According to Susan Sontag, photography "offers, in one easy, habit-forming activity, both participation and alienation in our own lives and those of others--allowing us to participate, while confirming alienation" (167). In an essay of at least four pages, explain how photography can (paradoxically) both alienate and reaffirm the connection between that individual and humanity.
In your essay, use the essays from Susan Sontag's On Photography, the photographs and essays from Slate's Behold, and at least two photographs from your fellow students to help you explain/explore/prove your points.
Questions to Consider (not a checklist you have to answer in the essay)
Why do you take photographs?
What do you do with the photographs you have taken? How do you use these photographs?
When you bring the camera up before your eyes, are you still participating in the experience captured in the photograph? Or have you become an observer instead?
How/why do advertisers use photographs?
How/why do newspapers use photographs?
How/why does the government use photographs? (Take a look at your driver's license . . . )
How can/does a photograph (a static representation of a visual object/scene, or, as Sontag describes it on 112, a "dissociated moment") reveal "truth" about fluid, abstract, and dynamic individual psychology and group social structures?
In terms of this blog post, briefly explain which rhetorical modes you plan to use in your essay. The nine rhetorical modes are forms and methods of presenting and structuring information. Here they are in no particular order . . .
Description: using sensory detail (such as visual imagery) and/or figurative language (such as metaphors or similes) to provide a detailed overview of a subject's characteristics. For example, in this essay you could describe a photograph . . .
Definition: detailing the essential qualities of the subject or idea. For example, in this essay you could define "truth" or "community."
Exemplification: providing examples to help explain the subject or idea. For example, in this essay you could refer to specific photographs as your examples.
Narration: telling a story to help explain the subject or idea. For example, in this essay you could tell the story that a photograph implies, or you could tell a story of a time you took a photograph.
Cause / Effect: explaining the causes preceding an event or explaining the effects following such an event or action. For example, in this essay you could explore what would cause a person to share a photograph on Instagram or what the effects of that sharing might be.
Compare / Contrast: explaining the similarities and differences between two or more different examples, subjects, or ideas. For example, in this essay you could compare and contrast two different ways of interpreting the same photograph.
Division / Classification: explaining the various types and categories of a subject or idea. For example, in this essay you could divide and classify the types of photographs.
Process Analysis: explaining how to do something, how something was done, or how something should be done in the future. For example, in this essay you could explain the process by which a person chooses which photographs to share and which to keep private.
Argument: asserting a logical thesis and then supporting that thesis with reasons and evidence. For example, in this essay you could argue that photography makes people more isolated and leads to fragmented identities . . . or you could argue that photography deepens empathy and brings us closer together in a shared humanity.
Your essay does not need to use all nine rhetorical modes. Rather, each paragraph should have a clear mode as its central core. For a four-page essay, you will probably have somewhere between four and seven body paragraphs. How will you use rhetorical modes as the basis for those paragraphs?
Provide a brief outline of your body paragraphs. If I were to write this essay, my outline might look like this:
Body Paragraph 1: I'm going to try to define photography.
Body Paragraph 2: I'm going to divide and classify the different reasons people take photographs.
Body Paragraph 3: I'm going to explore some of the effects of sharing photographs with others.
Body Paragraph 4: I'm going to analyze the process (and give examples) by which photography can depersonalize.
Body Paragraph 5: I'm going to compare that process of depersonalization with a process by which photography can foster empathy and lead to positive social change.
Body Paragraph 1: Define photography as art
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 2: Explore reasons people take photographs
Body Paragraph 3: Explain process of taking photographs
Body Paragraph 4: Cause/ effect of people sharing photographs
Body Paragraph 5: Compare how others use photography to alienate people vs. how photography can embody everyone
If all goes the way I would like for this essay, I plan to use six out of the nine rhetorical modes including: description, cause/effect, compare/contrast, argument, exemplification, and definition.
ReplyDeleteBody 1- I’ll define photography in my own way.
Body 2- Talk about photography, what it means to people, why they take pictures, etc.
Body 3-How people use their photos, what they do with them, why they share them, etc.
Body 4- Explain examples of how photography can reaffirm connection between the individual and humanity
Body 5- Explain examples of how photography can alienate the individual from humanity
For this essay I plan to use the following rhetorical modes to help explain my points about photography:
ReplyDeleteParagraph 1: Definition- I will try to describe photography
Paragraph 2: Narration- I will tell a story about a special moment I photographed
Paragraph 3: Exemplification- I will provide examples of how photography is used to preserve moments
Paragraph 4: Cause/ Effect- I will layout the ways that photography can alienate people
Paragraph 5: Argument- I will provide a logical argument about why photography is essential to human connectedness.
I would like to use the following rhetorical modes to explain photography as it evokes empathy from its viewers and allows for the preservation of it's subjects throughout time.
ReplyDeleteParagraph 1: Definition -- I will define photography.
Paragraph 2: Narration -- I will interpret a photo and what it implies.
Paragraph 3: Exemplification --- I will provide examples of how photography preserves its subject throughout time.
