Category: x Archive Assignments

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

Throughout this entire semester I have been revising my arguments and essays. My first drafts is where I start off with and as time goes on I revise and edit my work. For my causal argument I wrote a first draft, but about three weeks later I revised my work and made a second draft. I noticed I worded things confusingly and that I needed to clarify my argument. I also learned from my mistakes and how I can write more clearly. The two links below show my original draft and my second draft which has the improvements I later made.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

I always listen to the advice my professors give me. I also have friends read my assignments before I submit them. For my definition essay, I realized I was not clear in my thesis. My professor commented on my work and I replied saying that I made changes to my essay. Sometimes I need someone else to read my work just to double check that everything makes sense.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

I wrote my causal argument based off of why I believe the NJ sales tax is not a regressive tax. I took into account that my professor was looking for specific keywords to show I had an argument. I highlighted all the keywords to show I was proving a point in my argument.Some examples of these keywords are: so, because, and even specific arguments that prove my point.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

In each assignment related to my research paper, I used sources to back my claim. A few of the sources were facts that I needed to know and others were articles with an author’s opinion. The facts that I researched helped me shape my own opinion. When I first picked this topic I did not really know if I considered the New Jersey sales tax to be regressive. While doing research I came across an article published by the New Jersey Department of Taxation which had a list of everything that was taxable and tax exempt. After reading this article I developed my own opinion based off of facts, which is stated in my definition essay, that I did not believe the tax was regressive toward people with low incomes.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation.

When I use outside sources for my essays, I use informal citations in my essay and then create a works cited page. It is very important to properly cite sources. In my definition rewrite, I used an informal citation for all three of my sources and then had a work cited page for my sources.  I think it important to give credit to other people for their own work.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

When writing, I think that discovery of new topics and development of new ideas is where I strive the most. I find it that in this class, I was challenged more than usual to perform my top writing at all times and I liked the battle I had with myself. To narrow one point down, we look at the research topic of my own which consisted of baseball players and the injuries they encounter.  Being a baseball player myself and looking up new material, I came across many appealing news that surprised me.  By doing that, I was able learn more myself which enabled me to make the reader interested and want to keep reading.  It is very important to keep the reader hooked. Being an observer myself on others writings, I know that there are sometimes in which you do not want to keep reading because nothing interests you.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

While doing my research topic, I got a good idea of how to do this. It was very important to add more then one source and bring together peoples ideas to form one stronger point. From doing this, the reader can understand it more because more people are saying the same thing which always helps. Honestly, when writing, I have to say that citing and bringing sources to my papers was always my hardest deficit but from this class I learned quickly how to change that. Having people from different communities come together and all agree on one thing is always huge in every situation. More or less, it is like saying a team full of best friends is unbeatable and compound a stronger bound which in a sense, is the same as people coming together to all have the same conclusion maybe with different premises.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

One of the biggest things I got out of this class was that you have to entertain the audience. No one is going to continue to read something they are not forced to if it does not interest them. So from all the work and learning this, I was able to come up with better material in which I can make the audience more involved and want to continue to read my pieces. Visual arguments was actually my favorite part of this class for a few reasons. One, everyone likes seeing pictures because it seems easier. Two, you get a short story about something important and you retain some knowledge from it. Pausing the video throughout the whole piece so describe scenes is a good way to keep yourself guessing. There is so much detail that one wouldn’t think is actually there but in reality, there is so much more then you can see at first glance. I think from looking at these and studying them to write about, I won’t look at another video, movie or program the same ever again which opens up a whole new way to view things in life.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

I think that I have the expectations to the best of my abilities. Being in this class really helped me learn how to actually write. I enjoyed learning what writing really is about because I did not get this in any other class that i have been in over all my schooling. When evaluating others papers and my own to rewrite, I come across mistakes more then I would have before this class. I can see more grammar issues and sometimes there are words I use and maybe even full sentences I use that don’t need to be there at all and give no information to the reader. With incorporating illustrations, I think I’ve learned how to do this is a much better manner. This was always my favorite part about writing because when I write, I visualize it happening in my head and I can understand what the reader is thinking and seeing at the same time so it inspires me to write even better so the bigger picture is there for them.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation.

Coming into this class, having had some trouble with bringing sources into my own information, I think I learned a lot on how to properly do so to a large extent. Having appropriate citation is a huge concept in writing that needs to be performed to excellence. I say this because with any mistakes or if no citations at all, how could it be good work? If we are basing it off a argument with none of these, then we are looking at our own opinions and that is something that not everyone will want to believe especially when they have there own. From learning how to properly cite after all the time that I have been in school, I come to see how much better my own writing is and also, I can stay away from mistaken case of plagiarism.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

