Reflection on Open Letter Draft

We're here friends! We made it! Go us! Side note, Sean, you must go on Rate My Professor and look yourself up to cheer up when you're having bad days, because it is like literally so many great reviews its crazy. If you don't already, that might be a good thing to start doing, like seriously.

I peer reviewed Joy and Zayla's open letters in peer review, and in my LAST BLOG POST I will be talking about my draft and plans I have for it as the deadline looms.

Anderson, Jill "The Breakfast Club" 07/29/13 via Just Jilly.

At the moment I am almost done with my final project (good thing too, considering its due in a few hours) but I still have a few things to work on. I definitely showed that I have the ability to think about my writing and myself as a writer. In fact maybe a little too much, because I have plenty of material and I need to make it a little shorter still. Not to mention I need to make it sound more like a letter and less like an essay, that's one of the main things I still have to tweak.

 I specifically made sure that I showed examples of the things I was talking about in my writing by hyperlinking and quoting. Some of my analysis was what actually makes it a little long. I probably need to go back and explain why I made certain choices a little more, even if it is to say "I just felt like it was a good idea" or something.

I honestly had a super fun time in this class, and I am proud of myself for what I have accomplished here. Thank you all for everything!

Draft of Open Letter

Oh mah gawd no I don't like that this class is ending, that means its just gross chemistry and math from here on out, make it stop. But regardless, here is the draft of my open letter for your editing pleasure.

Mattox, Bailey "Sam" 7/16/15 via photos.

I feel alright about what I have.... but I still have a lot to improve on. For example I feel like its perrrrrrty long for a letter, but at the same time there is a lot of information to include. But how about the semi-formal letter conventions at the beginning of the letter? Perusing my peers' blogs, I've seen people doing it a lot of different ways, and looking up semi-formal letter conventions I get a lot of different results. And finally formality: I tried to stay within the conventions of a semi-formal letter, but I also wanted to let my voice show (its kinda hard to keep it in now that it's been let out, it's typically been the reverse in my past projects, huh).

Thank you in advance for the feedback!

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

THE END IS NEAR. Continuing to prepare for the final, I will be answering questions from my fans (jk just from Sean but I feel all fancy and egotistical answering all of these questions about myself) about some of my experiences in 109H. And also, as it is now December it is socially acceptable for me to post this picture of my dog in a Santa hat. Behold.

Mattox, Bailey "Sammy Clause" 12/25/14 via photos.

1. Biggest challenges this semester.

The biggest challenge this semester for me was finding a routine for homework time. I am used to just doing homework when I get home, but all of a sudden there was too much to just do that and I was getting overwhelmed constantly. I wasn't a happy camper at all. But eventually I realized that it was more effective for me to hang out with friends and go to games and have fun in the early evening and then do homework in the late evening and between classes. 

2. What did you learn about your time management and editorial skills?

I have learned through this semester that its all about experimenting to find what works. At first I was stuck in the rut of my old habits, but once I was able to let go and try new things, I had much more time.  But like I said before, I am very easy to bribe, and so that helped me become much better at time management. Not just pounding through ALL of the homework at once and interspersing it with breaks really helped me become effective. As far as editing, I never would have guessed that I would be able to give the criticism that I did to people I hardly knew. I think it was really good for me to have that experience, because it made me realize that I can give constructive and meaningful advice to most anyone, and give my honest opinion (while still not being mean and offensive). 

3. What do you know about the concept of genre? How is understanding this concept central to becoming a better writer? 

Genre to me is a matter of understanding the whole situation of the prompt you are writing for. I think that it includes knowing your audience, your purpose, your conventions and style, and basically everything that makes a good piece of writing. To me genre is directly tied to purpose and all of those other really important things that make your writing effective. So in regards to that, knowing your genre is essential in creating a piece of writing that does everything you want it to do for your readers.

4. What skills from this course might you use/develop further in the next few years of college coursework?

You know what, I feel like I actually did develop a lot of relevant skills in this course, It didn't feel useless and arbitrary like a lot of classes. For one, my planning skills have skyrocketed, and I really hope that outside of this class I am able to maintain and implement the planning process I was introduced to in this course. On top of that, I feel like I also really learned how to really understand the purpose of my writing and cater to the audience, and this is always going to be relevant whenever I am writing anything in the future. And I really learned how to step back and say "wait, what do I want them to feel?" Also I think I have gotten a lot better at sharing my opinions even through class discussions, and definitely in writing. I think that this will be really helpful later on, and I want to continue to expand on this stating of my opinion. 

5. What was your most effective moment from 109H? 

I think my most effective moment from this course was probably the planning I did for Project 3. I think it was all extremely important to the production of my final draft, and I felt like I really got in depth with it. It actually made putting Project 3 together pretty easy, which was fantastic. It also helped me to just have a really good grasp on the project overall (pending I guess, I don't have my grade for that project yet sooooo we'll see).

