Bibliography- Kingoflizards

Posted on May 1, 2017 by kingoflizards

1. Hoshaw, Lindsay. “Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash.” New York Times. 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 06 Feb. 2017

Background: A gyre is a term for a swirl or vortex caused by ocean currents. In one of these gyres off the coast of Hawaii, there is something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This garbage patch is a mass of collected garbage. Be it cans, bottles, styrofoam, or tiny bits of plastic, it is all collected together in a mass that is roughly the size of Texas. The patch is harmful to surrounding wildlife, and must be dealt with.

How I used it: This article gave me important information on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I used it to study the size and physical makeup of the patch.

2.Kaiser, Jocelyn, Jocelyn Kaiser, and Science18 Jun 2010 : 1506. “The Dirt on Ocean Garbage Patches.” The Dirt on Ocean Garbage Patches | Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

Background: The great pacific garbage patch has been called a “trash vortex.” It is not the mucky collection of bulky garbage that many believe it is. Mostly it’s pellets of plastic. This is caused by the plastic breaking down in the ocean. The result is many animals dying from eating these pellets, thinking they are plankton or some other food.

How I used it: This source provided information on the most difficult issue in the Trash Patch problem, the Microplastics. I used this source to tell the facts about microplastics, and they are a main concern in the paper.

3. Marks, Kathy, and Daniel Howden. “The world’s rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan.” Http://agriculturedefensecoalition.org/. N.p., 5 Feb. 2008. Web. 19 Feb. 2016.

Background: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is mysterious. The garbage floats just below the surface, making it impossible to see on satellite imagery. While the patch stretches from between Hawaii and California, almost to Japan. There are stories of boats passing through the patch for over a week. The patch is a tough problem because we are unsure of exactly where it starts and when it ends, due to its near invisibility.

How I used it: I used this article because it told the story of the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The patch was only discovered in 1997, and that is a talking point in the paper.

4. “Baltimore Waterfront.” Waterfront Partnership. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.

Background: The trash wheel is a paddle powered raft that floats around the Inner Harbor of Baltimore city. It is designed to clean up waterways. Last October, Mr. Trash Wheel picked up is one-millionth pound of trash. Since this, they released another Trash Wheel into the waters. These trash wheels have cleaned up the harbors in tremendous ways.

How I used it: This website has the specific numbers on the garbage that was picked up by Mr. Trash Wheel. I used these numbers to illustrate how such a simple idea can be so effective at stopping the litter in a particular area.

5. Layton, Julia. “Could We Clean Up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?” Hoestuffworks Science. Howstuffworks, 04 Feb. 2010. Web.

Background: This essay-like article highlights past attempts to clean up the Great pacific garbage patch. It tells the things that were attempted, and it tells why they did not work.

How I used it: Illustrating why these other ideas did not work helped show the problems that need to be solved. By seeing what has gone wrong in the past, it was easier to see what needs to be done in the future.

6. “Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big Questions Remain.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 24 Mar. 2017. Web. 27 Mar. 2017

Background: This is a National Geographic article, so it is not as in-depth as a more science-oriented publication. This article uses the big scary numbers as a way to shock readers.

How I used it: The numbers in the article are in fact true, so if the goal is to shock readers, this article can be helpful. I used the article for the specific numbers on certain statistics.

7. Simmon, Robert. “What are Phytoplankton.” NASA. Earth Observatory. 13 July, 2010

Background: This is an informative article on the crucial role that phytoplankton play in the marine ecosystem. The phytoplankton are the base of any oceanic food web, and are pivotal to the survival of many species.

How I used it: The great pacific garbage patch can pose a threat to phytoplankton. I used the article to show why phytoplankton are important, yet another reason why the patch should be cleaned up.

8. Parker, Laura. “Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 14 Apr. 2015. Web 19 April, 2017

Background: This is another National Geographic article. This one focusses on statistics again, and specifically highlights which specific countries produce the most garbage, and where that garbage ends up.

How I used it: I used this article to show that no one country should be held responsible for the great pacific garbage patch. If multiple countries are responsible for the trash, they all should be responsible for cleaning it up.

9. Campbell, Colin. “Rank record: Mr. Trash Wheel gathers 1 millionth pound of trash from Jones Falls.” Baltimoresun.com. N.p., 20 Oct. 2016. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

Background: This is a basic article on what Mr. Trash Wheel actually is. Its purpose is to inform readers on what the purpose of Mr. Trash Wheel is, and what exactly it is.

How I used it: The article gave me more insight on how Mr. Trash Wheel works. I knew it had something to due with solar power, and utilized the currents of the river, but i did not know specifically how.

10. MailOnline, Jenny Awford for. “No man is an island: British DIY Robinson Crusoe builds his own floating paradise off the coast of Mexico out of 150,000 recycled bottles – and now he’s found his Girl Friday!” Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 07 Nov. 2014. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.

Background: This article is about a man who constructed his own island. By using plastic bottles and layers of topsoil, he was able to create a floating island.

How I used it: I used this article to form the idea of my paper. The original direction of the paper used this idea as a solution for the garbage patch. After reading this article, it became clear that this idea was not the solution to the problem. This caused me to rethink my paper and take it in a new direction.

