Scrapbooks and Zines Journal

Scrapbooking and Zines making are alternative ways to create pieces of everyday writing. Katriel and Farrell discuss the “genre of self” and how different kinds of scrapbooks have different audiences. The “genre of self” describes the way in which the people who create scrapbooks make each of them independent, individual pieces of everyday writing. They also describe how scrapbooking is different than any other kind of everyday writing because it is so informal, specific, and personal. Due to the fact that there are so few words used while scrapbooking, the creators must rely on “aesthetic organization” to distinguish themselves. Katriel and Farrell show that not all pieces of writing need to be formal to express yourself and that everyday writing can be a way of exemplifying different aspects of culture. This is a complete different way of looking at everyday writing because scrapbooks are an innovative form of self-expression. With that said, scrapbooks and zines are definitely examples of everyday writing because they both have different purposes. Zines are very creative responses to a certain kind of exigence. Whether it is an advertisement or a form of protest, zines appeal to a defined audience and try to change something in society. Scrapbooks are more personal but they still are a form of everyday writing. Scrapbooks are very personal but have the purpose of showing an audience a piece of cultural or personal life. They are organized displays of anything that the creator feels they need to show. Scrapbooks and zines are very easy ways of people to participate in everyday writing because they include little actual text and allow people to have a lot of creative freedom.

- Brittney Smith

Rhetorical Situations and Genres- Group 4

Genre and rhetorical situation are connected on different levels. Genres are based off of other people's past writing, and so the rhetorical situations vary for each genre. Rhetorical situations are based upon exigence, audience, and constraints. The three factors of rhetorical situations are interchangeable between all kinds of genres. Not all audiences and not all exigences are the same, hence why there are different rhetorical situations in different genres. Bitzer suggests the idea that when something new happens, someone must create a first response. From then on, when the situation repeats itself, new responses are based off of previous ones. Knowing this can help us understand everyday writing because if one understands the initial response to a situation, all responses after that build upon one another.  Rhetorical situations and genre are used in everyday writing in various ways. Everyday writing is thoughtless in a way and comes naturally. For example, a protest sign is a common example of everyday writing. Protests signs are big, loud, and bold. The audience is anyone willing to listen to the problem being protested. They are usually big and flashy, and catch the attention of an audience easily. Protest signs are the response to alarming news that people are passionate about. These signs range in size, shape, format, and materials. Some include short catchy phrases, and others include information to verify their statements or accusations. The way protesters present information on their signs is an indication of what type of response they want to occur for their cause. Dirk states, "... we can start to see how specific choices that writers make result in specific actions on the part of readers...", which fits perfectly on how the news and protest signs bounce off of one another. The protesters make a choice of how they would like to present their sign in a dependency of how formal or informal the cause is. For example, if someone has big and bold letters and is angrily shaking their sign, they are more likely just trying to be hostile and prove a point. But say someone is trying to protest a government action, they will be more effective if they print out leaflets with a call of action, instead of merely insulting policy makers. Observing everyday writing is something that comes naturally; we do not think of rhetorical situations and genres when we produce everyday writing, they are connected and it comes naturally to those writing.


Autumn R, Bryce S, Ansley S, Breyana B

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Gaby E, Mallory A, Olivia C, Emily A

No matter the form in which we write, a part of the rhetorical situation is the genre of the writing. These two things, genre and rhetorical situation go hand in hand. You cannot have a rhetorical situation without a genre. Our understanding of rhetorical situation and genre can help us understand everyday writing because every piece of writing has a purpose, an audience, and a genre. These different factors can help us analyze pieces of writing to determine whether or not they are something we would consider to be "everyday." Some components of the rhetorical situation are the rhetor, audience, and characteristics of the situation. When you're writing an everyday piece the rhetor has to think about who the specific audience is. For example, the audience for a class speech is different from the audience for a eulogy. We may shape our everyday writing based on the rhetorical situation we're put in. Even in genres, there's sub-genres that have different rhetorical situations which would call for different vocabulary and format.  

