Camryn Ward's Journal Response

A&B Chapter 17, 17.4

This reading talks about using the “big picture” in your introduction and conclusion to help improve your paper. You also should use this when creating your title. Your title should use the old before new information, a hook to get the reader’s attention and a word or phrase that forecasts information the reader is looking for beforehand. When starting your introduction you should also use the old before new information. Use the old information that they already know to start it out, and then the new information to surprise them with the argument. An introduction is not about length, it is about catching the reader’s attention with just a few simple sentences. In the conclusion you should be concerned about moving the parts throughout your paper back into the big picture as a whole. It will help tie it all together and not leave the reader confused. A skill I plan to use is practicing using background information and the old to new technique from 17.1. I will do this by finding background information on my topic and laying it out before each paragraph is written and completed. Using the old to new skill will help to make the argument more valid and to stand out more than it originally would.

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A&B Chapter 12, pgs. 284-293

This reading is mainly talking about analysis and synthesis. To analyze is to break down the parts of something to see the relationships and things they have in common. To synthesize . is to take those parts and put them together in a new and different way. When you are doing this you need to think with-the-grain and against-the-grain. It is important to pay close attention to the text and summarize the main points accurately. A synthesis basically shows how well you understand your writing, and the topic you are writing about. If you do this to your own paper, it can help you to see how the readers can better understand and relate to your paper. When you are analyzing your writing, it will cause you to question, weigh, and come up with new or better ideas to put into your paper. I will use both analyzing and synthesizing in my paper to try and understand my writing, and what the readers will be seeing. After I finish a draft I will take it apart, question the pieces, and put it back together in a new and improved way. Hopefully this will help me as a writer in future papers, me to understand the topic more, and the reader to understand the topic more. It will most likely be time consuming, but most definitely it will be a useful tool.

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A&B pgs. 82-88, Charts on pgs. 93, 95, A&B pgs. 102-104

This reading is mainly talking about how being a strong reader can help you out as a writer. Knowing the way you’re reading and what it’s accomplishing can help you. Things like reading with the grain where you are looking from the writer’s point of view and putting yourself in their head can help you deepen your understanding. Also you can read against the grain, which is questioning basically everything, including the main argument. That can help you to see other points of view, rebuttals, and your limitations in your writing. A skill I can use to help improve my writing is to try and understand the vocabulary better. When I see a word I don’t know, look it up and it may help to make more sense. Lots of college textbook readings have lots of confusing and big words that make you give up on what you’re reading. Also, understanding the background of what you’re reading can help to understand the reading as a whole. Knowing beforehand the basics of your reading can make a difference in reading as you go. I will try harder to look up words and create a better background of my reading before I begin. Going in blind is never a good idea.

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A&B pgs. 309-326

This reading goes into depth talking about arguments in your paper. It talks about the two types of arguments: truth seeking and persuasion. Truth seeking is defined as, “a diligent, open-minded, and responsible search for the best course of action or solution to a problem, taking into account all the available information and alternative points of view.” Persuasion is defined as, “The art of making a claim on an issue and justifying it convincingly so that the audience’s initial response to your position is overcome and they are moved toward your position.” It also mentions how important it is to find an arguable issue, and that it will basically make or break your paper whether you can accomplish that or not. If you have a weak argument, your paper will be weak. There are a few different areas of your research that you need to try to incorporate, all with equal importance. STAR criteria is a skill you can use to evaluate the evidence in your paper and see if it really works. It stands for sufficiency, typicality, accuracy, and relevance. When I am writing my paper I will use this whenever I am implementing research or evidence into my paper to make sure it works.

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A&B Chapter 3, 3.2 A&B pgs. 326-330

The main point in this reading is to understand how important it is to incorporate ethos, pathos, and logos. Each one is crucial to your paper and appealing to the reader in different ways. Using one more than the other might appeal to certain people and not others. Everyone enjoys things and learns differently, so it is good to incorporate them all. It will help your paper to be more enjoyable and interesting to read, and to help it flow better. Ethos means to appeal to the speaker’s character, meaning, you should try to appear trustworthy and credible. Pathos means to appeal to the reader’s sympathies and emotions to deepen their understanding. Logos means to appeal to reason and logic. I am going to better implement all of these 3 things into my paper. I will better use ethos by showing that I care about the issue, and I will research very well to do so. To use pathos better I will use some story-like writing and words with emotional suggestion to them. And to add logos in better, I will use logic and reasoning rather than just my opinion. Even if I don’t believe in the more reasonable answer, I will use it anyways.

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