Considering Types

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In this blog post, I am evaluating different types of arguments for possible use in my paper.

Position
I think a position argument seems on the surface to suite my paper very well. This argument type would allow me to defend my ideas based on their merits as well as explain why the current system has problems.

Causal
More interesting, I think, would be a causal argument. This type of argument argues for why a certain thing caused something else. I think it could be compelling to try to combine this sort of argument with a position argument to explain how unrealistic and arbitrary legislation caused VW to illegally cheat on it's emissions tests.

Evaluative
As part of an explanation of how the current emissions testing system fails, I could also easily include evaluative aspects in my argument. This would most likely come about by looking at current policies which would be causal and then constructing an evaluative argument about how they are failures.

Proposal
Regardless of what I do with the rest of my argument, there will certainly be proposal characteristics to it. A large part of my paper will revolve around what the current problem is and how we can fix it.

Refutation
I don't think a large part of my argument will be a refutation as there are not really directly clashing viewpoints about the VW scandal.

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I commented on Swati's Rhetorical Action Plan as well as her Considering Types post. I also commented on Evan's Rhetorical Action Plan and his Considering Types post. I think this was a very valuable exercise over all. It was very interesting to see what types of argument my classmates deemed best in a variety of situation and it was somewhat relieving that I happened to agree with all of them.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

photosbyflick "Peace, Love, and a Yellow VW" September 30, 2011 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will create my rhetorical action plan based on the provided questions.

1. Audience: Who are you going to try to persuade with your public argument? Arguably, I'm not trying to convince anyone. My argument is more of a reasoned rant about some of the ridiculousnesses currently governing automotive emissions laws in light of the recent VW diesel cheating scandal. My argument is, however, particularly aimed at car enthusiasts who probably agree with me.
• Knowledge: What does the audience know about the topic, test, or idea? How do they know the topic (where do they get their knowledge from)? Do they have certain predispositions or opinions about the topic that you will need to address? 
  The Volkswagen has been publicized in the general media a lot. Considering that I am mainly writing essentially an opinion piece addressed at car enthusiasts, such an audience would probably get most of their information from publications such as Car and River and websites such as Jalopnik. Obviously, what VW did was wrong and everyone has that predisposition. As far as anything else goes, they probably haven't developed particularly firm positions.
• Values: What do you know about how the value, ideals, principles, or norms (standards of conduct) that members of the audience might hold? 
  Car enthusiasts don't necessarily subscribe to a very specific set of values. 
• Standards of Argument: What type of research or evidence do you think will be persuasive for your audience? How might you have to translate this research for them? 
  I think in regard to this particular issue, logical discussion and hard facts would be the best approach as the simple fact is that VW vehicles vastly exceeded the allowable NOx emissions under current American emissions law. From that, a discussion about the emissions laws and their problems could follow.
• Visual Elements: What visual images or elements might your audience respond to? Why? 
  A good graph might be appropriate for this article as well as some appropriate pictures though I am not sure how appropriate visuals will be depending on the genre I choose to write in.
• Purpose: Why is your audience reading or listening to your argument? Are you trying to expand their understanding of an idea, encourage them to take action on an issue, challenge a long-held tradition or viewpoint, etc.? How likely is your argument to motivate your audience? The audience is likely to listen to my argument because they have similar interests (they care about cars). I am trying to expose a perhaps unique opinion about the issues that the VW cheating scandal raises. Hopefully, my argument is good enough to make my audience consider the validity of my opinion and argument.
2. Genre: What form of writing will you use? I could use either a blog post or an opinion piece/column to support my viewpoint. Here is an example of a column/news article and here is another example of an opinion piece. Examples of a blog post about the VW scandal are included here and here.
• What is the function of the genre? What is it designed to do for your readers? Or, why did you choose it? The genre give you guidelines for how to approach the topic based on the conventions of the genre. I will most likely write my public rhetoric as an opinion column as it allows me great latitude to pursue and explanation of my own personal opinions.
• What is the setting of your genre? Where could you see it being used? The setting for something written in this genre would most likely be a car magazine or a car blog either online or in print.
• How might you use the rhetorical appeals we have studied -- ethos(character), pathos (values/emotion), and logos (logical argumentation) in this genre? 
  Logical appeals would probably work best in this genre. I can think of little use of other appeals as it is not really an emotional topic.
• What type of visual elements, if any, will you use in this genre?
  A good graph might be appropriate for this article as well as some appropriate pictures though I am not sure how appropriate visuals will be depending on the genre I choose to write in.
• What type of style (formal, informal, conversational, academic, etc.) will you use in this genre?
  I think an informal style would be most appropriate for this sort of writing. I am not writing an all out news article and therefore don't need a strictly formal writing style however an opinion column is also not that far removed from news to be truly informal or conversational.
3. Responses/Actions: Explain the possible actions you would like your audience to take after they read or view your argument.
• Positive reactions
• They might agree that diesel is still a good solution for high efficiency cars.
• They might agree that mileage and emissions tests conducted in labs are unrealistic.
• Because of the unrealistic nature of the current mileage and emissions tests, they might agree that we should make those tests more realistic and lower the required standards on automakers to make them realistic.
• Negative rebuttals
• Electric cars are the answer.
• Subject automakers to stricter real world emissions tests.
• Hit VW with even more fines.

