RWS 1302 Reading Response Blog

[tonykwan-rws1302-blog]

AK W15 Read Response

I’m going to get into a bit of martial philosophy here so please bear with me. Bruce Lee said,

Water, in Asian philosophy, represents adaptability. To adapt does not mean to change the essences of who you are, but simply to conform yourself to the environment. Water takes the shape of the container that holds it, but it is still water.

In the context of the article, “Developing Multimodal Academic Literacies among College Freshmen,” you have your traditional style of writing compared to the newer multimodal academic literacy model. These are not two separate things, rather traditional writing (water) adapted to a new, muti-modal environment (container). In a generation of technology, the traditional text only way of communication is insufficient. We have been trained to watch videos, listen to podcasts, laugh at de-motivational pictures. etc. To make someone go from such a sensory rich platform to a boring text only setting is like making a Formula 1 race car driver ride a kid’s tricycle.

The author shows through her research that students can be given a more enriched learning experience using muti-modal academic literacies, while still retaining the fundamentals of traditional writing. Everything that is practiced in traditional writing, is also done with muti-modal text. It’s taking it to the next level, not doing something totally different.

As far as how it relates to my major, just like in the military, law enforcement involves giving briefs. These are not meant to be long, boring lectures. They must be well… brief. To the point. And so understanding how to effectively use muti-modal concepts to present my information in the most efficient manner possible (so that we can get back to chasing the bad guy) will be an essential skill for me in the criminal justice field.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

Water and container sounds a bit funny however, it is a perfect representation of the present trend. Virtually everything is working to archive the height of success technology has provided and writing is not slacking. Technology has raised the bar by bringing excitement and fun to the old writing mechanic thereby, encouraging writing interest among students. When I was putting my AVA assignment together, I thought of sophistication, quality, and attention grabbing features. All this would have being very difficult to achieve if not for the adoption of multi-modal into the writing system. 

Creativity can be expressed in writing. think multi-modal 

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

Tumblr Reflection

At the start of the semester I was told that this class would practically be the same as RWS 1301 but with the use of Tumblr by classmates and I immediately hated it. I couldn’t believe that i would waste an entire semester on pretty much the same class and therefore I huffed and buffed to class each week for the first month. My thinking of this class began to change when I saw that although much of RWS 1301 was implemented, this class went farther into what it takes to be an effective written. The Genre analysis and Literature Review really tested me in a way I felt no other assignments had before. My writing therefore improved and my skills regarding effective analysis skyrocketed. Now that this class is coming to an end I am left wondering, how much more is there for me to learn? I was so naive in thinking I knew it all at the start of the semester that I know feel like I am still a novice. Implementing data is an area that improved the most for myself, I never really took into account how much work effective data analysis took and I now have a deeper resect for journalist and writers. My GIF below shows a pretty good image of myself trying to write a Literature review and genre analysis, to say it kicked my butt would be an understatement as it did a lot more than just that.

The use of Tumblr allowed me to get comfortable with the use of multimodality and mixed media. At the start of the semester I had no idea what Tumblr even was or why people use it. Th use of videos, GIFS, pictures, and more really allowed me to express myself in a way that words couldn’t. I feel like the use of multi media allows me to really grasp that emotional feel that words sometimes cant. This became very useful when explaining certain things week in and week out. During the semester I learned that that an effective student is not only required to master the traditional writing but also the technological advances this new age has, I believe this to be true now more than ever. With so much technological media and advances its important to be fluent in all these areas as more and more people now a days get their news and entertainment online rather than a traditional print. With the use of multi media I am also able to attract more audiences, especially the younger generation that rely on new advances and online communication. I couldn’t be more satisfied with the use of Tumblr this semester, it allowed me to grasp an understanding of another social media tool as well as communication between my classmates this semester. The bottom GIF shows my reaction to Tumblr from the start of the semester to the end and how my emotions towards it changed. 

The following posts are my personal favorites from the semester:

Week 12 Framing Arguments

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/152839399329/week-12-reading-response

Week 12 centered on framing arguments and this caught my attention more than any other chapter in the book. This chapter allowed me to understand the importance of arguments which included that its not always about wining the argument, something that I didn’t know.This chapter helped me understand the literature review and helped me write my paper. I can honestly say this chapter was the most influential for me this entire semester. At the time of this post the presidential debates were also going on and I loved having the opportunity to call out Donald Trump on his hypocrisy. Being able to use SNL skits regarding the presidential debates was an added bonus. Sadly after the election I felt stuck in depression for the next week but thats a story for some other time. 

Week 7 Summaries and Research

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/151272538889/week-7-reading-response

Week 7 reading response was one that I felt I did an exceptionally good job as it  incorporated 3 different readings. That week was one leading up to the Lit review and the chapter going over effective summaries really helped me out a ton. With so many sources to use on the Lit review it was important to implement them effectively and this became a lot harder than I expected. Thankfully this week 7 gave me a good understanding of how to properly do it and it also gave me the resources I needed that were available to me here at UTEP. This post also had plenty of classmates responding to it so it made me feel they really gravitated to what I was saying and made me really proud of my work that week.

Lit Review Topic Proposal

http://gustavorodriguez89blog.tumblr.com/post/150619397289/lr-topic-proposal

The post regarding the lit review proposal is now one of my favorites because it makes me realize how naive I was going into this project. I was told this was the biggest assignment of the semester and I brushed it off feeling pretty confident in my abilities as a writer, I quickly realized how hard it would be. Not only did I change my 3 questions over and over and over again but analysis data and putting it all together became a task that not only took a lot of time but also a lot of hard work. Looking back at this post makes me chuckle now as I cant believe how I viewed it before even starting it. Regardless of this fact I loved my proposal, its one I’ve been talking about since last semester in RWS 1301 and its one that is very personal to me. Being able to speak about this to my peers and other outside of class is something I have enjoyed doing and I hope to continue this in order to raise awareness.

