Day 7: Thesis and Review (Josh Liang)

What’s the point?

In this writing, Daniel Hengel shares his ways of developing a thesis. First, he tries to explain that a thesis of a writing is similar to an argument or a controlling idea. It is the one or two sentence clear and concise point that is proved throughout the essay. He also explains that the essay should ultimately answer a big question which is our argument. Next, he splits these questions into categories of macro-questions, which is the thesis question answered by the essay, and micro-questions, which are the little questions that help answer the big question. Hengel believes that its best to start simple before going big and when we are reading the text, we should ask ourselves, “What do you see? What do you make of it? Why does it matter?” These are steps we can take to find the macro-question we want to answer throughout the essay. There are more questions that we can ask ourselves, but these are just questions that help us filter the potential theses we may use. Even though we may have already decided on a thesis we wanted to write about, it can change, and Hengel encourages us to make those changes so our writing can evolve.

Responding – Really Responding – To Other Students’ Writing

Richard Straub explains that we should not attempt a sloppy job when we are editing the papers of others because it is our feedback that they can utilize to improve their writing. Throughout the reading, Straub lists several ways we can provide better feedback and suggestions. One of the initial questions he lists on the subheading is “How Do You Get Started?” He further explains the things we should look for, such as the assignment, the writer’s interests, and aims, their stage of drafting, and the how well it connects to the work we discussed in class. There are many other ways listed to help us give better feedback, but the main ones are to be ourselves when grading and be honest when there are spots where we see improvement.

Response

The following readings would prove to be useful to me because of my lack of confidence in writing. Starting my writing is probably the part I struggle most with, so I’m sure I can utilize the methods that Daniel Hengel uses to structure my writings. Also, feedback was something I also didn’t do well in, but I’m glad I was able to read this before giving responses to other students’ writing because I felt I should consider the feelings of the writer and write feedback that pleases them. However, that is not how feedback works and it is supposed to help us improve, not sugarcoat the mistakes in our writing.

Day 6: Project Pitch (Josh Liang)

Ori and The Blind Forest (Top Pick)

This is my first choice because I enjoyed every aspect of the game. The advantages of this choice are not having to provide historical context but could be expanded in a way that I feel fits well with the theme. The game features a variety of mixed emotions in which the characters go through and commit to the actions they do. Such examples of these are sorrow we get from the death of a loved one, self-sacrificing love, or blind revenge. However, even though this is something I believe I can write about, I’m not exactly sure what I can connect this to.

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I selected this as one of my potential choices because there is no right way to complete the game. When playing, we have the liberty to skip side quests and aim for the completion of the game, or we could take our time casually and explore the beautiful sceneries that the game offers. Like in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, we can take our own route to reach completion. We may decide its necessary to prepare ourselves for harder tasks ahead or to step up and take on responsibilities and duty that allows us to define ourselves as successful. Although this is a very easy connection to make according to the choices we make in life, I cannot think of anything else I’m able to write about.

Don’t Starve Together

This is another game that has much social interaction in gameplay or in lore. Wilson, the protagonist of the game, is entrapped in another world by Maxwell, who controls the world freely as he likes. However, Maxwell unexpectedly loses rulership of the world and loses that power, and ends up in the same situation as Wilson; who is struggling to survive in the harsh environment created by himself. Even though Wilson and Maxwell hold bitter relationships, they utilize game theory to increase their chances of survival. The interaction of these two characters can be related to cooperation that we may partake in. I have a few ideas of what I can analyze in this game, so this could potentially be another choice I can choose from. However, the disadvantages to this text are the lack of context I can present to the audience and choosing an idea that can potentially be written to fulfill the writing criteria.

Questions

How am I going to analyze the text I have chosen?

How do I correlate my sources to analysis?

Day 6: Writing as a Process (Josh Liang)

Composing as a Process

The claim the author is trying to convey to us is writing is a process and not a product. We undergo the process of exploring, planning, drafting, and revising just to produce a piece of writing. However, if we want to write towards better products, we have to practice and develop our skills at writing itself.

Freewriting

This reading tells us that freewriting is an excellent way to write our intentions without our instinct for perfection judging us for our mistakes. We may have a good idea that we want to write on paper, but if we stop to think about how to word the sentence, or how to explain our point, we may lose the idea along those tracks.

Shitty First Drafts

In this reading, the author tells us that crummy first drafts is essential for good writing. Lamott explains that the purpose of the first draft is to jot down everything that we can think of and utilize the same ideas in an orderly fashion for our next draft. Afterward, we need to make adjustments where necessary.

