0:06 imagine you just got a big award after
0:09 only a few months in your new job or you
0:11 just hit a huge pothole when you'd
0:12 already forgotten your lunch that day
0:15 when the odds stack up in or out of our favor
0:15 favor
0:17 it might send a scrambling to figure out
0:19 why you may have heard the explanation I
0:20 was in the right place at the right time
0:24 or more ominously I was in the wrong
0:25 place at the wrong time these
0:27 expressions focus on instances when
0:29 timing and location really affect our
0:31 outcomes just a slight change in my
0:33 driving route might have saved me
0:35 hundreds of dollars after all timing and
0:37 location are part of context the factors
0:38 that shape a particular situation
0:41 context not only influences our world
0:42 but also determines the range of
0:44 possibilities that can happen in it
0:45 context is an important rhetorical
0:47 concept because deliberately examining
0:49 our location and timing can help us
0:51 become more effective communicators we
0:53 want to give our messages as much
0:55 thought and care as we can so we'll work
0:57 to break down context into some of its
0:59 most useful parts today in study hall
1:01 composition presented by Arizona State
1:03 University and crash course I'm yumna
1:10 we already have an intuitive sense of
1:13 opportune or particularly good times and
1:14 places for our messages if your friend
1:16 just found out she didn't get a part in
1:18 the spring musical you probably know
1:20 better than to brag about your good
1:22 grade on a test still many of us have
1:24 made a context mistake before we looked
1:26 back and thought for example asking my
1:28 friend about her audition right when she
1:30 saw the cast list was probably not the
1:32 best call since she started crying and
1:33 tore up her monologue
1:36 yikes context analysis lets us build on
1:37 her intuition and look more thoroughly
1:39 at what is possible and likely to
1:41 succeed in a given context there are two
1:43 ways to think about the when of a text
1:45 that we're writing both come from Greek
1:46 word Chronos is what we think of as
1:48 clock time which has to do with duration
1:51 sequence dates all the normal time stuff
1:54 it moves at a steady rate tick tick tick
1:55 you get the drill
1:57 Kairos on the other hand is the
1:59 opportune time it arrives unpredictably
2:01 as the right combination of a bunch of
2:03 factors communication that occurs at the
2:05 right Kairat ik moment may have failed
2:08 any other time for example consider an
2:09 employee deciding when to tell their
2:11 boss that they've decided to go back to
2:12 school which could throw off their
2:14 employers future plans and damage their
2:16 relationships sure they can send an
2:18 announcement at any time but there are a
2:20 few considerations of timing that can
2:22 make the conversation go better there
2:24 are basic Chronos related choices if
2:26 they send the announcement to their boss
2:28 at 2:00 a.m. it'll be awhile before she
2:30 sees it plus she might wonder why it was
2:32 sent at such an off kilter time sending
2:33 it during work hours
2:35 or saying it to their boss during a
2:37 one-on-one meeting should go better for
2:38 them but the chaotic moment goes beyond
2:40 the time of day it might be better to
2:42 announce that they're leaving after
2:43 getting a glowing performance review
2:45 instead of right after taking a two-week
2:47 vacation that left a bunch of coworkers
2:49 scrambling who knows if their boss is
2:50 feeling happy when she hears the news
2:52 she might consider letting them work
2:53 part-time or write a great
2:55 recommendation for their next job when
2:56 writing we should think about larger
2:58 cultural and political moments that
2:59 affect whether this is the right time
3:01 for a message too if that employees
3:03 industry has started requiring master's
3:04 degrees for advancement in the field
3:07 their employer might be less surprised
3:08 by their choice to go back to school
3:10 timing really can be everything but
3:12 context is more than just the when it's
3:15 also the where of the text the we're
3:17 like the KY Roddick when can involve
3:20 factors like culture or geography for in
3:22 the resume or CV you submit for a job
3:23 application will look a little different
3:25 depending on your industry and your
3:27 physical location cultural expectations
3:28 in different places govern weather
3:30 including photograph or personal
3:32 information like your hobbies on your
3:34 resume is standard or too casual
3:36 cultural location can also determine
3:38 whether to include slang in your writing
3:39 while geographical location might
3:41 determine whether you can use email or
3:43 have to rely on snail mail however the
3:45 most impactful aware of your writing is
3:47 often the writing medium or the place
3:49 where you're writing occurs or a share
3:50 that location includes things like
3:52 Twitter or the New York Times front page
3:55 or your college application website not
3:57 just Nova Scotia or Cape Town or room
3:59 212 your University consider Twitter as
4:01 an example the word limit on tweets
4:04 restrains the way that we write Twitter
4:05 users may know the feeling of being just
4:08 over the character count and going back
4:09 to cut out parts of their tweet suddenly
4:12 we have to decide whether to be is or is
4:14 not to be we literally write differently
4:16 because of where we're writing and if
4:17 you choose to make a longer message
4:19 Twitter does have the option to thread
4:21 your tweets but if you don't do that
4:23 your messages will appear out of order
4:25 on people's time lines making your rant
4:28 about how chip bags are 60% air and 0%
4:30 chips nearly impossible to understand
4:32 not sticking with the implied rules of
4:34 your medium can ruin your message
4:35 Marshall McLuhan a twentieth-century
4:38 media theorist expanded on this idea and
4:40 made the radical point the medium is the message
4:41 message
4:43 McLuhan point is that your message is
4:44 altered and in many ways actually
4:46 determined by the way you share it with others
4:47 others
