Revision

Revision is a very generous and helpful aspect of writing.  It allows you to see your paper, and the notes that the teacher took telling you what you could have done better.  By taking those things and not only changing them in your paper, but in your writing style, you can become a much better writer.  Sometimes I am too lazy to revise, but it really is a wonderful opportunity to improve.

Reading and using sources

Sources are a very important part of writing, especially when it comes to a research paper.  By looking up sources about your topic you can find evidence and logos to help back your claim, while also broaden your view.  Reading about your topic can also do the same thing.  The more you know about your topic, the more effectively you will be able to write about it.  I really enjoyed finding sources to back up my claims through the library website.

Drafting

Sometimes writing a paper is difficult, because you have so many different ideas in your head.  This is where drafting comes in.  It is very beneficial to write a rough draft, where you basically just get your ideas down on paper and then go away from it.  After this you can go back and edit it into the next level of draft, and so on until you are satisfied with your work and can create a final draft.  From draft to draft you can take out what you don't like and add what you do.

Entering the Conversation

No topic is that original, or deals solely with original information, so there are bound to be opinions of others on each and every topic.  The term 'entering the conversation' is used because there are already many views on your topic and different articles and works written about it and you are just adding to that.  In order to be effective in writing you need to check to see how your views align with those other views in the same 'conversation'.  It is helpful to do research on your own topic and others views on it in order to effectively find what works and what doesn't.

Invention

Invention is the stage of writing a paper before you even start writing.  It is when you take time to analyze the topic of the paper, and decide which approach you want to take and how you want to go about doing it.  Inventing is good in that it can allow you to come up with a variety of ideas, and gives you a chance to sort through them until you find what you believe to be the most effective way to approach the topic.  This can be very helpful in creating an outline as well. 

Audience, Purpose, Genre

Outlining

Outlining is one of the most powerful tools in writing a good paper.  For me, throughout my life, I have really struggled with outlining papers before I write them.  It is something so simple, that if done, can make the writing process much more enjoyable and more effective.  Outlining can help you organize your thoughts and figure out what you want to say.  It can also help you by splitting up your paper into various sections, which makes it easier to write it a little bit at a time.

Critical Reading

Critical reading differs from skimming or normal reading in many different ways.  Critical reading is when you read an article or paper with the intent of getting all you can from it.  When you critically read you analyze all of the sentences contained and the rhetorical devises used throughout.  By critically reading you can discover what works in a paper and apply it to your own writing.

Logos

In my opinion, Logos is the most powerful of the three.  Logos is when you use logic, or facts to convince your reader of a certain viewpoint.  I am a very logical man, so using logos in my writing comes pretty easily to me.  Logos does not just have to be numerical facts, but you can use words to convince another logically why one option is better than the other.  I love logos, and have come to notice all the times I use it in my everyday life.

Pathos

The use of Pathos in an educational setting can have a profound impact on how effective ones work is. Pathos is the use of various rhetorical tools to create an emotional appeal in your readers.  By creating different ties of emotion with your text and the reader, your reader becomes engrossed in and connected to your writing and desires to continue to read.  Some tools you can use to make pathos are personal stories, or sad facts.

Visual Rhetoric

Visual rhetoric is a tool that can be used to effectively boost the persuasiveness of a work by engaging the readers.  Of course it is possible to engage readers through words, but when you use visual aids such as photos and graphs, it allows the reader to be more entertained, while also allowing them to learn in a different way.  I am excited to use visual rhetoric in our multimodal assignment.  We will use graphs which will effectively portray our point.

Counter-arguments

Counter-arguments are essential for any good paper.  They not only open the readers eyes to different perspectives on topics but also can strengthen your paper.  I would be a lot more inclined to listen to someone with knowledge on both sides of an issue as opposed to someone with knowledge on only one side.  Countering the counter-argument in your paper can help you dispel concern among readers, therefore making your paper more persuasively powerful.  I took a whole paragraph to address important counter-arguments to my topic, as well as addressing them at other parts of my paper. 

