ENg 111 (F) - COMPOSITION I

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Digital Journal Prompt #12

In our workshop today, we focused, in part, on showing your reader the credibility of your sources and, in turn, building your own credibility as a someone who ethically persuades. 

Look to your sources. Do you introduce any of your sources? Are you SHOWING your reader why they should trust this source and then, in turn, trust your argument? If your reader finds no reason to trust you as a writer, you cannot be successful in persuasion.

Look to our examples of persuasive arguments we have read for this section:

The student writer in the example in Chapter 6 of our Rules text does the following, “The International Center for Media and Public Agenda underscores the importance of news . . . “ . .” (”Openness”). 

In the Q&A recorded just after his TedTalk ”How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day,” Tristan Harris says the following: I think it's really interesting. One way to see this is if you're just YouTube, for example, you want to always show the more interesting next video. You want to get better and better at suggesting that next video, but even if you could propose the perfect next video that everyone would want to watch, it would just be better and better at keeping you hooked on the screen. So what's missing in that equation is figuring out what our boundaries would be. You would want YouTube to know something about, say, falling asleep. The CEO of Netflix recently said, "our biggest competitors are Facebook, YouTube and sleep."

As his audience, we immediately offer a little more trust. In the context of his argument, a direct quote of the CEO of Netflix calling “sleep” a competitor, he chose the perfect person to pay attention to - the CEO of Netflix.

Look at your sources. Who needs to be introduced? Does a source need to be put into context. Most do. 

Identify A source that should be put into context. 

Follow these guidelines in your response:

Identify and look at the credentials of this source. Is this a study conducted by psychologists? What are their names? The person who is writing/arguing/asserting should be the focus and not the publication. This is also true of sources like the NIH, EPA, or departments of safety. 

Use a strategy that we talked about in class OR something from Chapter 6 of your Rules text to put that source into context. (Pages 108 and 109 of Rules can also help you with some strategies.)

Offer the before and after (the revision) of this strategy in your post. This is meant to help you to revise and learn more about argumentation. Don’t short-change yourself and your learning.

Your response to this prompt is due by Wednesday, November 22 @ 11:00AM.

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Digital Journal Prompt #11

In this Digital Journal Post (#11), I want you to, in writing, practice your thesis for your persuasive essay.

A quick review of information you have already worked through on thesis-building.

In your analytical essay, your thesis was a an explanation of what was being analyzed AND how that item of communication was being analyzed.

One of the basic features of a persuasive essay is the strong position statement. This will be the thesis of your essay. But, more specifically, for argumentation, the statement should be a strong and clear statement. There should be no ambiguity in where you stand on the matter. Very often, writers struggle with this element of persuasion because we so often shy from taking a definitive line on a controversial issue. Without a definitive stand, your reader will not be clear on what you are persuading towards.

DJP #11 prompt:

In this DJP, answer the following 3 questions. These are your 3 guidelines. Write this DJP in full sentences. This is a ‘think’ piece. If you write just a little, you are only shortening your own practice.

What are you writing about (subject/topic)?  

What is the stance you think you will be taking in this nuanced conversation? (You need not stick to this stance. this is practice. And in writing, practice is integral to strengthening your skills.)  

What are three supporting claims you will be making in your persuasive essay in order to support your larger claim, expressed in bullet point two?

This DJP is due before class on Friday, November 17.

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Digital Journal #10

In preparation for our time in the computer labs on Friday, please spend some time exploring possible topics for your persuasive essay. Your assignment asks that you: “find a current argument to join. You will choose a stance based upon your research in this conversation.”

This prompt is all about brainstorming. What topic might you be interested in researching and then arguing for your persuasive essay? Remember, your stance should come after concerted research and not before.

So, in response to this prompt, write at least two paragraphs. In those two paragraphs be sure to do at least the following:

Explain your initial understanding of this topic/debate.

What do you know? What questions do you have?

