Reflection on Open Letter Draft

In the following blog post I will be reflecting on the peer review and drafting process of my letter. I will be doing this by answering five bullet points from Student's Guide to assess my draft and what I plan to change.

I reviewed the letters of Michael Beiley and Mira Theilmann

Halliwell, Mike, "Mirror Ball" 7/1/14 via Flickr.com

1. Did you demonstrate an ability to think about your writing and yourself as a writer?
          
I think I was a very efficient in communicating what I felt about my own writing and how I viewed myself as a writer. I feel comfortable with the amount I spoke about my personal connection to writing and how I view it as an art form.  

2. Did you provide analysis of your experiences, writing assignments, or concepts you have learned?
          
I did very well to evaluate how I have progressed and how each of the different specific areas we studies impacted my writing and how I view myself as a writer. I didn't look too in depth at my exact assignments, but rather the skills that I gained from each of them as a whole.

3. Did you provide concrete examples from your own writing (either quotes from your writing or rich descriptions of your writing process)?
          
I did not include many direct references to my blog and writing as much as I should have. I completely failed to include any quotes which could have been very useful in a couple of portions. I think it will be very useful to incorporate quote and then provide links to the posts they're a part of (two birds with one stone). 

4. Did you explain why you made certain choices and whether those choices were effective?
           
 I did not look into my choices as much as I did my development. I didn't think that the specific efforts and choices of every single assignment were as important as the growth. In hind sight I think it's important to include the specific choices I've made and why I made them but I'm not sure I will go into extreme detail. 

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

I used terminology articulately but not in an overwhelming abundance. I feel confident with how much terminology I used from the course, but I could try to include it more frequently and not just talk about it briefly. I could refer back to terms and topics to make a more fluid letter. 

Draft of Open Letter

In the following blog post I will provide a link to my open letter reflection on my writing, as well as provide my peers with a paragraph regarding the strengths and weaknesses of my draft and what they should edit for.

I'm feeling alright about the content itself, but I'm concerned about the format. For one, I don't know for certain if I need the address element. Those seemed to be present in many of the completed exampled I looked at, but I'm not sure they're needed for the context I'm writing this letter. I'm also a little concerned about the introduction paragraph. Many of the descriptions of semi-formal letters I looked at included an introduction like this, but I'm worried it's not quite right. If I could get comments regarding those and other semi-formal letter conventions, that would be awesome.

HERE is a draft of my open letter.

Harris, Lyn, "Tools of the Trade" 1/26/15 via Flickr.com

Reflecting More on my Writing Experience

In the following blog post I will be responding to 5 questions regarding my growth as a writer in this course and what parts of this course have been most and least influential on me and my writing. 

1. What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?
       
         The workload of this class was undeniably the most challenging element of this course as a whole. The challenge I faced in the semester in general was the distribution of focus for each course and the time management of them. I was entirely responsible of my work ethic and that was an honest challenge. The work of this class demanded time and I gave it almost too much. I occasionally put in too much time into the extensive assignments of this class, while neglecting others. This course's content was not extremely unfamiliar or daunting, but it was a very new perspective on how to address my work ethic and fluff writing.

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

         I found out thanks to this course that I need to trim down on how much time I give to one writing assignment, as well as how much planning and thought I put into it. That is not to say that this class made me unwillingly cut back of my writing, but opened my eyes to the importance of being short, sweet, and to the point. The class also helped me realize that I can write efficiently and concisely and adapt well to knew forms of writing, provided a good idea of the goal of a piece of writing (so all the planning assignments we were given before producing a final piece)

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

          After this course, I have a better understanding of the diversity of genres, for one thing. The different forms of news articles, videos, blogs, essays became very extensive after we investigated genres so much. The understanding of how to evaluate a genre, like in this post, this post, and this post, has helped me prepare for writing in a random genre that I may be given in my profession, as well as how to teach it to others. Understanding a genre allows someone unfamiliar with that genre to write effectively and confidently, without losing sight of what they want to communicate, as can sometimes happen when writing in a new form.

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

            The use of bibliographies is a particular skill that I had before entering this course which I refined in this course will be very useful in the future for evaluating and using sources. This class also helped me hone my understanding and skill of evaluating a rhetorical situation, which is necessary in the english discipline. Adaptability to genres will also be an incredibly useful skill which I would like to improve in the future. 