Analyzing Purpose

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This is the link to my Coggle for Analyzing Purpose.

Analyzing Context

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In this blog post, I will answer the questions about context posed on page 340 of Writing for Public Lives. Here goes:

1. There are not really fundamentally different schools of thought about my topic. It is very obvious that Volkswagen cheated their diesel emissions tests and lied to millions of customers However, what I will delve into is my opinion on some of the reactions to this scandal as well as some of the reasons it happened. Another interesting view on the cause of the debacle is included here as well.
2. Some of the things I want to point out include the fact that the hyper-strict NOx emissions standards that VW ran afoul of are optional on diesel trucks. This is very suspect as most diesel passenger cars are imports while most diesel trucks are domestically manufactured. Also contentious is who is at fault as well as detractors who have taken this scandal as a reason to abandon diesel as a viable fuel.
3. Everyone does agree that what VW did was wrong and needs to be fixed however. A good example can be found here.
4. I wouldn't say there are clear cut ideological differences in regard to the VW scandal but two different groups involved are relatively un-knowledgeable people in the general public as opposed to car enthusiast and auto industry insiders who have a much better idea of what is actually going on. Generally, the less someone knows about something like this, the more reactionary they tend to be. This is an example of a more reactionary approach.
5. No audience is necessarily asked to take a specific action.
6. I think my chosen perspective which is critical of the illegal actions that VW took but generally in favor of responsibly using diesel cars will serve me very well in making my argument.
7. I don't think I have much to worry about from more reactionary perspectives as my views are quite reasonable and measured.

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I read Mira and Swati's blog posts for the Read/Reply/Reflect assignment for this blog post. Both were very well constructed and thoroughly investigated. Reading their blog posts, I realized that it was a little bit hard for me to do this assignment as there are not as clear cut sides in my controversy as there are in Mira's and Swati's. This made some of the analysis for this particular assignment harder as everyone can pretty much agree that cheating your emissions tests on a massive scale is pretty bad. The argument for me, on the other had, is more about what the implications of the VW scandal are and how it should be handled.

Audience and Genre

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In this post, I will identify several possible audiences and then corresponding places where I could publish my article for each audience group.

Car Enthusiasts
Car Magazines

• http://www.roadandtrack.com/
• http://www.caranddriver.com/

Enthusiast Forums

• http://www.vwvortex.com/
• http://www.thesamba.com/vw/

General Audience
Newspapers

• http://www.nytimes.com/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/

General-interest magazines

• http://www.newyorker.com/
• http://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine

Regulators and/or Engineers
Trade Journals/Newsletters

• https://www.asme.org/about-asme/news-media/newsletters
• https://www.asme.org/about-asme/get-involved/advocacy-government-relations/policy-publications/capitol-update

Automotive Industry Magazines

• http://www.autonews.com/
• http://www.autoindustryinsider.com/

Extended Annotated Bibliography

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This is a link to my Extended Annotated Bibliography.

Narrowing my Focus

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In this blog post, I will choose several (2-3) questions from the ones I developed in the previous post, to focus on more specifically.