6. What was your least effective moment in 109H?

My planning in the beginning of project 1 was just awful. I hardly cared, and I didn't yet understand the importance and helpfulness of planning. Particularity when we had to do the annotated bibliographies in the beginning, those blog posts were pretty useless the way I did them. If I had done more little planning things before then maybe I would have been better about it, but the way it was I just didn't understand yet. And those gosh darn Clarity and Punctuation posts. The first rounds weren't bad, and I got to read on topics I may not have known SO much about. But the SECOND rounds just felt utterly pointless. I felt like during those posts I was once again having to force myself to just get it done instead of actually thinking about it like the rest of the course taught me to. 

Revisiting My Writing Process

LAST PROJECT CAN I GET A WOOT WOOT?! Now that I have completed 3 whole months in college and 3 whole projects in English 109H, I'm going to go back and reread my very first blog posts (awwww memory lane here we come) and reflect. Specifically I'm going to reflect on what has and hasn't changed since then and looking forward to the future of my writing.

Mattox, Bailey "Ruby" 11/25/15 via Photos

My Writing Process

At the beginning of this course and this whole blogging fiasco, I considered myself a Heavy Reviser, and perfectly content to be so. I honestly didn't expect to change much at all. But after all of the blogging and planning before every project, I really think I have changed into more of a heavy planner. I still tend to spew thoughts during the blogging process, but that is a way more productive spewing than what I was doing before. In my first blog post about my writing process, I described my first drafts and outlines as "a jagged jumble of thoughts". But one thing about this course is it literally forces you to start planning FAR before even your outline.  It is actually remarkably relaxing to piece the draft together because I already have so much of what I want to do planned out. As a result revision is pretty easy now, and that's actually pretty nice to have it all together by that stage in the game.Of course since now I spend a lot of my time planning in my head before I write, I still have a tendency to procrastinate on actually writing out what I want to say. But overall, I am pretty surprised how much my writing process has changed for the better because of this course.

Calendar Reflection

THANKFULLY my days have become much less homework-centric. In my Calendar Reflection blog post, I talked about how my time just flew away, and even today sometimes I just can't figure out where it goes, but now I've figured out how to manage my time.  I still haven't had much problem with time for Linguistics, Chemistry, and English, but math is still 4 hours per night. The main difference now is that I found out that I actually work well on a reward system. So for example that day we talked about those horror movie to romantic comedy trailers on YouTube, I started just watching them all. Then I realized I really needed to do homework, and so I made a deal with my self that every blog post I wrote I got to watch one. And so I kept finding things like that to keep me on track. It also kept the process of homework from getting too boring. I'll still get on kicks where I just don't want to do anything and then one night I do EVERYTHING, but now its much more balanced and I have found the time to hang out with friends and go to sporting events and have a life outside of homework.

Looking Forward

This is my last English class EVER and I was sort of expecting it to be nothing new. But actually I really do feel like I have changed and learned a lot because of this class as well as the whole college experience.  As a result of this class I have also begun to understand what is expected of me as a college student, and learned how to step up my game and be open to change.I think I'll always be a little bit of a procrastinator, but at least now I know how to regulate myself. This class was also a lot more self-motivated than I am used to, and this is going to come in really handy as I move forward in my career. I liked the feeling that I was able to figure things out and work for myself, and come for help when I needed it. All together my balancing skills have gotten much better because of this course, and in the future I hope to continue this improvement.

Reflection on Project 3

Ah reflection, here we come. In this post I will be reflecting on Project 3 by answering the questions posed in WPL. In honor of Thanksgiving, enjoy the turkey comics. 

Firestone, Herb "Thanksgiving Day Humor"
11/22/13 via pinterest

1. What specifically was revised from one draft to the other?

Specifically my main revision was the fact that I included the importance of Koko's Kitten as far as the function it fills in teaching children about death. Also I worked on making it so that the emotional appeals were definitely there working their magic, but they weren't so blatantly obvious. 

2. Global changes: How did you reconsider thesis and organization?

I kept my overall argument the same throughout revision, since I think it was pretty clear what I was trying to do with the project. But I changed around the organization a little bit so that I had relevant information that led up to Robin Williams' death concerning Koko's Kitten and it was helpful to my argument. 

3. What led to these changes?

I basically changed this to better achieve the purpose I was trying to fulfill. I wanted my audience to feel nostalgic and be led to my way of thinking through this nostalgia, and so I made changes to make this more possible.

4. How do these changes affect your credibility as a writer?

I think that they don't necessarily impact my credibility. I was trying to do it in a way that wasn't too obvious to my reader, but I feel like maybe by making a stronger case for myself I made myself more credible. 

5. How will these changes better address the audience?

Again it's how I went for the nostalgic feel. I think that considering the generation that I was catering towards, I needed to make these connections to their personal pasts to make my piece more poignant to them. 

Firestone, Herb "Thanksgiving Humor"
11/22/14 via pinterest.

6. Local changes: How did you reconsider sentence structure and style?

I worked on making sure that I was conversational and casual in my sentence structure because this is a convention of my genre. I also liked utilizing the pretty sounding sentence structure that is used in the genre. 

