Trimble Lizzie Rhetorical Analysis for Essay One May 1, 2009 One of my favorite blogs from this semester was inspired by the Doyle piece we read in class, and it was about the iPod. I really liked the way it discussed an object objectively and then took a more personal turn. For my final essay, I wanted to add depth to this blog by adding elements of others that I had written and by improving and experimenting with form. My piece is a mosaic essay, comprised of one narrative that is broken by visual scenes that are all related subtly by the theme of technology. My goal of the images was to zoom-in to add short digressions and tensions. I want my reader to think about technology (particularly phones and iPods) and how they can bring us closer to each other while simultaneously creating a sense of distance between people. These tensions are explored explicitly in my writing, particularly in the last two paragraphs of the blog, where I discuss "tuning out" from the world, nature, each other, etc. However, the visual scenes depict technology as a form of interaction, or connection to each other. For instance, it is only via blackberry that I can keep in touch with my dad while I'm at college. And when my grandfather needed help setting up his phone, in a way it was the technology that was our only common ground. Telephones in this way are a necessary intermediary connecting family members and different generations. At the same time, rooted in these scenes are also feelings of distance. Though I am brought closer to my grandfather and my father via technology, the reader hopefully gets a sense of disconnect, in both proximity and generation. Can my grandfather and father ever really understand me considering our age differences? Even if my dad tries to conform to the time (by typing `lyl' for example), does this actually make us closer? Or does it only highlight our differences? In the last scene, I wanted to emphasize that technology is sometimes the center of attention. As a child, I was so intrigued by my grandparents' phone, and what it could do. Again, I used this scene to play with the common thread of generational differences and attitudes toward technology. Throughout my piece, I tried to take advantage of the blog form. I took the advice of my peer, Jamie, and added space after the first sentence. This allows the reader to actually consider iPod the (if only for a brief moment). This is a technique that might not be traditionally used, and I thought it helped make the essay more interactive with the reader. The line became less of a suggestion and more of a demand. Directly after, I tried to create short sentences rich with technologic details and language that the reader might not understand. My goal was to create a "manual language" that correlates with how technology works. Then, I wanted to shift tones to make the reader see something new in such an `everyday' object. I attempted to create a concrete definition of the iPod by examining its history and its inner workings. I wanted this to juxtapose with the many different meanings an iPod can have. It is used every day, but for all different reasons all over the world. I used rhetorical elements in my piece such as flashbacks, dialogue (without quotations), repetition, and imageless space. I repeated the phrase "Consider for a moment" to emphasize that the piece is almost one large rhetorical question. How does technology affect us? Does it hinder or help our relationships? I also linked the images to the text through a mention of grandparents and parents in my final paragraph. I think in the beginning, the text and the visuals are not obviously related, but by the end the reader should understand how much they rely on each other. I didn't want these connections to b...