Where is this an issue? Is it only in the United States with our hyper-strict NOx emissions standards?I think this question is particularly important because it allows me to expand on why this happened in particular as well as the fact that when the diesels are on the more polluting cycle, they are in fact much more powerful and much more efficient. This also allows me to talk about how these same hyper-strict regulations the EPA enacts on diesel cars are optional on diesel trucks. This is a classical example of regulatory capture and trade protectionism that I really want to paint as unreasonable and unfair.

How did the defeat device work?This is very interesting to more technically minded people because, though Volkswagen resorted to cheating instead of facing a difficult technical problem, the cheating was still very sophisticated and this lends itself also very well to a discussion about why it was so difficult for the EPA and CARB (California Air Resources Board) to discover what was going on in the first place. From that, I can segue into how all cars in fact pollute much more on the road than they do in labs and how testing procedure can and should be adjusted to reflect that. From here, I can even move on to estimated gas mileage and how that is tested for in a similar ineffective manner.

Who is at fault?An answer to this question is always very interesting to readers. People have an intrinsic desire to be able to blame someone for a problem. However, as I greatly admire many of the engineers who suffered for this scandal, this section also allows me a platform to pontificate about how those engineers were treated unjustly and most likely had no part in the scandal.

Questions about Controversy

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I have chosen to participate in the public debate about the Volkswagen diesel emissions cheating scandal for this project. Though I did not choose this for a previous project, I would have chosen it for Project 2 if I could have found a good enough public speech act to analyse. Additionally, it is extremely relevant currently as it is very much a current controversy and I am also quite knowledgeable about it. Therefore, I think I will be able to write about it very well and would like to use it.

WHO?
Who discovered the scandal?
Who is at fault?
Who has been affected?

WHAT?
What happened exactly?
What/why did this happen?
What models are affected?

WHEN?
When did this start?
When was it discovered?
Who should have checked this out better?

WHERE?
Where/which/what countries are affected?
Where was it discovered?
Where is this an issue? Is it only in the United States with our hyper-strict NOx emissions standards?

HOW?
How did Volkswagen get away with this?
How did the defeat device work?
How are they going to fix all those cars?

Reflection on Project 2

Jimmy "porsche racing, Biere Switzerland" June 12, 2005 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will reflect on my revision process in Project 2.

1. What was specifically revised from one draft to another?
• I had a sort of incremental approach to this essay (and really all essays). My first revision was aimed at removing general errors. Then I moved on to addressing all of the comments on my essay from peer review. Then I once again checked for small errors such as grammar, word choice, and spelling. Then I had my father who is a lawyer and an English major revise the essay for major issues which I fixed after which he did a final check for more minor issues once again.
2. Point to global changes: how did you reconsider your thesis or organization?
• I restructured my thesis after initially having a too general thesis toward having one that clearly elucidated what I was going to say in the essay. I also worked in more analysis to make the essay stronger overall.
3. What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?
• Those changes stemmed from shortcomings in the original draft.
4. How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?
• These changes did not really have an impact on my credibility as an author as what I am ultimately writing with a rhetorical analysis piece is an opinion. I am writing what I think the piece is trying to convey and how.
5. How will these changes better address the audience or venue?
• The global changes I made made my essay better reflect the requirements of the assignment.
6. Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
• My local changes were minimal. They were simply aimed at making the essay easier to read and easy to understand. My goal here was incremental improvements with the goal of making the essay flow.
7. How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?
• These changes made my essay (in my opinion), easier to read by making it flow better and reducing awkward moments which hopefully makes the information in the essay easier to absorb.
8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing?
• I guess so. I just had to make sure I wrote a good essay that provided in-depth analysis.
9. Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?
• I think the process of reflection makes you think about what you actually did and why you did those things. That brings you to a place where you can then reflect on and consider if your choices were actually effective.

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Reflection

I replied to this self-same post on Victoria's blog and on Chelsea's blog. I think Victoria and I had some very similar experiences with the revision process. We both worked very hard to make good these based around solid factual evidence from the pieces we were analyzing. We also gained a lot from talking to Professor Bottai about our essays.

Chelsea and I had a rather more different experience, I think. She worked a lot more on having an engaging introduction and conclusion that would be easy for readers to absorb. Her thesis also started out pretty strong. my experience was essentially reversed. Though my essay was okay, I had to adapt my thesis to be more effective considering the entire essay. My writing, on the other had, tends to be pretty engaging and easy to read.

