Week 7 journal

What do you believe are the 3 most important concepts of the course so far?

And do they align with tattoos? Can we consider tattooing everyday writing?

What everyday writing is, the audience of a piece of everyday writing, and the reason behind a everyday text are what I believe to be the 3 most important concepts of the course. Tattoos can be considered a piece of everyday writing because of the fact the person getting a tattoo is choosing to get one, and choosing what they want to get. But being that you are technically buying a tattoo, or paying for it, it could be argued that it is not everyday. Tattoos can be gotten because that person is trying to take a stand on something, because what they're getting has meaning to them, or simply because they just want a tattoo. To be forced to get a tattoo, to let alone label you, would make tattooing be very institutionalized. The audience of tattoos to me seems most important. First off, you are choosing to get a tattoo in a place that can either be seen, or not be seen. Right off the back you are choosing your audience, and even after the fact you can still choose to hide it. If you were to have a small tattoo on your wrist and your job didn’t allow tattoos, but you got the job, you could cover it up with a long sleeve shirt or a bandage. You're choosing not to show your work audience your tattoo, but if you were in ever day attire you would choose to show it, which is very everyday.

Week 7 Journal

What do you believe are the 3 most important concepts of the course so far?And do they align with tattoos? Can we consider tattooing everyday writing?

I believe that the three most important concepts of the course so far are exigence, or purpose/motivation, audience, or who is expected to read the specific text, and where the text is presented, otherwise known as location. Exigence/motivation is important because it is the catalyst that causes an individual to create an everyday text, and it is the reason that that specific text exists in the first place. Motivation is also important because it influences the location at which the text is displayed. This is due to the fact that depending on what the issue is, an individual, in order to make their text effective, must choose a corresponding place to put it that makes sense and is coherent. The audience is also important because the text, in order to have any effect, must have relevance and be specific to the audience that the author wants to focus on.
These concepts all align with tattoos because behind every tattoo is a story, or a motivation that led that individual to get it. This motivation is, therefore, very important because it led to the creation of the tattoo in the first place. Audience aligns with tattoos as well because depending on what the message of the tattoo is, or how personal it is, the tattoos audience will be specific to this. Audience goes hand in hand with location, because location determines the audience. For example, if the tattoo is really personal and only meant for the individual's own eyes to see, the location will be more hidden and less exposed than a tattoo meant for everyones eyes, like one on the arm or face. 
We can consider this everyday writing because it implements all three of these concepts which we have discussed time and time again in this class. A tattoo is also voluntary and semi casual.

Week 7 Journal

What do you believe are the 3 most important concepts of the course so far? And do they align with tattoos? Can we consider tattooing everyday writing?

            I believe that the three most important concepts of the course so far are the situation, purpose and audience. The situation in which a text is written influences the content of the text. The purpose of the text influences the format of the text and the wording that is used. The intended audience will influence the type of language used in the text and the background information included in the text.

             A tattoo aligns with the three concepts that we have discussed so far. There is a situation behind a tattoo that influences the getting of the tattoo weather it is for a reminder to yourself or a memorial of an event or death. A tattoo of a bible verse would be influenced by a religious event or awakening. Tattoos also have a purpose to them that is only known by the person who gets the tattoo done. The audience of the tattoo is determined by the placement of the tattoo on the person who gets it. If a tattoo is placed on your face the audience is anyone that happens to walk by and sees it. However if the tattoo is placed on a shoulder or somewhere that is covered by skin the audience is the determined by whom the person who has the tattoo shows it too.

            I would say that a tattoo could be a form of everyday writing depending on the purpose for getting the tattoo. If the tattoo is done for a personal reason and is not done from a stencil it could be an everyday writing. There is a personal and unique expression to those style tattoos. If the tattoo is done off of a stencil with a generic meaning the tattoo would not be an everyday writing. Though tattoos are institutional in the training it takes to become a tattoo artist they are also un-institutional in the content of the tattoo.

