Reflection on Open Letter Draft

In this post I will reflect on the my draft based on the peer revision process by answering some questions from A Student's Guide page 253.

Tamlag, Nils, "Reflections of Tomorrow." 5/12/2015 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

For the peer revision portion of this project I analyzed the drafts written by Lauren and Rachel.

1. Did you demonstrate an ability to think about your writing and yourself as a writer?

• Yes, I definitely think that I demonstrated an ability to critically think about my writing within my draft. I feel like I effectively analyzed how I have changed from a heavy planner and procrastinator to someone who gets my assignments done promptly and acknowledges every step of the writing process. I also brought up the fact that I am now more comfortable writing in genres I have never really been exposed to or been required to write within in the past. 

2. Did you provide analysis of your experiences, writing assignments, or concepts you've learned?

• I feel that my letter, although it mentions and summarizes many of the experiences, assignments, and concepts I have encountered in this course, I don't think that I have analyzed them enough. When I go back to revise my letter, I think that I will pay extra attention to talking about the effects of the many new experiences that this course enabled me to have.

3. Did your provide concrete examples from your own writing?

• I provided many hyperlinks within my letter to previous blog posts, major projects, and deadline instructions, however I definitely need to go back and directly quote from these sources to make my examples more concrete. Direct quotes would also help to prove how far I have come as a writer because of 109H.

4. Did you explain why you made certain choices and whether those choices were effective?

• I think that one decision that I could discuss in more detail was my decision in making moms my target audience for Project 3. I already mentioned in my draft that I was proud that I was able to write in a new genre and direct my writing at a specific audience, however I feel that going into more detail about how mothers were the perfect audience for my argument regarding legalization would really prove the thought that this class has made me put into my writing decisions and why these specific choices make my writing more effective. 

5. Did you use specific terms and concepts related to writing and the writing process?

• I did indeed mention the importance of identifying the conventions of a specific genre before one starts writing. The term convention was an important one throughout this course, however I feel as though I can go into a little more detail about how crucial they are to effective writing. I also briefly mentioned the QRG which was another pivotal term to this course, but I think that I can explain more about how it was so different from any other assignment I had in the past.

Draft of Open Letter

This post will contain a link to the rough draft of my open letter and specific things I want my peers to look out for when reading my piece.

Agyei, Nana, "Mystery Writers." 11/21/2010 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

 Click here to access the rough draft of my open letter.

Dear Peers,
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read the draft of my open letter. I want to make sure that I have covered enough topics in my letter, and seem to be following the correct conventions of a semi-formal letter. So if you could look out for these concerns of mine, in addition to other generic/grammatical changes that would be great.
Thanks!!

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

In this post I will be reflecting on all of the writing that I have done this semester by providing answers to the 6 provided reflective questions for this deadline.

Beales, Mike, "Reflections." 4/1/2015 via Flickr. Attribution No-Derivs 2.0 Generic.

1. What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?

Coming into this class and college as a whole, I was very used to a structured and one size fits all design to education that high school drilled into me, but this class was very different from what I was used to. Throughout this semester, I think that the biggest challenge that I faced was the freedom that I had to pave my own learning path. The ambiguity and open-ended nature of almost all of the assignments for this course was frustrating at times, because it definitely wasn't something that I was used to. However, looking back now I think that the freedom that this class gave me to develop myself as a writer and a student really made me more proud of my work.

2. What did you learn this semester about your own time management, writing and editorial skills?

I learned that pushing things off until the last minute only makes me more stressed out and lowers the quality of my work. Also, I discovered that with the right time spent researching a topic I can produce well-written works in a variety of genres, instead of assuming that the lame persuasive essays that I have written throughout my education were the only things I could successfully produce.

3. What do you know about the concept of 'genre'? Explain how understanding this concept is central to being a more effective writer.

I learned this semester that differing genres are like different works of art. All genres are forms of expression, but they all differ in many ways, due to the fact that every genre has its own conventions. Understanding this concept will be crucial to being a successful writer in the future, because when I am given the challenge of writing in a genre that I am not used to, I know that I will have to research the genre and find its conventions, in order to properly emulate that specific category of writing.

4. What skills from this course might you use and/or develop further in the next few years of college coursework?

I think really important skill that this course forced me to develop was my ability to perform research. I now realize that different types of sources-- general websites, scholarly sources, social media-- all offer different insight about a topic. Moving forward I will be knowledgeable of the fact that I will never have to directly use all of the sources that I read, but the insight that I gain from all of the research I do will make me more informed about my topic and help my work in the long run.

5. What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H?

Personally I think my most effective moment this semester was hitting publish on my blog post containing my final project 3 draft. I think that finishing my public argument should how adaptable I became as a student and a writer because of this class. I started this year with little to no knowledge about what a blog or blog post even was, but after doing a lot of hard work throughout 109H I was able to create my own blog post that I feel is worthy of being placed on a well-respected platform, with a definite target audience in mind. My ability to produce a piece of writing (a blog post for "hip" moms) so out of my comfort zone at the beginning of the semester, really showed my growth as a writer and thus is what I consider to be my proudest and most effective moment.

6. What was your least effective moment from this semester in 109H?

I think that my least effective moment from this semester occurred during my formation of project 1. Throughout my drafting process of my QRG I knew that my research and information regarding my controversy only really acknowledged one side of the issue (the Uber side), but I didn't know how to fix this problem because I didn't have the knowledge that I now have about performing well-rounded and effective research, and I also didn't think I could resolve this concern without removing and re-writing large chunks of my work (something that I have now grown become very accustomed to). Thus, I just left my QRG alone. However, I now see that this was a stubborn and lazy way to deal with my issue and that I should have put the work in to perform more research and careful revision.

