Outlining my essay

The outline for my essay

In the essay I am currently writing, I chose to add extra information in the rough draft. I wanted to make sure to add all of the information that I would need and then reorganize everything after I have enough information. Now that I have enough information, I am going to be putting it all in order.

The first thing I will need is a good title that makes the reader pause and gets them interested in reading. Following the title, there needs to be an introduction. The introduction consists of a thesis statement, telling the reader what I am going to discuss. A good attention grabber is always helpful to convince the reader to continue reading. With these in the introduction, I will need to give a short description of what tools I am going to use in the essay as well. I will then make a transition statement that will bring the reader from the introduction to the body of the paper.

In the body lies the bulk of the information. I will write the paper in chronological order and use the rhetorical tools such as compare/contrast, and cause/effect. I will give definitions for any vocabulary that the reader may not already know. I walk the reader through using these tools, and then I will transition into the conclusion of the essay.

In the conclusion of the paper, I will restate what I said in the introduction, include a wrap up of all the loose ends, and remind the reader of what rhetorical tools I used. I will make sure that the reader understands everything in the essay and that there are no questions left unanswered.

The whole shabang

Since I'm still in the holiday spirit, or maybe I'm just really hungry, I want to talk about thanksgiving some more. Now, I understand having all of the side dishes to munch on, and possibly a ham for added variety, as well, but without the turkey, it just isn't the same. I believe everything in life is special for some reason or another. Essays are no exception. When writing an essay, I think the first thing you need to do, is decide what you're writing about, and just as importantly, why you're writing about it. To tell a story, teach a lesson, sheer entertainment, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you know why. Brainstorm about an object, write all the information you can think of, and then organize it so it's easy to read. Make sure to wrap it up with a conclusion, making sure the reader isn't left confused or expecting more, then go back through and come up with a way to introduce the reader to the subject. Why should they be interested? Put that before the mass of information, aka, the body, and you have yourself an essay. Now, my favorite instrument to use in an essay is the compare/contrast tool. It helps to show the reader why the subject is important or special. The great thing about using compare/contrast is that you as the writer get to state the similarities and differences between things, so you can show how and why each one is special. I use this in my writing, as well as in everyday life. Take my name for example. Yes, it is unique, and since I have two sisters, named Katee and Tiffany, it shows how unique my name is. It doesn't resemble any other name that I know of, and for that, I love it. It is actually a combination of a random sound, "ba", and my mothers middle name, Tina. I love to find why things are different, and emphasize that with the compare/contrast tool. It informs the reader that they weren't wasting their time in reading the essay

Who's making the turkey?

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Now is the perfect time to be deciding what needs to happen in preparation for this day. Who needs to be invited, what groceries need to be bought, who is cooking which side dish, and who is sitting where at the table. Writing follows the same guidelines. Before you decide to start writing an essay, you new to decide on what you want to discuss, what details you need to include, and what message you want to send to the reader. If you want a classical thanksgiving dinner including a 7 course meal, or if you want a relaxed family gathering, complete with finger foods and football. Depending on how you want the reader to feel after reading, you will write an essay accordingly. You need to remember to put things in chronological order, so as to not confuse the reader. Explain any terminology that the major population doesn't already know. Compare and contrast different aspects to show how one thing is different from another. There are many different tools to use in writing an essay, but first you must decide on what you want to say, and how you want to say it.

Stepping stones to storywriting

In order to write anything is substance, there are certain aspects that need to be in the writing. A certain format that needs to be followed. As with every written work, you need a good title, followed by an introduction. Something that pulls the reader in and makes them want to read. There needs to be a good thesis statement informing the reader what you're going to be talking about. It needs some type of explanation for the things the reader doesn't already know, and it needs to show the reader how they came to whichever conclusion that they did. A conclusion that sums up the entire works, and ties up loose ends, and you can make a story out of anything

Getting started

Being thrown into the middle of a story is always complicated. It makes it difficult to understand the story. Without the backround information, which is what the introduction truely is, the reader is lost trying to find out what the story is about. Introductions are needed to tell the reader what they are about to read, and a little background information on the subject.

