Textual Analysis

Ryan Swenson

“Textual Analysis”

Scientists at the University of Exeter have been studying cell division in fruit flies and have found information that could be a potential link to an underlying cause of cancer. They wrote this because they wanted to be able to communicate with other scientists that they may have found a link to a cause of cancer and show them that there information was legitimate through a few different ways. The article was written to inform the science world, as well as anyone in the general interest field of cancer or cell division. The author of this article effectively conveyed his purpose to this specific audience. It is so effectively conveyed because the diction that the author uses incorporates certain appeal to the audience, as well as having a bulk of scientific substance to back up there implications and to establish more credibility.

Use of diction is an important way that an author can use to adequately lead the audience to the purpose. The use of diction also creates certain appeals which in turn help strengthen the purpose that the author is trying to illustrate. In the article, the author creates ethos by the use of many scientific and lengthy words, some of which include “microtubule, spindle, molecular, Augmin, chromosomes, arbitrary, amplifying”. These words establish a lot of credibility to the author because when the audience is reading this article and they see scientific and lengthy words, then it makes the audience impressed and the author seem like he knows what he’s talking about. By using these words to create a sense of validity the purpose is strengthened because now the targeted audience can build a sense of trust that can go a long way when trying to persuade someone to accept new ideas/information.

The diction used by the author also establishes emotional appeal to his audience. By persuading the audience emotionally, it evokes feelings that are useful to the author when conveying his article’s purpose to whom he targets. Words used such as “remarkable, new, innovative, first, currently” create a feeling of hope and forwardness with science through the discoveries. The possibility of this new research and the fact that it currently is going on, is hopeful to the audience which helps them remember the purpose more in depth. The author links his research to a possible underlying cause of cancer, which can give those wanting to cure cancer and those affected by cancer some hope that one day this disease may be stopped. That is an example of the effectiveness that this word choice had on the emotions of the audience. In some cases how these words are organized into structured sentences and paragraphs strengthen the author’s points.

Another useful strategy to achieve the goal of explaining the purpose well to his target audience is how much scientific data present, and how well the data is explained. This creates a lot of substance which is another way of strengthening his purpose and creating even more credibility. In scientific research papers, you want to be very concise without leaving too much information out. There was a very good balance of information and explanation. There are two specific paragraphs in which this balance can be seen. The first of these two is the second paragraph and the second is the fourth paragraph. They both do a good job at including the facts they discovered, with also description of how everything that was found worked. The use of substance here overall was very effective for communicating his findings to the intended audience.

From the use of extensive and useful substance, to using word choice to appeal to the audience differently, the author used them efficiently and properly to support his purpose and make it apparent. These choices that the author used helped him convey that the research done by this group has a potential insight on one of the possible hidden links to cancer.

MLA citation- Association for International Cancer Research. "Using fruit flies to help understand cancer."ScienceDaily, 22 Oct. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014.

Textual Anaylsis Article Link

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140102113142.htm

Final Visual Rhetoric

Ryan Swenson

“Visual Rhetoric”

            I know what you’re thinking when you see my image. You’re thinking how marijuana has anything to do with my field of choice. I am a biochemistry major and we look up the chemistry of life. Marijuana contains many chemicals that have been scientifically tested to treat numerous types of problems such as treating glaucoma patients, reducing effects of Tourette’s Syndrome, and is now being linked to the stop of cancerous tumors growing, specifically lung cancer. Also, being from Minnesota, the legalization of marijuana for medical use is a pressing topic that’s going on right now. This picture’s message is pro-legalization and how the legal substances in America may be more dangerous.