Revising My Writing Process

In this post I will reflect on my current writing process and time management skills, by reflecting on two of my earliest posts: "My Writing Process" and "Calendar Reflection".

martinak15, "259/365 Clock Work." 7/1/2012 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

At the start of this semester I considered myself to be a writer who fell under the categorization of a "planning procrastinator". Before this class began my writing process consisted of heavy planning, somewhat rushed drafting, and little to no revision. However, I have definitely seen a lot of major changes in the way that I go about writing assignments. I still enjoy having detailed outlines that help me organize all of my ideas and support, but now I can really see the many benefits that dedicating a significant time to revision can bring to my work. Being forced to spend at least a week editing each of my projects--discarding/rewriting large chinks of my work, focusing solely on punctuation, getting feedback on my writing, and providing comments on my peers' work--really showed me how greatly my project could be improved due to careful revision. I now see that every aspect of the writing process is crucial in producing well-written work, thus I feel that I can now consider myself to to be a "Sequential Composer", because I have an equal appreciation for every step of the writing process. Also, I have gotten into the habit of looking over my work as I write, which is another aspect of why I can confidently classify myself into this category of writers.

Clearly, I am no longer a writer who relies solely on detailed planning, but what about the procrastinator portion of my self-proclaimed title? Well, when I wrote my "Calendar Reflection" post earlier this semester I figured out that I had allotted myself enough free time to successfully get all of the necessary work done for my classes each week, but in order to do this I would need to break the habit of saying I would do things "later". This was easier said than done, however. For the first few deadlines of this semester I procrastinated and caused myself nothing but undue worry and anxiety, however as the term progressed I actually started to follow the goals that I set for myself in my "Calendar Reflection". When I began to plan out my days and the work that I wanted to get done on those days (and actually do the work, rather than pushing it off) English 109H and all of my other classes became a lot less stressful. After dedicating myself to getting my assignments done early, the quality of my work work improved, along with my ability to have more time for fun.

Overall, I think this class has really proven the idea that the work you put into something really impacts what you get out of that task. Moving forward into next semester and the next three years of my college education, I will use the many of the skills that this class has provided me with. I will make a conscience effort to never let my old procrastinating ways get the best of me, because it hurts not only my mental well-being, but also how well my final projects turn out. Also, I will remind myself of the fact that every step in a process is important, even though they might not have seemed of great value to me at first, because each of those steps helps me to get closer to achieving my goals, whatever they may be.

Reflection on Project 3

In this post I will provide answers to the nine items on page 520 of Writing Public Lives, in order to reflect on Project 3.

Reimchen, Peggy, "Reflections: Colorful icy layers." 11/7/2009 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

• What was specifically revised from one draft to another?

One aspect of my project that I specifically revised from one draft to another was my attempt at appealing to my audience's emotions. I tried to get my readers to be emotionally invested into my argument by including a personal narrative, and by making sure to maintain a conversational but still intellectual tone.

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

I reconsidered the organization of my text by including more sub topics.

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

I mainly made these changes based on a reconsideration of my audience. I felt as though refuting more arguments against legalization would help to make my argument, which is pro-legalization, more convincing to my audience who will most likely be mothers, since moms typically like to have a lot of support and reasoning before making a decision.

• How did the changes affect your credibility as an author?

Adding more reasons to aid my argument in supporting the idea of legalization will undeniably boost my credibility as an author because these additional justifications will help to prove that I have quite a well rounded viewpoint on the topic. 

• How will the changes better address the audience or venue?

These changes will better address my audience because the audience of my argument because it will show them there are indeed a plethora of benefits of legalization with regards to the youth of America. If my readers are able to see that the many pro arguments that I present outweigh the typically faulty justification for opposing legalization then I have achieved my purpose.

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

In my drafts I reconsidered my sentence structure in regards to the complexity of my sentences. I made a conscious effort to simplify my sentence structure. I also tried to achieve an conversational, but still knowledgeable and believable style of writing.

• How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?

Since I really tried to prevent my argument from seeming to complicated or verbose I helped my argument in achieving its purpose of portraying the idea that the issue of legalization does not have to be so complicated and aggressive, like other arguments make it seem. I want my audience to see that legalization simply must occur, because it will benefit the young people of America tremendously, which is something that my readers would really value.

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

Due to the fact that I have been writing in the blog genre all year for the many deadlines that we have completed, I never really had to reconsider the conventions of a blog post. However, when composing my drafts I did make a conscious to keep my sentences and paragraphs brief, as mentioned above, because I typically. Besides trying to maintain brevity in my writing, emulating the genre examples that I found wasn't too hard of a task.

• How does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?

This reflection process has definitely made me aware of how far I have come as a writer this semester. Before 109H began I had no idea what a blog post even was, but now I have written one that I feel is worthy of going onto a respected site. I now realize that I can do way more than what I originally expected from myself in August, when given the freedom to do so. I now see that I am able to adapt my writing style and my formatting choices, in order to satisfy a specific audience and that I can and must employ many rhetorical strategies, in order to appeal to my readers' decision making processes, no matter what style or type of writing I am working on. It is quite apparent to me that my identity as a writer has been improved substantially, my writing can adapt to different genres and different audiences, and I am happy that I have gained the tools and knowledge to do so.

Publishing Public Argument

In this post I will include a link to the final draft of my public argument. I will also provide a link to a Google Doc containing the information needed to grade my project on the Project 3 rubric.

Anne, "Finish/Start." 7/4/2009 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Click here to access my final draft.

Click here to access my evaluation of my work for grading purposes.

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

In this post I will answer the four provided questions so that I can reflect on the direction that my draft appears to be heading right now.

Plas, Danny, "Reflections." 7/30/2011 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

 For the peer revision portion of this deadline I analyzed the drafts of Jenny and Charles.

1. Who reviewed your project 3 draft?

• Jenny, Lauren, and Rachel all took the time to review my project 3 draft.

2. What did you think or feel about the feedback you received? Be explicit and clear. Tell me what helped or what confused you about the feedback you got.

