Blog 13A: Outline

Title: Learning to Write

1.   Introduction: Writing is a developmental process.

a.   Thesis: Through education, people are taught the five fundamental steps in the writing process and rhetorical tools one can use to create a well-rounded paper that reaches an audience.

2.   Body: 5 steps of writing and tools

a.   Prewriting- brainstorming

b.   Drafting- writing

c.   Revising-rearrange, remove or add parts, replace overused or unclear words, and read it aloud to chaeck for other mistakes such as flow

d.   Proofreading- correct grammatical errors

e.   Publishing- finalize the paper (turn it in)

f.     Classification/ Division- organizational tool where you take a whole, divide it into parts, and arrange in an order of importance

g.   Definitions- explanations, two types (formal-general, extended- detailed)

h.   Description- subjective /objective detail, compare/ contrast, visual aid added

i.     Cause/ effect- reveals a continuous pattern, used to organize events

3.   Conclusion: Making a story last such as Romeo and Juliet.

a.   Mutability/ Plasticity- the quality of being capable of change to coincide with a generation

b.   Piecemeal- short scenes

c.   Windows of Opportunity- new perspectives perceived by an audience from the original version

d.   Open- ended closures- author tells audience there is more to the story, but they must go find it on their own

e.   Last Sentence: Even though one learns he five stages of the writing process as a child, throughout time and more education an author learns more and more techniques and tools that create a well-written paper, or even book that may become as famous as the Harry Potter or Twilight series.

Blog 11B

Blog 11B

            English 1010 has been beneficial to me and my writing. I have found that the most helpful elements of writing that I have learned over the semester are learning the different types of rhetoric and the tools I can use to improve each essay. I especially thought that the articles, even the ones that made my eyes bleed, were helpful in understanding each type of rhetoric and its importance.

            The types of rhetoric that I have learned are narratives, descriptions, and definitions. Narratives include story grammars. That means characters, a plot, a theme, setting, and resolution. Narratives are very different for each person because we each have a different imagination and our own personal stories. Descriptions help the audience to visualize something. As if they can really see it. Descriptions can be aided by the use of an actual visual, or picture, to help the audience fully grasp the concept. Definition rhetoric usually focuses on explaining or describing a certain subject to inform the audience completely. This type usually does include descriptions and can be broken down into many parts such as formal (short definition), extended (complex definition), and process (how something is done).

            With each rhetoric an author can include compare and contrast or cause and effect in each easy. This is when the author describes something to the audience by showing the similarities and differences; or with cause and effect, shows how a sequence of events were each sparked by its prior event. An author can include many of each type of rhetoric or tool in a single essay. The purpose behind these tools is to help the audience understand and grasp the meaning of the paper, and to being fully informed.

Blog 11A

We have been taught for many years that any essay should be based around the 3 elements (introduction, body, and conclusion).  But, is this enough information to form a fully informative essay? I think not. I do agree that the these three elements are the basic foundation for all essays, but in order to establish a higher order thinking for the audience, there should be more information.

To start an essay, the writer should know and find out a few things such as: what they are writing about, establish what the audience knows, needs to know, and decide what tools they are going to use in order to reach a desired audience. After gathering the needed information, it is essential to discover the thesis behind the paper. In my opinion, it is the most important aspect in any paper. The thesis decodes the purpose of the writing and informs the audience of the information they will find in the paper.  

The most common methodology used to write my blogs is first a rough draft. It mainly includes the body of the essay and the most information. It is important to get the information you already know out. Second, add a conclusion. This is when you summarize the body of the paper and normally includes a call to action and a restatement of the thesis. After adding an introduction, revisions are the next step. Draft after draft help to improve the essay. Also, peer reviews are important to any paper. Critiques help make any paper better.

Blog 9A

Classification and Division is a tool used when writing definition rhetoric. With classification and division, the author can explain the key elements in a more organized way and put them in an order of importance, making the purpose and meaning more clear for the audience.

Classification is the act of deciding what something is and putting the parts into categories. Division is the process of taking the individual parts and putting them in an order that the author decides. By breaking a large group of ideas and scattered thoughts into small groups, the author can then put them in an order that will make audience identify and recognize similarities and differences.  Comparing and contrasting the small groups, the audience can gain a better understanding of the item as a whole.

An example of classification and division that is seen by many people every single day would be newspapers. Newspapers are dividing into sections (news, sport, comics, etc.) and put in an order that makes things easy to find for the readers.