            The creator of this artwork has a clear message in this visual. He is comparing marijuana to tobacco and alcohol. As you may know, marijuana is an illegal drug (for the most part), and alcohol and tobacco are legal. He starts the image by splitting the legal and illegal substances onto two halves of the image. This is to create separation between the legal and illegal drugs which helps strengthen the message by making the visual easier to understand. Then he uses headings that get the audience thinking about the image more. He puts “Legal?” on the legal substances side and “Illegal?” on the illegal substances side. Of course, the obvious answer to the questions is yes for both (Again speaking generally for marijuana). But that’s not all the poster has as far as words go. The choice he made after that was to put the number of deaths related to each substance below this and couples them with pictures of the drug that relates. By including the pictures it adds clarity and also really helps you keep in mind what substances you think should be legal and illegal. Also, this added clarity is a huge element to a visual aid in this argument because when the visual is clearer than the audience can further understand the message that the author is trying to convey. The number of deaths with the picture also does an important thing here to help convey his message. It shows you how many deaths are associated with the substance. Marijuana to this day has had no confirmed deaths from use/overuse. Alcohol and tobacco have accounted for millions of deaths not only in America, but in the rest of the world. So again, you’re going back to the headings and thinking, which substances should be under which heading? The last visual in this picture that really helps convey his message is that he uses certain colors for certain purposes. The “Legal?” heading is black and the “Illegal?” heading is white. Furthermore, the color background under the “Legal?” heading is white and the “Illegal?” heading has a background that is black on its half. This creates contrast in the picture which is a trick of the creator of this visual. The trick is that the “Illegal?” heading is white which happens to be the background color of the “Legal?” heading. And vice versa for the “Legal?” heading and “Illegal?” background. He uses this to indirectly pair what he thinks should be the illegal and legal substances on the poster. Having “Known Medicinal Qualities” under the no deaths recorded part of the visual is a way that the he gets the viewer involved with the image. If the viewer doesn’t know the known medicinal qualities, then there is a decent chance the viewer may be more apt to go on their own and look up the medical benefits marijuana has to offer. Also, if they know some of the benefits, it can really connect some dots in their brain that marijuana has caused no recorded deaths and has medical qualities which could persuade them to change or strengthen their opinion. The creator of the image is pressing his opinion here that the legal drugs should be illegal and the illegal drugs should be legal. The use of all of these techniques is specifically chosen for the type of audience that he is targeting.

            The author’s message is channeled to a broad range of audiences. The audience could be as simple as an everyday person, to as specific to government officials. With the US under a lot of change state to state on legalizing marijuana for medical use, it could be used as an effective visual for government officials trying to get some more information on the danger of the substance, and also trying to persuade voters to see the potential danger of the illegal substance. Due to the simplicity of the image however, you can assume that this is more of an informational visual, which is more for educating others on how marijuana doesn’t kill anyone and how many deaths and how lethal the legal substances the US has to offer to the adult American.

            The visual overall is quite effective in portraying its message. The creator of the image does so using many techniques to convey to the expected audience what the main point that he made it for. It uses factual information as one way of effective portrayal of the message. When making a visual that is persuasive it always can be further communicated by having a shocking fact that can really wow or grasp the viewer’s attention. The use of number of deaths associated with each is a very powerful fact that can be a real eye-opener to those who are unaware of it. Also most Americans will weigh their opinion on certain aspects of their beliefs such as if it will bring harm to others amongst other facts, like if it helps others. Another way that the maker of the visual effectively conveys his message is by asking the simple question in the heading of the visual on each half. It questions the audience and makes them think about what they believe should be legal or not. The way that the question is short and to the point is also a good attention grabber that can help gain focus the message that he is trying to convey. And building on the heading, the colors associated with each heading (as detailed before) sort of plays a mind game on the viewer and could potentially persuade the viewer of a more positive outlook on the illegal substance. This is also an effective way to convey the overall message. Lastly, he includes how there are known medical uses to the marijuana side of the poster. This again is another effective way to communicate his message to his audience by getting them involved with the viewer, which is a really important trait when making a visual. The more you get the audience thinking about your subject, the better you’ve done at creating an effective image.

            Through the use of multiple techniques such as getting the viewer involved through facts and the use of qustions, as well as choice colors and pictures is why this visual is an effective piece at conveying the message that marijuana should be at least just as legal as other substances Americans deem legal.

Source: "Tobacco and Alcohol Cause Over 7.5 Million Deaths Per Year |Natural Cures Not Medicine." Natural Cures Not Medicine. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

Edited Rough Draft Before Peer Review

Ryan Swenson

“Visual Rhetoric”

            I know what you’re thinking when you see my image. You’re thinking how marijuana has anything to do with my field of choice. I am a biochemistry major and we look up the chemistry of life. Marijuana contains many chemicals that have been scientifically tested to treat numerous types of problems such as treating glaucoma patients, reducing effects of Tourette’s Syndrome, and is now being linked to the stop of cancerous tumors growing, specifically lung cancer. Also, being from Minnesota, the legalization of marijuana for medical use is a pressing topic that’s going on right now.