• To be honest, the feedback that I got from my peers kind of made me a little concerned about the direction that my project is heading in. Rachel and Lauren definitely sensed where I want my argument to go, but it was clear that Jenny didn't really see the true purpose of my argument. Jenny clearly didn't understand the refutation argument type that I was trying to employ, which made me wonder if everyone else would feel this same way. However, Rachel and Lauren commented on my draft after Jenny and they seemed to definitely see what I was trying to accomplish. I don't think that I should let one reader make me question my argument as a whole, thus I will try to clarify some of the things that Jenny clearly didn't understand, but I like the overall essence of my piece and don't want to change the overall purpose that I am trying to achieve too much.

3.What aspects of Project 3 need to most work going forward [Audience, Purpose, Argumentation, or Genre]? How do you plan on addressing these areas?

• I think that the aspects of my project that need the most work are genre and argument. I feel that minor changes to the way my project is formatted to fit my genre would improve it greatly. For instance, I could make my subheadings in bold and bigger font to make them stand out, and I could incorporate an image (maybe a table or graph) to limit the amount of wordy statistics my work contains. As for the argument aspect of my project, I think that appealing to my audience's emotions more would be a smart decision. For example, I could incorporate a personal narrative that could make my audience relate to my argument more and make it seem like I have more credibility on the topic.

4. How are you feeling overall about the direction of your project after peer review and/or instructor conferences this week?

• Despite some questionably harsh critique from one of my peers, I still like the direction of my project so far. My meeting with you a few days ago reassured me that I was definitely on the right track. Therefore, I will make the revisions that we discussed at our meeting and a few additional ones, in order to hopefully clarify any concerns that Jenny, Rachel, or Lauren had with my draft. Overall, I am pretty confident in the direction of my public argument thus far.

Draft of Public Argument

This post will contain a link to the rough draft of my rhetorical argument and specific things I want my peers to look out for when reading my piece.

JasonParis, "Hespeler, ON."11/12/2011 via Flick. Attribution 2.0 Generic

Click here to access my rough draft of Project 3.

Dearest Peers,
Thanks in advance for reading my public argument. I just want to remind you that this rough draft is indeed rough. I mainly just want to know if my argument itself seems convincing- if the support I use seems effective and incorporated thoughtfully, also I would like to know if my blog post seems like something that would possibly be published. I welcome your insight and criticisms about my work, and hope you enjoy reading it!
Thanks!

Considering Visual Elements

This post will contain my thoughts on the four elements of visual rhetoric - Design, Salience, Organization & Impact, based on the questions on pages 395-402 in Writing Public Lives.

Bobby, "Row, row, row your boat..."1/2/2012 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

Creating Visual Coherence:

• How might I vary the fonts used in my project for emphasis, such as in the title and body of my project?
• I plan on potentially varying the font of title of my blog post to make it stand out on the page. However, other than the title I will keep the rest of my post's body in one uniform font.
• Are the different fonts I use complimentary, or is the combination distracting?
• I think that having a different font for the title of my text would be complimentary to my work and be attractive to my audience. But, I do indeed think that having multiple fonts throughout my blog post would be distracting to my audience and make it seem that some aspects of my writing are more important than others, thus I will keep the body of my text in one font.
• Do the headings for different sections of my argument stand out and break the text up clearly?
• I intend on making my subheadings in a larger font than the the rest of my editorial's body, but not as large as the title. This would help my audience realize that there will be an obvious shift in the topic of my argument. 

Creating Visual Salience

• Does the image inform or emphasize my argument in an important way, or does it seem superficial or unrelated to my argument.
• I plan on including a photograph of some sort at the start of my post. This image's purpose will be to grab my readers' attention and appeal to their emotions in some way, thus it will emphasize my argument, and follow the convention of including an image in a blog post.
• If the image is a graph or chart, does it clearly support a major point of my argument, or is it superfluous?
• I plan on including one or two forms of graphical data to further support my argument. I think that at least on of the charts will be about the addictiveness of marijuana in comparison to other drugs. This chart will help my argument against the claim that marijuana is highly addictive, which will benefit my editorial's overall purpose.

Creating Visual Impact

• Looking back at your images, are they placed or sequenced in the most persuasive way?
• Though I haven't constructed my rough draft yet, I think that the images that I choose will be placed in an effective manner. I want to have an image that gets my readers thinking about the issue of marijuana legalization at the beginning of my blog post, and a chart or two within the body of my argument. I feel like this layout of visual aids will definitely be effective.

Project 3 Outline

This post will include a detailed outline for my version of Project 3. It will contain answers to a variety of questions from Writing Public Lives regarding the construction of public arguments.

Dischner, Zach, "Flying Ninja Man." 3/29/2013 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

(I have recently changed my genre from an editorial to a blog post on a site for "hip" moms- The Hairpin.)

Introduction:

• I think that the "Connect the Issue to Your Audience's World View" approach would be the most effective for my specific public argument. My target audience is mothers who may be liberal and willing enough to open their minds to the thought of marijuana legalization. I feel that sarcastically proclaiming that if you love your children you should look down on marijuana legalization would be a good way to start my blog post. This will appeal to my readers' belief that the prosperity of their children's future is important to them, and set the tone for the refutation argument type that I will use throughout my post.

Body Paragraphs:

• Major Supporting Arguments in Favor of Legalization on Marijuana
• bring money to the economy- create job, bring us out of debt, etc.
• less health repercussions/less addictiveness than alcohol or tobacco
• people won't be smoking just to defiantly disobey laws
• will allow there to be funding for education about marijuana
• will allow police to focus/spend money on more pressing issues than prohibition of marijuana
• the black market for drugs will be less powerful

• Major Criticisms Against Legalization
• marijuana can hinder memory and brain capabilities/ activity
• marijuana strands are stronger than they were in the past- could have more downsides
• government must have made it illegal for a good reason
• legalization will promote marijuana use more for the youth- marijuana is a gateway drug
• ending the ban on marijuana will only help those who want to freely use the drug

• Key Support and Rebuttal Points- I plan on organizing each portion of my argument with a proposed downside of legalization, then disproving that claim with support for legalization actually being able to benefit the youth of America.
• Legalization will make young adults more likely to use cannabis/ it will be bad for their mental health and memories- the youth will be exposed to marijuana and other drugs no matter what
• Legalization will only help people who are interested in using marijuana- marijuana legalization will help the economy, which will create jobs for the youth that are struggling to find jobs after college, also the government will get a surplus of money to help schools

• Topic Sentences- I think that I will break up each section of support for legalization with a sarcastic question that encompasses common beliefs that legalization would be bad
• Marijuana is going to hurt the mental development and mental health of the youth, right?
• Won't legalization just help those who already and plan on using marijuana?
• Aren't marijuana strands more dangerous than they were in the past?
• Isn't marijuana an addictive gateway drug?

