WP3!!!

As soon as we began talking about WP3, I related it immediately to one of the programs I ran in high school. As a Volunteer with a within 4-H called Youth Experience in Science (YES) my entire position was to take weekly ideas proposed by the 4h committee and transform it from a paper with directions meant for volunteers to read, to both a presentation to teachers for their approval as well as a lesson plan to implement to 1^st-3^rd graders. Similarly, it seems like this assignment is nearly the same thing in terms of creating something for both a younger and older audience but having still to present the same ideas.

For this Writing Project, the article I chose to work with was “Disciplines and Discourses: Social Interactions in the Construction of Knowledge” by Ken Hyland. The article discusses the aspect of how the interaction between the writer and reader can change reader’s perception of the topic and how any simple change can affect the entire piece. Hyland proposes that although scholarly writing does escalate from empirical data and evidence, “The problem for scientific knowledge is that interpretation always depends on the assumptions scientists bring to the problem.” (Hyland page 2) Although not necessarily intentional, writers are often influenced by their personal thoughts and feelings about a topic and consequently ‘frame’ their writing in order to influence their ideas. Even while reporting simple data, Hyland suggest why that writer chose to research a specific topic and collect that data in their specific way is essentially influencing and framing knowledge that is brought into the academic world. 

For my genre geared toward an older audience, I chose to do a consent form. I made it so it is as if a writer is going to publish something through my company, but I want them to acknowledge how writing can influence people's thoughts and perceptions before they just publish anything. 

My goal for creating a consent form for the older genre was specifically to emphasize the real-life problems that writers must face with every day. In order to encompass the amount of influence that writers have over readers, I felt that a consent form set the right mood. My intended audience was older people of course, mostly because those under the age of 18 cannot sign contracts of give consent, which is essentially what this was. I used rather large words and made the sheet look professional, which is what should be expected. Some moves that I used for the consent form was to use larger words. As stated above, because this was a legal paper, larger words would typically be expected. I also added my ‘company name at the top in a header that would typically be seen on waivers and consent forms. It adds professionalism to the form and actually makes it look real. Furthermore, I underlined and bolded the title, as well as making it very large. In order to make it very clear that this was a consent form and to reduce the risk of any confusing, the title explicitly tells the writer that it is a consent form for publishing. Other moves I used ending the list of words with ‘ING’ to make whole list flow better. The whole form is in first person like the writer is actually speaking and writing it themselves. This is essential to the form because the writer is the one actually giving the consent even though they did not write this specific piece.  At the very beginning of the consent form, I left the name line blank in order to provide more accessibility to all the ‘publishing company’s’ clients. If I would have filled in a name, this fake company would have to print out forms specific to the client every single time. By leaving the name lines blank, there could be stacks of the forms just laying around and you could grab one and fill it in when needed. Lastly, since this is more of a legal document, I added the signature lines along with the date line to add authenticity. I added a witness signature line as well for a liability reason, so in case there are any disputes to the contract, the witness would be able to say that the signature was true.

As for the actual transformation, it was tough to decide what exactly to place into the consent form. I decided to focus on only the aspects that I found especially important in the article (many of which were highlighted). Since the entire article is about how the influence of writers is reflected on HOW they write, publishing something online can be extra dangerous because of its easy accessibility to millions of people and the click of the mouse. Word choice was also mentioned many times throughout the article so I added that as well. The truth is essentially subjective to writer’s parameters, so I also placed a section on that as well because a reader may not agree with the writer’s truth. Lastly, I added the last sentence of the consent form stating that everything the writer publishes should be accurate, to the best of their knowledge, in order to provide correct information to others. This section is specifically essential because of the influential power that the writer has, and the corruption that could be caused by using knowingly false information. 

For my younger audience, I created an educational poster that are hung around classrooms. I used a FAQ type of poster and I tailored it towards a higher elementary school class, like 6th grade. 

