In Zuleyka Zevello’s “The March for Science Can’t Figure Out How to Handle Diversity” is an analysis of recent politically debated legislature such as offering abortion services, Trump’s desire to build a wall between Mexico and the US, and threatening the American Health Care Act that could have negative impacts to the scientific community. The origins of this march is so that scientists can come together and protest against actions that threaten their careers, stating that theses marchers are “non-political”. There is wide controversy on the claim that these marches are “non- political” because many posts on social media state that there is no such thing as a “non- political” protest. Not only does the march stress their non-political affiliations, they stress the importance of equality in the field of science because “science” does not care if you are black, white, Hispanic, transgender, etc. If you can contribute to augmenting the knowledge of those around you, you and your ideas should be accepted.
What I believe that this particular case speaks to issues relevant to this course is the importance of keeping one’s audience in mind when publicly supporting/ publicly writing for any cause they believe fair. If you lose track of who you are writing for/ who you are trying to persuade, you lose track of the purpose of your text; and in some cases, this can be fatal to the success of an organization. For example, the march for science focused on gathering active supporters on the topic that science does not see differences in race, gender, political affiliation, it only focuses on facts and data. Knowing who their audience was crucial to their organization’s success. I believe that this relates to my final project because the purpose of the organization we are working for has to be geared towards and understood and accepted by all people regardless of their race, gender, political views, etc. Shaping the approach of my final project to be understood by all audiences is something that I believe will increase the success of Gloria Gemma’s mission.
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In Graham Smart’s text, “Discourse Coalitions, Science Blogs, and the Global Debate Over Climate Change”, he struggles to decode a debated topic revolving around climate change. The way he unravels this debate through the way he views the three main discourse coalitions on the topic of climate change: Skeptics, Advocates, and Eco-Optimists. If you did not already know, Skeptics can be defined as “a person inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions”; Advocate can be defined as “a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy”; and Eco-Optimists can be defined as “someone who seeks to show how we can come out the other side of our current ecologic and economic crises in a better place than we started”. Smart looks at the differences in not only how they communicate their ideas/ findings with the outside world, but also on how the different information is used by the other groups. He relates this style of communication to that of blog posts, as seen here, where people can comment and share other information on that same topic and almost debate with one another. Ultimately, he states that the fact that the presentation of this info is presented in a way to almost focus on the debate and not the presentation of data, outside audiences find it hard to find conclusions on topics such as climate change.
A connection that I made from Smart’s writing to this class, especially connecting to my final project is reflecting on how group members, organization members, and members of the breast cancer world Perceive/ interpret information, communicate that information with one another, and then present it to the outside world. This is important to me because my group and I need to understand this communication link to create a successful blog and web page for Gloria Gemma’s audience, especially millennials. My final project is to work with Gloria Gemma to improve their social media page (Instagram), to better connect with millennials and reach a broader audience to gain more traffic to their page; thus, I discovered an article called “how to Setup a Successful Instagram Business Profile” on ThriveHive.com. Here, author Zach Bunick emphasizes the most valuable part of ones Instagram account is their profile, “It tells other Instagram users exactly what your business is, the services and products you offer, and where you’re located”. Apart from an effective account profile, he touches on the importance of (1) Choosing a Handle, (2) Choosing a Bio Title, (3) Adding your company’s website to their bio, and (4) Writing a description; they are discussed in the following sections:
The first technique that I saw was that the first sentence or opening paragraph was intended to immediately capture the audience’s attention. In my case, we can say that the “first sentence” for an Instagram page can be the initial sentence in your company’s bio. It should be engaging and stand apart from other like companies to give one an edge on their competition. One more technique I noticed was utilizing simple language that was easy for any audience to comprehend. Here, we can use simple language in one’s description as summarized in bullet number four to be able to effectively “state your purpose, show your brand voice, and prove your credibility all in one small snippet”. Since Instagram pages are usually very short descriptions of one’s company, it is crucial to incorporate simple language into their profile to market their services/ purpose. I intend to incorporate this last technique into my final project due to the fact that Instagram pages have limited text space for a profile description, it will help me and my team condense our clients company description. The article that I decided to read and analyze is called “The Importance of Nutrition!” written by Sean Quade, obtained off Bodybuilding.com. The reason I chose this article is because I love fitness and working-out, adopting a bodybuilders mentality towards my lifting due to the fact that both my roommates in my freshman and sophomore year of college were dedicated bodybuilders. I have acquired extensive knowledge behind lifting and how one becomes “in shape” (e.g. losing fat and gaining muscle), and one of the main questions I am always asked is how to properly diet. This article covers the basics of “bodybuilding” nutrition and the general guidelines of one’s diet for them to put on muscle. To begin, the basic three macro nutrients concerned with bodybuilding are proteins (which are composed of various amino acids that are the building blocks of muscle tissue), carbohydrates (the body’s most readily available source of energy used for muscle growth), and fats (the body’s source of stored energy, protect inner organs, and act as an insulator for the human body to keep warm). This article explains different sources of these three macronutrients and effective meal frequency for muscle growth, they are as followed:
