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Thlog: Week 10

Where did the time go?! I can’t believe it’s been just over two months since I began this Writing 2 adventure. We really only did one stand-out activity this week, and that included reading and analyzing Anna and Bella’s example metacognitive essays. This gave us an insight into the flexibility of design, context and tone required for our paper. Anna’s metacognitive response paper had a fantastic chronological structure, but her writing could have been a lot more interesting and creative. Contrastingly, Bella’s essay had terrible structure, but used more of a personal and conversational voice that was very interesting to read. In my own metacognitive response essay, I will extract ideas from both of these examples. In specific, I am going to use a similar chronological structure to Anna’s, but use a conversational, emotional tone in my writing similarity to Bella’s. My personal idea of reflection is to oversee previous work and make a valuable assessment on my progress. Reflecting will give me the opportunity to see how I’ve improved over the course, and what I’ve learnt not only as a writer but as a person. 

So as I wrap up Writing 2’s final Thlog, I want to thank Z for the enthusiasm and passion he brought to the course. In addition, I want to also thank my classmates for providing me with constructive feedback for most of my work. Goodbye Writing 2!

OMG wait I just found this picture of a guy waving goodbye and it looks like Z hahaha I hope everyone appreciates this as much as I do.

Thlog: Week 9

Monday’s class was primarily targeted at exploring and sharing our WP3 ideas. I initially jotted down a few questions and concerns I had about my WP3. The most difficult question I needed answering was whether or not a Yahoo Answers post was an appropriate genre selection for my mature audience. Because of its lack of credibility, I was unsure if I can sincerely address an important topic through this mode of cyber communication. However, after posting the question on my PB3A, I received an awesome response from Sam. She suggested that instead of using a Yahoo Answers post for my adult audience, I use it for my younger audience. This way, it ties in with the “lack of credibility” because children often don’t seek credible sources when simply “Googling” a question. So big shout-out to Sam for solving my dilemma. 

I’m really really looking forward to creating our final portfolio. Z gave some pretty reasonable comments on both my WP1&2, so fixing those up and seeing how much better I can make them is exciting. I’m also interested to see how I’m going to approach my reflection piece, and how far I have come — if at all — since the beginning of the quarter. I can’t believe how quick this quarter has flown! One more thlog ;)

WP3: Writing About Writing, About Writing

Being an international student studying in America is shocking and often disadvantageous. The education system and formatted curriculum is unlike any other in the world. First-year composition — an introductory core curriculum writing course — is unique to the United States and is often disputed as an unnecessary course. Doug Downs’ article What Is First-Year Composition? explains the origin, features, positives, and negatives of learning and teaching writing in a first-year composition (FYC) course. According to Downs, over time, writing has become about avoiding breaking specific “rules,” which students are to be adept with by the end of high school (Downs, 53). Downs relates these “rules” to rhetorical writing, in that rhetoric predicts that “rules” vary by situation and are dependent on audience perception. Given that writing is not universal but contingent of community standards and subject knowledge, we can predict that “writing will be learned best not in an isolated, universal course, but via actual genres written in the situations they’re intended for” (Downs, 55). Teaching writing outside meaningful rhetorical situations won’t work well; learning transfer from general instruction will be hit-or-miss. Downs argues that traditional FYC has many flaws: its stakeholders ascribing blame to bad students and bad teaching. But despite these flaws, FYC is a site where people can explore and profess knowledge, including access, interaction, voice, textual production, rhetoric.

          Using Downs’ academic piece as a template for my transformed genres, I have specifically targeted two audiences — one younger and one older — to translate the article’s content. For the younger audience, I have used a Yahoo Answers post, targeting students from 14-18 years old. The Yahoo Answers questioner is a 17-year-old student from Australia, who is new to the American schooling system and wants to know what first-year composition is. Beginning her first quarter at UCSB she is placed into a first-year composition class, and asks the public to give a definition and the objective behind the course. Following the question are multiple respondents that represent specific members and groups in society. These members include Doug Downs (the author), a politician, a professor, a student, a graduate teaching assistant, and the (FYC) institution. These responses all correspond with one of Downs’ main arguments — that first-year composition has the potential to be beneficial, if taught in an appropriate manner. 

          My younger audience genre is a Yahoo Answers page with the question “What Is First-Year Composition?” This particular post targets students around 14-18 years old, who are currently enrolled in high school. These students attend American schools, and are required to take a first-year composition course in their first year of college. Yahoo Answers is a public forum, accessible to basically anyone in society. Because any internet-user is able to post a response, the credibility of the forum is decreased drastically. Despite its lack of credibility, Yahoo Answers is the quickest and most convenient Q&A forum available on the internet. Generally, younger internet-users are less likely to search credible sources and instead search for the most accessible and available answer to a given question. 

         To suit this target audience, the language and tone used in the Yahoo Answers page is casual and unprofessional, with multiple grammatical errors. Also included are informal abbreviations and emotion symbols. However, the respondents tone varies depending on whom is giving the answer. The student’s language compared to the professor’s language is far more crude, exaggerated and less serious about the subject matter. For instance, the professor answers "First-year composition is an English course meant to ensure students can write when they get to us -- but doesn't; our students can't complete a sentence, much less write well." Another student on the other hand states "FYC is just some shiz you have to take that makes you ok 4 taking otha classes. its really stupid nd boring. "

         The context segment directly below the Yahoo Answers question provides the audience with a short briefing on exactly what the questioner is asking and why. In this particular post, the Australian student explains that she grew up in the Australian schooling system, and is unfamiliar with “first-year composition.” The respondents to the post are people in varying disciplines in different settings of society. The context of each answer varies depending on the respondent and their personal and educational background. 

