Presentation Peer Reviews

Today we saw a few presentations and were able to give feedback on how the presenters were doing with their projects. Here are my reviews:

Sarah:

Major Argument: Vocal Achord is a fun vocal group with a sense of whimsy and excitement, and you should join.
Strengths: Both designs were really strong and striking, the visual appeal is a great way to draw in potential members and inform them about the group.
Areas for Improvement: It will be even more striking and appealing with some color; however too much color could take away from the neatness and clean overall design.

Charlie:

Major Argument: Club Indigo is a great way to connect with elderly people in the community, hear great stories, socialize, and have a good meal.
Strengths: Good flow, the presentation offers a lot of useful information and doesn't leave the viewer with any questions about what the main argument is.
Areas for Improvement: Adding some slides to break up the information would give the viewer more time to read the slides and get all the information before slides transition.

James:

Major Argument: Piracy online is a major issue and is very costly.
Strengths: Good color contrast and visuals, draws the viewer in. Also lots of statistics give the poster ethos.
Areas for Improvement: Make the main argument more clear, better define exactly what the poster is arguing. Also, make sure to cite sources for statistics

Project Issues

So far with this project, the biggest challenge I've had is lack of knowledge with some of the programs or software I had intended to use. My original plan was to make a powerpoint slideshow with music. I then decided to do a video with live interviews with the people who agreed to speak with me about leadership in Greek life; however, I didn't have a video camera, or the time. I also had to consider the fact that the interviewees are leaders within their Greek houses, and these are usually the busiest and most difficult to find time to meet with. My solution was to email my interviewees with a questionnaire and then include their answers in my presentation. They were all very enthusiastic to participate and responded to me very quickly.

For my actual presentation, I decided to create a Prezi presentation. I like the flow that Prezi offers, and I'm a little more familiar with putting music into a Prezi. Overall, Prezi has been working relatively well for me; I really like the way my presentation is turning out. Another issue however, is what information to include and what to leave out. I've decided on a basic outline that gives what I think is the necessary information along with the info I got from my interviews. My plan for revision is to speak with a few peers to see if they are left with questions after the presentation or if they feel some things were irrelevant.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with how my presentation is coming along. I've put a lot of time in already but it's paying off and I feel this could be a really strong presentation.

Revised Statement of Purpose

       For Major Assignment 3, I will be presenting on the leadership opportunities in Greek life. I will be outlining some of the various positions held by members of the Greek community within their respective organizations, and I hope to interview some Greeks to get a wide range of information and examples. I will also be using my own experiences, describing the positions I've held and how they have forced me to improve as a student and a member of my sorority.
       My audience for this project is students at Michigan Tech who are either uninformed about Greek life or who have a negative stereotype about all Greeks. This group could range from freshmen to seniors, include both males and females, and all races and religions. I simply would like to reach those college level students who don't know about leadership opportunities in Greek life. This moves me along to the context, which is informational. I'm not trying to recruit new members, I simply would like to inform people of my topic.
       To convey my message, I believe I will be using a Prezi presentation, and I am considering trying to use music. I would like to set up my presentation so that it begins by addressing the Greek stereotype (all they do is party) and then move on to state my thesis and some general examples of leadership opportunities. I'm then going to move into the interview examples, and finish with my personal experiences.
       I plan to test my presentation on my friends who are non-Greeks; in the past they've been really good at being unbiased and telling me what works and what doesn't. They know about my experiences, and so they are more open to the idea of Greek life being a positive thing. Overall, I hope to use the presentation to change some minds and open some eyes, so that more people know how positive Greek life can really be.

Leaders in Letters

     For Major Assignment 3, I decided to base my project on leadership opportunities in Greek life. I've been very involved in Greek life since last semester when I pledged, and this is something I really feel strongly about. I began my pledge process at the beginning of the spring semester and was initiated in February; within a couple of weeks I already had my first position. I was nervous to take on a position so early, but I found the responsibilities and leadership role that came with it were exactly what I needed to keep me on track, and I found my grades going up a great deal. Coming into this semester I had two relatively important positions and a couple of small ones, and just last week I was elected president. As a second year, only in my first semester as an active sister, this was very exciting for me. All I had to do to achieve this was to put myself out there for positions that people, in most cases, didn't actually want. My sisters saw my leadership abilities and gave me the opportunity to showcase them.
      Since taking on positions in my sorority, I've found that I'm much busier, and sometimes more stressed, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Something that originally made me wary of Greek life was the negative stereotype that all Greeks do is party; however we are the furthest thing from that. I've been able to convince some of my non-Greek friends of this, but it is still a very prominent stereotype. I felt that doing a presentation on the leadership opportunities in Greek life would be one way to reach out to those who have heard only the stereotypes, and show them that there really are benefits to being Greek. Overall, I hope to use this project to display Greek life in a positive light,  and to show everyone that with a little hard work and confidence they could have the same opportunities.

