Stephany Gaucin

[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

[sgaucin-blog]

(Tumblr give us the chance to express ourselves.)

I understand the nervousness you felt at the beginning of the semester regarding Tumblr because I totally felt the same way. I used to check the URL like 20 times just to make sure it was working. Also, I remember that when we submitted our first post I went back to the library as quickly as possible just to add the GIF before the due date, as I forgot to do it. I totally agree with you that using Tumblr was an easy way to learn as it took away the seriousness and tension of every assignment. I think that every RWS course should adopt this idea. I remember that in RWS 1301 I felt lost most of the time and I didn’t know who to ask because we barely interact with each other. Overall, I think that Tumblr was a perfect way to guide us in every assignment while helping us interact with our classmates.    

[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.

[sgaucin-blog]

(When they mentioned Tumblr.)

A friend of mine also told me that RWS 1302 was the same as RWS 1301 and I am so glad it wasn’t. To be honest, I also didn’t know what Tumblr was. When the professor mentioned that we were going to use Tumblr I remember saying to myself, “We already started the semester with the wrong foot”. I remember that I was so scared that I used to check the URL like 20 times before submitting it to Blackboard, just to check if it was working. It may sound a little exaggerated, but it did happen. However, in my opinion I think that Tumblr is what made this class different. Not only because it was a way to interact with our classmates in a fun way, but because it helped us realize how important is to experiment new media cultures. I can see myself through your first GIF. Even though I did enjoy this course I struggled a lot doing every assignment and I still do. Right now, I’m just wondering how I am going to do present my AVA project.

[sgaucin-blog]

W15 Reading Response

(We need to move beyond traditional texts because multi-modal keeps growing.)

(Multi-modal academic literacy are preparing us to engage in a media rich society.This will avoid us to look like the sad kid sitting in the middle.)

The article, “Developing Multi-modal Academic Literacy among College Freshmen” by Gloria E. Jacobs describes an investigation that she made regarding the importance and the benefits of using multi-modal academic literacy. She stated that using multi-modal academic literacy will successfully serve as a way to enter, build on, or enhance traditional literacy skills. Doing this will help students apply their own skills, beliefs, and experiences while engaging and experimenting new media culture. Engaging through different medias will help student think differently rather than in the traditional texts. Through the investigation students were separated into groups where they investigated and created a multi-modal report on one of six nontraditional literacy forms such as vinyl records, flash mobs, slam poetry, graphic novels, video mash-ups, and video gaming. Using this means will help students avoid empty sentences and plagiarizing by explaining the concepts in their own words.

What I like the most about the reading is that I had the opportunity of reflecting my experience of constructing a website with some of those that were pointed out. Specifically, where the article states that Allie ‘’articulated the frustration and difficulties experienced as well as the accomplishment felt after achieving some facility with the software’’. With this statement, what it came to my mind is the frustration that I felt every time I moved either the text box or an image from one place to another, as it took a long time. Then when I finally placed everything were I wanted and I published the site the images seem to be overlapping the text. However, I feel proud about the way everything came out.

(I was so frustrated doing my website that I almost did this to my computer.)

This reading helped me understand that the main objective of the AVA project was to give us the opportunity to apply our own beliefs and skills away from the traditional texts that we are used to.A question that came into my mind is… If we know that this is a very beneficial tool for our learning why haven’t they apply it to other courses for example in RWS 1301? I think changing this will probably make the course much more interesting.  

I think that one of the ways that I can apply this reading to my major is by deciding how to explain a procedure/disease to a patient. I will have to find the proper multi-modal (images/video/written) in order to explain something clearly without scaring or confusing the patients.

(For example, this GIF will help people understand way better how the body changes during pregnancy rather than just reading it through a book)

[sgaucin-blog]

Tumblr Reflection

(Going back to August when we post our first reading response.)

