Bruce Urbanik, a student, wrote "A Comprehensive Reflective Letter." This short letter was a reflection of how his opinion and skills as a writer has changed. In this letter he writes about his downfalls and insecurities of writing and how he has made them into strengths. Near the end of the letter Urbanik writes that he found a disk with old writing assignments on it and how his writing has improved since he has written those papers.
When writing a reflective letter there are four kinds of writers knowledge which include: self-knowledge, content-knowledge, rhetorical-knowledge, critical knowledge or judgment. Self-knowledge is the understanding of how you are doing as a writer. Content-knowledge is what you have learned by writing and various subjects. Rhetorical-knowledge focuses on your awareness of your rhetorical decisions. Finally, critical-knowledge or judgment concerns your awareness of significant strengths and weaknesses in your writing. Urbanik's letter does a decent job of presenting his knowledge in each of these fields, but I would like to see him go into more details and state some specific strengths and weaknesses.
Along with the different types of knowledge a writers ought to ask himself many questions, questions that a reader may ask. Questions that Urbanik seems to overlook are ones that have to do with his own opinion of his work. He does not address questions on how he believes his essay turns out, but broadly says he improved over the years. Urbanik could make stronger points by explaining the difficulty of each assignment and telling how successful he was in writing each assignment. Urbanik could have been more text-specific when he was talking about his "biggest downfall," which was timed essays, and use examples of how this is his worst style of writing.
Urbanik writes a pretty strong reflection letter. He could revisit some of the writer's knowledge questions so that he can answer questions that will be asked by the reader before they are even asked.
Jordan Engel
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Its Not just a piece of plastic
College students abusing credit is very common nowadays. In the student essay "Example Student Writing," Richard Hatch writes about the issues that college students encounter with the misuse of credit cards. Hatch introduces three different sources and synthesizes them. Each source has a different view. The first source Eric Hoover reports on the impact of credit problems on college campuses. In the second source, Charles Haddad explains the impact of this crisis on the other parts of the economy. Finally, James A Roberts presents research to explain the problems with college students and credit. Throughout the essay Hatch uses these three sources to argue his thesis that by using different tones and examples aimed toward different audiences, these arguments present very different views of college students, ranging from sympathetic to accusing.
In my opinion this is a very poorly written synthesis for a couple of reasons. First of all, the thesis of the essay is very poorly written and is very vague. Without a strong thesis it makes it hard to prove a strong argument or prove the thesis. Along with the poor thesis, the conclusion is also vague, because the conclusion is a recap of the argument. The second thing that makes this a poorly written essay is that the introduction paragraph basically sums up the whole essay and explanatory paragraphs are not even needed. The intro shows what each article is saying and the audience can be gathered by the title/publisher of each article.
Out of all the student example synthesis essays, I believe that the strongest essay is the synthesis essay that Drew Lachey wrote. Lachey wrote about the right to vote and the first line in his essay grabs your attention immediately by saying that the most important duty Americans have is to vote. The essay is strong throughout and keeps the readers attention while staying focused on the topic. Lachey presents the best essay while in my opinion Hatch writes the worst.
Jordan Engel
In my opinion this is a very poorly written synthesis for a couple of reasons. First of all, the thesis of the essay is very poorly written and is very vague. Without a strong thesis it makes it hard to prove a strong argument or prove the thesis. Along with the poor thesis, the conclusion is also vague, because the conclusion is a recap of the argument. The second thing that makes this a poorly written essay is that the introduction paragraph basically sums up the whole essay and explanatory paragraphs are not even needed. The intro shows what each article is saying and the audience can be gathered by the title/publisher of each article.
Out of all the student example synthesis essays, I believe that the strongest essay is the synthesis essay that Drew Lachey wrote. Lachey wrote about the right to vote and the first line in his essay grabs your attention immediately by saying that the most important duty Americans have is to vote. The essay is strong throughout and keeps the readers attention while staying focused on the topic. Lachey presents the best essay while in my opinion Hatch writes the worst.
