Ch. 11 Summary

After reading chapter eleven I now have a better understanding for the processes in writing to solve problems. The audience in a writing to solve paper are the people who feel that your issue is a problem that needs to be fixed. The purpose of writing this paper is to convince the audience that your solution is good for the problem you are adressing. The rhetorical situation is where I stand on my particular issue. The voice and tone should be persausive trying to get the reader to see my solution as the best. My responsibility in writing this paper is to look at different solutions to and show that mine is better than those.

Presidential Debate #2

The second Presidential Debate was in a town hall format where the citizen got to ask the questions. The questions that were asked were about domestic and foriegn policy. Barack Obama talsk about how we are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Obama talks about how the rescue package that just got passed needs to be enforced so it works properly. Which means that the CEOs need to be cracked down on making sure that they no longer get unecessary bonuses or golden parachutes. He also states how the middle class needs a rescue package. That there should be tax cuts to the middle class.

Vice Presidential Debate

After watching the Vice Presidential debate I felt that both candidates made very good arguments and neither of them won. I felt that they both made their points effectively. Joe Biden talked about how Barack Obama warned people about the sub-prime crisis while McCain was surprised that there was one. Also how Barack Obama will give the middle class tax relief. Biden also states that John McCain voted to raise taxes 477 times.

Presidential Debate

In the Presidential Debate I feel that both made good points. They talked about very important issues such as the economy, healthcare, and the war in Iraq. Barack Obama talked about his stance on the financial recovery plan. He plans on making sure that when taxpayers put their money at risk and how this whole process. Also how we have to make sure that we are helping the homeowners out.

Ch. 9 Summary

After reading chapter nine I gained a better understanding of how to write to evaluate. This type of writing will be used in a civic, professional, and personal life situations. In writing to evaluate the rhetorical knowledge you should consider is the audience that is depending on your scenario, your purpose which is where you evaluate your discipline by the criteria, and your voice and tone should be professional. The qualities that you need in order to write an effective evaulation are: a clearly defined criteria, comparisons that are based upon the criteria, and an anlysis of why the visual affects your criteria. When you are reading an essay you should take notes, jot down questions, and make some observations about the essay. As you begin the writing process you should start by answering the questions that you wrote down and then begin listing and/or brainstorming. Before you write your full draft you should make sure that the you emphasize what you want.

Appx. B Pgs. A13-22 Summary

By reading the information on writing effective essay examinations it helped me better understand how to write an essay exam paper. Writing an essay examination paper is very different from your normal paper. When writing these types of papers you have to rely on your memory and you have a limited amount of time to write it down. You also cannot get feedback from your peers or your teacher and a majority of the time you do not have time to do a revision. In order to be able to write an effective essay examination paper you will have to be able to understand the information it is covering and be able to relate it to something else you have read or discussed in class. To get ready for this type of paper you should take notes in class and on the chapters you read in the book. When you first get the topic you should write down all the main ideas that you can think of and organize them. Then you will be given a time limit to write the paper. When writing the paper you should just relax and write it like you would write any other paper.

Barack Obama

In Barack Obama's speech during the Democratic Convention he talks about how the Democrats measure succes in the country, They do this by seeing how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage. How they also measure the strength of the economy by seeing if someone with a profound idea can take that idea and start-up a company. Obama also talkes about how he wants to keep "the promise" alive. This promise is that people have the freedom to live their own lives and to look out for the American workers and play by the rules. Also to provide our children with a decent education and keep the water clean and toys safe. He also talks about how he will make tax cuts for the American workers and small businesses who deserve it. Obama said that he will cut taxes for 95% of working families.

Ch. 13 Summary

After reading chapter thirteen I gained a better understanding on how to write narratives. When writing a narrative you want to make sure that it is in chronological order. Which means starting with the first event that happened and ending with the last. Another you want to do is a develop a tension and then resolve it. Creating visuals for the reader is another important thing to do when writing a narrative. You can do this by describing people, places and things. You should use the spatial approach when describing things. The spacial approach is where you describe it in terms of its physical demintions and its relationship to objects it is around. By including these visuals it helps the audience see what you are describing.

Ch. 19 Summary

After reading chapter nineteen I obtained a better knowledge of how to find and evaluate information from sources. In order for your research to be effective you should write down some research questions. You should answer these questions off of the information you found. In libraries you can use books and electronic databases. You can also do your research on the internet. There are many different search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Dogpile. As you select your sources for information you must take into consideration which one will best fit your topic. The best kind of research can be when you ask people questions. You can go about asking these questions by doing interviews or making a questionnaire.

Writer Workshop

1) What are your purposes of your two writing to explore assignments?
The purpose of my writing to explore assignments is to help me explore and learn about certain situations in life and college.

2)Who is your audience for you I-Search paper? Who is your audience for your Portfolio of a Local Agency?
My audience for my I-Search paper is my peers and anyone interested in learning Barack Obama's point of view on different issues. My audience for my Portfolio of a Local Agency project is my peers and anyone interested in that particular agency.

3)What is the rhetorical situation of your I-Search paper? What elements does it include? The Local agency profile?
The rhetorical situation in my I-Search paper is the views the Barack Obama has on different issues. The elements that are included in this is Abortion, Education, and Crime. The rhetorical situation in my Local Agency Profile is all the information about this organization. The elements that are included are what the agency does for society and how it runs.