            The creator of this artwork has a clear message in this visual. He is comparing marijuana to tobacco and alcohol. As you may know, marijuana is an illegal drug (for the most part), and alcohol and tobacco are legal. He starts the image by splitting the legal and illegal substances onto two halves of the image. This is to create separation between the legal and illegal drugs which helps strengthen the message by making the visual easier to understand. Then he uses headings that get the audience thinking about the image more. He puts “Legal?” on the legal substances side and “Illegal?” on the illegal substances side. Of course, the obvious answer to the questions is yes for both (Again speaking generally for marijuana). But that’s not all the poster has as far as words go. The choice he made after that was to put the number of deaths related to each substance below this and couples them with pictures of the drug that relates. By including the pictures it adds clarity and also really helps you keep in mind what substances you think should be legal and illegal. Also, this added clarity is a huge element to a visual aid in this argument because when the visual is clearer than the audience can further understand the message that the author is trying to convey. The number of deaths with the picture also does an important thing here to help convey his message. It shows you how many deaths are associated with the substance. Marijuana to this day has had no confirmed deaths from use/overuse. Alcohol and tobacco have accounted for millions of deaths not only in America, but in the rest of the world. So again, you’re going back to the headings and thinking, which substances should be under which heading? The last visual in this picture that really helps convey his message is that he uses certain colors for certain purposes. The “Legal?” heading is black and the “Illegal?” heading is white. Furthermore, the color background under the “Legal?” heading is white and the “Illegal?” heading has a background that is black on its half. This creates contrast in the picture which is a trick of the creator of this visual. The trick is that the “Illegal?” heading is white which happens to be the background color of the “Legal?” heading. And vice versa for the “Legal?” heading and “Illegal?” background. He uses this to indirectly pair what he thinks should be the illegal and legal substances on the poster. Having “Known Medicinal Qualities” under the no deaths recorded part of the visual is a way that the he gets the viewer involved with the image. If the viewer doesn't know the known medicinal qualities, then there is a decent chance the viewer may be more apt to go on their own and look up the medical benefits marijuana has to offer. Also, if they know some of the benefits, it can really connect some dots in their brain that marijuana has caused no recorded deaths and has medical qualities which could persuade them to change or strengthen their opinion. The creator of the image is pressing his opinion here that the legal drugs should be illegal and the illegal drugs should be legal. The use of all of these techniques is specifically chosen for the type of audience that he is targeting.

            The author’s message is channeled to a broad range of audiences. The audience could be as simple as an everyday person, to as specific to government officials. With the US under a lot of change state to state on legalizing marijuana for medical use, it could be used as an effective visual for government officials trying to get some more information on the danger of the substance, and also trying to persuade voters to see the potential danger of the illegal substance. Due to the simplicity of the image however, you can assume that this is more of an informational visual, which is more for educating others on how marijuana doesn't kill anyone and how many deaths and how lethal the legal substances the US has to offer to the adult American.

            The visual overall is quite effective in portraying its message. The creator of the image does so using many techniques to convey to the expected audience what the main point that he made it for. It uses factual information as one way of effective portrayal of the message. When making a visual that is persuasive it always can be further communicated by having a shocking fact that can really wow or grasp the viewer’s attention. The use of number of deaths associated with each is a very powerful fact that can be a real eye-opener to those who are unaware of it. Also most Americans will weigh their opinion on certain aspects of their beliefs such as if it will bring harm to others among other facts, like if it helps others. Another way that the maker of the visual effectively conveys his message is by asking the simple question in the heading of the visual on each half. It questions the audience and makes them think about what they believe should be legal or not. The way that the question is short and to the point is also a good attention grabber that can help gain focus the message that he is trying to convey. And building on the heading, the colors associated with each heading (as detailed before) sort of plays a mind game on the viewer and could potentially persuade the viewer of a more positive outlook on the illegal substance. This is also an effective way to convey the overall message. Lastly, he adds “Known Medicinal Qualities” to the marijuana side of the poster. This again is another effective way to communicate his message to his audience by getting them involved with the viewer, which is a really important trait when making a visual. The more you get the audience thinking about your subject, the better you've done at creating an effective image.