11. Goldstein, Jacob. “The Invention of ‘The Economy.’” Npr.org. NPR. 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2017.

Background: This article is all about how the economy was just something that was thought of recently. People did not understand the concept of national spending, and the effect that it would have on so many things.

How I used it: I used this article to show how the economy is not “real.” The economy is just a term used when describing the national trade statistics.

12. Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” The Island of Stone Money(1991): 3-7. Web. 22 Jan. 2017

Background: This article is about a group of people that live on the island of Yap. These people have a unique currency. The coins that are used on Yap are the size of a car, and they weigh thousands of pounds.

How I used it: This article was used to illustrate the abstract nature of currency in general. I drew parallels between the modern United States economy, to the stone money of Yap.

13. Glass, Ira, Chana Joffe-Walt, Alex Blumberg, and Dave Kestenbaum. “423: The Invention of Money.” This American Life. Prod. Planet Money. 7 Jan. 2011. This American Life. Web. 22. Jan. 2017

Background: This is some sort of podcast. It is about the question of “what is money?” They refer to the island of Yap, and its unique perspective on money. They conclude that money is a concept. It is just value that we assign on non-valuable things.

How I used it: I used this article to show how nebulous our idea of money is. Paper money actually has no value, but is coveted because of what humans believe about it.

14. Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR. NPR, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 22. Jan. 2017

Background: This is another podcast, and it is about the Brazilian economy. In the 1980’s, the Brazilian economy was in the toilet. Basically the solution was to slow the production of money, while slowly reinforcing the peoples’ thoughts about their currency. People needed to believe in the currency in order for it to work.

How I used it: This article was useful in helping me understand how fictional currency really is. In order for it to work, people need to respect it. With none of these beliefs in place, the money would be completely useless.

15. Katz, Mitchell H. MD. “Housing As A Remedy for Chronic Homelessness.” Jamanetwork. N.P, 3 Mar 2015. Web. 29 Jan. 2017

Background: The cure for chronic homelessness is to house the people first, then get them a job. According to this article, people are usually chronically homeless because of some sort of injury. These people are not lazy, but they need help. This strategy has shown great results for hundreds of people, and has improved their lives dramatically.

How I used it: I used this article in the assignment “a blow to the head.” The homeless people clearly need help, and are not lazy. Many people see a homeless person and immediately assume that they are lazy and choosing not to work. In fact, many of these people are unable to work due to chronic homelessness. This article showed me that this way of solving the issue can work.

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Reflective-starbucks

Posted on May 1, 2017 by starbucks732

Core Value I. 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 entire course of the semester, I have utilized Core Value I with all of my assignments for Comp II. For every assignment that I completed, I learned that it was not possible to write a perfect draft from the start. It takes time, hard work, and concentration to make improvements for every assignment to be the best that it can be. In the beginning of the semester I did not realize how important it was to ask for feedback until I received a few grades that I was not happy with. I then came to the conclusion that I needed to take time to ask my Professor for feedback and take everything into consideration that he had to offer. For example, I had to completely rewrite my Definition Argument and still make changes to it after rewriting it. For my first draft, my topic was: “Is Technology Making Society Weak,” this was way too broad of a topic and my Professor told me that I had to narrow it down and focus more on one specific aspect of technology in order to receive a better my grade. So instead I rewrote my essay on, “Is Technology Impeding Social Skill Development.” From here I had to fix a few errors that were made after asking for feedback once again. This essay shows that I was able to ask for feedback, revise, and edit to receive the best grade possible, which is what Core Value I demonstrates.

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

For all three of my short arguments and my final research paper, it was very important for me to demonstrate the second core value throughout. Finding reliable articles to use in papers can be difficult, so it was vital for me to read up on several different databases and articles to utilize the one’s that I felt would be best for my work. I feel that this core value was most useful in my Research Argument. For this assignment I did use a few sources from my previous short arguments but it was also important for me to find new ones. When reading up on different statistics and opinions, it was important for me to find convincing and strong research on how technology and social media is causing a lack of social interaction. Taking work from outside sources can be difficult because it sometimes leads to academic integrity. This is why it is so crucial to pay close attention to how we utilize information in our own writing, which is why Core Value II is not only extremely important in this class but in all work that we complete throughout the course of our lives.

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

I feel that in this course I have learned the importance of the purpose of every piece of writing. Even if I felt that some assignments were unnecessary at times, I have realized in the end that everything I have completed throughout this class has benefitted me as a student and has made me a better writer. I have also learned that it is important to keep my writing detailed and as best as it can be so that my audience stays interested and understands what I am explaining. I feel that I demonstrated this core value best in my Visual Rhetoric. For this assignment I analyzed every second individually of the thirty second ad: “Never Give Up Until They Buckle Up.” For my first draft my Professor gave me feedback saying that I needed to expand on each second more so that my readers could get an even better understanding of what the video was about without watching it. So from this, I re-watched each second of the video and took note of every little aspect of each clip. I wound up realizing that things that I felt were unnecessary to include in my first draft were very important parts of the video that my readers should understand. This ad was about the importance of wearing a seatbelt, and from the notes that I took on each second, I believe that my readers will understand how it led to this conclusion. I believe that by demonstrating each second as best as I could that my readers will have a good vision of what the video might look like while reading my assignment which is what Core Value III demonstrates.