 My main goal for my educational poster is essentially provide a quick and easy way for children to learn about the topics discussed in the article. Because it is intended for children, I tried to use as many colors as possible. Compared to the consent form, I also used a more fun and relaxed font, one that would grab the kid’s attention. As well as simply writing in a more relaxed tone, by creating a poster, I feel like it flowed better with frequently asked questions on the left side and the answers on the right. In order to prevent confusing I used the same color boxes for the answer that coincided with the question. The answer however contained a lighter color box in order to differentiate them as well as black colored writing instead of white. Continuing with coloring, the title of the chart is “Social interaction and Constructing Knowledge FAQ’s”. I split of the title in the two boxes but I placed them both in the center in order to make the POP. They switch colors in order to provide more clash that would grab attention as well. The box shaped format also helped with the visual aspect of the poster overall.

For the content of the poster, I chose 4 questions that would clear confusion if the audience would read the article. For me these questions are the ones that I had a wrote down when first reading the article. I tailored the questions to seem more relaxed and used terms of uncertainty such as ‘right?’ and’ really?’. The first question addresses the issue of purpose. While reading the article, if you don’t believe that writers actually can influence a reader, then the rest of the article does not have a set purpose. The second question addressed the fact that writers can create their own truths and because of their actions and choices, they are bringing new knowledge into the world. I chose this questions specifically because it sums up the majority of the article. The last two questions address the difference between subjects and how interactions between the writer and reader can influence knowledge.

Writing 2 – WP3 Feedback Matrix

Writer: _________
	Did Not Meet Expectations	Met Expectations	Exceeded Expectations
Transformed Genres (Overall)
Younger Genre’s Conventions and Rhetorical Factors
Older Genre’s Conventions and Rhetorical Factors
Consideration of “Big Ideas” in the Scholarly Article
Perceived Effort
Self-Analysis Reflection (Overall)
Description of “Moves”
Attention to Genre/Conventions and Rhetorical Factors
Use of Translated Genres as Evidence of “Moves”
Use of Course Readings (McCloud, Losh/Alexander, Etc.)
Sentence-level Clarity, Mechanics, Flow
Other Comments and Grade

Thlog Week 8

This week we focused our attention on transformation and translation, or what I seen it as perspective. We started off the on Monday by watching several videos of artists painting. What stuck out to me from all the videos were the painting of the trees. It was interesting to see one of the psychological aspects I learned about actually panning out. Although all the different artists were viewing the exact same tree with all of the same features, each one differed and was unique in their own individual way. Some focused on the trunk, others the leaves, and others even just the background. Zack did a great job tying this into writing by having us do the lens activity. Although every student was looking at the same classroom, when we focused ourselves with our "lenses" we all saw different things. Similarly, with writing and genres, authors could be writing about the same topic and even the same aspect of topic, however the content will differ depending on your own individual viewpoint. The "Everybody Poops" segment in class also further emphasized this topic.

In Wednesdays class, we put those subjects to use by further discussing our WP3. As I wrote in my PB3a, this WP reminded me of my volunteer work that I did during high school in which I pretty much practiced every week without really knowing what I was doing so. As I continued to think back on other projects and things I've done, I realized that writing and the things we're learning in this class from day one is essential to not only college assignments but for life in general.

PB3A: Transformations

As soon as we began talking about WP3, I related it immediately to one of the programs I ran in high school. As a Volunteer with a within 4-H called Youth Experience in Science (YES) my entire position was to take weekly ideas proposed by the 4-H committee and transform it from a paper with directions meant for volunteers to read, to both a presentation to teachers for their approval as well as a lesson plan to implement to 1^st-3^rd graders. Similarly, it seems like this assignment is nearly the same thing in terms of creating something for both a younger and older audience but having still to present the same ideas.

The article I chose to work with was “Disciplines and Discourses: Social Interactions in the Construction of Knowledge” by Ken Hyland. The article discusses the aspect of how the interaction between the writer and reader can change reader’s perception of the topic and how any simple change can affect the entire piece. For an older audience genre, I am thinking about creating some sort of consent form that would contain the implications and acknowledgements of how writers can influence readers and the responsibility of sharing knowledge with readers. I plan on tailoring the form so it seems like required paperwork to submit before publishing an opinion article in a magazine or newspaper. From the academic article, I plan on transforming the information presented in order to create a new piece with conventions of consent forms. A few conventions that first come to mind is of course a signature line at the bottom along with a line to write the date as well as possibly a witness signature line. As for the actual content of the consent form I have not though of any specifics, however I know it should contain information about the risks of writing towards the beginning and a statement of acknowledgement stating that they have read and understood everything to the best of their ability and understand their requirements and obligations as writers.

