Author: t.dorado

5081190220347090
03/31/16

Research-Based Argument Proposal

I plan to write about why the Dream Act would make an impact to society. The argument that I would prove is that the undocumented students would go to college and it would prove that they would be resisting stereotypes about the minor groups mainly the Hispanic community. By bring this topic up it would also bring up immigration policies. I am an undocumented student but with the help of DACA I’m able to go to school and work. But with the Dream Act it would make going to college and getting my education less stressful.  I would include my thoughts about this situation because I am dealing it first-hand. I would also include someone who is also dealing with this issue and someone who isn’t and how that would affect them. The audience for this argument is college students. I would want them to either learn about this legislative proposal. The purpose for this project is for people to be aware of the Dream Act.

03/24/16

Education Equals Success

There are many many families that come to America. One of the main reasons they come to the “land of the free” is because they want to succeed in life. Some might argue that succeeding in life requires you to have an education. I agree. My family moved to America for that main reason. In the Hispanic community it’s very important for kids to go to school and become something. That was no exception with my mother. My mother has always been my sister and I’s supporter. She always told us that school is very important if you want it make it out in life. That meant living a good life with little stress and most importantly enjoy working in the field that either my sister and I choose.

Growing up my mother would take us to elementary school very early just as the doors would open up so that we could be the first ones to go inside. I remember having to wake up early at 6 am with the Sesame Street theme song in the background. I knew it was time to wake up early to go to school. My mother wanted us to learn something new every day. She had always mention that she wanted us to work in a good career and in order for that to happen we had to get good grades. Coming from a Mexican culture, education is crucial for the students. Families feel that if you get some sort of higher education it will bring some success to their family and to you, the student.

My families background influenced me to go to college. For me it wasn’t an option, it was something that I had to do just like like going to middle school or high school. Unfortunately, my mother didn’t go off to college and for that reason she has encouraged us to go to college and complete the years. My father and mother reminded us that she didn’t want us to go to a job just to get a paycheck but rather go and enjoy the work we do.

My relationship to education is simple, I like to learn. Coming here to America wasn’t that easy. English wasn’t my first language. There were times that I had to be corrected in the way that I spoke. I learned that by reading books, it could help me understand the English language better. When I write I can sometimes spot out some words that don’t make sense because of the way I’m thinking it in my head. Now every once in a while I might be corrected with the way I say a certain word or phrase, I don’t mind because I’m still learning. Overall, having some education is seen as key to success.

03/23/16

Mother Tongue

Amy Tans short article, “Mother Tongue” makes an argument that can relate to many kids whose language English might not be their first language. The argument that she makes is that the English language can spoken in many ways. Tan explained that she first noticed that she used English in different ways when she spoke with her mother. She experienced different times where she had to speak a different type of English. She would have to translate to her mother as she was growing up. For example, she would have to act as a grown up and speak over the phone regarding their paycheck with an investor. The title “Mother Tongue” definitely relate to her her argument. In fact, the purpose of this writing is that even though English comes to her naturally, her language that she learned was her mom’s language and still continues to use it. This writing is target to her mother, that’s her audience. She keeps her mother in mind when writing other pieces. She feels satisfy when her mother says, “so easy to read.” There are different types of “English” she speaks. She broke it down to three categories. The first type is the English she speaks with her mother, she calls this “simple,” the second type was the English her mother spoke to her she called this her “broken” English. The last way she spoke was described as “water down.” It was what she imagined to be her (mothers) translation of her Chinese if she could speak in perfect English. These divisions are important to her because it depends who she speaking to and then she would have to transition to that certain English. It affects her as a writer because she has to think who her audience when she is writing. The way she thinks and puts her words on paper and it depends on what English she is speaking.

 

I liked this piece of writing because I can relate to it. English is not my first language, Spanish is. Growing up I had the same situations where I would have to translate to my mother what someone was telling her. I didn’t mind it because I knew that she couldn’t fully understand it and she tried her best to understand it. As time went on, she now understands it and can speak some of it. But I can relate that my mother and Tan’s mother both have used “broken” language to get their points across. Also I used simple language with my mother when I was growing up. I do speak different types of English when I am at work, school, at home or even when I am with my friends. For example, I could use slang English with my friends and not use that type of English at work. I think mostly everyone has spoken different English depending where they are at.