Using Tumblr was a unique experience and I learned over the semester to really enjoy it.While I do believe that it is added work instead of just simply submitting it on blackboard, Tumblr allowed me to express myself in ways that texts wouldn’t, it also allowed me to use my personality and humor instead of making it dull and boring. This is probably my favorite thing about tumblr, college can be tedious and boring at times and having something like tumblr allows us students to enjoy what we are doing. Lets face it, who really enjoys writing about writing? not many of us. I believe tumblr allowed us to communicate with our classmates and in a way forced us to get to know one another. This was something really unique as I have classes where I only the names of the few students sitting next to me. Tumblr was a great way of deriving what we had read that week and read others responses to see their perspective on it as well, personally I loved the Tumblr experience and would not change anything about it.

[tonykwan-rws1302-blog]

You had mentioned in your response that you were unaware of the Tumblr app. It may be better that you didn’t know about it. This is the second time I am responding to your post. Why? Because I initially wrote and tried to submit via the app on my iPad. Guess which app decided to crash at that exact moment and delete my post? Yeah…

(My reaction)

Anyway, I was saying something about your mentioning how we get to know each other through Tumblr. Another point is that the openness of it, allowing others to read and comment on your work kind of prepares you for when you use your skills in real life. You’ll be dealing with strangers, and trolls who don;t know who you are and have no qualms about ripping you a new one just to make themselves feel better. That’s all I remember of my original post…

(”Dammit Tumblr!! Bring back my original post!! NOW!!”)

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

Good thing you at least exercised some level of patience, which gave you an opportunity to eventually have a reason to change your thinking about the class. Patience was the only thing that gave me the opportunity to learn everything i learnt in this class. At the beginning of the semester, most times, i don’t even understand about 50% of what am suppose to do and I wont even ask questions until I get home and email the professor. At a point I felt like professor Jasmine was tired of me especially when she does not reply my email. However, I gradually began to understand how the class works. I was able to discover myself more rhetorically which helped me achieved the best the class could offer.  

Thanks professor Jasmine for putting up with all my disturbing emails. 

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

TUMBLR REFLECTION

Going back memory lane, my post for week one shared my opinion on rhetoric as “the ability to be able to communicate with audience such that, the audience would be convinced without further research”. The reading for that week made me see rhetoric as a skill that could be developed and since then I was determined to maximize the opportunity in this class to better develop my communication skill, even if am not rhetorically gifted. As the class goes on, my thoughts about rhetoric did not change in anyway but rather, it expanded because various reading and assignments exposed me to the appropriate ways to convey information. I remember my first post on Tumblr which was done in class. At that time, I knew nothing about Tumblr plus I am not a social media person. I was nervous and I could barely understand what the whole thing was all about. For the first two to three posts I did, I did not get full credits because I was always not doing it to perfection. but as time goes by, I became familiar with all the rules and my post improved as well as my grades. After summarizing readings on Tumblr, one thing that removes the stress of reading too many pages is the gif I use. I do my best to look for gif or pictures that best describe how I feel at that moment and it feels like I just poured out my emotions on the internet, and I immediately feel relieved. The use of multimodal on my posts all through the semester made writing a bit fun for me and in most cases I always want to look for something funny to make my post as fun as chatting with my friends on snap chat. Even though the reading for week one made me realize how multimodal are part of writing, I never view it in the way we present it on Tumblr. Using text and images/gif on Tumblr to represent our understanding of materials has definitely expanded my understanding of rhetorical.  Having said all that, my best top three post on Tumblr would be week one, week three, and week six. I choose week one because it reminds me of the way I started in this class. Anyone would have thought I would probably drop the class because I literarily could not figure things out and it reflected on my post going by my grade and my professor’s comment. Week three is a symbol of perfection because I read, I understood, summarized, expressed all instructions, attracted more response from classmate than any other post and even the best comment from my professor. This was the post that brought me confidence on Tumblr. Week six is on my list because it made me scale through the biggest assignment in the class. By completing the reading response for week six, formulating my research question was pretty easy and as soon as I was able to get the approval of professor Jasmin, the so called “biggest assignment” became the easiest for me. Using Tumblr to complete classroom assignment feels like the easiest way to learn because, it took away all the usual seriousness attached to writing. At a point, I began to see these assignments as nothing because once am done reading the assigned pages, I could just complete the post even in the school shuttle, get notifications and respond immediately to classmate posts. Compared to using blackboard where u cannot immediately get notifications when classmates post something and you need to respond. Overall, I had a wonderful experience using Tumblr as it helps me simplify my assignment by appearing in form of social medial and also allows me to keep a better relationship with my classmates. And if there is anything I would want to change about my Tumblr experience, then it will be my first post because I did not do it myself. It was difficult for me to figure things out then.

Top 3 posts http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149455113372/introduction

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149934904902/week-3-reading-responds

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/150922753032/week-6-reading-response

[tonykwan-rws1302-blog]

It’s funny that you say you’re not a social media person yet you know what snap chat is. I still don’t!! I tend to keep away from the popular platforms, unless there is a purpose to it, like academic and professional reasons.

I agree that the instant feedback, the interaction with classmates and the professor helped to shape me as a writer. The first post was kind of testing the waters. But it got easier over time, more fun, and I became more expressive…in my own way.