          The genre I’ve transformed to fit an older audience is an informative email addressed to parents of students taking an English class in their senior year of high school. The target audience is therefore approximately 40-60 years old. The email aims to inform the parents on the reformed English class content and format. In relation to Downs’ article, the email explains that instead learning to avoid breaking “rules” in English class, the students will be taught about various writers, writing processes, genre, and rhetorics. In addition, the email briefly lists the previous course intentions, and describes the newly revised attitudes and objectives. 

          To suit this target audience, the language and tone is formal and proper, with no grammatical errors. If the author of the email was a teacher with more of a personal relationship with the parents, the tone would have purposely been more friendly and conversational. However, because the author is the Head of English Department, the language must be non-conversational and an almost superior tone. 

          The context of the email focuses on both previous and reformed course material. Because the email is addressed to a cohort of parents rather than an individual, the opening paragraph introduces the author to the recipients. The second paragraph talks about the “past forty years,” and the strategy behind teaching and grading writing within the department. The following paragraph explains why this strategy is outdated and weak. The forth paragraph includes a very brief explanation on the reformed teaching strategy, and what the department wants to achieve as a result. The final paragraph includes a couple of helpful suggestions, including the enclosed copy of the class rubric and offering to be available for any questions through the most convenient mode of communication. At the very end of the paragraph, the author signs off, followed by their position within the school, the school’s name, her email, and her phone number. 

          The structure of the email is very specific, so that the audience can understand the content and not waste any time in doing so. The opening line of the email is an address to the recipients, followed by a sentence of introduction. Then, a brief summary of the topic and situation is addressed. Following this summary is the argument against this situation and why. The final main paragraph is how the author is proposing to fix the situation. To end the email, the author has attempted to end in a positive and approachable manner; offering availability for questions and an attachment of the class rubric. Finally, the author signs off, followed by an assortment of personal and contact information. 

I chose to use Yahoo Answers to represent a younger genre because a younger audience is less likely to fret about the credibility of the answer. When I was younger, I would rely on Yahoo Answers for almost anything. When one types a question into Google, Yahoo Answers is often one of the first links, as it is the most relatable link available. Additionally, if I ever needed a quick response to a question, I would post on Yahoo Answers and receive a response within hours. The promptness and easiness is appealing, especially to impatient children.

          My goal for the Yahoo Answers page was to communicate on a social and interactive platform what first-year composition is, and how different people from different disciplines have varying definitions. I attempted to use the casual atmosphere and lack of credibility to target a specific audience, whom generally responds more openly in these circumstances.

          My intended audience was American high school students (14-18 years old) who are educated and are taking a compulsory English class. In attempt to meet this particular audience’s expectations, I wanted to focus a lot on conveying a main topic in Downs’ article as efficiently and simplistically as possible. Because high school students are often lazy when it comes to reading, I wanted to ensure the content was minimal and broken up, without being too broad. In addition, I used emotion symbols and abbreviation, which often appeals to younger internet users.

          The moves I used in this translation was to use numerous definitions and opinions from different people in society, and then  “[render] the characters, context and environments in those frames clearly” (McLoud, 156). This gives the readers a three-dimensional approach to first-year composition, just like Downs suggests in his article. However, the respondents don't originate from similar disciplines, but vary from politicians, to parents, to students, and professors. Using answerers from different disciplines “engages [the] audience in a way that will invite them to be receptive to [the] message,” regardless of their background (Losh and Alexander, 2013). These different perspectives gives the audience options on how to approach first-year composition depending on their preferred source. A child who is more serious about school may prefer to listen to the professor, rather than a non-studious student’s bias opinion. On the other hand, “mentioning that you’re a college freshman might give you credibility if you’re responding to a post aimed at teenagers applying for [first-year composition] college courses” (Losh and Alexander, 2013).

          I chose to write an email to the parents of students in a high school English class because parents are often interested in what their child is being taught in school and why. When I was in high school, my teachers from various disciplines would email my parents informing them on exactly what content I was studying and how the teacher was approaching the course. I asked my mother to extract an old email from my high school economics teacher in Australia. Although the curriculum and teaching style varies in Australia, the genre conventions of an informative email addressed to a parent appear to be very standard. The email always begun and ended with a polite sentence or two, similarly to what I have demonstrated in my email.

          My goal for the email was to redeclare and correct the outdated model of teaching and grading in a writing class, and to briefly introduce a newly revised rubric. The email’s purpose is essentially a courtesy piece, to forewarn parents on alterations of the English class’s regime.  

          The intended audience of the email was to parents of students taking an English class in their senior year of high school. The target audience is therefore approximately 40-60 years old. Access to education is much easier in today’s society, so whether or not the audience is wealthy or was educated themselves is indeterminable. In addition, the race and gender are two other social factors that are unknown. The relationship between the audience and their children is also indeterminable, but the email is narrated assuming they are somewhat interested in their child’s education. With this assumption, I tailored my piece as a courtesy email. Because of the author’s role as an English teacher, “it is their duty to be formal and respectable” (Losh and Alexander, 2013). Therefore, I intentionally used a professional format so that the audience respects the decisions made in the email. 

          A particular move I used was to conclude the email by offering availability for questions or concerns. This gives the audience an option to discuss or clarify the content presented throughout the email. At the bottom of the email, I included a phone number and contact email for the audience to use, further promoting the audience’s power to contact the author. Another move I used was to begin and end the email with friendly, off-topic statements. For instance to begin the email, the author introduced herself, and to conclude the email the author offered to answer any questions or concerns about the topic. I used this move in attempt come across as polite, by greeting and farewelling the audience with poise. The content within the email may cone across as bland to some members of the audience, so having a more conversational beginning and end keeps the audience somewhat engage.


