15 Class TUE OCT 25
Catch up on Conferences
If this were the spring semester, now would be the time for Spring Break. Perhaps you promised yourself you were going to buckle down and catch up on missed assignments by the midpoint of the semester. If so, that time has come. Follow the link to the Mandatory Conferences chart and make an appointment for your Thesis Progress chat. If you have the luxury of traveling someplace warm, remember conferences can happen anywhere.
Wake up
Lecture/Demo/Exercise
PHASE ONE:
- Read “The Dilemma of the Skincare World” by schoolcookiemonster.
- Leave a Reply praising its author specifically for what you found most impressive about the argument.
- Leave a Second Reply with a more critical response indicating where you were confused by, or not convinced by, or downright antagonistic to the argument.
PHASE TWO
- Open the page: Definition Rewrite Workshop
- You will be assigned a paragraph.
- Work with your group to absorb and analyze the feedback for the paragraph.
- Select one of your group members to “present” the feedback to the rest of the class.
- Present feedback for the paragraph.
- Leave detailed reactions to the feedback sessions in your daily Agenda Notes.
Housekeeping
IT’S LATER THAN YOU THINK
- The middle of the semester comes knocking. And the consequences seem real and immediate. The White Paper that a few weeks ago was a vague pledge to “donate when I get my tax refund” is suddenly an overdue bill, and the Definition Argument is still pretty iffy, while the Causal Argument certainly can’t be accomplished until my Hypothesis is nailed down to something like a firm Thesis that another author might want to refute.
- By midnight, I’m required to post a Progress Report for each of you at the Starfish Reporting system.
- About half of my students are usually ready for this drastic rise in the sea level. The other half feel as if they’re suddenly drowning.
- Right on cue, students who aren’t ready to fully commit to their research miss a class, maybe two classes. They ignore emails and texts from their professor, figuring that he’s too busy to pester them more than once.
- Once the deadlines for the Short Arguments are past, they no longer feel like a weight around the neck. It’s easy to let those delinquencies slide for a few days. A week. After 48 hours or so, they start to elicit a reaction like “what’s the point?”
- For some, this slide is irreversible.
- For the in-betweeners, interaction with the professor is something to dread. Coming to class late, leaving early, or sneaking out to avoid confrontation, seems like a reasonable survival technique.
- I get it.
- I, too, put things off.
- I do them when I absolutely have to.
- I do them poorly sometimes because I haven’t left myself enough time to do them well.
- But I’m an idiot.
- You don’t have to be.
- The people I have to report to are reasonable people who gladly work with me when I acknowledge my thoughtless procrastination, my dread at confronting the problem.
- If you have to be like me, be like that version. The guy who acknowledges he’s late and his work is not up to par and who’s committed to making it better.
- Be the enlightened version of me.
- Don’t miss classes. Don’t ignore my texts or emails. Don’t think you’re too late, or too far behind, or too confused to catch up, or too fill-in-the-blank.
- IT’S THE HALFWAY POINT. (Well, to be honest, it’s past half way.)
- You can turn this sucker around.
- If you start the climb, I will push you up that hill like nobody else who ever had your back.
- But I won’t pull you up.
- You have to take the first step.
- If you haven’t posted your first Short Argument yet (Definition/Categorical), post it immediately, as soon as you can.
- And if you’re not going to be ready to post your Causal Argument in less than two weeks, your Refutation Argument two weeks later, then post something that looks like a 1000-word Argument. Ask for very specific feedback. Get into the game. Pretend it’s essential to you. It might not feel like it right now, but I am your biggest supporter and fan. Until you let it slide.
- Don’t. Let. It. Slide.
- Very few of the 50% who start to fade at the middle of the term do well at the end of the course. Beat those odds. Right now.
- End of rant.
Quick Review if needed
Visual Analysis of a Complete Argument
- A Sample Analysis: Thai Life Insurance
- Here we examine just 10 seconds of a 2-minute long-form commercial produced by the Thai Life Insurance company to promote the universal human good of doing small selfless gestures for others. How in the world is that supposed to sell life insurance?
- Follow the link to this post and leave a brief Reply indicating how you feel about my interpretation of the ad that the young man is a stand-in for the girl’s absent father and a lesson to viewers that if the dad had died with an in-force life insurance policy, the girl wouldn’t have to beg to fund her education.
Advanced Advice for your Visual Rhetoric Rewrite
- You won’t need this yet, but when you’re ready to revise your Visual Rhetoric argument, you may benefit from reviewing feedback I have offered to students in earlier semesters.
- Link to Revision Advice for Visual Rhetoric
alwaystired247
AnonymousStudent
azntaco
beforeverge
BigBabyBaller
bitagaming
breakingbad1820
Caravan
cinderella1013
davidbdale
Yankeelover18
fatboy489zt
giantsfan224
glacierfreeze21
gobirds17
green0728
gymrat230
Gir
jerseymikes1106
jesusisking1738
jetsfan806
Kenneth Alex Krug
manipulator66
mercythyhealer14
McCormick Karner
mochaatrain
oni
powerranger
peanut2348
pinkcottoncandy4
princess01430
redbird1123
rubes1256
shxrkbait
sillyinternetperson
soulpond47240
spatel8267
stingingcrib5
tacotyphoon
thepersonindisguise
usmnt23
worldofjuice999
xephos1
Counterintuitive Fall 2022 
My Notes:
Conferences; Must have one by the 24th. Can book conferences over break. Make sure to sign up.
Mid-way point: progress reports soon, already have way through the semester.
Wake up: Voting has become harder over years, due to age restrictions and certain voting types allowed. Gerrymandering
Visual Rhetoric: Getting ready for Visual Rhetoric Argument. Thai Life Insurance, rich medium for argument. Small claims within a larger argument. How much detail is enough? Always best to add more/enough detail within the writing. Should impose the interpretation that we want the audience to understand from our writing. Take aways from just one frame of a photo or video.
Good notes.
Did you remember to make that Conference appointment?
