Month: October 2021

1. What I did this week:
   -This week was pretty routine. I basically did the same besides using my free time to research many different topics.
   -I tried researching controversial discussions and debates to see if it could spark an idea of what to write on for my research paper. In the end I chose to stick with a similar idea being told from one of the chapters in BIAW.
   -Besides that, I got around to downloading any and all the software required for the week/locating sources to use in my research paper. Thankfully I got everything working with no huge issues, besides the long duration it took to download everything since I had to update my laptop multiple times.
2. What went well this week:
   -Well, I got a 98 on one of my quizzes in pre-calc. I was worried about that class for a while because I was having trouble one solving that particular type of question we were studying, but thankfully we got through it.
   -Although it was only towards the end of the week, I was able to truly organize all my thoughts, tone, and ideas I wanted to use for my research paper. It’s always a slow process that goes through a lot of revision, but the reason why it “went well” was that I wasn’t stuck between two ideas I wanted to write about. I was firm in my decision to talk about/write about one particular idea.
3. What was hard this week:
   -Although I said I did good on my pre-calculus quiz, it was still hard to study for it because of the entire feeling of nervousness I went through prior to the quiz. Especially when I submitted a minute late, I thought I was done for by then.
4. To-do list:
   -First I should figure out my situation regarding my FYS class. Due to vaccination status policy and still being in a hybrid course I have to figure out what’s going to happen to me and FYS.
   -Next I gotta find all my sources that I want to use in my research paper. Information that will be used to inform my viewer in a fun way that they may find enjoyable but also memorable.
   -I have to finish one last lesson’s worth of Pre-Calculus homework.
5. Where I left off:
   -This week I have organized exactly what kind of paper I want to write which will be an informational one. I’ve figured out what kind of tone I’d like to use in my approach as well found some sources I can use for my paper. Honestly, I feel like I could’ve already written my paper and be done with it but at the same time I feel like I have too few sources. So I’d like to find as many key sources to use in my writing.
   -I’ve finished all but one lesson’s worth of Pre-Calculus homework.
   -I haven’t finished my video lectures for Modern American History, but I have finished the notes portion for all other classes.
6. Honestly I feel very excited, I assume, at writing this research paper. I was thinking about a different topic entirely throughout this week, and I was just not finding key sources that I could use for the type of paper I had planned. Thus I changed topics to something that I’ve recently become more absorbed in, and that was online class. With the whole quarantine situation and my own personal experiences, my opinions regarding online school have largely changed. With such a change in opinion has come a newfound curiosity regarding online courses which could really help in my research paper.

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For starters, my research question will be something along the lines of “Why are online classes usually seen as a stigma?” The reason I say along the lines is because I’m not too confident in the question aspect. I have a basis for what kind of paper I want to write however I usually figure out the question after I finish writing to see what I wanted to say in the first place.

Some of the terms I would use to search in the databases are:
-“Online class”
-“Asynchronous learning”
-“Hybrid learning”
-“Online college”
-“Online degree”
-“Work degree requirements”
-“Social”
-“School”
-“Stereotypes”
-“Norms”
-“Grades”
-“Statistics”
-“Education bills”
-“Funding”

One article I had found concerned online college courses. This paper was a journal article whose research question was, “Virtual Classrooms: How Online College Courses Affect Student Success.” From this article I was able to find information on nearly all the authors. The only author I could not find clear information was for Lindsay Fox. A quick google search will reveal many different Lindsay Fox’s. One is a buisnessman from Australia, another is a YouTube star, there were too many people with the same name that I was unsure of who may be a true author of this paper. As for the other authors I did find some information on them.
Eric S. Taylor is “an associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education”. He is mainly involved in “Eric Taylor is an associate professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.” (use.harvard.edu) Susanna Loeb is a director of Annenberg Institute at Brown University as well as a professor in Education and a professor of International and Public Affairs. Eric Bettinger “is a professor in the Stanford University School of Education. He is also a research associate in the program on education at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Bettinger is the Director of the Center for Educational Policy Analysis and a Co-Director at the Lemann Center for Brazilian Education at Stanford.”
To summarize all these authors are genuine experts in their fields concerning the study on education. They are very respected individuals for the many papers they have written, as well as the work they have accomplished in their fields of study. Eric Bettinger has 4 PhD’s involving fields of education and 4 Master’s degrees. All these professors are incredibly adept in their field, meaning their paper that they had written discussing the correlation of online college and student success seems to most likely be a credible source because they are all incredibly informed in their fields of study.

