Porter Essay, Research Paper

I: Organizational Pattern: Rogerian

Christa Porter examines what a true friend is. She does this by establishing a presentation with a Rogerian pattern as it?s basis. This pattern is seen in several aspects mentioned by Porter, the more obvious aspect is when she invites the audience to give their opinion of what a true friend is. Porter is basically discovering what the listener?s positions are when asking what they think a true friend is. Porter also reveals her pattern choice when she presents her own ideas, primarily supported by relevant Bible scriptures.

II: Elaborative Devices: Q & A, Rhetorical Questions, Religion, Definition (operational), Discussion, Proverbs

Christa Porter developed her argument and presentation thoroughly by including a slew of elaboration devices. Initially, Porter feels including a short discussion of what the listeners already know, what a friend is, would be very affective. Rhetorical questions play a role in Porter?s development of her presentation, she asks the audience several of these questions relating to what they would do, think and know. Definitions can be useful, especially when you are trying to invite the listeners to disclose what they think the meaning of something is. Porter uses an operational definition to accomplish the task of defining what a true friend is and does

Lastly, Porter takes full advantage of the effectiveness of the usage of Proverbs and religion by using several verses from Proverbs as support for her argument.

III: Interactional Goal: To Articulate a Perspective

One of the easier elements to point out is Porter?s interactional goal, which happens to be articulating a perspective. To see this interactional goal at work just simply take a step back and look at how she develops her presentation. Porter shares information about what a true friend is and then presents her point of view about friendship. She additionally encourages others to become involved in the presentation and discussion.

IV: Conclusion

Porter?s conclusion is short but somewhat effective. I recall when you mentioned in class that the conclusion should actually be a bit longer than those mentioned in our textbooks. Porter sets up her conclusion by providing a situation that shows the elements of a true friendship. The conclusion is accomplished when she compares and contrasts the given situation with a hypothetical friendship with God.

V: Commitment Statement:

This element is one of the easier pieces to disect from the presentation, mainly

because of it?s structure. Porter takes what you called ?the easy way out?, by using the

phrase, ?today we are going to talk about something?. Basically Porter?s

commitment statement is, she wants to talk about a familiar topic (friendship) while receiving new ideas from the listeners.

VI: Opening & Closing:

I saved this analysis for last, because I feel she spent the least amount of time developing these elements within her presentation. First of all her opening consists of only ?Good Morning Y?all?, granted it is a Sunday School class, it still, I feel, requires a more elaborative style. For example, she could have said, ?Good Morning Everyone, God is good and worthy to be praised, etc. Something along those lines would have been more appropriate.

VII: Compare & Contrast:

Porter made some wise choices as well as bad choices. Even though the setting and audience are relatively neutral, because they all know each other, I feel Porter?s opening would have been more effective if slang and trendy word choices had not been used.

As far as bad choices or elements, Porter did not include any such further aspects within her presentation. On the other hand, Porter?s wise choices were made when she used that small discussion at the beginning of the presentation. This discussion enticed the listeners to recall information about realistic relevant happenings in their lives. This sort of provoking is what is necessary to the persuasive nature of

Sunday School.

Another wise choice is when Porter chose to include an explanation of what a true friend is and how that friend may act in a given situation. This was effective primarially because it allowed the listeners to establish a sense of nostalgia within past and present friendships.

VIII: Lastly, Porter?s closing is somewhat embedded within her conclusion. She mention?s that the point of her presentation is trusting in God, but does not add any good-byes, thank yous or at least a closing prayer. Porter?s closing could have been more effective if she said something to the nature of ?so we learned today that…, so let?s say a prayer for all of our friends and friends of our parents?, and so on. Overall, this presentation was short, but effective, with the exception of a couple flaws.