Chapter 1: Understanding Genres, P. 4-16
The majority of my writings have been created for the purpose of academic assignments including research papers, essays, journaling with specific themes, book reports, etc. These different types of writings that I have done have contained similar aspects/features such as the teacher giving me a concept for me to write about. These different types of writings have also been very structured, each with their own formula on how to successfully complete that type of writing. These writings also have been to report on facts whether it is a research paper on an organ system in the body or journaling on different events that took place in American history. I have also completed a few writing pieces on my own that were not for an academic purpose, but was written for pure enjoyment. Although these writing pieces were rare they were a lot of fun to do because I could use nothing but the flow of my imagination to come up with short stories on my own time. These short stories that I did were full of vivid detail, were completely fictional, and the subject matter was my choice. Both the writings for academics and leisure were styled very differently and both helped me become a better writer in different ways. As a student
on blood and the different components within blood. My audience is my professor and the TAs, and the purpose was to show in a short summary how I have learned and understood the lecture he gave, as well as show my ability to translate all of the information given to me into a brief summary. I have also written this essay, and the audience would be my class as well as my professor. The purpose of this essay would be to express my knowledge from the reading in the first chapter of The Bedford Book of Genres, once completing the reading. I have only written a couple genres today; an information and summary essay about an article written.
Plagiarism: Reading Response
9/1/15
Plagiarism is the action of taking another person’s work, and using it is as your own. Plagiarism to me is truly an awful thing to do, because not only did the person not have the willingness and drive to do the assignment, but they also didn’t have enough respect for their own abilities to believe that they could do it. I have always been told that the result of plagiarism would be failing the assignment and academic probation. This punishment is suitable for the crime because it is the equivalent of stealing, and thus should be treated with the same severity. I always try to avoid plagiarism by writing every essay and paper in my own words and using my own voice, because nobody else can use that unless I was cloned! I am sometimes concerned that I will accidently forget to cite a source, or write words that are similar to another piece of writing on accident without intentions. Although I try to protect against this by triple-checking all of my work to make sure I gave my best effort to avoid these problems.
I have no concerns regarding plagiarism. I understood what the reading for the Mcgraw Handbook was trying to get across. I believe that the reading is a necessary thing to be assigned to the ENC2135 classes because although to some it may seem tedious, many people don’t know the difference between quoting appropriately and plagiarism. I am not completely comfortable writing in MLA format however, I have no questions, I just need more practice and then I am sure I will feel much more comfortable.
Extra Credit:
Analyzing a Sample Paper 9/2/15
I really enjoyed reading “New York State of Mind” by Nicole Tripodis. This essay/project really got across that New York City is her passion and her life dream. The genres she used to express this passionate love included television, more specifically Gossip Girl, Google maps, in my opinion was an odd but bold choice to use as a genre, her bedroom decorations, and Instagram. These different genres all interconnected within her life portraye the story of her passion for New York City and everything in it.
Each of the different genres that the writer discusses are very different from each other, but all manage to be linked together and fuel her adoration and enthusiasm for the big apple. Watching Gossip girl and instagram seems like a more common and fitting genre for someone of her age, while strolling through the streets of New York through Google Maps wouldn’t be someone’s first thought as a genre that a teenager would use. Watching Gossip Girl and decorating her room also take on a more a creative and dreamy approach, while Google maps and Instagram would be more informative so that she can be well off once she gets to her dream city. The different conventions are portrayed through photographs and different types of font, which easily determined that it is a different genre. In regarding to the different genres, I would have taken this essay further to include the photos of the her beautifully detailed description of her room and the images on the show, because although she was extremely detailed when discussing these genres, their full effect doesn’t reach unless the audience is seeing these images as well. One example where this would have worked, would have been when Nicole was talking about all the different photographs of New York all around her room, reading about these images is one thing but seeing them is another.
I really did enjoy this essay, and my favorite part would have had to been the descriptions of the images of Audrey Hepburn. In my opinion this was a seamless introduction and tied all her different genres together well including the fashion on Instagram, the city’s architecture on google images and in her own bedroom, and the lifestyle of living in New York that is found in Gossip Girl.
