Thlog #9

Just as I was getting all comfy and ready for bed, I had a sudden feeling of stress cross over me. I couldn’t quite tell what it was that was giving me this uneasy feeling since I am in good company and full off Thanksgiving leftovers, but then I remembered it’s Saturday night and I have a thlog due! Last week, we gave our group presentations, which went really well. I learned a lot about hedged language through this project, which will be really beneficial in the future when I want to write a paper where I need to support claims. I really like how my group incorporated the Donald Trump video and gave examples of him using hedged language, as well as him not using it.  We also received a score for our WP3 and even though I thought I really hit the ball out of the park on this project, I was wrong. I felt that I have learned so much in this class and I really tried to incorporate all of that into this project. I came into this class feeling that I was a very strong writer, but week after week I seem to become more frustrated and despaired. I know that we have the portfolio coming up though, so I have to at least try to improve upon my old writing projects. I am hoping that the writing gods will give me some help in these next two weeks in order to do well in this class.

Thlog # 8

It feels weird not having to worry about writing any Pb’s or Wp’s this week, but the break is quite nice. This week I have been focusing on my group project that we will be presenting on Monday. My group members and I received the topic that no one wanted, so we were very nervous going into this. It turns out though that our topic is much simpler to understand and it is actually very fascinating. Hedged language is a term that I was not common with until this week. I did not even realize that I incorporate this technique throughout my papers until I learned the definition of the term. Hedged language is cautious language or “vague” language, that adds in terms or phrases to alleviate a writer’s claim. It ultimately strengthens one’s argument. Hedged language is very important because people are more accepting and will actually consider what it is you are saying. For example, if we say, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris will trigger World War 3, this claim is quite out there and many people may not agree with this statement. Most likely, the reader will not want to continue reading your paper because they already have considered you to be an unreliable source. By adding in hedged language though and saying something such as, the recent terrorist attacks in Paris could have the possibility of triggering another World War, your claim becomes more reliable. My group and I hope that by using plenty of examples, students will realize just how to use hedged language and the importance of it.

Thlog #7

    Unfortunately, I did not make it to class this Monday because of the stomach flu passed on to me by my roommate, and there was no class Wednesday in honor of Veteran’s Day. So I had to rely on the online lesson plans to get caught up. This week I have been focusing on ideas for the WP3. I really struggled with an idea for the younger and older genres. The best idea that I was able to come up with was taking the topic of the Country Music Awards. With this I was going to make an Apple app for children that could play the best and most appropriate songs played at the award ceremony. The app could also include games such as simple puzzles or drawing that includes Country stars. For adults, I could create a different app that pinpoints all of the highlights of the award ceremony. It could include interesting facts about Country stars and basic trivia. For the children I would focus on making the app full of images and songs. It would be made to entertain children who have a short attention span. For adults, I would focus more on entertaining them through more specific details and facts. I thought that this was a better idea than my first idea of going to option 2 for my project. My idea seems a lot stronger than my first plan now. Also, this option has allowed me to use my creativity. I am able to take all of my prior knowledge from the class and course reader and create my own genres. That is pretty cool if you ask me!

 PB3A

     I spent the weekend thinking of new genres to create for a younger and older audience. After losing my mind a bit, I decided to turn to friends for inspiration, but they too were as uncreative as I am. As you may have guessed, option 3 was also not a realistic option for me because it involved a bit too much creativity. This is why I have decided to choose the second option for this writing project. I feel that since it is a topic that I understand well, I will really be able to learn a lot more than if I wrote about option one. I am also glad that our past writing assignments have focused on scholarly articles, because I have a great understanding for their rhetorical devices and conventions. I think that I will be able to produce a very well written essay since I have a good understanding for the prompt and of the course readings.

      I am considering choosing the article on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Evidence-Based Research for the Third Millennium. Since I am a psychology major, I am always drawn towards articles that focus on psychological concepts. Also, this article specifically focuses on people who served or are serving in the military and who now suffer from PTSD. Since I want to be a counselor for people in the military, I am really excited to focus on this article. I am also considering writing my paper on Depression, PTSD, and Comorbidity Related to Intimate Partner Violence in Civilian and Military Women though. This is definitely another topic that I find very fascinating and I know I could really tear this piece apart in my essay. It is an interesting topic that doesn’t get paid much attention, yet it is a very important and crucial topic. Women who are abused by their partners suffer from PTSD as much as women who are in the military do. Both of these topics are very dear to my heart and I feel that the hardest part about writing this essay is going to be committing to one of those topics. On the bright side though, if my biggest concern going into this essay is which scholarly article to focus on, then I’m going to say that I am definitely headed in the right direction with this paper.

      In order to really master this project, I am going to reread the course readings, Dirk’s Navigating Genres, Boyd’s Murder! Rhetorically, Carroll’s Backpacks vs. Briefcases., and Bunn’s How to Read Like a Writer. This will give me a solid example of how to write a Writing Spaces type of essay. Since my audience is directed towards college students in a composition class, I think that I will really be able to include my own voice throughout the whole piece. This is the best option to really show what I have learned in this class. I have to admit, I am definitely a lot more pumped for this writing assignment than I was for the last project.