Lesson 9 Prompts: Preparing for the Paper

In this entry, I address the following prompts from Lesson 9:

What else do I still need to do? (50 words)

What do I need outside help with? (50-100 words)

Why am I feeling threatened by this research paper? (50-200 words)

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What else do I still need to do?

I feel like I need to organize all of my sources and evidence. I have papers I printed out for a school assignment months ago that I'm referencing (possibly), notes I've taken from online sources, and online sources that I have not printed out. My working bibliography needs to be expanded to include all of this information. I'm worried that I'm going to misplace evidence somewhere or that I'll loose track of evidence I can't afford to loose track of. So my next job is going to be categorizing my evidence and building up my working bibliography to include all my evidence and sources available. 

What do I need outside help with?

I am very confident with my knowledge of the ICC and my thesis. I have researched both sides of the issue very thoroughly, and I don't feel I need outside counseling on my thesis. I am, however, very willing to receive in-person writing counseling from someone. Even though this is an assignment in lesson 13, I would like to meet with someone beforehand as well, just to talk with about general term-paper essay quality.

Why am I feeling threatened by this research paper?

As I am looking at this from the stage where I have not written anything for the paper (not counting the working bibliography), I am very threatened by the size. I do not mean the word count, or the number of pages. I am threatened by the abstract size of the whole project. Also, as this weeks lesson is almost unrelated to my research paper, I am feeling a little out-of-sorts and just ready to get the paper over with. Spending a week writing an essay about effective writing is something I would be happy to do after my research paper is done, but now it's a little distracting. I'm sure that once I begin to draft my outline for the paper, and then the rough draft, I will feel much less threatened by the project. As of now, I feel like a very small person staring up at this enormous mountain, and knowing that I have to climb it in one month. It's a matter of taking the first step. 

-Ace

Lesson 8 Prompts: Graphic Chart Analysis and Thesis Exercises.

The prompts addressed in this post are:

Read any article pertaining to your research topic that contains a visual element (a graphic). Explain why the visual is effective or ineffective in swaying  your view on the topic. Make it interesting for the reader who does not already know your thesis.

Is your thesis weak? Hacker can help you figure out what is wrong with your thesis. Is it too broad or too narrow in focus? is it grounded or too speculative to be researched? For practice recognizing good thesis statements, go to http://www.dianahacker.com...

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For my article pertaining to my research topic and containing a visual element, I read an article about the International Criminal Court's unequal geographic representation in its Assembly of States Parties. The ASP, or Assembly, consists of one representative from each member of the ICC, and any alternates or advisors granted to that representative by their own country. Each representative in the ASP gets one vote. The article detailed the geographic representation of the ASP, pointing out that 57.2% of the ASP is comprised of representatives from the Western European and Others Group (WEOG), a regional group in the United Nations. This is compared to the representation of Africa in the ASP, 12.9%, when in fact most of the ICCs efforts have been (and still are) in Africa.

In order to clarify their point, the site (www.ICCnow.org), illustrated a bar graph comparing the geographic representation of the ASP (click here to view the article and the corresponding graphic. The chart I reference in this post is the first in the article). Throwing lots of numbers and statistics in writing at an audience can be daunting. If I tell you that the geographic representation of the ASP is uneven, because 57.2% are WEOG, 7.3% East Europe, 12.9% Africa, 15.6% are GRULAC, and 7.1% are Asia, does the unequal representation argument really hit home? Perhaps for those of you that are numbers people, it does. For the rest of us, the graphic representation of those numbers is very helpful and much more dramatic. Seeing the graphic next to the numbers in this article made me understand very clearly the argument ICCNow is making. It took visually comparing the tall bar to the shorter bar for me to be clear on what the inequalities were.

Is your thesis weak? Hacker can help you figure out what is wrong with your thesis. Is it too broad or too narrow in focus? is it grounded or too speculative to be researched? For practice recognizing good thesis statements, go to http://www.dianahacker.com...

