Research

Research papers are a good way to share information that interests you with other people. It is also a good way to learn about new things yourself. In the past all of the research papers that I have done have been scientific. For example I have been in multiple science fairs. I have also done research on broad topics such as a paper or project about a country or a historical event. However, I have had little to no experience researching a controversial issue. Doing research on a controversial issue will be difficult for me because I am used to presenting my opinions and facts that support that opinion. The hardest thing for me to do in researching a controversy will be to research the arguments of the other side with an open mind. In most research situations I would have a conclusive argument, but not a very good counter-argument for some of the arguments that the other side presents. I probably always stopped there because I was not willing to study the other side of the argument as closely as the side I agree with. This might be because I do not want to change my opinions or even consider changing my opinions. But I realize that the attitude I had was a very closed attitude to change and learning.

Rhetoric: Cover Letter

The meaning of the word rhetoric has changed for me a lot throughout the course of one unit. At first glance I understood it as the art of tricking people into thinking what you want them to think, but deception and half truths. But then, as the unit progressed I realized that rhetoric is all about abolishing those first impressions that humans naturally have and looking deeply into an argument to understand another person. Most people see things purely on a superficial level and judge arguments based only on their conclusions and do not stop to watch the process of the arguments and consider its truths.
The bases of rhetoric began with the concept of a controlling value and a context and a purpose. As readers we must learn to look for the authors controlling value in their writing and to understand it before we understand the point of their work. As people we must look for the controlling value or worldview of other people around us and attempt to understand them through the light of what they believe. The Campbell, Joy, and Gallop essays were used to develop the skill of recognizing and being open to the controlling value of others. The next step was taking these same essays and learning how to accurately represent them as a summary. This taught me the ethics of reading and writing. An author has made a point and it is wrong to misrepresent their point by using information of theirs in an essay of your own to prove a different point, even if it is properly cited. The concept of ethics has much to do with respecting and accurately representing others which can be applied to everyday life and not just academics or writing.
The next step was recognizing the arguments and being able to map them out to organize them in order to understand what the author is saying. Using the pieces of writing in the book “Conversations”, opposing arguments on different subjects were analyzed and mapped. The argument I chose was racial discrimination in the current justice system of the United States. Again, I found that I approached the situation with an opinion and was determined not to be swayed on that opinion. However, the more I mapped an analyzed the arguments I realized that either view could be true based purely on the arguments of the author.
The last step was learning to look at the argument through the perspective of the intended audience. This was a very crucial step in learning about rhetoric for me because until this point I was unable to see the validity of most of the authors’ arguments. However, once I became familiar with the audience I learned that the arguments contained some valid points, they just did not appeal to me because I was not the intended audience.
By putting all these steps together, we were able to write a paper about rhetoric, using rhetoric. This included making all the types of rhetorical appeals as well as writing to an audience with the intention of convincing them of the usefulness and benefits of rhetoric. By understanding rhetoric I am able to understand people and their thoughts and opinions.

Ethics of Rhetoric (Joy/Campbell essays)

Through his essay "Why the Future doesn't need us", Bill Joy shows a lot about rhetoric. He shows every one of the rhetorical appeals. He uses Ethos by explaining his accomplishments to his reader so that the reader trusts his authority due to the his experience in the field of technology. He uses pathos when he give the example of many innocent people dying because of the creation of the nuclear bomb, which give the emotion of sadness and regret for what our country did. He uses logos by putting facts together and statistics, such as "technology is advancing at a staggeringly rapid rate", and coming up with the conclusion that technology is advancing so fast that soon robots will out number humans. Rhetoric is interesting because you can be arguing about the most illogical things and still create a good, convincing argument. It is interesting how Joy is able to weave his good argument, technology should be used and developed carefully, with his bad, robots will take over the world. One argument has a certain amount of validity whereas the other is nonsense. In this way rhetoric is only a tool but always leads to a well formed argument, even though it is not necessarily a good argument. Rhetoric does not have to be used correctly for it to function correctly. Because of this, more of the ethics of writing is upon the author, and on the process of rhetoric. Ethical writing leads to a proper use of Rhetoric, writing to argue a valid point. Whereas, using rhetoric improperly to argue for arguments sake is unethical.

Controversies

Before I read the controversies in "Conversations" about racial discrimination in the United States, I did not know what was truly going on in our country. I had heard rumors about racial profiling used by the police; however, I had never seen the statistics or the proof. Now that I understand how serious of an issue it really is, I have an interest to learn more of the facts. I want to be a well informed citizen of this country and realize my own prejudices so that I can learn to make educated decisions with the influence of a bias. Although everyone has certain biases, if they are made aware of them, they will be able to overcome them by thinking before acting and not subconsciously acting on them. I am not racist, however; I know that everyone has certain prejudices against certain things or people. I hope to overcome these and that others will overcome them also.

Close reading verse the Controlling Idea

Close reading and finding the controlling idea may seem like two opposite views, but in reality they are more close to the same thing than many people may realize. Close reading promotes focusing on the details to come to the correct understanding of what the author it's trying to convey. The philosophy of the controlling idea encourages finding the broad overall point of the essay and dismissing the details. However, if you think about it, both close reading and the controlling idea are strategies to find the same thing, the author's purpose in writing the piece. In my opinion, neither extreme is right. In order to find the complete meaning of the essay, both the techniques should be employed. By finding the controlling idea, you get a general idea of the main purpose of the story and then in a second reading by using a close read, you will fill in the gaps and come to a deeper understanding of the essay. This fits my writing style very accurately because it involves using different strategies to find the single true point of the author. I would be interested in exploring the controversy of Equality in our governmental system. I would like to learn different people's views and form my own opinion based upon the facts.

Inventory of Concerns

A central trait of my personality is a love of the truth. What I believe is very important to me because it defines my entire life. Like everyone else, what I believe makes up my worldview, the context in which I understand everything else. Because of this love of truth I have a desire for knowledge. I pursue questions without answers. I like to think, to observe, to learn. At the same time, I also have a love for people. Making others happy and improving their lives brings me joy. I do not have a single slogan or phrase, but I can find humor in anything and a question in everything. As an effect my writing becomes mostly facts or logical arguments, rather than opinions, feelings, and thoughts.

As a writer, my tastes are very specific. I find much pleasure and accomplishment in writing a paper that conveys a point around a well constructed, logical argument. Because of this, I mostly enjoy writing persuasive essays. In contrast, I dislike writing about feelings, emotions, or any abstract idea that cannot be backed completely by facts and proof. If I could do any type of writing in the future it would either be technical, scientific writing or some type of journalism. My high school English teacher pushed me to be a better writer, which developed my writing skills and prepared me for English 101. In English 101 we wrote mostly essays about novels or short stories that we had been studying. We did one research paper in the context of a novel at the end of the year. Writing this paper was very interesting for me because it gave me an opportunity to make an argument on whether or not the writing of Mark Twain should be considered racist today. Research is an excellent form of learning because it not only improves one’s own knowledge but it also informs others by way of writing.