Category: Uncategorized

Kerry Dirk – Jan 29th

Sara Birdwell on

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Kerry Dirk. “Navigating Genres.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, 2010, p249-262.
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words  Dirk explains the importance of genre when it comes to writing. I honestly never connected the word genre to writing, whenever I have heard the word genre, I always think of music as I am a music lover. Once I had read a few pages in I realized how relevant genre is to reading and writing. When I was forced to read in k-12, I always chose to read out of the mystery genre section. Dirk tells us how important knowing the genre is to writing. Using the same example as Dirk, one could not write a country song without understanding the genre of country. Knowing the genre helps you not only know what vocabulary to use but also how to format your writing. 
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.  “all genres matter because they shape our everyday lives”

“This makes knowing a genre about much more than simply knowing its form.”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

  I do not have any articles I can connect this to, however, I think it resembles knowing your audience. Knowing your audience is just important as the genre as to me they seem to go hand in hand.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion.  Does the audience or genre matter more?  

Letter to my #Selfie

Sara Birdwell on

I do not think I am a very strong writer. I always feel as if my papers are not to their full potential but I always try to remember this quote from an article we read last semester that basically said no piece of writing is ever finished. As a writer, I consider my writings outside of class very personal and emotional as they are typically journal type free writes.

The time I felt most successful as a writer was when I wrote a two-page essay persuading my parents to get me a dog. In this essay, I used key vocabulary words to sway their emotions in my favor as I told them all the reasons why I want one. Along with that, I told them the many things I would learn from owning my own dog.

I would like to improve my thesis statements. They are never what I would like them to be. I know I can improve them but I need pointers and advice on how to do so. I also want to work on my layout. I think I do a decent job at making my papers flow but there is plenty of room for improvement.

My learning style is honestly constructive criticism. I learn best when I am told what specific areas I need to focus on improving and what areas I am doing good at. I learn best this way because it helps me keep doing what I am doing in my strong areas and focus on improving in my weak areas.

 

Gita DasBender -January 27th

Sara Birdwell on

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Gita DasBender, “Critical Thinking In College Writing: From the Personal to the Academic, “Writing spaces: Readings on Writing,” Volume 2, pages (37-51), 2011. 
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Before digging into the two words “critical thinking, Gita DasBender talks about how the two words “seem so fuzzy and abstract that you end up feeling uncomfortable.” This registered so well with me because every time I hear those words, my anxiety tends to skyrocket and I become uncomfortable completing the assignment. However, after reading this quote DasBender made “ Criticism is the process of responding to and evaluating ideas, argument, and style so that readers understand how and why you value these items.” I realize I always overthink the words “critical thinking. She then goes on to explain steps to take to become a serious thinker and writer.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. “To be a critical thinker you not only have to have an informed opinion about the text but also a thoughtful response to it.”

“When reading any essay, keep track of all the important points the writer makes by jotting down a list of ideas or quotations in a notebook.”
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 It reminds me of an article I read in Senior English about how to break down an essay. The article talked about summarizing every paragraph as one reads, similar to how Das Bender said to keep track of all important points.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. What are the best ways aside from DasBenders, to help create a response after critical thinking?

Ann M. Johns- Jan 25th

Sara Birdwell on

Ann M. Johns talked about all the different types of communities there are. Communities that cause conflictions, such as academic discourse, ones that rebel, connecting your identity to membership, and more. She tells us how communities almost have their own structure. Every community has its own overall views, beliefs, and structure. One can be in communities outside of their physical neighborhood. Communities can be anywhere from a physical middle-class neighborhood, or a catholic church. Each community is surrounded by people with at least one common interest or they would not be in the community. Johns tells about the levels of communities. There are always broad communities but within the communities, there are smaller communities with more things in common. Every community helps one another with advice and feedback which is why communities communicate differently. Some communicate through books, magazines, online, and others in person. Each and every community vary because each one is different. We are often born into certain communities such as religion, social communities, economic class, and tribes. Economic class plays a huge part in the communities you are born into. For example, I was born in a middle-class family in an area with lower education than some of my surrounding areas including the communities I worked in.

  1. My school, the University of Mississippi
  2. My gym membership, Planet Fitness
  3. My economic status, Middle-class
  4. My friend group
  5. My love for animals
  6. My artistic abilities

Bridge Project

Sara Birdwell on

Rituals – 

 

My top ritual that occurs every day before I go to bed is looking at the weather forecast for the next day and picking my outfit head to toe. This has been a ritual of mine since I was little. It mainly started because I always had to lay out my uniform(s) for softball when I had practice, a game, or a tournament the next day. When I got to middle school I realized how much easier it made the next day before softball so I decided to do it nightly to make my mornings easier as I am not a morning person. 

