SECTION 1

The peer right below my blog is Drilon Demaj who designed a print advertisement for the literacy project.  To describe the appearance, there is a picture of a glossy bright lit table with a thick novel opened in the middle of the book.  Above the book is a circle surrounded by orange and yellow borders stating “Learn to read now- So you can write the future”.  Above this circle is a half moon with different words written ranging from Development, Education, Health, Peace, and Empowerment.

Advertisements are so successful due to the various fallacies they apply to persuade audiences.  The first fallacy that is apparent is the post hoc ergo propter hoc which is when you assume that since event y followed event x, then event x must of caused event y.  Just because people learn to read does not automatically mean that they will become published authors, however the advertisements presents it in this way to appeal to our desires of success.  Another one present is the wishful thinking fallacy which is under the appeal to emotion fallacy.  This fallacy formulates beliefs based on hopeful dreams instead of evidence.  The advertisement makes it seem that if you read, you will certainly become a famous writes who “writes the future” instead of basing on actual evidence which reveals that the chance of becoming a famous author is slim to none.  Under this same concept, appeal to possibility would work as well which states that if x is possible, x is true.  If there is a slim possibility that these dreams could occur, then it will certainly happen.  The final fallacy that is detected in the advertisement is the red herring which is reasoning that distracts from the core issue and leads the audience to false conclusions.  In Demaj’s ad, he put unrelated words such as health and peace which don’t relate to literacy.  The idea of world peace and having a healthy life is appealing and therefore distracts the reader to those ideas then concentrating on the actual subject matter: illiteracy.

 

SECTION 2

My first project for this course was the academic writing essay delving into the meaning of academic writing and key aspects of this style of literature.  Therefore, I have decided to use the Toulmin Method of Argumentation to analyze it months later.  The Toulmin method breaks down an argument into six parts.  The first one is the claim, which is the point you are trying to make.  In my essay, the claim was “Academic writing is not simply your own ideas, but uses other interpretations to connect them to your own.  This increases not only the reputability of your work, but by having the ability to weave connections among various authors, your thesis is advanced further too.”  I argue that as opposed to other writing styles, academic writing is a collection of multiple ideas that are transformed into your own work.  The second step is the grounds, is the evidence for the claim.  I used a quotation from Lennie Irvin from her scholarly article about academic writing: “Academic writing is always a form of evaluation that asks you to demonstrate knowledge and show proficiency with certain disciplinary skills of thinking, interpreting, and presenting” (Irvin 8).”   The third step is the warrant, which connects the claim and evidence to justify your position.  For my essay, my evidence relates to my thesis because it shows that you must be able to interpret other works and present them to have a successful paper.  The fourth step is the backing, which explains why the warrant is a rational argument.  In my essay, I state that having the ability to use interpretation in an essay is a key aspect of academic writing.  I again choose to use more factual evidence to solidify my argument: “As Irvin states, “The point of a critical essay is interpretive in nature. That means the point is debatable and open to interpretation, not a statement of the obvious” (Irvin 15).”  The fifth step is the rebuttal which addresses any counterclaim the audience could raise to refute the claim.  Personally, I addressed that my writing could always be improved, but the important aspect is to understand the thesis and attempt to incorporate them as well as possible: “Regarding my own academic writing, I found that if I am passionate about a topic, I can sit down and write pages about a few pages of the book.  However, I need to work on proper transitions, and staying focused to my central thesis.  As interesting as it is to connect a book to ancient Greek myths, does it contribute to the argument or is it a cool fun fact?”  Finally, the last step is the qualifier which adds specificity to the claim to match the evidence provided.  In my essay, I stated “ In reality, academic writing allows a plethora of information to flow to the reader in a vibrant and clear style.”  I modified the claim slightly by explaining that whether it is your information, or from others, the end goal of academic writing will be the same.  It will provide a high quantity of information in a clear manner.  By understand these methods, I feel that I have become a better user of rhetoric.  Whenever I used to write, I would only view it from the writer’s perspective with no thought of how the reader unfamiliar with the topic would handle the information.  This method allowed me to make my paragraphs have a logical and natural flow.  It is also much easier to read my writing because instead of providing a rebuttal before my backing, I am able to clearly present each section to the reader.  To take it even further, it has also been easier to read difficult texts when using the Toulmin method.  When we read the Brigham Young University piece, Content/Form, I initially felt lost.  The text was tightly packed and I had trouble following the logic.  In my own words, “ I couldn’t find much structure in their argument, and had trouble truly understanding their claims.  However, after using Toulmin’s argument model, I could reveal the individual parts of their argument and the purposes it serves to the reader.

