Blog week 14

On this last essay we were assigned, we were given the instructions to write an essay about how to write an essay. The beginning is the introduction, in which I state what the rest of the essay is going to be about. After that comes the body. The first point covered there are the importance of rhetorical tools. I also state which elements will be discussed in the following paragraphs. The first one I go over compare and contrast. The next is cause and effect. The final one is division and classification. It then starts talking about the importance of writing the body first, for it allows you to freely put down all the information gathered for the essay. Then it talks about the introduction, and how to use it to draw in the audience and inform them on what is to come. Finally the proper way to write a conclusion is described. The final thing in the essay is how important it is to get someone to proofread your work. Then I simply recap on everything above in my conclusion.

Blog Week 12B

Before starting this class, I had never even heard the word rhetoric, let alone knew how to use them. I've always considered myself a halfway decent writer, but that doesn't mean I didn't pick up a few tricks from this class. The first one was the depth that went into Cause and Effect. This helped me see just how important this tool could be, and how to effectively use it. The Cause and Effect essay we did is probably the one that challenged me most, but working through it helped me see how it could be used to distinguish between two things, and to to relay my observations to someone else through the use of writing. Another tool that I had never really used before was Classification and Division. Though I had seen it used before, it had never dawned on me how easy it was to inform the audience while using this tool. It really helps me focus on areas of research, and what needed to be emphasized in my writing. For these reasons, Cause and Effect as well as Classification and Division would have to be the tools that have helped me expand my writing skills the most, and to get a deeper understanding of what a rhetoric tool truly meant.

Blog Week 12A

When writing an essay, the first step is obvious. You must know what it is you will be writing about. You must conduct research, and gather as much information as possible. Once this is done, the next step is to piece this knowledge together, and make the body of the essay. You do the body first, just so that you can get all the information out there while it is fresh in your mind. It also allows free roam, when you are not restricted by guidelines put forward in the conclusion. After you get all the information down and organized, its time to conclude the essay. You simply boil down the body, and go over the key points discussed in it. Then you do pretty much the same thing to create the introduction. You give the reader an idea of what they are going to be reading, and enough information to set them up for the essay. The final step after this is to get a fresh pair of eyes on the paper. This process is peer review, and allows mistakes that would of otherwise been overlooked to be pointed out. If these steps are followed, then the end product should be a well written  essay.

Blog Week 10A

The importance of an introduction to any essay can't be overstated. It's what draws your audience in. It sets the scene, allowing them to have some basic knowledge on what you are going to discuss, without going in to so much detail all at once and overwhelming the audience. It allows people to sample the writing style and the contents of the paper in order to decide if they would really like to continue reading without wasting their time.
These things can only be accomplish through an effective introduction. The perfect introduction should always have some key attributes to it, regardless of the situation. The first being, that it has to deal with what you are going to talk about. It can't be misleading, or else it will confuse the audience once they start getting into the actual meat of the writing. The only instance that it can be different, is when it ties into the body through proper transition, such as comparing one well known subject to the one that will be discussed. Secondly, it must be entertaining. First appearances are the most important, as it sets the mood the reader will be in for the remainder of the material. If you want to persuade them into something, you should glorify it in every possible way, while still being able to support your claims. If it's to be an exciting fast paced article, then the introduction should be similar. Without the proper tone of introduction, the reader may not even be a reader. They may be deterred by boring, insulting, or simply confusing introductions. The final thing it should have is a strong, sturdy structure. It makes the rest of the paper more credible sounding, and more forceful if done right. This sturdiness is lessened through the use of phrases similar to "I think" or "I feel", therefore they should be avoided at all costs.

Blog week 9A

The term classification and division is pretty self explanatory. It's the process of breaking something down into smaller sections, and further explaining each section. Many people aren't aware that they naturally do this throughout their lives. It takes place in school, when transitioning from sophomore  junior, and senior. It happens with our friends, we have our close friends, school friends, work friends, and acquaintance.
The same basic concept applies when we are writing with this tool. We break down subjects into categories.  We then go into further detail with those categories.It allows the audience to follow along better with the material, since the categories are usually ideas, phrases, or words that aren't very common knowledge. This is a very simple concept to pick up, but it can go a long way as far as getting the message across.

Blog Week 8B

While reading "Britain Refuses to Extradite Computer Hacker sought in U.S.", an article from the New York Times, I noticed a few phrases that could have an extended definition. This means that it can be elaborated to show exactly what it is they mean, without being to vague or giving a generalized definition.
One of the phrases was "British authorities on Tuesday blocked a longstanding demand for the extradition of Gary McKinnon, a computer hacker wanted in the United States to face charges of intruding into Pentagon Computer networks in a case that has become a touchstone of the delicate jurisdictional balance between the two countries since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001". This very long sentence has several subjects in it that can, and probably should be elaborated upon. The part I'm mainly concerned with is the ending discussing the delicate jurisdictional balance between the UK and the US. Why is it so delicate? This is explained later in the article. The US and the UK made a treaty in 2003 that deals with the process of extraditing people from the UK to the US. The reason it is such rocky ground is because it has faced a lot of opposition. One of the critiques of it is that it is a one sided deal. The US reaps all the rewards without returning any sort of benefit to the UK. And on top of that, many British critics feel that since the treaty doesn't clearly distinguish between a major and minor offense, the US has taken advantage by extraditing people that didn't threaten our national security.
Another phrase found within the article is "American officials have described his actions as "the Biggest military computer hack of all time."" What exactly is it that makes this hack such a major issue? The answer lays within various parts of the article. The main reason is that he hacked into a very large amount of high security computers in a relatively short amount of time. Within only 13 months, he managed to gain unlawful access to 97 government computers. And not only that, but he also caused $566,000 in damages while doing it.
The final bit of information found within the article that required further explanation was Ms. May saying "Mr. McKinnon is accused of serious crimes, but there is also no doubt that his seriously ill. He has Asperger syndrome, and suffers from depressive illness. The legal question before me is now whether the extent of that illness is sufficient to preclude extradition." The piece that mainly needed further explanation was the part about his illness, and how that should effect their decision to extradite him. Their main concern for this is that the severity of his depression could be to such an extent that he would commit suicide if extradited. Their argument is that to put forth such a risk would go against his human rights.

Blog Week 8A

What is the definition to a definition? Well, there are really two answers to this. There is the dictionary definition, which state or describe the nature, scope, or meaning of. This is straight to the point, and doesn't necessarily allude to what it really means. If we were to use the extended definition, we can start to get into the actual characteristics of it. A definition can be portrayed through examples, much like this one, in order to let the audience better understand what it is they're reading. It can be hinted at through the context. It can even be furthered through the use of visual rhetorics. We can use many different things to get our point across, that without defining things would be unclear.

In the article "Britain Refuses to Extradite Computer Hacker Sought in U.S." definitions help make sense of the material. They define what kind of crimes Gary McKinnon has allegedly been charged with. Without this information, that article would have much less of an impact, because the audience wouldn't be able to judge the severity of his crimes. It also describes a treaty that the U.S. has with Britain, that gives the article another angle. It makes the point that this may be in violation with the treaty. It finally helps describe the reasoning as to why they won't send him back, and that is that he suffers from Asperger Syndrome. They give some insight to this disease by saying that it causes him to suffer from depression, and to send him would increase the likely hood of him committing suicide.