3/27 Lecture

How to convey energy in prose

• Adjectives: positive, dynamic,avoid cliches and overused language
• Adverbs and other modifiers
• Verbs: active, simple verb forms
• "I believe that people might be interested in a concept like this one." -incredibly boring, vs. "Conscientious people believe in existentialism."  Both sentences are saying the same thing, the second sentence is just more specific.  It's stronger because it has an active verb which means something. 
• Be specific! Avoid being vague.
• Avoid self-reference. 
• This doesn't mean you can't ever use "I", it just means that you shouldn't interject yourself into every situation. 
• If you're talking about an experience you had that supports your point, obviously you should use that.
• Public writing is not academic writing; use second person.
• Don't presume too much about your audience, though.
• Consider your audience, work on your ethos.
• Use assertive, aggressive short sentences to make your point.

Affirmative Action Definition

Affirmative Action, essentially, is a policy put in place to give minority races the extra help they may need to get jobs, college degrees, etc.  The thought process behind Affirmative Action is that after 300 years of being treated as a a sub-human race, these groups deserve and require certain preferential treatment to level the playing field.

Affirmative Action is a sticky subject.  The acts of violence and unjust exclusions that African-Americans have had to face in the U.S. since before its creation are indisputably wrong.  How to go about fixing these injustices is a more difficult subject that plagues many majority Americans, and especially law-makers, college deans, and CEOs.  I think that Affirmative Action is simply the easiest and most fair solution we have been able to come up with.  In practice, it clearly has its problems.  Many white Americans with low-class backgrounds may find themselves stuck in a cycle of poverty and discrimination without the resources to escape and make something better of their lives while African-Americans in middle-class society find themselves being given opportunities that help them to climb even higher.  The fact is though, that these scenarios are the exception rather than the rule.  I am a white, upper-middle class college student with two siblings who will be college-bound in the next few years.  I receive several scholarships, but my parents are constantly pushing me to find more.  The fact is that there are few available to me because of my race and my parents' income level.  My parents find this unfair, but the fact is that there are a limited amount of finances available for scholarships and financial aid.  I would have to agree that, in general, most African-Americans truly need the money more than I do.  Affirmative Action is a complicated issue but as a whole,  I agree with it.

Comic Book Critique-- "Common Scents" by Lynda Barry

The most striking think I noticed about "Common Scents" was that the words in Lynda Barry's comic srip seem to dominate over the illustrations that accompany them.  In most comics I have grown up reading, the opposite was the case.  In this comic though, the whole top half of her boxes are dialogue and within the pictures there are text bubbles.  The illustrations are brightly illustrated, which helps to off-set the black and white text portions.  The illustrations seem to show the scenes in the way that the author saw them as a child, over-dramatizing and simplifying them.  This comic is far from the best I have ever read.  My favorite comic stip by far is "Calvin and Hobbes".  I love the way that Bill Watterson combines a few simple scentances and pictures into a story that would make my friends and I laugh out loud for hours on end (and, admittedly, still does at times).  To me, Lynda Barry's strip is almost the antithesis to his style.  It's still about a child's world from their own perspective but the wordiness was a little too much for me.  I found myself almost forgetting to even look at the illustrations, and even after looking at them I didn't feel like they added that much to the strip.  To me, this comic strip could've achieved almost the same effect without the illustrations as it did with them.  Altogether, I was not very impressed at all with "Common Scents".

My Cultural Identity

• I am female
• I am christian
• I am a college student
• I am a teenager (for the next few weeks, anyway)
• I am a caffiene addict
• I am upper-middle class
• I am conservative
• I am short
• I am blonde
• I am American
• I am southern
• I am from a small-town
• I am heterosexual
• I am a hiker
• I am outdoorsy
• I am a ballerina
• I am white
• I am physically fit
• I am a Facebook-addict
• I am a swimmer
• I am an ex-band nerd
• I am sarcastic
• I am a music lover
• I am a sports fan
• I am dying to travel the world
• I am a runner
• I am a reader
• I am a knitter
• I am a scrapbooker
• I am obsessed with all things creative
• I am passionate about mission work

Book Questions 1-31-12--response to reading from pgs 33-49

Journal entry

1-31-12

Page 35
Response to reading pgs 33-49

What is your motivation in this communication situation?

My motivation is to change the mind of the committee so that I can study abroad with the program I applied to.

What do you hope your audience will do or feel or think after they have experienced the communication you will produce?

I hope that they will feel that I am qualified and deserving of being a part of this study abroad, and that they will change their mind about my application and allow me to be a part of it. 

If there is some event or situation that got you wanting to communicate with others, describe it in as much detail as possible.

As a member of the Chancellor's Honor's program, I am required to study abroad.  When looking at my options, the trip I applied for was the only one that fit my schedule, helped my major, and that I felt my family could afford.  I feel that the application did not do a thorough job of capturing who I am, and how I would be an asset to the program.  By meeting with the committee who selects the program's members, I think I could persuade them to accept me into the program

What would be the best possible outcome of the communication?

I would be accepted to go on the study abroad program.

What would be the worst possible outcome?

The committee would not change their minds about my application, and I would be forced to look at other options to satisfy my study abroad requirement.

How will your communication change the situation in which you make the communication?

I believe that the committee will decide that my application should be accepted once they know me better in person rather than just from the information on the application.  Also, I will feel better with myself knowing I tried everything I could to get this program.

Younglife Camp Brochure Reaction

Younglife camp brochure Great use of colors and layout. As a brochure primarily to convince high schoolers to go to camp, it's important that the brochure appeal to a high schooler's style. The big words, bold colors, and general design are exciting and I think would appeal to a high schooler. I especially like that it says things like "experience the best week of your life with your closest friends" and claims that "everyone's going!" For high schoolers, the pressure to fit in is extreme so this is a very good tactic. While younglife camp obviously has a deeper purpose than just parasailing, tubing, and water skiing, these are the things the brochure plays up since these are the activities most likely to convince a high schooler to want to go to camp. The brochure also does a good job of laying out all the details for the potential camper's parents, explaining the cost, food, housing, etc as well as looking very professional and well-organized. The pictures do a good job of capturing the fun and fellowship that campers will have at camp. There are a lot of words, but I think they're all necessary and the brochure is easy to read and well broken up to avoid the "wall of text". Good job!

"Higher Education" article reaction

Katie Hogue

Public Writing

1/18/12

            After reading the “Higher Education” article, what struck me the most about the writing was what a broad audience it could potentially appeal to.  Obviously, sports fanatics would love that the story centers around a basketball coach.  This man, “Coach” as he is most often referred, was also a teacher and much could be learned from his methods by anyone who finds themselves in a teaching role (school or otherwise).  The idea that one man could change a community appeals to the dramatic soul.  There is also a lesson to be learned about acceptance of those who at first are perceived as drastically different from ourselves—Coach is a black, catholic man in a white, Amish environment.  This story then, although published in Sports Illustrated originally is told in such a way that is not too heavily focused on any one area such as sports or race-issues or religion, but instead incorporates these many topics in a way that influences the reader and keeps their interest regardless of their personal preferences.  Especially in today’s society, the ability to keep people’s attention for a reading as long as this article is both vitally important and increasingly difficult.  However, Smith does this successfully.