My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this blog post I will be analyzing my plan of action for this project by answering the questions provided that are shown below.

Screenshot from Sean Bottai's website, taken on October 29th, 2015

Audience: 

• The audience may or may not know about computer science. It is hard to say if the whole audience is on one side or the other. I do know that some people are aware of the situation and some do not. Some members know about computer science in school because some schools have some sort of computer science class. I believe the thought that a lot of members of the audience have is that computer science should be in school but as an elective course. 
• The values that I feel that all of the audience have is to do whatever benefits the students the most. They want to have their children and the rest of the students to be the most prepared for the real world and they want their children to be thoroughly educated through the schooling system. 
• I think the way to persuade the audience best is to show them that by implementing computer science in their children's schools, their kids will be gaining invaluable skills and their knowledge will grow as a result of the addition of computer science. I would show them what skills computer science builds problem solving skills which can be used in other classes and areas of knowledge. By implementing computer science not only will the students learn computer science but they will get the skills that are built from learning computer science. 
• I think images of students learning on computers could be beneficial to my arguments. I also think statistical images such as pie charts and graphs that show computer science as a good work field would also help my argument. 
• My audience is listening to my argument because it involves their children. With my argument I will be trying to teach them things they do not know about computer science and if it goes correctly they will join my side of the debate. In turn, they will try to raise awareness so that they can get computer science in schools.  

Genre:

Genre 1 - PowerPoint (Example 1 and Example 2)

• The function of this genre is to be simple but effective. It allows the viewer to not be overwhelmed all at once with a lot of information but rather break up the argument into pieces, making it easier to follow. I chose it to allow readers to educate themselves in a way that is better than reading an essay. 
• The setting of my genre is a slide show so typically an environment in which people are being educated in a group. I could see it being used at an expo of some sort with a large scale presentation.
• I would use pathos, to appeal to the emotional side of the audience. I would so this because since it involves their children it will be easy to appeal to emotion. 
• The visual elements will be the PowerPoint itself along with other images and visual statistics.
• This style is very informal and conservative. There is a possibility of discussion slides that are informal. 

Genre 2 - Persuasive Essay (Example 1 and Example 2)

• The function of this genre is an essay. It is meant to be very informative. I chose it because as a persuasive essay it will be informative and try to persuade readers to take my side on the issue. 
• A setting for this genre would be in schools or magazines/newspapers. It could also be put on a public website. It would go any place that persuasive pieces of writing are usually found. 
• I would use logos in a persuasive essay. It is a very informative piece of writing and by providing very logical information the reader will be more easily persuaded. 
• I could use bar graphs or pie graphs in the essay. Visual understanding could also help the reader be persuaded. Some times ideas are viewed as more logical when they are presented in a visual representation. 
• This genre will be more formal and academic. It is meant to be a solid piece of writing that educates the reader in a way that then leads to the reader being persuaded by the information provided and in turn they join my side of the argument. 

Positive Reactions:

• Readers turn to supporters of the cause and become advocates for the cause and they make movements towards advancing computer science in schools. - I would respond well to this because it is raising awareness for the cause and that is what I want. 
•  Computer science courses increase. - I would also like this reaction because it is starting to implement more computer science courses in schools.
• Legislators speak of changing curriculum in schools to make computer science a top priority. - This is very very unlikely but this would be an interesting effect. I would find this step fast but I would be interested to see how it works.  

Negative Rebuttals:

• No one is persuaded by my argument and no improvement in regards to teaching computer science is made. - I would be slightly sad that no one had a response to my argument. I would attempt to make another attempt at persuading them with a different avenue.
• Everyone hates the idea and thinks that it is a bad idea so they remove what little computer science education they had in schools. - I'd be very upset because it did the opposite of my intended purpose. I would keep trying to raise awareness for my side of the issue to gain support.
• People do not agree with me. - This is very possible, although it is a persuasive essay it does not mean that some people would nit be persuaded. In response I would continue to try and convince them with factual, evidence-based information.