Blog #13 Final Reflection

For this whole semester, I have to say that my writing skills have improved therefore my goal was met. I had gone a whole semester without any type of writing assignment for the first part of freshman year, so I needed this course to refresh some of the skills that I have as well as build on new ones.
My process for writing my first drafts has greatly changed since assignment one. I always thought of a draft as more of continuous thinking written in paragraph format. After the first submission I learned that my draft needs to resemble my final product way more than I thought in terms of coherency and organization as well as clarity. I have always been good at writing my thesis the way I want to it to look at the final product, but the organization and ideas mentioned weren’t particularly in order and  I did not always have the right examples or the right amount of examples. I have greatly improved at writing rough drafts and making them more thorough than I used to in the past. Therefore, this is one thing that I will remember from this course and will help me go forward with my writing.

An area of writing that has improved since January are my body paragraphs and how I organize my paragraphs in order of importance. I think I have also improved on paying attention to details and becoming more specific in the way I include things and the examples that I give. I remember this was my issue when writing assignment one. I did not understand how much more specific I could get about a 30 second commercial and that is where I realized that I could really get in depth about it using the rhetorical situation elements. After realizing this, I knew that I could get just as in depth about any other topic and as the semester went on, I tried to pay more attention to the small details. I was able to learn from it and it made for a better paper on assignment two by using specific examples from the novel while incorporating my own ideas. The challenge that I face in this third assignment is making my own argument and not someone else’s when it comes to a controversial issue. I hope to accomplish more than I have in the whole semester using my new found knowledge about writing.

The way that I go about doing my research has also changed because I now know the tools for future research through the MU library and other internet sources that I learned by taking this course. I am not scared to look up multiple sources anymore and it is not a difficult task to do so because of everything that the internet and library can provide. It is not challenging to find what I need because I learned what keywords I should use when looking up different topics.

Overall I feel like this course has prepared me to write about any topic if needed and I learned to really get specific and in depth about my topics. I know that I will need these skills in the future in my career when I take future writing intensive courses.

Extra Credit Blog #4

In terms of revising my process assignment, there’s a lot of things that I forgot to mention or even think about when it came to writing the first draft of it. I thought of the advantages of doing a speech as more of physical things such as how the length of my paper will be shorter, and how I would have to keep it within the time constraints for what I thought that the instructor was looking for. After getting it back, I realize that I need to look at it more as the fact that my argument against banning smoking in public will be more effective in its purpose as a speech as opposed to writing a research paper because of all of the elements that are used for counterarguments and how I have experienced composing these types of arguments in speech format in the past.

I was also told that I need to include how my sources affected the organization of this speech and I think that that is an important element that I forgot to mention because sources did in fact influence my speech and helped me think of ideas on what to include, at times it turned out for the worst and I had to take ideas out of my speech to make it clearer as well as more focused on more specific and important parts that I wanted to make sure to mention.

After speaking with Stephanie, I have decided to modify my paper in a big way for the final speech. A part of my speech that I took out was the section where I spoke about smoking outside of high school buildings and how it should be monitored instead of eliminated. After speaking with Stephanie, I realized that this would be an impossible task because of the ratio of students to teachers and also, there are more people under the age of 18 in high school, where seniors are the only ones that can actually smoke, so this makes it even harder to monitor and it is in the best interest of the government to eliminate it and get it under control that way. I agree with them when it comes to this.

Therefore, I decided to focus more on the rights of smokers on college campuses because the vast majority of students in college can smoke coming in their freshman year so it makes more sense that they should have their smoking rights unchanged as rules have already been implemented and the government does not need more control over what is already working.

Another part that I decided to modify was the rights of smokers in the workplace. I decided to be more specific and make my argument stronger against the counterargument that could say that smokers get more breaks because they have to go outside and smoke. I had to address this statement and explain how that is the employer’s and employee’s responsibility to not allow this to happen. Expectations should be met in a professional environment.

These are the main points that I decided to modify in my speech to make my argument stronger.

Extra Credit Blog #3

So far in the writing process I feel like my main ideas are set in stone for my speech, but I still feel like something is missing that I need to add. I got the responses from Stephanie and I feel like the input has been helpful for my ongoing revising. I need to relate some of my ideas to strictly smoking in public. An example is when I mentioned smoking outside of schools; she said that I need to stick to one issue so I know that I have to relate this aspect somehow for it to be included in the same issue that I am looking at. I also need to add more for the section where I speak about the counterarguments mentioned and further extend on the ideas that I already mentioned pertaining to the other side of the argument. I should also clarify a couple of quotes and analyze a bit better because I feel like I confused the teacher a bit.