Reading Response: Author/Artist Statements
9/13/15
Many different forms will use either an author or artist statement. These statements are very useful in describing to the audience what the intentions were for doing something, why they did it the way they did, and how they managed to do it. Some forms that would use these statements would be photography and other two-dimensional pieces of art, pottery exhibitions, poetry, novels, plays, and short stories. All of these different types of genres can utilize the author/artist statement in order to explain to the interested audience why and how their final piece came out the way it did.
Although many genres can use an author/artist statement, some cannot. Graphic Designs and Logos cant really have artist statement because the image itself is meant to tell the audience all that they need to know without explanation. Although some genres don’t need them, author and artist statements can be helpful for getting a specific message to the audience.
Questions on Analyzing Kipp’s Artist Statement:
2. The audience for Kipp’s piece would extend past his instructor. Anyone who has a deep interest in art and psychology would be interested to learn more about why he created the piece “Thank You,” and what the reasons are behind the choices he made. Those who appreciate art, psychology, or both would be interested because it goes into great depth on the background knowledge of positive psychology and how he translated those ideas into a piece of art.
3. Although Kipp does already use Ethos within his artist statement by discussing his research in positive psychology, he does establish ethos again later on in the statement. Kipp establishes ethos when he discusses his background, even if it is limited, in drawing and painting. This helps establish his credibility in the field of two-dimensional art, and explain why he would select this genre in conveying gratitude.
5. Including visuals in Kipp’s artist statement would enhance his work because it would allow the readers to really understand his train of thought as he explains why he chose the different aspects that went into this painting. As an example, if Kipp were explaining why he chose the array of colors that he did, he can show an image of those colors compared to other colors, or no colors at all in order to help the audience see what he sees when creating the collage.
6. As we look at the piece and read the artist statement, the audience begins to get a better idea of what Kipp’s personal motivation is for this piece. Kipp created this piece because he wanted to promote the idea of gratitude, and how it is how we perceive the world that determines what we are grateful for. This motivation must be driven by the fact that he believes most people do not understand that their own happiness and gratefulness is actually in their control, and that he wants to share with the world this concept that he must believe in a lot.
9. The artist statement that Kipp creates would be strengthened by different subheadings because it would allow for the essay to be more easily read and navigated. An artist statement for collage or another piece of artwork would be hung next to piece in a gallery, this does not allow the audience the luxury to sit down and read the essay. Therefore separating the essay to subsections would allow the audience to choose the sections they are most interested in without having to read through everything.
10. The research in the artist statement serves several purposes. One purpose is to serve as ethos and make the artist statement more credible and trust worthy. Another purpose is discuss what motivated him and touched him so much as to make this collage. This research in a sense is his muse to create this piece.
Questions on Analyzing Kipp’s Artist Statement:
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Over the past 24 hours, I have eaten a ham and cheese sandwich for dinner, a peanut and jelly sandwich for breakfast, and a Chick fil a sandwich for lunch today. All of those foods were processed foods. I ate a lot of sandwiches, but normally my diet isn’t like this, it was just a weird 24 hours. My diet for this past 24 hours was definitely not balanced, but Id like to think that this day was not representative of my normal diet. Although my normal diet is a lot more balanced than this seemingly “Sandwich Day,” there a few aspects that seem to be lacking on a day-to-day basis. In my diet, I really should take the time to eat more fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are important for any person’s diet, but are very expensive to try and squeeze into a college student’s diet. I do my best, but perhaps its time to try harder because in the fruits and vegetables department I always come up short.
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The documentary that I chose that would be very beneficial in my research is called Susan Cain: The Power of Introverts Ted Talks. It was created on March 11, 2012. This documentary was created by Ted Talks which is an organization that sponsors scientific lectures from experts within many different fields. This documentary points out the important qualities of introverts and why they are needed, just as extroverts are needed in any situation. The reason that this documentary was created was because many introverts are discriminated against in our society, and Susan Cain wanted to point out that these people are just as important in different ways. It was received in high praise, as many introverts felt understood and reassured that they were just the “weird ones” of the bunch because they didn’t want to socialize all the time or they have difficulty making friends. This documentary really helps me for research for my paper, because it helps give me more information on how introverts are overlooked and why they should be respected despite the individual difference. Our society really does over-estimate those that choose to remain silent, introverts.