Core Value IV: 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.

With every paper that we are assigned to write throughout the course of our lives, it is important to research the opinions of others and statistics to prove points that we are trying to make. Without specific evidence other than ourselves, it is hard for a reader to be convinced of a topic or take a side in an argument. I was able to incorporate the research of others to support my own ideas in my Causal Argument. After reading the first draft that I wrote of this assignment, I realized that I did not have enough evidence to make my points valid. So I did some research and added more insight. For example, I was attempting to prove the point that technological advancements are altering society’s social skills and cues but did not have enough information to prove this. I found an article written by Emily Drago entitled, “The Effect of Technology on Face-to-Face Communication,” and used the evaluations I made to show studies that were conducted regarding technology’s effect on social interaction. This situation, along with the fourth core value demonstrates that I was able to incorporate new illustrations to my writing in order to receive a better grade.

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

Core Value V is important to utilize in all papers we write that include work that is not our own. When researching, we must cite the information that we are using directly from others. If we do not do so this can lead to plagiarism and academic integrity violations. In my Rebuttal Argument I not only cited sources to give credit to the Authors’ work that I found useful, but I also used certain articles to refute and make counterarguments against. For example, I used the article “Social Media’s Impact on America” to show that many people in society feel more connected due to social media. I made the point throughout my essay against this by explaining that even though people feel more connected, they are still using technology as their primary use of communication which is causing a lack of social skills. While making the argument against this point, I did so in a respectful manner which is what the fifth core value consists of. It is important to respect other people’s writings even if we do not agree. It is also important to respect them by citing when we use their sources.

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Visual Rhetoric (UPDATED)-starbucks

Posted on April 30, 2017 by starbucks732

0:00: There is a four door car parked in a drive way in front of house with a basketball hoop. It is a late-model and is facing the viewer. We are not able to determine the model of the car because the emblem on the grill is indistinct. Since we do not know the model we can come to the conclusion that this video will not be an ad for a new car. All of the doors of the car are opened. It is a nice day out and the car is in park. It is most likely either mid-morning or mid-afternoon from the way the sun casts its shadow on the well maintained house. The family is most likely either just getting back from somewhere or leaving to go somewhere.

0:01: All doors of the car shut. There are two young boys in the middle row of the car and a girl who looks a little bit older than the boys in the back row of the car. The girl has headphones on probably trying to ignore whatever the two boys are saying to each other. Since the car was parked in front of the house we may conclude that all three of these children might be siblings. It looks like the boy on the right is trying to grab something that is not pictured on the screen from the boy on the left.

0:02: in the next second of the video, the boy on the left looks like he is trying to take something from the other boy. The boy on the left is now reaching further over the middle seat with his arms most likely attempting to grab something. The boy on the right has a certain facial expression that looks as if he’s struggling to hold onto something. The boy that is trying to take something is looking at the other child. The girl in the backseat is looking away, ignoring the fact that these two boys, possibly her brothers, are arguing. She still has her pink headphones on and looks like she is chewing on something because her mouth is slightly opened.

0:03-0:04: The camera zooms into the girl in the backseat. She has her eyes almost closed and is chewing on something, most likely a piece of gum. She has headphones on, not paying attention to anything other than her music. She may be annoyed by the sound that her possibly two younger brothers are making which is why she has headphones on to try and ignore the argument going on as best as possible. Moving onto the next second, the girls eyes slightly open along with her mouth that is chewing on something. Then the camera zooms to a man in the driver’s seat. He looks a little frustrated. His mouth is shut, hands are on the wheel, seatbelt on, and his eyes are wide opened probably looking at the road. He is most likely these three children’s father, so the fact that these two boys are arguing over something is probably bothering him.

0:05-0:06: Before the camera moves back onto the girl in the backseat you can see hands moving. The camera is still pictured on the man in the front seat and the hands that are flapping at each other in the backseat of him are hard to visualize because it is not the main focus of this specific shot. From that I would conclude that it was the two boy’s hands still fighting over something. The camera then zooms back onto the girl in the back seat but from a side view rather than straight on, like before. She is blowing a bubble with the piece of gum in her mouth and her headphones still on. Her eyes are closed so since they have been closed for almost the majority of this video at this point we may conclude that she is still trying to avoid the other chaos going on in the car and maybe even trying to take a nap. The focus is on the girl blowing the bubbly however, we are able to see a blurry vision of the background through the car window. It looks like they are still home, maybe just pulling out of the drive way because we are able to slightly see the garage or just a part of the house.

