Fear and Politics

The blog we chose was http://hotair.com because it seemed to make things sound worse than they truly are. The blog is mostly political but some of the titles seemed to aim to stir up the readers' emotions, especially fear. We think the blog tends to play up the stories or issues a little more than they need to be which is why we think the blog fits into our overall course theme of fear.

Counterterrorism Blog

We chose to share a blog based on the growing issue of terrorism domestically and internationally (http://counterterrorismblog.org/). This blog contains articles discussing terrorist events from around the world and the reactions from countries to said events. Evidently, this blog preys upon people's fear of terrorism.

Fear for Our Future

We chose a blog centered around the growing problem of childhood obesity in our country titled "Help Cure Child Obesity" (http://www.helpcurechildobesity.com/child-obesity-in-america-blog.html). This blog uses fear in an attempt to enlighten us on the alarming statistics and trends surrounding the diets and lifestyles of today's young generation. The blog is using fear in an attempt to make it's audience feel obligated to change their lifestyles and reverse the alarming trends surrounding America's youth.

Fear and Conspiracy

This blog is titled "Topics of Study," found at http://mystudies1.wordpress.com/. The blog is a collection of articles that the author feels the need to share with the world. The articles cover a wide variety of topics and concerns. The way the blog emphasizes the words in the articles and the way they are presented are an example of using fear.

Fear, the Economy, and the Sociopolitical Climate

The blog that we have chosen is called Angry Bear and can be found at http://www.angrybearblog.com. On the banner the Angry Bear blog claims to be "Slightly left of center economic commentary on news, politics, and the economy." The blog cover a wide range of content. Some examples are taxes, wages, healthcare, laws and economics. Because of this blogs focus on the economic and political climate of today, subjects that undoubtably incite fear in many, we believe that this blog is appropriate for discussion in class given the subject of the rhetoric of fear.

Fear and the Environment

The blog I have chosen is called Enviroblog and can be found at http://www.enviroblog.org. In a small description about itself, the blog describes its aims as an attempt to encourage a "smart" discussion about the intersection between the environment and public health. More specifically, it mostly discusses possible toxins in our food, clothes, etc. Because it does focus so heavily on toxins, rather than on health in general, however, the blog promotes an atmosphere of fear and danger in which so many of the objects around us may be hazardous. I feel that this makes it an appropriate blog for discussion in our class.

(Now, for the respondents--here are the prompts you can choose to comment on after you visit the blog and read some entries, etc.)

1. Analyze the interface of the featured blog. Focusing on visual elements on the home page, make an argument in your comment on the class blog about what the interface implicitly suggests about the blog's central theme(s), values, or identity (see Writing Analytically on how to make the implicit explicit). Make an inference that could be a topic for class discussion and debate.

2. Look for an argument or disagreement occurring in the comments on a particular post on the featured blog. In your comment on the class blog, analyze the key issues and points of contention in the comments. Based on your observations, develop a theory about what blog’s readers value as a community. Use the following questions to get you started:

• What issues or ideas do people seem to agree upon despite the larger disagreement?

• Do people on the blog think some comments are rude or inappropriate, and if so why do you think this is?

• What rhetorical strategies do commenters use to construct their arguments?

• How do commenters reference other comments, and what does that suggest about the nature of interaction within the community?

3. Look for an argument or disagreement occurring in the comments on a particular post on the featured blog. Respond to that argument with a comment of your own on the featured blog. Explain your comment on our class blog and ask our class how they might respond. If you receive a response to your comment on the blog we're analyzing, post an update about how readers responded to your presence or ideas.

4. Look through several posts for any claims about a writer's or several writers' ethos on the featured blog. In your comment, develop an analytical theory about how ethos is working on the blog. Here are some questions to get you started:

• How do writer(s) invoke their education, status, experiences, beliefs, or identity? Do these methods ever backfire (do readers ever respond negatively to a writer's identity, education, etc.?)

• If there are multiple writers contributing to the blog, do you see any similarities or differences in appeals to ethos across posts? What assumptions can you make about the community based on what appeals to ethos bloggers seem to rely upon most? (For example, is education seen as particularly important? Political beliefs? Gender? Anything else?)

5. Look through several posts for any direct references or appeals to the audience on the featured blog (you might look for the use of the pronoun "you"/"we" or for more subtle techniques, such as posing a question to the audience or inviting the audience to respond). Write a comment on our class blog that states your theory about what those appeals to the audience suggest about who the writer believes the audience is, what they believe the audience values, or what the relationship between the writer/audience seems to be (for example, does the writer ask for the audience's opinion or position herself as an authority, or something else entirely?).

6. Look for one instance or several instances in which an author of a post makes a claim or introduces a new idea on the featured blog. In your comment on the class blog, write an interesting analysis of the rhetorical techniques the author uses to make this argument. You might consider the following questions:

• Are any of the ideas particularly controversial, and if so, how does the author attempt to persuade the audience or account for the controversy in advance?

• Look for whether readers generally agree or disagree. Formulate a theory about what the trends you notice suggest about the nature of the community, their values, the purpose of the blog, etc.

• Does the author cite any evidence or an authority on the subject, and if so, who or what is considered persuasive? Do the readers agree? What kind of knowledge does the community seem to value or disagree upon?

• Does the author introduce a new idea by referencing or attempting to improve upon someone else's idea? What might we learn as writer's about how arguments can be built off of or proceed from other arguments? (What's effective and what's not effective?)

7. Read through several posts and comments and formulate a claim about whether or not you think the featured blog actually does anything. In other words, does the blog seem to have any effect on people's knowledge, values, ideas, etc? Provide evidence for your claim in your comment on the class blog.