Final post

It's interesting to think about rhetoric other than through words. I guess we use rhetoric every day when we get dressed. The clothes we wear are meant for the most part to rhetorically convince someone that we are attractive, or fashionable or funny or whatever. This applies as well to the multimodal assignment because we need to use rhetoric beyond words, or visual rhetoric. I'm glad that I have Mary and Tatiana in my group because I think I'm pretty bad with visual rhetoric. I have a really hard time knowing if something looks good or not. I hope that my wife one day will be okay with telling me what to wear or teaching me how to choose good clothes because I think if I was left on my own I wouldn't dress very well. I have a hard time seeing how colors or patterns match. That is a skill that is vital to this multimodal assignment, but is one that I need to rely on my group members for. My main job is to write the words for the website, Mary's is to make the website look good, and Tatiana is the team leader. I'm glad we set it up that way.

Visual rhetoric is a very important thing to learn and to be aware of. The way we look influences what others think of us. Professional places need visual rhetoric even more than they need word rhetoric sometimes because if something doesn't look appealing, people aren't really going to care what the words say. They'll probably just skip over it. It's interesting to think about that.

Living a life of rhetoric

Visual rhetoric is an essential part of life! It is so important to our relationship that it has been named body language when talking about 2 people. It has been said that 80% of what people say has nothing to do with what they say, and completely to do with body language. I know that personally, when I'm talking with a girl that I'm interested in, vs when I'm talking with a girl that that I'm not interested in, I may say the exact same words to both of them, but the message I'm trying to send to them is completely different. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that the only time I'm not using visual rhetoric is when I'm sleeping. However, even then, the fact that I'm laying on my bed covered in my blanket and my eyes are closed sends a very visual message that I should not be disturbed for anything short of a life threatening natural disaster. If someone does happen to disturb my rest, then they are likely to get a much more close up view of my visual rhetoric as I get in their face, or chase them out of the room.  Basically, I guess what I'm trying to saw is that visual rhetoric is extremely important and it takes place so much in our daily lives without us ever realizing it.  I think the question we should be asking is:  How much of our visual rhetoric do we actually do on purpose?

Finally, not only do we use visual rhetoric ourselves, but we are the recipients of TONS of visual rhetoric. Billboards are everywhere with their witty messages and bright colors trying to attract the attention of all those who pass by.  In addition, since the creation of the internet, there have been pop-ups and ads that have tried to draw away our attention from whatever it is we are trying to do. From this perspective, visual rhetoric is really annoying....but definitely effective if you do it right.

Hooray for visual rhetoric

last post

Visual and written rhetoric is part of our everyday life. It is interesting to take the time and awareness to analyze it and it purposes. Instead of judging another person on what my personal views are of their rhetoric, I can analyze what they are wanting to convey to me about themselves.  Likewise, I should take a step back and look at what message I am sending and check to see if that message is what I really mean to send.

I am a very visual learner and so the layout, pictures, etc. probably mean more to me than the words that come with them. As I visit websites, blogspots and social media, I find myself expecting a high level of quality visual rhetoric or I don't stay long. This assignment will help me better look at my etsy shop and hopefully my blogspot as I get it going.

Finale

The most common way we use visual rhetoric is the way we dress.  Clothing can be used as a visual rhetorical device to convey religion, status, or class.  As the saying goes: "dress for the job you want."  If you portray yourself in a neat, put-together, individual way, people will treat you better than if you looked like you don't care at all.  Unfortunately, a lot of the time, the way you look will influence what people think of you and how you will be treated by friends or strangers.

Also, as mentioned in class, we use visual rhetoric on the many forms of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter.  For example, on Instagram or Facebook, I have never posted a "selfie". Except for maybe in sixth grade, but those were dark times and things you've done in elementary school should never be counted against you.  I don't post pictures of myself so I don't come off looking conceited or over confident (Sorry to anyone reading this that loves a good selfie).  I post a lot of traveling pictures to show how much I love to travel and see art and culture around the world, but I'll be honest and say that I also do this so I come off as sophisticated and cultured.  I think that the way we choose what we post on social media is a way we use visual rhetoric.