0:07- 0:09 The camera then shows the boy who before looked like he was getting annoyed with his brother, the boy on the right. His mouth is opened, probably shouting at his brother for taking something from him. His eyes are looking down at something, probably looking at whatever object he is trying to hold on to. In the next split second, he looks up and over to the left probably at his brother who was not pictured at the moment. His mouth was still opened, showing that he was still saying something. The camera then moves to a lady sitting in the passenger seat, most likely the children’s mother. It looks like she is looking into the rear view mirror to see what the two boys are fighting about. We have a blurry vision in the background of the boy of the left still reaching out with one hand to grab something from the other boy. Farther in the back of the girl is still a blurry picture of the young girl with her headphones on with her head turned to the left, probably looking out the window avoiding all of the nonsense occurring. The woman in the front seat then opens her mouth slightly like she is about to say something but then the camera switches to the father’s eyes in the rear view mirror most likely looking back at the boys’ actions as well.

0:10: The camera switches back to the girl in the back seat and she just popped her bubble and is looking out the car window. Her eyes are now opened, so when they were closed for the few seconds before this part of the video she may have been rolling her eyes. In the back is still pictured a part of the house, it is white and the same part of before, most likely the garage since that’s what the car was parked in front of. This shows that they did not leave the house yet. The girls bubbly gum deflates at the end of the ten seconds.

0:11-0:13: The camera then moves back to the two boys and they both have their hands on a bag of cheese doodles. It looks they are both pulling the bag so that they can have it for themselves and not share with each other, however, this is causing the cheese doodles to start spilling out of the bag. The boy on the left has his eyes closed, probably because the cheese doddles are flying out of the bag more towards him. While the boy on the right has his eyes slightly opened looking at the bag trying to take them back. We are now able to conclude that this was what the boy on the left was trying to take from the boy on the right the entire time. This shows that they were not willing to share with each other since they are both tugging at the bag making it look more as if it is an argument. The camera moves to the boy’s face on the right, he has his mouth slightly opened with the cheese doodle bag and some crumbs from it slightly pictured in the clip. The camera then moves back to the center so both of the boys are pictured in it. They are still tugging at the bag causing the cheese doodles to fly out everywhere. The cheese doodles are flying out to the middle of the screen making it the main focus of this part. The snack is most likely flying up to where the parents are sitting, distracting the father from paying attention to the road.

0:14-0:16: the camera zooms into the dads face and he is looking at something, most likely the rear view mirror looking back at the cheese doodles flying out. There are cheese doodles pictured towards the left of him as if they are about to get all over him. He moves his eyes slightly away from the rear view mirror to look forward. He looks extremely annoyed with his eyes wide open. While the dad’s face remains the same, the cheese doodles continue to come more towards him.

0:17: The camera switches back, focusing on the two boys. Both of their mouths are opened, probably because they are yelling at each other. To the left of them camera is blurry but it is the mother looking back at them, her mouth is closed but she is probably preparing to say something to them considering she is looking back. In the background the sister is looking at them, she looks shocked probably because she wouldn’t think that there would be such a big fight because of a bag of cheese doodles. Both of the boys then turn their heads and eyes towards their mother quickly as she opens her mouth to say something to them with her eyes very widely opened.

0:18-0:21: The camera moves, just focusing on the mother. She is still in the passenger’s seat but is turned to look at the boys. She mouths the word “now” while looking very annoyed at the fact that they just spilled their snack all over the car. The camera moves to the two boys, they are both looking in the same direction at their mother. They still have their hands on the bag but stopped tugging at it and they now probably feel bad for making a mess and making their parents angry. Pictured in the back at this point is the older girl with her headphone still on but she is also looking in the same direction as the boys probably wondering how her mother reacted to the situation. The camera then zooms into the boy on the right buckling his seat belt. This may show us that this ad might be about the safety of wearing a seatbelt in the car and not getting distracted by other silly things over being safe.

0:22: The camera zooms into the father’s face and it looks like he is looking at his wife. His mouth is closed because he is probably letting the mother do the parenting at this point since he has to focus of the road. All that we can see in the background is the car so we cannot tell if they have left the house or not yet.

0:23: The camera zooms away from the father and now you can see the father, mother, and one of the son’s. As the camera zooms away, the father smirks and is now looking forward, probably at the road. The only other person pictured besides the parents at the point is the boy of the left. The boy on the left is looking at his father smirking. The mother is turned towards the back seat; it looks like she is talking to the son who is not pictured. The father may be smirking because they are finally able to leave the house now that all of the fighting is over with.

0:24-0:25: The camera is still at the same angle. The mother turns forward while tossing a cheese doodle that was probably on her to the back seat. The father puts his hand on top of the wheel and sighs because he is probably frustrated. The only son that is pictured is now looking out of the window but we cannot see what exactly he is looking at.

0:26-0:30: The car is finally pulling out of the drive way. The words, “Never give up until they buckle up” come up on the screen. So watching this second by second we would have never known what the moral of this video about. But we learn that the importance of it is to not drive away until everyone is buckled up with their seat belts.

