1// “Eliminating Microaggressions” Discussion Board
PROMPT
Post 2 paragraphs that identify, analyze, and evaluate the effectiveness of a rhetorical strategy Tiffany Alvoid uses in her TedTalk “Eliminating Microaggressions.
Your post should include the following:
TOPIC SENTENCE
Topic sentences usually appear at the beginning of a body paragraph. Because a topic sentence encapsulates the idea of your body paragraph, it introduces to your audience what the paragraph will be about. It should reflect or advance the argument of your thesis statement. In this class, you will want to name the strategy you are evaluating and its role/functionLinks to an external site. in the text. ((see attached PDF file 12 )) For example, “Tiffany Alvoid uses the __(insert strategy name)___ to ___(insert function)___.
EVIDENCE
Prove to your audience that the strategy exists in the text by giving an example (a direct quote). Be sure to contextualize your evidence by noting where in the text the evidence is coming from.
EXPLANATION
Explain how the strategy is working within the text.
Consider the following questions:
What is the strategy doing? How does it function? What is the intended impact on target audience?
Remember, Alvoid is not only speaking to a broad audience in attendance at the TedTalk event in Oakland, CA but also a broad audience of Youtube viewers. We will define her broad target audience of working professionals are considered to be “non-experts” in the topic of microaggressions.
Any connections to ((see attached PDF file 12 ))ethos, pathos, logos? Explain.
Is the strategy operating on an assumption? How does this assumption affect the target audiences engagement?
.EVALUATION + DISCUSSION OF SIGNIFICANCE
Assess the strength of the strategy ( The strategy of ____ is a poor/excellent choice because)
What is the target audience’s actual reaction to the strategy (if different from the intended reaction.)
Is the strategy successful in performing its function (role it plays in the argument, how fulfills writers purpose (or not), how it engages the audience (or not).
Communicate the significance of your evaluation. Here are some questions you might consider…
What have you discovered about the use of this strategy in this context?
Would you recommend that future authors writing on the topic of microaggressions continue to use this strategy for this audience?
Do you think a different strategy would have been more suitable? Why?
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2//////// COMMENTS: on A & B please go deeply with the comments
A ) The Rhetoric of Storytelling that I heard from Tiffany AL void’s lecture was the one that stuck out to me. Relating all the stereotypes to what has happened and to what is still happening in our society now. Also, what I noticed was Alvoid’s other rhetorical strategy to present her lecture was the Tone of her choices of words most specifically the attitude she was presenting on the stage. She was presenting her lecture in a very understandable and educated way to create reactions, thoughts, and conversations, that will eventually get everyone comfortable to talk and engage in conversations with others, in mind that hoping without stepping on anybody’s toes.
At the beginning of Alvoid’s lecture, she defined Microaggressions and to whom and where this attitude was and is being directed and as seen as misfortunate, and to the ghetto of society, who are treated as not in the normal or “norms” of what society is labeling other people as. In her lecture, when she was defining what microaggression was and to whom it was directed, she pointed out the groups of people that were seen as marginalized, most especially she had mentioned The Disabled Community, who has been marginalized in the whole society, and their whole lives.
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B) Tiffany Alvoid uses a multitude of rhetorical strategies such as using definition and storytelling in order to introduce her audience to the subject she will be talking about and provide a picture for them. At the beginning of her video Alvoid reads the definition of the word microaggression and provides a visual on a screen for the audience to read (0:05). With her giving the definition of microaggression it gives the audience a rough idea of what she will be talking about and informs them on the meaning of the term. It acts as a hook for her audience drawing their attention into the topic that she talks about. She also uses storytelling to help paint a picture for her audience. She tells a story about disability activists who climbed or crawled up the stairs at the capitol building to bring awareness to their cause (3:00). She describes how these activists would climb the 83 stairs to the capitol building without the use of their wheelchairs, crutches, or other devices that assisted them with their disabilities in order to bring awareness to their disenfranchisement from society.
Alvoid uses these strategies effectively to grab the audiences attention and provide a vivid image for them. Defining the word microaggression hooks the audience to what she has to say while relating that word to groups or communities that might be affected by it and provides credit to her ethos as it shows shes knowledgeable about the subject. Her strategies also touch on pathos as when she described the story of the disabled activists climbing the stairs she paints a vivid image making the audience feel sad or heartbroken. Her use of storytelling emotionally persuades her audience into making them come up with their own assumptions of how microaggressions can affect people and how people will go great lengths to combat it.
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