TOW #29- Letter to a new APELC Student

Dear Future APELC Student,

Out of all of the classes I’ve ever taken, I can honestly say this class has actually given me skills I will use for the rest of my life. There are so many things I've learned from this class that set a solid foundation for my writing, reading, and general comprehension skills that I will be able to build on for the rest of my life. If you think you may be making a mistake by taking this class, you aren’t. Even if you don’t get the “A” what you get out of this class is so much more than a letter. However, one misconception about this course is that it’s nearly impossible to get a good score on an essay. Good scores are relative but the grading grows with you. No matter what, as long as you try your hardest on your essays, you will be surprised at how well you can actually do. One tip I can give on the essays besides to try hard is to get them edited. I got my essays edited by family members, friends, and previous APELC students. That is one of the best things you can do for your take home essays. Do not wait until the last minute so that you can get them edited by others. Also, ask for help! The teachers are there to help you and they aren't too scary. The TOWs seem like a burden at first, but as the year progresses they become apart of your weekly routine and writing my last TOW actually makes me sad. The symposiums seem scary at first but as you get into them they get a lot better. Just loosen up and don’t be too uptight about it. Another piece of advice I can give is to do your homework. It may not seem like you need to at first, but trust me, just do your homework. Mr.Yost and Ms.Pronko are great teachers for this course. I personally joke around with almost everything and love to have fun with things. The teachers are not opposed to this and if you’re lucky they might laugh at your jokes. Just know they are understanding people with hearts and actually have lives outside of this class. One of the things that Mr. Yost said during class that really resonated with me and I strongly agree with is that “the goal of this class is to teach you not to be dumb.” A wide range of topics are discussed and coming out of this class I feel a lot more comfortable having an intelligent conversation with someone. I’ll leave you with some general advice, have fun and enjoy it. As Mr. Yost once said “relax, it’s just school.”

-Molly Lightman J

TOW #28- TOW Reflection

I went through my older TOWs with a smirk of nostalgia and a new formed knowledge for writing. I now cringe at my not-so-subtle transitions and concluding sentence. In the first couple TOWs I failed to include a clear thesis. My overall gradual progression makes me proud of my hard work throughout the year. In the beginning, I strictly followed the assignment sheet given for general TOW formatting in the summer packet, making sure I clearly covered everything. I tried my best to blend the essential questions together. I also began with formal and intense diction, trying to improve my writing in the wrong ways. Over time I can see clear improvement and leniency in my style and content. Becoming less uptight about the writing made my posts more of my own and comprehensive.

My analysis began with careful planning and researching the correct rhetoric which created rigid examples. My analysis progressed to becoming much quicker. I am now able to look at an image or read a text and quickly pick up on specific devices used to convey a point. This also helped with reading in general. TOW's have forced me to read every text with a purpose looking for the reasoning of the author, and not just trying to understand the text. This is important in reading everything in school and in general.

Something that I could still improve on is my organization. My planning has never been in depth however adding a little more time to organize a logical order for my ideas could improve my writing instead of organizing what I am writing while I write it. My choice of texts and articles to read may not have been as beneficial to the exam as they could have been but in general it forced me to look around for things I'm interested in without specific restrictions and find meaning in them. Having this skill as result makes the assignment in general successful and beneficial.

TOW #27- Bruce Jenner comes out… as a Republican

This week Diane Sawyer interviewed Bruce Jenner in the “most anticipated interview of the year.” This interview mainly discussed Jenner’s decision to come out as transgender. However, Jenner also came out in another way, his political views. In the interview Jenner revealed he is a proud conservative and republican. This made political headlines: an Olympian transgender reality star as a republican? Not something you hear everyday. The author of the article on CNN discussing the news used credible sources and background information to give the full story on Jenner. Firstly, there were direct quotes from the interview. There were also quotes from a statement made by the National Executive Director of Log Cabin Republicans, Gregory T. Angelo, which said he “congratulates Bruce Jenner in the tremendous courage he demonstrated tonight being true to himself both in terms of his personal identity as well as his political identity.” This shows the author went out of their way to find more credible information relating to the direct topic. This quote also helps the author prove that the Republican Party is somewhat excepting of Jenner’s reveal. Also, background information is given. Examples of other open liberal Hollywood celebrities are given like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bruce Willis and Heather Locklear. Also background information about Jenner, stating he was an Olympian however then entered the world of reality television. The author also gives background about the interview itself. The proper context is set up before the main point, discussing how the political discussion came up and exactly what Jenner said. Both credible sources and background information gave this article a great flow and conveyed its point perfectly.