Invention and Revision Strategies

Some invention tools that I use when writing is jotting everything I know about my topic down then I organize those thoughts into categories and where they should go in my paper. After figuring out what I know I then ask my peers what they know about my topic. Finally I research my topic online. These invention strategies are important because it helps me come up with ideas and subjects to research for my topic. These strategies also give me a basis for my paper. I can incorporate my invention strategies into my I-Search and Writing to Explore papers by using them to get started on these papers. The revision strategies that I use are writing a first draft that just puts all my ideas together on the paper, then I take that draft and make it flow better. After my writing my second draft I have one of my peers read it over and point out some of the mistakes I made. Then I make another draft that I have another peer review and after I have my final draft. These strategies are important because they weed out most of the mistakes I have made in my writing. I can incorporate these strategies into my papers by revising them this way in order to get the best possible papers.

Republican National Convention #2

In John McCain's speech on the republican national convention he talks about how he will veto any unecessary spendings. He intends to keep this country safe from the enemies it has. Also how he believes that the government should not make your choices, but better help you have more choices to make. How he will cut taxes by cutting the business tax rate. Also how he will try and attract and reward good teachers. McCain is going to stop investments in foriegn countries and drill new oil wells off shore. He also wants to make the schools answer to the parents and the students instead of unions.

Republican National Convention

After watching the republican convention tonight I saw that Rudy Giuliani backed up McCain's campaign. He states how McCain is going to cut tax prices and drill oil off shore. These two things will help better our economy. Also how McCain wants to end the war in Iraq by pulling the troops out slowly and efficiently. He also talks about McCain's running mate Jennifer Palin and she is more than qualified to be Vice President. How they together will "shake up Washington".

Ch. 5 Summary

In chapter 5 I learned more about writing to explore. In rhetorical knowledge they talk about how you should consider how exploration will help you gain better understanding, also how you can help your readers better understand the topic you are writing about and why you want them to see this understanding. Deciding the medium or genre will help you better communicate your particular exploration to your audience. There are also certain considerations you want to think about when you are writing to explore. These considerations are audience, purpose, voice, tone, point of view, and context, medium, and genre. When writing a exploratory paper in college your audience will be your professor, you, and your fellow classmates. The purpose of these types of papers is to explore the different aspects of your topic good enough to where you get a better understanding of the topic and what you believe about the topic. When you are exploring your topic you should be open to different points of view on your topic, the point of view you take should be one of questioning. The tone you can use in your writing can range from humorous to serious. There are certain qualties to exploratory writings they are focus on a concept or question which means that you should ask an open-ended question that can set a groundwork for a solution or to redefine the concept. An inquisitive spirit where you ask questions you want to find the answers to and that will lead you to more questions. Also you should have a consideration of the range of perspectives in a subject where you are able to see your topic from different views and consider the positive and negative sides. Expansive coverage of a subject is to make a case and persuade you reader of something.
Reaction:
My reaction to this reading is that it helped me better understand what writing to explore is. They explained everything in great depth and put it in ways that I could understand.

Random Post

This week in class I learned how to better write an I-Search paper due to discussing it in class and reading the outline for the I-Search. By discussing the I-Search paper in class it better helped me realize what social issues I want to write about. This I-Search paper will help me learn exactly how the presidential election works and keep my interest in it throughout the election. Also by reading in the book I discovered my strengths and weaknesses in writing. For example I learned that I am good at finding out who my audience is and directing my writing to them and having them come away with something new. I feel that Comp. II is going to be a very interesting class and help me become a better writer.

Assesing Your Strengths and Weaknesses

I have a lot of strengths and weaknesses in the four goal areas. In rhetorical knowledge I can write to specific audience and appeal to what they want to read about. My weakness in this goal is sometimes I structure the paper the wrong way. My strength in critical thinking, reading, and writing is that I can help the readers see why my point of view works the best. My weakness is I have a hard time including the other point of view into my writing. In writing processes my strength is that I make many drafts of my writings, but my weakness is that I have a hard time following the steps of the writing process. My strength in knowledge of conventions is that I can put the puncuation where it needs to be. My weakness in this goal is that I have a hard time with word choice.

Reading Ch.1-3 Summary

In the first three chapters of the McGraw-Hill book it talks about how to write better. In the first chapter the book talks about how the four different areas of writing which are: writing as a professional, college student, to friends or family, and as a citizen. There are four different goals in this class which are rhetorical knowledge, critical reading, writing, and thinking, processes, and knowledge of conventions. Rhetorical knowledge is writing to a particular audience. Critical thinking, reading, and writing is where you can examine the different formats. Processes is where you make many drafts of your paper in order to get the perfect paper. Finally the knowledge of conventions is where you know how to properly use grammar and punctuation. Chapter two is about being able to better understand the information you get from readings, visuals, and websites. In order to get a better understanding of your readings you should skim over the text before you actually read it. While reading the texts you should underline the thesis and the main points, in order for you to better annotate your sources. When you look over visuals you should find key words in it that help describe it. You should make a journal of the summary of what you read on the website. In order to make a good summary you should skim over the text and then go back and read it thouroughly and write down the main points. Then you should write a statement that captures the main points and the thesis that author has. In chapter three the book talks about how to discover topics to write about. Some ways to come up with a topic is to freewrite, makes lists, and brainstorming ideas.

Reaction:
My reaction to this reading is that it was very helpful in showing me how to write better. On how to find my topic by freewriting and brainstorming my ideas.

Questions:
1) How do you figure out what writing process is best for you?
2)How do you better learn how to use the goals in your writing?
3)How do I know what type of journal to use for my papers?