Going back to my week 1 Tumblr post I can definitely say that my expectations from this course were met. I feel more confident about my writing and my vocabulary expanded too. As I said, writing is not my strength and I really don’t like it that much. However, even though I struggle in some of the assignments I actually enjoyed doing them. Each assignment gave some kind of knowledge that I am sure that they are going to come in handy. I say this because some of these techniques that I learned I have already used them in my other classes.Comparing my thoughts about rhetoric from the beginning to the end of this semester I can find out that I wasn’t that lost about its meaning even though I was only familiar with it through rhetoric devices. Like I said, rhetoric is the ability to persuade an audience by using the proper genre and the techniques that each one demands. The only difference that I found out is that I wasn’t aware that rhetoric is something we are surrounded with from text messages to TV commercials. 

(The key for good persuasion/rhetoric) 

What I learned about multi-modality is that images/GIF s can possibly have more meaning than words and that they can play an important role in rhetoric. Obviously, using multi-modality in every post has helped me have a more clearer understanding that within each genre there’s different rhetoric techniques that need to be applied in order to get your point across.

I feel that my top 3 posts are; Reading Response #1: http://sgaucin.tumblr.com/post/149638667776/reading-response-1

From all three this reading response is my favorite because I feel that I explained everything so detailed that if someone were to read it without reading chapters 1 and 2 they will actually understand the whole concept. Also, because I feel that I chose the right GIF to express both chapters. 

Reading Response #3: http://sgaucin.tumblr.com/post/149986424451/analysis

I feel that I gave a reasonable explanation of how important analysis is within different disciplines and that each one has its own approach. Also, I think this was one of the posts from which I made one of the strongest connections with my major, since analyses is important to determine what kind of actions to take in order to save a patient’s life. 

Reading Response #11: http://sgaucin.tumblr.com/post/152546607046/reading-response-week-11

I think that I showed the importance of keeping updated within each literacy as it will help us navigate through the complexities of life. Also, the picture of literacy through the ages and the GIF of the man stuck helped me reflect my point better. 

 At first I, didn’t know how Tumblr will possibly benefit us with this course, but now I am impress how it did helped us not only learn about rhetoric and genre, but also to share our ideas while interacting with our classmates since we don’t have that much of an opportunity during class. Back then I remember having an online class where we were supposed to have discussions with our classmates through blackboard every week about the reading, just like in this class. I can honestly say that they were the most boring discussions that anyone could ever had. Everyone could probably noticed that by the way everyone responded. It seemed more like a forced assignment rather than a productive one. With this been said I think Tumblr is better than Blackboard for the reading responses.  I am sure that everyone will agree with me that the opportunity of expressing our ideas more freely by using GIFs, pictures, and videos is what makes Tumblr more enjoyable.  I wouldn’t change anything about Tumblr, but I think they should only add music/sound within  the posts in order to make them more realistic. 

[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. 

[sgaucin-blog]

W12 Reading Response

Overall, the main idea of chapter 8 is that a strong arguments/conclusion are constructed based on reasonable and relevant evidence and without any fallacies. However, the approach of an argument can vary depending on the writer, discipline or writing occasion. An argument is seen as the position a writer takes after some research is been made and evidence is been collected. The arguments that are been constructed can affect the act of persuasion/rhetoric since your argument should reach a convincing conclusion. In rhetoric an effective argument should rely on a balance use of argumentative appeals (ethos, pathos, logos). Also, an argument should avoid fallacies as it can distract the readers from the main points that are been made. Chapter 9 talks about how a writer constructs its arguments by pointing out how they decide what to argue and how to define the perfect structure to present the argument.

(Arguments in rhetoric is not a debate, but a statement that is presented with evidence.)

From these chapter I learn that forming an argument can play an important role not only in a speech, but also in a writing. It is such a coincidence that last week my communication instructor gave us the task of  identifying the fallacies that each candidate use in the last 2016 presidential debate. While I was completing the assignment, I founded really incredible how the use of fallacies can potentially derive the central point of a debate and with this reading I got a more robust understanding of how to avoid such situations in my writing assignments.

(Within the 2016 presidential debate both presidential candidates presented fallacies in order to override a topic. One fallacy both of them use is “Ad Hominem” as they attack each other constantly.) 

What I like about the reading is the triangles found in page 225 where it illustrates the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning. I like this particular section because I had the tendency of getting confused these two words and this picture helped me identify each one more clearly.

One question that the chapters prompt me to ask was… In what field/event can an argument be consider a need? 