You definitely seemed to have figured things out. I always enjoyed your use of GIFs. They always hit the mark with a humorous spin.

(Nailed it!)

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

Tonyqwan, I am not a social media person does not mean I don't know it exist. My attitude towards it is very different from most people that I know. Snapchat is an application I may not even use for straight one month and when I do it's just to communicate one or two friends. I don't even Know how to use some of the features. The last post on my Facebook page was done about a year ago. Saying that I am not a social media person is just my own way of saying I don't use it as frequent as others do and I mentioned it because is probably one of the reasons using Tumblr was a bit difficult for me in the first place.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

TUMBLR REFLECTION

Going back memory lane, my post for week one shared my opinion on rhetoric as "the ability to be able to communicate with audience such that, the audience would be convinced without further research". The reading for that week made me see rhetoric as a skill that could be developed and since then I was determined to maximize the opportunity in this class to better develop my communication skill, even if am not rhetorically gifted. As the class goes on, my thoughts about rhetoric did not change in anyway but rather, it expanded because various reading and assignments exposed me to the appropriate ways to convey information. I remember my first post on Tumblr which was done in class. At that time, I knew nothing about Tumblr plus I am not a social media person. I was nervous and I could barely understand what the whole thing was all about. For the first two to three posts I did, I did not get full credits because I was always not doing it to perfection. but as time goes by, I became familiar with all the rules and my post improved as well as my grades. After summarizing readings on Tumblr, one thing that removes the stress of reading too many pages is the gif I use. I do my best to look for gif or pictures that best describe how I feel at that moment and it feels like I just poured out my emotions on the internet, and I immediately feel relieved. The use of multimodal on my posts all through the semester made writing a bit fun for me and in most cases I always want to look for something funny to make my post as fun as chatting with my friends on snap chat. Even though the reading for week one made me realize how multimodal are part of writing, I never view it in the way we present it on Tumblr. Using text and images/gif on Tumblr to represent our understanding of materials has definitely expanded my understanding of rhetorical.  Having said all that, my best top three post on Tumblr would be week one, week three, and week six. I choose week one because it reminds me of the way I started in this class. Anyone would have thought I would probably drop the class because I literarily could not figure things out and it reflected on my post going by my grade and my professor’s comment. Week three is a symbol of perfection because I read, I understood, summarized, expressed all instructions, attracted more response from classmate than any other post and even the best comment from my professor. This was the post that brought me confidence on Tumblr. Week six is on my list because it made me scale through the biggest assignment in the class. By completing the reading response for week six, formulating my research question was pretty easy and as soon as I was able to get the approval of professor Jasmin, the so called “biggest assignment” became the easiest for me. Using Tumblr to complete classroom assignment feels like the easiest way to learn because, it took away all the usual seriousness attached to writing. At a point, I began to see these assignments as nothing because once am done reading the assigned pages, I could just complete the post even in the school shuttle, get notifications and respond immediately to classmate posts. Compared to using blackboard where u cannot immediately get notifications when classmates post something and you need to respond. Overall, I had a wonderful experience using Tumblr as it helps me simplify my assignment by appearing in form of social medial and also allows me to keep a better relationship with my classmates. And if there is anything I would want to change about my Tumblr experience, then it will be my first post because I did not do it myself. It was difficult for me to figure things out then.

Top 3 posts http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149455113372/introduction

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/149934904902/week-3-reading-responds

http://hellorebeccathings.tumblr.com/post/150922753032/week-6-reading-response

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

WEEK 15 READING RESPONSE

The article Developing Multimodal Academic Literacy among College Student by Gloria E. Jacobs is a study on how multimodal text along with traditional text could support and advance student academic literacy skills. The research shows that multimodal academic literacy is a combination of the traditional text and more as it reorganizes the usual process of introduction, transition, definition, examples, citations, and references. It also illustrates that multimodal text also encourage student to think outside the box as it trigger’s higher skills such as summarization, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. What I like the most about the article is the major difference that was illustrated between multimodal text and a traditional text. The study shows that the major difference between these two is better quality. As mentioned in page 249, "The primary difference between … was how the use of multimodal modes enriched the content the student was working to share". This explains how the use of visuals better helped students display understanding of topics. In connection to my major, this article has helped me understand better why economics deals with a lot of graphs. Despite reading various text about a topic in an economics textbook, you will still find various graphs representing those text in order to better understand the readings. Now that I think about it I see why I find it easier to understand economic situations when represented by a graph faster than when it is just pure text.

This image is to emphasize the difference between using a multimodal text  along with traditional text. It makes your writing stand out just like the golden egg.

Furthermore, this article has helped me understand the concept behind the various assignment we have been doing in RWS 1301. I see the reason why we have to include an image in the research paper, why we have to do the AVA assignment, the E-Portfolio and the Gif usage on Tumblr.  All of these concept is to move us pass the traditional text form, to add quality to our writing skills through multimodal text. Though why going through this article, I was thinking of the reason we did not ready this article earlier in the class to know the main concept attached to the assignments. However, I realized that the idea or reasons for the RWS 1302 is far beyond completing the assignment alone. It is more like what you need throughout college and even after.  

This image further explains the advantage of multimodal

[tonykwan-rws1302-blog]

AK AVA Outline: Homeless Vets

I will be creating an advocacy website through Wordpress.com to argue for policy changes when it comes to veteran outreach programs and their housing assistance programs which are funded by the VA.

I have not decided yet on things like what template to use, but I’m leaning towards a more simple, professional look. Some guidelines I am trying to adhere to:

Minimalist: Not trying to make someone read a lot on the main webpage. I want the majority reading to be in the op-ed

Preface statements then links to more detailed information rather than all the details on the page.

