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Reading Journal

1. If I had to describe myself as a writer, I would use the word determined. I am always determined to get my work done but not only get it done, but do the best work that I can do. I do enjoy writing and sometimes when I see I have an essay due, I dread having to sit down and write it but when I am actually doing it, I realize I actually quite enjoy writing and am fairly good at it.
2. A time that comes to mind when I felt I was a successful writer was probably last semester in my history class. We had a final exam essay due and I remember I was already home so I was busy hanging out with friends and family but than remember I had an essay due the next week. I was not looking forward to writing it because it was a very long essay and it was about something that I couldn’t really connect to or feel passionate about. However, once I started, I knocked it out and when I finished writing my conclusion, I realized it was one of the best papers I have ever written. I ended up getting a 97 I believe which made me really excited because I was really proud of the paper!
3. I would like to work on being able to feel more connected to my work and on making sure I don’t get off topic when working. Sometimes I find that when I am writing I start drifting off topic and I go back through and I don’t even know how I got to where I did!
4. I would like my instructor to just help me with tips on how to stay on topic when writing and not add too much unnecessary information about whatever it is I am writing about.
5. I would say one thing I want my instructor to know about my learning style is that I work best when writing about something I am passionate about or that I want to write about. I know that is usually a lot to ask because it is still an academic class and I can still usually find some sort of connection to a piece of work, but sometimes its nice to pick your on topic and write from there.

Reading Journal 

In Ann Johns article, she discusses many different discourse communities and goes in depth about what each community represents. The term discourse communities primarily focuses on texts and languages and that is why Ann Jones chooses to refer to all the types of communities as “discourse” communities. The different types of communities are Social, Political, and recreational communities, Professional communities and academic communities. Those are just the main discourse communities that Ann Jones highlights but under all those titles is an abundance of titles that many different people could relate to or qualify for. Ann Jones highlights how all of these discourse communities have lots of diversity in them and really dives into the idea that everyone comes from different backgrounds and places and that can have an effect on the way that people write. Having those discourse communities allows to bring people together who share a similar way of being. I would say the communities I most closely belong to are social, professional, academic, political, and recreational discourse communities. I think most people, especially students could belong to these discourse communities. Socially, everyone is different because everyone has different backgrounds, professionally and academically, I write and read for school so I would say I fall into those two categories as well. Politically, I think everyone can find themselves in this one as well because everyone has different standpoints and views. Lastly, I strongly feel about of the recreational community because I do quite often write for fun or just when I feel like writing. Everyone can find themselves in any of these discourse communities, its more a matter of which you feel the most connected to.

Out of all the exercises that were available to do, I chose exercise 3. The prompt is “What is a type of writing that you do outside of school writing? How does your knowledge about the context of writing determine how you communicate in this writing situation?” I would say, to answer this question, the main type of writing that I do that is outside of a school type of writing is when I write in a journal. I don’t really journal a whole lot anymore however, every once in a while when I have a lot on my mind and I sort of just want to unload somewhere, I will write in a journal about my day or whatever I am feeling. The writing I do in my journal is a lot different than how I would write on an essay. Since I am not writing for an audience I use a lot more casual lingo and not making everything so proper. I also probably have a lot of run on sentences in my journal because I don’t typically pay attention to punctuation or anything like that, its more about just getting all my thoughts down on paper. Sometimes I enjoy writing essays about things I am passionate about or writing a paper that is proper and grammatically correct, however, sometimes it is also nice to just not have to make a paper perfect and just to get everything that you can down. Sometimes I find that by not paying attention to every little detail, it is a lot easier for the story to flow and it can also make the story you are trying to tell a lot more personal as well.

According to Webster dictionary, a writer is a “person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job or regular occupation.” However, I think that a writer is a little more than that. Writermag.com goes more in depth about a writer and says that a writer is “a sensibility, a certain awareness and responsiveness to the world.” I think this is a very accurate depiction of what a true writer is. A lot of people think in order to be a writer you have to be some big published author or an aware winning author, but that is not true. In my opinion, a writer can be anyone with a thought that they want to write down. When you tell a story or write about something you have learned, I think as long as you are proud and passionate about your work, you can be considered a writer. I myself, have considered myself a writer in the past because it is something I love to do and is often an escape or a way to let out what I am feeling. Whenever I write about something, I try to give it my all and make it the very best work it can be.