4:48 think about it a host reading a four
4:50 sentence news story about a hurricane in
4:53 a sleepy voice on a public radio station
4:55 is going to have a very different effect
4:56 than a reporter saying the same
4:58 information over the howling winds on
5:01 live TV same words totally different
5:02 message our messages aren't just
5:04 influenced by the way that we convey
5:06 them the media creates the range of
5:08 possibilities imagine you write for a
5:10 humor website full of satirical articles
5:12 if you become really invested in a save
5:14 the sea turtles campaign the very fact
5:16 that your website is satirical will
5:18 limit how much you can publicize it
5:19 people come to the site for Laughs and
5:21 critiques so they might think your
5:23 praise of the campaign in that context
5:25 means the opposite you might have to
5:27 find another medium entirely in order to
5:29 share your passion and get the response
5:31 you want that's how much the medium is
5:33 the message context encompasses II
5:35 more than these when and where factors
5:36 so we're going to keep talking about
5:38 them in our next video for now let's
5:40 turn to a technique that will help us
5:42 sort out the timing and location of our
5:44 writing playing the counterfactual game
5:46 counterfactual fancy as it sounds just
5:48 means something that isn't the case this
5:49 strategy is a way of thinking about a
5:51 particular situation as if certain
5:53 elements were different to see if those
5:55 elements would change the impact or
5:57 consequences of your writing to play the
5:59 counterfactual game first take a sheet
6:01 of paper or a new file on your computer
6:03 and write what you want to say at the
6:05 top then create two columns one for when
6:08 and one for where write down every
6:09 factor you can think of that might
6:11 influence how your message is received
6:13 based on those two categories
6:15 keep in mind Kairos or opportune timing
6:17 as well as the medium cultural and
6:20 physical location from there circle the
6:22 most important factors the ones you
6:23 believe will influence your messages
6:25 reception the most write your message at
6:27 the bottom of the page or on a new sheet
6:29 addressing that context yes this will
6:31 look different for each kind of message
6:33 for instance posting your save the sea
6:35 turtles campaign on a satire website
6:37 versus a news website will have a bigger
6:39 impact on your message then whether you
6:41 send it at 9:00 or 10:00 a.m. now
6:43 rewrite your message a few times
6:45 imagining a different situation using
6:47 the items on your list a new location a
6:49 new medium of communication or a new
6:51 timing as you're working through various
6:53 versions of the message you'll see what
6:55 factors are changing it the most those
6:57 factors are the writing tasks critical
7:00 context the factors we most want to take
7:02 into account recognizing these factors
7:03 can lead you to make a change to your
7:04 writing plan
7:06 maybe you'll choose a different location
7:08 or timing depending on which rewritten
7:10 version seems most likely to get your
7:12 message across let's see how this works
7:15 for a writer in action divya writes
7:16 content for the marketing department at
7:18 rockin and rollin a direct-to-consumer
7:20 rocking chair retailer when her boss
7:22 asks her for new slogans for future
7:24 marketing campaigns she decides to play
7:26 the counterfactual game she grabs a
7:27 piece of paper and writes you should buy
7:29 our rocking chairs above her two columns
7:32 for when and where first she writes down
7:34 all the wind actors the premiere of a
7:36 new interior design show could provide a
7:38 chaotic moment for a TV ad she circles
7:40 June and September the months when
7:42 people tend to move since many people
7:44 buy new furniture when they get
7:45 place second she writes all the where
7:48 factors she can think of from cultural
7:49 associations of rocking chairs with
7:51 people who have time on their hands to
7:53 wear her company could advertise
7:55 billboards furniture stores and
7:57 magazines she circles housekeeping
7:59 magazines the factor that really gets
8:00 her attention then she writes a few
8:02 versions of slogans comparing how her
8:04 favorite take time to get to know each
8:06 other works is a 10 second Instagram
8:09 story versus a two-page spread and wrap
8:10 around porch digest looking at the
8:12 changes she's made to her slogan she
8:14 realizes that seasonal timing is key
8:16 since the slogan makes more sense for
8:18 front porch rocking and circles it she
8:20 also sees that her slogan works best in
8:22 media with space for a beautiful picture
8:23 of a porch like the housekeeping
8:25 magazines she originally circled these
8:27 key contextual factors inform her as she
8:29 finalizes her slogan idea her boss is
8:31 impressed with the strength of the
8:33 option she presents he thinks her ideas
8:35 can help rockin and rollin expand into
8:37 new times and locations to advertise
8:40 Divya is a writer in action intuitively
8:42 taking context into account when rewrite
8:44 is good but thinking deliberately and
8:46 systematically about it is even better
8:48 we uncover possibilities and limitations
8:50 that might not occur to us at first and
8:52 we can work with contextual factors to
8:55 create more purposeful text our context
8:56 analysis skills affect whether we're
8:58 successful in a particular writing
9:00 project they also help us avoid being in
9:03 the wrong place at the wrong time which
9:06 you know is a pretty bad place to be and
9:07 kind of cliche to join us next time when
9:09 we dig deeper into the idea of the
9:11 medium as the message discussing the how
9:14 and what of communication with context
9:15 thanks for watching study hall
9:17 composition which is produced by Arizona
9:19 State University and the crash course
9:21 team at complexly if you liked this
9:23 video and want to keep learning with us
9:24 here in study hall be sure to subscribe
9:27 you can learn more about ASU and the
9:28 video is produced by crash course in the
9:30 links in the description see you next time