Problem:

Although there are many programs to address veteran homelessness, providers do not adequately address those in a guaranteed process of becoming homeless. They simply wait until you are fully “homeless” (by their standards) before they provide assistance even though the programs are designed to also address those who are “at risk.”

Website:

There will be a section that gives the overall background of veteran homelessness, that it is a problem needing to be addressed.

I will point out the unique issues veterans face that make them prone to homelessness.

I will provide current stats on homeless vets, and some ways they differ from the general homeless population. (most vets that are homeless are not hopeless and only need a little help)

http://nchv.org/index.php/news/media/background_and_statistics/

(Maybe I will simply preface the issue with a statement and provide links to the above.)

I will explain the existing programs designed to combat veteran homelessness, and their inadequacies.

Provide links to the various program websites that describe their mission and basic eligibility criteria

http://www.va.gov/homeless/for_homeless_veterans.asp

Issue: program rules versus provider interpretation do not coincide.

individual case-workers decide who they feel “deserves” assistance.

(should not have to fit the “stereotype” of a homeless person to get assistance. Eligible means eligible.)

El Paso shelters require “chronic homelessness” to receive assistance. There is no clear definition of this, and does not reflect program rules established by HUD-VASH.

Advocacy/Solution:·      

Policy changes (still working on more specific change)

make case-workers more accountable to program rules so that there is no ambiguity regarding one’s eligibility for assistance.·      

establish preventative measures for veterans at risk of homelessness. (simply catching the problem early before it becomes a bigger issue)

this is a secondary mission of most vet programs but there is no mechanism in place to administer

this could reduce program costs to provider, meaning more money to help others

address imminent homelessness (homeless in 14 days as per HUD-VASH). This means the veteran “bounces” back much faster, with less assistance. (See previous bullet)

adhere to program definition of “Homeless”§

https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/HomelessAssistanceActAmendedbyHEARTH.pdf

versus personal definition from the case-worker point of view of what a homeless person SHOULD be like. 

Audio/Visual:

I will conduct a short interview with a member of the veteran social services to get her inside perspective of the processes and some of the inadequacies of providing assistance to veterans.

A second interview will be conducted with a veteran who is an active volunteer for different veteran services, and helps other veterans with finding resources including housing assistance.

Depending on willingness, this may be a short video interview that can be embedded on the website.

The stats mentioned earlier will be in the form of a graph.

I would like to find a patriotic song to play in the background, or perhaps an opening photo montage to show the sacrifice made by veterans. This is to help establish having to go through so much in service and come back only to be homeless.

I want to use pictures of younger veterans who look normal, rather than the stereotypical desperate veteran indistinguishable from other chronically homeless people. I want to paint the picture of a strong modern veteran who has simply hit a wall, and needs minimal assistance to get over it. The message is that veterans will not take assistance only to fall back into the same cycle of despair. Also to help combat the image of what a homeless person is “supposed” to be.

 Op-ed

I have first-hand experience going through the various veteran services in El-Paso. I will share my experience and the inadequacies I observed while navigating the different programs, and talking to the various representatives.

[sgaucin-blog]

I do not understand how can you feel bad about your outline if it looks really organized. First, I want to point out that to me this topic seems a really interesting issue. I had always question myself of  how come so many veterans are homeless as many people picture their life full of opportunities. I thought that those people  were consider homeless because they might have not completed their years of service that were assigned in their contract and they were restricted from the opportunity of obtaining a job/opportunity, but now after reading your outline it makes more sense. 

I feel that you covered every important detail that can actually helped you advocate your main goal. It is really interesting that you are going to provide links to various program and their basic eligibility criteria. Actually, I feel that doing this is going to strengthen your topic. I was thinking that when you are providing a solution you should keep in mind the economic impact that the solution can bring upon. Also, I feel that whenever you are choosing the song you should keep in mind that music can take away the seriousness of the issue. In my opinion, I agree that providing a picture of a strong working veteran will really help out within the emotional appeals. 

Overall, I  think that you have a strong topic and you have provided a relevant outline that can lead to a really good AVA. By the way, thank you for your comment on my AVA outline it really helped out a lot. 

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

seriously this is a very interesting topic. I really find it hard to belief that American veterans are homeless. Back home (Nigeria) we criticize our government for not taking care of our retired soldiers and we always see the United States military as a set of people that will forever have everything to live a comfortable life after their service. Sincerely, i am so interested in seeing this website when completed. 

You have a very strong outline that is good enough to effectively get your message across to your audience. However, for your video/audio section, a very slow hearth touching song playing to a video of how veterans have risked their lives for the people of America will definitely evoke your audience’s emotional response.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

ADVANCE VISUAL ARGUMENT OUTLINE

I will be doing an advocacy website using weebly.com to advocate the implementation of a cashless policy on the UTEP campus. The website will consist of four different tabs which includes home, purpose, solution and about.

Home- The home page will have the UTEP campus image as its background since my topic specifically address college campus. The Topic will be written in white font to ensure visibility on the image. The reason for creating the website will be written right below the image.

Purpose: The purpose section will include image of dollar bills and a point of sale machine. It will contain reasons why the UTEP campus should adopt a cashless system. This page will compare and contrast a cashless system and a mixed system (cash and electronic) with backup from some of the articles I used for my Literature review assignments such as, A necessary evil, and Are Small Businesses Really the Backbone of the Economy. I have chosen these two articles and some others because they analyzed the relationship between electronic/cash payment and small business like the ones we have around campus. I also hope to interview student, small businesses around the campus and the Miners Village staffs to gather enough evidence to support my claims in this section.

