LAST Question of the Week...ever...!!!!!

In the beginning of the semester, we worked on defining rhetoric. Looking back, I believe that we adequadely defined it. Throughout this semester, we have worked on refining that definition and bringing it to life through our writing. Rhetoric writing has a purpose, audience, genre, sstance, and medium/design element. The degrees of the components of rhetoric vary greatly among different kinds of writing depending on these five qualities. I would still define rhetoric in pretty much the same way; a kind of writing for a purpose, that is written for a specific intent and completes that attempt successfully.

Question of the Week Nov. 19

Satire is a powerful communication tool. In Swift's Modest Proposal, he uses satire to show true problems in Irish society; poverty, overcrowding, and ill-taken care of children. By proposing a horrid satirical solution to these problems, Swift is drawing attention to the problems themselves and causing people to think about real solutions that could be applied. Satire is a tool that has been used for years to poke fun, draw attention, and induce certain feelings in readers that provoke a proactive response. It is effective in political situations, general news situations, and national problems, such as Ireland's poverty.

Academic integrity and plagiarism are sensitive subjects for all kinds of writers. I believe that one's right to what they have written should be upheld and they should be able to dictate how and when it is used by others. When using someone else's writing, one should give proper credit to that person for the ideas or facts expressed in that writing. Academic integrity is upholding these standards. Plagiarism is copying another's work intentionally. However, we can run into problems defining plagiarism when someone inadvertently writes a sentence in the same format as someone else previously did. As humans, our minds often think and express ideas alike, so the chances of someone writing the same thing as someone else are quite high. There are only so many ways that one can express an idea in the English language.

Question of the Week, Nov. 5, 2008

In the field of hospitality, most controversies and questions lie below the surface and rarely are exposed to media or those outside the industry, unless if they are extremely heated or controversial, such as the issues of casinos and ethics, or minimum wage for workers. New concepts aren't as often publicized as they might be in other industries. I find the minimum wage controversy very interesting, as a current worker in the field and future industry leader, thus why I have chosen it as my paper topic. I also find questions about the "greening" of hotels and environmental sustainability quite fascinating. New fields in hospitality, such as agri-tourism, adventure tourism and eco-tourism generate many new questions about what true ecological sustainability means and how practical it is. However, I am not so interested in corporate issues and questions or ultra-urban-chic projects; I prefer smaller businesses and more laidback rural approaches.