PB3A - Matters of the Mind

PB3A - Matters of the Mind

     I have always found the pursuit and application of knowledge quite fascinating, and am constantly on the hunt to find new ways to apply concepts towards solving problems in a variety of contexts. In her writing composition titled What is Transfer, Elizabeth Wardle explores this idea in the area of academics, explaining that there are different types of writing processes and skills that can transfer over to tackling issues in other academic contexts such as history or science. Wardle claims that if the writing process is taught in a certain academic setting a teacher can foster a sense of creativity and problem-solving that allows students to utilize their rhetorical skills towards other disciplines. I believe that this idea could be illustrated in two different ways: mind-mapping and journal writing.

     One lesson in our class this quarter involved exploring the idea of mind-mapping and expressing your thoughts in a creative form during the pre-planning process prior to composition. This displays an incredible transfer and connectivity between ideas and thoughts, helping students to synthesize them into a coherent, holistic argument. By brainstorming in this way, one can compose a piece with the structure and flow to really tie together all of the main ideas between a variety of contexts.

I find the idea of skill transfer and mind-mapping to be incredibly applicable to the modern business work-space, as we must all learn to develop useful skills and find ways to apply them to a variety of job types. This is why I would like to express the ideas from this article in the form of a startup business mind-map for an older audience hoping to utilize skills transfer to grow their business and apply these techniques to various parts of a business model. I am thoroughly convinced that mind-mapping and idea transfer would be extremely valuable for this audience and know that I could express this through my WP3! But I would question the reader to help me determine how best to display this work, though writing/drawing on paper, an online program, or even maybe a whiteboard? I doubt that I can turn in a whole whiteboard for my project, but perhaps I could take pictures of complex mind-maps? Let me know what you think!

     Onto the medium for a younger audience to grasp the idea of transfer between academic writing contexts, I would like to emulate a young student’s personal journal. This holds the potential for such a creative project, as I could include pages with daily reflections and insights, free writing pages, drawings, or even cut outs of pictures or cool quotes. I must admit that I have taken up the practice of daily journaling with great consistency every night this quarter, and have found truly astounding benefits from the practice. Having worked in this medium for personal development will make this type of composition for my WP3 a breeze, allowing me to create a high quality piece of work that allows for creativity and a high degree of self-expression. Please shoot me a message or comment about your thoughts on this idea, as I am seriously stoked to get started on it but want to ensure that it is a legitimate way to go about this project first. Thanks for reading! 

Thlog it Up!

Thlog it Up!

          Man has life been getting busy! I can't believe that this class is nearly coming to an end, time has been flying by recently. I can genuinely say that this class has been a great experience, I have learned a ton! Going into it I wasn't so sure that I would enjoy a writing class (dreading it actually) but it ended up being really engaging and has motivated to start writing a lot more! So for that I'd like to thank the Brofessor for his righteous class and the effort clearly put into making it a good experience!

          Getting down to business, I'd have to say that the concepts which really stuck with me from this week in the class include the mind-mapping idea as well as the activity where we observed a video of painters describing their process. While I have always tried to implement mind-maps and other creative planning processes for my work, going over it in class really helped me to realize how valuable of a tool it could be when applied in the right way. I now strive to do this on a regular basis, and will definitely make use of it while planning out my WP3 (which I REALLY need to start on today). Seeing the connections and mapping out different ideas is absolutely invaluable and has helped me to better formulate my ideas into coherent pieces of work. I only wish that I had utilized this tool more in my pre-planning for WP2, as I was having some trouble doing just that. I guess there's always next time!

          The second activity which really sparked my interest in class this week involved watching painters describe their painting method. The idea of analyzing your process and routine for doing any kind of work - from creative to academic - is a key step in understanding yourself and improving your work. I have started analyzing my writing much more than before, and am starting to notice patterns and routines in my process which I can improve upon in the quest for improved self expression through writing. I hope to implement this idea into all of my work, and take advantage of the valuable information I've learned during the entirety of the course!

A Thlog of the First-Order!

     This week went fairly well in class, but I've really found myself quite distracted by life as of late, and haven't been quite as dedicated to the writing process as I really should be. However, the other areas of my life that I have been pursuing do involve a good amount of writing, just not in the traditional sense.
     Earlier in the quarter, we learned about the differences between first and second order thinking, and I really took this lesson to heart, finding it increasingly useful in most areas of my life. Having the ability to put my thoughts into writing and record my ideas immediately and without discrimination has made a world of difference in the way that I approach problem solving and creative planning in every context. I have been using a program called Evernote to keep track of all my random thoughts, compiling them all into once place from which I can draw inspiration and find nuggets of wisdom that I never would have even put into writing without the use of first-order thinking. By putting my ideas into words without a second thought, I am better able to develop plans and ideas with a serious amount of depth. This is because my immediate recording allows me to ride my wave of momentum in thinking without stopping to edit and analyze every little detail, a skill which we learned to become aware of in this class. I cannot even to begin to express how great of an application this approach continues to have in all areas of my life, and am quite grateful to have learned to identify and utilize this style of thinking. This technique has enabled me to uncover new meaning and avoid stifling the lines of thought which I would have otherwise lost, and lead to profound effects on my efficiency as a student and learner. Thanks for that, Brofessor!
     I know I didn't hit on much of what we discussed in class this week, but I found it absolutely necessary to describe the ongoing effects of a key concept introduced earlier in the course. Still, I did enjoy the mind mapping/clustering idea that we went over in class, and have already began to implement it into my writing process. Here's to another great week ahead!