Project 2

tecnica "2015 Singapore Airlines Singapore Gran Prix" September 19, 2015 via Flickr
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This is my published Project 2. Enjoy!

Punctuation. Part 2

Best of Rally Live "2011 WRC Rally de Espana - Day Two" October 22, 2011 via Flickr
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In this post, I will continue to reflect on the punctuation from Rules for Writers.

Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used almost exclusively when quoting other people's words. They can also be used as a semi-ironic use of a word or as scare quotes.

Ex.
John called him "the biggest idiot I ever met."

End Punctuation
End punctuation determines how you place punctuation at the end of certain structure. An example of this is not including extra punctuation when you have an e.g. or putting the punctuation inside the quotation marks if a quote ends the sentence.

Ex.
John called him "the biggest idiot I ever met."

The Colon
Colons are usually used to offset something from the rest of the sentence. This is often an appositive or something of the sort. The easiest way to show this is to give an example so I shall.

Ex. That test was written by Scattante himself: the devil.

Paragraph Analysis 2

In this blog post, I will discuss what I learned from my paragraph analysis of my draft of my rhetorical analysis essay.

Eddy Clio "MCLAREN F1 GTR LONGTAIL" October 5, 2013
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The biggest weakness I learned about my rhetorical analysis is a need for more in-depth analysis. I need to dig deeper instead of simply scratching the surface of rhetorical analysis. I think that overall my analysis was fairly interesting an easy to read as I tend to be good at that as I have a conversational "easy" style in my writing. I think the most important thing for me is to get some really good editing probably from my father and really sit down and dig deep and force myself to spend a lot of time doing some proper analysis of the article. Overall I think I have a good draft but I always lack analytical strength.

Revised Conclusion

In this post I will briefly reflect on my revised conclusion.

Chris Ibbotson "IMG_3645" May 26, 2007 via Flickr
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Here is my old conclusion.

Here is my revised conclusion.

I used the circle back method to try to create a conclusion. My old conclusion was certainly a summary of my claims. I am not sure I like the new one better, however. It doesn't feel like it has a proper place in the rhetorical analysis.

Revised Introduction

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Here is my original draft.

Here is my draft with a new introduction.

My new introduction is a lot better thought out. The thesis is a lot better and I think the hook is a lot better as well. I made sure this time that the thesis covered the pertinent topics necessary for rhetorical analysis as well.

Reflection on Project 2 Draft

In this post, I will overview the feedback I gave on two of my classmate's Project 2 Drafts.

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For peer editing, I commented on Michael and Swati's drafts.
For the rest of my post, I will reflect on my draft considering the questions on page 197 of the Student's Guide.

• I do have an identifiable thesis. I think it reads very well but it falls short in illuminating the most important rhetorical strategies the original article uses. I do not simply fall back on logos, ethos, and pathos; rhetorical strategies are just not part of the thesis at this point.
• I decided to organize my essay in a multi-faceted manner. My paragraphs reflect rhetorical changes that occur sequentially throughout the original article. I think this is a fundamentally strong idea but I need to be more concrete in my analysis.
• I do identify the rhetorical elements that are of consequence to my article. as always, the analysis could use work.
• I do discuss the rhetorical strategies that were used and how they were implemented and how they impact the very specific audience of my piece. I think this is one of the strongest parts of my essay.
• I am using specific examples from the original text. I'm not sure if I could call my uses particularly thoughtful but I am certainly implementing them.
• I think my conclusion provides a solid summary of how the original text fulfills its rhetorical purpose however I think my more in depth analysis is probably wanting.

Punctuation, Part 1

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In this section, I will address three topics under punctuation from Rules for Writers in light of my own writing.

The Comma
I don't think I ever explicitly realized that commas exist to help readers but that is an excellent definition. The purpose of a comma is to organize writing with pauses so you read it in the same way that you would say it. I think that overall I have a fairly good command of how to use commas in writing. I think this is because I try to use it in the most sparing way possible by mentally reading over what I am writing and inserting commas only where I naturally pause. Also important is creating a series with commas.

The Semi-Colon
Semi-colons are used to connect clauses that are not also connected by a coordinating conjunction. Their other use is between independent clauses linked with translational expressions. I think semi-colons are very underutilized punctuations and they can really add a lot to writing when used correctly. I have recently worked to improve my use of them but I definitely still under use them. This is because I am pretty scared of using them incorrectly so unless I'm fairly sure I have a valid place to use a semi-colon. I'll usually leave it out.

