Blog #4 Objectivity, Subjectivity, Rhetorical Situations, and Op/Eds

Your Opinion Matters Too!

For this blog, I want to offer a brief (lol) crash course on what is Objectivity, Subjectivity, Rhetorical Situations, and Op/Eds!

Objectivity and Subjectivity. These are two ways to approach an argument, and both have their uses. Objective writing is primarily fact-based writing, free of any personal feelings or biases. It takes both observable and measurable facts into account when basing an argument or reporting a theory.  It would be commonplace to find objectivity in genres like in a textbook or during a news report. Subjective writing is based on personal opinions, interpretations, and judgments, putting the author’s emotions into words. The word “I” is a key descriptor of subjectivity. You can find subjectivity most notably in biographies, the comments section of a website, and yes, even blogs.

As a writer who has always been required to stay objective when working on research papers and persuasive essays in high school and my early college years, transitioning from objectivity to subjectivity is going to feel truly liberating. Along with providing a wealth of knowledge to support my arguments, being free to also voice my own opinions in the discussion feels like I’m involved, and not just a robot reporting data. It’s a great opportunity to break from that old mold of writing.

Blogs are a great way of responding to rhetorical situations. According to professor Richard Nordquist, "a rhetorical situation is the context of a rhetorical act, made up of a rhetor, an issue, a medium, and an audience." Depending on the genre of blog – a company blog, a technical blog, a news blog, a personal blog – a writer can choose to implement objectivity, subjectivity, or a mix of both. What matters is how a blogger would like to share the information they post to the type of audience viewing their particular blog. Do you want your viewers to rely on your blog as a source of knowledge? Do you want them to sympathize or feel inspired? You decide.

Recently I’ve been reading a few of the rhetorical situations discussed in the op/eds of the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the LA Times. One that drew my interest in particular was the discussion of smartphones, videogames, and computers being responsible for teenage anxiety, but was soon deemed a myth. The reason it caught my eye first glance was that it was relatable to me. As a teenager and even today, computers are my life. It is my source of information and entertainment. Upon hearing it may have been the cause for my introverted adolescence, I was already listing ideas in my head to defend the technology I hold dear. Glad it was debunked. And then it had me thinking. If I were to become involved in op/eds, these are the rhetorical situations I can respond to and discuss. They are what I’m passionate about.

Op/Eds are opinion pieces that discuss current rhetorical situations of today. If you see a major event or controversy discussed on the news last night, you can be sure there are already op/eds being written about them today. The authors of these op/eds write these columns with an purpose, not simply to rant. They voice their opinions strongly and provide a wealth of research and knowledge to propose to their audience a call to action; to see things from a different perspective.

            Op/Eds shouldn't have to feel solely like a intellectual paper that only experts of your field can understand through the technical jargon you use or high-level vocabulary. The column should feel like a conversation with a like-minded audience, who share similar values to the author and can relate to the opinions they subjectively express. Authors offer a piece of their mind while also sharing a bit of newfound knowledge to the audience. But if the audience happens to be a group of highly intellectual experts in your field who would enjoy a sophisticated conversation then by all means go the first route.

Op/Eds are different than news reports and textbooks that merely inform the reader in a solely objective fashion. Each one is unique because of the subjective language evoked from the author. This subjective language is what captures a specific audience’s attention. The author takes a side from the get-go to a rhetorical situation and defends that side with enthusiasm, winning over an audience with similar viewpoints, and making enemies with others who think differently.