Journal Week 7 AG

One of the primary aspects of everyday writing that I learned about in this course is for the piece of writing to cause change. Tattoos can certainly cause change; an example would be how people might treat someone with an HIV positive in a different manner than if they didn’t have it. Another important aspect I have learned in this course is for everyday writing to be somewhat unprofessional. This concept is difficult to apply to Tattoos because there are professional tattoo artists but each piece of their work is unique and is influenced by the recipient’s decisions on what kind of tattoo they want. Tattoos can convey very powerful messages without having to use words or be obnoxious (in either size or color) and are something anyone can get, in varying prices and quality, if they desire. A third important concept that I have learned in this course would be the informality usually present in everyday forms of writing.  Are tattoos a form of everyday writing? I would have to say yes because it seems to fit the criteria we have placed for everyday pieces of writing. Tattoos can carry a variety of different meanings and can be found on every kind of person. Tattoos are more unique than other forms of everyday writing in that they are permanent; I would say that most of the other forms of writing we have discussed in class are more temporary than tattoos. Ideally this should mean that more people should see tattoos because of how long they last meaning that they are potentially the most influential piece of everyday writing. The idea that HIV tattoos change how people are treated would be correct since in our concrete definition of everyday writing we determined that they cause change or they have no rhetorical value. The change towards people with the tattoos can be positive or negative but it is definitely there.

Week 7 Journal

The 1^st of what I think would be the three most important concepts of the semester would be everyday writing. That is an easy one simply because I do not remember a single class we have had this semester in which everyday writing has not been discussed. It can be considered one of very few foundations of our course, and I’d definitely consider it THE main concept of the course. Coming in distant second/third, I would go with genre and exigence. Genre is an important concept because we have dealt with a plethora of different ideas/concepts/beliefs that all somewhat derive from a particular genre. We often discuss the many genres that we have either read/experienced in class. Exigence/ rhetorical exigence is a concept that I had never heard of until this course. It has become a very important term, and it is identifiable in almost every situation. Exigence can simply be defined as a problem that cannot change, while rhetorical exigence can be changed. The article on tattoos certainly has relation with regards to the 3 main concepts that I previously discussed. I do believe that tattoo is everyday writing, in large part due to the fact that it is very personal and the farthest thing from being institutionally pressured or mandated. Getting a tattoo falls under the genre of art. Reading the article confirms some of those statements. The exigence in the article is whether those who have contracted certain diseases should be FORCED to get some sort of symbol tattooed on them. That would be the exigence. Having said that, if this actually were the case today, where people with these diseases had no choice but to get the tattoo identifying them as one with the disease, that form of tattooing is no longer considered everyday writing, because the concept of free will and personal intent has been stripped from that person. 

Journal 7

        I believe the three most important concepts of the course so far have been genre, function of texts, and the definition of everyday writing. Through these concepts the idea of everyday writing has been complicated and broadened for me. Texts that I would have never considered articles of writing now make sense in these categories. Tattoos are an example of what this class is teaching me about what everyday writing can be. It seems to me that tattoos are a genre similar to other genres like graffiti. They can be symbols, drawings, quotes, or murals. Their functions can also be similar to other pieces of writing, such as, to remember, to communicate, to express, and to indentify. With this considered,  I do believe, after everything we've covered that tattoos do align with the concepts and idea of everyday writing. If we consider a needle like we would a pen then tattoos are really not that different than what we write in our notebooks or on flyers we hang up. What makes them different is the text on which they are printed, the skin. This serves a purpose that is much different than other examples but still fits in with the definition of everyday writing I have become familiar with. Tattoos are worn on the body by people to express ideas, and as a form of identity for that individual. They are personal, meaning they come from the thoughts of that person and may have a special purpose. They are also permanent pieces of text that can be seen and touched physically. All of these characteristics we have covered as concepts of what everyday writing examples should encompass. Therefore it would seem unreasonable to not include tattoos as everyday writing.

Week 6 Journal

I believe that the three most important concepts we’ve covered thus far are actually the divisions of what defines everyday writing. With my current understanding, I would say they are the importance of having a purpose (or exigence) for writing what ever you’re writing, the importance of that piece of writing not being connected to an institution, and the informality of the actual piece of writing. This being said, would tattooing be everyday writing?

Emily mentioned the difference between institutionalized tattooing of HIV/AIDS victims and tattoo culture as of now. I would have to agree with her and say that tattoo culture as of right now definitely falls under the category of everyday writing, but were we to institutionalize it and make it mandatory for victims to be tattooed, it would no longer be everyday writing. Right now, tattoos (generally) have a purpose to communicate something about the person they reside on. They are not extremely formal as they are worn everywhere. And they are created out of freewill and not because anyone else mandates they be gotten. While the cautionary AIDS tattoo would still have a purpose, when mandated by the government they would be very institutionalized and probably a lot more formal. The “Action=Life” tattoo, or the biohazardous waste symbol, have a certain personality to them, but this is because again, they were made by choice and allowed creative freedom. Were these people forced to get a tattoo of some symbol preapproved by the government to represent HIV/AIDS and then tattooed in a certain area, the creativity and informality would be gone, and so would the tattoo’s identification as everyday writing.