Issue 2 Blog Post

Issue 2



The second issue (chapter) of the understanding rhetoric textbook is about strategic reading. The first thing the book dives into is "critical reading", which is very important when reading important things. The book continues to explain it with a little history lesson about Frederick Douglas. He was an escaped slave. After all that it goes on to the importance of comprehensive critical reading. this shows that you have to analyze the reading and break it down into different parts. they show this with a illustration all the elements found in blood. Writers may also try to separate themselves from what th/ey are writing. emotional distance is one example, they use words like "saying" or "supposing". another example is the writer might include implicit messages is their writing. for example it showed how Douglas was an observer of slavery and not a victim thus you can trust him. Then there is explication, which means to unfold or get the bigger picture. This can reveal and uncover ideas not directly suggested in the text. Jonathan and Liz then mention logos, pathos, and ethos again. Pathos showed Douglas's fear and pity, and his overall emotions. For Logos Douglas says that america is logically not a great and safe place to live. For Ethos it showed how he had authority but he was ethical. The book then talks about once you have everything together you can start to put stuff together so it makes more sense. This process is called synthesis. The book then goes on to analyze a picture of him. Books in the 19th Century often had a picture of the author on the front of the book. The book then says with each assertive version of the book was a better picture of the author. Sometimes people might doubt a books authenticity because there are multiple versions of the book. The book then talks about how Fredrick Douglas's can be read as another book because you can apply ideas and philosophy from one text to another. Sometimes you read texts side by side this is called compare and contrast.When you compare and contrast texts you start to make lists on how the texts are similar and different from one and other.With application questions you can start to apply the texts to new situations.There is another type of critical reading. this involves thinking about ideal writers when screaming texts.Fredrick Douglas used this method by trying to feel what his ideal reader would feel.  smart readers highlight and use symbols to better understand the information written in the books. Experts who analyze books do this to a greater extend.  In the last part of this issue of the book it switches to "Reframe with luis & Cindy. In this part it talks about the terrorist attack 9/11. It just talks about all that happened during  the event. it then shows a bunch of characters standing on a comic with pictures of the event. which shows 4 parallel timelines. and then it explains that the black comic keeps the reader focused.

Introduction & Issue 1 (Why Rhetoric?)

Introduction:



For the introduction to this book the two characters (Jonathan and Liz). Both these characters show how writing can communicate in different ways. The book uses different visuals to help convey the message they are trying to get across. In the "exploring visual literacy" part, the book shows how images can be altered to show a different message to the viewer. this is the case in movies as well. the way characters interact, and how close they are to each other can show different meanings. The book says that visual literacy is a really important part of our culture. This is the reason why this book is in the form of a comic book. Realistic representation, abstract symbolism, conscious messages and unconscious associations are all important parts of visual literacy. They also explain why the textbook is in the form of a comic book. The reason for this is they want to use visual literacy to teach English composition, they believe this way they can make it fun to learn. At the end of the introduction chapter, the book shows a board game with rhetorical situations. It shows ways how you can analyze texts and gives you hints on where you can find more information on that subject

issue 1:

The first issue is called "why rhetoric?" The first question asked is "what is a rhetorical question?" The book says people call it rhetorical because no answer is actually expected. it talks about how rhetoric was used to shut down arguments because you would sound smarter than the other person. The book then goes into a little history lesson. It talks about how the word rhetoric in original Greek meant Eiro. This word simply meant "to say".  Negative ideas about rhetoric were traced back to the Greek philosopher Plato. He said "rhetoric is intended only to hide flaws, not encourage self-improvement. The second historical person they mention is Aristotle. He was a student of the Greek philosopher Plato. His thinking contributed much to the development of western empirical and scientific thought. for some time only philosophers and scholars could learn rhetoric. Then rhetorical concept got let loose on the world. Aristotle has given to us some powerful ways to think about rhetoric and communication. these ways were called Ethos (Ethical, Ethics) , Pathos (Empathy), Logos (Logic) and Kairos. Ethos was is used to see how credible the speaker or writer is. Pathos is using emotion in a debate or argument. Logos is to appeal to reasoning. The third philosopher the book talks about is Cicero. He was the one who really understood the importance of kairos. Before he was executed he said "There is nothing proper about what you are doing soldier...but at least make sure you cut my head off properly." The book then goes on and shows differnt ways the rhetorical ways are used in everyday life. They show two characters working on two flyers for fraternities and sororities. they show how a difference in visual literacy and wording can make all the difference in what message you are trying to convey