Joint Reading Response

Hi Blogger Friends & Classmates-

I apologize for the delay in this post, I was sick & at the doctor's all day yesterday. Coincidentally, our ENG 121 class was cancelled, which I am thankful for since I planned to miss class! It is strange how things work out like that.

Anyway, the comic Prof Jenn had us read was really entertaining and I wish more lessons were in this format. I've never been good at arguing. I bend easily and end up "trying to see where the other person is coming from", which ends up with me talking in circles and getting frustrated. The quote "A good argument is actually like a good conversation" was a particularly interesting point in that I suppose you should touch on both sides of the subject because these topics aren't being debated for one black & white reason but rather two ideas as a whole: complex and layered with results and consequences.
The critical parts of good arguments based on evidence pictograph is a nice visual tool when attempting to make an initial argument.
WHAT: facts
HOW: circumstances
WHO: relationships
WHY: reasons
Then, you use your evidence to deduct an interpretation and analysis, which is where you finally get to take sides and defend your statement in an educated, organized, and professional manner.

Logos- Logic, Ethos- Experience, Pathos-Persuasion via

The textbook says "Argumentation is a big part of college writing. To show that you have thoughtfully considered information from a text or a lecture, you will be asked not merely to restate it but to analyze it, consider different points of view draw your own conclusions, and present it and defend these conclusions" (p574) & let me say this is so true! More than 85% of my classes have required a research paper or end of semester review defending what you have learned. And every time, it is highlighted on the syllabus on the first day, forgotten about, and then turned into a stressful scramble trying to argue you learned something. My hope with this class is to finally understand the basic method for writing argumentatively as a showcase of knowledge or belief rather than some mis-interpreted defense against the fire-breathing dragon at the end of the semester guarding the castle where your grades lie.
-aa