Rhetorical Analysis

"The next part of Haley’s article is strong. This is where he gains his credibility through his knowledge of not only presidential candidates, but governors as well. By explaining these parts, he shows us that he knows, to an extent, the system. This helps his credibility when we read his article. He explains that you can count the Interior West candidates very easily because we have not had very many. Haley makes strong arguments because he backs it up with real data. He says, “Westerners, including Coloradans, have run for the Oval Office… but only rarely do they make the final ticket.” He explains how Congressman Tom Tancredo and Senator Gary Hart both ran, but eventually neither of them made it. I also like the part of the article in which he uses Mike Stratton, a Denver political consultant, as a source. This gives an outside perspective on the topic at hand. This is well done, and could have been developed further to make a very strong argument." This is a paragraph taken out of my rhetorical analysis. I think this has some good points, but I want to develop it further. After reading it, I need to explain my ideas in a clearer manner, which I believe will help make my topic better. Throughout my whole essay, I found I needed to do a lot more explaining of myself in order to get across the point I was trying to make. For me, this was a difficult task, and I still have a lot of work to do. 

Manasi Deshpande

One of the assignments we were asked to do was read an article, and show what the strong parts of it were. We read Manasi Deshpande's proposal argument regarding why they need to make colleges more handicap assessable. As I read Manasi Deshpande’s proposal argument, one part I felt was very strong was her assessment of the current efforts. She explains what the campus currently has, and then kindly explains there is room for improvement. She does a very good job citing Penny Seay , Ph.D. She explains how he says the ADA in theory “requires every building on campus to be accessible.” I think this is very well placed, and throughout her proposal she does a good job of sounding knowledgeable without sounding as if she’s whining. She continues to use the ADA as a source, and explains clearly what must be done for accessibility for the mobility impaired. She stays focused and does not get side tracked. With this kind of writing, it is very easy to go off on a tangent and talk about things that truly do not matter. I think she did a very good job staying on topic. This was a good assignment to read right before we did our own version of the proposal argument. It gave us guidelines for what our own pieces were supposed to look like. I think this was a smart thing to do before diving in to our own work. 

Incoming Students

After taking this section of the Writing 1122, I think I would recommend this course to incoming students with a few words of advice. First, keep up on the blogs. At the beginning of the year it doesn't seem like a big deal, so you are able to slack a little. But, once you get to the end of the quarter, and you have about 2 million pages due in every class, it gets a little burdensome. So my first piece of advice would be to try and get at least one done a week, and two when you can. Next, I would recommend spending plenty of time on your first drafts, and make it the best you can. That way, after the revision process, you have the best work, not just OK work. It would make it much easier to revise work that you have already put a lot of effort into, rather than something that you just throw together last minute. Finally, I would recommend keeping all the writing exercises together, along with every piece of writing other than that. It makes it so much easier to have them all together at the end of the term, rather than going back and trying to find them. If they can keep them neat and tidy, they will simply have to transfer them to their portfolio.  

Writ 1122

In the Writ 1122, I think I learned a great deal about writing. I was introduced to knew material that I never would have associated with a writing class. I learned what about ethos, pathos and logos, words that I had never heard before. It was very interesting, as it was the first real writing course I had taken in college other than the FSEM. After taking this class, I realize that there is so much more to learn about writing; and I can never truly learn everything. I think this class really helped my writing because I had to focus on things I had never done before. It was very knew and challenging. Although writing is not my favorite subject, it is one that I have to know to have success in my life. I also realized through this class that the hardest type of essay to write is a rhetorical analysis. It has to be very proper and structured, and there isn't a lot of room for personal opinions. It has to be analyzed professionally, and you have to be very careful not to add excess fluff. I think that's one of the hardest things for me to do, but it really helped me develop as a writer. 

Rock and Roll

In my history of Rock and Roll class, we recently had to write about the extra-musical aspect of a concert. That is, the things that make a concert great, outside the music. It was a very challenging and frustrating piece because we had to generate four pages of material in what seemed to be a one page response. I felt like most of what we wrote was nothing more than space filler. In my opinion, it's better to have two well developed pages, than four garbage pages. Although the assignment was very interesting, and i enjoyed the idea, it was very hard. I felt like i was back in high school trying to write a paper I knew sounded bogus. It starts off great, with lots of good material, but end by repeating the same thing over and over. I think sometimes teachers would rather read a 10 page essay that is bad rather than a shorter on that actually means something. It gets rather frustrating. 

Presidential Election

I agree with the point David Harsanyi made regarding Bill and Hillary Clinton. They are taking very questionable tactics to try and ruin Barrack Obama’s candidacy and all the while making themselves look unnaturally foolish. As a freshman student at the University of Denver, I believe the antics of our former president are very childish. I think comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson is immature and irresponsible. Clinton played off Obama’s victory in South Carolina saying “Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in ’84 and ’88.” I don’t think race and gender should influence a vote, but the voters should vote for the candidate they see fit to lead the nation based on knowledge of the candidate’s policy. The main focus shouldn’t be whether Hillary is a woman, or Barrack is African America; it must still come down to the fact that they are suitable to run, or not run, the United States. When did the Presidential election become a game of who could damage the other candidates name rather than proving themselves worthy? But I guess it’s like they say, you don’t have to prove yourself right as long as you can prove the other person is wrong.

Story Telling

The most recent assignment in class was to write an essay that described how a piece or literature had made an impact on our life. It could be something we wrote, read or even something a little more abstract. This was the first assignment like this I have had to do in college and as far as I can remember ever. It didn’t feel like a normal assignment because I had the ability to form it however I wanted. The paper was on my terms, not just answering questions and ending with the same story as everyone else. I really enjoyed writing this essay. I found myself sitting and reflecting on all the lost memories that reappeared. I remembered teachers than I hadn’t thought about in years. Also, I wanted the reader to be able to connect with my paper the way I intended them to. I wanted them to feel the passion I felt. I think it was a great experience to be able to mold and form a story that no one else had heard. I felt like an author who had thousands of fans waiting for his new novel. It was a childish feeling but I truly did enjoy it. It made me think about what it would be like to tell the world a story and have them intently listening. I really enjoyed this story and hopefully I will be able to tell the world a story I want them to hear someday.