7. How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?

I think that this will for one make  it seem less like I am trying to shove my argument down their throats and more like I a just having a conversation with them. The way that I present my argument isn't very overwhelming and so hopefully this would lead to my audience not feeling attacked. I just want to show them of this different perspective, not change their entire belief system or anything. 

8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the genre?

I had to for the title. It seems like a really dumb long title, but believe me, that's what they like in this genre. So I had to find a way to emulate that which was sort of difficult. Also since the genre varies in tone and structure, I had to find and consider the one that would most likely be used for this kind of piece. 

9. How did reflection help you consider your identity as a writer?

It actually makes me feel pretty insightful as a writer to be able to justify my reasoning for what I did or didn't do with this process. I think that reflecting on this makes me feel better about my own writing, because it makes it clear that I wasn't just arbitrarily pounding on keys, I had a plan. And I really like that I am able to consider the reader's needs and change my writing accordingly. 

Publishing Public Argument

The conclusion! The last big project before the final! And it can be found in this very blog post! Here is the link to my Project 3. 

Mattox, Bailey "Puppy" 11/22/15

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:

         ___x____ My public argument establishes an original pro position on an issue of debate.

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

         _______ 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:

By providing a personal insight using the stories about my mother and how Koko has affected my life, I provide original material. But really this topic has not been traditionally covered by looking at the emotional side of the debate. Most of the time people either have their hearts warmed by this story or they argue the facts and logic of the situation: can Koko really understand and repeat human communication. So by focusing on the emotional benefits, I give a side that can be seen in the public has not been reported on or explicitly talked about. 

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

Ethical or credibility-establishing appeals

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

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

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

                    _____ 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)

                    ___x__ 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

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

                    ___x__ 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

                    _____ 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

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

                    __x___ Other: Connecting back to the audience's own childhood/personal life to create nostalgic feeling

Logical or rational appeals

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

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

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

                    _____ 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

                    _____ 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/platform and should demonstrate the conventions for your piece:

http://www.avclub.com/article/ghosts-and-monsters-were-least-scary-part-goosebum-226431

http://www.avclub.com/article/25-years-later-teen-witch-still-fun-yet-little-rid-210843

http://www.avclub.com/article/despite-dystopia-lit-burnout-giver-keeps-giving-208176

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

For my peer reivew, I looked at Michaela and Grace's drafts. The review sheets can be found here: MICHAELA'S REVIEW SHEET, GRACE'S REVIEW SHEET.

Now that Draft 3 is complete, I am going to take this post to evaluate the process I have undergone thus far in Project 3.

Mattox, Bailey "Sammy" 11/15/15

Grace reviewed my project 3 rough draft. Since I had just done an outline of sorts for my draft and where I was going to put evidence and had not yet added all of the specific evidence, most of her advice was stuff I was already going to do. I thought it was a bit confusing that she told me to make separate paragraphs for rebuttal arguments because that's what I thought I had already done. But I did like her advice about appealing directly to the audience, and was able to use that in revision.

I think that I need to focus in a little on what my purpose is and achieving my purpose, as well as my argumentation. I think that with another revision of two I could add in some extra phrases and ideas that could help strengthen these.

After peer review and conferences I am feeling pretty confident about the direction I want to take in my draft. I think that the advice I received will really help to make this project successful and really make my audience think the way I want them to.

Draft of Public Argument

Now that I have composed my draft, I have a few requests of my peer reviewers. First of all, this draft is quite rough and will hopefully be getting significantly better in the coming week. What I'm really hoping you'll keep in mind is my audience. Do you think that it creates the desired affect in my reader, the nostalgia and all? If you have any advice on the matter please let me know. Also do you think my conclusion is strong enough? In the past I have had a hard time getting out of the high school "summarize and wrap up the essay rut. So if you could watch out for those things it would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance for the peer review! Here is my draft.

Stockman, Daniel "Corgi Puppies 95" 05/28/11 via flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Considering Visual Elements

In this post I will be assessing and deciding on the visual elements I could utilize in my project to make it more effective to my audience. I hope to make it pretty enough to where part of my rhetorical job is already done before I even begin writing. And because its nice when the final piece is visually pleasing.

Sission, Cari "For the Love of Goats" 11/06/14 via pinterest

• What color choices best represent the visual/rhetorical tone of my project?

I think that for this genre I should just stick with a standard black font and a white background. I haven't found any of the posts on the Memory Wipe section of the website that don't follow this convention so I think it would be weird for me to change that. Adding different colors could help me play on the emotions of the audience (red is shown to produce feelings of anger etc) but I think overall the benefits of black and white overpower the benefits of color.I think that I will be able to keep my audience focused on what I am saying and not the "pretty swirly font" by doing this.

• How might I use font in my project to create emphasis?

