Publication of Work

The piece of work I chose to show the world was my "the way I see it", written during the starbucks exercise. The reason I chose to share this piece in particular piece was because I thought it was the most relatable to the everyday audience. It is difficult to publicize pieces of writing written in english class because they are normally so obscure that no one other than the teacher would have any interest in reading. The philosophy written similar to those of the Starbucks cups is a type of writing that captures the readers attention, and allows the readers to relate to the topic. I chose to post my writing on bulletin boards so that the students of U.C. could be inspired with their walks around campus.

Reflection on Contract

For the contract/policy assignment I chose to write a contract for members of a competitive dance team.  I decided it would be best to write about a topic of which all I know and understand all the minute details, and with my extensive prior knowledge on this specific topic, I decided it would make the most sense to create a contract dealing with the sport of dance.  By writing this contract I have discovered the most effective contracts are written by those with a large history of knowledge on the subject.  It makes sense that the more details you know about the topic you are creating this document for the better, seeing as this document you are writing binds a person into an agreement.  Because of the legal nature of this document it is crucial and to make sure every aspect is covered within the body of the text.  

I have also come to realize, it is difficult to stick with a single format once you have decided the way to address your audience. Because of the formality of the writing, the sentences must be written in a way that does not turn away the readers, but at the same time the document must reach a certain level of professionalism, which will typically lead to overwritten complicated word choices. 

Contract/Policy Contract

Here is a link to the final version of my contract for a competitive dance team.

Contract for 2009-2010 Season

Reflection on Recast

The story Currents that I chose to recast was about the drowning death of a boy in the ocean.  The story was written in reverse chronological order and was written to display the emotions of the people involved with the drowned boy and his death day.  Most people who chose this story to rewrite do so in the manner of a news report.  While this type of writing would allow for the facts of the story to be told, it allows less of the emotion of the story to show through.  I decided to instead write in a way that would allow me to incorporate the feelings of the people involved.  Originally I was going to write and obituary for the drowned boy, but seeing as we were told nothing of his life in the course of the original writing, for instance his name or his age, I decided to take a different approach that would allow me more freedom.

I chose to write a Eulogy from the perspective of the brother because other than the character of gary he is the character we know the most about.  By writing the words he would read at his brother funeral I could include his distress from the day, how he met Gary and his family and the atmosphere surrounding his brothers death, all without needing any more information.

Recast

The story which I chose to write in a different format was Currents by Hannah Voskui.  This piece was about a boy who drowned in the ocean.

Here is a link to the original version of the story.

I chose to rewrite it as a Eulogy from the drowned boys brother, one that would be read at the funeral mass.  

Here is the link to the Eulogy

Reflection on Parody

The story which chose to parody was A Lovers Ear.  In this story the narrator describes a situation in which the two main characters view ear cleaning as a metaphor for sex.  The author portrays the different way opposite genders view the act of sex.  This is describe more in detail in the previous entry, attached to the link titled analysis.  

The reason I chose to rewrite this story was because I thought it was an effectively used a metaphor that was very clear to every sort of audience, but it did not create a blunt obvious connection that would ruin the poetry of the story.  The reason I chose to relate the ear cleaning to the cleaning of a toilet was because of my person opinion of the lack of importance that has been given to the act of sex in todays society.  "Sex sells" is the slogan of the 21st century and it has created a generation of adolescents who view it as an animalistic pleasure rather than giving it the importance it deserves.  This is a topic I have thought much about and I do not need to preach my opinion to effectively get across the reasoning behind my parody.  A lovers toilet was written to show the lax view society currently places upon sex and the faults with this way of thinking.

Parody

The short short story I chose to parody was A Lovers Ear by Yuan Chiung-Chiung.  The analysis of this story is seen here, along with the way I chose to put my own spin on it

Analysis

A Lovers Toilet is the name I chose to give my parody.  It can be seen at the following link.

 A Lovers Toilet

Reflection on Research paper

I have never written an abstract or an annotated bibliography before taking English 289.  The idea of writing an abstract is still a little foreign to me, I am not sure if it is similar to an outline, in the it is written before the paper, helping the writer organize their thoughts and create a well written paper. Or if it is to be written after the papers completion, as a summary of the topics that were actually discussed in the paper, rather than what will ideally be written.  

For this particular pretend research paper is was nice to be able to chose your own topic, finding a genre that interests you allows for more in depth research.  People are obviously more likely to deeply learn about a topic of their choice rather than one being assigned.  