Doing Research

Doing research is probably the most important part of writing a research paper.  It is, after all, called a research paper.  Research is essential to a paper so that you  can back up your stance with evidence, along with other peoples opinions.  I really enjoyed learning how to research things through the library.  It is very helpful in finding how different topics interact.  It is helpful in finding specific studies about your topic. 

Research Questions and Topic Refinement

I wasn't able to make it when we went over this topic, but I will go off of my own knowledge.  For me it is very hard to decide a topic, because it has to be a good one that you and others have interest in, or you won't be able to write a whole paper.  So an effective way to choose a topic is to do something you have interest in, and ask others if they have interest as well.  But first you should write down all the different topics you have interest in, then ask people about each of them and use the process of elimination.  I still have only a vague idea of what I want to do. This causes me too much stress.

Summary VS. Analysis

Like we talked about in class, a summary is a condensed version of a paper, such as what happened and what was included.  This can be effective in outlining the main points of a paper, and getting the most out of something by in a way quizzing yourself on what the paper was about.  An analysis is when you take a paper apart, bit by bit, and think about what different tools were used and how effective they were and what way they were effective.  This can help you find out what is effective, so that you can apply it to your writing as well.

Peer Review

Peer review is a really great tool to get your work evaluated  by other students.  For me it was very effective when we did it with the opinion editorial.  Mainly because it gave me ideas on how others interpreted the assignment.  A lot of the time I get confused because I don't know how I am supposed to go about writing a paper, like what format etc.  But after seeing other students assignments I am better able to gauge how to write a paper and what is expected.  It is also very helpful to receive feedback from others.  I was able to gain a lot of good insight on what I needed to change in my paper.  I would be happy if we could do peer review more often. 

Ethos

Ethos is one of the three most important elements in writing an effective rhetorical paper.  Ethos is an element that gives your paper credibility.  Credibility is very important because if you do not know what you're talking about, then what reason does the reader have to believe what you say? Without Ethos in a paper, you cannot convince anyone of anything.  There are a few things you can do to add ethos and credibility to your paper. One of which is sharing a personal experience that has to do with the topic at hand.  By doing this, you show the reader that you have experience in this topic, and that you know what you are doing.  I, for one, would be much more obliged to read a paper in which the writer has topic on the experience than one who does not.  Another way to add ethos to your paper is by siting credible sources.  In order to cite a credible source you need to find people with opinions similar to yours and experience in your topic.  Through doing this, credible peoples opinions are aligned with yours making your argument that more effective. 

Thesis Statements

The thesis statement is the most important part of writing a paper.  It is the main focus or main point you are trying to get across.  A thesis needs to clearly state your claim, along with also briefly mentioning all of the points or arguments you are going to cover.  In my paper, the thesis statement was that schools need to change the education system to be more student learning based.  After stating that clearly, I described a few of the points that I was going to hit throughout the paper.

Intros and Conclusions

Intros are the most important part of the paper for a number of different reasons.  If your intro isn't good, your whole paper loses credibility.  An important aspect of an intro paragraph is the hook.  You need to effectively draw your readers attention whist informing them clearly about the topic.  In my paper I am planning on using an anecdote to relate to the readers an experience that everyone has had; not getting something out of buys work or something of the sort. An intro should always end with the thesis statement, basically outlining the rest of the paper.  I will use different examples of how grade based learning has a negative effect on students.  A conclusion is also one of the most important parts of the paper.  It is necessary to bring a sense of closure to the readers, while once again also stating your point.  I plan to restate the thesis in different words, and brush up on all of my arguments.  I also plan on using a banger ending sentence to really bring the feels in. 

Claims, reasons and assumpitons

Claims, reasons and assumptions are very important, albeit similar, aspects of a good paper.  All three of these aspects must work together to effectively convey your point to your readers. In my opinion the claim is the most important of these.  The reason being it states what your view is.  Without a view on a topic, you have nothing to argue, therefore you cannot write an opinion editorial.  Stating your view powerfully is very important in writing a good paper, you have to be clear with your statement.  Reasons are to be the main body of an essay.  Your reasons must support your claim, make sense to the listener, and be clear and to the point.  Reasons are the way of persuading the reader.  If you don't have good reasons that make sense, your paper will be for naught.  The assumpition part of the paper is still kind of confusing to me.