Reflection on Project 3

dbking. "St. Bernard Puppy." 11/6/2005 via wikipedia. Creative Commons Attribution.

In this blog post I will be reflecting on Project 3 by answering a series of questions posed by the Writing Public Lives reading.

1) What was specifically revised from one draft to another?

I had to work on making my essay more personalized and not just as much spitting out facts but becoming more emotionally involved in the issue. I also had to work on my organization a bit. When I wrote it I just kind of wrote what came to mind but reading it back, it didn't make much sense.

2) Point to global changes: how did you reconsider your thesis or organization?

I went through my main points and made sure that all my ideas from each main point flowed together in one section and that the different main points ended up flowing together as well.

3) What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?

Advice from pier review as well as teacher review helped me think about what I needed to focus on. The different ideas were not in order and jumped around, not making it very convenient for the reader to follow along. I also had to make the purpose more personal as well, not just about getting a point across but the specific idea that I wanted to leave my audience with.

4) How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?

If my information seems more organized and well thought out the reader will be more inclined to think I know what I am talking about. If they believe that I am more of an expert in the area that I am writing about then they will be more likely to listen to what I have to say and believe my point of view. If it looks like I have seen all sides of the argument then the points I make seem more justified in my evaluation of the argument and my point.

5) How will these changes better address the audience or venue?

The audience will be more inclined to continue reading if they can follow my argument better.

6) Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?

I had to shorted some of my sentences so they were not so long. Some of them became hard to follow and also made some a little more informal so that I could connect more with the audience.

7) How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?

By understanding the sentences better and being able to follow my argument, hopefully what I have to say will have a bigger influence on the audience and they will hopefully want to advocate for stem cell research.

8) Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing?

I had to do a bit more reading up on the genre to make sure that I got the formatting right as well.

9) Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?

I feel like I am the same writer but it made me notice how much I am really using emotion in my writing. When I am looking at an argument I like to know the facts so that I can make my own opinion on the issue and I felt like I did include the fact (hyperlinks) but I also become more emotionally invested in the issue and hopefully I was able to spur some emotions onto the audience.

Publishing Public Argument

In this blog post I will post a link to the final draft of Project 3.  I will also be going over the rubric and giving a self evaluation of the article. 

Pham, Tony. "Husky Puppy." 9/6/2007 via wikimedia. Creative Common Attribution Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

1. Mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience currently stands on the issue (before reading/watcing/hearing your argument) below:

←------------------------------------X----------------|--------------------------------------------------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly

agree                                                                                                                          disagree

2. Now mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience should be (after they've read/watched/heard your argument) below:

←-----------X-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly

agree                                                                                                                          disagree

3. Check one (and only one) of the argument types below for your public argument:

         ___X___ My public argument etablishes an original pro position on an issue of debate.

         _______ My public argument establishes an original con position on an issue of debate.

         _______ My public argument clarifies the causes for a problem that is being debated.

         _______ My public argument prooposes a solution for a problem that is being debated.

         _______ My public argument positively evaluate a specific solution or policy under debate (and clearly identifies the idea I'm supporting).

         _______ My public argument openly refutes a specific solution or policy under debate (and clearly identifies the idea I'm refuting).

4. Briefly explain how your public argument doesn’t simply restate information from other sources, but provides original context and insight into the situation:

I do state a bit of what the situation is as well as the other side of the debate so the audience is given context but then I also dive into the emotional appeal about the health needs of certain individuals the the dramatic change this research will bring to their lives as well as the lives of their loved ones. The main idea though is that the pros of the research outweigh the cons and risks of doing the research on the embryonic stem cells. I put my own experiences and situation into the argument. I talk about my fondness of dogs, my wanted to be a doctor, and my moral views when it comes to the need to save lives. I bring in different points surrounding the issue that go beyond just talking about stem cells and what they can do but how they can change lives. 

