Class Observation

During Class on November 17^th we had to turn in our second draft of our research argument essay. We did not actually have to turn them in but we need them in class because we were doing peer review. We broke into groups of four or five and took turns reading each person in the group’s paper. We had to mark down what we though they need to fix and what we thought was good about their paper. Most of the class was staying on topic but you could tell that half of the students were just sitting there and not helping their peers with the assignment. Mrs. Evans walked around and made sure that we were doing okay. My group did really good on peer reviewing we all gave each other as much advice we could so that our papers could turn out as good as possible. 

Delta Zeta

Joining Delta Zeta was the best decision I have made so far since I have been in college. The girls in DZ are all so diverse, some are preppy and others go to class with sweatpants on everyday. I knew right when I joined that no matter what I was going to fit in with a least one group of girls in DZ. We do so many activities together and it keeps me so busy so that it is very difficult for me to get homesick. Delta Zeta also has helped me so much with my schoolwork. We have to have a certain GPA in order to not be put on academic probation and if we are on academic probation then we have to go to certain amount of study tables a week. Also if I am having a really bad day or am struggling with something I know that no matter what I will have someone there for me. If I would not have joined Delta Zeta I would still probably be sitting in my room by myself everyday eating lunch alone. Now that I am a DZ I have something to do whenever I am bored. I have meet so many new people by joining DZ and I know that I will have life long friendships from joining this amazing organization. I know that when I get married one day I will know exactly who I want as my bridesmaids. Delta Zeta has saved my life and I will never forget the day that I joined.

Rush

At the beginning of the school year I did not really know very many people at Ball State. It was not as easy as I thought to meet people so my dad gave me the idea to join a sorority because his really good friend was in a fraternity and he told my dad that it was a great way for him to meet people. I was very skeptical about joining a sorority because I have never gotten along with girls very well but I was at the point where I was willing to try anything. I turned in my paperwork and went through recruitment. The first day I visited 5 out of the 10 sororities and hated it. I did not feel like I fit in with any of them and I just knew that the sorority life was not for me. I called my mom that night very discouraged but she told me to stick it out because there were still 5 more sororities that I had not seen. The next day I decided to still stick it out and fell in love with three sororities. We then had to put our top ten in order and we would get called back to our top 6 if they wanted us. I ended up getting called back to all 6 of my favorites. At the end of the next day we had to put our top 2 down and if they wanted us they would call us back. I once again got called back to my top two which does not happen very often. We got to spend an hour with each of the sororities and at the end of the day we needed to know our number one choice. I never thought that I would get so emotionally connected with both of the sororities. I had to make a very hard decision of which one I wanted to be in. The next day was bid day and we saw which sorority we were in. We received a card in an envelope that said the one we were in. I received Delta Zeta which was my number one choice. We got to run over to our sorority and they all hugged us with joy it was the best day of college that I had experienced and I knew that I was never going to eat lunch alone again. 

Key Concepts (Chapter 9)

            In chapter 9 of envision the author discussed effective strategies for selecting the appropriate branch of oratory for your rhetorical situation for translating a written argument into a multimedia presentation and for scripting a d designing a memorable and effective delivery for an argument.

            When a writer is drafting and designing their presentation they must understand the branches of oratory. Oratory is delivered into three branches based on time, purpose, and content. Understanding the branches of oratory is only one resource of classical rhetoric that writers touch base on when working on presentations. Paying attention to audience, purpose, and persona is important as well when creating a oral rhetoric. When identifying your audience, purpose, and persona there are questions the writer should ask themselves such as, what format will their presentation take, who is their audience, what is their purpose, what branch of oratory does their presentation represent, what persona do they want to convey, what kind of tone do they want to use, and what supporting materials do they plan to use.

            After completing all of the pervious steps the writer needs to transform the research into a presentation. There are three steps the writer should complete in order to transform the research. They should first use selection which means to plan for a shorter presentation then you actually have so that the presenter does not run out of time when speaking. Next the presenter should use organization this just means to reorder your information so that you can make it meet the needs and expectations of the audience. The last step would translation, which just means to simply translate your writing from text meant to be read to text meant to be heard. 

