Question 1

Let me first say that this blog assignment is very ambiguous as the answers to these questions should be specific to what you are writing about and who the audience will be.  And since these are general questions based on planning your writing we don’t actually know these two things.  Are we answering the questions in general, or specifically to our first writing assignment.

1.  The purpose of most essays is to educate, announce and persuade.  While entertainment is usually not necessary it could enhance the other three, and in some cases it may be one of the more important purposes.
2. Our classmates and professor may be interested as well as anyone interested in the topic and also have access to the essay.  The reading says that the writing should be catered to at least our classmates.
3. The main people who would be impacted by an essay are those that read it and who also didn’t know the information contained in it.  Specifically a reader who is mostly ignorant to the information, and the conclusions set forth by that information, may be the most impacted because the essay may have changed their mind about a specific toipic.
4. The reader may not know anything about a topic or they may know a lot.  One must know the audience to know how much information to put in, or to know how much explanation is necessary.
5. What the reader needs to know to understand the point of the essay depends on the topic of the essay.  But then again it also depends on who the audience is.  If you write an essay on Quantum Mechanics for your Peers or for a general audience will have a huge impact on how you write it.  The wording and amount of explanation in the essay would vary immensely.
6. From the reading, writers can garner a reader’s interest by doing the following:
   • Beginning by quoting an expert on the respective topic or an inspirational individual.
   • Beginning by offering some statistical evidence that is both informative and intriguing.
   • Opening with a striking mental image.
   • Appealing to the reader’s emotions.
   • Raising a question or series of questions.
   • Presenting an explanation or rationalization for the essay.
   • Including a personal anecdote.
   • Stating in the middle of a story with the conclusion of the story existing as the first sentence in the conclusion paragraph.
7. The level of language is once again catered to who the audience will be.  If it will only be read by peers than more complicated jargon will be used.  The potential vocabulary level will also be dictated by the audience.
8. The tone of the topic will once again be dictated by the audience and also the subject matter.  One will not try to write a comical essay for a serious and sad topic.

Question 2

In light of the recent protests sparked by the unjustified and tragic murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minnesota Police, many more of us have become aware of the inequalities African Americans face in regard to how they are treated by the police here in the United States. These inequalities were always known by some, including Emory Douglas, former Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers, who was also an artist, designer and illustrator.  In 2015 Mr. Douglas remixed, or re-imaged, a poster for the Black Lives movement that he originally created and published in the Black Panthers periodical back in 1976.  The images when placed side by side, show that although things may appear to be better for African Americans on the surface, they are still fighting for equal justice under the law that still eludes them some 40 years later.