• Evidence
• What Science Says About Marijuana
• "The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a 1999 study that 32 percent of tobacco users become dependent, as do 23 percent of heroin users, 17 percent of cocaine users, and 15 percent of alcohol drinkers. But only 9 percent of marijuana users develop a dependence."
• "The real gateway drugs are tobacco and alcohol, which young people turn to first before trying marijuana."
• "Adding up all the damage, the panel estimated that alcohol was the most harmful drug, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana ranked eighth, having slightly more than one-fourth the harm of alcohol."
• "While tobacco causes cancer, and alcohol abuse can lead to cirrhosis, no clear causal connection between marijuana and a deadly disease has been made."
• Colorado’s pot tax for schools sets record in May, crushes 2014 totals
• "In the first five months of 2015, the state’s pot-funded excise tax that collects money earmarked for school construction projects brought in $13.6 million, which is more than it did in all of 2014."
• "Even if modest growth continues through the end of the year, Colorado schools will get the promised infusion of $40 million"
• How legalizing pot could save America's economy
• Ending the prohibition of cannabis will enable American industries--transportation, packaging, retail, processing, and tourism-- to thrive
• "Average annual trade in marijuana is estimated at $113 billion, which represents nearly $45 billion in taxes slipping through our fingers."
• Map of Argument
• Click here to access the Coggle that I have made for my public argument.

Conclusion:

• The "Call to Action" approach would most likely be the best way to go about constructing my conclusion. This would be the most effective approach to ending my public argument because it will clarify the reasons why I want to show my readers how marijuana could indeed help the youth of America. I want to encourage the individuals reading my post to feel empowered to take action regarding marijuana legalization, whether this means voting in favor for legalization if given the opportunity to do so, or to engage in discussions with individuals who may believe in the misconceptions regarding marijuana legalization having the potential to negatively affect children and young adults. 

Reflection:
For this step in my writing process I chose to read and comment on the "Considering Visual Elements" posts by Ann Emilie and Addie. Addie and I are writing in similar genres so most of our ideas and observations about our genres really seem to match up. Ever since the beginning of this class, I have known that blogs need to have short and concise paragraphs, however Addie's post really reminded me of the importance of this. Ann Emilie's post showed me how much thought can and must go into a visual argument. After reading Ann Emilie's post I now see that the images that I chose to include and the colors within them can have great impact on my audience, thus I need to pay close attention to my visual selections. I am pretty confident in my plans for this project!

Analyzing My Genre

This post will contain 5 examples of the genre I will be writing in and answers to the questions about my genre from Writing Public Lives page 342, which will help me further analyze my genre.

Chandler, Todd, "Magnifying glass." 10/6/2013 via Flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Originally I wrote this post with the idea that I was going to write an editorial, however I have now decided to write a blog post on a site called The Hairpin, which is a blog for "hip" young moms. For the peer revision process you need to be provided with some examples of my actual chosen genre... so here are a few:

• Example
• Example
• Example
• Example

5 Examples of Editorials About Marijuana (From The New York Times)

• Example
• Example
• Example
• Example
• Example

Social Context:

• Where is the genre typically set?

An editorial can appear in a variety of magazines or newspapers.

• What is the subject of the genre?

The subject of the genre can vary. However, it typically addresses a well known controversy or debate that is occurring or that is popularly written about that authors have strong opinions about. 

• Who uses the genre?

Any writer who has original thoughts about a topic can use this genre, however getting your editorial published in a well known publication isn't so simple.

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

The genre of editorials is used to introduce a debated issue in the media, whenever a large scale event occurs: the passing of a law, a newly elected official, a protest, etc. It is used to give people knowledge on an issue from a more opinionated perspective than an article, thus readers will be able to formulate their own thoughts on where they stand on the topic. 

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre:

• What type of content is usually included and excluded?

There typically isn't too much background information on the issue. The authors tend to just get right to the point of their specific argument, because the reader is most likely quite aware of the topic at hand. Editorials include the justifications for why the facts and statistics they include are relevant to the text's overall argument, rather than just randomly including them.

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

It seems that all appeals to emotion (ethos, pathos, logos) are used within all of the sample texts I have looked at, this enables the author to make it apparent to his or her audience that they are a reliable source and constructer of arguments. The texts generally use statistics to appeal to their readers' logic, and quotes or references from other sources to appeal to readers' emotions. 

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

The texts generally open with a simple assertion of an opinion or claim that sets the tone for the rest of the piece. The editorials generally have short paragraphs with a lot of white space, and typically have a lot of hyperlinks used throughout.

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

The sentences within the editorials tends to vary between a mix of simple and more complex phrases, however there is a consistently active voice throughout, because the topics addressed within are still very relevant and present in society. Periods and commas are the predominant use of punctuation, but questions are sometimes used to introduce a new argument or make readers further reflect on a particular thought.

• What type of word choice is used in the genre? 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 used within this genre, or at least the examples I have looked at have purposeful and easy to understand and slightly sarcastic. Thus, the word choice has an overall effect of being informal and slightly humorous as it pokes fun at the apposing side of the issue at hand. There are really no words that can be considered jargon or slang.

Analyzing Patterns:

• Who does the genre include and exclude?

The genre includes individuals who want to learn a little bit more about a widely debated controversy, who won't be overly offended by reading a work that openly contains an opinion. The genre excludes individuals who are opposed to reading newspapers or magazines in the social media dominated world that we live in.