For a younger audience, I am thinking of transforming “Disciplines and Discourses: Social Interactions in the Construction of Knowledge” into the genre of a motivational/educational poster that are often hung in classrooms from pre-school till usually the end of high-school. Since this is an academic subject, a poster in the classroom will still contain the academic writing aspect as well as still seeming logical. Because many of the aspects discussed in the article wouldn’t make sense in younger school age children, I plan on making it targeted toward particularly high-school age students. Transforming a 20-page article to a poster, I will have to keep the content of it somewhat short and only focus on the main aspects of the article, which understandably may cause the subject to lose some meaning and context. Also, as a poster meant for younger audiences, the diction of the poster is going to be drastically different from the original article. Instead of using large academic English, I plan on using smaller simpler words in order to make the targeted audience have an easier time relating to it. Lastly, seeing as posters are meant to engage the audience, I would plan on inserting some type of visual stimuli to grab the reader’s attention, most likely something colorful yet not too distracting to take away from the primary message. 

THLOG

 Week 6
 The focus of this weeks classes was style and stylistic moves. These two classes felt somewhat more engaging because we co vered a lot of tips that will help me in writing anything from resumes to these blog posts. One of the most shocking things that I found actually helped a lot was changing the font to help with the style of writing you are choosing to use. I don’t necessarily know why it helps but just seeing a more relaxed and flow-y type of font helps get that type of style out on the screen. Another thing we covered was using the thesaurus to find more fitting words to place into writing. The example we used was says but this tool can be used with pretty much any word. This tool really helped me when writing my scholarship essays back in high school because when I couldn’t think of the perfect word I just used a colloquial term to get my point across then went back to fix it. The most important topic. I believe, we learned this past week however was the use of hedged language. This aspect of writing is particularly important because it makes the writer more credible in situations that can potentially be very ambiguous. I try to practice the use of hedged language as much as I can when I am not sure of things but still have an opinion on them. 

PB2B

The moves highlighted in green are those from the “They Say I Say” appendix, and those highlights in blue are ones that I noticed and named.

•  Signaling who’s saying what  

  "Devitt points out, ‘Different grocery stores make for different grocery lists…’” (Dirk)

-          In this relatively easy move, Dirk, in Navigating Genres, simply writes out the name of the person he is about to quote. Instead of quoting then writing the name afterwards, Dirk gives credit to Devitt first which is very effective in clarifying and confusion of plagiarizing.

• ENTERTAINING OBJECTIONS

“You might also argue that intuitive thinking is better enhanced by silent musing; or going for a walk or sleeping on it or any of a host of other ways to push a question away from focal attention back to the preconscious…” (Elbow)    

-          By entertaining objections, Elbow makes his thesis and argument stronger. By explaining why his argument is correct, you simply get your point across, however when using potential counter arguments, it proves that you are knowledgeable and can defend your thoughts and ideas.

• Establishing why Your Claims Matter

“Because media rhetoric surrounds us, it is important to understand how rhetoric works.” (Carrol)

-          This simple yet necessary move is essential to anything written. Often overlooked because many writers think its easily implied, stating why your writing matters to the reader is one of the first steps to grabbing their attention and getting them interested. As simple and unnecessary as it may seem, this one short sentence can your audiences entire understanding of what you write.

• EMBEDDING VOICE MAKERS  

“Here I offer my definition: Rhetoric is what allows you to write (and speak) appropriately for a given situation, one that is determined by the expectations of your audience, Implied or acknowledged, whether you are texting, writing a love letter, or bleeding a term paper.” (Boyd)

-          Through the use of this move, a writers own thoughts and feelings are resonated in their writing. A lot of times your own voice gets lost in translation when trying be a professional writer and using ‘Academic English’ so this move is particularly important. This example specifically, Boyd gives a personal definition of the word rhetoric which sharply contrasts with the ‘academic definition’.

• MAKING WHAT THEY SAY SOMETHING YOU SAY

“While I don’t know anything about Corinthian columns…Allen Tate’s metaphor of reading as if you were an architect is a great way to think about RLW.” (Bunn) 

-          This move, used by Bunn, is essential to making the entire paper seemingly academic. By using other sources to support your own ideas, it somewhat implies that what is being said must be true. This is seen by the popular quote “great minds think alike”. Even though Bunn honestly states that Allen Tate’s metaphor is totally foreign, the simple comparison still adds credibility to the piece of work.

