Chapter 3 & 14

Chapter 3

Personal Reaction: I found chapter three to be very straightforward with topic and ideas that I have been exposed to time and time again. One thing that was new to me was the breakdown of the critical thinking process. I found the table on the very first page to be very useful and helpful in explaining the process. I also really like the table on the fourth page that applied it to the real world.

Professional Reaction: Chapter three is centered around the critical thinking process. Critical thinking can be split up into three sub-categories: analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Analysis is the breaking elements into different parts based on a principle, synthesis is the combining of these parts to form a new whole and evaluation is the judging of the whole according to standards or criteria. To support you critical thinking, you must have many different types of evidence. There are four main types of evidence: facts, statistics, expert testimony and firsthand observations. When you are gathering your evidence, there are a few things to keep in mind: is the information accurate, reliable, up-to-date, to the point, representative, appropriately complex and sufficiently strong enough to support your claim? If you can answer yes to most of these questions, the evidence is suitable to be put into your writing. In addition to finding suitable evidence, make sure that that evidence appeals to your audience. Find evidence that is logical (logos), emotional (pathos) and ethical (ethos). Gathering your evidence is half the battle of critical thinking, the other half is presenting your critical thinking in an effective manner. The first thing to think about is whether you are going to present your information with a deductive or inductive approach. Next you must build your sequences and scaffolds. Lastly, you must present your information in a logical pattern. The four main logical patterns include: structuring your essay from your least persuasive to most persuasive point (visa versa), using compare and contrast or cause and effect.

Chapter 14

Personal Reaction: Chapter fourteen introduces topics that I have had little exposure to. I think that in my tenth grade English class we spent a week learning about this concept of visualizations and how to get the most out of the image in front of you, but not nearly as in depth as the book goes into. I enjoyed reading the chapter and found the content to be very interesting.

Professional Reaction: Chapter fourteen is all about responding to visual representations. There are three levels to responding to visual representations. The first level is “seeing the big picture”. This level is made up of five components: source, purpose, audience, prominent element and focal point. When you think of source, purpose and audience, think of these three questions: what is the context of the image, what is the purpose of the image and what audience does the image aim to attract? The prominent element in an image is the object, person, background or writing that is the main composition of the image. The focal point of the image brings the readers eye to that area purposely designated by the author. The next level is “observing the characteristics of an image”. This level is made up of objects, figures, action, background, selection of elements, relationship of elements, use of space, composition decisions, function decisions and typeface options. By examining the different components of this level, the reader will be able to gain a sense of the cast of characters, the story of the image, the design and arrangement of the image and the different artistic choices that the author chose to incorporate into their image. The last level is “interpreting the meaning of the image”.  In order to get the purpose of an image, a reader must take into account these five components: general feeling or mood, sociological, political, economic or cultural attitudes, language, signs and symbols and last but not least themes.

-Clayton Peppler

Photo from: http://www.123rf.com/photo_10012014_background-concept-wordcloud-illustration-of-critical-thinking-strategy.html

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

Reflection

http://www.justintarte.com/2014/01/5-helpful-strategies-for-self-reflection.html

At the beginning of the semester I had a few goals that I was hoping I would be able to reach. First I wanted to become better with grammar and punctuation. Second I wanted to learn how to better round out my sentence structures and improve the flow of my writing. I feel like I accomplished two of my goals with grammar and punctuation still needing some work.

While writing my research paper I came across a wealth of information that I was unaware of, including but not limited to: the route that drugs take on their way into the U.S. and other parts of the world, the cost in human life and the cost to tax payers that the war on drugs demands. It was my first time using scholarly articles and I found a good amount of information from sources like EBSCO. One source in particular that I found very interesting was VICE NEWS.com, simply because they have a ton of information from all over the world on many different subjects.

I am proud of my paper in general and no particular parts stand out to me. As far as my writing is concerned I feel good about my ability to present facts in a readable way and tell a coherent story.

I really enjoyed the research process, looking up information and analyzing it and then finding the best way to present it. Initially I did have some problems finding information but once I found one source the rest were easy to track down. I would say that while I was doing the majority of my research I was spending about two to three hours, three days a week, on it and another two hours a day on the writing part of it. I feel like the amount of time that I put into the paper was appropriate for the length and subject of the paper.