The Apostrophe
The apostrophe is only used for tow things: indicating a quote within a quote and for possessives. Pluralizations do not use apostrophes. To create a possessive, you add an apostrophe s ('s) unless the word already ends in an s or s-like sound in which case you only add an apostrophe.

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Reflection:
I commented on both Swati's and Michael's drafts.

I discovered that no one uses semi-colons. Period Paragraph. Michael used none and the only ones in Swati's draft were in quotes such as the following one:

“'But growing usable tissue in the lab is notoriously difficult; the advent of 3-D printers that can print ink made of cells has offered a ray of hope'”

Just for fun, the following is a place in Swati's draft where a semi-colon could have been used. "additionally" could have been removed and replaced with a semi-colon effectively:

"Acknowledgement of other opinions, and then an argument against these opinions, may have been an effective tactic to use that would have increased the logic of Groopman’s argument. Additionally, there were no statistics or other supporting facts that contributed to the logic of the argument."

 Neither draft contained a quote within a quote either so there were only apostrophes for pluralization of which I did not find any incorrect pluralization.

There were correct and incorrect comma uses (comma splices etc) in both drafts. Here is an example from Michael's draft of commas being used to separate items in a series:

"Nonetheless, Partovi still uses conventions such as appealing to his own credibility, presentation of compelling statistics, and a myriad of other tactics to make his argument as agreeable as possible."

Draft of Rhetorical Analysis

Jim Culp "Wim van der Poel - Bryan Lord" June 22, 2013 via Flickr
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Here is my draft for Project 2.

Here is the article I wrote about.

I think the biggest thing I think peer editors should know is that this is very much a work in progress and strong revisions are most likely necessary. I tend to be a heavy reviser as I truly believe if you buff anything enough, you can come up with something good. So be vicious!

Practicing Summary and Paraphrase

Jim Culp "4wd Mazda RX-7" July 6, 1985 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will be following the given directions to practice summary and paraphrasing by doing these to a quote from my article to help me prepare for actually writing my rhetorical analysis.

Original Source: 

"Somewhere, somehow, there were kids getting new BMWs for their sixteenth birthday. Not among my grocery-store peer group. And somewhere, too, there were kids who would never touch a new car from their birth to their death. We were in the middle, with parents who didn't coddle us in California style but who would also silently cover things like food and insurance so we could stretch for the best car we could get and enough $1.09-a-gallon fuel to cruise past the university on Friday nights and look at the girls."

 Paraphrase of my original source:

While the author was not handed the keys to a new BMW at age 16, he was also not part of the economic group that might never get new car. Instead of spoiling him, his parents supplemented his income just enough for him to be able to just stretch what he could afford and do.

Summary of my original:

The author is reflecting on his upbringing in regard to how he was not spoiled but his parents afforded him some monetary help to just stretch what was possible for him.

Project 2 Outline

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In this blog post I will compose an outline for my rhetorical analysis in Project 2. I will use a bulleted list with an expansion on every bullet.

• Introduction


• Hook: "Son of a bitch. He'd actually done it." Envy and admiration hits our author as he sees the brand new Mazda 323.


• Thesis: In an opinion piece written for Road & Track, Jack Baruth nostalgically reminisces about his first new car and reflects on how things have changed for youth nowadays.
• Body
• Anecdote
• Ethos
• Reflection
• Opinion
• Logos

In all the body paragraphs, I will analyse what goes on in the three sections that I am generally dividing up my article into based on the rhetorical strategies that we have discussed. I was taught to always keep rhetorical analysis in the same order that the text is in in order to make it easy to follow and not get mixed up.

