My view on the Tom Collins’ rhetorical analysis.

I thought Mr. Collins did an extraordinary job presenting Marie's view. He put the reader right at the scene and displayed ethos, pathos, and logos while placing us there. I never had to guess or wonder what Mr. Collins was talking about because he made it very clear what Marie's speech was about in the very beginning. Mr. Collins sets his logos in the first paragraph by proving he has read Marie’s speech and stating specific details about this event. It is very clear Mr. Collins has done his research and he is very familiar with this speech. Mr. Collins has experienced an event such as this that provoked raw emotion similar to Marie's. As Mr. Collins talks about his experience he assures us that he is creditable and trustworthy (Ethos) because he has felt these raw emotions before so he can relate. Mr. Collins does a beautiful job of conveying the pathos in Marie’s speech. Mr. Collins makes you have confidence that he was feeling the same way she was.  

Mr. Collins analysis was clear and easy to follow I never found myself trying to guess what he was writing about. Mr. Collins is also clear about what are his views and the views of Marie. He displayed ethos, pathos, and logos nicely and he also included direct quotes from Maria’s speech. Overall I think Mr. Collins did a wonderful job on this rhetorical analysis.

Asking Myself The Hard Questions

Tonight I have answered questions about my own writing that I have never thought to ask myself before. Do we really like to self-analyze our own work? I know this self-review was very tough for me to answer and really made me think about what I wrote and why I wrote it. In doing this assessment I realized I need to take a step back and really think about my thesis sentence before I begin any writing assignment. This would save me quite a bit of time in my writing process. This step is crucial in producing a piece of work that makes sense and flows well. Before beginning this self-review I knew I needed to work on my introduction and title process and this review helped me see this is one of my biggest weaknesses.
In doing this self-review I also learned I do have strengths also. My papers have a nice flow to them and they are fairly easy for the audience to follow along. Even though I have a hard time forming an introduction it is fairly easy for me to write a conclusion on my writing assignments. We all have strengths and weaknesses and while it is hard to complete a self-review assignment it is very beneficial and will be useful in our next writing assignment.

Similarity and Differences in Writing Styles

My writing style can be compared to several of the students in this class. Many of us seem to be procrastinators when it comes to writing papers. Like Jeniese I try to organize my thoughts in my mind instead of writing them all down and then I will just start writing my paper. Jeniese and I also read our papers over and over again until we are happy with the final edit. Brandon mentioned on his blog that he is still learning and growing into a better writer. I can completely relate with his comment because I am also growing and learning about my writing style. I think it takes time as well as trial and error to figure out what works for you and what doesn't. I tend to over think every single writing assignment I have ever worked on and Ronnie stated he does the same thing. Amanda and I are different in our writing styles because she likes to pick the topic first and then branch off of that. I always pick my topic last because I struggle the most with my topic choice.

I think it helps to look at everyone's writing styles because we all have those quirks about us that we struggle with and we all have strengths as well. I personally think we can learn something from each other in this class. Just remember what works for one person may not work for another it's about find that balance that works for you.

Eight Year Old Girl Denied Fair Privileges

Eight year old Alissa has been battling a rare syndrome that affects her kidneys, internal organs and her legs.  Her parents never thought a family trip to the local fair would result in their daughter in tears after being told she wouldn’t be allowed to ride the rides because of her disability. The family had been to this fair before and their daughter rode all the rides with no problems.  So you can imagine how surprised the family was when the fair worker denied their daughter the right to ride the rides and even directly asked the family in front of a crowd what was wrong with their daughter. Both the mother and daughter were very upset and left the fairgrounds in tears.

I found this article through the local news station. While this wasn’t the original story they received the story from another reliable news source. While we all know some news sources can get some information incorrect they are pretty reliable and would be credible and trustworthy (ethos).  This story definitely has pathos because it is about a little girl who was denied her right to enjoy herself at the local fair. This would pull on the heart strings of most anyone I know! The news station did an interview with the girl’s family and also tried to contact the fairgrounds without any luck. This would be the logos part of this article.

Persuasion in Writing

Every argument includes Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Everyone has their own approach when writing a paper but every paper should include Logos, Pathos, and Ethos as a way to persuade your audience. Logos is the logical appeal in an argument. How do you appeal to the reader, does your paper make sense, is your research from a reliable source? These are things you should ask yourself when effectively trying to apply logos to your paper. Pathos appeals based on emotion. You want to draw your audience in with their emotions this will help keep their attention and engage them in your writing. An example of Pathos is writing an emotional story that have your audience happy, sad, or, angry. Ethos is a certain something that an individual has, a person's character as perceived by the audience. You want your audience to think you are believable and that they can trust what you are saying is honest and truthful.
Knowing how Logos, Pathos, and Ethos work together can help you write a solid persuasive paper. When you know what these three words mean you will ask yourself if your paper includes them and reflect on how you can or should use them more effectively. This will help you become a better persuasive writer.

How well do you know your audience?

Knowing your audience is a very important detail when preparing a speech or writing a paper. You wouldn't want to deliver a  speech to a group of elderly people the same way you would first graders. Obviously the elderly group would become very bored and probably annoyed if you did. In order to clearly get your message across you must know your audience. This will change what information you use and how you use it. For example when talking to children you should keep an upbeat attitude and use exciting words to keep their interest in you instead of everything else in the room. If you were having a conversation with an adult you would use a more serious tone and be able to deliver your message.
A thesis statement is important because it offers your audience a preview of what information you want to convey. You want to grab your audience's attention and keep them fully engaged in your writing. The PEE structure will assist in the flow of your paper and provide some clarity for your audience. It will also help support your thesis statement. Both the PEE structure and the thesis statement are needed to have a solid academic paper. This image pretty much sums up what your audience will look like if you have a poor thesis statement and PEE structure!

My writing process.

I have never really thought about my writing process until now. Like many others I am a procrastinator. I'm not a very strong writer and I tend to over think even the simplest assignment. When I begin to write I will look over the assignment and make sure I understand the assignment. Typically when I write a paper I tend to free write. When I sit and try to prewrite I tend to over think the assignment and end up spending hours just staring at a flashing line on word. After I complete my free writing I will go back through and read and reread what I wrote. Then I will choose what I want to keep and I will delete the rest. After this process I will work to complete my paper and get the final draft ready to submit.

So my process starts with looking over and understanding the assignment. I will then free write and read and reread my free writing before I revise and complete my final draft. For me personally the biggest challenge to writing a paper or any writing project is getting started. I think we all want a catchy title and intro.Over the last couple years I have learned the title is not the most important part of the paper. I have also learned it is okay if the title isn't catchy as long as your paper is interesting and tells a story.