Believe or Doubt?

Let's try. I have done my very best work on this assignment.

I have written a few argumentative essays before, and I have a good grasp on logical structures and how to correctly validate and invalidate claims. There are a lot of things to take into account and I know I am not great with all of them. I have good verified sources and I try to quote from them whenever I'm making any sort of claim. Overall I think I did alright.

However, this isn't a normal argumentative essay. This is a rhetorical analysis, which I completely misunderstood the first few weeks of writing. Thanks to Dr. Kyburz, I have actually gone back and included some rhetorical analysis but before that my paper would've gotten a 70% at best, I'm sure! So yeah, thank God she showed me I was going about it wrong before the due date, otherwise I would be in quite a problem. However I haven't been good at incorporating opinions and mixing them with sources, ever. My brain likes to stick either on the far left with opinions or the far right with sources, there is no middle ground- which makes this paper worrying to me. Overall, I think it will be okay, but it is nowhere near as perfect as I would want it.

Everything with an "A" and a "T" are Evil. Proof? SAT, ACT, MCAT, PCAT.

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I'm fairly certain we've all taken either the SAT or ACT (some of us had to do both, sadly). Not only is it annoying that SAT stands for "SAT" now (it used to mean something, not anymore), but the scores are useless later in life. Don't get me wrong, they'll get you in college, but past that nobody will ever care.



 A part of the SAT and ACT that is burned into my mind was the horrid essay portions. I'm not a fast writer (atleast, not if I want it to be legible) so having to write essays on minitopics in short succession really burned me. Anyways, that's why I'm excited that this article is being circulated around the web. Lee Perelem, a writing professor at MIT, looked at a bunch of past SAT essays and found an interesting trend. The essay's content was a very small factor, the majority of high scoring essays used a lot of words, especially big and unfamiliar words. Noticing this trend he jokingly tells students to just write as many words as you can that you can vaguely relate to the subject- bonus points if you include a quote. And no, the quote doesn't have to be related.

SAT essay graders aren't paid very much, a lot are English teachers looking for some money during the summer, and are expected to sort through dozens of essays per hour. You obviously can't accurately grade for quality, content, and writing theme under these conditions. This is why it should be changed, completely overhauled.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/13/the-man-who-killed-sat-essay/L9v3dbPXewKq8oAvOUqONM/story.html?event=event25

Paper Update Part 2: The Squeakuel

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So I'm using a new picture because credible sources for subjective topics are very hard to come by. So I'm now using this pic, and am going to be arguing against it. I will be focusing on the psychology of how people decide what decisions are "right", arguing that slacktivism isn't done in order to make people feel good. Rather, it is done because people believe that spreading awareness is the most helpful action they can do in their current situation.

So far I have quite a few sources about how people make decisions based on their view or understanding of ethics. I'm pretty prepared for counterarguments- such as how slacktivism hurts activism, how people will trick themselves into thinking something unethical is actually ethical, and how people who engage in morally appropriate behavior will consider that they can "afford" to engage in less ethical behavior without discrediting themselves. These were the most popular and logical arguments against slacktivism I could find, atleast. I have counterarguments in mind for these, and am currently finding reputable sources to back them up!

Rhetorical Analysiseses

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Rhetorical analysis essays are something that I'm sure we've all done (or atleast have done something very similar) in past English classes, especially in high school. I never liked most of the essays we've been forced to do in the past (and still don't) like deciphering a poem that we didn't even choose or trying to write about how some random book about animals in a farm is actually a statement on communism and other popular government forms. Obviously, I'm being cynical with my examples- the analysis of the deeper meanings of literature is an important skill. However, that doesn't make it any more fun...

Argumentative essays, on the other hand, were always the one kind of essay that I actually enjoyed; mostly because I was able to chose my topic and which side I argue for or against (FREEDOM!!). I also like them because they give you an excuse to look up the backgrounds and merits of opposing sides in a conflict, which let you have a more complete understanding of whatever it is you're writing about.

So about the only thing that matters in this post: the picture. I was thinking of writing my rhetorical analysis on different schools of thought relating to these pictures. I chose this pic because I thought that a lot of these gave bad advice or contradicted one another. Let me clarify- I'm certain that the creator of this pic had good intentions and only wanted to help people, but that doesn't mean it can't be scrutinized.

For example, the second picture- "don't compare yourself to others because you are not them". Taken at face value, obviously you aren't someone else. That doesn't mean you shouldn't compare yourself to others, though. Comparing yourself to others is a great way of setting goals and aspirations for yourself, whether its "I want to be as fit as him, so I'm going to start going to the gym" or "I don't want to be selfish like that slob, so I'm going to start thinking a little more about how I use my time and interact with others." By refusing to compare yourself with others you are ignoring obvious personal flaws and instead take the easy way out. Instead of being the "best version of yourself" you should push yourself to reach beyond your imagined boundaries. It's not a good thing to think "I'm fine just the way I am" "I'm not anything special, just like these other folks" or "I'm just going to let life happen to me."

