Assignment Dos

This is a two part blog post. (You can post it as one post or two; it's up to you). Be sure to complete all of both parts. 

Part 1: 
Take some time to select your piece that you will be analyzing. My recommendation is to use something in the back of the book. Make sure it is not one of the introductory sections but an actual article. And of course, choose something you are interested in.
If you already have something in mind (maybe a newspaper article that you found interesting recently) then I'll have to approve it before you start working on it.

Likewise if you want to do something visual, I would only recommend doing an advertisement of some sort. I want to stay away from videos at this point--so it needs to be a static picture. Keep in mind that visual analyses are a little more difficult since you technically have less to work with.

Once you select your object to analyze, just post what it is on your blog.

Part 2:
Read carefully the article in GRs pg 66-69 followed the rhetorical analysis of it on page 70-73. In a blog post list 3 points that Jackson makes about the context of the article and 3 points he makes about the the text itself (textual analysis).

Finally, add one more textual and one more contextual observation about Barbara Jordan's speech that Jackson does not address.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Part 1:
Being bisexual myself "They Also Served" by Andrew Sullivan touched issues that I have been confronted with. I originally had plans to enlist in the military, however, medical restrictions kept me from doing so. It was interesting to learn that should I have made it in and signed a contract that I could have easily gotten out of it by admitting my sexual orientation was not as straight as the government would like.

This article supports gays in the military and demands a change to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy enacted by President Clinton.

Part 2:
Contextual:

1. Jackson identifies the audience as both the 34 members of the committee to whom Jordan was talking but also the people at home watching the television and listening to the radio.
2. Jackson identifies Jordan's exigence, the need to hold the executive branch the higher power of checks and balances.
3. Jackson gives more background information of Jordan, identifying her as a Democrat as well as a low sitting member of the committee.

Textual:

1. Jackson provides support that Jordan had established ethos by proving that she was just another American that the president had to answer to and she wasn't attempting to remove him from office due to party differences.
2. Jackson points out Jordan's emotional aspect of her speech downgrading herself to be just a patriot with power.
3. Jackson uses examples of quotes that Jordan used in her speech to point out logically that what President Nixon was illegal.

Mine: Jackson fails to mention the arrangement of the piece and how it, from start to finish, constantly batters the listeners that Americans have this great duty to their country to hold everyone accountable to the law. She does this by emotionally tying us back to our forefathers with quotes and I statements. (Textual)

Jackson also doesn't take into account that African Americans still weren't as powerful as a Caucasian man, let alone an African American woman. This cultural fact would have come into play as she was attempting to make herself credible. (Contextual)

The First of Many

Prompt for English 15: For this first post, just write 100-200 words about your experiences with writing in the past. How do you feel about your own writing? What have you done in writing classes in the past? What would you like to work on in this class?


Alright, not to start off with criticism but it's my personality; what kind of prompt is this? Would you like me to go into detail about how each paper written was strenuously typed and ended with blood dripping from my fingertips? Or how I wrote with the style and grace of a ballerina in Swan Lake? The grades I received on school papers reflect an average, mundane writer who doesn't care for the grammatical rules set by teachers on a committee, (MLA, ALA, etc.). If a period looks like it belongs there, then that is where I will place it.


In this class I wish to be appreciated for having a different view point and expressing it eloquently. . . What I'm truly requesting is that you, as the teacher, give me the freedom to write about something interesting or something of my choosing rather than an assigned prompt.