State of the Union

On January 27th, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union Address to Congress and the American people. This State of the Union was particularly important due to the increased interest in the American Economy and the pressure by many to revitalize our energy production and our nation's education. But when it all boils down to it, the President's speech was not much different from a blog post. There were many different appeals to peoples' emotions and morals, there were calls to action, and there were provocative questions intended to get us thinking.

It may be difficult, or even weird, for you to think of a Presidential Address as little more than a blog post, but it's true. Think of all the different ways we've discussed that are meant to bring readers to your blog. In many ways, President Obama did the same thing.

Now, on to the task at hand. In order for you to gain understanding of the way speeches are delivered, and to aid you in your blogging, I am asking you to forget about the theme of your blog for this post and complete a rhetorical analysis of the President's speech. We'll go over rhetoric in class, and I'll link you to some info on it to help you at the bottom of this post in case you forget. To rhetorically analyze the President's speech you must pick one of the following topics he speaks about: the economy, clean energy, or education. Once you've chosen which one you're interested in I want you to find three examples for each of the parts of rhetoric; ethos, pathos, and logos. Once you've done so, I want you to describe a call to action the president presents on that topic. This should be written like a regular blog post, not as if you're just answering questions. (That means don't just put Ethos- 1... 2... 3..., etc. But, rather, write it in paragraph form that flows from topic to topic.) I will talk about this more in class, but this is a good place for you to return to in case you forget.


Important Links: These links are for your aid and should probably be used.

Click here for the transcript of the speech if you lose the one I gave you.

Click here for video of the speech.

Click here for an overview of rhetoric if you forgot what I explained to you.

Focusing on Drawing Attention to Your Blog

Over the few weeks since we started blogging in class, some of the most important things we've talked about are how to bring viewers to your blog. Now, while this is not the main focus of the blogging unit I've put together for you all, it is an important aspect of blogging. One that I think you guys should understand.

Now, one of the ways to do this is to add a picture, which I'll demonstrate for you in class.

You may also choose to link to a website or another blog, I'll demonstrate this also.

Whether you choose to do either is purely up to you, but it will make your blog much more interesting to read. That's where your next assignment comes into play. I want you to write two separate blog posts. In one, link to a picture pertaining to the topic of your post. In another, find an article or site that you'd like to blog about and link to it. This will be due by Monday, February 1st.

Good luck and happy blogging!

Now, On to Business

By now you all have created a blog and are well on your way to becoming expert bloggers. This means that I shouldn't have to holod your hands to make sure you're getting your blogs done. I will be staying actively involved in the blogging process, but I'm not going to choose what you're going to write about every time you post. That being said, here's your assignment.

In class, we discussed how all blogs have a theme that the posts reflect. If you're writing a political blog, then all of your posts should deal with politics. If you're writing a literature blog, then all of your posts should deal with literature in some way. Pretty basic, right? So, with that out of the way, you need to write two blog posts, approximately 3-4 paragraphs in length that cover topics that fall under the theme of your blog. The posts don't have to be closely related, for example, if I was writing an automotive blog I may write one post about the rise of hybrid cars in the auto industry and another post about the Detroit Auto Show. Both have to do with cars, but not necessarily each other. These posts will be due by Tuesday, January 19.

Intro to Blogging 101

Hey guys,

Blog posts are going to be the focus of this unit. This should have been obvious to you, but I felt that it needed a reiteration. Now, chances are many of you have never blogged before. In fact, I know that a few of you had never visited blogs outside of Xanga, Myspace, or any other similar social networking site. I'm excited about this, since I get to introduce you to a new world of self-published work. You never know, what you create throughout this unit may become a sensation within the blogosphere and you could become famous! That's not the focus of this unit, but hey, I digress.

Now, as you can see, my writing here is somewhat casual compared to how it would be if I were standing in front of you during class. This is one of the interesting things about blogs; we happen to use our natural voice more often. In fact, the way I'm typing here is more similar to the way I would speak to my friends and family, rather than the way I typically speak to students.

Moving on, though, since this is likely your first blog post ever we'll keep it simple. In your first blog post, due by the end of class, just give me a three to five paragraph summary of your life. You can begin with where you were born, your first memory, or where you were when we rang in the new millennium, I don't care. Just give me an autobiographical account of your life. Remember, this is three to five paragraphs minimum, which equates to somewhere between 15 and 21 sentences, simple.

Good luck, and welcome to the world of blogging.