I went online to dianahacker.com and did the 10 thesis statement exercises. While many of the questions were intuitive, I did get a clear picture of what a concise, clear, and pointed thesis statement should be. I believe that my thesis (the United States should not become a member of the Rome Statute's International Criminal Court) is still strong. It is concise, clear, and has a definite view from the start. I may add some more information and make the thesis slightly more specific, possibly providing three brief reasons why the U.S. shouldn't join within that sentence.

My score was10/10: 100%.

Lesson 8 Prompt: Lucky Charms!

In this post I am addressing the prompt:  

Preview, read, and annotate a package of food. What is its strongest argument? Why? Would its packaging prompt you to buy it again? Why?

I analyzed a Lucky Charms® cereal box for this prompt. While my brother already had the box, I took a quick trip to the grocery store just to browse other cereal boxes so I could compare them to Lucky Charms®. Immediately I noticed several things about Lucky Charms®. They are placed on one of the middle shelves, near eye-level for a child, and certainly not out of the way for an adult. Lucky Charms® are also one of the most vibrant and busy boxes on the shelf, with a bright red background and a rainbow-themed design, including the Lucky Charms'® mascot (probably named Lucky, but I'm not sure) who is nationally known to children.

There are two main arguments on the LC® box. One is aimed at children, the other at their parents. The strongest argument for children is the large picture of an hourglass-shaped marshmallow charm that Lucky (we'll assume the name) is reaching for. Inside the hourglass are the words: “Control Time! With The Hourglass Marshmallow Charm.” Perhaps it is a new charm, or a new color of charm. Either way, the picture invokes a child's interest for that charm.

The strongest argument for parents is the bold statement on the front of the box: Good Source of CALCIUM & VITAMIN D and Whole Grain Guaranteed. On the side of the box there is a panel explaining why calcium and vitamin D are important in a child's diet, and what the specifications for 'whole grain' are.

According to the front of the box and the side panel, Lucky Charms® appears to be a very good choice for breakfast cereal. I feel obligated to point out that there's a lot of fine print involved (this doesn't necessarily relate to the prompt, it's more a rebuttal for the arguments LC® provide advocating their cereal). One serving of LC® provides only 10% of the recommended daily values for calcium and vitamin D. Actually, the milk you drink with the LC® provides more of these two vitamins than the cereal itself does. When reading the ingredients list, the second ingredient is marshmallows (which contain sugar, corn syrup, and artificial flavors), the third is sugar, and the fifth is corn syrup. There are 11g of sugar per serving of LC®. If you do the math (approx. 16 servings per box, approx. 453g of cereal total, approx. 27g per serving), sugar comprises 38% of the entire box of cereal, and 40% per serving.

Centering back on the prompt, would I buy this food item again based on its packaging? Strictly making my decision off the box and not the fine print, yes, I would. Lucky Charms® has an excellently appealing appearance, complete with fun and simple puzzles on the back of the box that work towards some prize on luckycharms.com. I love the colorful design and the cute, persistently happy mascot. Besides, with 176g of sugar, they taste pretty good too!

Lesson 7 Prompts: Essay Analysis

...Been a while...

This post is going to cover all the lesson 7 prompts, as they are easiest grouped together. Prompts will be:

Who is the audience for your essay? What is the thesis of essay?

Can the audience be swayed by your claim and reasons? Why or why not?

What value do your sources have to your audience?

Read another student's blog. Indicate whose you read. Did you make any comments on that blog?

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Who is the audience for your essay? What is the thesis of essay?

My thesis for this essay is: until large-scale tests are revised to include such factors as nervousness and educational background, alternative measures like recommendations, resumes, and interviews should be examined just as thoroughly, if not more so than test results.

My audience for this essay is made up of people who are either neutral or slightly in support of standardized testing. Thus they are slightly resistant to the ideas I am proposing in my essay. To facilitate both my audience and make my argument as effective as possible I chose to formate my essay in classical argument form.

Can the audience be swayed by your claim and reasons? Why or why not?