Jordan Engel
Monday, November 9, 2009
More than a Barrier
Illegal immigration has been a problem in America in recent years. Many solutions have been proposed from a vast amount of viewpoints. Three different men wrote blogs about what they think should be done to solve the problem of illegal immigrants coming into America. Victor Davis Hanson, Senator Mike Crapo, and Trapper John wrote "The Global Immigration Problem," Immigration Policy Must Help Economy While Preserving Ideals," and "The Progressive Case Against the Immigration Bill" respectively. These three blogs state each authors arguments of the reason they believe what they believe.
Victor Davis Hanson writes the blog "The Global Immigration Problem" and gives his idea that immigration is not just a problem that Americans are experiencing, but that immigration is a global problem. Also, Hanson believes that the solution to illegal immigration is for countries such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East should encourage family planning and get smarter about using their plentiful natural wealth to keep more of their own people home. Hanson targets everyone as his audience. His message is that immigration is a global problem and needs to be sorted out at the roots. Hanson uses historical data to support his argument and make it more credible.
In the excerpt from "Immigration Policy Must Help Economy While Preserving Ideals," Senator Mike Crapo explains his support for a temporary guest worker program. Crapo believes that a guest worker program will stimulate the economy and will preserve American consumer goods and agriculture products. Crapo is arguing the case that a temporary guest worker program will help our economy. Crapo is targeting the group of people who are unsure on what to do about the issue, because anyone who knows about the guest worker program has probably already formed an opinion either for or against it.
Finally, "Trapper John,"the online identity of Jake McIntyre, expresses his opposition to the temporary guest worker program in his blog "The Progressive Case Against the Immigration Bill." McIntyre argues that a temporary guest worker program will change the current H-2B work visa, by having no requirements that employers pay the federally determined federal prevailing wages, and bring around 500,000 immigrants in the country with no chance at citizenship. McIntyre targets both the group of people who are undecided on what to do about immigration and also those who are already in support of the temporary guest worker program. McIntyre also uses specific numbers to make a better argument. McIntyre is opinionated in his blog, but not overbearing to the point where someone would want to stop reading. "Trapper John" ends with saying that something definitely needs to be done regarding the immigration problem, but is left unsure of what to do.
Jordan Engel
Victor Davis Hanson writes the blog "The Global Immigration Problem" and gives his idea that immigration is not just a problem that Americans are experiencing, but that immigration is a global problem. Also, Hanson believes that the solution to illegal immigration is for countries such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East should encourage family planning and get smarter about using their plentiful natural wealth to keep more of their own people home. Hanson targets everyone as his audience. His message is that immigration is a global problem and needs to be sorted out at the roots. Hanson uses historical data to support his argument and make it more credible.
In the excerpt from "Immigration Policy Must Help Economy While Preserving Ideals," Senator Mike Crapo explains his support for a temporary guest worker program. Crapo believes that a guest worker program will stimulate the economy and will preserve American consumer goods and agriculture products. Crapo is arguing the case that a temporary guest worker program will help our economy. Crapo is targeting the group of people who are unsure on what to do about the issue, because anyone who knows about the guest worker program has probably already formed an opinion either for or against it.
Finally, "Trapper John,"the online identity of Jake McIntyre, expresses his opposition to the temporary guest worker program in his blog "The Progressive Case Against the Immigration Bill." McIntyre argues that a temporary guest worker program will change the current H-2B work visa, by having no requirements that employers pay the federally determined federal prevailing wages, and bring around 500,000 immigrants in the country with no chance at citizenship. McIntyre targets both the group of people who are undecided on what to do about immigration and also those who are already in support of the temporary guest worker program. McIntyre also uses specific numbers to make a better argument. McIntyre is opinionated in his blog, but not overbearing to the point where someone would want to stop reading. "Trapper John" ends with saying that something definitely needs to be done regarding the immigration problem, but is left unsure of what to do.
