Finding Your Voice

Read the lecture notes and then complete the following assignment:

 

Take a stand on something you don't agree with.

(1) State the topic/issue

(2) include logical appeal (uses evidence to convince your audience to believe or do something )

(3) include emotional appeal (trying to win an argument by trying to get an emotional reaction from your audience or opponent. 

(4) include a statement from the opposing side of the argument. 

Assignment: Persuasion

Take a stand on something you don’t agree with and include both logical and emotional appeal in your statement(s).

My example:

Prostitution should be legalized in the United States of America. Solicitation is the oldest profession in the world and legalizing it would greatly increase our nation’s economy. Although sexual encounters carry very real consequences and opportunities for the spread of infectious diseases, the benefits outweigh the negatives. For example, everyone would be required to pay taxes, which would be a giant boost economically, helping to fund education, welfare and other programs that help the less fortunate. Also, if prostitution was legalized people with limited education and resources could feed their children. No child would ever go to bed hungry again. 

*Your work should be in your own words…plagiarism will earn a grade of zero (0).

Vivid Language

What does it mean to use vivid language in your writing? Language that is vivid paints a picture for your readers, so that they can clearly envision what you are talking about. Vivid language is very important to descriptive writing. Let’s look at the sentence:

"I took a trip to the mountains". 

Does this paint a picture for your reader? Assuming that the reader has ever seen a mountain, the reader is able to somewhat visualize what you meant. However, the picture the reader has may be very different from what you actually mean. After all, there are many different types of mountains.

Is this better

"My last trip was to the quaint mountain village of Helen, Georgia located in the foothills of the evergreen Appalachian mountain range.?"

Does this paint a more clear picture for the reader?

How about this?

"I visited the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rocky mountains, where I stayed at a skiing resort".

Does this paint a clear picture? Is it different from the image evoked from the first example?

There are many different types of mountains. Just saying that you took a trip to the mountains is not sufficient to paint a clear picture of your experience to the reader. Vivid language consists of the descriptive adjectives that bring your experience to life for the reader.

Look at what you have written and see if the words are sufficient to put your reader in the moment with you, as if he or she could see what you saw during your experience.

 

Imagery is the use of language that appeals to our senses. Vivid imagery is when the writer or speaker uses language that appeals to our five senses to help the reader or listener picture the author's meaning. Using descriptive words that tell how something feels or smells makes a sentence more vivid.

 

Using the image – write a vivid description of what you see. Using your imagination describe smells, taste, touch, and anything else that you think will help us to understand what this experience is for you. You can talk about times that you've had this – a fond memory of someone who baked it…be creative. 

Seeing

Read Seeing by Annie Dilliard  LinkLinks to an external site.

write your response to this: For Dillard, seeing is a religious experience in which she feels herself in the presence of something greater than herself. How do you feel about 'seeing/sight' ? Give examples of your personal 'aha' moment. Your response can either be literal or figurative. Your response should be at least 200 words.