• Analytical Claims
• If a car company made a new car that was cheap yet fun and somewhat desirable, they could get a lot of brand loyalty from young customers that got them as people develop attachments to the first car they have. This could help the car companies sell more expensive models to those youth when the grow up and earn money. The worst thing the could happen is that older people might like such a car as well.
• Conclusion
• Summary: Jack Baruth offers us a nostalgic anecdote from his youth to make a point. By drawing readers in with a compelling story that he then reflects on, he can effectively make his point about the effectiveness a car manufacturer would have if they once again tried to make a truly affordable good fun cars.
• Thesis restated and expanded on

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I read Chloe's and Alex's Project 2 outlines. It seems like we all tried to do something similar with a bulleted list and then explanations. I think I was unique in trying to subdivide things even further which I think was because it allowed me to be more analytical in my approach. I think this was an incredibly useful assignment because it forced us to not only consider how we were going to analyse the text but also how we are going to organize and structure that analysis. From what I read, I think neither Chloe and Alex nor myself should have too much difficulty creating a good rhetorical analysis.

Draft Thesis Statements

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In this blog post, I will draft out several possible thesis statements for my project and reflect on each one.

In Jack Baruth's opinion piece, he reflects on how cars have changed for current youth when compared to his own experiences.
I think this thesis statement is very simple and to the point however it is lacking some "meat." I was always taught that a thesis statement should be one sentence, one statement, that sets the tone for your whole piece of writing. What this thesis fails to do is lay a "roadmap" for what the entire reset of the analysis will be.

In an opinion piece written for Road & Track, Jack Baruth nostalgically reminisces about his first new car and reflects on how things have changed for youth nowadays.
On the other hand, this thesis is stronger, it includes more of the rhetorical situation with the mention of the publication in Road and Track . This thesis also better defines the rhetorical strategies in the article where it move from anecdote to reflection to opinion. Finally, it is more eloquently written than the first statement.

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I commented on Victoria's and Swati's thesis statement posts. Both of them seemed to use a different approach to writing a thesis than I did. I firmly believe a thesis should be short, probably one sentence, and give the readers a taste of what I intend to write about. I don't like to go too in depth in the thesis however as I feel like it leaves me with very little to write about later.

Analyzing my Audience

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In this blog post I will answer the questions on page 41 of the Student's Guide in regard to my analysis of the Road and Track article.

• Who am I writing for? What are the audience's beliefs and assumptions?

According to the rubric for the assignment, I will be writing for a freshman student in my discipline about how arguments in it are constructed.

• What position will they take on this issue? How will I need to respond to this position?

I do not think this question applies considering I'm writing literary analysis.

• What will they want to know?

My audience will want a complete and convincing analysis of the text. I need to address all relevant rhetorical strategies that create the argument. This is logos, ethos, and pathos and then a well developed look into each subtopic and how it actually creates the argument.

• How might they react to my argument?

As I wrote earlier, this is a question that applies very little to writing rhetorical analysis as I do not have an argument of my own, I'm simply examining how the author of the article makes their points.

• How am I trying to relate or connect with my audience?

I am trying to present my audience with a reasonable analysis of the article from Road and Track.

• Are there specific words, ideas, or modes of presentation that will help me relate to them in this way?

An analysis based on the rhetorical strategies that we learned about will most likely be the most useful way that I can present my analysis to my audience.

• More Development

I think my main goal in this Project is to communicate the argument and what and how the author of the article I am analyzing is saying. I honestly think writing should be very simple. You should just write what you want to say in an entertaining readable manner and not beat around the bush. Say you're point and move on.

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I read and commented on both Chloe and Hallye's blog posts. I found that my post was lacking development in comparison to their more extensive posts. I think this is because I have very much an engineering mindset: I just want to say the point and move on. This sometimes makes it hard for me to write in-depth and in a manner teachers like.

Cluster of Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars

Coggle created on my computer 10/10/15

I created my Coggle in a multi-tiered manner. I started with the central goal of our piece and split it into the four main types of analysis (Logos, Ethos, Pathos, and I added Orgamization) that I'm aware of. I then further divided everything up as much as I felt I could. Notably, I saved adding actual textual examples as I think that should occur at a later stage.

Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in "Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars"

In this post I will analyse the rhetorical strategies in the opinion piece entitled Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars posted on Esquire and Road & Track with the help of the Student's Guide.

This time, I included a picture of an Audi Quattro rally car at the Olympus Rally in Washington in 1985.

