Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Analysis of My Rhetorical Situation

Before this class, I was never taught to diagram the rhetorical situation of my own writing. I was taught to do it for books and other pieces, but I think it's actually more useful now that I've done it for my own work. It gives me a better idea of what I need to as the author to achieve my purpose and communicate to my audience. As a reminder or in case I haven't stated it explicitly, my project is on the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate on Creationism vs. Evolution from 2/4/2014.


  1. My audience is those interested in the creationism vs. evolution debate who also have access to an Internet-capable device. I predict that evolutionists/scientists would be in greater concentration than creationists/religious people, because religious people need only their faith and religious texts, while scientists are more likely to be hunting for evidence on the Internet. I think these people will be younger, perhaps in high school or college. This is because older people likely already know everything they need to know about the topic, whichever side they are on, and have formed their opinion. So assuming that my audience is mostly young adults interested in science, these people are likely keeping up with major scientific progress, but may not be reading scientific journals every night. They also might not have a spare 150 minutes to watch the debate themselves, as they are likely busy with their own school. So a QRG about the debate would be especially valuable - all the evidence they need that comes from this source, but in a convenient manner.
  2. I want my project to leave the audience members feeling educated about the topic. I don't want them to do a bunch of extra reading to figure out what I was talking about. I want them to understand the importance of this debate to the central argument of evolution vs. creationism, and I hope this helps them both strengthen their opinions and see the other side. I don't want the audience to miss the fact that this wasn't a debate meant to be won; no one kept score, as it was more intended as a sharing of ideas and intelligent discussion. The audience should know that Nye's credibility lies on him debating successfully, while to an extent Ham's apparent sanity lies on him debating successfully. The setting doesn't make too much of a difference, as the debate was given a location. However, it's important that the debate took place only two years ago, at a time when the discussion is really booming. I think the context is fairly clear, and I'm not too concerned about an element not coming across well.
  3. I think my interest in the topic is central to my ability to create it successfully. I've been passionate about the major subject for years, and I can't believe I missed this debate when it took place initially. I think I can engage everyone actively in my project, because I'm confident in my ability to portray the subject as something that everyone can take interest in. Honestly, I'm so curious to know everything about how the world came to be, and even though I could never know for sure, I'd like to be confident in my viewpoint. And even learning about just this debate is making me want to switch my major from Biology to Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Our origin might not be something that makes a difference in day-to-day life, but a curious mind never rests.

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