Post 4: Rhetorical Context

     Rhetorical writing, the sense of understanding the author's perspective and it's a tricky beast to conquer. What exactly is rhetorical writing? Hoping to unlock why a piece is written, and for whom the piece is written. There's many ways to do this but more often than you may think it's actually a part of your daily life. As explained in the piece, "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis" the writer Laura Bolin Carroll notes "Imagine the first day of class in first year composition at your university.* The moment your professor walked in the room, you likely began analyzing her and making assumptions about what kind of teacher she will be." These thoughts are all around you, although you may not be writing a paper, your mind forces you to begin analyzing a person in the same ways as we write. We begin to ask questions in the scenario such as "Why is she wearing this hideous outfit?" or "Who is she trying to impress?" These are all questions that begin in the process of writing a rhetorical analysis and you more than likely didn't even notice! 

    I'd like to mention that, rhetorical analysis doesn't always come in the form of understanding specific text either. In many forms a rhetorical analysis can comes of viewing material such as images or graphics posted on a wall of a class room, or maybe even in your office space to help boost morale. You know the pictures I'm talking about:

peppyzestyteacherista

 Yep, those are the ones. You look at one for the first time and maybe laugh at them sometimes but you begin the same process that I'm explaining here and that Caroll explains as well. When you look at this sign you think "Why in the world did they make this?" "What is the context exactly behind this?" "Why does it have to be so corny?" "Who did they make this for again?" Even if you can answer those questions pretty quickly and process this entire thought process within a short 30 second span, it was apart of the rhetorical analysis method.

    In a piece I'm writing, "The Sky is the Limit" these are the same questions I'll have to ask myself, who exactly is my audience and how can I understand my audience. Specifically for my piece, I'm understand that my crowd is going to bring in aspiring pilots, aviation managers, and even a baggage handler the possibilities are endless. As Carroll asked in the same piece mentioned, "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis" it was asked "why do you need to know how to do more formal analysis?" This is key when figuring the context for my analysis, when having a formal analysis I'll be able to better understand my readers and where they are coming from.

    Being able to have this as a skillset sets yourself apart from others, and adds reason to the why. You're able to pick out a certain crowd and engage with your readers. If you want to persuade a specific person to do it YOUR WAY you have to understand where the reader is coming from and almost have that sense of personality in your piece so that you can click with the reader. Again, as stated at the beginning of this piece, it's a tricky beast to conquer but once the topic is understood you won't look back.