English 103 Final

Goals are always important when it comes the learning and English 103 has been no different. Setting up goals creates a point that students and teachers must strive to reach. One such goal of English 103 is course goal number four or “compose texts in various media using solid logic, claims, evidence, creativity, and audience awareness.”

Throughout the course of this class, the proof of this goal has been obvious. Professor McArdle constantly reminded us to remember who we were writing for. Whether it is government politicians or our friends on Facebook we had to keep in mind of how our selected audience would respond to our words. For instance, if we wrote something offensive or insulting to the audience, many would stop reading our essays right there and then. Situations like this are often good to avoid. Evidence and claims are also important when appealing to an audience. Well founded claims backed with solid evidence will often be the best way to persuade another person into changing their mind about a subject. Of course the evidence must be true and its source must be valid in the field being represented. If the evidence is used to appeal to the reader’s sense of reasoning, logic becomes an important tool. One of the three main appeals, logic, or logos, can be the best option if the intended audience is most moved by facts, data and statistics. The cold, hard, reasoning types can rarely deny claims that are well established facts. These dimensions in writing are good to keep an eye out for when critically reviewing the work of others.

Course goal number six states “develop strategies for becoming more critical and careful readers of both your own and others’ texts.” This goal cannot be more evident than when the class held group reviews and critically reviewed the works of other students. These review groups encouraged us to keep an eye out for all the ideas we had come to learn in English 103. Appeals, facts, and intended audience were all subjects that we as reviewers kept in mind as we read each others’ essays. I noticed that as the semester went on, more and more people were able to give helpful criticisms of works and find solutions that could solve problems in the text. I notice I myself have become more observant of the texts I read even when not in class. Whenever I see advertisements or the like, I begin to question who the intended audience is or what appeals the advertisers are using. This goal introduced some pretty helpful life skills that I can easily see myself using in the future. This leads me to another life skill I acquired from this class, the skill of appeals.

Course goal number one states “understand that persuasion-both visual and verbal-is integral to reading and composing.” I think this can best be described as the three appeals ethos, pathos, and logos. These three appeals, the appeal of the credibility of the author, the appeal of emotion, and the appeal of logic, all play essential roles in the foundations of persuasion. By learning about these appeals, I feel that I can more successfully write a persuasive essay and realize when those appeals are being used on me.

Lost

I thought I might as well make a blog post about this as I chose it as my favorite text today in English. If you haven't seen Lost, it's about survivors of a plane crash on an island. The island however is not at all ordinary with its smoke monsters and electromagnetic activity. This show is very character driven and has a great plot even with all the holes that McArdle will point out. Anyways I really enjoy this show and I have found that when watching it on DVD it is nearly impossible to stop at one episode.

THX 1138

This time I watched THX 1138, one of George Lucas's first films. I have to say that I was very impressed with the visuals and the sound was great. The movie tells the story of a society where everyone is in a sedated state and has the only purpose of keeping the society in working order. I'm reminded of the movie Equilibrium but in a more subtle, artistic form. The interesting thing about this movie is that the antagonist is the society itself. A community where human emotions are not only discouraged but outlawed. Another funny thing I noticed is all the influences this had on Star Wars. At one point in the movie, there was some off-screen conversation and I believe I caught someone saying "Yeah, I think I ran over a wookie." A must see for any science fiction fan or anyone who enjoys movies.

Boondock Saints

Boondock Saints is an interesting movie about two brothers who believe that a message from God has told them to destroy evil in the city. I really liked this movie, the acting was great and the movie was put together very well. Throughout most of the movie, any action that happened was in the past tense which made the story a little more interesting because you saw the results before you saw the actual events. This movie also brings up an interesting rhetorical idea. If vigilantes were to show up and start killing criminals, should they be labeled criminals themselves?