Design Arguments

     When you design an argument you need to make it so that is grabs the viewers attention. Visuals are a great way to grab your viewers attention so be sure to add them in you paper. On average 70% of readers notice the visual aspect, 30% notice the bold headlines, 5% read the body copy, 15% read the sub captions, and 10% of the readers view the signature. Keeping the reader interested is a very difficult task but is very important.
     Decorum is very important as well when writing, this is just means the appropriateness. THere are three different levels of decorum; grand or high style, middle style, and plain or slow style. Know what style of decorum to use in your paper is very important because it sets up the whole style of your paper and the audience that you want to attract.
     This chapter also discusses academic writing. When you are writing academic writing it is very important to use visuals. Be sure to discuss the visual and that the visual is the focus of the paper. When you insert the picture add a caption underneath it so that the reader knows exactly what the picture means and who it is by.
     After they discussed how to use academic writing the author discuss abstracts. When creating an abstract the writer must have a bio included. This is just where the author describes the type of audience they want to attract. The author then discusses how to design visual arguments and crafting a op-ad. An op-ad is simply just a opinion advertisement.
     Next the chapter discusses when you compose a website to hold your research information and paper the writer must first decide the type of audience they want to attract and determine the purpose of the website. Once these steps are accomplished the writer can decide what level of decorum they should use. After all these steps are complete they can crate a hypertext and a homepage.
     This chapter has showed me how to write different types of papers and about why decorum is so important. It also showed me that using visuals throughout certain types of papers are important as well because it keeps the readers attention.

Organizing and Research Arguments

While reading chapter 6 I came to the conclusion that the chapter was about organizing and writing Research Arguments. There were a few points in the chapter that really caught my eye. I really liked how they had it set up to organize your paper because I am a visual learner so the pictures how how to set the paper up was really helpful. After you come up with your visual draft it helps if you create an outline so that when you go to write your paper it is pretty much all written for you or it is at least in order. When you are wring be sure to include transition so that your paper will flow much better. Also be sure to analyze the published argument. Make sure you add quotes to your paper and be sure to summarize. This chapter was very helpful and informational.

Planning is very important

In chapter 4 of Envision the author discussed how to plan and propose research arguments. Alfano starts off by looking at propaganda and posters and asks questions about the photograph so that the writer can analyze what the picture means to them. After the reader analyzes the image they need to create a research log to get all their questions and responses down on paper. Once the writer has this step completed they need to brainstorming by creating a web or some sort of mapping in order to start getting their ideas organized. The writer then needs to narrow down their topic and create a more in-depth web so that their thoughts are pretty well organized in the sequence that they want to write their paper in.
I really like how this chapter is set up because it is very helpful to writers so that they can plan their paper out and it is much easier for them to write it. I also like how this chapter really emphasizes how important it is to plan out your paper before you write it.

Jeanette Walls

I went to the Jeanette Walls presentation last week and was not sure what to expect when I arrived. There where people everywhere of all ages. When Walls came out there was a loud roar of cheering. She was a very slim beautiful person with a smile from ear to ear. To a person who had not read her book would probably have never guessed she had faced so many obstacles throughout her life. As she began to speak I realized that no matter what she was discussing she found some way to put a positive spin on it. She was definitely not ashamed of her parents or how she grew up. At one point she had everyone in the room laughing because what she said was so funny. I was so surprised that she had such a positive out look on everything even though she had such a rough life. If that was me there is no way I could laugh about burning myself when I was three because i had to make hot dogs for myself or laugh because my bed was a cardboard box at one point. Her speaking really made me realize that I need to look at life in a more positive view and make the best out of every situation that occurs because everything happens for a specific reason its just your choice what you make out of it. The audience then got a chance to ask her questions. Some questions were very deep and I was just so amazed at how well she answered them and at how well she composed herself. She was willing to answer any question to her best ability that was thrown her way. I was very impressed with the presentation and left it gaining several life lessons.