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Reflective Statement – nobinaryneeded

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Shiloh Vasko

Core Value I. 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 class I have definitely learned how to demonstrate the use of variety and social practices. Writing is all about research on the topic, some can even be personal experiences. The writing can be interactive by connecting with the reader, asking them questions, showing them that the topic at hand is something that, whether they experience or not, can feel a connection with. I have demonstrated this in my causation essay when I go on to tell a story of a girl who struggles with mental illness. This conceptualizes the idea to the readers, giving them the story they need to hear to understand the severity of the topic of the paper. I’ve learned this quite well and do intent to use it in the future through my college career.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/03/26/casual-argument-nobinaryneeded/

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

While writing essays it is important to make sure that we include sources from all points of view in order to get a stronger argument. In my rebuttal argument I use sources that argue against my claim that mental illness stigma is real and present, not to mention a serious problem. This lets me get my argument stronger by rebutting against that claim, all while showing my readers that I can provide a strong argument with facts, statistics, and personal experience. The readers will hopefully get the connection with the essay and will be able to learn something new from both perspectives of the situation addressed in the essay. I plan to continue on using this strategy through my college career, considering I believe it is one of my strongest ones.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/04/05/rebuttal-argument-nobinaryneeded/

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

In my experience writing this essay it became clear to me that analyzing all aspects of the essay is crucial to a good piece. I’ve very well learned to analyze the purpose of the essay by doing my research on the topic thoroughly, such as I did in my definition argument. I analyzed the context too, rereading what I wrote and making sure that it makes sense to the reader and that my point will come across strong in the information I’ve provided. I continue to keep growing as a writer each day, in the essay form, and while I have three years left at Rowan University, I’ll use all of these tips, and continue to analyze the purposes, audiences, and contexts of my own writing.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/03/06/definition-argument-nobinaryneeded/

Core Value IV: 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.

In my White Paper I locate, evaluate, and incorporate illustrations and evidence to start off my paper, to start off how this paper is going to go. I also show it a lot in my rebuttal argument because I go on to tell the story of a girl, who I have based off of myself from when I was sixteen years old (and still a girl). What’s more factual than a real life experience by the person who has written the paper themselves. It’s a perfect example of evidence that more than just myself has to deal with. Personal experience is the best evidence. And though I cannot always use them in my essays in college, I can do my research and find other’s experiences in the topic.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/02/27/white-paper-nobinaryneeded/

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/03/26/casual-argument-nobinaryneeded/

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

This essay has taught me that I can represent complex ideas in a fair manor based off of the information and sources that I have provided myself with. While this is an argument in which I have a side, I support my side with strong evidence, personal experiences, other’s personal experiences, and statistics and factual evidence. There are many factors that went into writing this research paper, though the most prominent and supportive one were all of the sources I had gathered to make my argument strong without bashing the other side of the argument, but arguing against it in an ethical, appropriate manor.  I can use this skill throughout the rest of my college experience and make my future essays more ethical and responsible.

https://rowancomp2.com/2017/03/26/casual-argument-nobinaryneeded/

 

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Reflective- Romanhsantiago

Posted on April 27, 2017 by romanhsantiago

Core Value I, is the backbone of all writing. Writing is a process which involves peer review as well as self-reflection. This in term brings multiple stages for writing only one piece. Core value I is the main thing I have done in college. This semester I have had to formulate a counterintuitive idea. I then write about it from different angles later deciding which angle I want to focus on. After writing these papers i ask for feed back from my professor and revise my paper and submit them again. I later work toward formulating a final draft which would be my end product. It takes multiple stages and no paper is ever perfect but without the stages it would not be its best much like my research argument.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancomp2.com/12013

Core value II is a very important part of the writing process. Core Value II involves close reading and analysis to better understand text. This Core Value allows us to be adequately prepared for understanding and writing about our topic. I have demonstrated my use of Core value II  throughout the semester but most recently in causal argument. In my causal essay I had to read through many articles to really find what the cause of hate crimes was and the different degrees to the hate crimes are. After reading multiple articles and summarizing the main ideas, I ended up realizing i was writing about a much deeper topic in hate crimes. If I had not used core value II, the essay would have been very different and in my opinion earned me a lower grade.

Core Value III- Throughout this semester I learned that my writing has to fit the people that I intend to read it. This semester I found myself reading many scholarly articles that were written by scholars for scholars not for a freshman college student. Since these articles were not meant to be read by me I had to do lots of extra work to understand them and use them in my writing properly. Had they been written for me I would not have had to do that. During my research for my final paper I learned that part of the cause of hate crimes is influence by others by targeting the certain audience that will be influenced by it. I have demonstrated my understanding of this in my rebuttal essay when I don’t bash the opposing view because they are the audience i am trying to influence. I have also demonstrated this throughout my essays by quoting multiple sources and making my essay credible.

Core Value IV is mainly about understanding and utilizing the sources you find to be able to formulate the best writing possible. Through-out this semester I have utilized many types of sources from scholarly articles to newspapers and more. However, finding and choosing sources maybe difficult because not all sources are credible. Last semester I learned to find a good source I must use the CRAAP test which is a test that consist of five steps to help weed out the bad sources. The C stands for current as in the date of the source compared to the relevance of your topic. The R stands for relevance or how closely related the source is to your topic. The first A stands for authority or how credible the source, is it published research backed by facts or a blog that only gives a biased opinion. The second A stands for accuracy or how factual and relevant the information in the source is to your topic. And finally the P stands for purpose, so why the source is conveying the message that it is conveying. I later took the sources I found and cited them in different ways throughout my essay making my writing more credible and better. I did this for all of my sources.

