Op-Ed Prewriting

Unit Three Op-Ed Workshop
4/6/09

• Read several op-eds from your chosen venue. What are the general tone and assumed audience in this venue? What is interesting or unique about these pieces?
The Fort Worth Star Telegram writes not just for Fort Worth, but it contains stories related to Arlington, Dallas, and other places surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is assumed that the audience is concerned with not just Fort Worth, but all the areas nearby. The venue also writes about things related to Texas as a whole, and includes key issues for the United States. I think it is interesting how the newspaper talks about a large geographical area, despite the fact that it is labeled to be the newspaper of Fort Worth. There is the Dallas Morning News, but the Fort Worth Star Telegram still chooses to address issues in the surrounding areas, since they are all kind of related and because many people probably commute to the nearby areas for work.
• Decide one specific, identifiable issue or question for your focus. It needs to be related to your overall topic for this unit, but try to target a specific aspect of that topic. Describe your choice of specific topic.
I want to focus on how beneficial it would be to put dashboard cameras in all police cars. I think it protects all innocent parties, keeps law authority accountable for their actions, and can help prevent corruption while promoting justice.
• Choose a specific course of action or approach to be taken to addressing that issue or question. Don’t just say that a policy or situation is bad. Tell your readers what should be done about it.
I think that the city of Fort Worth should require all police cars to have dashboard cameras. This would most likely require some sort of bill to be passed and probably some tax money to make it possible. I would encourage people to support the bill, which would essentially be taking a step to make their city better.
• Determine what rhetorical appeals will be most effective for your audience (ethos, pathos, logos, style). Discuss what appeals you will use.
For logos I could talk about how the cameras in the past had proved helpful in he-said-she-said situations that otherwise would have been determined in a more biased manner. I would also talk about how much they cost, and how practical they are. I could discuss specific cases or examples of when they had made a difference, always helping the innocent party, which sometimes was the police officer and sometimes was the accused. I could talk about whether they are legally legitimate in court as evidence. I could use pathos by talking about how anyone living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area could, hypothetically, be pulled over, and could, hypothetically, be accused unfairly. I would ask the audience to consider what would happen in a situation that was the officer’s word against their own, who was more likely to receive the benefit of the doubt? If all cars had dash-cams, officers would be required to do the right thing all the time, because the cameras would hold them accountable for their actions.
• Write about what will best support your points for the rhetorical situation (facts, hard evidence, personal experience, anecdotes, referring to other authorities, etc.).
I think facts and specific examples with best support my points. I think if I can use examples to show the need for concern, it will make my argument make sense. I also think that if I can find specific examples of how practical and beneficial the cameras would be, it will help strengthen my argument. I am going to rely mostly on facts and examples to support my points for the rhetorical situation.
• Is there any research that you need to do?
I still need to find a could more examples of when dash-cams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area helped determine the outcome of a dispute that otherwise might have turned out differently. I also need to research what specific actions would need to take place to make this happened. I would need to find out how much it would cost to put more dash-cams in police cars and I would need to find out what actions people could take (like if the needed to write to some government officials, etc. )

letter to the editor prewriting

Letter to the editor prewriting 3/30/09

Summarize article: Dash cameras in Dallas police cars provide information on situations without bias.

Complete Rhetorical Analysis chart for original article (identify weaknesses)
Purpose: To tell about how the dash cams can help determine who is right and wrong without assuming.
Author: The author is using a specific example of when the dash cams were used to show that sometimes they can work for the police officers and sometimes they work against them.
Audience: The author is targeting anyone who drives in the Dallas area, as well as anyone that might feel as though they were treated unfairly. It is also directed towards law enforcement since it can work to prove they did the right thing, but it can also be evidence when they do something wrong.
The author uses examples to show how the cameras can be good and bad for authors specifically. In the past, the cameras have shown the police did the right thing when they were wrongly accused of harassing someone. The cameras have also provided proof in the past when officers did the wrong thing.

What appeals work best for target audience? I think that the logos (facts/specific examples) work best for the target audience. There is also the use of pathos since they talk about how Ryan Moats’ dying mother-in-law was inside the hospital while he was being ticketed and lectured. Moats and his wife asked to be able to go into the hospital to be with their family while she was dying and the officer pulled his gun on them. This definitely works with the pathos of the audience since anyone in that situation would want to be allowed to go be with their family.