I believe that I could persuade an audience to at least see the reason in my arguments. If I can not persuade them to agree with what I am saying, I am confident the essay will lessen their hostility towards the thesis. They will be at least slightly swayed towards my point of view because the essay provides factual information, and what isn't taken from a source is defined with clear logic. My thesis does not propose to eliminate standardized test scores from the selection process of students, it merely states that alternatives should be valued just as much. For any supporter of test scores I am not advocating to do away with scores, so my thesis presents the issue from a very mild and neutral standpoint.  

What value do your sources have to your audience?

Three of four of the sources I name in my essay are individuals who have put time and effort into researching the issue of standardized testing's effects on students. One is an author who has written many books on the subject and has done lots of research both against and in support of testing, and another is an individual who presents valid arguments for both sides of the debate on his website. The last is a man who, like my first source, has written several books on education and testing. He writes from a philosophical and moralistic viewpoint, and his information is to the point and understandable to all readers.

My third source is probably one that a hostile audience will not appreciate, because it is called the Nation Center for Fair Testing. While they are biased against standardized testing because of it's possible unfairness, I selected comments and evidence from the articles that seemed the most factual and researched.

Read another student's blog. Indicate whose you read. Did you make any comments on that blog?

I read a student named Kathy's blog. I enjoyed reading it, and was very inspired by her progress and thorough comments. I could easily see that she was trying to learn as much from the class as she possibly could. It was great to read a blog that really outlined the course. Starting from the first post through the last I got a third-person perspective on the class. It was especially nice to be able to read the comments from lessons I have not completed yet. A resource for sure! I did not, however, comment on the blog.

-Ace

Lesson 6 Prompts: Graphic Argument Analysis

The prompts for this blog were:

On your blog, respond to either photo of President Bush on p. 145 of Writing Arguments by telling what the argument is. Write a thesis statement for the photograph's argument. How did you figure out the claim being made? 

Find another graphic, commercial, or video to analyze. Report on the argument being made. Attach a copy of the graphic element or explain how to find or view the graphic. Write a strong thesis statement for this argument.

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Analysis of Figure 9.2 on page 145 of Writing Arguments, by Ramage et al. 

Caption of photo: President Bush clearing brush from Texas ranch.

Thesis: President Bush is a hardworking, strong, and dutiful person, just like all Americans. 

This photograph emphasizes the non-presidential side of George Bush. It depicts him hard at work hauling brush from a ranch, while wearing typical Western work clothes: white cowboy hat, sunglasses, grungy shirt and pants, an work cloves. The photoshoot seems to try and connect Bush with the everyday working person by 'saying': President Bush works just as hard as you do! It is easy to picture any American in place of Bush in this picture, which works well for the argument being made. 

I arrived at my thesis for the picture by studying all the elements and undertones of it, many of which are mentioned in the above paragraph. I asked myself the questions: what is Bush doing in the picture? Why would he do this for a photoshoot? What about this picture can citizens relate to? Why would citizens instantly make a connection between Bush and themselves because of this picture? Why does the press, or the Bush Administration want people to be able to relate to Bush? Using those questions and the answers I came up with, which were made obvious by the picture/caption, and a bit of knowlede about arguments, I discovered the argument being made and the thesis. 

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Links to two references for the add analyzed in this blog:

Billboard version: [link]

Print version: [link]

Thesis: Converse All Star shoes make you look alternative, popular, and artistic.

Argument being made: this add for Converse All Star shoes uses its models and message to reach its target audience. The models are all alternative and wildly popular musical artists, especially with those who follow rock and alternative music, which are the largest music genres aside from pop. All three artists have a global and humanitarian message which Converse uses to its benefit by using the slogan “three artists, one song.” Converse is trying to convey the message to people that wearing converse shoes is popular and alternative, and many world-changing musician and artists wear them. By wearing Converse shoes, you are part of a large, humanitarian, alternative, and artist group of people.

The add has mainly been printed in music and pop culture magazines, such as Blender and Rolling Stone so the target  audience is people who are interested in music and probably know each of the three artists featured in the add. Converse is counting on their audience to be familiar with the artists in order to have a convincing argument towards buying their shoes. 