3/3
-Use spring break to catch up on any and all missed work.
-sign up for a conference with professor over break
-it is becoming much harder each year to cast your vote
-different district parties look to have smaller wins to overturn the district wide party selection
-readers never have a basis on the visual components of the image or video you are describing
-you can not decide what is being shown and how the audience is trying to manipulate the audience until the video is complete, then you must go back and add in details and decide if we understood what it is that was shown and if we were persuaded to follow through with the video’s message
-three presidents standing in front of many American flags, looks to be at some sort of important monumental setting, in DC, during inauguration
The part you say is true:
But if you were taking notes all the way through the video the first time through, Coffee, you might realize that the director (author) missed an opportunity to show you something important, or deceived you into drawing a wrong conclusion, or in other ways deployed rhetorical strategies well or poorly. Part of the assignment is to analyze the EFFECTIVENESS of the ad, something you can’t really do well until you’ve watched it a few times.
3/3
More difficult to vote
The reader doesn’t watch the video your analyzing
Proper sequence and appropriate soundtrack is important
Follow the logic of the narrative
Little yesses along the way to a big yes
Everything is done on purpose in videos
The visual and the analysis are inseparable for this assignment
3 previous presidents
in chronological order of serving
in party order
placed in a spot that looks like a church, theatre, and government building all at once
OK
3/3
The grades that were given for our white paper are preliminary grades which means that there can be improved when adding more summaries that will be used in the other essays and also you can modify the hypothesis that can become more specific.
The party in the state may be different in every district but the party that is representing for 10 years can change the maps for each district. This is like a strategy to help them to stay in power. Based on the party they will try to find a road map like the red will try to waste the blue votes as they could so they can find more areas for the red to win and make it harder for the blue to even vote.
When writing your essay you must remember that the reader that is reading it “doesn’t get to watch the video you’re analyzing” which is the hypothesis that we are testing and proving to the reader through our sources.
When you are looking at the video with context and audio this is obviously easier but you need to understand that each second there is some important information that requires us to observe the background. This is like our writing when giving background information but it allows us to drag in the reader and let them understand what your argument is about.
Mostly fine, but in case there’s a misunderstanding:
Redistricting is done following the US Census, which happens every 10 years. We had one in 2020. New demographic data shows where everybody lives and is the basis for drawing new maps to reflect population growth or decline in certain districts. The party in power in the Legislature takes advantage of this REAL need to work their FAKE agenda by drawing maps to favor their own party in elections for the next ten years.
3/3
White Paper grades that have received a grade of 50 can easily be fixed with a comment to feedback.
Not all details need to be communicated to the reader, but a lot of them should be mentioned.
Because not all details are important.
It is important to know which ones are important.
Rewriting is important to show progress.
Rhetorical value is inferred through the reader or viewer.
Rhetorical value is also done on purpose to make the viewer or reader think.
Manipulating the reader to be on your side is also important to the argumentative progress.
It is important to know which ones are important.
Words to live by. 🙂
3/3
As spring break is approaching, then the end of the semester is approaching. As a note for myself I have to schedule my second mandatory meeting. And also to make sure I am doing feedback on my assignments, it is how we can improve our grades. Today we talked about voting. I personally have not been able to vote due to age, and my birthday normally falls on Election Day, so I was never of age, until the next election. It is getting more and more difficult to vote. I have always known of this problem. My dad always used to tell me how growing up, his mom was never allowed to vote. She wasn’t allowed until 1965, that was not that long ago which blows my mind. By legislators being able to draw their own voting district maps, they can do it in a way that is “right” for their preferred party. They can also inaccurately draw the district maps in their favor, which is showing our votes have no true purpose. Why vote when it won’t be counted for appropriately. This whole concept is called Gerrymandering, which I have actually never heard of before. We continued our discussion on visual rhetoric. When you are analyzing a video, the reader actually never sees the video. So in this case details make a huge difference. These videos are made the way they are for a reason, for us to notice these small specific details. In the video regarding former presidents and COVID-19 vaccines, the first thing I initially noticed was there were two democrats and one republican. They are in Washington D.C. This is during the pandemic and they are outside, and were spaced out. This was the inauguration of president Joe Biden. They are standing in long jackets in the cold, in January. They are standing in order from left to right of when they were president. I noticed the look on their faces, they were not smiling or laughing or cracking jokes, their faces were serious and stern, ready to relay important information. They are in a venue that is white and has benches and resembles a church. Our attention is directed to the former president standing in the middle.
It’s no coincidence that you Dad’s mom finally got to vote in 1965, ReesesPieces. That’s the year of the passage of the national Voting Rights Act. And yeah, it’s mind-blowing.
https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/voting-rights-act#:~:text=This%20act%20was%20signed%20into,as%20a%20prerequisite%20to%20voting.
And yeah. Those rights formalized by the Act are under attack again.
https://www.commoncause.org/our-work/voting-and-elections/john-r-lewis-voting-rights-act/?gclid=CjwKCAiAvaGRBhBlEiwAiY-yMK8YuCYYA0Q1rMeIha-S6Lx07eEnxB7GV2HS4ZCfz-dxQnJyIKS4oRoChToQAvD_BwE
3/3
White paper:
Yeah… I gotta reply to that.
Voting things:
All I’m thinking about is that I kinda want the job of drawing the map. They probably get paid a lot and all they gotta do is draw a couple lines.
Visual analysis:
Your reader doesn’t get to watch the video you’re analyzing
Add enough important details
If you provide a detail make sure its important to the claim
Former president vaccine video:
First thing I notice is that they’re using celebrity appeal to push an agenda.
People that Americans respect (or at least should)
Presidents from varying political parties suggesting it’s not a political message meant to sway you on politics
I like “celebrity appeal.” As “former presidents” they don’t qualify as government leaders anymore, do they? So, no. It’s not a message from the government. It’s a message delivered by three political celebrities. Nice catch.
3/3
-White paper grade is easy to fix just upload it
-when voting remember that legislators have the power to draw their own voting district maps
– The red hires people to draw these maps to figure out how to waste blue votes.
