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This reading was a critical reading guide. It broke down the main parts of a paper and listed things to look for when doing a peer review. First, you should exam the problem and make sure it is well defined. You want to tell the writer what you understand the problem to be and make sure that is the problem they were trying to convey. Next, assess how well the solution is being argued. You should present the author with tips for strengthening the argument. After this, consider how effectively the counterargument is being addressed and come up with several other possible solutions for the author to consider. Finally, you want to asses how readable the proposal is.

I found this section to be of my benefit. I believe most people, myself included, do not take peer reviews seriously based on the sole fact that we don’t really know what to look for besides grammatical errors. This section was very beneficial because it listed everything you should look for step by step and showed how you can help your peer strengthen their paper. After reading this I believe I will be a better peer review because I know exactly what to look for in a paper.

This section was titled “Speculating About Causes.” A good clause is plausible, or is both believable and persuasive. The clause should then be represented in the thesis. In other words, a good thesis statement in an essay speculating about causes makes clear exactly what causes are being proposed. Causal arguments should be sufficient and necessary as well as being a perpetuating clause.

I have never been presented with this information, though I do believe most of what was stated in this section was common sense. You don’t want to use a clause if it is not effective and doesn’t serve a purpose. A well written paper will include several strong clauses as well as an effective thesis. In my writings, I first start off with my clauses and then use them to create a thesis.

This reading dealt with the starting points of proposing a solution. The first step is to chose a problem to write about. You want to chose a problem that interests you and then do some further exploring on the subject. The next step is to define the problem. You want to focus into your audience and refine the purpose of the paper. Following this, a plausible solution needs to be proposed. After stating the solution, think of possible alternate solutions. These ideas will turn into an effective counterargument. Lastly, you want to make sure your paper has a readable plan. This consists of a strong thesis and an outline.

I found this section to be helpful. I often struggle with coming up with an effective counterargument and I felt this section really helped me narrow down my choices and ultimately pick the best one. I was able to do so after jotting down several points for each argument. I then chose the argument that included the most valid and strong points.

This section dealt with using sources. The main focuses of the reading was quotations. When you fail to properly acknowledge sources it is considered plagiarism. You should use quotations when the wording is vivid and memorable, when the words are from respected authorities, or when an authors beliefs challenge those of experts. You can use italics to stress a point and when you omit words from a phrase ellipsis marks should be used. There are several different ways you can introduce a quotation. A colon can be used when there is an independent clause before the quotation. A comma usually follows an introduction that incorporates the quotation in its sentence structure. Finally, when using the word “that,” no punctuation is needed.

I found this reading to be rather helpful. For me it was much of a refresher from prior writing classes. I always fear I may unknowingly plagiarize so after reading this I feel more confident in my writing. The section of the reading dealing with brackets was new information to me. I have always seen the brackets used in magazines but never knew exactly their purpose. Now I will be able to conform any quotes I use to be grammatically correct.

I believe their is a lot to be learned from this essay. It starts off with the quote “The light bulb may appear over your head, but it may be a while before it actually goes on.” Throughout this reading Conroy gives many in depth past experiences that go to support this quote. The first experience was when he was just a young boy working at a hot dog stand. In his free time he would go visit these two black men who shined shoes for a living. He took note on how they never looked at anything that was in their immediate vicinity leading him to believe they could see though walls. The young lad soon left for a better job and played jazz with various black musicians. Not until then did he realize why they men always stared off. He found that the did this because they were trying to get themselves through life in the dumps, they were fantasizing a better realm. It took ten years for the “light bulb” to turn on and for him to realize this. A similar story is told dealing with music notes. The final, more complex story in the writing dealt with judges and a court case. Through all of his life experiences, he learned that education doesn’t end until life ends because you never know when you’re going to understand something you hadn’t understood before.

I throughly enjoyed this essay. I found it to be very inspirational and shared a point that I myself had never thought of before. We as humans are impatient and want everything in an instance. This essay shows us with education, it takes a great length of time to fully understand things sometimes. Whether you think you fully understand something at first or not, there’s always more to be learned about it.

This assigned reading was broken into two different sections, “Revising” and then “Editing and Proofreading.” The first section shared different ways of how to improve your draft. You should first start by reviewing comments and critiques from fellow classmates or your writing instructor. Then you should make an outline of your paper in order to help you see all the major points you covered. This section also presented us with a chart that listed potential problems a reader may run into with your essay. It then listed several different approaches to solving these problems. The following section reviewed common grammatical errors that students often make. It went over the proper usage of commas with conjunctions as well as the correct punctuation when it comes to conjunctive adverbs.

The part I found the most beneficiary was the problem and solution chart. After submitting my essay to the Writing Center, I received much feedback on my essay. My trouble spot in my essay was my counterargument. Using the chart I found the section referring to my specific problem and took the listed suggestions into consideration when I began to revise my paper. I also found the second section to be very helpful as well. I often overuse commas and by the book giving specific examples of when and when not to use commas I feel much more comfortable with the topic.