These chapters can connect to my major whenever I am identifying a patient’s diagnosis. Before consulting my opinion to the doctor, I have to collect all the evidence/symptoms in order to back up my argument. Also, I have to identify the proper way to present the information.

 (A diagnosis needs to be constructed based on facts.)

[sgaucin-blog]

Advanced Visual Argument Outline

Webpage: I will try to keep my page with limited colors such as blue and green. For my font, I will use black in order to make the text easier to read.  The background will be white and I will not use any music in the web page to maintain the topic serious. The main menu will include 4-5 sections. (Main page, Sequence of Events in Wound Healing, psychological stress, reduce level of stress before/after a surgery is done, Goal/Copy right.) 

Main Page

To capture my audience I will use a clear picture related to wound healing. The picture will be ½ a page. 

Overview: The overview will be included below my picture. Within this section I am going to include some information of my abstract in order to introduce the main idea and some of the topics that are included in the menu. 

Sequence of Events in Wound Healing

I am going to explain very briefly the process of wound healing. In order to make a clear illustration of the process I am going to include an image related to the one below. 

By the same token, I am going to introduce the factors that delay the tissue repair. Since these factors that intervene the wound healing process can be categorized as local and systematic elements, I’m going to use a table to differentiate each factors with its category.

(I am going to use a table similar to this one to differentiate each category.)

Psychological stress

I’m going to put a checklist in order to make the audience see if they present psychological stress before/after a surgery. 

After this I am going to show the evidence/research that was conducted which showed that certain circumstances delay tissue repair

 Different dental students who were either taking exams or on vacations.

Couples with high rates of conflict

Family caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients under elevated stress

Then, I am going to point out that stress can lead to the possibility  of pain, nausea, vomiting and readmission/hospital stay. 

To make my point more credible I am going to include 2 videos. One explains in a more easier way how can stress affects the body. The other one is an interview of a doctors. This video points out that poor emotional health has been reported to have a poorer outcomes and less functional improvements on orthopedic specialties.

Reduce level of stress before and after a surgery is done

Within this section I am going to advocate the idea that patients should undergo through a series of therapies in order to have successful surgical outcome.

I am going to implement different strategies by maybe using videos or images within each one. 

Relaxation techniques 

Music Therapy

Interaction with doctors

Optimistic 

Getting support from counselors, social workers, volunteers or family members. 

Information provision

(Yoga as a relaxation technique.) 

Goal

Within this section I will introduce myself and my goal, which is to emphasize the idea that psychological stress contributes to the delay of tissue repair and that patients should adopt a technique to reduce stress in order to obtain a successful surgical outcome. 

I will include the copy right statement. 

[jgutierrez22-blog]

Week 11 Reading Response

The article by Kathleen Blake Yancey, “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key”, is a very interesting piece to analyze how writing has evolved over time in good ways. Writing used to be more limited than it is today. It was more exclusive to “writers” writing on paper by hand and the writing machine later on. There is a significant difference when it comes to writing in the 19th century to today. In the past, writing was also thought more of a “classroom” activity were people would only write for academic purposes. Now, with all the new technologies and methods, writing has taken a whole new level. There are now visual methods such as blogs, websites, social media and people today now write about anything for their own fun or satisfaction. (Tumblr). A comparison can be portrayed of the printing press giving greater access to reading for people in the 19th century, and new technologies such as social media, giving access for more writing to the public mass. 

(This GIF portrays a pen drawing out the steps and pieces of evolution to complete the final product: the pen. Just as writing has changed and evolved)

Traditional methods of teaching English and writing are not effective in the world we live today. As most things evolve, writing has changed too, and the need to adapt to the modern ways is imperative for students and teachers. Yancey focuses a lot on the importance for students to be literate to be successful in life. The techniques of using videos, audio, words, and pictures in different and efficient ways to speak and transmit a message effectively. 

(Literacy is a key factor no matter the field of study)

From a business standpoint, being literate is very important especially in modern methods. To be able to communicate with potential clients or partners, the use different communication methods is very important. Also literacy helps us understand the message that other are trying to give us. In a marketing perspective, the use of social media and visual rhetoric is very important to be able to sell or transmit your product to different markets. I completely agree with Yancey’s article and find it very important to be a literate individual too. 