Paragraph 4: Compare and contrast -- I will compare and contrast two different ways to interpret the same photograph.
Paragraph 5: Argument -- I will argue that photography evokes empathy and allows an individual to see another perspective.
I plan to use six rhetorical modes as the basis of my essay.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1:I will provide a definition on my view of photography.
Body Paragraph 2: I will provide examples of how photography creates a representation of events and memories.
Body Paragraph 3: Tell my own experience with photography, why I’ve taken certain photographs, and the significance.
Body Paragraph 4: I will explain how photography effects people based on social media postings.
Body Paragraph 5: I will compare two different views on a specific photograph or collection of photographs.
Body Paragraph 6- I will explain how photography allows someone to express themselves and provide a version of proof to society.
I will be using five rhetorical modes for this essay: Definition, Exemplification, Narration, Cause/Effect, and Compare/Contrast.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I will define photography.
Body Paragraph 2: I will exemplify why people take photographs,
Body Paragraph 3: I will narrate why people share photographs with others.
Body Paragraph 4: I will talk about the cause and effect of sharing photos with others.
Body Paragraph 5: I will compare and contrast how photography can alienate and reaffirm individuals.
I will use five different rhetorical modes for this essay.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I will define photography
Body Paragraph 2: I will give a description of photography and explain why people take photos.
Body Paragraph 3: I will use examples to show how photography lets people express themselves.
Body Paragraph 4: I will talk about the cause and effect that social media has on people through photography.
Body Paragraph 5: I will talk about my own experience with photography and photos.
I plan on using six rhetorical modes for this essay: Exemplification, Definition, Narration, Compare/Contrast, Description, and Argumentation
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I am using exemplification by providing examples of alienation and connection through photographs as well as defining these terms.
Body Paragraph 2: I am using compare and contrast to show similarities and differences between the feelings of alienation and connections brought about through photography.
Body Paragraph 3: I am using compare and contrast to show similarities and differences between Sontag’s beliefs on alienation and Christian Wilbur’s photographs of a young women suffering from autism.
Body Paragraph 4: I am using description to highlight belonging and exclusion represented through photography genres.
Body Paragraph 5: I am using definition to define experience and observer when photographing. This will also hold examples
Body Paragraph 6: I am using argumentation to show that photography is both personal and impersonal, and that you can feel connection and alienation from the same photo.
Body Paragraph 7: I am using narration to relate my experience to quotes, photographs, and other sources.
I will be using five rhetorical modes for this essay.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I will define photography, as to what society may view it and the proper definition.
Body Paragraph 2: I will provide reasons as to why people take photos and the significance of it.
Body Paragraph 3: I will explain as to why people share photographs (social media) and how that allows them to express themselves.
Body Paragraph 4: I will talk about the cause and effects of sharing photographs with others, either as for the individual or society as a whole.
Body Paragraph 5: I will compare and contrast how photography could alienate individuals or how it may bring them together.
I will be using five rhetorical modes for the essay.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I will define photography.
Body Paragraph 2: I will explore the cause/effect behind photographs.
Body Paragraph 3: I will describe the process and use of a photograph.
Body Paragraph 4: I will narrate my own experiences with photography. Body Paragraph 5: I will explain how photography reaffirms connection between the individual and humanity.
If my essay goes the way that I plan then I will be using six of the nine rhetorical modes: definition, division/classification, narration, exemplification, cause/effect, and compare/contrast.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write this essay my body paragraphs might look like this:
Body paragraph #1: I will define photography.
Body paragraph #2: I will devise/classify all the ways in which photography can be used.
Body paragraph #3: I will narrate a time in which I took a photograph and exemplify why I felt I had to capture that moment.
Body paragraph #4: I will state the types of causes/effects that photography can have on society.
Body paragraph #5: I will exemplify how photography can (paradoxically) both alienate and reaffirm the connection between that individual and humanity.
Body paragraph #6: I will compare/contrast the good and bad the comes from photography
Body paragraph #7: I will argue why photography is essential in everyday lives.
Throughout my essay, I plan on using six of the rhetorical modes: description, definition, exemplification, narration, cause / effect, and argument.
ReplyDeleteIntroduction: Introduce thesis and ideas.
Body Paragraph 1: Introduce photography and define it through different perspectives.
Body Paragraph 2: Explain how photography can alienate and reaffirm the connection between that individual and humanity.
Body Paragraph 3: Give example of when photography alienates. Explain example.
Body Paragraph 4: Give example of when photography can reaffirm connection between that individual and humanity.
Conclusion: Restate thesis and ideas.
I am going to try and use 5 rhetorical modes, this is a rough draft and I can could change the orders of the paragraphs to make my essay flow better.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: Define Photography
Body Paragraph 2: Divide and classify types of photographs.
Body Paragraph 3: Compare and contrast how people use photographs
Body Paragraph 4: Process analysis of how photography deepens empathy and brings us closer together in a shared humanity.
Body Paragraph 5: Narration to explain why I take photographs.