03/15/16

Acts Of Revision Response

As I was reading “Revising Attitudes” by Brock Deither I agreed with everything he was saying. I think the most important topic Deither wrote was, Resistance to Revision. I enjoyed the way he stated why some people resist to revise a piece of work and in a few sentences, he made a small argument to why it is important to revise. One phrase that I think was important was, “use what’s useful; disregard the rest.” The suggestions that the readers write on our paper are simple suggestions, like he said they’re “not orders.” Some of the suggestions that the readers give us sometimes won’t make it to the second draft.

I plan to take all suggestions into consideration for my second draft. I am a writer who likes to get all types of different critics. I am open to all suggestions to make my paper better and understandable. I plan to revise my work by first starting off with the comments the readers made to my paper. Then I’m going to focus on how to fix my spelling and grammar. This article did influence my way of thinking to revise my draft. I don’t have to take all the suggestions that are made in my paper; I can pick some that will strength my paper.

03/2/16

Responding to Other’s Writing

While we’re getting ready to start our rhetorical analysis project, I think this article, “Responding to Other Students’ Writing” by Richard Straubs is going to be helpful. One thing that I liked about this article that he kept saying was that we aren’t teachers, editors, or writers but simply a reader. He mentioned this through his piece and I agree with it. There are other people who can help out with grammar or the structure of the writing but as a reader we’re required to give feedback sole on the writing. Often when we’re starting off we just want to jot down everything while all of our ides are coming to us, that’s when we create our first shitty drafts. But after we hand in our draft, that’s when we as readers come in and try to expand the writing or get a better understanding of the writing piece.

Another thing that I liked about the way Straubs wrote his article is that he broke sections down into different categories. He didn’t just tell the readers what to do and not to do, like a list. But he gave examples to help us give a better understanding. Back in middle school or even the first two years of high school for my English classes we often had other students read our papers and give constructive criticism. As Straubs mentioned about the comments, many students would just write small worded sentences about something in general and that wouldn’t really help me. I agree that if you want to use comments, they should be addressed in detail. We should use the margins of where the comment is relating to. I also feel like students often just left positive comments instead of giving their real thoughts of the writing piece. By not doing this, it doesn’t help the writer turn in a well developed piece. Of course, we can only suggest our thoughts.

03/1/16

“Shitty First Drafts”

Anne Lamott’s article, “Shitty First Draft” gave the readers realistic advice. Probably all if not most of us have had moments where we are suppose to write either an essay or research paper and we have writer’s block. Not everyone starts to with a good draft and that’s ok. Lamott tells us that not everyone is satisfied with their first draft even if they work hard on it. There is a process for everyone to get their minds working. Even the professional writers take their time and do their own process to start their writing. As she mentions at the end of her article, “almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something – anything — down on paper,” (para. 10) I think these three sentences summarize her article and it’s a straight-forward idea she gives her readers and I think they should take it.

When it comes to giving in a first draft, I’m someone who works on the first draft two times before I hand it in, almost the same way as Lamott. For me there is a little process I do to begin my writing. For example, if I have to write on a topic or paper, I read what the assignment is asking for carefully to know exactly what I should be writing about.  I don’t start to write automatically, I take a few minutes to just think about my response. After I know what I want to write about I always start with what I learned in middle school, to have an introduction, body and a conclusion. After that I want there to be topic and not just have random thoughts jumping everywhere. I feel that this process works better for me because I’m able to then move those ideas that I wrote to different sections. Of course, that isn’t always the case sometimes I don’t know what to write down and I just write sentences that relates to my work. They could be small and little detailed sentences.  After I have finished the first draft, I go back and reread my work and focus on what else I can add in or take out. I always find this process helpful because as I’m reading my work, more ideas start to pop up. Although, Lamott states that in the beginning of writing, you will have a shitty draft I do follow her advice that we should just write anything down but at the same time in my own writing process I like to do more than just write down anything, I like to edit my work while I’m still on the first draft to be ready to move on to the next draft.  It takes a few drafts to be satisfied with the final piece. As I mentioned before, there is a process everyone has to writing or handing in their first draft.

02/25/16

Rhetorical Analysis Ideas

Idea 1: I’d like to write about the show on Netflix, Narcos. It has grabbed many peoples attention and has given positive reviews. Before the show aired its first episode on August, one of the world’s powerful and notorious drug leader had escaped, El Chapo. After that event, many were interested in the world of the Cartels. This show came at the right time. Although this show is not about El Chapo, it based on the life of Pablo Escobar. Escobar is considered to be right next to El Chapo, on top of the lists of the worlds powerful leaders.