[sgaucin-blog]

I like the way you compared this week reading with the pen. It is true that reading has evolved with the new technologies and because of this it is also important that schools/colleges implement the new methods of reading within classrooms. Practicing this methods can helps us adapt to the modern ways of literacy. One simple example that comes into my mind is the use of abbreviations in social media like LOL, OMG, THX and so forth. If we don’t get familiar with this kind of readings we might struggle to communicate effectively. However, I still think that if we don’t practice both traditional and modern writing/reading techniques it can negatively affect us. There has been so many changes now a days that I can’t imagine what’s coming up next.

(With new technology and media the use of abbreviations has impacted our writing style.)

[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.)

[sgaucin-blog]

Reading Response Week 11

The article “Made Not Only in Words: Composition in a New Key” by Kathleen Blake Yancey compares and contrasts the different ways writing has been changing between the 19th century and the 21st century. The main idea that is been emphasized is that the emergence of new technology contributes on the creation and the distribution of new genres. It has been pointed that this changes can potentially limit literary if we do not adapt to the new literacies that emerge. The emergence of new literacies had move from words on paper to words on images, audio files, videos, web, e-mails and presentations. According to the author, whenever a writer adapts to this different genres they learned to think, organize, and to act within these forums without instruction and self-assessment.  The author also points three suggestions such as develop a new curriculum, revisit and revise our writing across the curriculum efforts, and develop major in composition and rhetoric which will help a writer simplify their work when doing a composition. Overall, the main point that is being reflected is that rhetoric literacy is a powerful tool for navigating through the complexities of life which will enrich the citizen’s ability to approach writing in any given circumstance.

(The literacy has keep advancing throughout the years and we have to  adapt to them in order to approach writing in any circumstance.)

The reading helped me realized the importance and the main goal of the assignment of the advanced visual argument which is to learn how to connect literacy with a specific genre.

What I least enjoyed about the reading is that it was too long as I ended up with a big headache. Also, I sometimes lost track about the main idea. However, I want to point out that I really like was a quote that summarizes the whole context and seems to be relevant, “No longer…can students be considered truly educated by mastering reading and writing alone. The ability to negotiate through life by combining words with pictures with audio and video to express thoughts will be the mark of the educated student” (Yancey, 2004). What this means to me is that if we do not keep ourselves updated, for instance in technology or writing, we will get stuck and limited to new learnings and skills. However, it is also important to master the basic principles in order to keep advancing.  

(Don’t get stuck!....Keep updated and expand your skills and learnings.) 

This reading has made me think about some few questions like, Can our usage of pen and paper be negatively affected if we keep updating ourselves with the new medias? Could our learning become affected? How can I become aware and updated with the various medias available?

This reading connects to my major, “Nursing”, by realizing that it is true that keeping updated in technological advancement is very important. A simple example that comes into my mind is the usage of the manual and automatic blood pressure cuffs. A manual implicates a different procedure compared to the new automatic ones. A nurse has to be aware of such differences in case of an emergency. For example, if she just knows how to use a manual, but the hospital only has automatic ones she will probably face a hard time.

[sgaucin-blog]

Advanced Visual Argument-Proposal

For the Advanced Visual Argument I will be choosing a poster. My topic will still be concentrated on the issue about high levels of stress affecting wound healing. Since my target audience is mainly those in a hospital or a clinic I feel that using a poster will be more beneficial in this case as the images of such poster can capture their attention. I will be addressing how to notice that a patient is stressed its risks and the ways they can alleviate such feeling. I really don’t mind working in a group, I feel that this assignment will be more interesting if we get the chance to interact with each other.

(With this picture I want to emphasize the idea that using a poster with multiple pictures and colors can successfully reflect a point, and that is what I am planning to do with my poster.)

[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.)

[tonykwan-rws1302-blog]

AK W7 Read Response

(I will focus on Chapter 5: Summary)

Have you ever asked someone to summarize a movie for you, and they just give you a chronological timeline of the movie itself? ‘A’ happened, then ‘B’, then ‘C’…and so forth. It doesn’t exactly inspire you to watch the movie. What you want to know is why the movie is worth watching, why you should spend the $15-30 for the experience at the theater. This is something that Chapter 5 talks about. It talks about a distinction between effective summaries versus simply stating the obvious points.

