Work is something that is hard to define. I work on my homework, I work by doing different tasks at my job, I work on my relationships with friends. Although work can't be defined by one simple action, there is a pattern I realized in all those statements: the work might not be something I want to do, but it is something I have to do in order to achieve certain goals I have set for myself. Whether the work I am doing is something I enjoy or hate, there is an outcome I am seeking to attain from the completion of whatever work I am doing. Work doesn't have to be something you have to force yourself to do, it can be something that you enjoy as much as leisurely activities, but there is something I am hopeful to accomplish by completion of work. Work wouldn't include something I am doing strictly for fun, I can have fun working on something, but watching Netflix isn't work. In my opinion even if I were to get paid to watch Netflix shows I already planned on watching that wouldn't be work. Now, if I were to be paid to watch something I didn't want to watch, maybe then that would be work, but I'm still iffy on that.
My definition of work is reinforces what Ciulla said because you can't simply call one thing working and call it a day, working has many different faces, from the monk meditating to the painter painting. I think I believe that work is something that involves necessity, it is something we have to do in order to accomplish a larger set of goals we have for ourselves. It can be for a job, but it can also just be something that you work on to express yourself or better yourself as a person.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Reflecting on my Rhetorical Analysis
As our first academic paper of the semester, I'm happy with what I've put forth. My confidence level is a little shakier than with the photo essay, but I'm still proud of the work that I have done. As far as sticking to my statement of purpose and design plan, I think I did my best. The design plan was more straight forward being that this was an academic paper with clear directions as to font, layout, and language. The hardest part concerning layout and the pictures was getting the ads to be where I wanted them to be, while having the text not become secondary. Originally I had hoped to make the pictures stretch across the page since 3 out of 4 are landscape, but that just wasn't possible seeing that once everything was typed out and in MLA format. I think that the pictures lose almost a bit of their impact by being on the smaller side, but I think that my analysis brings the parts of the photos that are too small to light. But, I still think I did a good job of writing in an academic way while still being able to reach my target audience. I think I stuck to my purpose as far as the subject matter I was analyzing. Since my focus is the environment and the wildlife that inhabit it, I really do like the ads I chose. I had finalized them after I wrote my statement of purpose and design plan, so I think they are very fitting for what my topic is. I think I tried my best to stress how important ads can be throughout our daily lives. We see them every day, but a lot of them are pretty much about unimportant things and the WWF ads are actually of import. My main goal was to make sure people took the time to consider those ads as much as any other ad that might be internalized by them. As always I think there is room for improvement, but all in all I'm proud of what I have done so far and I think that I have laid a good foundation for myself. If I improve upon I think I already know what I need to do. I think I can do a better job of bringing all four pictures together and following through thoroughly with my purpose.
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Statement of Purpose and Design Plan for Rhetorical Analysis
Statement of Purpose
Purpose: My motivation for this rhetorical analysis is to
continue with the groundwork I laid for myself in the photo essay. I want to
stick to an emphasis on the environment which is why I chose to use WWF ads. After reading my paper I hope my audience will have a better
understanding of what the ads that WWF is trying to portray
and make people think about. Because that is their general purpose: make people
think about the important issues concerning our environment. The main situation
that makes me want to have this as my subject would just be the state of our
planet as it is presently. The best possible outcome of this paper would be
people taking more time to consider the impact they have personally and that
they can indeed make a difference. Seeing ads like this is not uncommon, they
are in magazines, they’re all over the internet on different websites, and there are a plethora of them if you take the time to do a simple Google search. The
best thing that could happen with my analysis would be people actually being
able to internalize the ads they see so very often. The worse possible outcome
would be that people just completely ignore the subject and don’t give it any
thought. I have faith that my essay will encourage people to give it thought
though and don’t foresee a “worse” outcome. This paper could change the
situation because it could make people become more introspective when they see
something like a WWF and have a better understanding of what it means and what
the purpose of it is.
Audience: As always on a small
scale my audience is my peers in class and my professor. But, on a much larger
scale I want my audience to be anyone who has had their interest piqued when
they saw a WWF ad or an Ad Council ad about the environment. My audience could
even be someone who has very little understanding of the environment and wants
to learn more and try and comprehend the ads they see about the environment.
The age range of the targeted audience would be high school to college and even
a little older, the people who can make the most difference in our future
society.
Context: The context, since it is posted on my blog is a
little up in the air. Because of the fact that anyone can view at any time of
day, or night for that matter. So they context really all depends on when
someone comes across my blog and finds it interesting. In the school context it
would be reviewed during our class time which is at 2 in the afternoon.
Design Plan
Strategies: Going off of my statement of purpose I will need
to make sure that I write in an academic language that still translate to my
audience and make it easy for anyone to understand. Keeping the attention of my
audience will be key and I think I can achieve that by choosing ads that that
age group would find interesting. Formatting and the flow of the essay will be
paramount because it’ll keep their attention and keep them focused on the
subject at hand.
Ethos: To effectively employ ethos I will need to show my
credibility on the subject. I think that my photo essay was a good start and if
I try and keep the same theme going that I’ll be in good standing. Obviously I
will need to use more effective academic language and show that I am a credible
source.
Pathos: I will have to make sure that I try my best to make
the readers care about the subject of an analysis on WWF and Ad Council ads. I
think the ads speak for themselves quite a bit so I already have a good
foundation laid for where my text needs to take the readers.
Logos: I will have to be logical and have a solid structure
as to where my argument goes and have it lead somewhere that the readers can
follow. I have to give myself credibility so they can rely on what I’m saying.
Medium: With this being an academic essay, the medium used
is pretty clear: Word. It will all be text and include between 4-7 photo ads
that I will select with thought and consideration over where exactly I want my
paper to take people’s minds.
Arrangement: The arrangement will take some more thought
because I still need to set in stone what pictures I will be using for the ads that
I am analyzing. The order to which I utilize the pictures is really important
because it will determine the flow of the entire paper so that is what I need
to focus on most. The actual text of the paper will flow properly if I choose
wisely the order of the ads. Arrangement will be key to the effectiveness of my
paper and it will also be key in keeping people’s attention and determining
where the argument will go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)