Kazerouni 1

Leila Kazerouni
Zack De Piero

Commented [1]: This part of the title sounds a little

strange to me, Leila. What do you mean by this?
PS: a Trump paper? This should be good!

Writing 2

Commented [UL2R1]:

14 October, 2015
Different Views on Trumps Campaign Through Similar Arrangements
As we approach the 2016 United States Presidential Election, an abundance of news

Commented [3]: You might be missing a word/phrase

between "reporting" and "the"
Commented [4]: Oxford comma in the house... ox ox
ox oxford comma in the house....
Commented [5]: Two notes: (1) be careful not to
overgeneralize -- ALL pieces covering the candidates
have similarities? If so, what are the similarities? and
(2) what articles?

sources are reporting the potential candidates, their views and campaigns, and their debates. All
of the articles have similarities connecting them, but their perspectives and viewpoints
vary from source to source. The strong contrasting viewpoints present in the politics debate
create a wide lineup of contextual conventions, although there are many similarities in textual
features. Common news broadcasters such as CNN, Fox News, and PBS discuss similar topics
with matching structures while using their own distinct tones to speak to their differing audiences
with varying intentions. A news channel's limited focus on a certain party and their tone
regarding different candidates creates its political reputations; for example Fox News is known

It might help to lay out exactly what articles you

referring to first.
Commented [6]: "Their" is a pronoun (it refers to
another noun) but I'm not sure which one. The
authors? The candidates? The articles?
(Remember: an article is a thing produced by a
human... articles don't have viewpoints in and of
themselves.)
Commented [7]: Broadcasters are people.
Commented [8]: Some thoughts:
I *really* like how you're giving a brief overview of the
different sources early on -- it helps me understand
why you've chosen them (ie, how/why they're
different...)
Buuuuut...

to cater to more Republican ideals. On the other hand CNN is most frequently viewed by
Democrats who agree with their presenters positions, but claims to have no political bias. Like
CNN, PBS aims to have a more balanced approach, delivering a less slanted news report to an
independent audience who seemingly wants both sides of the story. When comparing the three
sources, I examined articles regarding Republican candidate Donald Trump. People looking for
information on the upcoming election and Donald Trumps campaign will primarily read news
articles that present similar perspectives to their own, rather than opposing ideas, but the overall
structure of factual events and textual features will be similar.

It seems to me like you've got FOX in one group (the

"right) and then CNN/PBS in another group (the
"middle"). Wouldn't it have made more sense if you got
more balance by having a left-learning piece? In other
words, what's the rationale for choosing two
fair'n'balanced sources?
Commented [9]: Would it make sense to include this
in the opener of your paper? I mean, you've got about
one hundred billion options to get an eye-catching
"hook." (Maybe two hundred billion. Maybe three...
that is one wild'n'crazy dude.)
Commented [10]: I like how you limited what
sources/outlets youll be examining, but Im still
wondering what, exactly, youll be arguing in your
paper. (Readers typically enjoy having a path to
follow if were able to anticipate whats coming up,
well be able to follow along more easily.) This sounds
more like a description to me...
Also, how do you really know what people are looking
for? Is that evident within the articles/sources
themselves?

Kazerouni 2

When searching Donald Trumps name on CNNs website, one of the first articles that
pops up is titled Donald Trump: I'd 'get along very well with Vladimir Putin. This large, bolded

Commented [11]: lol...

title shows the authors disapproval and judgment of the information released regarding relations
between Trump and the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. A title is the first piece of
information the author can use to sway the reader. Here, the authorEric Bradnerpairs Trump
and Putin in the same title to create an immediate negative reaction. Later in the article, Bradner
quotes Trump saying he thinks the two are very different, but have some similarities (Bradner).
This shows that the title may not be entirely accurate, but taken out of context, gives the reader
the initial distrust the author desires. Like most political news articles, Bradner keeps it brief and
utilizes ethos including many direct quotes for credibility. Accuracy of the information or the
visual representation of the rhetoric, describes the greek word ethos (Lowe). With ethos, one
uses confirmed information to aid the persuasion of their argument. Because of his overall
unfavorable tone towards Trump, one can assume that he is a Democrat writing to persuade

Commented [12]: Excellent follow-up analysis.

