's work throughout our entire conscious history. We, that exist currently, are now playing a part in the "neo-compilation" of knowledge as will future generations. Belief is giving something meaning and relevancy without any evidence or observation. Rhetoric and writing contribute to knowledge on the grounds that they explore new ideas and provide avenues for future research and develop one's curiosity and passion those of which knowledge is based on. However, one can ask if knowledge is discovered or created. I can only speak of science and mathematics given my intimacy with them. In these two disciplines, knowledge is discovered. The universe has been here for some 13.8 billion years with established fundamental laws that we discover in the raw language of mathematics. Newton likened himself to a child playing on a beach with "a vast ocean of discovery" in front of him in light of this. It is very tempting for us as humans to adhere to preconceived ideas but we must learn how to dismiss ideas and hypotheses that do not fit with observations and facts. Furthermore, the plural of anecdote is not data. One must be weary of the myths told by numerous everyday laymen, charlatans, and media such as we only use ten percent of the brain (we use the whole thing!). Maintain a healthy skepticism and do not be lazy; research and verify claims no matter how meaningless the argument. It is good practice and can help in bigger and more important debates such as gay marriage or abortion.

Dissoi logoi of Rhetorical Analysis

The Case Against: Rhetorical analysis is a useless tool that only opens a writer's piece to debate. Many people could find a justifiable reason why someone wrote a piece even though it may have nothing to do with the real intent of the author. Put very simply, rhetorical analysis is a facilitator of misunderstanding. We must focus on what a writer is saying and not why he/she is saying it. It can be seen as insubstantial why he/she is saying it. The only thing that matters in writing are claims backed by evidence and intellectual thought. On another note, rhetorical analysis distracts from the author's point. When we think of a piece of literature we mundanely know that all writing has a purpose. Knowing that writing has a purpose causes us to dismiss the author's claims and they are not taken as seriously. It extremely depreciates the author's piece and makes it useless.

The Case For: Rhetorical Analysis can prevent calls to action by tyrants. By truly understanding an author's thought process, you can discern if her/his sentiments are pure or not. Many civilizations have done terrible things because of writing by the "evil", however; if their writing was truly scrutinized, then the horrible histories could have been prevented. By using rhetorical analysis, one does not read a piece lazily and take it at face value. He/she begins to truly understand the author and their character. Then, the reader chooses, based on the author's character, whether he/ she will become an agent of the author's philosophies. This advances the betterment of humanity and society as a whole.

Writing

Writing is a way to make a person or a thought immortal. We read about these figures and philosophies of the past and realize these aspects were reality for the people of that time. If someone has past, but the thought of him/ her is alive in the population's mind, then he/ she is not really dead. Over the years, as a student, I have written many pieces. The genres run the gamut of creative pieces to research pieces. In my personal life, I have written memoirs and observations of the world around me. I simply thought, recalled and reflected on the page. I have read the full extent of pieces that are possible from ads to essays that convince people to follow a certain philosophy. To write well, one must make the content relevant and link different pieces of the writing with enticing logicality. Spelling errors and awkward phrasing and/or transitions should be eradicated completely. As an 1102 student, the aspects previously mentioned should be mastered and understood. An 1102 student should also always consider the audience he/she is addressing; this should actually be the first thing considered. Considering the major I am pursuing (Physics), I will have to write many pieces convincing the people that my work has a firm foundation and it is well supported (logos and ethos). I will also have to appeal to administrative audiences to receive funding for my research (logos). However, most importantly I must make the general public aware of what I have found and what it means. This can become very clouded with technical science language, so many metaphors and synonyms will have to be used. My least favorite type of writing is creative writing since I am not very well trained in coming up with my own narrative. My favorite type of writing is a research paper because I revel in relaying information and linking it all together.