Available Links:
"What Is First-Year Composition" - Doug Downs
Transformed Genre: Email
Transformed Genre: Yahoo Answers Page
WP3 + Feedback Matrix

PB3A: Unravelling & Transforming Genres

For my WP3, I’ve decided to work with Doug Downs’ What Is First-Year Composition?  Downs’ article focuses on what first-year composition is, and whether or not it has out-grown our current society. In short, first-year composition is an introductory core curriculum writing course that focuses on improving students’ abilities to write in a university setting and introduces students to writing practices in the disciplines and professions. The opening paragraph of Downs’ article discusses the definition of first-year composition depending on the person being asked within society including a politician, parent, or professor for instance. Before Downs goes into specifics on first-year composition he attempts to tackle what is actual “good” writing. After a short discussion he deciphers that “good” writing is socially constructed. Downs then attempts to explain the origin and importance of following an obligatory core curriculum in high school, to give the reader additional information on how the first-year composition course was derived. The key aspect of Downs’ article is that overall, “good” academic writing becomes about avoiding breaking the many socially constructed rules and sticking to the Harvard writing format as best as possible.

To morph Downs’ piece into two completely new genres, I have selected genres that appeal to age-specific audiences. For the younger audience, I will use an email written by a literature teacher that targets middle school students. The second genre will be a Yahoo Answers post, that primarily targets a more mature audience. 

Younger Audience

Genre: Email

Target Audience: A class of grade 6 students obligated to take literature class (11-year-olds)

Scenario: During the first week of (middle school) instruction, the students constantly complained about how much they hated literature, and instead wanted to study something they enjoy. The email has been sent on the first weekend of instruction, addressed to the students of her literature class.

Genre Subject: The email will be a welcoming passage to the students in her literature class, along with a brief explanation as to why the students must study the set curriculum, rather than being able to choose their own subjects.

Conventions: The email will be set out professionally; including a line to address the class, a welcoming paragraph, an explanatory paragraph (on why they study core subjects), a concluding paragraph, and a sign-off. Because of the young audience, the language will be basic and comprehensive to an 11-year-old, and the tone friendly and calm. The email will also be short, because often younger people have shorter attention spans. In addition, the email will include multiple emoji’s and a couple of colorful pictures somewhat relevant to the email, so that the children are more likely to positively react. 

 

Mature Audience

Genre: Yahoo Answers Post (including questions and answers)

Target Audience: Mature person seeking a definition and different perspectives on first-year compositions.

Scenario: The Yahoo Answers questioner will be Jaimee Gilbertson from Australia, who is new to the American schooling system and wants to know the exact definition of first-year composition. There are then many respondents that represent specific members or groups in society. These members include Doug Downs (the author), a parent, a politician, a person of the general public, a professor, a student, a graduate teaching assistant, and the (FYC) institution. 

Genre Subject: In Yahoo Answers, users have the opportunity to ask a specific question, whilst other users respond to the question to receive points. The highest rated answer voted by the public is displayed at the top of the “answers” segment. 

Conventions: Generally following the “question” posed by a Yahoo Answers user, there is a “context” blurb written by the questioner that gives the viewers a slightly more comprehensive explanation on what the user is asking. Below the “question” and “context” segments of the Yahoo Answers page, there is the “answers” section, where it lists each of the respondents answers. The answers will be a couple of sentences long, and use highly intellectual language to fit the target audience.

I have some questions regarding my proposal, so please feel free to answer them or make any additional suggestions!

Questions: 

1. Should my “mature audience” genre be more professional? Because the people who are involved (politicians, professors, parents etc.) might not be inclined to use Yahoo Answers, because of its lack of credibility. Perhaps a more formal writing blog could be used instead?
2. Should I make the Yahoo Answers questioner someone other than myself? Maybe an anonymous user, or perhaps a student in a particular academic field?
3. Should I include information about obtaining “points” as a user on Yahoo Answers? Or is it irrelevant?

Thlog: Week 8

So on Monday we handed in our WP2's! What a flippin’ relief. It was super time-consuming and difficult to write — I was definitely out of my comfort zone for that one. On Monday I was sick as a dog, so missed the entertaining videos everyone keeps on talking about. 

I’m a big fan of Losh and Alexander’s comic. I think it’s really impressive that they created an entertaining and intriguing comic, and be able to relate it to academic writing so convincingly. I much prefer reading comics than boring paragraphs of writing, so I found this was a great way to mix up the class reading. Losh and Alexander focus on writers adapting to audience’s, and changing identities accordingly. They compared this idea to choosing particular clothes for particular occasions, so changing rhetorics can be a great thing. Anyway, it was a super cool reading for this week.

So WP3 is slowly approaching, and I’m a lot more excited about it than I have been about the previous writing projects. As we looked over previous WP3’s ideas, I’m pretty bummed we weren’t able to select our own topic. I feel like I would have been a lot more motivated to do it, but I understand this is a writing class and it’s important to learn about writing in the process. I’m in Hawaii for the rest of the week, so I’m going to try to attempt PB3A soon so that I don’t end up completing it at the last minute. I’m still a little confused about the tone of this proposal. Is it supposed to be conversational? Also, in the WP3, is there a specific format to follow? Or am I just writing about what I’ve done in an orderly fashion? Hopefully I find my selected article interesting enough to challenge my creativity and think outside the box.

Thlog: Week 7

So instead of Thloggin’ Thursdays I’ve decided today’s going to be Weekly Writing Wednesdays. No more procrastination. So this week was a very short week, so there’s not a lot to write on. One of the writing tips Z gave us this week was writing out a mind map. I actually do this every time I am given a prompt and have a topic of interest. Especially writing it out, it enables me to just get all of my ideas and assort them into particular parts. This promotes the idea of overlapping and relating the concepts more closely. 