PB2B: Move to the Groove

PB2B

     The articles that we read in this class thus far have proven to display a high variety of moves which the authors implemented in order to help students in the quest for understanding the inner workings of rhetoric. These key moves allow writers to connect to their reader and capture their attention, which is essential for this type of academic text.

Take, for example, Kerry Dirk's first major move in the article Navigating Genres:

Funny Bone - Dirk uses a few article headlines from the popular online magazine The Onion, which effectively captures the reader's attention with humor. Using headlines such as "Myspace Outrage Leaves Millions Friendless", prompts readers to relate to the author and the concepts at hand through their sense of humor. Dirk effectively takes his target audience into account with this move by implementing catchy headlines from a source that many of the students reading his work may already follow.

Dirk continues making moves with the statement, “In other words, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals”. This is reminiscent of the concept of explaining quotations as outline by the They Say, I Say appendix. This move helps Dirk to really get to the point of the preceding quote and tune the reader in to his purpose for its inclusion.

In the next example, Dirk claims that, “Many of you may be familiar with The Onion”, which again follows the ‘Introduction of a standard view’ guideline set out in They Say, I Say. By prefacing his argument with this introduction, Dirk manages to strike a bond with the reader and display the fact that readers may already have some knowledge about the sources he uses in his article.

Throw it Back - Dirk follows up one of his key quotes on page 259 with the suggestion to, “[Take] what Devitt says into account, [and] think back to the previous discussion of the research paper.” This throwback to an earlier portion of the piece is an extremely effective move that helps readers comprehend his point as well as go back and review what they have already learned from the article. Big play Dirk, big play.

Another author who makes use of some seriously slick moves is Janet Boyd, as displayed by the writing piece Murder! (Rhetorically-Speaking):

Author Undercover - Boyd offers the reader a series of detective reports from students writing pieces in order to “present some rhetoric in action” (Boyd 90). This move is meant to engage students with an analysis of some writing that is ‘on their level’ and urges readers to analyze their work in a similar way. Boyd even encourages readers to ‘visualize themselves’ in a new occupation to write about the topic at hand, which is a powerful call to action for students to take part in this activity.

Following up with her calculated use of student writing, Boyd introduces one author by name, explaining “Brett Magura writes…” with a direct quotation by this particular rhetor. This is an example of Signaling Who is Saying What, and gives direct evidence as to the source and medium which she is using to illustrate her point about viewpoints and perspective in the writing process.

Janet Lennon - Boyd visualized the writing process of a student when she remarks, “I imagine that Lynch, like many students, assumed he had to work in all “five facts”…” (Boyd 96). This move helps Boyd convey to her student audience that she really takes their viewpoint into account and attempts to see the writing activity through their eyes.

Boyd later introduces a “standard view” or issue that a student author may face by claiming, “You might find that your closing argument reads so much like Traina’s that they can be considered “generic” closing arguments.” This once again helps Boyd connect her readers to the case studies she presents, with the purpose of encouraging a certain type of introspective critical analysis about one’s writing.

The final author making huge plays in his writing moves is Mike Bunn, who uses two key moves in his article How to Read Like a Writer:

Bunn displays a prime example of Making a Concession While Still Standing his Ground when he declares that, “While it might seem a little weird at first to image how published texts could be written differently…remember that all writing can be improved” (Bunn 78). This concession helps to make it abundantly clear that any piece of writing is subject to criticism and analysis, regardless of the source. This is meant to prompt students to think critically about any type of rhetoric in order to use the same principles in their own writing.

Writer’s Roadmap - Bunn utilizes this critical move multiple times in his piece by explaining to the reader where his writing is headed and how he plans to proceed with his analysis. Bunn takes the reader on a literary journey by inviting the reader to join him in a guided tour of his work by using phrases such as, “Let’s go back to the opening paragraph of this essay and spend some time” and “Let’s begin with those questions I encouraged you to try to answer before you start reading” (Bunn 82). This does a masterful job of guiding the audience towards a productive analysis and allows Bunn to really emphasis his key concepts from within the work.

