Visual Rhetoric Blog 5A

     Today in class we learned about different elements of visual rhetoric. It was explained that visual rhetoric does 2 things. It describes in an objective view, which is basically an un-biased view of the obvious, or what everyone can clearly see, and then it explains in a subjective way. Telling the spectator things that are not known. 
     In classic rhetoric we use pathos, or emotion, and we use logos, or logic. We also learned that there are different "gazes." There is a familial gaze, which when we see the visual, it brings up an intimate memory, something important to us. There is the consumer gaze, a gaze that designed to make us want to buy something. There is also a national gaze, a religious gaze, a political gaze, a traveling gaze, and even a cultural gaze. Gazes are meant to make an imprint on us. To persuade us to do or think a certain way.

Cause and effect Blog 4A

    Cause and effect is a great way to help a reader follow the author's story. Cause and effect uses a causal chain. This causal chain explains what caused a certain event to occur. It is usually made up of several causes and effects. Cause and effect writing can help the reader to be able to follow the logical timeline of events more efficiently by explaining why and how certain events occurred.
     Writers can best analyze a cause and effect paper by making sure that each cause and effect has a direct relationship. This can help the writer to stay focused and not go off on unrelated subjects. This way it is easier to keep the paper flowing well, and easier for the audience to read.

Peer Review (3B)

      I think that peer review is very important. I think that it gives you a fresh outlook into your work. As the author of your own work you can be very one sided. It is good to have peer reviews because when another person reads your work, they can give you their perspective as a piece of the audience you are writing for that you would not have otherwise. They can let you know their opinions, and also they may have knowledge on things that can expand and improve your work, that you may not have.

Rhetorical tools in narrative

      Zambreno defined some excellent rhetorical tools that we can find in narratives. There were some that I had noticed show up a lot in some of the great narratives I've read, but I haven't always been able to put a name to the tools that I found reoccurring.  Great narratives are the ones that know their audience, and write in a way that appeals to them. The tools that Zambreno mentions in her essay are definitely tools that can capture an audience. Mutability or plasticity for example, this is the way in which material can be, and has been reshaped for new audiences. This is an important tool to use to capture an audience that is always changing. Piecemeal, this tool is a way in which a narrative is created by taking pieces of various other sources. As Zambreno mentions this is a great way to encourage later adaptations of the narrative. Zambreno also gives us a definition of window of opportunity which we can find in narratives. This is where the author leaves a gap in the story. This tool can really be appealing to the audience because it sparks our own human nature to expand on the story, or use our imagination to fill these gaps in. The last tool Zambreno discussed, that I would also like to touch on is open ended closure. This is where the author leaves off, purposely and obviously, omitting pieces of the story to encourage the reader to add to, or create their own story off of the story told.
      I think that all of these tools are very important in a narrative because they draw in vast audience, and leave them with a base to expand on in their own mind, making the story itself different for each reader. This is a great way to capture different minded readers, and appeal to all in one way or another because although there is a story being told, there is room for imagination and personal interpretation.

Important Elements of Narrative (Blog Week 2B)

      We use narrative for several reasons. To argue our point, to explain something, or just to tell others a story, true or not. There are many important elements of narrative as I mentioned before. Story grammar, character, setting, plot, a sequential time line of events, and many more. But the important thing about these elements is how each one influences the others. Each element can completely change what the other elements bring to the story.
      The example that I used before of the story of Little Miss Helpful is a great example of how just one element can affect other elements. For example when Little Miss Helpful comes to help a sick Mr. Happy, her actions, and clumsy ways affect many other aspects of this story. When she wakes Mr. Sleepy up, this automatically changes the mood of Mr. Happy's character. When she slips on soap while cleaning his floors, this causes her to step into a pot in which her foot gets stuck, which causes her to trip and fall, grabbing onto the refrigerator door, which opens and food goes flying all over the kitchen. This definitely changes the setting from a quiet home where sick Mr. Happy is resting to a place of chaos, noise, and confusion, not to mention an over all mess. Then when Little Miss Helpful gets a pan stuck on her head, this causes the theme and feeling of the story to a feeling of maybe worry for Little Miss Helpful, and a sorry feeling for Mr. Happy who wakes up at all the commotion and goes flying out of his door in an attempt to pull the bucket off of Little Miss Helpful's head. The clumsiness of a good hearted Little Miss Helpful affects every aspect of the story as her unfortune unravels affecting all characters, and settings she comes across. She even affects the plot of the story when the reader thinks she is going to be helpful and she ends up doing just the opposite, and the entire expectation of the story and perhaps even the title of the story are thrown off. This story is just one example of how elements in narrative are all impacted by each other.

Elements of Narrative

      In a narrative there are many complex elements that are necessary to make it flow and connect it with an audience. Some of the elements that come to mind are character, theme, plot, and setting. There are many more elements of a narrative, but one that I feel has great importance is character. I feel that the character of a narrative, their personality, their problems, their reactions and their thought process impact the other elements in a huge way.
      One example of how the character can impact a narrative is actually from a children's story called Little Miss Helpful. Little Miss Helpful is a character who is always trying to help others, but ends up always messing things up. She is stubborn in the fact that she insists on helping even when the other characters don't want her help due to her reputation of not being helpful at all. Little Miss Helpful has a big heart and tries with all her might but she is clumsy and really not a bit helpful. When Little Miss Helpful tries to tie Mr. Tall's shoes and accidentally ties them together causing him to take a huge fall, and when she tries to clean Mr. Happy's house when he's sick and ends up tripping  on all of the pots and pans, falling into the refrigerator, and getting a bucket stuck on her head, finally to send a sick Mr. Happy flying out of his own home into a river when he tries to help her get the bucket off of her head are great examples of how the character of Little Miss Helpful has an impact on almost every other aspect of this story.