In this assignment we were given a survey in which we had to answer questions about our skills that we had learned in writing 102. This assignment allowed me to get an overview on all the things we had learned how to do that would make our writing skills better. It allowed me to understand the importance of research in our writing and the process to be able to gave information for the research. I also learned the importance of multiple drafts within our writing and how to learn what information is most important for the final drafts. This assignment helped me understand what all we had learned in the class and made me realize how important it actually is.

1. For my research I have got all of the background information together. I have also interviewed the person who is involved in RebelThon and got her background on it. She gave me her perspective on the discourse community and how it works.
2. For this assignment I need to interview my second person who is involved in this discourse community. I also need to write down the conversation when I am interviewing her so I remember all the important information she gives me.
3. With this research I am having problems getting background information on RebelThon. I can not find the person who started RebelThon at the University of Mississippi.
4. This research has gone well for the most part. It has been very easy finding people to interview for this community since I know lots of people involved in this community. It has also been easy to write about RebelThon because I am also passionate about the community.

Interview with Nicole Funk 

Transcript Blog Post for MP3

 

Caroline: Hey Nicole! Thank you for being here with me today to talk about RebelThon and      your involvement within the group!

 

Nicole: Of course! I am so glad I can be here to talk about RebelThon because I am so passionate about it! 

 

Caroline: So tell me a little bit about RebelThon and how it works. 

 

Nicole: Well last year I joined the RebelThon team for my sorority and I fell in love with it. So each team member has to raise $100 to be able to attend RebelThon and be an active member. RebelThon hosts a 12 hour dance marathon one day out of the year that is set aside just for the event. On this day all the members involved in RebelThon come together and just dance. While this event is happening they are still collecting donations for the hospital. 

 

Caroline: Is there a certain role you have in this community or are you just a team member?

 

Nicole: I am actually on the board for RebelThon so I help plan out the event and figure out all the details that go along with the event. This year I also received the Most Valuable Participant award for my team. I was so excited to receive this award I literally started crying. 

 

Caroline: Oh my goodness, well congratulations on getting your award I know you deserved it! I am so glad you are able to be a part of a community like this that is benefiting others and giving back to something more than yourself, that is really great. 

 

Nicole: I am so glad to be a part of this amazing community. RebelThon has definitely changed my life and allowed me to look at things from a different perspective. It is a God-given gift and I love that I get to be a part of it and hope others will become a part of this community also. 

 

Caroline: I hope this encourages people to become apart of RebelThon also! Thank you so much for your time today Nicole and I am so glad you could tell us about your experience in RebelThon. 

 

 

There are a couple of steps I need to take for the major project #2 to make my paper the best it can be. First I need to come up with my research questions about my discourse community. I am going to need to do more research about my discourse community and talk to the person I am interviewing to learn more about the discourse community. After that I should be able to come up with my three research questions. I will also conduct a timeline for my story. I will start by writing down the timeline for my essay and then incorporate it into my essay. I am also going to find visual and audio to make the story visually interesting. I will try to find these components when I am doing my research. All of these steps will allow my major project to support my claim for the discourse community I have chosen.

In my rough draft for my major project one there was certain details and information I had to include in my paper. I decided what information was necessary in my rough draft by figuring out which facts helped my claim and supported it the best. I decided to leave out certain information because I thought that it was not necessary for my rough draft and did not made it any stronger. I made these rhetorical decisions by looking at all the facts and establishing which ones fit best in my rough draft. The steps in my research were to first figure out all the background information of my discourse community. After that I then went to their website and gathered all the facts about the community. The assumptions I brought to my research was the fact that RebelThon raises a lot of money for the kids. I checked this assumption by looking at how much they have made over the past years as a whole and also the amount per year. I worked with the facts about how much RebelThon has raised over the years to support my claim and argue that it is a very good discourse community. I am still looking for more background information how the people who created RebelThon and why they created it.

 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Kate Warrington, Natasha Kovalyova, and Cindy King. “Assessing Source Credibility for Crafting a Well-Informed Argument.” Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, Volume 3, 2020, 203.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	This article focuses on teaching writers how to use critical reading strategies to select their sources for their writing.  The article also helps writers understand how reading assignments in the past have prepared them to choose which source they can use in their own writing. These authors also use the teachings of pathos, ethos, and logos to teach the overall effect of the sources. The author also includes 7 questions to help the writer connect their sources with the use of persuasive techniques to help make the writing stronger. This article made me think of all the sources I have used in my past writings and made me wonder if they were helping my writing.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Nonsensical: “… by claiming that these arguments are uninformed or nonsensical.”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	This reading connects to all of the other articles we have read in class because it is from the same book that the others have come from and each article we read contributes to making our writing better.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How do you choose your sources for your writing?

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Sandra L. Giles. “Reflective Writing and Revision Process: What were you thinking?” Writing Spaces: Reading on Writing, Volume 1, 2010, 204.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	This essay emphasizes the importance of your own thoughts and the revision process within your writing. This helps the students reach their full potential in their writing and allows them to succeed at it. These activities will not only help them in writing class but will also allow them to perfect their writing in other classes too. Reading this article makes me think about my writing process and how I go about it. It has allowed me to focus a lot more on my revision process and my thoughts when I am writing. I also like how the author included questions for the reader to think about while reading this article.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Self-evaluate- “… we discussed each of our essays from the semester and recorded our learning and insight about writing.”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	This reading connects to other readings from class because it is explaining how to revise your writing to make it reach its full potential, just as many of our other readings have done.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How often do you complete the revision process in your writing?

In the first student’s essay the sentences used in the introduction are hard to understand. The sentences should be rearranged so that it is easier for the reader to comprehend. One of the strong points in the first essay was the paragraph that explains the powerpoint and how it allows the people attending to stay focused on the topic at hand. The first paper is organized in topics such as introduction, Tuesday Knights, GroupMe vs. social media, and then the conclusion. The sources used in the first essay would be Facebook, Powerpoint, GroupMe, Instagram, and Twitter. The second student’s essay was much stronger than the first essay. Although I am not sure you are suppose to incorporate pictures in an essay it did allow the reader the chance to connect more with the reading because there is an example of their source. Overall I didn’t find any weak points in this essay. The paper is organized starting with the introduction, then it is explained how to join the discourse community, then explained the genre of the community, after that they explain how social media helps inform others about their community, and then they conclude the essay. The sources used in the second essay are Instagram, WhatsApp, and FaceBook.