The IP....check.

There's no better feeling than putting a satisfying check mark next to an item on a to do list. I enjoy this simple action so much, I often rewrite things I've already done on the list, just so I can enthusiastically cross them off. Well class, The biggest monster, our Issue Papers, can officially be crossed off our writing 150 to do lists. Op. Ed: check. Rhetorical Analysis: check. Issues Paper: check. IP: check. Paper with Issues: check. The paper of Issues: check. check. and CHECK!

I actually thoroughly enjoyed this paper. It was a beast to research and write, but I was interested in my topic and could have read article after article about it! I learned so much and gained a valuable opinion I will carry with me through out the rest of my life. My least favorite part was the Annotated Bibliography. However, I found that even that was moderately useful.  Congratulation classmates, We're one step closer to summer!

Outline attempt!

I decided to outline this article from the Desert News. It is a column titled, Reasons To Run, by a teammate of mine in her fifth year.

Cecily Lew, starts out with a personal experience from a couple weekends back when the National Track and Field Competitions were being run. She tells of the difficulty she and her husband had trying to locate the races online and the poor quality with which they were broadcast. She compares the experience to the ease of locating and watching a basketball game from home.

After her personal experience she states that she recognizes the limitations of having an entire channel dedicated to running; however, she mentions changes that can be made such as national races being broadcast live with a clear image.

Next Lew, transitions to expressing her frustration to the lack of exposure the running world currently gets. She gives several posed anecdotes and conversations of non-runner/ runner encounters, and common questions asked. In this part of the the article she uses satire, irony, and sarcasm giving the article a comical and casual feel.

She intercedes one of her posed conversations toward the end with a "truth of the matter" statement. She informs her audience of the punchline of her arguments by reiterating that track runs year round and there is a vast running world out there with thousands of exciting/ inspirational stories.

She closes by picking up the posed conversation and ends with a satirical comment displaying apparent frustration at non-runners lack of understanding regarding the running world.
http:www.deseretnews.com

5 Sources

1) The pros and cons of English as a medium of instruction in African schools
-by W D Adkins
http://www.helium.com/items/1014686-the-pros-and-cons-of-english-as-a-medium-of-instruction-in-african-schoolsWebsite Title

: African & Middle Eastern Culture

2) The pros and cons of English as a medium of instruction in African schools

by- Joshua Kloppers

http://www.helium.com/items/2106483-medium-of-instruction-in-south-africa

3) Researchers, Beware of Your Assumptions! The Unique Case of South African Education

by- Zanelle Buthlezi

http://www.readingonline.org/international/inter_index.asp?HREF=/international/edinburgh/buthelezi/

4) Language of Instruction in Tanzania and South Africa – Highlights from a Project

by-Birgit Brock-Utne, Zubeida Desai, Martha A.S. Qorro and Allan Pitman (Eds.)

https://www.sensepublishers.com/files/9789460912221PR.pdf

5)The Language of Instruction Conundrum in Africa

by-Kwesi Kwaa Prah

http://www.sprakforsvaret.se/sf/fileadmin/PDF/Conundrum.pdf

Issues Thesis say whaaaa?

As our World becomes increasingly more connected, the popularity of using English as the primary learning language in African Schools has become all but standardized. This results in an often hindered progression of those children who are forced to reconcile their mother tongue in pursuit of a globalized education before they've mastered basic concepts requisite for success. 

It's very rough, and definitely needs some refining and more particulars, buuuut having not done much research yet, I'll have to fill those in after the fact when my argument has matured more. 

This is really what it's like. Don't let the "Nice" uniforms fool you though.

Issues Paper Topics

What to write on? What to write on? With this being such a big paper and worth so many points, I really want to find a topic that I'm going to be interested in and enjoy. So far I'm considering how Globalization has impacted the language of schooling across the world. I had the opportunity to live in Africa for 5 weeks last summer where I worked in an orphange/school, teaching subjects I was less than qualified to teach. The reason I was able to teach was because in Tanzania all secondary schools (elementary-junior high equivalent) are mandatorily taught in English. This restriction made me, an 18 year old girl, more qualified than at least 5 of the 8 teachers at the school. It was incredibly difficult to teach the children concepts such as geography, math, science, and religion in their second language. For example, teaching kids about pollution, when they don't know what that word means, was almost impossible. Those subjects are hard enough for American's to learn in their first language. Can you imagine being taught them in Spanish, French, or German?

No swahili is allowed to be spoken at the schools there, except for a short fifty minute class, where they learn it each day. This means they can't even ask clarification questions in their other classes. This throws the kids into a sink or swim scenario, where unfortunately 50-70 percent, or more, fail miserably. It is heartbreaking to see how hard the kids work, and their struggles based solely on a language barrier.

R.A. Reflection

I definitely liked writing this essay. I haven't done a Rhetorical Analysis since the AP English test my junior year of High School; it was fun getting back into the swing of how they are done. I liked my topic and I was grateful we had the opportunity to choose, for ourselves, which article we wanted to analyze. I feel like the time table has been perfect. I never felt rushed or like I was wasting time. Every step of the editing process was worth while. I feel like a little more instruction on specific strategies would've been beneficial earlier on. We went over lots on a friday class, but that was after we were supposed to have written most of our essays. I think that might have saved students some time and stress. 

Definitely a little dry... haha :)

More More Strategies!

I really enjoyed class on Friday. I thought it was very helpful to pick apart individual pieces and analyze every possible strategy they used. It helped me to go to the writing center where a lady pointed out how I could analyze the strategies I noticed more in depth. I analyzed three strategies: syntax and diction, statistics, and organization structure. Focusing on syntax and diction-  I addressed that they were used but did not address for what effect. I mentioned the casual tone of the piece but she suggested I go further in depth about what it was attempting to foster in the audience. It made the article less scientific, and closer to home. It fostered Unity among the audience through words such as "we, as individuals," etc. I realized I should always look to take the strategies a step further, if possible, to achieve a more thorough analysis.