Working with Documentaries: Food for Thought
10/6/15
A speech is unlike any other genre that we have taken a look at. When people make a speech, they are trying to articulate their ideas into a message to their audience, which is delivered very straight forward. Speeches are very often informational as a genre, and deliver the information through stories, facts, and personal experiences. This genre differs from those that we have studied such as comedy or a documentary, because it doesn’t rely on satire or poking fun at issues, but brings them up in a variety of ways and not just spitting facts at the audience.
Many times educational purposes are what dictates using a speech over a different genre. A professor will give a speech to his students on the functions of the human heart by going through the facts he has learned in his career, or an author such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sharing her experiences to educate her audience that one story is limiting and isn’t accurate. Not all situations would allow for a Speech to be appropriate. Although many speeches may debunk different theories, that is not all it can do. Speeches cant just argue against something, there needs to be support for something else. In terms of Adichie’s The Danger of a Single Story, it would be one thing if Adichie just argued that you cant trust a single story, but she also provided reasons and support for getting more sides of a story, she gave evidence to the other side. This is important because speeches need to have a message, and doesn’t just act an argument for something.
Speeches are more impactful when they become personal. Adichie’s speech was exactly this. She included stories from her childhood and college years, all of which showed her that the power of a single story will have on someone and their image of anything. Her personal style was very personal as she brought to light many experiences that we all share in stereotyping and a single story, through her own experiences that many of us can relate to in different ways.
The speech I researched for my Research Paper is called Confessions of a passionate introvert: Brian Little at Ted x Oxbridge. This speech was very good and I enjoyed it a lot. This speech is very distinct because it is funny, despite the fact that it isn’t a comedy. Brian Little is an introvert himself, and throughout his speech he pokes a little fun at himself and extraverts, while also using his own personal experiences of what it is like to live life as an extreme introvert. I believe this speech was very powerful, as an introvert myself, because he was so relatable through his stories and he really portrayed the feelings and emotions associated with being an introvert in different situations. This speech was very informational as well, and has taught me about different aspects of being and introvert versus being an extrovert, including the concept of becoming a pseudo-extravert for certain situations. This speech was very well done and will help me a lot in writing a research paper.
The Danger of a Single Story: Working with Speeches -
10/13/15
Two Sources and Their Tweets-
10/19/15
Source 1:
Geen, Russell G. "Preferred Stimulation Levels in Introverts and Extroverts: Effects on Arousal and Performance." journal of personality and social psychology 46.6 (1984): 1303-12. Print.
This source is a journal article that describes two experiments done in order to test the arousal levels of introverts and extraverts, whether they excel in situations of high arousal vs. low arousal, and which they would choose, if given the choice. This piece is really interesting because it goes into depth on experiments done about one of the fundamental differences between extraverts and introverts, and shows how the different levels of stimuli have different effects on performance and functionality between the extraverts and introverts. This piece is useful for my research because it helps support the idea that introverts prefer quiet environments with less stimuli, not because they are weird or odd, or that they don’t like people, but its because their “arousability,” or the their arousal level is heightened compared to extraverts. Therefore the reason that introverts hate going to clubs or football games is that their arousal level is raised beyond a comfortable level, and they become over-stimulated. For an extravert going to these high-stimuli events are great because, their arousability doesn’t react as much as that of an introvert, and these events put extraverts right at their optimal level or arousal. Introverts aren’t weird, they are just much more sensitive to stimuli.
Tweet for this source: Which would you prefer: Going to a club? Or reading? Your sensitivity to stimuli will help determine that!
Source 2:
Roach, J. H. L. "An Experimental Study of Suggestibility in Extroverts and Introverts." Journal of Applied
Psychology 25.4 (1941): 458-68. Print.
This source is a journal article that describes an experiment done to test the suggestibility differences between introverts and extraverts. The researchers found that women who were extraverted tended to be more suggestible than the women who were introverted. They also found that suggestibility is inversely correlated with scholarship and scholastic aptitude tests. This is a really interesting article because it shows an experiment published in 1941 that shows one of the many differences about extraverts and introverts. This difference is also quite fascinating because it supports an aspect that introverts have that is considered “more ideal” than the extravert may have. This piece will help to support my argument for my research paper that introverts are underestimated and do in fact have many great qualities that make them successful in life and in our society, if only the majority of our citizens would acknowledge this positive characteristic for introverts, and all the many others.
Tweet for this source: Wow! About 50 years ago researchers found extraverted women to be more suggestible than introverted women!
Tweet for Source #1:
Tweet For source #2