-getting little yes’s along the way lead to one big yes
-best advice for visual analysis is adding more detail , make it so the reader can visualize what is going on but they also understand how the details tie into their understanding of your writing.
-The three presidents most likely had one take to do the covid facts because they have secret service , etc.
–
Oh, yes, if you have one, please upload that White Paper. 🙂
3/3
23 states have made voting more difficult- different states have different representatives, the way each state draws the map can sway the majority of either side
– whoever is in power tries to waste as many votes from the other side as possible
The reader doesn’t get to watch the video that you are analyzing, you are describing the images to a reader who can’t see what you are describing
Try to describe what is happening with a good amount of words – don’t spend your whole paper describing in detail – only write down what is important
A good argument persuades its viewers without having the viewers recognize what you are trying to persuade them with
There could always be more detail – concentrate on the rhetorical analysis of whatever you are describing
– a good tip is to watch the video without audio to help you describe what you are seeing, instead of being distracted with audio
The video with the presidents appears very formal, they are social distancing, in a church like setting, American flags in the background.
You’re right it’s best to watch the videos without sound. If possible, complete your post without EVER having heard the audio.
THEN, saving your analysis for when you’ve completed your description of the video, listen to the audio to see how well (or how poorly) the video carried the message. If you find your analysis of the video differs from the true message, you have an obligation to critique the video for its failure to choose visuals that communicated the argument. See what I mean?
3/3
Notes – Blue
Regulations are tightened to make voting more difficult.
Gerrymandering. You can assign delegates to map segregations in a very specific way as to where the minority will win the vote. Whoever is currently in power gets to draw the map.
It stops mattering if you vote or not, because so many votes are thrown away into the black hole that is an artificially created section map.
Through just one sentence, a boy walking down a hall, there are so many possibilities. Everyone who hears this imagines a different scenario.
Each frame of the video builds upon the viewer’s understanding of what is going on.
The directors of the video placed every detail for a particular reason.
I’m glad somebody picked up on the value of the “boy walking down the hall” example.
3/3
– I need to respond to the feedback on the white paper. Should i make a white paper rewrite or just make changes to it directly. Also when grading the white paper, do you change the grade and add more white paper grades. Like do you change the 50 to a different number, or add another grade and keep the original 50/100.
– Halfway point: I feel pretty caught up because all my assignments are submitted. However, I feel that I need to edit and change a lot of stuff on my definition. I think it was pretty sloppy in general, and I need to add more research into the paper.
– Always add more detail; enough so that the reader can visualize everything that is happening. The best way to do this is to use vivid descriptive words. I like to close my eyes and think of the room I am describing and point out any significant details to me. Human minds are very different and think very differently. This means without using descriptive language, a completely different scene can pop up into the reader’s mind, one that doesn’t fit your argument as well.
– In the first image of the scene, three presidents are standing with a white background making them stand out and gain full attention. These are probably very busy meaning that they don’t have much time to make the ad. The three american flags show that it could potentially be very important for america, at least this is my interpretation. There was not even enough time, so they couldn’t clean up the video. Donald Trump is not there because he clearly would not support this message.
Questions and Answers:
There is only ONE White Paper. It’s a cumulative assignment that you simply revise and add to as the semester proceeds. There is only ONE White Paper grade at a time, though the assignment will be graded more than once. The grade can go UP or DOWN depending on how well the WP is progressing. If you currently show a 50 just because you didn’t respond to feedback, responding will reveal your true current grade.
3/3
Thank you for clearing that up. When I said “should I make a White Paper Rewrite”, I didn’t mean that I would make another one, but rather make another post called White Paper Rewrite and make all my changes there and keep the original the same. But the White Paper is an ongoing assignment and is meant to keep being revised meaning it wouldn’t need a seperate assignment for it. Right?
Right. Update your White Paper. Do not create a White Paper Rewrite.
Make sure to reply to the feedback from the white paper.
In about half of the states regulations have made voting harder and more difficult, restricted the number of ways we are allowed to vote.
Changing a 2:3 majority to a 3:2 majority by wasting as many opposing votes in “huge wins”
Add details to visual analysis. Concentrate on the rhetoric half of the visual/rhetoric assignment.
Formal, outdoors in jackets talking about vaccine facts, probably trying to sway the American public to get the jab. Inauguration Day. Arranged left to right, first, second, third. Democrats on the outside Republican in the middle. A percentage of Americans probably would not recognize them if they weren’t in that background and dressed seriously. Background resembles a stage. Church. Religion, theatre, government all together. Done very quickly. Shows the urgency to get the message out, no time to clear out the background. Flags are not weighed down. Extreme amount of partisanship today, so both parties are there to appeal and get the message out to people who support one party or the other.
Very nice, slowmountain.
3/3
If we haven’t responded to you for white paper we got a 50, and if we do it will get a better grade instantly
It stops mattering whether blue votes at all, because they send twice as many voters into a district.
It is truly your responsibility to make the reader understands everything you are looking at, because your reader doesn’t get to watch the video you’re analyzing
This video makes small claims for a larger argument, and watching pieces out of context helps us see the mechanics of the entire thing
You have to take it for granted that everything is done on purpose
If they ran the one minute version and put two 30 second videos together they might have just gutted their own argument
The author was choosing arguments to convince us of a particular thing
Anything you can add to an analysis to see what the author means
You’re the only student so far to take note of this example:
I think it’s a good reminder that even though the videos are very deliberate and carefully-made by professionals, they’re not always successful. Your job is not to defend them; it’s to critique them for the quality of their arguments.
3/3
– Those of you who published White Papers and who have responded to my Feedback have received real provisional grades. Remember, these posts will be graded periodically since they are designed to be live and always-improving documents.
– In 23 states, over the last year, regulations have been tightened to make casting a vote in an election more difficult. More difficult. Everything else in life, including psychotherapy, can be done on your phone. But elections, apparently, have to be made harder every few years.
