In this exercise I tried my hand at changing my character as a rhetor, varying my tones, in an attempt to better understand how writers can sometimes assume personas for multiple purposes. Writing these three paragraphs in three different personas made me think more so about how I presented myself in terms of punctuation and word choice. I applied this understanding of manipulating ethos to my RA essay where I discussed how Iyer established his credibility to help be argue his point to his audience.

A Traveller’s Persona & A Trip to Disneyland

Version 1: Sophisticated

Disneyland, the self proclaimed happiest place on Earth and one of my favorite destinations to enjoy a holiday. Disneyland is packed with a plethora of entertaining rides, games, and various stores selling anything from crystal like glass to hotdogs. Divided into various themed areas, mostly all ending with the word “land” Disney has a small package of enjoyment for any esteemed guests, however my personal favorite would have to be Tomorrowland. A futuristic location complete with the adaptly named Star Tours ride which is capable of different cinematic endings each time you ride, and a Buzz Lightyear shooting gallery that has you compete with a partner riding in the same buggy as you cruise through the course ridden with targets plastered on Buzz Lightyear’s many foes. Each trip to Disneyland is a different experience with a familiar setting, of joy and laughter, the only variable that can be subject to change is who you choose to spend your journey with.

Version 2: Rude

Damn I hate Disneyland. My parents have had to drag both me and my whining siblings there at least once a year to take some dumb family photos. Truth be told I only smile and go along with what my parents want, to get through Nightmareland just a little bit faster. Everywhere I look there are screaming children, crying babies, and insufferable parents giving into their every demand, moronically teaching them to whine even more next time they don’t get what they want. And I wish that were the worst of it. My family always wants to go on a ride together, and almost always that ride happens to be It’s a Small World. I HATE It’s a Small World. I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure that waiting in a line for an hour or more in the hot sun for boat ride through a cardboard castle filled with creepy singing puppets is the opposite of whatever good entertainment should be. No place on Earth can even compare, ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Disneyland! The most miserable place on Earth.

Version 3: Happy

Did someone say Disneyland?! I think you meant the number one most awesome amusement park in the Western Hemisphere! Disneyland is my absolute favorite place to be, there’s so much to do and see and EAT, that everytime I visit it feels like time fast forwards to the end of the trip. Anytime I go the absolute first thing I have to do is pop on over to Fantasyland (I have at least a bajillion pictures of myself and friends in front of the iconic Disney Castle in dozens of wacky poses), being conveniently placed at the center of the park it makes a great launching point to strike out in any joyous direction. If I’m hungry off to New Orleans Square I go! With multiple restaurants and the Pirates of the Caribbean ride right next door once my meal is over, a trip to New Orleans Square is almost always a must on my trek through the wonderful world of Disney. After stimulating my inner pirate, I often feel like riding the nearby ships in the Rivers of America or going directly to Tom Sawyer’s island in the middle of the lake via a raft, and skamper my way through the surprisingly complex cave systems on the island (admittedly getting spooked a few times by the pirate-y stuff in the tunnels, and lost more than once). After making my way back to the mainland, Frontierland is right next door and who wouldn’t want to ride an exhilarating roller coaster named “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” (riding hands up is a must!). After running through my adrenaline, traveling to It’s a Small World is a delightfully slow and relaxing boat ride through an enchanting castle with dolls representing various nationalities singing together in harmony, an excellent break before some more awesome heart pounding roller coasters! Next is the Matterhorn, a mountain like rollercoaster that resembles its real life brother, and after that I usually would have to rush over to Space mountain to get in line for a totally galactic experience of the space themed coaster. It is usually by this time however that my time in the park is running low, as it’s getting dark and the park is about to close, I frantically hit up Star Tours, and Buzz Lightyear's space shooter adventure, usually running side by side with friends who are just as driven as I to squeeze every drop of fun out of every day at the happiest place on Earth.  

Reflection:

In the more sophisticated writing, I tried to lean more so on facts and descriptions, speaking in the third person in the beginning, and writing with higher level diction to cement credibility. I told a personal narrative to convey my personal take on the park in the second half, to familiarize the reader with an idea of why the park is enjoyable, appealing both emotionally as well as from an objective standpoint as to why Disneyland prospect. In the second paragraph, I used a distinctly pissed off tone, and dry sarcasm to both amuse and appeal to perhaps a similar experience that the reader may have with Disneyland. I used quick short sentences, littered with complaints and berating language to describe my feelings for amusement park, and gave personal story to emotionally get the reader to agree with my point of view that the park. I chose to omit any roller coasters which are connected to the thought of joy and thrill to make my readers have a dark and muted feeling of the park. In my third essay I ran on my with sentences quite a bit, taking my readers through a fast paced adventure through a large and joyous version of Disneyland akin to an innocent child explaining how he/she would view their time. By employing simpler language, far more exclamation marks, and side tangents in parentheses I am trying to get the reader immersed in my journey, and make the park feel genuinely fun, and the trip far to short.