Understanding Rhetoric

After reading Issue 4: Argument Beyond Pro and Con, I gained a lot of useful insight over how to create a strong argument in both an academic and professional setting. I have never really considered academic arguments done in research papers or other scholarly forms to be so similar to conversations, but this issue thoroughly relates the two. "A good argument is actually a lot like a good conversation. It is important to represent more than one side." Writers Losh and Alexander use the idea of a talk show host to explain how presentable and well structured arguments are much like real life conversations. For an argument to be successful, it needs to represent more than one side. The visual representation of the talk show host helps readers better understand this idea because "in a way, talk shows stage debates as conversations among several different participants" (Losh et al 158). This visual metaphor kept me interested in what I was reading and learning. Durin...

While reading Issue 3 of our graphic guide, I learned many different and interesting approaches to writing. Looking at this issue from one perspective, I was first drawn in to the images and illustrations. The superhero approach not only helped me understand the writing ideas that I was reading, but also entertained me and kept me involved. The changing of costumes, or in this case, super suits, is symbolic of changing how you present yourself to different audiences depending of the community they come from and what you wish to say. This is the first approach to writing identities-- choosing how to present your writing to the audience.  Presenting yourself to specific audiences in certain ways can make your writing and yourself look much more credible. This is an example of Ethos. The illustrators of the graphic guide use the example of two t-shirts. One depicts a woman wearing a shirt that says "Live Long & Prosper" (Losh et al. 125). This shows the audience that she ...