Body Paragraph 1: I will define photography.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 2: Im going to divide and classify the types of photographs that are taken.
Body Paragraph 3: Im going to compare and contrast how two people may interpret the same photograph differently from one another.
Body Paragraph 4:Im going to use other student's photographs as examples.
Body Paragraph 5: Im going to describe the cause and effect of sharing certain photographs.
Body paragraph 1: I will attempt to define the way society, as a whole, views photography. I will then provide a definition that provides a more detailed description, defining the fundamental aspects of photography.
ReplyDeleteBody paragraph 2: I am going to explain the several classes and forms of photography, by exemplifying and utilizing the photographs from past assignments such as photos from Ilisa Katz Rissman and Paula Zuccotti.
Body paragraph 3: I am going to narrate about a time when I took a photograph and why I felt I needed to capture that particular moment.
Body paragraph 4: I will then compare/contrast the way a photograph can either bring humans together as a whole or produce isolation and seclusion.
Body paragraph 5: I will use exemplification to provide examples of alienation and of human togetherness.
Body paragraph 1: I will define photography.
ReplyDeleteBody paragraph 2: Explain reasons people take pictures and what it means to them.
Body paragraph 3: Explain the process of taking pictures.
Body paragraph 4: Cause/effect of sharing photos through social media.
Body paragraph 5: I'm going to analyze the process by which photography can depersonalize.
In my essay I plan to use description, definition, exemplification, narration, compare/contrast, and process analysis.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 1: I will define photography and explain different ways people use it.
Body Paragraph 2: I will narrate an anecdote in which I took a photo and the feelings that photo brings when I revisit it.
Body Paragraph 3: Explain how photography can both alienate and reaffirm the connection of the individual to humanity.
Body Paragraph 4: Compare and contrast two photos and how they either alienate or connect the individual to humanity.
Body Paragraph 5: Use exemplification to give additional examples of how photography can accomplish both alienation and connectedness
Body Paragraph #1: I will try to define photography and use Sontag's essays to provide examples that relate to the definition.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph #2:I will use division and classification to explain the different types of photos and the different ways people use them.
Body Paragraph #3: I will explain the cause and effect that sharing photography has on communities as well as on an individual.
Body Paragraph #4: I will use narration and description together to explain a time in my life where I took a picture and what it implied.
Body Paragraph #5: I will use different examples and prove how photography can make you feel connected and alienated at the same time.
For this essay, I plan to use five out of the nine rhetorical modes including: description, compare/contrast, argument, exemplification, and definition.
ReplyDeleteBody 1- I’ll define photography in my own way
Body 2- Talk about photography, what it means to people, why they take pictures, for who do they take these pictures, etc.
Body 3-How people use their photos, what they do with them, why they share them, with who they share them with, etc.
Body 4- Present examples of how photography can reaffirm connection between the individual and humanity as a whole.
Body 5- Present examples of how photography can seperate the individual from humanity
For the essay I plan to use the following rhetorical modes to explain photography.
ReplyDeleteParagraph 1: Definition- I will describe photography as it is used in Sontag’s book.
Paragraph 2: Narration- I will give an example of a photograph I have taken that means of great importance because of the emotion attached through experience.
Paragraph 3: Exemplification- I will use examples to show how photography and art can be preserved for a lifetime through history.
Paragraph 4: Compare and Contrast- using an example of a photo, how it can be seen either by experience of the person taking the photograph or the person that is being photographed.
Paragraph 5: I will argue and conclude that photography is necessary for human relations.
Body Paragraph 1: Division/classification how photographs allow us to participate and Exemplification of this.
ReplyDeleteBody Paragraph 2: Division/Classification how photographs confirm alienation and Exemplification of this.
Body Paragraph 3: Cause/Effect How photographs can cause participation in reality through empathy and what are the effects of this and Exemplification and Narration.
Body Paragraph 4: Cause/Effect How photographs can cause apathy and create alienation through this and Exemplification and Narration.
1. Definition: Define photography. Not only as what it is to individuals but what it is to society as well.
ReplyDelete2. Explanation: Explain reasons why persons take photographs.
3. Narration/explanation: what it feels to take photographs.
4. Contrast: Contrast how it can alienate and how it can create a connection between individual and humanity.
5. Explain: How photography reaffirm the connection between individual and humanity.
6. Conclusion. Restate ideas, thesis, etc.
1. Narration: different purposes photgraphs have
ReplyDelete2. Exemplification: how pictures connect us
3. Compare and contrast how it connects and isolates us.
4. Cause/effect: of people sharing their photographs online
5. Cause/effect
Paragraph 1: I will define photography
ReplyDeleteParagraph 2: I will provide examples of different ways photography is used for today.
Pragraph 3: I will explain why people take photographs and their significance.
Paragraph 4: Give Examples of how photography can be used in different ways.
Pragraph 5: I will go over different types of cause/effect photography in our society.
Paragraph 6: Explain and give examples of how photography can alienate a connection between an individual and this world.