Final Portfolio

      This portfolio contains four major parts. One of which is one of the peer reviews I did on a classmates paper. I chose to include this because I think this was the best peer review I gave. The corrections I made in her paper were explained thoroughly and I even gave some suggestions and advice in the comment under her cover letter. Although there are not many corrections that I made to this paper I do not think it has any weak points. Just because there are not many things marked does not mean that it was not edited thoroughly. The next work I included was the major rewrite to one of my previous papers. The revised cover letter for this paper is as follows:
        The main point that I was trying to convey in this paper was that there was not one universal way to go about your writing. There is not a dominant and correct method for someones writing process. I wanted to show that everyone has their own process that works best for them through analyzing myself as a writer and comparing myself to other writers. One of the favorite parts of this paper are the metaphors. I think they did a great job of showing my point. If provided more time I would try to incorporate more sources and counter arguments because I know its important to show all sides of an argument. I think this revised version is better than the original because the original main topic of my paper was that the writing process is what is important and not what was written which seems a bit too broad. So I expanded on what I previously had and cut certain things out to help direct this paper to the new topic it has now.
The next work I included was paper 4 and the revised cover is as follows:
         The issue I was trying to address in this paper was the idea that teaching writing forms to students may hurt the creativity of their writing. I wanted to show that emphasizing writing forms such as the five paragraph essay or research paper can hurt students because they may become dependent on these forms and ultimately be unable to come up with any original work. The support I gave for these claims where done via examples and cited sources from research I did on this topic. I also addressed the counter argument of writing forms actually possibly helping students because it gives them a good foundation as they first being to write. I think the strong points of this paper are the sources I used because they provide  strong support for my claims. A weak part I think this paper has is that I am not sure if it addresses the right discourse community or audience the assignment requires. I struggled a lot with this paper and if given more time I would have tried to help direct my paper toward the right audience and cite more sources.
        The final work I added to this portfolio was a small story I wrote about my father this year. It was just something I did for myself when I was bored one day but I think it is a pretty interesting story and I thought it would be a good thing to include because not only does it show a little bit about my background but also because it is another example of writing; and this was done outside of the classroom so it has a bit of a different feel to it in my opinion.
        I think that my work is of enough quality to raise my grade because I have a very good grasp of the language. If you look back on anything that I have ever written it has always been very clear and has flown very well from topic to topic. I make good use of the information I have and although I may have had a tardy assignment or two from just not being prepared at the time, I also got my work done and finished everything this class required. Even though sometimes I did not write about exactly what you were looking for the level of my writing has always been respectable and easy to follow. And if the quality of writing itself is the determinant for raising my grade then I think it should be done because you have commented on my writing in a positive way for everything I have done. I hope the fact that I have learned from this class constitutes for something because I honestly can say that my writing has improved form taking this course. There have no been any dramatic changed to how I write but I do see a small difference in how I express myself in my writing and how I set my papers up.
        Although I am not a very big fan of english I actually really enjoyed this class. One of the main reasons (and I hope this does not make it seem like I am trying to be an ass kisser) was the teacher. Dr. Whicker has been one of the best professors I have had and I know that is not saying much since I have not had many professors but I don't think there will be many in the future that will be up to parr with him. He was always very wiling to help whether it being giving feedback on our papers, helping us find sources on difficult topics, or being very quick to respond to his emails when a student needs assistance. He was not a boring speaker and I love the idea of his grading contract. It makes complete sense because some people just struggle with writing and it would be unfair to them if they got points marked off for this. So this grading contract ensures that diligent students can at least get a B if they get all their work done despite not being the strongest of writers. The things I did not like about the class were just things that are a part of english: reading, writing, analyzing work. It just so happens that I do not like english as a subject of study and not because of anything specific against these things we did in class. As stated above I really think my writing improved and one big thing I took from this is knowing the important of rhetoric and the audience I am writing to. Before I would just write to myself and everything I wrote was done in the same format with not much regard to who would be reading it. I now manipulate my use of language depending on who I know will be the primary audience of my paper. There really is not much that I wish I would have learned. I always thought I was a strong writer and this class has enforced and built upon that belief even more. The one thing I can say that I wish I saw more of was group assignments and activities. This is mainly because group work does a great job of incorporating everyone in the class. Not only does it help everyone get involved but it may also give some of the quieter students a little more courage to speak up and answer questions in class. I think one of the main reasons for many of the students withholding themselves from group discussion is that they did not want to be wrong or say anything incorrect in front of the class. Working in groups beforehand however may give them a chance to run their ideas past their fellow classmates to see what they think first. Thank you for being so helpful this quarter Professor Whicker and I hope I have been able to persuade you to give me that A!

Peer edit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kvFByjPYgwQW0S-Y9I3wP3t1p3S4G0lMeisATztoD3g/edit (The comment on her post of her paper is also included at the end)
Major Rewrite of Paper #2: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oq9EnuUXVvhFXkhGD-RsUGgh2BbDkXfiNxcixVpk5gs/edit
Paper 4: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZCK4M9nhirtQ45WtGgR7a-Twh2-Nz3aChCtsmiKjzFA/edit
From Rags to Riches: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16Kvis45WEBYpr2JjiYU0uTRMoqvXOUYliJIT_x6ylTs/edit

Paper #4 for Professor Whicker

In this research paper, I was trying to show how literacy technologies are constantly changing, ranging from quill pens to the most recent ones, computers. My main claim was that writers need not worry about whether writing technologies are beneficial or not, but they should accept the change and learn how to adapt to the most recent technological advances. I used several sources to support my claim and I provided points from scholarly authors. I had a few counter-arguments that were just showing how the latest technologies have caused people to become poorer writers. I think my paper had a decent flow and had plenty of sources to make it stronger.


Anna provided me with great feedback on my paper; she pointed out sentences that were missing key words and gave suggestions on how I should reword some phrases. She advised that I should introduce some quotes better so the reader will understand what I am trying to prove. I fixed some grammatical errors and added a few sentences to make my paper sound better. Here is the link to my edited paper:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/84969430/Research-Paper-Final-Draft

Annotated Bibliography Paper 4

Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83502774

annotated bibliography

I only had 3 real sources because the niche for my question (in all its specificity.) was limited.

Annotated Bibliography.

Chrisitiano, Tom, Authority.

‘The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.’ (spring 2012 edition.) 2012

               In this article the dynamics of political authority are postulated, and the postulations are explained.  The postulations range from reasons of legality to authority defined solely by the Consent theory, where an individual’s imbued with a natural right to freedom.  Although this article is not specifically written about writing it allows an individual to make abstractions of truth, which can be applied to other situations.  (writing.)

Zambrano, Eduardo, origins

‘Authority, Social theories of’ ‘International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences.’  2000

               In this chapter the origins of Authority, its cosmogony, are discussed.  In summation authority does not adhere to one unique cosmogony,  but many, which constantly change.

Zambrano, Eduardo, contemporary uses

‘Authority, Social theories of’ ‘International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences.’  2000

               The theories discussed in the previous chapter are applied to the current authority relationships which exist in our world.  The introduction of Game Theory is related to the previous ideas to provide a language or a means of understanding of particular motivations of obedience.

Labossiere, Mike

‘Argument from Authority (Non Fallacious.)’  (online resource.)

               The Idea of applying validity or invalidity to an argument presented by authority was discussed in this article as well as a list of qualifiers which are necessary for an argument from authority to be valid. (non fallacious.)  The perceptions of authority relationships by individuals is also discussed. (An individual’s possible bias to a certain authority.)