Reflection on Project 3 Draft

Here I will talk about the drafts I reviewed and about my own draft.

I reviewed Alex and Isaak's drafts:

Alex

Isaak

My draft:

My draft has not been peer reviewed because I am working with Sean. Currently, my draft is an raw, unedited version of my interview. I will use this for my talk radio segment. I still need to record my intro and conclusion to the interview, and edit it all together. I had a good conference and I feel confident in the direction I am moving. I don't know how long the editing process will take though.

Until then, that's all on Bricon. Thanks for stopping by.

Created by Bri Jordan. Icons. 11/18/2015.

Draft of Public Argument

This is my draft for project 3. I chose to do a talk radio segment, so this draft is a script. I'm kind of jumping out on a limb here, so let me know what you think! I'm not quite done either... But I would love feed back of maybe what doesn't make sense or any other thoughts. Thank you!

You can find that script here.

Fam, Alexis. CAD u37 Condensed Microphone. April 17, 2011. 2.0 Generic. 

Considering Visual Elements

This post is meant to brainstorm the visual elements of my project. The hard part, is that I am doing a talk radio segment... But, what I think I am going to do is create some kind of logo for the radio station, Econ with Bri aka Bricon.

So since I have one image, the logo/ name of the radio station, I suppose I will just talk about that. It's going to be really important that it is visually appealing, because that is what the audience will look at while they listen to the segment. I picture this segment was originally on air, but it was recorded and is now on the website or YouTube, so there needs to be some kind of image while it plays.

I will come up with a logo soon as a draft.

O'Sullivan, Ulick. Freakonomics. December 10, 2013. 

Project 3 Outline

This post is about laying out my project and the skeleton of what that will look like. To do this, I will be answering questions from the book, Writing Public Lives.

For my introduction, my goal is going to be to make the audience think about the situation. The picture above mentions introducing current events or news reports. My topic, the raising of the minimum wage, has lots of articles and news on it that I can bring up in my introduction.

Bottai, Sean. Developing Strong Supporting Paragraphs.

Supporting Paragraphs:
1. Inflation
Companies not being able to afford it
Job loss

2. People not able to live off of current minimum wage
There is no job loss
Other countries trying the same thing and it worked

3. Companies not being able to afford it is very important
People not being able to live off of minimum wage is an important point to address

4.
 Raising the minimum wage may sound good at the moment, but what happens when the companies have to lay people off because they now can't afford as many workers?

Big companies will outsource jobs. Small companies will have to lay off workers, and likely to go out of business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/the-minimum-wage-how-much-is-too-much.html?_r=0

Although people right now can't take live off of the minimum wage, it won't help anymore if the company lays them off because it can't afford to hire as many workers.

6. You can access a Coggle here.

Bottai, Sean. Concluding Strategies. 

Conclusion:

My talk radio segment will probably wrap up by making a call to action. The entire segment will be about why raising the minimum wage is bad so I think that concluding with a call to action would be good.

Analyzing My Genre

As the title suggests, this post is intended to analyze my genre in which I have decided to use for project 3. The genre I have chosen is different than the ones I have been previously posting about. I have chosen to make a talk radio segment. I will link example segments. 

Example 1

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5 

Bottai, Sean. Questions for Genre Analysis from Chapter 6.

The answers below corespond to the questions on the picture above.

Social Context: 

The genre of talk radio is set on the radio which can be listened to anywhere. This genre is used by people who feel that they have a view that is correct and want to share it widely. This genre is unique because it doesn't have any visual aid. Talk radio is to inform people about a certain topic, but it also has a mild tone of humor and entertainment. 

Rhetorical Patterns:

From the talk radio that I have listened to, it usually gives some background to an issue that is happening, but is really there to make commentary about it. I think there are patterns of all the rhetorical strategies. The host has to use credibility to show why people should listen to, because any one can just talk over a radio- it doesn't mean they know what they are talking about. I think that because it is audible, that it has the ability to have a strong appeal to emotion. Because the listener can hear the fluctuation in the voice to hear that passion, the hurt, or the excitement in the voice. The host can also use his voice as a voice of logic. 

The tone can of a talk radio host should be more relaxed like they are having a conversation, and less like they are reading a book. The voice is also where humor can be added. The last thing that can be used is sound and music. These help set tone, mood, and attitude. 

What do the Patterns Reveal about the Social Context of the Genre:

The genre includes guests that the host may ask questions to. Sometimes, the segments can even include the audience when they call in to ask questions or give opinions. It often encourages a take action kind of feel. The host can usually presume that the audience that is listening to him agrees or has the same core beliefs. 

Considering Types

This post is to help my brainstorm which type of paper I want to write.

