Reflection on Project 3

Jeffrey Sitthi "Acura NSX" October 7, 2010 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will reflect on my project 3 based on the questions from page 520 of Writing for Public Lives.

1. What was specifically revised from one draft to another?
• I changed the goal of my argument to be more truly causal and to make my argument overall much stronger.
2. Point to global: how did you reconsider your thesis or organization?
• Initially, I ineffectively mixed several different types. I think I subconsciously thought this would work well but it didn't. By realizing this and combining it with some hard facts and figures that adjusted my previous opinions a bit, I was able to come up with a more convincing and well rounded argument. 
3. What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of Audience? A shift in purpose?
• As I already mentioned, a shift in purpose drove the majority of these changes as well as substantive changes in how I approached my argument.
4. How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?
• Overall, I think these changes have improved my credibility as an author as I was able to come up with a more nuanced and developed view and created better devices to convince my readers of my view.
5. How will these changes better address the audience or venue?
• The changes have not really effected the audience or the venue besides working to be more convincing as I already mentioned. Otherwise, these aspects are pretty much unchanged.
6. Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
• I revised several sentences to flow better throughout the piece. It is hard to point to particular things in this regard as I did this in a sort of gradual incremental way by reading and re-reading the entire piece a number of times and making little changes each time.
7. How will these changes better address the audience in understanding your purpose?
• I think these changes did not so much make my purpose easier to understand but rather easier to accept and agree with.
8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing?
• I did not have to reconsider any conventions but in my final draft I did add appropriate (and cited!) images as well as hyperlinks. 
9. Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?
• I think the process of reflection lets you examine what you actually did when you write something so you can identify strengths and weaknesses and hopefully build on them. 

Publishing Public Argument

Ford Europe "Le Mans Classic 2006" June 14, 2006 via Flickr
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This is a link to my published public argument on Kinja.


Here is a link to my project 3 on Google Docs if that is better.

What follows is my evaluation of my project three according to the guidelines that were given.

1. Mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience currently stands on the issue (before reading/watching/hearing your argument) below:

←----------------------------------------------------|-X------------------------------------------------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly

agree        

                                                                                                                  disagree

2. Now mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience should be (after they've read/watched/heard your argument) below:

←------------------------X---------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly

agree    

                                                                                                                      disagree

3. Check one (and only one) of the argument types below for your public argument:

         _______ My public argument etablishes an original pro position on an issue of debate.

         _______ My public argument establishes an original con position on an issue of debate.

         ___X___ My public argument clarifies the causes for a problem that is being debated.

         _______ My public argument prooposes a solution for a problem that is being debated.

         _______ My public argument positively evaluate a specific solution or policy under debate (and clearly identifies the idea I'm supporting).

         _______ My public argument openly refutes a specific solution or policy under debate (and clearly identifies the idea I'm refuting).

4. Briefly explain how your public argument doesn’t simply restate information from other sources, but provides original context and insight into the situation:

This is actually quite simple for me because I had a lot of prior knowledge about this topic so I had to do little research expect for looking up a couple of hard numbers as evidence and I also already had a strong opinion so I simply wrote an argument in favor of my opinion without consulting outside sources much (thereby ensuring what I write will be pretty original).

5. Identify the specific rhetorical appeals you believe you've employed in your public argument below:

Ethical or credibility-establishing appeals

                    _____ Telling personal stories that establish a credible point-of-view

                    __X__ Referring to credible sources (established journalism, credentialed experts, etc.)

                    __X__ Employing carefully chosen key words or phrases that demonstrate you are credible (proper terminology, strong but clear vocabulary, etc.)

                    __X__ Adopting a tone that is inviting and trustworthy rather than distancing or alienating

                    __X__ Arranging visual elements properly (not employing watermarked images, cropping images carefully, avoiding sloppy presentation)

                    _____ Establishing your own public image in an inviting way (using an appropriate images of yourself, if you appear on camera dressing in a warm or friendly or professional manner, appearing against a background that’s welcoming or credibility-establishing)

                    _____ Sharing any personal expertise you may possess about the subject (your identity as a student in your discipline affords you some authority here)

                    __X__ Openly acknowledging counterarguments and refuting them intelligently

                    __X__ Appealing openly to the values and beliefs shared by the audience (remember that the website/platform/YouTube channel your argument is designed for helps determine the kind of audience who will encounter your piece)

                    _____ Other: 

Emotional appeals

                    _____ Telling personal stories that create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Telling emotionally compelling narratives drawn from history and/or the current culture

                    __X__ Employing the repetition of key words or phrases that create an appropriate emotional impact

                    __X__ Employing an appropriate level of formality for the subject matter (through appearance, formatting, style of language, etc.)

