1. My Writing Process Posting 1<br />I wrote one research paper in high school. It was for my senior composition class. Our teacher definitely babied us when it came to this paper. We did basically every bit of the the brainstorming, planning, and writing during class. She gave us specific instructions for how we were supposed to conduct our research, the way our paper was to be laid out, and the exact way our sources were to be cited. This was supposed to prepare us for how research papers were to be done in college. I think my teacher missed the mark. We spent at least a month and a half on one five page research paper. Every bit of that time was spent on in class work. To me, that just seems silly. It's just not how college works at all. On the bright side, I got a pretty good grade:)<br />The Way We Read Posting 2<br /> Asking yourself these questions, when reading, is a useful tool to help you actually retain and comprehend the content. It is too easy to read a paragraph or article or whatever just to be able to say that you have read it. What is the point, though, if you don't actually remember any of it? These questions are also good ways to help you really focus on the content. If you are reading with an objective (to find answers to these or other questions), it is likely that you are paying attention to the reading instead of just skimming over words on a page. Personally, I don't really use any techniques when reading other than memory. Not to say this is necessarily a good way to go about it, but nonetheless that's how i do it. I would most likely get more out of what i read if i wrote down or highlighted certain things that piqued my interest. If you asked me a few years back whether i had to be interested in the subject matter in order to retain what I read, the answer would have been absolutely yes. I saw no reason to read other than for recreational purposes. Now, however, i appreciate learning a lot more and I find that i don't have to be reading a novel or magazine to stay interested. It's weird but I don't even mind reading my textbooks, most of the time. Generally, it's not necessary for me to re-read things again and again. This does sometimes happen if I'm not focused or if i am tired, though.<br />College Experiences Posting 3<br />To me, college is about getting an education that not only allows me to get the job I want someday but, also, so I can be a well-rounded human being. Again, I'm an old freshman so this is probably more important to me than most freshmen. I have worked the crappy jobs and spent enough time with the other workers in those jobs that I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life in those situations. Social interaction is another important aspect of college life. College allows you to interact with people from all walks of life. I would likely not have that opportunity, otherwise. It gives me the chance to hear points of view I may not have considered before now. A small classroom filled with open-minded classmates and an open-minded professor. I like to be able to discuss things in class without people getting offended or upset.<br />Rhetoric; What the Heck is it? Posting 4<br />To me, rhetoric is all of the things I say and do and how these things affect me and the people around me. It is also the way people perceive me, whether it be positive or negative. I affect these perceptions by the way I present myself and my stories. At the same time, I am affected by my audience (all of the people I with whom I come in contact). Rhetoric is a big circle of actions and reactions. Helpful questions to ask when analyzing a rhetorical situation might be quot;
What message is this person trying to convey?quot;
or quot;
How did what he or she said or did translate to this specific audience?quot;
. I would wonder if the language they chose was appropriate and whether they shared enough evidence and intriguing detail to win over their audience.<br />Research Preferences Posting 5<br />When I was in high school, the internet was the only source my teachers ever had us use for research. While I think the internet is probably the best source to use for research, i do think that we should have been taught to employ other sources, as well. To me, a combination of different types of sources would be the best way to research for an assignment. The various types of research would give you a more well-rounded collection of information, and, in turn, a more well-rounded research paper. I think www.wto.org is the legitimate quot;
World Trade Organizationquot;
website. First of all, www.gatt.org doesn't have anything that says World Trade Organization or WTO in the URL address. The quot;
gattquot;
website also doesn't look like it was professionally made. Lastly, the copyright on www.wto.org also says the site and its content are copyright of the World Trade Organization.<br />Citations! Posting 6<br />Clemmitt, M. (2010, September 17). Social networking. CQ Researcher, 20, 749-772. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2010091700.This article addresses social sites eating away at people's privacy and the negative impact that can have on a person's actual life, outside the internet. There is mention of job suspensions because of the contents of that person's Facebook profile.The south Park episode I am analyzing raises the question of whether the person or their profile is more important. Stan's quot;
profilequot;
tries to take him over in an unreal way, but this article gives examples of how a profile can actually take someone over in real life.<br />Greenblatt, A. (2010, September 24). Impact of the internet on thinking. CQ Researcher, 20, 773-796. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from CQ Researcher Online, http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2010092400.This article presents the idea that the internet and social networking are changing the very way we think. It includes a wide range of sources and quotes, from journalists to the founder of Facebook and the author of Hamlet's Blackberry. It is loaded with information I hadn't even thought about. I'll compare the way Facebook seems to take over the minds of South Park's residents with how the author of this article says that the internet is affecting the way we think. Both of these articles will allow me to relate the fictional South Park situations to actual life.<br />Posting 7<br />Since it's the end of the semester, now, I'll have to think back. This is when we were working on our Rhetorical Analysis essays. I think the majority of my learning in this class happened at the very beginning of the semester. When writing my Narrative, I delved into a different kind of writing than I had ever done before. I learned to actually use my own voice i.e. my sarcasm and dry humor. This made writing that essay far less excruciating than I expected. I just don't generally enjoy writing. I did, however, enjoy writing that essay. It was like I was having a conversation rather than writing some informative boring paper. I think that is the biggest help I will take from this class.