It's the Final Countdown...great song by Europe by the way

Over the past few months, blogging has grown on me. At first I had no idea of what a blog was or how to create my own blog, as many of us had the same problem. However, I do think that it came in handy for our work. There were many instances in which our class discussion filled the entire class time, leaving no time for the draft workshops. Then it was time for the blog and it is quick and easy to make a post. The blog also allowed for the thesis battles which was done completely out of class. As far as our blog assignments, I thought that they were fun and interesting, but the best part about them was that they didn’t take too long. I also liked how we could view the blogs of the other kids in our class. We could read all about them and through some of the assignments discover all kinds of interesting things about them, like what they thought of politics, what they want to do for a career, or where they study/write. It seemed to me that many of our assignments involved our blog or blogging in general, which I liked, because it was a new and unique learning experience for me. I do feel, as I am arguing in my unit three paper, that blogging will be useful in aiding classes and I think will be more widely used in the future. Blogs are a great way of communication. Unlike e-mail, blogging enables you to make a comment, suggestion or simply your thoughts like a journal in a post that is available to anyone. For my unit three feeder one paper I found an academic blog randomly and read a few of the posts and I liked it so I chose it. By having a blog, we didn’t have to waste paper for a syllabus or assignments; they were all posted on the course blog. My overall experience with blogging has been a good one and I would definitely recommend blogging to any teacher.

paragraph exercise

Original Paragraph
Dr. Carl Elliott, an associate professor and director of graduate studies in the Center for Bioethics, has created a blog which facilitates discussion on his focus of bioethics, and thus propels his research and knowledge in that area. Blogging provides an outlet for people to post their opinions as well as to respond to previously posted commentaries and articles. Considering Dr. Elliott is a professor, many of his students and associates will likely participate on his blog in posting opinions and responses. This will diversify the views and commentary on bioethics and will enhance Dr. Elliott’s research. The diversity and intelligence brought to this blog, in having a wide range of opinions posted and a vast amount of people bringing issues to light, will only strengthen the medical ethics community.
Statement of Main Idea
Dr. Carl Elliott has created a blog which facilitates discussion on his focus of bioethics, and thus propels his research and knowledge in that area.
Explanation of Main Idea
Because Dr. Elliott is a professor conducting research and continually analyzing new bioethical ideas, his blog will be not only a place to assert his own ideas but will also allow for others to bring up and discuss new ideas and opinions.
Example
For example, when Dr. Elliott makes a post concerning some given bioethical issue, others are then able to respond to this post with their various views and supporting reason. This feedback is constructive criticism helping to enhance Dr. Elliott’s knowledge of differing views on the issue and ultimately solidifying his argument.
Explanation of Example
By observing opposing opinions, Dr. Elliott can examine their stance and can then either, if agreeing with the opposing viewpoint, reevaluate his original thoughts making a more comprehensive argument, or if he disagrees with the added commentary he can then incorporate into his original post intelligent and substantial reasons as to why he disagrees with the objecting opinion.
Conclusion/Transition
For this reason, Dr. Elliott’s blog and its allowance of constructive criticism serves only to enhance his views and support for these views. Ultimately, this will further his research and pursuit of knowledge in his concentration of bioethics.
New Paragraph
Dr. Carl Elliott has created a blog which facilitates discussion on his focus of bioethics, and thus propels his research and knowledge in that area. Because Dr. Elliott is a professor conducting research and continually analyzing new bioethical ideas, his blog will be not only a place to assert his own ideas but will also allow for others to bring up and discuss new ideas and opinions. For example, when Dr. Elliott makes a post concerning some given bioethical issue, others are then able to respond to this post with their various views and supporting reasons. This feedback is constructive criticism helping to enhance Dr. Elliott’s knowledge of differing views on the issue and ultimately solidifying his argument. By observing opposing opinions, Dr. Elliott can examine their stance and can then either, if agreeing with the differing viewpoint, reevaluate his original thoughts making a more comprehensive argument, or if he disagrees with the added commentary he can then incorporate into his original post intelligent and substantial reasons as to why he disagrees with the objecting opinion. For this reason, Dr. Elliott’s blog and its allowance of constructive criticism serves only to enhance his views and support for these views. Ultimately, this will further his research and pursuit of knowledge in his concentration of bioethics.