Final Blog Post

I believe that we all use visual rhetoric through almost every moment of our lives. A huge way people use visual rhetoric in their lives is by showing their character to others. A person will be able to understand and see another person based on the way they present themselves as well as how they behave. For instance, a person who has a terrible attitude throughout their life won't have much success socially. In contrast, a person who is friendly and king towards others would be a person that others would love to be around. In addition to this, I always had my parents explain the significance of using these types of visual rhetoric in my life. They explained that the way you show yourself to others, both internally and externally will determine how much respect others will have towards you. This is how I believe visual rhetoric is used throughout our daily lives.

Last Blog

Everyone uses visual rhetoric in at least some form every day of the week. The way we do our hair, the way we dress, the way we smile or present ourselves are all forms of visual rhetoric. I think it is important to learn and be aware of because it helps us portray who we are. I feel like you can tell a lot about a person by the way they present themselves. Now, I'm not saying we should concrete our final judgements on a person because of the shoes they wear, but you can tell whether they like sports, or if they even care about their shoes. For example, I'm currently getting ready for a blind date. What type of visual rhetoric am I currently showing? Well, I have a blue Tommy Hilfiger polo with a pair of kaki pants and sperrys. This is a form of visual rhetoric that lets my date know that I'm not a guy who wears skinny jeans, that I think the way I'm dressed is nice and should be pleasing to my date. Now that's just my style. Some girls don't like it, but some do. It's ok if they don't, but they at least can see me and determine whether I at least fit into their category even a little bit. It's the same thing with a job interview. We typically always want to present the best of ourselves and to do that, we typically put on a suit, comb our hair, and make sure to be respectful with our body language.

Final Blogpost

Visual rhetoric is using more than just words to communicate a message. This can be done through pictures or art or whatever creative medium someone chooses to use. Now the question is, how do I use visual rhetoric to communicate MY message? 

When I analyze why I do what I do, I realize that my message to the world is one of happiness. I sincerely want other people to be happy. On a daily basis, I like to wear clothes that are in style because to other people that is visually appealing and therefore makes them happy. When I go on my mission, I'll be required to wear clothing that is stylish, yet conservative and somewhat business like because that gives off a certain impression. As a missionary, I want even just that first glance that a non-member gets of a pair of Mormon missionaries to be a good one. Another form of visual rhetoric that I use fairly regularly is Instagram. I'm not a avid poster on social media, but when I do post, I like to post pictures of things that are important to me such as my family, friends, or beautiful things in this world.  

Visual rhetoric is extremely important to be aware of because in our culture today, it has become the norm to be involved in social media and other forms of visual rhetoric. Specifically, I can think of a few people who have positively inspired me through their use of visual rhetoric and I hope that I can have that same influence on someone as well. 

BloGBLOgblogbLOGBloG

I think we all compose and use visual rhetoric on a daily basis. We all make decisions about how we present ourselves.  We want to feel comfortable with ourselves. I also feel like we want to represent a bit of who we are. These style choices may not be completely conscious decisions on a daily basis, but think about how we present ourselves in more specific situations. For example, imagine yourself preparing for a job interview. You want to present yourself in the best light possible. You want to appear professional and responsible. You wouldn’t show up looking disheveled or looking like a bum. You want to influence your potential employers with who you are and what you are capable of. You dress so that your appearance doesn’t detract from the image you’re trying to portray. Not only does this principle apply to professional situations, but it also applies to all different types of situations. Think of all the social situations in which you put some thought into how you present yourself. Dating of course is a pretty apparent example. Not only do we want to express ourselves thorough our appearances, but we also judge others based on their appearances. We take this practice a bit too far perhaps, but it is an undeniable aspect of our society. I like to take advantage of other people’s preconceived notions of what certain people are supposed to look like. Sometimes it’s fun to just screw with people in that way. So, hurray for visual rhetoric.

