Heston Allred

Eng 102

Stamper

Reflection Essay

Part 1

1. I learned that different authors viewpoints and positions on my subject of the mosque at

ground zero could be very different at times. I also observed that they could be very similar at

times. Overall, I would say that most of the author’s articles I read that were against the building

of the mosque were somewhat similar. They mostly presented the same arguments, in my

opinion. They would tie the issue into September 11th and the families involved, or talk about

potential terrorism threats, or maybe about the feelings of the nation. I am not saying this is

necessarily a bad thing only that it came off as one-dimensional. The fifth RNA article against

the mosque was a particularly good example of this one-dimension thing and pretty many only

makes appeals to pathos. The arguments on the other side seemed a little more eclectic. The fifth

one arguing that the mosque really was not that close, an appeal to logos mostly, and the first

RNA I did just kind of bashed different political leaders against the mosque and one related that

the fact that people opposed it was an example of intolerance. So basically, I learned more about

the topic in general. Personally, I like the pro mosque side just because I think the argument

presented for it is better rounded.

2. I felt this was the thing that stood out the most about this assignment. I really felt that a lot of

the reporting and articles I read on both sides were at times not objective at all and biased,

sometimes outright and at other times in a more subtle way. For example in the last RNA we did

the author’s argument against the building of the mosque was a bit of a joke. All he did is try to

appeal to the reader’s passions and presented no objective information or arguments and it came

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Heston Allred

Eng 102

Stamper

off as very poorly written and very not persuasive. There was an argument on the opposing side

as well that was in the second RNA I did where it seemed like the author was just using this issue

as an excuse to bash on Sarah Palin and other political leaders that supported the mosque but

mostly just Sarah Palin. There was also I really strong and effective argument in the last RNA I

really liked were the author actually walked the distance from the proposed site of the mosque to

ground zero and timed it and then gave his opinions on it and presented a number of other

objective facts to support his argument. The first RNA also had another article similar to the last

one I just wrote about that opposed the mosque and pretty much did the same thing and just

appealed to every ones passion about the subject and made no appeals to logos and ethos or else

very weak ones. So I learned that reporting especially when it comes to op/ed articles could be

very biased and subjective at times and sometimes not so much. I already knew this but I did not

realize how prevalent it was. This assignment helped to open my eyes a bit and to be very critical

of what you read and to evaluate it objectively if you want the truth.

3. This is something else I really felt that this RNA assignment taught me very strongly. I helped

me to know how to objectively analyze what I was reading. I learned that the way authors word

things and present their writing can tell you a lot about their opinions, biases, creativity,

personality, etc. For this reason I came to appreciate writing more because it is a very good way

to familiarize yourself with an issue and if you judge the sentence structure of different articles

you can really get a better feel for what the author is trying to communicate and how he feels and

thinks about the subject. Doing this has helped me know what sources of news present fair and

balanced reporting and articles and what sources sometimes do not.

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Heston Allred

Eng 102

Stamper

Part 2

1. I feel a learned a number of noteworthy things about the idea of audience this semester. For

one, I learned that it is necessary to identify and understand your audience when writing. This is

especially true when writing a persuasive argument because understanding your audience is

critical in trying to write in a style and manner that will be personally appealing and persuasive

to the reader. For example throughout project four I identified my targeted audience as a very

general and broad one. Because of this I tried to keep my writing very easy to understand and

relate to so any one who wrote it would be able to first of all, understand what I was trying to

write, and secondly be persuaded to some degree or another by it.

2. One thing that actually helped in my writing and revising of all my papers this semester was

my reading and analysis of all the RNA’s we were assigned. When reading the RNA’s I tried to

pick out the different appeals the authors made to ethos, logos and pathos, and judge if they were

effective or not. Seeing lots of other author’s attempts at persuasive writing allowed me get a

better feel for what worked and what did not. Or in other words what kind of writing I thought

was persuasive and what kind I did not find appealing. It was especially helpful that I was

analyzing articles mostly found in mainstream media because I felt there was a strong contrast

between some authors who wrote weak article attempting to appeal to biases, trends,

misconceptions, or just generally exploit there intended audience in some way and others who

wrote fair and balanced arguments acknowledging merits of both sides but still expressing their

opinions. This helped when revising my papers to know what to keep and what to take out and

when to elaborate and when not to. For me it was not really a conscious thing to pay attention to

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Heston Allred

Eng 102

Stamper

these appeals but it has become more so now. It especially helped when I was revising to a have

better feel for what the criteria is in judging whether what you have written is effective and

having other peoples writing to judge it off of. Secondly I think your topic can help you to know

how to write persuasively. For example in project two I was writing about why I liked Bob

Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” and I had to appeal more to pathos because there really was not a

good way I could come up with to make appeals to ethos or logos although I did include some

American and Jamaican history.

3. It seems like I had to present outside research in a similar way for English 101. But I was

reminded about the proper way to do it and I learned it was something that could really make

your paper strong if you did it properly which I had not fully realized prior to know. On the other

hand, if you did not present research effectively it would really weaken your paper as much as it

would strengthen it. For instance, in all my papers I tried to present research that tied well into

the points I was trying to make. Before this meant I would look for articles that were tied closely

to what I was writing about and only use them. However, this semester I learned from some of

the reading that research could be more creative than I thought. You can use things you find that

are not considered to be directly related to your topic but if they are related and help prove what

you are writing they can be very effective. For example, in the second paper I talked about

maroons. Maroons were run away slave living in Jamaica. Although this did not tie directly into

my topic about the song “buffalo soldier” I made the point that buffalo soldiers and maroons

were very similar and that Marley was referring to them also although not directly as he was to

the buffalo soldiers.

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Heston Allred

Eng 102

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4. For me I like to revise my papers in lots of different ways. Generally though I like to go

straight through and just write as fast as possible and get my ideas down on paper. Then go back

and revise it in short bursts of about a paragraph going back and looking at what I wrote, revise

some things if I thinks it is needed, read another short burst, and then I like to go back and see

how the two paragraphs connect and usually at this point I revise a lot. Then after I have done

this three or four times I will go back and revise the whole thing up to where I stopped and then

keep doing it like that. I think doing it this way helps me to look at what I am writing and see it

from a big picture as well as detail oriented view and make sure the transitions are effective and

everything flows and goes well together and is how I want it. I think for any type of writing

revising is always a very important step and I really feel like I learned that that is where most of

the writing takes place. Transferring your ideas from your head to paper in a way that is

appealing and persuasive and makes sense and flows is a skill that takes honing. Some are

naturally better at it than others but generally most people need to look back at what hey wrote

and revise it if it is to be effective.

5. I think my weakest paper was either the second or third project just because I felt like I had

trouble knowing how to write persuasively and say what I wanted to given the subjects I picked

and the criteria of the assignment. I think my strongest was this last paper, project four because I

felt like I had to take a fairly complex and dynamic issue of alternative energy that has a lot

going on with it in my opinion and simplify it and sort through it so that any one could know the

general nature of it and make informed decisions for themselves. I felt my first paper focusing on

appeals to logos was strong also because the topic I picked I was very interested in and I like

logic and feel I am a logical person.

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