All in all I feel like this was a very good experience and will help me in the future, not only with school but with my career.  

Reflection Essay

Clayton Peppler

Research Reflection

December 2, 2015

Research, Research, Research

As the semester concludes, I believe that I have acquired a vast amount of knowledge from the essays and assignments given in English Composition 121. I will use this knowledge in my future endeavors, not only in my academic life, but my personal one as well.

There are a few goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year: improve my writing skills by becoming more clear and concise, get an A in the class and learn more about citations. The first essay of the year was supposed to be a maximum of two pages, mine ended up being almost three times that. The essay’s following, I really tried to stick to the page parameters set by professor Jenn. This really forced me to cut back on my word usage by using more exact language and better word choice. Professor Jenn and the peer review also helped me to see areas where I could condense my writing. In addition, peer reviewing other people’s writing really helped me to understand different thought processes and sentence structuring that I could apply to my own writing. My next goal for the semester was to get an A in the class. I achieved this goal through hard work and determination. I think that the peer revision and comments from professor Jenn also contributed to my grade. I believe that it is always best to get a second pair of eyes before you turn in your essay and doing that in class was very beneficial. Lastly, coming into this class I was pretty familiar with MLA formatting, but there was always something new to learn from Professor Jenn and the different exercises that we completed. For example, when you say “according to the author” before a quote, it is not necessary for you to do an in-text cite at the end of the quotation. Additionally, I learned that the proper heading to cite your work is “works cited” not “work cited”. These are tips that I will continue to use throughout my academic career and more than likely they are going to save me points on my future writing assignments. There was one goal that I am still struggling with and that is my ability to break paragraphs up in a logical, flowing succession. I often write paragraphs topic by topic so it is hard for me to break up paragraphs that are of the same topic.

As a student and an employee at a school, the topic of homework and its negative effects always interested me. After completing my research essay, there were many things that surprised me about homework’s detrimental effects. The thing that surprised me the most was the idea that too much homework can actually be counter-productive. Before the paper, it made sense to me that the more homework a child has the more the ideas would be cemented in their brain. After writing the paper, I found that too much homework can actually cement in the wrong ideas, something that I never suspected. I was also surprised to find that homework can cause physical complications. The reason that this surprised me was because it sounded ridiculous/fictitious but after doing the research I found that it is very real and present in children who attend schools with excessive homework practices.

I believe that the best part of my essay was my counter-productive argument. The reason that I believe this is because it is very practical and applicable. The one thing that I was unsure about keeping in my essay was my explanation of spot checking in my counter-productive argument. I thought that it was imperative to keep in because I did not want any confusion about what spot checking was, but one of my peer reviewers said that it is common knowledge and should be taken out. I can’t wait to hear what professor Jenn thinks. I think that professor Jenn is going to agree that my best paragraph is my counter-productive argument but I think that she may also like my social health argument. I think that she will like my fact about the amount of math problems that a child actually needs and how homework takes away from family time.

The research process was daunting and time consuming. Not only did I have to navigate the world wide web, but I also had to find my way around different databases. It was difficult/time consuming to figure out which key words to put in the databases to get the correct results, but once you find which words work and which ones don’t it is very easy and quick. After I found all of my data, writing the essay was smooth sailing. To make the research process faster, the advice that I would give to other students is be very specific in your wording and use as many databases as possible. It may take a little longer to find the data on the databases, as you have to find the appropriate key words, but you will save so much time citing as the citation is already done for you. In addition, the data from the databases is often more reliable than the information from the world wide web. After completing this essay, my computer and web skill definitely improved.

I have learned so much from English Composition 121 and am looking forward to taking English Composition 122 with professor Jenn next semester. I am always looking to improve my writing skills and can’t wait to see how my writing improves upon the completion of 122.

Photo from: http://blog.mnsu.edu/cdc/?p=138

Research Reflection

source: jholko.com

       This structure of this research paper was similar to other research papers I have done in the past, and because of that, I feel like I got the most out of the topic I chose. I had a few goals at the beginning of the semester, during this research paper I learned that I still have work to do on both of those goals, but I’ve moved in the right direction. I am proud of this paper, especially the topic that I chose. I think it’s past time people became more comfortable with mental illness, and this is one of those steps. My computer skills haven’t changed much, but I did discover that a school database can be helpful. I felt like I did well on this research paper, and I hope it is reflected in my final work.

