Blog 13A

Here are the 3 people whose blogs I reviewed and commented on.

Paul: http://paullind.blogspot.com/

What worked: Rhetorical terms

What needed work: Visual rhetoric

Brandi:  http://dearchild-saywhat.blogspot.com/

What worked: Visual rhetoric

What needed work: Writing process

Geena: http://geenagrossenglish.blogspot.com/

What worked: visual rhetoric

What needed work: Classification and division

How to write an essay

     The point of writing is to tell someone something. This could be telling a story, giving instructions, comparing things, or just writing to give information or opinions. Essays are pieces of writing where the author is telling something to the audience, and trying to connect with them in one way or another in order to make what they say have some kind of meaning to the members of the audience. There are many tools that are important elements of an essay. In order to write a meaningful essay that the audience can relate to, there is a method, and different tools that must be considered.
     First I will talk about the method to writing an essay. In order to write a good essay there are steps that you should follow. The first step is to write down everything you know about the subject you are writing about. This allows you to empty all of the information from your mind and put it down on paper. This should be the first draft and the first step. Secondly you should go through all of the information that you have written, and edit. You should delete any information that does not need to be in the essay. Any information that will not add to the importance, or the audience understanding should be taken out. Then you should elaborate and give details of any information that you do want to keep in the essay. This is where you expand and go into depth in each area of importance.  The next step after editing and expanding would be to get other people to review and give feedback. This is an important step because this allows you to get fresh sets of eyes to look at your work, and this is your first introduction to a part of your audience. This is helpful because peers can look at your work and let you know what is working well, and what isn't. This can allow you to make changes in order to make any unclear parts more clear for the audience. The next step would be to add the introduction. With a clear body for your paper it is now easy to introduce what is contained within. This is where you can explain to your audience what you are writing about. Include a thesis statement containing the subject you have written about. This introduction is much easier to write at the end because it is easy to introduce a paper that is already organized and detailed. The conclusion can be written at the same time as it is also just a brief summary again of what the paper is about. The introduction and conclusion are just summaries of the body. Telling what you have written about, and perhaps the importance and why you shared what you did.
     Now that I have given the method for writing a good essay, I will now touch on some other important tools and elements that can be used in an essay to further help an author to connect to the audience. In a narrative, or an essay in which a story is being told, a point is being argued, or something is being explained, there are elements that are important for flow and audience connection. There should be characters, settings, plot,, theme, story grammar, and a sequential timeline of events to name a few. These are all important elements, but something that should be kept in mind is that each element influences the other elements. Another important tool found in essays is cause and effect. Using a causal chain of events explains why a certain event or series of events occurred. It helps the audience to keep track and understand the reason why things happened as well as gives them a timeline to follow which can help their understanding. If each cause and effect has a direct relationship the reader can easily stay focused, and the essay will flow better.
     Visual rhetoric is another useful tool in helping an audience connect to an essay. Two important things are done in a visual rhetoric. First of all the author explains the objective material, or what is easily seen by the audience. Next, it explains the subjective information, or what is only known by the author. Another set of tools that are helpful in essays are gazes. There are many different gazes that an author may use in an essay. There is a familial gaze, which when talked about brings to the readers mind an intimate and personal memory of their own, which helps them make a connection to what is being talked about in the essay. There are other gazes as well such as consumer gazes, national gazes, political gazes, religious gazes, cultural gazes, and even traveling gazes. Gazes are used to make imprints on the reader that persuades them to think or act a certain way. Also used in essays are pathos, or emotions, as well as logos, or logic.
     Compare and contrast is another tool used in essays. This is where we take similarities and differences of certain objects and point them out. One way to do this is subject by subject. This is where we take one point from each example, argument, or visual and we compare and contrast them one point at a time. Another way is by using side by side comparison in which  you take one subject and list all the details, and then take the other subject and list all of their details and then at the end you list all of the similarities or differences found.
     Definition in essays is also important. This is where the author explains and defines their point, tells the audience why it is important, and then they tell the audience what importance it has to them personally or why they should know this information. Without definition the audience would feel no connection to the topic of the essay. The final tool I am going to talk about here is classification and division, which is where the author points out some main points or segments in the essay and then they further divide those segments listing details and expanding on each segment. The segments are called classifications, and then the details given are the divisions of the classifications.
     There are many tools that are useful in writing essays, but the most important thing for an author to remember is that they are writing for the purpose of someone reading what it is they are writing. So whatever tools are used are there in order to assist the author in being able to make a meaningful connection to the vast audience that will read their work. Without a meaningful connection the essay is basically pointless. So it is important to remember this when writing in order to write in a manner in which an audience can understand and connect to what you have taken the time to write.