<br />Posting 8<br />I hope computers never completely overtake the need for real books. It's just not the same staring into a bright eye-numbing screen for hours as it is to actually be able to hold a real paper book in your hand. In a classroom setting, I think computers are just distractions. I can't count how many times I've seen my classmates playing games or clicking around Facebook. While I try not to be that rude, I know I am guilty of this at times, as well. I feel like the students who spend their entire class period playing around on their computers are the same students who have a million questions about things they swear were never covered. On top of all that, I feel like a certain amount of tradition will be washed away if paper books are no longer used. To me, it would just be sad<br />Students A.K.A Customers Posting 9<br /> Higher education should be significantly less expensive, if not free. This would allow for more young adults to enroll in college courses and lift a great deal of stress from many current students who are struggling financially. As a student, I am aware that there are many levels and types of financial aid. These amounts are divided among students from a variety of financial classes. I also know, from my own experience, that these loans, grants and other types of aid do not always cover the high cost of the many aspects of a student's life. The less fortunate students have large grants, basically free money, along with great amounts of loan money available to them. The more wealthy students may not have as much or any aid offered to them, but, to me, this makes sense because they are likely to have parents or relatives equipped to pay for their tuition and other needs. My concern falls with the students are stuck in the middle group. These students are not poor but are, by no means, well off. These students receive a minimal amount of loan money (at times, not even enough to cover tuition) and often no grant money. There is more money available to those who have bad credit or no job or children. The students who have no extenuating circumstance are told there are no extra funds that can be made available to them, so they go to find jobs, which take time and attention from what should be the important matter here, their educationThere are counter arguments. There is not enough money to go around. Then lower or eliminate the cost of education. School should not be a business. Students should not be thought of as customers to fund the universities. Parents should pay for school, that is the American way. I am sure most parents would be excited to pay for their child's higher education, but they are unable. <br /> I want to make this argument to our government. The system is not working for everyone. Some of us are struggling. There should be a major re-do when it comes to education costs.<br />Posting 10<br />1. I didn't plan too much for this writing assignment. I rarely do. I usually just start writing. I do create the ideas in my head, first, however. I guess that is sort of a form of planning.2. On this particular assignment, my lack of planning isn't going so well. Usually, I have more time so an outline or other organized form of planning isn't so important. This time, I've been really busy and an outline probably would have helped me to get more writing done.3. I'm seeing other view points about my topic. Since my topic is something that affects me personally, none of these alternate opinions are affecting my ideas about financial aid.4. My lack of time is probably my biggest concern. Working and other classes make it much more difficult to do the quality of work I would like in all of my classes.<br />Post 11<br />I just finished a group project in my Dance History over the Foxtrot. We had to do a ten minute presentation about he dance. There were three girls, besides me, in my group. Parts of the experience were positive and parts were negative. For the most part, everybody did their part. One girl was a little high strung and she kind of took control of things (possibly, because she couldn't handle anyone else having the responsibility.) Another girl didn't involve herself too much. There was a scheduled meeting that was missed by two of the girls, which meant we had to reschedule the meeting. I ended up missing that meeting because I had orientation for a new job. On the bright side, we did a group review so we were allowed to give the group members the grades we thought they deserved, instead of the professor assigning a grade to a project he didn't know much about. My concerns about group work is that not everybody will do their part (including myself) and that that could affect someone else's grade. For this paper, specifically, I am just hoping we can find a topic we can all agree to write about. I do, however, enjoy seeing the dynamic of a group of people who would, otherwise, likely never have met. It's interesting to see how people deal with each other.<br />Posting 12<br />The only essay that has really translated to other classes is our multi-genre essay. We chose to do this assignment over child psychology. I am a psych major so this definitely relates to my other classes. While the other essays don't really translate to other classes, overall, the works from this class have helped me to grow academically. I did very well on my visual narrative. That was a big boost for my confidence. I was really worried about coming back to school and writing. Doing well on my first paper gave me the bit of drive I needed to do well in English as well as my other classes. I found the textbook readings very beneficial. The readings went along with our assignments very well. The textbook especially helped me with my first paper. I remember thinking back on the examples in the book while I was writing to help me do well on the paper.<br />Portfolio Layout Posting 13<br />For my portfolio, I think I'm going to have each essay on its own page. The blogs will have their own pages as well. The look of the website is kind of going to look pretty classic; subdued colors, matching fonts on all the pages, etc. I chose the classic look because it kind of expresses how I am in everyday life. Plus, I'm kind of a perfectionist and that's the way I think things look their best and most professional. I will probably have images on some of the pages but not too many so the focus is not drawn away from the actual written work.<br />The End Posting 14<br />I believe I deserve at least a B+ if not an A for this semester. I worked really hard to get as much as I could done. I didn't complete all off the blogs. I don't have a great excuse for that outside of my forgetting to do them. Because they were on a website I don't check regularly, they just slipped my mind. I missed the very first blog because I transferred into the class after the first day so I wasn't aware I even had to do a blog. I feel like I did a pretty good job on all of my other assignments. The one essay was late but that was really out of my hands. I feel like my writing has improved greatly because of this class. I learned a lot about how I am comfortable writing. I even started to enjoy writing a little bit. I believe the aspects of rhetoric are going to be a great asset to my writing in the future.<br />