In this op-ed, a journalist writes about how comments on his social media about the passing of his family dog were more kind-hearted and sympathetic then the comments she received about an article she had written about Syrian refugees fleeing genocide. The purpose is to inform the audience that the general public seems to care more about a family dog than millions of human lives. The author provides several quotations of responses about the care and well-wished for his dog and the negative and heartless comments about leaving the refugees to fend for themselves. The evidence provided pertains mostly to the pathos area of the triangle. The author remains relatively informal throughout the entirety of the article. The tone suggests that she is attempting to relate to the reader in order to persuade him. The author uses rhetorical questions asked in order to emphasize his point. There are photos of the Syrian refugees and the family dog attached. The limitations involved with this piece is that the only evidence involved are quotations from the people who responded to his article, and that is a very limited group of individuals. The most effective rhetorical strategies used is the pathos. The author plays on the audience’s emotions in order to get his point across. He especially uses the general public’s guilt.
Unit 1 Reflection
This unit was all about becoming acclimated to writing a college essay and learning how to properly compose a synthesis essay. This paper was honestly different from any writing assignment I have had in the past because I have never had to write a synthesis essay before, and I honestly did not know what a synthesis essay was before this semester. However, I think that all of the practice synthesis pieces we wrote as a class helped me learn a lot and made sure that my first major assignment in this class was not the first synthesis essay I have ever written. I think that the most helpful class we had for this essay (aside from the practice essays) was the Wednesday when we were told to rewrite our entire introductory paragraphs. I did not expect that exercise to help, but I was surprised to see that my finished product was much much better than my initial attempt. I then thought about how much effort I had even put into the initial attempt and was honest with myself and proved myself I could do much better. This helped me grow as an academic because I taught myself that if I just put forth effort at every stage in the writing process, the final product will always be an acceptable piece. I will be sure to set aside plenty of time to write my outline, collect my thoughts, organize them, then write and revise again and again. This will ensure that I will improve as a writer from here on out, which is all I can hope for.
Daily Write
- Each essay needs to have 5 paragraphs
- Each thesis needs to have 3 points, one for each body paragraph
- Each essay needs to begin with a quotation
- You can’t use contractions when writing
- Don’t begin a sentence with a conjunction
- Each paragraph needs to be a certain length
- The introduction is only one paragraph
- you cant say you
Daily Write
I made great improvements in class today. When I came to class I did not bring my best work to class with my introduction, but thankfully after I received feedback we were given an opportunity to rewrite our entire introductions. Many of my peers simply edited theirs, but for me what needed to be done was to take the feedback, and simply write an entire new paragraph. I feel this was ver helpful because now I have a much stronger starting point for this assignment and will be more likely to really grasp what its about. Today was also helpful because now I will be more likely to understand the importance of coming to class with my best work each time so I don’t get behind.
Timed Writing
Have you ever given much thought to the Native American stereotypes? I haven’t. For my entire life I have only heard of Native American stories and how each and every one of them are “connected to the Earth” and possess some mystic “powers”. In Sherman Alexie’s “Search Engine”, the main character Corliss states that “White people, no matter how smart, were too romantic about Indians” (Alexie 11). However, upon searching some articles in the New York Times, I have found several examples of Native Americans somewhat playing into the stereotype, and that there is in fact some truth to it. In Tejal Rao’s “The Movement to Define Native American Cuisine”, a Native American chef somewhat validates what Alexie says when he creates dishes that are made from miscellaneous herbs, spices, and plants (much like a white man would imagine every Native American does). This shows that there is some truth to Alexie’s claim due to the fact that the chef became so popular, serving his dishes to a predominately white crowd who is fascinated with his methods of cooking.
weekly write
While in college, I have many priorities and goals. The most important thing to me is going to class. I went to college for many reasons, but the most important of which is to graduate. I need to go to class, keep up my grades, and maintain at least a 3.75 GPA. I want to keep my scholarships and arguably more importantly get into a good law school after these 4 years. Second on my list of things to do in college is meet as many people as possible. I want to make many lifelong friends here and in order to do so I need to meet as many people as possible (preferably as soon as possible). Finally on my list of things to do is to join as many organizations as possible.
