Non-2089 Analysis Draft

Kanisha Dumas

Professor MGM

English Composition

4/7/15

Initially, to highlight my abilities as a rhetor outside of the 2089 Intermediate English course I chose to analyze my own personal twitter account. Twitter serves as a social media outlet that is brought upon from the exigencies of my daily life. In this situation, I am a rhetor myself and my discourse is directed to my followers.

This certain genre of discourse is different and more fluid or open compared to the academic discourse that I have composed in the 2089 Intermediate English course. First, there is a lesser need for a filter. In an academic setting, I am writing for a grade and there are requirements that need to be filled in order to receive a passing grade compared to being able to share my thoughts instantly through a tweet. Also, the audience in an academic setting is different. When I am composing in relation to the 2089 course, my intended audience is usually the highly educated professor and my fellow scholarly colleges. When I am using the services of Twitter, my intended audience are my followers who come from an ample variety of backgrounds and demographics. This factor of the audience also correlates with the dissimilarities between the structures of a tweet versus an academic paper. In an academic paper, there will be more adequate grammar, correct sentence formations and vocabulary. In a tweet I may abbreviate or use hash tags that would not be appropriate in a composition in the 2089 course.  

Furthermore, I chose to discuss my participation in Donate Life’s annual calendar in my portfolio.I chose this text because it embraces me as a more personal, vulnerable rhetor and highlights something that is very important to me. The Donate Life annual calendar is a tribute to organ donors, recipients and their families.  This year, I was able to have a month in the calendar that included a picture and a statement about my brother. Four years ago, I suddenly lost my younger brother, Taylor Dumas at the age of fourteen. His death was the hardest time of my life. I not only lost my sibling but I also lost my best friend. Being able to advocate for organ donation through being in the annual calendar has strengthen the memory of my brother and shows my just how proud of him. He is a hero of donation and is still impacting others lives in such a powerful, inspiring way.  

This discourse was similar to the texts that are created in the 2089 course because it was a little more formal. It had to use proper English etiquette. The statement that I created about my brother for the calendar was intended for an audience of anyone who is positive about the organ donation movement.  Then, it was also different due to the exigencies of the discourse. In an academic setting, I typically compose for the a scholarly purpose like a research paper or analysis of a prompt in comparison to the Donate Life Calendar, where it was more emotional and emotive.  

PROPOSAL

• Why did you choose this online platform for your portfolio? What questions/concerns do you have about it? I chose Blogger, as my online platform for my portfolio because I am familiar with it so it makes it a lot easier to navigate and assess useful tools compared to other websites. 
• What texts have you chosen to analyze for your 2089 section and 2 other rhetorical contexts.  You must have at least 4 textual artifacts (2 from 2089 including your final research essay, and then at least one text from the other two composing situations).  You are welcome to provide multiple examples of texts in a particular area if you choose.  Just make sure you plan to discuss any text that you include in your portfolio. 1. Final Draft of Research Essay 2. Define Exigence Process Assignment 3. Personal Twitter Account 4. Donate Life Calendar
• Why did you choose the non-2089 compositions?  What drew you to them? Initially, I chose my twitter page as a non-2089 composition because my tweets that I send out throughout the day highlight the exigencies that make me a writer. I tweet about my life including, family, school, my job and things that are closely related to me as a composer. Also, I chose the Donate Life Calendar because there is a month that is dedicated to honoring my brother as an organ donor after he passed away. I personally wrote this entry and was able to be include in on the photo shoot for the calendar. This very important to me because I am able to honor and remember my brother in such a powerful way while encourginng other to poentially save lives by donating.
• Complete a Rhet Sit analysis for each section (Identify the RHETOR, AUDIENCE, EXIGENCE/PURPOSE, and CONSTRAINTS for each kind of text you are analyzing). 1. Research Essay
• Rhetor: Myself
• Audience: Professot MGM, anyone who loves/hates Beyonce
• Exigence: To analyze how different genres of rhetors contribute to the image of Beyonce, whether it is good or bad.
• Constraints: There is so much information on Beyonce, it was hard to find more primary sources.

2. Define Exigence Process Assignment

·         Rhetor: Myself

·         Audience: Professor MGM, English Class

·         Exigence: Having a rhetorical discussion after reading KDG

·         Constraints: This was all new material and a hard to understand at first.

3. Twitter Page

·         Rhetor Myself

·         Audience: My followers

·         Exigence: My daily activities that occur

Constraints: Twitter doesn’t really have a filter or tone so things that are tweeted can be taken out of context and only my followers see my tweets.

4. Donate Life Calendar

·         Rhetor: Myself/Donate Life

·         Audience: Organ Donor Advocates

·         Exigence: My brother passing away and donating his organs

·         Constraints: I had a 250 word limit due to formatting.

• What questions or concerns do you have at this point in the planning process? None