I want to definitely use a big bold font for my title. This will be used to state in a bold and clear way what my plans are for my writing. Since there aren't headings in this genre, I think the best thing to do would be to stick with a standard size (12 point Times New Roman for example) font that will fit the conventions of the genre. If I make it bigger or smaller it might negatively impact the overall readability of my piece and I wouldn't want to risk compromising my audience's interest by doing something like that.

• Is the theme or association the image produces relevant to the theme of my argument?

I plan on using an image of the front of the Koko's Kitten book at the beginning of my piece. This is again one of the conventions of the genre. I think this works well to create the desired affect since what I am largely going after is the nostalgic impact. I think that seeing this opening image my audience would already be falling into my rhetorical (for lack of a better word) trap of pathos. I can imagine someone looking at the opening picture and going "Aw" nostalgically and being tempted into reading the whole thing. Plus the cover of Koko's Kitten is like uber cute, I mean who doesn't want to see a gorilla cuddling a kitten, amiright? I also think that a closing image of Koko and her kitten would be effective at the end of my piece. 

• Is the feeling or tone associated with the picture invocative of the visual rhetorical tone of my argument?

Yes, definitely. I think that by starting off the piece with this picture I already get my audience in the right frame of mind for reading my writing. They will be feeling the nostalgic tone before I even start writing and I think that will be really helpful. And the picture at the end would be a sort of mic drop effect where its just like "now think about THAT" which would be really cool I think. I'm all for the mic drops. 

• Do your eyes more easily from section to section in the order you intended?

At least in my outline, yes this is true. I want to break this piece up into small to medium sized paragraphs since this is one of the conventions of this genre. I think this will help create the desired flow of information in my project. If I was to make my paragraphs too long in a project like this my audience might be easily lost or bored in the sheer volume of the text. 

• Do the different visual and textual elements come together as a whole?

I think all of the different visual aspects of my project will come together nicely to create the desired effect. I think by putting the pictures at the beginning and end of my piece and perhaps even a few in the middle, I am interspersing more pathos into my piece, It will also be a way to sort of spice up the black and white text and background. This combined with the paragraph length will help to keep my audience engaged for the duration of my argument.

• Are the imaged placed and sequenced in the most convincing way?

I think that the organization I have planned is actually very strategic. I will be sure to put certain pictures at certain intense moments in my piece for maximum impact and the pictures at the beginning and end will serve as sort of introductions and conclusions in themselves. I mean of course I will include a real intro and conclusion as well but the images will get my audience in the right frame of mind as I guide their emotions (dance for me puppets!). They will be an intro to the intro and sub-conclusion if you will, and the middle images will be sort of focusing pictures. I think that these images will be a very subtle way of guiding my audience to what I am trying to say in my argument. 

Project 3 Outline

Using the book's advice on public arguments, I will now construct an outline of Project 3. I am also going to take into account my experience with my Project 2 outline and how the more I put in the outline the easier the draft is to write. FUNNY FACT: When I was looking for evidence just now, my  blog popped up as a search result :P

"Gorillas Fighting" via 9gag.com

I would like to take a moment to appreciate that in the comments under this picture, r0rsch4ch took the time to say "fake gorillas aren't real".  No problem with the lightsabers, but by golly gee you guys those gorilla are the problem with this picture. Anyways, moving on...

INTRODUCTION: CONNECT THE ISSUE TO THE AUDIENCE'S WORLD VIEW

I think due to the personal and emotional manner I will be presenting this subject, this would be the best introduction method. I want to make the reader look back to their past and how it affects THEM as a generation. What I want to do in my introduction is introduce how this generation of people was affected by Koko the gorilla and her story. I want to start off my claim by saying how science has made it all about the logical proof and overlooked the emotional impact on the American people. I will use the context of the corrupt America today to state why this is important in the lives of my audience. Also I will briefly outline how feeling connected to another species can bring a oneness with the world that can be very beneficial. Then I will state my thesis about how the emotional impact of Koko the gorilla's communication and story is just as important as the logical proof.



BODY

Supporting Arguments

• The articles about Robin Williams' death and Koko's reaction- public reaction to story
• Koko the kitten reviews- people talking about feeling connected
• Comments on YouTube videos about it being heartwarming
• Comments on articles about story being heartwarming/cute
• Articles about connection to Koko emotionally

Criticisms

• People that don't believe in Koko's "communication skill"
• "What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us?" article
• People who condemn believers
• Scientists that just look for straightforward evidence
• People that believe Koko's skill is due to selective interpretation and to earn money
• Comments on YouTube/Articles about it being stupid/fake
• People that think the whole thing is pointless/dumb

Key Support 

• Articles about Robin Williams' death- this is important to putting this into a context of today's world and how it helped the nation cope and grieve and not feel alone after the tragedy (http://www.today.com/pets/robin-williams-mourned-koko-gorilla-1D80056867)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOVS9zotSqM
• Comments on articles/videos-These are interesting and important insight into the public's opinion of Koko and the emotional impact her story has made ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOVS9zotSqM)                           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teB-Icrog6E (comment about being just like humans and "soft"
• Koko's Kitten reviews- This is important to putting it into a past cultural perspective, or when my audience was growing up. This will also create the nostalgic affect that will help create the effect I want (mention Mom and her experiences) http://www.amazon.com/Kitten-Reading-Rainbow-Francine-Patterson/product-reviews/0590444255                  http://boingboing.net/2011/07/27/kokos-kitten-a-classic-kids-book.html

