November 13th 2008 Class Stuff

Discussion Questions:

Four passages from Ellen:
1) What are the effects on these passages on you as a reader.

Different voices.
Different expectations.
Different points of view.

How does Ellen get to picture who these people are?

Huzzah for Class on November 6th, 2008.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November, the gunpowder treason and plot... I can think of no reason why the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

Yea, it's a day late, but hey, we gotta have fun in PWE class right?

Moving on... Seen and Nick...

Research Question: What does the graffiti arists' composing process look like?

Step #1: Create your thesis (how would you answer that question in one sentence)

The joint work which we see between Seen and Nick is not a collaboration, but an example of mentoring and apprenticeship, therefore the process is one that is a binary of control and servitude/mentorship.

Step #2: Locate a moment, regather the data/evidence, and then describe what happened in thick detail.

Immediately, just as the creation process is beginning, there is discussion between Seen and Nick concerning the the image and where/how it will be created. Nick asserts his opinion, but Seen dismisses it out of hand, relegating Nick to a completely subordinate role. Nick accepts this role, and it guides the rest of the creation process, creating the mentor/student relationship that drives the roles of both men from beginning to end.

Step #3: Interpret the data, make sense of it for readers-- what do you want us to notice?

Given all the rhetoric and the roles each man accepts, this scene is not at all a collaboration, and is much more of a servant/master relationship. Throughout the scene, Seen never touches a spray can himself, leaving all the work to Nick despite the fact that he is in total creative control. In order to understand or interpret anything about this "collaboration" one must first understand through what sort of lens to interpret the information. In this case, one must first understand that Seen is in complete control of Nick beginning to end, and that Nick is little more than a voiceless robot obeying orders.

Step #4: Is there material in here that confirms/supports our own interpretation of data? Is there something that denies it? -- Identifying "testimony" that confirms our analysis

In many instances, such as when coloring, positioning, and even the overall choice of what to draw, are discussed between Nick and Seen, Seen simply dictates what will happen, using phrases like "trust me" and "listen to me." In the few instances when Nick attempts to interject his own opinion, it is treated as background noise and the final decision ALWAYS comes down to Seen-- there is not a single case in the video of Nick suggesting something that comes to fruition, Seen ALWAYS does what he intended to do anyways, no matter what Nick has to say about it.

Step #5: Anableat.

In his 1988 analysis of graffiti writers, Richard Lachmannn reaches a similar conclusion about the mentoring/apprenticeship relationship.

Step #6: Yea, Erin is right. Sometimes all a man has is Anableat, and that has to be enough.
Review the description and analysis, and loop back to create a topic sentence that signals to the readers the direction which you're going to go. This topic sentence should be deliver ibe if your major supporting reason underpinning the thesis.

11/6/08 - The Senses

Stated bluntly, evidence based upon sensory stimuli is always suspect. The human nervous system is a fickle thing that has many sorting mechanisms and triggers (such as, for instance, the body's natural sorting mechanism for pain-- if one were to fall and break their leg, as excruciating as the pain may, it would immediately disappear if one were then, say, shot in the pelvis), and almost all recorded stimuli must first go through a number of processes before being recorded in the brain. Each of these processes is completely at the mercy of factors such as health, state of mind, internal and external temperature, et cetera, so far as the way they sort information gathered by the senses. The ancients were quite correct in being skeptical about sensory evidence.

Direct data, such the increase or decrease of gross domestic product in correlation with the implementation of various systems of taxation, is an example of data that is truly empirical, in that they stretch over a wide period of time and are subject to few, if any, subjective influences. Given that there is a vary limited scope of networks of interpretation through which this data must pass, one can take arguments using such data (so long as the arguments themselves are as objective as possible) as arguments founded on adequate criteria.

The majority of arguments I make-- we'll stick with arguments for Libertarianism as the aura of political discourse has only slight abated... and I'm still bitter-- are founded upon historical and philosophical criteria. The former is subjective by nature but, by and large when examined for trends of time, while the other has about as much tangibility as a dirty limerick. In the case of historical premises, this data (especially data pertaining to effects upon citizenry and economic production as the result of implemented socio political agendas) is, for the most part, consistent enough to be regarded as relevant. Philosophical arguments, however, are in their very nature utterly subject, meaning the use of philosophy as ARGUMENT are as futile as attempting to nail a cloud to a tree. Their strength, however, comes in their ability to appeal to logos, ethos, and pathos all at once, and to evoke the emotional side of a reader or listener with arguments that are ostensibly based upon logic.

Huzzah

Complete this survey because:

It will prepare PWE students to succeed professionally and bring prestige to West Virginia University.

PREMISES: Part of the job of university teachers is to prepare students for professional lives, and it is the job of faculty to bring prestige to the university.

