The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Wow! Rhetorical analysis: check! We are going through these papers like lightening, but they've all been great so far. Although the rhetorical analysis was a lot harder for me to write then i thought it was going to be, it all turned out okay. I agreed with what was stated in class today, that it is so nice and appreciated to be able to pick your own topic for our papers. I am glad that for this one we had guidelines and articles to choose from, instead of an unlimited number of topics.

I thought that Friday in class was great because Chris was able to go over some things that he noticed and clear them up for us. Those types of class periods are the best because they can often clear up a lot of common confusion. The peer editing was a very successful day too, and it helped us to experience yet a different style of editing. Varying the different methods of teaching and writing is very important to help us all realize what works best for us.

Although nervous about the style of paper at the beginning, i overall thought that the Rhetorical Analysis proved to be a success. It helped me to focus on a style of writing that i have never been introduced to before.  This helps me to know that my college education is even broader and i am thankful that this class helped me achieve this. Thanks to all!
Sara K

Wonderous Words in Writing

In the article "Water Wars" he uses many different forms of diction and figurative language. I like the following examples:

Rhetorical Question: At the beginning of his article he tell the audience his paper can be summed up in one vital question- Tap or bottled water. This makes the audience think to themselves which one they honestly prefer and is a basis for swaying their opinion later in the article.

Imagery: "bottled water is ultimately a band-aid solution", "this news should send shivers down the spine of any concerned American", No one puts a gun to your head and forces you to drive...water, however, is a necessity." These specific uses of imagery make it possible for the audience to envision the severity of the authors opinion on certain matters. It kind of helps them to feel the way he wants them to by hinting at the impressions they should have.

Simile: "Taking away your water is the same thing as putting a gun to your head." This is a simile that is similar to the last use of imagery but it also is a striking conclusion that most would not come to without the help of the author. It obviously makes them appreciate water a lot more than they did before.

Thesis Statement

For my paper i believe that i would make the thesis statement a little something like this according to the outline we discussed in class.


Why you Can't Sit Down to Eat Without Making a Statement is an effective argument to convince consumers of the world to watch what they are eating because it uses emotional political topics, logical relations between food and foreign policy, and sound statistics to create a feeling of awareness about what political statement it makes to eat what you eat.

The title of this article is kind of long so that makes for a large sentence so i might need to fix that but other than that there yah  go!

Audience Post

The article I am thinking about choosing is Why You Cant Sit Down to Eat Without Making a Statement on pgae 158. It has some very interesting arguments about Ag that i find very interesting.

Audience: The American people and the politicians involved in political debates over food.

Current and/or contemporary events of importance: Big agriculture movements, importations, and organic booms

Profession/race/age/socioeconomic status: All people involved in the agriculture business.

Ideologies: Organic Movements

Issues of Importance: Whether of not to import goods as much as we have been and what not to eat if you dont support that group

Opponents: (real of percieved): opponents to big ag movements and importations and organic materials.

Major fears/worries: That consumers are picking to eat the things that they are economically against.

Opinion Editorial

I really enjoyed the Opinion Editorial because it is kind of like a written mini debate. I love the process of forming a well formulated argument and i especially love writing rebuttal arguments in order to not only gain favor for my argument but to win against others arguments. I thought the over all process was fun too. I thought that going to the writing lab and doing so many drafting days was well worth the time spent. I also thought that the essay was a good one to start off with because it introduced the rhetorical theme very well and wasn't too intimidating. Over all i thought it was a job well done!

Peer Review Day

Today's peer review was different than many that i am used to but i enjoyed it a lot. Honestly i was expecting to just run around the room and let as many people as possible read my work and then tell me it was pretty good, or give me a comment or two, then be done. I like this way a little bit better because by requiring us to write and answer certain questions about each others work we were guaranteed good feedback. It liked being able to answer the questions for my own paper too, because then when what i thought was the best quality really turned out to be the best it made me really happy.


I did not appreciate having to read my own paper out loud though. If there is some scientific reason why that helps with the process i'll tough it out and do it but it definitely was something i wasn't used to. It probably helps with voice and understanding context so i suppose its not that bad. Anyway, a very good day in English class for sure.

Both of our papers were about education issues at BYU so i've adorned my post with a beautiful graduation cap.

Practically Summer Time..

So here is something that has been on my mind. It is like the middle of May outside!! I am not used to this sort of warm January weather because usually January is the worst weather of the year. I've been worrying about getting to class without bundling up like a snow man(I'm quite good at it), but it is not necessary one bit. I hope it snows a lot again because it was only here for about two weeks before it all melted.

I have a co-ed soccer game tonight and although I'm very excited I wish i was playing outside. It is just like the weather in Alaska during our soccer season, so its making me sad to know its only January.

In the long run I do not mind that it has been so warm but i won't pretend that it is not strange. Oh well. Hopefully this just means I'll get to go skiing in the beautiful weather before summer actually arrives. That's my plan for this weekend. After I edit my paper of course. :)