Response

Reading the following texts allowed me to gain more confidence in writing because I often get overwhelmed that my writing is not good enough and is not acceptable. However, these texts explain mistakes are allowed in writing and it is what makes us a better writer. This way, I can write without feeling the urge of my writing required to exceed perfection.

Intersectional Readings (Josh Liang)

“Dancing Around Objectification,” by Victoria Merlino, Refract

The essay “Dancing around Objectification,” explain intersectionality in the form of being an African-American woman in the setting of a Harlem performance. Women who were performing The Harlem Dancer and the Invisible Man were both objectified, and their purpose was to appeal to men. McKay’s Harlem dancer has been deprived of her wonderful act compromised with singing and forced into a position of an idealized object. Additionally, she is black and cannot retaliate to what her audience thought of her. This was also because she had a low social status for being a black person during a time period where black people did not have equal rights.

“Intersectionality 101”

The thread “Intersectionality 101” explains to us what intersectionality is and how it is applied in our world. The author of this post describes intersectionality as ways that parts of our identity are bound together and related to cultural patterns of oppression. In other words, our identity is made up of small categories that can be used to define us and depending on what identity we take on, we can be discriminated for those small things that make us who we are. Like the example given, black women shows intersectionality being used because during times of segregation in America, women did not have as many rights as men, and black people were treated with disdainful treatment.

“The Urgency of Intersectionality” Kimberle Crenshaw

In this talk, Crenshaw uses the word, intersectionality to describe the situation that black women are facing. She explains that we do not perceive this as an active issue because we simply do not have a “frame” to help us see them. Crenshaw gives an example, Emma, a black woman who disputes that a local car manufacturing plant did not hire her because she was a black woman. When Emma filed a complaint to the judge, the judge sees that the manufacturing plant hired people of race and people of gender. However, the judge failed to see was that all the African-Americans that were hired were men and those who were female were white. The reason the judge failed to see the dilemma Emma was in was because of intersectionality, which was the crossing of between two types of discrimination.

“Bechdel test”

The Bechdel test is a method to evaluate the representation of women in fiction. The requirements for a work to pass the Bechdel test is if the work features at least two female characters and that they are named. Even though this is a simple requirement to pass, only half of the works of fictions we see meet these requirements. The purpose of this test is to raise awareness of gender inequality in fiction work. It was also brought to my attention when I realized most movies I watch do not pass the Bechdel test as well.

Connection and Response

The situation of McKay’s Harlem dancer reminds me of the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God because of the constant theme of “black women are mules of the world” and it is being shown in this scenario. It posed a struggle for such people because of the discriminatory factors that we possess, and we cannot simply change it to please others. This relates to some of the social issues we face in the world discussed in class with the Nike ad showing their support for Kaepernick’s silent protest against police brutality.

Metaphors in our World (Josh Liang)

According to the reading, “Metaphors We Live By” by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, our conceptual system is fundamentally metaphorical in nature. We may think metaphors are just elements within a poetic literature, but we also use it in our every day lives. In simple terms, metaphors are found in our way of thinking and acting which help us connect concepts to conceptual metaphors. The reading gives an example of concepts connecting to a conceptual metaphor, “Argument is War.” We do not physically go to war when we make arguments, but we can use our knowledge of war and relate it to arguments. This allows us to describe an argument in terms of war. However, when we describe concepts with expressions from our conceptual metaphors, it can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that can be inconsistent with that metaphor. On the other hand, conduit metaphors are more precise metaphorical concepts that can hide an aspect of our experience. Instead of losing cooperative aspects of the concept, it is more difficult to even notice there is a metaphor there. Even though we can tie a metaphorical expression to a concept, it would not make any sense if there isn’t any context given. Like the example given, “Please sit in the apple-juice seat”, and we do not know what the apple-juice seat is until it is defined somewhere in the text. The reading concludes metaphorical concepts can be extended beyond the range of literal ways of thinking and talking.

The reading, “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles” by Emily Martin, begins with a familiar fact that the male or female reproductive organs produce eggs and sperm which is then prepared in a suitable environment for it to be fertilized, resulting in a baby. The author complains there is no enthusiasm for such a story. The author also calls the female cycle a productive enterprise and menstruation is seen as a failure. One of the texts sees menstruation as a failure, but when male physiology is evaluated, it is considered remarkable because of its ability to produce several hundred million sperms per day, whereas a female only produces one gamete each month. Martin expresses irony when she explains the mass production of sperm is not seen as wasteful, but when a woman “ripens” one of her eggs and it is not fertilized, it is a waste. Throughout the reading, Martin brings forth more microscopic activities these cells have and focuses majorly on the process when a sperm cell interacts with an egg.

