Sam Eckstein 2/5

Today we started class by picking up our folders and turning in Paper #1.  The class then moved on to a discussion about the homework which was reading from Beyond Words on pages 10-26.  The reading was about identifying the subject, focal point, considering audience, and how to analyze context.  We used several examples to help get the point across.  First James Evans’s Halies Hands was brought up to relate to focal point.  Most times, when you look at a picture of a person your eyes are involuntarily drawn to the face.  In the photo the old woman’s face is blurred and her wrinkled hands are focused right in front of the camera.  Her hands are the focal point in this picture and they are a symbol of her old age.

 

After we finished discussing the reading from beyond words, we moved on to read a blog from a young Iraqi woman who was living during the war.  http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/2003_08_01_archive.html  We went on to then talk about Riverbend's blog.  We analysed her story by considering the context of her writings and who the audience is.  Finally we ended class by talking about Aristoltle’s ways to persuade.  Ethos is an appeal made based on ethics, references or credibility.   Pathos is an emotional appeal and finally logos is an appeal based on logic.  We then identified where each of these elements appeared in the blog.