ThoughtMeat

As I mentioned in class today, I'd like you to just look at one news article for your rhetorical analysis blog post. Focusing on one article will allow you to do a closer reading of the text. Read closely and look at the rhetorical moves the author is making to frame the event s/he is referring to. There is no set formula for this analysis, but from our experience with the Bush speech, you can look at such things as:

• ethos (both the author's and how s/he passes ethos on to the people s/he describes)
• pathos
• logos
• how the author involves the reader(s)
• how the author sets up sides in his/her framing of the event
• what words are particularly loaded or powerful (remember "murdered" from Clarke)
• what poetic devices the authors uses (like the pauses in the Bush speech)

Remember, I'm not grading this one, so go out on a limb! Do something interesting! Take a risk! But don't forget to include a link to the article you're referring to. For those doing responses, don't forget to read the original article first. Good luck!

For Weds., I'd like you to set up a blog on blogger.com or another free blog hosting site. Make one test post to the blog, test the link, and then send me the url via email (avee@wisc.edu) when you've determined that it works (blogger links won't work until you make one post). Go ahead and set up a personal profile, too, but remember not to put your full name or too many personal details in there. Let me know if you have questions!

Just a reminder about your memoir for Monday... It should describe your experience of 9/11/01 in an interesting way and it should be greater than or equal to 2 pages long. Please don't mess with margins or fonts (double-spaced, times new roman or similar, 1" margins)--it's pretty obvious when that happens, and you should have a lot to say anyway. Try to have fun with this assignment and push your boundaries a bit. It's pretty simple to write a chronological memoir that begins, "I was in 2nd hour when my teacher told us that..." I will read 19 papers and the more innovative you can make yours, the happier I'll be. Don't forget to add a title to your memoir, too; this is another opportunity for you to flex your writing muscles. I'd like a few of you to share your memoirs in class and I'll look to volunteers first.
As always, please let me know if you have questions about the assignment or the course.

Here is our class website. I'll keep it updated with your assignments for the class, happenings, etc. When we begin blogging, your blogs will all be connected to this site (see the sidebar for previous blogs from a different class I taught last year). If you have any suggestions for the site, or things you'd like to see here for reference, please let me know. I'm looking forward to a great semester!