R.A. Potential thesis

 "Think Globally, Eat Locally", is an effective analytical argument which employs, and masterfully combines: syntax and diction, statistical data, and organizational techniques, to logically convince the global community that simple alterations in everyday food selections can potentially slow the deteriorating state of our current climate crisis.

Let me know what you guys think! I wanted to keep the topics open enough that they could encompass a plethora of smaller strategies. This way i'll be sure to have plenty to analyze, without making my paper repetitive. If you have any suggestions or feel the strategies I've chosen are too vague, don't hesitate to give me constructive feedback! Thanks!

Global Warming 101

The Beginnings of a R.A.

The article I chose for my Rhetorical Analysis Essay is titled, "Think Globally, Eat Locally." It is written by, Jennifer Wilkins and Anna Lappe, on pg. 163. The Audience they address are average Americans. In the second paragraph they directly say, "We, as individuals..." This gives them better positioning for the advice and critiquing they are about to give pertaining to our eating behaviors. By speaking in "We" and not "you" they are put themselves in the same position as their audience they are addressing.

The event of importance is Global Warming and the ways, we Americans, can help. They specifically focused on Eating Habits and the contribution those are making to green house gas emissions.

Ideologies they are assuming their audiences possess consist of being environmentally conscientious, and eager to contribute. If Americans weren't concerned, their paper wouldn't have any resonance with the people.

The major fears or worries of the authors consist of Americans health and resources, and the condition of the Earth, specifically temperatures.

Opinion Editorial Evaluation

I honestly really enjoyed this essay. I felt like the Opinion Editorial was the perfect assignment to ease us into writing. It emphasized the rhetoric of our writing, without worrying about complex arguments or statistical sources. I felt like it was a very open ended assignment which granted a lot a flexibility and freedom. It was fun writing on something we were so legitimately concerned about and involved in, and interesting to order our thoughts from frustrations to substantial claims and arguments. The short length emphasized the importance of concision and saying what needs to be said in a fewer amount of words. Turning our "complaints" into effective arguments and stating them in a mature manner is a great life skill that we will continue to use throughout the rest of our lives.

Peer Review, Thumbs up or thumbs down...

I thoroughly enjoyed the peer review done today. I found it helpful and a good, step-back evaluation of our papers. Generally, I am not a big fan of this sort of thing, but today I read a very good paper, gave some helpful ideas (hopefully), and received some great suggestions in return! It was nice to see other students approaches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review

the FUTURE!

Life changes so quickly! It amazes me! One minute you feel like you're barely hanging on and the next your on top of the world. We have so many decisions to make every single day, especially at this time in our life. With all these choices I think of Elder Uchtdorf's talk a few conference back titled, "A Matter of a Few Degrees". Even the simplest choice can change the course of our: day, month, year, and life. It's overwhelming but also exciting! What decisions can I make today that will change the course of my life for the better throughout the eternities!? 

http://lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/a-matter-of-a-few-degrees?lang=eng

OpEd continued in more depth...

Okay so some specifics stories and examples I am going to use in my opinion editorial consist of; people packing up early during class, loud music and videos during large lectures or study time, group projects with members not pulling their weight, mass emails sent to thousands of students requesting notes, etc. I know every student at Brigham Young can relate to at least one of those mentioned scenarios. I've seen them vary on many levels, but have a few examples, I personally experienced,  that were on the extreme end which I'm planning on using in my essay. My audience will be all BYU students, particularly the incoming classes, new to expected campus behavior. My argument is that we should be mature enough by now to be considerate of others and their own opinions, schedules, and efforts. BYU is a unique university that excels in almost every aspect, however, even BYU students, it appears, need reminders on common courtesies in the learning atmosphere.

Opinion Editorial Brainstorm

What to write about, what to write about? This is my least favorite part of the writing process. I've had some ideas floating around my head but every time I tried taking them a step further; I lost interest, recognized their lack of depth, or wasn't sure of my own opinion. I also wanted to save some of the larger more technical subjects for later research papers, so that automatically rules out those. I've considered; cannon hours, the inability to do anything on campus, specifically find food, during devotional,  Nutrition awareness in general, common courtesies such as, leaving the room for phone calls, taking care of fussy children, and waiting patiently instead of packing up early from class, etc. So far, I'm leaning toward common manners that seem to be rapidly disappearing in a "me first" society. If anyone has any suggestions don't hesitate to let me know! Thanks!

About myself...

         Hello! My name is Elizabeth Ricks. I am  eighteen years-old and attending Brigham Young University. I have high expectations for myself and generally know what I want out of life. I, first and foremost, want to be happy! I want to be successful on my own terms of; home, family, friends, athletics, and work. I want to graduate from the Y with good grades and in a timely manner, pleased with my academic and athletic accomplishments. I hope to start a family of my own one day, where I'll be able to teach my children the things I've been taught and learned thus far.
         I plan to support my husband in his career, wherever that might take us. I want to travel the world and revisit many of the exotic places I've been, with my own family. I want life to be exciting, spontaneous, and rewarding. I want to meet many new people, travel to new places, make new friends, taste new foods, develop new hobbies, and discover new talents. One of my favorite quotes says something something like, "I want to arrive at my grave, not perfectly manicured and rested, but rather, skid in broad side, out of control, thoroughly used up and totally worn out, proclaiming, Wow, what a ride!" Life is a precious gift that I plan to make the most of!