Rebuttal Points

• People that think it is all for monetary gain or from selective interpretation-I can address this viewpoint while also strengthening my point when I point out what the people who believe have gained and the emotional deficits of those that have this viewpoint (Include "What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us?" article). I will also want to point out what the revenues from the gorilla foundation go to, and how the selective interpretation is not detrimental to society.
• Scientists looking for straightforward evidence- I need to address why this is also important in the grand scheme of things. The whole goal of my project is to make the audience see why straightforward facts are not the only important part of this story, so I will have to address the viewpoint several times throughout the "heartwarming tale" but skeptics are more wise.article. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/08/koko_kanzi_and_ape_language_research_criticism_of_working_conditions_and.html quote about how 
• People that don't believe Koko's communication skill- I will use this viewpoint to address the fact that they can think this AND see the emotional benefits at the same time. This will also be a main part of my argument and so I will have to address the fact that this is an opinion. This will actually be helpful to my argument whether people agree with this viewpoint or not, because it will give me credibility as an author and draw my audience closer to me. http://sguforums.com/index.php?topic=1494.105

Tentative Topic Sentences For KEY SUPPORT

• In fact, stories about Koko the gorilla helped the American people through a recent tragedy: the death of Robin Williams in 2014. 
• One of the most candid ways of seeing the public's reaction to Koko's stories is in the comments left on articles and videos by individuals touched by the stories. 
• Koko first stole the public's heart in 1987, when the book Koko's Kitten was published. That was the point at which the name "Koko" began to become a household name. (I had to include that second sentence because otherwise I'll forget it).

Tentative Topic Sentences for REBUTTAL POINTS

• Although some might argue that this is all a ploy for monetary gain, the revenue has been put to noble use by the Gorilla Foundation. (talk about how Koko was the start of the foundation and all the good that has come from it) (again, I had to include that or I would forget).
• Koko has been the result of leaps and bounds in the field of animal communication, however as a result the positive emotional impact on America has been largely overlooked.
• Without a doubt the degree of Koko's communication skill is still up in the air, but what isn't are the emotional benefits in spite of the logical uncertainty. 

Popplet

The link to the Popplet of the outline of my argument can be found here. I tried a different platform for my web so its a little ugly but it should be alright to follow.

CONCLUSION: POSITIVE CONSEQUENCES

In my conclusion I am going to talk about the positive effect of all the emotions and happenings that I have talked about in my article. It isn't necessarily a positive PHYSICAL action that will create the positive affects, but a positive mental action. I will talk about how keeping in mind the other outcomes of this controversy can make it so no matter the scientific outcome, something morally good has come from it. I will talk about how Koko's story is still developing and will be continuing to inspire positive emotional out pours if the public is willing to look past the bare logic of the situation.



REFLECTION

For my reflection I looked at the visual elements Olivia and Grace planned on using for their projects. I really want to be able to look a things from my audience's point of view like Olivia can, and I think that this skill will be really effective for her project. I also noticed that Grace is going to take (what is in my opinion) the harder route by trying to stay unbiased. Its cool how she's trying to challenge herself like that, and I think her use of call-outs in the text will be really effective. Also Lia's comment on my post made me feel pretty confident about my own project's visuals. I'm excited to implement these plans and see how they work out!

Analyzing My Genre

I have decided that the genre for my public speech act will be a newspaper article, more of an op-ed piece in a newspaper like the LA Times or the New York Times. Five examples of this genre are:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/opinion/the-concealed-carry-fantasy.html?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-morrison-lythcott-haims-20151028-column.html

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-galperin-environmental-desperation-20151029-story.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/07/24/my-son-has-been-suspended-five-times-hes-3/?tid=pm_opinions_pop_b

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-proposition-47-hammer-drug-felonies-20151026-story.html

Now I will answer the questions posed in the Writing Public Lives reading about this genre.

• SOCIAL CONTEXT

This genre is typically set in the setting of a newspaper like the LA Times or the New York Times, in this case an online newspaper.

The subject of the genre can be literally anything. Any opinion anyone wants to share, but generally opinions that are more emotional and pathos packed are shared in the op-eds.

Typically it is readers of the newspaper that write into the newspaper or the editorial board. I will be adhering more to the editorial board side because I feel like they have more credibility than writing as some random person.

The genre is used across from the editorial page and is used to give opinions and personal stories on the subject matter. This needs to be excluded in other genres to stay unbiased but in this genre my approach would fit right in. The people who read these get a personal opinion instead of a formal article, and the people who write these get to share their own opinion on the matter in an acceptable setting.