I also need to be more specific with the concerns that I have and the ideas I already present but do not answer in detail. I guess I am not being clear about the rights that a smoker should have either because one of the peer editors and the teacher have said that I need to extend and mention this part in my speech. I also have to clarify the differences between cigarettes and other drugs because it seems like my readers are relating cigarettes to other drugs. My main defense is that cigarettes are legal, just like alcohol, but cigarettes do not impair the mind and make someone not aware of their surroundings the way alcohol does. People who smoke do not put others at risk the way that drinking does through drunk driving, etc.

I need to stop arguing against my own claims in my paper as well. I think that I did this a couple of times throughout my paper, like when I mentioned that we should educate smokers but then I also say that smokers are aware of the dangers and are going to choose to smoke anyway no matter what others think or tell them.

The last but most important thing that I need to emphasize in my paper is smoking as a form of free speech so that it becomes okay to be a right for citizens in America. I could stress the way that smoking in public is a form of free speech by giving examples of the way other things are free speech and then get into how smoking in public is something included within these rights.

I would also like to emphasize more where the rights of these smokers should end exactly. It is kind of like having a plan for what I think personally should be smokers’ rights when it comes to freedom of speech and places where they could smoke. Overall, I need to be more specific in my paper and really point out clear details and examples for my audience to understand where I am coming from and see how my side can be right as opposed to the counterargument.

Blog #12 Thesis Statement

My argument is against banning smoking cigarettes in public because of the civil liberties it is taking away for people who do smoke, the fact that it will give the government even more power over society over a small matter, and because there are other alternative steps that the government and the American people can take to educate smokers of the dangers instead of the drastic measure of making the laws stricter on smoking.

Extra Credit Blog #2

When I heard that we needed to find at least 1o sources for our topics I began to freak out. Now it seems that that is exactly the amount that we should fish for in the Mizzou library databases. At first I did not know where to search because I was not getting the articles that I needed. When I began to search by “type” what I needed came out. I found articles from the Center for Disease Control very helpful and I will probably use several of those articles because both sides are represented even though it is a health website. A lot of government documents can be found and statistics, etc.

For my topic I decided that I would like to do a speech. I took speech last semester and I find it more entertaining then writing a 7 to 10 page paper. I have written many speeches so I am used to this process. When it comes to pro/con topics it’s also easier to present your argument by making a speech.  I am not exactly clear what my paragraphs will be broken up into but I know that I have to make it centered on government’s control of society, particularly in America, ironically the “land of the free.” This will relate to Vonnegut’s issue in Cat’s Cradle. I will also talk about smokers’ civil liberties that are being in jeapordized and how it is not right to deny smokers of smoking in public when smoking itself is legal. These will be the main points of my speech. I am not sure if I will need a visual aid but I may have a powerpoint if that is the case because that is what I used for speech last semester and powerpoints can also show pictures which convey a stronger message.

In regards to further organization of my paper I plan to maybe find more sources, more for people who specifically are opposed to banning smoking in public which will give me more ideas to support my argument. I am sure there are ideas that I have not yet uncovered that I need to find to make my argument stronger and have more specific details to the issue. Another thing that could help the research process is finding out in more general terms what exactly the smoking policy is in America and what it is going to be changed to. I do not want to confuse my audience with a lot of in depth information though so I will try to mention it more broadly than what the document will probably be stating.

In terms of the whole process so far, I have learned a lot about how I need to find information for this assignment. It is a bit more different from the first two where the amount of research was entirely less than now. It is as if I am using my articles to formulate the argument in itself more so of mainly using my own opinions and using my own information. I know that I will have to incorporate a lot of support for this paper.

Extra Credit Blog #1

The preparation and research process is well under way for assignment three and so far I have found a lot of sources for my topic. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to write about but I came up with government regulations on smoking in public and the future of government policies on the matter. My argument will be against banning smoking in public. I am personally not a smoker so I think that the fact that I am not and I am still defending the rights of smokers who are being discriminated against helps my argument a bit. I just think that something that is legal like smoking cigarettes should not have the restrictions on smoking outside in an effort to eliminate smokers altogether. There should be other ways like education and maybe even higher taxes on cigarettes to get people of different demographics to kick the habit. Taking their freedom of smoking and making it impossible to smoke anywhere in public is not the answer and it is a way of the government controlling peoples’ private lives which is wrong. In relation to Vonnegut’s issues in Cat’s Cradle, I will focus my topic on this purpose and how government control on society should have its limits.