                    _____ Appropriate use of humor for subject matter, platform/website, audience

                    __X__ Use of “shocking” statistics in order to underline a specific point

                    __X__ Use of imagery to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Employing an attractive color palette that sets an appropriate emotional tone (no clashing or ‘ugly’ colors, no overuse of too many variant colors, etc.)

                    _____ Use of music to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    _____ Use of sound effects to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

                    __X__ Employing an engaging and appropriate tone of voice for the debate

                    _____ Other: 

Logical or rational appeals

                    _____ Using historical records from credible sources in order to establish precedents, trends, or patterns

                    __X__ Using statistics from credible sources in order to establish precedents, trends, or patterns

                    _____ Using interviews from stakeholders that help affirm your stance or position

                    __X__ Using expert opinions that help affirm your stance or position

                    __X__ Effective organization of elements, images, text, etc.

                    __X__ Clear transitions between different sections of the argument (by using title cards, interstitial music, voiceover, etc.)

                    __X__ Crafted sequencing of images/text/content in order to make linear arguments

                    __X__ Intentional emphasis on specific images/text/content in order to strengthen argument

                    _____ Careful design of size/color relationships between objects to effectively direct the viewer’s attention/gaze (for visual arguments)

                    _____ Other: 

6. Below, provide us with working hyperlinks to THREE good examples of the genre you've chosen to write in. These examples can come from Blog Post 11.3 or they can be new examples. But they should all come from the same specific website/platformand should demonstrate the conventions for your piece:

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

Dave Adams "Johannes Van Nierop & Frank Wrathall - 1989 Audi 80 Quattro at the 2015 Silverstone Classic" July 25, 2015 via Flickr
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In this blog post I will answer the provided questions about my Project 3 draft.

To begin with, I reviewed Evan and Hallye's drafts.
Now on to the questions about my draft:

1. Who reviewed your Project 3 rough draft?

As of now (Saturday night), no one has reviewed my draft. I will do my best to remember to check again on Sunday as the deadline was extended.

2. What did you think and/or feel about the feedback you received? Be explicit and clear. Tell me what helped or what confused you about the feedback you got.

See above. I hope to be able to get some good editing help and hopefully come to Professor Bottai's office hours.

3. What aspects of Project 3 need to most work going forward [Audience, Purpose, Argumentation, or Genre]? How do you plan on addressing these areas? 

I think I just need to polish up my project overall and publish it as best I can (perhaps on Kinja!).

4. How are you feeling overall about the direction of your project after peer review and/or instructor conferences this week?

Don't have any peer review as of now but I hope to be able to still have a brief discussion about my article with Professor Bottai.

Draft of Public Argument

brent flanders "the Legacy in the blizzard" December 24, 2009 via Flickr
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Here is a link to my Project 3 draft.

Feel free to tear it apart. I have no reservations. The one thing I would be aware of is that there may be some more technical terms but that my intended audience (car enthusiasts) will probably have a decent idea what they are and what they mean.

Thanks!

Considering Visual Elements

Ken Haworth Photography "MK1 Escort Mexico" September 6, 2014 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will be examining a number of questions from Writing for Public Lives about visual elements. The car above is a Ford Escort Mexico. TL;DR it's gorgeous.

What color choice best fits the rhetorical tone?
A simple black and white color scheme would be most appropriate for this project considering my genre. White text on a background image can be very cool but it is more difficult to create and not necessarily be necessary for my genre.

If your project contains large block of text, could they be broken up more effectively using test boxes, lines, headings, or images?
In writing, it is always beneficial to break-up long block of text with something more interesting. With that in mind, I will attempt to include pull quotes, perhaps lines, and appropriate images.

Do too many visual images make your text busy or disorganized?
Too many images would be inappropriate for my genre. I have a text based argument that I want to communicate so too many pictures would be distracting and unnecessary.

Does the image inform or emphasize my argument?
Images should be directly be connected to my argument or the issue at hand. Something that would be appropriate might be a diagram of selective catalytic reduction would be appropriate.

Scan your argument or outline. Do your eyes move easily from section to section in the order that you intended?
My outline is a bit of a mess right now but my final product should be pretty straightforward in this regard. If I can break-up the text block effectively, the argument will move in a sequential manner from top to bottom so it shouldn't be bad.

Do the visual and textual elements come together persuasively as a whole, or are there elements that seem disconnected or out of place?
My visual elements should come together fairly persuasively and cohesively as I do not intend to use something that does not work well to start out with.

Project 3 Outline

JML78 "Porsche Racing" May 31, 2014 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I will develop my outline for Project 3.