We then went to socrative.com where everyone in the class pasted their introductions. Each student voted on their three favorite introductions.  The two highest voted introductions possessed some moves that are unique to the authors. For instance, the highest rated introduction started with a question, followed by a definition and ended with a quote. The second highest rated introduction had a very conversational tone, with the sentence length varying drastically. This exercise was super sweet, because it gave everyone the chance to read other people’s work and take away some effective moves. I especially like that both of the introductions had a really strong, interesting first sentence. I think the first sentence of the paragraph is the most important, because it sets the tone for the entire essay. I’ll definitely be using these tips from other student’s introductions and implementing them into my own writing.

We then went into peer reviewing (my favorite part!), and came out with some very useful tips. The girls who peer reviewed my work said that the structure of my paper was really creative and effective. Because “structure” was a big problem in my WP1, I’m really happy with the way my draft turned out and the girls’ positive comments. I still, however, need to do a lot more with finding sources and using them to enhance my paper. 

Thlog: Week 6

On Monday morning we began with another couple of Z’s useful writing tips. The first tip we received was to use “notes to self” with insert comments in a paper. I already do this, but it really helps me revisit parts of my writing that may need touch-ups or extra information. It can be grammatical, organization, punctuation — anything! I LOVE Z’s second writing tip to look at visuals of the writing topic to assist with ideas and getting started. I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before, but I actually tried it with my WP2, and it gave me some super ideas I never would have thought of. The third writing tip of the week I was most impressed with was using synonyms of says. As a class we attempted to smash out as many synonyms of the verb says as we could. We came up with many, including explain, describes, states, advocates and argues. This variation of words makes writing so much more appealing. 

Parallelism was an interesting, new term (in writing specifically) introduced to me this week. It’s not something I usually notice in a piece, but it subconsciously helps to make the writing more appealing. The use of similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses is called parallel structure. For instance: winning, implementing, and improving all use present tense with the suffix ‘ing’. But parallelism isn’t just with words or phrases, it can also be relative to the entire formatting and structure of a piece — for instance we analyzed Rockin Robin’s resume. The location of each set of information on the page was in the exact same position, and each subheading was present for every subject. Small snippets of parallelism was present in the resume, without us really noticing prior to the investigation. In Charlie Cheesecake’s resume, there were multiple things that needed to be changed because of the style resumes often follow. For instance, the class decided that resumes need to be in black and white, or very bland colors. However, Charlie Cheesecake’s resume had color splashed all over; coming off as very unprofessional. 

I’ve just started writing my WP2 draft, so I am looking forward to writing it and peer reviewing on Wednesday!

PB2B: How Cool Are Your Moves?

Rhetorical moves are essential for creating more personalized and compelling writing. Whether we realize it or not, rhetorical moves are often present in our own writing — giving us a writing style unique to us. In Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst’s book They Say, I Say, they provide many writing templates that appear throughout the readings we have completed in class so far. However, there were many instances I noticed a template that wasn’t mentioned in They Say, I Say, so decided to name and describe it myself.

The following authors use a template mentioned in They Say, I Say:

• In Navigating Genres, Kerry Dirk includes the notion of “Explaining Quotations.” “Explaining Quotations” is where the first few words of the sentence following the quotation attempts to give an explanation or describe the significance of the quote in relation to the overall text. Dirk uses phrases such as “In other words,” and “This approach enables us to…” This particular move gives the audience clarity on the relationship between the quote and the argument. 

• Dirk also includes the template “Capturing Authorial Action” in Navigating Genres. This move introduces the viewpoint of a respectable figure; beginning the sentence with their name followed by language that describes the type of quotation or standpoint the introduced person has. Dirk repetitively uses “Devitt points out,” and “Miller argues that” to give the audience a better idea of how the subject is conveying their information. The diction of the word “argues” is a lot more persuasive and penetrative than the word “says” for example, adding extra effectiveness to the writing piece.

• In Laura Carroll’s Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis, she implements the “Example” template. The example template is often only a word or two used at the beginning of the sentence to link a concept to an example. Carroll uses the “example” notion numerous times; including “Take, for example, a commercial…” and “For example, philanthropists…” This move is used numerous times to link the previous topic to the supporting evidence.

• In Michael Bunn’s How To Read Like A Writer, he uses the template “Introducing Quotations”.  This move is a compilation of words — usually at the beginning of a sentence — that aims to introduce the quote using the quoter’s name and their standpoint on the quotation. Bunn uses “Writing professor Richard Straub puts it this way:” and “Author David Jauss makes a similar comparison when he writes that…” This move is used almost every time Bunn introduces a quote, and is very effective in giving the quote context and credibility.

• Janet Boyd implements the template “Elaboration” into her paper Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking). This move explains a commonly used transition when the author is attempting to elaborate on a particular topic. For instance, Boyd uses “ultimately” in her article to attach a sentence: “As much as I am aware of my audience here—so much so that I am trying to engage in dialog with you through my casual tone, my informal language, and my addressing you directly by asking you questions and anticipating your responses —ultimately the format dictates that our “conversation” remain one-sided.” Not only does it connect Boyd’s thoughts, but it promotes a smooth transition from one to the other.