https://wordpress.com/post/rowancomp2.com/13397

Core Value V– I am a strong believer in that if something is easy it is not worth learning. Many of the issues and topics that I have written about this semester have no solution. For example, I wrote an essay about hate crimes. That is a very controversial topic and it has been a problem for hundreds of years. While writing my essay I did not offer a solution to end sexism because that would be impossible. However, I understand that by bringing awareness to the subject and educating people on what Hate crimes are and how it affects all people, it is a step in the right direction toward getting rid of them. The root of all hate is ignorance and the only way to cure ignorance is by educating people. We all have different viewpoints and there is no right or wrong because we don’t live in a perfect world. However, I simply try to educate and give an unbiased opinion to the best of my ability using facts and outside resources to back my belief. I do not bash the opposing one I simply offer it an alternative. For example, in my essay about hate crimes I wrote about how many people believe hate crimes do not exist. I did not bash that opposing view, I simply stated that Hate crimes are a very real and relevant thing in this world. To explain that to my audience I had many sources from which I closely read and analyzed to then form my own opinion on things and expand on the ideas of others, while still giving them full credit.

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Research Argument—torthey

Posted on April 27, 2017 by torthey

On June 29, 20015, Jarrell Milton, Jamar Milton and Shauntayvious Primes-Willis (aged 12, 17, and 15, respectively) were involved in a gang-related shooting over a drug deal where Jamymell Ray, 31, was killed in Omaha, Nebraska. Jamar and Shauntayvious were apprehended immediately following the crime but Jarrell wasn’t arrested until 10 days later, all the way in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prosecutors say that Ray and friend Charles Fisher, who was injured but later released from the hospital, had arranged to meet the kids in a park to sell them marijuana when they were hit by gunfire. Prosecutors said Wednesday that they plan to charge Jarrell and two teen accomplices with first-degree murder as adults; “All three suspects had guns. There were shell casings from two different types of guns at the scene,” Douglas County District Attorney Don Kleine said, adding that the victim was shot at close range.

Developmentally speaking, the fact that the District Attorney is even entertaining the notion of trying a pre-teen as an adult for a Murder I charge is horrifying. There is irrefutable scientific research that proves that a person that young cognitively cannot comprehend the impact of his actions. Jarrell Milton is pre-pubescent which means that his neurological cognitive functioning makes it physiologically impossible for him to consider the long term consequences of his actions. At puberty, a child’s Limbic System experiences an increase in dopamine levels while, conversely, the amygdala becomes extremely underactive. This opposing relationship cause a drastic increase in adolescent risk-taking and delinquent behaviors. This biologically programmed poor decision making is exacerbated by the presence of one’s peers. The prosecution’s theory that Jarrell Milton had been complicit in a premeditative plan to lure a man to the park so that they could attempt a robbery is idiotic. Children are physically, biologically and neurologically incapable of making the same informed critical thinking as an adult, therefore, it is essentially immoral and unethical to try a child as an adult.

Neurobiological immaturity aside, Jarrell Milton suffered from so many traumatic Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) that his brain most likely was under-developed compared to a neuro-typically developing peer without prior ACEs. Scientific research has proven that adolescent trauma negatively affects neurological development. As a toddler, Jarrell’s mother was incarcerated for felony assault and Jarrell, along with this 7 siblings, were sent to live in state run foster care. Jarrell’s father is also currently serving a life sentence in prison for a murder conviction as a result of a drug deal gone wrong, exactly the same crime and charges that his 12-year-old son is now facing. This child grew up surrounded by crime, gangs and violent peer influence that detrimentally affected his neurological and social development. Gangs, such as the Nike Street Gang that Jarrell, his brother and also his cousins are a part of, are notorious for exploiting their young members for carrying out crimes because they would receive less time in jail because of their ages. The lack of family stability that Jarrell has experienced for his entire short life made him a perfect target for the manipulative “family” of a gang.

The neglect, unstable housing, out of home placements, family disorganization and overall household dysfunction Jarrell has faced because of both of his parents’ individual incarcerations and the resulting clear lack of supervision because of his absentee parents is evident in Jarrell’s ability to obtain a firearm and maintain his gang affiliation without any reported parental intervention. Before this crime was even committed, Jarrell Milton had five serious environmental Adverse Childhood Experiences, which leads us to safely be able to assume that the shooting was not simply due to his gang’s peer pressure (which I consider an extremely dismissive term for something so maladaptive), but also a result of the severe physiological trauma that Jarrell constantly endured by the age of 12.

Further traumatizing has been Jarrell’s experiences after being arrested. He had the post-traumatic stress of reliving what he had witnessed and allegedly committed, he had to flee 400 miles in order to evade capture and he was then shackled during his court appearance where he was told he was called a “danger to himself and others” and that he would be tried as an adult for murder and denied bail. Although it is new research that has yet to make it into legislative laws regarding the Juvenile Justice System, there is still solid evidence that shows the effectiveness of intervention and rehabilitation instead of incarceration of adolescents. An incarcerated youth is 8x more likely to commit suicide, 5x more likely to be sexually assault and has an increased rate of recidivism compared to a rehabilitated juvenile offender who is taught skills to help increase self-regulatory processes.