Blog 9A Definition of Classification and Division

     Classification and division in an essay is when the author breaks the information into different points. These main points are the classifications. Inside of each classification the author breaks down further and explains each point in much more detail. This is the division of each classification. In order to use classification and division the author needs to first decide which main points are important, and then have enough information on each point to describe and define each point as detailed as possible.
     Classification and division is a very useful tool because it gives the audience the main important topics, and then breaks them down giving as much detail as possible so that it is easier to connect with and understand. It tells the reader why the topic is important, and why they should be aware of each point, why they need to know about it.

Definition Blog 8A

     Definition is very important in writing. It is the way that the author explains what they are talking about, why it is important to the audience, and what relevance it has to the actual audience, or why they should know about the topic. There are different patterns types in definition writings. Compare and contrast is one, this is where the author describes similarities and differences between different topics or objects. Another pattern type is showing examples. To explain the subject and then give examples that perhaps the audience can connect to, this can help them further understand what the author is talking about. Classification and division is a way that the author points out different main segments, or points, and then they divide each segment up and explain each one individually.
     The article that I chose is about how health care for the elderly is shifting away from nursing home care and moving toward PACE centers. PACE centers are facilities in which elderly patients or those with long term health care needs can receive health care both in these centers which almost serve as an adult day-care, with many services from doctors, nurses, therapists etc, as well as providing daily activities and meals similar to nursing homes, but at the end of the day the patients can go home. These PACE centers also provide in home care, and coordinate specialty care and hospitalizations, and they are also in charge of nursing home placement if it is actually necessary. These are more cost efficient for the patients and the government. With recent health care budgets being drastically cut these provide alternatives to nursing homes and are cheaper.
     With everyone in the world aging, it is important for those in the U.S. to know that there are alternatives to nursing home facilities, and to be educated on what these alternatives offer.

Blog week 7

     Subject specific rhetorical tools are very important. These are what draw the audience in and help them to connect and understand the message that the author is trying to tell. Without these tools the message could be unclear to the audience, and hold no meaning for them. It would not be able to draw them in and keep their interest. Writing would be meaningless if it didn't in some way have meaning for the audience.
     Some of the tools that we have learned about recently include the following:
          1. Analogies. This is where you take something that is familiar to describe something that is unfamiliar.   This gives the audience something to compare the unfamiliar thing to. This can help them make sense of something less understood.
          2. Using objective explanations. This is not bias, it expands only on what the audience can already see.
          3. Subjective views. These explanations are telling about something that only you know. Sometimes this needs more description because they do not have the knowledge about the subject that you have.
          4. Familial gaze. This tool creates a feeling. It reminds us of something intimate and personal to us.
          5. Consumer gaze. This is used to make someone want to buy something. To make the audience think that what they are seeing is something that they need to have.

Visual Rhetoric Compare and ContrastBlog 6A

     Every day we compare and contrast different things. In an essay you can do the same. There are two ways to compare and contrast. One way is called subject by subject comparison. In this method you take one point from each example, or argument, or in our case visuals, and you compare and contrast them one point at a time. This way can be very useful if you are having a hard time to find similarities or differences because you just take one small point at a time.
     The second method in compare and contrast is called side by side comparison. In this type of comparison you take point "A" and list all of the details and arguments for that point and when you are finished you then take all the details from point "B" and list all of those. Then you can compare and contrast their points after both sides have been explained.
      Compare and contrast is a great tool to help identify and name similarities and differences in any two related topics. It really doesn't matter which method you use, it just depends on which is more convenient for the comparison you are making.

Visual Rhetoric Blog 5A

     Today in class we learned about different elements of visual rhetoric. It was explained that visual rhetoric does 2 things. It describes in an objective view, which is basically an un-biased view of the obvious, or what everyone can clearly see, and then it explains in a subjective way. Telling the spectator things that are not known. 
     In classic rhetoric we use pathos, or emotion, and we use logos, or logic. We also learned that there are different "gazes." There is a familial gaze, which when we see the visual, it brings up an intimate memory, something important to us. There is the consumer gaze, a gaze that designed to make us want to buy something. There is also a national gaze, a religious gaze, a political gaze, a traveling gaze, and even a cultural gaze. Gazes are meant to make an imprint on us. To persuade us to do or think a certain way.

Cause and effect Blog 4A

    Cause and effect is a great way to help a reader follow the author's story. Cause and effect uses a causal chain. This causal chain explains what caused a certain event to occur. It is usually made up of several causes and effects. Cause and effect writing can help the reader to be able to follow the logical timeline of events more efficiently by explaining why and how certain events occurred.
     Writers can best analyze a cause and effect paper by making sure that each cause and effect has a direct relationship. This can help the writer to stay focused and not go off on unrelated subjects. This way it is easier to keep the paper flowing well, and easier for the audience to read.