5. What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H?
 
            I think my most effective moments (I'll say moments because there were multiple of the same moment) would be my peer evaluations. I love peer editing and find it to be beneficial to multiple parties. The peer evaluations of this class helped me to understand the idiosincrqocies of my own writing, as well as expose myself to other peoples ideas in their work, their styles, and their insight. Peer editing makes me feel helpful, informed, and improved. I edited many people in different ways and all of them had great benefits, like here, and here.

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

            When it comes to my least effective moment from this semester, I would have to say my reflections and comments were not always well executed and I often failed to see their benefit. The only assignments I ever left incomplete were several read/respond/reflects. I would have to describe that as ineffective.

Bui, Annie, "Growth" 10/20/12 via Flickr.com

Revisiting My Writing Process

In the following blog post I will be reflecting and responding to my blog posts 1.10 and 1.12; how my writing and time management has changed and just how I see my writing progressing in the future and how it'll impact my career.

In my blog post 1.10, "My Writing Process", I claimed that I was a heavy revisor and occasionally a heavy planner. In the past semester, I would say I fell more into the heavy planning area. This was still very familiar to my and my process of writing. The course itself demanded much more planning than any other course I've been in, but there was still a great focus on revising. The focus of each deadline had a tendency to promote planning more than anything, but for every assignment there was an entire week or two devoted to writing and revising. It was a nice balance of the writing process I had been so familiar with, but with a slight shift in focus from revision to initial planning. This has helped me realize the convenience of good planning so it can cut down on the revision process itself. The planning and examination of the project has helped me realize the importance of understanding the context and purpose of my essays. Since I intend to study and teach english, this is an incredibly useful skill.

In my blog post 1.12, "Calendar Reflection", I was relatively true to what I expect from myself when it came to the actual execution of my work; sitting down and doing large, extended periods of work, rather than doing little things throughout the week. However, I failed to anticipate the work and demand of other classes and fell short in distributing my work well on the days that I wanted to. In truth, the Tuesdays and Thursdays I thought I would be extremely productive became my friends and family days. I was right about using Saturday afternoons for publication. I was truly rather dreadful with my time management of smaller assignments, waiting until the last moment. I do think that the stressfulness of close calls and late work have done well to tell me that it really is terrible to procrastinate, but I can still tell that it will be a tricky habit to kick. Nevertheless, I will try, due to the importance of initiative in the workplace.

Cummins, Gary "Infinity o'clock" 2/19/12 via Flickr.com

Reflection on Project 3

In the following blog post I will be answering on the 9 questions provided in Writing Public Lives page 520 in order to reflect on the progress of my drafts and final product.

1. What was specifically revised from one draft to another?
             I specifically added images for the sake of obliging to genre conventions and then I added more of a focus on my personal interest and perspective on the issue itself; I made my personal opinion on the issue.

2. Point to global changes: how did you reconsider your thesis or organization?
             I thought about making my personal feelings much clearer in the introduction of my personal opinion and goal.

3. What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?
            After my peer reviews and teacher conference, I realized that because of my lacked assertiveness and direct claim, I was losing the understanding of my readers, as well as their interest in the argument as a whole.

4. How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?
             These changes don't weaken me rediculously, but since I do turn to my own opinions a couple of times, it's possible that my level-headedness and professionalism could be questioned.

5 How will these changes better address the audience or venue?
              These changed make it much easier for the reader to fully understand what exactly it is that I'm arguing and what it is that I want them to feel.

6. Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
               I made sentences slightly more direct and less formal by changing word choice and sentence length.

7. How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?
              These brisker, more direct sentences help the readers to understand what it is that I'm criticizing and that they should feel frustrated about the issue as well.

8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing?
              I made sure to include images and links in the argument, though those were the only additions I made because I adhered rather well to the other conventions of the genre.

9. Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?
              The process of reflection greatly helps me to remember specific weak points in my writing that may come up again. My identity as a writer becomes clearer with the mistakes that I've made, as well as how I repaired those mistakes, while staying true to the purpose of my writing.

