Monthly Archives: December 2014

That Knot’s Right

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I think I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about knots in my outdoors blog. Although in everyday life you may use one or two knots at most, many outdoor activities require the use of several knots to be successful. And although one may think “oh, I’ll just wrap this rope around it a bunch of times and do a ton of little knots” and it might even work, you are sure to waste a lot of time and cause much frustration getting the knot undone. Although it may seem like a hassle learning knots, I find it to be a relaxing exercise of critical thinking and dexterity.  Since I think it would be pretty hard to describe how to tie various knots in writing, I’d like to discuss how to choose the right knot for the right situation.

The bowline- This knot is used to form non slipping loop. Its advantages include not slipping and ease of untie. The bowline knot is extremely versatile, as I have used it for everything from pulling down a tree to pulling a tube with a boat. The knot can also be tied with one hand for use in emergency situations.

“The” knot- best used for marriage. I cant say I’ve used this one before.

The taut line hitch- this is a very interesting knot because it can hold a load and be adjusted. Its basic function is to provide an adjustable loop. Before applying a load, the loop can be resized, but as soon as tension is applied, the knot ceases to slip. The taut line is useful for tying down tent stakes and tying down loads on a truck.

The clove hitch- this is the knot you would see in an old western movie, when the cowboy is tying his horse to a post. I don’t really think it’s useful for much else besides applications like that- quick, temporary fastening to an object.

The fireman’s chariot- this is probably the most recent knot I have learned and probably the most useless-for me. However, it is designed so a climber can tie to a point on the top of a cliff, rappel down, and then untie the rope simply by shaking it. If you keep tension on the rope it holds, but as soon as tension is lost it comes apart.

The figure 8 knot- this knot is most commonly used for rock climbing applications. More specifically, the figure 8 on a bight is used. A bight is simply a loop of rope. It creates a strong loop like the bowline, but it is more likely to jamb. Climbers like this because that means it is very unlikely to come undone.

RCL Reflections

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Probably the two most important things I have learned in RCL are the various aspects of rhetoric and their significance, along with how to make and give a formal speech. Although I have learned about some basics of rhetoric in other courses, I think that this RCL course contextualized the meaning of the components of rhetoric. This is due to the fact that we not only identified rhetoric in the advertisement project and the civic engagement speech, but we also had the opportunity to use rhetoric in our TED talk and current controversy project. In high school, I don’t remember ever giving formal speeches like the TED talk and the Civic engagement speech, only less formal presentations. Thus, I appreciated learning strategies of effective speechmaking.

I think one last thing I have left to learn in this course is how best to organize communication. Of course, one can choose an organizational format and just go with it, but I find that often slight intricacies of the ideas at hand lead to breakdowns in simple organizational methods. Subsequently, this has been one of my struggles during this class. It takes me a very long time to go from ideation to final product, mostly because I find it hard to determine the necessary scope and appropriate angle to best argue my point. This has a lot to do with organization, because with robust organization, one can clearly identify the significance of each idea. It is simple to write about loosely connected ideas, but good writing comes from ideas that are logically linked and effectively organized. Consequently, my lack of ability to conceive a robust organizational strategy has lead me to producing subpar work.

I think I have done alright with exploring new subject areas. In high school, I mostly wrote about history and books (not necessarily by choice). But in this class I wrote about things that I never have before.