Connor Monaco

Rob Cole

ENC 2135

Rhetorical Rationale

I first looked at Project 3 as the most challenging project yet due

to my topic. At first I had no clue how I could fit my topic of radical

Islam into three different genres, especially with the due dates moving

at a quick pace. With that said, this project definitely contained the

most revisions and changes to my work. At first I had some pretty

simple ideas such as a map for genre one, a compilation video for

genre two, and a Tumblr page for genre three. While the Tumblr page

stayed through the process, the map and video with both changed into

different ideas. After having the time to develop more meaningful and

eye-catching genres, I changed my first genre into a Now Hiring poster,

and my second genre into a public survey. I believe the Now Hiring

poster is much more creative than a simple map, and perfectly

incorporates the idea of recruitment in the radical Islamist world. The

poster includes common things that would be listed on a poster for a

workplace looking to hire employees such as what the job entails, what

is required, and how to apply. The twist I put on it includes the violent

routine acts committed by radicals listed under the What We Do

section, as well as the fact that anyone is capable of joining radicals if

they agree to what they believe listed under the Required Skills
section. Also under the How to Apply section, I have also included that

fact that anyone can join, but if they decide to come in contact with

radicals, they must either agree or ultimately die for failing to do so.

For the second genre I have constructed a survey. The survey includes

questions that do not require detailed knowledge about radical Islam,

but rather questions to see the opinions of people regarding

radicalism. The survey was sent to several friends of mine, of both

political parties. Questions entailed points such as how people view

Islam as a religion, how many Muslims they believe are radicalized in

the world, how much of a threat they see in radical Islam, and more.

With the results I have received so far, it is clear that most people

believe that radical Islam is a world threat, there is a relevant problem

in the radicalization of the youth, and most importantly that less than

ten percent of Muslims are radicalized. These are all keys points in

which I discussed in my essay. The majority vote that believes

radicalism is only in a minority of Muslims goes to prove one of my

overall points that radicalism is far underreported in the world today,

as the correct answer for that survey question is more than fifty

percent. For my third genre I decided to keep the Tumblr page, as I

believed it was a solid genre with several ideas from the beginning of

the assignment. The Tumblr includes a variety of pictures including raw

pictures of Muslims expressing their hate towards opposition, burning

of foreign countries flags, and militant children. One picture that is

powerful to me is the picture headed with religion of peace that goes

on to list several Quran verses that read off the violent and radical

actions Muslims are to ultimately pursue. The purpose of that picture

was simply to convince viewers that Islam is not as much a religion of

peace as the world commonly is told. Towards the end of the project, it

was not as difficult as I first saw it. At first I was stuck on my first and

second genre with little work that I could incorporate into them. Once I

changed to the Now Hiring poster and the survey I found it easier to

express my ideas from my central argument. I believe the poster for

my first genre was my most creative piece because I took the original

idea of an enticing Now Hiring advertisement and put a negative twist

on it to depict the negative realities of radicalism. Throughout the

process of the project, expressing my topic into three different genres

primarily taught me how to think outside the box and how to be

creative.