Lancaster, Sean "Mirror, mirror leaning on the wall..."
3/31/15 via Flickr.com

Publishing Public Argument

In the following blog post, I will be publishing a link to my final public argument, as well as reflect on its content and provide links to the genre.

HERE is a link to my finished product.

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:

         _______ 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.

         ___X___ 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:
      
            My argument is a causal argument that takes the weaknesses of multiple different areas related to education from different sources and ties them together in a cumulative conclusion regarding the inequality of funding. When most of my sources look at single sources of conflict, I combine multiple as the causes of the overarching problem. 

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

Ethical or credibility-establishing appeals

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

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

                    __X__ 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

                    _____ 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)

                    _____ 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

                    __X__ 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

                    _____ 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 

                    __X__ 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

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

                    _____ 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

                    _____ Other: 

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

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

                    __X__ Using expert opinions that help affirm your stance or position

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

                    _____ 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)

                    _____ Other: 

HERE is a link to one example entitled: "How one impoverished public school district is making strides"

HERE is a link to an example entitled: "What we need from the next secretary of education: An overhaul of financial aid, to start"

HERE is a final example entitled: "Arne Duncan blasts House effort to revise No Child Left Behind"

Lipson, Harry, "Boston Marathon Finish Line"
4/15/13 via Flickr.com

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

In the following blog post I will be reflecting on the process of peer review and the changes I need to make on my draft.

I reviewed the drafts of Michael and Laurence (as well as Michael, upon request)

1. I had Andrea, Michael, and Michael review my draft.

2. Andrea's feedback was honest and more of what I expected regarding my opinion in the piece. The fact that I'm not forward about my opinion causes confusion, which is to be expected. However, the ineffectiveness of my form of argument was a little surprising, but provides insight for me on things to focus on. The low score I consistently received on my rhetorical strategies is an important note that I didn't realize. I gained generally higher scores from Michael B, which also pointed out some of the stronger points that I had on the assignment. The low score I received from Andrea on the Genre was unexpected and confused me slightly, since it was one of a stronger areas I felt. Michael F's review was the most positive of all of them, pointing out specific examples that were very strong. I got a great degree of bad and good reviews, which I couldn't be happier with.

3. Based on these evaluations, I think I really have to focus on voicing my personal opinion of the school funding conflict. I think argumentation needs the most work in regards to my argument as a whole. I could use a little work on audience and how well I communicate my opinion to them.

4. I think my paper is on the right track, though it is still very weak on the subject of my personal opinion. I really need to keep track of the fact that this is an opinion piece. After both the conference and peer review, I understand that I need to be more forward and honest about my opinion.

Díaz, Carlos "Ina" 1/11/09 via Flickr.com

Draft of Public Argument

In the following blog post, I'll be providing a link to my draft of Project 3.

vincent.zp "Drafting Tools Set" 12/23/09 via Flickr.com

HERE is a link to my project 3.

I'm a little concerned about my use of images as well as the coherency of my ideas and feel that they really need to have a fluid connection and I think I'm lacking in that area. I'd love to get some feedback regarding the transition of ideas and how the images contribute to the argument as a whole.

Considering Visual Elements

In the following blog post I will be examining the visual elements of the genre I've decided by answering 6-10 questions provided in pages 395-402 of Writing Public Lives. 

Kristybee, "Polaroid and a Happy New Year" 12/31/09
Via Flickr.com

If the image is a graph or chart, does it clearly support a major point of my argument, or is it superfluous?: I'm concerned about using a graph, but many of my sources and examples use them, so I think it can be very helpful for my argument. I plan on using a graph that is understandable, but hard hitting, regarding the statistics of school funding and other sources of funding.

Does the image inform or emphasize my argument in an important way, or does it seem superficial and unrelated to my argument?: I think this is an important question to keep in mind when choosing a photo to include in my argument because it's possible I could use an image that seems motivating, but doesn't have much relevance. I want to focus on the student and the direct response students have to the funding situation.

Is the visual-rhetorical tone consistent through your argument?: This is an important part of the look to be conscious of because I need to be conscious of the topic of my images because I'll be bouncing between logos and ethos based images. This can be powerful if I do it accurately, but only if the images possess the tone of what I'm writing about.