Idea 2: Another idea is to write about the movie, To Kill a Mockingbird. Many have written about the book but I’d like to write about the movie and compare it to the latest book that Harper Lee wrote, Go Set a Watchmen. There is a reason why this book/movie is a classic.

02/23/16

Rhetorical Analysis/Baldwin

James Baldwin’s piece, “My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation” he points out many important topics and arguments. Baldwin focused on the elements of Bitzers “rhetorical situation” to make his point across. The main argument of this letter was the struggles of African Americans created by the white society. When Baldwin wrote these essays and letters it was during 1963, at the time when the African-American Civil Rights Movement was taking place. The goal of the movement was to end discrimination and segregation. Baldwin made sure to write about this movement in his letter. He let his nephew know that there was discrimination still happening even before his time. For example, Baldwin explained that because he was black, he was already given limits as to how far he would go, not only that but where he lived was an important key to his limits. He was placed by the white people to live in the ghetto, Harlem. Living in Harlem it meant little success. Till this day there are still some stereotypes about Harlem being “ghetto,” which means not a lot of great things happen in that area including the people. Baldwin explains that in the white people’s view, they are inferior and worthless human beings. Baldwin himself had experienced this discrimination. He seen discrimination not only in his neighborhood but he describes to us that his past family members and other African Americans lived through even a harder time. In the time where they were ignored and just put to work. But since then they have tried to succeed.

The audience to this piece of writing is not only African-Americans but the white community. He does speak to the African Americans through this letter that yes, they are experiencing a harsh time for who they are, being black but he points out that sooner or later they have to rise above it, until then they have to fight for their freedom. Although the title of this writing piece has the words, “One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation,” African-Americans still have to fight for their freedom, they are still being discriminated till now. His second audience is the white community. He wants to teach them about what its like being African-American and the problems they endure simply because of their identity.

The constraint in his letter is the time African Americans have to reach their goal, to not be discriminated or be seen less than a human being. The audience are skeptical that these group of people won’t be treated equal just as a white person. To relate this letter to the modern time that constraint was reached slowly. Barack Obama is the first African American to become president of the United States. When he was elected to represent the United States, he represented the Black community. He was shown that they are equal as any white person. Of course, there issues that still need to be resolved, those issues go back to the 1960’s that this century still needs to work on.

02/18/16

Letter to My Nephew

My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation by James Baldwin is an emotional and very truthful letter. This letter that uncle James writes to his nephew tells him what to expect in the future about his race. This letter is about the existence of racism that African Americans have to encounter with everyday. Uncle James tells his nephew some of his experiences that he had as a young adult, so he won’t experience them like him.

He first began to explain to his nephew about his identity and who he is.  In other words, he told him he can’t be destroyed unless he doesn’t know who he is. For example, the last sentences of the first paragraph explains part of the letter. “You can only be destroyed by believing that you are what the white world calls a nigger” (7).  If he (nephew) believes that he is what the white world calls him, he knows he wont be accepted. He shouldn’t settle down and expect to make peace with mediocrity. Uncle James tells his nephew that in todays world, his ambitions and future is already set for him based on one reason. That reason is the color of skin, him being black meant he was a “worthless human being.” But he’s loved in this world by family and hopes that it will make him feel at ease and strengthen “against the loveless world.”

Uncle James continues to tell his nephew his opinion on what the white society thinks of his culture and that the opinions of the white people do have on impact on the African Americans. However, uncle James states that “acceptance and integration” is something that his nephew should act on. He mentions that he shouldn’t become a white man but just accept them. He knows that some of the white people understand the history of his race and some don’t. He explains that for years men believed or still believe that black men are inferior to white men. That’s why uncle James tells his nephew that he should accept them love because there are two different types of people.

At the end of his letter he points he points out that his nephew shouldn’t be afraid of who he is. (going back to the last sentence of his first paragraph). That in fact he should be proud, his past has created a better future. He has come a long way. He past included men who picked cotton or dammed rivers but have created monumental dignity. He knows that while his past created that dignity they still have to fight their freedom. “You know, and I know, that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.  We cannot be free until they are free.” Uncle James tells his nephew its going to be hard to achieve his accomplishments, including his freedom but they will do it. Overall, this chapter was interesting. There was a lot to analysis and there were many topics to write about but the main important topic was racism that can be connected to todays society.

02/16/16

Apple’s 1984 Superbowl Ad

This ad was introducing a new macintosh computer and the way the creators did it was in a whole different type of way. They first began the ad with human like robots. They were all the same and following each other to a big hall. Once they arrived there, they looked up to a big screen in which, “big brother” was speaking to them. Afterwards, a girl comes in running, with police officers trying to catch her and she throws a hammer to the big tv destroying it and waking the human like robots.