1. What I did this week:
   -I read some of the class readings assigned this week.
   -I finished studying for History and completed my mid-terms before the deadline.
   -I started some research on the BIAW topics I could use for my research paper rough draft.
2. What went well this week:
   -I would have to say the work that I had to do this week. It was definitely hard which I will explain in the third point, however, it’s because I was able to wrap up all the work I needed to in good time that it went all so well. I never felt as if I had to rush and I could feel relaxed at each task I had to do. Which is the reason why, even though this week was stressful for the amount of work I had to finish, because I was able to finish without being late is what went well for me this week.
3. What was hard this week:
   -Now I’ll explain my dilemma of the week. The beginning of this week I felt like I was swamped with so much work to do. I had to write a monologue piece for FYS, study video lectures of 2 classes other than the class I had mid-terms for. The reason for that was because in one of the classes I was slacking with the video lectures and I needed to catch up. The other was for math and that was in preparation for any quizzes I may have had. Since I had my Modern American History mid-terms during the middle-end of this week, I wanted to study as much as I could before then. However, by wanting to study more that left less time for doing everything else for my other classes. It was hard managing everything so that I would have enough time but I got through it.
4. To-do list:
   -First thing on the list is definitely to do more research on my what kind of question I want to research for my research paper. I don’t want to answer question from a previous topic, not unless I have genuine new ideas to use in my essay. I hate using old ideas so I’ll have to spend at least an hour or two of research to determine my topic more accurately.
   -Next I’ll have to study pre-calc for the remainder of today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday) in preparation for a quiz. This past week my teacher had surprisingly not given us or had forgotten to give use any quizzes.
   -I also have to read the remaining assigned readings of the week.
   -Outside of school, I should start running again in the cold. I’m not too sure why but I’ve always loved running in warm weather and prefer when the weather is colder. Thus, now that the weather is growing colder I gotta go out running more.
5. Where I left off:
   -Last week I basically left off with having to study for a ton of classes. Which is basically what I did this week. Thankfully I was able to finish all the studying that was a real necessity. Only kind of studying I need is quick reviews for pre-calc.
   -Where I’ll be leaving off this week will be having finished half of the assigned pre-calc homework, only need to study for one of my classes, and that’s all.
6. I’m honestly feel very satisfied with the work I put in this week. Although the end of this week seemed to have slowed down so much, it’s mostly because I haven’t been placed in as much pressure as I was placed in the beginning of the week. However, because I was able to get through all that I feel genuinely satisfied with myself. Although I haven’t done much writing this week, I’m happy to see how I’ve been able to grow as a writer. Incorporating different tones and writing techniques in my work.

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Writing Prompt:

Usually the strategies I implement before I start to write is simple imagery. I tend to imagine or visualize how I want my story to sound. It’s also how I can judge what kind of approach to the tone I want to use because I imagine the type of personality I am using when I am reading my paper out loud. Using this method, my writing tends to resemble an actual conversation with another person. As if I am speaking directly to my readers as individuals.

Honestly, thinking about it now, my strategies are actually quite similar to the invention strategies we had read about. I had already placed great importance on how my writing is being articulated to my audience. I also love using questions. Even if the questions are rhetorical, I love using them because of how it introduces visuals both I and my reader can visualize. It sets the narrative. These two strategies are probably my favorite because of how often I already make use of them. Probably another strategy I’d enjoy would be the brainstorming one for 5 minutes. I don’t usually tend to write out my thoughts because I’ve simply grown accustomed to keeping my thoughts in my head. Sometimes I may even have thoughts yet no words to express such thoughts, so I’ll keep brainstorming on alternatives to express those thoughts.

The outcome of my invention techniques was honestly a lot more satisfactory than I had originally thought. The brainstorming of ideas was probably the best technique because of how many ideas I could come up with. However, the free writing was terrible and I’m sure the reason is simply because I don’t like free writing. I’ve never been good at it because my thoughts begin to wander so much that I’m not even thinking about the same class anymore. So that was a disaster. However, the brainstorming was better because I my chart started to look decently organized. Although there was a huge in balance of ideas, it still looked pretty decent to me. (Imbalance pertaining to me having lots of keywords to explain only one main idea. So if I have 6 main ideas to talk about in total, one of those ideas can last a couple pages and the rest will fill up less than half a page. I focused too much on one idea.)

