Analysis of My Rhetorical Situation

People all have a purpose in researching some specific topic. Journals and articles alike have reasons for publishing their works. And, the author has a reason and purpose for writing the article and projecting it in the way that they did. All of these elements make up (with context) a rhetorical situation.

            What kind of people are interesting in bio-medical engineering topics? Are they just BME? The answer to that question is most certainly no. People who read articles about genetic engineering cover a wide range of demographics.

            First off, these individuals are most likely going to be interested in new discoveries. This seems like a very broad spectrum of things, and it most certainly is. My audience are the people who enjoy learning about new discoveries in both technology and nature. They were the ones who enjoyed the "Science American” magazines and disregarded the “People” magazines.

            Their common search criteria were not for politics and drama, but for “Gizmodo” and “Wired”. They are the ones who like to see how the world is advancing and what they are advancing with. These are the people who enjoy watching educational videos on the most recent discoveries and findings.

            What “qualities” does this side of the spectrum contain? These are mostly the middle to high class individuals who certainly have their undergraduate degree and most likely went to some type of professional school. These are the individuals who like to further pursue their education by learning about the happenings of today.

            An overwhelming majority of these individuals will be white males and white females will be next in line. Sexual orientation is certainly diverse in this category of topics. Most of the individuals will be Republicans with some to none religious views (or perhaps agnostic/atheist).

            My audience loves new technology and innovation and highly values the research and development of such technologies. They often love furthering the pursuits of mankind via some type of research. They are not very in to the drama in politics and news stories and often choose to be fairly moderate when it comes to political views.

            But surely it can’t just be a bunch of “geeks”? There are also people who are interested in the topics because they almost enjoy seeing how science is tainting nature. These are the ones who are interested in controversial topics and go to “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post” for their daily dose of controversy.

            The demographics of these individuals vary greatly and so does their economic status. They can range from Circle K workers all the way up to high class business owners. The big difference between these two sides is that these individuals are normally very opinionated. They have strong stands on moral and ethnic issues.

            With that being said, they tend to be highly religious (most likely Christian). Although their political views may differ, these individuals are normally extremists or close to it. They love knowing the news of today, so that they can argue for their stance with a friend. Rather than enjoying the content of the news, they enjoy the happenings (or drama) from the news).

Enokson. "If It Mattes, It Produces Controversy" 03/10/10 via Flickr.
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            The main objective of my project is to inform. With that being said, I would like them to realize and understand the facts before they construct some opinion towards the subject. This is because I feel like a lot of controversies begin without understanding the facts. I only wish them to feel informed: not sad, not happy, just informed. Well, perhaps they do become happy or at least less extreme after realizing the objective happenings of the event.

            I want to make sure that my audience understands how important this could be to society. Often times the extremists will jump to conclusions without listening or realizing the potential benefits of the new technology. I would like my audience to realize that there is a huge variety of people who are interested in this topic who hold various views on the subject. With that being said, they must realize that there aren’t just white Christians who have strong views on this controversial topic. There are all kinds of people who hold views and that each and every one of them is just as important as the other.

            The audience must realize a few things about the setting and time period. For one, there’s is controversy over where CRISPR was actually discovered. The second thing is that it was discovered long before the news stories coming out today.

            I believe I have the enthusiasm to make this interesting to even the most uninterested of viewers. Surely not everyone cares about new discoveries in genetic engineering, but they should. And I am going to make them believe that they should. I have the dedication it takes to make this project so enticing and tasteful that everyone will soon hold a view on the topic. Because where would we be without innovative medicines and vaccines? Dead. Our lifespans have increased and the potential to treat diseases via genetic modification could increase our life span beyond belief.

            I (as indicated) am going in to BME. This essentially involves the innovation of technology to improve human health. So, genetic engineering is certainly something that I am becoming (increasingly) interested in. I believe in developing new technologies and research to expand the possibilities of mankind. And what better way to do that than through medicine?

            I would love to someday develop the DNA sequence that kills all types of cancer and saves the tears of many. For what better way to improve the human race than to improve the health of the race? Because without health we are nothing but a decomposing specimen waiting to be eaten by wild animals.