            Through the use of multiple techniques such as getting the viewer involved through facts and the use of questions, as well as choice colors and pictures is why this visual is an effective piece at conveying the message that marijuana should be at least just as legal as other substances Americans deem legal.

Visual Analysis Rough Draft

Ryan Swenson

“Visual Rhetoric”

            I know what you’re thinking when you see my image. You’re thinking how marijuana has anything to do with my field of choice. I am a biochemistry major and we look up the chemistry of life. Marijuana contains many chemicals that have been scientifically tested to treat numerous types of problems such as treating glaucoma patients, reducing effects of Tourette’s Syndrome, and is now being linked to the stop of cancerous tumors growing, specifically lung cancer. Also, being from Minnesota, the legalization of marijuana for medical use is a pressing topic that’s going on right now.

            The creator of this artwork has a clear message in this visual. He is comparing marijuana to tobacco and alcohol. As you may know, marijuana is an illegal drug (for the most part), and alcohol and tobacco are legal. He starts the image by splitting the legal and illegal substances onto two halves of the image. This is to create separation between the legal and illegal drugs which helps strengthen the message by making the visual easier to understand. Then he uses headings that get the audience thinking about the image more. He puts “Legal?” on the legal substances side and “Illegal?” on the illegal substances side. Of course, the obvious answer to the questions is yes (Again speaking generally for marijuana). But that’s not all the poster has as far as words go. The choice he made after that was to put the number of deaths related to each substance below this and couples them with pictures of the drug that relates. By including the pictures it adds clarity and also really helps you keep in mind what substances you think should be legal and illegal. Also, this added clarity is a huge element to a visual aid in this argument because when the visual is more clear than the audience can further understand the message that the author is trying to convey. The number of deaths with the picture also does an important thing here to help convey his message. It shows you how many deaths are associated with the substance. Marijuana to this day has had no confirmed deaths from use/overuse. Alcohol and tobacco have accounted for millions of deaths not only in America, but in the rest of the world. So again, you’re going back to the headings and thinking, which substances should be under which heading? The last visual in this picture that really helps convey his message is that he uses certain colors for certain purposes. The “Legal?” heading is black and the “Illegal?” heading is white. Furthermore, the color background under the “Legal?” heading is white and the “Illegal?” heading has a background that is black on its half. This creates contrast in the picture which is a trick of the creator of this visual. The trick is that the “Illegal?” heading is white which happens to be the background color of the “Legal?” heading. And vice versa for the “Legal?” heading and “Illegal?” background. Having “Known Medicinal Qualities” under the no deaths recorded part of the visual is a way that the maker of the visual gets the viewer involved with the image. If the viewer doesn’t know the known medicinal qualities, then there is a decent chance the viewer may be more apt to go on their own and look up the medical benefits marijuana has to offer. Also, if they know some of the benefits, it can really connect some dots in their brain that marijuana has caused no recorded deaths and has medical qualities which could persuade them to change or strengthen their opinion. The creator of the image is pressing his opinion here that the legal drugs should be illegal and the illegal drugs should be legal. The use of all of these techniques is specifically chosen for the type of audience that he is targeting.

            The author’s message is channeled to a broad range of audiences. The audience could be as simple as an everyday person, to as specific to government officials. With the US under a lot of change state to state, on legalizing marijuana for medical use, it could be used as an effective visual for government officials trying to get some more information on the danger of the substance, and also trying to persuade voters to see the potential danger of the illegal substance. Due to the simplicity of the image however, you can assume that this is more of an informational visual, which is more for educating others on how marijuana doesn’t kill anyone and how many deaths and how lethal the legal substances the US has to offer to the adult American.

