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>.

Thlog 4: HighLite Up my Life

  Each week in Writing 2 thus far has brought forth a few key writing concepts that have helped me to not only improve my technique, but actually get excited to work on my skills and make solid progress in my development as a rhetor. This week was no different, and I feel as though the editing processes we covered in class are quite practical for any type of writing assignment. While I originally felt fairly confident about my WP1 paper going into Monday's class, using the techniques we discussed and taking another look at it improved my writing quality tenfold for this assignment. The first trick that really resonated with me involved the highlighting activity, which pinpointed the most important aspects of my paper and gave me a fantastic visual representation of where I could make adjustments and improvements to better express my ideas. Once I had highlighted the various aspects of my paper it became quite clear that I had a great deal of excess fluff which I was then able to eliminate and replace with ease, something which seemed daunting and impractical prior to completing this activity.
  The second fundamental skill that I learned in class this week involved the poetry activity that we reviewed on Wednesday. By spacing out my sentences and analyzing each part of my essay in isolation, I was able to observe weak points such as run-on sentences and pacing issues throughout my main body paragraphs. Again, I found this activity to be invaluable in my writing process and will utilize it for the duration of my writing journey. I had always wondered about the most efficient way to analyze and edit my papers, and both of these methods proved to be just that. Looking forward to progressing even more during the weeks to come!

Thloggin Away

Thloggin Away

  The previous week of Writing 2 only consisted of one meeting instead of the usual two, but I still took away a lot of good content and ideas in my writing journey. Class was focused on second order thinking in the form of peer review and editing. While I procrastinated on finishing my WP1 a little more than I would have liked, I was still able to put together a writing piece to be proud of, which was validated by the comments and reviews from my peers. A central topic of conversation involved the idea of a working, arguable thesis statement, which I believe to be a core component of my essay. The concept of a working thesis greatly influenced my writing style for this piece, as I continually went back and made adjustments to the introductory portion as I went along. As my writing progressed, I gained increasing clarity about the fundamental purpose of my paper and used this knowledge to evolve my thesis statement over time. While I have always revisited my main ideas and thesis statements in my writing career, never before had I considered the prospect of starting an essay with a basic thesis and continually refining it as I went along. This will surely prove to be a valuable skill that I will keep in mind when putting together any piece of writing, as it simplifies the process of first order thinking and removes the pressure of creating a perfect introduction at the start of the process. While I believe that there is great value in starting off strong with a solid framework in mind for a writing piece, that doesn't necessarily mean that it can't be reviewed and refined.

  In addition to thesis-related concepts, I also learned a good bit about peer review from the reading and in-class practice. Learning how to temper criticisms and really express my thoughts on a fellow writer's work proved challenging, but will definitely come in handy for the duration of this course and my academic career. I came to realize that the key to this type of analysis is to simply take the time to really analyze a student's work and take the context of the entire paper into account when giving feedback. In order to give quality advice on how to improve a paper, higher and lower writing skills must be given careful consideration and treated as separate concepts which could be emphasized in constructive criticism. By analyzing the WP1's of my classmates, I was better able to understand the purpose of the essay and logistics of putting together my own WP1 into a cohesive writing piece. Looking forward to going back and making some key changes as suggested by the peer reviews of my friends!

Thlog 2: Writing Skillzzz

Thlog Week 2

 Continuing my writing development journey this quarter, I have truly found that some of the key lessons from Writing 2 really resonated with me and will improve my writing as I practice the concepts in all of my work. My new favorite place to find quick and effective tips to really hone my writing is the ‘daily process/writing tips’ that we reviewed in class. The idea of implementing placeholders ___ into my work has transformed my writing process and helped me overcome the ridiculous roadblocks that I always seem to encounter during my thought process, allowing me to keep the momentum and put my ideas into action right away. I am observing that first-order writing processes are greatly enhanced by this concept, and high volume production is much more efficient without the need to achieve perfection right off the bat in the first draft of a piece.  

  Another huge writing tip that stuck with me involved the Oxford Comma, an anomaly that has downright bewildered me for the entirety of my academic career. I had always wondered why some authors chose to include the final comma in a series and others not, never quite sure which technique to follow in my own writing. Clarification of this idea finally put the concept to rest and remedied my interminable confusion! In addition to these key concepts, I really took to the whole issue of genre as we studied and discussed it during classes this week. I picked up on the concept that a basic understanding of genre and the conventions, audience, and purpose involved with it are essential to navigating our daily lives. The real-life applications of academic concepts are what really capture my interest, and the convention of genres and their prevalence in all forms of media surrounding us are no exception!