I think my tentative research question will be about the grading criteria. I’m honestly not too sure about what section of the grading criteria I’d like to write a research paper about. It could be about the grading writing in general and my question could look like: How much of an impact do you think a grade makes on your writing? Or something along those lines. Or I could talk about the horrors of rubrics. A question that could spark lots of controversy but also keep it somewhat professional. Maybe: How effective are rubrics truly? Honestly I have no idea how to start this paper. There’s just too many ideas I could write about, even if its just in the sphere of grading criteria in writing. I could still change that theme completely if something else attracts me, I can very spontaneous at times.

 

1. What I did this week:
   -I finished studying for early this week’s modern American history quiz.
   -I began to revise my rough draft of the analysis assignment early into the week and have nearly finished it to submit as a polished draft.
   -I began to study a ton in preparation for my modern American history mid-terms next week.
   -I went out 3 days this week for some exercise and to hang out with friends and family.
2. What went well this week:
   -All my classes didn’t seem to have any problems with anything. Meaning my grades in their tests and quizzes are pretty satisfying for me so I’m doing good in that regards.
3. What was hard:
   -Honestly, nothing in my life so far could be seen as hard. It might’ve been an annoying task to do for a class but for it to be challenging, I don’t remember anything like such happening this week.
4. To-do list:
   -I have to keep studying a ton for my future modern American History mid-terms.
   -Finish up revising my Analysis assignment’s rough draft.
   -Catch up on some video lectures for Art History
5. Where I left off:
   -I almost finished my Polished draft, however I’m sure I’ll be able to finish that soon.
   -I have one more lecture in American Modern History left before I can start my review of the full course.
   -I am only missing one video lecture to watch for Art History.
   -I’ve been procrastinating in completing some Pre-calculus homework. Although it’s not due for another month I should still complete the questions I can at the moment.
6. I’m honestly feeling quite happy or satisfied at my progress with my writing. I’ve definitely made many mistakes in my writing but I’ve also learned how to incorporate different tones as well. It’s honestly quite fun but also scary to use different tones in my papers. Fun because I’m learning so many new ways to portray my thoughts, and scary because I always feel as though the tones I use may not be suitable for such an academic paper. One such paper was when I had written with a more lax attitude that was comedic. It fit with the theme of my paper but it was also risky because it I used such a tone for an academic paper.

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Writing Prompt:
The chapter I had chosen for this prompt was one of the chapters for this week’s readings of ENG 2100. The reason I had chosen this one was because of how it foretold a field of education that I had been slowly beginning to acknowledge as well. Tiffany Bourelle and Andy Bourelle, discuss about their views concerning the effectiveness of online classes in the field of education. They discuss this issue by first introducing to their audience about how benefits online classes bring. About how their versatility to be easy to access/attend classes at home makes for a suitable solution for people that are unable to attend classes in person due to complications. However they also make sure to straighten your doubts, because they know that people feel as though online courses are simply not as effective as face-to-face courses otherwise known as f2f courses. The Bourelle’s then address the main issue, that people believe online classes to be inferior to f2f classes. They feel as though this misconception is irrepairable if left alone and hope to change their audience’s minds on the effectiveness of online classes. So they proceed to discuss about the advantages online courses can bring to the table.

So they respond to many misconceptions they are aware that students may hold. I realized this part because I shared the very same thoughts/doubts the Bourelle’s had corrected. I thought of online classes as inefficient in comparison to f2f classes but I now realized I was wrong through both experience and this reading. Especially in this point in time with the entire Covid situation, students were forced into online learning. The start of online learning was terrible because teachers were not able to adapt as quickly as was required of their students. However as teachers began to adapt, online learning also began to improve marvelously. I didn’t need to google for more information on this topic because I’ve had discussions with teachers, students, family, adults, practically the majority of people I knew about why I disliked online classes. It was for the same doubts the Bourelle’s had cleared up. Some of these doubts could be how online classes can’t offer f2f feedback from your instructors, or maybe even online classes simply being too academically easy in comparison to f2f classes. However none of that is true and is disproved by the Bourelle’s.