– For those of us who can and do vote in every election, when we vote for a legislative office such as the Senate or the House, we are reminded that legislators at least the members of the party in charge have the power to draw their own voting district maps.
– You won’t need this yet, but when you’re ready to revise your Visual Rhetoric argument, you may benefit from reviewing feedback I have offered to students in earlier semesters. but you promised yourself you were going to buckle down and catch up on those assignments you missed. Take your professor with you wherever you go.
– When I ask you to analyze a visual argument from film or video, imagine you are describing the images to a reader who can’t see what you’re describing. You may understand the creator’s intentions and the complexities of the narrative, but since you’ve learned them from watching the visuals, the reader will have no basis to evaluate your judgements unless you describe the visible components.
– It’s also your responsibility to indicate whether the technique which was the rhetorical part of the visual argument is effective or not. So, is it a public service announcement that urges us to make small differences in the world we pass through every day? No. It is not because It’s an ad for life insurance.
– Posts should provide enough detail so that the reader not only visualizes the basics of the setting and the action but can also understand how the details impose interpretations on the viewers. Posts should include what you, the author, believe to be the interpretation the editor of the video wants to impose on us.
Noting by quoting. It’s an interesting technique. I hope it works for you, Bubba.
3/3
COMP II Notes – 3.9.22
Progress:
I’ve turned in all my assignments, yet I still feel behind. Always more work to be done : )
Dots:
Red gets voting advantage
Figuring out how to waste blue votes
Visual Rhetoric (Refreshers):
Analysis*
I’ve watched the Thai life insurance video several times before
Never felt like it was an ad
Every move was intentional for the purpose of the “argument”
Add more detail for/help the reader’s understanding
President Ad Council Findings:
Standing in order in which they served
democrat –> republican –> democrat…–> republican –> democrat
Venue like a theatre
Attention focused in the middle (on bush)
Video was probably made quickly
Reminders/Notes (for myself):
Visual Rhetoric argument assignment coming up..?
Actually attempt to work on revisions over break
Schedule next mandatory conference by March 24th
There may be areas of study in which we can be caught up, Wanda, but writers are never done because another rewrite is always needed. Goes with the territory.
Did you remember to make that Conference appointment?
3/3
3/9/22 44Elk In-Class Notes
First, (when I walked in) we talked about some housekeeping when it comes to grades. Mr. Hodges put in my 0 White Paper grade. It’s done, I just haven’t posted on the blog yet (I know, right?). Mr. Hodges also gave us a reality check; that it’s halfway through the semester and I probably should have submitted more than one assignment by now. That’s okay. I’m already on my way to rectify the situation and I’m more than sure I will be able to pull myself out.
Next, we talked about what our votes mean. “The value of my vote is in jeopardy.” We talked about political voting districts and “voting maps” and how the minority vote can become the majority vote if they draw the map “right.” Minority map drawers waste as many majority votes as possible on big wins in a drawn district, but they also ensure that the real minority gets more (small) wins than the other. This makes it seem like the minority is the majority. We transitioned this talk of gerrymandering into talking about how the U.S. democracy is under siege and how votes are getting harder to cast and be counted.
Next, we went back to visual rhetoric and described a scene to a reader efficiently. I won’t have to tackle that problem entirely because my research project IS a video! I’m an over-explainer so it’s very useful to be able to just show the viewer a video I’m referring to. (At this point in the class, I got a really good idea for 2 video segments for my project so I tuned out of Mr. Hodges’ talk to add that to my white paper so I don’t forget.) After I recorded it, I tuned back in to Mr. Hodges over-analyzing the Thai Life Insurance ad again.
Next, Mr. Hodges teased that we’re going to have an assignment writing about and describing visual rhetoric as “practice.” That’s a shame. It turns out I’m not going to cheat the system after all. Well, maybe not actually. I don’t know. I hope there isn’t an assignment for this.
We finished up class by analyzing an ad where 3 former U.S. presidents talked about COVID-19 vaccine facts. We analyzed a lot about it; so much that I don’t feel like writing any of it down. We all know what we talked about.
Fun knowing what goes on in your brain during class, Elk. Thanks for always being ready to contribute.
3/3
Housekeeping
The White Paper is a preliminary grade that can be improved upon through certain revisions.
A progress report will be made by March 10, 2022, regarding your performance in the class.
Wake Up
The value of our vote is in jeopardy being that 23 states have made regulations tighter to cast a vote.
The future of our country is in the hands of the majority.
Gerrymandering is essentially the manipulation of the electoral process to benefit a specific party.
Visual Rhetoric
When describing a visual argument video, be sure to describe the video to the audience as if they cannot see what you are describing.
It is your job to indicate whether or not the rhetorical part of the visual was effective or not. The best communicators are able to limit the range of interpretations.
There should be enough detail to allow the reader to understand how the details impose interpretations on viewers.
I don’t remember saying this today. Maybe it was in the accompanying on-screen text. Either way, it’s important, so I’m glad you noted it:
3/3
3/9/2022
During class today we talked about our right to vote which makes it easier for leaders to gain power. There are five districts and the party that holds the power in the state is able to draw their district maps. Based on how you draw the map one of the parties’ votes can be wasted which makes the other party gain votes in more districts.
We went over the grading for the assignments we have been assigned. Professor Hodges also stated how replying to comments on assignments with a reaction is key to starting a conversation and having a better idea of how to start refining work.
For the visual analysis, the idea that the reader does not see the video means that we have to describe the images that show up in great detail and reason for why something is significant. Examples: What is that person doing sitting, walking? What are their facial and physical expressions? What is the camera angle and is it stationary? What location are they in? We have to describe the images in great detail to give a good idea to the readers of what might happen next. The rhetorical video should be 10 seconds and without sound. Where we prepared to understand what was happening in the video or if we were manipulated by the video. There is an introduction and multiple paragraphs that contain evidence inside of them. What is the argument’s purpose? For example life insurance. We can describe the effectiveness and or shortcomings.