Jordan Engel
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Wall of Difference
Ever since the foundation of the United States of America, the United States has been a a place for immigrants to come to start a new life. America is still made up of immigrants, but there are also immigrants that come into the country illegally.Dee and Byron Williams both wrote blogs regarding the immigration issue. "Dee," a Mexican-American woman, wrote a blog about the Pro Profile and the ANTI Profile of immigration issues. She argues that the Pro profile consists mainly of Hispanic Americans and that 12M(12 million immigrants) are beneficial to society. Dee also argues that the ANTI Profile is a group that are mainly of white or Northern European ethnicity. The ANTIs are described as angry radicals that want to build a 2000 mile wall keeping immigrants from the south out of America. Byron Williams, a Californian pastor, poses the point that issues and problems with immigration is not just a factor of the immigrants. Small businesses that are looking for cheap labor are hiring illegal immigrants and they are partially to blame for the illegal immigration. Williams also explains how each individual must come to their own decision on what they feel about immigration. Williams ends with the idea of an authentic policy and in order to have an authentic policy about immigration we must first have an authentic policy debate which does not include unnecessary ingredients and that ultimately lead to dehumanization.
Dee and Williams are appealing to different audiences and used different ways of developing their points. Dee was very opinionated in her blog and it shows in her writing that she is biased toward pro immigration and earned amnesty. Dee is the descendant of immigrants and directs her blog toward people who support earned amnesty. Dee speaks highly of the Pros is very condescending toward the ANTIs. The ANTI profile that Dee explains is a bunch of white radicals who want to build a huge wall to keep all immigrants out. She fails to mention other reasons and groups that may be against immigration.
Williams, on the other hand, uses a different approach when speaking about the immigration issue. Williams understands that immigration is a large issue and uses a more subtle tactic to get his point across. Instead of targeting a specific group, he targets everyone as a whole and presents a non-biased reasoning to why we need a policy debate. Also, Williams does not use any negativity toward a certain group as Dee does. Williams thoroughly explains reasons and constructed a blog that naturally leads up to his conclusion that in order for anything to be solved regarding the immigration we must first have a policy debate that does not dehumanized anyone.
Dee and Williams develop two completely different blogs with different opinions. Dee uses a more upfront approach to her blog to state her view of the immigration issues. Williams uses a more moderate approach of expressing his opinion without offending a specific group. When opinions are expressed, many different tactics can be used. Dee and Williams show two of the numerous different ways that someone can express their view.
Jordan Engel
Dee and Williams are appealing to different audiences and used different ways of developing their points. Dee was very opinionated in her blog and it shows in her writing that she is biased toward pro immigration and earned amnesty. Dee is the descendant of immigrants and directs her blog toward people who support earned amnesty. Dee speaks highly of the Pros is very condescending toward the ANTIs. The ANTI profile that Dee explains is a bunch of white radicals who want to build a huge wall to keep all immigrants out. She fails to mention other reasons and groups that may be against immigration.
Williams, on the other hand, uses a different approach when speaking about the immigration issue. Williams understands that immigration is a large issue and uses a more subtle tactic to get his point across. Instead of targeting a specific group, he targets everyone as a whole and presents a non-biased reasoning to why we need a policy debate. Also, Williams does not use any negativity toward a certain group as Dee does. Williams thoroughly explains reasons and constructed a blog that naturally leads up to his conclusion that in order for anything to be solved regarding the immigration we must first have a policy debate that does not dehumanized anyone.
Dee and Williams develop two completely different blogs with different opinions. Dee uses a more upfront approach to her blog to state her view of the immigration issues. Williams uses a more moderate approach of expressing his opinion without offending a specific group. When opinions are expressed, many different tactics can be used. Dee and Williams show two of the numerous different ways that someone can express their view.
Jordan Engel
Monday, October 26, 2009
Ring...Ring...Where Are You?
"Mobile Phone Tracking Scrutinized,"written by Nikki Swartz, and "Reach Out and Track Someone," written by Terry J. Allen, are two articles about cell phone tracking. Both articles give facts about tracking people via their cell phone. Swartz's article, as it says in the title, is more of an article geared toward someone who is looking for the facts and looking deeper into cell phone tracking. Swartz is scrutinizing cell phone tracking by the government and forms an opinion around what the government is doing. Allen's article was more opinionated and gave his opinion in the article in a more obvious manor. Also, Allen's writing was based around his opinion, giving facts that push for more cell phone tracking. Allen believes that cell phone tracking is a way that government and law enforcement can place suspects at a crime scene.