Designing Compositions Rhetorically and CRAP Principles

     In "Designing Compositions Rhetorically," Wysocki and Lynch break down how to create a composition rhetorically; in other words, the steps to creating an argument and then backing it up while addressing the appropriate audience and keeping them interested. I found this to be a very interesting read, as it relates to the composition course I took last semester. Rather than just write papers on various topics, my professor gave us a variety of assignments that forced us to address all these aspects in different ways, as we presented them in different forms of media. For instance, we wrote persuasive essays, group research reports, and advertising analyses, as well as creating short movies and Prezi presentations. In each of these we were forced to recognize the audience we were trying to reach, and to design our argument around them. The key is always to have a strong, recognizable argument and keep it consistent throughout the piece. This is where rhetoric comes into play, as stated in the Bitzer reading, as you have to have the right situation to form the argument, and then you must present your argument in a way that will persuade your audience.
     Something we worked a lot with in my composition course was CRAP principles. CRAP stands for contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity. These principles can and should be applied to any piece of media which conveys an argument, be it a written document or a presentation. The goal is to use them in a way that makes the argument stand out, while still keeping the supporting arguments consistent and easy for the audience to follow. Keeping the audience interested and supporting arguments with sound evidence will make it much easier to convince them that what you are saying is right, and they should share your views.
     Overall, the topic of most importance in this reading was stating your argument and having a concrete sense of purpose. If you know what you're trying to convince your audience of, and you feel passionate about it, designing the composition to fulfill this goal should come easily. CRAP principles are a great way to enhance a composition and solidify the argument to the audience, and knowing the situation to which the argument applies will allow you to formulate an argument that is strong and convincing to the audience.

Copyrighting

     With all of the technology that surrounds us, it is easy to access digital copies of nearly any type of media whenever we want. For that reason, copyrighting is a huge issue today. As described in Copyright and Fair Use, students have access to not only all the information they could ever need online, they also have access to term papers, test answers, and other education based materials that may allow them to cheat and receive scores they don't deserve. They can also download movies, music, and more all for free, cheating the artists and production companies of profits they should be making. While the music and movies are still an issue, this article is a little unsuccessful in proving its argument, as it seems to be a little outdated. Since I started high school, my teachers have all used websites that compare your paper to any written piece on the web to identify those who buy papers or who plagiarize. This is an improvement to past methods stated in the article, which included writing outlines and rough drafts to prove that your work was your own. Still, using copyrighted documents to cheat is an issue with today's students. Overall, I have to agree that we must find even more proactive ways to prevent students from cheating with copyrighted documents.
     On a similar note, the article interviewing DJ Spooky addresses the issue of downloading copyrighted music for free. Spooky stated that he feels this should be legal, as it allows for a better free flow of music; it is free advertising for new artists and it allows cultures to be better shared through their music. I completely disagree with DJ Spooky. While it is true that free downloading may benefit new artists by giving them free marketing and spreading their music much farther and faster, it fails to benefit the established artists, and they are the ones being downloaded the most. We are in a digital age where people download music, few still by CD's. Therefore, artists are only making money from shows and from music downloads. "Record Sales" are kind of a thing of the past. Overall, I feel that permission to download any type of document, be it educational, entertainment, or some other form, should come from those who created it.

The Rhetorical Situation

      This article, The Rhetorical Situation by Lloyd Blitzer discusses the rhetorical situation: how it arises, what it entails, and what it produces. While using half a dozen forms of the word "rhetoric" in each paragraph might not have been the most concise way to get the point across, the article is fairly clear about rhetorical speeches and written pieces, and what types of situations are responsible for bringing them about. One of the most prominent points Blitzer makes is that the "discourse" or speech/writing doesn't bring about the situation, it is prompted by the situation; he also makes it clear that not all situations are rhetorical, and therefore don't prompt any discourse at all.
     Blitzer gives speeches as an example of discourse a few times; for example the Gettysburg Address was a piece of discourse brought about by a very specific situation which called for exactly that type of rhetoric. After the Battle of Gettysburg the people needed to hear something that would provide them with a sense of hope and purpose; the situation called for a very specific piece of rhetoric. Abraham Lincoln was able to address the people based on what they needed to hear; the situation prompted his speech, he considered his audience, and he responded accordingly.
     I found this to be a very relatable point, as I've been in similar situations on a much smaller scale. In holding position elections within my sorority, one must be nominated for the position before she is expected to prepare a short speech on why she would like the position, and then the position is voted on by membership. Having been in this situation a few times, I've had to assess the situation, and speak accordingly. All of my rhetorical decisions were based on the situation I was in; my tone, language choice, and the content of my speech all reflected the maturity and professionalism I was trying to portray in order to best meet the requirements of the situation. The vote wasn't brought about by my speech, I spoke because the vote was occurring. I did my best to analyze the rhetorical situation and reacted as best as I could. I considered my audience, and what would be appropriate to say in that precise situation.
      While all of this seems a little repetitive, I feel that the best way to sum up this article is to state that the rhetorical situation is the root of the rhetorical discourse. The situation decides all other factors, and is the prompt for what is said or written. While the rhetorical situation isn't always the first thing we think of when analyzing a writing or speech, it is in fact extremely important to consider why that writing or speech is necessary in the first place.