How quickly a year passes!  The more things change the more they stay the same!

Hard to believe the semester has flown by and now we are presenting our portfolios.  I had to use two BLOG entries because of size restrictions.  This BLOG entry includes my three peer and instructor edited essays, while the following entry contains my final two essays that were peer edited.  Each essay is preceded by a brief summary of peer/ ( Read more... )

These are my final two essays that were peer edited.  Enjoy!

Review

Peer Comments:  Wow!  The gender stereotypes abounded with this piece as most editors said they didn’t quite get it, but that it sounded good.  There were still a few requests that I explain some of my abbreviations.  (I’ve really tried to keep an eye on those since my first essay.)

( Read more... )

Aaaahh… Now we can just sit back and be entertained.  Whoops.  Sorry, we’re going to learn to Entertain as we craft our Feature Article.

"Trust me, in these parts, Hot Dogs actually repel bears"

I could see myself in parts of this piece.  Why would anyone give information or directions that they knew weren’t correct?  To appear brighter than they are ( Read more... )

As our course is nearing its fruition, I guess it’s appropriate that we consider the Review.

"Exposing Ourselves in South Park"

As a South Park fan, I found this review lacking some depth of conviction about the author’s true opinion.  Although she does push for perspective viewers to accept South Park because of its wit and apt allusions, I didn’t ( Read more... )

                                                       Pages

Essay #3: Issue Analysis

This page provides a clear definition of our assignment and points out the key difference between this paper and the last in that we are not to take a stand, but merely present the varied perspectives on an issue.

Introduction to Issue Analysis

This page expands upon ( Read more... )

Hard to believe we’re on our third unit.  I guess it’s time to dive in, lest I have “analysis paralysis”.

"Filling the Open Mind in the Information Age"

This comic strip encapsulates our desire to create our own truth.  I don’t think any of us want to be contradicted or willingly enter into conflict.  The female character sums this up as she passes ( Read more... )

Explorations
Again, we have numerous examples of persuasion, potential topics, and useful adjuncts to the course “pages”.

Tips for Persuasive Writing

Reflection:  Useful, but general and nothing new for me.

UBC Writing Center's Principles of Persuasive Writing

Reflection:  A great tool to use in conjunction with our course’s pages for this unit.

ZNet

( Read more... )

Pages
The pages for this unit really provided a relatively fool-proof guide to crafting our persuasive assignment.  I must truly commend our instructor for putting together such concise, but clear “handouts”.   These pages have given me some good ideas to use in my practice.

Creating an Argument

Key Point:  Challenge popular/current opinion.

( Read more... )

 A new week and a new unit - well twist my rubber arm.  (Get it… persuasion?)

"My Body is My Own Business"
As a relatively “feminist” male, I felt enlightened after reading Mustapha’s take on wearing the hajib.   She sees it as a way to avoid physical judgment and, thus, be judged by “who she is” rather than by her appearance.  To play devil’s ( Read more... )