Solution: The solution page will have the image of various forms of electronic payment such as debit card, credit card, PayPal etc. It will discuss the necessity to implement a cashless policy. The response from student and small business owners will also be incorporated to show their preference.

About: The about page will discuss me as the owner of the website, my educational background, my achievement so far, my future aspiration and the circumstances that has motivated me to advocate this topic.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

WEEK 12 READING RESPONSE

This week reading response is based on chapter 8 and 9 of WIT. In other to provide strategies for an effective argument, chapter 8 analyzed the following ideas: correcting common myths about arguments, what is an argument? Purpose of arguments, criteria for effective arguments, and future criteria for effective argument: avoiding logical fallacies. The most interesting part of this chapter is Myth #2: Argument involving only highly debated issues. I like this part of the reading because it actually changed my perception about my topic for the AVA assignment. I was about talking to professor Jasmine about changing my topic but now I feel no need for that. I now know that, any topic can be argued. It’s all about research. Trying to persuade and not to win.

 This Gif is to emphasis that, “people can argue about nearly everything” 

Chapter 9 discuses Argument construction. It analysis is shaped around the following ideas: Questions that shape arguments, inductive and deductive reasoning, argument structure, stasis theory, classical argument structure, toulmin argument structure, and Rogerian argument structure.   What I like the most about this chapter is its ability to provide guild lines on how arguments could be constructed by analyzing various structure appropriate for different forms of argument. As an economics major, this week readings has taught me how to present my ideas to gain acceptance. Knowing now that argument is not about winning but about persuading makes me think about my audience for the AVA assignment. Considering their caliber, I keep thinking of the perfect argument structure to use in order to convince them. However, chapter 8 & 9 has upgraded my understand of the AVA assignment and I think I now understand the direction to take on it.

I am ready to persuade my audience 

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

Yancey

Yancey’s article Made Not Only in Words compares literature from its origins from the printing press in the 19th century to now in the 21st century. Going from a time when books and novels were distributed in monthly sections to today where literature can be found not only in pen and paper but in social media, blogs, websites, instant messenger, and many more genres. This new technology has created a new form of writing not taught in a classroom and its delivery is more complex than the traditional pen and paper, it now includes visuals, videos, graphics, and many other medias not available before. This picture above shows newspapers being printed, a media of literature that used to be a major source for information to the public but over the last couple of years has become less and less relevant to the newer generation.

Yancey goes on to explain how the printing press crated a more powerful middle class that now had a more educated state and demanded more authority. With the industrial age at full swing and globalization being a big part of it, literacy was used for economic and political reasons among many. Yancey also explains the difference in how literacy was presented to the public, for example they would hold reading circles while the author read his work to the public. Now today we have different means of communication that don’t necessary require reason for it, having a blog or social media doesn’t require you to worry about the grade of your writing, there is no deans list you are trying to achieve by posting your personal blog. My picture shown below depicts Hermonie Granger from the Harry Potter series, here she is visibly upset at her friends for not reading their textbooks. I felt this related to the topic as fewer people today are sticking with the traditional forms of reading when online media gives you other ways to receive the same information. 

Yancey proceeds for the remainder of her article in explaining why the education system must now move on from the traditional “English” subject. As noted in the article, the English department has seen big decreases in not only its program but students graduating in that field. New subjects like Humanities and Communications have implemented many of these english techniques and morphed into an entire subject all together. In order to be successful in this new era of literacy it is not only important to understand the traditional pen on paper writing but also the online media that so many people now a days prefer. Its the ones that can communicate with both genres that will be considered the educated ones coming out of college, this according to Elizabeth Daily a professor at USC. This is only enhanced when looking at how colleges have implemented new medias into their classrooms, medias like blackboard, tophat,WebCT, and personal E-protflios just to name a few. Today we in society are linked together closer than ever before, we don’t require mail to communicate which could take months back in the printing press days of the 18th century, we are now all linked through the web, as quoted in the article James Porter tells us, “the revolution if there is one, is the social one of interconnectivity”. The picture below simply represents how we are all connected through the web with a single push of a button. 

This weeks reading related to my major in education in a big way, as we in society move forward with technology it will continue to alter the way we educate. Even comparing college today to a decade ago is completely different and I must keep that in mind as I progress as a future educator. New forms of media are used today and in 3 years when I graduate it would not surprise me if more are available. As an educator it is important for me to stay on top of these medias as I will surely use them with my own students in the future. For these reasons I found this weeks reading to be extremely helpful and something I must keep in mind going forward. This reading has made me think about the following questions, what more can I do to remain current in the different medias available? How important is the traditional pen and paper literacy compared to the new forms available in technology? and how do I balance the different medias? 

[sgaucin-blog]

I am not going to lie I really like the way you explain everything it seems simple and straight on to the point. I agree that new technology has created new forms of writing and communication and it is really important to stay on track of this changes because if not we are going to find ourselves stuck and behind as everyone keeps advancing. However, I think that while we keep ourselves updated we should never forget about the traditional forms of reading because if we set them aside we can sometimes lose an important component. Actually, the comment you made such that, “fewer people today are sticking with the traditional forms of reading when online media gives you other ways to receive the same information”, I feel that I can consider myself one of those people who are stick to the traditional form of reading because I struggle a lot while reading a long article or book from my computer. In other words, I am kind of those people who are used to the old style of having something in my hands rather than those who use e-books.  

(With this images I want to emphasize the idea how books have change through the technological advancement.)