Peer Review (3B)

      I think that peer review is very important. I think that it gives you a fresh outlook into your work. As the author of your own work you can be very one sided. It is good to have peer reviews because when another person reads your work, they can give you their perspective as a piece of the audience you are writing for that you would not have otherwise. They can let you know their opinions, and also they may have knowledge on things that can expand and improve your work, that you may not have.

Rhetorical tools in narrative

      Zambreno defined some excellent rhetorical tools that we can find in narratives. There were some that I had noticed show up a lot in some of the great narratives I've read, but I haven't always been able to put a name to the tools that I found reoccurring.  Great narratives are the ones that know their audience, and write in a way that appeals to them. The tools that Zambreno mentions in her essay are definitely tools that can capture an audience. Mutability or plasticity for example, this is the way in which material can be, and has been reshaped for new audiences. This is an important tool to use to capture an audience that is always changing. Piecemeal, this tool is a way in which a narrative is created by taking pieces of various other sources. As Zambreno mentions this is a great way to encourage later adaptations of the narrative. Zambreno also gives us a definition of window of opportunity which we can find in narratives. This is where the author leaves a gap in the story. This tool can really be appealing to the audience because it sparks our own human nature to expand on the story, or use our imagination to fill these gaps in. The last tool Zambreno discussed, that I would also like to touch on is open ended closure. This is where the author leaves off, purposely and obviously, omitting pieces of the story to encourage the reader to add to, or create their own story off of the story told.
      I think that all of these tools are very important in a narrative because they draw in vast audience, and leave them with a base to expand on in their own mind, making the story itself different for each reader. This is a great way to capture different minded readers, and appeal to all in one way or another because although there is a story being told, there is room for imagination and personal interpretation.

Important Elements of Narrative (Blog Week 2B)

      We use narrative for several reasons. To argue our point, to explain something, or just to tell others a story, true or not. There are many important elements of narrative as I mentioned before. Story grammar, character, setting, plot, a sequential time line of events, and many more. But the important thing about these elements is how each one influences the others. Each element can completely change what the other elements bring to the story.
      The example that I used before of the story of Little Miss Helpful is a great example of how just one element can affect other elements. For example when Little Miss Helpful comes to help a sick Mr. Happy, her actions, and clumsy ways affect many other aspects of this story. When she wakes Mr. Sleepy up, this automatically changes the mood of Mr. Happy's character. When she slips on soap while cleaning his floors, this causes her to step into a pot in which her foot gets stuck, which causes her to trip and fall, grabbing onto the refrigerator door, which opens and food goes flying all over the kitchen. This definitely changes the setting from a quiet home where sick Mr. Happy is resting to a place of chaos, noise, and confusion, not to mention an over all mess. Then when Little Miss Helpful gets a pan stuck on her head, this causes the theme and feeling of the story to a feeling of maybe worry for Little Miss Helpful, and a sorry feeling for Mr. Happy who wakes up at all the commotion and goes flying out of his door in an attempt to pull the bucket off of Little Miss Helpful's head. The clumsiness of a good hearted Little Miss Helpful affects every aspect of the story as her unfortune unravels affecting all characters, and settings she comes across. She even affects the plot of the story when the reader thinks she is going to be helpful and she ends up doing just the opposite, and the entire expectation of the story and perhaps even the title of the story are thrown off. This story is just one example of how elements in narrative are all impacted by each other.

Elements of Narrative

      In a narrative there are many complex elements that are necessary to make it flow and connect it with an audience. Some of the elements that come to mind are character, theme, plot, and setting. There are many more elements of a narrative, but one that I feel has great importance is character. I feel that the character of a narrative, their personality, their problems, their reactions and their thought process impact the other elements in a huge way.
      One example of how the character can impact a narrative is actually from a children's story called Little Miss Helpful. Little Miss Helpful is a character who is always trying to help others, but ends up always messing things up. She is stubborn in the fact that she insists on helping even when the other characters don't want her help due to her reputation of not being helpful at all. Little Miss Helpful has a big heart and tries with all her might but she is clumsy and really not a bit helpful. When Little Miss Helpful tries to tie Mr. Tall's shoes and accidentally ties them together causing him to take a huge fall, and when she tries to clean Mr. Happy's house when he's sick and ends up tripping  on all of the pots and pans, falling into the refrigerator, and getting a bucket stuck on her head, finally to send a sick Mr. Happy flying out of his own home into a river when he tries to help her get the bucket off of her head are great examples of how the character of Little Miss Helpful has an impact on almost every other aspect of this story.