• RHETORICAL PATTERNS OF THE GENRE

Usually the personal opinion of the writer is included in the piece. This includes anything from scathing remarks to personal narratives. Also there are a lot of facts on the topic included to strengthen their case. There usually are only one or two pictures, so I would say that aspect is excluded for the most part. 

Albrighton, Tom "Strong Opinions"
03/12/12 via abccopywriting.com

There is a lot of emotional (pathos) appeal used in these pieces. Since they are using personal stories there isn't much ethos associated with this genre, but there is plenty of pathos. They try to elicit emotional reactions from the reader. There is also a lot of logic (logos) interspersed in the pieces to back up their point. There also seems to be a trend with opening with a strong emotional statement or personal story and emotional title followed by some background and some facts, after which there is mostly pathos but also logos strategically mixed in. The articles tend to close with really loaded statements that are very thought provoking for the reader. It is more common for there to be shorter sections of text and not bulky paragraphs.

There are typically a lot of complex and "nice sounding" (more wordy and poetic) sentences. There are also occasional short and bold statements used to catch the reader's attention as a contrast from the other wordier sentences. There are a lot of declarative sentences, not so many questions or exclamatory sentences.

I think that overall there seems to be a lot of more "pretty" sounding words included in these articles. A lot of adjectives are used to make the sentence more flowy. There is some of the reader's own slang included in  the piece since it is an opinion article and pretty informal. But while it is informal there is still a certain distance that the author keeps from the reader, and they don't actively address the reader. There also tends to be quite a bit of sarcasm at times, which is a big YAY for me because I exude sarcasm naturally. 

• ANALYZING WHAT THOSE PATTERNS REVEAL ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE GENRE

The genre excludes those that are just looking for hard core FACTS on the matter and an unbiased opinion. It caters more towards those that want to hear a different perspective from a personal side of the controversy. 

The genre encourages the writers to be the informants and personal insight on the matter. The readers however are encouraged to listen and think about the writer's opinion, and be more of a spectator, but also they are encouraged to search their own feelings on the matter. 

This genre encourages people that value the opinion of others to read a personal perspective. The people who read this genre are automatically going to most likely be people that believe that there are other opinions besides their own that might be valid. 

The genre treats personal insight and stories as very valuable. This genre is basically composed of people that want to share their opinion. The genre treats credibility as probably the least important, just because the articles are so opinionated and in many cases they come from just ordinary readers, not anyone especially esteemed.




REFLECTION:

After reading Chris and Jon's blog posts I have a different understanding of the video based option for this project. They both seem to have a very clear idea of what they want to do and their projects sound really interesting. Both of their genres have very clear conventions and I think looking at theirs makes it a little more clear to me how to find more of the specific conventions of my own chosen platform.

Considering Types

Global X "Rule #1 during arguments" 01/22/14 via flickr.
Attribution 2,0 Generic

In this post I will be considering the different types of arguments that I might use for my controversy. In particular I will be talking about the position argument, the casual argument, and the evaluative argument because I think that these will be the most effective for my perspective. I will also talk about how the refutation argument and the proposal argument wouldn't work for me.



POSITION ARGUMENT

I think that this argument would probably be the strongest for me. It basically describes what I want to do, which is give a different perspective and defend it. I think this this would be the most straightforward and effective type of argument for me to make in this context and with this audience.


CAUSAL ARGUMENT

This one could also work, but I don't think it would work as well. I could focus on the fact that people ignore emotional aspects over the logical side of the story and how this leads to negative effects. However there is no real definitive cause of this issue and so it wouldn't be very strong.

EVALUATIVE ARGUMENT

This is sort of an interesting way I could do this project, because I could claim that Patterson and the gorilla foundation were aiming for this type of emotional impact the whole time. I could then conclude using evidence that they were very effective in achieving their goal because of all the positive outcomes of this story emotion-wise.

PROPOSAL ARGUMENT

Since there is no real solution to the controversy I am addressing (at least not the way I am addressing it) this would not be a strong choice for me, This type of argument seems to be for those who have a plan on how to do something that they are trying to convey to the reader, whereas I am just trying to mostly convince them to self-reflect a bit.

REFUTATION ARGUMENT

Although I will be refuting the fact that scientific value is the most important in Koko's case, I will not be actively trying to prove that their point of view is wrong. This would not be a good choice for me because I am just trying to introduce a new perspective, not eliminate any perspectives.


Reflection:

For this reflection I looked at Grace's rhetorical action plan and her considering types post. I did the same with Olivia's rhetorical action plan and considering types post. After reading their posts I think that I am going to stay on this plan for my project, because I think all of our arguments will work great for us individually. I think that Olivia's idea about a cooking show is GENIUS. It makes me want to try to add something more creative to my argument. Maybe since my genre is a newspaper I could add a gorilla crossword puzzle or something sort of fun like that just for the whole effect of the final project.

