Closing Reflection

Lauren Blais

Dr. Kara Taczak 

Writing and Rhetoric 

14 March, 2018

Closing Reflection 

The theory of writing is a reflection of who we are as a person. Writing reflects our emotions, beliefs, opinions and experiences. As writers, we have a situation we may be assigned to write about. We put this situation into our lives, if it isn’t already, and we decide on how it effects us or how we feel about it. This is how we decide to write about a specific topic and how to solve the situation. 

On a more structural standpoint, writing has six important parts that make up good writing: audience, tone, situation, rhetoric, revision, and good grammar and vocabulary. Audience is the people you are writing for. This is important because it influences your tone. Tone is the choice of words and phrases a writer uses to portray how they feel about a certain topic. Situation is the issue you are writing about. It is the story you tell and the reason you are writing. Rhetoric goes hand in hand with situation. Rhetoric is using specific language effectively and persuasively in written form. Revision is changing the idea and purpose of the paper. Some people confuse revision with editing. Editing is changing a word or a sentence. Revision is completely changing an idea. The last major key to the theory of writing is good grammar and vocabulary. This relates to tone. Good grammar gives the reader the ability to understand an author’s writing. Vocabulary sets the tone and can make a writing informal or formal. 

My prior knowledge has taught me how to write a basic academic essay. In high school, I mastered a five paragraph essay. I felt that the basic five paragraph essay could be used in every class. This will sometimes work in college classes but may only get you a grade of a C or lower. From what I have recently learned in college, I have now further developed my understanding of writing. I now know why we write and how to focus on a situation and its resolution, not on the number of paragraphs. 

The maps helped me connect specific terms that make up good writing. When making my map out of places at DU, I got to use my theory of writing in real life. I was most proud of the part of my map that represented tone and audience. I thought these were very good examples because tone was represented by the Newman Center, which is the building for the music school, and audience was represented by Magness Arena, which is where people go to watch sports. One thing I learned by using the maps was that rhetorical situation can be shown or represented in many different places. It effects everyone and everything. I was able to map rhetorical situation at DU and on an imaginary mountain. 

I use my theory of writing in my daily journal. Before this writing class, my ideas were everywhere. My writing was very random and unorganized. Now that I have taken this class, I can better express my thoughts and emotions, which will better help me understand my writing in the future. This will also help me clear my mind and organize my activities. 

I will use my theory of writing in WRIT 1133 because I assume we will be doing a lot of writing in the class. WRIT 1133 is also titled research, so I can use this theory of writing to be clear and precise about the topic I have researched. Long in the future, I hope to have a career in Criminology. I can use my writing theory to write police reports and other important documents. 

Argument 3

Lauren Blais

Dr. Kara Taczak 

Writing and Rhetoric 

14 March, 2018

FBI Use of Personal Webcams and Cameras 

Recent reports have shared that the FBI or the Federal Bureau of Investigation has the ability to look and watch through our webcams or cameras without our knowledge. They are able to watch within the camera without turning on the light that is usually next to or on top of the lens. This act of watching us without our consent is a lack and violation to our privacy. 

The original reason for the FBI to secretly watch someone through their own webcam was to receive more information on terrorism cases or the more serious criminal investigations. The more serious criminal investigations can be anything involving murder, abduction, sexual abuse, child molestation, child pornography, or drugs. Judges are not aways on board with using information by hacking into webcams. For instance, “the FBI were investigating a suspect in a bank fraud case, but the presiding judge ruled that the risk of accidentally obtaining information of innocent people was too great”(Malm). 

To hack into computer webcams, “the FBI team use[s] the same technique as rattlers, by infecting the computer with a malicious software-malware- through pushing. By sending an email with a link, which could be to a website, an image or a video, the user is tricked into downloading a small piece of software onto their machine”(Malm). Once the malware is installed, the FBI has the power to control the webcam and any parts of the computer at any time. The FBI does this completely without your knowledge and without making serious changes to your computer. CEO’s of Apple, Facebook, Google, AOL, Linkedln, Microsoft, Twitter, and Yahoo don’t believe that this is safe and shared their opinions by letter to the President of the United States and Congress. A crucial part of the letter said, “The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favor of the state and away from the rights of the individual- rights that are enshrined in our Constitution. This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for change”(Malm). 

