Rationale Writing

1. Rationale Writing Issues and expectations

2. Rationale • What is the text type of the written task? • What kind of communication does the text type belong to? (Poetic, Professional or Mass communication) • What context would the WT appear in? (where would the text be published) • What part of the L+L course is the WT linked to? • What text/s studied is the WT linked to? • Who is the target audience? • What is the purpose of the WT? • Does the text use pathos, ethos, and or logos? • What are some of the defining features and elements that typify the text type? • What marketing techniques/strategies are used in the WT?

3. Introduction - basics • What is the text type of the written task? • What kind of communication does the text type belong to? (Poetic, Professional or Mass communication) • What context would the WT appear in? (where would the text be published) • This is a speech, a form of mass communication that would be presented at Tedtalks. Or This is an opinion column, a form of mass communication that would be published in The Guardian. Or This is a series of diary entries, a form of poetic communication that would appear in the chapter told from Roderick’s point of view in When the Elephants Dance.

4. Connection to Course • What part of the L+L course is the WT linked to? • What text/s studied is the WT linked to? This piece connects to Part 2: Language and Mass communication (textual bias, language used to persuade, advertising and its effects, etc…) Ideally link to a text studied that links to your text type – for example we studied ‘Still Killing Us Softly’ and the portrayal of women in advertising, or connects to the subjectivity in Hammas front pages and coverage, or the study of invasion of privacy through texts like “Big Buddy is Watching” and “3 Way Calling”.

5. Connection to Course Part 1: Language and Cultural context – how language is used to create power and manipulate a target audience. Reading ‘A Declaration of Conscience’ by Margaret Chase portrayed how language can be used to take power and control from one group and cast it on another.

6. Or Part 4: Critical Study This would need to be more thematic of a connection – connecting to events on a superficial level is not enough. 1984 themes like the loss of privacy, the use of fear to control and manipulate the population, how things are not always as they appear (appearance vs. reality), etc…Link it to an event is fine, but also discuss the theme it illuminates and the one you will illuminate.

7. Target Audience • Who is the target audience? • The target audience are the outer party and the proles of Oceania in 1984. • The target audience are wealthy citizens from all over the world, but especially those in need of prosthetic limbs. • The target audience of this advertorial are male high school and college athletes in Metro Manila, ranging from ages 17-26. • The type of magazine and topic of the work make the intended audience employed American men, between 30-60 years old.

8. Purpose/theme You need to have a purpose for your piece or a theme (this will depend on text type – non-fiction usually a purpose and fiction usually a theme). What do you want your audience to think/feel and/or understand through your piece? The purpose of this written task is to persuade the citizens of Oceania to rebel against the dictatorial forces of the Inner Party in order to win their freedom of expression back. It persuades the audience of the issues of technology today and exposes the dangers of media in society.

9. Ethos/pathos/logos You should not really cover all three unless a speech, opinion column or a piece meant to persuade. Having a fact or statistics is not necessarily the use of logos – does the facts and stats persuade the audience of your opinion. This will also depend on your text type –fiction not really using any of the above. Non-fiction if article and objective then you should not really have the above either. It depends on the text type. Cover 1-2 if it is there and clear and you have used it for a specific purpose – not guess work afterwards. Use PEE.

10. Ethos/pathos/ logos Forget about credible – ask yourself if it persuades the audience of your idea… Is there a solid emotion you mean the audience to feel that helps them support your opinion or cause? Are you using statistical and factual information to support ideas that in turn persuade the reader to believe your overall purpose and side with you? Do you appeal to the ethics of your audience to support your idea? It you don’t have it DO NOT mention it.

11. Pathos – Ethos - Logos • Does the text use pathos, ethos, and or logos? • Pathos is used to create the emotions of fear and paranoia in the audience through diction like “followed,” and the allusion of the telescreens as in George Orwell’s 1984to accentuate a ‘closely-watched’ atmosphere. • The speaker uses ethos and gains credibility through his strong ethical stance against the violation of privacy. If the piece is not persuasive it does not use any of these and should not be mentioned.