The exigency and subject of the ad was a new macintosh computer. There was to be new technology, that would change 1984.

The audience was everyone, it didn’t really target a specific group. The way the creators targeted this new computer was through the superbowl, which of course everyone in America was watching the game and commercials.

The constraints of this ad was the time, how long this ad would go on was up to the creators.

The purpose of this ad was to introduce a new and revolutionary computer that would change America. A new computer would be the new future of that year.

The argument of this ad was to show that a new computer would be the future. That everything in the technology world would change. The way this was portrayed was different and if I was living in 198 I would agree that we do need a new computer to be better.

The pathos  is to make people want and need this new product that was being shown. That it was a product that everyone must have.

The ethos is Apple, they are the ones who are persuading people to get this product.

The lagos in this ad that if you have this computer, you are part of the new world, you are entering the future.

02/12/16

What Is Rhetoric?

The two articles that we read about rhetorical analysis so far, this article is the one that I enjoyed reading the most. What is Rhetorical was short and simple. It went straight to the point and I understood everything the author was explaining. Something of the text didn’t surprise me but there was some new information that I got. For example, the different rhetorical appeals was something new. Although, I did know that some of this appeals we do them everyday.
The appeal that I liked and that we practice everyday is the pathetic appeal or pathos. I understood that this appeal is connected to emotions. The example they gave us was very relatable. There are songs for every emotions and there are different artists that translate these emotions back through music. But as speakers we have to understand the audience who we are speaking to to understand their values. As the article mentions, who we speak to shapes what we say or write.

02/11/16

Backpacks vs. Briefcase

Reading this article was interesting and I can see some connections with the article that we read, Metaphors We Live By. One of the sentences from her article that I think is important was, “these kinds of questions let you begin to create your own claims, your own rhetoric, as you take a stand on what other people say, do, or write” (55). Laura Bolin Carroll explains to us that with social media we interpret rhetoric. That we use it everyday and everywhere, just as metaphors. Thats one connection that I saw these two articles had. Rhetoric is everywhere and with the help of social media we are more persuade. As she continues to give different examples. Towards the end of her statements, I like how she mentioned that we have to create our own claims and take a stand. Nowadays not many people do and instead they just follow. As her last sentence says, people who understand rhetorical analysis can help influence the world.

02/10/16

“Everybody’s a Critic”

The article, Everybody’s a Critic. And That’s How It Should Be by A.O Scott states that everyone is a critic and as the title reads, he wants it to be that way. He mentions that as a society we like to defend our own thoughts and don’t really want people to mock them; “we are protective of our pleasures, and resent it when anyone tries to mock or mess with them” (3).  Scott explains that even though there are critics who try to change your mind or way of thinking, sometimes its better to go with your own thoughts.

He used the Oscars as an example. In the article he said that we should ignore the peer pressure of going to see a movie just because one critic wasn’t too please with what he saw. I agree with Scott that everyone is different but we all have one thing in common and that’s being a critic. But he goes further than just saying we should protect our ideas and to think “beyond the horizon of our own conventional wisdom” (4). I agree that we should use our minds more seriously. He made a connection of a critic to a solider. As a solider they are serious and they defend their “life” and “art of living”. He couldn’t have said it more clearly.  In my opinion I think what A.O Scott wants us to do is to be a serious critic.

02/9/16

After Six Sacks, Cam Newton Brings Himself Down

Roughly about 114 million people saw the Super bowl on Sunday. The two main names that were mentioned were, Cam Newton the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers and Peyton Manning the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Mostly everyone was watching the game and many people placed bets whether it was a small or large bet, everyone had a team to cheer for.  Unfortunately, the Panthers lost and right after members from the team would have to come out and talk to the press about the game. The media was focused towards Cam. They wanted to know what was happening in his mind during and after the game. As the article mentions, Cam wasn’t too pleased that he had lost the game. He gave out small worded answers as journalists asked questions. At one point, he just left the room. I think it is understand that he wasn’t too happy but at the same he is a professional athletic, so he shouldn’t have just left the room with his other team members and coaches behind.

The metaphor that fits perfectly to this article is “time is money.” Time was a big factor for the Panthers to score some touchdowns against the Broncos. Money was the second factor because not only would the Panthers win the main game but money as well. Each player would receive a large amount of money to win the game. In every sport I think that this metaphor, “time is money” is often used for a good reason.

