Last but not least

With college coming to close and our desks soon to be empty, I look back on all the things i learned and how much they will help me in the future. In this class I learned how to be more productive with my time and how to plan things out. He also gave us different ways to do things and ideas to get our minds going on our research papers. With my professors syllabus, i was able to complete work on time and not stress and wait till the last minute.

My syllabus did not tell me when a whole assignment was due, it split things up so it made it easier on us and to help us learn how we should be doing this on our own. I was amazed at the end of my research paper how well it was written and now just lazy work. You feel a sense of accomplishment and that your work is worth reading. I wish all syllabuses were like this, and if they are not i will split up my assignments and make my own syllabus.

On free-dictionary.com it states that a syllabus is "an outline or summary of the main points of text, lecture, or course of study." This definition is true for my syllabus but my professor also took it to another level by helping us along like a tutor or elementary teacher would. Even though it is not the teachers job to be this helpful to college students he did it anyways.

The research paper helped me the most in what I should be doing before it is due and that its not as easy as it looks but it can be if you start on time.

Other things that also helped me in this class that I will take me for the rest of my life are:

-Planning ahead

-Do things on your own

-Don't cut corners

-Don't be afraid to ask help because that is what the teacher is there for

-Be productive with your time

-Come to class

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The process

When getting assigned to do a paper, your first thought is where do I start and how. There are many ways that you can go about writing a paper, I chose a simple chart online that I thought was simple and easy to follow. I also wanted to add in a few extra steps in this chart as I go along to make your paper better.

First step is to analyze the question. This step means that you have to look deeper at what you will be writing about and researching. In this step you will answer the questions that need to be answered and also formulate a thesis for your paper.

Second step is research. You need to get as much sources as possible because the more the better. Databases online are very helpful for sources and carry lots of information. Library books can be helpful but also overwhelming because you have to read most of the book to get your information. When getting your sources, you need to write down all the information needed for your works cited so you don't have to go back later and get it.

Your third step is to plan, in this step you will make an annotated bibliography and an outline for your paper. An annotated bibliography is a list of your sources formated correctly then given a brief summary of each one. Then you will create an outline for your paper that will help you write the rough draft. In this outline you will have support, counter arguments, and much more.

In the fourth step you will write your rough draft. This rough draft does not have to be perfect and can have some errors because it is a draft. You will include many sources and even your own knowledge.

The fifth step is edit where you will use your peers to help you revise your draft. They will read and edit your rough draft from where you missed some errors. This step is very important because you may think a sentence sounds right but it really does not to someone else.

Then the sixth step that is not in the chart is final draft. This is where you take all the corrections you got from your peers and edit your paper to make a final draft.

After all steps are complete, you have a research paper.

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True or False?

In class this week we have been discussing Logical Fallacies. Logical Fallacies are simply an error in reasoning. Instead of trying to remember all the names for these fallacies you can simply just remember them as: unfair, wrong, irrelevant material, no support. There are many types of theses fallacies for example:

• Begging the question-claim is simply restated
• Red Herring-provides irrelevant and misleading support
• Non Sequitur-conclusion does not follow evidence
• Stacked evidence-evidence to only support one side of an issue

These are just f few examples to get a feel for what are fallacies. Now to better understand how these work and how to diagnose which ones are being used we watched a video on Old Spice with Bruce Campbell.

In this commercial it started off by saying stuff if you don't need "it" then you don't have "it" . During this commercial you don't really know what he is talking about. At first money came to my mind, then sex for some reason by the way he was talking. Then at the eld it shows an Old Spice logo to show they were talking about deodorant the whole time.

We examined this commercial in class and came up with the idea that a few fallacies were used like, Begging the Question when all he was talking about was "it". Then Red Herring because you have no idea what he is talking about but you come up with your own interpretation of what it is. Also Either-Or was used because if you don not wear Old Spice then you don not have "it".

Most things that you see on Television, read, and hear are logical fallacies. Even though you may not know it, if it is an argument then it has one of these fallacies in it. Most authors do not even know they are using them in their work until someone brings it up.

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Perspective on Argument Book p.260-263

In class we discussed Logos, which means persuading by the use of reasoning. Reasoning meaning that its fact but also common sense in a way that everyone knows these already. In your paper you would use this technique on an audience to persuade them in your paper. Logos is Greek for word and refers to the consistency of the message you are trying to give. The clarity, logic, and how effective its evidence is very important. You can use two different kinds of logic, inductive and deductive. Inductive logic is telling the reader similar examples and then having a general plan from them. Or you can use deductive which is giving the audience a couple general plan and then drawing a truth.