-Ace

Lesson 5 Prompt: What I Learned About...

The prompts addressed in this post are:

What questions do you have about anything that other students might respond to?

What have you learned about the textbooks we are using for this course?

What have you learned about the instructor?

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What questions do you have about anything that other students might respond to?

I am often confused about the assignments and do not understand them (they are in desperate need of editing and revising). Asking fellow students may clear up my misunderstandings, if that is what they are.

I also wonder how the other students are enjoying learning about the argument-specific part of this course. We have spent a lot of time studying, reading, and writing arguments, and I wonder how other students are enjoying it, as I am already comfortable writing them and now I'm just learning how to write different styles of them and applying them to audiences. Do other students feel a connection to their every-day lives with their new argument-writing skills?

What have you learned about the textbooks we are using for this course?

I find Hacker's Writing Reference to be an exceptional reference book. It is clear, concise, and easy to find things in. I find it very useful to preview the chapters and pick out the headers for each section, because many sections do not directly pertain to me, such as how to reference a forum or email. Ramage's book, Writing Arguments, is also very well written. I especially like that there are many, many examples of what they ask you to do in the book. While I think Ramage supplies information that is not completely necessary, such as the history of the Socratics and Sophists, I don't mind reading the supplemental material because Ifind it very interesting. Occasionally I need to skim through her paragraphs to pick out the core of what is being said, so I don't get lost in all the supplemental writing.

What have you learned about the instructor?

Romina Kline has been interesting to work with. In all honesty, I am slightly disappointed with how hard it is to get her to clarify what the assignment instructions are telling me to do. The responses I have received were not very helpful, and pretty much just restated the instructions. I do appreciate her straightforwardness, even though I find her grading to be very harsh. That is what really makes me work hard on all my lessons, and check them over ten times before submitting them. Kline references Hacker a lot in her comments, and while I love the Hacker book for it's simplicity, I would not mind getting some personal reasons and/or feedback from Kline herself. 

-Ace

Lesson 5 Prompt: Pre-Writing Techniques

This post covers the two prompts that deal with pre-writing, idea-generating techniques: 

Which of the techniques for generating ideas for essays has been most valuable to you? Why? Give an example.

Which technique would you choose not to use again? Why?

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Which of the techniques for generating ideas has been the most valuable to you? Why? Give an example.

The  most valuable pre-writing task for me has been freewriting. A lot of the time I write essays as a free write, and then edit in evidence and switch paragraphs around during the revision process. Because I am fairly well-versed in writing arguments, I can free write a basic one and then edit it to make it a solid essay. The free write gets my brain working quickly for about half an hour or until I've completed the necessary number of words. Because it's technically just an idea-generating task, if it's not working the way I want the essay to work then I don't have to use anything but the ideas when I begin to work on the real essay. The freewriting for the first outline in Lesson 5 worked well for me. If I were to turn that into an essay it would need some major work, but the content is all there. I am working on Lesson 6 at the moment, and I attempted something different with my freewrite. I tried to get all the content out there, but leave all the connecting sentences and the reasoning out of it. Thus Lesson 6's freewrite is very short and choppy, but I'm finding it very easy to plug all the ideas into a simple argument formula.

Which technique would you choose not to use again?

I do not find the journalist's questions thought provoking or idea-generating at all. Perhaps it was just the topic I was using for it, which really didn't cater to that form of pre-writing, but I found it to be very tedious and I felt like I was limited by the who, what, where, why, and how questions. I used a topic that I am fairly knowledgeable with, so I wasn't prompted to do more research with the questions, especially because I asked the questions, so they were already coming from all the previous ideas I had about the topic. Basically, with the journalist's questions I felt like I was writing things down just to fill space on a page, but that I was only writing things down that I already knew. I generated no fresh ideas and if I were to write an essay on that topic I would have to use another method of pre-writing.

The next post will address an additional three topics.

-Ace