Example,
The three presidents are wearing the same clothing black pair of pants, a long black jacket a white button-down, and a blue tie. This represents how serious they are and there are three of them organized from left to right in how they were elected. The Democrats are on the end and the republican is in the middle. The background looks like a theater and a white house with the all-white. Religion is described by the format of the room, the flags represent the government.
Nice notes, Cookie. One correction. Maybe it was a typo. You’ll be selecting 30-second videos, not 10.
The videos HAVE sound, but you have to ignore it when you describe the visuals. Afterwards, if the audio contributes to the argument, you can mention that. But if the video CONTRADICTS or DISTRACTS FROM the audio part of the argument, you will probably want to critique the visuals for confusing viewers about the message. Is that clear?
3/3
Notes Oct 25
Rhetorical questions is one than isn’t necessarily meant to me answered it’s just to make us think and bring forth our points
To be clear if you need people to understand your points just say them don’t beat around the bush, don’t state them in a question
Asking a question about why someone does something can come off accusatory so avoid trying to scare people off right off the bat and sound kinder and more open in your sentences. For example instead of saying why do we take naps away from adults say why do we encourage children to take naps more than adults. This shows how critical every phrase in, in creating or frustrating our readers.
It’s about half way through the semester so do with that as you please. You can make up for the rest of the year and catch up on your work, schedule a professore conference, update white paper, update other papers, etc
The question has two different implications, one that states that these things happen for these reasons which we fully understand and the other implication is letting things happen by nature and why we chose to not try to stop them. One is more broad and universal thinking and the other is basic cause and effect. We will need to understand our causal argument.
According to these standards the two reasons the challenger exploded are as follows, it exploded because of chemical reasons and the add on they made, or it exploded because things in the world explode all the time and sometimes we don’t know why, how, or when in advance. Obviously as proven with the horse’s ass argument there are many ways to answer, there is never just one although some such as this one take some thinking out of the box. Overall, just think that sometimes causes can be abstract and unconventional and those ones once highlighted can make your argument more interesting and even more reliable if done so correctly.
Goal of causal argument is to find the many contributions to the existence of a problem.
It seems that most often students make a lot of grammar issues along with having too large paragraphs and too many points in one paragraph. In your causal argument just remember that good points don’t always have to be long points and that making small paragraphs is better for the understanding of the paper.
– If possible, “this” and “it” should be replaced with a more specific word or phrase. Clarity will improve the writing.
– Instead of using a question, list your premises as statements to better understand how to write about them.
– “We” is a good term to use to make readers feel connected and involved in the paper.
– The causal argument will explain why circumstances lead to conclusions, along with why we let those circumstances and conclusions happen.
– The cause of the Challenger crash was a mechanical error because of the change in weather. The source of this flaw was buying o-rings to build it. Christa McAuliffe was on the crew, a teacher, to inspire kids and draw interest from adults. Her publicity was the real reason they launched the shuttle, despite the conditions.
– The thought process of discovering why the Challenger crashed is how we should think about our causal argument.
– If you are behind on work, start with the current task instead of backtracking to past assignments.
We have to be careful while wording our sentences and make sure we state exactly what we mean. Our writers should know what we’re talking about and not have any doubt in their minds. We should not give ourselves an out, and replace any “you,” or generalization that we’re a part of with “we” and “us.” For example, a sentence like “Why are the benefits of napping continuously neglected in adulthood unlike they are in childhood?” should be reworded to say “Why do we deprive adults of the benefits of napping we encourage children to enjoy?” This is so the reader knows that we are a part of the group that is being generalized, and we are not just calling them out and accusing them of things.
Donald Barthelme is a talented author of short stories. He straightforwardly says outrageous things, then moves on from them quickly. This shocks readers and draws their attention. We should answer the question “why?” in our essays and demonstrate clear cause and effect.
In 1986, the space shuttle named the Challenger exploded. Tons of people all over the world watched this on television, including loved ones of the members on the ship. A little after it took off, it exploded and the people inside of it sadly passed away. This leaves the question “why?” The answer that is given is that there were technical reasons and the o-ring failed.
Because horses used to be our main source of transportation, every tunnel, bridge, and gate were made to fit two horses. Eventually, they were made bigger to fit trains. In order to do this, we must know the exact size of the trains passing through and make it no bigger or smaller than that. This relates to the Challenger because in order to get the pieces for the spaceship, they were shipped by train. When the parts did not fit through the tunnels made for the trains, they had to break them into smaller pieces and wrap them with o-rings. Now we know the real answer to why the Challenger exploded. It goes all the way back to the size of two horses. We need to go through a similar process when we write our Casual Arguments. We need to go all the way back in time to find the real answer to our questions.
– Try and avoid the use of the words THIS and IT. They are vague and do not provide the information necessary to understand what is being said.
– Figuring out what our premises are in our sentences is the best way to structure our sentences.
– Use “we” as often as possible.
– “Why do we let things happen” is the question we should be asking. “What purpose did it serve?”
– There can be many causes and causation for a problem is not simple.
– The goal for the causal argument is to find out the many answers that come from the question we are asking. There are many answers to the question of “why” and we must choose one to focus on.
– If you are behind on your work, get current and stay current. Do the work that has an upcoming due date, then go back and do the work you have missed.
Class Notes:
-Throughout the beginning of the class Professor Hodges showed us a paragraph that used the word “This” 3 times. Using the word “This” does not make your writing clear to the reader. Who is this? The question will be going through the reader’s mind So the writer needs to explain who “This” is instead of using that word.
-“Nowadays” is a part of “we”. Use “we” as much as you can throughout your writings.
-The Challenger disaster was the failure of two rubber O-rings to seal a joint between the two lower segments of the right-hand solid rocket booster. This failure was due to severe cold, and it opened a path for hot exhaust gas to escape from inside the booster during the shuttle’s ascent.
-The halfway point of class is coming up. If you are scared to do conferences, participate in class and avoid Professor Hodges there is still time to turn it around. Professor Hodges will indeed be straight up with you on your work, but he will always help you if you show some effort. That is great because that means that you have a guide to make your writing great. Do your best and don’t give up, turn your work in and revise, revise and revise.