 

My second ritual is my SKINCARE routine. This is a newer ritual for me as I just started it a few years back. This is something that is a must every morning when I wake up and right before I go to bed. It makes me feel so fresh in the morning and refreshed at night before bed. My skincare routine has taught me to appreciate more than just having clear skin, but also clean water.  

 

My third ritual is art. I participate in some form of art daily before bed. Whether it be listening to a new genre of music in the morning while I get ready or painting for a period of time before bed. Art helps relieve stress and anxiety even when I don’t feel it present. It always adds a positive to my day even when I end up not liking the genre or artist I chose, it still calms me. (EXCLUDING screamo and rock…) 

 

Relationship-

 

When I hear about a relationship I think of a couple rather than family, but since I only have one boyfriend I will also include my relations to family. I have been in a relationship with my boyfriend for one year on February 1st. His name to me is Tanner Jordan but he goes by Marvin. Tanner is my best friend. He has taught me within the past year and a half, how to love myself, love others, appreciate the little things, and not be so hard on myself constantly. 

My second “relationship”, is with my mom. Before moving hours away, I never thought me and my mom were close. Now that the only contact we have for weeks through a cell phone, I realized how often I was a hundred feet or so feet apart from her. I spent so much time around her that she was always within yelling distance. My mom is my best friend, but first, she is always a mother. 

My third relation is my father. My dad is a giant yet cuddly teddy bear. My dad works out of town so being apart from him was that big of a change. What it did change was my perspective on life. I realize now that I never called him as often as I should, now I see how quickly you could lose someone and not have spoken in days. I try my best to stay up till midnight so I can talk to my dad while he’s on the way to or just arriving at work. Making sure to always tell him to have a good day, I love him, and to be safe.

My sister is probably my weirdest relationship. We only talk a few times a week yet no matter how short the conversation is, I feel like she understands me better than anybody. The best part is she knows my emotion even when I don’t voice it. She is always there for me when I need someone to vent to about girl stuff or just tell the random parts of my day to. She has taught me so much and I will never thank her enough for that.

 

Restrictions-

 

Politics are my top restriction where I lived. Most people in my hometown are conservatives, especially the old school type. I come from a blended family tree. I also have a boyfriend of color whom you saw above. To this, it restricts me because I never realized how wrong the people in my city were. I never realized the stares we got as kids were because we were around my mixed cousins in public. I never stood by my family and friends of color because my parents didn’t raise me to avoid the beautiful humans that are of color. This restricts me still to this day because I want better for my cousins and everyone of color. 

Procrastination is my top restriction. I know how to manage my time very well but somehow I always manage to procrastinate in one way or another. I have tried time and time again to plan my days out by the hour, but I always manage to throw the plan off schedule. I also know that I can do it decently quick, it is just starting the task that is hard. I do random things like clean just to procrastinate an important task. 

Another procrastination of mine is anxiety, this is something I have struggled with for many years. It has cost me so many opportunities including friendships. I used to let my anxiety get the best of me now I try to give my best against anxiety. I now can have a quick conversation with strangers instead of being rude fake swiping on my phone. This is still a huge restriction when it comes to friends, socializing in groups, and taking big risks.

Exercise 1

Sara Birdwell on

Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Hmmmm, surely I can think of something. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Nothing comes to mind. Actually, all I can think about right now is home so I guess I will free right about home for the next 7 minutes. I was born and raised in Tennessee, 15 minutes outside of Nashville, the music city. Country music to be specific which I dislike a lot.  I grew up listening to a lot of country and Christian music, both of which I rarely listen to on my own. I love hip-hop, r&b, r&b soul, rap, and a little bit of pop. I just like the bass and fast pace it livens my body and brain every time I hear a song with good bass. Sometimes I just like to listen to the instrumentals of songs so I can really focus, hear, and feel every beat. I miss driving around with my boyfriend, my little sister, and his friends just vibing to music on backroads till we were running low on gas. That’s what we do out in the country, especially during covid when you can only socialize with a select few that you’re constantly around no matter what. I miss home so much. I always worry about missing out on important events like birthdays, holidays, and my sister’s sporting events but they all remind me that I’m doing this to better my future. One day we will all be back together and I’ll miss my college friends so from today forward I am going to focus on today, live in the moment, and never pass up opportunities to hug those dearest to me because one day we won’t all be together. This was like fourteen minutes of writing but I was living in the moment so that’s okay 🙂

10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation- Celeste Headlee

Sara Birdwell on

Celeste Headlee talks about what it is like in today’s world and how much communication is done through technology rather than face to face communication. In today’s society, it is easy to offend people as almost every topic is controversial. She advised treating every conversation like you have something to learn. She teaches you how to “interview” people which will help you how to have a conversation that makes you feel great. She gives ten tips, however, says if you choose one and master it, you will enjoy your conversations more.