For my sources, I have found a lot of credible ones by searching the Mizzou Library databases. The most helpful have been from the Center for Disease Control which surprisingly have sources for AND against smoking in public. I have found articles talking about smoking in the workplace and discrimination due to smoking in the workplace as well as banning smoking outside of high schools and college campuses as well as building facilities in general. People have all sorts of different opinions and I found credible sources that include case studies and other types of statistics that have come out with surprising results. One, is that most people disagree with new government policies banning smoking in public and that they do not approve with new laws and future laws that the government is trying to enact. Another issue that I found is that government representatives and health related businesses and representatives do agree with these policies. I saw that one coming.

I can understand their opinions but the fact that they feel the need to pass laws which restrict other individuals of their rights is not correct in my opinion. Surely smokers are aware of the harm that they are causing their bodies; there are different programs that educate people of these harms and measures have already been taken by the government where cigarettes cannot be advertised through the media and in other places. Adding more laws where just the mere sight of smoking is illegal is not plausible when smoking itself is not illegal. There needs to be room for discussion and the government needs to stay open minded and they need to hear the public’s opinion. One thing that helped me pick my topic was the fact that Mizzou is trying to become a smoke free campus by 2013. I think that that is not a good idea considering students already cannot smoke several feet outside of a building. This should just stay the same even if it makes non smokers feel uncomfortable walking behind a smoker. We all have to put up with things that we do not like to for the sake of others.

Blog #11 Research Plan

April 5- Library day (start finding sources for topic at least 5): Write extra credit blog on first day of library and topic you came up with

April 6- Library day 2 (find more sources at least 5 more) Prepare research worksheet

April 7- Research Worksheet due

April 8– Prepare for presentation: Write extra credit blog on what your argument is

April 9- Presentations Start

April 10- Write extra credit blog- 500 words on process so far

April 11– Narrow down 5 best sources found and annotate

April 12– Annotated Bibliography due

April 13-15– Work on rough draft

April 16- Rough Draft Due

April 17-18– Review peers’ drafts and type responses

April 19-Peer Review Due

April 20- Write Blog #12

April 21- Blog #12 Thesis Statement due

April 21-22– Prepare First submission

April 23-First Submission Due

April 26- First Submission returned

April 27 thru April 30– Revise first submission before meeting with Instructor then revise further after meeting: Write extra credit blog on thoughts and process

May 1^st – May 3- Schedule appointment with Student Success Center and go in

May 3– Make revisions (grammar and make sure bibliography is good)

May 4- Final revisions and write Blog #13

May 5– Second Submission (FINAL DRAFT) Due: Blog #13 Final Reflection due

Blog #10 Reflection

The process for this assignment was different for me in a couple of ways. The first thing that changed was the fact that it was to be based on the novel so I had to find some quotes that would go with the issue that I was discussing in my topic. That was not easy to do because it is a book after all and even though I read it, in some ways I had to reread a couple of chapters to find what I needed. A bit more research was asked of me in this sense.

More research was also true for the fact that we needed to find an article from a critic to be used in the paper. That part of the process went bad for me at first because I could not find anything remotely stating anything about my topic which was the issue of science’s role in warfare that Vonnegut was satirizing. It took me forever and I even became frustrated. I learned how to use the online library database better though and I also learned that I have to be more specific with the keywords that I was using.

The process was also different for me this time because I did not understand what the assignment needed to include and not include. I feel like I found out about the specifics pretty late in the writing process. On the first paper, I knew early on what I needed to include and that made it easy to revise early on. The fact that I did not need to do research for the first paper also made it different in regards to the writing process. This second assignment seemed a bit rushed overall and I did not like that very much. Another thing that was different was the workshopping that we did instead of conferencing. I liked the conferencing a lot better because then I know exactly what I should add or change since the grader of my paper is revising it. The peer editing that we always do would have been enough for me in terms of what others think I should include in my paper but doing it for 3 days was a bit much. Also with conferencing we did not have class on those days and that left more time for me to work on my paper individually. I hope that for this third paper we do conferencing as opposed to workshopping. Peer editing was helpful though I just wish I had had more time to go over it with the instructor after the revisions.

In terms of my third paper, I think that the research part of the process will hopefully go a lot smoother because now I have had some practice with the Ellis library resources. Ten sources seems overwhelming right now but I would like to prepare myself for the challenge of finding them by preparing ahead of time. This will leave more time for research. I am glad that we have a research plan that will guide me throughout the process.

Blog #9 Rhetorial Situation

I decided to pick a new critical source for my paper because the first was not very relevant to what my topic is. This second source that I found is better and it is also broad so it is easy to follow.