The part of this assignment I struggled with was the idea of writing an abstract for a paper that was never to be written.  While I am not complaining in any way about not being forced to sit down and write a 12 page paper, I find it kind of bittersweet to do all the research and be fully committed to a topic and then leave it as a 200 word abstract.  Who knows maybe with all the free tim DAAP leaves me I will find myself writing about childhood obesity, maybe.

Research Paper Abstract and Annotated Bib-Childhood Obesity

The obesity epidemic of America has reached an all time unwanted high, spreading its grasp to our youngest generations.  Here is a link to the abstract on the role parents play in prevent childhood obesity.

Here is a link to the annotated bibliography for the research paper on childhood obesity.

Annotated Bibliography.

Reflection on How-To Guide

A how-to guide is not something I feel would normally be seen in an English Writing class.  When we were told about this assignment my mind automatically went to the project we all did in elementary school where you have to learn to write descriptively enough that a class make being very literal can follow along to the directions you have written.  We all have a teacher who had us write how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and when a student would forget to say to untie the loaf of bread the teacher would smear the jelly all over the outside of the bag.  

Needless to say, we have all since graduated from that type of writing and this how-to assignment reflects they ways in which we have grown since grade school.  I thought this assignment was a unique but effective way to go about learning the difference between coherent and cohesive papers.  The average educated writer will write with one though flowing into the next, a natural way in which peoples minds function, also know has cohesion.  It is different however to attempt to make 4 different voices, and styles of writing fit together in one coherent piece of work. I started my how to guide by making all four different parts fit into the same format of bolded lists by category.  I originally assumed this was all that needed to be done to make this guide read as a singular piece of work, after rereading it however I realized that it was very apparent there were still four different voices still present.  I then had to go back and read each sentence aloud, making it sound as if it had been written by myself.  I chose to have all the pieces formatted into the way in which I write simply because it is easiest for me to be consistent that way.

My individual Contribution to the How-To Guide: Mount Adams

Experiencing the real Cincinnati: Final Version with all pieces

Reflection on Williams use of Character and Actions

            This revision of a past piece of writing has proven to be the most difficult assignment for me so far this quarter.  I believe it is difficult for everyone to critique his or her own writing especially in such a technical and particular way.  I understand the reasoning behind the way in which Williams wants his readers to write, but I do not find this particular analysis of sentence structure helpful.  

            I have determined, whether it be because of persistent past English teachers, or perhaps the amount of critical writing I have composed but I found the sentences in my excerpt written the way Williams describes before beginning the revision.  Perhaps I should have chosen an older piece of writing, with mine being written just a few months ago, or maybe my pre college education was just very inline with the way the University of Cincinnati has their students taught.  It is also possible that I am just not being critical enough of my own writing and passing up many of the mistakes I should be correcting.  

            There are several sentences which I had to rearrange to fit this particular module of writing style but from my point of view the majority of my sentences were already written with active characters (subjects) performing active tasks (verbs).  A few of the sentence in my piece I was having a difficult time adjusting because as correct as they were to the style of Williams specifications I could not in good conscience leave them in the shambles they became.  “Hughes along with his vision of a new life started this colony.” I find this sentence atrocious and difficult to leave as is because the purpose of the sentence, to tell the reader that Hughes had a vision of the new colony he wanted to start, is not clear by placing all of the emphasis in the subject at the start of this sentence.  I think it was much better written before Williams style was applied to it.  “Hughes started this colony with the hope of securing the life he had been envisioning, regardless of his birthing order.”  This is the original structure of this sentence and Hughes vision is shown in a much clearer way.  The final revised sentence uses the word order of the original with a deletion influenced by Williams. “Hughes started this colony with the hope of securing the life he had been envisioning.”

            This exercise has helped me to become aware of the way my sentences are constructed.  And how a sentence can become much clearer and just as informative by the rearranging of its context as well as the deletion of some of its unnecessary pieces.  I do not believe this to be the most effective way of verbalizing ones ideas but I do understand the reasoning behind the idea.