Dress to the nines

Everyday we all use visual rhetoric. We use it in the way we dress and the way we do our hair. When people see us they get a sense of who we are and what we are trying to portray of ourselves by the way we dress. If a guy is always wearing bro-tanks and a flat brimmed hat then people will think of them differently then a guy who wears nice slacks and a button up shirt. If they both walk into a store and apply for a job then by using visual rhetoric the employer will have the guy in the button up shirt in higher standings. In every thing there is a need to understand the visual rhetoric guidelines. If I was to go to an LDS church then the visual rhetorical guidelines would be to look nice and wear a white shirt and tie. On the contrary if I was going to the gym to workout I would not wear the white shirt and tie, I would put on shorts and a t-shirt. But even with in these categories there is room for differences and people think differently about others depending on what they wear. So it is important to understand that when ever you put something on or do your hair a certain way that you are painting a picture of what people will think of you. When you understand that then you can try and use it to your advantage. Say you are flying home from school. Well you could dress in shorts and a t-shirt and people will look at you as just a young adult going somewhere and wont think much of it. Or you could dress to the nines and make people think your a successful and maybe important person. Visual rhetoric is everywhere and we use it even if we don't even know it.

If you look at it sideways, it looks like a monitor...

There are
so many social norms that no
body will mess with. Strange people are usually deemed strange based
on w
hether or not they "Look"
normal.
Sometimes it makes me wonder why people bother saying "Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover." It's such a strange saying, because everyone does it without hardly even thinking about it. For instance, if one wanted to portray
a
vision
of
togetherness, or of unity- one with the system, one with the text, one with the
standard of social
acceptability, one would  use evenly spaced, well formed paragraphs and neat, tidy, easy-to-follow sentences.                           Huh.
At any rate, there are no words to express the guttural, rock-dropping
pain in knowing that there
are some images that mean more than the content
of these "Living Books."
I
wish I
understood, and yet here I am
"Calling The Kettle Black,"
because in the process of writing this dis-
jointed text,
I've already judged my own work based on the ideas I am trying to express.
And if
I'm being totally
honest
here
I can't really even like  my own writing, because it doesn't use the important principles of visual rhetoric.
So, to take a step back, when do I use visual rhetoric? Now. Always. Let
me give you an example........ Yesterday
I was angry at a situation and I wanted the world to know
it. So what did I
do? I put my head phones in, set my jaw so straight it
hurt, and walked home like I was competing in the olympic
speeed-walking event.
If those near me didn't catch the completely
un-
oral
message that I was ticked,
they were blind.
It wasn't text written across my forehead, only the
crazy
visual expressions of emotion
that kept
the
sappy, kind, "Let Me Fix You Up Dear" people
at bay.

Confessions of a Shoe-aholic

Most of what we have learned in class has been related to visual design and how to capture the attention of the reader. In reality I have used these concepts everyday of my life, just in a different setting. What someone wears defines how others perceive them. This is a sad yet true statement, take for instance a man going in for a job interview. If he wore baggy gross sweatpants with a grungy t-shirt the outcome could be very very different than if that same man came in wearing a tailored suit and tie.

Generally I try to dress nice and cute however don't be suprised to see me walk into class wearing a sweatshirt with my hair tied back in a ponytail. I don't put as much effort into what clothing i wear compared to how much effort I put into what shoes I wear. I am a shoe-aholic, a trait I have lovingly aquired through many years of shopping with my mother. The shoes I have here on campus are only a small portion of how many I actually own. This being said I like to have others form their opinions of me through my visual presentation of my shoes. Particularly my favorite pair of blue suede shoes. ;)

Visual Rhetoric

Visual rhetoric is something that I think everybody uses on a daily basis.  Anything from the way we dress, what we post on face book or Instagram, or how we present a power point presentation or something like that.  For instance, I usually like to dress in brighter clothes because that’s just what kind of colors I like.  I also like to dress very casual, like shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops or something like that.  When I go to church, obviously I dress in nice Sunday clothes but I will usually roll up my sleeves and wear a bright colorful tie or something to put my own personality into it.  However, during job interviews I usually dress as nice as possible and try not to wear anything to flashy that stands out.  I want to make myself as professional looking as possible for things like that.

