Who is the audience for Commonplace?
Since Commonplace is an online, peer-reviewed journal of undergraduate research, it primarily reflects students’ opinion and serves student audience. To summarize: diverse college students, American youth and probably the public.
Create a list of characteristics that define the genre of writing on Commonplace?
It is timely, relevant, compelling, communicative, and audience-oriented. Writers on Commonplace really focus on how to effectively communicate with their audience, and make their articles appealing, which is different from academic writing.
How have writers ensured their pieces are timely, compelling, and relevant?
To ensure that their essays are timely, writers should only write or research actual arguments about actual things that they actually care about. As long as the writer is genuinely interested in what he or she is writing about, others will probably find that interesting, too. Also, writers should come up with fresher, more challenging, more sophisticated arguments on the topics that were already been discussed before, or even identifying new topics altogether(Commonplace user’s manual, Chapter 1, page 3).
To ensure that their essays are compelling, writers should have a clear purpose (one that is apparent to their audience), and be persuasive enough to carry it through. Think about what their audience would find genuinely compelling. What makes an argument genuinely compelling is evidence. To find evidence that is compelling, writers should evaluate the evidence based on ethos, logos, and pathos (Commonplace user’s manual, Chapter 2, page 3).
To ensure that their essays are relevant, writers try, in some measure, to be relevant to their audience. Once they can picture who it is that they are writing to, it is much easier to figure out how to make them listen to the arguments, trust the writers’ perspective. The writers should have the ideal audience in mind when they write, and build up their public persona and argument based on this concern.
How has the writer used ethos, logos, and pathos in composing the piece?
As a college student, the writer, Brandon Albert, can’t establish himself as a scholarly authority. However, by referring himself as a “hip-pop fan”, he demonstrates to the audiences that he has adequate knowledge on this specific subject. His identity as a fan of hip-hop also rules out the possibility that he might be attacking the genre out of his personal dislike, thus ensures his objectivity, which powers his argument.
The writer used logos by incorporating many evidences to illustrate his point. By presenting direct quotes of the lyrics, he not only increased the compelling effects of his paper, but also allows the audience to judge his argument for themselves. By clearly defining his argument at the opening paragraph, the writer shows how smoothly the logic of this article flows; his powerful conclusion also manifests the logos.
Directly presenting the lyrics as “b****," cursing I wouldn't say it. Me and dog couldn't relate, until a b**** I dated”, the writer certainly provokes emotional response, or pathos, in his audiences. The female audiences are especially likely to be offended by its content. Exposing the issue in such a forceful manner, the writer justifies his argument both emotionally and morally. It not only evokes emotional reaction, but also makes them realize the urgency and importance of the topic that he is discussing.
How do the writers draw their audience into the essays in the introduction?
First of all, the topics would surely draw audience’s attention. By throwing out words like music, sex, hip-pop appeal to the writer’s audience. It fulfills the requirement of being timely and relevant. Also, by incorporating historical observation, summarizing the effects of music and popular culture on society, the introduction is also compelling and persuasive. Expressions like “sex sells in our society” stand out to the audience, and grab their attention. The point that the writer is making is also challenging; it intrigues the audience’s curiosity and leads them to read on and find out why the writer thinks so.
How would you describe the style of Commonplace essays?
Its style is conversational, light and straightforward. Judging from the particular article I read, Commonplace essays have a kind of vibrancy in them, which might due to its student audience.
How are Commonplace essays similar to academic essays? How are the different?
Both try to convince the audience to believe the writers’ argument through persuasion. However, as their audiences differ, their writing styles also differ drastically. In the case of Commonplace, the supposed ideal audiences require writers to ensure their writings are timely, compelling and relevant; to communicate effectively with their audiences, writers in Commonplace adopt examples from the daily lives of common college students, such create resonance in their audience. In the case of academic writing, the writers focus on delivering the information effectively and meticulously. They are required to provide detailed footnotes and reference because their audience might want to expand their reading based on one specific article. The writers of academic writing often adopt a scholarly tone to establish the seriousness of the article.
When it comes to persuasion techniques, the two genres also show tremendous differences. Commonplace writings rely on ethos, pathos, and logos to not only logically present their argument, but also seek to emotionally relate to the audience. They also have to consider their choices of topics, for common reader would turn away from a boring theme. On contrary, academic writers focus on presenting evidences logically. They assume that the audiences share their academic interests, and thus don’t need to attract the audience by throwing out jokes or emotionally or morally provoke their audiences.
How has the essay published on Commonplace incorporated the work from the ARP? Can you see what primary source the writer was working with? How is secondary source material used?
In this particular article, there is no clearly indentified primary source. The writer tries to establish his claim on a general phenomenon that women are misrepresented in hip-hop music. He then incorporates several additional evidences, or secondary sources to support his argument. He does elaborate on Lupe Fiasco’s song “Hurt Me Soul,” but he uses it as an example that follows his earlier argument. Rather than analyzing a specific primary source, Brandon Albert is referring hip-pop music as a whole. He then uses some particular examples to illustrate the authenticity of his claim and strengthened his argument.
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