Public Discourse

I participated in public discourse by writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper a month ago. I think that writing a letter was one of the most formal ways to get my opinion out there. In the letter, I complained about having classes whenever the weather was awful. I did this because I was upset that we had classes whenever we shouldn't have. There was too much snow and ice for everyone to get to the campus safely. There are a lot of commuters that go to my college and some couldn't even get out of their driveway. It made me upset that these students' safety weren't even considered. The school's decision to have classes affected everyone who was forced to attend the college. I was not the only one that was mad that we had class those days, either. Someone else also wrote a letter to the editor about the same thing that I did.

Since I wrote a letter to the editor, he at least knew how I felt about the college's decisions. Even though the letter was written after we already had to go to classes, he could think about students' safety the next time that it happens. Hopefully, the school realizes the dangers of having class whenever a lot of the students here are commuters. It at least made me feel better to write to the editor and get what I was feeling off of my chest.

I chose to write to the editor because I was mad that I had to go to class. As dangerous as the roads were and yet classes were still in session! I wanted to make sure that the school knew that I disagreed with their actions. If someone I knew would have wrecked coming to campus on one of those awful, snowy days, I would have blamed it on the school.

My comments

I commented on three different blogs:

Spectrum

The English 201 Cause

English 201!

Blog Analysis

The blog that I analyzed was called And One by Carolyn at http://blog.cleveland.com/andone/ in www.globeofblogs.com. It was mostly about the Cleveland Cavaliers. From the blog, I can tell that the writer is a basketball fan. Her favorite team is the Cleveland Cavaliers, and LeBron James is probably her favorite player. She updates the blog all of the time and seems to be obsessed with the Cleveland Cavaliers. She has tons of facts about the games and keeps her blog very informative. The writer is biased because she is a Cavaliers' fan. She only likes to put the good things that happen for the Cavaliers. She likes to brag about the Cavaliers' wins and follow every game.
The intended readers of this blog would include NBA fans, especially Cleveland Cavaliers fans. One of her assumptions is that her readers are Cleveland fans. In her opinion, LeBron James is the best basketball player in the NBA. People who don't like the Cavaliers,or basketball, would not be interested in reading her blog. She has updated information for every single game that the Cavaliers play. The people who have commented on her blog were agreeing with what she had to say. Her blog lets readers vent about the games and LeBron James' performance. Her obsession with the Cavaliers could turn readers away. I am a Cleveland Cavalier fan, just like she is, so I am a member of the intended audience. I might go back and reread her blog just to see what she has to say about LeBron James.
The writer makes the blog very presentable. She uses photos and videos to make it appealing. She uses informal writing to keep it simple, and it is organized as news would be. There aren't any advertisements on her blog. She relies on her opinion that the Cavaliers are a great NBA team. I agree with her content, like most of her readers do.
The writer is attempting to describe the Cleveland Cavaliers team, broken up game by game. She just wants to inform people what she thinks about the Cavaliers. The message is the same throughout the blog. The only reason to be skeptical about this blog is because the writer is a die-hard Cavaliers fan.

Issues that Interest of Concern Me

Superbowl
Inauguration
Economic Problems
Global Warming
Pollution
Oil Shortage
Getting a Job or internship
March Madness
NBA Playoffs
Steroids in Sports

Types of Public Spheres

Newspapers
Magazines
Television Channels
Newsletters
Bulletin Boards
Websites
Coffee Shops
Libraries
Sidewalks
City Council
Radio
Pamphlets
Journals
Music
Commercials
Billboards
Debates
Facebook
Blogs

Public Spheres

There are public spheres all over the place. They are just places where you can go to talk about anything in public. They are where people go to vent and get things off of their chest.

Some examples of public spheres include blogs, coffee shops, restaurants, and newspapers. Facebook can even be considered a public sphere. People can express their ideas in newspapers, on sidewalks, or on bulletin boards.

I think that public spheres are great. Everyone should have the right to state their opinions. It doesn't matter where they are whenever they express their opinions. People need public spheres to keep our society the way it needs to be. If there is a problem with the government, we as the people can just complain about it and most of the time, we can solve the problem.