The fact remains that a juvenile is simply not equipped developmentally to be culpable for their crimes. They don’t have the mental faculties to be able to make informed, rational decisions because they have no independent self-regulation. A person’s self-regulation is supposed to be learned through positive, nurturing, learned experiences throughout childhood. Jarrell Milton never had the affirmative influence of a stable family unit which clearly has already greatly affected him. Jarrell’s grandmother commented on his arrest by saying that he “never had a chance” because of his environment. To possibly incarcerate a 12-year-old for the rest of his life instead of providing him with the rehabilitation to teach him the social-emotional skills he missed growing up in the home he was exposed to would be a crime.

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Reflective—therealjohnsanchez

Posted on April 27, 2017 by therealjohnsanchez

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

I’ve learned that the most important part of writing is researching and thoroughly exploring the topic. It was crucial to fully immerse myself in my topic to develop my own  ideas and to understand the ideas of others. While researching for my research paper, I tried to keep an open mind and look at each source without bias.  Once I understood my topic, writing was just a matter of putting my thoughts to paper. Writing is social in its nature. Writing is meant to communicate your ideas to your reader. If you fail to communicate, then the paper is a failure. The development of writing is also a social process. It involves getting criticized by others and editing it to make it better. A person can’t work alone and make good writing.

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

For my research paper, it was important to to include sources from different points of view. Because I was refuting a wide spread misconception, I refuted sources from the common point of view and used opposing sources to support my own argument. I needed to include information from both sides to have a well rounded paper. I used a wide range of sources and combined them all to support my argument. I used an original newspaper as a story to refute. In my definition essay, I used a new and old research to show what the bystander effect was and why it happened. I also used research to give alternate explanations to events that the bystander effect is commonly used to explain.

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

Understanding my audience is important when trying to convince them of my ideas. It is very important not to attack them. If they get personally offended, they get defensive. If they get defensive, then they will not give my ideas a chance. If I have no chance of convincing my audience, then I failed to complete my mission of persuading the readers. I would just be wasting my readers and my own time. It was very important to not alienate my readers in my rebuttal essay. I tried not to insult them by creating a straw- man argument that would be easiest to refute. Instead, I tried to show that I understood their perspective. Then I showed that I think my own point of view made more sense and explained why their ideas were flawed.

Core Value IV: 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 is easy. The hard part is researching enough to build a solid foundation of knowledge and forming developed ideas to write about. Evaluating sources was a large part of my research paper. I found that a newspaper article contained large amounts of misleading or false information. This caused me to closely examine all of my sources to ensure that they were factual and that I fully understood them. Supporting my ideas and perspective is very important because evidence is what separates strong ideas from nonsense. A claim is useless without evidence supporting it. It is also important to minimize biases. It is easy to find information that supports your ideas. It is harder to look at all of the information and extrapolate an idea from it but it results in a much stronger idea.

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

Taking something out of context is dangerous in writing. If you take the oppositions argument out of context then you lose the respect and trust of the audience. They will assume that you do not understand their point of view and they will get defensive. If you need to resort to this, it means that you don’t have a true rebuttal and you have to stoop to misinterpreting the opposing argument. I had to be careful to do not do this in my rebuttal essay. It is important to fairly represent your opponents.

Citing sources gives credit where credit is due. I am not the only person that is knowledgeable or that has contributed to this topic. My paper only builds on others and I would be lost without them. Citing sources also allows my readers to review and analyze my sources. They can confirm that they were not taken out of context and they were used without a bias.

But I’m particularly proud of my Polio Notes.

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Reflective—Studentwriter

Posted on April 27, 2017 by studentwriter1212

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

Writing in this class has really taught me how to bring context to my work. Writing about a broad topic without any focusing aspects a piece of writing an unreliable characteristic coming only from an opinion. Learning about different perspectives and giving them enough weight to destroy ones own viewpoint and coming back was also difficult concept to learn. Learning how to write in the context of a blog seemed different but also applicate as careers seem to be more directed to this style of online contribution. The feedback and regrade options were interesting and helped me see writing as a learning process. This is shown in my rebuttal argument.

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

The ideas I was talking about were complex and many hypothetical and filled with academic language. It was hard to fully flesh out some topics without at times being confused myself. Taking topics from sources that were different in nature was challenging but connecting them became easier when understanding the exclusively useful information. My research argument showed how I proposed to look at the text in a way that added value to my argument.Synthesizing ideas is important when delivering a concise paper that still reinforces many ideas.

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

My visual rhetoric allowed me to truly get deep with details and the intended impression the ad was trying to make. I enjoy analyzing minor details in order to put together a bigger picture which I felt this assignment helped me do. The overall tone of the video that remains subconscious for most viewers purposefully is set by the minor details that go on in a quiet fashion This assignment was particularly helpful when it came to writing because it helped me pinpoint the information that would go unnoticed in the research process. It also helped on how to set a tone within writing.

Core Value IV: 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.

Finding academic sources was at times difficult because of how broad the searches can get and the amount of connecting topics necessarily to write a sound argument. the two main search engines i used was google scholar and the rowan library. Focusing in on a topic made the research process that much easier. looking for sources became easier as the writing became more refined. I used this gained knowledge by providing a work cited and citing the works I had used. The definition essay shows this point the best.

