Blog Review (Group) and Personal (Clayton Peppler)

We chose to review the blog mentalfloss.com. With a scale of 1-10, we would rate this blog an 8. We really enjoyed how easy it was to navigate the website, the content of the blog, the presentation and the wide array of interactive material.

The navigation of the blog was not only simplistic but intuitive. We really liked how it had a site map with all the main categories listed. We also liked that if you could not find what you were looking on the site map, there was a search box.

The content of the blog was very interesting and applicable to everyday life. The content varies from movies to money to interesting new technology. The presentation was “calendar” style and was executed extremely well. Each square had a short synopsis of the topic and if you like what you read you could click the square and it would link you to the full article. This style created an organized and clutter free blog. Each post had at least one image and each image was relevant to the topic.

Our favorite part of the blog was probably that it was more than just written posts. The blog incorporated things such as videos, quizzes and an “amazing fact generator”. We felt that these added extras made the blog more desirable than the others and more likely to keep us returning for more.

One thing that we would change about the blog to give it that 10/10 rating would be to reduce the amount of advertisements. We also think that the frequency of the posts could be reduced as it seems that they were posting four or more times a day. We feel that posting this many times a day makes the blog too busy.

Mentalfloss.com (Clayton Peppler)

Out of 10, I would rate this blog an 8 based on the following criteria:

Recurring Themes: 10

-       The blog has different categories that they post to each week, creating reoccurring themes.

Author Voice: 8

-       Because there are many different authors, you get a sense of different voices and perspectives which really livens up the blog. Some authors work is more enjoyable to read than others.

Multimedia: 10

-       There is always an image or a video in the blog post and that image/video always pertains to the content of the post itself.

“Good” Writing: 9

-       When looking through a couple of the posts, the errors seemed to be nonexistent.

Frequency: 7

-       This blogs posts four or more times a day. I find this to be excessive and creates too busy of a blog.

Credibility: 10

-       All of the work that is taken from other sources is cited.

Organization: 10

-       I really like the calendar style that this blog follows. I found that this style creates a flowing, organized and clutter free blog.

Use of Advertisements: 5

-       I really do not like how many advertisements are on the blog. On a couple of the posts an ad would pop up right in the middle of the reading.

-Clayton Peppler, Emily LeMasters and Elizabeth Victorio

Photo From: http://www.otoons.com/eso/floss.htm#sthash.z8RBBRFV.dpbs

Chapter 1 & 2 Review

Personal Reaction: The main component that stuck out to us in chapter one was the different characteristics and expectations that are expected to effectively reach your target audience. In Chapter two we found the reading for a purpose portion to be very important. Collectively, our group often reads just to read, but having different strategies from the "preparing to read" paragraph will help us comprehend the reading the first time so we don't have to re-read the information over and over. We learned different techniques regarding reading, but for the most part, we were familiar with the content. There was nothing in this reading that angered us, but we all agreed that we wish we knew the tactics expressed in high school. 

Professional Reaction: In The Bedford Guide for College Writers, the first and second chapter introduce concepts regarding the writing process and the reading process. For the writing process, it explains three critical steps in creating an effective paper. The three steps expressed are Planning, Drafting, and Developing. After completing these steps, one must continue on to the Revising and Editing portion of the writing process. Even though the two may seem similar, there are many differences between revising and editing. Revising consists of reviewing the purpose, structure, audience, thesis, support, and the language. While the editing component explores word choice, punctuation, grammar, mechanics, and the format of the paper. After both revising and editing are complete, you must proofread the paper. Proofreading consists of finding spelling errors, incorrect words, minor details, minor errors, and missing words.Within these processes, one must also take into context the way they're presenting their information in regards to the purpose of the end paper, along with the audience they're targeting. There are four different audience characterizations: the general audience, the college instructor, the work supervisor, and a campus friend. Each audience has a unique tone, format, language, style, and amount of detail. The second chapter explains the reading process for college writers. In order to be a critical reader, one must prepare, respond as they read, and read on an analytical and literal level. To prepare, first identify the purpose, gain background information, skim the text, and plan a follow up. To respond, the reader must read deeply, annotate, and keep a journal. An analytical reader evaluates, synthesizes, and analyzes the information, while a literal reader applies, comprehends, and recalls the information they’ve read. A exceptional reader is able to incorporate both of these concepts into their everyday reads. 

Photo from: http://jkullrich.com/2015/02/05/bleeding-pages-the-strange-dichotomy-of-revision/

Emily LeMasters, Clayton Peppler and Elizabeth Victorio