Activity 1: For a long time, my stepson, Jonathan, was unhappy to have me as part of his family, for he resents that he did not have both biological parents at home. When I tried to get to know him better, he would complain that I invade his privacy. As a newcomer, I understand that our relationship will require effort from both of us. It is not enough that I was friendly. Jonathan also has to want us to be friends, and I was not happy with the two of us being strangers, but I can wait for him to feel more comfortable around me.
Activity 2: Anne Marie collects antique bottles and loves to turn them into works of art. She buys bottles if she liked them, but she prefers to find them in the ground. She finds bottles everywhere, but she picks them selectively. However, she has the best luck at construction sites on old farmland, where she spends most of her time. Often, bottles appear on the surface after a good rain, but they disappear very quickly. She uses special tools for excavating bottles, including a set of brushes. She does not want to break the bottles as she removes them from the ground. After finding a new bottle, Anne Marie will add it to her display case and hang on the wall as an artistic piece (Mangelsdorf, 2013, p. 411).
Rhetoric Reflection: Emma Gonzalez’s Speech on Gun Violence
A strong component of Gonzalez’s speech that made it especially memorable was the usage of reiteration or repetition. When talking about the extent of the lives lost during the shooting, Gonzalez used a similarly patterned sentence structure to both give names to the dead and a short snippet about who they were, humanizing what normally would have been another cold statistic. The repetition of name after name gives depth to the sheer amount of lives claimed by the shooting. In an almost overwhelming flood, the listener is shown just how much has been lost. In addition to this repetition, the moment of silence, almost awkward in its abrupt introduction, is given a heart wrenching meaning by Gonzalez. The listener might not understand it at first, but can find the silence more impactful in the sense of confusion. The students who were claimed by the shooting did not have enough time to fully comprehend what was happening and, just like the moment of silence, realized it too late. Some lost their lives while other lived on, scarred. In a way, the audience has experienced a brief minute of what the survivors went through, although devoid of fear or death.