What I've learned about bioethics

During unit 3 in which we have dealt with a specific profession, my focus has been on bioethics. In the previous post, not knowing what discipline I wanted to pursue, I found a blog on bioethics that caught my attention. Bioethics is a field I, previous to this unit, knew very little about. A bioethicist is a philosopher who studies ethics with regard to biological sciences and health care; however through my research during this unit, I have come to realize that being a bioethicist involves much more than this. From my research, I have learned that in order excel in his work a bioethicist must have a wealth of knowledge pertaining to all aspects of his field in order to efficiently debate issues. After reading through Dr. Elliott’s blog and getting a more full understanding of what his work in bioethics involves, I have a clearer understanding of how many controversial aspects of health care and the medical field bioethics deals with in our technologically advancing world.

Draft workshop 11-9

1. My name is _Ben and I read Katelyn’s paper.

2. Does the paper fulfill the demands of the assignment? Does it have all of the elements we talked about in our class discussion? If not, list what the author needs to do to fulfill the assignment.
Yes, I feel that Katelyn comes up with some excellent proposals in why she should be privileged to making posts and then does a good job supporting her ideas. She does a good job in bringing up some of his recent posts and showing that she really cares about the blog and that she has already done some research on her own. I also like how she incorporated some personal experience and how it relates to her proposals.


3. The assignment asks you to convey your enthusiasm and to analyze some recent posts to the blog. Assuming the author has done both of these things, what kind of organizational scheme has s/he implemented to integrate these two aspects of the paper? Does it make sense? Is it effective rhetorically?
The enthusiasm is there, yet not too much. The letter does include analysis of some recent posts, but I still think that she could use these posts to further her proposals. I feel that the letter is organized and she gives her analysis of a post then she incorporates her emotion and enthusiasm in how she could improve and help the entire blog. I believe that it makes sense. Yes, it is effective rhetorically.


4. We talked a lot in our class discussion on Thursday about tone. Briefly describe the tone the author has adopted for the letter. Is this tone appropriate? Would a slight (or drastic, for that matter) shift in tone benefit the paper?
Yes, I found no where in the letter anything that was offensive. The tone sounded respectful yet not too submitting. I believe that the tone is appropriate.

Draft Workshop 11-4

1. My name is Ben and I read Ashkans paper.

2. Does the paper fulfill the demands of the assignment? Does it have all of the elements we talked about in our class discussion? If not, list what the author needs to do to fulfill the assignment.
Yes, this letter does fulfill the demands of the assignment, in that he proposes to the blogger why he should be able to post to his blog. And his reason for this is that by letting him, a student post to a professionals blog, then the blog will have a greater variation and become larger center for sharing knowledge. The letter could use more analysis of the posts to this particular blog. Also the letter needs a more elaborate explanation of the qualifications.

3. The assignment asks you to convey your enthusiasm and to analyze some recent posts to the blog. Assuming the author has done both of these things, what kind of organizational scheme has s/he implemented to integrate these two aspects of the paper? Does it make sense? Is it effective rhetorically?
Ashkan starts off in the same way that I would and that is to try and compliment the blog and gain the respect or trust of the blocker, basically try to suck up so you can get on his good side. Then he goes on to say way he is interested in the blog, and how he can help the blog if given the chance to.

4. Is the author’s enthusiasm for the subject convincing? Does it really sound like s/he is passionate about studying this discipline? Is s/he over-enthusiastic? Suggest ways in which the author could better pinpoint the level of enthusiasm you feel is appropriate for the assignment.

Yes, when I read the letter it sounds passionate, however sometimes it sounds a little cheesy and needs to be more genuine. For example, "I find it extraordinary that you should have a blog that deals with the topic of pharmacy" this to me needs to be reworded and definitely not placed in the first sentence. I don't feel that there is too much enthusiasm, but I think that it would definitely benefit the paper if there were more then just the one reason to have the privilege to make posts to the blog, this will also help out with the overall enthusiasm.

Bioethics

To tell you the truth, I am still undecided, however, when I was searching for an academic blog, I happened to fall upon the blog of Carl Elliott, MD, PhD and his very intersecting site. In this day in age, with the vast and timely improvements in the medical technologies, bioethics is becoming more of a hot topic. With this much debated issue of stem cell research and all the many other controversial medical experiments, I am very interested and know nothing about it now, that is why I chose this discipline. You never know, I might find this so interesting that this will become my major, that is why I chose this; its interesting and I have always liked science and math more so then English.

