Speech Outline: Analysis of Civic Engagement Artifact

September 6, 2013 by Leave a Comment

 

photo

  1. Introduction – About me, where I live. Where I found this: my hallway in Atherton Hall (how convenient). Assume posted by RA
    1. Who is RA? Is it the responsibility of RA to promote civic engagement?
  2. Description of Civic Engagement
    1. Signage promotes variety of opportunities for civic engagement (save list for next part)
    2. Most intriguing part of this signage: defines civic engagement
      1. “Individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern.”
      2. “Working for the betterment of a community (i.e., Your floor, your building, your area, Penn State)”
        1. How does definition compare to our definition of civic engagement?
        2. Interesting 2nd definition –> employs pathos (“your…your…your”)
        3. Signage assumes ideology of reader–by knowing what civic engagement is, the reader would want to participate–expects an inherent sense that one values his/her community, wants to get involved
        4. Was this signage targeted for people in honors dorms? Would different techniques be used in different locations (i.e. more individual benefits of getting involved rather than group benefits?)
  3. Methods of Civic Engagement
    1. Resident Association – “…promotes the welfare of its residents…”
    2. PSU student organizations – logos “…over 1000 student organizations”
    3. State College community – pathos “State College is your home…become a part…”
    4. Community service
    5. Staying informed – newspaper readership program
  4. Goals of Civic Engagement
    1. Direct: get students involved on campus/with community (even include QR codes to make it easy to get more info)
    2. Behind the scenes: Why was this posted? Sponsored by university–what does university have to gain from encouraging civic engagement? Statistics, marketing purposes, happier, more cohesive student body (happier = spend more?). Just thoughts…
  5. Likelihood of Success of Civic Engagement
    1. Everyone wants to fit in, to have friends, to feel at home on campus
      1. Result: student organizations probably popular
        1. Stats on newspaper readership program
        2. Possibly harder to motivate people to help out in community–have to value community service/helping other people as opposed to oneself
  6. Effects of Civic Engagement
    1. Personal: make friends, feel good/happy, enjoy your time at PSU
    2. Broadly: makes State College/PSU a better place (heightened sense of community, unity)
  7. Conclusion
    1. Potentially effective signage–could be flashier and more eye-catching
      1. Meaning comes from the words, not from the appearance
        1. Relies on reader to stop, read, and think. If you don’t read it, it means nothing (pictures can’t convey)
      2. Once again, interesting technique in defining civic engagement–more mature

 

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