Final Blog Post

The semester is finally at an end. I really enjoyed writing on this blog. The blog was a place where I could think and write about my reflections and ideas. Blogging helped me organize my ideas before I wrote an essay which I found really helpful. By posting my ideas on my blog I was able to also receive feedback from by classmates. This was really helpful before I wrote my essays. Hearing other ideas and different perspectives on my topic helped me to collect evidence. I think blogging is a good way to express your ideas because it's different than writing an actual essay. Blogs can be a little more laid back and you can write freely without any restraints. Blogging helped me learn how to organize my writing. When I was writing my essays I had an easier time putting my paper together. The only changes I would have made when posting our blogs was if we could blog about whatever we wanted. Sometimes I had a lot of trouble reflecting on essays that I didn't really understand and I disliked. If we had more room to write what we wanted I would have blogged every day. Overall, I really liked how we were able to express our ideas online and communicate with our classmates outside of the classroom.

Brainstorming Proposal Argument

For my proposal argument I decided to write about the use of "performance-enhancing" drugs. Many people are aware of this problem so I will probably focus more on the solutions and necessary actions that should be taken to address the problem. The use of "performance-enhancing" drugs is a growing scandal and problem among professional and collegiate athletes. This problem is hurting many sports and is very dangerous to the players who use these drugs. There have been many cases where players have tested positive for these "performance-enhancing" drugs and something needs to be done to fix this problem. The solutions to "performance-enhancing" drugs being used that I am going to focus on are that they need to be banned in every sport, and every sport needs to test their athletes often. Every sport has different punishments for using these drugs. I am going to talk about how each sport handles the problem and the actions that they are taking to get rid of these drugs. I think that this is a really interesting topic because I am an athlete myself and I really love to watch professional and collegiate games. It really disappoints me that these players are using these drugs and some are getting away with it or getting minor punishments. I think that this is a serious problem because it affects the athletes well-being and the sport they are part of.

The Hardest of the Hardcore

Dylan's paper on the war of Iraq and the function of contractors was interesting to read. I think that his paper was interesting and would have appeal to his audience because of how serious the war in Iraq is and it is greatly affecting our lives every day. Dylan essay is about how mercenaries, ex-military personnel hired by the Pentagon to help the U.S. military, are used during warfare and the problems behind this method. Dylan clearly explains his 6 major reasons why using mercenaries are problematic. Each reason he makes he supports with enough evidence for the reader so that he seems credible and his paper is credible as well. One major problem that he mentioned that caught my eye was the problem of mercenaries not having national loyalties. He used the example of the Persian Gulf War and how mercenaries working at one of the bases fled when they heard that they could be in danger of chemical weapons. This was a strong example and a good point to prove that mercenaries are problematic during war. Overall, I think that Dylan's paper was strong and had a lot of evidence and good points. The only problem that I noticed was his conclusion. I thought his conclusion wasn't strong enough to clearly explain what he proved throughout his paper as well as what should be done. He didn't provide his audience with any solutions. All he said was that Congress and the people of the U.S. need to take action so this doesn't happen. He doesn't explain if his conclusion is that mercenaries should be eliminated all together or if Congress should take action so the abuse of power and lawlessness does not occur. I think that he should have given possible solutions to this problem so the audience has an idea of what should be done.

Angle of Vision Image

For this blog I chose an image that was agaisnt drunk driving. The image I chose was of a woman who had been in a drunk driving accident. She was hit by a drunk driver and survived the accident. The woman's face is in the image and you can see that she was injured and her face was permanently damaged. The woman's face was the first thing that caught my eye. The picture of her was so sad that immediately I felt bad for the woman. The writing on the image says, "Not everyone who gets hit by a drunk driver dies." After you see the picture of the woman, the picture of the woman before the accident and you read the caption, you become very persuaded that drunk driving is a horrible thing. I think that the picture of the woman was the most persuasive part of the image but the text on the image was also eyecatching. Not only does it remind you that drunk driving is bad but it makes you think about the people who were survivors of drunk driving and what they have to live with for the rest of their lives. The angle of vision is defintely apparent in this image and I think that it is very effective.

Chapter 14 -- Classical Argumentation

The classical way of arguing entails for the reader to take a stand on an issue, offer reasons and evidence to support your position and to summarize and respond to alternative views. This technique makes you aware of your views in the beginning, how they change, and what causes them to change. I think classical argumentation can be really useful for writers to understand and use before and while they write a paper. If writers use this technique they will see many improvements in their writing. The classical way of arguing helps you to understand how you have to develop your essay so that you provide enough information to persuade the reader to believe your views. If you do not develop your essay the reader's opinions will never change and that means your essay isn't persuasive enough. I think its important to break down your essay before you finish it and make sure that the reader can clearly understand your points and opinions.

Liberal Education

Edmundson's essay on Liberal Education was interesting and proposes many different topics for debate. While reading the essay I did use the with the grain and against the grain technique and found that there were many points he made that I agreed and disagreed with. Overall Edmundson is basically saying that students these days are a lot different than students in previous decades. He thinks that students are less passionate, and more laid-back. He says, "Your inhibited, except on ordained occasions, from showing emotion, stifled from trying to achieve anything original." He goes on to fully examine students' actions and personalities throughout the essay.

Overall I think that the points Edmundson makes in this essay are very interesting. He states his opinion but also backs it up with evidence that we, the students, might not even realize. I am looking forward to analyzing this essay a lot more.

Chapter 6

For this blog I thought I would talk about the Reading With the Grain and Against the Grain technique. I found this section of the chapter really interesting. To read with the grain is to be an "empathetic learner" and see what the author wants you to see. You have to look at the writing through the author's eyes and adopt their beliefs and values. Using this technique you support the author's thesis with your own examples. You can take what the author states and apply the information in new ways, so it makes sense to you, as the reader. This strategy can help you develop a strong response to the text.

The other way of reading a text is reading it against the grain. To do you must question and argue the author's ideas. You have to have the total opposite way of thinking and become a resistant reader. The reader must read the text and and see different things that the writer isn't trying to show to you. You can raise points that the author didn't use to go against the writer. This will help you create a very strong response because you will challenge the author's reasoning, sources, examples, etc, and provide alternative ones.

This strategy will help the reader interact with the text that is provided. It is very similar to the believing and doubting game that we learned about already. It makes you see both sides of the text, rather than reading and just analyzing it with one view.