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

The author is supposed to come off as a trustworthy and intellectual source of information for their readers. On the other hand, readers are supposed to be willing to accept or deny an author's stance on a topic, while still learning about the issue.

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

The users of this genre value knowledge and either want to be further educated on an issue they feel strongly about or be persuaded about the topic based on the author's argument. Depending on the topic of the editorial or where it is published the values of the readers of editorials can greatly differ.

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

Works written in this genre are heavily dependent on the use of outside sources to further the claims that their authors are making within them. Visual displays are probably the least important aspect of this genre. Editorials may contain an image or some sort of graphical display to catch their readers' attention, but what the author says seems more important.

Reflection:

For this step in the deadline I read and commented on Lauren's and Annelise's "Analyzing My Genre" posts. Both of my peers and myself all selected different genres to work with for Project 3. However, this doesn't make me concerned because we all have different goals and visions for our projects. For instance, Annelise selected the listicle to keep her argument brief and concise, while Lauren felt like a typical article was most effective because she didn't want to be too opinionated in her writing. My peers made me more confident in my selection of the editorial genre, because they illustrated to me the idea that as long as you know the conventions of your chosen genre and are happy with that genre for the argument that you are constructing, then you can be successful with any genre that you choose.

Considering Types

In this post I will reflect on the information provided in the "Five Basic Types of Public Argument" portion of Writing Public Lives, in order to decide which types of argument seem like the best and worst ones for my own Public Argument project.

sweetenough, "I can't get no... contradiction." 10/22/2010 via Flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

I feel like the type of argument that will be the most effective for my public argument is the refutation argument. In my opinion, the best way to show the many benefits of legalization to my audience, whether or not they were supporters of lifting the ban on cannabis prior to seeing my argument, is to disprove the claims that are currently being made against legalizing marijuana in America.

I feel that any of the other types of arguments mentioned in Writing Public Lives, like the proposal argument, would be ineffective for my topic, due to the fact that people could still be resistant to the idea of legalization based on their own preconceived ideas, no matter how convincing my newly proposed ideas or solutions regarding legalization are. Thus, by directly discrediting the claims of opposers of legalization and painting marijuana in a new light, by employing a refutation argument, I will improve the potential for my audience to be more accepting of the idea of lifting the ban on marijuana.

Reflection:
I commented on both Lauren's and Annelise's "Considering Types" posts, but my comments also related to what my peers said within their "My Rhetorical Action Plan" posts. Here are the links to my peers blog posts.

Lauren:
My Rhetorical Action Plan
Considering Types

Annelise:
My Rhetorical Action Plan
Considering Types

After reading Lauren's and Annelise's posts I am still confident in the argument type that I have chosen for my form of public speech. After exploring my peers' plans for this project it became apparent to me how greatly argument types, possible genres, and target audiences can change drastically depending on the topic that an author is addressing. Thus, even though my peers and myself all decided on different argument types that is okay based on the fact that we are all discussing different controversies and have different goals in mind for our audiences. One very interesting thing that I discovered during this reflection process was the great potential of success for the genre of a listicle. I feel like a listicle, based on Annelise's explanation, could be a very good genre for me to compose my argument within, because it will enable me to explicitly address the 5 or so major illogical arguments that people make against legalization. Thus, I will have to strongly consider making a listicle in addition to my other proposed genre types before making a final decision on how I will construct my argument.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this post I will answer the the three questions and their sub-bullets from the "Developing a Rhetorical Action Plan" portion within Writing Public Lives, in order to figure our the most effective way to make my argument in Project 3.

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1. Audience: Who are you going to try to persuade with your public argument? Describe the following aspects of your audience in a few sentences:

I am trying to reach young adults within the ages of 18 to 35 as the main audience of my public argument. I feel that this target audience will be the most effectively persuaded into believing that legalization is a good idea for America.

• Knowledge: What does the audience know about the topic, text, or idea? How do they know the topic (where do they get their knowledge from)? Do they have certain predispositions or opinions about the topic that you will need to address?

I would assume that the ideal audience for my argument will have a decent amount of knowledge on the topic of legalization, due to the fact that the issue of legalization has been under debate for quite a few years. Thus, my readers could have gained their knowledge about legalization from speeches by politicians, news reports, articles, or just conversations among their peers and elders regarding marijuana legalization. A lot of the time the topic of legalization is presented from a negative viewpoint, thus my readers could potentially have biased opinions about the downsides of legalization, however I plan on directly addressing and disproving a lot of the preconceived notions about marijuana that my readers may have been exposed to including the fact that marijuana is more addictive than alcohol and tobacco, and that if cannabis were to be legalized it would have more negative health effects on Americans.

• Values: What do you know about the values, ideals, principles or norms (standards of conduct) that members of the audience might hold?

Due to the fact that younger individuals tend to be more willing to accept change than Americans who are older than my target age range, it would make sense for my audience to have liberal beliefs. However, some of my audience members may have conservative ideals regarding marijuana legalization, but I feel that my argument, which will go into detail about how most of the thoughts and beliefs that Americans tend to have about marijuana legalization being harmful and immoral are unjust, will effectively make enable my audience to see the benefits of legalization, despite their prior feelings about the issue.

• Standards of Argument: What type of research or evidence do you think will be persuasive for your audience? How might you have to translate this research for them?

I feel like including scientific facts about how marijuana has been proven to be less harmful than legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, in addition to including support about how legalization will help America's economy, and by mentioning the reasons how marijuana prohibition came about would really help to persuade my audience. I will directly quote articles with this information and provide links for further reading regarding this support to my argument.

• Visual elements: What visual elements might your audience respond to? Why?

I think that providing my audience with visual representations of graphs and other statistical findings would be really helpful in making my audience see legalization in a better light. For instance if I include a screenshot of a chart that I found online about the major reasons why Americans are against legalization which includes the percentage of Americans that share those beliefs, and discuss how a majority of those justifications that people give for keeping the ban on marijuana in effect are based off of incorrect reasoning. Therefore, an image of this nature will allow my audience to further understand the validity of my overall argument.

