Rhetorical Action Plan

I am going to be developing a rhetorical plan for my public speech act and answering the questions the textbook poses about audience, genre, and the reactions or response I hope to achieve. I will also address the possible negative reactions and how I would respond to them.

southtyrolean "orator" 05/11/06 via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

• AUDIENCE

I am going to be trying to persuade late 40 to 50 year old's that are familiar with Koko's story of my argument. This audience will have at least general knowledge on the subject that they most likely gained from when they were a child and the book Koko's kitten was out. Since this was where they got the majority of their information, they probably aren't too familiar with the super scientific aspect of the topic, which I can use to my advantage. The audience could have any range of opinions on this topic, and I will mainly be catering to people that were either positively emotionally impacted by Koko but also those who remember Koko but are neutral on the controversy. Even the skeptics could be targeted in my argument. 

Being older, these people may have more of a traditional view on things. For example they may be wary of all the scientific technology that is coming about these days. This is kind of the norm or at least the stereotype that is around today (the battle of the older generation vs. technology). I think that these people will value strong statistics or evidence, and I might have to use numerous examples so that they can clearly see the trends I am talking about. I also think that including emotional visuals would be more effective given the nature of their relationship to the topic. 

Mostly what I want my audience to do is see a new perspective that might alter their way of looking at this topic. I will be challenging the beliefs of the skeptics, but for a large part of my audience I will mostly just be showing them a new perspective. I think that there is a good chance that my argument could produce the desired effect. As long as I am able to cater to my specific audience the way I have planned, I think they will have an emotional and self-reflecting response to my public speech act.

• GENRE

S Jon "Newspaper colour" 10/24/11 via flickr.
Attribution 2.0 Generic

My public speech act could take place in a newspaper, perhaps one like the Daily Mail or Daily News. I chose this genre because due to my audience, I think they would be most likely to read a newspaper about the topic at hand. Also I didn't want to get a newspaper that was too sciency because then my perspective would not be likely to have much effect. Also I think that the self-reflection I am hoping to make the reader undergo would be pretty effective in the newspaper setting. I could see it being used as people get ready for their day, reading the newspaper and reading this article.

I am going to use a lot of pathos in my argument, as the perspective I plan on showing relies mostly on this rhetorical strategy. I am going to give personal stories and show emotional benefits of Koko and her story in America. However in the way I present my information I am going to do it in a logical way that makes sense so I don't lose my reader's interest with too much emotional appeal. Some character could also possibly come into play when giving some of my own background on the topic. 

In this genre I am probably not going to be able to use more than one or two interspersed visuals. But one at the beginning and one somewhere in the middle of the article tends to be the norm for this genre (if not just one at the beginning) and so I think I could get some pathos going in my pictures too. I am going to be using a conversational tone. Due to the nature of my approach to the topic, I don't think formality would work well at all. I am going to be trying to get the reader to feel like they are emotionally attached to the argument I am presenting, and I think the best way to do that is with an informal tone. 

Here are a few examples of discussions about Koko the gorilla seen in this genre:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3273726/Meeting-mummy-time-Koko-gorilla-adopts-two-baby-kittens-cuddles-fondly-heart-warming-footage.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/robin-williams-mourned-koko-gorilla-article-1.1901932

Another possible genre could be a slightly science based online article. This would appeal to my audience in that it would be for people who are already interested in the topic, and I would make sure the style of article would be suited for the particular age range of my audience. I could see this being used in an online setting and I can imagine people starting commentary in the comment thread about this topic. 

I think in this genre I would have to approach it from a 50/50 logical and emotional standpoint. Like I said earlier, I can't write my perspective without using pathos, However logic would be more important in this setting than the newspaper one because of the slightly science based nature of it. 

I think that I would be able to use lots of emotional photographs and visuals throughout the article. I would also use a slightly conversational tone, but a bit more formal than the newspaper setting since this is a more formal genre for writing in. 

Links to articles like this can be found below:

http://www.koko.org/michaels-story

(I think that this one could be REALLY effective since there is an obvious difference in perspectives from the other information on here).

http://www.koko.org/sites/default/files/root/pdfs/journal_2007_zoo_gestures.pdf

I actually also like this one a lot too.

• POSITIVE REACTIONS

1. Sentimental feelings that lead to a new perspective on Koko the gorilla's story
2. Understanding of a different perspective that leads to a shift in point of view on the topic
3. Agreement with the argument and relatability that leads to a new understanding of this story and a different viewpoint on this topic. 

• NEGATIVE REBUTTALS

1. This is not important to the scientific aspect of the topic- well they're right, but I would have to say that this is such a different article from the normal science based journals that are usually presented that this is almost a psychological piece, and the mental positivity of people from this story is a scientific aspect as well.
2. There is too much opinion- A certain amount of interpretation does go into this, but also I will be showing proof that what I claim is the truth and using evidence that will hopefully balance out the opinion. 
3. This doesn't matter- I will be presenting several reasons why this is an important part of the story of Koko the gorilla, and why the numbers aren't all that is important in this controversy. The effect on the people is just as big as the effect on the scientific study of animal communication.