Your name: 

Gregory Goodwine

Completing this worksheet may take more time than you think. It’s worth the time. The information you gather will help you later when writing up assignments. But more importantly, the process of addressing each of the questions below will slowly work to change how you read texts. Keep in mind that some answers will not be obvious or even observable in the text, and so you may have to do some critical thinking and, at times, even some online research. Use full sentences. Take as much space as you need.

Context & Exigence: What topic/conversation is this text responding to? What year is the text published? What is the exigence–that is, what motivating occasion/issue/concern prompted the writing? The motivating occasion could be a current or historical event, a crisis, pending legislation, a recently published alternative view, or another ongoing problem. 

The topic that this is responding to is how Safwat Saleem feels about himself ,  mainly his voice.

Author: Who is the author of this text?  What are the author’s credentials and what is their investment in the issue? 

The author of this is Safwat Saleem, and his credentials consist of him generally being an artist and occasional writer. His investment in the issue is directly related to the passive persecution he’s been dealing with his whole life so I would say he’s fully invested in the issue.

Text: What can you find out about the publication?  What is the genre of the text (e.g., poem, personal essay, essay, news/academic article, blog, textbook chapter, etc.)? How do the conventions of that genre help determine the depth, complexity, and even appearance of the argument? What information about the publication or source (magazine, newspaper, advocacy Web site) helps explain the writer’s perspective or the structure and style of the argument?

I would say that the genre that this falls in is being a lecture. Yet Safwat Saleem with a screen by then is able to add light touches of humor along with another layer of conviction to his argument.

Audience: Who is the author’s intended audience? What can you infer about the audience (think about beliefs and political association but also age, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, profession, education, geographic location, religion, etc.)? Look for clues from the text (especially the original publication) to support your inference.

The author’s intended audience is people in general so that they can understand how these experiences affect people over time. Also the people who are going through this so that they understand that it’s okay to not be perceived as normal and it’s best to just thrive with what you consider your flaws.

Purpose: What is the author trying to accomplish? To persuade, entertain, inform, educate, call to action, shock? How do you know?

The author is trying to proclaim that his voice is perfectly normal and that as long as he feels it’s normal it is normal.

Argument: What do you believe is the main claim/idea/argument that the author is trying to communicate? What stance does s/he take? 

I believe that the main claim being made here is that having confidence in yourself is very important and you should strive keep yourself from getting too insecure about the little things about yourself.

Evidence: How is the argument supported? Types of support include reasons and logical explanations as well as evidence. Types of evidence include anecdotes, examples, hypothetical situations, (expert) testimony, quotes, citing sources, statistics, charts/graphs, research the author or another source conducts, scientific or other facts, general knowledge, historical references, metaphors/analogies, etc. 

One piece of evidence I’d use to support my claim is at the beginning of safwet saleems TED Talk he described a dream he had where he was neglected and made fun of by a large group of people and then goes on to talk about how he generally isn’t that social of a person. Then by the end of the TED Talk he says “Or I can challenge that pre-existing notion of normal with my work, and my voice, and my accent, and by standing here on stage even though I’m scared shitless and would rather be in the bathroom”. Though the last statement comes across as a joke it really shows how much it took for him to be on that stage which is either a small or big step and improving him socializing or just talking in general to or with people.

Rhetorical Strategies: What aspects of this text stand out for you as a rhetorical reader? In other words, what do you observe about what the author strategically does (consciously or not) in hopes of appealing to their audience? List here as many observations as you can make about what the text does. 

I would say the most strategic aspects of this Ted Talk is the way he intercut the short video edits with his points. since it add to light sense of humor people are able to understand it a little bit more but in addition to that it’s a pivotal example in the argument that he’s making.

Citation: Add the correct MLA or APA bibliographic entry for this text. Use easybib.com if you prefer.

Notes: What do you want to remember about this text?

That being normal is an intrinsically good and being not normal isn’t intrinsically bad.

Rhetorical Situation Worksheet

Your name: 

Gregory Goodwine

Completing this worksheet may take more time than you think. It’s worth the time. The information you gather will help you later when writing up assignments. But more importantly, the process of addressing each of the questions below will slowly work to change how you read texts. Keep in mind that some answers will not be obvious or even observable in the text, and so you may have to do some critical thinking and, at times, even some online research. Use full sentences. Take as much space as you need.