Rattlers are people that are known to hack women’s computer and watch women through their cameras. They will do this for their own sexual pleasure or to record women going through their daily lives, working, changing, etc. All the woman have no idea that they are being watched. There are websites full of pictures and videos of women unknowingly recorded. This act is very illegal and a huge violation of privacy. The FBI has the same power over women and their computers like these rattlers do. With this power, some dirty detectives may abuse it and use it for the wrong reasons. 

When the FBI director, James Comey, was asked about the FBI watching through the webcams he said, “If you go into any government office we all have our little camera things that sit on top of the screen, they all have a little lid that closes down on them. You do that so people who do not have the authority don’t look at you. I think that’s a good thing”(Violetblue). He did not say whether the FBI actually watches citizens in their webcams. He claims that covering their webcams is just a precaution, like locking your car and doors at night. 

Watching innocent people through their webcams, without their acknowledgement is a huge violation of privacy. It’s very discomforting that anytime someone uses their computer, laptop, tablet, etc., that the FBI could be watching you. The original reason for this type of security surveillance was to solve dangerous and horrendous crimes, but this acts puts innocent citizens at risk. Do you want to be watched without permission?

Works Cited 

Malm, Sara. “FBI can spy on you through your webcam without triggering the indicator light... and has had the technology for several years.” Daily Mail Online, Associated Newspapers, 9 Dec. 2013, www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2520707/FBI-spy-webcam-triggering-indicator-light.html.

Violetblue. “The FBI recommends you cover your laptop's webcam, for good reason.” Engadget, 23 Sept. 2016, www.engadget.com/2016/09/23/the-fbi-recommends-you-cover-your-laptops-webcam-good-reasons/.

Columns 1 and 2

Column #1

The true story of how security cameras on a public street saved a girl’s life. 

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was a 22 year old nursing assistant. One night, she was walking down a Philadelphia street when a man grabbed her and manhandles her back to his car. Once in the car, she does everything she can to get out. She shakes the door and kicks out the windows. The security cameras of a local restaurant caught the abduction.The report was put out for a missing person by Carlesha’s family. At this same time, police in Virginia were searching for a man named Delvin Barnes, whose DNA had been found on a teenage girl who stumbled naked and smelling of bleach, into a local gas station. They showed the footage of the abduction to Barnes’ father who then claimed the car was his son’s. Police looked more closely at the car and found a local decal sticker. This specific dealership puts GPS units on cars when the customer has poor credit. The GPS led the police to a shopping center parking lot in Jessup Maryland. Freeland-Gaither was found injured and Barnes did not put up a fight.  

Without the security camera footage, the police would have had no lead on when and where Carlesha was abducted. There was no witnesses at the crime, so if the camera was not there, the police would have had no idea where to look or who to interview. The camera helped tremendously in the investigation because they would not have been able to track the car without the license plate and the decal sticker. Public security cameras are not only helpful for stores and restaurants, but for people passing by too.  

Stores and restaurants put up cameras to protect their customers and their company. The cameras protect the customers because if a personal item was stolen, there was a physical fight, the owners products were stolen or there was a person that went missing at this location, the cameras may be able to catch the crime in it’s act. The camera’s footage is only released to the owner of the cameras and the police. They are not released into the public unless given permission by the owner or the police must use it in the court of law. Most camera footage is not being watched every second of everyday. The cameras are usually watched if someone is suspected of committing a crime or if there is some suspicious activity going on. 

From a personal standpoint, I feel more comfortable walking in an area that has security cameras. It can be very dangerous for a teenage girl to be walking alone, especially at night. There is a sense of comfort knowing that there are cameras on the streets. So many people are told, “be aware of your surroundings”, but we cannot predict or prevent all attacks or crimes. If I were to be walking somewhere and something happened to me, I hope that a security camera from a restaurant or store could help me in my case. If I were in a situation like Carlesha, I would be so thankful for the camera that caught that crime on tape. 

Column #2

The true story of how traffic cameras helped bring justice to two livestock thieves.

