Rhetorical Situation Sheet

Completing this worksheet may take more time than you think. It’s worth the time: The information you gather will help you later when writing up the rhetorical analysis assignment. Take as much space as you need.

Author: Who is/are the author(s) of this text? What are his/her professional credentials and/or affiliations? If credentials or affiliations are not stated, make a logical assumption about their knowledge based on the subject matter (advanced degrees etc.). .5 pt
The authors of this text are R. Fernandez a Texas Manufacturing Assistance at the University of Texas, A. Abolmaali an associate professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Texas, F. Kamangar professor in the Computer Science and Engineering Dept. at the University of Texas and T. Le professor in the Civil and Engineering Dept. at the University of Texas.

Text: What can you find out about the publication (journal name is usually located at the top or bottom of page)? Describe the genre of the text (hint: it’s what you’re asked to search for when retrieving the article from the CCNY database). .5 pts
The journal comes from Transportation Engineering and is property of American Society of Civil Engineering. I entered the words “traffic surveillance” and “cameras” into the CCNY database to find this article. Other words that help find this article as vibration, damping and wind.

Context: What topic/conversation is this text responding to (see abstract or introduction)? What year is the text published? Historically (or currently), what events might have influenced (exigence) the writing of this text? 1.5 pts
The topic of this article is about the use of the CCTV cameras used for traffic monitoring and presenting a better way to capture images with less blur from cameras that are placed high above the ground. In the abstract it mentions about cameras being as high as 65 ft on poles and whenever there is any high vibration which can come from the ground by the cars passing by or by the wind the images come out no good. Historically, CCTV cameras have been used to monotonize traffic in highways to regular roads for safety reasons. The text was published in May of 2009.

Audience: Who is the author’s intended audience? What can you infer about the audience (think about age, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, profession, education, geographic location, religion, political association, etc.)? Look for clues from the text to support your inference (Is it jargon with complex analysis that only those with advanced degrees would understand or is the language understood by the average layperson, therefore, the article is meant for a wider audience and terms are defined [This may include people in a type of business that may have an interest in the research]?).
2 pts
The intended audience of this writing piece is for the city works in transportation as the topics they talk about goes a lot in dept about the math and science behind the ideas of improving the stability in order to capture better images. I would say this is jargon because of the equations mentioned throughout the reading which for a person who is not too familiar with can have trouble understanding it. Also Figure 2-8 might take some time to understand to the average person.

Define the Author’s Project: How do the writers create a research space (CARS)? Are they filling a gap of knowledge that was not addressed in previous research? Are they questioning previous research results? Are they simply continuing the tradition of research to add progress to the specific discipline/field? To gain insight here, read the last one or two paragraphs in the introduction and support your answer. 2 pts
The way they use CARS to catch people’s attention is by first stating a fact and how it has been helpful. In this case they start off with an act which was presented by the US called “The landmark Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (United States Department of Transportation 1991)” and the supports this with a firm language on how this act is supposed to help with improving traffic. They then go ahead to argue about CCTV cameras and how it has been the best for image capturing but it has its flaws as well.

Comparison: Compare the similarities and differences between this original research paper and conventional IMRaD format. How is it similar or different? If there are multiple subheadings, give your opinion on the reason(s) for including them. 2 pts.
The way it is different by first glance is the subheadings since they don’t say which part is what in IMRad. But you can figure it out by going through the text and then you see which could be sub headed as Methos and Results and Discussion. For example, in the original research paper they use the subheading “Prototype Implementation and Test” which goes on to tell the reader about how the testing goes about in this case they talk about the use a simulator for the vibration and prototypes then put figures showing the before and after. In addition to this in the beginning they show about of images of graphs and explain equations which can be seen as this section of the article is the “Methods” part.

Rhetorical Devices: Indicate how ethos, logos, and pathos are presented in the original research paper. If pathos is present, include a direct quote and cite.
2.5 pts.
Ethos: Credibility and trust are presented using the background of the authors. And, if you go down towards the ends there is a subheading titled” Acknowledgments” which also helps bring some trust in this article since it says how the work came to be. Also, there References part looks to be full of other articles. In addition to this in the body of the paper you see that the complex information such as the equations are explained and then referred to certain figures.

Logos: The way logos is presented I would say is by including a piece historical information such as the act of the United States Department of Transportation 1991 which is mentioned in the beginning of the article. And by describing what a CCTV camera can do to monetarize traffic. You can also see Logos used in the conclusion of the article where they give an overview statement and say why mechanical isolation is better.

Pathos (if not present, state that): Not stated, I did not see anything related to emotion.

Citation: Add the correct APA bibliographic entry for this text. Use the citation from the CCNY database (click on the title of your paper in the database, the side menu includes “cite.” After selecting “cite,” a menu will open above. Scroll down to find APA 7th edition). Otherwise, follow the Purdue Owl instructions under Reference List: Electronic Sources— Article For An Online Periodical. 1 pt.

Fernandez, R., Abolmaali, A., Kamangar, F., & Le, T. (2009). Analysis and Development of a Passive Mechanical Vibration Abatement Device for Traffic Monitoring Cameras. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 135(5), 270–278. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)TE.1943-5436.0000003