Another thing that I do to show visual rhetoric is just the way I design my face book page and the pictures I post on Instagram.  I design my face book page with all the things I like with all my favorite colors.  I just try to design it so that it appeals to me and shows my personality.  The pictures I post on Instagram are things I like as well or pictures I took that I think look really cool to me.  I just post design and post things that portray my personality.  I think visual rhetoric is very important to learn and be aware of because it’s something that everybody sees and usually judges you on at first.

Visual Rhetoric

The first thing that came to mind was the way that I dress. I think that the way we dress is a big part of daily visual rhetoric. I wear clothing that I believe looks appealing and matches my whole outfit. I also change color scheme with the seasons. Brighter clothing is more for spring and summer, while winter includes darker, more neutral colors. It's an interesting concept. When I feel terrible, I'm very likely to dress like a slob because I really couldn't care less about how I visual look.

Another use of visual rhetoric includes Instagram posts.  I think that filters may have ruined just posting normal pictures but they're so fun! For more serious pictures I try to go with the black and white or sepia. For more fun ones, I try to brighten them up and make them more colorful. Dealing with fonts, I always base font choice on the seriousness of the situation. In anything school related I try to keep it to Times New Roman or Calibri. On social networks though I go through anything and everything and try to make things fun. I even use a font app on my phone to make cooler use of fonts when I post. I think that this is just a way to grab more attention and have more fun with posts. I really do think that visual rhetoric is useful. It's fun to understand the things that we do to appeal to those around us. We can see how others feel by the way that they dress, type, or organize things. 

Visual Rhetoric

One specific example of when I do use it though is with my notes for my Economics class.  As I read and study the textbook for this class, there is such a vast amount of information that I found myself forgetting most of it the next day.  To overcome this, I began always pulling up a word document to type up summaries with everything I needed to know for each section of the textbook.  Upon first doing so, I found it dry and boring, making it difficult to get myself to do it and difficult to look back at the summaries.  Then I began using visual rhetoric.  I started moving around the textboxes I would type in, started using different colors and fun fonts, yet doing so in a clean, consistent, and organized fashion.  This made typing and referring back to my summaries much more enjoyable. 

Another way in which I used visual rhetoric is with the setup of my dorm room.  I wanted to have my room be a good expression of who I am, so contrary to popular behavior among males, I drew up and thoroughly planned out decorations for my room.  With basketball being one of my biggest, I have all my basketball shoes rest on little shelves up on my wall.  They rest with the sole on the wall, so they look like footsteps walking along the wall.  I then have triangle boards with collaged pictures of NBA players on them that fit above and below my shoes.  With the guitar being another hobby of mine, I have my guitar rest in a stand right between my bed and desk with my amp.  And finally, the most important things to me are the gospel and my family, so I have pictures of my family and my favorite temples all around my desk.  This visual rhetoric is very useful because it helps others understand my intentions and interest, and more importantly because it makes me confortable and reminds me of who I am.

My eyes have been opened

     Before taking this class I didn't know anything about pathos and ethos, or visual rhetoric, well not by those names at least. Through this class I have realized that this stuff surrounds us in our everyday life, we just call it by a different name, or no name at all. In the Spanish class I'm currently in we don't only learn the language but also a bit about the culture. A huge cultural aspect of most, if not all Spanish speaking countries are los gestos. Gestures are a huge visual rhetoric that Spaniards, Latinos, and Mexicans alike use to compliment or even replace what they say verbally. Simply touching your elbow in Mexico signifies that you're cheap, or that the price is too high. A flipping of the wrist represents tortilla Espanola in Spain. In Argentina one points with their lips rather than the index finger, because that is considered to be rude. These gestures are of huge importance in other cultures in communicating alone.

