- The first rhetorical move I noticed in Bogost’s “The Problem With Diversity in Computing” is that right off the bat, he has a protagonist, Amy Webb, in this article. I didn’t know who she was until I read further on, and as the reader, the feeling I received from the first paragraph was intriguing and curious as to see where the writer will lead with this. He connected these first few sentences to go on and explain how someone like her wasn’t present in the room when these systems were designed, so I found this connection to be brilliant.
- The second is when Bogost introduces the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing, because this is an aspect to the article that the reader may be unfamiliar with. Bogust explains his role there and the center’s mission, so he uses this school to strengthen his point that there needs to be growth for the tech population. He does so by saying “Adding more black engineers from Atlanta schools to that mix will certainly help push the numbers up incrementally.” He also proves this point by including a statistic about Google’s employees, so this backs him up with an actual fact.
- Third, Bogust writes about Charles Isbell, who brings up an interesting point: diversity vs. integration. This is a comparison which I’ve never heard about before and honestly found it so fascinating. How he brings in Charles as a source to quote their conversation gives the reader the opportunity to expand their knowledge on a topic that isn’t talked about enough. Bogoust makes it clear that both integration and diversity need to be met if we, as one, want to accomplish the universal goal of expanding those within the tech field.
- A quote by Bogost which really stayed with me was “Their goal is to get more people in the game, not necessarily to change the rules of that game.” It is evident that rhetoric is used here to convey this idea to the reader. Bogost has a powerful and confident tone in this statement. He says this after introducing Kamau Bobb, so with this statement he reflects on what Bobb’s opinion of this topic.
- Lastly, Bogost ends the article by saying “The problem with computing is computing.” Here, he backs up Webb’s point that everyone outside of the computing field is discriminated against. Going on to compare computing professionals acting tribe-like and only sticking to who’s inside their circle is a great use of rhetoric to make this connection.
Writing and organizational cultures
Consider how much of this work hinges on the they say/I say model–here’s what you’ve been accustomed to thinking/hearing on the subject; now let me tell you why we need to think differently…