Strengths and weaknesses: Strengths would be that they authors plays on the emotions of the audience, connecting a feeling of sympathy with them. Another strength would be that the authors sites more than one incident where the cameras have proved useful. One weakness of the article is it does not talk about any legal wrong doing of the officer. They talk about how what he did was insensitive, but there is nothing legally wrong.

I think that dash cams should be used and should be considered good evidence because earlier this year, a boy from my neighborhood was shot by a police officer. Without the proof of the camera, police can do whatever they want and then it is their word against someone else’s. This gives police an extraordinary amount of power and can lead to corruption.
I support the use of dash cams because they are not bias and they show exactly what went on. I believe the argument could be better if it discussed whether or not the videos are considered legit evidence in court and whether or not what Powell did was illegal, or if it was simply insensitive.
When I read this article it made me think about how important a dash cam can be. I have always felt like police can say or do whatever they want since they are given a lot of authority in society, meaning situations that end in “he-said-she-said” often result in the officer getting the benefit of the doubt .

Unit 3: Topic

Topic: The topic I'm interested in is the new change to Texas' top 10 percent college admission rule. The top 10 percent college admission rule said that any student in Texas that graduates in the top 10 percent of their high school class is automatically granted admissions to state's colleges and universities. The Texas senate recently voted to change this rule.
How it impacts community: This is important to students in Texas because there are a lot of students that rely on their class rank to get them into a certain school. The top 10 percent rule has also been around for awhile, so for the students that worked to achieve this ranking are expecting the rule to still apply for them.
How it affects you personally: Since I am already in college this doesn't really affect me personally other than the impact it might have on people I know who are trying to get into college.

In class prewriting Rhetorical Analysis Paper

What connects sources?
All of my sources are related to the media’s influence on the presidential election. Specifically, all sources are talking about how the endorsement of candidates by publications and celebrities affects/influences voters. All my sources provide statistics. All my sources imply a connection between media endorsement and the success or failure of a candidate.
Media’s endorsement of candidates is directly related to the outcome of the 2008 presidential election.

Order of sources/organization of sources
-The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics: Oprah, Obama, and the 2008 Democratic Primary
-Newspaper endorsements in the United States presidential election, 2008
-Students find out Oprah endorsement earned Obama votes
-Oprah becomes test of what an endorsement means
(may or may not use the following:)
-Howard Stern’s interview with Harlem voters
-ZOGBY Poll Results
-Wilson Poll Results
- I can use “The Role of Celebrity Endorsements in Politics” source as a main source because it covers a lot of different angles and has a lot of information. I think from that, I can use my other sources to address more specifically some of the areas brought up in the main article. For example, “Students find out Oprah endorsement earned Obama votes” is an article in response to my main source. The source “Newspaper endorsements in the US presidential election, 2008” shows the statistics of endorsements for each candidate.
-I think this order will work for my topic because all of my sources are related, but they each focus on specific issues. I think if I introduce my topic, give the information from my main/general source, then move on to my other sources that are related to specific parts, I will be able to make my argument most affectively.

How do you plan to transition between sources?
I plan to begin with my main source, introducing my controlling idea and the different areas involved. I will move from this to the next source by emphasizing the importance of media endorsements to presidential elections explained in source 2. I will move from source 2 to 3&4 by demonstrating how powerful Oprah is as an endorser and how this relates specifically to the 2008 presidential election.

2/25 Unit Two In-class blog

I am concerned about whether or not my sources are actually primary. I am also concerned about whether or not I have been able to locate the best possible sources for my paper. I feel like I have had a little bit of trouble finding things that are specific to my topic and are primary. I think I need to do more research to be honest.
My number one source would be the Howard Stern interview with voters in Harlem. This is a primary source because it is an interview and peoples direct quotes on the subject. I chose this topic because it demonstrates how the voters are uneducated on the issues at hand and that they have been influenced to vote for Obama by the media, without really knowing what he stands for. The source is a YouTube video of Howard Stern asking voters in Harlem who they are voting for and why. He asks them about the policies they agree/disagree with and none of them know what they are talking about. I think this uses ethos and logos because it is showing they are not really knowledgable on the subject at hand and they do not have the facts straight.
Another source that is primary is the statistics and information I got from an article in the Houston Chronicle. This is primary because they are statistics and facts. I chose this because it backs up my point by proving this election had a ton of media coverage and the voter turnout was really high. The source is talking about the high voter turnout and its relation to the media coverage and how the media influenced uneducated voters. I think this uses logos because I am most taking from it the hard facts of numbers.
Another source would be an article about the media coverage of elections creating a bias among voters. This is primary because it has quotes from specific people and is related to my subject because they are analyzing how the media influenced the election. I think this uses logos because of the facts and pathos because people are emotionally tied to things like politics.