     Another form of visual rhetoric that we use in our daily life is our overall appearance. One can’t change their facial structure...well without a surgery of some type, but the way we dress and present ourselves is visual rhetoric. When I attend church, or the temple, I dress in my “Sunday best.” I usually don’t just roll out of bed but rather put in a little effort to show my respect of the day, the sacrament, and the overall meetings. The way I dress on a daily basis expresses to others a bit about me, visually. When I wear sweats and a t-shirt people may infer that I’m lazy, like to be comfortable, am not feeling well, or simply like that more relaxed style. When I take time to get ready for the day by putting on less casual clothing and fixing my hair and make-up, people see a different side; one that cares and presents herself nicely. The style of clothes also says something about an individual, whether they wear short tight skirts, frilly pink dresses, baggy pants, cut-off circulation pants, or a nice polo, these are all visual rhetoric.

      Visual rhetoric is a useful thing to be aware of. We use it every day to express ourselves whether it be on our Facebook profile picture or with gestures. If we are more aware of visual rhetoric we can better understand our people, our culture, and others. 

Improper Rhetoric

My best friend for eternity (BFE) Danee Chase and I realized something important yesterday: We do not dress in a way that properly visualizes who we are on the inside. We wear things like polka dots, pink, skirts, and dresses... tricking people into believing that we are huffle puff princesses, when really we are Drake-loving, guitar-playing, bonfire-roasting chickadees. So, clothing. That is a huge way to use rhetoric. People dress in a certain way, whether they are aware of it or not, that provides rhetoric for all who see. Girls especially do this. Whether or not we choose to put makeup on in the morning, curl our hair, wear high heels (heavens no, not on campus), we decide what kind of rhetoric we want to portray. Guys do the same thing. For example, back in the 90's, early 2000's guys wore their pants down WAY too low, emulating a sense of laziness and disgust (rhetoric).
I can't help but think about how I emulated a certain rhetoric by the car I drove in high school. Let me tell you.. it was not classy rhetoric by any means. But seriously, people are constantly creating and reflecting their own rhetoric but what they wear, how they conduct themselves, what kind of houses they live in, and what kind of cars they drive... and more.

I am a HUGE believer in the usefulness and awareness of rhetoric. It is important to use proper rhetoric in professional settings like a job review, prom, and church talks. We want to make sure our visual rhetoric matches the message we want to get across to a certain audience. SO... yes, it is muy importante.

Visual Rhetoric Blog Post #12

Blog Post #12

                Visual rhetoric is definitely something that I use every single day. Not only in school projects and things but I think it also has something to do with the way you present yourself. We talked in class a lot about visual presentation and how it makes a big difference in the way your audience receives the information you are presenting. Alexis and I are going to make out website visually appealing and professional looking so that people take it seriously and can tell it is an issue that we both feel very passionate about. I use visual rhetoric on a daily basis. Each day when we decide what to wear and a hair style to do. For those of you who see me at school, it is probably obvious that I don’t really put a lot of effort into looking good at school, especially if I am going to only one class for the day. If I were going to a job interview I would definitely not show up looking like I do when I show up to school. I must present myself in the way that I was to be received. First impressions and visual rhetoric have a lot to do with your presentation of yourself. We must understand this and make sure we are sending the messages we want to. I also try to always turn in assignments that look professional. Even if the assignment had lots of knowledgeable information, If it looks rushed and messy, it is not likely to get a good grade. 

