DigiRhet (Spring2017)

Digital Rhetorics
MAJ Deidre Garriott

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Presentation Report

1. Guiding intentions/goals

  • Division is hurting our nation in multiple ways
  • Unity must be the priority for this country in order to actually be great again

2. Rhetorical choices

  • Purpose: to find common ground between the black lives matter organization and the blue lives matter organization as proof that compromise is possible
  • Audience: young black teenagers from low to middle income families. As a direct appeal to that audience I have used Twitter as my primary outreach platform
  • Context: the black community is steeped in counterproductive hate for the police.
  • Genre: Twitter is one of the most widely used social media platform for African American teenagers.
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In-Class Rhetorical Analysis

Charmaine Walker, an elementary education major from SIU, writes an opinion piece on a topic that must come up often in her studies: the rates of hostility in America’s youth. Her argument basically states that violent video games produce violent children. She supports her argument with three pieces of evidence from scientific studies and social experiments. She closes with the recognition of a counterclaim and a proposed solution.

In an attempt to make her argument seem practical and rational, she focused heavily on establishing the ethos of herself and her sources. However, she could have cited her sources for the second and third pieces of evidence to show that those were official and reliable sources. Once again, as someone studying Elementary Education, she may be more likely to find sources that would strengthen the argument close to her heart. In a call to limit the freedom of video game designers/companies, she is reflecting her belief that freedoms can be limited based on scientific morality.

Walker could have been more persuasive had she added an element of pathos to her argument. Her strong and effective use of the other two appeals may have seemed out of place in a plea for the minds of our children.

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Credibility Brainstorm

Since my project discusses a desire for compromise between two vastly different organizations, the readings I select must have a special form of credibility. I will need sources that have witnessed the rift I am alluding to–people or news organizations that have seen in person what happens to communities who have turned against their protectors, and vice versa. Sources with low credibility would be those who comment with no real understanding of the problem, or even those who do, but make no attempt at compromise.