How Different Genres Effect Message and Audience: the Investigation of Parking at UNCG - Report Example

How Different Genres Effect message and Audience: a case study of parking at UNCG PART 1: Concerned Student: Parking Operations & Campus Access Management The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Walker Avenue Parking Deck PO Box 26170 Greensboro, NC 27402-6170 Ref: The Issue of Parking Space around Campus As a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I take this early opportunity to thank the university management for the significant growth that the university has experienced in the last few years. As a result of this growth, the university has become a part of a dynamic metropolitan area that continues to make a substantial contribution to the region’s expansion and development. However, I wish to use this opportunity to present a critical issue that needs immediate attention from the university management. My issue is premised on the apparent shortage of parking space for students, leading to extrapolation of prices for the few available parking slots. This has meant that students have to pay substantially high charges (up to 2$ for the first hour then 1$/hour, and all day 7$) if at all they are very lucky to find an available parking space (The University of North Carolina at Greensboro 1-2). The result of this dire situation has been the incessant lateness to classes as students struggle to find empty spaces to park their vehicles. Even as the university strives to achieve its growth and expansion objectives, I strongly believe that the expansion of parking spaces should go in tandem with the overall growth of the university (Ison& Rye 23-29). There is a need for a new thinking on how people get into and out of the university. According to a survey conducted on commuting students and staff, it was found that about 80% of people now drive alone into the university. The fact that the university allows any person to purchase a permit and secure a parking slot in the university parking facilities means that there is stiff competition among freshmen, on-campus students and individuals residing near the campus. The lack of parking has affected student participation in extra-curricular activities. Nevertheless, the problem of parking has no effect on the performance of student in class. For example, a recent study have shown that lack of parking space has been causes the cancellation memberships to recreational clubs. The problem of parking spaces in campus can be attributed to the conduct of parking officials. Student do blame parking officials for mismanaging parking slot for students. As personal testimony, my experience with these officials has demonstrated to me that the officials are completely unprofessional and incapable of addressing the problem with uttermost care and diligence. My finding has shown that the parking officials are not supervised by anyone. Indeed, they have engaged in all sort of malpractice such as selling ticket and then hiding it as well as selling to ticket to other students the following day. The problem has continued because when student reports their case the official in the parking department to not act on them. The malpractice are summarily denied and the culture of impunity allowed to flourish. The only conclusion that one can make here is that the situation will not change in the near future if at all there is no external intervention. As a matter of immediate attention, there is a need to establish measures aimed at bringing some sense of sanity in the current parking menace at the University. First and foremost, ticket patrol should cease during spring and fall breaks, as well as during all other holidays. It is clear that parking is not at a peak during those periods, and the cost of parking police can be minimized. Secondly, there is need to increase more parking slots as the University grows (Hess &Shoup 22-26). The management needs to find a way of accommodating the rising student numbers rather than increasing parking charges as a means of limiting the number of people driving around campus (Shoup 6-12). There is a need for change also to build vertical structures rather than horizontal to create more space for parking. Lastly, the idea of reserved parking spaces appears unfair to students and other staff. On many occasions, these spaces are left empty as many faculty members only come to campus in a limited number of days every week. Furthermore, these slots are left vacant during the summer sessions. It is unfortunate that only the faculty members have the financial ability to pay for the reserved spaces. Perhaps houses could be a good solution although the additional cost of parking in the deck would be discouraging. Thus, what the students and members of staff need as a matter of urgency are more parking spaces at a low cost. Kindly consider reviewing these recommendations with a view to making changes that will address the problem of limited parking spaces once and for all. Yours Sincerely, Concerned Student, Signature -------------- PART 2: The major objective of using rhetorical appeal is to present an argument in a very effective way. The rhetorical appeals entail various strategies that a writer employs in their text to persuade the audience to adopt a specific idea or consider the recommendations presented in the argument. In the business letter regarding the issue of parking spaces at UNCG. Several aspects of rhetorical appeal have been employed with an aim of driving the university management into taking keen consideration on the issues presented and hopefully, adopt the recommendations presented by the student.The major elements included in the in the letter above include; word choice, examples, diction, statistics, tone, and illustrations. All these aspects can be regarded as the elements of pathos, ethos, and logos that form the backbone of any convincing piece of writing. Even though, there are many forms of rhetorical analysis, the focus of the above letter is specific to the problem of parking space. In this regard, the above letter can be thought to target an intended audience and the likelihood of the success of the strategies and recommendations presented by the student. Firstly, the aspect of the ethos is very evident in the letter presented by the student. The ethical appeal presented here is aimed at convincing the university management that the author is somebody worth listening. In the above letter, the author gives the impression of a concerned student, and the management has the responsibility of listening to the issues presented as they affect the whole student fraternity. By presenting several instances where the lack of parking space has negatively impacted student life. The Student writing demonstrates that the argument is based on experiences, and hence the importance of addressing the issue of parking space. The use of logos is also reasonable where the author uses professional and strong words that do not sound overly emotional. Even as the student regrets the state of parking spaces on the campus, there is an open acknowledgement that the university has undergone tremendous growth, and hence the strain on available parking space was not unexpected. In this regard, the use of logos projects the author as an advisor and not as a critic. When it comes to Pathos, there are a lot of persuasions aimed at appealing to the audience’s emotions. The manner in which the student presents the issue of lack of parking space at the University presents at strong emotional appeal to the management. The student goes ahead to state the major effects that the lack of parking space has caused the student population and members of staff. These issues include lateness to class, inability to participate in recreational activities, and the heavy toll that high parking charges have the students’ financial well-being. In so doing, the author of the letter understands that the audience has emotions and hence the need to engage the management emotionally. By making the emotional appeal, the author intends to engage the management with the issues at hand with the hope that the matters raised in the letter will be given priority. The appeal to pathos in this regard is intended to make the audience not merely respond emotionally to the issues presented, but to identify with the issues raised by the student. Finally, the use of logos in the above argument can be seen in the manner in which the student tries to convince the management by use of logical reasoning. There is a deep sense of internal consistency in the issue that the student presents to the university management. The whole argument revolves around the limited parking spaces that have become detrimental to both students and staff members. The use of supporting evidence by the student serves as the logical appeal of the overall argument. It is clear that much of the information presented by the student in the letter is facts that represent the truth of the matter. For instance, the fact that more than 80% of students drive to the campus every day is a fact that derives from the increased number of student in recent years. Another important aspect of logos that can be derived from the letter is the use of deductive as well as inductive reasoning. For instance, the student reminds the management that the current trends of increase in student population mean that the issue of parking space will result in a greater problem. Therefore, succinct measures need to address the situation in a matter of urgency. In conclusion, it is possible that the student has applied all elements of stylistic appeal in drafting the letter to the concerned department in the university. With such application of the elements of confrontational writing in the letter, there is a high likelihood that the management will take the matter seriously. Moreover, they will initiate necessary measures of dealing with the issue of parking at the university. Works Cited Hess, Brown &Shoup, Donald. Fare-Free Public Transit at Universities: An Evaluation, Journal of Planning Education and Research, 2003, 23 (1); 11-76. Ison, Stephen & Rye, Tom. The Implementation and Effectiveness of Transport and Demand Measures: An International Perspective. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing, 2010, Print. Shoup, Donald. The Politics and Economics of Parking on Campus. California: Department of Urban Planning, University of California, 2012. Print The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Parking Operations & Campus Access Management Parking. uncg.edu. Web. 09 February 2015C:\Users\HP\Downloads\. Uncg.edu.Web. 09 January 2015 http:\campusrec.uncg.edu\member-services\parking-pass\ Read More