These two pieces of work both have some similarities. One of the main differences that can seen is that both of the articles talk about how cell phone tracking can be beneficial in a crime investigation. Both of the articles both start off with an introduction on cell phone tracking. The articles both tell about how cell phone companies use triangulating towers and the cell phone signal to pinpoint the location of the cell phone and the user.
Along with similarities, there are also differences between the two articles. One of the main differences is that Swartz's articles goes in depth about a political and judicial view of cell phone tracking. Swart's writes about how prosecutors and magistrate use political acts that have been passed to rule the use of cell phone tracking necessary or unnecessary. Both of the articles give the negatives about tracking cell phones to find some, but the difference is that in Allen's article he expounds on the positive aspects of cell phone tracking.
Cell phone tracking is a very controversial issue that brings many discussions about privacy to the table. Invasion of privacy is one of the major issues that rises from cell phone tracking. Many people believe that it is unreasonable to track someone because there is not a just cause to be able to find the location of everyone with a cell phone. Cell phones can be beneficial for solving crimes, but what happened in the past when there were no cell phones? It is not necessary for the phone company to have a log of where you have been, but only necessary for the companies to have the ability if they need to find you in an emergency situation. A friend of mine's father once tracked his cell phone to find out where he was and he was not in the place that his father believed he was in so he was punished. Tracking down the exact location of your child is an unneeded luxury . Our time should not be devoted to tracking anyone down, but to tracking specific people down.
Jordan Engel
These two pieces of work both have some similarities. One of the main differences that can seen is that both of the articles talk about how cell phone tracking can be beneficial in a crime investigation. Both of the articles both start off with an introduction on cell phone tracking. The articles both tell about how cell phone companies use triangulating towers and the cell phone signal to pinpoint the location of the cell phone and the user.
Along with similarities, there are also differences between the two articles. One of the main differences is that Swartz's articles goes in depth about a political and judicial view of cell phone tracking. Swart's writes about how prosecutors and magistrate use political acts that have been passed to rule the use of cell phone tracking necessary or unnecessary. Both of the articles give the negatives about tracking cell phones to find some, but the difference is that in Allen's article he expounds on the positive aspects of cell phone tracking.
Cell phone tracking is a very controversial issue that brings many discussions about privacy to the table. Invasion of privacy is one of the major issues that rises from cell phone tracking. Many people believe that it is unreasonable to track someone because there is not a just cause to be able to find the location of everyone with a cell phone. Cell phones can be beneficial for solving crimes, but what happened in the past when there were no cell phones? It is not necessary for the phone company to have a log of where you have been, but only necessary for the companies to have the ability if they need to find you in an emergency situation. A friend of mine's father once tracked his cell phone to find out where he was and he was not in the place that his father believed he was in so he was punished. Tracking down the exact location of your child is an unneeded luxury . Our time should not be devoted to tracking anyone down, but to tracking specific people down.
Jordan Engel
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Persuasion Without Speaking
"The Role of Images in Advertising" is an excerpt from Paul Messaris' book Visual Persuasion. This excerpt explains two different types of advertising, advertising that appeals to young, sexy, happy people and advertising that is abrasive, belligerent behavior and physical recklessness. When viewed some ads are viewed as more than a product. Advertising companies will appeal to the group of people they are trying to sell to, which in this case are young people. Ads will portray a lifestyle instead of a product. This is what causes the target group to be attracted to the product because they like more than just the product. Ads will make people think that with the product comes sexiness or prestige. The other type of advertising posed in the excerpt is appealing to children who resent parents and authority. Messaris believes that these types of advertising are not the best type and are in some cases counter-effective. Messaris believes that there should be an honest portrayal without the irresponsible tendencies of children. Messaris brings up that Benjamin Demotte argues that ads and movies portray a phony picture of harmony between races.
There are many advertisements out that cater to the physical recklessness and belligerent behavior party. A very good example of the sex appeal and the physical recklessness are the Axe body wash and spray commercials. These ads lead you to believe that if you use their product that you will be tackled by women relentlessly and they will want you sexually, no doubt about it. I believe that the truthfulness of this is not entirely there, but it is effective. Advertising is not about changing the world; it’s about selling a product. I agree that advertising should be more of an honest portrayal of something, but from a business perspective it is brilliant. Advertising of this type may not be the most beneficial to our children, but from the seller's standpoint it is a marketing goldmine.