5. Identify the specific rhetorical appeals you believe you've employed in your public argument below:

Ethical or credibility-establishing appeals

                    ___X__ Telling personal stories that establish a credible point-of-view

                    ___X__ Referring to credible sources (established journalism, credentialed experts, etc.)

                    _____ Employing carefully chosen key words or phrases that demonstrate you are credible (proper terminology, strong but clear vocabulary, etc.)

                    __X___ Adopting a tone that is inviting and trustworthy rather than distancing or alienating

                    __X___ Arranging visual elements properly (not employing watermarked images, cropping images carefully, avoiding sloppy presentation)

                    _____ Establishing your own public image in an inviting way (using an appropriate images of yourself, if you appear on camera dressing in a warm or friendly or professional manner, appearing against a background that’s welcoming or credibility-establishing)

                    __X___ Sharing any personal expertise you may possess about the subject (your identity as a student in your discipline affords you some authority here)

                    _____ Openly acknowledging counterarguments and refuting them intelligently

                    _____ Appealing openly to the values and beliefs shared by the audience (remember that the website/platform/YouTube channel your argument is designed for helps determine the kind of audience who will encounter your piece)

                    _____ Other: 

Emotional appeals

                    __X___ Telling personal stories that create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Telling emotionally compelling narratives drawn from history and/or the current culture

                    __X___ Employing the repetition of key words or phrases that create an appropriate emotional impact

                    _____ Employing an appropriate level of formality for the subject matter (through appearance, formatting, style of language, etc.)

                    _____ Appropriate use of humor for subject matter, platform/website, audience

                    _____ Use of “shocking” statistics in order to underline a specific point

                    ___X__ Use of imagery to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Employing an attractive color palette that sets an appropriate emotional tone (no clashing or ‘ugly’ colors, no overuse of too many variant colors, etc.)

                    _____ Use of music to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Use of sound effects to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    ____ Employing an engaging and appropriate tone of voice for the debate

                    ___X__ Other: creating a visual with language to help people feel sympathy for the sick people potentially not getting treatment or even the little dogs 

Logical or rational appeals

                    _____ Using historical records from credible sources in order to establish precedents, trends, or patterns

                    __X___ Using statistics from credible sources in order to establish precedents, trends, or patterns (more of just information pertaining to research going on today about stem cells)

                    _____ Using interviews from stakeholders that help affirm your stance or position

                    _____ Using expert opinions that help affirm your stance or position

                    _____ Effective organization of elements, images, text, etc.

                    ___X__ Clear transitions between different sections of the argument (by using title cards, interstitial music, voiceover, etc.)

                    _____ Crafted sequencing of images/text/content in order to make linear arguments

                    _____ Intentional emphasis on specific images/text/content in order to strengthen argument

                    _____ Careful design of size/color relationships between objects to effectively direct the viewer’s attention/gaze (for visual arguments)

                    __X___ Other: lots of links to sources giving information about stem cells and particular information on them that goes along with the argument that I am making at the moment. 

Sample articles that I used for reference are:

Tracking India's flu outbreak in Real Time
How Water is Reshaping the West

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

jackmac34. "Buttercups Flowers Orange Petals." 3/2015 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain.

In this blog post I will go over who reviewed my draft for project 3 and give hyperlinks to the two projects that I commented on. These helped give me ideas on my own project as well.

I commented on Isaak's and Elliot's project 3s.

1) Isaak reviewed my rough draft.

2) What do I think and feel about the feedback I recieved? Did anything confuse me about the feedback?

I think the feedback was good. No much commentary on what I need to fix. Also I think that he interpreted my project as being a Tedd talk when instead I was really just linking a video to a Ted talk in the beginning and then going into my own article. So some of his comments he made were about it being a Tedd talk rather than an article.

3) What aspects of Project 3 need the most work going forward (Audience, Purpose, Argumentation, or Genre?) How do I plan on addressing these areas?

I need to work on better connecting with my audience. I start to get more personal with the argument towards the middle but I need to start that connection earlier and not just state facts but give my opinion on the facts as well.