Limit the word ‘this’
It has to be clear what ‘this’ is talking about
Any time you talk about society, use ‘we’
We don’t want to give ourselves an out because then we would be creating a divide between the writer and the reader
You don’t want to be seen as above the reader, you want to stay on their level
Wake Up
There was more computing power in a greeting card than there was in the early space missions
There are both physical and moral reasons for the Challenger tragedy
The “carriage answer” to the Challenger tragedy is a technical one
The reason for the Challenger tragedy was because of the rubber seals in the O-Rings. It was too cold the day of the launch and it directly affected the rubber.
Two horses’ asses can explain why the Challenger exploded
During the Roman Empire gates and roads had to be the width of two horses
This standard allowed for the chariots that the horses were pulling to be pulled through the same way the horses went
You’re goal to a causal argument is to provide many causes to a problem
Housekeeping
It’s later in the semester than we think and things are starting to pile up
Get up to date on present assignments and then backfill other assignments
Make sure to stay on top of your work and communicate with Professor Hodges if you need help
First Half Class Notes
We want to eliminate this unless the emphasis is especially clear.
Figuring out the premises of the sentence should dictate our sentence and the best way to convey our premises is to just state the premises.
Every sentence we create can be misconstrued in what we mean. Take a critical lens to how we write and improve upon it with each rewrite.
The answer to why is usually the technical answer, not the ethical answer. Causation is never a simple answer. No one would ever think to blame the Romans for the Challenger explosion, but the argument made is irrefutable.
I like the tip on catching up on work. Start with the now and backtrack from there. It doesn’t pertain to me in this class specifically, but for others of my classes, I feel this can help with my note-taking and study habits!
A rhetorical question is one that we don’t expect an answer to. The idea of “this” and “it” can ruin an argument and be unclear if not used properly. Especially, if they are used to answer a rhetorical question that lists a bunch of clumped up ideas that try to argue why they are right. A way to resolve “this”, would be to do exactly what I just did, adding a comma after “this” or “it”.
Catch up on conferences to talk about your thesis progress. I have already done two conferences that meet the deadline, but attending more wouldn’t hurt. I certainly do benefit everytime I talk with the professor about my hypothesis. My writing becomes significantly better with all the ideas that he offers. Even though there isn’t a mandatory meeting any time soon, I’ll still make an appointment to better my writing.
What do you mean by “Why”? It’s a question word that should contain the purpose and cause of your idea. An example being, “what purpose did my father die?”, “what moral imperative did his death serve?”, or “how does the world benefit from him dying?” Several causes can be made. It can be either distant, immediate, or maybe precipitating.
Housekeeping:
Its actually later into the semester than you think. If you missed any work the grades start to slowly fall and you’ll eventually hit the bottomless pit. You might start to wonder if you can get out. Eventually, you stop trying. Then Ultimately, you ask yourself “what’s the point?” But there’s always a way to make it back up if you haven’t lost hope yet. Having that conference with your professor will be crucial to your success. Start from the most recent assignments instead of back tracking and if you start working hard enough you’ll eventually catch up.
Luckily, I haven’t pushed off my work this semester. I used to be a horrible procrastinator, so I know what it feels like to be at the pit. It feels like you can’t get out and the anxiety starts to kick in. That’s when you start to avoid everything. Any confrontation with your professor will just remind of you that you’re failing.
When asking a question about our hypothesis we must find the premises of the question and come up with explanations that prove our hypothesis.
Use “we” as often as possible when discussing society and culture. Using other terms can separate you from the rest of the population and infers that other people are not as smart as you.
Every phrase in our writing is critical in creating the understanding of our readers. If phrases are too vague or badly worded the meaning of your writing can be misunderstood.
Determining a cause is difficult to prove. You cannot pinpoint one singular cause instead you must list and explain the different causes. A causal argument is never one answer.
Why are the benefits of napping continuously neglected in adulthood unlike they are in childhood?
What are the premises
1. Children benefit from naps
2. Adults benefit from naps
3. Children are encouraged to nap
4. Adults are not permitted to nap
The real question
Why do we deprive adults of the benefits of napping we encourage children to enjoy?
The challenger experiment-
Why it happened- They always give a technical answer because it covers the true missteps humans took. Since they should not have flown and it is CYA move they will explain a technical reason involving the O rings but they would not have failed if they were grounded.
This shows the difficulty of a causal argument since you can argue each point was the actual cause. Whether it be the O rings or human error a sound argument can be made.
Our goal for a causal argument is to find the many answers and reasons to our question.
House keeping-
If we are behind start with the current assignment and back track.
– Eliminate “this” and “it” unless what is talked about is extremely clear.
– Sometimes it may be necessary to state your premises in your sentence so that questions don’t need to be asked.
– Use “we” more often when talking about society, so that the reader doesn’t feel a divide between them and the writer.
– Sometimes simplicity and clarity is better than trying to sound over scholarly in your writings.
– Goal for a causal argument is to find the many contributing casuals that answer the simple question that you asked.
– I like the phrase “acknowledge my thoughtless procrastination.”
Make sure to limit your it and this and replace them with clear subjects, unless it has a clear enough antecedent for the this or it
Sometimes the best way to structure your sentence and word your premises is to simply to state these premises
Try to use we as soon as possible, as it includes yourself as a part of society. If you didn’t include yourself, the divide allows people to resent you and not want to listen to you.
Asking why has two distinct meanings, one mechanical and one ethical. Why can mean “what is the cause”, or it can mean “what is the purpose”
-finding the premises in our own sentences will help break them down and possibly create a clearer statement than before.
-” Don’t be a pontificator, get down in the crowd.” (Don’t make the reader feel dumb with difficult rhetoric questions that are open-ended)
-There are a couple of ways to consider the word “why.” If there is a problem and we have identified it, then the best “why” question is why we let it happen. Make it a moral question.