Note that these are the basics of the macronutrients that make up your food, the rest of this summary will briefly address meal frequency and the two most important meals to fuel your workout/ muscle growth. Meal frequency is important to keep your body in an anabolic (muscle building) state makes sure to eat every 2-3 hours. Trust me, eating a meal every 2-3 hours is a challenge in itself, but if you are serious about fitness this is what your body requires to grow. Additionally, a post-workout meal is the most important meal of the day to a fitness junkie because after aa workout, your body’s energy stores have been emptied and your body needs the above macronutrients ASAP. You need both fast acting energy and fast acting protein. The answer, simple carbs and whey protein. Lastly, for pre-workout, the meal that will provide one with the most energy during your workout is combining both simple and complex carbs such as fruit juice and bread/ pasta. Techniques that Sean Quade used in this article that mirror the styles in Montgomery’s Guide to Communicating Science was his ability to deliver knowledgeable information in an interesting and effective manner. In his article, he not only breaks down the basics of nutrition, but does it in a way that is easy for any audience to understand. Quade incorporates the use of ethos in his analysis by incorporating product examples that support his claims on the essential macronutrients to muscle growth. For example, as Sean Quade provides background knowledge on the types of proteins, he imbeds links and examples of products where one could adopt to find the best type of whey protein. A second technique from Montgomery’s reading that I see in this article is the use of smooth transitions to allow the information to flow in a logical order. These two techniques I may adopt in my final project, because without having credibility and a logistical flow, my recommendations are useless to Gloria Gemma. The first part of Caesar’s last breath is about the fact that the air we breathe today has been recycled over centuries and centuries and that we could share the same breath of air that emperor Caesar breathed. Additionally, it informs us that we breath in the air from those who have been through both good and bad times throughout history; from those suffering throughout World War II to the last breath of Pompeiians as Mt. Vesuvius erupted, the air we breathe is the same.
I believe that the audience of Sam Kean’s book is the world because he is telling a story of how the world is connected through air and that no matter how small or large any event that partakes in history, we are all connected to it some way or another. I can tell this by how he links every short story to each other and how they all are tied together in the end of his analysis. One can say that another purpose of this book is to convey the history of the world through historical events that coincidentally shape the chemical make-up of the air we breathe today. Though Sam Kean is writing about a scientific topic, I believe that his audience were of every-day people who had general interest in this subject. This is seen through his manner of referencing more complex levels of chemistry through presenting them in a way that is both more appealing and more basic terminology that would be better understood. For example, his topics such as the breaking of bonds and transition electrons is a very sophisticated topic, but Kean would restrict his explanations to only a few sentences. This approach was effective by not teaching his audience of chemistry, but instead would give them general information on the complex analysis of the planets and our history in relation to the formation and dissipation of many early atmospheres. What moves that I might steal from Kean’s writing to implement in my own final project is his literary technique to add or relate historical events/ stories in his book. In my eyes, relating an interesting historical event or interesting story will further connect with his audience to the authors overall purpose for their writing and the message they are trying to convey. With this, I have no questions of my own to ask Sam Kean; however, I would like to hear his intended purpose of writing this book the way he did and how he thought his audience would perceive it. Title of Major Assignment One: Financial Communication
My topic of what I am researching is how a finance professional (e.g. personal financial advisor, stock broker, accountant), effectively communicates to their clients and the various communication styles that play into this task. There are many factors that play into how this communication takes place, each client is different and requires different needs or accommodations to be met. In my preliminary analysis, I was planning on giving background information on the many different fields of finance and the importance of effective communication between client and advisor. Since the majority of my classmates seem to study in fields other than business I felt that this background would shape their perspective on this topic to parallel my own. After providing background information I am planning to dive into how rhetorical techniques are used in finance. Here, I will utilize the responses from my interviews to reveal how one has to alter their communication techniques and rhetorical approach to reach and consult with an audience that, in most cases, have no understanding on how to manage their money. I initially wanted to only provide the many rhetorical approaches finance professionals use; however, now I will work to compare and contrast these rhetorical approaches to see which ones were the most effective communication. Since I am working with a topic that is not directly correlated with “sciences” I have ran into troubles of researching information that relates to communication techniques and not just information on what to do with your money to maximize a portfolio return (the usual perception of finance). I hope the following questions will help myself develop an effective analysis:
Charles Bazerman’s “Patents as Speech Acts and Legal Objects” chapter functions as a case study in rhetorical genre analysis with its use of informing the reader on how professionals in this scientific field tend to communicate. An example of where I noticed Bazerman informing his audience how professionals communicate is in “The Living Complexity of Located Speech Acts” and in “Genres as Speech Acts” sections. These sections define speech acts as “a generalized understanding of speech acts, illuminate the richness of an activity embodied by utterances within circumstances” (Bazerman, 17). Here, these sections talk about how one can alter their writing/ communication style and eliminate common mistakes “for the sake of analytical clarity” (Bazerman, 18). Overall, his tools employ how to clean up one’s writing style in order to better connect with a specific discourse community.
