The End

Rhetoric as we've discussed throughout this semester, is the art of using language to communicate effectively and persuasively. So now here in lies my attempt to rhetorically analyse the source behind my last three blog posts. Highway Contractor is a heavy civil/highway construction trade journal. To analyse this publication i'll use a basic format of rhetorical analysis that more or less provided the backbone for most of our class discussions.

The rhetorical situation this publication is built off of is not one that neccistates persuation, it is more of a platform for factuakl knowledge about th industry to be shared so ultimately it is this need for a common source of information thats lead to this (and many other) publications existance. As for the author (the same person authored all of my articles), well its no mystery who he was, his name is at the top of each article and due to the very nature of a trade journal he provides little in the way of credintials but this is a freedom that we as the audience have afforded him. We assume his credentials to be sufficent else the journal wouldn't publish him. He "speaks" well and refrained from any attacking/defensive positions in my articles. The intension of this journal, or at least the article i read from it, is simply to enform and the enlighten.

In addition to the situation and the speaker we must address the audience. As i mentioned just previously, we afford this type of writting a certain amount of liberty in that we do not question their credibility to any great extent. The intended audience for this particular publication is obviously someone with an interest in horizontal construction or at least the equipment that is used in that industry. In the article "The Wage of Smart" i mentioned the primary things that this audience values; safety, accuracy and effenciency/production. These article about equipment innovations appeal directly to these values and this publication is certainly no work of fiction so you can rely on its words to a certain extent.

The author takes full advantage of the situation he and his articles are in and provides information that is directly in line with what his primary audience is concerned with. There is little acknowledgement of a secondary audience but when its the primary audience thats the ones spending a couple hundred thousand dollars on these machines he's got to cater to them first.

I think thats enough of that for know, sounds like a pretty good retorical analysis to me, though perhaps maybe i'm a little biased. Its been a unique experience so i'll leave you with a unique video.



See if you pick out some of these.

0:02 foolish nazi 0:11 please hurt me while i molest0:49 im molesting oxes now hell yeah 1:01 SHITSTER1:03 n*gga needs a whole bottle of soap 2:47 im molesting horses now.

Clean Diesel

This weeks blog post is gonna be pretty short, what with fall break and my Certified Constructors Exam looming i barely had time to read an article.

For this weeks blog post i read an article about a new diesel engine developed by Komatsu. This new engine conforms to U.S. EPA non-road Tier 4 emissions regulations; essentially it reduced its exhaust gas particulate by more than 90 percent. By utilizing computer controlled multi-injection technology this new engine cut fuel consumption and gained throttle response.

Its cool to see innovations within the equipment market that supports the construction industry that i intend to make a career out of.

Choice and Productivity

Last week i was unable to post since i was in Birmingham AL at a highway construction competition. My team took home first place so the 36 sleepless hours we spent toiling over the project was well worth it.

Now, back to the task at hand. For this weeks post i read another article from Better Roads, this one discussing the new John Deere Motor Grader. The new grader offers unequaled choices for operator comforts like fingertip controls and an LCD screen for monitoring critical aspects of the machine. A rear view camera provides an added measure of safety as the machine navigates on a job site. Additionally, a Grade Pro Package is offered for high-production grading operations like road construction. This package provides additional operator comforts like a high back, air ride operators chair. The added comfort plus enhanced cross slope controls and 6 wheel drive, coupled with never grease joints and self diagnostic system mean the new grader can work longer shifts for lower daily operating costs. All this technology combines to help inexperienced operators while still saving on fuel consumption; technology is no longer a stranger to the dirt and grime of  high production machinery.

The Wages of Smart

The article i'm writing about comes from Highway Contractor, a heavy civil/highway construction trade journal. As with any construction project, completing the early stages of road building is all about doing it right the first time. Often this requires the use of new technologies.

Contractors typically have three goals for a job: do it safely, move the dirt one time and move the dirt quickly and efficiently. The article i read talks of evolving technologies for grading equipment that will help contractors meet the 3 goals just mentioned. When site preparation companies start talking about their work we find that it is less about the dozer, the grader or the compactor and much more about the available technology that will make the most efficient use of the equipment.

In this article there is a lengthy discussion about a program the CAT is releasing that connect all of a projects grading equipment together and to the project drawings so that each machine can monitor grade elevations, grade slopes and soil compaction as they work. This alleviates the need for a grade checker (person) to continuously survey the site. Not only does this new program allow the machines to stay in constant calibration and avoid hitting each other, it also allows for underground utilities to be input and subsequent avoidance zones implemented. This information helps insure no damage is caused to these utilities and certainly drives home the contractors' goals of doing the job right the first time and moving dirt as fast and as efficiently as possible.

Miller

So i'm supposed to be study for 2 exams that i have today but instead i'm trying to read miller, good luck with that. Basically all I've gotten out of miller is that she is more concerned with the action on which the rhetoric is used, the actions are inherent in the rhetorical situation and that these situations happen again and again over time thus similar actions occur.

Question is, what does miller have to do with us writing our commissioned documents? Seems to me that if most of us have to read the assignment 2 or 3 times and still have several questions about its meaning then we probably wont be very successful at implementing the ideas into our work.

Don't get me wrong, i have not problem sitting in class delving deeper and deeper into the philosophical ideas behind all of our readings but i need it to tie into the class deliverables (graded assignments). I don't mean in the form of a quiz or test either; like when we talked about rhetoric and audience before writing our instructions, that was applicable to a certain extent, so far "Genre as Social Action" is providing less than a clear correlation. Maybe its just me, idk.

Smart Mobs and Wiki

"A smart mob is a group that, contrary to the usual connotations of a mob, behaves intelligently or efficiently because of its exponentially increasing network links. This network enables people to connect to information and others, allowing a form of social coordination." (Wikipedia) 


Ha, take that academia! 

Working in Groups

Throughout my academic career I've had the opportunity/misfortune to work in a number of group settings. On the whole i prefer group work but I've had a few projects that i would've been much better off doing it all on my own. To me, the worst part of the group environment is not the Controller or even the Monumentally Busy person that can never meet; it's the Slacker. If you want to control the project thats fine with me, i know i can manage a group and probably even get the project done before the eleventh hour. If you can never meet with the group i'll have your email and phone number and you will be given work to contribute; if you don't do it then i'll have someone else (or myself) do it last minute and your name will not be on the completed project. 

I'm currently taking 22 hours of class and i am a member of a Heavy Civil/Highway Construction project team so i have no problem letting someone else take the lead role in most group settings this semester since i'm too busy anyway, but i refuse to let my grade suffer as a result of someone elses ineptitude. That said, if the controler begins to fail at their controlling position and misallocate work or take on too much for themselves, i will be the first person to tell you about it. 

Through numerous experiences in the "real world" of the construction industry i have found that a higher sense of pride and commitment exists and that while you may still have a Slacker in the group, they're no where near as useless as they are in the academic arena. If they Slack too much for too long they'll be fired; i'm ok letting them sign their own headstone.