Free Write: me

I am so tired this morning. I have been doing so much school work and of course, trying to have a social life at the same time. My friend's birthday is today. But I'm just glad that the school year is winding down to a close. 18 hours is a lot to take all at once. I just want to stop doing homework and studying for tests and quizzes for a little while. But that's not going to happen for another month. I am taking a maymester here at TCU. So not only do I have to pack up and study, but I have to move to a different location for a month. It is so weird. I don't like this. And I don't even know where I'm going to live for sure. My roommate is graduating and trying to get a job in the area but hasn't had any luck yet. She just started getting serious about looking at all possiblilities last week. It's kind of frustrating that she waited so long to do this. I just want to know if she's staying around so I can live with her or not. I wish she would figure it out. I think I'll be deciding by Friday no matter what.

Unit 3: Texas Gun Bill

Well it’s about that time to choose our topic. Last week our group made the decision that we were going to argue against the bill that would allow students on public university campuses in Texas would carry handguns. Students would have to have their Concealed Handgun License and must be 21 years old. I think that this is a scary proposition. I also find this a little daunting because I would not like to be in a class with a student who receives an F on a test and has a Glock 9 mm in his backpack. I have always believed that one of the scariest situations in college would be someone with a gun on campus who is mowing down students in front of the library. Also, carrying a gun in a backpack would not be too different from the Plaxico Burress case when he was in a New York nightclub and he shot himself in the leg with the pistol that was in his pocket. You just never know when a gun may go off. For our visual argument we are planning on doing a series of signs that would be read as students walk. This message would be conveyed in five or six signs placed in a row that could reach a high amount of people because of the amount of activity that occurs on campus. Also, one argument that could really help us convey our message would be a list of student’s names that have been killed on college campuses. This could also be used in a paragraph form and may be more effective.

In Class: Visuals

When dealing with visual texts, the medium can be very important. My group is doing the project on the Texas college gun ban. I know that pictures of guns send very different messages to different groups of viewers. The atmosphere around a gun can also change someone's point of view drastically. If you have someone holding a hunting rifle in the middle of a field or forest, one might not make a big deal about it unless they love animals. But if you take guns and just put them next to each other in a store, they seem a bit more threatening because there is no context in which to put them. But if this picture were in an NRA magazine, then you know that the picture is going to make the gun seem cool and flashy to those in the U.S. who like them. But if you take a picture of guns and put it next to a picture of college students, you will more than likely think of the recent school shooting that have occurred. The presentation plays a big role in how viewers will be affected by what they see.

In Class:

The book talks about style and structure. By glancing over the information, it's about how you put the information together in your argument to express it in the most effective way. Some of the topics were about sentence structure. When writing a sentence you want to make sure that it doesn't read like a second graders book. It is effective to flip the word order/ sentence structure. If you do that, the sentence should flow more smoothly. You want to make sure that other things are correct to. Punctuation should be correct, because that will make it more effective.
The information will be beneficial to unit 3 because it shows us how we can effectively put together an argument. It will help us decide what style works the best for our topic. This in turn will give us our most effective argument. I'm excited about starting up on unit three with my group. I think that we can do wonderful things with whatever topic we pick.

Unit 3 Jobs

My job title is the Researcher. I am to find the three sources that we will use for our group project. I plan on finding quite a few once we have our topic and media genres decided so that the group can decide on which ones we should use. This is the probably the most important job for the beginning of the project since it is based off of figuring out what the arguments for our topic are. Everyone's job for tomorrow is to generate ideas for our topic so that we can get a good start.
My group members are Shawna, Will, and Rachel.

In Class: Group Work

Alright, so I have been in both good and bad groups. When I've been in a bad group, there's always at least one person who doesn't show up to the group meetings. That person is usually also the person that is completely slacking on the work, making the rest of the group wonder if they have to start divvying up that person's share of the work. And then, in a couple of groups, there is always the person who doesn't like your ideas or your work. You have to convince them that what you have done is correct and will fit in with the rest of the group. I try my hardest to not have to work in groups because it just seems easier to do what needs to be done yourself and get graded on your work alone. It drives me crazy when a teacher says that the entire group will get the same grade. In no way is that fair. It should always rely on if all the group members were actually working on the project.

The ideal group work situation would be one in which everyone was working. The group would also have good communication skills so that everyone is aware of the common goal. When having a group meeting, everyone would show up with all the necessary materials that they have acquired so the time can be spent talking about the topic and putting the materials together that the group believes will work the best for their argument.

Within a group there are many different roles. Everyone needs to do research and find materials for the group to work with. There also needs to be someone who is in charge will set meeting times and make sure everyone knows what work is to be completed and brought to the next group meeting. There also needs to be someone who is willing to take notes and sort the ideas that the group members are coming up with. Then there also needs to be the person that will put the project together in its final form. The group itself needs to be flexible and understand that everyone needs to be putting in time and making sure that the group is successful.

In Class: My Thoughts

As I look over the things that I have written in the past, I realize how much I have learned. My thoughts about what an argument is have expanded. It's no longer something that involves two people, but more of one person with an opinion that want's to make his or her case.
I have enjoyed doing many of the in class writings as they were created just to get my thoughts out of me. I was able to do write about some things because they were fun and what was on my mind, and others were to share my ideas on what we had learned. We talked so much about rhetorical thinking and the ethos, pathos and logos of ideas. I don't usually look for the arguments in papers that don't seem to be opinionated, but then again, everything is opinion. Statistics are even skewed to the person's liking who is writing about them. Now I know how to look more closely at arguments to see what exactly the writer is trying to get across to us and how he is doing it.

My 3 texts

How do these texts fit together?
These texts fit together as they are all in agreement that The Dark Knight is a record breaking movie. They also all think that it is a great movie.

How are they the same?
The are the same as they are all done by film critics of well-known sources (the New York Times and Rotten Tomatoes).

How are they different?
They are different as each discusses different reasons for why The Dark Knight is such a hit in the box office. One writer goes very in depth about the movie while another barely give supporting reasons to why it was good. One article just uses the current record numbers to have The Dark Knight prove itself.

Unspoken Values and Assumptions:
It is thought that because the writers write for the New York Times and Rotten Tomatoes, that they are reputable sources. Many people will think highly of whatever the New York Times has to say, even in an opinion section.

Cultural of Assertion:
Americans are likely to listen to what the New York times has to say. We hold that paper as a reputable source. Those who are familiar with the Rotten Tomatoes web site are likely to also think of that as reputable. It often will not even matter how much information there is to back up what the writer of the article has said for the public to trust the source.