Reading Response Week 4
I really liked the readings about rhetoric and writing and the different contexts that you must write in. I don't really ever think of who is going to be reading what I'm writing or what type of context I should write in, but after reading these chapters I will start to. It's important to put yourself in the readers shoes and try to think of how they will be reading your writing and any questions or thoughts they might have. In doing this you can put together a better writing and you will make it easier for the reader to enjoy and understand.
The jetBlue passenger video I watched was shot by a guy and some friends over a two day period when they were trying to get out of New York and get home. You could clearly see their frustrations with the situation and they did not seem very happy with jetBlue's service at all. The video does a good job showing the amount of time all of the guys were in the airport and it kept showing how much time had elapsed and where they were. Even when they were finally getting flights taking off only half their group was able to get onto a plane via standby tickets. The other two guys had to stop over in Chicago and then finally get a flight home to California. The video also shows the guy talking about trying to go talk to client services in order to get a voucher to get their money back. There was a long line and it seemed like it was going to take a very long time trying to get a voucher or a refund. The guys had to spend over 2 days trying to get back home and it was a horrible situation for them and for all other passengers.
The audience I am addressing is anyone who didn't know what happened with jetBlue and some passengers to see how others feel about what they went through. I think if other passengers read this they could probably relate to what the guys in the video had to go through because they probably had to wait a long time to catch a flight or get home. They are probably still upset about it and they might still be mad at jetBlue for the delays. I tried to write this in a context that shows I feel sorry for what they had to go through and that hopefully they will never have to go through anything like this again.
Comments
Comment
I agree that many times I find myself not paying close attention to who I am writing to and how I am addressing a certain situation. After reading from the text I did find that context is very important when you are writing and you must see from their point of view as well. If you do not do this you could many times upset the people reading or they may not think that you understand what has gone on.
The audience for the letter that we are supposed to be addressing is just the passengers and customers that had to deal with this situation. In the press release we are dealing with the general public, but in the letters we are only writing to our customers. I believe that this is stated in our project outline when it describes each step.
Audience Importance
Knowing the audience of your material is very important. It will make a huge difference. Addressing the wrong audience could cause even more frustration with a company like JetBlue. Many customers may not consider turning to this airline anymore for business. In regard to our class project, you probably would find it helpful to write the letter focusing on your target audience and then read it as if you were a member of this audience. Put yourself in the situation and think about the things you would expect to see if you were this person. As you mentioned, feeling sorry is important. However, I think you need to have more than just that.
Reply
I agree with writing directly to the audience affected by the events of February 14-18. In the project summary, it says to write a business letter from JetBlue to the customers affected by the crisis. It would almost seem unreasonable to try to write to those on the planes, those who were affected because of the people on the planes, and then those who were not affected at all but JetBlue wants them to fly with them in the future. I would suggest limiting it to the first one or two mentioned to make it feel more personable to those directly affected with JetBlue's mistakes.
Comments
I also felt it is important to put myself in the readers shoe after reading about rhetoric and writing from Thompson Handbook. I think after deciding who my audiences will be for my writing, I should try to stand closely at their side asking questions to myself what they would want to hear about. So I think it would be better to set your audience to those who were directly affected from the event. That way you will be able to develop your ideas and words more effectively since we have researched for video clips and articles able to understand their frustrations and discomfort at the airport. I agree that being in apologetic tone through whole letter is important as well giving them enough explanation about what steps are being made to satisfy customer’s right.