Use of rhetoric

Until this class, I never really understood that I am surrounded by rhetoric.  Rhetoric is used in everything!  I was always taught to use proper rhetorical tools and techniques when I am writing a paper, but after Friday’s class I realized that rhetoric is also used in things such as websites and blogs.  Websites need to be visually pleasing to look at.  It needs to be organized and user friendly, or people will not use that website.  All of this information is considered rhetoric.  If a website is not visually pleasing to look at or user friendly, people are not going to be persuaded to use it.  A blog is something where people post about things such as fashion, food, health, and life!  Most bloggers’ goal is to get as many followers and views on their blog as possible.  The only way to achieve their goals is to use rhetoric and post things that their audience will enjoy and will be interested in reading.  Because I don’t make websites or write on a blog, I was trying to think of other ways that I use rhetoric using more than words in my life… and I realized how I use rhetoric everyday- when I dance.  Dance is a visual use of rhetoric.  It is the dancer’s job to communicate emotions and stories to the audience through movement.  The formations and the movement of the dance must be visually pleasing and understandable in order for the audience to be able to relate and enjoy the performance.  I am really grateful for this class because I have been able to learn and understand how to use rhetoric better in not just my writing, but in my life! :)

Blog Post Extra Credit

Regarding instructor conferences, I believe that the most beneficial scheduled conference was that for the Opinion Editorial. I hated doing it right before the deadline for the RA because I felt rushed to make changes. When I feel rushed like that, I almost ignore the advice I’ve been given because I would rather just miss points for something small than change around my whole paper. At that point I’m also so emotionally connected to my paper that I have a really hard time changing it…but that’s probably just a personal weirdo problem. As for two weeks before with the Issues paper, I kind of forgot about having them at all and haven't used the editing to help my paper. I appreciate the teacher conferences so much, but if I feel rushed during the conference and then don’t have to turn the paper in for two weeks, I just forget about it all together. I loved having it just the week before because I felt like I could get feedback, work on it within the next few days, and then turn in my paper. It was a short enough time that I didn't forget about it, and a long enough time that if major changes were needed, I was able to do the work.

Conference is awesome, can't wait! I'm looking forward to Elder Holland, of course. I admire his emotion and the way that he makes everyone feel as he gives his talks. He is so kind and sincere. I could sit and watch his talks all day just because I know that I will feel the emotion that he is feeling. Elder Holland is so personable and although he sometimes uses words that are way too big for me to understand, I love listening to him. He’s so authoritative in a non-scary way, and it makes me listen. I am also looking forward to hearing from Elder Uchtdorf. Without fail, there is always a good quote to come from his talks. He is very poetic in his writing. He’s also just fun to listen to because he has an accent. I've realized more and more just how funny he is. I think that I also grew to love him more after my living prophets class. I learned so much about his childhood and how courageous he has been throughout his life. I feel like he puts so much thought into his talks, and I learn so much from how simply they are written. 

I can never remember to write blogs...

I really enjoyed the writing conferences in this class. I felt like those really improved my writing and definitely raised my grades on my essays. I have to say that I prefer to have the writing conference two weeks before the deadline. It gives me a lot of time to review what was said in the conference and then improve on my revision. Writing conferences also helped instill more confidence in me when it came to my writing. I'm used to being told what my weaknesses are so seeing my strengths was an eye opener for me. Now, on to General Conference. I love General Conference so much! It helps me feel closer to the Savior and it builds my testimony a lot every time. Jeffrey R Holland is one of my favorite speakers. He always shares great analogies and his pathos is incredible. I feel like he can connect to any audience and his charged diction makes him very believable because of his obvious confidence in the message he is sharing. I also appreciate the words of our prophet, Thomas S Monson. He is such a sensitive guy and he always tells jokes to help bring his audience in and then he shares the spiritual message when he has everyone's attention. It is a great technique and it really helps bring the spirit into General Conference. He also comes off as a very sweet, personable person. He doesn't act like he is better than any individual but instead points out his faults and tries to teach us lessons from them. Like when he shared his story about burning the dry weeds away. He just expected it to work out but he was disobedient to his parents and he definitely faced the consequences with the wildfire. Going back to Jeffrey R Holland, I think the conviction that he speaks with is amazing. He will tell a story that talks about someone doing something stupid and he will then apply it to his listeners by almost yelling saying that when we make mistakes we need to repent and get on the right path and if we don't then we have no place in God's kingdom. He is definitely very blunt but I believe it is very well needed when certain messages are being taught. I love the various personalities of the apostles and presidency so Conference is always a delight and definitely something to look forward to every 6 months.