 

SECTION 3

One of my favorite concepts this year has been about the term fallacy which is prominent in advertising.  A fallacy is an incorrect belief that is argued through flawed reasoning.  Advertisers (and politicians) alike constantly use fallacies to persuade audiences with poor logic because they are difficult to detect.  The application of fallacies is prevalent in my recent advertising project that required us to create a literacy advertisement.  Specifically, I used the appeal to emotion fallacy which uses emotional appeal to convince others of an argument.  I applied this fallacy by highlighting that there are thirty two Americans who cannot read.  Also used was the appeal to wealth fallacy which argues that those who are rich are smarter/truer than those who have less resources.  This is evident in the line separating the raining money mansion and the poor Americans who can’t read.  In contrast, my peer, Sujin Lim, used the false dilemma fallacy for her advertisement which forces the reader into an either/or situation.  In the ad, the child is faced with two roads, one leading to college/wealth and the other to prison!  We both used fallacies in our works, however I felt that her ad was very convincing in promoting literacy, and was a textbook case of false dilemma.  After analyzing both advertisements, I learned that the variety of fallacies make it a tremendous tool because the large quantity of hidden false arguments are difficult to detect, and thus can easily influence us.  As I stated in my project, “These texts should be catered to their interests and help them overcome this obstacle.  By applying these psychological methods to the advertisement, the message will easily resonate with users.”  Although it may be a controversial term, obtaining the ability to use fallacies to manipulate audiences is a crucial aspect of literature.

 

Code switching is the next term I choose because before I took this class, I was not aware this concept existed.  Code switching is the practice of rotating languages based on the audience.  For example, the manner of which I speak to my friends or at a job interview is completely different.  In my multilingualism essay, I clearly define code switching: “Often, individuals could technically communicate through a certain standardized way, but by selecting the right ‘language’, they are able to connect within a group and even preserve their ethnic identities in the process.”  One of my critical primary sources for this project was Paul Gee’s essay, Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics where he raised the idea of primary discourses vs secondary discourses.  “Our primary discourse constitutes our original and home-based sense of identity…it can be seen whenever we are interacting with intimates in totally casual social interaction” (Gee).  As opposed to our identity, secondary discourses are the availability of our other tongues.  This concept directly relates to code switching because the language we use most is our primary discourse, and we often code switch to our secondary discourses depending on our contexts.  After conducting my research experiment, I learned that my primary discourse was formal friends.  It was also revealed that I do not code switch nearly as often as my other classmates with only twenty one instances.  For example, in Matt Curcuru’s report, he stated that  “I (he) communicated in English for 69% of the time, in Spanish for 13% of the time, and none for 13% of the time” (Curcuru).  As Jamila Lyiscott conveyed in her speech, code switching is a unique process that is different for everyone.  Depending on our communities, languages, and personal beliefs; our instances of code switching will vary.

 

The final term I selected was the Dialogue method because I found it to be one of my favorite methods this year.  This method improves paragraph structure by writing as if it was a conversation to prove your point.  The first, or topic, sentence should answer the question “What’s your point?”  The next two sentences should restate the topic sentence with more information which answers “I don’t get it.”  The next four sentences will answer “Prove it” by relating the evidence to your argument. Finally, the last four sentences should refute “So what?” by arguing why your point has significance to the reader.  One of the most difficult goals for me this year was trying to conduct clear concise paragraphs, so this method was able to resolve both aspects.  In my own work, I wrote a paragraph defining the purpose of a body paragraph and effective tools to create structure.  I allowed myself to write freely without use of any methods.  Then, I applied the Dialogue method to that same paragraph and rewrote it with those questions in mind.  Shockingly, I found that the paragraph was cut in half by removing the fluff, and it was much easier to read!  To prove my point, this was my final sentence of the old paragraph: “Isn’t that a delicious body paragraph?  Normally, they last around 6-10 sentences and follow a similar structure to the entire essay yet instead on a micro level.”  After learning about the Dialogue method, I understood that the last section should answer why the point was important to the reader, which made my new final sentence: “Body paragraphs are the building blocks of the essay and as long as the structure is followed, are effective tools to further the writer’s agenda.”  To this day, I still use the dialogue method whenever possible in persuasive writing.

 

SECTION 4

The writing process is very important because it allows the writer to generate the best ideas and present them in the polished manner.  Just as in the methods we learned, this process has steps for the writer to follow.  The 1st step is the thought process which is when the writer can generate ideas and plans for their work.  The 2nd step is creating an outline/annotated bibliography for the work which serves as a pre draft for the essay.  The 3rd step is drafting which is the most crude and earliest form of the writing.  The 4th step is revising which is typically done after someone reviewed the work and provided ideas to improve it.  The 5th and final step is editing which is polishing the essay of all mistakes and producing the clear product.  In my situation, I admitted that although I have been writing for many years, I would always head from the 1st step to the drafting process because I had trouble formulating outlines.  Once my ideas were created, I felt eager to hit 100 miles an hour by writing the draft.  This semester, however, the idea of bubble chart outlines was abandoned, and replaced with annotated bibliographies.  That has made a huge difference for me!  I now first search for my sources and provide a quick analysis off them before writing my draft.  Not only has this allowed me to be more aware of my evidence before arguing my claim, but it has lead to more clarity as well.  With the introduction of peer review, the revising step of the writing process has made a tremendous influence on my writing, because my peers have been able to make new observations and improvements that I was unable to see earlier.  For example, for the advertising project, my peer review partner explained how I could better argue my claim for the rationale, as well as coloring/sizing changes in my advertisement.  In general, I also have not experience nearly as much writer’s block as I used to, because I do not have to jump straight from my general ideas to a full blown draft immediately.  The writing process does not exist to provide restrictions to the creativity of a writer, as I used to believe, but instead allows the writer to harness their ambitious ideas into each section, improving it along the way.