4) How am I feeling overall about the direction of my project after peer review and teacher conferences this week?

I feel a lot better about my article since now I need to know what I need to work on the most.

Draft of Public Argument

Unsplash. "Pug Puppy Dog Animal Cute." 4/2015 via Pixabay. CC0 Public Domain

This post has the link to my first draft of my article. It is an article posted on either a science section of PBS or on a more medical oriented site like medical daily. The video in the beginning of the artice is about stem cells and lets the audience know about them before jumping into my article that uses their background knowledge for my argument.

Considering Visual Elements

Unsplash. "Child Girl Balloon Dog Puppy Female Portrait." 10/2015 via pixabay. Public Domain CC0. 

In this post, I will be talking about the visual elements within my article and how they help to enhance my message. I will answer questions from the reader to help get me thinking about what I want to do in my article.

• How might I vary the fonts in my projects for emphasis, such as in the title and body of my project?

I plan on bolding the heading and making the words the larger than the rest of the text so the title pops and hopefully helps draw in the reader. I will also want to bold some quotes from different scientific sources so that they help keep the reader going on the point I want to make in my article. But I want my normal font to be legible in Times New Roman or some type of classic font. When it gets too fancy it becomes harder to read. 

• What types of text or associations do the font(s) produce? What types of text might my reader think of when they see the font?

When you use a classic font like Times New Roman, it often reminds one of essay or more academic sort of pieces. But in a way, that is what this sort of is is an academic piece. You want your reader to take you seriously. If you start using curly fancy font, the article loses that appeal. 

• Is the theme or association that the image produces relevant ot the theme of my argument?

I am using a video by TEDD talk posted on YouTube. It is appropriate to my topic because it describes stems cells in an easy, efficient manner. It tells about the controversy I have the opinion on. It helps the reader understand the topic so then my point comes across better and is also more memorable. 

• Does the image inform or emphasize m argument in an important way, or does it seem superficial or unrelated to my argument? 

By understanding stem cells better, the reader can understand my argument better. If you don't know what stems cells are or their purpose for research, it is hard to agree with the point to sacrifice a potential human life in the name of science. The audience has to understand how far we have come in stem cell research and how if we continue to support it, it is will only grow and improve. They are not only used for finding cures for genetic like diseases, but also can be used for drug testing to better our medicine to human needs, also to eliminate testing on animals. 

• Do your eyes move easily from section to section in the order that you intended?

I feel that my outline does move fluently from one idea to the next. The video is a good start to the flow since it gives the background information about the stem cells themselves. Then I move onto the controversy I am trying to argue about. I then mention my thesis statement. It is not one long introduction paragraph, but a few little ones. Two for the introduction and the next for the thesis statement. 

• Do too many visual images make my text busy or disorganized? If so, which images might you omit?

Yes it can if there are too many. It can take away from the actual text and focus more on the images. In this case, I don't think I will include any more visuals after the video link. The article should not be that long where I need more visuals to keep the reader engaged. They should be interesting in learning more about the topic and not so consumed with the pictures of stem cells. Though including an image of a magnified stem cell might be interesting to show.

Reflection: 

I read Chloe's and Alex's blog posts. Alex made me think more about the color schemes I want to use in my article. I don't want to use really dramatic colors because I want to make sure my message doesn't lose its professional appeal but yet I want to have it stand out to my reader. This is a college student looking at this and I need to persuade them to think that reading this article is worth their time. They need to have a good first impression of the article. 

Project 3 Outline

BarnImages. "Chihuahua Puppy Pet Dog Animal Small Fluffy." 7/2015 via pixabay. Public Domain CC0.

This blog post contains a link of the outline for Project 3 on stem cell research. Here is the link!

Analyzing My Genre

ClkerFreeVectorImages. "Medicine Pills Bottles Medical Capsules Pharmacy." 2014 via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain.