Introducing Your Public Argument
Think about your situation
This type of introduction lets me draw on current events to try to get my audience thinking about my ideas in regard to the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Developing Strong Supporting Paragraphs

1. List Down Major Supporting Arguments
• Emissions standards will accurately reflect how cars actually perform.
• Proper emissions controlled diesel engines are still the best answer for efficient vehicles
2. List Down Major Criticisms
• Doesn't sound good to lower emissions standards on cars
• We should put everything toward electric cars
• Diesel is the devil
• Fine VW the maximum
3. Select Your Key Support and Rebuttal Points
• Support
• Urea injection makes diesel exhaust clean
• Batteries are extremely energy intensive and environmentally destructive to make
• With lower standards but real world mileage and emissions tests, we will have accurate estimates for how cars actually perform. 
• Rebuttal
• Fine VW the maximum
• The scandal didn't lead to any deaths
• Diesel is the devil
• Urea injection makes diesel exhaust clean
• We should put everything toward electric cars
• Batteries are extremely energy intensive and environmentally destructive to make
4. Write out a Tentative Topic Sentence for Each Support and Rebuttal Point
• While Volkswagen's institutional cheating has encouraged an alarmist and reactionary stance in much of the media, diesel engines that use Selective Catalytic Reduction (urea injection) have remarkably low emissions while maintaining favorable power and fuel consumption.
• As Sergio Marchionne can famously be quoted, producing high density batteries is extremely energy intensive to the point that a gas powered Fiat 500 could go 10,000 miles with the energy it takes to make the battery for the electric Fiat 500.
• While it may sound insane, we should actually the lower emissions and mileage targets  that automakers currently have to shoot for. Why? Because all of these targets are based on inaccurate lab tests. If we lower the targets but set them at an achievable but ambitious level and mandate road testing for mileage and emissions, everyone will benefit. Automakers will be subject to more realistic regulations and customers will have a realistic idea of how their cars will perform in the real world.
5. Gather Evidence - I will cite other sources and find specific data as necessary but I have very in-depth knowledge about the VW scandal myself so it should not be too difficult to write this from my own knowledge.
• http://jalopnik.com/?trending_test_d&utm_expid=66866090-62.H_y_0o51QhmMY_tue7bevQ.4
• http://www.caranddriver.com/
• http://www.roadandtrack.com/
• personal knowledge
6. Develop a Map of Your Argument

Concluding Strategies

Negative/Positive Consequences

As I am writing about the issues that we currently address, I think I will most likely conclude by pointing out the problems with the current system and what we would gain by changing current emissions regulations to be more accurate.

-----

I read Chloe's Project 3 Outline and her Considering Visual Elements posts. Chloe and I agree on a lot of facets of about visual elements. It was reassuring to read something from someone who essentially agreed with all of my opinions. All in all, what I learned was that while the outlining work was a good start, there is still as lot of work that needs to go into this project to make it good.

Analyzing my Genre

Anik Shrestha "Volvo P1800" September 11, 2011 via Flickr
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In this blog post, I'm providing answers to the bulleted questions found on page 342 of Writing for Public Lives. I've also included 5 examples of the genre:

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5

Social Context

• An opinion column is generally found in a magazine or in it's online form.
• Depending on the subject of the magazine, the subject of a column found in it would vary.
• Generally magazine editors will write opinion columns as as space to express their own opinions and biases.
• The genre is a space where people who are generally professional journalists who are not usually supposed to express bias can show their personal opinions and biases.

Rhetorical Patterns of the Genre

• Content is text-based with limited images sometimes included.
• I would think the appeals skew toward ethos as the piece is about personal opinions however depending on what the particular article is about, any and all rhetorical strategies can be used.
• The texts don't all include a specific organization but they are all generally an argument about something that has to do with cars. How that argument is structured and how it proceeds etc. depends on the author.
• Sentences in this genre do no have an overarching pattern.
• As a magazine article, the word choice tends to be formal with informal words only used as necessary. However, the tone is generally conversational and easy to read.

Analyse What those Patterns Reveal about Social Context of the Genre

• The genre itself does not intrinsically include or exclude anyone; magazines are generally written very accessibly.
• I don't see any particular role as being encouraged for the writer and readers. Obviously the readers are reading the writer's opinion about a subject.
• There are also no values intrinsically associated with this genre. With the audience of a car magazine: yes. But not in particular with readers of an editorial column.
• The genre generally treats the writer's opinion as the most important content as that is what it is centered on.

------

I commented on Hallye and Swati's Genre blog posts. Hallye chose to write more of a magazine article which I think will work really well for her topic (something art history related). Her analysis for this blog post was excellent in particular regarding what audience she would be reaching. Swati on the other hand chose more of a general interest science topic which she also analyzed very well. In both situations, however, I would be slightly concerned how they would get across their own opinions. I specifically chose my genre because I knew it would be very easy to make an argument because objectivity is not expected in an editorial column.