September 2020

Jones Reading Journal

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Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page “Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?” By Rebecca Jones

Jones, Rebecca. “Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 1 pp. 156-59, 166-168 /edited by Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Author themself, 2010
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words 156-159: Jones’s main point is that the way American society approaches debates and arguments is flawed. She assesses these flaws as manifesting from our approach to argument as a war in which “there are only two sides, someone must win decisively, and compromise means losing.” She offers an alternative to this psychology with a debate or argument being a dance and that acting on an argument does not necessitate violence. She continues that the debates like the presidential ones broadcast to the American public are shoddy examples of true debate and argument. More examples include the shows on the news that supposedly have different viewpoints in discourse but in practice lack “research, consideration of multiple vantage points, and, quite often, basic logic.” She notes that the pundits on these shows don’t actually debate or argue but rather attack the other side or vehemently defend their own predetermined position. They circumvent the questions asked by bringing up something somewhat related.

166-168: The parts of rhetoric that make it effective is its appeal to us so that we relate to it. These appeals commonly use ethos, pathos, and logos (values, emotions, logic). The most prevalent form of these appeals is in marketing. The example Jones uses is car commercials.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “argument is war” is how Jones describes the modus operandi of argument and debate in this country.

 “argument is dance” is how Lakoff and Johnson want people to think of having a debate with someone. I imagine this concept as two dancers on stage. They can each dance alone showing off their style, but they can also dance together, meeting in the middle.

“Aristotle imagined logos, ethos, and pathos as three kinds of artistic proof. Essentially, they highlight three ways to appeal to or persuade an audience: ‘(1) to reason logically, (2) to understand human character and goodness in its various forms, (3) to understand emotions’ (Honeycutt, Rhetoric 1356a).”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 In my own experience, what Jones says about argument and debate as it’s presented to us on radio and television is true. Our country has a problem with having true, reasonable discussions in which the participants can have a dialogue rather than attack each other. This problem is even more severe today, ten years after this article was written. We have to look no further than the presidential debate this last Tuesday night where the candidates (one more than the other) showed blatant hostility toward each other and didn’t speak more than maybe a minute at a time before being interrupted by each other. The whole thing was borderline unwatchable and does not give a good look to either of the parties which are trying to encourage young people to vote. Frankly, I am more confused after the “debate” than before it. The problem is also misinformation and people refusing to accept they were wrong. Even when they do admit they’re wrong they attack the other person and say they are even more wrong. This misinformation given by people in debates is similar to that of the local, Michigan, and federal government in What the Eyes Don’t See. It’s hard for consumers to know who is wrong or who is right if both sides vehemently maintain that they are right despite reason and data.

I see the appeals in commercials just as Jones does. These appeals can also extend to nostalgia or previous experience. Long-standing brands such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s consistently rely on the consumer already knowing what a Coke tastes like or what their experience with a quarter-pounder is.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. Have you ever gone out and bought something just because of an ad? I got the Wendy’s 2-for-$5 because of the ad.

 

What the Eyes Don’t See Blog Post 2

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In What the Eyes Don’t See, by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, one of the author’s main concerns for her patients are “ACEs” and toxic stresses. ACEs are single events or experiences that a child has that affect their long-term physical and mental well-being. Dr. Hanna-Attisha describes toxic stresses as circumstantial stresses detrimental to children. These stresses are the likes of: poverty, violence in the community, unsafe places of play, and lack of nutrition. These adversities and others, like racism, perpetuate the cycle of poverty in our cities. These circumstances limit children’s worldview where they do not know any other way of life. Dr. Hanna-Attisha also presents evidence that these stresses stunt mental and emotional development because constant stress does not allow for neural pathways to properly form. The ACEs and stress have even farther-reaching consequences in children’s education. ACEs negatively affect literacy by making the children feel unsafe, thereby causing literacy to fall by the wayside in terms of priorities.

What the Eyes Don’t See Blog Post 1

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1. How did Dr.Mona’s actions make a difference in the community of Flint?
2. Can you think of a time in your own life when you have made other people aware of a problem that they were not aware of?                                                                                                                                                  3. What can you do as an individual to make the world a better and a safer place?

In What the Eyes Don’t See, the author uses an activist mentality in her profession in order to thoroughly educate the physicians in her medical center. She gets an initial impetus to investigate her city’s water quality and then uses her activist experience to bring the problem to national attention. She not only brought the crisis to the attention of thousands, but also did so in a scientific manner consistent with her occupation. She also empowered the Flint community by being a local voice of concern over the health of the children in her care. She challenged local officials and made her community’s voice heard.

