Rhetoric and Civic Life | Kevin Gardner

There is nothing less effective than telling an inside joke to a group of people on the 'outside.' Rhetoricians would say this group is outside the network of interpretation of the speaker. Networks of interpretation are an almost innate concept and used by all ages on an everyday basis. Inside jokes may be the most profound example this concept on a small scale. A group of people interpret certain words or phrases a certain shared way due to a shared experience. An even smaller scale example would be a friend knowing just the right to say to their friend to cheer them up. They wouldn't say the Mets won, if the friend was a Phillies fan, because it is known that within this particular network of interpretation, the Phillies are favored team. Networks of Interpretation can play a role on a larger scale such how different words are interpreted in completely different ways between the northern and southern United States. One major example is the word 'bet.' In the ...

provided by NYTimes This is a North Korean propaganda poster calling people to join in the destruction of the United States. The words displayed in large blue font translates to "Our Answer!". The other characters in the bottom right corner of the poster translate to "Military option," "Pre-emptive strike," and "Sanctions resolution" according to the Telegraph . Also, according to Express , these posters are recently made in response to the escalation between Trump and North Korea. My engaging hook would center around the idea of the complete destruction of the United States. This is exactly what the poster is calling the people of North Korea to help with. Yet, the question is whether this is civic. Having a poster that challenges my, and probably most of my audience members', civicness and discussing the civic nature would be the foundation of my hook. I might lead with a question, can the destruction of your nation which yo...

Picture provide by Drew Mackie "I'll Just Do It Tomorrow." Procrastination is a commonly known struggle that nearly everyone faces at some point in their academic career. As a college student, finally free of the parental leash, procrastination may become more frequent. I personally find myself falling victim to the phrase "I'll Just Do It Tomorrow." It is a blessing of a phrase right up until there is no tomorrow. Throughout the five blog posts I will not only share my own personal struggles with procrastination, but uncover the mystery of where it comes from, what types there are, as well as some tips on how to quell the bad habits. This blog would relate to nearly all people, young and old, and will be written in a way that will hopefully inform the audience about their procrastination as well as how to improve. I will most likely adapt my blog to focus more on procrastination in college and ways to improve in a college setting. However, the topics ...