Journal entries were used throughout the semester to demonstrate to the course instructors a comprehension of texts that were read and discussed during lectures.

Writing Section

Professor Elisabeth von Uhl

Rhetorical Situations

Rhetorical situations are shaped by three elements, being: the audience, a set of constraints, and an issue which must be addressed. 

A rhetorical response is shaped by constraints of the rhetorical situation. The rhetorical response must work within the framework posed by the situation. Also, the constraints must be addressed after a certain exigence. For example, Trump and Biden, as presidential candidates, must address the exigence, the pandemic, and respond to the questions the public has moving forward with American life in the Coronavirus-era and beyond. Another constraint could be the fact that coronavirus has exposed problems within our systems and policies, how will Trump or Biden address that? A successful response will anticipate and address these questions. An unsuccessful response will not address to these elements of the rhetorical situation. 

Hulst’s “BEAM” Method of Source Classification

According to Bizup’s BEAM classification system, Hulst’s source “Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide” from the game ‘Fallout 3’ would be classified as an ‘Exhibit’ source- a source used for “explication, analysis, or interpretation” (Bizup 75). Hulst analyzes the rhetorical and grammar choices used by the writer to catch and sustain their audience’s attention. Hulst points out that the writer writes in fragments and uses contractions to appeal to the spoken language of the audience (Hulst 93). Hulst also addresses the rhetorical consideration of selecting the words “Nuclear War” as a hook sentence, as he says “Culturally, we have, for the past seventy years or so, lived with the knowledge that a nuclear war could happen” (Hulst 93). Both of these sentences are examples of commentary that Hulst has provided concerning the rhetorical and grammatical choices of his source, and as such, they fall under the Exhibit category of BEAM sources.

Content Section

Professor Alyssa Yankwitt

Quote Design Ideas

A Rose For Emily: 

“I want some poison,” she said to the druggist. She was over thirty then, still a slight woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eye-sockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper’s face ought to look. “I want some poison,” she said.”

I chose this quote because it represents a life-changing moment for Miss Emily, which is her acting on an impulse and killing Homer Barron. When Miss Emily and Homer began “seeing each other,” it was the first time that Miss Emily had an outlet from the loneliness that resulted from her overprotective father not allowing any man to court Miss Emily. When Miss Emily realized that she could not have Homer, she made sure no one else could. This “I’ll kill him” attitude was pathogenic, not only because she actually did kill him, but because she also could not go back to being alone. Thus she kept Homer’s body hidden away in her home, rotting in groom’s clothing, along with an iron-gray strand of her own hair. This quote shows what are some of the psychical implications of acting on one’s wishful impulses in that they are indicative of a deeper problem. Relative to Miss Emily, her murdering of Homer and keeping his body is indicative of the psychological damage that dehumanized her to the point that she committed those actions. 

The Rocking-Horse Winner: 

“I used to think I was, before I married. Now I think I am very unlucky indeed.”

“Why?”

“Well – never mind! Perhaps I’m not really,” she said.

The child looked at her to see if she meant it. But he saw, by the lines of her mouth, that

she was only trying to hide something from him.

“Well, anyhow,” he said stoutly, “I’m a lucky person.”

This quote is very telling when considering the Oedipus complex. To recap, the Oedipus complex is the idea that young boys are attracted to their mothers and want to kill their fathers for their mother’s attention. This is seen in the boy, who realizes his father does not have luck, which his mother wants, and quickly asserts that he has luck himself. He then religiously devotes himself to attaining luck and using it to get the money to support the weakened status of his family, which his mother is upset over. The boy, while trying to win the love of his mother’s hardened heart, is doing so by making up for his father’s shortcoming. While this is not the same as killing his father, he is trying to figuratively dethrone his father.

A Country Doctor: 

“Naked, exposed to the frost of this most unhappy of ages, with an earthly vehicle, unearthly horses, old man that I am, I wander astray.” 

Using Displacement, we can understand this quote to symbolize the Doctor’s insecurity of being unable to help Rose, and his weakened sexuality. The horses represent sexuality in general, with the large, powerful, fast horses at the beginning of the story being the groom’s sexuality, pushing him away from rose. On the other hand, the unearthly, weak horses at the end of the story, represent the narrator’s sexuality, devalued. The narrator being old and naked represents his insecurity of how he was unable to save Rose. This quote is ripe with imagery to dissect using displacement, and is a good example of how displacement is a persuasive –whether it is accurate is a different case– tool to interpreting dreams.

Take-aways from “A Rose For Emily”

• Emily was not really seen as a person, but rather a culture to preserve, and to honor. This is why the entire town, even younger people who never met her funeral, and perhaps a reason why Colonel Sartoris respected her father and had exempt her from taxes, on account of a story the narrator of the story suggests is made up. 
• Emily’s father has a repressing effect on her. He scared away all men wanting to marry Emily, and he was also Emily ever knew. Perhaps this familiarity is what kept Emily in denial of his death until she broke down and the town buried him. Given that the effect of her father is that strong, her remaining single after his death could be seen as a symptom of his repression. 
• Homer is a wishful impulse. He goes against her repressing effect. Even if the repressing effect cannot be seen to be coming from Emily’s own ego, the effect is still there in her being single. Getting engaged to Homer is acting against the repression of marrying, which her father instilled into her life.