Mediation

Mediation serves an important role in life. It is a way that many people embrace to solve conflicts. Even professional athletes use mediation to determine their contracts. To write a mediatory essay it is important for me to adapt the writing style. In order to mediate I have to consider both sides fully and make sure I have fully researched both sides. I also have to keep a non-bias which is something I know I have trouble with sometimes. This is much different from a straight forward argument essay because you must present both sides evenly and consider both and then come upon a compromise. In an argument essay you are simply arguing to convince or persuade.

Visual Rhetoric

Visual rhetoric is the ability to get a message across with pictures, not words. This type of rhetoric is crucial to companies who are trying to advertise. Many people make a living off of being able to use visual rhetoric to their advantage. It is important that I know how to analyze visuals because it is something that I am immersed in all the time. Being able to interpret commercials can help me to form an opinion on the product in the ad. Also, understand visual rhetoric helps me to be a better writer because it involves a similar process of analytical thinking that goes into essay writing. I am very comfortable with this type of rhetoric and I believe that I have learned the necessary skills.

Obama Speech

This is a great speech from senator Obama. He uses many rhetorical strategies in the speech. Obama opens by telling a story, which really grabs our attention. He uses the tone of his voice to show what is important to him and should be important to Americans. He goes on to talk about race, and how diverse his is. He then uses that to show how great a nation we are because of how everyone is treated with equality. This allows for unity, something Obama is preaching for. He even specifically mentions south carolina, "where the confederate flag still flies", which is an interesting connection. Obama is a great speaker and because of it, I believe, and hope he will win the presidency.

Joseph Dubrowski

English 103

3/6/2008

Photo Essay

Thesis: By providing quiet, relaxing and well kept grounds, Clemson

University’s many outdoor fields and points of interest promote a positive venue for academic studies.

While most people would recognize Clemson’s wide array of fields as good places to hang out and get in their sports fix, most would fail to recognize the potential that these outdoor areas hold for academic studies. These pictures are arranged in such a way that someone could recognize just how many people utilize the outdoors for doing work and studying. These pictures were all taken on campus, and they focus on several different locations where students can find a peaceful place to study. Each picture is meant to convey the serenity of our campus. They lead up to the final pictures of the amphitheater where it is evident that this particular outdoor venue is a good place to not only study individually, but to discuss different topics as an entire class.

Moderation Readings

Just like peer review, the moderation readings went very well in my opinion. It was nice to get a chance to read other peoples LR's so I could not only give feedback and help them out but also get a sense of where mine stood in comparison to everyone else's. I put a lot of time and thought into my B1 and C1 so I was happy to see good feedback from my classmates. I now know that if I just do my best on my English work I can succeed in this class. I would consider my writing skills to be at right about the same level as my peers. For my final LR I will just have to remember to focus on what I have done over the entire semester to become a better writer. I hope we continue to do moderation readings.

Community Based Essay

The community based essay was a good way for me to get a feel for what I need to improve in my writing and also what my strengths are. I figured out that I am good at writing in a persuasive, convincing style. With this said, I need to improve upon my sentence structure especially my begining and concluding sentences. I also need to make sure I have my MLA format down because I didn't quite get that perfect for my final draft. Overall, I liked writing this essay and put a lot of work into it, now it's just a matter of me fine tuning my skills.

Conference

My one on one conference was very helpfull. I knew my thesis needed strengthening and I got exactly the help I needed with that. I also was not aware of how bad my formatting was, partly because I have never written a paper in MLA format. It was very helpful to see in the book the exact section on MLA format and I know I will be using that for my own benefit in the future. It was a helpful session and it was good to get another opinion on my paper.

Peer Review

I really enjoyerd peer review. It gave me a chance to not only get quality feedback on my own essay but to read two other peoples work as well. I got a good idea of where my essay was in comparion to everyone else and also in comparison to where it could be given my own ability. I was also glad to review other peoples papers because they were pretty interesting and it was nice to be able to help others out with their papers. Overall a very positive experience.

"Letter"

The letter we read written by Martin Luther King is very persuasive for many reasons. First of all, he keeps a calm tone and does not point fingers at anyone even though he is in such a tough spot. Even though MLK is in jail he even manages to tell the clergy that he respects them which is tough to do given his situation. MLK is so effective at being persuasive because he combines an appeal to logical reasoning with a calm and collected attitude. His letter is a prime example of arguing to convince and persuade.

Argueing to Convince

I have learned a lot about arguing to convince and to persuade and their differences. Arguing to convince involves simply convincing someone that your perspective is the right one while arguing to persuade is to another degree where you are trying to get the person to take action. When writing to convince it is helpful to have good sources. If you can site sources or statistics or other facts then it will greatly strengthen your argument. I have found in my life that arguing to convince or persuade someone is very difficult to do and involves a lot of time and thought. That is why it is important to learn how to write this way and to make sure to put in the time and effort to make sure all of your arguments are flawless.

Library Visit

The library visit, although maybe not the most interesting hour in my life, was a very useful and necessary experience. In the past, I obtained most of my sources for papers from sites such as google or yahoo. At the library, I learned all about Clemson's internet sources, many of which I had no idea existed. The man who helped us, I forget his name, was extremely helpful and I really appreciated the time he put in to help us out. It's good to have the knowledge that I obtained from this session and I will definatley be putting these resources to good use in the future!

Essay and Disscusion

These essays relate directly to the community based essay that we have been assigned because they both involve issues in the community. The discussion in class was very interesting and I am looking forward to writing this essay. Talking about the essay and reading the handout made me think about what I will write about. Right now my plan is to write it about a subject I am very passionate about which is a program in my home town that supports a friend of mine who died in Iraq. This has been a big story in our town for a while and just recently they aired a feature on my friend, Nick, and the program, Kick for Nick, on ESPN. I find that when I am interested in a subject and/or emotionally involved in it, I can write a lot better. So when it comes time to write this essay I will be ready!

Logical Fallacies

I thought the Logical Fallacies handout was very interesting especially because i took intro to logic last semester so I am actually pretty familiar with logic and thinking logically. One of the most interesting ones that I was not aware of is the "stacking the deck" fallacy. This fallacy is defined as "An argument that slants the evidence to support a position." I feel like this fallacy is much easier to commit than some of the others because often times when I am writing a paper or arguing a position I will find as much evidence to support my opinion and present those facts without giving the other side a fare chance. This fallacy is so important because it is necessary to always consider all sides of an argument and all of the evidence before establishing a position.

Groups

I have always been a big fan of group work. When I work on things alone I often get so overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious. In a group the work can be divided and thus is not as over bearing. A lot of people complain that in groups someone always ends up doing all the work but what I have found is that there is often someone who slacks off but there are enough people that the work gets done. Also with groups it allows for some socialization which is always nice.

Previous Writing Experiences

Writing has always been interesting for me. I like the challenge of putting what I am thinking into words so other people can understand. I have always considered myself a pretty good writer. I am looking forward to writing in this class although it is a different kind of writing than I have ever done. Most of my writing has dealt with analyzing stories or novels. I have written persuasive essays before but not essays that consider both sides of an argument. It will be a new challenge but I am up for it.