Freewriting about response

I'll be honest, I am really nervous about this essay. It is not the word count that scares me, its the content. I hope I can actually provide a good example of a paper. It should not be that hard to pick a side becuase I agreed with almost everything Edmundson said. As my strategy, I am re-reading Edmundson's essay but this time looking for specific important points and highlighting them to help me for support when I am actually writing my essay. Hopefully this helps me.

Chapter 6 Reading

This chapter mainly focuses on reading and writing strategies. The first few paragraphs describe how to recognize the text and properly respond to the text. It also shows how important it is to formulate a strong response. The “Understanding Rhetorical Reading” passage actually helped me understand the college reading level. The four main points made were: vocabulary, unfamiliar rhetorical context, unfamiliar genre, and lack of back round knowledge. This section also discussed the different strategies to help make the reading easier to understand and gave helpful tips. A few example passages were provided to exercise the strategies. It really helped me to understand what this chapter is about and got me familiar with the type of writing and examples of strategies.

Writing assignment

Part A:
The moist soil is as soft as a brand new carpet. The thick grass fills up the spaces in between my fingers like memory foam. The placid lake soothes every single sense I possess. The distant splash of the fountain relieves the tension in my ears. As I sit here I can see the world the way it is meant to be seen. I can think clearer, breathe better, and work more efficiently. The lake glows bright green under the rays of the sun. Extravagant ripples form from the gentle breeze that blows conveniently every few minutes. The quiet geese add to the natural and organic atmosphere. This is probably the most relaxed I have been in a long time.

My brand new shorts are soaked because the grass is a little wet. I did not think it was that wet but I guess I was wrong. Many would think of a lake as a really beautiful and calm place but the reality is that that’s just a mere image in our minds. That is what we want to see. As I sit here observing the lake I notice the subtle flaws that many overlook. Water bottles, candy wrappers, and a foamy white-green substance get collected at the edges of the lake. I came down to the lake to study in a peaceful environment, what I did not realize is that I would not be alone. There are geese just roaming the area around the lake. Naturally my attention gets diverted to all the distractions.

Part B:
I must say that it was a little difficult writing from two different viewpoints but as I read over the two paragraphs I realized how a skilled writer could be very persuasive. Of, course I need a lot of work but I cannot imagine how someone skilled could easily manipulate someone’s mind. These rhetorical strategies can be very powerful.

Chapter 3

This chapter discusses the different ways that messages persuade. The angle of vision was the main topic at the beginnning of the chapter. It is when the writer chooses to write in a certain way for instance, emphasizing some points and de-emphasizing other points to manipulate the readers views or their angle of vision. This section really made me think about how I interpret articles, persuasive essays, and even political speeches. This section also helped me recognize angles of vision. Concept 9 discusses other ways messages persuade through appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos. There are also non verbal messages that persuade through visual strategies. This section helps analyze visual messages in various ways. My favorite part of this chapter was the rhetoric of clothing and other consumer items and how to analyze it. I already knew about the rhetoric of clothing but it was still interesting to read.

Get It Right. Privatized Executions.

The idea proposed by Arthur Miller is sick and twisted in my opinion. I disagreed with the entire essay until the very end. Although I was unbelieveably horrified, Miller made some really good points through out the essay which were, in fact, persuasive. I believe someones execution should not be a spectators event for the public. It is disrespectful to the condemned and their family members. It should not be seen by the public. However, Miller made a valid point toward the end in his conclusion. That is when I completely understood the main objective of his essay.

D-Hall helping Save Water

This article is titled "D-Hall Helping Save Water", JMU is making another effort to conserve energy and water to be more environment friendly. The dining hall discontinued the use of trays to help save more water. This action does not really affect JMU students significantly but it does help save water. This article is not the only one that cought my eye but it sure did leave an impression. My interest in this article is not only based on the actual topic, i really enjoyed the structure of this piece. The first paragraph was very concise and to the point. The rest of the article supported the thesis very well. There was plenty of clear evidence throughout the rest of the article. This article was well written; however, there were a few minor flaws but they did not ruin it.