• Recappin

“Taking what Devitt says into account, think back to the previous discussion of the research paper.” (Dirk)

-          Dirk used a move I call “Recappin” throughout navigating genres. Dirk always goes back to previous examples once introducing new information in order to provide new outlooks and viewpoints.

• Thats truuuue

“I will admit that the word genre used to have a bad reputation and may still make some people cringe.” (Dirk)

-          Dirk also uses something I called “That’s truuuue” in the article as well. By using a sentence that relates to the readers saying something that a student will understand. Personally, when I read the sentence, I laughed and agreed. Dirk uses this to relate to the readers and hook their attention.

• YOU CAN DO IT

“You are already an author, and that means you have a built-in advantage when reading like a writer.” (Bunn) 

-          Bunn uses a move I named “You Can Do it” in most of the article. Throughout the entire piece of work, Bunn provides positive input to readers to heighten their motivation and self-esteem to say the lease. By building their confidence, Bunn is trying to emphasize that anyone can be good writers and most people already are, they just need the extra push. This move is the most effective in my opinion.

• Look, I know what I’m talkin bout

“For example, research has shown that only 2% of women consider themselves beautiful.” (Carrol) 

-          Carrol used a move I named “Look, I know what I’m talking about” in the piece of work. By using a statistic, Carrol used ethos, or credibility, to interest readers. By using a stat by researchers, the professionalism and the educational purpose really shows and makes the whole piece look better.

•  PAY ATTENTION 

 “How many times have you had reason to ask these questions?” (Graff) 

-          The last move that I found throughout the readings is something I call “Pay Attention”. Gaff uses this move I order to keep the reader’s attention. Many times students will read but not retain anything, but having questions posed in the readings keeps the readers minds focused and thinking on what’s going on. This particular is also very useful in writing because you don’t want your writing to not be retained.

Thlog 5

The quarter is officially HALFWAY over! Although during classes it feels like it drags on forever, looking back at the past 5 weeks it has really flew by. The main focus of this weeks classes was definitely ‘MOVES’. Although it was really confusing in the beginning, I feel like I am starting to finally understand it a little bit more. What really helped me understand moves was watching the video of The Rocks ‘Peoples Elbow”. It helped me see that the move is not only the body slamming but also everything leading up to it as well, such as the running back and for the and taunting. Like all moves, the peoples elbow itself is made up from many parts that come together.

In preparation for writing project 2 we also did an activity on academic disciplines that related back to genres. Everyone in class got a topic and 2 disciplines of their choice and wrote a basic thesis that someone studying that discipline would research about. While doing this activity it reminded me of the Mark Smith murder activity about genres we did a few classes back. These two activities both framed a certain topic to get its purpose across. They both also reminded me of a type of bias I learned last year in social psychology called confirmation bias. By only looking for information in your area of study, or only one specific news station, you may only get part of the information.

This week’s reading was Mike Bunn’s “Reading like a Writer”, and although his concept was hard as hell for me to grasp at first, I casually started doing it at the most random times and with the most random things. For instance, I went to “Chick-fil-A” with Edwin this past week and when I disgustingly took a bite of a pickle, I started asking why the hell the creator would decide to add pickles of all things to chicken. I then began telling Edwin everything else he could have and should have added instead and how he probably chose pickles because it would be the cheapest and add the most flavor with the smallest amount. Edwin then replied that instead of reading like a writer, I was eating like a Chef! 

PB2a

 http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.ucsb.edu:2048/ehost/detail/detail?sid=6c14383f-9d2a-4573-950b-7264e1d02b69%40sessionmgr113&vid=5&hid=116&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=111561584&db=a9h

When looking into this assignment, I first thought that it was going to be difficult to find a publication that would interest me. However, after only my second search, I found “Managing Anger in Adolescents”, an article by Mary Lowth published in “Practice Nurse” Vol. 45, Issue 12 in December of 2015. I took interest in this particular article for two simple reasons. The first, anger is a fascinating concept in psychology and it is interesting to see how various people define anger and operationalize the very abstract concept. The second reason I found interest in this article is because it deals with the area of life which I hope to one day work with and help, adolescents.