Lately, as my parents have gotten older (70s), I have been having to remind them of various things they forget. For instance, they keep forgetting to turn off the grill outside and inside. One time, I went to our outside grill only to find it was left on for two days. They also forget where they leave phones, keys, bags, and all sorts of other things. Right before I left for college, I sat them down and brought this issue to their attention. I recommended they start new habits which would prevent them form forgetting things and take steps to maintain their mental agility in their old age.

What I plan on doing as an individual is to make the world a safer place by doing my part in ensuring that my fellow students are staying safe in college. This includes watching out for them in environments such as parties, football games, and the dorm. Too often have I heard of or read stories of tragedy in college as a result of poor decisions being made and I want to be someone who makes good decisions and watches out for everyone else.

Murray Writing Blog

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Reading Journal

 

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Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page “The Maker’s Eye” by Donald Murray

Murray, Donald M. “The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts.” Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers. Ed. by Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000: 161-165
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Murray expresses his idea of a writer as someone who does as much revising as writing. To him, his work is never finished, he is always on a quest to find a better way to say something. He tries to separate himself from his writing in order to have the least biased opinion of it during revision. He then separates his process into several aspects he suggests nearly every writer consciously or subconsciously accounts for when they revise. He states the elements as: content, organization, audience, form, structure, development, dimension, and tone. After evaluating all of these aspects, he moves on to line-by-line editing. I agree with what he says writers think about when they revise. Whereas he tends to move from one aspect to the next, I generally read my work and do all my revising at once rather than split it into parts.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. Murray says that a writer must be their own critic. He argues that the writer cannot rely on anyone else to do the revision for them. He goes on to say that writers should also be skeptical of praise.

“Remember how each craftsperson you have seen-the carpenter eyeing the level of a shelf, the mechanic listening to the motor-takes the instinctive step back. This is what writers have to do when they read their own work.”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 I do not consciously take every element of writing into account. Nor do I have a sequence I perform when I revise. Instead, I read through my work and revise as I go, using my experience to change what I do not like in my writing. 
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. How do you all go about revising your own work?

 

Personal Literacy Blog Post

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1. What is literacy to you?

Literacy to me is someone’s ability to function with a language. My interpretation of literacy comes from my experience with Mandarin Chinese. An individual can be fluent in Chinese but not literate.

2. Who’s one of your SoL?

One of my sponsors of literacy is my elementary school. Every year, the school puts on “Read-a-thon” a three-week-ish long event where students are encouraged to read as many books as possible.

3. Write a scene with this
SoL like Fishman did in her
piece. (200+ words)

It’s May of 2012 at Julia Redd Elementary School. It’s time for Read-a-thon, a three-week-ish long event where students are encouraged to read as many books as possible with the promise of relatively extravagant prizes. The prizes usually ranged from ribbons, to guitars, to a ride to McDonald’s in a limo. I was never really interested in the prizes because, after my very first year of participating, I realized that every year the winner would be the person who read the easiest reading books and picture books. Instead, the event taught me the simple enjoyment of reading. I went from not really reading in kindergarten to being a reading fool from first grade through today because the event gave me the choice of what I read, rather than having to read what my class was. I did not play the game that other students did in order to farm pages; my mode of reading was more serious. In this instance, I was just finishing Brisingr in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. Books with a thousand pages chock-full of type were not going to cut it if I even tried. So, I never really tried; I simply continued reading whatever effort I was on whenever Read-a-thon started. This year, I welcomed the three weeks without any other homework from teachers and read even more than I usually would with homework. I finished the book in time for summer when I could just get to the last book of the series and read it without any other obligations. So, while I did not necessarily embrace the spirit of Read-a-thon, the event put on by Julia Redd certainly gave me my current love of all literature.

Fishman Reading Journal

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Reading Journal

 

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Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page “Literacy and Cultural Context: A Lesson from the Amish” by Andrea R. Fishman

