considering types

My argument will be a combination of a Causal Argument and a Proposal. I want to explain how Oak Flat got sold off to a mining company, and then propose action that needs to be taken to protect it. I may draw from past examples of land being threatened by development and then rescued.

Webb, Michaela "rainbow" 2014

My Rhetorical Action Plan

Webb, Michaela "screenshot" 2015

Audience: I want to write to an outdoor/rock climbing audience. 

Knowledge: Those in Arizona have probably heard of the Oak Flat controversy, but might not know many details. Most of them are probably familiar with and passionate about the issue of wilderness areas being destroyed for economic reasons.

Values: Rock climbers are generally very liberal and progressive, especially when it comes to environmental issues. They value the protection of rock climbing areas, and probably also the protection of native american cultural treasures

Standards of Argument: the most important arguments that I can make for this audience are going to be that oak flat is a cultural and environmenal treasure, has great rock climbing, and is being taken for development in sneaky ways.

Visual Elements that highlight the natural beauty and recreational value of Oak Flat will be the most persuasive, because that's whet my audience cares about.

The purpose of my article is to raise awarreness within the climbing community about the fight for oak flat, because they are one group that hasn't done much to act  yet, but should care about the issue.

Genres: 
Tuesday Night Bouldering Column on Rock and Ice Magazine website:  http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-raphael-slawinski-firsthand-acccount-of-everest-earthquake
http://www.rockandice.com/lates-news/tnb-forgotten-hero-frank-sacherer-1940-1978

Informational Article  on a climbing or hiking website:
http://www.climbing.com/news/special-feature-the-libecki-brothers-explore-vertical-greenland/
http://www.climbing.com/news/teen-charged-in-ten-sleep-climber-shooting/

Actions/responses:
Positive: become more aware of an issue, understand the complications involved in the Oak Flat controversy, possibly do something.

Negative: "This is a politically biased article!" "The economic benefits to the area outweigh the destruction of the environment" "there are lots of other places to rock climb!"

Analyzing Purpose

In this blog post I will address and explore the purpose of my public speech act.

I want to address the potential ulterior motives involved in politics, and specifically in the Oak Flat controversy. I think that the fact that Mccain and Flake have recieved significant campaign contributions from Rio Tinto and other mining companies really says something. I think that it degrades any accountability that they had with the people of Arizona, and any arguments that they make insinuating that they're looking out for people's interests rather than corporate interests. I think that the best way for me to express this idea to my intended audience is through a short op-ed piece in an Arizona University newspaper. This has the potential to raise awareness about Oak Flat in a demographic that is typically action-oriented and excited to get involved in things

Plausible actions/ reactions: I could see some people thinking that I'm just an angry hippy. I need to be careful not to come accross as too pissed off. If I do a good job I might be able to begin or continue the conversation for some people about campaign financing laws and their immediate effects on an Arizona issue.

Not Plausible: I don't think that my op-ed piece will spark any immediate action. It's purpose is to start a conversation and get people thinking, not necessarily to create immediate change. These issues are incredibly complicated, and no one act of public speech can create noticeable change.

Chain of likely consequences: My article could get people thinking more about campaign financing, and has the potential to impact people's stance on the issue of Oak Flat. It has the potential to spark some action at a university level. It also has the potential to get people thinking about the issue of campaign financing on a larger scale: the upcoming presidential elections.

Possible audience: I want to reach out to other university students because they're a demographic that generally cares about things and wants to be involved in action.