• Purpose: Why is your audience reading or listening to your argument? Are you trying to expand their understanding of an idea, encourage them to take action on an issue, challenge a long-held tradition or viewpoint, etc.? How likely is your argument to motivate your audience?

They want to know what to be more informed about the issue of marijuana legalization and the reasons why the ban on cannabis should ultimately be put to a stop. I want to challenge the highly regarded conservative values that many Americans have about marijuana, by providing my audience with new knowledge on the topic or by presenting it in a new way, which would, or at least I hope, consequently inspire them to take action regarding legalization. This desire for action could encompass simply reading more about the issue, or educating people who they come across who express the beliefs that my public speech disproves, or going out and participating in protests, or having a voice and voting on legalization when given the chance, either on a state or national level.

2. Genre #1: What form of writing will you use? After identifying your genre, list your answers for the following questions:

I think that writing an editorial for my public argument (like ones found here and here). 

• What is the function of the genre? What is it designed to do for your readers? Or, why did you choose it?

The function of an editorial is to share an author's opinion about a specific controversial issue. Written works within this genre are intended to inform their readers about the topic at hand. I chose to look further into this genre because I feel like being able to express my own thoughts and opinions about legalization, but still being able to teach my readers about legalization with facts from varying sources will allow them to formulate their own conclusions regarding the issue.   

• What is the setting of your genre? Where could you see it being used? 

There are a lot of settings for this genre. However I could really seeing an editorial of this nature to be posted on The New York Times or The Huffington Post, because these would be good publications for my intended audience to learn about the issue of legalization.

• How might you use the rhetorical appeals we have studied--ethos (character), pathos (values/emotion), and logos (logical argumentation) in this genre?

I intend on appealing to my audience's logos by providing support to prove how most of the justifications that people have for being opposed to legalization are illogical, based on facts that I have found while doing research. Also, I could appeal to my audience's ethos by possibly providing a small personal narrative to illustrate to my audience that I am a part of the age group that is of great importance regarding the issue of legalization. 

• What type of visual elements, if any, will you use in this genre? 

I will probably have a picture at the beginning of my editorial to graph my readers' attention and then I will most likely have images or graphs placed throughout my editorial to further support my claims and reasoning.

• What type of style (formal, informal, conversational, academic, etc.) will you use in this genre?

In editorials, authors tend to use a conversational and rather informal tone. This helps to make an author seem more relatable to their audience, thus I plan on following this convention.

Genre #2: What form of writing will you use? After identifying your genre, list your answers for the following questions:

I am also considering making an informational video pertaining to the reasons legalization should be put into effect (see here and here). 

• What is the function of the genre? What is it designed to do for your readers? Or, why did you choose it?

The function of this genre would be to present all of the same support that I would include within an editorial, however an informational video would allow my audience to see my reasoning in support of legalization in a visual way with effective music selection, in order to make the audience more emotionally invested in the topic.  

• What is the setting of your genre? Where could you see it being used? 

The work made within this genre could be first made on youtube and then shared and published on a site like Reddit, which is commonly viewed by my intended audience.

• How might you use the rhetorical appeals we have studied--ethos (character), pathos (values/emotion), and logos (logical argumentation) in this genre?

I would appeal to my audience's logos by providing them with a lot of facts including ones about how marijuana has been proven to be less addictive than a lot of other drugs and numbers and figures about how America's economy will benefit from legalization. Also, I will appeal to my viewers' pathos by using powerful images and influential and intriguing music.

• What type of visual elements, if any, will you use in this genre? 

The whole video would be constructed of a variety of images and video clips. These could range from ones about protests that are occurring surrounding legalization, segments from public speeches regarding marijuana, or graphical evidence about studies done about marijuana's health benefits and lack of addicting qualities.

• What type of style (formal, informal, conversational, academic, etc.) will you use in this genre?

The style of this genre is informative and conversational, much like an editorial. The facts are presented in a casual fashion so that viewers can see their relevance and importance, without being overwhelmed feeling overwhelmed by an overly aggressive presentation of facts.

3. Responses/actions: Explain the possible actions that you would like your audience to take after they read or view your argument. 

Positive reactions:

• agreeing that marijuana should be legal in the U.S.
• acknowledging that the idea of prohibition is outdated and ineffective
• recognizing that the major reasons opposing legalization are illogical or decided upon based on incorrect facts
• feeling informed enough on the issue to stand up for legalization if someone is using faulty logic to justify keeping the marijuana ban in effect

Negative Rebuttals:

• Legalization will only benefit people who want to use marijuana regularly
• Marijuana is a gateway drug and if it is legalized Americans would be more willing to try other drugs
• The prohibition of marijuana must have been started for a good reason, thus it should stay in effect

Possible Response to Negative Rebuttals:

• Illustrate how legalization will benefit many sectors of the economy, which will consequently benefit a lot of people
• Provide facts about how some people who try marijuana do tend to experiment with other drugs, but there is no proof that marijuana is the cause of that experimentation
• Explain how in early America marijuana production was required to help the economy and helping to make other goods. Then go into detail how prohibition only came about during the Great Depression to further a flourishing anti-Mexican immigrant sentiment, and to make sure people didn't turn on the government, these facts would show how the ban on marijuana was put in place for reasons that would not benefit U.S. citizens.

Analyzing Purpose

In this post, I will answer that questions from the "Thinking through the Purpose of Your Public Argument" portion within Writing Public Lives, in order to further analyze my purpose of composing Project 3.

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1. What is the goal of your argument? What do you want your audience to think, feel, do, believe after reading it?
The goal of my arguments is for people to see the reasons why marijuana legalization is logical and necessary in America. I want my audience to feel enlightened about the benefits of ending the ban on cannabis, and be inspired to do further research on legalization. My desire is for my audience to no longer blindly believe the misconceptions, if they are already doing so, about legalization. I also want my audience to realize that the issue of legalization involves more than just a moral aspect, because making the decision to end the prohibition of cannabis encompasses logical and economical beliefs as well.

