Week 7 Readings + Working Thesis Statement

I particularly found the article "Annoying ways people use sources" to be interesting because I am guilty of starting and ending paragraphs with a quote (but not an overly long obnoxious ones). Although I am not like those drivers who know the general rules and practices but just doesn’t care. I agree with the author of this essay in the sense that quotes in the beginning or end of a paragraph can be confusing and disjointed but I also think that if they are used right, they can act as a “hook” or can be thought provoking in the end. I also agree that it is 100% up to the reader as to what they personally find annoying and what they don’t see eye-to-eye on with the writer.

Chapter 20 in Everything’s an Argument was a good reminder of the rules of academic writing, but it did not present me with any new information.  

Just to avoid having to make an entirely new blog post, here is a potential thesis statement in the works:

Happy Dogs Ranch has successfully created a persuasive homepage using the proper genre conventions including a professional structure, tone, language, and by utilizing the concept of pathos to connect with the intended audience. 

Week 5 readings

“How to read like a writer”:

Writing consists of a series of choices. The authors point is that realizing those important connections between reading and writing can influence they way you write. “You are reading to learn about writing” How was the piece of writing constructed? This makes me think about some terms we covered in class, tone, vocabulary choices, targeted audience, sentence structure etc.

It is really about becoming aware of the different techniques that were used to create the written document and if they appeal to you as a reader and whether or not you would use them in your own writing. For example, using quotes, personally if they are too long I find myself skipping over them, but if they are short and enhance the meaning of the text, I am more likely to read them.

Overall, reading like a writer with the hopes of developing as a writer, reminds me of the importance of being able to identify the conventions of the genre you are reading and what makes it successful or not.

“ I take your point” Ch. 11:

What I take away from this chapter is that actively listening and not just thinking about your own response is a lot like writing successfully, the goal is to identify the audience and write what is appropriate.

“Academic Writing Doesn’t Always Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice” Ch.9:

I found this chapter to be particularly interesting because I feel that I struggle with finding the right balance in academic writing. Prior to attending AUSB I was continuously taught to only include the “factual” type of information that was needed to back up my thesis rather than expressing my opinion. Whether this was to keep students from “bs-ing” to achieve a certain word count, I don’t know, but it made writing boring and probably pretty boring to read.