Classification and division is a great tool for writers to use when explaining a long process, or trying to define an item with many complicated parts. The writer must be prepared to plan the rhetoric ahead of time, but it makes for clear, concise paper where the readers can gain a full understanding.

Blog 8B: Extended Definitions

Authors often include extended definitions in their rhetorical writings for better audience comprehension. Extended definitions are more complex and give the essence of a word or its nature. It can be broken down into description of subjective and objective detail, compare/contrast, and process. Process is the one I will be describing because it is involved in my article. Process is when the author defines how something is done in great detail. Processes can be put with a visual aid to help the audience understand more about what is being done.

In my article, there are three examples where process is being used.

1)      “Micrographia”: the process, or condition, where someone’s handwriting  is legible at first, but shortly become illegible and very small; the effects of this condition can be lessoned when intense, physical activity has taken place, causing the muscles to contract often

2)      “Scientists have known for some time that in lab animals, forced and voluntary exercise can lead to different outcomes.” : Lab mice voluntarily run on the running wheel when one is placed in their cages. If you place the rat on the treadmill and force it to keep the same pace for a period of time with electric shocks then the activity becomes involuntary. This forced exercise proved that this form of activity can cause better results on the cognitive tests and an increase number in brain cells being formed. This experiment helps prove Dr. Alberts theory that intense workout helps motor control.

3)      “This is not a cure…”: Dr. Alberts wants to verify that patients and families of Parkinson’s should not believe that this forced activity will completely stop the tremors caused by this neurological disease. But rather, just lesson them for some time. He wants his patients to believe that they can involve themselves in everyday activities and be ashamed of their disease.

Blog 8A: Defintions

            Definitions are very important when trying to give the audience a better understanding of the writing. Especially if the writer includes something from a specific culture such as “Pioneer Days” if the writer was from Utah, someone from Georgia would not understand what that means. We use definitions everyday to explain and inform the audience. There are two types, formal and extended. Formal is simple, short, and straight to the point. Extended shows the nature of the word, what about the word is essential. A writer can include exemplification, compare and contrast, process, description of objective and subjective, or classification and division in their writings. I will not go over all of these because then I will be giving you a long essay.  However, I will explain process because it is used as an example in the next paragraph. Process shows just how something is done in complex detail, and images can be used.

            In the New York Times, there is an article called “What Parkinson’s Teaches Us about the Brain” by Gretchen Reynolds. In this article, she is providing an extended definition of the process of how bicycling can help Parkinson’s patients lose their tremors for awhile. The doctor being interviewed says that for this experiment, they cannot get the same results on the lab rats, which leads to more explanation and definition process from the author of the article as to why this is. The author uses many definitions to explain how bicycling controls the nervous system and why this form of exercise can help the Parkinson’s patients.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/12/what-parkinsons-teaches-us-about-the-brain/

Blog 7A

          Visual, compare and contrast, and description are a few types of subject specific rhetorics. By using these types of rhetorical terms for your paper, the audience gains a clearer pathway through the paper. It allows for more comprehension and the audience may even gain meaning from the text. Adding a visual aid is always a good idea. Our culture is visual based; everyone has to see it to believe it. The writer of an effective paper will reach a desired audience very easily by using one or many of the subject specific rhetorical terms and by using visual persuasion. Visual persuasion is a how so many companies, authors, and artists are gaining recognition. Everywhere we go, no matter what country, people get charmed by the visual imagery every day.

          A few rhetorical tools are subjective/ objective detail, flashbacks, gazes, purpose, and propaganda. Subjective and objective detail is used when describing something or someone. Subjective is used to describe the intangible aspects such as a characteristic, personality trait, or a memory. Objective detail is used to describe the stuff that one could touch such as the color hair, the color of clothing, and the description of the background. Flashbacks is tool used in texts that takes the narrative back in time. There is a change in verb tense making it very clear for the audience to see. Flashbacks are used by authors to create a mood, setting, or to set up a feeling or emotion for the audience. Gazes are used by the rhetor to show their opinions and are mainly used to convince an audience to feel or act in a certain way. Purpose is the reason behind writing the text. The purpose could be to reflect, inform, persuade, or evaluate. Propaganda is a type of rhetoric that can mostly be found in time of war, when there is one side trying to gain more supporters. Propaganda is usually a short text that is aided by a visual that draws the attention. There are many rhetorical tools and terms that can be used in many forms of writing.