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

Sincerely, I find your analysis very detailed. Reading it actually feels like reading the article allover again. The pace at which technology is enhancing leaning environment cannot be over emphasized. Writing in particular has gone pass just prints. Whether you like it or not, learning and writing has become a daily routine through technology genres. Student can now learn at a very fast pace because we come across virtually everything on the internet. It has also encourage the teachers to keep learning so as to keep up with technological trend and make their job more enjoyable. Students now do assignments on social media (tumblr) for the professors to read and even respond. We now see professors as friends that we can free ask questions and get answers on assignments just like we chat with friends.

This gif is to complement technology efforts on education.

[karinagarcia0909-blog]

In the article “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key”, by Kathleen Blake Yancey compared and contrasted the 19th century and the 21st century. Back in the 19th century technology played a major role with the new steam printing press and cheaper paper, reading material became more accessible(19th century) now in days people read much less due to technology, people only read through social media. the article told us that around this time it was called the Industrial Age. before paper was used to be simple only putting ideas now the new literacies you have to develop certain steps.it also talks about how writing now and days is shown or expressed by social media, blogs.  the main point of the article was basically literacy is a powerful thing we use in our lives now matter how much it changes we approach writing through out our days. like the author said what we might call a series of newly imagined communities, communities that cross borders of all kinds—nation state, class, gender, ethnicity we all participate in writing.

( I picked this gif because we all start of with tools to write and create on a paper)

I liked this article a lot I learn a couple things about writing, it helped me a bit in my assignment, if I never need help on my topic I can always refer back to this article, this also relates to my major quite a bit because as a teacher I am going to be writing and reading a lot which helps both me and my students.

(I picked this gif because we use social media everyday to read and find out either gossip or news but we still read throughout these)

( I also picked tis gif because I’m going to be a teacher mr.feeny is a teacher and who doesn't  love this show it was a good one.

[juancedillo01-blog]

I think one of the reasons we do these tumblr post is to try and learn these new forms of literacy. I remember Jasmine mention this was considered to be a new concept when she asked us to sign the student work release forms the other week. For me this goes back to the week we talked about summaries because we write in our daily lives but don’t really realize it.   

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

I agree with your analysis of the article. Technology over the years has really affected learning and teaching methodologies in a large extent. Yancey's article has shown that, technology trend has made professor/teachers think outside the classroom in effort to make learning fun for student. The idea of social media is now being incorporated into the school pattern of teaching because it is where student spend most of their time. I believe this is one of the reasons we do this tumblr post every week.

This is me doing my tumblr response on the move. Learning made easier through technology #wink#

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

YANCEY

The article “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key” by Kathleen Blake Yancey is about the progression in writing over the years. The article talked about how technology have moved writing from just print to images, audio files on web blogs, in word processor, with video editors, in emails, presentation software and in instant messaging. The article also gave analysis of how writing has moved from inside school classrooms to the general public as in the case of “a reading public”. The most interest part of the article is on page 319 where the author gave an example of graduate students in architecture on how they use PowerPoint slides. It is interesting to because, it shows how instructors learn from their students. It also shows how technology has improved writing. In connection to my major, the article talked about industrial age. The ways in which technology had facilitated economic growth through travel, adventure, colonialism and massive demographic shift from farm to city that had changed the material conditions of work and life. This article has enhanced my understanding about writing by emphasize that, writing is far more than just printing words on paper. Through this article, I have learned that though students feel lazy with school works but we actually write more than we think we do with different technologies and genres.  While reading this article, the question that keeps coming to my mind is: why do I write about three pages on social media just chatting and posting every day and I find it had to write two pages of RWS assignment in two days?

This Gif is my reaction when I realize how much I actually write in a day.

This Gif is to emphasize how much technology have improved the world

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

REVISED AVA TOPIC PROPOSAL

For the AVA assignment, I will be doing a poster on the topic “potential cashless campus”. UTEP campus will be the focus and my targeted audience are the Board members. The poster will showcase the possibility of UTEP campus operating a cashless system where every payment, purchases and transactions are electronically performed. It will include the percentage of cash theft happening on campus, and the accountability of electronic payment.  The solution would be to persuade the board member to implement electronic payment for all transactions on campus. 

My concern about this topic is that, I am not very sure if poster is the most appropriate means to convey the message.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

AVA PROPOSAL

For the AVA assignment, I will be doing a postal on the topic “potential cashless campus”. UTEP campus will be the focus and my targeted audience are student, UTEP staffs and the retailers on campus. The poster will showcase the possibility of UTEP campus operating a cashless system where every payment, purchases and transactions are electronically performed. To get this assignment done, I would like to work with a group.

This Gif is to emphasis the saying that, “two heads are better than one” lol

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

Week 7 Reading Response

The readings this week included chapter 5 and 6 of the writing in transit book, chapter 3 of the RWS handbook, and the black board reading on Misleading questions and survey questions.

The black board reading focuses on misleading questions when conducting an interview. As I have personally chosen to interview someone instead of a survey this was extremely helpful for me. This reading gave us seven possible mistakes we can make when conducting an interview. Personally I feel like not asking direct questions might be my biggest problem, I figured that out after re analyzing my lit review questions and finding out that they were pretty vague and not very direct. Before conducting my interview I will be going back on blackboard to look at this list and make sure my questions don’t fall under one of these possible mistakes. 

Chapter 3 of the RWS handbook focuses on how to properly do research, what questions to ask, and finally the resources available at utep to help you out. Personally I didn’t find this chapter to be very useful as I was already aware of the resources at hand from last semester’s RWS 1301 and UNIV 1301 class. Despite this, its always nice to get a refresher and be reminded that they’re is resources available to us that will make life easier for us during research papers. Library sources also tend to be more credible than a google search so its always important to keep that in mind.