Someone mentioned the concept of the “elevator speech” the other day in a presentation. I’ve heard about it many times. Basically, if you walked into an elevator with the CEO of a company you are trying to get hired to, would you be able to explain how awesome you are and why you should be hired within the time it takes to go a few floors? I think this is a great example of giving an effective summary. You have limited time so must choose the most essential qualities about yourself, and state it in a way that creates interest in you. Take too long however, and the CEO will walk off with only your name.

As the chapter states, we use this same concept across many disciplines and contexts. We use summaries when annotating bibliographies. We will be writing a summary in the form of the abstract for our lit review. Some of us will be writing cover letters for resumes at some point. Myself, as a criminal justice major, I will likely be working in a law enforcement capacity. As such, I will have to provide short but clear explanations to different officials as to why certain courses of action must be taken. Getting a warrant from a busy judge is a good example. This is using summary in practice.

Being able to effectively summarize, I believe, is an essential skill to have not just in academics, but in life. Anyone can point out the obvious. But being able to condense a large amount of information to its component parts, and communicate it to others without a loss in the primary message shows deep understanding. We live in such a fast paced, busy world. It’s something that we will do quite often, and it helps to be able to do this effectively to be better communicators.

(Below is a humorous example of summarizing a very long movie)

[sgaucin-blog]

(LOL! That Video goes straight to the point of these chapters.)

I agree with you when you point out that one of the greatest mistakes that we make when we are asked about a movie is that we basically talk about every detail  without emphasizing just the important facts. Basically we ruined the whole movie. I really like the example you gave about being in an elevator. I think that in order to remember what a summary consists of we have to keep in mind that our mission is to give the reader a clear thoughtful image of what the whole picture (original text) looks like within a few sentences. I don’t know if this happened to you, but I didn’t noticed how powerful summaries can be until the book mentioned some examples that we as students have come across with (Introduction, Abstract, and Bibliographic Annotations). I totally agree with you when you mentioned that “we live in such a fast paced busy world”. I feel that summaries will totally save us time and more now that being a college student time means everything. 

(We should take summaries seriously because they could save us a lot of time from wasting life.)

[sgaucin-blog]

Week 7 Reading Response

(In order to make an effective summary the writer has to pull out only the central parts of a text.)  

In order to make an effective summary the writer has to pull out only the central parts of a text.  The main idea of chapter 5 is to address that being actively involved on academic writing requires the ability to dominate many complex roles such as learning how to build up an effective summary. The act of summarizing requires many skills that would helped the writer express ideas, experiences and knowledge efficiently within a limited amount of text. Summaries requires us to pull out the central ideas/main arguments from any text. Any kind of summary even if it is from the same text can be formed differently as each individual can have different goals and purposes expressed. In order to conduct a good summary one has to have into account the purpose, audience, length requirements, general/specific, background material, disciplinary context and tone. Even though summaries can seem to be insignificant, they can make a big difference in any writing project. One way to recognize this is by noticing how helpful an Abstracts, Introductions, Conclusions and Bibliographic Annotations (Just to mention some) can be.  Overall, a good way to see the importance of a summary is by remembering this words that are taken straight from the book, “Your aim is to make your summary clear enough so that the reader who have not or will not actually read, view, or listen to the original text can still understand that text.” (Comer, p.102).

(In order to come up with new findings a writer has to connect all the pieces (articles/books/interviews) together.)

Chapter 6 talks about “synthesis” which means understanding a material in order to generate new understandings, ideas, and assumptions. In other words, is the action of comprehending different concepts in order to create a new product. In order to come up with a well understood synthesis a plan has to be done in order to collect the information in a well-organized order so that the reader can find connections/differences easily. Similar to summaries, synthesis can be also applied in different forms that require different concepts (Literature Review, Application, Interdisciplinary, Curation of Collection, Resources, Comparison, Definition, and Bibliographic Essays).  

While I was reading the chapters a question that came to my mind was…If there is multiple modes of synthesis why this class specifically focuses only on the Literature Review?