One of the most valuable tips Headlee gave that I plan to focus on the most, is to NOT multitask. I have really bad anxiety which comes with stressing over every little thing. When it comes to conversations, I sometimes multitask and think about my tasks for the day out of fear I did not complete them all which sometimes distracts me from the conversation a little. I have been told I am a really good listener and I give good advice, but I know I can do better.

The second most valuable tip I heard from Headlee’s TED talk, was to “Go with the flow”. I have thoughts come into my head during conversations or in reality all day, and I focus on them instead of letting them go. I oftentimes catch myself thinking about a thought or memory that was related to the conversation or lesson in class interfering with my attention. That is something that I try to work on daily but I struggle with it a lot as it is so easy to do.

Rhetorical Analysis

Sara Birdwell on

 

This post was created by Steven Kishpaugh on Instagram who uses a separate page from his personal page with approximately 70.5K followers, called “@nowsimplified”  who has connections to another page tagged in the comments “@soyouwannatalkabout” with a bigger platform of 1.7M followers, to bring awareness to issues within the world such as anti-LGBT
Q people who are in the position to possibly gain more power within America. LGBTQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer. Mike Pence is Donald Trump’s vice president. Meaning if anything happens to Donald Trump, Mike Pence would take over as president of the United States. The author of this page raises awareness about important topics by pointing out facts that are public knowledge but facts that aren’t mainstream on the media, or acts that aren’t ever even brought to the attention of the media. This is where Kishpaugh comes into place to bring these acts and facts to the attention of the media. The author’s intended audience for this specific post is towards people whom may have interest in giving this person a vote in the upcoming election, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community along with their supporters whom may not have been aware of this issue that is not mainstream in the media. The author of this post uses ethos by bringing upon the last slide, “Rights for everyone should NOT depend on who you love.” By bringing up rights depending on one’s self-identification/sexuality and whom they love, it tugs on one’s emotions because that is not something you choose. It is who someone is so to say because two people of the same self-identification fall in love based upon each other’s personality regardless of their self-identification don’t get equal rights as a “traditional” married couple is not fair. Kishpaugh uses documented comments either from vice president Mike Pence, laws he refused to support that would benefit the LGBTQ+ community, laws that he supported banning things from the LGBTQ+ community. These things went as far as attempting to ban same-sex marriage, and even denying protections of those within the community if one were to be incarcerated. The words used on each picture in the thread of the post are formal facts/quotes that show evidence of Pence being completely against the LGBTQ+ community for reasons that are unknown as these proposals should be rights to every human being on earth regardless of their self-identification. Using mainly declarative sentences, this post’s author gives specific examples where Pence supported a ban against the community, and times he voted to support something directly affecting the community. This community is a community that needs a lot of support and protection in the current state of American society as it has gone downhill a bunch in the past few years. This community has never had much support as it is but with more awareness being brought to it by post such as this one, it helps the community gain more supporters to help protect them and get them the rights they deserve as they are entitled to the same rights as those who aren’t apart of the community.

 

 

 

Reading Journal – Grant-Davie

Sara Birdwell on

 

Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Grant-Davie, Kieth “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents”. Rhetoric Review Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 264-279, Taylor & Francis Ltd. Spring 1997
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words This article talks about how readers can better understand history by studying the situations that took place. The author states how readers can better understand why and how history happens by analyzing rhetoric situations. He also states the defining three characteristics of rhetorical situations which are exigence, audience, and constraints. Exigence is the initial impetus of rhetoric. The audience is the people who come in contact with the rhetoric. Constraints are outside factors that can help or restrict the rhetoric. He elaborates on these three characteristics the remaining part of the essay. I think this article is important because it helps readers realize how important rhetorical situations are when it comes to reading and learning.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. Exigence is the initial impetus of rhetoric. 

 Constraints are outside factors that can help or restrict the rhetoric.
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 It relates to the Jones article with how they analyzing arguments just like rhetorical situations.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. How do rhetorical situations help you learn easier?

Reading Journal – Jones

Sara Birdwell on
Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page Rebecca Jones. “Finding the Good Argument OR Why Bother With Logic?”  Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Volume 1, 2010,156-159 & 166-168 pages. 
Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words Jones compares arguing to a war. When doing so Jones states that someone must win the argument and the other has to lose. Afterward, she also brings up public arguments such as presidential debates, social media arguments, etc. When talking about public arguments, Jones states not all set out to misinform. In the appeals, Jones brings up the three ways to appeal/persuade one another which are as follows: Logos, Ethos, and Pathos. Logos is using logic. Ethos is the use of one’s values, idols, and character. Pathos is using emotions for persuasion. These are easy ways to help win an argument by appealing one to agree.
Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author.
  •  The argument as collaboration would be more closely linked to words such as dialogue and deliberation.
How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?

 

 It discusses appeals that I learned a lot about in my junior year of high school when I had to write an argumentative paper to persuade at least half of my class.
Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. Why do people typically resort to arguing instead of a discussion?