One of the things I had noticed about this issue was how accurate the Bourelle’s were, when they spoke of these stereotypes/misconceptions regarding online classes. They discussed the public’s feelings when in concerns to achieving degrees online. How an online degree were usually looked down on in the work place as compared to degrees obtained by attending university in person. Even teachers themselves would advise against online classes because they feel their students won’t be able to learn as efficiently as in a classroom. The loss of interactions with their teachers and peers when sharing work would cause students to be set back. All these perspectives concerning online classes were incredibly accurate. What I was mostly impressed by in this chapter was how these truths mentioned concerning online classes could be so relatable to my own experiences. I had also remember conversations with other people about the very same stereotypes discussed. It was astonishing how accurate each statement they wrote was. I honestly wonder their thought process and the experiences they faced that led them to want to write such a chapter. As well as what led them to write the chapter in the way that they did. Was it because they are very passionate about this particular topic and hoped to spread awareness. Or did they simply want to have their audience, of young writers, become more open minded.

1. 1. The writing I did this week:
      -This week I hadn’t actually done much writing. Besides taking notes like usual for my classes, I didn’t have any extensive writing I had to accomplish.
   2. What went well this week:
      -I’m happy that when I had received feedback on my Analysis Rough Draft assignment, I wasn’t off the mark on the way I had written my Analysis. Although there are many things to correct, I’m satisfied knowing my paper had met the requirements.
   3. What went bad this week:
      -Honestly my week was fine until I had realized I had made a huge mistake in my weekly blogs. I didn’t realize I had to write a writing log in this format every week. I had thought it was only the writing prompt I had to finish, thus it was a huge slap in the face when I had realized I had been doing this assignment wrong the entire time. Honestly  I’m very stressed out over my mistake on this, but I can’t do anything about it since it was my fault for not having read carefully enough to the directions. I can only prevent such an error from happening in the future now.
   4. To-do list:
      -I have to start editing my Analysis Rough draft
      -Start studying for a future mid-term for Modern American History.
      -Re-read everything I’ve every been assigned to do for all my classes.
   5. Where I left off:
      -I don’t have anything written of last week, but going by my memory I left off at summarizing my thoughts of the work I had done this week. At the end of each week I’ll have a moment to think about all the work, readings and writings, I had done for each of my classes. I do this to understand what next I should focus on. At this moment, I have to focus on thoroughly studying for a Modern American History quiz.
      -After I’ve finished with studying for American History, I will move on to thinking about how to reorganize my Analysis rough draft.
      -I will also solve some practice problems for my pre-calculus class. For this task I don’t necessarily need to spend too much time as I’ve understood the lesson, and the homework won’t be due for another month. This seems to be more of a mini-task to do in-between other tasks so as not to get bored.
   6. Honestly, I’m very annoyed and angry at myself for not having realized or, rather, remembering sooner about the first part of the writing log. I had practically thrown this memory to the back of my head thinking that I would no longer need to do anything more than the writing prompt given each week. I guess this is just another way for me to learn to re-read directions in not just the same manner, but with a different perspective on how to follow directions. So as to give insight to myself on what the directions are asking off me.

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Chapter: “Some People Are Just Born Good Writers” by Jill Parrot from Bad Ideas About Writing.

Society & History:
History has foretold for countless centuries that good writers were born that way since the beginning. In the past, people had believed that “good” writers were chosen in some way by God himself. If not that then they were directly inspired by God. Thus leading to this social misconception, held by all kinds of people, in which there are only the “genius” writers. The remnants of writers aren’t in this category therefore they can never be “good” writers in their lifetimes.
Such history would then create a society of people that would maintain this notion that because they weren’t born as a “good” writer, then they automatically disqualified from becoming a better writer. These thoughts will negatively impact your ability to improve as a writer, thus further propagating your decline in this endless loop of decay as a writer. The more you think you just aren’t a “good” writer, then the more you disassociate yourself from the occupation of “writer.” When that happens you can’t improve as a writer because you yourself don’t address yourself as a writer that can improve.

Audience:
The readers of this chapter are the audience being spoken to. To be more specific, the audience would generally entail the young writers reading this chapter to thus improve their own writing. Thus Parrott addresses his/her/their audience as the young writers who put themselves down because of a common misconception held by both history and society themselves.

Speaker:
The speaker of this chapter of Bad Ideas About Writing is Jill Parrott themselves. He/She/They speak throughout this chapter through their own eyes. In one section of this chapter, Parrott as a teacher/professor had made mention of how they had a personal experience of this negative misconception causing visible impacts on society. Due to such a personal experience, I would believe the speaker is the author themselves because of the personal experiences they are able to share to support their claims in this chapter. They had spoken of how students were being regarded as by Parrott’s fellow teacher/professor colleagues.