(My reaction when I read the comparison given in the book as is helped me understand the assignment much better.)

 What I like the most about the reading is the way the book tried to explain the Literature Review as it helped me have a much more robust understanding about this coming assignment. To be more specific, the metaphor that was used, “Imagine two or more people sitting around a dinner table having a conversation about something. Who agrees with whom? What questions would they ask one another? Over which points might they disagree? How might their conversation lead to new areas for exploration? “(Denise K. Comer, p.137). I feel that keeping this into account while doing my research will make it easier for me to build up my Literature Review.  

(The nurse gives a brief summary about the results.)

The process of “synthesis” can be applied in the Nursing field while trying to find a patient’s disease/condition in order to come up with the treatment/ prevention need in order to stabilize the patient. Then the summary can be used whenever the nurse is explaining the result to the family. For example, if the patient needs an operation it is obvious that the nurse is not going to explain every detail that is going to be performed. By the other hand, she/he is going to emphasize just the most important facts.

[marineutep]

W6 Reading Response

The main idea for chapter 3 is how to formulate a proper and “good” research question. Chapter 3 gives plenty of examples and teaches one how to formulate a “good” research question without sounding like an uneducated individual. There are several factors that play in what to ask yourself when you intend on putting together a research question.

(This Gif shows how confusing it is to come up for a research question for the first time.)

What I liked most about Chapter 3 is the many different ways it shows you to consider when you’re writing a potentially good research question. The “six questions” you must ask yourself and the many different perspectives and fields in which you can view when taking your research question into consideration. This allows me plenty of fuel to add to my already burning fire.

(This Gif is used to emphasize my fire.)

Chapter 3 connects with Electrical Engineering because there are more than one category of fields in which one can ask how to write an effective research question. It provides me ideas on researching how questions are asked in my field and what potential influence category does my field fall under (which in my case would be scientific category).

Chapter 3 actually prompted me to ask whether the questions I had already submitted to be good questions. Also, it made question to see if others might find interest and if not how I can make it sound like it is of importance.

(This Gif is used to emphasize the questions that WIT reader prompted me to ask.)

Chapter 4 was mostly a detailed chapter 3. Although it is extremely helpful, it did not impact me as much as chapter 3 did.

[sgaucin-blog]

I felt that Chapter 3 was a very helpful tool for us right now as we are in the process of constructing our questions. The same way as you what I mostly enjoyed was the different ways we can take in order to construct our own questions (Interpretive, Quantitative and Patton’s Fundamental Disciplinary Questions).  These questions can help us formulate and see the different perspectives within our topic. I really liked the usage of your GIFs especially the first one. This is because it reflects how I feel right now. I feel both confused and mostly scared as this is barely the beginning of the Literature Review. Also, I enjoyed the GIF because it makes me remember how happy I was when I was a little as I did not have to worry about anything like constructing questions like I have to do today.  

(How I feel right now)

(I hope that I will not find myself confused running in circles like this bird while constructing my Literature Review.)

[tommygarcia01-blog]

W6 Reading Response

The objectives of this week was to read into chapters 3 and 4 of Writing in Transit and to view the video titled “Holy CRAAP A Writer’s Holy Grail to Analyzing the Validity and Reliability of a Source”. 

While speaking on the subject on creating solid questions in class, the insight on chapter 3 enforced the concepts that were covered even more greatly. It gave characteristics of questions that were developed so that those examples used can be implemented in our literature reviews. It first defines what a question is how it can be used to get the most information out of someone who is being asked the question. The questions could be developed from reading other academic work, or work that is significant to the topic of choice. The chapter also explains the needs for keeping a pointed scope; to not only address the question itself, but also the larger understanding of the information that the question surrounds itself with. Lastly, chapter 3 goes into detail about what type of questions can be asked such as who, what where, when, why, and how questions. 