In this blog post, I will be talking about the type of genre I will be using for project 3 about the debate over stem cell research. I will be writing an article with an audience that is more interested in science and medicine. It will be posted on a site similar to medicaldaily.com. In particular I want this article to appeal to someone who wants to learn more about stem cells but in an easy to read manner. The audience would be younger; more along the line of college students to middle age. This is a site to learn about stem cells in an efficient manner.

5 different examples of articles from this site that I want to mimic are:

• General Anesthesia and the Human Brain: How Going Under May Impact Cognitive Function
• The effect of Stress On Your Entire Body, As Told By This Unique Animation
• The Politics of Stem Cells 
• Tracking India's Deadly Flu Outbreak in Real Time
• Stem Cells finally Deliver, but not on their Original Promise

Social Context

• Where is the genre typically set?

This kind of an article is suppose to appeal to those interested in learning more about medicine and maybe different kinds of medical related diseases or research pertaining to medicine. There is an entire tab related to weird medicine on this website and I can direct this kind of research in that direction. I am not only informing the reader about stem cell, but that they are worth the time and research and the amazing applications of the success of the research. I can also include a video about stem cells and then go into talking about it in an article afterwards and the controversy surrounding the research. This is what "The effect of Stress On Your Entire Body, As Told By This Unique Animation" did when talking about stress and how it really influences what it does to your body physically. I can make a video about stem cells and do little animations and stuff.

• What is the subject of the genre?

The subject of the genre is the argument about stem cells. I am arguing that stem cell research is a good thing and that the research should be promoted by the government in research funds. President Obama opened up research for a select stem cells, but does not leave much room for evolution of stem cells. 

• Who uses the genre? 

This type of genre is for people who want a quick bit of information about a particular topic in more of a user friendly fashion. It is visually appealing and gives the reader enough information so that they can understand what is going on within the article and know what is going on and what the controversy is about or whatever the author is discussing. That is why I think this type of website would be a place that college students interested in science and such would go to to look for information.

• When and why is the genre used? What purpose does the genre serve for the people who use it?

It is used to know information about a particular thing is a short space. It it portrayed in a quick manner to the audience and seems interesting to read to someone who is interested in the overall topic of what the information is covering. In this case science or medical information. 

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre

• What type of content is usually included and excluded?

There is usually some type of background information given on the topic. The amount of background information is dependent upon the audience the author is aiming at. If the intended audience is already pretty knowledgable about the scientific topic you are discussing, the background information necessary to give is minimal. The only information really necessary is the more specific part of the topic you are discussing that most applies to your point. 

There is also usually an informative title(apparent in the titles that I selected), an introduction(to tell the reader what the article will more specifically be covering), images that draw the reader in, maybe graphs or visuals that are better depicting your argument, smaller paragraphs that make the article more user friendly, and a conclusion that depicts your point once again. 

In the case of what I am doing, I might do a video in the beginning that better explains what stem cells are and then after the video go into more detail about the research and why it is a good thing. It is a good visual and it will hopefully help the reader understand my argument better. 

• What rhetorical appeals are used most often? Do you notice any patterns in the appeals to logos pathos or ethos? 

It seems the articles used logos to show that they know the information that they are arguing. The PBS article showed the history of the stem cells before going into the current debates going on today about stem cell research. They also use pathos with the pictures. This is most apparent in the 2nd PBS article when you see the picture of the man brushing his teeth with same water that people are bathing in. 

It creates sympathy for the people experiencing these struggles and makes people want to reach out and help or have sympathy for those who are enduring these struggles. You not only read the words about the diseases but you see how it is happening. There always seem to be some party that is struggling and the author wants the reader to understand this and be aware this is happening somewhere in the world or here in our own nation.

But they also want you to be away that they know what they are talking about in that they are a reliable source. There are usually links that prove the more scientific points made in the articles. This is especially true in the case of the article talking about the effects of anesthesia on brain development and function. They give links to sources about studies that have been done to prove what the author is saying is backed up by a study. It is up to the reader to interpret how reliable the study is. 