Dr. Strangelove

As I stated in a previous post, I planned on watching more Stanley Kubrick films. Well, I decided to watch Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb and I suppose I was a little disappointed. That's probably because I hyped the movie up for myself or maybe I didn't find much to relate to because of the generational gap. I think it was pretty good satire of when you give too much power to an unorganized government. Peter Sellers was brilliant in this film as I didn't realize that he also played the President and thought he was only the British officer and Dr. Strangelove. I would still recommend it though.

Blog Assignment

Over Thanksgiving break, my family watched several movies, one of which was The Godfather. I'm not a huge fan of watching movies because my family always seems to be able to ruin it for me. For instance, while watching Seven Pounds, my mom was talking all the way through one of the last most emotional scenes by asking random questions like how that could work and stuff like that (if you've seen Seven Pounds you know which scene I'm talking about). Well during my sister asked if the character on screen was about to die and my dad, who had seen the movie before, said "ya, he dies here." I was pretty ticked. I stopped the movie and explained how they had been ruining movies for me for a while now and I wish they would stop. My mom responded that she just wanted to know what was going on sometimes. I told her that if she payed attention to the movie she would know and wouldn't have to ask. I guess I was trying to approach the situation logically and hope that they would understand that all I want to do is enjoy a movie without spoilers being shouted out in the middle of them.

A Clockwork Orange

I just watched A Clockwork Orange the other day and man... I'm not sure what to say. I felt pretty desensitized to the violence as we all see so much every day in this modern era, but all the nudity still struck me. And that's what I hear most of the complaints about, the violence and the nudity. I think that people who watch this film and can only complain about those things are looking into the film with a rather shallow approach. If you focus more on the idea this film is getting across, it becomes a brilliant film. So what do we do with hardened criminals? Do we punish them, try to cure them, or just kill them off to get rid of them? Can a sociopath ever be cured or is he bound to be that way forever? Overall, I really enjoyed this film. Well, maybe enjoyed isn't the right term, but it got me thinking. I've already seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, and I think I'll watch many more of Stanley Kubrick's films.

Fruesday

So, I don't have a problem with the entire concept of Fruesday, but it seems that one of my professors does. I'm taking Astro 121 which is a night class that usually occurs on Tuesday from 6:30 to 8:20. According to my professor, Fruesday doesn't apply to that class, which means I'm stuck here until then. This will definitely be the last time I take a night class.

Changing Opinions

After going over the subject matter of my public writing essay again, I decided that my opinion had changed from what I originally wrote. This would be about the third time I've changed my viewpoint. I don't know if its me or the whole messed up topic I chose, but I can't seem to think of any good way to solve the problem. Yucca Mountain is a pretty controversial subject and I can't seem to decide on which side to agree with. I don't know. Its all just a big mess.
If you want to know what I'm talking about, just take a quick glance at the wikipedia page. It sums it up pretty well.

Counter-argument

The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository is an essential part of our nation's nuclear energy system. This storage facility is currently the best option for nuclear waste storage and must remain open. The Obama administration has declared that the project is to be shut down. This leaves Nuclear energy plants all around the nation with more waste to store in their already limited storage facilities.
With no other alternative, closing Yucca Mountain is the worst decision to make at this moment. If there were another alternative currently available, then this would be a great idea. However, until a new site is found, this is not what we should be doing to our nuclear energy system. Besides, energy companies have already paid billions of dollars to build Yucca mountain. With all this money already invested into the project, shutting it down will result in a major loss.

