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Assignment instructions (due 2/8)

Rather than send these via email and have them get buried in your inbox, I’ll put the assignment instructions here. This is what you should complete before class on Monday, 2/8. All of this work is preparing you for the essay that you will write for next Wednesday.

Working with the examples of public health writing that you shared on our blog this week, respond to these two prompts as comments to your original post(s):

  1. explain the rhetorical situation of this text as best you can–addressing author, audience, purpose, context, exigence. Do this for at least 2 sample texts.
  2. explain (in specific terms) how the author uses research in this text–what role(s) does the source material play in this text. (Think here about our discussion in class today about the different ways that Hess employs research in her writing.) Do this for at least 2 sample texts.

Feb. 3rd, 2016–CLASS NOTES

Feb. 3rd, 2016

WRT 205 CLASS NOTES
Announcements:
  1. When you post notes on the blog, post them within 24 hours of class so your classmates will be up to date with whats going on. TAGS: #Classnotes, #DATE
  2. PUSH BACK DUE DATE–no longer due Monday, now Wednesday, Feb. 10th, 2016. (Will be speaking about it in class today.)
Improving End-of-Life Care: A Public Health Call to Action–by Sally Hass
What we know from her Introduction:
-Her goal
-Her audience–pushes emotion into the reader. Her first chosen word is “We”.
Q: What do we like to get from the introduction?
A:  -Some type of thesis statement
-Some type of engagement, the author reaching out to the reader. (Most texts are read by the people that are supposed to read them.)
-Learning what value the text has to you–why you should care?
-Why should I care? What are you going to argue?
-Setting the tone–is it funny? Is it a story, personal antidote?
Technique (One paragraph at a time) Answer:
  1.  What does the paragraph say/main idea?
  2. What purpose does this serve in the larger piece?
Writing style: Very explicit and straightforward
-Pg. 4–She begins the comparisons to talk about how the two different fields (public health and clinical health) connect.
Grammer:
–Parallel Construction: When you build you sentences the same way. *Very useful when you have a complex, multi-part argument and you are trying to get your point across.
–Coordination: When both ideas are equal.
(Ex. Death happens to individuals; it is a population experience.)
–Subordination: When one idea has more weight than the other.
(Ex: Though death happens to individuals, it is a population experience.
–Dependent Clause: When a group of words can not stand alone, which needs to be coupled with an independent clause.
Ex: Though death happens to individuals (<DEPENDENT!), it is a population experience.
–Independent Clause: When a group of words can stand together on its own.
Ex: Though death happens to individuals, it is a population experience (INDEPENDENT).
**All of the comparisons that Hess makes subordination comparisons, which makes public health the main idea of the text.
What is Framework:
-Pulling in a lot of information and explaining what she thinks these things mean.
Ending Class:
  1. Bring essay to class on Monday (Improving end of life care)
  2. DUE MONDAY: Go back to original post(s) that you shared on the blog, and do a quick comment that lays out the rhetorical situation: author, audience, purpose, context, exigence (<why the text comes to be? What is the driving force that made them create the text?)
-Locate and explain two of your posts (couple of sentences) examples of how the text uses research material and what purpose(s) that stuff serves.
DUE NEXT WEDNESDAY:
-Larger scale rhetorical analysis: Select three to four texts and focus on the writerly choices that are in the texts-how the writing is put together. (Any links on the blog.)

More public health writing

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/29/health/turning-points-alcohol-aa-recovery/index.html

This story was written by someone who’s sister suffered through extreme alcohol addiction. It goes over how she started using alcohol in 8th grade, and grazes over some of the lowest points in her life. I feel that this piece is relevant to the Syracuse community because our city has an extremely large problem with addiction. Also, the fact that we are in college right now basically implies that there is going to be a lot of alcohol around us. It is important to remember that alcohol can ruin peoples lives. All you need to do to see this in action is go drive around downtown Syracuse for a little bit, and you will eventually see someone walking around and drinking a bottle, no matter what time of day.

http://www.lakecleanup.com

This is the homepage for the Onondaga Lake cleanup project. It is not a news story, it is designed to catch the eye of the public so that they might be motivated to attempt to be involved in the cleanup. The homepage features green decorations that give it the environmentally friendly vibe. There are also pictures of wildlife and plants. There is a lot of information on this website including the progress that they are making,  what still needs to be done, how the cleanup will affect the public’s health and safety, and how people can get involved.

Public Health Texts (cont.)

This advertisement is going against teen pregnancy by saying that having a child at an early age will increase your child’s likelihood of dropping out of high school.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/03/27/opinion/27conversation-img/27conversation-img-blog427.jpg

Secondly, this video advertisement is calling for parents to promote a healthy lifestyle for their children from the time they are babies. The sooner the better, because then they won’t develop poor eating habits.

Public Health Issues in Syracuse, NY

http://www.ongov.net/health/heroin/

This article is from the Onondaga County website. It talks about the causes of heroin use, addiction, and overdoses. It credits the growth of heroin addiction to being closely tied to the spread of opioid prescription painkillers. People who are prescribed painkillers to help heal from surgeries, injuries, and/or accidents can oftentimes become addicted because of the strength of these drugs. When the prescription runs out, patients can be left with an addiction problem. Acquiring these drugs on the black market can be expensive, so patients will switch to a much cheaper, stronger, and readily available drug; heroin. This is a problem that affects not only the poor or residents of Central New York area but the rest of the United States as well.

http://www.syracuse.com/state/index.ssf/2016/01/new_york_offering_1700_free_cribs_to_poor_parents.html#incart_river_index

This article is from Syracuse.com. It discusses how New York State is giving out 1,700 free baby cribs to those receiving public assistance. The goal is to provide babies from poor families with a safe place to sleep. Every year 90 babies die in New York from poor sleeping conditions. The program’s goal is to educate and provide parents with the means to help their babies sleep properly as such a fragile and crucial age.