Rhetorical Listening Post 4

“The Road to Fossil Fuel Dependence,” provides an explanation for how Americans make up less than 5% of the world population, yet consume 25% of the world's energy. The creation of the interstate highway system is the root of this consumption, it grew our dependence on fossil fuels. The emergence of this system after World War II led to a series of events that have all collectively increased the effects of climate change. 

McKay builds his ethos throughout the article by referring to several novels that he has written about environmental issues commonly seen today. He also includes an excerpt at the end of the text where he mentions that he is a professor of Environmental Humanities, an author of 7 books, and a former staff writer for several renowned magazines. By including this information Jenkins assures the reader that he is educated on the topic and did loads of research for this piece. He also provides information and statistics from several reliable studies and then proceeds to tie them back to the creation of the interstate highway system. Throughout the article, he uses a method of cause-and-effect in order to demonstrate his point, simply by stating how one event leads to another and how the events affect each other and contribute to the effects of climate change. The author also takes on different views and uses them to his advantage to provide a perspective of what the world would look like if we didn’t use the amount of energy that we do and how much more sustainable our lives would be. 

Jenkins provides several arguments to support his claim, but I fail to recognize some of the connections between these events and the establishment of the interstate highway systems. His points seem to be very far-fetched from his claim, he mentions how millions of birds are killed every year due to the increased use of pesticides and then proceeds to explain how that is at fault due to the interstate highway system, but to me, it seems that there is not much of a correlation. Also, I fail to see how this article could aid in the future mitigation of climate change as it reminisces much on past events. I think the author throws in too much information and facts into the article to the point where you get lost and overloaded with information and forget his main argument.

Rhetorical Listening Post 3

The Ted Talk “Quit social media” presented by Dr. Cal Newport is an informative text that argues against those who believe social media is a necessity in today's society. The first claim he makes is that social media is not fundamental, it is simply just a form of entertainment, one that is addictive, like a slot machine. He then proceeds to claim that it is unnecessary in the professional realm because something with market value has to be valuable and rare not something that can be done by a “six-year-old on a smartphone.” His last claim is that social media is harmful to our lives because it fragments our concentration, makes us feel more lonely and isolated, and causes anxiety.

To get his message across that people should quit using social media, Dr. Cal Newport uses several rhetorical strategies. He uses a method where he introduces common objections to his claim and then provides factual information to refute them. He says many people claim that using social media has no harm, but he then replies to this objection by providing statistics from colleges around the United States which have done research in regards to mental health and anxiety-related issues tied to using social media. His position throughout his performance is very clear and makes sure to label the objections as “nonsense.” Dr. Cal Newport also demonstrates how life can be peaceful and rewarding without social media, which makes his claim more attainable for people who are already hooked. He also acknowledges the increasing usage of social media in the younger generation throughout his speech which shows that this issue is affecting people of all ages. 

Throughout Dr. Cal Newport’s speech, I believe that he is narrow-minded and fails to acknowledge the benefits of social media. He portrays it as an awful feat to society, but there could be benefits as well, such as serving as a platform for long-distance relationships and social networking. Also, social media has become so widely accepted internationally that one without it will often miss out on opportunities or activities. Although, I do agree that social media can increase feelings of loneliness because people solely portray the positive aspects of their lives online and don’t provide a complete picture. People can fail to realize that everyone has their good and bad times, their successes and their failures and don’t showcase it all on social media.

Rhetorical Listening Post 2

Jeff Goins writes “How to Overcome Writer’s Block” where he explains the causes of writer’s block and how to defeat it effectively. Writer’s block is when a writer reaches a point where their creativity is jammed. A writer might simply just not be in the proper mood to write or chose a bad time, a fear of putting themselves out there and perfectionism also prevents a writer from relaying their thoughts onto paper. Goins then mentions some methods, many of which contain movement in order to get the flow of ideas going. He then refers to the last resort as freewriting if nothing else seems to be working. 

Jeff Goin uses his own personal anecdotes about how he overcomes writer's block to relate to the readers of the article. His ethos is pronounced because he is a writer so he knows what it is like to deal with this common issue and he provides the manner in which he personally cures his writer's block which is by going on a quick run to refresh his mind. He makes himself seem very relatable throughout, which allows the readers to have a deeper connection and understanding to give them more of an incentive to try some of the activities he encourages in the article. He also uses sarcasm and comedy to relieve the frustration that one can often feel when they are dealing with writer’s block. For instance, when he is providing “anti-solutions” to the problem he says not to read articles on how to overcome writer's block and then proceeds to state “kind of shot myself in the foot there” which adds comedic relief to a rather stressful situation. 

Goin mentions that writer’s block is often caused by perfectionism, I often find myself overthinking each sentence I generate in my head before actually writing it down and I have realized that I use up a lot of time by doing so. One of the suggestions he mentions in dealing with this struggle is exercising, I sometimes use this method when I find myself stressed out with work. I take a break and do some volleyball training and when I feel that I cleared my mind I go back to completing my work and I often feel refreshed and energized. Goins strategies seem to be effective and I plan to use them in the future if I find myself in this situation.

Rhetorical Listening Post 1

“It’s time for Miami to embrace multilingualism” illustrates the importance of bilingualism in the economy and society in Miami, but little is being done to conserve and protect this unique feature. Miami is the most Latino, foreign-born, and bilingual large city in the United States. Miami has recently been experiencing what linguists call a language shift, which signifies that one language is being replaced by another, in this case: Spanish is being replaced by English. Philip M. Carter argues that the largest threat to bilingualism in Miami is that schools lack proper bilingual education programs.

Philip Carter establishes his ethos from the very beginning of the article by stating his professionalism in the field as he is a professor of linguists at FIU. Throughout the article, he also elaborates on specific examples of how Spanish plays a major role in the economy, which took up a large portion of his argument, but he was effectively able to narrate his point. He uses personal research that he's done with his own students to demonstrate a real-life and personal application of the situation he is explaining. Carter also highlights how Miami is unique compared to other areas of the US, which allows others to understand why Miami is different than their home towns because of the number of immigrants and outsiders it holds in comparison.  He ends his argument with a clear and concise view in which he explains that school systems should work collaboratively to establish a program to increase the amount of fluid Spanish speakers and bilinguals in Miami. 

In my opinion, bilingualism is important not only within Miami but in all areas that hold unique and diverse groups of people, it is an important aspect of our economy and should not be disregarded. As I am a Miami-born Latina that is bilingual, I often see myself struggling with much of what Carter presents in his article, I sometimes find it hard to use Spanish in a professional setting and I fail to express myself as efficiently. Furthermore, schools do not provide adequate bilingual education programs, high school students are required to have a minimum of 2 language credits, but schools often place Spanish speakers with beginners, when it is clear that both must be at different paces. Carter presents important arguments within his article that I not only agree with but can relate to as well.