            The visual overall is quite effective in portraying its message. The creator of the image does so using many techniques to convey to the expected audience what the main point that he made it for. It uses factual information as one way of effective portrayal of the message. When making a visual that is persuasive it always can be further communicated by having a shocking fact that can really wow or grasp the viewer’s attention. The use of number of deaths associated with each is a very powerful fact that can be a real eye-opener to those who are unaware of it. Also most Americans will weigh their opinion on certain aspects of their beliefs such as if it will bring harm to others amongst other facts, like if it helps others. Another way that the maker of the visual effectively conveys his message is by asking the simple question in the heading of the visual on each half. It questions the audience and makes them think about what they believe should be legal or not. The way that the question is short and to the point is also a good attention grabber that can help gain focus the message that he is trying to convey. And going on about the heading, the colors associated (as detailed before) with each heading sort of plays a mind game on the viewer and could potentially persuade the viewer of a more positive outlook on the illegal substance. This is also an effective way to convey the overall message. Lastly, he adds “Known Medicinal Qualities” to the marijuana side of the poster. This again is another effective way to communicate his message to his audience by getting them involved with the viewer, which is a really important trait when making a visual. The more you get the audience thinking about your subject, the better you’ve done at creating an effective image.

            Through the use of multiple techniques such as getting the viewer involved with facts, colors, and pictures, and also getting the viewer’s mind involved with the topic by asking he/she a question and giving them facts or topics to look up to further their understanding is why this visual is an effective piece at conveying the message that marijuana should be at least just as legal as other substances Americans deem legal.

Visual Communication

The author is trying to convey that marijuana should be legal, and tobacco and alcohol should illegal. There is a broad range of people that this message could be directed toward. The author is most likely trying to push the legalization of marijuana. I would guess that it is to your average voter or maybe a government official of sorts. This however could be directed to just about anyone.

Ryan Swenson

“Worst Rhetoric Experience”

            My junior year I was in a language and composition class, and we started a topic of persuasive rhetoric. I honestly still have no clue what it is, but I had to analyze a bunch of writings, and then create my own piece of persuasive rhetoric. It doesn’t help too that I extremely disliked my teacher so I initially put forward my worst attitude toward the assignment itself. We had a few weeks to type the paper.

            Being the genious I am, I waited and waited and waited. Then soon enough it was the night before due date and we had a paper due. I wisely waited until it was past dark and started it when I should’ve been going to sleep. The sleep part didn’t really matter because it was high school and you can sleep through class everyday anyways. But here I was, 12 at night typing something I have no idea about. I scrapped together what looked like a formidable paper, but I knew it wasn’t going to get a good grade. I went to it first hour the next morning and turned it in. Knowing I probably got a D at best, I wasn’t really looking forward to it being graded.

            Fast forward a little less than a month to that same first hour class. The paper I completely forgot about was there on my desk. I wasn’t even nervous/scared/etc because that night when I typed it I knew it was going to be bad anways, so fuck it I figured. I got an F, and it was one of those papers that just had writing all over it and “helpful advice” on how I could have done it better. It wasn’t the end of the world though, because, just like in any other high school course, she gave out enough busy work throughout the semester where the “big” papers are just an above average assignment in the scheme of things.

            To this day, I still really have no clue what I even wrote about or what persuasive rhetoric is. I could definitely give an educated guess as to what it is, but I honestly am not too concerned that that will be relevant to me at any point of my life.

Oh and just for some more emphasis, I extremely disliked my English teacher that year.

Ryan Swenson

“Summary Reflection”

          We wrote a summary the past few weeks on an article that pertained to our major. This is the first official summary I’ve written. For most of the assignments for high school, it either involved figuring out what an author meant in a book, or reading something that my teacher decided to teach us. I’ve used strategies involved with writing summaries before, mainly taking main ideas/points from a piece of writing and writing those down. But nothing like an official summary.

          The most challenging part of the process was a combination of the fact that I’ve never written one before and the main one that I chose to do a summary of a shorter article. I chose the article because it was interesting to me and was pertinent to my major. The problem was that it was not that long at all. I was presented with the challenge of summarizing an article into something longer than was actually there. At first, I noticed I repeated myself, but then after some editing, both peer and individual, I came out with a final piece that I was happy with. I always re-read my article to see what I was leaving out and in. I tried to make it as concise and to the point as possible, even though in most scientific pieces, they are already to the point.

          Hands down the most important thing that I learned from this article and that of writing in my field, was that there are two main types in my eyes. One of that is writing actual lab procedures, with the other being reporting the findings of those labs/experiments. I read an article on the latter of the types and it showed me that there isn’t a lot of room for filler talk, just get down to business and say what is needed to be said, while having enough to convey what results you found and what implications it could have for the future. This article was a good example for me to see what writing in my field looked like. ( I don't know how to double space)