To begin, what I can steal from Bazerman in conducting my own analysis is utilizing his analysis of speech acts, and identifying common issues in its theory to enhance my communication style to my specific audience. In my initial proposal for my preliminary analysis, I am still interested in the behavioral and thinking side of finance with analyzing how people think and rationalize decisions; however, I plan to focus in on professionals in that field to get their knowledge on the subject. When interviewing a professional in the field of finance, some questions I may as are as follows; “When working with a client, what variables have the most impact on their investment strategy”, “Is there a substantial difference on how one will invest based not only on their gender, but their age as well”, and “What texts/ other resources could I consult to further gain insight on my preliminary analysis topic”. These three questions will give me a strong foundation on gathering vital information to achieve my overall objective, as well as analyzing how my analysis aligns with this course’s goal to truly understand its intended outcomes. In Bazerman’s “Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity and People”, some terms and methods that he describes in his text that I can relate to my specific major or analyzing other discourse communities are “social acts” and “speech acts”. Bazerman describes social facts as “those things people believe to be true, and therefore bear on how they define a situation” (p. 312). This relates to my discourse community in the finance world because as someone who is trusted to manage client’s money and invest in the best interest of the client, they [the client] have to trust in my knowledge on the financial decisions I recommend to them. For example, if apple is expected to release a new iPhone, iPad, and MacBook in the same year; the client would have to believe that my intuition that apple stock will increase and take my recommendation to invest in apple to heart. Secondly, Bazerman describes speech acts as “how to do things with words, argued that words not only mean things, they do things” (p. 313). Not only do I think that this relates to my specific finance related discourse community, but it relates to all discourse communities because words are the medium of how every human being tells a story, relays information, and tries to persuade their audience.
The activity system that I am most interested in investigating are the behavioral aspects that affect a client’s financial planning process. From understanding a client’s investing thought process and how they make decisions, to how the financial manager has to work with these “obstacles” to effectively manage their money, I am interested in learning more about what goes on behind the scenes in finance. I might determine what to include by breaking down the different areas of finance (e.g personal finance, investments, derivatives, international finance, etc.) and focus on one specific area. Additionally, I am interested in interviewing my academic advisor, Dr. Michael Melton, who is also in charge of the CAFÉ program at Roger Williams University. His immense amount of knowledge can also aid myself in determining what to include. To begin, the article that I have chosen for minor assignment three is an online Forbes Magazine article titled, “How Holiday Overspending Makes Debt-Retirement Harder”. Since I am a finance major, I chose an article not only related to my field of expertise, but also a problem that impacts many people. In short, this article described how cutting out wants (e.g spending five dollars a day on coffee and making your own), to save money and then put those savings into a 401K can accumulate hundreds of dollars at the end of the year. Also, this article explained that overspending on major holidays and birthdays is a leading cause to credit card debt. It is recommended that one be honest with themselves and their loved ones on how much they can spend and if that means sacrificing slightly will financially aid you for years to come.
