At the beginning of the quarter, I came up with my version of the ideal citizen: Rick Ramirez. Rick was a pretty amazing guy because he was both an informed and involved citizen. He watched the news, read about government and economy, and volunteered in community service projects. And so, he seemed to be as ideal of a citizen as I could come up with. However, after this quarter, I have learned more about service and activism. And although I still think Rick is an ideal citizen, there are some aspects about him that I would like to change. First off, I don’t think he’s realistic enough because he seems to be too ideal. In reality, what really makes a good citizen is an individual who helps meet the needs of the whole. They do not necessarily need to be as involved and have the same interests as Rick, but they should understand that they are a part of the community and that they should be willing to play their part. If I were to recreate Rick, I would definitely tone him down in order to better represent the average citizen, which in my opinion, can be just as ideal as Rick without being as gung-ho as him.
Looking back at this quarter, I’ve learned a great deal about writing and rhetoric. In terms of writing, I’ve certainly learned how to break away from the traditional 5 paragraph essays which have always seemed to be too mechanical for my taste. In terms of rhetoric, I have become more aware of the techniques of persuasion and I foresee a great deal of its use in future papers. In particular I learned a great deal about the rhetoric of service and activism and how activists try to convince their audience of the value of their cause. Going back to my modifications on Rick, I stressed the importance of the individual acting on the group. In a way, one could say that rhetoric is a powerful tool for the individual to influence and even rally the group to their cause. Thus, rhetoric is a necessary component of service and activism because without it, the individual would have to go with their cause alone.
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It sounds like your image of an ideal citizen is pretty much the same as at the beginning of the quarter. He is well informed person with who is active in the community and devotes himself to bettering society. The only difference is that you would make him more down to earth or relatable to the general public. I think this is a great idea. By making the ideal citizen seem more attainable to become I think more people will strive to be ideal. I think that too often we think of the ideal person to be perfect and since humans are not perfect we may think of ideal as unreachable. Some people may give up or not even try to better themselves because they find their efforts be pointless. By making the model for idealism more reachable it may encourage others to try to better themselves and their communities. If nothing else your image gives a good description of an ideal citizen. I also like how you added that the ideal citizen can be different and the sort of generalized your image of him.
ReplyDeleteI find Rick a very interesting person, and I like how you, from the beginning, chose to create him somehow different from the norm. I really love how you made him such a informed person, who contrary to most people, doesn't pick a side once and then stand by it forever but rather keeps updated on what issues are important, who does the best job with those issues, and choose accordingly.
ReplyDeleteYour comment "what really makes a good citizen is an individual who helps meet the needs of the whole" is amazing. I think that some of us, myself included, may focus too much on individual accomplishments and less on our role in the society. Your comment is very true, and it's absolutely an important thing to think about.
I really like the ideas you brought about to Rick. While he was very ideal before, you've definitely made him even more ideal now. I definitely agree with you about our writing too. No more 5-paragraph papers for us!
ReplyDeleteI really like what you said about making the changes to Rick. With the changes you have made, he is a much more ideal citizen. I also agree with you about learning a lot about writing in this class like breaking away from the 5 paragraph method.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of your ideal citizen. I think with the changes you made, you make him as a more real person, not that he is only a fiction character that is too realistic.
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