Chapter 5 of the WIT reading focuses on summaries, this is important for us as the Lit review requires an abstract which is a short summary of our paper. During this reading the chapter debunks some common myths about summaries like being objective, being easy to write, and how they are not used in college. After the myths it goes on by giving us some pointers or prerequisites for writing a summary. These include careful reading, and understanding the occasion for the summary. The chapter also gives us a criteria for effective summaries, this will be important not only for this paper but any future paper that also requires an abstract. Its easy to think that a summary might just be pointing out specific or key notes but in order to write an effective summary we must take a lot more in consideration. 

Chapter 6 covers synthesis or as the oxford english dictionary puts it, “The putting together of parts or elements so as to make up a complex whole”. It was interesting how this can apply to all sorts of different fields and topics. For our class it will be taking all the ideas we have researched and putting them together in one paper. This is incredible useful in my major of History as gathering information from different sources and putting them together is partly how we determine events from the past. From today and until the day I retire from the history field this will be something I will be doing. I definitely found this chapter to be the most useful as it relates not only to my major put it covers all of the upcoming lit review. It made me wonder, how will I incorporate two or three different sources to come up with one idea? This is something I think we all have done in past english classes but perhaps didn’t think too much into it or maybe didn’t effectively do it. 

Overall I liked the readings, I found chapter 6 of the WIT book and the black board post to be the most helpful to me personally. I liked how it could all tie in not only to the lit review but to my history and education video. Personally I have used the skills learned in english courses more than in any other subject in my time in college. Its great that how I keep learning more and more and expanding my writing skills going forward. 

[sgaucin-blog]

(I agree with everything you mentioned.)

I feel that the main idea of reading Chapter 5 & 6  is like you mentioned, preparing ourselves to make our abstract for the Literature Review. Also, I think we should really consider the idea of summarizing the important facts of each of the sources that we are going to work with on our Literature Review as we have to work with multiple ones. I am sure that if we try to remember every detail without having notes we are going to find ourselves lost and exactly look like your third GIF. In my opinion I feel that “synthesizing” is the most indispensable factor for a writer and mainly for a researcher. This is because if he/she does not understand how to put things together it will be hard to come up with a solid idea. Like you mentioned, I also believe that each chapter that we read helps us not only in this specific class, but also in other classes as it helps us expand our writing skills and think outside the box.

(If this happens, most likely the summary is not an effective one.)

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

I agree with your analysis of this week reading particularly on chapter five. The information on summary is definitely adequate. After reading it, i realized that I needed to go back to the sources summary I did earlier to include some missing information. The chapter's criteria for constructing a good summary needs to be well understood because it will definitely be useful through out this class and even in higher classes. This Gif is to emphasize the act of summarizing

[pmalegria-blog]

Week 7 Reading Response

Chapter 5 is about summaries, debunking myths about them, and how they serve different purposes (lmao a summary about summaries, there are so many times of summaries!) I liked how early at the beginning of the chapter they debunk myths about summaries, it is a nice way to catch your attention and continue reading one. I had never thought before about how summaries are not objective, but depend on the context and purpose they were written for. I will be using summaries throughout my professional career. In marketing, you write communications and strategy briefs to officially define the job you are going to perform. It is basically a summary of expectations and resources that the client will turn in, or that you will turn in to your supervisor before starting a project. The information from this chapter will be helpful when it comes to summarize information from sources for the literature review and writing the abstract. It is not about summarizing the paper you are reading but the information you need to fulfill your purpose. It prompts me question how many correct or accurate summaries i have actually written  before.

(mythbusters felt like the right choice for a gif after reading about some summary myths being debunked)

Chapter 6 is about synthesis, their purpose, and the criteria to write an effective one. I learned that a synthesis is not only a written thing, Stonehenge is a synthesis because it was multidisciplinary engineered, it was a put together from different elements to make something quite complex. In my understanding, a marketing strategy is a synthesis from different disciplines, some psychology, some publicity, some accounting. I am still thinking about how I might use the synthesis in the literature review assignment, but I cannot come up with something at the moment. Maybe down the road I will find it useful. I did not like to see math as an example, flipped the page real quick. Oh, after reading 2 more pages I realized that the whole literature review is a synthesis of multiple sources! It makes me wonder if we can use different types of synthesis on the same text.

(now everytime I hear the word “synthesis” im going to picture this. Breathtaking)

Chapter 3 from the Handbook, goes on about how to start doing research, primary and secondary, and how to use existing resources, such as the UTEP library to help you do so. I attended a brief workshop last year to get an idea on how to use the library’s resources but it is always nice to go over it again, and keep it fresh now that I am going to be doing a ton of research. Researching skills will come in handy in all majors, research does not suddenly stop after you graduate. I usually use scholar.google.com for all my research necessties but I might give the library’s online resources this time.

(^ us the next few weeks)

Misleading Interview and Survey Questions is an article about the 7 most common mistakes when writing questions. for my primary research I am not going to be doing a survey, but an interview still requires of carefully crafted questions to get answers that can be used in the literature review. I liked that they give more than one example. When surveying customers, or a sample target market, the questions you ask will determine the accuracy of your results, so these tips are a good start, and something I will definitely be using later on.

[juancedillo01-blog]

OMG the first part of your blog reminds me of the show ‘Pimp My Ride’ it’s like “yo dawg I heard you like summaries so here’s a summary about summaries so you can summarize while you summarize”. Myth busters was one of my favorite shows growing up and now that I think about it at the end of every myth they would summarize their findings. Hopefully we don’t have to run around like chickens with their heads cut off when we are doing research since the book explained how to use the library and the data base as well. I have to interview somebody for my lit review hopefully I don’t mess that up.