-Don’t ask about the carriage, ask about the purpose.
-the width of two horse asses is the cause of the challenger’s failure.
-good cause and effect analysis of the Roman chariots to trains to the use of O rings.
-find the many contributing causes to the simple questions we ask.
-The causes can go back a lot farther than we think they can.
* A rhetorical question is a question that we don’t expect an answer to.
* The words it and this should be eliminated from writing because they aren’t really all that specific. They have to be clear.
* State your premises instead of asking a question to get your readers to guess the premise of what you’re trying to say.
* Use we as often as you can when you write to reference society. You don’t want to give yourself an out because when you ask like you’re not part of society, you make yourself look like your’ve disassociated from society.
* Why the challenger failed is a complicated issue that could be because of a lot of things. NASA felt the need to continue with the launch even though they knew the consequences and the risk. They felt the need to do it because they promised the public, regardless of the cold weather and because of that, their project (quite literally) blew up in their face
* The goal of the causal argument is to find the many answers to your research question.
10/25
This time of the semester is like spring break but it actually isn’t
We should take this time to catch up on everything and do conferences.
The word “We” is always the best term to use for readers.
“Why” can have two meaning( One ethical moral while the other is physical)
The space shuttle question “why” can be answered with a mechanical answer where it is a physical situation and there are also ethical answers.
4 ft 8.5in became the standard in the roman era for chariots and rails and the standard started to get adopted by other countries.
Today’s lesson showed me that we should really pay attention to how we phrase our words and statements because anyone can interpret what we say and analyze with a totally different meaning then what we were trying to say.
10/25
Example paragraph
– Don’t ask rhetorical questions, they don’t benefit your argument, instead ask the reader to imply their own answer before hearing yours
– Don’t say “in our society” or other forms of it, waste of words
– “We” is always the best pronoun to use, as it makes the text more relatable
– Don’t use “this” a bunch, it loses meaning the more you use it without referring back to what “this” was defined as
Wake up
– Why is an ambiguous term, it could be used in many different ways
– Why did the challenger explode? Was it because it was cold? A system malfunction? Or was it just fate? Are we asking from a technical perspective or moral? Was it because the civilian and earlier delays created a pressure to launch?
– Be careful of this when writing a causal argument
Class Notes (10/25/22 COMP II 9:30 am)
-there are many different ways to relay the same information
-make sure you use the one that says exactly what you mean to say
-don’t be too vague in your sentences
-you need to be very specific in what each sentence means or what it is about
-what does “this” or “it” mean?
-there are many different ways to answer the question “why”
-why did the challenger fail?
-there are many obvious and maybe not-so-obvious answers to the question
-obvious causes are fine, but they are never the whole story
-there are always multiple clauses
-the more answers the better the argument
-keep answering the question “why”
-Don’t Give Up
-You Can Do It
10/25
Make sure your sentences are structured properly to make the claim you want to express. Don’t use “today’s society”. Try not to repeat words such as “this” or “it”, and make sure you are properly referring to what claim or idea “this” is. Using this language can make the argument sound repetitive. If you say “in order to address this we must”, you need to complete the argument with a solution or it is a fragment.
“Why” – two ways to answer a question “why did someone die?” An answer could be more philosophical vs more literal – Why did the challenger explode? – O ring failure/weather issue or the horse carriage theory. Obviously causes are fine but never the whole story. The lecture taught how one question could be answered multiple ways. You can give a very clear and to the point observation that many would see and agree with, or you could go another way that will still answer the question but involve a more thought out explanation. People might not support it but it will offer better depth to the argument.
It’s past the halfway point of the semester.
Make sure to get a conference with Professor
I signed up for November 2nd at 11am
Went over an example of “Why are the benefits of napping continuously neglected in adulthood unlike they are in Childhood”
Do not consistently use THIS in your essay
It is hard to define what THIS is in your sentences
Is it a question? Is it becasue of the struggles? We dont know what the author is trying to show us
Very important how all our phrases are fitted throughout essay
Shuttle could be steered unlike capsule. Shuttle can land like an airplane
What do we mean by Why?
During the shuttle launch, they invited a civilian to ride along who was a teacher
This would her to inspire millions of people, got live coverage from multiple new stations
Exactly what Nasa wanted since people were loosing interest of space travel
Technical explanation was O rings failed
No single cause is ever enough, hint for your casual argument
Some other reasons why could be: NASA ignored warnings that weather was too cold, or the pressure of having a civilian on board built up pressure
Once the standard of 4 feet 8 and half inchs for the chariots, it could not be changed because grooves were starting to develop on the roads, almost like a inverted railroad
Trains were soon named after chariots like The Golden Chariot
America adopted the same sie railroad sizes
Shipped in sections and used O rings causing challenger to blow up since they were not properly sealed from being shipped from Utah
Obvious causes are never the whole story
The more you think you answered the question why, think about the 6 year old kid who doesn’t accept that answer
-Avoid repeating words like “this” or “it” in your writing
-Can make you feel that you are progressing through an argument with the same repeating words chosen
-Tends to weaken your writing because of the lack of differentiation
-The Challenger blew up because of the O-rings becoming too brittle and not able to expand fast enough
-It was 22 degrees in Florida which contributed to the Challenger’s fail
-The O-rings are supposed to keep the fuel from leaking out which could light the entire shuttle on fire
-Roman times, chariots had to be 4 feet 8 ½ inches regulated
-This is because they needed to be able to fit through gates, doors, and such
-Trains had followed the same guidelines but in different measurements to be able to successfully stay on the train tracks
-Causal arguments can be very broad or very specific depending on how involved the reader/writer gets into the writing
Class Notes 15-
– Avoid using “This” and “its or it’s” too frequently in writing
-Typically there are multiple causes/factors to be stated in a causal argument or situation. Causal arguments answer the question of “why?” But should do so in detail
There are usually multiple causes in addition to the obvious questions.
Causal arguments are about finding all of the causes and adding them up on paper for the reader so they are persuaded to your answer.