I was thinking about writing a argument because there are a lot of pros and cons. The only hesitation is that there is a half way point that is hard to throw in. I also started thinking about a refutation argument. I have more opinions about why raising the minimum wage is bad than I do about why keeping it the same is good. I think it would be easier to write a text in this form given the controversy that I have.

Animals, Found. Argument 3. 08/11/2015. 2.0 Generic. 

Reflection: 

I read Elliot's post on Considering Types and Rhetorical Action Plan. He is talking about the controversy of quantum consciousness. This isn't something that is talked about much outside the science field. It sounds like he has a great foundation and idea of where he needs to go. He is planning on writing a causal argument because there is not yet a solution for this, but what the public needs is to know the reasons behind this controversy. 

I also read Evan's Rhetorical Action Plan and Considering Types posts. Evan is talking about the controversy of outsourcing American jobs. He is choosing to write a position argument. I think this is very suitable for the topic he arguing. I think because Evan has a certain perspective, that he should argue as a position, which is what he is doing. 

My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this post, I will make future plans for my next project. To do this, I will explor who my audience is, what genre I will write in, and what positive and negative reactions I will receive. 

Bottai, Sean. Developing a Rhetorical Action Plan.

Audience: 

I am going to try to persuade the low- wage workers who are wanting the minimum wage raised.

• Knowledge:

            The audience knows that they are getting paid an amount that they cannot live off of and therefore need more money somehow. They are clearly in favor of getting paid more, but probably don't know as much about the other effects it will have. 

• Values: 

             I know that a lot of low-wage workers are impoverish, young, just starting to work, or under educated. Not all, but a lot. My guess is that a lot of them don't fully know a lot of economics. 

• Standards of Argument:

             My guess is that appeal to emotion would be the best way to persuade this kind of audience. 

• Visual Elements:

            I think simple graphs that are easy to understand would be helpful for the audience to get a visuals. 

• Purpose:

             This purpose is to challenge to widely spread idea of raising the minimum wage, help them understand the consequences, and take action against it. 

Bottai, Sean. Developing a Rhetorical Action Plan.

Genre:

Persuasive Essay: 

• This genre is designed more towards the persuasive side of the argument. Something like this would be posted on the Washington Post or New York Times. The pathos would be very important here. Because the audience is generally uneducated, pictures would be an important part of appealing to the emotion. This would help the paper be slightly less formal. The writing should professional to gain credibility, but conversational enough that anyone could understand it. 
• Example #1
• Example #2 

Blog Post: 

• This genre is can be for any direction. What is helpful about a blog post is that it is easier for people to scan and understand. This is good for the readers that need something simple in order to understand. A blog post can be broken up into sections of rhetorical strategies. It would be easier to insert pictures into a blog post rather than an essay.
• Example #1
• Example #2

Analyzing Purpose

The purpose of this post is to find a purpose. What am I going to add to the public debate? Then, where and how am  I going to enter this debate? 

Bottai, Sean. Thinking through the Purpose of Your Argument. 

1. I want my readers to understand the weight of a decision like increasing the minimum wage. I think that because it is something that effects so many people directly, and even indirectly, that it is important to know the consequences. Raising the minimum wage to as high as $15 will cause a lot of harm. The goal is to persuade people that raising the minimum wage that high has too many risks and will cause the opposite effect that we want. We want for people to make enough money to live comfortable lives, but in some places the minimum wage is not enough to do that. So what is the best way to fix this?

2. Plausible action/ reactions:
Readers will agree that raising the minimum wage to $15 is not a good idea
Readers will be more informed

Not Plausible:
Readers will be upset
Readers will not have an opinion


3. Readers will be more informed>>> reader will be motivated to act>>> vote against raising the minimum wage>>> wages will not be raised too high

4. The audiences are likely to be the low-wage workers. There are more low-wage workers than any other wage. Therefore if the low-wage workers are convinced that raising the minimum wage is not the proper plan of action and vote against it, there will be more votes towards that decision.

Analyzing Context

This post is to take a step back and analyze the context of the controversy and look at the big picture. I will do this by answering 7 questions from the book Writing Public Lives.

Bottai, Sean. Reading the Context of Your Public Debate.  

1. What are the key perspectives in the controversy?

The main perspectives mainly come from the low-wage workers and the companies that hire a large amount of low-wage workers. The low-wage workers feel that they cannot make enough money to live on while being paid minimum wage, therefore want to raise the minimum wage. The other school of thought thinks that if the minimum wage is raised, companies won't be able to afford to hire as many people and have to lay people off, resulting in less jobs and the opposite of what was intended. There is an in between view that thinks that if the minimum wage is raised in increments so that the companies can adjust, there wouldn't be as many layoffs.

