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.

Question of the Week, Oct. 29, 2008

This situation is very similar to the way we write. We often know little in depth information about a subject before embarking on the journey of writing a paper about it. So, we might see or read something that interests us (overhearing the conversation), but we need more information about it. The sources that we use are often not the first to think actively about this topic, there have probably been numerous discussions or works written about the topic earlier, providing some background information. Once we learn more about the subject, we undoubtedly start to form our own opinions and views about it, which often get shown/exhibited in our writing. Others read this writing of ours and then form their own opinions about it, causing a furthering of the discussion. When we are done writing and people stop reading our paper, the discussion continues with new people until it is no longer relevant or to the end of time. This is a kind of cyclical knowledge. I found Burke's way of portraying this situation very interesting; I had never thought about it like that before.

Question of the Week, Oct. 22, 2008

This article was very interesting!! I felt that it was totally true for me. I have found that my "reading" on the web is more of a skimming for important words and points. I feel that it is harder to concentrate when reading on the web because of sidebars and other page features, as well as being harder on the eyes than just reading from a book. It also has a much less formal feel than reading from a book. Online reading is probably hurting today's generation in that it is teaching them to read in a very haphazard, unproductive way. I personally find it easier, more interesting, and much more productive to read from a paper source. The move to digitize learning is what should be slowed down. Everything is so fast paced and rushed; we have no chance to sit down and learn/observe. Online reading is only hurting us more.

Question of the week, Oct. 15, 2008

Now that the UL unit is drawing to a close, I can say that I have learned what sources to trust and which to be careful and wary of. In order to tell if something is true, I must investigate the source and obtain all possible supporting information and possibly other similar stories. I can then compare sources and stories to see how they line up and think about the plausibility of these various tales that I hear. If the story comes from a first-hand witness, there is a greater sense of truthfulness than if it came through a grapevine of people. The internet, even if the author says that they are an eyewitness, is not a totally trustworthy source of information considering anyone can say pretty much anything they want to, without having any checks on it.