Goals

English 103 Course Goals:
English 103 introduces students to the fundamentals of rhetoric; to the elements, strategies, and conventions common to persuasion; to the use of those elements, strategies, and conventions in the construction of their own persuasive visual and verbal texts. Upon completion of English 103 students will:

1. Persuasion has been implemented into both the multimodal and public writing assignments in
that we try to convince others of the correctness of our ideas. In the case of the multimodal
assignment we did that using visuals and audio as well as text.
2. Various discussions in class have covered that we are writing for an audience we select.
3. Peer reviews and intensive reviews have opened us up to new writing styles and methods.
4. An idea must be backed up with evidence, like in our public writing assignment.
5. Research is an essential part of forming an argument, especially in the public writing assignment.
6. Once again, peer reviewing has taught us how to give constructive criticism to others' works.
7. We have written for different implied audiences on all of our assignments. Looking closely, one
can notice a slight change in style from assignment to assignment.
8. Reviewing one's own paper and making corrections is essential in this class. We haven't
always relied on our peers to make fixes for us.
9. Peer reviews help us work together to create a better essay.

Course Content & Format
The content and format of English 103 are designed to enable students to achieve the course goals; specifically, students in English 103 will:
1. We have seen several different examples that hold rhetorical elements such as the video of sand painting and the Orbitz commercial.
2. The video of a previous student's multimodal assignment showed us how to achieve a good
use of persuasive logic.
3. Peer reviews once again has honed this skill.
4. Multiple drafts are required for each assignment which are all reviewed.
5. Various instances of this objective have come up during intensive reviews where we look at
how certain things in an essay may affect an audience.
6. The rhetorical analysis assignment did a good job of making us figure out what the author was
trying to say and exactly how they achieved it.
7. There has been quite a variety in the subjects we have been assigned and well as a variety in
the intended audiences.

University Core Curriculum Goals
The central purpose of University Core Curriculum is to enable men and women to live rich and satisfying lives and to undertake the broad responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. Although the University Core Curriculum seeks to discover and nurture individual talents, its primary emphasis is preparation for roles people share as human beings and as members of family and community groups. Thus, students will be able to:
1. Skills of rhetorical analysis that we learn in this class will stay with us for the rest of our lives
and are applicable in almost every occupation.
2. Well, being college students, I would hope we would all be able to communicate intelligently,
but this class will help those realize the implications of their own words and how they affect
others.
3. The public writing assignment forced us to look at both sides of an issue and understand their
stances.
4. This isn't a cultural history class. This class is made for us to learn to communicate effectively.
This goal really shouldn't apply to an English class.
5. This class helps teach us constructive criticism and effectively getting our ideas across, but not
much else concerning "life's common problems."
6. The freedom to choose our subjects for assignments makes the class feel less restrained and
focus on our own interests.

A Long Day

So I'm trying to fix my roommate's old Xbox 360 which has gotten the much dreaded "red ring of death." After looking up various ways of fixing the Xbox, I decided to go get the tools I need to make the repair. Unfortunately, I don't own a car, so I walked to the Radio Shack on Tillotson, only to find they didn't have all the parts I needed. They were missing rubber washers. After that I caught a bus to Wal-Mart to get to Lowe's only to find they had the right rubber washers but not enough of them in stock. I picked up some of the most similar sized washers hoping that they'll work. I get back to my dorm around 5 o'clock and start taking apart the Xbox only to find I don't have the right sized screw driver. I give up (at least for today).

Public Writing Proposal: Yucca Mountain

Earlier this year, President Obama proposed that we not use Yucca mountain as a location to store nuclear waste. Yucca Mountain is situated in Nevada and is on a military base. If we were not to store our left-over nuclear residue, then where would we put it? At the moment there is no feasible location other than Yucca Mountain. I’m a large supporter of nuclear energy, but even I know there are some downsides, like nuclear waste. We currently have several nuclear power plants operating in the United States, and soon we will need a secure location to store the waste of those plants. Yucca Mountain is hands-down the best option in this case.

Public Writing

Public Writing is basically anything that is written for a large audience outside of personal contacts. The most common of example of this is advertising, which is just a persuasive argument displayed to a broad audience.

Irony

So ironically, after my last post, I think I'm starting to get sick, not with H1N1 mind you. Just a small cold. I guess it was inevitable with the time of the year, even though I have been taking various precautions. Oh well, time to start popping the Vitamin C!