The following moves were not introduced in They Say, I Say, so I’ve come up with a name for each one, and described their significance and effectiveness in each article:

• The “I could have skipped the whole essay” move in Dirk’s paper is similar to a summary paragraph. In the final paragraph, Dirk sums up her entire essay using just four bullet-points. Each bullet-point briefly summarizes each of the four points Dirk conveys throughout the entirety of her essay. As the move’s name suggests — although it may not be as interesting and convincible — you can gather the main points of the essay in a less time-consuming manner. Dirk probably chose to include this move because she wanted the readers to end the article with the main points, so it is more likely for them to remember the most crucial information. Dirk mentions towards the end of the article “Chances are that I have left you more confused than you were before you began this essay,” so adding the “I could have skipped the whole essay” move, she wants to ensure the readers understand the underlying messages of the article, incase they were otherwise confused. I believe this particular move has its ups and downs in its effectiveness, because although it saves time, it encourages the audience to skip straight to the end of the essay and not read the necessary information and evidence. However, the article condenses a lot of confusing information, so it enables the reader to remember the key points. 

• In Boyd’s Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking), she uses the “Remember To Put In The Bullets” move. This move involves the inclusion of bullet-points to help organize the paper and break-up the different segments; making it easier for the audience to understand the content. The bullet-points list rhetorical questions, which makes the list seem important and easier to read. Boyd’s “Remember To Put In The Bullets” in my eyes is very effective, because it not only creates a varying writing structure aesthetically, but emphasizes the importance of the points that she jots down.

• Another unique move Boyd demonstrates in her paper Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking) is “What’s This About?”  This move involves Boyd’s paper being broken up into segments, each one with its own title. “What’s This About” organizes the reading in a way that enables the reader to focus on one specific topic at a time. This move not only enables the reader to concentrate on one topic, but it also gives the reader a break from reading. Often too much information in a paragraph can be overwhelming, and makes it more difficult to understand the content. Boyd’s paragraph division and informative titles is very effective, because the divided information is more likely to stay with the reader.

• In Michael Bunn’s How to Read Like a Writer, he uses the “Too Many Is Not Enough: Quotes” move. This move explains how Bunn uses a minimum of one quotation for each idea that he discusses in his paper. These examples provide evidence which helps to advocate Bunn’s ideas, and creates a sense of credibility. Bunn’s obvious intentions for using “Too Many Is Not Enough: Quotes” are to help explain his argument, and convince the readers his idea is credible. I believe this move is extremely effective, because the implementation of outside sources convinces me that Bunn has done his research and gives me an alternative viewpoint of his arguments at work.

• Laura Carroll’s Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps towards Rhetorical Analysis, shows the move “Your Turn To Think” on multiple occasions throughout her article. For instance, she begins her essay with “Imagine the first day of class in first year composition at your university.” Half-way through her paper, she includes “You probably think about what your clothing will communicate as you go to a job interview or get ready for a date.” These examples of Carroll’s move are aimed to reach out personally to the reader, and have them think and evaluate their personal lives in relation to her idea and point in the text. This personalized template is extremely effective, because not only does it make the reader think for themselves, it also creates a conversational tone and “voice” amongst the author; making it more enjoyable for the reader.

By disclosing and explaining these rhetorical moves, perhaps you are able to recognize these  templates in your own writing.

Thlog: Week 5

I can't believe how quickly we are moving (haha) through this quarter!

As soon as we came into class on Monday, Z introduced the IMRAD acronym. IMRAD explains the conventions of a scholarly article. Interestingly enough, each segment of IMRAD was present in the scholarly article I analyzed for PB2A. As a class, we discussed why IMRAD is a thing, and how it applies to the scholarly article. Sam made the great observation that “for someone to understand a segment, the IMRAD acronym must be in order, because otherwise the following segment won’t make sense.” For instance you can’t have the method and then the introduction; they need to be in the specific IMRAD order.

Another sweet writing tip Z gave us was when and how we use italics. Even though I already knew this *hair flick* it was good to revisit and refresh my memory. The major aspect of Monday’s lesson was the notion of MOVES. So what are moves? In my initial first-order brainstorm, I defined moves as being “someone’s signature action or quote that someone recognizes and replicates. My example of this was Miley Cyrus’ “twerking”” move. 

I was rather confident with my answer to what moves were, but when Z made us google the word moves in titles of articles, I was surprised. When the class shared their individual findings, I was intrigued to see the multiple possible definitions of moves, and the variations in contexts the word moves was used in. So this led me to the conclusion that moves can be conscious and deliberate, but can also be beneath the radar: sometimes we don’t even know we are making moves. 

I loved then investigating this notion of moves in a different light. Z showed us a video of The Rock’s “People’s Elbow,” and made us really detangle and break-up the many aspects of the move and what we saw. This made me realize that short-sequential moves can formulate into a much larger and prominent move.

For Wednesday’s class, I read “How To Read Like A Writer” (Bunn), which was a really interesting read. He introduced to me a completely new idea of reading. I don’t read often, but perhaps when I do read it will make me a better writer if I “read like a writer.” It’s actually super weird, and I’m not sure that I would enjoy reading if I constantly read in the way Bunn suggests. Still — it’s an eye-opener and something to think about.

On Wednesday, we visited WP2 overall. I’m really glad we went over disciplines in-class, because that was the only preliminary question I had asked about WP2. I’m not too sure what I’m going to do for WP2 yet. I’m going to stay away from the tennis topic for the time being, and perhaps focus on another topic I’m interested in — maybe something I want to learn more about. 

PB2A: Predictability: Tennis Matches & Genres

A scholarly academic publication is easily distinguishable because of the rhetorical features and conventions associated with it, including the audience, format, context, tone and style. Being rarely exposed to scholarly articles throughout my academic career, I found it interesting to find and disentangle a familiar topic of in a more scientific genre. 