The rhetorical processes in this article that constitute to science in my field are the strong use of logos in this article. The author relies heavily on logistics of how saving a few dollars today is not only a huge sacrifice in the present, but can provide an immense amount of gratification in the future (e.g. a large sum of money waiting for you when you retire). Additionally, I am able to touch upon the use of deliberative rhetoric on the fact that recommended courses of action based on imperfect knowledge of the future will hopefully aid one’s future for the better. Lastly, the rhetorical cannons of delivery, style, and arrangement easily connect with an audience looking for financial advice on simple ways improve their financial budgeting. The article uses effective tone/ language to connect to this audience and in the end outlines three simple steps for someone to follow to achieve their goal. After reading Jack Selzer’s “Rhetorical Analysis: Understanding How Texts Persuade Readers”, I have identified the following sorts of questions I believe one would ask when doing rhetorical analysis. Initially, rhetoricians have to ask themselves either “who is the author/ speaker”, “how does he or she establish ethos (credibility) in their text”, and “who makes up their intended audience”? These questions allow one to be able to identify the exact discourse community they are trying to reach. A final question that one may ask is, “does the message or text succeed in fulfilling the author’s or speaker’s intentions”? The purpose of utilizing rhetoric in text or speech is to persuade the audience to believe what you are saying; thus, one has to reflect and identify if their goal has been achieved. The above questions are some of the most important questions one has to ask when doing rhetorical analysis. If one is unable to not only identify the type of audience they are communicating to, but also unable to persuade their audience, they will never succeed in fulfilling their intentions as a speaker/ author.
A text assigned to myself outside of this course is the syllabus to my Finance 326 Derivatives class. To begin, after reading Selzer’s text, I realized that when rhetoricians are trying to reach a specific audience, they also use specialized vocabulary familiar with that audience in order to effectively connect with them. A syllabus outlines specific course objectives and specific rules of the professor prior to the first class. The way a professor communicates with their colleagues is different than the way they communicate with their students, and this is seen in how they write their syllabus. To write an effective syllabus, the professor has to understand not only who their audience is, but what their intentions are when reaching out to this audience. For example, my derivatives professor’s syllabus has the intention to inform what work is required throughout the semester. Thus, he bullet-pointed and bolded the most important information (such as office hours, contact information, and grading rubric), that he believed is the most important information pertinent to the students. As young adults, college kids tend to be easily distracted; therefore, bulleting and highlighting important information in a syllabus is a technique that ensures our type of discourse community receives necessary information. Ultimately, the text in question suggest that scientific discourse in my major is that the writing styles of business professionals are similar to that of scientists and other professionals in similar fields. They both uphold their claims with proof from credible sources to defend their own ethos. Additionally, scientific discourse is related to discourse in my major because both parties communicate as conversation to effectively relay information or ideas to specific discourse communities. They use similar analytical methods that can give people a better sense of how the particular pieces of rhetorical performance emerges from, are owning to, and speak to specific contexts. Montgomery discusses scientific discourse in terms of rhetoric in his book The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science, where he claims that “Scientific writing is also engaged in rhetoric—it aims not just to tell you but to persuade you. It wants to convince us that the result not only has meaning but is meaningful” (Montgomery, 2017). Here, according to Montgomery, rhetoric has to do with science as a way to effectively communicate to a specific audience with a purpose to inform, educate, and persuade. I also agree with Montgomery in his statement that “scientific writing is storytelling” and that that rhetoric has to do with science as a means of providing research and data in a way that anyone can understand regardless if their professional field is biomedicine or agronomy. The following excerpt as seen on page twelve of his book highlights the relationship between rhetoric and science:
“Scientific communication is highly stylized- far more stylized, in fact, than forms such as the literary essay. When we look back at the past, say to the 17th century, and trace technical expression forward, we find that what we are doing when we write is telling very condensed, extremely formalized ‘stories’ to an equally particular audience” (Montgomery, 2017). Note the fact that Montgomery identifies that when scientist communicate their findings they are relaying “condensed” and “formalized” stories to a specific discourse community. I believe that the need to talk about rhetoric in a science writing course is necessary because it expands our knowledge and skills as a writer to effectively reach out and connect with a discourse community previously foreign to myself. I believe that the majority of students taking writing courses at college are steered towards technical and professional writing styles to be able to write memos, reports and presentations for the real world; however, if one was ever to write for the sciences, I expect most students to be unable to effectively communicate their thoughts. Looking at science through a rhetorical lens might be illuminating in the following two ways. To begin, you would have to take into account all audiences who will receive your text and think about how they might perceive your information. This opens one’s mind to think and analyze their information in different ways that can not only benefit their immediate communication technique, but benefit their future communication techniques as well. Second, I perceive looking at science through a rhetorical lens is an opportunity for myself to grow as a writer and develop skills that I have never before utilized. I have always written for the business world (i.g. writing memos, reports, presentations, letters of transmittal, etc.), and I believe that changing my rhetorical lens will open new doors for my writing career. |
AuthorLuke Grabowski Archives
April 2018
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