2. Plausible Actions/ Reactions:
-Audience will want to read more about the benefits of legalization
-Audience will want to look deeper into anti-legalization texts
-They will be more interested in forming their opinion on the debate
-People will become more emotionally invested in the issue over legalization

Not Plausible:
-Audience becomes offended by my argument
-Audience feels that none of the info within my argument is new or relevant to them

3. Possible Consequences:
-People will be more aware and knowledgable when encountering debates about marijuana
-They will be more willing to vote directly on marijuana legislation, if given the opportunity in the future/ will consider marijuana views more when voting for elected officials
-Audience will be more openminded regarding legalization
-People will see the outdated and incorrect ideas that marijuana opposition is based off of
-Individuals will have an opinion in the debate, rather than just allowing the people with extreme viewpoints to constantly be the leaders in the discussion of the issue
-Audience may be more willing to take action (sign a petition, take part in a protest) after reading my text

4. The most ideal audience for my argument would have to be young American adults, who are most likely between the ages of 18 to 35. This age range will be helpful because people of these ages are not set in their ways and tend to be more willing to accept change than older individuals. Thus, after reading my argument my target audience will hopefully feel more educated and more confident to speak out and share their new found knowledge about cannabis legalization when confronted with the overly conservative thoughts of their elders, some of which I intend to disprove in my argument. Marijuana legalization will affect the America that we, the people of my target audience will have to be a part of in the future, thus we must be wiling and able to be an active part of this debate.

Analyzing Context

In this post I will analyze the context of my controversy for Project 3 by answering the questions within "Reading Context of Your Public Debate" from Writing Public Lives. 

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1. What are the key perspectives or schools of thought on the debate that you are studying?

There are simply two key perspectives regarding the debate surrounding marijuana: pro-legalization and anti-legalization.

2. What are the major points of contention or major disagreements among these perspectives?
There is a lot of disagreement surrounding the economic and health benefits of marijuana between the two sides of this issue. Also, there is a lot of dispute over whether or not marijuana is less or more dangerous and addictive than legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco.

3. What are the possible points of agreement, or the possible common ground between these perspectives?
The only real common ground between the two perspectives surrounding legalization is that both sides are attempting to ensure the overall safety and prosperity of America and its citizens.

4. What are the ideological differences, if any, between the perspectives?
In general, supporters of legalization tend to be more liberal, while individuals who oppose legalization tend to be more conservative.

5. What specific actions to their perspectives or texts ask their audience to take?
The main goal of texts written from either perspectives is to inform their audience to about marijuana so that they would vote, if given the opportunity on either a state or national level, for or against marijuana, depending on the viewpoint of a particular text's author.

6. What perspectives are useful in supporting your own arguments about the issue? Why did you choose these?
The perspective that I feel will be most helpful in supporting my own argument, which is in favor of legalizing marijuana, will be those from the anti-marijuana side of this debate. For instance, the opposing thoughts and opinions of concerned parents, conservative individuals, and hesitant elderly Americans on marijuana will be useful for providing me with a clear basis of the claims that I will need to disprove, using factual and convincing evidence from the pro-legalization side of this debate, in order for more Americans to see the benefits of legalization.

7. What perspectives do you think will be the greatest threat to your argument? Why so?
The same anti-weed perspectives that I claimed would be be helpful in supporting my arguments about the issue could also be my greatest threats. If the earlier mentioned concerned parents, conservative individuals, and hesitant elderly Americans or people who see validity in that perspective's claims remain strongly resistant to legalization in every aspect of the debate surrounding marijuana, even after reading my argument, then I have ultimately failed at achieving my purpose.

Reflection:
I read and commented on the "Analyzing Context" posts by Ann Emilie and Breanna. Both of my peers performed really good analysis of the context of their controversial topics. One thing that Breanna's post taught me was that the perspectives of a debate do not have to be so black and white. Therefore, I could possibly incorporate a hybrid perspective in my argument to further appeal to my audience and express my ideas.

Audience and Genre

In this post I will be exploring a few audiences that I could ultimately make me for of public speech pertain to. I will also be looking into the genre of writing that would effectively appeal to these people.

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1. College students who are willing to have explore the current pros and cons of legalizing marijuana in America- This is a worthwhile audience to appeal to about this issue of marijuana because I am around the same age as these people so I feel like I could relate to them and their thought processes. Also, since marijuana legalization is an issue that will continue to have importance throughout this audience's adulthood it would be beneficial to inform them on this issue.

• A youtube video that could be shared on social media that discusses the current facts about marijuana enforcement and sway my peers to have a say in this debate. Example, Example
• Op-ed in a college newspaper that discusses the ways in which marijuana can help college students realize that legalizing marijuana could really benefit out country. Example, Example

2. Grown women, around their 40s and early 50s, who tend to be very open about their views on controversial issues, like that religious aunt who uses Facebook to share videos about how marijuana is evil and negatively affects the mental state of the youth. These women, when presented with the right facts about marijuana might be willing to change their opinions on marijuana legalization if my argument is conveyed in an effective way that shows that typical preconceived notions about cannabis are faulty.

• A Question and answer article pertaining to basic misconceptions about marijuana written for a site like High Times or Leafly that could be shared on social media. Example, Example
• A review on an article or public speech that only discusses the cons of legalizing marijuana, which would allow me to disprove the arguments that marijuana resistant adults tend to side with. Example, Example

Extended Annotated Bibliography

In this post I will provide a link to the first portion of my annotated bibliography for Project 3. The sources within were aimed at answering the questions about my topic within my previous post.

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 To access my annotated bibliography click here.

Narrowing My Focus

In this blog post I will choose 3 questions from my previous post and explain why I feel as though answering to these questions will be crucial to my own public argument.

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• When was marijuana made illegal in America?

• How does marijuana compare to legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol?

• Where is marijuana largely used in the world, whether it is legal or not? What laws do these locations have in place?

