Shity first draft

INTRO

Rhetoric is a term that is often misunderstood. Many people are scared and think it means trickery. Aristotle the Greek philosopher talked much of rhetoric and it importance in humanity. Most of us use rhetoric in our every day speech and writings—without even knowing. Rhetoric is just using language to persuade. Many factors contribute to effective use of rhetoric. These factors include audience identity, understanding genre and it conventions, tone, stance, and using ethos, pathos and logos. In order to better understand rhetoric and it use in the professional world I interviewed Phil Scrivano, (Chief technology officer) Simi Valley School District. Board of directors for CEPTA (California Educational Technology Professionals Association) Phil provided me with an article called Engineering Review that will release soon for the CEPTA journal. ( Working Thesis) By studying this engineering review I learned that his most important aspect is keeping a neutral and informative tone/stance.

(Phil’s Job Explanation)

Before we can tackle how Phil uses rhetoric to reach his audience. Let me explain what he does and what CEPTA is. His job title is CTO (Chief Technology Officer) his job is to work closely with Super Intendant, Principals as well as other admin staff for his school district. K-12 education has changed a lot since any of our days in school. Technology is a big part of learning. It is incorporated into almost every subject taught. His job is to make decisions district wide about technology policies—devices used, Internet infrastructure, classroom tech, lastly how the teacher uses it to teach. CETPA is a statewide organization, which gives a chance for school district’s technical employees to meet and learn what others are doing throughout the state.

Artifact definition

Now that we have a background on Phil, lets go over the reason behind his document. It is a 15-page document going over an Engineering Review. This review is of Content filters—This is a device that will filter what students and staff are able to search, while on campus. As the Internet has evolved, one can access a lot of great information, however one can also access a lot of damaging information. Schools are required to limit student’s capability to access hurtful information—Porn, Guns, ect…

Genre/Tone / Stance

  In order for this review to be successful first lets look at the genre and it conventions. From the intro forward he insures the reader that the point of this article is to provide raw data collected. Not to give an opinion about which company is best. So this should be as non-biased as possible. He needs to take a natural stance as a writer. Phil directly states this several times in the article, so I know this is an important factor. “The Rubric is designed to not favor any particular vendor or product design but rather the needs of the costumers.” Another convention behind this article is to be fair to all vendors. This is why Phil and his team incorporated a rubric to be used. So all companies will be judged on the same criteria. Once again having a natural stance and tone is what makes this paper effective. If the readers can pick up a bias they may disregard his information or study.

Audience

Phil must also keep in mind his intended Audience. This is an EDTech journal, which is send out to technology employees that work at school districts. The audience is quiet a small group. They are also a skilled group; he does not address the definition or function of a content filter. He expects his audience to already know that information. He does not want to bore the audience with added definition; this article is already 15 pg long. He may loose some of his readers if he includes too much excess/unnecessarily info.  He does give some background info, but a layperson would have a hard time understanding this article.

Conclusion

Rhetoric is not a word or skill to be feared. Instead it should be a weapon that we use in our day-to-day lives. One must use it on a professional level. By studying Phil article. We examined the important factors that make rhetoric effective. This includes, genre analyses, intended audience, and lastly the appropriate use of tone/stance. All theses aspects play on each other and it is important to touch on each one, however for this article Phil’s tone and stance is the most vital to his success.