In December 2011, cattle rustlers had stolen Ed Davis’ cows. The 77 year old had noticed that close to a dozen of his cattle were missing. Davis put out a report on his stolen animals. Police later came to investigate. The cattle rustlers were also reported of stealing cows from a second pasture while police officers were searching the first. The police could not do anything about the missing animals because there was no proof that they were stolen. The case was finally looked into because traffic cameras in Auburndale, Florida filmed a man in a white Dodge truck, with a trailer, running a red light. The truck ran that red light the same night the cattle was allegedly stolen. The light was ran at 3am.When they looked closer into the trailer, they saw that it was transporting livestock. They searched the license plate and found that the car belonged to Andres Trujilo. Trujilo is known as a livestock thief. Authorizes in close cities told Auburndale police that Yoinel Devera-Gutierrez was wanted in connection with similar thefts. Surveillance videos later found both of the men at a bank going to deposit checks. They were both arrested for Grand Theft of livestock. Unfortunately the cows were sent to slaughter before Davis could get them back. 

Thanks to traffic cameras and the banks security cameras, the police were able to not catch just one, but two people for grand theft of livestock. The traffic camera gave the police information on the owner of the car and the livestock that was in the trailer. The bank’s security cameras gave the authorities the location of the two criminals. Without these types of security cameras police would have not be able to solve this case. 

Traffic cameras are originally used for catching cars that are speeding and running red lights. The cameras have the ability to snap a picture of a car and its license plate when they are doing either of the two crimes. If someone is to run a red light, they will receive a fine in the mail and can cost anywhere from $50-$1300 dollars. If someone is to be speeding, they can receive a fine similar to the red light fine. The amount of money that the government will fine you depends on how fast you were speeding over the speeding limit, how busy the intersection was, and if it is near a school zone. 

Traffic cameras can also be used in car accidents. If both people in the accident say that the incident was not their fault, police can use the traffic cameras to see whose fault it was. This holds the police accountable because they can not be biased when there is footage of the whole accident. 

Argument 1

Lauren Blais

Dr. Kara Taczak 

Writing and Rhetoric 

14 March, 2018

Argument 1

https://youtu.be/0TZKL97Cc3A 

Opening Reflection

Lauren Blais

Dr. Kara Taczak 

Writing and Rhetoric 

14 March, 2018

Opening Reflection 

Rhetorical situation is like the air we breathe. We can’t live without it. A piece of writing cannot thrive or does not have a point, without Rhetorical Situations. A short and simple definition is, “… the context of a rhetorical event that consists of an issue, and audience, and a set of constraints” (“Rhetorical Situation”). In class, we read over and over again about rhetorical situation. One quote stood out to me. It said rhetorical situation is, “a complex of persons, events, objects and relations presenting an actual or potential exigence which can be completely or partially removed if discourse, introduced into the situation, can so constrain human decision or action as to bring modification of the exigence” (Bitzer). This helped me better understand my writing. To reference this quote and put it into my own words, rhetorical situation is a problem that is effected by people, events, objects and relations. These situations are written differently based on the writers opinion, the audience, and the genre. Rhetorical situation is the reason we write and how we write. 

Audience is the person or group of people that are going to read a piece of writing. The goal is to write towards your audience. For example, if you are writing to someone between the ages of eight and ten, you are not going to use the intense vocabulary you would use to write to a forty-five year old. A good writer would use simpler terms to grab and keep the eight to ten year old reader’s attention. 

Genre can be determined by literary technique, tone, content and length. After reading Russell and Yanez’s writing I said, “scenarios are different genres we have to write in” (“The Life of Lo”). The responses we had to write were different scenarios to a specific situation. We had to write an email to our professor,  a letter to our grandmother and a text to our friend. I told a story, three different ways to fulfill three different genres. I had to write in three different genres because my audience was three very different people with three different literary techniques. 

Works Cited 

Bitzer, Lloyd F. The Rhetorical Situation. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1968.

“Rhetorical situation.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetorical_situation.

“The Life of Lo.” The Life of Lo, Lauren Blais, 18 Jan. 2018, laurenblais16.tumblr.com/.