I have always understood that writing any kind of paper, essay, or story, to have some sort of quality, there must have more then one revision. In my life, I have had some trouble with doing this because I am a procrastinator. I am a very good procrastinator if I do say so my self. Because of this, my first draft is usually my last, and only, draft. Within this course, I realized early that procrastinating would be very difficult for my survival. Starting right away with the Stone Money assignment I began just a few hours before the deadline. Only having time for one crappy draft doesn’t demonstrate any use of recursive stages to be made. I had my second chance when we had to complete the Stone Money Rewrite. Any professor would say that I could have revised my original at any time, but I am a full time college student and college athlete; there is no more motivation for me to improve one assignment. At the end of this course I have learned to improve my time management, and I even began revising as I went along. Also, I now have a more fuller understanding that I will have more pride in myself, and my work, when I put in that extra effort for it to be my very best.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

During the process of the research paper, I have found a good amount of articles, blog posts, and videos that relate to my topic. I noticed that most of them are greatly similar in some aspect. My topic was pretty narrow, so it was to be suspected that little research was done. Most of my sources connected in similar ways. I still used these sources because they always seemed to have one or more claims that weren’t in the other sources, and I would use them. An example of this would be seen in my Definition Argument. As seen in the works cited section, most articles have very similar titles. I used each of the sources, even if it was used for a few claims. I learned researching and reading through articles are important because even if there is only one good claim in the article, it can be effective in the assignment in some way. Also, seeing different kinds of sources will also help support claims are arguments.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

While writing papers and the multiple assignments, my audience was obviously Professor Hodges. I kept maybe random reader in mind at times, but for this class’s assignments, I was mostly writing for feedback. This can be seen in my Movie Image assignment. In this assignment I made sure that I was explaining every detail I could for the reader to picture the commercial in their mind. When Professor told us that the reader must see the image without watching the video, I knew what I had to do. In my first draft of this, I thought I captured the gist of the commercial well, and wrote everything the audience needs to know. I received feedback that I should make more claims in my movie image assignment. After I did so, I made a the next rewrite, and I was pretty proud of it. I also asked my mother if she could read it, and if she could picture the advertisement in her mind. If she did, then I knew that I hit all the points.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Evidence to support a claim is support important for making the claim stronger. I learned a lot about this during the last three months. Claims are only claims and arguments if they are not backed up. Stating something is only a sentence, and does not have to be believed. If the claim was supported by evidence, then the claim would now be more true and correct. I have giving some evidence in my Definition assignment. In this assignment I stated multiple claims that were supported by evidence. I explained some scenarios where a professional baseball player struggled to hit a softball pitcher. This evidence supports that though they are the best hitters, they have trouble with the softball kind of pitching.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

To write a persuasive paper, it is only fair to include other views of the same topic. Professor explain in the pass assignments that this is a must in our paper. It is also interesting to research a view of a topic that a writer might not agree with. This was seen between my definition argument and my rebuttal argument. The definition argument shows my first thought of my topic and the rebuttal is a argument against that. Doing this is something that I will take out of this class. This can be done in any kind of paper. I feel that this also goes into supporting evidence because the writer is supporting their claim while comparing it to other points of view.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

As I previously learned through my years of writing, Professor Hodges restated that writing requires more than one draft and that there is always room for improvement. The best example of this is my Stone Money Rewrite. While this was not a portfolio assignment, this essay opened my eyes to the expectations that Professor Hodges held for his students. The line of communication between Professor Hodges and I allowed me to see the clear lack of explanation regarding the island of Yap in my essay. Professor Hodges explained that I was assuming to much in my essay and rightfully so. I’ll admit that I was making generalizing statements about the transfer of limestones on Yap and then presuming that my audience would understand. There were various scholarly sources to help support my claim that it was counterintuitive that the transfer of limestone rocks (some of which are never seen) could be physically exchanged in return for tangible goods and services. This feedback strengthened my argument by instilling the right work ethic in my writing.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Gathering and analyzing information helped me tremendously. I gained astronomical amounts of knowledge by reading various sources (via online, books, journals, etc.) on my topic. The best example of this is my Rebuttal Rewrite. In the beginning, I’ll admit that I was convinced that police officers received zero support regarding their mental health. I received constructive criticism from Professor Hodges on my rough draft which allowed me to see that Employee Assistance Programs provided some effective ways to help police officers cope with their stressors. Once I investigated the money that has been poured into Employee Assistance Programs over the recent years, it was obvious that these systems weren’t as bad as I thought. There were various scholarly sources to support both my original thesis and some alternatives. I nonetheless concluded that the system to help police officers cope with their stress was woefully inadequate, but understanding their support systems strengthened my argument by helping me anticipate objections and refute them.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Throughout this course I found that my audience played an important role in a well written paper. The best example of this is my Visual Rhetoric. I had to take into consideration that my audience was not able to see the 30 second video that I was assigned.  I had to help my readers understand by using vivid descriptions to paint a picture in their heads of what each frame looked like. Professor Hodges pointed out various points in my paper that may have been unclear or could have been explained more in depth, which allowed me to see certain details such as the kitchen or furniture in the background. I was able to clarify my paper by depicting the kitchen as a representation of family and togetherness. The blend of visual detail and analysis made it easier for my audience to get an idea of what was happening in the 30 second clip.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

