Everyday Use: Rhetoric in Our Lives

Activity 1:

Randall Leigh approaches the three people that he tries to persuade to lend him $1.50 for the bus fare all differently. For Brandon, he sounds more casual and rather desperate to get that bus fare to get to the job. He tries to tell him how "important" he is to the store and how much he needs that bus fare to get to the job.

For Kim, he tries to flatter her by calling her the "best friend in the whole world" and telling her being seen with her would make all the men in the school jealous. He compliments her in every way as possible before even mentioning about the money. Also when he asks for the money, he belittles himself.

Then for Nate, Randall reminds him of his previous behaviors and remind him how honest and dependable he is before asking for the money. He makes sure he has Nate's trust first before asking for the money, and when Nate says "You were the best lab partner I've ever had.", he mentions the money and it turns out that Nate has an extra $1.50 to lend Randall.



Activity 2:

-What kind of persona did Randall try to present to each of his three audiences - Brandon, Kim, and Nate?

To Brandon he tried to seem like a good buddy, and to Kim he tried to seem like a sweet gentleman, and to Nate he tried to seem like a dependable person by reminding him how good of a lab partner he was.



-What assumptions do you think Randall made about each of the three audiences- Brandon, Kim, and Nate- that led him to make decisions about how to present his case?

Randall probably assumed that Brandon would be nice enough to lend him $1.50 since they're good friends. He assumed Kim would like his flattery and lend him the bus fare. For Nate, he probably assumed Nate would remember him as the dependable lab partner.



-What kinds of plea, evidence, or proof did Randall employ with each of the audiences to try to peruade Brandon, Kim, and Nate to lend him the bus fare?

For Brandon, he says how he is important at his job, having to answer all the customers' technical questions that the manager can't answer. For Kim, he says that if she does the favor for him it'd make him very happy. For Nate, he reminds him how he should know Randall is an honest, dependable guy from the project they've worked together on.

-What do you think Brandon, Kim, and Nate knew about Randall- his personality, his job, and so on - that led them to react the way they did to his entreaties?

Brandon seems like he's been good friends with Randall for a while, so it seems that he knows him well enough to say no to his entreaty. Kim also seems like she knows Randall well, she knows that he is only trying to flatter her so she would help him out. On the other hand, Nate does not know Randall as much as the other two, however he knew he's a reliable person from the lab they've worked on, so he lent him the money.