I had just read today about a young girl who died of bacterial meningitis and I wondered if there were any similar articles either about the same story, or just health care and illness prevention in general. I was able to find a couple articles in various magazines that were strong in information about preventing illness this season. In each article Kairos was used after an unfortunate event due to illness was given as an example. An example would be given then directly following the story would be tips and illness prevention methods. Creating this type of article during this time of year is also an example of kairos because illness is quite prominent in the winter months. People are more aware and more apt to try different health care precautions. Following the article about the girl with menengitis was a quote from a doctor making people aware of extra steps they can take to stay healthy and prevent serious illness. This is a use of kairos because of several factors that have people already thinking about health care and illness prevention.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Rhetorical Activity
Rhetoric is used everywhere, in all kinds of situations. When I think of rhetoric I think about debating between each side of an issue. Just recently I witnessed two individuals having the age old debate of abortion and whether it is right or wrong. One individual held the pro life point of view while the other held the pro choice. Having read about rhetoric in the textbook, I found myself paying particular attention to this argument; I usually tend to stay clear of such topics, because there is no way of coming to an answer.
I was surprised to see the two counterparts not just offering opinions to argue their points. Each one had facts specific to their stance on the subject. In many cases this sort of discussion turns into a yelling match, where one uses their own opinions to try to convince the other that they are wrong. In this argument, more like an actual debate, however, the two were offering up facts to substantiate their opinions on the matter. Without saying what my stance is on the issue, I will say that each person was very convincing in their arguments, and had a lot of great examples to back up their claims on each of their points of view.
While the typical debate on a topic such as abortion normally turns into an argument with one party bad mouthing the other, this debate was actually quite interesting to listen to and one of the first times I had ever seen facts used towards a moral debate.
I was surprised to see the two counterparts not just offering opinions to argue their points. Each one had facts specific to their stance on the subject. In many cases this sort of discussion turns into a yelling match, where one uses their own opinions to try to convince the other that they are wrong. In this argument, more like an actual debate, however, the two were offering up facts to substantiate their opinions on the matter. Without saying what my stance is on the issue, I will say that each person was very convincing in their arguments, and had a lot of great examples to back up their claims on each of their points of view.
While the typical debate on a topic such as abortion normally turns into an argument with one party bad mouthing the other, this debate was actually quite interesting to listen to and one of the first times I had ever seen facts used towards a moral debate.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Interview Reflection
After conducting this interview in class, I can see that it is extremely important to have a set of questions already in mind, but to not stay too strict to those questions. Having topics in mind is a great way to get the interview rolling, but if one stays too strict to their questions, important information could be lost. It is important to be able to follow up to be able to use follow up questions in response to what the informant is talking about. At a few points during the interview I found myself struggling just a bit for follow up questions, but once we really got the interview going, I found myself taking a more conversational role in the interview and that made it much easier to gather all kinds of information about Emma's bag. It was enjoyable to talk with her, and even though she felt that her bag was not as interesting as my ring, I enjoyed hearing why and how she acquired it and why she enjoys it so much.
I would say my biggest strength was just in the listening process itself. I sat toward Emma and even while I was writing information down, I tried for the most part to maintain eye contact and show that I was interested in what she was telling me. I also feel one of my strong points is either writing down or simply remembering important little details that may seem insignificant at the time, but that actually give a lot of insight into the informant and their object.
My weakness would be in quickly coming up with follow up questions to a question that I asked the informant. I found myself at times wanting to stick to the script so to speak and struggled in some areas when I had to think of something new to ask. I enjoyed this project and thought it was really good practice to what an interview should be.
I would say my biggest strength was just in the listening process itself. I sat toward Emma and even while I was writing information down, I tried for the most part to maintain eye contact and show that I was interested in what she was telling me. I also feel one of my strong points is either writing down or simply remembering important little details that may seem insignificant at the time, but that actually give a lot of insight into the informant and their object.
My weakness would be in quickly coming up with follow up questions to a question that I asked the informant. I found myself at times wanting to stick to the script so to speak and struggled in some areas when I had to think of something new to ask. I enjoyed this project and thought it was really good practice to what an interview should be.
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