Blog 16: Reflecting on Writing 150

During Writing 150, I have learned a lot about how to polish my writing. Before this class, I struggled to connect my ideas and to have my writing flow. My writing often sounded choppy and was difficult to understand. Now, I can link my ideas with transitional phrases. I have also learned how to set up my ideas with clear and concise introductions. When I started this class, I often had many redundancies in my writing. I was afraid that readers would not understand what I was saying. With my transitions and a few structure changes, I grew more confident in my ability to write clearly. Now I do not feel like I must repeat myself to insure that I am understood.

One thing I think could improve the class is more in class revision of our papers. The peer review is helpful, but what I found most effective was reviewing our own papers. A couple of times you had us read one paragraph and then try to implement a transitional phrase or something else. I think many students struggle with revision, and this would help them learn to edit themselves.

Another addition I would make to the class would be to read examples of rhetorical analysis and research papers.  I had never done a rhetorical analysis before this class. I read the example in the supplemental guide, but this was the only example I had. I wondered whether I was copying this author’s style or whether I was using the normal conventions of rhetorical analysis.  By reading more examples, the students could see various styles and approaches to these papers and develop their own.

Response to Diane Rehm

I listened to the Diane Rehm podcast with Michael Gazzaniga. He is the author of the book Who’s in Charge: Free Will and the Science of Brain. Gazzaniga is also a professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. During the interview, they mostly discussed his book, which details his research and his views on how social interaction affects our control over our brain. In addition they discussed some of his other research particularly the division of the two hemispheres of the brain. Gazzaniga did well in explaining the science behind his research to his non-academic audience. Rehm also helped by asking him to explain various words or concepts that most people would not understand. I think Gazzaniga findings are interesting, but I think he misses the mark in his conclusion. Although his findings are credible, he stretches them too far to support his claims. He only says the human brain is hardwired but social interaction and responsibility alter our behavior. I believe that we all have innate beliefs from birth, but these are often overshadowed by our experiences in the world. Gazzaniga’s explanation does not show how people from the same environment can take their socialization in different ways. Another part of his interview that interested me was when he discussed the research with babies who are born with brain deformation. When this occurs, the brain evolves and finds alternate ways to carry out the functions that were compromised. If the changes happen later in life the brain has already developed and can not alter its structure to compensate for the malformation.

My Favorite Movie

I have many favorite movies, and it is hard to choose just one. I'll always have a warm spot in my heart for Cool Runnings and Miracle, but I will write about the Dark Knight. I remember before it came out, many people discredited Christopher Nolan's new Batman series because it was based on a comic book. With the release of the first movie, most of the critics could no longer discount Nolan's ability to create a dramatic movie based on Batman. I could not wait to see the Dark Knight when it came out. many people wondered what the Joker's role would be because of Heath Ledger's mental illness and death after he played that character. His performance was stunning, and it is easy to see how he could get lost in the mania of the character. In order to portray the Joker that way, he had to throw himself into the mind of a madman, and he never recovered. Besides Heath Ledger's performance, I also enjoyed some of the subtle humor, mostly from Alfred. He frequently cracked wise with Bruce Wayne in order to humble him. Another aspect that I enjoyed was theme of power and its ability to corrupt. Harvey Dent begins the movie as the White Knight of Gotham, but throughout the movie, he is destroyed by his responsibility to the city. The pressure reveals some of his flaws, and he eventually cracks once his love is taken away from him, transforming him into the monster Two Face.

How my research paper is going?

I know we are supposed to start drafting during this week, but it looks like I am going to cram it all in over the weekend. I still need to do lots of research because eight to ten pages is quite a bit of writing. one thing I am worried about is being able to provide my own commentary and analysis. After reading about the unintentional plagiarism and patch writing, I am nervous that I will do it since it is so easy to do.

Response to Why Write

The main point I took from the reading was that organization and planning is key to a good research paper. If you do not plan ahead, you may address your argument to the wrong audience, address the wrong aspect of the issue, or go in several other incorrect directions. Once you plan out what you’re addressing, you must gather your evidence. When you have sufficient evidence you now have to organize your evidence in a way that avoids logical fallacies. You lose your credibility if you organize poorly.

When it comes to the research paper, I am most concerned with is being able make a unique point. At least with my topic, it has been argued and rehashed so many times I am not sure that I will be able to avoid just regurgitating other people’s arguments. Hopefully with the limited amount of time I can be knowledgeable enough to make a solid argument.

50 Words on Research Topic

I have decided to write on the privatization of health care. This is a subject of great debate in America today. Privatization is one of the topics that presidential candidates are judged on. I honestly have know idea whether it is the right thing to do or not. The main reasons I am going to research it are its important to us and I want to be more informed about it so I can make better decisions on who to vote for.

50 Words on Rhetorical Analysis

I am so glad to be done with the rhetorical analysis. I prefer this kind of writing to the creative writing of the personal narrative, but it was hard nonetheless. I was disappointed with the help from the writing center. I went in and the lady basically just nodded and gave some really vague advice. I asked about my sentence structure and my organization and got no feedback on either. Either my paper was amazing to start with, or my tutor just didn't want to help me. Hopefully it was the former.