February 21, 2012 Midterm

     Throughout Phase One I have learned much about how important the rhetorical situation can be in my writing. In the past I have always focused on what matters to myself and myself only. I only ever thought about my audience in one paper of mine, to appeal to their emotions. I would say that that paper I wrote, thinking about how my audience would react to what I wrote, was my best piece of work by far. For this project I am emotionally close to my topic and I have been focusing more on how I would like to get as much information about tigers out there as I can, but my problem is I am not thinking about my audience. Because I care so much about the topic I am disregarding, not purposely, how important the rhetorical situation is to my writing.

     

     I believe my main problem is that I am still researching to broad of an area and need to narrow it down even more to get more detailed information that will help me to choose a more specific audience and focus my writing even more. I noticed when I started writing my web-text I was having great difficulty with where I should start it and even what information was most important to put into it that I had to stop. I think I need to organize my research more in order to make my choices for the rhetorical situation even better and to help my audience really connect with what I am trying to get across. 

     

     As for fonts and colors I still have to choose some that I think will relate to my topic to make my audience connect with my piece. I also plan on using my images in this way as well. I feel that using images to appeal to the emotions of my readers will help them really connect to what I am saying and give them the same outlook as me on my subject, but I also know not to appeal to emotion too much because they might see my text as too extreme and not be interested in what I have to say. Throughout this course so far I have learned how important my decisions affect how people view not only me but my writing as well. These opinions will greatly affect how they will react to my writing. I want to make sure that they react in a positive way, or the way I want them to, in order to get my point across correctly. Utilizing the rhetorical situation in the right way will help me immensely.

Articles from PUC Library

1.Kirkpatrick, R., & Emerton, L. (2010). Killing Tigers to Save Them: Fallacies of the
      Farming Argument. Conservation Biology, 24(3), 655-659. doi:10.1111/j.1523
      1739.2010.01468.x


2. Check, E. (2006). Conservation biology: The tiger's retreat. Nature, 441(7096), 927-930.
       doi:10.1038/441927a

2/5 Homework Response B

Right now tigers are among the closest animals near extinction. With only thousands left in the wild and many in captivity it is becoming harder and harder for them to survive. Being hunted by humans is the main reason for this. Humans tend to hunt until they cannot hunt anymore, which is usually extinction. If we do not do something fast about this tigers could be the next animal that goes completely extinct. I am interested in this topic because of my love for animals and the major I plan to go into, wildlife. I also take concern for mistreated animals, and one’s in harm’s way. The fact that the reason most animals are endangered or near extinction these days is mainly because of human greed pains me. The only way an animal should go extinct is because of Mother Nature herself. If animals completely leave this world it should be reasons like the dinosaurs and not because humans like the way their fur looks on their floors. I think my audience will be interested in my topic because the extinction of any animal starts chain reactions that cannot be stopped and can be very harmful to the environment. I am mainly focused on tigers because right now they seem to be the most hunted and causes directly related to humans. I feel my audience will be filled with more women than men because women seem to have bigger hearts when it comes to cruelty towards animals, also because more men hunt than women especially in the areas in which tigers live. Groups such as animal activists, veterinarians, and in fields such as wildlife, ecology, environmental studies, etc. because they also share a love for animals and the environment and look to protect both.

2/5 Homework Response A

Braun, D. (2010, Nov 18). Can a thousand breeding females stave off tiger extinction in the wild?. Retrieved from http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2010/11/18/tiger_extinction_staved_off_by_last_thousand_
females/
Summarize: The main point of this article is to show how people are trying to figure out a way for people to help save tigers using the females left of the species to breed. It also provides people with facts that they should know about tigers and different organisations effort's to help save them.
Asses: This source is very useful because it provides the basic information i will need to know about tigers without going in to too much detail and will help provide a start for better research. Some might say that it could be biased but i don't think it is to the point were it won't be useful. National Geographic has been around for a very long time helping to inform people of what is going on with the environment. This specific article states that tigers are being "over-hunted" realizing that of course animals will be hunted but it comes to a point where it needs to stop.
Reflect: I will use this source for my project because it has been very helpful in my decision to where i should start research and gave me more information on the topic. It has also given me different ideas as to where my research my lead and ways i can make my project more in depth and detailed.


Guo, J. (2007). Tigers in trouble: Year of the tiger. Nature, 449(7158), 16-18.
doi:10.1038/449016a 
Summarize: The main point about this article is how Siberian tigers, one of the most endangered subspecies, are found more in captivity than in the wild for entertainment purposes and how important it is to be able to breed these tigers and draw them farther away from extinction. 
Asses: I feel again that this is a reliable source because it again comes from a magazine that's purpose is to inform its audience about problems in our world affecting the environment. This article seems to be a little biased though but i feel for my topic a little bias in the right direction can be more useful than it is harmful. .
Reflect: I may use this as an article for my project but i am not fully sure yet. It is helpful because it provides information on a specific subspecies and will help me better narrow down my topic where it needs to be.

Research: Book and Article Sources

Book:
Tilson, R. L., & Nyhus, P. J. (2010). Tigers of the world: The science, politics, and conservation    of panthera tigris. Academic Press


Article:
Guo, J. (2007). Tigers in trouble: Year of the tiger. Nature, 449(7158), 16-18.
doi:10.1038/449016a

Topic Definition Statement

Background: Many breed's of tigers are on the endangered list. Most tigers in existence are living in captivity such as zoo's.
Purpose of project: This project will show why tigers are nearing extinction and how it will affect not only the environment but how we live as well. I will show how humans contribute to their endangerment and why tigers a essential part of our environment.
Working title: "Endangered Tigers: Can They Be Saved?"
Key question: What impact will the extinction of tigers have on the environment?
Sub questions: "What countries passed laws to help protect tigers and how effective are they?" "Which breeds are in the most danger and why?" "