Main Post #1:
Choose one reading and one visual text from the options below and answer the following questions. (250 word minimum). Pose a question for your classmates to grapple with.
Written Text: Answer Three Questions
What is thesis or main idea?
Describe the plot in one or two sentences by identifying the conflict, climax and resolution.
Select a specific part, passage, or phrase from the story; quote it and identify which rhetorical strategy it represents.
Rhetorical Modes PowerPoint
Rhetorical Modes Handout
Visual Text: Answer Three Questions:
What is the main idea or thesis?
Describe the conflict or tension
How do the elements in the image support the main message?
For Your Peer Responses:
In no less than 150 words, respond meaningfully to at least two peers’ posts.
Written Options:
“Mother Tongue,” Amy Tan pp. 697-703
“The Clinic.” by Jeff Gremmels (PDF)
******** Below are samples for the written part. Remember to include your visual response for your initial post.
Sample: “The Clinic”
The thesis, or main idea of this text was the medical student’s gut feeling or intuition that his fourteen year old patient’s injuries, upon further examination, were caused by abuse. Before the examination, the medical student asked the mother of the boy questions pertaining to the bruises that were visible on the boy, and had a gut feeling that the boy was not there for a “stomachache”, as the mother had stated. (Gremmels, 1998, p. 1) Due to the boy’s behavior upon entering the exam room, he was not sure if that was the true reason the boy was there to be seen.
The conflict here is that the medical student was not using the the knowledge he had learned in his lectures taught by his professor in the physical diagnoses class he attended, but rather was using gut feeling and intuition. “A professor teaching our physical diagnosis class told us we should know 80 percent of the cases coming before us by hearing the history alone. This case was quickly proving itself the undesired 20 percent. I moved to the physical exam.” (Gremmels, p. 4). The medical student is thinking of this because of the information the mother is giving him, for example, he’s normally a very active boy who got lots of scrapes and cuts while playing in the woods, but now is very pale, which suggests that he no longer goes outside everyday, and by huddling on the bed is nervous and quiet.
The text moves toward the climax, which is the examination of the boy that reveals the markings of abuse, and the medical student leaves to go find the physician and tell of his findings. The physician examines the boy and states that the “U” shaped markings on the boy’s body are from a lighter, and that no other object leaves those marks, which confirms that the boy is indeed being abused and is then admitted to the hospital. “The wheels of a lighter, a disposable lighter, leave those two umlaut marks—nothing else looks like it. It’s almost always abuse in his age group.” (Gremmels, 1998, p. 2) These words from the attending physician to the medical student explained the markings on the boy’s skin.
The resolution to the text is the medical student realizing that real life experiences come from human interactions, and not only from education learned in a classroom. “Years of lectures, labs, and research could not match the education I received in five days with this single boy.” (Gremmels, p. 5). The medical student came upon an extremely expressive note that the boy had written, which gave some insight to how he was feeling, which cannot be learned in a classroom.
Therefore, the rhetorical strategy is narration. “Narration may be the most fundamental strategy. We tell stories about ourselves, about our families, and about friends and neighbors. We tell stories to make a point, or to illustrate an argument.” (class handout). Clearly, this article was written as a story to make a point.
Reference:
Gremmels, J (1998). The Clinic. Rockford Register Star. Retrieved November 21, 2018 from https://docs.google.com/document/preview?hgd=1&id=1DCUyEfdYICzycN8Syx0CTrrA7KSzvCBuz5Z1WqHo
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Sample for ” Mother Tongue”
I chose “Mother Tongue” written by Amy Tan for my written text for this discussion.
The thesis or main idea of this text is that people treat you differently depending on the type of English you speak. According to Tan (2019), “my mother has long realized the limitations of her English as well” (p.699). Tan speaks about broken English and limited English. She writes about how at a young age she has to pretend to be her mother on the phone and be with her mother to help her get her point across to others.
The conflict here is that her mother speaks broken English and has problems with communicating to others. She understands the language and has no issues when reading English. According to Tan (2019), “she reads the Forbes report, listens to Wall Street Week, converses daily with her stockbroker, reads all of Shirley MacLaine’s books with ease-all kinds of things I can’t begin to understand” (p. 698). It seems like she knows and understands English, she just has issues communicating back.
The climax is that Tan was embarrassed of her mother’s broken English. Tan (2019) stated “I was ashamed of her English” (p. 699). Tan felt that her mother was never taken seriously.
The resolution was helping her mother to effectively communicate with others. According to Tan (2019),” and when the doctor finally called her daughter, me, who spoke in perfect English-lo and behold- we had assurances the CAT scan would be held, and apologies for any suffering my mother had gone through for a most regrettable mistake” (p. 700). While helping her mother with her English Tan’s English got better, along with her vocabulary and helped push her to do better with her English.
I believe that this is a narrative rhetorical strategy. According to Tan (2019), “just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her” (p. 698). Clearly, Tan gives examples of her family and life struggling with communication.
References:
Tan, A. (2001). Mother Tongue. In Bullock, R. Daly Goggin, M (Eds.) The Norton Field Guide to Writing with Readings 5th Edition. (pp. 697 – 703), New York: WW Norton.
Visual Options:
Ocean
Ocean Photo
Vegetarian Ad
vegetarian
Requirements:
For full participation credit, a minimum of three posts must occur on three or more days during the active week.
First post should occur on or before Wednesday.
All posts should include word count.
Posts discussing written texts should include quotes with APA in-text citations and a reference.
See Discussion Rubric for full assessment of discussion posts.
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