Being a scholarly article, one would definitely expect this article to have conventions that are specific to the scientific and academic genres. One of the most prevailing conventions that caught my eye right from the start was that every time the word ‘anger’ came up, it was bolded. Since the entire purpose of the article was managing anger, it would make sense to call attention to every time the word comes up. Another convention that I found while reading through the paper is the capitalization and use of different color writing when switching main talking points. This provides a clear understanding to the reader that the focus of the upcoming section is switching and lets them know what the new section is going to consist of.

Since this is published on a webpage, there were also many conventions that are specific to online sources only. One of the more interesting conventions I found was links on the left hand of the page that were able to take you to specific parts of article. This convention is useful in many ways, but primarily I found that it was helpful for when I have already read it, and wanted to go back to a specific part, so instead of scrolling through to find it, I just clicked the main section title. Another set of links that made online reading more convenient was the ‘tags’ section at the end of the page. This convention not only made it useful when finding the article in the first place, but it provided a list of clickable words for reading more if interested. Next to the tags, there was also ‘further reading’, a section that provided links to more article in relation to anger and adolescents. Lastly, at the top of the webpage, there was a button that you could click in order to have the entire page read to you. This convention made comprehending the article much more convenient since the font size was really small and zooming in caused the need to scroll back and forth.

Being an article about mental health, there were many questions posed throughout the entire piece of work. The main purpose of these questions were to provide background specific to this area of study. “Is teenage anger a medical problem?” set up the topic for the entire article. More questions included “What is the problem with anger?”, and more generally “What is anger?”. The third question posed set up the section which was used to operationalize the concept of anger. According to Lowth in this article anger is “a defense mechanism, a coping mechanism, a means of displacing other difficult emotions, and a reasonable response in some circumstances.”  (Lowth) The operationalization of anger according to the writer is very vague, understandably so, because anger is hard to define. The most important aspect of the piece that struck me was the statement that anger and other mental health issues are normal. This seemed as the most important based simply on repetition. Furthermore, there were various sections that provided resources, links, and advice for those who suffer from anger and other mental health issues.

THLOG 4

Fourth week of the quarter and things seemed to be going super fast. This week in class we mostly went over various tips and strategies to better our writing. One of the new tips we covered was ‘poemifying’ our paragraphs in order to see the structure better. By separating the sentences, you could see the length better. When I first did it I felt like my sentence structure sucked because I had these HUGE sentences then I would have these short sentences right next to it. But as Zack mentioned, the variation adds flow to the paragraph and makes it less boring and monotone. Another practice that we did to better our writing was the highlighter activity. If I’m being honest at first I thought this activity was really dumb but after words when I got home and took it seriously, it genuinely helped me in revising my WP1. By using the separate colors for everything, it let me see where I had most my evidence in the paper and if I had my analysis where it needed to be. Although I felt I did sort of a good job with the separation of the sources, my analysis was really lacking what it should have been. This activity also helped me find a balance between direct evidence and any extra evidence. On Wednesday, I really enjoyed the Mark Smith murder activity. We’ve been spending so much time learning about genre and at times it sort of just feels like it’s an academic thing and I’m never going to actually use it in real life. Through this activity however it helped me see how with just a few pieces of information, you can frame a story using genres and conventions. Always taking things back to psychology lol, genres to me are starting to seem like schemas that I learned about in psychology 104, introduction to personality. These schemas are sort of a reference guide that helps you remember and define things more accurately. As with genres, each schema is dependent on the framework so you have one for family, one for friends, and one for tv shows and so on. And just like genres, when using a specific schema the ‘conventions’ or your actions/thoughts/words will vary with the topic. 

