Kairos

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Unit: Kairos is a complicated concept for many of us to grasp. Think about the term and how it pertains to context. How would you define context? Now let’s think about audience. How may context and audience pertain to one another? Apply this to a real life situation.

Example 1: Imagine someone speaking to ‘50s housewives. How would this change in 2011? How would it change 50 years from now? How and why would it be different? Think about this in relation to context and audience.

Example 2: Imagine the Student Government Association proposing to ban smoking on a college campus in the ‘50s. How would this change today? How would it change 50 years from now? How and why would it be different? Think about this in relation to context and audience.

Aristotle, the father of rhetorical triangle, said that kairos pertains to the context in which proof will be delivered. It is the rhetor’s ability to adapt to particular situations.

Writing Assignment: Think about issues we have examined this semester in relation to advertising, GenMe, hip-hop and feminism. What specific issues can you recall? The objective of this assignment is to create a text that is empowering to a target demographic. Although you will create a text of your own with definite purpose for a target demographic, you will also have to articulate the problem, the target demographic, why you have chosen to create this text and what the objective is of the text. The writing assignment should be anywhere from three to four pages. The written assignment does not have to be written like a formal essay. Use the model below as an example.

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

English 104

April 28, 2011

What is the background of the problem?

• · Articulate the problem.

• · Bring in outside research to support your problem.

• · Possible options to explore:

o Advertising that objectifies women to tits and ass.

o A hip-hop song that that promotes gunplay, drugs and glorifies violence.

o Legislation that limits a woman’s access to birth control, emergency contraception and abortion services.

• · Use the outside research to explain the background of the problem. Use this space to articulate how and why this is a problem.

Who is the target demographic?

• · Explain how this problem affects one class of people.

• · Use the background to explain how this affects one class of people.

• · Use what you have learned about audience awareness to identify and explain why this is the target demographic.

• · Do not use this space to explain why one class is not the target demographic; instead, identify one class (e.g. young, white ‘50s housewives) and articulate why.

o How would advertising that objectifies women to tits and ass affect young, white single heterosexual men?

o How would a hip-hop song that promotes gunplay, drugs and glorifies violence affect middle age, lower income African American mothers?

o How would legislation that limits a woman’s access to birth control, emergency contraception and abortion services affect young, lower income women?

What is the text that I have created?

• · What have you decided to create?

• · Walk us through your decision to create this text.

• • • How does it pertain to what you outline in the background?

• · How does it pertain to the target demographic?

What is the overall objective of the text that I have created?

• · Because you have identified the problem, identify a target demographic.

• · What is the overall objective of this text?

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  What do you want the target demographic to do with this information?

Writing Assignment, continued: You will be required to use at least two outside resources for this paper. A works cited page will also be required for this paper, but it will not be included in the page count. Below you will find a list of options of texts that you can create:

• · Rewrite a fairy tale that is empowering for young girls instead of disempowering.

• · Create a game that adolescent boys could play that would be engaging, but steer them away from harmful masculine stereotypes.

• · Write a script or film that represents both males and females in empowering and healthy ways.

• · Create a Web site or blog that would offer information on healthy body image.

• · Create a video documentary that would convince girls not to engage in eating disorders.

• · Write a curriculum that will be gender-balanced for an elementary, middle, high school or college level course.