Julie

Composition

ENGL 1010 -- Intro to Writing

I took this class to increase my writing skills. I had the chance to progress on different elements of writing, like analyzing rhetoric, researching argumentative subjects, and giving and receiving feedback. This class gave me the opportunity to strengthen my writing skills.

In Class Writings

September

They All Just Went Away

While Joyce is out exploring abandoned houses, she is interested in what she calls "The Weidel House". Where she comes from a good hearted, warm. ordinary home, she discovers a new concept of home. This place is a very dysfunctional, dirty, and abusive home. The father is cruel to his wife and children to the point where he burned down the house with his family still inside. It is different than what I think of as home. I think of a safe, comfortable place where I can ask my parents for help and am not afraid of them. It contains no alcohol, and is clean and inviting. Joyce depicts the house as an actual character, by how gloomy and dark it is. The house itself describes the inhabitants in it, a dysfunctional father and abused family. It is almost a blessing to the neighborhood when they were forced out by the fire. From all the horror that happened at that house, it was permanently imprinted as "The Weidel House".

Analysis

This writing is one of the stronger in class writings I did because of the description from the story that I put in. We read a story that was posted online then answered some questions about it, like how Joyce viewed the house, how we see our homes, and what the differences are. This story described the house as being an actual character in the story and the findings Joyce finds that tells a story. I was able to point out many differences and describe what kind of house it was. Just from reading the story it was able to help me on my memoir that I wrote.

Exercise 3

A story that was told to me when I was younger was something my dad told us about our Grandfather (who is not very liked in my family). He told us, my brothers and I, when we were young, I was maybe 8, how our Grandfather was a polygamist. How although he never had his other wives around the kids, they all knew and knew of the step-brother, his favorite. At the time I thought it was a pretty funny story, and something fun I could tell my friends about because it's not a common thing anymore. As I got older, learned more, and matured more, I think of it as disgusting. How disrespectful to practice polygamy, and how low of standars the women must have to knowingly marry him and be "wife #1 or #2" and so on. It is not something I am so proud of anymore.

Analysis

Out of the 2 writings I did this month I would say this is the weaker one. It was when we had to read story's about people who read story's and it was their favorite one for one reason or another, so then we had to think about a story that we used to like. I talked about a family story that is true, but I don't think it is as strong as it could've been because it was not well written. Copying this from paper onto here I just wanted to correct many mistakes, but I didn't. Another reason is because I think I didn't put in as much detail or description as I could've to make it rich. It was a challenge to think about a story that was told to me because it was hard to remember a long ways back.

Essay #1

My Place.docx
Size : 22.068 Kb
Type : docx

October

Commencement Speech

This speech by Steve was very motivating to me. A lot of what he said got to me, and all of the components of ethos, logos and pathos were used. First of all ethos greatly impacted his speech because all of the reputation and credibility was already there. Before he had even given the speech, the fact that I knew he was the founder of Apple and co-founder of Pixar, already made me believe he was a greatly talented man. It takes a lot of work to do the things that he did. The pathos he used made a huge dent in his speech. When he talked of how devastating it was to be fired from Apple, and he wanted to give up. He found the strength to act as a beginner again, and found more creativity than he would've if he had stayed and had all the stress of being successful. Also, what he told of death as being an incentive, then turning to reality was a really emotional motivator. Finally, how he used logos was quite obvious. He used logic to his argument by telling about the classes he took after he dropped out, to give him time for what he wanted, not what was required. How he implemented those classes he learned into his inventions.

Analysis

This was one of my stronger in class writings for many reasons. We watched a commencement speech by Steven Jobbs, the founder of Apple and Pixar, that he did at Stanford College. We were able to analyze the rhetoric in his speech of ethos, pathos and logos to help us better understand how those speaking styles affect the strength of his speech. We were working on our commencement speech paper to address the rhetoric at that time so it really helped me fully understand the different styles and uses. I was really impressed with his speech which in my opinion, made me write a stronger paper on it.

Does T.V. Make You Smarter?

I agree with the statement that T.V. makes me smarter. In the shows I watch I learn new things, like learning about different careers people have. There are some jobs out there I didn't know existed. I like to also watch "American Pickers" on Discovery Channel and I learn a lot about history, and the value of stuff I would consider junk. I have actually sold things I saw them sell on the show. I like to watch "Animal Planet" and always learn new things about animals. Like the lion who is king of the jungle gets ganged up by his siblings so they can have his spot as king. Another thing I like about watching T.V. is I learn new words, or vocabulary I can use in everyday life. I enjoy the news for weather forcasts and to know what's going on in my area and the world. Without T.V. I know I would have a lot less knowledge.

Analysis

I thought out of these 2 writings that this one was the weaker one. The point of this paper was to go off an opinion someone had that T.V. makes you smarter because crime shows make your mind think harder about the mystery, or case. We were supposed to write our opinion on the subject, whether we agreed or disagreed. Without a doubt I agree with the statement, but why I thought it was weak was because it was hard for me to think of reasons or examples on the spot to go off of to make this a strong argument. If I were able to have time to sit down and watch T.V. and think about why I agree would make it easier to show why I think it's true. Being unprepared to argue my side on this topic, I think, made this a weaker paper.