Do too many visual elements make your text too busy or disorganized and what might I omit?: I feel like I can easily fall into the trap of throwing a bunch of images into a text when I have that freedom. I must omit images that, though the could be individually impactful, do not help to construct the argument.

If your text contains large blocks of text, could they be broken up?: This is actually a trap that I fell into that broke the convention of my genre and I didn't realize it. In my genre, few images are used and no heading or lines are used. I almost fell into the trap of having the freedom to try to make my text more accessible, but nearly broke the conventions of my news genre.

Are my images placed in the most convincing way?: I fell into the trap of being to focused on emotions in my preconception of my document. I wanted to start and end with a protest image, but when put on paper, that turned out to look rather unconvincing. I found that leaving the images with a powerful stat was how many of the articles I looked at ended convincingly.

Project 3 Outline

In the following blog post, I will be providing an entire outline of my argument based on the different tips and guidelines provided by Writing Public Lives. 

INTRODUCTION

Walker, Samantha "Screenshot from my computer"
11/7/15

Since I'm working with a causal argument examining the reasons current school funding is inadequate and the politics surrounding it, I feel that I should focus on a "Frame the Consequences" introduction. By looking at the causes of the problem in the body of my argument, an ominous premonition of the consequences of leaving the funding situation on the track it's on would both engage the reader, grab them by their liberal beliefs and foreshadow the severity of poor funding. It allows me to access many points of the audience while catching their attention quickly. However, it could sound too preachy if I'm too condemning of the future. I can try to include some positive results if my argument is pursued. 

BODY

Walker, Samantha "Screenshot from my computer"
11/7/15

1. Major Supporting Arguments

• Current legislation led by conservative House board neglects impoverished, high-minority districts
• Funding for education is the lowest of all federal funds when it should be one of the highest
• State legislature has barely any government regulation to avoid the unfair funding of underprivileged vs privileged schools 
• Current brutal legislation has forced and encouraged school districts to cut corners and attempt to do what little they can with low funds

2. Major Criticisms

• The government should not be overbearing in the regulation of state education legislature because it is an overstep of their bounds
• To blame conservative led committees is neglectful of the point that Education Secretary Arne is liberal and has also fallen short in regulating funding
• The sweeping criticism that funding needs change fails to address the issue of the current economic situation

3. Chosen Support and Rebuttals 

Current legislation led by conservative House committees neglects impoverished, high-minority districts: Important to address because it really hits home for my liberal audience

Current brutal legislation has forced and encouraged school districts to cut corners: this is important because it looks more into the foundational causes of the issues

To blame conservative led committees is neglectful of the point that Education Secretary Arne is liberal and has also fallen short in regulating funding: It's important to address a key source of doubt for my audience and redirect the concern onto something else

4. Topic Sentences

Conservatives have held power in the House and have halted many legislative changes, including education changes, led by a conservative committee. 

Current legislation such as No Child Left Behind has districts backed into a financial corner where cuts are being forced and districts must sacrifice quality in order to abide to convoluted, restrictive legislation. 

Not all blame for either issue can be forced entirely on conservative shoulders; liberal Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is guilty of retaining educative power through legislative bail outs and lack of action. 

5. Evidence
Look at both perspectives of conservative and liberal legislation and faults

A great example of potential liberal change
Credible source reflecting on the state of education from liberal perspective

6. HERE is a link to a coggle I made of my argument as a whole

CONCLUSION

Walker, Samantha "Screenshot from my computer"
11/7/15

Positive Consequences

Since I've spent so much time in my argument discussing heavy, depressing, and frustrating concepts that have now (hopefully) generated a lot of passion in my audience, I think it's important to direct them to the positive results of what will happen when action is taken in the right direction. Rather than spending the entirety of my argument being negative, it's important to give the readers hope that the situation can improve.



REFLECTION

After reading the Visual Elements posts of Swati and Mira. After reading through both of them, I realized that, even if an article may not have an abundance of images, it really helps to be conscious of every image and organizational choice. Mira is doing a National Geographic article, renown for their imagery, but her understanding of the importance of the images helped me realized that images aren't just something to engage, but to also guide the readers feelings. Swati had a similar situation where her genre isn't one to use much imagery, but she brought to light the importance of being very conscious of the relevance of images to the argument itself.