I found it rather frustrating to incorporate evidence to support my claims. I felt confined to limited resources such as google or yahoo. Once I realized that there were different places to find my information, I took full advantage of the library resources including ProfSearch, Gale Virtual Reference Library and Academic Search Premier. These resources made it substantially easier to synthesize my own thoughts with the evidence provided. Acquiring sources of information sparked many ideas in my writing and gave me ideas to feed off of as I wrote. This is best shown in my Causal Rewrite. When I first started my paper it mainly consisted of information regarding the negative consequences of stress on police officers. The criticism I received from Professor Hodges allowed me to see that I needed to add additional stressors on top of the ones I had already mentioned to the audience. I was then able to show the importance of synthesizing my own ideas with scholarly evidence to support them.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

This course has reiterated the importance of being honest when it comes to analyzing other sources that involve our arguments. Plagiarizing is not only dishonest, but it takes away from a writer’s ability to develop new ideas. This is best shown in my Definition Rewrite. For this assignment I had to look outside of a dictionary definition to define fear in law enforcement. For the sources I chose to incorporate into my writing, I made sure that they were analyzed in an honest and logical way. I did this by citing the author in my work. Chris Mooney in particular helped me develop the idea that police officers may have developed reflexes that we don’t have, causing them to react faster or with more force than we would in addition to the race of a suspect. Any lazy writer could have easily copy and pasted pieces of different articles into their writing. I chose the more difficult path that required more thoughtful and honest material.

Core Value I. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

My first experience within Comp II included a writing titled “Stone Money” in which I discussed the value of money, our faith within economic systems, and even more abstract concepts. In high school I obviously experienced writing through stages full of drafts and revisions before my final submission. However, the revisions were nothing more than fixing spelling or grammatical errors. My “Stone Money Rewrite” was more than that, Professor Hodges encouraged us to include new content. Which is evident in my description of Brazilian URVs (units of real value) and how they worked through a story about buying a carton of eggs. We discussed elements such as this within class and it helped to stabilize an idea of the concept, and thus helped me to create a more complex and fulfilling piece of writing.

Core Value II. My work demonstrates that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

I understand that writing conveys meaning, when writing you have to have a purpose. My “Visual Rewrite” is an example of a writing that conveyed something with a purposeful intent. My goal was to completely describe the events of a 30 second public service announcement, I needed to do more than just describe characters and setting. I had to give a clear image of the entire visual, otherwise the purpose would be lost. This was a unique assignment for me, within a discipline I have never ventured into. Writing a research paper or an argumentative essay involves different language compared to my visual rewrite. My first “paragraph” has vocabulary revolving around angles and lighting “The commercial starts with a fade in from a black screen, it is nighttime, and the angle of the camera is from the left side of a road. It is focused on the taillights of a car (not directly, but from the left side) seen on a dimly lit woodsy road. The car appears to be moving fast because the image is blurred.” so that the image could be clearly pictured.

Core Value III. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Typically, I have never been good at writing rebuttal arguments, I either fail defend my own argument by contradicting myself, or completely ignore any factual points from the opposite arguments. That being said, my “Rebuttal Argument” essay was no different. My essay was used as an example for other students to place feedback on , which reading their comments and suggestions really helped me to see where I faltered on my rebuttal argument (which as I previously stated is a problem area of mine). I focused too much on my own opinion and not on formulating the opinions of my readers. What was supposed to be an essay acknowledging opposite view points and clarify mine turned into a rant based solely on  my own ideals. I failed to think about my audience, and the feedback from my peers helped me to realize this so I could fix it for my rewrite.

Core Value IV: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

GOAL 4:

Writing a paper full of citations and quotes is nothing new, my first research paper was in sixth grade, and that is when I learned the difference between reliable and unreliable sources. Rules like, Wikipedia is never to be found on a works cited page, or a Facebook article is not a credible source for an academic paper, were things that I stood by. Finding sources to convey my argument then becomes difficult because a good forty percent of materials is eliminated for not being reliable enough. My “Causal Essay” contains citations from a few journals and other reliable sources. I have used Google Scholar in the past and it can result in some tasty sources, however utilizing the Rowan Library’s online database was my best decision. Professional discussions like the one I found within Pantea Farvid and Virginia Baum’s “Casual Sex as ‘not a Natural Act’ and  Other Regimes of Truth about Heterosexuality,”  proved to be very moving within my essay.

Core Value V. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

As I have already said, writing an academic paper with meaningful citations is not a new procedure for me. Citing sources that I use for direct quotes is a no brainer, however, it is also necessary to cite authors whose words help me to formulate my own thoughts and argument. I am taking their ideas and using them to help inspire my own, and that is deserving of citation. Not only is plagiarizing another’s words unethical, plagiarizing their thoughts is equally as scandalous. My entire “Stone Money” essay is based off of the ideas of another author, Milton Friedman, he deserved the appropriate acknowledgment for his inspiration for my writing. I also included material and ideas from other sources and authors that were equally deserving of reference.