I decided to do my topic on rhetorical criticism because I was already doing a paper on Barack Obama's speech for rhetorical criticism and analyzing the differences of the information I could find using internet sources and library sources. This speech was the perfect topic for this assignment because I had to find internet and library sources to do this assignment and we had to do the same for this class as well. When you go to the library to find information you are finding information on historical facts about presidents and political information and that information dates back a long time. The library is giving you credible and reliable information that can be valuable compared to the internet that gives you more current information that is not always reliable or credible because you have so many websites out there like Wikipedia that anybody can put information on that isn’t always true.
I thought that it would be interesting to compare the information you find at the library to the information that you find on the internet and see if you would find the same information or would their be information that would be different, and in some cases doing this assignment I did find information that wasn’t always true. What I found interesting is that politicians are often accused on “flip flopping” their political views and the library’s information is less flexible to change than the internet.
Going to the library was a difficult thing not because I had to get up from my seat but because of the fact you had to go search all those books for your book and sometimes I had trouble because the book that I wanted wasn’t even in the right spot. But when I was able to find the books that I wanted to read they had a lot of good information about politics and Obama had a really good book as well, but I found a lot of information on rhetorical criticism as well. The Pros and Cons of the information that was found on the internet was that it wasn’t always true and it took a long time trying to find credible sources. The good thing about the library is that it had credible information but some of the information wasn’t up to date but I did find up to date information as well. I would prefer being on the internet and finding sources rather then going to the library unless I already looked up my information so that I can go straight to the section I need to, in order to find the books I need.
The one thing I can say is that your life changes by really having to go to the library and put in the effort to get books and read them. It was a struggle to me because this felt like a research paper and I had to find like 15 sources just to answer a couple of questions but it does make you realize that there is just more then internet sources out their and that you can find information a bunch of different ways then just what is convenient like the internet.
References
Book Sources
Foss, Sonja K. Rhetorical criticism: exploration and practice. Waveland press. 1989.
Dymally, Mervyn M. The black politican; his struggle for power. Belmont, Calif., Duxbury Press. 1971
Obama, barack. The audacity of hope: thoughts on reclaiming the American Dream/Barack Obama. New York: Crown Publishers. 2006
Website Sources:
http://www.nwprogressive.org/ (Northwest progressive institute official blog)
http://electionrhetorica.net/ (Rhetorica)
http://csuchico.edu/phil/gtopea_mat/s05/.../rhetoric1_s05.ppt (hyperbole)
5 comments:
I didn’t think about relating how I found different information on the Internet vs. paper back resources. That is a good idea because it helps determine which resources are more reliable and more convenient to get information out of. I had the same thoughts as you regarding going to the library and looking through all of the books on the shelves just to be disappointed with the quality of information. But then again, after taking the time to read some good paper back resources, it becomes clear that there are other quality resources beyond the Internet.
I think that I came to the same conclusion with this experience…the library (well books in general) are a more credible source, than information that you find on the internet. Although I applauded at how the internet had the ability to provide so much information on one subject, in reflecting back, I had to search through many, many sites to find precisely what I was looking for. In addition, I had to look for sites that yielded at least some credibility. (ie. Not someone’s personal page). For this experiment, I wasn’t as hesitant to look on the internet for information; however, I know that in previous classes, I have always gone to the library, to find the majority of my information.
You made some great points.
Shawna
I found the same problems - although the library's information is usually much more accurate, it is also outdated. While the Internet provides up-to-the minute information, it is not always accurate.
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