General Conference

I think the most effective instructor conference time for me was a week before the due date. I feel like this was the perfect time for me because it was close enough to the deadline that I felt like I had a decent draft, yet far enough that I could adequately revise based on the conference… I’m looking forward to conference this year. To hear from the prophets and apostles is always a great experience. What’s not to like about conference. One of the greatest things about conference is that no matter what the topic that is being talked about, the spirit is able to mold and personalize to each individual. Everyone hears the same words, but the meaning can be so unique to each individual. Another awesome thing is that we are hearing from the prophets and apostles and they are all led by the spirit to know what they should teach us. They are in the position to receive revelation on what to talk about… There are great aspects of each speaker’s style. First of all there’s President Monson. He’s always a delight to hear from. He has a very soft, and relaxing tone and attitude that helps you feel the tremendous love he has for each and everyone. He also often has humorous or touching stories, often from his childhood, that illustrate specific gospel principles. I also like that he is very well read and often quotes great literature and poetry. President Uchtdorf is always pretty entertaining. He seems to appeal to the younger generation for some reason. I think he just has a cool vibe about it. President Eyring is a very powerful speaker for me. He is a bit soft spoken, but as he fights through his tears he makes some very strong points. Elder Oaks seems to be very organized and logical in many of his talks, which I like. Elder Packer is a great humble old man. He can barely speak sometimes, but he speaks with power. He seems to take on a lot of the difficult topics, Elder Holland, of course, is one of everyone’s favorite. No one will singe your eyebrows off like Elder Holland. He is great at taking stories from that scriptures and bringing them live. He tells them with such great details and helps us understand some of the more subtle points in the scriptures. General Conference is great.

Double Extra Credit

Of all the different timings that we had for our meetings with the teacher, I preferred having the conference about 1 week before the due date. I liked it that way because by that time I have a fairly decent rough draft for my paper, but I still am open to suggestions and opinions about how my paper is looking. The other times for having conferences, right before and 2 weeks before the due date, were effective as well, but in different ways.

As General Conference has been approaching I've felt so much excitement for many different reasons. Every Conference I am amazed at how well all the leaders of our Church speak and teach with the Spirit. It is obvious that they have taken special consideration as to how to best word their message to clearly express their feelings and teachings of the gospel. There is always someone who says exactly what I needed to hear personally. One of my all time favorite Conference speakers is President Uchtdorf. More often than not, Uchtdorf has been that speaker who has said exactly what I needed to hear. I really admire the sensitivity that he uses in conveying whatever message he has. Specifically, he gave a talk entitled "Happiness, Your Heritage" and it is one of my all time favorite talks. He appeals to almost all woman by talking about how we are too hard on our selves. There is something about hearing this from a General Authority that simply pierces your soul.  In his talk he also establishes pathos with the reader by saying how he isn't a very good cook and how he much he loves his wife. That leads into another quality I like about his talks and that is that he puts himself on the a similar level as members of the church. While he a General Authority and very wise and spiritual, it is really comforting to know that he is normal like us and he can't cook very well and he makes funny jokes and loves his wife.
Another speaker I have always liked is Sister Elaine S. Dalton. Although she recently got released, I always loved her talks. She portrayed such bright happiness and her love for the church, especially the Young Woman since she was the General Young Women's President, and I loved her more than anything for that.
All in all, every General Conference speaker brings something new and unique to their message and that is something I love about the gospel. And I am beyond excited for this General Conference, especially since it will be my last Conference in the states for 2 years.