Link

TOW #26- Volkswagen Ad (Visual)

 Volkswagen, a popular car company, effectively achieved its purpose of advertising its new precision parking feature in its new advertisement through the use of humor and analogy. The advertisement depicts a single porcupine surrounded by goldfish in plastic bags, with the only text being, "Precision Parking. Park Assist by Volkswagen." By using these animals, the advertisement has a very lighthearted and humorous nature that helps Volkswagen appeal to its audience of drivers of any age. The analogy of a porcupine to the viewer's car and the bags of goldfish to surrounding cars goes hand-in-hand with this humorous nature because although its use of animals is funny, its analogy is very real: parallel parking a car can be as dangerous as trying to fit a porcupine between delicate bags full of goldfish.

     This text also plays a role as an enthymeme: it conveys an argument as its purpose is to persuade viewers to buy Volkswagen cars with the new Park Assist feature. The major premise states that a porcupine has to be carefully "parked" between bags of goldfish while the minor premise states that Volkswagen's Park Assist can park cars between other cars as carefully as the porcupine is parked between the goldfish. By using this analogy, Volkswagen can easily get its point across about its Park Assist feature without being as dull and overdone as other car advertisements.

TOW #25- Pros and Cons of Body Cameras For Police

TOW #25

            In the past few months police brutality conflicts have hit an all time high. The backlash for shootings and other beatings has been excessively intense. But what stance does the famous source of The Onion take on things? The article The Pros and Cons of Body Cameras For Police does it exactly what it says, weighs the pros and cons of body cameras on police men. The use of humor and sarcasm are the main ways the author gets across their purpose. The humor aspect takes some of the intensity out of this heavily debated subject. For example, one of the listed pros is “more things to watch.” This seems so obvious that it becomes humorous. Another example is a con, which is “Distracting to officers who must now shift focus to cinematography and miss en scene.” These help get across the fact that the article is not being serious and the person they are trying to make seem wrote this is not educated. Another example is under cons, “Police brutality might lose its mystique.” Showing there is no real harm in seeing everything. The other device the author uses is sarcasm. Almost every bullet point is sarcastic. For example listed under cons is “Is still only going to be the irrefutable video evidence’s word against the police officer’s”. This is the author mainly saying that these cameras are not necessary because there is already irrefutable video evidence but people trust the police officers over the video evidence. These two strategies make for a hilarious take on police brutality that I surprisingly enjoyed reading.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/the-pros-and-cons-of-body-cameras-for-police,38405/

TOW #24- Me Talk Pretty One Day IRB

TOW #24

            This week I concluded reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. This book is a collection of short stories. Before I began reading it, the concept of having a book with a bunch of short stories made me skeptical of how well the book would naturally flow. However, I now know that not only was this book a smooth read, but also very enjoyable.

            The book has a lot of comedic relief, which is much needed when discussing the serious topics covered. The anecdotes allowed for Sedaris to touch on and explore these issues in an appropriate and meaningful way.  Even though it was a collection of short stories, each anecdote was long enough to focus just enough on these topics. Because he writes about his life in bits and pieces, Sedaris effectively gives the reader space to think about the various things that have affected his life.

            Usually, it is intimidating to begin a book, starting from page one. However, the way Sedaris splits Me Talk Pretty One Day into manageable chunks makes it far less imposing. Also, they are in chronological order posing large and small events in his life. The short stories reveal that the author knows he isn’t too important or arrogant, thus making it much more enjoyable.

            Before beginning Me Talk Pretty One Day, my idea of anecdotes were a small part of a larger whole. They were just a small contribution to a greater meaning or purpose. Now, however, I know that they can be used effectively and entertainingly as an entire story.