My assessment of unit 2

For the most part, I would also agree that the majority of the kids did better on this unit then on the previous one. In my group, especially in the draft workshops, we completed each and everyone and they were also on time. I mentioned earlier that my goal for unit 2 was to improve on draft workshops and my blog, and I felt that I focused more on these two things and overall did a much better job then the previous unit. For this portfolio, I didn't have as many drafts as I had in last unit's portfolio, however, I spent just as much time revising the papers and feel that they were complete. I felt that my speech could have been much much better, if I had not become so nervous, in which case I forgot many of my key arguments and facts. I would agree with my work following the trend, because overall, including class participation all the way down to the blogs, I felt that I was more active and on top of things. My theory on this trend is that sometimes it takes some time for students to ajust to not only college but also the teacher and his/her goals.

My thoughts on Draft Workshops

What do I think about these draft workshops? Well that's a good question. I think that draft workshops are helpful, but only when there is adequate time provided. I feel that the draft workshops should be completed in class, just as long as there is more time provided. I simply feel that between our blog assignments and the many drafts/papers due every class, which is all out of class, these workshops should be done in class. As I mentioned earlier, there needs to be more time set aside to ensure that they are completed properly. Also I like not having homework, so the more that we can accomplish in class the better.

My thoughts on how Nick received my speech

Well, other then the fact that my speech was disjointed and unclear, I think that Nick thought that it was ok. Seriously, my speech is on the topic of abortion and Nick already told me that he is apathetic to the issue in the first place, but I got the impression that he had similar thoughts on the issue as I listed my main points. I known exactly what I want to say, but I am still struggling with the actual presentation of those thoughts. All in all I think that it went well and I don't think that I will change anything in respect to my speech.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

As I learned on the first day of class, I have a southern accent to some people, like Katelyn or Barbara. However, I hope that this southern accent I have will not distract my audience. With regards to Ethos in my speech, I will convey the commonly held attitude on the stance of abortion that being pro-choice is necessary in order to allow people the freedoms they want and deserve. Freedom is a fundamental value built into our society’s government and a woman’s right to chose should not be an exception to this allowance of freedom; they should be allowed to choose what they want to do with their own bodies. For Pathos, I will tell stories of young women who cannot afford to have a child and if they did, the child would be an immense burden on them. I will also discuss women whose health is compromised by their pregnancy; women who were raped or placed in situations of incest which would cause emotional trauma to the mother; congenital abnormality, the child has a lethal defect and if born it would not live. Finally, with regards to Logos, I will give statistical evidence of women who are raped, women who live in abject poverty, women who are subject to incest, women who would give birth to a lethal defect if pregnancy was continued, women whose health is compromised by their pregnancy, etc.

The Dreaded Public Speaking

Sadly enough, I have only delivered two speeches in my entire life. Both of these speeches were delivered in school, in front of my best friends, yet I was still horrified and so nervous that I thought that I might pass out. After hearing that you probably can figure out that I dislike public speaking. Although, I have never had any coaching or pointers what so ever on public speaking, I don't think that, even with the best coaching in the world I will ever be a good public speaker. I believe that it is a talent that you are born with or without, in my case. I might be able to practice and know my speech cold, but as soon as it is time to deliver it in front of a crowd, the switch turns off and I freeze. My first speech was my freshman year of high school, and it turned out to be a complete disaster. I forgot like a third of my speech and after a few seconds, I was sweating profusely, and my lame performance received B, when this assignment was supposed to have been a gimme A.

My thoughts of Unit 1

Well, I must say that my papers that comprised unit 1, definitely improved drastically by applying some of the techniques used in class. When I looked at my first draft of feeder 1, which were atrocious, I noticed that I did not take advantage of any of the prewriting techniques that we went over in class. However, for the feeder 2 and unit project, I felt that by utilizing these techniques, my papers benefited greatly. I felt that I answered every draft workshop form to the best of my ability throughout the unit. I do feel however, that my efforts on the blog assignments were not up to par, or consistent throughout the unit. That is why, my goal for the up-coming unit is to be more attentive in regards to the blog assignments.