I found this reading especially interesting because I had never really considered my audience as a huge factor when writing. I think as a student it's easy to forget that one day your writing won't be going to the same place it always has been -- a teacher you see and talk to almost every day. Considering your audience when writing beyond just who they are, going as far as what they might be doing or where they might be, seems to be the key to writing pieces that truly speak to people.

The part about this reading that I found the most interesting was the section on cropping, pages 355-357. I had known the idea behind cropping (to eliminate certain objects in a photo) but I didn't really give much thought to it's rhetorical use. Looking at the one photo cropped several different ways on page 356 really made me realize how much impact this technique could have on the message of a photo. While some of the cropped photos are similar, there are some that deliver completely different messages, and look to be completely different photos.

Why is this website so hard to use?

Are the youth of today becoming more mature at a younger age? It’s an issue highly debated amongst adults and young adults. However, I believe it’s important to first define both youth and maturity. Even then, one must also take into account our society today and the society of the past. Is maturity really just an objective quality that changes as violence, drinking, and drug use become more common in the mainstream media? Or has there always been a standard set of mature and immature qualities?