Thlog week 2

Week 2!! It’s been one hell of a week to say the least, but someone once told me that when you feel you’re getting pulled back-like an arrow-you’re about to shoot forward. So in school and life in general I will continue to do everything to the best of my ability no matter how much I want to give in. Though Writing 2 is not my favorite class, I have to admit that I am picking up a lot of information that will undoubtedly help me to write, read, and communicate better. In Mondays section particularly, Zack gave us tips to be successful in everyday life and writing. One of his tips was to always back up your work, and it was low-key funny to me because I have TERRIBLE luck with technology, and laptops specifically. Last quarter, a few days before my last final my laptop suddenly died on me, taking any chance of getting a good grade with it. I was able to look over lecture slides on Gaucho Space, but all my notes were gone! I then realized I should back up all my documents however I have just been too lazy. After Monday however I started to upload everything to my google drive! Thanks Zack! On Wednesdays section we covered dashes vs hyphens. I learned the difference between them however as dumb as it may sound I don’t know the difference on my keyboard! They hyphen is essentially used to separate a related idea, or add extra information and can be thought of as the same function as a comma. The dash on the other hand in used to bring together two equal words that create a new word in itself. Another thing I learned more about in Wednesdays section is the working thesis statement. Instead of using the thesis statement to write your paper, you write your paper and use what you wrote in order to produce the thesis statement.

Although sometimes learning writing techniques can be boring, it’s essential and I look forward to what else Zack has in store for us to learn.

PB1B

The first pattern I noticed while cycling through the SCIgen website was definitely all the titles of each article were generally the same. The larger sized bold letters and the over use of large, scientific words such as “Autonomous Modalities” or “Decoupling Checksums” was common. Also, each article followed the same structure, an abstract, introduction, a few sections that go into ‘detail’, along with a conclusion followed by a reference section. In each of the articles, there were also a lot of abbreviations that just took the first 3 letters of any 3 words that were in a row. Another convention these article shared was the diagrams. Though there was a mixture of charts and graphs, generally they all had positive increasing slopes. Finally, the last thing I noticed was the use of in-paragraph citations. Though the citations looked like they were used correctly, when going to look in the reference section, the article referred to had absolutely nothing to do with the sentence.

The second website, pandyland.net, was probably really difficult for me to find conventions for until I started to think simply. As a college student, I’m so used to thinking about complex questions and situations that it took me a while to really analyze the basics of each comic. The first convention that struck me was that every statement written was very vague so that it could go along with any sequence of comics it was a part of.  There were no real story lines, so each comic could be seen as individual aspects. I noticed however that the funniest ones flowed and fit together better. Another convention of the comics was the setting and the characters, each comic had the same characters and they were both always wearing the same thing all the time. The setting of all the comics seemed to be in a room with a purplish floor and a light blue wall.  Another major thing I noticed among the comics were a lot of dark jokes (sexuality, suicide/death, depression) between the two characters.

The third website we were asked to look at was a meme generator. This was just as hard, if not harder for me to find conventions for than pandyland. The only thing I generally noticed was the writing. In nearly all memes, the writing is capitalized and bold faced. Most of the time, the set-up of the meme is written on the top and the funny/ironic part in on the bottom part of the image. All memes have some sort of relatable background image that makes the writing on the meme make sense. For example, Fry from Futurama is known on the cartoon as pretty much being brainless and stupid. The meme of him holding cash saying “Shut up and take my money” is always shown with an image of some sort of dumb invention or idea. With knowing the background of why the meme has that specific image, it adds more humor to it. Another think I notice about all the memes is that the genre has tones depending on the meme used. Two example are the grumpy cat meme, which will make you read everything with somewhat of an attitude, and the condescending Wonka meme which will have you read the meme in a sarcastic tone.

The genre generator I chose to analyze is movies on http://www.randomlists.com/random-movies. The one thing I noticed right away was that all the movies that popped up on the website were relatively new.  Although movies have been around since at least the 1900s, none of the movies were aged before 2010. Another convention I seen through this generator was that all of the movies were teen-adult aged movies. I did not see any children’s movies at all. The last convention I found between the movies was that they were all American, English speaking films. There were no foreign made movies or movies in any other language. 