I had a few goals at the begging of the semester. I wanted to learn how to write stronger thesis statements, and I wanted to become generally more comfortable with writing essays in general. I feel like I’m still working on both those goals, but they’re both things I think I’ll always be working on. I didn’t seem to discover a whole lot of new information on the topic, but I did find a few fun facts. I knew the sources existed, but I didn’t know there were so many of them so that was an interesting thing to find out. It reminds me that if I’m going to do it for myself I really need to look into which organization I do it through.

I feel like the topic of my paper makes me very proud because it’s something I’ve noticed for a little bit and I don’t think enough people can tell the difference between the two, or really care to. I think mental health has a lot of stigma attached to it anyway, so trying to take some of that away felt really good. I found the one section on “invisible disabilities” that really stuck with me. I loved the term and will be using it in the future. I’m proud of my ability to use larger, more intricate words without them sounding out of place. I think my teacher will be proud of my topic choice. 

I have always felt comfortable with my computer skills. I don’t think this research paper really changed that at all. I suppose I felt more comfortable because I had the database from Front Range to use, so I didn’t have to worry about where to find sources. I enjoyed researching even more about the complexities of understand therapy dogs as opposed to other service dogs. I disliked that it was still kind of hard to find a lot of information, meaning that people still aren’t really doing anything about it. Overall, this was a fairly easy topic to research because I was so interested in it. The hardest part is that, like I have stated before, there isn’t a whole lot of information to find. I didn’t discover any helpful research hints to share. Except maybe that having a school with a scholarly database can make things simpler, so try to utilize that if you need it.

-Kristen Skuba

Reflection Essay Rough Draft

Research Reflection

At the beginning of the fall semester, my goal going into English 121 was to become a better essay writer, now that the semester is coming to an end, I believe I have grown my writing skills and met my goal. Writing has always been a challenge for me, especially in high school. My biggest struggle was trying to stay organized while writing. I would often begin writing about once topic, and slowly stem into a completely different direction. English 121 has helped teach me to keep track while writing, and focus primarily on a few key elements of the topic. I also learned the importance of researching from credible sources. Many web sources look like they would have accurate information, but after looking at the website they end up being stolen information and articles from other websites, or the information ends up being completely wrong. English 121 taught me the importance of finding sources from the databases as well as sources from the web, or books, articles, etc. 

I choose to research the importance of eating organic food for my research essay. I came across a lot of very different opinions, which made it hard to find the facts. Many sources I found were simply just claims the author was making, with no evidence to back their claims up. After doing a lot of research I finally found some credible sources, with accurate information. The problem with choosing such a biased topic is many people want to give their opinion, without doing the research. Organic food is a very broad topic, therefore I chose to research primarily the difference between All-Natural and organic, and the effect of pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics and food additives. I did not even mention the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) because I did not want the essay to become too off topic. After taking English 121, it was easier to narrow down my topic, and only focus on one important aspect of my very broad topic.

       One element of writing a research essay that I will continue to use in my future is writing a prospectus. Writing a prospectus is a great way to decide weather or not a source should be used for the research essay. I think that without a prospectus it would be rather easy to waste time using sources that don't have enough useful and accurate information. Writing an annotated bibliography is also important because it really forces the writer to analyze the sources to verify they are even worth using. I will always complete a prospectus and an annotated bibliography in the future before writing a research essay. My research skills are better than they were at the beginning of the year, because now I understand how to use the databases and why they’re important. Having a variety of sources is also ok, however some of the sources should come from a database such as EBSCO because they’re often peer reviewed, and have very accurate information. 

My essay has a lot of interesting facts about organic food, which I think my instructor will enjoy reading. To many, eating organic food is important, however to others it might be considered a waste of money. The readers initial opinion on organic food will influence weather or not they enjoy and agree with my essay. I do believe my essay has enough information on organic food to hopefully interest readers who do not initially believe organic food is important. I enjoyed writing my essay on organic food, and I hope anybody who reads my essay will enjoy it too. In the future I will spend more time on my rough draft, so I don’t have such a large amount to edit in a small amount of time. I will also spend more time planning my essay so I don’t get off track, and accidentally go off topic. Overall I enjoyed writing my research essay, and I believe I have gained many useful skills which will help my writing in the future.