From what I read from both of these readings, I noticed that in the “The Egg and the Sperm” reading, the author uses metaphors throughout the entire text. The metaphor that stood up the most to me was the linkage of an egg to a woman. According to the research conducted in the text, the egg is brought up as a cultural stereotypical: a woman as a dangerous and aggressive threat. Who would’ve thought that an egg is an aggressive sperm-catcher and is likened to a femme fatale? If an egg can be connected to a conceptual metaphor, I can be confident that many other concepts that can be linked to conceptual metaphors.

Unstick Yourself (Josh Liang)

I found this Casper mattress advertisement while riding the subway and it’s an ad I have seen numerous times and it influenced my decision to purchase my own mattress. Personal possessions aside, a majority of the ad is made up of texts and refers to us, the subway riders, as their audience. It engages us by describing the situation of waking up and heading to our destination but also feeling uncomfortable with the environment we are present when we ride the subway. The ad follows up on this by inviting us to imagine ourselves feeling comfortable over layers of foam in which we can be relaxed. Even though this is just a simple ad that is trying to sell mattresses, it still reflects our lives and how important it is to value ourselves.

Tools for Analyzing Texts (Josh Liang)

Summarize this reading in your own words (150 words).

As critical thinkers, we have to analyze the texts that the world has to offer and interpret them in a way that seems meaningful. Rhetorical analysis requires us to analyze the subject as a whole and also the small elements that make up the text. The relationship of these small elements can help us find an interpretation or new insight. Whether we accept the rhetor’s point or not is completely up to us, but we also have the choice to apply our own perspective to the matter. Other ways of looking at rhetoric or lenses can help us see text differently rather than having an idea forced onto us. Analysis of rhetoric consists of important elements such as the intended audience, it’s purpose, genre, medium, the timeliness, difference in ideology, and circumstances that result in a rhetoric being composed. When we utilize these lenses, we can see that there is much more intention to a text than our own first impression of a subject.

What’s your response to this text? (response)

After reading this text, I can conclude that there may have been times where I overlooked a text and not have grasped their purpose of composing it. Even though I may have my own opinions, I may be missing the entire point and what it means for me as an individual.

What question do you have after this reading? (question/connect)

Is it acceptable to end up with different results when analyzing the same text? Or does every analysis have to lead to one answer?

What is rhetoric? Josh Liang

One of the resources that interested me is the Writing Center. This is great for me because English is one of my weakest subjects, so I hope to be able to take advantage of such a resource and improve my writing skills. With this available, I could understand what I can do to improve my writing skills and also what I should be wary of. Also, the one-to-one sessions are great ways to build up our ability to write effectively and to build our arsenal when writing. The feedback they provide will surely help me reevaluate my writings and I am sure that my peers have a better perspective of writing than I do. This is also an environment where I can make mistakes and not be judged because this is an area where we build on our ability to write.

The reading “What is Rhetoric?”, explains that rhetoric is our choice of speech that we use to deliver a message and can be interpreted accordingly to our audience. An author or text has a specific audience they are targeting and their meaning may vary from person to person. Rhetoric is not limited to our language we speak, but also our actions, gestures, signs, symbols, behaviors, and representation. The reading also points out that rhetoric speech has developed into a demeaning way to deceive people and hide true intentions. However, rhetoric is also an essential part of how we communicate. There are also three core components to rhetoric and those the use of logic and reasoning to an audience, emotional appeals to an audience, and the rhetor’s perceived strength or influence. With these parts, we can effectively make arguments.

A part of me

I am Josh Liang and I would describe myself as a quiet and shy person. I am often cooped up at home trying to hide from the outside world. However, I know I can’t keep this up for the rest of my life. It’s a trait that I’m not proud of, but it has been a part of me ever since elementary school. The reason being that I was bullied a lot and at a young age, I was emotionally scarred. For this reason, I never had the courage to go up to someone and introduce myself without fearing to be judged. Still, I have that fear lingering around me, but I am slowly overcoming it and I hope I’ll be able to be myself without feeling belittled.

Writing has never been something I excelled in. It’s not the length of a paper that makes me struggle, but what concerns me is the content I have to write about. Often at times, I would write excessively about things that do not relate to the topic and it seems to be my biggest weakness when it comes to writing. I like to be able to write whatever comes to my mind onto my paper without having any evaluations involved. However, when if a text is to be graded, I get nervous about what I should include in my writing and often feel stuck on what to write next.