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Writing Resistance – Fall 2020
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Discussion Forum: “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World” (DUE 9/4)
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Posted by Shamecca Harris on August 31, 2020 at 3:29 pmRead “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool”
Post your response to the assigned reading on the group discussion forum here.
- Your original comments (100 – 150 words) should include (1) a brief summary of the author’s main points and (2) an analysis of an idea that interests or confuses you.
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What you had to go through in high school English classes are definitely relatable. I also remember choosing from a palette of words that my teacher believed would bring gravitas to our papers. To me however, they were simply empty words used to lift my grade. This makes me wonder if there even is a way to use words so they are not objectively seen as manipulative or empty.
Phyllis Mentzell Ryder attempts in here compelling article “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool” to shed some light on why Rhetorical Analysis may not just be a tool we use in our English classes to get high marks but a tangible workbench of insight that has a multitude of uses in our daily lives. Ms. Ryder conveys this by talking about puzzling encounters that she herself experienced and how they formed her perspective that we must dive deep into others perspectives to better understand them. Using these and other examples she tries to define it further by showing what rhetorical analysis is so as her readers (us) get a clearer picture of what it is we’re really doing. One such example that interested me was when she wrote “Rhetoric means more than manipulation or empty words”. This is important because it brings us out of the head space of formulas and tries to get us really thinking about what we’re doing; in other words quit being a robot!
I agree with what you just said about the rhetorical analysis that it doesn’t only provide as academic resources, but also on real-life situations. We by getting a better understanding of this assignment can really help us to succeed in the future on analysis and get to know a certain thing in a better way.
Yes! ” Tricky Situations” and “Puzzling Encounters” are both good examples to get us to know the importance of the rhetorical analysis in our daily life occasions since they could mean a lot more than we think they are. We need to focus even on small details that could really expand to a great source of information we are looking for.
In the article “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool”, the author, Phyllis M. Ryder, goes on to explain how valuable the use of rhetorical analysis is, not only in writing but in your daily life. Ryder uses various examples from her own life, which includes her encounter with her boyfriend and his perspective on “asking for help”. She uses this situation as a turning point for her article, in that she found this event as a way of using rhetorical analysis for her own personal benefit. Throughout the article, Ryder provides her audience with different examples from the media, such as pictures, which were then analyzed in order to discover how and why they had such an impact on the lives of the people who viewed them. Ryder was able to give her audience an easier way to understand the fundamentals of rhetorical analysis, how it can be used, and why it is so important through the use of examples. As a reader, I felt more knowledgable about this topic and more confident in my ability to use rhetorical analysis to determine the impact of writing in the future.
I was also really interested in the quote you mentioned. I feel like this quote really gives us more of an idea of how to use rhetorical analysis and I’m excited to see your work and how you use this idea to benefit your writing.
I agree when you said that you found the steps she provided interesting and helpful. I feel like they were very useful for us and our future of writing for this class or outside of it.
In the article “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool”, author Phyllis Mentzell Ryder explains how important the use of rhetorical analysis is in our world . she uses real life situations from her daily life that she used for rhetorical analysis. Whereas in high school we were so focused on only how to use it. She also mentions two methods that are used by her and many others when it comes to analyzing texts. The two methods she used is Puzzling Encounters and Tricky Situations. She also uses photographs from other artists and uses these methods to show us the different ways rhetorical analysis can be presented. Her explanation made it much clear to understand why it is not only meant for writing papers for school, it is much more powerful when used in our daily lives.
In the article, ”Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool” Phyllis Mentzell Ryder, the author, comments on how “rhetorical analysis is a valuable tool.” Her hook is about how offering her help to a man can be seen as belittling from his point of view. She talks about how this is the essence of her point. Rhetorical analysis is the study of words being used, their significance, their history, their tone, and their purpose.
She goes into depth about how to categorize why this tool is used. Words make people draw assumptions and often times people do care about why instances are taken certain ways.
One thing that interests me is that at some level everyone does some rhetorical analysis. When we ask our friends to clarify the meaning of their text or when politicians repeat certain words to appeal to the pathos of the audience. It’s also an everyday tool.
Hi Edward. I like your last point about working backwards. To get a better understanding of the text you have to isolate words and phrases to be able to build it up again.
Hi Marcela. I also haven’t come across many articles like the one we read. I think it’s interesting and insightful. I don’t know why either.
“Rhetorical analysis serves as a tool to uncover the ‘deeper assumptions, values and issues’ in these situations.” I strong agree with this sentence, Rhetorical analysis can not only shed light on the deeper meaning of an expression but can make something confusing easier to understand, at least for me.
The author, Phyllis Mentzell Ryder in her article, “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World: A Useful Thinking Tool” is talking about different examples and her thoughts on the use of rhetorical analysis. The basic idea of it is just words that have a deeper meaning behind it. In order for rhetorical analysis to work you have to pay attention to everything the word itself is saying, you have to pay attention to the things around the word itself as well such as the author, who they are trying to convey the article to, and such.
The example at the beginning of her boyfriend taking offense to her offering assistance to me is simply very stupid, even without using rhetorical analysis you can tell he is very small-minded. It just doesn’t make sense why he would think being offered help by a woman is demeaning. A part that interests me is the picture with the woman standing in front of a police force. I am very intrigued as to how that photo is taken like what situation will make the police jump back from a woman simply standing there.The article “Rhetorical Analysis in the Real World a Useful Thinking tool.” by Phyllis Mentzell Ryder remarks the importance of language by analyzing why it is essential to examine how an author presents an idea rather than what the author is trying to say. Focusing on the audience, he is trying to address its purpose and the exigence behind the words. The author points out the puzzling encounters and tricky situations, explaining how language focused on different audiences can differ its purpose. Emphasizing how important it is to know from the beginning the audience you are referring to and the meaning behind the author’s choices. The importance of track patterns to address a message in a way that you know your audience is vital at writing. Having a broader perspective of the audience target can make the message that you’re trying to intent be too open. Reading this article, I understood that there is a difference in how my mind thinks the things and how I say it. Rhetorical analysis is more than just wrote and summarized is to understand and break into pieces all the choices that the author chooses to connect with the reader and understand.
Tough high school class, being forced to write about something you had no passion in. I guess for words to not appear empty you just have to have an interest in writing it.
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