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

The execution on how to handle collected material is essential to writing a sound paper. You have to represent the information in a fair light without bringing attention to information that is lacking in integrity for ulterior motives. Giving credit where its deserved only strengthens your argument by reassuring the reader that time was taken to write this work. Crediting the author also benefits that author by giving the reader the chance to get more insight on the topic for themselves. Providing evidence for an argument allows to reader to see there is more than just personal opinions attached to your words. Shown in my Causal Argument.

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Reflective-KingofLizards

Posted on April 26, 2017 by kingoflizards

Core Value I. 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 course, Professor Hodges has focussed directly on development. Through multiple stages and rewrites, a good example of this Core Value is my Stone Money assignment. On that assignment, I was given lots of constructive criticism and important feedback that I used in my rewrite. This course has taught me the value of multiple drafts, and the role that feedback can play in the writing process.

Another example of this core value was in the research assignment. My original concept was for a solution for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that involved constructing islands out of bottles and topsoil. This idea did not even make it into the final paper, due to the realization of its impracticality after doing proper research.

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

In the research assignment, my focus was on cleaning up the pacific garbage patch. This idea seems like a no-brainer, obviously ocean pollution is a problem. The focus of the paper shifted to questioning why the problem had not been dealt with yet, and that is an answer that I had a bit of trouble finding. At first, I was worried that the paper would not be effective, because it is hard to argue with something that seems so universally agreeable, but after looking at multiple sources I came to the conclusion that nobody wants to clean it up simply because it’s too hard of a job. This was not something that I expected to find. Some sources said that it would be too expensive, some sources said it simply was too big of a job, but the truth seemed slightly more clear after reading multiple sources. The truth that I found was that nobody believed it was that big of an issue. It’s not something that has shown its destructive capabilities quite yet, and nobody wants to take responsibility for it. Here is my Original proposal, complete with the bottle-island idea.

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

My post on Gerrymandering is, in my opinion, the best piece of writing that I produced this semester. The purpose of the exercise was to practice a strong opening, something to grip the readers. Knowing the purpose of the intro, and by combining the things that I learned in the lectures, I think that I was able to successfully create a powerful opening that fulfilled every requirement for a strong opening.

Core Value IV: 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, I think that the Stone Money assignment shows a good example of this core value. The illustrations that I use in my paper, in this case referring to the parallels that I draw within my paper, make the concepts easier to understand. Professor Hodges himself commented on how nobody else drew the comparison that I drew between the purchases of fake things, and the abstract nature of the Yap currency. Describing thoughts without drawing these effective parallels can hinder the overall successfulness of the paper.

Thoughts and ideas can be difficult things to articulate, and sometimes it can only be done using descriptive language and painting mental images. This is something that I think was accomplished well in the research assignment. Using descriptive terms and shocking statistics, the problem of the garbage patch was displayed in a way that does the problem justice.

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

Every paper written this year had a sources cited page. The White Paper that was assigned was essentially a large sources cited paper. It described each source to be used in the research assignment in detail, and even delve into how each source would be effective in the context of the paper.

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Reflective-greeneggs and ham

Posted on April 26, 2017 by greeneggsandham234

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

In competition II, I learned to spend a lot of time on research. Going to one source will not be sufficiennt, I learned I need to go to a variety of sources. Also while researching, I need to be open to different opinions to truly get the full perspective. If I am dead set on my opinion alone, a biased paper will be the result. Often times, I get set o an opinion of another topic and I am stubborn in fixing this. However, of the course of the semester I learned to fix this habit. Throughout my research essay I used different opinions of my topic to help shape the overall outcome of the paper. I used both opinions of the matter in the opinion to shape the total out come in my final essay.

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

In my rebuttal essay, I took both sides of the question, “Is America the land of the free”. I brought in a piece that opposed my thesis to demonstrate the other side. Then to prove my point, I then brought  in pieces that backed up my side to  prove my thesis. It is important to show any doubt about a thesis in a paper in oder to make a stronger final claim. Comparing the two sides allowed me to synthesize the material fully.

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

In my visual rhetoric, I was able to literarily rhetorically analyze the piece.I broke a 30 second commercial into many different segments. I analyzed the picture, with no sound, to attempt to describe what I thought the message of the ad would be. Through this i learned to pay attention to detail in everything in oder to get full meanings of whatever is trying o be displayed.

Core Value IV: 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 learned through stay search that I am not a credible source. In oder to write a credible research paper, an abundance of research material is necessary. In my research essay, I learned this. I used credible sources toad my thesis. I took credible sources to illustrate evidence in my argument. Through different credible surveys, and stats I tried to back up my claim of America not being the land of the free.

Core Value V. 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 oder to represent complex ideas fairly, appropriate and fair citation is necessary. We did this a lot in commotion II, but my detention essay I truly demonstrated this. In my definition essay, I described a lot of this issues as to why America is not the land of the free. I couldn’t just say random things to may a frat assessment, I needed viable back up. Through multiple demonstrations I was able to do this,showcasing why I chose my topic.

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