Blog 6A

Visual rhetoric is commonly used by many sources. It is most commonly seen in advertisements to try to grab the attention of the audience. However visual rhetoric can be used as a very useful teaching technique. Many people have even learned that they are visual learners. This means that they cannot comprehend a concept fully without a picture or diagram. Many visual teaching aids have been created to enhance the learning of students such as Venn diagrams, line graphs, pie charts and the use of video clips have also been found to be useful.

Comparing and contrasting can be essentially useful in visual rhetoric when trying to fully analyze two pieces of work. When looking at the similarities and differences of two visuals, the viewer can analyze the color, the people, and the time of the picture more clearly as compared to when one visual stands alone. When the works are side by side it becomes a great tool to differentiate the main ideas and the creator’s message of the pieces. Comparing and contrasting is a great tool when evaluating pieces of work.

Rhetorical Gazes

Rhetorical gazes are a type of technique used by writers to convey different perspectives, feelings, or actions. This tool can be used to capture a specific audience and convince them to think or act a certain way. The writer can add art or short, easy to remember mottos within the gaze to aid in the persuasion of reaching the favor of a desired audience. Rhetorical gazes are located everywhere, even in places we would never expect. The goal of the gazes is to grab the attention of an audience, and for the audience to still remember the gaze even after the gaze is no longer in sight.

The different types of rhetorical gazes are political, familial, and travel. A political gaze is used by governmental agencies to gain support or patriotism, or rather, to reach an audience based on their nationality. Political gazes often are seen as propaganda.  A familial gaze is used to reach an audience on a sentimental level, often including pictures of families or children. A familial gaze is something personal and is often something that is familiar to the general population. Last, is the travel gaze which is based on the enticement from travel companies. Travel organizations often use visual aids to make the audience want to be in a different place, away from home, where they can create memories. These are the most commonly seen on billboards, bus stops, and advertisements everywhere.

This is an ad used by Delta Airlines to convince you to use their airlines when flying to Cape Town. The beautiful picture makes you want to be there and experience Cape Town.

Blog Week 4A, Cause and Effect

Cause and effect papers have many benefits. This type of paper uses an organizational pattern and the audience can easily recognize a sequential pattern that reveals the continuous, consecutive, and fluid movement of ideas. With cause and effect, one can distinguish what sparked a series of events that may lead to a culminating event. The cause and effect style is mostly seen in social studies text books since the author is presenting abstract concepts, facts, and generalizations. With this style, a writer can reach an audience by explaining the background of the cause following with thorough information on the events, or the effect, that was the result of the cause. By doing this, the writer is helping the reader comprehend the events and hopefully grasp the meaning behind the paper.

The writer can better analyze a cause and effect paper by using the Question Network. This learning tool helps the readers understand the text structure. The Q Network consists of two stages: guessing the identity of the major events in a textbook and asking scaffolded questions to determine the relationship between the main event and the prior or contribution events. If one does not ask questions to find the answers, then how can a reader hope to truly understand the meaning? Some questions are what is the author saying and what words are being repeated within the passage? With questioning, the writer can better analyze a cause and effect paper if the paper is written in a clean and concise manner.

Blog 3B

Peer editing is very important because it allows for the writer to see how his message will be perceived by the audience. Also, peer editing is important because others can see mistakes that may have been made. This tool can help the author see when things are confusing for the reader or see how things may be interpreted.

                Peer editing, or review, is a great tool to use when the author is planning on publishing the work or turning it in to a boss. Peer review can be essential to all papers and should be required, or used, for all people when writing.  

Blog 3a

Mary Frances Zambreno is discussing how some stories never seem to fade away with each generation that passes. She explores some reason as to why this is using straightforward, simple language to get her audience to fully comprehend her theory. Zambreno points out tools that have been used in Arthurian literature that could be the indicator for why this particular story of King Arthur, and many of the like, has lasted for many years.  Some tools are the following: mutability or plasticity, piecemeal, windows of opportunity, and open-ended closure.

          Mutability or plasticity is defines as the quality of being capable of change or reshaping, this quality is at the control of the author. This is seen in the Arthurian literature when every generation, culture, or individual taste has reshaped or changed from the original story into something more relatable for the era. The second tool is a piecemeal, which is characterized by unsystematic partial measures taken over a period of time; can be seen as short scenes or tales within the stories. Zambreno uses the example of the romance involved in Arthurian stories. Another tool would be “windows of opportunity.” The dictionary defines this as short time frame during which an opportunity must be grasped or lost. Zambreno defines this as new perspectives perceived by the audience from the original version. It gives the chance to fill in their created information for the story, even though it may not be true. Lastly, the open-ended closure tool is used. This tool can be seen when the author tells the audience there is more information and stories out in the world, but the audience must go find this information on their own time. These are the tools that Zambreno says can contribute to the success of many stories, especially the involvement of romance within the stories. Even though romance can always keep interest in a story, audiences find that these narratives produce and compress questions that related to both the 12^th century and modern world.