Prompts
I think that the prompt I will write about is the third prompt. I like the idea of the Native American stereotype. I haven’t given it much though before, but the idea that the white man affiliates the Native American with goofy sentimentalism is intriguing. The only concern I have about what may go wrong is not finding any articles on the New York Times website that go along with or debunk this stereotype.
“Search Engine” and “What Ever Happened to Frank Snake’s Church”
In Sherman Alexie’s “Search Engine” and “What Ever Happened to Frank Snake’s Church”, he emphasizes the importance of a quest. In a quest, the protagonist has a destination, challenges, and a goal. While the stated goal may be something trivial such as playing a sport or meeting an author, the underlying, true goal is one that has to do with the self-knowledge of the quester.
In “Search Engine”, Alexie depicts a young, smart Indian woman named Corliss. Corliss has always been fascinated with poetry despite her disapproving family. This, combined with her above average intelligence and ambition, plays into her quest for identity due to the fact that it causes Corliss to feel as though she does not belong where she was born. This is evident when Corliss looks at her father “and saw a stranger” after she questioned his lack of ambition (Alexie 16). Corliss then finds the most similar person to her she has ever encountered. Another Spokane Indian who left the tribe and not only read poetry, but published a book of it. She then begins her quest (or “vision quest” as she called it) to find this author Atwater.
In “What Ever Happened to Frank Snake’s Church”, Alexie writes of a man who’s life at one point had been all about basketball. Frank, the quester in this piece, had had a great amount of potential to be an extremely good basketball player. However, his mother died while he was still playing, and in order to honor her, he retired from the sport he loved. Then, once he had reached the age of 39, his father also passes away. He then decides to honor his father’s memory by once again lacing up his old basketball shoes. His quest to play again has many obstacles, such as age or injuries. But on this quest Frank also finds himself when playing with a friend who calls him “just an old fart dying of terminal nostalgia”. Frank begins to break down into tears and respond “Don’t look inside me and then pretend you didn’t look inside me” (Alexie 228).
Weekly Write
In the University of Mississippi, we are subject to a lot of stereotypes. People think that the students here aren’t very smart, that we are racist, and that all we do is drink. Ole Miss is consistently in the top 10 of the “party school” rankings, and maybe we deserve to be. I know that almost every night, week or weekend, there are several parties on or off campus. But I also know many people who work very hard and focus on academics, so for someone to automatically assume that because you go to Ole Miss you only party, is very wrong. I also know many people, typically from the North, who assume that if you go to school in the South you must be a racist. These accusations, even if they are in a joking manor, are not true and honestly should not even be joked about. The stereotype that Ole Miss is a party school may hold some weight, but the perception that everyone here is racist is a total misconception and a serious one. Ole Miss also ranks 19th on the “beautiful campus” rankings. According to this poll, Rhodes College has the most beautiful campus in the nation. I am from Memphis and live about 5 minutes away from Rhodes College and I must say that the campus here in Oxford is much more beautiful.
Daily Write
College is essentially 4 years worth of quests. Some are completed in a day and others span the entire duration of the 4 years. The most important and obvious quest contained in the college experience is getting a degree. However, the quest that I will focus on almost just as much as graduating is to actually experience college. College is special for many reasons, and some of which are meeting new people, trying new things, and having a good time. The people you meet are likely the ones you will call your friends for the rest of your life, and I intent to meet a lot of them. I make it my personal goal to be friendly and remember everyone I talk to. They say its not about grades you make but the hands you shake. The second aspect of truly experiencing college is trying new things. I plan on getting involved in as many things as possible. Finally, having a good time is important too. This will be the last time that you have an opportunity to go out every day of the week (besides Sunday), and I don’t want to let that slip away without making the most of it.