If you use any sources in your writing, be sure to cite them in your post.

Your response to this prompt is due before our class meeting on Friday, November 10.

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Digital Journal Prompt #9

In class today, we used the rhetorical triangle to consider Ian Frazier’s “Laws Concerning Food and Drink” and Gary Shteyngart’s “Only Disconnect” to consider different types of texts.

Before class on Wednesday, you are being asked to watch the rest of Tristan Harris’ Ted Talk “How a Handful of Tech Companies Control Billions of Minds Everyday.” (It is linked both here on our tumblr page AND on our course Moodle.)

Use the notes you took last week AND the handout we used today to help you to learn more about this TED Talk. Who is Tristan Harris? How does he construct his talk? How do these decisions speak to his intended audience?

In your response to this prompt,

Write at least two paragraphs on your findings.

Use data to support your findings. (So quote the text.)

When noting supporting data, be sure to cite your source. (Because this is a video, you should be noting the timing in the video.)

Your response to this digital journal is due before class on Wednesday, November 8.

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How a handful of tech companies control billions of minds every day

A handful of people working at a handful of tech companies steer the thoughts of billions of people every day, says design thinker Tristan Harris. From Facebook notifications to Snapstreaks to YouTube autoplays, they're all competing for one thing: your attention. Harris shares how these companies prey on our psychology for their own profit and calls for a design renaissance in which our tech instead encourages us to live out the timeline we want.

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Digital Journal #8

In class today, we talked about the differences in summarizing, paraphrasing, and directly quoting a source in our own writing. In this particular assignment, you have not been instructed to use a source necessarily. Although many of you are electing to do so, it is not a requirement for this assignment. But, each of you have chosen an item and you should cite that item, including how you found it (on the internet, on _____________ website, in a print magazine, etc.)

This means you will each have a Works Cited page. So, for this digital journal, I want you to practice using the MLA guidelines to produce the citation for your “item.” Remember, the Purdue OWL’s website for MLA is linked in our course Moodle.

For this prompt, please post a citation for the item you are analyzing.

My hope is that you will use the Purdue OWL and create this citation unassisted by bibliographic tools like easybib.

Create the citation for your chosen item.

Post that citation to your blog, titled DJP#8.

This post is due before our class meeting on Wednesday, October 9.

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Digital Journal #7

This morning in class, I offered you a workshop on the explanatory comma. We discussed this defining or explaining device as a rhetorical tool in our writing. We talked about audience. When analyzing, not only does a writer need to consider the audience of that which we analyze, but we also must consider the audience to which we are writing. Are we explaining enough? Have we defined key terms that may need further explanation?

Just because you clearly understand a term or a situation, does not mean the next person will. So, who is your audience? What might need to be clarified? What doesn’t? And maybe, what will you not explain or define further for your reader - as in what will you expect your reader to understand as they approach your writing?

These are all questions to consider and to possibly answer in your response to this digital journal prompt.

In this digital journal, please consider the “item” that you will be analyzing.

Who is its audience? Is there an intended audience? Has that audience grown as this item (image, meme, gif, artifact) has been passed around or shared?

Are there terms or concepts that you may use to analyze your chosen “item,” that may need to be explained in depth?

Please offer at least a paragraph of thinking of your audience and a paragraph of thinking about the audience of your chosen “item.”

Your response to this prompt is due before our class meeting on Wednesday, October 2.

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🔊 Listen Now: Hold Up! Time For An Explanatory Comma

Code Switch on NPR One | 28:15

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Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden | Clip: Making Plans With Flaky People | Netflix

Aziz wants you to stop being such a commitment-phobe with your friends. Netflix original comedy special, Aziz Ansari: Live at Madison Square Garden is now on...

Exposition or analysis?

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Digital Journal Post #6

In our Rules for Writers Handbook, Hacker and Sommers (the authors) write the difference between summation and analysis is the “a summary often answers the question of what a text says, whereas an analysis looks at how a text conveys its main idea or message” (86).

