Tuesday, December 2, 2008

*Delivery: Important Aspect of Oratory* ARCS #4, 5, and 7

"I would not hesitate to assert that a mediocre speech supported by all the power of delivery will be more impressive than the best speech unaccompanied by such power,"--Quintilian.

Delivery is concerned with two things--voice and gesture.

"One must remember good delivery ensures that what the orator is saying seems to come from the heart". 

#4. The use of fonts can help reveal a writer's ethos. The use of sans seriff portrays a clean, objective, and direct type, while seriff appears more graceful. #4.  The cover of the magazine Redbook uses like five different colors for the headings spread across the page. Upon first glance, a reader is not drawn to the title of the magazine, as it is partially covered up, but one is drawn to the actress adorning the page.  The main article in the page is on the actress, Heidi Klum-- whose also on the front cover, and appears to be in size 8 font, which is while small size font, a good idea because the story is so big.  Her interview is written on the right-hand side of the page and the questions are bolded to separate Q. and A.   Her quote is in the middle of the page embedded in the story. This allows for a reader to decide whether he or she would rather read the interview or the story or both. The quote helps establish the ethos of the actress, which leads a person to want to read more, by becoming interested in the character. Throughout the magazine the font is often colorful displayed which signifies the publishers value fashion and design and excitement. The magazine appeals to women for those sort of reasons.

#5. The website "Television Without Pity" which is a site devoted to reviews and news stories on the major televison networks, has "a lot going on". It is in a sense pretty cluttered, but it does have some sense of organization with its mass of information. The purpose of the site is evidently to be a resource for television buffs on the latest shows and provide recaps for shows that were missed. I picture the site creators are a group of individuals that are value technology and materialistic things. I say that because T.V. shows are pretty materialistic most of the time. Each story has a picture which helps facilitate communcation through exciting the reader to read the story about the show. The site fosters a very busy, popular, gossipy movement.

#7. The argument I made in an earlier blog that dealt with the issue of helping support to find the cure for breast cancer could easily be incorporated into a website. The background color could be either pink or white. If it was white, then I would display the pink ribbons that are symbolic in helping fight breast cancer. Putting a picture of a mother surrounded by her grandchildren and children would create a vivid scene in the reader's mind, as if they were there embracing their mother after she put up a fight with breast cancer. Also, links I could use could consist of testimonials of women who had or were in the process of fighting breast cancer. The visual would play into my essay by creating pathos--evoking strong, compassionate feelings from the reader.

Monday, December 1, 2008

*Extrinsic Proofs* ARCS p.293 #2 and #4

Evidence of the senses can be reliable in certain instances, but you have to take into account that person's motives as well.#1. For example, the book "Monster" which is about an African-American boy accused of participating in a robbery of a gas station, which resulted in the murder of the owner of the store.  One man that testified against the boy, whose name was Steve Harmon, had clear ulterior motives that biased his testomony. The jury seemingly took this into consideration and found Steve Harmon innocent, even though there was definately racial tension present among the all-white jury.  The man had been in jail for a while, and obviously thought that helping to convict another person in a homicide would deduce his sentence and get him out of jail early.  He would be considered a proximate authority, because he was definately not a well-respected community authority, that based his testimony on the senses of seeing and hearing.#4. The man did not pass the tests of reliability; therefore, he was not a credible witness to testify against Steve Harmon.  It also hurt him that he was in jail, which further deterioated his reputation. Another woman, who testified against Harmon, was shopping in the store when she witnessed the robbery. Some argued that she was distracted and wasn't in the right "state of mind" to perceive the events credibly.  While, these arguments were downplayed, the jury took all these things into account when figuring out Steve's verdict.