PB1A

As a college student the first thing you receive from a teacher or professor is most likely the syllabus for the class. Aimed at all incoming college student enrolled in the course, the syllabus gives you information that everyone should know for the first day of class as well as the rest of the quarter/semester. Most professors give a syllabus to answer any question they may have about the course such as dates of exams, grade scales/percentages, rules and expectations of course, and contact information among many other things. Most of the time, professors will email the syllabus before class in order for enrolled students to go over it, then while in the lecture hall or classroom, the professor will give their own presentation on the syllabus in front of all the students. Generally, in order to provide the most amount of information in the least amount of space, professors will likely write their syllabus in a technical yet professional style, leaving out most colloquial terms and phrases. The tone of a professors writing in a syllabus is usually formal and welcoming while at the same time being strict and direct. The convection of a syllabus are as follows; class information at top including the name, dates and times, as well as the quarter and year. Instructor information consisting of professors’ name, office hours and location, as well as phone or email information. Teaching assistants’ information is generally next (if applicable) followed by a general class overview which in terms summarizes the purpose of the course. Grade information usually consist of how grades will be weighted as well as an explanation of a curve if there is any for plus and minus grades. Required materials are always listed somewhere on the syllabus along with a class timeline laying out a reading and homework schedule, exam and quiz dates, as well as holiday breaks if there are any. Lastly, at the end of the syllabus there is usually a warning about cheating and plagiarism as well as the attendance policy if any.

thlog?

Week 1

The first week of a new quarter is always hectic no matter which courses I chose to take.  Writing 2 is no different. I never considered myself a great writer so if I’m being honest, it’s safe to say I was not looking forward to this class. However now that I am reflecting on what we’ve covered so far, and peeked into the reader on what we will cover in these next 9 weeks, I realize that this class is not only necessary for success in my academic world, but in the professional and personal worlds as well.

The reading we did in class, 2 kinds of thinking (elbow), was really interesting in my opinion and genuinely captured my attention. In the reading, Elbow talked about first order and second order thinking and how each are essential in personal, professional, and academic writing. For first order thinking, the class described it as ’word vomiting, brainstorming, talking out loud, and exploring’. Personally, being a psychology student, I related first order thinking to Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of free association in which he made his patients bounce ideas off of themselves in order to unveil their authentic thoughts and feelings. Like free associating, first order thinking gives you un-edited raw material that is free of outside biases, inputs, and judgments. Second order thinking on the other hand was described by the class as ‘analyzing, clarifying, and deconstruction’. Going along with the class, I also saw second order thinking as contentious proofreading, or being careful of your surroundings. Again relating everything in my life to psychology theories, I compared second order thinking to the mental schemas which according to social psychologists, everybody has. With schemas, everything that you do, say, or feels is always dependent on the setting you’re currently in. As with second order thinking, depending on who you want to communicate your first order thinking ideas to is going to affect your second order thinking and how you relay the message. For example, if you wanted to greet somebody, your first order thinking would automatically most likely go directly to “hi”. However, with second order thinking, if you were talking to a professor you’d say something along the line of “hello, good evening” ect. Rather than to a friend where you could say “yo wassup” or something along those lines. 

Along with the readings, we also focused on genres a lot which I feel like I have a pretty good grasps of after all the examples we’ve gone through.

About Me

My name is James Eric Olivieri Jr., but since I was a baby I’ve gone by Junior. I’m 20 years old and currently a 2^nd year Psychology major, however I’m looking into double majoring in Political Science as well. I was born in San Jose, California but grew up in Sacramento since around 1^st grade. Two of my four sisters have kids making me an uncle to 2 nieces and 2 nephews! Being an uncle is one of the best aspects of myself and I love those kids more than anything! They give me the inspiration and motivation to be a better person, to be a good role model, and to show them that no matter what, they can be successful.

As a first generation college student, moving so far away from home right after high school to come to such prestigious school was something I never even dreamed of. It wasn’t until my 11^th grade English teacher forced me to talk to my guidance counselor that I realized that college was actually going to be a real option for me. Without Mr. Melchor and Mrs. Nevarez, I would not be where I am today. Because of them, I decided I wanted to peruse psychology and become a counselor to underprivileged youth not only to help with personal issues, but to be able to give to them what I found with Mr. Melchor and Mrs. Nevarez.  

I have learned so much about the world we live in, the things that affect our day to day lives, and most importantly, myself by risking everything to be here. I know that I still have a long way to go in order become the person I was meant to be, but for now I am content with who I have become. My number one priority in life since becoming a teenager was to simply be happy. And to me, as long as I wake up every day achieving that goal, I know I can accomplish any and everything else I set my mind to. Thanks for taking the time to read!