Raymond Culp "1985 Olympus Rally" July 5, 1985 via Flickr
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Appeals to Credibility or Character

• The entire article is essentially a long personal story about when the author first got his new car. He also subtly indicates his car enthusiast "cred" by mentioning things like "no more attainable than a Sonderwunsch steel flatnose." referring to the famous and rare Porsche option. 
• The personal story is the vehicle for the entire story so it is necessary. It is an opinion column that the the author is writing in so he has the liberty to reflect on his past if he desires to. More important is the need to be a credible and knowledgeable enthusiast as he is writing an Road and Track, a magazine probably read by very few non-enthusiasts.
• The entire tone of the article and in particular the author's "car enthusiast cred" make the author fairly credible to the audience of Road & Track.
• These strategies and indeed the message of the text itself positively effects the effectiveness of the text.
• The author certainly has biases toward supporting the proliferation of cheap and accessible cars. I see no reason why this bias should have an impact on the author's credibility.

Appeals to Emotion

• The author often uses wry humor in this article. An example of this is the sentences "If you were lucky enough to have something outrageous like a Civic Si, you barely existed in our world. You were a rich kid, and you could go to hell." This makes the article interesting an enjoyable to read. The tone and style of writing is simple and not too conversational and not too formal so that it is easy to read. As mentioned before, the text revolves around a personal story.
• The author is trying to create a nostalgic emotional response in the hackneyed "they don't make them like they used to" manner.
• The author is very successful in this endeavor (for me at least) which is in large part because I agree with his argument that the manner of cheap cars has changed and not only for the better.
• These emotions are very effective for the audience and the topic as they contribute positively to the argument.
• I don't think the emotions that are part of this piece negatively contribute to my perceived credibility for the author though I'm not sure of they contribute specifically to the author's credibility either.

Appeals to Logic

• The most noticeable aspect from the list of logos components from the Student's Guide is the logical organization. The column builds from narration of the author's own experiences to reflection on those experiences to expanding them to a greater audience.
• This organization is very effective as it is clear and leads the readers to the same conclusions as the author comes to and it is not a difficult thing for the readers to follow. This is effective for the audience.

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I read Issak and Hallye's posts. Both were very interesting topics. I think that I spent a good amount of time and effort on my article (Issak obviously spent a very long time and put significant effort into his post) and I think I probably spent about as much time as Hallye did. Though I had to change my original article from one of the original rhetorical topics I found in the last deadline to something more suitable, I find I am constantly concerned about the quality of my article and if it is good enough for this assignment. Interestingly, we all had the most trouble finding definite logical appeals in the pieces.

Analyzing the Message in "Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars"

In this post I will analyse the message in the opinion piece entitled Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars posted on Esquire and Road & Track with the help of the Student's Guide.

The picture is a Mazda 323 GTX rally car which was based on one of the cars that are referenced in the article.

Jim Culp "Raymond Ridge" December 3, 1986 via Flickr
non-commercial reuse with attribution no-derivs

Does the author?

• Express an idea or opinion?

The author certainly expresses and opinion. He is of the opinion that twenty five years ago, automakers operated on the principle that if you offered something that your youngest customers could afford, they would have customers for life. The author then extends his belief that this care for younger customers created a different sort of youth car culture that no longer exists today.

• Respond to a particular occasion?

The author does not really respond to a situation besides reminiscing about his teenage days when he got his first new car.

• Inform the reader about a misunderstood topic?

The author does not in particular make an effort to inform readers about a misunderstood topic, he simply relates his own experiences.

• Analyze, synthesize, or interpret?

The author does not analyse, synthesize, or interpret in this article as he instead draws on his own experiences to paint a picture for readers.

• Reflect on their topic?

The author certainly reflects on his time as a teenager. He converts his own experiences into a more general reflection on how particular practices in the automotive industry appear to have changed and how priorities seem to have shifted away from what the author considers to be a particularly beneficial ethos.

• Advocate for change?

The author does not outright advocate for change in the current priorities of children and parents and car companies but subtly you can tell that if a more retroactive change occurred, the author would not be displeased.

• Move the readers to feel a certain way?

This article is certainly tinged with some aspects of nostalgia. The author wants his readers to experience some of the same appreciation for what he terms a "Golden Age of Cheap Cars."

Analyzing My Own Assumptions

Andrew Filer "Assumption, Minnesota" August 27, 2006 via Flickr
reuse with attribution

In this blog post, I will answer the questions about my own cultural perspective provided by the Writing for Public Lives book.

