Jenny Mockford 1-29-10
Daniel Storz 2-4-10
Friday, February 19, 2010
Question
I am a little confused. When the assignment is to post on two classmate previous posts do we post the comments in our blog or as a comment on their blog? Last week and this week I posted comments to their blogs. The draw back is they need to review and post the comments, if they don't post them the comments are not seen by anybody.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
I was able to follow the directions to map a network drive written by Michael Sasser. His directions were detailed and as far as I can tell accurate. This demonstrates the types of documents that can be written if you are familiar with the subject. To write instructions the more you know helps you to be able to relay the information to someone else.
It was a good job on the rewrite of the sample we were given. The difference between the original, filled with "inside jokes", and Micheal's version shows what a professional document should look like.
It was a good job on the rewrite of the sample we were given. The difference between the original, filled with "inside jokes", and Micheal's version shows what a professional document should look like.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Text Book Rhetoric
Advertisers need to focus on what their client company does best, package it with the right amount of rhetoric, and have people see it as much as possible. In analyzing the rhetoric it becomes possible to question the value of the claims made. The statements can be accepted as true for the analysis. By observing how the claims are made and what is not claimed enables us to become better consumers.
One of the publishers of my text books, Pearson, has a companion web site. They follow the standard advertising drill of pushing the rhetoric. They build ethos by stating "Pearson is the world's leading education company." They base this on the number of customers. They do not claim to be the best at teaching or the cheapest. A further attempt to build ethos is a statement about awards they have won. The awards were for excellence in book binding. This does not lead me to believe they are the best at teaching.
Pathos is used when they let us know "We aim to help people make progress in their lives through education and information – to help them to 'live and learn'." An appeal to people that Pearson is trying to make sure we move forward and to live. This imperative that we cannot live without buying these books is hard to believe.
Pearson appeals to our logos with "It is known around the world for its independent and authoritative information." If all these unnamed people know about it Pearson must be good. No true testimonials or references are provided at the site.
With all of the rhetoric and lack of any claims that I feel good about my buying habits for text books does not change. I still must buy the books based on the class requirements. This blog has as much impact as Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. We read it, we agree or disagree, we move on a little wiser for having spent time with it, but we still buy the books we are told to buy.
One of the publishers of my text books, Pearson, has a companion web site. They follow the standard advertising drill of pushing the rhetoric. They build ethos by stating "Pearson is the world's leading education company." They base this on the number of customers. They do not claim to be the best at teaching or the cheapest. A further attempt to build ethos is a statement about awards they have won. The awards were for excellence in book binding. This does not lead me to believe they are the best at teaching.
Pathos is used when they let us know "We aim to help people make progress in their lives through education and information – to help them to 'live and learn'." An appeal to people that Pearson is trying to make sure we move forward and to live. This imperative that we cannot live without buying these books is hard to believe.
Pearson appeals to our logos with "It is known around the world for its independent and authoritative information." If all these unnamed people know about it Pearson must be good. No true testimonials or references are provided at the site.
With all of the rhetoric and lack of any claims that I feel good about my buying habits for text books does not change. I still must buy the books based on the class requirements. This blog has as much impact as Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. We read it, we agree or disagree, we move on a little wiser for having spent time with it, but we still buy the books we are told to buy.
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