H1N1

So I've heard rumors about H1N1 here at Ball State, but I don't think they're true. Ball State would probably be taking action if it were true. Anyways, I'm getting pretty tired of these flu scares. Wasn't it just recently we were all worried about Bird Flu? Just look at how that affected us. If I hadn't heard about it through all the media and government precautions, I wouldn't have been affected at all. I know we must all be careful of harmful illnesses out there, but how can we all freak out about a virus that has killed a few highly vulnerable people when there is Ebola and AIDS over in Africa. I think it's all just blown way out of proportion by the media and I'm just sick of it.

Job Interviews and Tax Forms

So I just interviewed for an apprentice position at the Digital Corps here on campus. I felt that the interview went well, but I found out that I had some paperwork to get done if I wanted to work on campus. I guess this is like a right of passage, my first tax form. Boy do I feel grown up. Before I know it, I'll be filing for my 401k. Unfortunately, to be able to submit my forms, I need my Social Security card, my birth certificate, or my passport, none of which I have with me on campus. Because I have a deadline of tomorrow, my mom is driving here from Kokomo to give me my birth certificate. Thanks government, for denying the other twenty forms of identification I actually have with me.

Tarboy

I just found this awesome flash animation online and thought I would share. The animation is top notch and all the music is original. Just great all around.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/509092

Making Websites

So I decided to make a website instead of making a video. I have to say, it was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. I felt a lot less restricted while making it than when I write essays. That definitely affected my writing style. I tried to implement more humor and ranting instead of formulating strict sentence structure while always checking for grammar issues. I decided to go with advertisements on Youtube. If anyone wants to check it out, here's the link:

http://youtubeads.weebly.com/index.html

Multimodal Ideas

I'm not exactly sure which direction to take these projects in. I was thinking it being something that I disagree with, but I'm not completely sure yet. One idea was about the commercialization of Youtube. Maybe even just commercialization in general. Its been getting worse and worse over the years and I feel like I can't really go anywhere without getting advertised to.

Sitting here in class

Sooooo. I have no idea what to write about for my multimodal project. Just sitting here trying to think of an idea to no avail. Oh boy. Well, maybe I could make it about... no, no, forget that. I do know that I probably want to use a video format. Maybe movie maker.... or Final Cut Studio... I just finished a level one certification class on it, and the campus is covered in macs. It should be no problem. This could be like... I could create a video about...... nope, brainblock. Well it looks like its just about time to leave. Gotta get ready to go to astronomy. I just need an idea. Ya, an idea would be great.

Rhetorical Analysis

I chose this video by the Gorillaz to do my rhetorical analysis on. I just wanted to share it. Embedding is disabled, so just follow the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6Np4yq0VJs

This rain is killing me

This morning I had to walk to class in the downpour. I was soaked by the time I got to physical conditioning and miserable throughout the rest of my classes. I guess I should really invest in an umbrella.

I'm still trying to find something to use for my rhetorical analysis. I'm not sure exactly what to look for. I have a few ideas but I can't seem to find any way to find a deeper meaning than the obvious in the examples that I'm thinking of. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Class Log

Tuesday 9-8-09

On Tuesday, Professor McArdle explained how the intensive review system works and selected six people to have their essays intensively reviewed by the entire class. The chosen six were to have their papers online by five o’clock that evening. The class then proceeded to the LaFollette lobby and split into designated groups to give critical reviews of their peers’ papers. The students helped their each other to uncover new ideas and writing styles for the essays.

Thursday 9-10-09

On Thursday, the class was supposed to listen to and review the six essays chosen on Tuesday. However there was not enough time during the class period and only two students were able to have their papers undergo the intensive review process. Amanda Lum and Jacob Amstutz read their “This I Believe” essays. The two writers then received suggestions from their peers who all had something to say. Luckily the schedule is not concrete and can be rearranged to accommodate the four essays that have yet to be reviewed.