Analyzing My Genre

Walker, Samantha "Screenshot from my computer"
11/3/15

In the following blog post I will be providing 5 links to examples of my genre for this argument and then answer the genre questions provided by Writing Public Lives while referring to my examples.

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5

Social Context

• The genre tends to be on more formal news sights, such as Washington Post, New York Times, and USA Today. 
• The genre of political commentary news article tend to summarize and evaluate the current state of politics, including legislation, taxes, war, specific politicians etc. and reflect on the implications and impact of those actions or subjects. 
• People interested in politics are the ones who use the genres. Those with distinctive political parties, are slightly older, and are more passionate about voting tend to be the most interested. However, younger people who have specific interests also use the genre to keep up with what's going on in those areas. 
• The genre is constantly used in order to keep people informed regarding all aspects of the governments and politics. However, it becomes notably more active during times of large political change, such as elections and huge legislative movements (for example, legalization of gay marriage or declarations of war). 

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre

•  The type of information included in this genre is typically a combination of statistics regarding the issue and quotes from those involved. These quotes can be emotional quotes that prompt sympathy from the readers, condemning quotes from opposition, or credible quotes for support. Information that tends to be omitted is complicated terms and history because it loses the readers interest in this fast paced news genre. Some of the examples also included general 
• The most common rhetorical appeals tend to lean toward ethos and logos. In most of the examples I included, they examined money policy relating to education and the implications of it. That approach leads to the combination of an ethical and logical appeal which influences the reader by grabbing their attention with statistics, then impacting their emotions and beliefs by looking at the impact of those facts.
•  The articles tend to be lengthier texts embedded with quotes, with no headings, and including minimal visuals. The introductions of most of these texts describes a situation or concept that helps to frame the overall idea of the paper, such as a recent statement of policy change or an involved organizations. The endings can very, with a couple articles using quotes to conclude their thought on a high note while others end their argument with simple, direct statements of criticism or closure.  
•  Almost all of the articles include a variety of sentence structures, but many fall back on active, complex sentences to describe complex ideas, statistics, or conclusions. The sentences can have a variety of endings, but not all the time. One article used no special punctuation, while another did not shy away from rhetorical questions. The genre is relaxed about punctuation and does not adhere to any one style of sentence structure. 
•  The word choice varies from article to article, but it can be narrowed down to two basic tones: semi-formal or approachable/casual. The topics and relation of the author to said topic would dictate the word choice, but one consistency was in the formality surrounding facts and statistics. 

Analysis

•   The genre includes specifically people geared toward the authors political viewpoint and tends to exclude the opposing political view. That does not mean that all of the articles are one view in particular, though Washington Post tends to be a more liberal lean.
•  The genre encourages readers, typically, as perpetrators of change. The author tends to act more of an accuser of those who have done wrong or a guide to the readers in how they need to change the situation to fit the authors views. 
•  Typically values of change in the political realm are encouraged in the genre. Those who are content with the current situation are not supported or encouraged.
•  The genre treats irrefutable statistics as the most valuable because they tend to be good tools of accusation. The genre tends to ignore opposing political positions because they don't support the views of the authors

REFLECTION

After reading the posts of Chelsea and Evan  I found it interesting to see the different word choice patterns and rhetorical strategies we interpreted. Chelsea is doing a blog post, which is much more informal than my genre and is moderately more accessible for us as writers since it's more in our age range. Evan is working in a genre very similar to mine, but he has found that, based on his examples, the articles appeal more to pathos rather than logos and uses more passionate word choice than my moderately composed, logical word choice. Both were very insightful. 

Considering Types

In the following blog post I will be analyzing my potential use of the 5 basic types of public argument described in Writing Public Lives. I will be evaluating the usefulness of each type to me and which I might write in.

The first argument type which would be good for me to write in would be Causal. This type of argument, which "introduces your audience to the cause of a specific problem, would be a good choice for me because it allows me to introduce the overarching fault in funding education, then pin it on something that my audience can hold responsible. This opens to door to my audience seeing the ways in which they can spark change in the system.

