January 17, 2014
As I sit in the Avery 105 computer lab, I notice the various types of rhetorical strategies that the room applies to send a particular message: feel free to use the computers provided, but please respect the equipment. On all four of the walls, there are posters that provide us with instructions as to how to log into the computers, how to open Microsoft Word, and to keep your USB extension hooked up. Lined up along the walls are rows and rows of wide screen Apple Macs attached to small keyboards. The arrangement of the multitude of these high tech computers lures students into the space, while the posters give us directions as to how to use the computers properly.
In the computer lab, there is a sign that reads "Silence Your Cell Phone." There is also a rule prohibiting open lid drinks and food. Both the poster and rule blatantly hint to students that quiet behavior and keeping your station clean is encouraged. In addition, the arrangement of the room - the computers facing in opposite directions - discourage social interaction with other students and coerce me to refrain from verbal communication. This causes myself and other students to focus on a specific assignment or project that we may be currently working on.
From a figurative standpoint, the students are being addressed by the Avery computer lab to appropriately utilize the resources that the lab offers for academic purposes. In order to deliver this message, the lab uses tangible code such as posters and rows of open computers. One of the means that Avery attempts to relay the messages to WSU students is through electronic emails, ads, and notifications. Additionally, print media such as fliers and consultants are used as forms of contact as well.
All of these methods of contact and code elicit a feeling of kairos from me. Here, the Avery lab is providing me with up-to-date computers that have the latest software programs that my home laptop lacks. The lab offers me the opportunity to take advantage of these computers to complete assignments that require newer programs and to print assignments. On the other hand, the computers also give me a feeling of metanoia. In the lab, I am surrounded by advanced technology while back at my room I have a five-year-old Dell PC that is starting to break down on me (granted, it does not help that I am very talented at catching viruses). Due to the benefits that the Apple Mac computers offer, I regret that I do not own one of my own. I also regret that I do not know how to use all of the versatile software programs that Macs offer like Photoshop. So, despite the great academic resources that the lab delivers, my relationship with the Avery lab is bittersweet.
In the computer lab, there is a sign that reads "Silence Your Cell Phone." There is also a rule prohibiting open lid drinks and food. Both the poster and rule blatantly hint to students that quiet behavior and keeping your station clean is encouraged. In addition, the arrangement of the room - the computers facing in opposite directions - discourage social interaction with other students and coerce me to refrain from verbal communication. This causes myself and other students to focus on a specific assignment or project that we may be currently working on.
From a figurative standpoint, the students are being addressed by the Avery computer lab to appropriately utilize the resources that the lab offers for academic purposes. In order to deliver this message, the lab uses tangible code such as posters and rows of open computers. One of the means that Avery attempts to relay the messages to WSU students is through electronic emails, ads, and notifications. Additionally, print media such as fliers and consultants are used as forms of contact as well.
All of these methods of contact and code elicit a feeling of kairos from me. Here, the Avery lab is providing me with up-to-date computers that have the latest software programs that my home laptop lacks. The lab offers me the opportunity to take advantage of these computers to complete assignments that require newer programs and to print assignments. On the other hand, the computers also give me a feeling of metanoia. In the lab, I am surrounded by advanced technology while back at my room I have a five-year-old Dell PC that is starting to break down on me (granted, it does not help that I am very talented at catching viruses). Due to the benefits that the Apple Mac computers offer, I regret that I do not own one of my own. I also regret that I do not know how to use all of the versatile software programs that Macs offer like Photoshop. So, despite the great academic resources that the lab delivers, my relationship with the Avery lab is bittersweet.
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