 

SECTION 5

In the world of marketing, people are often on opposite sides of their view on advertisements.  Either they are evil with the intent of corrupting and manipulating innocent people, or they are ingenious masterpieces that use carefully formulated fallacies and tools to convince their audience.  Perhaps I am biased because I created my own ad this semester, however I believe that advertisements are expert displays of work.  Most writing is persuasive from our blogs, opinion columns, politics, etc.  The only difference is that advertisements harness persuasive elements and use it to sell a product.  The reader willingly chooses to read an advertisement, and if they are persuaded by the advertisement, then it simply performed its’ intended duty.  In order to be able to persuade, advertisers use psychological tools such as fallacies.  There are thousands of fallacies, and in my own project, I felt myself closely examining each word and image I applied to my ad with the question of how will it better pursue my claim.  Just as famous artworks found in museums, making advertisements is a lengthy procedure that must always be aware of the human mind.  Although, you may feel upset that you bought that new appliance because you were influenced by the ad, you must applaud the fact that a 9 by 11 inch piece of paper was able to do even do so.

 

Academic writing is a language that although may appear to be intimidating, can be mastered as any other type of writing.  Originally, my opinion of academic writing was admittingly, not positive.  In my first projected, I revealed my feelings of the language: “Just those two words were enough to run shivers down my back when a professor exclaimed this daunting task to the class… Academic writing felt as if an art form was regulated into a narrow box with twisting tricks and rules that must be abided by or face certain failure.”  However, through the process of understanding the key aspects of academic writing as well as seeing the positive effect there is on your writing, I began to appreciate this language.  Academic writing has a formal tone lacking colloquial language, as well as must maintain objectivity.  Each paragraph should have a clear concise structure using one of various available writing methods.  A key difference between academic writing and informal writing is the use of sources.  Sources must be cited accurately with direct references to texts.  Although at first it may be a painstaking process to learn academic writing, it is a fundamental language that all literary scholars must be able to utilize.

 

Audiences play a crucial role in determining how the writer writes and in what way they do so.  The clear distinction between those two concepts is content vs rhetoric.  Content is the substance in a literary work while rhetoric is the specific language the writer delivers the content.  Just like code-switching, writers must be able to switch languages to fit their audience.  For example, if I was writing a children’s book on the sun, I wouldn’t want to describe it as a “self-luminous, gaseous central star placated in the center orbital of the solar system”!  The entire purpose of the book, to educate children, would be failed because the rhetoric was aimed at higher leveled audiences.  A key area where audiences influenced content and rhetoric was in Junot Diaz’s story, The Money.  He skillfully decided to write in a simple to read manner that attracted audiences to a glimpse of his life.  In my blog post analyzing his work, I stated that “ his casual language that makes us feel as if we are just a member of the family receiving secret information from one close pal to another.”  From every project done this year, one of my key questions was understanding who that specific work was targeted for, and the individual ways I would alter my style to accommodate them.

 

SECTION 6

Writing- steel frame, red ink, blaring lights, secluded.  From year to year, I have always had a passion for writing, however I was forced to only participate in academic writing.  Although I have developed a new appreciation for the language this year, I still would always yearn for more.  On my free time, I would read opinion columns, tech blogs, and even news articles with the desire to have the freedom to write in a different language.  Blogs have been that golden answer rescuing me from the abyss.  It has provided me a no judgement platform where I am able to produce a large quantity of writing with the pride of knowing that hours of labor would actually be read by others.  First, the peer review was a unique development in blogs.  Not only was I able to garner inspiration from my classmate’s blogs, however I was able to receive comments on writing that normally would be seen by no one, such as homework blog posts.  An example would be for my posts labeled 3 Ways to Improve my Ad, where my classmate Jason left me a helpful comment that provided me new ideas to keep working.  How has this affected my writing?  Not only have I been able to constantly improve my works with their comments, but I am also able to investigate the concepts of audiences.  Understanding and adapting to fit your audience is one of the most important tools in literary writing.  In the past, my audience was always the teacher, so I would focus on trying to use as much complex vocabulary and lengthy analysis as possible, with little regard to applying methods.  However, with blogs, I finally have a different audience- my peers, and I work as much as possible to use FUCT paragraphs, Toulmin Method, and Dialogue Method to improve my work.  An example of me modifying my work to fit my audience would be the post, From Literature to Money to Language where I stated: “Oh, the irony of being a writer, I have currently reached four hundred words with still no idea at my “languages” (plural, now is it?) and how I incorporate different languages in certain scenarios.  I will continue to research this topic, and will add information in the comments if I reach a euphoric moment.  Or if not, then I will follow as Ms. Cartha did, and let the writing flow from the soul to the page with no thought of specific language.”  My writing style here contrasts greatly with academic writing with the use of first person, physically addressing my audience, and even opening the discussion to my peers in the comments.  None of this was possible in the past.