Message:
There are many messages being told in this chapter. One for example is to tell students to forget this preconceived they’ve held for years that they can’t be “good” writers simply because they weren’t born as one. Such thoughts of inadequacy will cause a student to thus fail. Rather than failing from not being born with such a talent, society fails because they have accepted failure and nothing more. Leaving only failure to remain.
Another message can be to other teachers/professors that a student shouldn’t be punished because they are inexperienced. This message came from Parrott’s personal experience of when his/her colleagues were commenting about a student’s writing because of their inexperience. Parrott’s response was to question their statements because a teacher’s job would be to help their students improve. Parrott had found it obvious that student’s wouldn’t be able to write outstanding papers because they are just students. As long as one continues to hold the title of student, then a teacher should be willing to help improve that student rather than reprimand them for being inexperienced.

Purpose:
The purpose of this chapter is to remove this horrible preconceived notion that a particular group of people were born with the ability to write. Parrott, wants to teach future writers that every one of them is qualified to improve to become a better writer than the one they were the day before. Society might tell you otherwise however they are wrong. History itself has been wrong for countless years, and so is society. Thus you, a young writer, shouldn’t believe you can’t grow to become a better writer. Like Parrott says, “Good writers are not born. They are learned.” (Parrott, 74).

Context:
Parrott uses kairos in a way that makes their story flow very smoothly. What I mean is that in the beginning Parrott had started the story with more of a calmer tone. So as not to scare you away. Parrott started his piece with a simple introduction of history/background information about the purpose of his/her for writing this chapter. After the introductions are done, Parrott slowly continues to change the tone of the chapter to keep that feel of not wanting to scare her/his readers away from continuing to read on. After he/she has done this, he/she changes their tone to be one of sympathy for her/his audience. They tell us, the audience/readers, a story about an experience when Parrott had realized how students would be punished for the inexperience. Instead of helping students improve themselves out of this inexperience, teachers/professors were reprimanding their students. This story was used to finally open up Parrott’s readers to continue on to learn of the juicier details about this topic of “being born to write.” After this little empathetic moment, Parrott is now able to start on teaching her readers the importance of improving your writing. The empathetic episode Parrott had insinuated was meant to appeal to her reader’s feelings. That way they would feel more open to the ideas they were giving out. Otherwise, some people would avert their attention elsewhere or wouldn’t truly listen to the advice they were being told. They would continue on in this daze of not being able to become a better writer forever. Parrott doesn’t want that, so she/he changes her/his tone to appear more empathetic to the audience. It’s a very good use of Kairos because it works remarkably well in instilling ideas into people. They drop their guards and allow information to make their way into their heads to be remembered rather than forgotten.

 

Hook, Line, and Sinker

When I use rhetoric, I do it unconsciously without myself even realizing it. When I talk to someone, be it a friend or family member, I first start the conversation calmly. You can’t jump the gun because then my audience will feel differently to how I view things. So I ease in to the subject. For example, I want to get my friend to try out this new game I’ve fallen in love with. I know they would never play the game if I tell them to, so I have to start slow and grab their interest first. I casually start the conversation to talk about what games they’ve played recently. I know that if I talk about myself they wouldn’t be invested in the conversation. Not as much if they were the center of attention, so I talk about their experiences. As time goes by and the conversations steers away from the original topic, I abruptly start talking about the game I had originally wanted to talk about. They might feel confused over the abrupt change, but the heed no concern over the matter. I ask them what they think about ___. They tell me they never played it. That’s my time to start chiming in. Slowly but surely it’s hook, line, and sinker. I’ve piqued their interest and now they’ll start playing. It was done all without him nor I ever realizing it. This could never have been my true thoughts at the time, it’s just too much to think about at the time. All I wanted was to persuade my friend to check out this cool game I’ve been playing. However I had thought back to the conversation and it went like this. It sounds very underhanded but what I’ve realized is that it’s quite normal. In everyday conversation, these ordeal of thoughts wouldn’t sound like so. Nonetheless, this is what it looks like after analyzing my phrases and the reason for saying each and every phrase. In this case I used a combination of rhetorics to persuade my friend for my benefit. My audience was my friend and the message was to persuade them to play this cool new game they wanted to play.