(The gif used above is exactly how I feel about all this information on how to ask a question, did not know there was that much of a deeper understanding)

Chapter 4 covers where to locate materials for asking questions. Suggestions include internet search engines, articles, scholarly databases, and things of that nature. It emphasizes the idea on the importance of picking what to read and how to read it. It is said that skimming or reading fast through material should be a method used in some sources to gain knowledge quickly because there is a lot of information that needs to be read altogether. Other sources require in-depth reading because that specific source might be more useful for criteria regarding the paper. The chapter displays commentary on reading as an example for a guideline on taking notes while reading, and how it can useful for creating a literature review.

The video explains in detail what the acronym ‘CRAAP’ stands for and its significance to analyzing a source correctly. It stands for currency, relevance, authority, accurate, and purpose. As for the RAAP part of the acronym, by now that part should understood. The currency part prior to the video was not takin’ into consideration by myself. Currency asks whether the source that is being used is significant enough to utilized because of the date is what published. Does the date affect the relevance of your paper? Since it is an older publication, does the time difference affect the argument? It also takes into consideration the use of the authors sources.

( This gif is used to show how I feel about all this information, OH! and also to remember CRAAP :) )

[sgaucin-blog]

I felt that reading Chapter 3 was a very useful source that we can used in order to construct our questions as it seem to be a very complicated procedure to conduct as we have to address a very specific question that has not maybe being answered or researched about. The questions that were addressed like who, what, where, when, why and how are very simple questions that can lead us to good questions, but I think that the most helpful ones are like the Interpretive, Quantitative and Patton’s Fundamental Disciplinary Questions.  I am sure that Chapter 4 is an overview about what we might face later on while we are conducting our research.  I really liked the GIF of the cat because I can actually relate to it.  Last class I felt very overwhelmed as the Professor explained to us how specific we should construct our questions and how important was it for our grade.  

(How I felt when I noticed how we were supposed to construct the questions.)

(If this is the beginning of the Literature Review, I don’t want to imagine was coming up next.)

[sgaucin-blog]

W6 Reading Response

(I choose this picture in order to emphasize the kind of questions and the sequence one must go through in order to construct meaningful questions.)

(I used this picture in order to articulate what chapter 4 points out such that we have to be open to all kinds of sources in order to find an answer to the questions that were made.)

Both Chapters 3 and 4 covered a general idea about what is expected to be seen while constructing our Literature Review. These chapters emphasized the idea that in order to become a good academic writer one has to be aware that posing meaningful questions is one important component that will help the writer keep building their knowledge in a particular discipline. Even though every question made is significant, a good writer has to have the capacity to differentiate those questions that might cause problems while researching. One advice that we can take in order to take the most effective questions is choosing those who are most interesting to us. In order to construct a manageable research the writer has to pose questions from a general sense to a more specific one. The research questions that we come up with can affect the kind of source that is needed in order to find an answer to such questions. A writer should be always be aware that being open to all kinds of sources can help us see different perspectives within a general topic. In order to gather reliable material the writer should always keep in mind several factors such as currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. While making research one can face situations where the articles that are found can contain extensive reading. In this situations we should learn how to identify what portion of the reading is relevant for the research and what sections required more focus.

(This is me last week in class when we where introduced to the idea of making meaningful questions.)

What I liked the most of the reading was definitely the pyramid which helped me visualize how the questions of this upcoming project should be constructed in order to keep a specific sequence. Also, I liked the different forms of questions (Big Six, Interpretive, Quantitative, and Patton’s Fundamental Disciplinary Questions) that were shown within chapter 3 as it helped me have an idea of the kind of questions I should be asking myself whenever I am constructing the questions for the Literature Review.

(Now I feel more relief as the book gave me some questions that I can use to construct my research questions.)

As I said before this chapter helped have a more robust understanding about the questions I should be forming for this upcoming project.

A question that I had while reading this chapter and when I was in class last week is… if we construct our own research question based on the idea that we should not find the answer right away in Google could there be the possibility that we might not find an answer to these questions or that there might not be sufficient evidence to arrive to a solid conclusion?

(I am ready to find the cure of those sick patients.)

I can see that these chapters can be helpful in my major (Nursing) whenever I am looking for a patient’s diagnostic. In other words, this chapter helps me identify how specific I should construct my questions in order to arrive to both the cause and the effect that let the patient in such condition. Arriving to such a solid conclusion can help me inform my patients about their conditions and advised them about what things they should be avoiding.