PB1B - Genre Generation!

PB1B: Inspecting Genre Generators

  The various conventions of writing genres can be invaluable for literary analysis and construction, assisting writers with a framework for efficient expression of their ideas in a writing piece. For this blog entry, I will discuss the implications of a few key genres as they are found within a couple of online “genre generators”. The first type of writing piece to be analyzed takes the form of a formal research paper, as generated by a website developed by MIT researchers.

  As with any formal piece of writing in an academic environment, the generated research papers follow a simple set of conventions that are meant to speak to the ethos of the author and legitimize the results of the study in question. This leads to a basic structure which first states the name of the study along with all researchers involved and an abstract providing the reason for the study, typically in the form of a question yet unanswered by science. Following this short introduction, papers of this type proceed to explain the experimental process in greatly detailed paragraphs riddled with jargon and complex terms. Embedded within these lengthy walls of text lie a series of figures and graphs which help the reader to visualize the data presented by researchers and improve comprehension of ideas. The final key to a successful research paper involves an extensive reference list which speaks to the sheer amount of effort and magnitude of people which contributed to the completion of the study. This is a stark contrast to the next genre in question, which takes a much more disordered tone.

  The PandyLand comic generator perfectly illustrates the nature of common comic strips, which appear to be random yet still hold a variety of conventions that set them apart from other types of media. Most of the comic strips which are generated have completely random dialogue that rarely combine to form a cohesive conversation or idea, but can be quite humorous in this respect. As the generator shows, this genre is characterized by short dialogue remarks between characters, strung together by a choppy series of images depicting the situation at hand. The use of simple cartoon images lends to the relaxed tone of the genre, keeping everything simple and to the point. Further, some choice comic strips could be considered relaxed to the extent of coming across as quite crass to some audiences due to the use of many offensive topics or crude language.  This suggests that comics should primarily be used in a casual context for the purpose of comedic relief, and the target audience should be carefully considered.

The next online generator happens to be a meme generator, which transposes short comedic phrases onto symbolic images meant to better display the purpose of the joke. All memes appear to use a similar set of base images which bring this genre to life and provide a familiar background which can be applied to a variety of jokes. Typically, generated memes consist of a setup line as well as a second phrase completing the joke, keeping the tone fairly casual and direct. This illustrates the usefulness of memes as a simple way to communicate comedic ideas in a familiar context to which other readers can relate and comprehend efficiently.

  For the final genre type analysis, consider the conventions of a love letter. This can be explored through the online generator, ‘Letter Generator –UK’, leading to the discovery of a variety of fundamental building blocks for this type of writing piece. Love letters always take a sentimental tone, often including memories and recollections of good times spent with the reader as well as a general outline for the reason behind the profession of love. This genre is meant to appease to audience and make them feel good, which is accomplished with a series of compliments and flattery embedded within a letter. As with all generators in this series, the basic conventions and components from which genres are derived can be discovered and analyzed within the sea of randomness and disorder spurted out by these websites.

Thlog 1

 

This week has been a fantastic introduction to Writing 2 and the material that we will cover during the next few months. Though I have not kept up with personal journaling and blogging as frequently lately, I am excited to get back in the practice of expressing myself through the written word. Right from the start, this class set a great tone with the first reading "Writing Spaces". I have never experienced course material in the form of a comic, so this was a refreshing and stimulating read. The main takeaway that I got from this piece was that writing and rhetoric permeate all areas of our lives, and affect us in a broad variety of ways. In our everyday lives we will experience rhetoric on television, radio, online, and even in our conversations with others, making critical analysis an essential skill which we must use to navigate our lives.

The second reading of this week involved Dirk’s “Navigating Genres”, which thoroughly explored the application of genre in various contexts. While reading and annotating this article I began to grasp the idea that genres give us a framework in which to organize and classify our writing. This concept really resonated with me, as I am constantly searching for ways to improve my efficiency in any endeavor – genres allow us to follow a recognized structure instead of writing blindly without rhyme or reason. An essential part of Dirk’s piece touched upon “the value of teaching genre awareness rather than acquisition of particular genres”, which I found to be quite an insightful concept involving being taught how to think rather than what to think.

All in all, the introductory week of class has been a positive experience so far, and I feel as though I am already getting back into the swing of things with my writing technique!