• How are the texts organized? Do they generally open in similar ways? Conclude in similar ways? What common parts do the samples share?

The couple of posts on the medical daily website lead the article with a catchy image to draw the reader in. One of these images was actually a video. This not only made the article more interesting but made the topic more understandable since you had visuals to go along with the topic. It showed you more specifically in a lecture like format what stress does to your body. 

They then go into the introduction. The anesthesia article author, Lizette Borreli, starts off with connecting with the audience on a common known fact or myth of anesthesia about counting back from 100. It makes the reader interested in what the rest of the article will really talk about. Many people have been under anesthesia, so knowing more about it is sometimes interesting and a bit scary. 

The body paragraphs are generally the same- not too long and not too short. They don't want to scare away the reader. 

The conclusion is generally the same. They end with the main point they are trying to make. They lead with general information about the topic and then transition into the controversy. All the information given prior leads to the main point, bringing all the facts together in an opinion about the topic. 

• Do sentences in the genre share a certain style? Are the mostly active, passive, simple, or complex? Is there an abundance or lack of questions, explanation points, or semicolons? 

They vary a bit in style. The article about anesthesia has subheadings and seems to be more in a QRG format. I would not write this much nor use subheadings, but I liked how they transitioned from facts to opinions in the article. The sentences however are much like those in the other articles. They are generally not very long sentences, but include commas and lists within the sentences. They cannot drag on too long because you don't want to take the chance and lose the reader's attention. Not a real big use of semicolons. The sentences are shorter and easy to read and understand. 

• What type of word choice is used? Do many of the words fit in a particular category of jargon or slang? Is the overall effect of the word choice formal, informal, humorous or academic?

The word choice seems to be a mixture of formal and informal language. When trying to relate the reader, it is more informal, but it comes to more of the facts, it seems that the information is more formal and factual base. The language is not too complicated but the facts are stated in a straightforward manner so that nothing is lost in translation. 

Analyze What those Patterns Reveal about the Social Context of the Genre

• Who does the genre include and who does it exclude?

These articles include images, simpler paragraphs, and hyperlinks that give the words more basis. It does not include very complex words or phrases. It talks about the facts in a very straight forward way. There is not much wiggle room for interpretation as to what the authors mean. This means that when it comes down to the author telling their point of view on the issue, there is no dispute about what the author is arguing about. 

• What roles for writers and readers does the genre encourage?

Some of these articles, it seems like the reader takes the position of the student while the author is the teacher. They are trying to keep their students engaged while teaching them something interesting. One of the authors went as far as including a TEDD talk video of the topic they went on to further talk about. In this case, for my article, I can include a video from another source, or a video of my own making. 

The language is easy enough for someone newer to the topic can understand and follow. It is not always guaranteed on the PBS site that the reader will know about the topic being talked about. But generally, to look at the mind and body section of the site, the reader must have some interest in science and or medicine. 

• What values and beliefs are assumed about or encouraged from users of the genre? 

Those who read articles of this kind of nature are assumed to have some interest in science or medicine. If they were not looking for that kind of an article, it probably means that they would not have found the articles I have used for an example. The PBS website's article were under the catagory of mind and body, so unless you were specifically looking for that topic of an article, it means that these articles would not have appeared. Maybe if they are more interested in science they would have a greater chance of supporting the advancement of scientific and medical research.

• What content does the genre treat as most valuable? Least valuable?

The most valuable content is probably the opinion of the author themselves. In writing such a short work, one has to get their point across in an efficient manner. In doing this, they need to know what their opinion is in the first place.

Reflection

I looked at Samantha's and Chloe's blog posts and I feel that what they said was accurate to the texts they were analyzing and seems to work with what they want to talk about in their project 3's. Reading through Chloe's made me realize even more the importance of the facts that I am bringing to the article and how important they are for the controversy and arguing my point. I can't just have the facts that support my side of the argument, but the facts the opposing side is thinking about as well and be able to prove that my facts are stronger than theirs.