Essay #2

Meryl Streep Speech.docx
Size : 21.528 Kb
Type : docx

November

Argument

The last argument I had was last Saturday when my family and I were going out to dinner for my brothers birthday. I have a puppy who gets really bad separation anxiety when she's alone, since no one was going to be home, I wanted to being her with. My mom argued about me bringing her, that we would get in trouble for having a pet at a restaurant. She said it's unsanitary plus she would be embarrassed if they asked us to take her out. My claim was that she's small enough to fit in my purse, so I could sneak her in unnoticed. I have brought her to many restaurants and she is really well-behaved and stays in my purse. I assured her no one would see, and I would take care of her. Babies cry loud inside of restaurants, knock their drinks onto the floor, and get food everywhere. If they're allowed then a well-behaved puppy should definitely be allowed. My mom said it's the law and if I don't leave her in the car than she's not bringing me. My mom is the "it's my way or the highway" type of person, so after fighting I let her have her way, but snuck out and brought her in later and not even she knew the dog was there.

Analysis

I think that this was one of my stronger in class writings because it was on something that I felt strongly about. We were to talk about our last argument and what we were for, and what the other person was against. I felt strongly about it and thought that I had good reasons, so that my argument was a good one. Also, I was able to tell what the opposing argument was and what their reasons were for it for their stand point. Another reason I thought it was a stronger writing is because it was something recent that I could easily remember and go off of. It is also something I am very educated in, because I was going out personal experience, which is the best teacher.

An Orgy of Power

I my opinion, I do not think torture is okay. It is a cruel way to punish others, just for doing what they believe in. Regardless of if it is right or not, I don't think we should hold them down and hurt them against their will. It is a very unfair approach because in most circumstances, the other person has no control. It's just a way to gain power. some people use it to get a confession from another. There are other ways to get what we want like threatening jail time, or other things people don't want. It is especially disgusting when people do it just for pure fascination. While in war, soldiers do it if they catch an opposing soldier just to punish them. It's almost like they do it for fun. That's only possible for someone with evil tendencies to do. Like they have no heart, and a black soul to be able to do something like that with no remorse. There has to be a point where we would feel compassion for the other person. To torture, or to be tortured would be equally painful to me. It affects us as a country, we are involved in everything our troops do.

Analysis

Out of these writings I think that this one is weaker because although it is something I feel strongly about, it's not something I have really researched and got all the facts about it. I can only fight my emotions about it, but not actual facts or knowledge on the subject other than the basic facts I know, which isn't much. So my reasons on the subject are mostly emotion based, when if I researched and knew a lot more about this topic, I could've had a stronger argument. So that is one challenge I had, another one is my lack in personal experience. Even though I don't think I would need experience in this subject, I do think it would help if I had some type of experience, like knowing a soldier who was involved, or even seeing a horrible story about it would help my cause. Being against something is one thing, but having hard facts and knowledge is another.

Essay #3

Annotated Bibliography3.docx
Size : 22.667 Kb
Type : docx

December

Essay #4

Argument Paper.docx
Size : 20.754 Kb
Type : docx

Reflection

Self-Evaluation

In this class I was able to increase my writing skills. In the past, throughout high school specifically, writing wasn’t my favorite thing to do. I knew the basics of writing, but I was able to learn and develop new styles of writing and a new approach to the way I write. The in-class writings helped me by giving me a preview of what will be required, and what I’ll need to expand on in each of the essays. I learned new styles of writing, analyzing rhetoric, and researching topics to make an effective paper. I learned many things about my strengths and weaknesses in my writing.

Out of the 4 essays I did throughout this course I am able to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I think my strengths lie in being able to put in enough detail to paint a picture. I have been told in the workshops that I put in too much detail at times, but that feedback helped me so I could take out what was considered “too much” before turning in the finished product. Also, I think another strength lies in being able to properly structure my paper to the format that is required. I often do better when I have an outline to follow. Finally, I believe when I feel strongly about the topic I am writing about, it really shows in my paper. I am the type of person who displays emotions and thoughts better on paper.

One of the essays that I think I did best with was the annotated bibliography and the argument paper that followed. The reason I liked it is because I was able to pick my own topic, as long as it was controversial, to argue about. I picked something that I felt strongly about, and something that I have had previous experience with so I could really get into my writing. I liked the resources I had to study about the topic on, so not only would my eyes be open to the new facts, but so I could open others eyes up to what my opinion was, and try to persuade my side to others in my paper. The facts and details about the subject really made a difference, and I liked reviewing the studies and statistics found on the topic I chose. I was able to put in my views and also the opposing view of the controversial subject.

Unfortunately, some of the things I have described as my strength can also be a weakness. For example, like when I talked about the type of detail I put in, it can sometimes be too much that the reader doesn’t need to know. Or it may already be apparent to the reader by just the detail I already discussed without getting into further detail. Another thing is the outline of the paper. Some of the essays we did in class didn’t have an outline, so it made it a little harder for me to know which order I should put certain topics and insight. Lastly, I believe I do my best when I feel strongly about the topic, which is also a weakness because in instances where I do not feel strongly about it, I struggle in making the paper come alive. That can easily come out in my writing from another’s perception as well.

The way I plan to expand and improve on my skills is by continue to use what I learned from this class and applying it to my personal writings, or other class assignments. I will always be open to feedback and constructive feedback, and be open to other ideas and opinions. Another way I can improve on this is by also listening to the styles I hear other people use in their writings, whether it be a presidential speech I hear on T.V., another students paper, or articles in the newspaper or magazines. I will be open to learning more each and everyday, and continue to use what I’ve learned and what I learn in the future to improve my skills to achieve success.

English-1010