The second argument type that I'm considering is the Refutation argument. This is another form of argument that points my audience toward opposing what I oppose. In the particular context of school funding, the refutation is a particularly effective argument because it shows the harmful effect of a specific thing. This allows me to point out conservative legislation as a harmful entity which puts students at a disadvantage, sometimes even in relation to race.

Position argument isn't good for my topic because it focuses on something that is good, when I want to focus on something that is flawed. Evaluative is a similar situation, which focuses on the successfulness of a particular policy. Proposal is a possibility, but would be difficult for my specific topic because it had been at such a standstill for so long.

Antoinette, "She contemplated the meaning of life"
5/2/09 via Flickr.com

REFLECTION

I read the Rhetorical Action Plan and Considering Types posts of Chelsea and found that she and I had a very similar audience and possible arguments. She and I are both writing for an audience that knows little about the topic, but is aware that it is an issue and want to know more about it. Her creative approaches to genre made me think that there is more than one way to reach my audience.

I also read Sam's Rhetorical Action Plan and Considering Types post. They were both extremely insightful and different than any other arguments I've read about. Her audience is much more technical than mine and her stance on her intended argument looked more at supporting her stance rather than looking for things to blame and opposition to criticize. It showed me that there was a lot more diverse ways to approach the construction of arguments.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

For this blog post, I will be answering the extensive list of questions provided in Writing Public Lives in order to develop a very clear rhetorical situation in which I can effectively argue my view. I will be including links to genre examples, as well as analyzing my audience thoroughly and anticipate responses

Walker, Samantha. "Screenshot from my computer" 

Audience: Who are you trying to persuade with your public argument?

          I am trying to reach out to groups of liberals who are interested about education but may not know much about it or have a strong opinion. 

• Knowledge: The liberal audience knows the general views of liberal politicians in regards to what they want in the education field. They are not well versed in the more detailed areas, such as specific legislation or specific funding situations. They have a liberal standpoint, but are not particularly opinionated about the topic. 
• Value: They value liberal ideas, such as student and teacher support, racial equality, equal opportunity, and higher funding of the more domestic areas of life. 
• Standards of Argument: High, impressive numbers and first-hand accounts tug at the heartstrings of my audience and will likely have a stronger influence because they would otherwise be overwhelmed with incomprehensible logistics and complex information. 
• Visual Elements: They would likely respond to more human visuals, such as actual schools that are suffering, protesting students and teachers. This is because it shows a human aspect of suffering that will spark a response in them. 
• Purpose: My audience is reading my argument in an attempt to gain more understanding of a topic they are curious about but have little knowledge of. They want to be given as many views on the topic as possible so that they may chose their opinion. My argument, as long as it is not biased and addresses both sides, will likely sway my audience.

Genre: What form of writing will you use?
         I will be writing in the genre of a news article.

• Function: This genre is meant to be informative and argumentative, but more relatable for audiences who are wanting to learn about something quickly and stay up to date with it. It's meant to be both a source of new knowledge, as well as offer opinions from credible sources. 
• Setting: The setting is a news site that will, in a perfect world, be on a more liberal news site that strengthens my arguments and reaches my intended audience easier. The setting for any news article is meant to be easily accessible for the audience it is written for. 
• Rhetorical Appeals: Rhetorical appeals of this genre are vast. You can apply all three to the genre, though some are more extreme or applicable to the topic, depending. Ethos is a rather applicable appeal since the readers are trusting a more human persona and must be convinced of their credibility. Pathos is useful in this genre because, again, the human-focus content. News articles are usually about how things that are happening are influencing people and that makes for a powerful impact on emotion. Logos will be used lightly because it could be overwhelming for readers who don't know much about the topic. 
• Visuals: Since this is a broad style genre, I have the possibility to use both human images, such as protests, as well as graphs, which will have more of an impact on the audience's liberal feeling. 
• Style: The style that I plan to use is semi-formal informative. That is to make it more down to earth and understandable for my readers and it allows for some variation in tone and word choice, which will generate a different argument. 

Response: 
       Positive Support

• Strengthen the opinions and confidence of liberals who already have an opinion of the matter
• More people will step forward to argue against legislation or actively call out its negative influences. 
• Gain new support for those who didn't have an opinion beforehand. 
• More people will stand by the argument because they have many people supporting them
• Provide strong support so that others may argue my standpoint.
• Again, empower people to speak up because they have confidence in the evidence I've provided. 

