Counterintuitive Fall 2024

Core Value 1: My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

When I started my writing process this semester, I found it very challenging at first. When the first paper was given, I didn’t quite know where to start, so I did some research to help me get ideas flowing. I found myself doing this through the whole semester to improve my writings. Along with that I was guided by my professor with lots of helpful feedback on my work whenever I asked. This really helped me get back on the right track when my writings sometimes started to veer off the path. For example, my Causal Argument Paper. After I published my first draft for this paper I asked for feedback. This was around the time of our conferences, so my professor was able to provide a lot of useful feedback to help me rewrite my paper and get it back on track. 

Core Value 2: My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities.

My Rebuttal Paper demonstrates that I critically placed texts into conversations with one another inorder to help back up my topic. This paper helped me argue my side of the hypothesis proposed, which helped me build my argument even stronger. For this paper I referenced many articles and journals that were written about my topic for additional support. By doing this I also learned a lot more about my topic and was able to keep new ideas flowing into my paper and the papers following. By taking this course I learned a lot about doing research and how to build ideas for my topic. Before I would only use one or two sources to help my papers but I learned that the more research you do the more you can greaten your paper.

Core Value 3:  My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

The purpose of my Rebuttal Paper was to argue my side of the hypothesis and to address the other side as well. In this paper I had to clearly define my side and then slowly bring people who were against, or on the fence about it to my side. By doing this I had to analyze the other side and try to build an argument against it. It is easy to build upon your opinion, but it can be difficult to build on why the other side is wrong. For example, many might say that me saying not to play sports is upseard and unjustified, but I showed that I had proof to my opinions and gave significant references to back me up.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Writing all the papers leading up to my Research paper, I ended up finding lots of references to support my work. Each paper leads to new ideas, which lead me to finding new articles to use to grow my ideas. In my research paper I took all my ideas and resources from all 3 papers before, and combined them into one paper that supported my thesis. My research paper helped me combine my ideas and opinions with expert ideas and opinions into one big task.

Core Value 5: My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

While gathering ideas for my Research paper, I was able with the help of my teacher, to gather information and sources to support my ideas. Ideally when writing a paper it is helpful to use as many sources to backup your claims. It’s like promising something and delivering on it when you are able to back it up with proven information. The sources I found were put together to form my Annotated Bibliography, which is a combination of all my sources explained. I cited and showed the proper recognition to the authors in this assignment. Overall, these papers helped me practice citing, referencing, and finding new sources to build my ideas. 

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

Throughout the semester, it was encouraged to request feedback from each essay we composed as well as making accocational appointments to meet about the overall research paper. An example of this would be my Definition Argument Essay. After publishing my draft, I asked for feedback from Prof. Hodges and he soon delivered. I read over his comments and used the suggestions toward the final research paper when including the definition argument. There since were interactions about the overall Research Paper, which began with the definition argument and how this would eventually affect my final product. Overall, this shows how writing is a social and interactive practice in which there are recursive stages of its development. I was able to verbally talk out my ideas and have my Prof. either agree with my plan or suggest another way when I got stuck. Through this, my mind was opened to exploring new possibilities in my argument and discovering a new angle to develop my idea on.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

My Causal Argument demonstrates that I critically analyzed texts and put them into context with each other in order to argue my ideas. The causal argument was the meat of the argument where I was able to reference the journals and articles that I read and display the ideas that I created by analyzing these pieces. For example, I was able to marry the journal on integrating life lessons into a physical education class into the book about how to engage teenagers. With these established ideas, I was able to develop my own ideas on how to integrate the same life lesson program into core classes and how they would be engaging to that specific age group. This is evidence how ideas emerged and I was able to create my own so that the emerging ideas became support to the new idea.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

In the process of writing my research paper, a Rebuttal Argument went into the overall argument. The Rebuttal Argument had to be the section of the paper where people who had their reservations saw their point acknowledged, but then steered to agree with my ideas. For example, some people may have been against my idea to change parts of the curriculum to ensure more life lessons are taught. Many people do not like the idea of a radical change, but in my rebuttal, I made sure to explain that it is an evolutionary change. Also, I removed any rhetorical questions asked by myself to not let the reader’s mind wander and drive away from agreeing with my points. Overall, this argument allowed me to analyze my audience and protect my argument against critical thinking.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Again, the Causal Argument was the center of the final paper in my opinion, so this is where the sources I found to support my claims shined the most. For example, the combination of sources such as the book on how to engage teenagers in the classroom and the article on how technology is changing skill sets worked separately, but together on the technology issue in the classroom. Both mentioned how students rely on the internet for answers instead of trying to find the answer on their own. So in retrospect, I chose this combination of sources to lean on each other and form new ideas of my own. They played the important role of supporting my ideas and providing me with new ways of thinking about my argument to make it stronger. 