Context & Exigence: What topic/conversation is this text responding to? What year is the text published? What is the exigence–that is, what motivating occasion/issue/concern prompted the writing? The motivating occasion could be a current or historical event, a crisis, pending legislation, a recently published alternative view, or another ongoing problem. 

The topic/conversation that the text is responding to is the idea of written African American dialects and how it is important to acknowledge them and even be able to teach them to others. Nobody mean more to me than you was published in 1988. The main motivation that prompted this writing was the recounting of June Jordan and her class getting Justice for the death of Reggie Jordan while also using black English to articulate their feelings on the matter.

Author: Who is the author of this text?  What are the author’s credentials and what is their investment in the issue? 

The author of this text is June Jordan. Their investment in the issue pertains to the connection that was developed in the black English classes between Mrs.june and willie jordan.

Text: What can you find out about the publication?  What is the genre of the text (e.g., poem, personal essay, essay, news/academic article, blog, textbook chapter, etc.)? How do the conventions of that genre help determine the depth, complexity, and even appearance of the argument? What information about the publication or source (magazine, newspaper, advocacy Web site) helps explain the writer’s perspective or the structure and style of the argument?

I would say the genre of the text is a personal essay. The conventions of the genre allow for real reflective depth within the narrative of Mrs. June’s life events.

Audience: Who is the author’s intended audience? What can you infer about the audience (think about beliefs and political association but also age, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, profession, education, geographic location, religion, etc.)? Look for clues from the text (especially the original publication) to support your inference.

The author’s intended audience seems to be anybody willing to listen considering the way that they convey themselves through text. Specifically since Mrs. June is a teacher who’s very deeply immersed in teaching others and seems pushed to get  others to understand how black English works.

Purpose: What is the author trying to accomplish? To persuade, entertain, inform, educate, call to action, shock? How do you know?

The author in the purest sense is attempting to inform. I would say that it’s this because every single sentence, from the ones discussing black English to attempting to get justice for Reggie Jordan, Mrs. June is constantly attempting to inform the reader context of the event as well as the events that led up to the current event and the effects that that event will have on what will happen next.

Argument: What do you believe is the main claim/idea/argument that the author is trying to communicate? What stance does s/he take? 

I believe the main argument being conveyed within this text is 1 thing.1. That black English is legitimate way of speech and writing compared to Standard English

Evidence: How is the argument supported? Types of support include reasons and logical explanations as well as evidence. Types of evidence include anecdotes, examples, hypothetical situations, (expert) testimony, quotes, citing sources, statistics, charts/graphs, research the author or another source conducts, scientific or other facts, general knowledge, historical references, metaphors/analogies, etc. 

I have a few pieces of evidence that support my argument. One main piece that I would refer back to is after Deciding to teach black English in the beginning portion of this Mrs. June decides to break down the entirety of new black English as they learn more about it as well as establish rules and conventions on what makes something black English and what make something not black English. I would say that the best example for my argument is when Reggie Jones dies and the students then decide along with Mrs. June to write in black English to the cops who had allowed Reggie’s death to occur.

Rhetorical Strategies: What aspects of this text stand out for you as a rhetorical reader? In other words, what do you observe about what the author strategically does (consciously or not) in hopes of appealing to their audience? List here as many observations as you can make about what the text does. 

1 Main aspect that caught my attention as a rhetorical reader is when she broke down the linguistic styling at rules behind black English, it allowed for a more in-depth look to how piece-by-piece one could write and structure this English as well as speak it from a technical standpoint rather than just having it occur based off of proximity.

Citation: Add the correct MLA or APA bibliographic entry for this text. Use easybib.com if you prefer.

Notes: What do you want to remember about this text?

I would say I just want to remember the text itself. I genuinely enjoyed reading from start to finish and hearing the experiences above Mrs. June Teaching your students the dialect that they speak is its own piece of the greater English lexicon and Willie Jones coming to terms with his brother’s death within that short portion of the last part where he highlights he still has Hope for Change. I’m just gonna read this in my spare time outside of finishing this assignment.