 

02/9/16

The Egg and the Sperm by Emily Martin

The author of this article, Emily Martin had a lot to say about the gender stereotypes and the definition of male and female. She showed these stereotypes in the “language of biology.” She pointed out that, “female biological processes are less worthy than their male counterparts” (486). She first began to explain that that the Western culture saw women as failures. Martin used the example of what an egg and sperm do. She in many cases repeatedly mentioned that women were no use after a process was done.  For instance, she stated that once menstruation was over, it was viewed as a failure. Oppose to males having an “amazing characteristics of spermatogenesis” (487). What this means is that it was more amazing to see males manufacture several hundred million sperms per day than to see a women shed only a single gamete each month. I do think people are more amazed that men can reproduce sperm than to tell someone a female loses one single gamete each month. Its more interesting to hear just the words, millions per day.

Martin continues to explain that women get no appreciation for any female process. She gives examples from different articles that women processes are shown in negative light. At one point, one of the articles she uses said that females are unproductive and are seen as wasteful. With the examples she gives I did start to realize she was making a point. When it comes to the reproductive system, women are shown that they hold the sperm, give birth and the rest of the eggs die in the ovaries. But men are still able to produce sperm as much as 100 million a day. But later into the text, it was explained that female organs are interdependent but the male organs are independent.  Towards the end of Martins article, it was stated that as new research comes into play, these stereotypes that eggs are seen as weak and sperm is seen as “forceful penetrators” (493) could be wrong. The egg and sperm both equally need each other. No other is more useful. I agree with this. Emily Martin ends her article by telling the reader that women shouldn’t be seen as aggressive sperm catchers and once they are done with the process they are finished or in the process of the reproductive system; women automatically become servant and are no later useful. I agree with Emily’s last arguments that, “biologists use to describe their data can have importance social effects” (500). The types of words or comparisons people use to describe the reproductive system can have an impact on our society, especially for women.

02/4/16

Metaphors We Live By

Reading the first three chapters of Metaphors We Live By written by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson was interesting. The first chapter told us that metaphor is a language that everyone uses. We think and act, yet we are not aware of it. Lakoff and Johnson gave the example of “Argument is War”, through this example they explained that metaphors are structured and our language of argument is “not poetic, fanciful, or rhetorical; it is literal.” They further explained that our human thought process is metaphorical and when we speak of metaphor, it really means that it’s a metaphorical concept.

As I continued to read on I started understand more about metaphorical concepts. Lakoff and Johnson gave another example in which I think everyone has heard of it and can agree, time is money. They explained what that saying meant and I agree with it 100% even though we can never get back our time we spent do whatever it was that we were doing. I’ve heard this phrase being thrown from left to right as I was growing up. Perhaps its because we live in the most expensive city or that it is true that time is money. They explained that time is the most valuable commodity we have in our culture. They broke it down to exactly how time is money. All though most people have heard, time is money, it was explained that this commodity is mostly used in the Western culture. We are convinced and act that time is a limited resource as they explained and we either choose to spend it wisely or poorly. Time is money is a metaphorical concept. They explained that its metaphorical because “we are using our everyday experience with money…to conceptualize time.” It goes back to our culture on how we conceptualize time and how metaphors are characterizing our system. In my opinion it depends if someone chooses if time is a valuable commodity. The authors explained that in many other cultures and places time isn’t what humans want to conceptualize.

The last chapter Lakoff and Johnson retold us that metaphors are used in our everyday language and we don’t know it, in fact they quoted Michael Reddys documents, that 70% of the English language metaphors are hidden and we use metaphorical concepts to understand one another. Overall, this reading made me realize that in fact, we do use a lot of metaphors everyday.

02/4/16

Tania’s Introduction

Hi my name is Tania Dorado. I have lived in NYC practically all my life. I was born in Mexico and raised in Long Island City, Queens at the age of five. My major is marketing, focusing in the entertainment industry.

I have two pets, a shih-Tzu mix named Coco and I recently adapted a kitten named Toby. Cats and dogs can definitely get along. When I’m not working I like to read mystery books or ones that don’t always have a happy ending. That’s the same with movies, I’d rather watch thriller movies than happy films. Other than that one of the hobbies that I love to do is to go to concerts mainly, to alternative rock concerts.

I chose this picture because not only do I like trees and forest but it shows an open road that could lead to anywhere. I want to travel to any places as much as I can and just explore different cultures and vibes with my close friends.

tumblr_nb51kctyrw1sg7jo9o1_500

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/tdorado/