Entry One:

 

Ritual

              Waking hours will begin one of two ways on any given weekday. One of such entails abruptly awakening no later than 06:50 to the sound of T-Mobile’s default ringtone, followed by an instruction to ‘come outside’, (or something along the lines of that). He who calls goes by ‘Hammer’ and for what he does usually involves our acquisition of consumable produce.

The other of the two possibilities is that I awake by my mind’s communiqué, which usually takes longer to process than the irrefutability of another human’s voice.

 

Entry Two:

 

Relationship

              I felt that a description of my connection to Hammer may fit most appropriately here. Accordingly, what follows is as such.

Hammer is my closest comrade within a 600-mile radius of Oxford, Mississippi. Simply put, Hammer provides me with company, comedy, loyalty, and means of travel. I find that our dynamic succeeds through matched work patterns, height of goals, rationale/outlook on society, as well as tenacity; while we exhibit differences in sources of motivation and areas of occupational interest.

 

Entry Three:

 

Restriction

              I often find that my ego will get the better of me through debating in addition to general closed-mindedness. I often take arguments too far, and/or give off the impression of being egocentric, in going too far to prove that I am right or simply to hold my ground and argue my point.

Moments of reflection have led me to believe that this habit stems from my childhood, as throughout it I have frequently seen the same characteristics in my father. I can only blame myself for blindly mimicking his personality.

 

Entry Four:

 

Ritual

Every day (or so) at around 19:30, I go to snap fitness. Accompanied by a friend or a few, I work to build the person that I want to be. I value this ritual because I find confidence in knowing that I consistently work to better myself.

A deeper analysis of this shallowly stated motivation may lead one to suspect that I am actually motivated by a hungry ego, working out solely for the purpose of maximizing my personal valuation.

 

Entry Five:

 

Relationship

              Of the most popular figures on the figurative list of Those who Relate to Ian Berger is my girlfriend, Natascha. I thoroughly enjoy her company. Unfortunately, she lives in Minnesota not two miles from my home, meaning that she and I are physically separated for the duration of Ole Miss school semesters. Despite the distance between us, Natascha and I see each other almost as frequently as we otherwise would, though we do so via video calls and messages.

 

Entry Six:

 

Restriction

One attribute that slows me down in life is my anxiety-like thought process. I often feel that I cannot stop thinking and that I am constantly visualizing real-life scenarios, be them potential futures, alternate pasts, or simply memories. If asked to, I would describe said propensity as overthinking.

Though it is merely a malleable routine, do not always overcome it. One could assert that this ritual’s strength stems from genetically determined characteristics. Conceptually, said assertion only motivates me to charge onward in pursuit of indefinite control over my mind and mood.

 

Entry Seven:

 

Ritual

              In prioritization of personal progress, my diet has become beneficially habitual. Most days, I consume the same four(ish) meals. First, I get scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausage, biscuits, and gravy for breakfast at Rebel Market. Next, I return to Rebel market for between one and three grilled chicken sandwiches topped with mayonnaise, lettuce, and a tomato slice, only to do the same thing again a few hours later for dinner. Finally, I eat a casual meal in my room, which typically consists of either a protein shake or a smoothie, both accompanied by a solid food such as tuna, rice, or both.

 

Entry Eight:

 

Ritual

              I have found that in addition to my habit of exerting energy in the gym, I consistently crave engagement in combat sports. I believe that this inclination boils down to a yearn for my acquisition of physical dominance through glorious violence.

Familiarly, one could argue that this is stems from a drive to inflate my self-worth. At this point in time, I have not conceived any contrasting viewpoints to this. As such, this concept remains a considerable possibility in my mind.

 

Entry Nine:

 

Restriction

              Though it may be more appropriately defined as pressure than a restriction, I find that I fear the immense surface area of my father’s shadow. Though consistently confident, I sometimes ponder the possibility of failure to surpass the achievements of he who came before me and often find anxiety in such.

 

Entry Ten:

 

Ritual

              I have built a habit out of seeking success over my weaknesses, believing that the greatest challenge to any man lies within the constructs of his own consciousness. This is undoubtedly a life-long battle with no realistic victory to be reached, but it is the idea of perpetual resistance of potential complacency that will lead me to victory in reality’s material battles.

 

 

Process Log

11/25/2021

17:00-21:00

Writing Body Paragraphs

21:00-23:00

Revising Structure and Format, Finishing the Product

 

All work happened in my dorm room.