Make Your Move: Thlog 5

      The Brofessor made some major moves this week in class. Its crazy to realize that this is already the end of week 5, time has been flying by this quarter. I guess that time flies when your writing is fun! Anyways, this week help some hidden treasures that will surely help to improve everyone's reading and writing skills.
      Key concept number one involved the idea of moves, which I now seem to notice in all areas of my life. I wasn't quite sure about the significance of the idea at first, but the activity involving clips of Michael Jordan and The Rock's majestic wrestling move 'The People's Elbow' really clarified the idea and helped me to understand the ways in which people make major moves. Applying this to reading and writing, we can observe that rhetor's constantly make moves and decisions about the best way to express their ideas with different choices of structure, style, and tone. I feel as though this concept will haunt me for life now, and can never be unseen - people everywhere are always making moves!
     Following up on the rest of the material from this week, we read a keystone piece about the importance of reading like a writer. This idea is huge! It involves perceiving the world around us in a way that allows us to learn from the work of others and apply their techniques to our own life. In the context of reading, if we engage with a piece of writing from the position of a fellow writer, we can observe patterns, conventions, and moves which contribute to the piece and utilize them in the expression of our own ideas. I really took this concept to heart, and look at pieces of writing in a completely different way by analyzing the critical components of an author's work. Stoked to finish out the second half of this quarter strong!

A Paleo PB2A

A Paleo PB2A

            Identifying cultural trends can unveil the intricacies of any population of people, providing insight into the changing social and political climate over time. It appears as though the leagues of internet-surfers are ravenous for the newest social media and hype, often times throwing any form of critical analysis to the wind. The high amount of information and change that we face as a techno-centric community exposes us to so many fads that it can become difficult to identify the social movements that are truly worth our time. However, there are still some resources which prove to analyze and dissect new information objectively in order to provide benefit to a conscious consumer. One such source takes the form of scholarly, peer reviewed research publications, which provide a wealth of information about a wide variety of topics. By analyzing a research paper on a new nutrition trend conducted by the University of San Francisco’s School of Medicine, one can gain clarity on the conventions that make this type of work so reliable.

            In the world of health and nutrition, there are numerous strategies, protocols, and diets that aim to help people lead a more sustainable lifestyle and increase the quality and duration of their life. However, a great deal of these recommendations prove to be controversial and disputed by various gurus and health experts claiming to have the next best thing for the industry. One such approach is the recently popularized Paleolithic diet, which consists of foods that the human race has grown accustomed to consuming over the course of thousands of years, devoid of grains and other foods developed since the agricultural revolution. Espoused by some and downright demonized by others, UCSF’s article “Metabolic and physiologic improvements from consuming a Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer type diet” aims to get to the root of the issue with empirical research on this nutritional protocol. Diligent observation and analysis of this scholarly article reveals a variety of rhetorical components which distinguish it from articles written in more casual contexts.

            In terms of structure, the article at hand displays that research papers most often begin with an abstract to provide a direction and purpose for the paper as a whole, akin to a thesis statement found in any traditional academic work. The paper continues with introduction, methods, discussion, and reference sections, each composed of different types of information and media which outline the procedure and findings for the experiment conducted. The introduction section serves to outline the background details and the controversy and perceived efficacy of the Paleolithic diet, explaining the ins and outs of the protocol with extensive, detailed information. This section culminates in a basic research question and overview of the experiment – “We investigated in humans whether a diet similar to that consumed by our preagricultural hunter-gatherer ancestors (that is, a paleolithic type diet) confers health benefits.” This gives the reader a strong sense of the exigence to the study, as well as the general direction taken by the researchers to solve the issue.

            Following up with a ‘Materials and Methods’ portion, researchers provide great deal on the experimental procedures conducted to test the efficacy of this health trend, riddled with facts and figures which display their findings. This includes a great deal of scientific jargon meant to establish the ethos of the team, interweaving quantitative health markers like “cholesterol decreased by 1.6±0.2 mmol/l (39%decrease)”, and “Mean arterial pressure decreased by 15±9 mm Hg” throughout the text. These pieces of data show how the researchers aimed to understand the health implications of the diet by operationalizing key indicators such as cholesterol levels, lipid profiles, and electrolyte balance. In addition to this analytical data, the article includes various tables and graphs which give the reader a simple visual representation of the data under review.

            The conventions and fundamental components of UCSF’s research paper serve to display the essential parts of the experiment and establish a strong sense of prestige for the researchers involved. The paper ends with an extensive and organized reference list, an integral step in the process of verifying their work. By including extensive data, resources, and details about the research methodology, this article fulfills its purpose as a scholarly review of the Paleo diet trend and allows researchers to take a solid stance on the issue with hard, empirical evidence.

Reference:

Frassetto, L. A., M. Schloetter, M. Mietus-Synder, R. C. Morris Jr, and A. Sebastian. Metabolic and Physiologic Improvements from Consuming a Paleolithic, Hunter-gatherer Type Diet. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. N.p., 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. <http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v63/n8/full/ejcn20094a.html>.