Writing 2010 Spring Semester
2013
Introductory Letter:
To whom this may concern,
My name is Jazmine Guadalupe Martinez. I began this course with a skeptical view of my writing abilities. Last semester I struggled with keeping up with the course in my on-campus writing class. I firmly believed that I was a good writer when I began that course, unfortunately it proved me wrong. However, when I decided to retake Writing 2010 for spring semester I told myself: This time will be different. I can feel it. As it turned out, I will be passing this course, with improved writing, better understanding of what a writing argument is and a firm belief that I am an improved writer. I have selected the following pieces to outline what I improved on this semester. As I searched through my writing I found that each piece of writing grew stronger, more organized, and more structured than the last.
I did pick up a few technological tricks with this course. I learned how to take a screen shot and how effective they could be. I also learned how to create pdf. files and make them look polished. I believe that I have become the master of Microsoft word as well. Google docs became a useful tool for me and it aided me with other classes this semester. Technology has become a central part of my education, I am very glad I am technologically literate.
My thinking process changed as the course progressed. When I started, I felt that I had no idea how to even start a paper, let alone make an argument. Suddenly I began to notice that I was thinking clearer and writing became less of a struggle. I owe this to the way the assignments in this class were created. I feel that the structure of this course allows for us to better organize and create an argument. The research posts really improved my overall skills with research. I did not know that the Marriott Library research tools were available to students; I also did not know that the writing center was there. The research database is amazing! These tools helped me improve my research for this class and my other courses. Overall my writing abilities benefited from my gained research abilities. I felt that the interviews with community leaders were a useful tool for my writing. It was interesting to hear from them and hear what they had to say. I interviewed the NAACP president of the Salt Lake City Branch, Jeanetta Williams, and Utah Senator Daniel W. Thatcher. Their interviews certainly aided in the shaping of my writing. I would initially begin with a general idea of what I wanted to write and after speaking with them, it became clear and easier to write my piece. I had never done an interview before this course. It is exciting and a bit nerve racking at first, but once I realized that these people are just like me, I felt like I was simply talking to someone else. I enjoyed creating questions for the interviews it was a fun process.
I do feel that I met the course outcomes. I have improved greatly on argument-based invention, claim-support strategies, and sentence level rhetoric. I have gained very useful knowledge in research and learned how using it to support my arguments can make a stronger paper. My grammar has improved a great deal since I began the course. It did become tricky at times, since I am in an advanced Spanish Grammar course, and often I mixed up grammar from that class with this class. Nonetheless, I figured out how to switch between the two. My academic writing skills have definitely upgraded. I chose to include my editorial, report analysis, introduction assignment, the genre piece for the community writing project and my interview with community leader Jeanetta Williams. Each piece had its own challenge to face before the writing of the final piece began. My interview with a community leader was difficult because of scheduling conflicts. I am sure that Jeanetta Williams is a very busy woman, the fact that she even took the time to accept an interview was beyond me. I am glad she accepted to do the interview. Her interview aided in the creation of my next two assignments: the Report Analysis, and my Editorial . The Report Analysis was difficult because of the bias in many of the articles I found in my research. There was clearly a lot of emotional influence behind the sources I was looking for. I found ways to skirt around the biased parts and still make use of the articles. These points helped me form a very unique argument. The Editorial was a bit easier to structure and it was due to the delayed thesis structure. I made my points and backup up my claims by using my sources. This piece was also easier to structure because of the persuasive aspect behind it. Using emotion to create an argument allowed me to have more room to persuade the opposition. The genre piece for the community writing project was a meticulous process. The research for this project took longer than any of the other projects. It really challenged my research skills and how effectively I used them. The fact that it was a collaborative piece made this one of my strongest pieces in my portfolio. I think it outlines all of the outcomes that are expected of this course and my partner and I took away an improved skill in research. All of the types of arguments found themselves being incorporated in our argument It has elements from each argument from the semester. It includes research skills, sentence rhetoric, and most important claim support strategies that make this piece a strong genre piece. I feel that I learned a great deal in this course. All aspects of my writing skills improved immensely since I began this course. I owe it all to the structure and online aspect of this course.
I took away more than improved writing skill from this course. I learned how important and influential writing can be. Civic responsibility and community involvement were something I had not really heard about. After this course these topics became common knowledge and something that I would like to continue to be a part of. I learned how to make my writing mean more than just words on a page. Technology has allowed our society to communicate ideas across miles and oceans. It is very important to know how something as simple as a few words on a page can hold vast amounts of power.