1. I share essentially all of the cultural values from the Esquire article. This is largely because I am also a young car enthusiast so I share many of the same concerns and desires as the author did at the age he is reflecting on. The values that are reflected on have not necessarily endured but both the author and I wish they had.
2. One considerable difference between that author's perspective and mine is when it is. In 1990, the best hope for a budding car enthusiast was essentially a new car. Inferior manufacturing and terrible vehicles from the late 1970s and 1980s made the used vehicle market tiny. So a cheap but fun new car was the best you could hope for. On the other hand, I have the opportunity to buy a ten year old luxury car that cost $30,000 dollars new for $6,500 in excellent condition because depreciation has worked in my favor.
3. Currently, the attitude for parents that are willing to help their teenagers get a car and especially those getting a new car, is one of much more entitlement. Teens are getting $20,000 and $30,000 dollar cars as their first cars and some have come to expect it. Most are also crossovers or other utility vehicles. This is at odds with what the author and I agree on that first car should do. It should be a slow car that is a gateway to excitement and driving fast and learning how to do it well.
4. The cultural values expressed in the text have evolved from the pride and happiness the author exhibited in his bargain basement first car to much more of an entitled standpoint as exhibited in the bullet above.

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I read Chloe and Hallye's blogs. Both chose very interesting articles (Hallye's was about freedom of speech and censorship while Chloe's was about the prevalence of audio books). Hallye agreed with the author of her article as I did. Chloe, however, disagrees with the author of her article. I think this will make for some very interesting analysis.

Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

Francesco Crippa "DSC_6265.jpg" September 7, 2013 via Flickr
reuse with attribution

In this blog post, I am analyzing the cultural setting and background that impacts the Esquire/Road & Track article about "Remembering a Golden Age of Cheap Cars."

This article was published in Road & Track magazine on September 3, 2015. The author is writing about his experiences as a teenager in 1990 in regard to car culture. The setting is somewhere in the Rust Belt, likely Ohio.

1. The author's young age plays into this story because it strongly limits what he and his friends can afford. The other norms that strongly play into the anecdotes in this piece are that getting your driver's license and getting a car used to be the biggest priority that anyone around age 16 had. This level of universal car culture has decreased. Another strong value mentioned is the lack of affluence of the author. He was wealthy enough that his parents could afford to "silently help [him] stretch for new car payments by covering food and insurance..." but not so wealthy that his parents might buy him a Civic Si or even a BMW.
2. The text directly interacts with all of these cultural values. They set the stage for when the author got his first new car based on his work as a bag boy during high school at a local supermarket.
3. The text is genuinely supportive of the cultural values that it contains but it laments that many of them are no longer as present in culture as they once were. He laments the fact that nowadays, there is much less of a good economy for people without a college degree. He laments the lack of affordable cars that make lifetime customers. Finally, he laments when teenagers currently experience uch more entitlement.

Cultural Analysis of "Remembering the Golden Age of Cheap Cars"

I must note that while I found it to be possible to analyse the texts I initially chose in the last blog post, they did not work well for this blog post or indeed for the entire project so I was forced to choose another more rhetorical text. I hope that is alright.

dave 7 "Volkswagen Fox" May 25, 2013 via Flickr
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I chose to analyse the Esquire column "Remembering the Golden Age of Cheap Cars" for cultural messages. 

This is a retrospective article as it reflects on how twenty five years ago car companies cared more for young enthusiasts. This is an interesting and important reflective piece for an automotive industry that seemingly only now cars about $50,000+ luxury cars. Naturally, profit margins are higher on those vehicles but the surest way, as the author points out, to get people to buy the more expensive cars is to create a brand loyalty while the customers are young.

1. Several important cultural keywords are nostalgia, youth, and affordability. 
2. The main thesis of this piece revolves around car culture for youth. The author laments the lack of genuinely affordable new cars today when compared to 25 years ago and explains based on extended anecdotes the change that has had in car enthusiast culture.
3. The author is making the case to other car enthusiasts why car companies ought to pay more attention to their youngest customers. He laments that current "cheap" cars still need to have amenities such as bluetooth and iPod connectivity instead of being much simpler and more fun to drive. Logically, the author connects the purchase of a first car to enduring brand loyalty. He also invokes cars that are generally considered to be some of the best and most interesting cehap cars ever made such as the Volkswagen Fox, the Toyota Tercel, and the Mazda 323.