Webb, Michaela "Purpose: Nap Time" 2013

Analyzing Context

Webb, Michaela "sleeping brother" 2012

1. Key perspectives and schools of thought? Major disagreements? Major ideological disagreements? The two main schools of thought are that there shouldn't be a mine build on Oak Flat, and that there should be. Within those there are many different groups that think those things for different reasons. There's the San Carlos Apache who generally believe that their sacred site should be protected and that their culture and beliefs should be honored and should not be destroyed as they have been over and over throughout history. There's the environmentalists and recreators who believe that Oak Flat has value as a beautiful wilderness and that a mine would ruin that. There's the politicians who are the reason that Oak Flat is in jeapordy who say they value economic growth. With a little more digging, though, it becomes evident that there are ulterior motives involved in their decisions. 
2. Possible common ground: The only possible common ground that I see between those who want a mine and those who want to protect Oak Flat is that probably even the San Carlos Apache value economic growth. They just don't want it as a result of a mine that destroys so much.
3. Actions requested from the audience: Those who want Oak Flat to be protected are asking for the audience to join with them in trying to make that happen: to sign petitions, come to rallies, pressure lawmakers to make the right decisions. Those who ant the mine to be constructed don't really have to ask anyone for anything: They have the power in this situation.
4. Perspectives useful to my argument: I think that I want to focus on the ulterior motives of the politicians and the sneaky methods that they used to pass the bill that opened Oak Flat up to mining. I think that because of this the perspectives that will be useful to me are those that critique corporate campaign financing, as well as those that exemplify the value of Oak Flat from a social and environmental perspective. 
5. Perspectives that threaten my argument: The main perspective that I will need to refute is that of the economic growth potential of the mine. I think that this is the only potentially valid argument for building a mine on a piece of pristine wilderness with cultural value to a group of people. 

Audience and Genre

In this blog post I will discuss two possible audiences and genres for my public argument. I will identify 4 different places to publish my argument, and I will identify 8 different examples.

• Audience 1: Arizona College Students. They would be interested because they are a typically active group and this issue is happening in their home state. 
• location 1: Daily Wildcat op-ed. This is a good place to publish my work and have it read by many students. 
• Example 1: You Can't Shoot Yourself If You Don't Own a Gun
• Example 2: Mental Health
• Location 2: The State Press: ASU student newspaper
• Example 1: Food System
• Example 2: Bern
• Audience 2: Climbing Community. Climbers are interested because there's rock climbing at Oak Flat that would be destroyed by mining development.
• location 1: Rock and Ice Magazine Tuesday Night Bouldering column
• Example 1: Why Comp Climbing is Not in Our Future
• Example 2: The Outsiders
• Location 2:
• Climbing Magazine article
• Climbing in the Next Olympics
• Half Dome Route 

Webb, Michaela "Uinta Mountains" 2013

Extended Annotated Bibliography

"The Arena: - Rep. Jeff Flake Bio." The Arena: - Rep. Jeff Flake Bio. Politico, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. This is an unbiased biography of Flake's political career. It will give me a better idea of the context for his involvement in Oak Flat, as well as a history of things that he's supported in the past.

"The Arena: - Rep. Raul Grijalva Bio." The Arena: - Rep. Raul Grijalva Bio. Politico, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. This article is important for my paper because it gives an unbiased account of Raul Grijalva's political career. I will use it in my paper to give political context for one of the key players in this controversy.

Grijalva, Raul. "Text - H.R.2811 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Save Oak Flat Act." Text. Congress.gov, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. This is the bill that Grijalva introduced to the house and senate. It will give me specific and primary information on what the bill is asking for an how it's constructed.

Jordan, James. "People's World." John McCain's "midnight Riders" Put Borderlands at Risk » Peoplesworld. People's World, 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. This article sheds light on all of Mccain's sneaky tactics over the last 30 years. It provides a key piece of information, which is that McCain was also involved in the last land grab from the apache people: Mt. Graham. It states that he used the same tactics for that as he is for Oak Flat.

Webb, Michaela "Chicken On a Bike" 2013

Narrowing My Focus

In this post I will choose a few questions and explain why I want to explore them more for my public argument:


Where have Mccain and Flake's campaign financing historically come from? What have they historically fought and advocated for?

I want to explore this more because I think that they aren't interested in how the things that they fight for effect people and the environment, but rather how they effect their primary campaign contributers. I think that this is going to be the basis for my argument.


What exactly happened legally with the midnight rider addition to the bill that allowed this to happen? What would need to happen legally and politically to save Oak Flat?

I want to understand the legal circumstances better because I think that that's where the biggest hole in my knowledge is: I don't know that much about our legal system and how these bills work.

Webb, Michaela "Narrowing" 2014