Signed,
Jazmine Guadalupe Martinez
Student, University Of Utah
5/1/2013
To whom this may concern,
My name is Jazmine Guadalupe Martinez. I began this course with a skeptical view of my writing abilities. Last semester I struggled with keeping up with the course in my on-campus writing class. I firmly believed that I was a good writer when I began that course, unfortunately it proved me wrong. However, when I decided to retake Writing 2010 for spring semester I told myself: This time will be different. I can feel it. As it turned out, I will be passing this course, with improved writing, better understanding of what a writing argument is and a firm belief that I am an improved writer. I have selected the following pieces to outline what I improved on this semester. As I searched through my writing I found that each piece of writing grew stronger, more organized, and more structured than the last.
I did pick up a few technological tricks with this course. I learned how to take a screen shot and how effective they could be. I also learned how to create pdf. files and make them look polished. I believe that I have become the master of Microsoft word as well. Google docs became a useful tool for me and it aided me with other classes this semester. Technology has become a central part of my education, I am very glad I am technologically literate.
My thinking process changed as the course progressed. When I started, I felt that I had no idea how to even start a paper, let alone make an argument. Suddenly I began to notice that I was thinking clearer and writing became less of a struggle. I owe this to the way the assignments in this class were created. I feel that the structure of this course allows for us to better organize and create an argument. The research posts really improved my overall skills with research. I did not know that the Marriott Library research tools were available to students; I also did not know that the writing center was there. The research database is amazing! These tools helped me improve my research for this class and my other courses. Overall my writing abilities benefited from my gained research abilities. I felt that the interviews with community leaders were a useful tool for my writing. It was interesting to hear from them and hear what they had to say. I interviewed the NAACP president of the Salt Lake City Branch, Jeanetta Williams, and Utah Senator Daniel W. Thatcher. Their interviews certainly aided in the shaping of my writing. I would initially begin with a general idea of what I wanted to write and after speaking with them, it became clear and easier to write my piece. I had never done an interview before this course. It is exciting and a bit nerve racking at first, but once I realized that these people are just like me, I felt like I was simply talking to someone else. I enjoyed creating questions for the interviews it was a fun process.
I do feel that I met the course outcomes. I have improved greatly on argument-based invention, claim-support strategies, and sentence level rhetoric. I have gained very useful knowledge in research and learned how using it to support my arguments can make a stronger paper. My grammar has improved a great deal since I began the course. It did become tricky at times, since I am in an advanced Spanish Grammar course, and often I mixed up grammar from that class with this class. Nonetheless, I figured out how to switch between the two. My academic writing skills have definitely upgraded. I chose to include my editorial, report analysis, introduction assignment, the genre piece for the community writing project and my interview with community leader Jeanetta Williams. Each piece had its own challenge to face before the writing of the final piece began. My interview with a community leader was difficult because of scheduling conflicts. I am sure that Jeanetta Williams is a very busy woman, the fact that she even took the time to accept an interview was beyond me. I am glad she accepted to do the interview. Her interview aided in the creation of my next two assignments: the Report Analysis, and my Editorial . The Report Analysis was difficult because of the bias in many of the articles I found in my research. There was clearly a lot of emotional influence behind the sources I was looking for. I found ways to skirt around the biased parts and still make use of the articles. These points helped me form a very unique argument. The Editorial was a bit easier to structure and it was due to the delayed thesis structure. I made my points and backup up my claims by using my sources. This piece was also easier to structure because of the persuasive aspect behind it. Using emotion to create an argument allowed me to have more room to persuade the opposition. The genre piece for the community writing project was a meticulous process. The research for this project took longer than any of the other projects. It really challenged my research skills and how effectively I used them. The fact that it was a collaborative piece made this one of my strongest pieces in my portfolio. I think it outlines all of the outcomes that are expected of this course and my partner and I took away an improved skill in research. All of the types of arguments found themselves being incorporated in our argument It has elements from each argument from the semester. It includes research skills, sentence rhetoric, and most important claim support strategies that make this piece a strong genre piece. I feel that I learned a great deal in this course. All aspects of my writing skills improved immensely since I began this course. I owe it all to the structure and online aspect of this course.
I took away more than improved writing skill from this course. I learned how important and influential writing can be. Civic responsibility and community involvement were something I had not really heard about. After this course these topics became common knowledge and something that I would like to continue to be a part of. I learned how to make my writing mean more than just words on a page. Technology has allowed our society to communicate ideas across miles and oceans. It is very important to know how something as simple as a few words on a page can hold vast amounts of power.