Drills and Lock-outs

Well today was interesting. I got to experience my first college dorm fire drill. So much more sophisticated than those lousy high school fire drills. Actually it was even less organized. We weren't even told of a plan. Everyone just kind of walked down the stairs and outside. Apparently we were supposed to separate by floors, but it was pretty unregulated.

I also got to experience my first college dorm lockout. I went downstairs to the study lobby to work on my essay (believe it or not) and when I came back upstairs to my room, I found that my roommate had left and locked the door. I didn't know he was planning on leaving and I wasn't going far so I left my key in the room. A very stupid move. Luckily I was able to get help at the front desk and get my room unlocked. This one was free, but every lock-out after this will cost me five bucks. A fair trade I suppose, but I've learned my lesson.

Great. Now I'm even forgetting my own birthday.

Well, today is my birthday. Ironically, as my mom pointed out, it's also Labor Day. My mom also pointed out that they had not gotten around to buying me a gift yet, which surprised me, because that's not normally what you want to tell someone your going to give a gift to. What surprised me even more is that it didn't really matter to me. I had always lived with this notion that people get upset when your family forgets to get you a present, but frankly, I could have cared less if they got me a present or not.

Heck, I didn't even realize that my birthday was coming up until Friday night. I remember when I used to count down the days on the calendar with baited breath for my birthday. Now I can barely remember when it is. I guess it's true what they say. As you get older, birthdays get less and less important. It just feels like another regular day, except people greet me with happy birthday.

Visiting Home?

It still feels strange to be visiting the place where I grew up. Nothing much has changed. Well, I suppose my mom did take the liberty of rearranging my room, but the rest of it is exactly the same. I guess I couldn't expect much in two weeks. It's almost surreal though. Right now college feels like a summer camp or something that I just came home from. I know it's not true, and that I'll be heading back after the weekend. However, I'm still feeling half and half about where I truly live.

Visiting home also brings up another situation. I don't even have a car. Luckily, this weekend one of my friends who lives close to me was willing to give me a ride. I appreciate her generosity, but I don't want to rely upon her for every trip home. I hate the thought of becoming too much of a burden, but I guess I will have to depend on her until I actually get my own car.

Disappointments

Was it just me, or was the first home football a huge let down. I'll admit that I didn't stay for the entire game. The first half alone was enough to bore even an avid football fan. I heard after I got back to my dorm that Ball State had lost. I still don't know how badly. Now I'm not a huge fan of sports, but I was looking forward to this game. And I was severely let down after loosely following last year's football team.

Anyways, the first draft of my I Believe paper is finished. I encountered some severe writers block halfway through the second page. Luckily, however, I took the field guide's advice and walked away from it until today. I'm still not all the way there though, and am still unsatisfied with it, but I guess that's why it's the first draft. Hopefully I'll get the help of my review group to finish up the paper.

Different Methods

I've always enjoyed English classes, well at least half of those English classes. My favorite part was the literature and reading comprehension, the things that I excelled at. Research papers, grammar worksheets, and spelling tests were always my enemies in English, but the new and different methods implemented by Prof. McArdle really have me interested in writing.

For instance, this blog is a really new concept to me and probably many of you other students as well, but I think its a fresh way to get into writing publicly. I'm actually excited to see what can come out of these in the way of discussion and idea sharing, and the use of technology here is such a jump up from high school. Well, I should probably get back to reading that Ball-Point handbook. That thing is pretty long winded.

Second Day of College Classes

Boy are my legs going to get tired this year. After English today, I had to go straight to ASTRO 120. I guess I underestimated the distance because I got there about five minutes late. Right after that I had to get to the Ball Communications building. Most of my classes are stuck together, so I have to rush to them in the 15 minutes given to me.

Hopefully next time I can take a shuttle bus and save some time but I still have to learn the bus routes. Does anyone have the same situation with their classes?