Over the last couple decades, magazine ads featuring persons of color has increased substantially. Minority groups have been placed in advertising where they traditionally have not been. Also, stereotypes have been placed in advertising to appeal to certain groups. Particularly, in the Reebok ad with Jay-Z shows there is some beneficial stereotyping. In the ad, which is split in half, on one side of the ad Jay-Z sits at what looks like a desk with a very classy pin-striped suit with a large city in the background. On the other side of the advertisement there is an image of a black male hand at the male's hip and the man is looking toward a housing unit. There are two captions in the ad "i am what i am" and "I got my MBA from Marcy Projects". If you look at this ad as a whole you could analyze that Jay-Z, since he said he got his MBA at Marcy Projects, came from the projects, but made his way to the top and is living to his full potential. This ad gives hope and inspiration to those living in the projects, telling them that they can do it also and there is a future.
In the Dockers ad there are many different races of people walking happily down a cobblestone street. This is what DeMott was talking about when he said the races are happily together or in “happy harmony.” The thought of this is how the world would like to be viewed, but this is not reality. An example of the surrealism of the ad is the line in the ad that reads “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all equal?” This quote in the article is said because it would be nice, in a perfect world. In ads there are always going to be different portrayals of the same group. In the Met-Life ad there is a middle-aged black man holding his son high in the air and it gives you the thought he is a happy man living a good life. In the Reebok ad with Jay-Z it gives the thought that the blacks are in housing projects and Jay-Z is one of them who got away from that culture. In the MetLife ad it portrays average life, and in the Reebok ad it portrays the thug life.
Jordan Engel
There are many advertisements out that cater to the physical recklessness and belligerent behavior party. A very good example of the sex appeal and the physical recklessness are the Axe body wash and spray commercials. These ads lead you to believe that if you use their product that you will be tackled by women relentlessly and they will want you sexually, no doubt about it. I believe that the truthfulness of this is not entirely there, but it is effective. Advertising is not about changing the world; it’s about selling a product. I agree that advertising should be more of an honest portrayal of something, but from a business perspective it is brilliant. Advertising of this type may not be the most beneficial to our children, but from the seller's standpoint it is a marketing goldmine.
Over the last couple decades, magazine ads featuring persons of color has increased substantially. Minority groups have been placed in advertising where they traditionally have not been. Also, stereotypes have been placed in advertising to appeal to certain groups. Particularly, in the Reebok ad with Jay-Z shows there is some beneficial stereotyping. In the ad, which is split in half, on one side of the ad Jay-Z sits at what looks like a desk with a very classy pin-striped suit with a large city in the background. On the other side of the advertisement there is an image of a black male hand at the male's hip and the man is looking toward a housing unit. There are two captions in the ad "i am what i am" and "I got my MBA from Marcy Projects". If you look at this ad as a whole you could analyze that Jay-Z, since he said he got his MBA at Marcy Projects, came from the projects, but made his way to the top and is living to his full potential. This ad gives hope and inspiration to those living in the projects, telling them that they can do it also and there is a future.
In the Dockers ad there are many different races of people walking happily down a cobblestone street. This is what DeMott was talking about when he said the races are happily together or in “happy harmony.” The thought of this is how the world would like to be viewed, but this is not reality. An example of the surrealism of the ad is the line in the ad that reads “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were all equal?” This quote in the article is said because it would be nice, in a perfect world. In ads there are always going to be different portrayals of the same group. In the Met-Life ad there is a middle-aged black man holding his son high in the air and it gives you the thought he is a happy man living a good life. In the Reebok ad with Jay-Z it gives the thought that the blacks are in housing projects and Jay-Z is one of them who got away from that culture. In the MetLife ad it portrays average life, and in the Reebok ad it portrays the thug life.