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

I agree with your analysis Pmalegria especially on the misleading interview and survey question. When I took a second look at the information on blackboard, I realize how significant the way we word questions is. If a question is worded wrongly, it will generate inadequate response which will lead to undesired result. The article sure gave idea on how to come up with good questions through examples which is necessary for the literature review assignment. We just need to keep things as focused as possible. This gif is a reminder to keep questions focused

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

Week 7 Reading Response

The main idea of chapter five of WIT is to correct the widely held idea about summary. The chapter explains the various believe that people have in mind while summarizing, then went further to give various steps to take in writing a good summary. What I like the most about this chapter is “the key questions for determining the occasion for summary” on page 99.  The table gave a list of what to watch out for while reading the material to be summarized and also gave questions that will enable the reader figure out the steps.

Chapter six of WIT analysis synthesis. It explains the purpose of synthesis, questions that shape synthesis criteria for effective synthesis and mode of synthesis across disciplines. What I like most about this chapter is the “Criteria for effective synthesis” on page 131. The line that says “The resulting syntheses should advance knowledge in a powerful way” makes me think about what I hope to achieve at the end of the literature review assignment.

I use this Gif to emphasize one of the purpose of Synthesis which is to make connection between ideas.

Misleading interview and survey questions on blackboard is a guide on how to conduct a good interview and survey. What I like the most about it is its ability to provide questions that should be avoided while conducting an interview or survey in other to get accurate result. This will help me shape my questions for the literature review primary sources.

I used this give to remind myself and my classmates not ask the wrong questions during interview/survey

As an economics major, all the three readings for this week is a parameter on how to understand, analyze and process information. If I can effectively make use of them very well throughout undergraduate, I will not only graduate with a good grade but also, Studding economic situation of any organization and coming up with alternatives will definitely be an easy ride.

Furthermore, the three readings to a large extent has helped me figure out how to effectively summarize the two sources I have for my literature review assignment. However, the question that keeps dangling in my mind is, are there no shortcuts in this assignment at all? Because it seems like you cannot avoid any step lol.

[gustavorodriguez89blog-blog]

Week 6 Reading Response

Week six readings included chapter 3 of the WIT book that covers “posing meaningful questions”and chapter 4 that covered which texts to read after developing your questions. This week also included the video “Holy CRAPP” that broke down into specific detail how to analyze and find the reliability of a source. 

The main ideas of chapter 3 and 4 of the WIT readings touch up on making smart questions and finding the right sources to answer them. The readings gave us an explanation on how just one topic can have multiple questions to different type of people. The pyramids at Giza attracted many different scholars of different fields to each ask their own questions. Since questions can be so broad it is important we ask ours in a way that our audience knows exactly what we are asking and leave nothing unclear. The book gave us a great example of how to break down questions by breaking them down into 3 categories, specific, refined, and general. After doing this the book gives a good starting point by explaining how to use a general template for making questions knows as a question heuristic. By starting off simple like who, what, where, when, why, and how we can being to begin brainstorming our focal points. Lastly we must transfer questions which leads us straight to chapter 4. Here we are taught to answer our questions while using the proper source for each question. Here we are given some examples of possible sources we can decide to use (library and archives, internet search engines, and research databases) and how to dissect them properly.

The video on blackboard helps us understand the importance  of having reliable sources. The video does this by breaking down the acronym CRAAP, currency, relevance, authority, accurate, and purpose. Currency and relevance touches on how our sources must be up to date and still relevant today. Sources that may be too old for the topic at hand may be considered obsolete. Authority explains the importance of the expertise from the author, the author of your used source must be one in a field that gives him/her the experience to talk about that topic. Accurate is pretty self explanatory as the information must be true in order for the audience to accept it. Lastly the purpose, is it to inform? persuade? advertise? These 5 points are key for us to remember when choosing our sources.

What I liked the most of this weeks reading was that it really helped me understand some of the key points for the upcoming literature review, I now feel a lot more ready for this assignment. This connects to my major (history) because in order for a history book to be published it is important to have reliable sources backing you. One can not simply write things down and expect other to believe it without any evidence. This reading made me realize that my original questions I chose are not specific enough and I pretty much have to start over. It prompted me to ask, are any of my original questions good enough? After this reading the answer is probably not. Despite this it gave me a bigger understanding of the assignment and now I feel like I can get back to it and do a better job this time around. 

[pmalegria-blog]

I feel like we already knew what these chapters were about, we have been working on essays and research for quite a while. But I completely agree with you when you say that you now feel more prepared and ready to do a better job this time.

My biggest concern at the moment is that questions are not as specific as I could possibly make them. And I’ve re-written them 3 times know, it’s been a ride! I’m sad to hear that you have to start from 0 with your questions too. The sources and research questions are SUCh a big part in history! If there is no supporting evidence on whatever you’re stating the credibility of your claims diminishes. Good luck.

(i love the gifs you use btw)

[hellorebeccathings-blog]

I agree with your analysis of this week readings. The blackboard video helped me realize two identities that I never thought of. Before watching the video, I would have gone for any sources that analyzes my research questions regardless of the currency or authority. After watching the video, the Facebook example made me  understand the necessity of currency. The knowledge has to be resent so as to effectively communicate with the audience. Authors authority would never had crossed my mind, but now I know that I have to check and be sure that the author has authority on the topic, and the "evidence comes from recognized experts and authoritative institutions".

I use this Gif because, I feel like am ready for the biggest assignment of the year