Evaluation of Rhetorical Situations

For this blog post I have selected three speech acts by people in environmental fields to analyze based on the Author/Speaker, the intended Audience, and the text's context

The first that I will evaluate is Diana Liverman's article in the Annals of the Association of American Geographers titled: Who Governs, at What Scale and at What Price?Geography, Environmental Governance, and theCommodification of Nature. I wasn't able to access it on Google Scholar, so I linked to Liverman's personal website where it is available to the public. 

Diana Liverman is a world renound geographer, writer, and environmentalist. She is currently the co-director of the Institute of the Environment at UA, and a fellow at Oxford's Environmental Change Institute. Her work focuses on the human dimensions of global environmental change. Her main research interests include climate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, and climate policy and mitigation especially in the developing world.

This specific publication is intended for an academic audience. I can tell because it's published in an academic journal, has in-text citation, and multiple pages of references at the end, and uses academic language specific to the field and to highly educated audiences.

It was published in 2008, and focuses on the nuances of globalization, environmental change, and the monetary value that is arbitrarily placed on nature. It's closely related to the current environmental movement. 

NPR Morning Edition recently did a story on Food Waste titled: "It's Time To Get Serious About Reducing Food Waste, Feds Say"

The author of the story, Allison Aubry, is a correspondent for NPR News, and a 2013 James Beard Foundation Awards nominee for her broadcast radio coverage of food and nutrition. Although she's not an absolute expert on the topic of food waste and food systems, she is an expert reporter. 

The story is intended for a much more general audience than Liverman's publication. I know this because it appears in NPR Morning Edition, which is a program designed for anyone who listens to the radio. It uses easily understood language. 

It was written on September 16, 2015 in response to the new government goal of reducing foodwaste by 50% by 2030. It's also related to the current environmental movement. 

Foerster. "treasure trove of wasted food." July 2013 via Wikimedia. Creative Commons License

The third article that I chose is: "Towards carbon neutrality and environmental sustainability at CCSU". It was written for the International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. 

The author, Charles Button, is a professor of Geography at Central Connecticut State University. He founded and chaired the CCSU Global Environmental Sustainability Action Coalition, and was as faculty chair of CCSU’s President’s Advisory Council for Environmental Sustainability. He also helped create the first graduate level degree of ‘Global Sustainability’ at his university. 

The article is intended for an academic audience. It appears in an academic journal, uses citations, and employs academic language. 

It was written in 2008, and is definitely a resource for those trying to move their university towards carbon neutrality. It's part of the current Environmental Movement. 

Reflection: I read Mathias's and Chad's  blog posts. The biggest thing that I realized is that I need to choose a more opinionated speech act for my project. The articles that I chose are more explanatory than opinionated. I found a new Article, written by Bill Mckibben, expressing his opinion about Obama's environmental legacy as president.

Bill Mckibben is a leading writer and environmental activist and professor at Middlebury college. He started 350.org, and has advocated for and helped support campus divestment movements. The article is intended for a general audience, and was written in 2013.