This digital journal prompt is pretty straight-forward. Please do the following:

Identify an “item” of communication that you may want to analyze. (Notice I write “may.” You will not be beholden to this item.) Share this item in your blog (if you can).

Start to consider how the item is built. What is the whole and what are its parts? How does it work? (Considering its purpose, audience, and occasion will be helpful.)

Who is the audience of this “item” of communication?

This journal response is due before our class time on Wednesday, September 26.

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George Carlin - 7 Words You Can't Say On TV

George Carlin - 7 Words You Can't Say On TV

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http://www.radiolab.org/story/gondo/

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Digital Journal #5

In class this morning, we reverse outlined Mark Twain’s expository essay “The Bee.” As critical readers, we used this method to decipher Twain’s intent and meaning. We also used it to understand HOW he communicates his meaning using metaphor (bee) and direct address (scientist). We also deciphered his implied thesis - his overall theme and meaning. (Our work and notes can be found in our course Moodle. Look in the “Expository Essay” folder.)

As writers, we can use this method during our revision process to ensure that what we intended to communicate is, in fact, being communicated.

In your response to DJP#5, I simply want you to show the results of your reverse outlining your drafts. Please include the following:

Number each of your paragraphs. Using a separate sheet or word document (as we did), begin to take notes on your essay, using the numbers as guidance.

Next to the numbers describe (briefly) WHAT you are actually communicating in that paragraph and HOW it is functioning in your essay. (Is it an introduction of your topic? It this paragraph explaining a main point?)

Is your essay built in the way you intended it to be? In a first draft, we often realize our most meaningful writing towards the end. We clarify our thoughts as we write. A revers outline often shows us the holes in our essay or can show us that we actually need to move ideas around (end to beginning and so on). What did you learn from this process?

Your response to this prompt is due before class on Friday, September 8. Please post your response on your own blog created for this class.

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Digital Journal #4

During class today, we worked together to consider some ways we might focus an expository essay. We worked to narrow the meaning of Erin Somers’ essay “Modern Vice” down to her most basic concept. We decided that her implied thesis is: We use these often fabricated societal expectations to judge one another in often artificial ways.

In digital journal post #3, you brainstormed an idea (or two). Now, we are moving a step further in the critical thinking and brainstorming from topic to your stance/your point/your concept.

If you are defining a concept (whether you will be doing it in a story form like Somers does or in a non-fiction and more traditional essay format), at the most bare of your topic, there ought to be a concept you are going to define. What is it? Try to keep your concept down to 3 or 4 words. This will make it much easier as we then build an essay.

If you are describing an event or an occasion - what is it? At its bare minimum? Try to keep your “naming” of this kind of topic to a short, quick, and brief sentence.

How are you thinking you might want to structure your essay? To brainstorm this you might draw out a possible outline.

Please reply to this post on your own blog. Your response to this post is due by our class meeting on Friday, September 1.

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Digital Journal Post #3

As you begin to consider the topic for this first essay assignment, expository essay, I asked that you begin to brainstorm. I invite you to brainstorm in ways that you may not have tried before. Brainstorming is essential to ordering your thoughts, considering creative solutions to problems, and for looking at a situation (like a writing assignment) from many different perspectives.

We discussed your first writing assignment today: Expository Essay. You are going to describe, define, or explain an event, a process, or maybe an occasion. You are in control of what the topic might be.

This prompt, though, asks that you show off some of your brainstorming, whatever that might look like for you.

In your response, please follow the guidelines below:

What topic are you considering for this project?

What might the significance of writing about this topic be? Why is it important to you? Why might it be important to others as well?

Be sure to show your work (whether that be in writing, drawing, or speaking (as in the case of a podcast).

Your response to this prompt should be completed before our class time on Wednesday, August 30th. Be sure to post your response on your class blog. Your response to this prompt should be the 2nd posting on your blog.