Extra Credit Blog Post

This semester, all of the instructor conferences were very helpful to me. However, i believe i gained the most insight and guidance for my paper when it was closest to the deadline. The rhetorical analysis was the paper we did right before the deadline, and it is the paper i received the better grade on. I also believe that it helped the most because we already had our papers pretty much done so we could receive guidance on last minute changes. With the issues paper, we only met with four pages of our draft completed. The other half of our essay was not even thought of or typed out yet, so we couldn't receive guidance on things we should change and revise. I know this is what the writing center can do, but i prefer the advice of our professor and the person who will actually be grading our paper. With the opinion editorial, it was still coming up on the deadline, but i remember that my paper was still in rough draft form. I would rather go into a conference with what i think is my best work and have someone show me places where i can still improve. Of all the times to give an instructor conference, i think right before the deadline is the most helpful and effective way to achieve the best results from student papers.

One of my favorite apostles to hear in general conference is of course, Jeffry R. Holland--who doesn't like him? But this year, i am most excited to hear from President Dieter F. Uchtdrof. This semester i am taking the Living Prophets class. It has been so intriguing for me to learn about each apostles life because you more fully understand the messages they give and the stories they share. When going over each of the 15 men's "best" conference talks and learning of their teachings, each one's distinct tone and style easily shows. I love President Uchtdorfs for two main reasons. First is he has these short one line sentences that sum up perfectly a principle. He could say just that sentence and probably sit down. For example, in one talk we came up with some of these short, powerful phrases from his talk "Of Regrets and Resolutions." My favorite, and probably a good life motto as well, was "I pray that we will not wait until we are ready to die before we truly learn to live." This short phrase can perfectly sum up his whole talk. I also really am looking forward to President Uchtdorf because he is so animated and shows humor in his talks. It's interesting to me because we all know Uchtdorf as a funny, kind man. When he was first called to be an area seventy, he was asked to speak in conference in 1996. If you look at the talk he gave, he spoke very slow and monotone with a thick german accent struggling to say the right words and phrasings. He used no hand motions and you could tell he was having a hard time. Now, to see how far he has come and how he now has this confidence and more personable manner through which he writes and delivers his talks is inspiring. He has completely grown into a tremendous leader. Through learning about his life and reading his teachings, i have grown to love President Uchtdorf. I never thought i would say this, but he is the one i am most looking forward to hearing this year at conference--and hopefully he will be speaking in the session i am attending. 

Extra Credit Blog Post

For the instructor conferences, I believed that the Issues Paper conference was placed at the best time before the paper’s deadline. The conference was placed before I had to turn in my paper for peer reviews, which gave me more preparation and room to improve my essay before I got more feedback from my peers. Also, there was an extra week after the peer reviews to work on the issues paper after getting feedback from the peers. The Oped conference was given before the peer review like the issues paper, so I did have some preparation to improve the paper. However, the peer review was schedule almost directly before the due date of the final draft of the Oped paper. That paper was a little rushed and stressful to work on since the due dates were right next to one another. Finally, the Rhetorical Analysis conference was placed directly before the due date, which was a little more stressful than I hoped for. When I believed my paper to be ready to turn in, I went to the conference and received some tips to improve my paper. The tips were great, but it seemed like a lot to accomplish before the deadline, which was a little stressful for me. This is why the issues paper conference was placed at a decent time period before the due date.

General Conference is coming up and I’m very excited to hear many people teach to word of God to us, including the prophet and the twelve apostles. However, the person I am excited to hear from the most is Elder Holland. To me Elder Holland, gives astounding talks that leave a lasting impact to the congregation that is able to listen to what he has to say. The talks he gives during each general conference includes ethos, logos, and pathos, which all increase the quality of the talks he gives. Each of his talks includes logos because the concepts he explains give a logical approach to whatever lesson he is trying to teach us. The talks include pathos, which create a lasting impact on the listeners, which will make the talk much more powerful. Since Elder Holland is an apostle, he has a lot of ethos, which will cause many more people to listen and believe what he has to say in General Conference. These are some of the many rhetorical devices Elder Holland uses in his talk that makes him an excellent speaker.