10/25/22 In-Class Notes
Remember to schedule a conference to discuss thesis progress and other things soon.
Word repetition is bad to begin with, especially at the start of a sentence, but it is worse with words like “this” or pronouns like “he, she, it, they”. Without careful consideration these can not only make a paragraph feel more monotonous but also confuse the reader very quickly and detract from the effectiveness of our messaging.
A good place to look for where to trim a bulky, clumsy argument, long clauses within a sentence that serve as adjectives or adverbs are a common culprit and something we should be wary of stacking on top of each other.
Asking “why” something happened can just as easily be a factual question as it can be a moral one. This is an observation we don’t normally make because it usually seems superfluous, but writing removes some of the context present for in-person speech that makes the distinction clear. Is the answer to the question of why the Challenger exploded that we want an answer of “how did it happen?” or “why did it have to happen?”. For a clearer example, if you ask yourself why a relative died, is that a question about whether or not it was morally deserved or necessary and if so why, or is it just a question about the cause of death?
For the Challenger, the answer could be chalked up to many things, not one of which is all-encompassing. The technical explanation is that the O-rings failed, causing the gas released during ignition to not be shut off properly. This in turn was partly down to launching at very cold temperatures. A causal argument stretched back far enough could draw connections between different events or decisions far into the past to make increasingly strange but technically valid arguments of cause and effect. Romans created the standard to the spacing of wheels based on fitting two horses within the width of a chariot. Their roads developed deep grooves. This width, 4 feet 8 ½ inches wide, became known as the standard gauge. And sure enough, the spacing between two cart wheels became the space between two train wheels when railroads adopted the standard gauge. The size of trains affected the size of tunnels they’d have to travel through, and the tunnels were not often wider than they had to be. What can fit within the tunnel determines what can be carried by train car through the mountains. Thus, the parts for the rocket had to be built and shipped in separate pieces. How was this accomplished? With those same rubber O-Rings. And so the instantly ridiculous seeming connection between the Challenger explosion and the width of a horse’s ass is proven to actually have a perfectly legitimate causal effect (by proxy of many later developments) on the reason the Challenger exploded.
We are getting to the midpoint of the semester so it is now time to catch up on everything that we haven’t done already
Make sure that we have our conferences set and scheduled
Several causes can be named for different things just for a simple question. Our job is to find the one cause that is the actual cause
limit using “it” and “this” and replace them with clear subjects, unless it has a clear enough antecedent for the this or it
finding the premises in our own sentences will help break them down and possibly
Use “we” more often when talking about society, so that the reader doesn’t feel divided between them and the writer.
Sometimes the best way to structure your sentence and word your premises is to simply to state these premises
You want your reader to be engaged and apart of your essay, draw them in and keep them in
10/25 Class Notes
Scheduled meeting for 10/26
Missed the Definition Rewrite Workshop assignment from class
It is time to start to nail down the assignments that are missed: Definition Argument
It’s not too late to turn the assignments in and work hard. Everyone struggles at some point, there’s no need to be embarrassed or scared. Life gets busy and hard, but always gets better.
Professor Hodges is not here to pull us out of any hole we dug for ourselves, but he will help throughout the way
do not be afraid to ask for help!
To have conferences bye the 24th
Midway threw the semester to start getting our writing profile together
Voting became more default because of age restrictions and certain voting types allowed.
Preparing for visual rhetoric argument and life insurance and small claims a larger argument .
Always best to add more detail in writing and impose the interpretation that you want to the people to understand from the writing.
Class Notes:
– Make an appointment for thesis catch up chat. ( Done)
– When do we isolate a single cause and identify it as the explanation of “why?”.
No single cause can be isolated. Several causes can be named, some distant, immediate, some precipitating.
– Progress reports are coming soon, start making revisions and catching up on work.
– Rhetoric: add enough details so the reader visualizes. Watch without sound.
College Composition 2
10/26/22
Class Notes
Make sure you set a mandatory conference appointment for your thesis and remember it can be anywhere.
Why did the challenger explode? It was because of how cold the temperatures were in Florida. The temperature was cold enough to freeze parts of the launching pad and the rocket ship’s thrusters. Instead of waiting until perfect conditions to fly NASA said they needed the Challenger to go up so that NASA could stay on schedule with their rocket ship launches in the future so the Challenger must go up now.
Is the skincare world actually helping your skin?
Skin care products have been used by many for years, but have you actually read its ingredients as many of the ingredients are actually not good for your skin and can cause even more breakouts so you the customer will keep coming back thinking that your skin care product will fix it over time.
We are halfway through the semester so let’s just make sure we are on track with our argumentative essays.
Also if you are not on track make sure you get your head in the game because we are close to the end of the year.
Make sure you finish your advertisement assignment.
Also for your visual rhetoric analysis make sure you ask for feedback as this is what makes you become a better writer
I apologize I was not in class to take clear cut notes.
Professor started with a paragraph
Starts with a rhetorical question
Eliminate “it and this” unless clear for the anticey is clear
Synthesis has a fragment in it
“Why did the Challenger explode?”
“What do mean by why?”
Challenger was launched for Pr
The simplest answer the rings around the pieces where the pieces fit together kept flammable gas in but too much pressure we put on due to ether pressure which caused the seamless to break
O rings were made of rubber and are really good unless in cold weather
That was the technical explanation
“But is that the cause”
“Cause was Because for the width of a horses ass”
The challenger was related to chariot tunnel
Because when the challenger went out for bid those pieces had to be sent through train but it wound T fit through one piece of something so narrow so they broke it into pieces thus making the O rings
Fixing a white paper grade is simple. simply upload it. When casting your ballot, keep in mind that legislators have the authority to create their own voting district maps. The red hires individuals to create these maps in order to determine the best ways to squander blue votes.
-getting little yes’s along the way leads to one big yes
the reader can imagine what is happening while also comprehending how the details relate to their grasp of your work, which is the ideal advise for visual analysis.
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Given that they all have secret services, etc., the three presidents most likely worked together to gather the information.