English 101
Group Projects!
Dustin Johnston and Sara Rotman-Zaid
Rhetorical analysis of the project--
Our group porject consisted of a web page that what meant to inform websurfers about our issue. The web page was an effective medium for us since so many people use the world wide web now for quick and detailed information. As a group we could not find an effective theme that respectively targeted both issues. Since there was no coorelation between our two subjects, we decided present both issues in an informative manor. Our web page consisted of an introductory paragraph which brought to light how religions change over time and why those changes are often major. We continued with an introduction to each of our topics, the role of Mary in the Catholic Church, and Women in Rabbinics. It was extremely important to us to present the issues in a non-biased way. With that in mind, we included links to other informational web sites about our topics, so that our viewers could make a decision for themselves.
A passive approach to our topic was extremely difficult. It required us to present an argument that we are opposed to. Furthermore, these issues are not passive issues in our lives, we are both very involved in religious pursuits. Although we took a passive approach to presenting our topics, we could not just leave them be. We included links to our e-mail accounts so that we could answer any questions regarding our topics and other related topics.
Our topics are very controversial, and we did not want to offend anyone with any "loud" rhetorical strategies. First we uses a logical approach to presenting the background to each of our topics. We also used some amount of detail in a brief description to purport that we are somewhat of experts now about our topics. Beyond those two strategies and a passive blue background, I used the Bible as a reference to present my issue. I also used capital letters and seperated the verses from the text in order to bring attention to the verses. The Bible also supported my issue since it is a book that religious groups adhere to with heart and soul.
As a group we both worked on our project with purpose. Neither one of us did more work than the other. We each completed a group update for class. Our meetings consisted of three afternoons in which we first discussed our issues and came up with an idea for our project. The second meeting we decided how to approach the project and how to delegate the duties. The third, we each came prepared to post our issues on the web. We cooperated very well, and we are now glad that we got to know each other. We also did a lot of brainstorming via e-mail and instant messaging.
Dustin N. Johnston
Sara Rotman-Zaid