Introductions should have a good opening sentence. Something that makes the reader want to read the paper, essay, or article. Following a good opening sentence, there should be a good explanation of what the paper is going to discuss. What is the point of writing the article? Now would be a good time for definition of the subject or main point of the story. Summarize what you are going to talk about. Tell what the paper is going to discuss and let it merge into the actual paper. The body of the paper should follow, with the conclusion wrapping up the paper.

Classification and Division. What it actully means.

I don’t know about you, but when I hear classification and division, I think of math, or recently, of English. In both cases, it makes me yawn and want to sleep. So, without using those exact words, what does it actually mean?

In my words, it is the process of pulling out certain points in a story. Take schooling for example. It can be classified as going to a school building to learn and increase your intelligence. If you want to divide it, I would divide it into elementary school, junior high, high school, and college.  You can further divide it into what subjects were studied in what years, what periods you had what class, and so on. To break a subject down into smaller parts and looking at those smaller parts separately, as well as combined into a group such as schooling.

definitions,...what do they really mean?

There are different types of definitions. We have the dictionary defintion, which tells you what something technically means, and we have the every day definition, which is what it means to us as a community. These are called extended definitions. I have found a few of these in the article I recently read by Cal Newport and would like to show you what I am talking about.

Cal says to "follow your passion". No, passion usually doesn't leave a breadcrumb trail for you to acctually follow. It means find out what your interests are and what makes you happy, and to keep doing that.

He uses the phrase, "missing our true calling". Now is there actually a phone call from a person named True? No. There is no actual call. I  take it to mean there is a certain job that all of us excell at and are meant to do, which is our calling. We have a talent/skill for it, and we are meant to do it. Maybe God made it so, maybe its jut in our genes. For whatever reason, we do not want to miss it, since then we will not be using our skills to our benefit, and missing out on something that would make us happy.

He also says he did not fall into the "Cult of Passion" like others did. Is there actually a group of people doing religious acts that refer to themselves as passion? No. He is talking about the people who have heard the phrase, "follow your passions" and takes it as the focal point of their life. If they are passionate about it, it must be the correct route and that is all that they need to know in order to make a decision. There is a mass of people who believe this, which is why he calls it a cult.

What should you be doing in life?

Apex - locator. How many people could actually tell me what it is? Nobody? I'm not surprised. It is a dental instument used to find the tip of the root during a root canal procedure. It informs the doctor when he is within a millimeter of the apex of the tooth. However, without the definition, very few people would know what it is. That is because, without a defintion, nobody knows or cares what it is, what it does, or why we need it. Definitions are used and needed in writing as well. Without a defintion of what something is or why its being done, and how its different from other things in life, the reader doesn't understand why its important!

In an article I recently read from the New York Times, it was discussed how young adults choose a career field. It is argued that we are taught from a young age to "find our passion". Well, that should be easy, right? Not quite. Some people never discover their passion, and others have more than one. So which career do they choose? The author has used the compare/contrast tool to decide between different careers, and different locations to live in. He argues that, while he has a passion for writing and could be a writer, he could also work for MicroSoft. The third option was to go to M.I.T (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for their doctoral program in computer science. While the author could see the benefits of all three choices, like the wage and living in beautiful locations, he could also make the decision on where he wanted to go, by deciding what he wanted to do for a living. Saying people can always learn to love what they do, if they have passion for it, he chose to go to M. I. T. While he openly admits it was not easy, he looked at the pro's and con's of his options and decided that he would make the most impact here, instead of as a writer in a remote location, or a MicroSoft employee in Seattle. It does not mean that the other choices were wrong, just that in life you have to make decisions. Decisions are made by comparing different things and finding the pro's and con's that mater to us. Article is called "Follow a Career Passion? Let it Follow You" by Cal Newport

Why use subject specific tools?