Rhetorical Action Plan

I am going to be developing a rhetorical plan for my public speech act and answering the questions the textbook poses about audience, genre, and the reactions or response I hope to achieve. I will also address the possible negative reactions and how I would respond to them.

southtyrolean "orator" 05/11/06 via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

• AUDIENCE

I am going to be trying to persuade late 40 to 50 year old's that are familiar with Koko's story of my argument. This audience will have at least general knowledge on the subject that they most likely gained from when they were a child and the book Koko's kitten was out. Since this was where they got the majority of their information, they probably aren't too familiar with the super scientific aspect of the topic, which I can use to my advantage. The audience could have any range of opinions on this topic, and I will mainly be catering to people that were either positively emotionally impacted by Koko but also those who remember Koko but are neutral on the controversy. Even the skeptics could be targeted in my argument. 

Being older, these people may have more of a traditional view on things. For example they may be wary of all the scientific technology that is coming about these days. This is kind of the norm or at least the stereotype that is around today (the battle of the older generation vs. technology). I think that these people will value strong statistics or evidence, and I might have to use numerous examples so that they can clearly see the trends I am talking about. I also think that including emotional visuals would be more effective given the nature of their relationship to the topic. 

Mostly what I want my audience to do is see a new perspective that might alter their way of looking at this topic. I will be challenging the beliefs of the skeptics, but for a large part of my audience I will mostly just be showing them a new perspective. I think that there is a good chance that my argument could produce the desired effect. As long as I am able to cater to my specific audience the way I have planned, I think they will have an emotional and self-reflecting response to my public speech act.

• GENRE

S Jon "Newspaper colour" 10/24/11 via flickr.
Attribution 2.0 Generic

My public speech act could take place in a newspaper, perhaps one like the Daily Mail or Daily News. I chose this genre because due to my audience, I think they would be most likely to read a newspaper about the topic at hand. Also I didn't want to get a newspaper that was too sciency because then my perspective would not be likely to have much effect. Also I think that the self-reflection I am hoping to make the reader undergo would be pretty effective in the newspaper setting. I could see it being used as people get ready for their day, reading the newspaper and reading this article.

I am going to use a lot of pathos in my argument, as the perspective I plan on showing relies mostly on this rhetorical strategy. I am going to give personal stories and show emotional benefits of Koko and her story in America. However in the way I present my information I am going to do it in a logical way that makes sense so I don't lose my reader's interest with too much emotional appeal. Some character could also possibly come into play when giving some of my own background on the topic. 

In this genre I am probably not going to be able to use more than one or two interspersed visuals. But one at the beginning and one somewhere in the middle of the article tends to be the norm for this genre (if not just one at the beginning) and so I think I could get some pathos going in my pictures too. I am going to be using a conversational tone. Due to the nature of my approach to the topic, I don't think formality would work well at all. I am going to be trying to get the reader to feel like they are emotionally attached to the argument I am presenting, and I think the best way to do that is with an informal tone. 

Here are a few examples of discussions about Koko the gorilla seen in this genre:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3273726/Meeting-mummy-time-Koko-gorilla-adopts-two-baby-kittens-cuddles-fondly-heart-warming-footage.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/robin-williams-mourned-koko-gorilla-article-1.1901932

Another possible genre could be a slightly science based online article. This would appeal to my audience in that it would be for people who are already interested in the topic, and I would make sure the style of article would be suited for the particular age range of my audience. I could see this being used in an online setting and I can imagine people starting commentary in the comment thread about this topic. 

I think in this genre I would have to approach it from a 50/50 logical and emotional standpoint. Like I said earlier, I can't write my perspective without using pathos, However logic would be more important in this setting than the newspaper one because of the slightly science based nature of it. 

I think that I would be able to use lots of emotional photographs and visuals throughout the article. I would also use a slightly conversational tone, but a bit more formal than the newspaper setting since this is a more formal genre for writing in. 

Links to articles like this can be found below:

http://www.koko.org/michaels-story

(I think that this one could be REALLY effective since there is an obvious difference in perspectives from the other information on here).

http://www.koko.org/sites/default/files/root/pdfs/journal_2007_zoo_gestures.pdf

I actually also like this one a lot too.

• POSITIVE REACTIONS

1. Sentimental feelings that lead to a new perspective on Koko the gorilla's story
2. Understanding of a different perspective that leads to a shift in point of view on the topic
3. Agreement with the argument and relatability that leads to a new understanding of this story and a different viewpoint on this topic. 

• NEGATIVE REBUTTALS

1. This is not important to the scientific aspect of the topic- well they're right, but I would have to say that this is such a different article from the normal science based journals that are usually presented that this is almost a psychological piece, and the mental positivity of people from this story is a scientific aspect as well.
2. There is too much opinion- A certain amount of interpretation does go into this, but also I will be showing proof that what I claim is the truth and using evidence that will hopefully balance out the opinion. 
3. This doesn't matter- I will be presenting several reasons why this is an important part of the story of Koko the gorilla, and why the numbers aren't all that is important in this controversy. The effect on the people is just as big as the effect on the scientific study of animal communication.