I chose to analyze a scholarly article that aims to predict tennis matches using a scientific formula. The article, titled “Predicting the outcomes of tennis matches using a low-level point model,” targets the audience of professors, students, or someone of a research descent. Because scholarly articles are often lengthy, the paper is therefore formatted in a very specific, uncomplicated structure so that the different segments of the paper can be referred to at ease. The content involved in a conventional scientific research report includes the author(s), abstract, introduction, an explanation of the model being used, data sources, event probabilities from statistical data, simulation and results, conclusions, and references. Each heading is numbered in order of appearance, and uses a clear, bold font. The spacing in-between each of these sections are exactly the same each time, which also conveys a professional pose. The authors names are listed directly below the title of the research paper, which creates credibility and authenticity. The title is also very specific, and uses scientific terminology. The diagrams are specifically labelled using “Figures,” with a brief blurb on what the diagram is presenting. The whole research paper is in black and white, as it appears more professional and scientific, because colors can often sway the audience away from the content. The most noteworthy conventions of a scholarly academic publication include the use of technical language and specialized vocabulary, with tables and charts to support the collected data and results. Although there is always visual evidence, there are never photographs or drawings. The researched subject must be very specific, with the title being complex and lengthy. The author(s) names are listed with their degrees, titles or other credential, and the paper will often exceed five pages in length. 

The most important aspects of the scholarly article include the abstract and the conclusion. With reading just these two segments of the article, the reader is able to understand the topic of the article, what is being tested and the results — without reading the entire research paper. The abstract enables the readers to get a sense of the specific topic being experimented, and the type of research being conducted. The conclusion is also very important, because it states what was being tested and the results in a non cluttered manner, without having to read through the data and results segment.

In specificity to the article itself, the main question being posed is how, using a scientific model, one can predict the result of a tennis match; taking into consideration a number of different factors. The concepts within the research article were operationalized by beginning with a topic, so in this instance how to predict the result of a tennis match. The topic was then described, and expressed on how to achieve the topic using a formula; in this case an explanation of how to figure out the result of the tennis match. The topic was then tested using the given formula, and the raw data was presented. The results section involves an in-depth explanation of the outcomes derived from the raw data, written into sentence form and explained. The conclusion includes a short summary of each segment, and the overall outcome of the topic sentence. 

Personally, the whole concept of the article was very intriguing to me. As a competitive tennis player myself, I had never considered the notion of predicting a tennis match using a derived formula. After reading the article, I was still not convinced that the formula was credible, because the authors did not include possible variables. For instance, players’ mental state during the match, the players’ experience, home court advantage, and players’ injuries are all possible variables that can influence the model’s accuracy and credibility. Therefore, the model must be of a very basic nature. 

Thlog: Week 4

Holy smacks. I just realized this is the first time I've done my thlog on a Thursday. I should celebrate. 

Monday’s section was a big step in the right direction for me. I went into class really pleased with my paper, ready to submit it after class. We begun with an exercise where we highlighted and color coded four specific features of our paper: the main idea of the paragraph, textual evidence, course reading evidence, and personal analysis. I really benefitted from this exercise, because I realized that my paper lacked textual evidence and personal analysis. I also learnt that my summarizing paragraphs have no purpose, and don’t correlate with my thesis at all. Reverse outlining each paragraph, and highlighting the different aspects of my paper really helped because I became aware of crucial mishaps in my paper. After Monday’s class, I decided to reevaluate my thesis, and propose a whole new idea so that each paragraph correlated with the overall position of my paper. (S/O to Dan for helping change the WP1 due date —  you’re the man, Dan)

I appreciated, as usual, Z’s set of writing tips. ESPECIALLY the tip on spelling people’s names right. It is very rare that someone spells my name correctly, but when they do I notice a profound increase in respect for them. I also enjoyed the writing/process tip of making your paper into a poem. I decided to break up each sentence of my second paragraph, and immediately noticed one or two BS sentences that really didn’t need to be there. So once again, this in-class exercise saved my paper.

The Murder! Rhetorically exercise we did on Wednesday afternoon was really interesting. It surprised me how easily we recognize genres, simply by noting a few key rhetorical features. For instance, the police report was recognized by the case number and the officer’s name. I’m learning more about genres as we progress through Writing 2. I’m not too confident that this WP2 is going to be insanely amusing, so let’s hope for the best. 

J

Thlog: Week 3

Here we are, at our third week of the quarter. Honestly where has the time gone?! Already a quarter through Writing 2: I feel like I’ve learnt more about writing than I have in my entire time at college. So last week was a bit of a bummer because we had MLK day on Monday. Then, on Wednesday I was away at USC playing tennis. So although I didn’t attend class physically, I still managed (somehow) to motivate myself to do the readings. “Responding to Other Student’s Writing” by Richard Straub was an odd yet interesting read. I would consider myself a rather aggressive essay responder, as I often enjoy changing around and re-wording people’s text to fit my personal desire. It made me realize I should probably be making suggestions on people’s work, rather than correcting the entire essay. Whilst reading Straub’s article I got inspired, and wanted to practice peer reviewing. I tried to meet up with Alex to do peer reviewing, but we both underestimated the amount of time the paper’s would take us to write. After reading everyone else’s thlogs, it sounded like they all benefitted greatly from the peer reviews, so I’m really disappointed I couldn’t attend class on Wednesday. The WP1 has been a little bit of a struggle. I’m really glad I picked out a topic that I’m genuinely interested in, otherwise I’m sure I would have procrastinated. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can produce for the final WP1 paper. 

Thlog: Week 2

So the second week of Writing 2 has come to an end. As I suggested in my PB1B meme — “One does not simply do thlogs on a Thursday” — I’ve fallen into the ordeal of procrastination over this MLK long weekend. Whilst reading Z’s email about the formatting of a thlog, I realized I’ve been trying to write too academically and perhaps not personal enough. Maybe it’ll be good for me to “fart” out some words onto the page and actually enjoy writing this. So here goes.