 

Total Time: approximately 6 hours

Engagement Level: 9/10

 

 

             

Typically, I begin my writing assignments in one of two ways. Either I will read the assignment and immediately envision the way I will approach the task at hand, or I will start in a brainstorm-like state of mental disarray. I find less work in the assignments that I conceptualize right away; though, I suppose the ones that take more work are no more than a healthy mental-exercise. I do not think that any further ideas for writing invention could complement the fundamental list that already exists within Lessner and Craig’s work.

Hello again. I hope you (reader) have enjoyed your break. I have, but am now ready for spring. That being said, I suppose now wouldn’t be the worst time to recount that which I can remember from last semester, after all the time is now that I will have to start putting my recent learnings to use.

One thing that has stuck with me is the knowledge that Grammarly’s suggestions seem to drain my words of their voice. Accordingly, I have learned to use it more for random slip-up spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes, rather than sentence structure and word choice. Another thing that I picked up was the habbit of speed reading. This helps me skim through articles to quickly evaluate their usefulness as potential sources for quotes and such.

Boring stuff aside, I have three TV reccomendations (just in case you have already watched one or two of my suggestions). Number one is Breaking Bad, my favorite show due to inticing writing and phenomenal acting. Next is season one of True Detective (each season follows a different storyline). This show boasts my favorite acting by both Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, as well as a truly intriguing story. Last is the TV show Fargo, which takes place in my home state, Minnesota. Fargo maintains high anticipation and connection through good character development and entertaining storytelling.

One way that I perceive the “Critical Thinking Intake Assessment” is as an opportunity to evaluate both my analytical and logical intellect and my confidence in such. I found that I believe myself to be a greater-than-average thinker, and I find confidence in that. To be honest, I do not think that anything more needs to be written on that matter.

Though Merriam-Webster defines a writer as “One that writes” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/), more than one simple action is at play when one is labeled by western society as such. A writer is defined by their perspective, for it affects every aspect of literature from tone to sentence structure. To clarify, my definition of perspective is as follows: The cognitive process resulting from the application of personality to reality. In other words, your brain filters real life based on things that you see, think, and feel, forming your subjective view of the world. I believe that writing is heavily sculpted by perspective because typically writers express their true personality through their works. Without perspective, writing would not be an art. There would be no two sides to every story, and all texts would sound the same. It is because of this concept that I define a writer as someone who displays their perspective through literary arts.

 

 

On June third of this year (2020), an Instagram user by the handle Weckingball posted a video (left) directly calling out Supreme for their blatant hypocrisy in a recent caption (right).

                                                             

Weckingball is a professional skateboarder known for comedy through his social media, but he is also known for his unbiased wisdom on the mishaps and discrepancies within skateboarding culture. Weckingball’s dedication to the truth is imminent in that through the post in question, he publicly turned on a brand he once represented and was ultimately blocked by their social media team.

Supreme is an immensely popular skateboarding hardware and apparel company that was established in New York in 1994 and is now a worldwide phenomenon.

The controversy Weckingball attacks in his post is the fact that though Supreme’s words imply a yearning for the well-being of all humans, their actions speak to a different priority. In his post (video), Weckingball explains that Supreme, a privately owned company, sold fifty percent of their equity to The Carlyle Group for $500 million. You may be wondering how Supreme’s decision to divide its ownership could possibly be the sole reason for their post to represent hypocrisy. This is also explained in the video, in a brief description of The Carlyle Group, an international private equity company, and their heavy investment ties with BAE Systems, the largest defense and security contractor in Europe. For more than thirty years BAE has been supplying the kingdom of Saudi Arabia with one of the world’s most advanced combat aircrafts, the Eurofighter Typhoon. As of 2015, Saudi Arabia had become home to more of these jets than their place of origin, Britain. A more important occurrence of the same year was the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. Finally getting to the point here; statistically, this war has been a nightmare. The United Nations has reported an estimation of upwards of 16,000 civilian casualties, and an overall death toll of approximately 50,000. The kicker is that the vast majority of which have been the result of airstrikes. To summarize this last paragraph’s string of connections, Supreme chose to be represented by a company that funds the distribution of weapons to a country that uses them to add an element of excessive chaos to a war that they had no business entering.

I believe that Weckingball’s intentions were not malicious in nature, but rather educational. Being the rhetor of the situation, his teachings were to break his audience, one that almost certainly follows Supreme as well, free of ignorance. Knowing that most of his followers are skateboarders who, naturally, know of and possibly respect Supreme, Weckingball saw the opportunity to ensure that a big name would not succeed in misleading his followers. Weckingball extended his insight to a young community of followers who more than likely had no previous knowledge of these controversial connections, more than likely aiding in future decision-making regarding purchases ad representation. As a result, Supreme blocked him, revoking his ability to view and/or comment on their posts. The fact that Supreme was either unwilling or unable to defend itself from Weckingball’s proclamation is certainly a further show of character.