12. Get to devices common for your text type Opinion columns – use of we, I, us, - pronouns and why they are there – not just inclusive – go beyond. Do you use statistics and facts to help support your ideas (even if NOT logos). Is the piece bias/subjective vs. objective example and why is this okay for this text type. Use of rhetorical questions, star power, glittering generalities, mood, diction, etc… Literary devices: simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia Choose 2 – 3 if possible and do Device, example, explain.

13. Magazine article Rhetorical questions like “What is life without fun?” makes the viewers feel insecure and enticed to explore Facebook. Diction such as “vulgar”, “victim” and “trauma” when describing downfalls of Facebook provoke fear within the target audience and this is to help them understand that Facebook is not an online utopia - users must still have boundaries.

14. fiction Short story – dialogue, simile, metaphor, allusion, etc… Choose 2 – 3 if possible and do Device, example, explain. So if write a script – stage directions and dialogue a must. Mood is always a good one, but avoid only mood, diction, tone all the time as they are in every text type but not as specific as say stage directions.

15. Purpose In the end how do you hope to have made an impact on your audience? What lasting ideas, thoughts, feelings or impressions so you want them to have?

16. What are some of the defining features and elements that typify the text type? A Play … In italics, the stage directions serve to expose the characters’ emotions. In the scene, the characters talk over each other, such as “BILLY, interrupting: Shut up!” and subsequently, “RIFF, screaming: Billy, listen to me! I’m nothing!” This effectively builds tension and intensity, leading up to Riff’s breakdown. Moreover, Billy bumping into furniture as he runs shows that he seems to be impulsive about committing suicide. The directions demonstrate that Billy is panicking by the end. Evidently, the dialogue helps create characterization. For instance, the use of colloquial language establishes the characters’ immaturity. Riff and Billy’s diction such as “goddamn,” “wanna,” and “gotta” not only illuminates their youth, but also displays their frustration. Additionally, the repetition of short words displays Billy to be hesitant; however, when he talks to Ken, he stops stammering and becomes determined about committing suicide. Furthermore, the symbolism of sleeping pills—Billy’s means of suicide—is ironic because he uses sleep, the very thing he deprives Riff of, to kill himself. Along with this, he uses his father’s cognac—representing his deceased father’s success—, which exposes to the audience the cause of his demise.

17. A Complete Rationale “Terrors of Twitter” is a magazine article, a form of mass communication that will be published in the technology magazine Wired. The target audience are tech savvy kids and young adults who already use or will use the social networking platform – Twitter. This writing task is linked to Part 2: Language and Mass communication, and the video ‘Digital Media’. It persuades the audience of the issues of technology today and exposes the dangers of media in society. In order to turn the readers against Twitter, ethos, pathos, and logos are used within the magazine article. The writer expands on specific studies on Twitter, such as the Cornell study “How much is too much? Privacy Issues on Twitter” and the Joinson & Paine’s study, and uses statistical data, such as Perez Hilton’s overwhelmingly dangerous four million followers, and the cause and effect flow of evidence, such as how the location-based tweet resulted in large-scale theft because of releasing personal information. The speaker gains credibility through the use of the study and the statistics which not only solidifies his strong ethical stance against the violation of privacy. Pathos is used to create the emotions of fear and paranoia in the audience through diction like “followed,” and the allusion of the telescreens as in George Orwell’s 1984 to accentuate a ‘closely-watched’ atmosphere. The readers need to understand that persuasive magazine advertisements must have biased language and images. In this case, the writer had a strong stance against Twitter, consequently saying statements like “this is ‘Twitter Terror’ in a nutshell.” The aesthetics too complement the author’s opposition of Twitter, as seen from the angry looking bird and the devil horns on the title. These biases are sharp defining features of a magazine article and ultimately persuades readers that Twitter’s harms outweigh its benefits.