Kennedy Abramson

Zack De Piero
Writing 2A
14 October 2015
Tips for the Modern Reader

the past. There is information coming from online articles, T.V. shows, and social media. Gun

Comment [1]: See if you can work in a tighter

connection between sentence 1 and the *start* of
sentence 2. If you can do that, you'll get more flow. (I
hesitated while I was reading it, thinking: how did I go
from "there's tons of info out there" to "gun control is an
important issue.")

control is a very important issue for a lot of Americans today and simply googling gun control

Comment [2]: Great opportunity to hyphenate this.

(You need to know why, though...)

Information is being thrown at us more rapidly now than it has ever been thrown at us in

gives us instant access to a plethora of different information on the single topic. Due to the vast
amount of information available to them, modern readers must be cautious when they read. A
well-informed reader should always determine which genre the piece they are reading belongs to
and analyze the implications that genres conventions. A reader must be even more cautious
when reading politically charged articles online. Political articles are often written in order to
persuade the audience to agree with them, making it extremely important for the reader to
challenge the credibility and motives of the author as well as understand the genres conventions.
Political articles belong to a genre that is ever-present in many of our lives. This genre is
distinct due to its often subtle bias towards one stance on an issue. Often times, careful reading
of political articles reveals the bias that the news source has. Another skill that is very helpful for
decoding one of the rather surface level conventions of political articles is visual literacy.
Articles focusing on political issues typically have photographs attached to them and often times
the pictures are of influential politicians. Spaces for Writing describes visual literacy as
important in understanding the messages that are conveyed by photography and illustration
(Alexander et al. 16). Visual literacy is crucial when reading works belonging to a genre whose

Comment [3]: Agreed, but I need more of a specific,

driving thesis statement, Kennedy. What, exactly, are
you going to be arguing here? And what specific points
are you going to use to make that case? What about
the conventions within this genre will you be
emphasizing? Also: do you think itd help your reader
(technically, me) to lay out which specific sources
youll be using to make your case?
Comment [4]: Hmm... I'm wondering what the central
focus of the paragraph is -- first I was reading about
subtle biases, and now I'm reading about visual
literacy. How do these ideas fit together? What the
answer is, consider making that crystal-clear in your
topic sentence so your reader can anticipate what's
coming up.
Comment [5]: I like how you're already weaving the
readings into this! Nice job.

One question to consider: is the book, itself, describing
what visual literacy means or are the authors?
Comment [6]: This comment is in reference to the
whole paragraph:

When I see thiseven before I start readingI think,
Ahhhhhhh! Attack of the page-long paragraph!

See if you like this metaphor:

Pretend your whole paper is a big, juicy steak. Do you
want your reader to enjoy that steak in easy-to-chew,
digestable bites? Or do you want them to start
gnawing away at the whole thing in one piece (think:
zombie).

Paragraphs are like those bites.
Give your reader your argument in little, digestable,
one-idea-at-a-time bits.

Readers need to be able to see the different
parts/pieces/bites of the argument that theyre chewing
on.

conventions include images because the pictures often are chosen with the effect they will have
on the audience in mind. Another common convention of political articles is quotes taken out of
context from politicians. The quotes can easily be manipulated to make certain politicians look
positive or negative. The quotes are also often used to convey a politicians stance on an issue in
the politicians own words. For example, the Huffington Post article Bernie Sanders Stresses
Gun Control, Calls For Assault Weapons Ban uses many quotes from Bernie Sanders to show
his position on gun control. In fact, the first thing in the article, after the title, is a quote from
Sanders: Instead of people yelling at each other, we have got to come together on commonsense
approaches which, in fact, the vast majority of the American people support (Bernie Sanders
Stresses 1), in bold. An example of both quoting politicians and the media bias can be seen in
the Fox News article Obama Reportedly Considering Executive Action on Gun Control. The
article goes into some detail about Obamas response to the recent shooting at an Oregon

Comment [7]: OK, now we're getting to *specific

evidence.* This is the meat'n'potatoes of every
argument. I want a lot more of this.

Also, this is the first time you've mentioned any of your
sources in specific detail -- is it worth laying them out
all at the same time? What would be the
benefits/drawbacks of such an approach?
Comment [8]: Steer clear of things in academic writing
(maybe even all writing!). Its suuuuuuper vague.
Academic writing requires precision and specificitybe
direct and tell me exactly what youre talking about.
Comment [9]: Both what?

community college and then quotes some contradictory republican opinions. In order to
undermine Obamas stance, the article quotes republican Mike Huckabee as saying Talk of gun
control makes the liberals feel warm and fuzzy. However, the cold reality is that when you
disarm the good guys you put them at the mercy of the bad guys. Thats what gun control does
(Obama Reportedly Considering 1). These conventions are not worthy of noting because they
simply exist; the convention of political articles are worthy of noting because they have power
over our opinions on important issues.
Analyzing the rhetorical strategies that the authors of political articles employ is crucial

Comment [10]: Very powerful concluding thought here,

Kennedy. One q: which convention(s)? Quotes from
political figures?

in order to really understand what is going on in the author's mind. The first thing a reader of a
political article should think about is who the intended audience for the article is. Often times the
audience for political articles is the general American public but things become slightly

Comment [11]: I'm wondering if you can be even more

precise in this topic sentence and use "audience" in
there. (After all, it seems like that's the focus of the
whole paragraph.)