Blog 2B Engl. 1010

Blog 2B- Engl. 1010

All narrative stories usually follow a specific guideline. This guideline can help students receive a better understanding of the story, especially if it may be complex. Narratives normally follow story grammars. Story grammars include a hierarchy. The setting, theme, plot, characters, and resolution are located near the top since they are the general information for the story. Near the bottom, the specific details are located such as: subgoal, outcome, and theme. Setting is where the story takes place, generally changes with every scene. Characters are the people involved in the story. Characters can be compared to each other or can set up the purpose, or theme. Plot is the series of events that create the story. This element can be further divided into episodes that help the story flow from one end to the other. Conflict is the fight against two opposing forces, could be character or ideas. Climax is the peak of emotion. The story usually leads to this moment. Resolution is where the conflict is resolved. A catharsis can take place here. These elements come together to create a specific purpose that the author is trying to communicate to the audience. It is important to follow a structure so the readers will be able to fully comprehend the text. Stories can include flashbacks or quick looks into the future, but it is important that the author makes this clear for the reader to follow. The author can make this clear by the changing of tenses, or perhaps warning the reader in advance. The author uses narrative elements (setting, characters, theme, thesis, etc.) to set up the tone and mood. Tone and mood also aids the author in getting the purpose of writing across.

            The narrative would not be complete without a complete understanding and use of the communication triangle. Narratives are a type of rhetoric that contains a rhetor, the text, and an audience. These three must exist for the communication process to be complete. The author must consider what image is trying to be portrayed by the audience, this can be determined by the culture of which the author comes from.  Understanding this communication triangle can be beneficial for the author when trying to get a message across to the audience.

Narration English 1010

Narratives- English 1010

Megan Godwin

Narratives are a type of writing, or rhetoric, used to express a personal opinion or story. Narratives generally are stories that tell “who did what to whom and why.” (Dymock) Story grammars, a structure that can guide any story, help promote the story being told in a fashion that ties all the elements in the text in an organized manner. Elements in a narrative are setting, theme, characters, and plot. Plot can be further broken into episodes that contain a problem, response, action, and outcome. These episodes lead to the conclusion and can be illustrated visually with a story graphs and story webs. Narratives should flow, not be forced, and are more comprehendible when in chronological order. The author’s thesis in narratives most likely tells a lesson learned or supports a larger argument. Research shows that a good comprehension of a narrative text can create a stable foundation for students when they begin reading a more complex text perhaps in high school or college.

                One summer, I journeyed to Holland to compete in the Youth Olympics. At the time, I played basketball and was nominated and chosen to be a sports ambassador for America. I learned a lot while I was there and made many friends that I still talk to up to this day. While I was there, I felt as though I had entered a different world. Marijuana was sold at shops and alcohol was included in many drinks that I, at the mere age of fourteen and very naïve, had no knowledge when it came to what I, or anyone else in my group, was ordering at the restaurants. I am now fully aware that Holland’s apple juice is not quite like the apple juice in America. Another memorable moment was when the program I was with thought it would be a good idea to let us have a fun, relaxing day at the beach. The program thought choosing a beach a little away from the tourist and the packed people would be safer, however we were all shocked at what we saw as we pulled up the beach. This semi-secluded beach was full of people in the nude. None of us were accustomed to this sight. It seemed as though as fast as we pulled into the parking lot, our leader was simultaneously driving away as fast as possible. The trip to New Amsterdam was just amazing. I was able to see many new things, try new foods, and improve my skills in basketball. My coach led my team to the championship game in the tournament where we had the chance to compete for the gold medals against the Dutch. Unfortunately, we had to settle for the silver medals since that was the third game we had to play that day and the Dutch destroyed us. My team and I were still very proud of our silver medals though. On the airplane ride home, I found out that the Irish bowling team got in some trouble for visiting the Red Light District and was asked to leave the program. This was good for America because this took out the competition for America and the American bowling team was able to win the gold medals. My Holland adventure was quite eventful, full of dances, meeting new people, and some friendly competitions.