Signed,
Jazmine Guadalupe Martinez
Student, University Of Utah
5/1/2013
My final course portfolio:
Included is my editorial, report analysis, interview with community leader Jeanetta Williams, the community writing project and my introduction assignment.
Introductions Assignment
Below is a revised form of the introductions post from earlier in the semester. I have formatted it into a letter to emphasize what I wanted to improve on. This letter explains some of the problems I wanted to fix by taking this class. It also explains some of what I wanted to learn. The letter also introduces me and what I am interested in. I want this letter to be the "before" of the progress I made in this course. I italicized some key points throughout the letter to show emphasis.
Community Writing ProjectBelow is the genre piece for the collaborative community writing project. This piece really challenged all the writing skills I had gained from the previous assignments. The topic of gun control is never an easy subject to address. This is due to all the negative associations that are often tied down to it. The fact that this was a collaborative piece made it easier to figure out a way to work around the negative bias often associated with gun control. Like the saying says, two heads are better than one. I felt that having a partner in this piece really helped to create a strong argument for our op-ed piece. The research for this piece was a bit tricky, and difficult to sort out, regardless, it was possible to find plenty of great trustworthy sources. The community leader in for this project had a great influence on how we structured our argument Although he was biased, he did have a great deal of credibility and it made for a great source. Senator Daniel W. Thatcher's comments allowed us to see how biased this issue can be and how easily it is to miss such a bias. Overall, it was fun writing this piece, I enjoyed the brainstorming process and the construction of the piece. The format of this piece is meant to make it visually appealing to the reader. The inclusion of the map helps the reader visualize the data presented. The subheadings help provide a leader into the next section. It is meant to look like something that might appear in a newspaper or magazine article. This piece emphasized more on the group's research abilities and how we employed them to make the piece seem credible. It emphasized how crucial credible research is and how to apply it to a real world setting.
Report AnalysisThis report analysis is concerning the Supreme Court's review of the Voting Rights act of 1965. I formatted it to appear to be an article you might find in a news paper, or a major news website. It would appeal to an American audience, mainly people who have been affected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It would also appeal to the civil rights groups. Jeanetta Williams' interview helped me discover this topic. As I began my research for it I began to find interesting sources behind this subject. Civil rights is a tricky subject to address because of the heavy emotional past behind it. That is why this report analysis was very fitting for this subject. It is a more detached overview of this case and how it can affect the ones involved. I picked some sections of the piece and highlighted them and set them aside to emphasize certain points. These highlights are meant to catch the eye of the reader in order to point out the essential parts of the analysis. I tried to avoid making statements that sounded biased and reviewed this piece a few times before posting it.
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Interview with community leader Jeanetta WilliamsBelow is my interview with Jeanetta Williams, the president of the NAACP branch of Salt Lake City. The reason I chose this interview was because it helped shape the arguments behind my report analysis and my editorial. I formatted it in a way that might appear in a local magazine. It would appeal to the members of the community that would like to know about local organizations and the work they are doing. I would like to emphasize the introduction in which I outlined a bit of the context for this interview. This was a very useful interview that helped me look more into the NAACP. This interview helped me a great deal with my research skills. I changed the layout of this interview in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing and to engage the reader. The columns make the writing more condensed and easier to follow. The pictures add an air of familiarity; the reader knows who they are reading about. In the draft of this I had not included background on Jeanetta Williams but in this revised version I add background and it adds more credibility to the piece. This interview really emphasizes ethos and how simply adding background on a subject will increase the credibility of this interview.
EditorialI selected this piece because of the different approach that this piece takes. This piece includes a delayed-thesis. This delayed thesis helps wrap up the whole argument. This particular argument was easier to structure because of the background that I gained from the report analysis piece. The difference with this piece is that it had more claims supported by research rather than analyzing the research. This had a persuasive background to it. It was seen in the structure of the piece. In this piece I also highlighted certain sections and isolated them as quotes to emphasize the points that I want to drive. The highlighted quotes are in favor of my argument in order to make it stronger. This piece is formatted to appear to be from a newspaper. This appeals to an audience that is on the fence between the issue. It explains why it would be a good idea to be in favor of a change in legislation in regards to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I am arguing that the times have changed and that maybe it would be a good to change the legislation. I am applying ethos in the argument by using an emotional approach to try and reach my audience. This argument really benefits from kairos. This is timely because it is a current issue in American society. Any change would have significant impacts on American society. There is a great deal of emotional influence that can be used to make this a great persuasive piece, I feel that I employed this.
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