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

When crafting the Research Paper, I had to collect various sources in order to research and support my ideas. This was put into one document in which the background and use of the source was stated to create an Annotated Bibliography. This assignment allowed the sources that I used in my paper to receive the proper recognition and not take those ideas as my own. The process was a practice of academic integrity along with quoting these sources in the final research paper in order to create that boundary to separate my own voice from the voice of the academic sources. It is a good representation of how sources should only encourage new ideas, not the right to seal others. 

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

My work in my paper “Digital Distribution and the Preservation of Entertainment Software” started when I was talking to my friends about how I recently purchased a special physical version of a digital-only game and stated it was “worth it.” Yes, I waited an extra two months and I spent a little more money, but the concept stuck with me. They talked things out with me, arguing for multiple points, regardless of their stance on the subject. Talking through a subject and creating concrete points for everything you would like to talk about helps make a better paper. Keeping all the points in your head could be straining, especially if there is a lot to talk about. It took multiple angles to get what I wanted to say onto paper, but it managed to happen.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Once again, my paper “Digital Distribution and the Preservation of Entertainment Software” is a good example when discussing the Causal Argument within it. Within the paragraph explaining digitization, I use multiple quotations on similar subjects to support a point on another subject. In fact, the quotations lead right into each other with some of my own transitioning. Both sources discussed digitization on the music industry front, but my paper mainly discussed the effects of digitization and digital distribution of video games. The sources in question are both law journals, which needed a bit more out of me to fully understand. I only needed to understand a few parts of the full journals to get what I wanted to use out of them.

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

Within the post “My Hypothesis” I came up with the argument that soup is the superior food. While I eventually dropped this argument for another due to the lack of research and how simply logical it is. I also couldn’t keep myself from making soup puns. I’m sure I did everyone a favor by forgetting about this topic. With this idea, however, I was able to make a whole hypothesis that did not need to exist. Personally, I think this argument could turn into an argument on human perspective, if I wanted to think of the big picture. The topic, while about soup, was flexible enough to warrant a wide string of topics after talking about the main event, being soup.

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

Once again, “Digital Distribution and the Preservation of Entertainment Software” shows my research and knowledge on the topic discussed. The subject was all around digitization. My research included law journals on digitization of music, journalists’ points of view, and actual research done and recorded for me to look through. I chose my sources and incorporated them into the document meticulously. All sources used are cited in and out of the text with academic integrity in mind. Some flow smoothly, some need introduction and analysis, it all depends on where I use the source. With the use of Rowan University’s databases as well as Google Scholar and the links at the bottom of Wikipedia pages, finding what was needed took time, but it was not hard.

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

For this core value, I’d like to take a look at my Causal Argument. While I did not have any sources that I had faith in at the time, I still understood the power of my writing. I used logic and reasoning from my own mind to cover everything I needed to say. Using the Iron Man example was genius in my eyes. People accepted the 2008 film because it did not feature a numbered issue as reference, therefore making it less subject to criticism for not being one-to-one with the original work. I was proud of myself for that point. Even without credible sources, that statement and explanation could be good enough to persuade some people. If points are made with logical reasoning, anyone could agree or disagree without evidence. In high school I logically came up with the idea that Napoleon Bonaparte’s actions in Europe indirectly caused World War II. My voice and my thoughts are easily understood, explained, and identified in all my works. And, with anything, writing and words can make people swarm you with praise or pitchforks.

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

For my Proposal+5, it took me a decent amount of time to find articles that I thought would be helpful in proving my point that NBA players should get college degrees. These articles put me a step in the right direction, but I ended up not using all of them in my writing because I felt that they did not portray what I wanted them to. Most, if not all of the articles in my Annotated Bibliography were used in my overall paper.After discussing with Professor Hodges in one of our face-to-face meetings and reading a classmate’s opinion under My Hypothesis, I took their feedback and ended up changing my hypothesis from “a college degree should be mandatory before entering the NBA” to “NBA players should get a college degree before, during, or after their careers.” I changed my hypothesis because I was realizing that there was not much information to help support my first hypothesis.

Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

In all 3 of my papers, Definition Argument, Causal Argument, and Rebuttal Argument, I was able to use different authors’ ideas to help me prove a point, but I was also able to use my own ideas. By reading articles, I was able to think about ideas that I never would have thought of otherwise. For example, by reading articles about the one-and-done rule, I was able to learn more about the rule, which made me think deeper into the effects of it. I then started thinking about how the rule affects the NCAA, so I was able to then do more research to build my own ideas. I was able to write my own ideas and find quotes in articles that somewhat related to my ideas that could back them up. 

Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

In my Rebuttal Argument, my opening sentence was “For me to state that I believe NBA players should work for their college degrees before, during, or after their careers, I can see where people might also disagree with me on that idea.” This shows the audience right away that I do realize that not everyone thinks the same way that I do and that there are points to make that might question my ideas. In my rebuttal argument paper, I tried my best in coming up with points that people could use to say that my idea is not valid. I had each paragraph as a different idea so that I could have the opportunity to show the audience the benefits of getting a college degree, while also easing their minds with their ideas. 

Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

I feel that all of the sources I chose to use in my Research Paper supported all of my ideas that NBA players should get a college degree. I had a variety of sources such as an academic one, a blog type and some sports websites. I feel that the sources do a good job of supporting my ideas and show the audience there is evidence that college degrees are beneficial for NBA players and that the one-and-done rule is a waste of everyone’s time. I wanted to make sure that I got an article on NBA players who went back to college to get their degrees to show that some players do in fact find getting their degree important. I also thought it was important to find an article that discussed how the NBA Eligibility used to be before the one-and-done rule became about to show that players used to have the opportunity to decide how they wanted to continue their lives after high school. 

Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

In all of my papers this semester, Stone Money Draft, Definition Argument, Causal Argument, Rebuttal Argument, and my Research Paper, I rightly credited all of the authors that I took quotes from to support my ideas. I credited them in my writing as well as in my references section of each paper. I’m sure in my Research Paper the audience might still question my claims because it is hard to get into every single person’s mind and try and figure out what each of them will say about my claims. I tried to pick out the ideas that most people would think of, but in the end, everyone thinks differently, so they could view something completely different than I did. In the research paper I kept my ideas open to others, but also showed what I stood for with facts.

Core Value 1. My work demonstrates that I used a variety of social and interactive practices that involve recursive stages of exploration, discovery, conceptualization, and development.

During the process of  researching for my proposal argument I was able to come across multiple sources that I could use. The creation of this paper really was a multi stage process due to the fact that for every source that I had there multiple links on that one source to different sources. I was able to take info from one source and expand on that info by having a more specific source to use from that source. For every bit of information I was able to find there was just more and more information that I was able to discover.  

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Core Value 2. My work demonstrates that I read critically, and that I placed texts into conversation with one another to create meaning by synthesizing ideas from various discourse communities. 

Being an athlete for basically all my life and experiencing multiple sports I was able to not only use resources to dig deep into the evolution of sport but I was able to use that information and my own experience to put together a definition. I have watched many different variations of sports in different times so it was easy for me to really pick out what was different in each variation. I was able to really compare my knowledge and what I could find while researching and I was really able to expand my knowledge and further the true evolution of sports.  

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Core Value 3. My work demonstrates that I rhetorically analyzed the purpose, audience, and contexts of my own writing and other texts and visual arguments.

“I want to get in-depth about the short term and long term affects of speeding and the possible outcomes that could be possible.” In this quote I really wanted the audience to know how far in depth I would be going to really prove my argument. It was my shouting call to really drag people in and make them want to read more. It puts a thought into someones head that as someone who may live in a neighborhood this could really benefit you to read. That quote could allow for someone to take what Ive talked about and possibly expand on my ideas.  

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Core Value 4: My work demonstrates that I have met the expectations of academic writing by locating, evaluating, and incorporating illustrations and evidence to support my own ideas and interpretations.

For my Causal Argument paper I really focused on one main source that I found. I did incorporate a few other sources but I did not use much information from than I did the one I referenced. This source was able to give me great statistics that I was able to use to better my argument and further knowledge that I may have not known before. I was able to take those statistics and combine it with my own knowledge to create better ideas that would have a better chance at succeeding. 

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Core Value 5. My work demonstrates that I respect my ethical responsibility to represent complex ideas fairly and to the sources of my information with appropriate citation. 

In the Casual Paper I can’t be sure that my ideas that I put out will be 100% successful. By using the information I obtained from resources and mixing that with my own could be a good combination. I think that when reading my argument readers may argue against that neighborhoods and school zones are two completely different things. Also the claim that cops do not really seem to care about neighborhoods. Both of those claims are really out of the blue and kind of specific but not specific enough to the point where readers may want to know more on why I think that. 

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