Observation Notes

Space- They physical space is the restaurant. When you walk in there is a line to the counter where you order your food. The menu above the counter is a giant magnetic board with the options and prices listed. There are pictures and beer advertisements hanging on the walls and ceiling. There is a lot of yellow and red. There are booths and tables with chairs. There are high top tables. There are tvs. There is a place where they cook the food and where people pick up their orders.

Actor- There are people that take the orders and people that prepare the food. There are also people that clean up the tables. There are also customers. There are people that work there and people coming to get food.

Activity- There are people ordering food and people taking the order. There are people preparing food, and people picking up their food. There are people eating and there are people cleaning up.

There are trays, plates, bowls, cups, food, tables, chairs, stools, napkins, bottles of sauce and salt/pepper shakers. People are trying to each food. They also have conversations and enjoy the atmosphere. People seem happy, laid back, not too formal.

 

There was a wide range of people going to eat there, not just students. There was a long line forming. All the tables were full. I saw lots of people picking up to-go orders. People dressed pretty casual. There were people that looked like students but also a lot of people that didn’t look like students.

 

At night there are mostly TCU students there. There are a lot of people drinking and there late. There are groups of people sitting and people come in to join them. There are a lot of people that do not have food, just beer or a drink. There are people coming in to pick up to-go orders. 

Arguments of Fact

The menu is one argument of fact at Fuzzy's. Since the price list is not outrageous, it seems like the argument they are making is that it is a pretty reasonable place. Also, the price list might argue that it is not super fancy, because it is affordable for most people to go eat there. Another argument of fact would be their operating hours. Because it is open from 10:30 in the morning until midnight most days, this makes the argument that there is a group of customers that come at night. Also, the hours on the weekend are even later, until like 2 or 3 in the morning, so this is an argument that on the weekends people come late at night to eat there. This makes the argument that they welcome the late night group of people and probably a lot of students take advantage of this.

Chapter 1

While reading chapter one, there were a lot of ideas that were new to me. One major thing that was new and surprising was the book's definition of an argument. I had always thought of an argument as two sides with different opinions trying to determine which is correct. The book, however, defines an argument very specifically, and even lists several different kinds of arguments. I know that not all arguments are exactly the same, but I have always thought there was only one kind of argument. I learned that there are a lot of different kinds of arguments. There are invitational arguments, Rogerian arguments, arguments to inform, convince, explore, make decisions, meditate/pray, arguments about the future, the past and the present, arguments of fact, and those of definition, and evaluation. All of these specific classifications of arguments are very new to me. Another thing I found interesting while reading chapter one is the book's distinction between argument and persuasion. I had always thought they meant the same thing. According to the book, however, one argues to discover truth and persuades to take action when the truth is already know. Another idea that is new to me from chapter one is that idea that an argument is not a negative thing. In my mind, an argument means you are trying to determine who is the winner and who is the loser/ who is right and who is wrong. I have always thought of an argument as a negative thing because when I think of an argument, it means the parties involved are not getting along. However, a Rogerian argument is when people work together to reach a compromise. 

Another thing I found interesting from chapter one is the relationship between the writer and the readers, and how the intended audience can influence the arguments the author makes. I knew that facts, ethics and emotions were involved in arguments, but I had not thought about them as under the titles of "pathos" "ethos" and "logos."In some ways I still do not completely accept the idea that EVERYTHING is an argument. I am having some trouble understanding and agreeing with that idea. I do not see how everything could be an argument. For example, the book says that street signs are an argument to inform, however I think they are just serving their purpose, and informing. I don't see how that is an argument.