Commented [13]: Id advise you to refrain from using
free-floating quotes (ie, sentences that start and end
with a quote). The reader is probably going to be left
wondering, Who is saying/citing this, and how/why is it
relevant? Wheres it coming from? Try to introduce
the quote and give it context.
Commented [14]: What's the central focus of this
paragraph, Leila? The title? The context? The ethos?
What (if anything) binds these ideas together?
Whatever that is, you might wanna consider laying it
out in your topic sentence.
Commented [15]: This is a good opportunity to bust
out a semicolon -- semicolons work really well to
"juxtapose" ideas.
CNN/negative; FOX/positive.

readers against voting for the candidate, but depending on their political affiliations, peoples
view towards the article will vary. The information is spaced out into small paragraphs to

Commented [16]: I like how you're defining/describing

this term, but (1) it's coming a bit out of nowhere
because (2) you didn't introduce it earlier on -- that's
why what you lay out in your Intro is so critical.

similar to most other news website articles, though the articles vary in context and opinion.

Also, I'm wondering (3) why you didn't use pathos to

analyze the previous article. Why logos for one source
but not another? Shouldn't you be giving equal "air
time" to all the pieces?

When searching Donald Trumps name on CNN, there are some negative and some

Commented [17]: When I see thiseven before I start

readingI think, Ahhhhhhh! Attack of the page-long
paragraph!

improve syntax and make reading easier. This and other textual features of the CNN article are

unbiased article titles. Compared to CNN, Fox News has more positive articles and information

See if you like this metaphor:

convince voters he has faith discusses the candidates efforts to broaden his span of voters to a

Pretend your whole paper is a big, juicy steak. Do you

want your reader to enjoy that steak in easy-to-chew,
digestable bites? Or do you want them to start
gnawing away at whole thing in one piece (think:
zombie).

religious audience (Snyder). This could be Snyder using pathos, an appeal to emotion (Lowe).

Paragraphs are like those bites.

A candidate's religious connection can be the deciding factor for a voter. Snyder understands this

Give your reader your argument in little, digestable,

one-idea-at-a-time bits.

on Donald Trump. A recent article titled Trump reaches out to religious leaders, tries to

Readers need to be able to see the different

Kazerouni 3

emotional connection and utilizes it to sway the readers in hisand Donald Trumpsfavor.
That being said, using pathos alone as a tactic of persuasion can seem emotionally
manipulative, (Lowe). Fox News is known to attract a Republican audience, displayed by the

because of their highly religious populationa study shows that over forty-seven percent of

Commented [18]: Right here, I'm seeing a common

thread -- something that you're returning to (that you
already mentioned). Whenever you spot yourself doing
this, you might want to think: is this a part of my main
argument/point? Is this a core component of my
paper?

Republicans are highly religious compared to Democrats at nineteen percent (Newport). In the

If it is, you ought to consider finding a way to

incorporate it into your thesis statement.

lack of negativity in the title. The public likes to see when a candidate puts in effort to reach out
to a larger audience. In this case, Trumps intentions are viewed favorably by Republicans

article, the authorChristopher Snyderuses quotes from different religious leaders to

rationalize his statements. For example, Reverend Dr. Darrell Scott said, I dont know what
type of legislator he would be...but I know one thing, he is a hell of a chief executive. He's a heck

Commented [19]: Awesome. "For example's" are a

great way of convincing your readers with textual
evidence/support.

of a guy, (Snyder). Snyder uses these quotes wisely, knowing that followers of the church may
be more inclined to vote for or further research Trump because of his acceptance by theses
religious leaders. The purpose of using the quotes as the ethos is similar to CNN, but Snyder
manipulates the credibility by only quoting people who speak in favor of Mr.Trump. The ethos

Commented [20]: Quotes from credible (or not)

sources are huge -- worth devoting a whole paragraph
to? (Not necessary -- just want to get you thinking.)

used balances out the overly sentimental pathos, creating a substantial argument with
credibility and sentiment. (Lowe). The length and the inclusion of a video match the CNN article
and its purpose. The information is also well-spaced to make reading less daunting and
approachable.
What does Donald Trump believe? Where the candidate stands on 10 issues is the title of
the article published by PBS authors, Lisa Desjardins and Nathalie Boyd. Unlike the CNN and
Fox News articles, PBS articles seem to have little to no bias. The title does not seem to sway
towards either party's views, foreshadowing the impartiality of information to come. By utilizing
two authors to create the piece, a balance is created eliminating much of the usual bias presented

Commented [21]: Leila, Im wondering if your paper

would benefit from re-structuring the organization.
Instead of
-Source #1
-Source #2
-Source #3
Could your paper/argument unfold a more
integrated/interwoven way if you did something like:
-Idea #1 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #2 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)
-Idea #3 (and then incorporate sources 1, 2, 3)?
Commented [22]: The answer isn't necessarily yes;
again, I just wanna get you thinking about other
options/approaches.