Monday we began class with the daily writing tip/strategy: the oxford comma. To me, the oxford comma is one of those ‘things that I’ve never paid much attention to, only to one day realize that I’ve been doing it the wrong way’. It’s sort of like realizing that the hole in a soda can’s tab is actually so that the straw doesn’t float up. 

Silly me. Although Z explained that either having no comma, or a comma before the “and” is grammatically correct, the oxford comma mentally separates the second to last and last words. I’ll definitely be using the oxford comma from now on, so thanks Z for the helpful writing tip!

We followed the comma with the affordances and constraints of a ‘hard copy’ and a ‘blog’. Personally, I much rather writing/using a hard copy of something, because the information sticks in my head more, and I feel more comfortable with having a physical piece that I can doodle all over. Then again, we do live in 2016, so maybe I should start blogging more… 

On Wednesday we visited the phenomena of hyphens and dashes and how/why/when to use them. Since Wednesday, I’ve been experiencing The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon — where  people who just learn or notice something start seeing it everywhere. I’ve been noticing hyphens and dashes in pieces of writing a lot more than I usually would have had we not learnt about them on Wednesday. They’ve appeared in all different kinds of settings including class, emails, news articles, and Facebook. I’m really glad we touched base on hyphens and dashes, because I honestly have never really understood the difference between the two. Just for my personal reference: a hyphen is used to connect two words, and can be used as one meaning. Whereas dashes emphasizes a pause rather than a period.

I have tennis practice directly prior to our Writing 2 section, so often find myself starving and dreaming about food.

 It makes matters worse when we hold class discussions and exercises about our favorite food restaurants in IV. This particular exercise involved writing a description on our favorite restaurant in IV and why. The most commendable descriptions involved ones that not only described, but gave evidence as to why the restaurant was the best in IV. The three best descriptions all had one thing in common: they all appealed to the audience. 

Following through to next week: I’m not too sure how this WP1 is going to turn out. I’m actually looking forward to writing it, probably because I’ve picked a genre that interests me. We’ll see how it goes!

J

PB1B: Generating a Genre

Although texts of the same genre can have varying content, their particular genre is easily distinguishable because they contain particular conventions and patterns. There are various websites that create works of a particular genre at random using their associated conventions.

The first website I visited was called SCIgen, which generated a scientific research paper page. Although the information was complete nonsense, the genre was easily distinguishable because of the associated conventions including the layout, context and style. In most cases, the audience is a professor or someone of a research descent, so one could assume the audience doesn’t have plentiful time to look through lengthy research papers. The paper is therefore formatted in a very specific, uncomplicated structure so that the different segments of the paper can be referred to at ease. The headings of each segment are all bold and larger font, accompanied by numbers, making each section easy to find. The spacing in-between each of these sections are exactly the same each time, which also conveys a professional pose. The authors names are also listed below the title of the research paper, which creates credibility. Although the title itself is randomly generated, it is very specific and scientific. For instance “Constructing Evolutionary Programming and Vacuum Tubes”  doesn’t sound like a fictional title, but more scientific. The content involved in a conventional scientific research report includes the author(s), abstract, introduction, related work, principles, implementation, evaluation, conclusion, references and scientific diagrams. The diagrams are specifically labelled using “Figures,” as conventional reports often are. The whole research paper is in black and white, as it appears more professional and scientific, because colors can often sway the audience away from the content.

The next website I visited was the Pandyland website, which randomly generates comic strips. The website is formatted by having three separated boxes, one after the other. Each box’s comic is selected at random, so the comic itself often doesn’t make sense. The comic genre is easily distinguishable because there are often colorful and funny scenes, with no more than two or three characters. When there is dialogue involved, the characters’ words are placed into a cartoon bubble emerging from their mouth. The characters themselves are cartoon, often with distinct facial expressions. This particular website randomly generated rather crude humor, involving erect penis’ and having an itch on his ‘winky’. The content in the comics seek to evoke a laugh or happiness using different kinds of humor including aggression, violence, and crudity.

The third website I visited was a meme generator. A meme is the compilation of a well-known picture of someone or something, with a short caption that is often humorous and relatable to society. The words within the meme are always presented in a white, block, clear, prominent font, so that the audience is able to read it at ease. The picture is always centered in the text; the first part of the text is above the picture, with the punchline always appearing underneath the photo. This forces the audience to read the joke in two separate parts, which typically enhances the emphasis on the punchline. For instance, the meme I created myself is a well-known character in a TV show, that includes text that relates to a communal situation. “One does not simply do thlogs on a Sunday.” The audience is for people in Z’s class, and the joke is aimed at procrastination in the class. The punchline “do thlogs on a Sunday” is situated at the bottom of the picture, to emphasize its importance in the joke.

The final website I visited was the bibliography generator “Easy Bib.” A bibliography is a list of the books referred to in a scholarly work. A bibliography is set up in a specific way and order, so that the readers of their work are able to access information on where the references are derived. A bibliography begins with the referenced author's name, title of publication, date of publication, place of publication (if a book), publishing company, the volume number of a magazine or printed encyclopedia and the page number(s). A bibliography is always formatted alphabetically with clear font, often the same as the body paragraphs of the author’s work. 

These varying websites can help people better understand genre because although the actual content within these websites are generated differently, each website follows the exact same conventions and patterns making it easy to distinguish the specific genre. For instance, even though I had never created a meme before, I was able to review the thousands of previously created memes and decipher how to formulate one. This assignment has enabled me to understand that although the content within a text varies, what makes a genre are the multiple conventions included.