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​A rhetorical situation is the context of a rhetorical event that consists of an exigence, an audience and constraints. These three factors are determined depending on what genre the rhetorical situation is categorized in. Without genres, it would be impossible to separate different types of rhetorical situations and handle them correctly. Kairos also provides us with the knowledge of utilizing the fitting response to a situation for a specific time and place. An example of this would be the rhetorical situation of a CEO conducting a board meeting, because it is a formal event, the CEO would be expected to talk about expenses and productivity of the company, not about the vacation he took over spring break. Since the CEO is speaking to a specific audience, in this case professionals, he needs to use the appropriate rhetoric on the exigencies that pertain to the company. Knowing that the genre of everyday writing is casual, we can easily choose what rhetoric to use and how to format it. Everyday writing doesn’t need to be typed or edited, it can be written on a scrap of paper with little thought involved. It can be in purple pen or a red crayon, the point is there are no specific guidelines in everyday writing. We know this because in the rhetorical situation of everyday writing, the genre has an informal approach such as a to-do list or a sticky note. Quoting Miller from the reading, Navigating Genres, “All genres matter because they shape our everyday lives.” This is true because we use some form of everyday writing every day. Understanding rhetorical situations and genres provide us with the ability to write daily because we use some form of everyday writing that is universally understood.

Suzann Slaunwhite, Brittney Smith, Doug Small, and Warren T. 

Genre in this context is the connection for exigencies of everyday situations. It used to expose exigencies to a myriad of audiences. When creating exigencies, the type of genre that is used is a vital component when it comes to the effectiveness of that exigency on its audience. If someone were to write a personal love letter, it wouldn’t be appropriate to post it on social media sites because then the personal affect would not exist. The exigency would not be considered as important because the context, or genre, it was written in was not appropriate for what the rhetor wanted to accomplish. The rhetor, audience, and exigency all connect in the rhetorical situation.  It forms a triangle of important concepts to generate a rise and concern for a problem with final hope to tackle the problem. Rhetorical situations and genre are essential to everyday writing because there is always a purpose to everyday writing, whether it is as serious as a love note or as miniscule as a to-do-list. Rhetoric and genre are key parts that make our everyday writing matter and essential to everyday.

Lindsay King, Kendall Ferrier, Emily Gibbons, Caitlin Kleefeld

Rhetorical situations inspire, influence, and usually result from some form of writing. Genres are categories of writing that have certain elements that make them unique, and elicit certain responses from an audience that include: patterns, techniques, and syntax. Together both genres and the rhetorical situation go hand in hand in presenting some type of purpose and are usually written by a rhetor to present a certain change to the audience. The genre is what incorporates the rhetoric no matter what kind of category it is and promotes a different response. The rhetorical situation will attract a certain type of person depending on what they are looking for or what they are interested in reading. Writers know that certain wording and statements will lead to people understanding what they mean. A personal note or letter for instance will contain information that only applies to a small group and reveals emotion and meaning. It displays purpose and has hidden implications that go deep beyond the words on the paper. On the other side of the spectrum, protest signs are made for large-scale audiences and are directed at promoting change toward a specific cause. These two types of everyday writing seem like total opposites at a glance, but each envelop rhetorical characteristics. Each has an audience in mind, an exigence (an imperfection marked by urgency), and a person talking to the audience. The connection between the rhetorical situation and the many different genres that exist helps to ultimately express what needs to be said. It is up to the writer to choose a genre that best suites their needs and conveys their thoughts. Each genre has different qualities whether it is to persuade or provoke a reaction from the audience. The triangle in rhetoric consists of logos (logical), ethos (credibility), and pathos (emotional). In the rhetorical situation, the triangle focuses on the audience, the message, and the speaker. When we start to analyze the rhetorical situation, we can pick out the genre pretty easily and apply it to the literal situation surrounding the writing. Everyday writing isn’t as methodical as rhetorical situations. It is more of a thoughtless process, but can include short thoughtful remarks. Everyday writing is a type of genre so in that sense it helps us understand everyday writing. Ultimately, genre is one element of rhetorical situation that is an element of everyday writing. 

Found Magazine analysis (In-Class Activity)

http://foundmagazine.com/

Find an artifact on Found Magazine's website and analyze the text you've chosen using terminology from Bitzer's "The Rhetorical Situation." What are the qualities of the text? What does it show you about the context that surrounds the text? What questions are you left asking?