Ethos Appeals discussion: Ethos = Character

1) Invented persona win the written text
I am someone with
--Goodwill
--Good Sense
--Good Character
2) Situated ethos

Shapiro establishes:

Good Will - Acknowledges parents, word choice, confidence/grace, qualifiers (some and most)
Good Sense -If we do X, Y will happen
Good Character - Aggressiveness towards parents, situates herself as advocate for both parents AND students, word choices, examples

October 21st: Analyzing Data

*Faigley's Social Perspective

*Bazerman/Intertextuality
1) Direct Quotation
2) Indirect Quotation
3) Mentioning another document
4) Commenting on another text
5) Using recognizable phrases

*Prior, "Tracing Writing Process"
-Analyzing texts: same btwdrafts, slightly revised, ADDED, [deleted]
-Thinking aloud: differentiating between various TYPES of comments

*Influence of Workplace Culture
Editorial Comments: Kleinmann's four categories of revision comments

*Analyzing Genres
-Lingquistic features: uses active verbs, presents concrete details
-Rhetorical features:
-Organizational features:

*Speaking/Writing Connection

*Rhetorical Theory

*Coding Data
Reading all the collected data, looking for patterns, themes, similarities/differences to emerge

FREEWRITE:
Given that my proposal is still a bit in limbo (though it is moving in a much better direction and should be resolved entirely within the next few days), I am able to accurately determine the direction of my proposal as I've worked in the field before. To begin, I'm going to ask my subject for any written or printed correspondence of a business nature (or a personal nature in the business setting) in order to analyze these materials for trends-- I.E. Structural habits or techniques; tone and clarity; use of ethos, pathos, and logos; et cetera. This is work that I can conduct at home, however, so I will be focusing the lion's share of my time spent face to face with the person conducting at least one brief interview in the beggining in order to gain a grasp on the way HE views his own writing in the context of the workplace and how he views his own writing process-- in other words, his own beliefs concerning the process in his own words. Following this, I will spend at least part of a day examining him at work in order to gain an idea of how integral a role writing plays in his occupation as well as to, hopefully, begin to understand the specific eccentricities or subconscious nature of his writing and writing process. Having collected data in this manner, I will then conduct a followup interview to address any questions that may have presented themselves in the course of studying my subject's writing and writing process. By this point, important and/or interesting aspects of the role this writer plays in his profession will have begun to present themselves and I should be able to flesh these out in a full ethnographic report.

Notes 10/15

Ideology:
A basic set of beliefs, values, and/or ethical guidelines that guide the cognitive process of an individual as well as the mode and intent of any and all of their actions.

EX: All of the -isms, IE conservatism, liberalism, libertarianism, etc.

Common Topic: Specific procedures/set of questions for generating arguments (heuristics)

Common Place: Taken for granted and/or unstated; something people can take comfort in being axiomatic. Unstated premises.

QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:

From Hersch and Zinn: Which way do they lean, left or right of the political system?

Hersch: Conservative
Zinn: Liberal

Ideologics: Arguments that are made by stringing together commonplaces.

"America, love it or leave it."

Activity:

"Keep Austin Weird"

Premises:
An ideal city is a weird city.
A weird city has lots of different people, shops, ideas, cultures, etc.
Austin is a weird city.
Homogeneity is not weird.
Box stores etc. promote homogeneity.
Govt. should promote what is unique instead of what is the same


"Guns don't kill people, people kill people."

1) Guns are weapons that take many lives.
2) Guns are incapable of free will and/or action.
3) Guns are only deadly when wielded by people.
4) Guns are not a major contributing factor to violence at large unless they are wielded by people.
5) Guns should not be the focus of legislation.
6) Violent offenders who use guns in the wrong way should be the focus of legislation.

ARCS Activity #5 PG 153

Choosing the DA as my "hometown" newspaper, it comes as little surprise to find it to be fall quite left of center in dealing with political issues-- it is, after all, a campus newspaper, and college campuses are and shall remain for quite some time the bastions of liberalism throughout America.

By and large, the news desk is fairly irrelevant when speaking of television news. Issues of any real consequence are glanced over in a matter of fact way, while human interest and local stories take on the warm and fuzzy personae very particular to local news outlets.

The times, USA Today, Time Mag, Newsweek, CNN, and network television in general, to no surprise, are very leftist in their coverage of issues. This comes as no surprise due to the private nature out American media, and the fact that biggest names in American media are avowed and unapologetic liberal leaning moguls. Even Fox News, the most conservative voice in American media, is owned by a liberal who simply recognized the need to feel a niche market.

Not to skirt over the other names and stations, but American media can be said to be divided and dominated in two ways: Liberals dominate television and movies, conservatives dominate radio. Publication is a split, with shifts occurring every year but either faction gaining either ground.

This can be terribly frustrating for a Libertarian, whom is sick of the nonsense on both sides and wishes people thought cognitively instead of emotionally.