I think that answering these specific questions will be helpful in starting and developing my argument for Project 3. I feel that looking back in history and seeing when and the claimed reasons why marijuana was made illegal in America could be helpful in presenting the viewpoint that it is time for the ban to be lifted. Looking into the differing qualities of cannabis, alcohol, and tobacco, such as the health repercussions and the addiction rates for each substance could be helpful possibly be helpful to my argument. Lastly, by researching where marijuana is largely used in the world would be beneficial to researching the issue of what America should do about marijuana. In places where weed is illegal it will be interesting to see what laws they have in place and how strict they are. Whereas in places that have totally legalized weed, it would be interesting to know how that is working out legally and economically. 

Questions About Controversy

In this post I will provide a variety of questions that will help me answer any remaining questions I have about the controversy surrounding marijuana legalization in America, in order to improve my ability to successfully complete Project 3.

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WHO

1. What groups of people are the major supporters/ opposers of marijuana legalization in America?
2. Which politicians have expressed their strong opinions regarding legalization and what are their major justifications advocating or opposing legalization?
3. What reasons do people present about marijuana legalization negatively affecting the youth in America?

WHAT 

1. What are the moral justifications that people have in resistance to marijuana legalization?
2. What are the proposed medical downfalls/ benefits of legalizing marijuana?
3. What aspects of the America's economy would be influenced, both positively and negatively, if marijuana were to be legalized? 

WHEN

1. When was marijuana made illegal in America?
2. When did the countries that have legalized marijuana make it legal? Or was it always legal in these locations?
3. When states like Colorado and Washington officially legalized recreational use of marijuana how long did it take for government entities, such as schools, to experience the economic benefits of legalization?

WHERE

1. Where is marijuana legal in the world?
2. Where can the money that the government is currently being spending on marijuana prohibition be used if legalization were to occur?
3. What states are arresting/ incarcerating the most people on marijuana based charges and how much money are they spending to enforce these legal actions? 

HOW

1. How are people responding, on social media, to the discussion of marijuana legalization that is occurring within the current presidential debates?
2. How does marijuana compare to legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol?
3. How do authors of general media sources address marijuana legalization? From an economic, moral, medical or other approaches?

Reflection on Project 2

In this blog post I will reflect on Project 2 by answering the provided questions from Writing Public Lives page 520.

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•  What was specifically revised from one draft to another?

The major changes between my first draft and the drafts that followed were within my introduction and conclusion. After discussing introductions in class, I altered my intro to include a grabber and to explicitly forecast the purpose of my writing, which shows my audience why they should want to continue reading my essay. My conclusion was also changed dramatically. After my first draft, I realized I needed to stop summarizing and repeating earlier stated ideas and actually give my concluding paragraph a purpose. I did this by briefly restating my thesis and then focusing the rest of the paragraph on answering the "so what" of my paper.

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

The main problem that the first draft of my thesis was that it didn't contain an argument. I definitely portrayed how I intended to deconstruct my chosen text and what strategies my author used, however I never stated my opinion of whether or not the strategies used within the text benefitted the author's overall argument.

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

This change to my thesis was crucial to successfully performing an rhetorical analysis as a whole, because an argument in one's thesis, not supporting or refuting the author's opinion but the way that his or her argument is constructed, is an extremely necessary part of creating a rhetorical analysis. The overall purpose of a rhetorical analysis is to make an arguments about the text as a whole, rather than just summarizing the strategies that the author employs.

• How did the changes affect your credibility as an author?

After making this change to my thesis my credibility as an author was definitely improved. The addition of my opinion about the effectiveness of the author's argument, whether my readers agree or not, shows that I am willing to assert my thoughts, even though people may disagree. When an author does not assert an opinion in his or her thesis and appears to stay on the fence about the effectiveness of the text's argument, it makes it seem like that writer lacks confidence in their thoughts and views, which would therefore make readers skeptical of whether or not that essay can be trusted. 

• How will the changes better address the audience of venue?

In addition to properly fulfilling the purpose of writing a rhetorical analysis, I also made this change out of consideration for my audience. My readers, fellow business students, need to be aware of how a correct thesis is composed for a rhetorical analysis, so that they can be able to successfully create their own thesis and argumentative analysis in the future. 

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

In my many drafts I reconsidered my sentence structure in regards to the complexity of my sentences. I made a conscious effort to simplify my sentence structure. I also tried to achieve an assertive, but still believable style in my writing.

• How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?

These changes will assist my audience my audience a lot in understanding my purpose. Having simpler sentences and a powerful but not too aggressive tone will show my audience that in a rhetorical analysis an author must be direct about his or her opinions, but must also not seem biased or overly opinionated about the stance that the original text took on the issue. Improving these aspects of my writing helped to clear up any ambiguity that my readers would have initially sensed in the purpose of my essay.

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

I have never really performed a rhetorical analysis of this kind before. Thus, rather than reconsidering the conventions of this genre while writing my own essay, I just had to remind myself of the correct ways to go about creating a rhetorical analysis that were clearly stated during class and in the readings that I had to do for the many deadlines within this project.

• How does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?

This reflection process has definitely made me reconsider the way that I identify myself as a writer. At the beginning of the semester, I considered myself to be a writer who focused primarily on planning and not so much on revision. However, I now realize that the revision process is just as important to the success of a piece of writing that I produce, than the planning portion of my approach to writing. I used to underestimate the importance of revision, because I was never really forced to look over and re-work my essays as I am required to do now. But I am now able to see that although performing good revision can be tough and time consuming, it is indeed a worthwhile task in the long run.

Reflection:

I could really relate a lot to the "Reflection on Project 2" posts by Addie and Sam. We all felt that including a true argument in our theses and clearly stating whether or not out authors effectively used rhetorical strategies within their writing was crucial, in order to properly fulfill the needs of a rhetorical analysis. Sam specifically mentioned how this project/ reflection made him realize that he can identify himself as a writer who is willing to throw out large portions of his writing. This part of his reflection really appealed to me because it reminded me of how hesitant and annoyed I was by the idea of totally getting rid of my intro and conclusion, earlier in this module. However, I now see that re-doing these paragraphs, despite my initial resistance, was really effective in the long run.