      Negative Rebuttals

• The evidence provided is biased due to the passion of the students.
• Conservative legislators are more aware of the implication of funding legislation than I am (I'm not credible)
• Conservatives invalidate the argument based on possible loopholes and justifications of their own legislation. 
• The opinions of liberals that differ from mine could be very negative. 

Analyzing Purpose

In the following blog post I will be providing a link to a Coggle map that plots out my intentions for purpose and what might come about from my argument.

HERE is my Coggle map.

Constant. "Map of Roman Empire" 12/28/06 via Flickr.com

Analyzing Context

In the following blog post I will be providing answers to the context-focused questions proved in Writing Public Lives in regards to the debate I will be arguing about.

1. What are the key perspectives or views of thought on my debate?
           
             Key perspectives are the views of teacher, students, parents, administrators, and political officials. These five perspectives tend to stand by one of two views on the issue of educational funding: it is either too low, or there is no need for change. These take a generally more liberal or conservative view.

2. What are the major point of contention or disagreements among these perspectives?

             As stated above, there tends to be conflict between those who view funding as too low and those who view funding as currently reasonable. The main points of conflict tend to be specific legislation such as Title 1 Portability and No Child Left Behind.

3. What are the points of agreement and common ground of these perspectives?

             Most agreements can be made that legislation needs to be rewritten. However, the effects of these changes will either reflect on the need for more funding or simple the need for clearer legislations.

4. What are the ideological differences between these perspectives?

            The ideologies of these groups can boil down to political stances, but to look into the more focused points of those ideologies; liberals value the students and teachers and fostering the healthiest possible school system, conservatives value managing a budget for the best of what they think the nation and state need. Neither of these are ill intended (for the most part).

5. What specific actions do each perspective call for from their audience?

             Liberals call parents and students to raise their voices in protest of the current state of funding. Students tend to direct administrators and state officials and challenge them to think about the betterment of the students. Conservatives call their fellow conservatives to hold their ground and argue for why the legislature they offer is truly the best change for the system.

6. What perspectives help to support my argument and why?

              Since I will arguing for the liberal standpoint, the perspectives of students provide first-hand evidence and accounts of the effects of funding in certain school systems. The perspective of liberal politicians are strong sources that I can use to provide new options of the system and change that should be done. The perspectives of parents and teachers can be used to support my argument as outside opinions.

7. What perspectives will be the greatest threat to my argument and why?

             The perspective of outspoken conservatives will be a threat due to their credibility and involvement in the legislation. The greatest threat may be, however, that of other liberals who don't actually believe in the majority opinion. Since I'm taking what I claim to be the liberal stance, a criticism from a credible liberal could weaken my argument greatly.

Stockwell, Jeremy "Context is good..." 11/4/08 via Flickr.com

Audience and Genre

In the following blog post I will be predicting the audience of my argument and where those particular audience would look regarding the subject and in what genre. I will also provide linked examples to those location and genres.

Brandon, "There is no audience" 9/7/11 via Flickr.com

Parents: parents are a likely audience to look into my topic because they are very involved in school funding debates and are looking for more concrete examples and evidence for their claims, as well as support from credible sources.

          Statistics: Washington Post, Huffington Post  

                Inequitable school funding called ‘one of the sleeper civil rights issues of our time’

               115 education groups: GOP No Child Left Behind legislation is vastly underfunded

         Public Argument: Washington Post, Huffington Post

               School Funding Inequality Makes Education 'Separate And Unequal,' Arne Duncan Says

         Why Arne Duncan is Right on Equity in School Funding

Administrators: administrators are likely going to be looking into my topic because they are the ones typically held responsible for the legislation that affects students and faculty. They are looking for explanations, evidence, and support.

         Data Reports: Institute of Education, Department of Education
     

                 State Finance Programs

                 Education Funding Per Student by State 

        Public Argument: National Education Center, Politico

                 

                  Argument for Title I Portability Carries No Weight

                 House Republicans put off No Child Left Behind vote

Reflection on Project 2

In the following blog post, I will be reflecting on my finished rhetorical analysis by answering nine questions provided by Writing Public Lives.