This reading consisted of a passage titled “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser. The essay was about the technological benefits dealing with the use of the internet and the effects it has on the teenagers in society today. While most parent’s and adults view the internet as a villian, Goldwasser views it as a rather superhero. Students and teens today voluntary write for fun whether it be on a blog or on their friends Facebook wall. A statistic in the passage stated that a teen spends an average of 16.7 hours a week reading and writing online. Goldwasser believes that through this, teenagers of todays generation have the potential to become the next greatest voices of America.

I thought this essay held a very valid point, though I believe her writing style was extremely difficult, making her writing hard to read and follow. At first I had difficulty telling which side of the argument she was on. However, I agree that the internet poses extreme benefits for all generations of todays society. I personally believe that through the internet, it is much easier to educate oneself.  The easy access to information allows students to be stronger writers due to the fact they are able to easily educate themselves on any given topic. I believe those of the older generation have such a negative view on the internet due to the fact that some do not even know how to work a computer. This frustrates them and the automatically assume the worst. I believe if they take the time, they will be able to see the benefits that computers are capable of.

This section of our assigned reading was focused on evaluating sources. It is always important to question your sources whether it be in print or online. Just because something is in print, does not always mean it’s reliable; same goes for internet sources. When evaluating a source you want to check its relevance and the reliability. Ask yourself, does the source’s title address your topic specifically? When was it published? Does the work contain headings? Who is the publisher? Does the work include a bibliography of the works cited? These questions will help to narrow down on whether the source should be used or not. Beyond this, you also want to evaluate a sources arguments. Avoid those that are overly emotional and seem biased; when doing your research you need to evaluate all sides of the issue you’re looking at. The finally checklist this section provides will ultimately reveal if a source should be used or not. CARS is the acronym for checklist (Credible, Accurate, Reasonable, and Supported). You want to make sure the source you found meets all of the above criteria.

I found this reading to be very helpful. Throughout high school and even grade school, “Wikipedia” has been my best friend. What’s scary about that is how anyone can edit the information posted on any given subject. This section really helped me to look for not only more reliable sources but more credible sources as well. I believe through having read this I will be able to find more accurate information for my upcoming paper and furthermore be able to write a stronger paper.

“Working at McDonald’s” presented a vary interesting argument. In this writing, working a part-time job while in high school was highly criticized. It talked about how the skills needed in part-time jobs have changed drastically over the years as well as the jobs themselves. Etzioni even goes as far to say “These are breeding grounds for robots working for yesterday’s assembly lines, not tomorrow’s high-tech posts.” He even includes a rather intriguing study that found that “students who worked at least 25 hours per week while in school, their unemployment rate four years later was half of the seniors who did work.” It was stated that those who start off in these chain jobs, such as fast food restaurants, often get “gobbled up” in the world of low-class jobs. A final point made in the essay was that students often use their money in frivolous ways to gain a high status. In order to maintain this ranking, they chose work over school so they can afford their life style; eventually the student drops out completely. With out having an education, the student will never be able to gain a full-time, well paying job. This all because they held a part-time job in high school.

This essay brought up a point that I myself have never thought of before. I’ve worked multiple part-time jobs since my freshman year of high school and have continued to hold a job through my time in college thus far. I disagree with the author in his theory that the part-time jobs of today turn students into robots and that the skills gained from them have completely changed over time. Holding a job throughout high school has strengthened my time management skills and allowed me to be able to live more independently; being that I’m not always relying on my parents for money. It has also allowed me to pay for my college tuition. While not everyone is the same, I know a lot of students who work to pay for their education and I know there’s also kids out there who work to pay for their wild lifestyle. Overall, I disagree with the major points Etzioni made in his writing and I believe no matter the job, working while in school teaches you not only responsibility but time and money management skills as well.

For this reading assignment we were to read four different segments, three dealing with plagiarism and the last dealing with the quality homework and different learning techniques. The article called “Quality Homework- A Smart Idea” by Jessica Walsh of the New York Times included some particularly interesting studies. It brought up how now days, the quantity of homework students receive causes a noticeable decrease in the quality of the work. Researchers have found that “spaced repetition” positively impacts a students learning. Spaced repetition is repeatedly exposing students to the same information thus causing a more permanent embedment of the information in their minds. Another learning technique was referred to as “retrieval practice.” An example of this is frequent quizzes. By recalling the same information from your brain over and over, the more likely it is that you’ll remember it. The final learning technique found in the article used what was called “desirable difficulties” to help students learn. The theory behind this technique is to make students work hard to understand information. By a student working harder to grasp concepts, the more likely are the chances of them remembering it. This is because the extra effort signals the brain of the worthiness of the information being presented.