Cell Phones aren't Actually Evil

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Seems like every new technology brings with it the angst of the older generations claiming that it will devalue human interaction. While this claim isn't unfounded, its not as true as most seem to claim it is- atleast it isn't in my personal experience. I've been to 3 schools before I came to Lewis, so I have a wide array of people for my little "sample group" for this argument. The earliest I can remember cellphones actually becoming a "thing" was during middle school (6th-8th grade). During this time the article pretty much hit the nail on the head as most students were using their phones to distract themselves during class. Middle school classes are boring and its hard to really care about grades at that point, atleast that was the consensus for my school.

     But beyond class, the main form of talking was... well... talking. Lunch time was always a loud time where every table was trying to out-volume the neighboring table's conversations. This is even more apparent during the bus rides and passing periods, everyone was talking with each other. You were "that kid" if you were just alone on your phone.

     Then came highschool, where things changed. I went to a private highschool so it was pretty small compared to most others (my graduating class had 57 people), so public highschool students may have behaved differently. Regardless, at my school cellphone use became very specialized. When people were around, nearly everybody was talking. There was quite a few times I remember a person in the group focusing on their phone, but it wasn't a multi-task as the post describes. These people looked at their phones for a short time (texting or something) then focus back on the conversation. The students at my highschool used their phones the most when we were alone during free period. The biggest impact that phones had at my highschool was actually due to music; people would sit in groups all listening to their own music and studying or reading, ignoring each other.

     However, wanting a focused environment for studying is hardly blame-worthy. This is not to say that phones have no effect on conversations, I have a few friends who glance at their phones atleast once a minute. One friend in particular will text while she's hanging out with me, and that annoys me to no end. The way I see it, if you're taking the time to go and meet up with someone- they should have priority with your attention. If you don't want to be with someone then why make the effort of hanging with them? A simple "Im busy, txt ya later" will be enough for normal people to understand "ohh, s/he is busy".

     A huge problem that cellphones have caused is concert and performance quality. Every concert you go to there will be a bunch of people trying to get a photo or video of the event in a dark area with scattered, intermident, and bright light sources. Unless you have an actual camera, you're not going to get a great quality photo or video. I understand wanting to remember a great concert or performance, I myself take some pictures every time I go to a concert, but when you're spending the majority of your time with your cellphone in the air- I think some line has been crossed. Not only is it distracting for the people behind you, but quite a few bands have openly said they hate having phones being shoved in their face during performances. A picture of the band at their merch booth will always be a better quality picture, plus most band members are nice enough to take pictures with you!

     Overall, I think the article over-dramatizes the effect of cellphones on people. Its hard to talk face-to-face when you live 40 or so minutes away from someone or if they're in another state. Texting on the go makes a boring walk with strangers more comforting because you feel like you're there with a friend. From what I've seen, talking will always trump texting.

How to Summarize the Summary with a Short Summarization

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Now that we have turned our summaries in, all we can do is wait for the dreaded grade *cue dramatic music* when Dr. Kyburz hands it back to us. Rooting out all the analytical fluff and past/future tense descriptions was a very big chore to me. What was your biggest difficulty in creating your final draft?

Nevertheless, we must press on! Onward to something called a Microtheme. This semester I'm learning so many new words (mainly from organic chemistry), and spell correct says they're all wrong. I'm beginning to think its a conspiracy- all these higher-level classes, they get together at the start of each semester and make up words just to confuse students! This week's conspiracy, Microthemes, is a short and concise summary of an issue or debate with a major focus on your personal reason for being involved with it. Atleast from what I can tell, its a hybrid of an opinionated essay and a summary analysis of a social issue or debate.

I don't fully understand what a Microtheme is about or how it will be graded, so I thought this blog could serve as a little brainstorming/informing area where we help each other understand what a Microtheme is. I am, however, assuming that I'm not the only one who doesn't know what a Microtheme is- hopefully I'm not alone in this boat! Anyways, it seems like this will focus on our ability to: present different sides of a topic without bias, explain the importance of the topic, and logically defend the topic though inquiry rather than fact-citing. What about the rest of you? Please feel free to correct me anywhere I'm wrong in my assumptions of what a Microtheme is!

What I Learned About Boating School is...

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I, being the genius (~sarcasm~) that I am, volunteered to show my horribly incomplete summary draft in class so you all got to see the incoherent rambles that my brain can conjure! However, always look for a silver lining- I learned a lot of things that I need to fix for my next draft. So yay, free group review for me!

My first problem to fix: knowing when to shut up. Every English/composition class I've taken so far the teacher has heavily pressured me to analyze better, to go deeper, to see something from many points of views. Pros of this conditioning- I can be super annoying in arguments and write a 4 page paper about something that should only take half a page. Cons- I can't write a summary to save my life. Seriously, cutting all the analytical stuff from my draft reduced my 3 page paper to about 4 lines (including title).

Next problem is formatting. A simple fix for most, however I don't have a working laptop and I have to use google docs most of the time with my roommate's laptop. Though I guess I should count my blessings and be happy my roommate lets me borrow it in the first place!

My final huge problem is tone of writing. I switch between first person, third person, past, present, and future tense many times. I don't know why, but it's just a little weird to think of writing this in present tense. I watched the movie, so my brain defaults to "then they did a thing" instead of "the film shows..." and that was difficult to fix.

How did all of your revisions go? I hope my blunder of a draft helped some of you make a better paper!