Fishman, Andrea R. “Literacy and Cultural Context: A Lesson from the Amish.” Language Arts, Vol. 64, No. 8, National Council of Teachers of English, December 1987 pp. 842-854
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Fishman begins the essay with a scene of her family and an Amish family after dinner. The Amish patriarch, Eli Sr., reads to his son after dinner. She comments on how normal that act seems, but proceeds to dive deeper into how the Amish approach literacy. An element of Amish literacy which is not as prevalent in other people’s lives is ritualized singing, with the children joining in by imitating the older members of the group. Imitation is a common theme in the Amish development of literacy. By allowing children to imitate older children and adults, the Amish are encouraging cultural and intellectual homogeneity. Letting children participate also makes them feel like a contributing member of the group. The Amish also enjoy antiquated practices such as hand-writing letters. Families implicitly reinforce their homogeneous way of writing by all reading their letters out loud to each other. When the children are involved in these activities involving literacy, they begin to understand the importance of it. Fishman points out that as we get older, we lose our ability to learn from life around us. Fishman begins to make her main point. Her argument is that every child starting school for the first time must be treated as someone who has already been engaging in literacy. She uses Eli Jr. as an example. I found her analysis of the Amish literacy interesting. Their literacy is just like everyone else’s except they do not spend any time analyzing literature; they focus on the content.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “Through his at-home experience, Eli had also learned which other, more specific, less obvious abilities count as reading in his world: (1) the ability to select and manage texts, to be able to find his mother’s letter in “Die Botschaft ” or to find a particular verse in the Bible; (2) the ability to empathize with people in texts and discern the implicit lessons their experiences teach, to empathize with Lambert the lion who taught the possibility of peaceful coexistence, and to empathize with the Anabaptist martyrs who taught the Tightness of dying for one’s faith; (3) the ability to recall what was read, to remember stories, riddles, and jokes or to memorize Bible and hymn verses; and (4) the ability to synthesize what is read in a single text with what is already known or to synthesize information across texts in Amish-appropriate ways, relating one Bible portion to another or making coherent sense of what is read in children’s books, newspapers, and the Bible about how people should relate to each other.” Fishman, “Literacy and Cultural Context: A Lesson from the Amish” pp. 851
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 This reading is similar to both the Gee reading and the Brandt reading in its focus that every individual develops literacy differently based on their experiences growing up and continues to develop literacy in school and in their job. Fishman also presents what Brandt would call “sponsors of literacy” in her essay. Fishman’s essay also gives an in-depth look into what Gee would call the “primary discourse” of an Amish child.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. Does anyone have an older sibling they would imitate when they were younger? 

 

Gee Reading Journal

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Reading Journal

 

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Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page “What is Literacy?” by James Gee

“James Paul Gee on Learning With Video Games” by Edutopia

Gee, James Paul. “What is Literacy?” Journal of Education, Vol. 171, No. 1, pp. 18-23, Trustees of Boston University, 1989 http://jamespaulgee.com/pdfs/Gee%20What%20is%20Literacy.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnEN2Sm4IIQ
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Gee’s argument is that literacy sprouts from discourse in our lives. He sorts discourse into two different stages: primary and secondary. He says that primary discourse is the discourse we acquire growing up with those intimate with us (friends, family). He goes on to claim that we learn a secondary discourse once we are interacting with individuals and institutions we are not intimate with (school, athletics, work, camp). Gee says that these discourses affect our use of language. He then makes the claim that literacy is the mastery of the secondary discourse because the secondary discourse requires language which we did not acquire, but learned. Gee has an understandable thesis and makes good points about how our individual experiences and discourses affect how we use language.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “By ‘a discourse’ I will mean: a socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group or ‘social network’” (Gee, “What is Literacy”, 18).

“Acquisition is a process of acquiring something by exposure to models and a process of trial and error, without a process of formal teaching.” (20).

“Learning is a process that involves conscious knowledge gained through teaching … This teaching involves explanation and analysis, that is, breaking down the thing to be learned into its analytic parts.” (20).

Primary discourse is the original language we acquire through face-to-face interactions with intimates. (22)

Secondary discourse is the language we learn when interacting with institutions outside our intimates. Secondary discourse always builds on primary discourse. (22)

“Literacy is control of secondary uses of language (i.e. uses of language in secondary discourses)” (23)
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 This reading makes similar points to Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”. Both articles make the case that every individual becomes literate differently based on their background. Brandt makes the case that our development of literacy is driven by individuals and forces outside ourselves. Gee’s point is similar except he articulates the driving forces of our literacy as the language we learn/acquire based on our circumstances.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. Do you agree more with Brandt’s or Gee’s idea of how we become literate?

 

24-hour Writing Log

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8/31 

 

1230-1415 Brandt reading journal; 481 words

1256- Internet search; 2 words

1530- Signed Receipt

1630-1700 Peer Review Resume; 128 words

1830- Snapchat; 8 words

2015- NROTC Study log 4 words; NROTC PT Log 3 words

2100- Snapchat; 5 words

9/1

 

0030- Snapchat; 6 words

0115- Snapchat; 8 words

1130- Internet search; 2 words