I found this article to be extremely intriguing. I agree completely with all of the learning techniques presented. In high school a lot of my teachers used the spaced repetition and retrieval practice techniques. These techniques are very similar in which repetitiveness plays a major role. Personally, the more I am exposed to the same subject the more likely I am to recall it and actually understand it. For example, in my pre-calculus class we had quizzes every few days. Having to constantly recall information from previous days helped me to fully understand and comprehend the subject matter we were presented with.

This assigned reading was broken into two different sections, “Revising” and then “Editing and Proofreading.” The first section shared different ways of how to improve your draft. You should first start by reviewing comments and critiques from fellow classmates or your writing instructor. Then you should make an outline of your paper in order to help you see all the major points you covered. This section also presented us with a chart that listed potential problems a reader may run into with your essay. It then listed several different approaches to solving these problems. The following section reviewed common grammatical errors that students often make. It went over the proper usage of commas with conjunctions as well as the correct punctuation when it comes to conjunctive adverbs.

The part I found the most beneficiary was the problem and solution chart. After submitting my essay to the Writing Center, I received much feedback on my essay. My trouble spot in my essay was my counterargument. Using the chart I found the section referring to my specific problem and took the listed suggestions into consideration when I began to revise my paper. I also found the second section to be very helpful as well. I often overuse commas and by the book giving specific examples of when and when not to use commas I feel much more comfortable with the topic.

This reading was broken into four different sections; “Choosing an Issue to Write About,” “Ways In: Bringing the Issue and Your Audience into Focus,” “Testing Your Choice,” and “Formulating a Tentative Thesis Statement.” In the first section we learned about the criteria an argumentative issue should meet. It most be a controversial issue, arguable, one of which you already have a little bit of background knowledge on, one that’s researchable and finally and most importantly, one that you care about. It goes on to list an array of different topic choices and provided information on how to research your chosen topic. The second section of the reading helps you explore your topic even further. It teaches you how to identify your readers and the positions they may take on the given topic. It also restates the importance of framing. By framing your issue, you are able to more directly reach your reader. The next section is about testing your topic choice. If you do not know enough or do not have enough time to research your topic, then you may want to consider changing your topic to something that you are more knowledgable about. In order to have a powerful paper, you must also feel strongly about your topic as well as feel a personal need to reach a deeper understanding of the issue. The final section in the reading was all about formulating a thesis. A thesis is important because it tells your readers simply and  directly what you want them to think of your issue and why. A thesis needs to be clear and concise in order to reach your readers.

For the most part I felt like this reading was a recap from our first reading assignment. I did however, find the first and third sections to be extremely helpful to me. I felt the topic I chose for my diagnostic essay was not a strong enough issue to write my first essay over. These sections reassured me that my chose for a topic change was for the better. My second topic, if laptops cause more harm than good in school, was able to meet all the criteria for a argumentative issue topic. In the “Testing Your Choice” section, I was also able to answer all the questions testing my new topic. Not only did I know the basic background information on the issue, but I felt strongly about the issue as well.

The first part of our assigned reading from St. Martin’s Guide to Writing talked a lot about all the different scenarios where arguing a position comes into play in the real world. It showed you that learning how to argue a position can and will benefit you outside our GSW 1110 class. In the same section it also talked about how most people associate arguing with quarreling but in reality when debating a controversial topic, it should lead you to reflection on your own position rather than a verbal altercation. In the next reading from St. Martin’s Guide to Writing a sample essay was presented to us. The essay was a prime example of what are first essay should sound like. She presented a issue, supported her position, had an effective counter argument and  introduced a plan. The next part of the reading included a second example essay. This particular essay helped you to see not only the purpose of a position essay, but also acknowledged the need to speak to a general audience. It also let you see how something as minor as the title or sub-stories throughout an essay can really make an impact on your writing. The next portion of the reading broke down the essays into several parts: a well-supported position, an effective counterargument, and a readable plan. These three parts are key to a satisfactory essay. The last part of our assigned reading was from A Writer’s Resource. This text really made me brainstorm about my upcoming essay. Some of the incite I took from it was to really know your issue and to try out different perspectives in order to see where you really stand at on your issue. This reading also included a section about coming up with a debatable thesis. It stated a good thesis excludes personal feelings and accepted facts.

I found all of the readings to be more helpful than I had imagined they would be. I’m a visual learner so seeing the example essays of a position paper really helped me out. It helped me to start to mentally structure my paper. I also thought it was neat how in the first text it applied what we are learning about in class to the real world. It made me feel like writing this paper was not going to be a pointless task but would really benefit me in the future. I really enjoyed the text from A Writer’s Resource as well. For me, I took it as the baby steps to starting my paper. The part I found to be the most helpful was the section about developing a thesis. I tend to struggle with creating a thesis and that section seemed to clear things up for me a bit. Again, the fact that there was a sample thesis presented really helped me see what a strong thesis should look like.