On Persuasive-Essay.com, it has an example of putting condom machines on campus. He also uses a logical form of persuasive essays that works well on his topic. The author gives many reasons for this like:

1. There are children each year that the parents do not want or are left to fend for themselves.

2. Condoms make sex safer

3. The amount of people getting a STD are increasing

I could not read the rest of the example with out signing up for a subscription and would of liked to read more about it. This author used logos to persuade his audience by using reasoning. His reasonings are illustrated above and make me even want to put a machine on our campus. This example makes you think about this issue and does not make you feel offended or attacked by the author. In many of my papers in high school was in this format and i did not even realize it. Now that I know the different forms of persuasive essays, I can use different ones to see which one is more effective.

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Fatal

When reading chapter 12 for this week it was all about your research paper. It talked about formating your sources, bibliography, and expanding your ideas. So for my blog I wanted to take a recent event that happened in the news and see if I could format into a research topic.

I live in Chesapeake, VA and just last month two young men were killed in a dirt bike accident. When I first heard this news I immediately thought it was false. The two boys were riding back bye there house around seven and collided with one another coming around the corner. Neither of the boys were wearing helmets and it was dark outside. Brandon died at the scene where KC died at the hospital the next day. I ride motocross and hearing about someone get hurt due to stupidity just makes me even more sad. I'm sure if they were both wearing helmets they would still be here today.

I wanted to use Burke's Pentad to establish cause for this article. In this, he uses a series of five questions to figure out possible reasons for why this happened.

1. Act: What was done? What took place in thought or deed?- Two boys were riding with no helmets at night and it caused them to lose there lives.

2. Scene: When or where was it done? What is the background or scene in which it occurred?- It occurred January 28, 2010 on a back road in Chesapeake, Virginia.

3. Agent: Who did it? What person or kind of person performed the act?- Both of the boys did the act of riding the dirt bikes.

4. Agency: How was it done? What means or instruments were used?- It was done by the two riders not communicating and having a head on collision. The instrument that was used was a dirt bike and not having a helmet on contributed to it.

5. Purpose: Why did it happen? What was the main motivation?- It happened because they were riding when they were not supposed to be riding and did not have the right gear on to protect themselves.

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School Rules

In class a newspaper article was brought up about how a Great Bridge High School teacher showed a class Macbeth without parent permission. A student named Morgan, did not like seeing the nudity or graphic images in the movie. She felt uncomfortable because the other students in the class were making noising during the nudity scene. Morgan had a problem with the movie from the beginning because she learned about Polanski, the director of Macbeth, in theater class. Director Polanski was arrested for a rape case from a long time ago with a 13 year old in 1977. She then went home and told her father what had happened in school, the father was not happy. He then called the school because he wanted the teacher to have consequences for his actions.

When reading this article i was shocked because this was my high school i graduated from and knew the teacher who showed it because he showed it to us too. We handled it maturely and did not care about having parent permission because we were getting out of work. I am surprised that he got caught with this and has consequences for his actions.

This week we have read about the Toulmin Model and what it is composed of. First, the claim is a thesis, proposition, or a conclusion. Subclaims are the reasons, main ideas, and arguments. The support is evidence, opinions, and data. And the warrants are assumptions, general principals, and widely held values. We use these to explain and understand an article.

In this article the Claim is teacher shows a video to senior students that are mature enough but the dad does not agree. The support would be: 1. They are seniors 2. They have the access to worse things 3. Almost 18. The Warrants in this article would be the teacher assuming the students are mature enough to handle a movie like this.

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Our reading this week on chapter 9 was very interesting on how visual arguments work. Most arguments come from an image and then the words are formed to tell that argument. As mentioned in Perspective on Argument, it says that to discover an issue you must ask if this issue has been solved. After asking yourself that, if the answer is no than you have an argument. Every issue has two sides to chose, both of them might be ride and a compromise may be needed.

In the picture to the right, its says "No illegals, No Burritos (You better think twice America)." When seeing this poster I had to think to myself and research if this issue has been solved, turns out it has not. This brings up the argument of keeping illegal immigrants or not allowing them in the country. When we think of both sides, they have their negatives and positives as follows:

If we keep the illegal immigrants then we can also get the culture that comes with them. It is amazing how much illegal immigrant bring to this country even though they are not welcomed. Most of our food is not even ours. America is like one big happy family in a sense of all the different cultures. I feel that if we got rid of them then they will be hostile and even start some sort of battle.

If we get rid of all the illegal immigrants then many jobs will be without workers and the culture will be gone. The workers will not be able to support their family back in Mexico where the work does not pay. This will make that one big happy family go away and that other culture is not present.

Mentioned in US IMMIGRATION SUPPORT, they talk about the main reasons are for mexican illegal immigrants coming to America. The people in Mexico notice how nice America is and how easy it is to get in. Many of them just come to America to get a job because it is better pay than in Mexico.

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