PB1A: Stalk or Statistics?

Whilst attempting to think of a familiar textual genre, I realize there are hundreds of different genres I am exposed on a daily basis. A restaurant menu, a phonebook, an internet bill: honestly I could go on. I decided to look through my internet’s search history, to give myself an idea on the kind of websites and textual genres I expose myself to regularly. I found my search history flooded with sports player profiles, but hadn’t only visited these websites to find out information about the athlete’s sporting history. Conventionally, people use player profiles to familiarize themselves with an opponent and obtain statistical and personal information regarding the player for varying purposes. The first string of player profile’s I visited on my computer was the USC Women’s Tennis team. My coach asked me to do a little bit of research on the tennis team we are playing next week, which includes analyzing each players’ match statistics. The second string of player profile’s I visited were a heap of boys on various UCSB athletic teams. It’s quite normal for my friends and I to stalk boys, check out their pictures and personal information such as where they’re from, their weight and their height, and what better way to do that than to use a player profile. Usually the audience for sport player profiles are sport enthusiasts, opponents, coaches and media outlets. But I often find myself looking at player profiles to research people for reasons other than professional. 

The purpose of the sport player profile is to provide the audience with necessary information about a player including how good the player is at their sport, their physical appearance, their sporting and personal background and their age for instance. Personally, I often look at player profiles in attempt to recognize the person by looking at their photograph. People often look up players on websites to try and obtain a better understanding on their opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, along with their history in the sport. It is also common for people to compare themselves to other players, so a sporting profile enables them to get a feel for the level they are at. 

Many sport player profiles vary, depending on the sport and the website. The UCSB Women’s Tennis page is a slightly different format than the NBA player profile page. However, they are very similar and each page allows the audience to obtain necessary information on the player. This information includes the player’s name, date of birth, photograph, biography, sport ranking, nationality, professional history, weight, height, previous game statistics and videos showing the player’s highlights. The UCSB Women’s Tennis player profile page slightly differs from the NBA player profile in that it includes information relevant to the level and area of sport. For instance, the UCSB Women’s Tennis player profile page includes the players’ high school and what the player is studying at UCSB. Whereas the NBA has no such information listed amongst their players, and instead includes options to purchase the players’ named merchandise.

The tone of the a player profile is strictly formal, with no slang or misspelling. The style is often colorful, and is often associated with the player’s team or nationality. For instance, my player profile on the UCSB Women’s Tennis page is blue (as shown below), because UCSB’s team color is blue. On the men’s and women’s professional tennis circuit, the players do not play for a team, so the background of their player profile is filled with their nationality’s flag. It is formatted in a clearly listed way so the audience can find specific information quicker without having to read irrelevant text. In some cases, the player profile includes color coordinated arrows to indicate the progression of the player over a particular period of time.

These specific rhetorical features and conventions all make up the very specific textual genre of a sport player profile. Including player statistics, personal information, and the specific formatting, the sport player profile is easily recognizable and serves to give the audience a brief introduction to the player.

Thlog: Week 1

My first week in Writing 2 has been interesting and eye opening. In our introductory class, Z introduced us to the notion of genre, and how each one is affiliated with varying conventions. In particular, we focused on the country genre, and compared a couple of different country songs with conventions. For instance, the class collectively mentioned beer, trucks and acoustic guitars as a convention of the country genre. Some conventions were affiliated with the country genre, but many were often not present in each country song. These particular conventions are what makes the country genre unique. In addition to the country genre, we touched base on the horror film genre, and discussed the affiliated conventions. Like the country genre, I was intrigued at the way in which I viewed the selected films, because I became more aware of the familiar conventions of a horror film genre. It wasn’t until I carefully listened to country songs and clips from horror films, talked in small groups, and shared brainstormed thoughts with the class, until I realized how many different conventions each genre can have. 

Kerry Dirk’s Navigating Genre’s explains how we subconsciously participate in various genres in everyday life. These genres’ outcomes are predictable in their rhetorical function. For instance how a joke should generate a laugh. The joke itself isn’t recognized by the formal features, but rather because of their perception of the rhetorical action that occurs. Dirk also describes the difficulty of categorizing a text into a genre, because two texts in the same genre can look extremely different. Finally, I learnt from Dirk that genres enables us to make more efficient decisions whilst writing, as we can see how other people have approached the similar situations before.

After reading Peter Elbow’s Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing, I learned a new approach to thinking. Elbow suggests there are two different kinds of thinking; first order thinking and second order thinking. First order thinking is creative thinking that comes naturally without fear of judgement or criticism, whereas second order thinking the critical more analytical thinking. For instance, I use first order thinking when I’m writing in my diary, whereas I use second order thinking when I’m revising a speech for a tennis fundraising event. However, implementing both of these is difficult at the same time because one must be abundantly inventive yet tough-mindedly critical.

We finished the week revising a couple of ‘Letter of Recommendation’ requests, where I realized how this specific genre has conventions that are present in each example letter. However, some conventions were more present than others, and influenced the effectiveness of the letter respectively. I realized that I’ve used many of these ‘Letter of Recommendation’ request conventions before, and correlates with Dirk’s explanation on recognizing how other people have approached similar situations before, and using the template accordingly.

About Me!

Hey guys! My name is Jaimee and I'm an Australian studying Political Science here at UCSB. I moved to California after graduating high school in 2013 to pursue a professional career in tennis. Back home in Australia I have an older sister, a mother and a father and a dog named Tessie. After my degree I hope to continue further with my tennis career in Europe and utilize Political Science to further gain a Law degree. I'm looking forward to develop my writing skills throughout the upcoming quarter.