(I turned in the better conversation homework late so I am doing this to replace that late grade)

After listening to the podcast about compassion, it really put a lot of things into perspective. I think a lot of the time, compassion gets mistaken for only having compassion towards other people, and while that is really important, it is also important to have compassion towards yourself. A lot of the time and especially this year, I have been working myself really hard. I have had to do things that are really out of my comfort zone and whenever I do, and I get nervous, I beat myself up because I tell myself I should be able to do it without getting anxious. However, I think I need to learn and make a goal to be compassionate towards myself and know that I am going through a lot right now and that it is okay to be anxious sometimes.

In this video, she goes over better ways to have a real conversation. Even if a conversation involves very controversial things, it is still very possible to have a respectful conversation. The points that she goes over in her TED talk is don’t multitask, don’t pontificate, using open ended questions, going with the flow, if you don’t know something, it is okay to say you don’t know, don’t equate your experience with theirs, try not to repeat yourself, stay out of the weeds, listen, and be brief. That is a lot of different things to remember when having a conversation but really, if you just do one of them, the conversation will already be improved. After watching this video, I realized that sometimes I don’t really follow all of these steps. There is times I have trouble listening, there is times I repeat myself over and over again, so it is definitely easy to slip up sometimes. However, if I just try to remember the two main points in my opinion, which is listen and using open ended questions, I think a lot of my questions will be improved. If I listen well, it shows the other person that I am respectful and interested in what they have to say, and if I use open ended questions, it will allow the conversation to easily flow and it will keep the conversation going.

The social media post I chose to rhetorically analyze is the tweet by Brandon Wolf regarding what happened at the Pulse nightclub and how the Florida government handled it. This tweet was written by Brandon Wolf, a central Florida Development Officer and Media Relations Manager. He is also a nationally recognized advocate for LGBTQ and gun violence. The intended audience of this tweet was mainly directed to Rick Scott, the United States senator for Florida. 

The basis of this tweet is to bring attention to the fact that 612 days went by after the Pulse attack with no action. Brandon Wolf calls out Rick Scott for staying silent while all of this was happening instead of doing his job and helping the people who were affected by this tragedy. Wolf also points out that mental health funding was slashed and what happened at Pulse should not be used as a campaign prop because it is not that. It was a horrific thing that happened that left 49 people dead and no action from the government. The writer, Brandon Wolf uses ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the audience. He uses ethos because he understands his positions and what he is an advocate for and sees that it is his job to stand up for the people affected by this tragedy since the government and senator will not and has not. By being a nationally recognized advocate for the LGBTQ community, he recognizes that it his place to publish something so public if it means being a voice for those who do not have one. Secondly, he uses the pathos appeal in his tweet as well. Brandon Wolf uses pathos by the way he constructed his tweet. By calling out the government and giving specific data and numbers of how many days have gone by with no action and how many people were killed in this tragedy, he is using an emotional standpoint in his tweet. When people hear or read specific numbers, it really puts things into perspective. Lastly, he uses logos by giving exact data as well. Logos is logical or factual evidence that is given, which is exactly what Brandon Wolf does. 

Overall, although Brandon Wolfs tweet was informal and quite declarative, nonetheless, he got the point across. His goal was to bring attention to something that happened that received little to no action and that was turning into a campaign prop rather than a reason to call for change. This just goes to show that no matter the way you write or where you write it, if someone writes about an injustice that they believe deserves recognition for change, the point is received. Brandon Wolf was not just writing another tweet or going on a rant. He saw an injustice, he saw a terrible thing that happened that was resulting in no change, and he did something about it. He called out those who were responsible for the absence of justice. While his tweet may or may not have reached the government or even made a significant change in history, it definitely had a deeper impact on those who were affected by this horrible tragedy. 

Reading Journal