In terms to the rhetorical situation, the purpose of this article, titled “Vonnegut’s Melancholy,” is to expose the different themes that Vonnegut writes about in his novels. They happen to be ongoing themes in not just Cat’s Cradle, but his other novels as well. Loneliness, science, community, society, and war are the most important. These reoccurring themes in his novels and what Vonnegut means to expose by writing about these topics are told by this critic. Vonnegut seems to bring up the same issues in all of his novels; in a way they connect, and that is what the critic tries to emphasize in this article.

The audience for this article would be readers of Vonnegut’s novels or even just admirers of his work. Vonnegut was a humanitarian, and the issues he addresses touches close to home for many different people therefore he influences the masses. The writer of this article emphasizes a universal theme in the novel, being alone, as all of Vonnegut’s characters seem to be lonely in some ways. All humans can relate to loneliness at some point in their lives and so the critic implies that we can all relate to Vonnegut’s work and learn something from these characters. This article is not really easy to understand so the audience is probably closer to high school or college level and older for reading his novels.

The genre of this article is a peer review article from a Pennsylvania State University. It was also published as a periodical. This article is also a literary criticism for Vonnegut’s work. The author in the article addresses how Vonnegut approaches the themes in his novel through different examples like scenarios with his characters. An example would be when he states that Vonnegut’s characters in Cat’s Cradle, the Hoenikker family, used ice 9 to fulfill the voids in their lives like love and money because in the end they were lonely. This is an analysis of Vonnegut’s message that loneliness is a dominant theme in not just Cat’s Cradle but his other novels.

The stance of the author in this article appears to be a positive criticism for Vonnegut’s work. There are no negative statements made toward Vonnegut but at the same time she is honest about how she views his work and it seems unfortunate a bit to the author why Vonnegut chooses such sad topics in regard his issues. Thus, the title of this article is Vonnegut’s Melancholy. The author of the article is defiant on her stance to believe all of the ideas Vonnegut mentions in his novels.

The media and design of this article contains organization and quotes. The article is organized by themes in Vonnegut’s novels that the author is trying to criticize. She also uses quotes from his novels and universal examples in general to convey her ideas. She also mixes the essay with how Vonnegut’s work has changed over time and further goes into detail about these aspects. This writing style is neat and effective and her ideas were clear to me as a reader.

Blog #8 Critical Source

My critical source has to do with a lot of praise for Vonnegut’s work as well as a bit of analysis to Vonnegut’s ideas in his novels. The article focuses on two scholars that set out to analyze Vonnegut’s work. In other words, they are Vonnegut experts.

As said “Vonnegut’s work is ongoing, voluminous, entertaining, cross-generic, and thought-provoking.” I agree with this statement even though I do not know so much about Vonnegut as an author himself, I do know a lot about Cat’s Cradle and the themes he tries to expose, and from what I have read, Vonnegut is quite unique about the way he presents his ideas. He entertains with the language he uses and the songs he makes up in Cat’s Cradle in reference to Bokononism and he also makes his readers think about the purpose of the different aspects in the novel. It takes quite a deep level of thinking to analyze Cat’s Cradle and I feel like I still need to find out more. I imagine the rest of his novels are this way as well.

Another interesting part of the article is when it states that the two experts are not out to record Vonnegut’s ideas for the world, but rather need to “examine the images and representations of his thought that increasingly are being brought to life in other media.” In reference to Cat’s Cradle I think that this has to do with the mentioning of the Cold War and Communism, which are real life events, through the presentation of Ice 9 and the island of San Lorenzo. I agree with the two Vonnegut experts.

Another interesting point that the article makes is when it says that Vonnegut has been capable of speaking to the “next’ generation [through his work] regardless of its date of birth, not unlike the talents of Swift, Voltaire, and Twain” He is compares to these other great figures who have done the same as him. The revelation to me in this statement is the fact that Vonnegut does do this through Cat’s Cradle, simply by mentioning hypocrisies in religion which bother people today, even myself as a teenager. Other parts would be how the novel ends with basically the end of the world which is something that people will always care about. The evolution of our weapons which can hurt us in the end is also exposed through Ice 9. At least for me, these are subjects that are interesting and I often question. What happens next? It is even scary to think about but that is what Vonnegut tries to provoke.

I create a lot of ideas in my own mind about Kurt Vonnegut’s work through this article and it was fun to read for the most part. It does not specifically mention Cat’s Cradle however, and I do not get a specific theme from this article either so I do not think that I will use it for the second assignment. It mainly focuses on Vonnegut as an author and compares him to different people in a way and that is not what I am looking for. It was interesting to try to analyze Vonnegut through the ideas given by the experts though. All of the things I mentioned in this blog though were my own opinions that I got from the article so I do not think that it will be a helpful source.