Why we do anything at all.

       Hello fellow classmates I hope the past week has treated you well! 

Alright, I enjoyed the first article "backpacks vs briefcases" It was a nice review of what we had talked about in class until I got to the part where the writer mentioned that part of rhetoric analysis is looking at constraints.  Don't only ask the question "who is this add talking to" but also ask "who is this add not talking to" or "who is not included in their target audience".  

Looking back on the majority of my writing and english classes my professors encouraged us to annotate or use rhetoric analysis but it stopped there.  It didn't seem to have a purpose other than really breaking down the article but now I am starting to understand how rhetorical analysis is all about understanding the motives behind media.  This way we can avoid being blindsided or tricked into something because an article or add did an incredible job at manipulating our emotions.  It goes the opposite way also, now that I am learning how to understand peoples true motives I don't have to be as skeptical after making a choice to believe or support something.  It's really exciting to me that this is something that I can apply to my life all the time every day, not just in a writing class once a week.  

I also specifically liked reading about holding an interview in chapter 17.  I didn't think about taking the time to brainstorm why I'm interviewing someone, because Zack told me to isn't the best reason.  I took some time to brainstorm for myself on why I want to interview the person who I have emailed for our project.  It made it so much more clear and I was reminded of what I love to do.  I want to see if this type of career matches up with my gifts and I want to ask my the person who I'm interviewing why they love their job and what makes them great at it.  I don't want to just settle for what they do day to day but I want to learn about their motivation behind what they do.  Taking the time to really understand my motivation behind the research I will be doing completely changed my perspective on what I am looking for in the first place!