Kazerouni 4

in most other news articles. PBS is an independently-operated, non-profit organization, and

therefore more committed to reaching a wider, more diverse audience. Readers tend to rely on
PBS for straightforward information and stories without prejudice. CNN and Fox are owned and
funded by different profiting broadcasting systems, so they have more freedom to compress their
audience and express their opinions. The PBS article gives ten different stancesboth positive
and negativeTrump takes on popularly discussed issues, demonstrating the authors effort to
limit the bias (Desjardins and Boyd). Because of the many different viewpoints given, this article
is longer than the Fox and CNN articles and would require more dedication from the reader.
Each topic is split into different sections, making it easier to find a specific bolded subsection in
case one was not planning to read the entire article. Unlike the other websites which display
videos at the top of the articles restating all the same information, PBS has a picture of Trump
giving a speech to create a visual. The article contains hyperlinks throughout the text to help the
reader by giving more information on certain words and phrases. The hyperlinks also contribute
to the ethos, adding more credibility to the piece because even if the readers dont click on them,
it is obvious other people have written similar pieces and agree with his ideas (Lowe). Knowing
there is access to more information on a subject gives the reader a sense of certainty because they
can authenticate any questionable facts. Overall, PBS purpose varies from that of CNN and Fox
because of their dedication to reducing obvious preferences, although their arrangements are
relatable.
From looking closely at the presidential campaign news article genre, I assessed the
importance of genre for not only writers, but readers as well. When understanding and using
genres, writers have more guidance when utilizing the proper tone in addressing their audience.
With political articles, the authors know it is important to space out the information in order to

Commented [23]: Nice observation.

Kazerouni 5

keep the readers attention. They also use quotes, fancy words, an influential title, and an official
format to influence the readers in trusting the information given. Authors must use genres to
guide their writing in order for their audience to read the material with ease while paying
attention to the actual knowledge being shared. The structure of the political articles makes the
bigsometime complicatedtopics more tangible and relatable. Once people become
acquainted with this general structure of spaced out, organized information with quotes and
convincing titles, they are able to comprehend the purpose of the article comfortably and
effectively. With more knowledge of particular genres, writers can become more productive, and
persuasive in utilizing and creating their arguments, while readers will become more informed
and resourceful in analyzing information.

Writing 2 Feedback Matrix for WP1

Table of Textual Features

Did Not Meet

Expectations
Thesis Statement

Met Expectations

Exceeds Expectations

Kazerouni 6

Use of Textual
Evidence from
Genres

X+

Use of Course
Readings

X-

Analysis

X+

organization/structure

~X

Attention to
Genre/Conventions
and Rhetorical
Factors

~X

Sentence-level
Clarity, Mechanics,
Flow
Other comments

Leila,
This was a cool read for me -- I can tell you put a lot of hard work into
this. Nice job.
My one piece of advice is to be super-clear about what, exactly, youll
be arguing in this paper from the get-go. What conventions? In what
sources? For what audience?
Also, I think you might be able to weave in our course readings more
effectively to enhance your points.
Overall, though, this is a very solid start. :)
Z
8.5/10

Kazerouni 7

Works Cited
Bradner, Eric. "Donald Trump: I'd 'get along Very Well With' Putin - CNNPolitics.com."
CNN. Cable News Network, 11 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Desjardins, Lisa, and Nathalie Boyd. "What Does Donald Trump Believe? Where the
Candidate Stands on 10 Issues." PBS. PBS, 16 June 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Lowe, Charles, and Laura Carroll. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1. West
Lafayette, Ind.: Parlor, 2010. 45-58. Print.
Newport, Frank. "Republicans Remain Disproportionately White and Religious."
Gallup.com. 1 Sept. 2010. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.
Snyder, Christopher. "Trump Reaches out to Religious Leaders, Tries to Convince
Voters He Has Faith." Fox News. FOX News Network, 10 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.