1. The biggest detail that I changed from one draft to the next was the inclusion and analysis of specific evidence in my essay. My first draft was completely lacking in the evidence department and, realizing it's importance, I devoted a huge amount of time into the inclusion of strong evidence and its analysis. I also looked into changing up the structure of my sentences and dried to make the composition more diverse.

2. I made my thesis a little less dense and less cookie cutter. I also restructured my introduction to relate more to my readers and grab their attention, rather than throwing dense summarizing and contest at them. I also tried to break up my example analysis into separate paragraphs because they were too dense as one.

3.  It was tricky cutting my thesis down but I realized that a dense thesis can be overwhelming and drive the reader away. It was the same idea with the body; a body that is just too dense will lose the interest of the readers. I focused greatly on the hook of an introduction because I realized the importance of getting the reader interested in the topic early, before diving into the more nitty gritty.

4. I'm not sure these changes had a huge impact on my credibility. They might make the paper seem less text-book, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing in regards to my credibility. I still wrote about the subject well, just made it more understandable.

5. These changes made me and my writing more relatable for a new student (i.e. my audience). Cutting down on overwhelming content made it so that I was more believable as someone interested in teaching students about a rhetoric.

6. As I said in my first response, I paid particular attention to restructuring my sentences in order to make them more diverse. I didn't include diverse end punctuation, but I don't think it's an impactful choice.

7. Diverse sentences will help my audience to remain interested in the content, as well as comprehend some of the key ideas better. I consistently avoided run-on sentences and that will improve reader understanding.

8. I'm familiar with a rhetorical analysis and this assignment made me completely reconsider how to write in this genre. For my previous rhetorical works, I wrote for a captive audience, so I was not interested in maintaining their attention or writing specifically for them. This assignment made me realize that you write for an audience and with their interests and goals in mind.

9. By reflecting on the specific changes I made and how I feel about the paper as a whole has helped me seen my growth as a writer and realized the importance of straying from a cookie cutter format in order to better my writing as a whole. I feel I've developed greatly after reflecting on my project because I was willing to throw out writing that, though I liked, didn't help my analysis.

Alfarroba, Antonio, "Mirror" 4/26/09 via Flickr.com

REFLECTION

After reading the reflection of Swati and Casey, I found that they had a very different approach to different areas of the reflection than I did. Casey and I have a similar revision process, but I feel that I made more drastic changes over the course of my revision process then she did, as well as focused on different aspects (she focused on intro and conclusion, while I looked more into evidence and analysis). Swati had a different mindset going into the writing process and I found myself surprised that she was still in a QRG mindset when I was already in full swing of rhetorical analysis.

Extended Annotated Bibliography

In the following blog post I will provide a link to my newly extended annotated bibliography. This extension includes 4-6 new sources regarding my focus questions of my previous post and an annotation for each on how they will be used in my argument.

HERE is my extended bibliography

Ward, Chris "070510" 7/5/10 via Flickr.com

Narrowing My Focus

In the following blog post I will be choosing 2 or 3 of my favorite controversy questions from the previous post and explaining why I've chosen those questions as more interesting or important to answer before crafting my argument.

Wijnants, Roel, "Red Hallway" 11/25/14 via Flickr.com

1. How has school funding changed over the last decade? Has there been no change?
             
          This is a very important aspect of the subject to understand. If there hasn't been a change, that stagnation could prompt to demand change. If there has been a negative change, then that would, again, demand an argument for change. It's a broad question that allows for context, as well as an initial spark of a conflict or call to action. It's a gateway question, as well as a necessary source for detail.

2. What are the feelings specifically of students and teachers in regards to current school funding?

          This question allows for specific references and the possibility to appeal to my audience by playing on their emotions with the emotions and feelings of other people. It also humanizes the topic and allows people the voice very specific situations which provide insight and the insight to pursue other information.

3. How are either political party arguing for their standpoints? What appeals do they have?

           This question provides me with the opportunity to look into more factual, dry content that is important in presenting the issue and how those "in charge" are addressing it. It provides me with the chance to give the audience a villain to target their anger at or a group to find support in. It's also important for me to remember the opposition of my argument, and this question reminds me of that.