The reason for using subject specifiic rhetorical tools is so that the paper that you are writing flows evenly. Whether you are comparing different things or trying to make the reader feel as if they are in the story, correctly using rhetorical tools is extremely important. If I said the girl loved her dog, I didn't give any definition as to why she loves her dog. I could go into great detail about what kind of dog it was, how long she has had the dog, it's name, and why she feels so attached to it. I can do all of these things with subject specific rhetorical tools, but without them, its just a boring statemen with nothing to back it up and the reader won't care to keep reading.

I could use the familial gaze to show the reader the story of when the girl went to the pound to rescue the dog. I could use the compare/contrast concept to show the different dogs that were also there, and why the girl picked the dog that she did. I could use timelines and flashbacks to remember the first day the girl spent with the dog after she adopted him. I could also use the setting of the pound, with the sounds, smells, and sights, to pull on the reader's heartstrings, making them want to go adopt a dog as well. I believe that with a little emphasis on how well dogs are for people's health, and teaching children responsibility, and showing how they help to unite a family, I could also deploy the persuasive theme. Rhetorical tools are everywhere! Whether we choose to label them or not, is not the point. The point is, if you know the tools, and how to use them, there is not reason as to why you can not write anything you want to.

Compare and Contrast

I have recently began to work with the compare and contrast element of narrative writing. I have been introduced to it before, and I have used it in my writing, so I feel comfortable with it. It is a useful rhetorical tool that allows the writer to compare one subject with another, or to simply point out the smaller differences of two things in the same subject.

Take my dogs, for example. I have a black lab and a yellow lab. The black lab is Sarah, and the yellow lab is Makenna. Yes, they are both female dogs, they are both labs, they are the same age, since they come from the same litter. However, their coats are of different colors. Their personalities are completely different, where Sarah loves to play tug-of-war, and Makenna can and will play catch all hours of the day. They are similar in their both being female dogs, of the same litter, and being the same age, however, they are both different based on their hobbies, their names, and their fur color.

Gazes

I have recently learned that there are many types of  gazes when it comes to narrative writing. Gazes are simply the different ways of describingwhat we see. There is the Familial gaze, which consists of how you and a small group of your friends and family experience things. There is the National Gaze, which consists of how we as a nation see things, such as how we felt during 9/11, or when we put a man on the moon. There is the Consumer gaze, which we encounter every time we step foot in a grocery store, through the adertisements on the products. Little kids prefer the cartoon characters on their cereal, and for it to be at eye level. Adults prefer the cereals that is healthier for them, and on their eye level. There is the Political gaze, which is how we view the politicians running for office, and how we view the president, whether we agree with what he is doing, or not. Last but not least, we have the Travel gaze, which urges us to want to travel and spend money on vacations. I have attached a photo of one of my recent vacations that never fails to make me want to do a return trip. With the amazing blue and green, clear waters, the white sandy beaches, and the clear skies, who could ask for more. The picture was taken on Nasseau during my cruise to the Bahamas, and every time that I see it, I want to go back.

Cause and Effect 4A

By using cause and effect, you show how one topic is related to another. How, because the dog ate the chocolate, he is now throwing up. You can show how many different things contribute to the end resut also.


 The  best way to analyze a cause and effect paper is to read it and see if you can find the cause, and then the effect. Or vice-versa. If you said there was a little boy and girl playing outside, and then you say that the little girl is crying, the reader doesn't know why she is crying. If you say that, while playing outside, the little boy pulled the girl's hair, making her cry, you are explaining the cause and effect. The cause is the little boy pulled the girl's hair. The effect is that the little girl is now crying.