2. What are the major disagreements in the controversy?

People disagree with raising the minimum wage because they think that it will result in less employment because businesses won't be able to pay as many people as they did before. Also, the people who are against increasing the minimum wage believe that as the wage increases, so will prices through inflation, so it would be as if they were being paid just as much as before.

3. What are possible points of agreement?

Both sides recognize that something needs to be done to help those who are not making enough money to live on. But that is the extent of agreement.

4. What are the ideology differences?

This is an economical issue. There are several economic ideologies that are behind the beliefs. While neither of the opinions are extreme economic ideologies, they do lean to one or the other. The two main ones are capitalism and socialism. Not raising the minimum wage leans towards the capitalism- wanting government to step back and let the economy work itself out. Hiking up the minimum wage leans towards socialism- the government should control all parts of the economy.

5. What specific actions does each perspective ask their audience to take?

The capitalism asks people to disagree with the minimum wage increase. The socialism asks their audience to agree with increasing the minimum wage.

6. What perspectives are helpful for my own opinion?

I think it is helpful to know what it's like to work for minimum wage and also running a company. I have both of these perspectives to help me in making my opinion.

7. What perspective will be the biggest threat to my argument?

The biggest threat is probably other countries that have raised their minimum wage higher but haven't seen the negative effects that I'm claiming.


Reflection:

I read Casey and Mira's posts on Analyzing Context. Mira did a great job of identifying the key schools of thought. She was very thorough in her answers. Casey did a pretty thorough job as well. I was slightly confused by the arguments though. I didn't understand why there was no middle ground. Comparing our answers, I did a thorough job on some questions and others are shorter and to the point.  Neither of their topics were even close to economics.

Audience and Genre

This post is designed to help me identify my possible audiences for project 3. To do this, I will think of 2 specific audiences that might be interested in my topic, 2 places where I would post this text, and 2 examples for each.

1. The first audience I am thinking about writing for is towards the low wage workers. If I wrote for the minimum wage workers, I would talk about why raising the wage too high wouldn't be beneficial, even though they want to be paid more.

If I wrote for this audience, I would probably post it somewhere like New York Times or Washington Post. These are both general information sites that has a broad audience. This genre could be written in a blog type format, similar to the examples posted below.

New York Times:

Example #1

Example #2

Washington Post

Example #1

Example #2


2. The next audience could be the employers of a high number of low-wage workers. For this audience, the text would move towards an idea that minimum wage should be entry level wages, but there should motivation to move up because there is a higher pay. This would encourage employees to work harder and refine their skills.

If I wrote to this audience, I would post on a website like Forbes, Or the Wall Street Journal. This genre would be written in a blog type format, similar to the examples posted.

Forbes:

Example #1

Example #2

Wall Street Journal:

Example #1

Example #2

Extended Annotated Bibliography

This post is for the annotated bibliography I will create for possible sources for project 3.
You can find that document here.

Moleskin notebook. 02/23/2009. 2.0 Generic. 

Narrowing my Focus

As the title suggests, this post is meant to narrow my focus and what  I want to write project 3 on.  To do this, I will take 3 of the questions from my last post and use them to help me narrow my topic.

Narrow Street. 7/18/2006. Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 License. 

What are the biggest industries involved in this controversy?

I like this question because I could see this project being written towards the employers and this is an important question to ask. Who is hiring the most minimum wage workers? Why? What should be different about it, if any thing?

How high should the minimum wage be raised, if at all?

This is a combination of two questions but I think it is really important because it is the heart of the controversy and therefore should be looked into thoroughly.

What city wants the highest minimum wage?

This is an interesting question because it brings a specificity to the argument. Where is this going on? Why this city? How long have they wanted this?

Questions About Controversy

This post is about project 3 and what kinds of questions I will be addressing. In the previous projects I talked about the controversy with Uber in New York City and the minimum wage controversy. For project 3, I have chosen to write about the minimum wage controversy.

Altmann, Gerd. banner-939245_1920. 10/3/2015. CC0 Public Domain.

This next part is to ask myself questions about the controversy I am researching.

Who is involved in the controversy...

Which are the biggest types of companies that hire low wage workers?
Who are the biggest politicians involved in this controversy?
What are the biggest industries involved?


What s up for debate in this controversy...

Should the minimum wage be raised at all?
How high should minimum wage be raised?
What level of government should enforce it? (state, federal, etc.)


When has this controversy unfolded...

How long has it been since the last increase in minimum wage?
When was the $15 wage proposed?
Over how long of a time period should a minimum wage be increased?


Where has this controversy unfolded...

What city is wanting the highest minimum wage?
What industries are for/ against the minimum wage increase?
How is the US' minimum wage different than other countries'?


How has this controversy unfolded...

Who first proposed the increase of the $7.25 minimum wage?
How have the workers made their voices heard?
How have the employers reacted?