Update on Project

Our project is still going really well. We have taken most of our pictures and we are taking a few more today. I also found some fun facts about recycling that we might include in our video. All we need to do is get our pictures put together into a video format. I think we are going to be using Windows Movie Maker. Nobody in our group has a specific job. We are all helping each other out with taking pictures, finding information, and putting the video together. Four heads are better than one!

Going Green!

For our group project, "going green" seemed like an ideal topic. It is beginning to be very popular around college campuses and work places. Our job is to inform other college students of what they can do on a college campus to help keep this planet clean. We are going to make a video with examples of "going green" acts. It will be humorous and keep the attention of the audience watching. We will also post it on YouTube so others can watch and become part of this huge task. We will explain the positive effects that being green has on society and also some consequences that can result from not doing your part.

Media and Design...HEYO!!

Basically, what chapter 47 of the Norton Field Guide to Writing is about is what kinds of designs are there to choose from. It had bullet points to state which elements are the most important. These include type, layout, paragraphs, lists, headings, and white space. I'm a visual type of person. I like to see things and how they happen. That's why it's kind of difficult for me to read a huge text that is just words. I like things that show me what I'm reading such as graphs or charts. Chapter 48 is about spoken texts, which I don't even want to think about. I absolutely hate giving speeches. They are not my forte at all. In the book, it states that you should speak clearly, pause for emphasis, avoid reading the presentation, stand up straight and look at the audience, use gestures, and practice. For me, though, no matter how much I practice, I always seem to violate these rules for public speaking. Chapter 49 talks about electronic texts, such as websites or e-mail. In the book, it listed key features for e-mail on page 478 and key features for websites on page 479. Long story short, it needs to be clear and organized.

The Beginning and the End

I was always told in elementary school all through high school that the beginning paragraph of a paper is the most important. If you didn't catch the reader's attention within the first few sentences, then it is likely that he or she will not read your paper. Once again, that concept is put into my mind. In the readings for chapter 28, it states that the beginning and the end are the most important parts of a paper. We want to be able to catch the reader's attention, and then leave them satisfied at the end. All their questions are answered, and they have a better understanding of whatever it was that he or she read. I always begin my papers with a question, some sort of backgroung information about my topic, or an interesting fact. My thesis statement is always the last sentence of the first paragraph. It's a good location to start the argument of my paper. A good ending is important also. The book states that "they're the last words readers read." I think that means that whatever the ending words are, the reader will remember those the most. I was always taught that the first sentence of my last paragraph should be a restatement of my thesis. It's just like a cross country race, you have to finish strong. To give an idea of what the reader will be reading, it's good to point out little hints. And when I say hints, I'm talking about a good title, thesis statement, and topic sentences. Once again, in high school, I was taught that every first sentence of a paragraph should be an overview of what the paragraph is going to be about.

Causes and Effects: Which Are Most Efficient?

Cause and effect are big factors that make or break an argument. There are strong points and weak points within cause and effects. It's sometimes hard for me to choose which would be the best to support whatever I am arguing. The book stated that "you will always need to qualify what you say about causes and effects-to say that something could explain or that it suggests." I think that statement is very impotant because most of us do not have the authority to determine whether something will cause something else to happen. The book showed three different ways to organize cause and effect situations. "1. Idenitfy a cause and then discuss its effects. 2. Identify an effect and then trace its causes. 3. Identify a chain of causes and effects leading from one to another." I would probably most likely use the first or third one the most in my writings. Iliked the oreo demonstration in the book : ) and how it classifies the different types of oreos. The book mentioned two ways to compare and contrast. Their names are the block method, and the point by point method. I would personally use the point by point method because I think it gets the point across in a stronger sense. I also like to use figurative language to try to instill a mental image in the reader's mind.