The importance of Peer Reviews

I think peer reviews are crucial for good writing. Every good author has an editor. And editor is just someone who gets paid to do peer reviews. The review is a way to get a fresh set of eyes on your writing. Just because something makes sense in your mind, doesn’t mean it will make sense to everyone else. Errors in grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary may be found by others when you did not notice them yourself. The review gives you good suggestions on what works and what doesn’t.

Tools of narrative writing 3A

In the Zambreno article, we were introduced to new vocabulary. Throughout this post, I am going to use and explain some of it. I believe that we have all told or heard a story, whether it was part of it, or the whole thing, new way. There are a million stories that have been altered or added to, to show a different poit of view, or tell a different version of the story. This is called Plasticity. Being able to have at least five different Disney versions of Cinderella, all of which have different aspects, making people want to watch them all, is an example of this. In the movie, Ever After, with Drew Barrymore, Drew plays a Cinderella character in the days of kings, and riches, and poverty, while in, A Cinderella Story, Hilary Duff plays a teenge Cinderella character who has to deal with high school, working in her step mother's diner, and dealing with the technogy of emails and cell phones. Same story, just with adding different aspects of it, depending on the audience. Taking bits and parts from other places, and combining it into something new, is called using piecemeal.

Deciding to write a story of little red riding hood as a baby, and telling why she wears a red cape, would be a great example of using windows of opportunity.  I haven't heard a story which tells this, and it may be that I just haven't found it yet. It is a non-spoken example of open ended closure, which basically says, "this is the end of the story as I know it, if you would like more information on the subject, you will have to find it yourself."

Blog Post 2B

If anyone has ever read a story that makes you wonder, "What was the point?" that would probably be because the writer did a poor job of using the narrative structure outlines. Which I feel is what happened with my in class writing assignment on Thursday. Yes, if you read the whole story, it finally makes sense in the end, and maybe that is, subconsciously, what I was trying to do. I took the long way around by giving an example of what the theme was. I believe that every person who reads this has had the misfortune of vomiting at least once in their life, so with the sensations that I mentioned, there was a good chance that people remembered how they felt during that time also. I believe the setting could use a bit of work, and the plot could definitely use some help, but that's the point of the first draft. Getting the idea on paper so that you can go over it later and correct what needs to change was the goal.

As the audience of the story is Mr. Marchant, I hope that he does not read it directly following a meal. I believe that every person in this class has had the opportunity to be sick, whether they wanted it or not. Therefore, I believe every person could put themselves into my situation. However, since the story was about myself as a teenaged girl, the intended audience was definitly not the male sex. My reasoning behind it was that I recently had a similar experiece, and it reminded me of the moment that I had buried in my memories.

Blog Post 2A

The importance of using narration in order to reach a desired audience is to put the audience into the story. With the correct use of narration, the reader will be able to feel as if they are there, whether that is in a desert, or in a magical school called Hogwarts. Using the British accents of the characters, or the fact that, in order to reach the correct platform, you have to run through a barrier that others would just walk past, shows that the wizarding world of Harry Potter was hidden from society. Using the setting, characters, theme, and plot are all necessary in putting together a good story. Without narration, the readers would not be able picture how the characters look, where they story is taking place, understand the meaning of the story, or why it was being told in the first place, or what to take away from the story. If there is a lesson to be learned, make sure the readers know what it is.

The narrative tools are used to make audience feel as if they can connect to the story. The book Twilight had thousands of teenaged girls wishing that they could replace Bella Swan in the movie and have their choice of either Jacob or Edward. By making the characters teenaged, that is a suggestion for the desired audience. Is true love enough to give up everything you’ve ever known, is another strong point made in that book. While I understand that I am using references from Twilight, the same rules apply. A book about taking a picnic with a magical dragon in the clouds would be well suited for a younger audience, while a Bahama resort pamphlet with pictures of hammocks and the white sandy beach would be more interesting to an adult in need of a vacation. The choice of vocabulary and grammar are important too. Smaller, less complicated words are easier for a younger audience to understand, while adults are able to understand more compound, larger words.