Jordan Engel
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Looking At The Big Picture
Advertising has been going on for hundreds of years. However, the ways of advertising has changed drastically throughout time. Now, advertising is pushed through the media and is more visual than audible. Advertising is more about subliminal messaging and placing a hidden meaning or lifestyle around the product that is being sold. Angle of vision is one way to portraying a certain message in an advertisement. There is a Coors Light ad and it is a picture a man and a woman, and the man is resting his arm on the woman's shoulder. In the captions of the ad its reveals that the two people in the ad have been best friends since first grade. The photo of the two is a picture taken at the same level the two in the picture, there is not an angle looking up at them or down at them. The male's eyes are not looking at the woman and they are very casually sitting there. The picture makes you feel that they are just friends, because they are not showing affection as a couple would. This is where the beer part of the ad comes in. The ad says "Coors Light. Just between friends." This caption plays hand in hand with the photo because they are clearly just friends. Angle of vision may be one aspect of advertising, but surely is not.
Compositional features of an image are also very important. Compositional aspects of an image are the the features such as: settings, furnishings, character roles, social meaning of objects, social roles, and rhetorical context. In the Jeep Cherokee advertisement there is an image of a Jeep Cherokee in the middle of a city. In this city there are many outdoor qualities that the city takes on. In the ad there are many trees and there is a very large waterfall coming off the top of a building. This placement of the waterfall and the trees gives the message that even though the Jeep is meant for the street, it is still very versatile and can go off road. Ads like this also raise question for those who are unfamiliar with the product. Question would be raised for the placement of the waterfall in the middle of a city if someone had no knowledge of a Jeep. Sport-utility vehicles are notorious for poor gas mileage and poor emission. This ad makes it seem like it is normal for a vehicle that goes on and off road to be alright to drive around town. Other than visual and compositional features of an ad there are also the rhetorical aspects of an ad.
In the Hummer ad, there is a picture of a yellow Hummer being viewed from the top. Also, the Hummer is being driven on a very rugged terrain. This ad would not suit some, but for others it may spark a lot of interest. For someone looking for an off-road vehicle, this ad would interest them because they see a rugged looking vehicle driving on a very rugged terrain. The ad of the Cherokee would appeal to a potential buyer because the slogan on the story is, " Always have adventure in you heart. Jeep Cherokee." So even if you cannot drive the vehicle off-road you can still always have the feeling that you could if you wanted to. Even though the odds of you taking a brand new Jeep off-road are very unlikely, the ad is selling the thought that if you wanted to take it off road, you know you could. So, advertising has advertising has more meaning than just the initial picture or caption that is first viewed. Advertising is a collection of many different aspects put together to appeal to the target audience.
Jordan Engel
Compositional features of an image are also very important. Compositional aspects of an image are the the features such as: settings, furnishings, character roles, social meaning of objects, social roles, and rhetorical context. In the Jeep Cherokee advertisement there is an image of a Jeep Cherokee in the middle of a city. In this city there are many outdoor qualities that the city takes on. In the ad there are many trees and there is a very large waterfall coming off the top of a building. This placement of the waterfall and the trees gives the message that even though the Jeep is meant for the street, it is still very versatile and can go off road. Ads like this also raise question for those who are unfamiliar with the product. Question would be raised for the placement of the waterfall in the middle of a city if someone had no knowledge of a Jeep. Sport-utility vehicles are notorious for poor gas mileage and poor emission. This ad makes it seem like it is normal for a vehicle that goes on and off road to be alright to drive around town. Other than visual and compositional features of an ad there are also the rhetorical aspects of an ad.
In the Hummer ad, there is a picture of a yellow Hummer being viewed from the top. Also, the Hummer is being driven on a very rugged terrain. This ad would not suit some, but for others it may spark a lot of interest. For someone looking for an off-road vehicle, this ad would interest them because they see a rugged looking vehicle driving on a very rugged terrain. The ad of the Cherokee would appeal to a potential buyer because the slogan on the story is, " Always have adventure in you heart. Jeep Cherokee." So even if you cannot drive the vehicle off-road you can still always have the feeling that you could if you wanted to. Even though the odds of you taking a brand new Jeep off-road are very unlikely, the ad is selling the thought that if you wanted to take it off road, you know you could. So, advertising has advertising has more meaning than just the initial picture or caption that is first viewed. Advertising is a collection of many different aspects put together to appeal to the target audience.
Jordan Engel
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