Analyzing Purpose

I want to add a new perspective to this controversy, and in this post I will start talking and brainstorming about exactly what this new point of view could be. I will be writing in paragraph form for some of the post and then I will also include a chart to go through the process described in the textbook.

Blumenthal, Roy "08 -- Empathy and Emotional Intelligence: What You Need..."
03/23/09 via flickr. Attribution Share-Alike 2.0 Generic

1.

In purpose, my public argument will be similar to that of the other perspectives on this topic in that my main purpose will be to make the readers think and do a little self-reflection. I hope to make the readers see the emotional importance of Koko the gorilla's story, and feel touched by the emotional aspect of this controversy. I am going to try to convey my message to the reader in a way that makes them understand the importance of Koko outside of scientific research. Also with my targeted audience, I will create some self reflection that will make the reader think about their own experiences with this story. 

2. 

Plausible Actions/Reactions	Not Plausible
Self reflection	Anger
Sentimental feelings	Moved to action
Change in perspective	Complete change in ideology
Think it’s foolish	Any drastic action

3.

Self reflection- react calmer in future to news about Koko, be less inclined to dismiss something as "stupid" or foolish, realize the implications outside of scientific values. \

Sentimental feelings- stronger reaction to future news about Koko, grow more attached to Koko's story and be more willing to stick up for their side in the future.

Change in perspective- realize the implications outside of scientific research and not be so inclined to judge in the future when they see this perspective and the positive reaction from this perspective. 

Think its foolish- become a firm believer in the logical perspective of this issue, be unwilling to listen to the other side and be more resistant to emotional arguments in the future. 

4.

Since my goal is to move my reader to self-reflection and a positive emotional reaction  to my perspective, I think that the best bet would be for me to either target younger scientific minds or early 50's people that were growing up when Koko was becoming popular. The younger audience is more likely (theoretically) to be open to new perspectives and have points of views that can be swayed. Conversely the older audience would have a closer emotional bond to Koko already and not need as much background information or convincing. Since there is likely already some sentimentality there on this topic, it would be easier to convince them of my perspective. However a lot of them may not need convincing if they are emotionally attached already to the topic. 

Analyzing Context

In this post I will be looking at the big picture of the controversy on Koko the gorilla and answering the questions the textbook poses about the context.

Cornells, Marc "audience" 02/09/13 via flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic

1. What are the key perspectives or schools of thought?

One of the most prominent perspectives is that Koko the gorilla has the language development of a young child and is unique in her development of signing and comprehension of human language, and for this reason is an incredible show of genius amongst animals. Another is that Koko is not as impressive as Patterson claims, and that most of her skill comes from Patterson's selective interpretation of Koko's signing.


2. What are the major points of contention between these perspectives?

Some of the major points of contention are the degree to which Patterson manipulates Koko's words and how much of Koko's signing is just pure luck. Another is how much of Koko's emotional responses are just projected on to her from the humans around her.

3. What are the possible points of agreement or common ground?

Generally it is accepted that Koko has a remarkable skill set for a gorilla. Also they can agree that Koko has been invaluable to the feild of animal communication.


4.What are the ideological differences between the perspectives?

People that believe Koko has a complete grasp of human language generally would ideologically value the more emotional side, which is that animals can be comperable to humans in communication skills. Those that disagree value logic and ideologically see that humans are superior and that Patterson shouldn't put so much of her own interpretation into Koko's words.


5. What specific actions do the perspectives' articles ask their readers to take? 

As seen in "What Do Talking Apes Really Tell Us?" by Jane C. Hu, the skeptics are mostly focused on inducing self-reflection. They want to make the reader think about and doubt what they have been previously told and find a different opinion. On the other side of the argument, the believers want their reader to recognize Koko as a demonstration of how gorillas are just like people, and in doing this hope they will donate to the cause, the Gorilla Foundation.


6. What perspectives are useful in supporting your own argument? Why did you choose these?

I think that both sides of the issue would be important in my argument. I want to take the less published side about how Koko and her stories positively impact the emotions of the public. I would want to use the skeptics to sort of call them out for being too focused on logic and nitpicky over specifics. I would also want to use the believers as an example of the good that can come from Koko and the positive emotional output.


7. What perspectives do you think will be the biggest threat to your argument?

I think that the skeptic side will be a strong opposition to my argument. Especially because in the last project I actually focused on the skeptic argument and saw how effective it could be. But I think with my target audience emotional appeal should be very effective, more so than the logical appeal of the skeptics would be.


REFLECTION

I read and responded to Gabee and Jon's posts about context. Before reading the posts, I was a little nervous about taking the emotional side, especially since I am so logic based and this is a scientific topic. But after reading, I realized that really we can take whatever stance we want, and I think mine might be more interesting since it is so different than the ones that are already presented in the field.

Jon seemed like he had a good grasp on his controversy, and after going back and looking over my own post again, it made me feel like comparably I am pretty established in the ideas that I have. When reading Gabee's post I noticed that she just focused on the extremes of her debate, and that made me think about another perspective in my controversy, which is people that might be torn between the two sides.