The Rhetoric Blog

     I generally like blogging for classes because it helps me get creative and louder on the subjects; and we get funnier, stranger, and more random ideas than we ever get to discuss in class (and pictures, gifs, and videos, woo!). I've had blogs for classes before and I think for this class especially, with readings almost everyday which we don't always understand right away, writing about it and being able to see other responses helped me to understand. There were specifics, like when Sadie talked about puns - instances that I completely glossed over were made clear. And I think the most important part was that I was able to reach these understandings before I got to class to discuss them. I wasn't ever coming to class without some sort of grasp.
     What I want to talk about most, though, is the idea that blogs aren't just for spewing random thoughts anymore. And what really sparked this revelation was Mandy's Critical Discussion project which she displayed in a blog format. She used a blog to portray the important discussion and claim of her entire project and the format gave way to even more subtle claims. This gave me reason to believe blogging could be purposeful and do more than just share varieties of thoughts in snapshots. So, with this in mind, when you look at our blog as a whole, now that we're wrapping up today, you can see a lot about us and about the class. Themes can be found even in a blog authored by twenty people - a reader can basically follow the class thought processes by just looking online.
     The rhetoric of blogging still stands to persuade. We were all trying to get our posts shared and heard and commented on. But what changes in this format? I have to persuade you to read my post before you even skim it. If it's a huge block of text with no surprises and no pictures, you're probably not going to be excited about reading it. We have less time to persuade and less time to earn trust and authority. And we have to make our arguments and claims before our reader gets bored; we can slip in a meme to get a laugh, but once we get serious again, we have to tread quickly.
     There's a lot more I could expand on, but I don't have any desire to write a second critical discussion. Ultimately, I appreciate the practice and learning I accomplished in this sort of modern rhetoric, side by side with the classics.