Here is a link to the original excerpt from my case study for a class titled "Place and Dwelling."  We were to research a place we knew fairly well and discuss how it was impacted by peoples perception of place.  Original Excerpt

And here is a link to the revised version according to Williams, which I view as not written much differently.  First Revision

Finally here is the link to the final version of this rewritten excerpt.  Final Version

Style Narrative

Narrative Reflection

I have grown up taking English classes where the sole purpose of the class was to finish the quarter with as many scholarly sounding documents as possible. I had always though English class was designed to train Americas young to write in the way they had grown up not being able to understand. By having a class such as this quarters 289 where the students do not focus on writing as complex as they can but rather to tell a story or to write a piece the audience enjoys reading it has allowed me to realize writing can be both enjoyable and academic.  The narrative we wrote for class this week allowed me a chance to incorporate a personal story while still growing as a writer.  The narrative I wrote this week, while still focusing on telling an interesting story allowed me to develop a particular voice and continue this voice throughout the piece

My Own "The Way I See It"

The Way I See It:

It is an individual’s responsibility to make his or her own happiness.  It is not an unobtainable goal that should be chased after for eternity, but rather as a way of life that must begin from within. Every story has two sides and daily life is not different.  Strive to make the most out of situations deemed otherwise unbearable and surround yourself with those who bring out the best in you, even the gloomiest day can still be salvaged.

Starbucks Chat day two

The topic written on our cup we talked about today was about the difference between a promise and a mission.  The idea was that a promise is a more intimate discussion between a smaller group of people where a missions are perceived as a broader statements that encase a large more anonymous crowd.  

A promise is something that becomes an obligation, a event in which you cannot back out of. By making a promise things are ensured to happen, making it much more final and perhaps even scarier.  

A mission on the other hand is something which is applied to a group, like a motto for the way in which they will operate.  It creates an umbrella under which all decisions can be made.  

The group we traded with has written an idea of how this related to the topic of religion and I thought it was interesting both cups our group debated brought up the subject of religion.  I feel in most colleges faith takes a back seat because of the freedom that comes with this new style of life, and it takes students a little while to become accustomed to living on their own before they involve the ideas of religion once again.  It is taught that the subject of religion should be avoided in daily conversation but I feel it is one that should be embraced.  It makes for very in depth interesting conversations and applies to many more people than would be originally thought.  

4-8 Coffee Discussion Day One

Today for our discussion our "The Way I See It" was written about the idea of commitment.  The topic we discussed for this which  I found most intriguing was the stigma that has been associated with the concept of commitment and how it has actually become an oxymoron.  

When speaking in a group of college students, who for the most part have limited life experience, the idea of commitment seems like a daunting task even for deciding what you will have for dinner let alone whether the career you are being prepped for is how you want to spend the rest of you life.  We decided that commitment, although most commonly thought of in terms of relationships, can apply to any area of life, be it love, friendship, work, religion, habits-good or bad.  

The way this concept can be considered two sides of the same idea has to do with the freedom it allows a persons mind.  Before commitment a persons mind is constantly running over the details of any scenario, analyzing each aspect, looking for ways to manipulate and improve the areas in a persons life.  After establishing a connection with a person, place, or belief, one becomes very confident in that aspect of life.  A person will trust fully what they are committed to, allowing all the other worries which clouded their brains before to evaporate.  This is where the contradiction lies.  Commitment is viewed as a scary unending look at the future, a cause of constant worry.  In reality however it does exactly the opposite, creating an area in life that no longer has to be analyzed and stressed over, a foreseeable haven in an otherwise unpredictable world.

Reaction/Response

In allowing students the opportunity to create their own class, during a time in which they are still fully submerged in the academic experience, the opportunity for the creation of very unique classes arises. 

        The class I created was based because of the bubble I perceive as existing around college environments, separating the students from their surroundings.  Creating a class that forces students to  learn about different local regions and also physically visit and explore these areas allowing not only the students enrolled in the course to learn of these regions but also spread the knowledge around campus by word of mouth. 

        The way the syllabus for this imaginary course was written was to intentionally create a document that could be easily understood by the students while still upholding an air of authority.  It is vital that syllabi be comprehendible at first glance or they will never be read.  At the same time however students must be made aware that the professor has knowledge he or she deems worthy of passing to students without seeming a peer to the students. 

         The syllabus I wrote contains the essential idea of the class that I wanted to portray to students but the more technical aspects are lacking from its content.  It is difficult to understand all the details needed in a syllabus having never experienced a class from the administration side.  I was unaware of how to structure the attendance policy or things such as the grading rubric. 

         Writing a syllabus it has provided me with the basis needed for writing documents in the shoes of an administrator.  I have learned how specific and detailed these types of writings must be in order to come across as clear and unquestionable. 

Discovering Cincinnati Syllabus

Discovering Cincinnati Syllabus