Rhetorical Activities

1) The two magazines I found laying around my room were Glamour and Women's Health. Each of them had articles on two subjects that were relevant to the end of summer and beginning of an academic year: weight loss and the Human Papilloma Virus. The writers created kairos by taking advantage of the fact that the magazines are issued a month earlier than they are implied for, the September issues are available in August, to offer knowledge for women to shed some extra pounds (or maintain their diets) before the summer is over and people start to cover their bodies with more layers of clothing. Also, since magazines like Glamour are targeted for younger, possibly collegiate, aged women the articles on HPV were kairotic because they know that girls are starting a new academic year and should take advantage of student health offerings of the vaccination. The author in Glamour also used her article to mention a few other "health watches" that women should pay attention to after their "summer flings" just as the author in the Women's Health magazine used the opportunity to talk about new recipes that are "healthy" and that use "fresh fall foods".

4) As I was moving back into my apartment a few weeks ago, a guy was walking down my street on the way to grab himself some dinner. He saw me struggling to haul my suitcases and trash bags full of clothes up three flights of the rickety stairs we call our "fire escape" and he stopped and offered a helping hand. I was the only one of my roommates around and had at least five more trips to go, so I gladly accepted his offer. Twenty minutes later, after he had not only carried the heaviest bags each trip, but also made the last two trips on his own while I stopped to call my dad and let him know that I had safely made it to school, I offered the guy a beer. It was the only thing I had to offer that seemed reasonable for everything he had just done for me. Surprisingly, he declined. I wasn't offended, but I was curious as to why a young guy in Morgantown would decline free beer and he replied with the fact that he was underage and he was being deported to Iraq in a few days. As he continued to tell me about the training, testing and pressure he had gone through in the past few months, I couldn't help but feel sorry for this kid, literally a kid, who was about to go serve our country, protect our citizens and honor our patronage in another country and yet not be able to sit and have a beer with me. Why is it OK for him, an eighteen year old, new graduate of Morgantown High, to pick up a gun and go thousands of miles away from his friends and family to be scared out of his skin with visions that he was just legally allowed to witness in the movies, and not have this beer with me?