Reading Journal

 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Grant-Davie, K. (1997). Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents. Retrieved from http://mjreiff.com/uploads/3/4/2/1/34215272/grant-davie.pdf
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents, Keith Grant-Davie describes the four typical products of rhetorical situations. Those constituents are described as follows. Exigence is the reason for rhetorical discourse to be employed. Rhetors are defined as the personas (I use this word because according to Grant-Davie they can be either real or imaginary) which give meaning to the discourse. Audience is the constituent group whose purpose is to engage the rhetors and through such, achieve an understanding of the discourse. Constraints are an ambiguous constituent that is most simply defined as obstacles to the attainment of the objective.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Constituent – A part of something Rhetor – A teacher of rhetoric
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	In this text, the idea of “rhetorical discourse” is thrown around quite a bit, making this easily relatable to that which we read of James Paul Gee.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	Provide an example of a rhetorical situation in which you were either a rhetor or an audience member.

 

Reading Journal

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Jones, R. (1997). Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic? Retrieved from http://writingspaces.org/sites/default/files/jones–finding-the-good-argument.pdf
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	In this piece, Rebecca Jones briefly states the current status of argument as a concept, stating that most Americans view argument as a war like construct, only used in defining a battle of sorts. She goes on to explain how the term has much more positive potential than that, because it is not the word itself that constitutes battle, but rather those too consumed by emotion to understand it. Argument can establish an understanding of perspective in those who partake, however many Americans simply use it as a means of forcefully expressing their opinion without exhibiting the minimal consideration that it would take to simply hear out and comprehend those of others. The other idea that Jones’ writing touches on is the three Greek pillars of rhetoric; Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos is the appeal to one’s personal values, seen in advertisements that use celebrity endorsement. Pathos is the appeal to one’s emotions, ie. Sarah Palin commercials. Logos is logical reasoning, the most quantifiable of the three.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Intractable – Hard to control or deal with “Argument is Dance” (157) – Rather than viewing argument as war, we can look at it as an exchange of perspective with the opportunity to use skill and elegance as a means of understand and being understood.
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	I felt that this article had no connections to those which we have read previously. Comparative to beginning a new unit in a typical educational curriculum.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	If you can recall, which of the three aspects of rhetoric do you most frequently focus on in the approach of your arguments?

 

Reading Journal

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Murray, Donald. “The Maker s Eye by Donald Murray – WordPress.com.” Word Press, nabuckler.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-makers-eye.pdf.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Subject – What do I have to say? Audience – Is anyone going to care? Form – Genre (ie. short story, essay, article, etc.) Structure – Logical argument, narrative, or motivation Development – Each part must be built in a way that prepares the reader for the next part Dimension – Pleasing proportion among all parts of the work Tone – Style/ “all that is on the page and off the page”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	I found this piece to be quite different and unrelated to any of the other articles that we have read thus far.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	How many of Murray’s described “elements” have you subconsciously considered in your writing previous to reading this essay?

 

Reading Journal

 

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page	Fishman, Andrea R. “A Lesson from the Amish.” Literacy and Cultural Context, National Council of Teachers of English, pp. 842–849.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words	“A Lesson from the Amish” by Andrea Fishman opens with a description of an evening in an Amish household, explaining the different literary sponsors that are typical of such families. In closing the description, Fishman goes on to explain the means by which an Amish child acquires literacy, telling of his acceptance into the community as a literate before ever learning literacy through a typical education. In doing so, it almost feels as if Fishman is selling the idea of Amish society as she makes clear the advantage that the child has upon entry of the educational system, having been granted said acceptance previous to the necessity of what is accepted in western culture as education.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.	Intonation (noun) – The rise and fall of the voice while speaking Inflection (noun) – The modulation of pitch in the voice Tacit (adj) – understood without saying Pedagogy (noun) – the method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?	I found that I can relate this article to James Gee’s description of discourses. In “A Lesson from the Amish”, Andrea Fishman tells of the various discourses an Amish child is exposed to on his path to literary control. Another way that these texts are related is in their comparison of acquired literacy and learned literacy. In Fishman’s text, it is explained that an Amish boy acquires all he needs to become technically literate before even beginning school. He does so by actively engaging in the various discourses to which he belongs.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.	In wake of today’s reading, have you felt any attraction to the Amish religion as a means of raising your own children (in the future)?