confusing when an author is writing for Americans who belong to a particular political party. If
the author is writing for a particular party, it is important to consider that the information
provided may unfairly favor that party or that party's opinions. The author's purpose for writing
is almost always one of two things, either to inform the reader of a particular issue or convince
the reader to take a certain stance on an issue. A third important part of rhetoric in these articles
is the writer's argument which Laura Bolin Carroll describes as what the rhetor wants you to
believe or do and how he or she goes about that persuasion (Carroll 52) in her essay Backpacks

Comment [12]: Very true, but how is this playing out

within the articles you've examined? Can you back up
this (sub)claim with any evidence?
Comment [13]: Before you quote her, you might wanna
consider including what that important part *is* --
persuasion?

vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis. Many political articles attempt to phrase their
arguments so that it is reasonable enough for the audience to believe. Overall, rhetoric is an
important tool for the modern reader in that it helps them determine what they consider credible
enough to agree with.
Although many political articles have a lot in common that enables us to analyze the
conventions of their genres there is also a lot of differences between them. Some news sources
have a large amount of opinion mixed in with a miniscule amount of factual information whereas
others have nearly all fact void of opinion. For example, Democrats Regain Their Voice on Gun

Comment [14]: "For example's" are almost always a

great idea. :)

Safety from the opinion pages of The New York Times attempt to construct a reason that
democrats have avoided gun control. The article states that democrats have avoided [gun
control] for the last 15 years, either because they thought progress was hopeless or because they
feared giving the gun lobby political ammunition to use against them (Democrats Regain Their
Voice 1), which is somewhat ignorant to do considering it is unlikely that one person can
accurately assume the motives of such a large group of people. Although this article makes a
bold move with their assumptions, many other political articles try stick with statements that can
be more easily proven. The reason that this difference between political articles exist likely

Comment [15]: Such as?

traces back to the writer or writers wanting to persuade their audience. The writers with heavy
opinion present in their works may believe that simply being obvious with what their opinions
are is enough to persuade the reader while the writer who keeps his piece more factual may
believe that a heavy opinion present in their writing will lead the reader to question their
credibility. Another difference between political articles is the level of bias. Some articles do a

Comment [16]: Didn't you already establish this?

good job of showing two sides of a political issue or argument whereas other articles show only
one side. Spotting this difference is critical in order to be a well-informed reader because onesided articles are often times the articles that lack credibility.
Political articles are a great example for why it is valuable for everyone to learn and
understand genre. Politics are important because they play a huge role in how we live our lives.
When we read about something as influential as politics we should always keep an eye out for
the conventions of the genre. Understanding why writers obey these conventions can help the

Comment [17]: Didn't you already establish this too??

reader understand what value they want to assign to that specific convention. For instance, if you
have a sense of visual literacy you would be able to understand that an unappealing picture of
Hillary Clinton in a Fox News article does not necessarily mean she is a bad choice for president.
Understanding genres and their conventions also gives a writer a basic idea of what the audience
is expecting from them when they are writing for a specific genre. For example, if a writer was
unaware of research paper conventions they may write a research paper that looked more like a
blog post, in which case the teacher would probably give them a bad grade. Genres can play
games with our minds, make us believe things, and even help us become more effective writers
so they are undoubtedly important to learn.
Political articles belong to a genre that is filled with conventions and they often times aim
to persuade the audience. Political articles are actually capable of changing the way many of us

Comment [18]: OK, this has a lot of potential. How/why

is it unappealing? What *about it* makes it
unappealing?

This kind of descriptive evidence is what could help me
believe that "visual literacy" plays such an important
role here. I think you need a lot more of this.

view American government. Analyzing the conventions and rhetorical strategies such as
audience, purpose, and argument can help a reader be aware of whether or not they should
believe what they are reading and what the authors intentions are. Although not all political
articles are the same, many are biased and they should be looked at under a microscope and not
just immediately believed. Ultimately, understanding the genre conventions and rhetorical
choices present within a political article can help the reader to not only better understand the
piece itself, but also its significance within their own life.

Works Cited
Alexander, Jonathan, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon. "Spaces for Writing." Understanding
Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. By Elizabeth Losh. N.p.: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2013. N.
pag. Print.

"Bernie Sanders Stresses Gun Control, Calls For Assault Weapons Ban." Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc., 11 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Carroll, Laura Bolin. "Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis." Ed. Charles
Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. N.p.: Parlor, n.d. 4558. Print.

"Democrats Regain Their Voice on Gun Safety." The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.

"Obama Reportedly Considering Executive Action on Gun Control." Fox News. FOX News
Network, LLC, 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.

Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP1

Table of Textual Features

Did Not Meet

Met Expectations

Expectations

Exceeded
Expectations

Thesis Statement

Use of Textual Evidence

from Genres

Use of Course Readings

Analysis

x-

Organization/Structure

Attention to

Genre/Conventions and
Rhetorical Factors
Sentence-level Clarity,
Mechanics, Flow

Kennedy,

Other Comments

This paper has a lot of potential -- its an interesting topic, and its

super-relevant in this moment in time. However, I didnt feel like

you convinced me of too much here. I read about visual literacy,

quotations from politicians, and bias/authors purpose, theyre

certainly each important aspects we should consider when
analyzing this genre, but I wouldve liked to see more depth in
terms of evidence you used and your analysis of how it all fits
together. My advice is to be crystal-clear about which specific
conventions make this genre this genre and then figure out
what you want to say about them, re: their relation to studying
genre. Ill be looking forward to reading your revision of this for
the portfolio, and I encourage you to go for it a bit more. Please
dont be afraid to take risks in your writing/argument/stance -- as
long as you can support your position with evidence (textual

support), you should be able to win your reader over.

Z
7/10