Savannah Caudillo's English 1101.06 Class Blog

  Academic writing in high school involved the encouragement of the same five-paragraph format, over and over again. Conclusions consisted of merely summarizing the topic without any follow-up or bigger context or impact given. Even the research in high school writing continues to have little effort put into ensuring the reliability of the information. Unfortunately, these behaviors may carry over into their academic writing in college. “The students know the research-based essay is a major assignment for a college course, and they begin their searches in Googlepedia despite the sources available to them through the university library” (McClure 6). College professors, however, will typically hold student writers to a higher standard, forcing them to either change these behaviors or cope with a lesser grade. On top of having reliable evidence, in order to impress college professors, students ought to demonstrate critical thinking skills, introduce concepts relevant to the topic, a...

     Boyd uses many rhetorical strategies in their essay, "Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)" in order to convey the idea that using rhetoric when making points is incredibly effective. In this way, they provide examples on top of providing examples. One that I noticed was the use of a hypophora, where the writer asks a question to the reader, only to immediately follow up with the answer. For example, Boyd uses this when they say, "Did you notice all of the things that these reports do similarly? Mere coincidence? I think not." They use this to point their reader towards the point that writers can make assumptions while still being objective. Boyd goes on to use euphemisms in their writing. That is to say, they use more pleasant words to convey less pleasant ones. They do this by using the works of their students. "Notice, though, that she doesn’t say that Mark Smith “died” or “croaked” or was “offed”;" Thus, the audience is given many examples of what exac...

      My Doc2 thesis is, “Upcoming college students should consider biology as a major because it has postgraduate job stability, large earning potential, and benefits that extend past economics.”  To support these claims, I will use figures that exhibit the wide range of career opportunities that the major allows. I will also state the median salaries for these careers. Finally, I’ll be sure to extrapolate on the other various benefits of majoring in biology, such as a satisfying job that comes with a blended and active work style. “For many, logic simply means reasoning. To understand a person’s logic, we try to find the structure of their reasoning.” (Jones 163.) In order to follow the proper course of logic throughout my paper, I will structure it accordingly, using articulate reasoning along the way. My evidence will support my claims, and readers will be able to follow. With any luck, I might just create some future biology majors!

  The rhetorical context of my document 2 starts with the exigence, which writer of "Backpacks vs. Briefcases," Laura Carroll claims can be found by asking the question, “What is this rhetoric responding to?” (48-49). It can help you discover the purpose of the piece (Carroll 49) and typically begins with a need, request, or other influence. My essay’s exigence/motivation, for example, was Professor Hamon’s assignment to write a persuasive paper about our majors.  Next, I have to consider my audience. I actually seem to have three intended audiences- Professor Hamon, who will grade it, my peers, who will give me constructive criticism to improve my grade, and students who are either unsure of their major or are interested in biology, who will hopefully take my advice when considering their choices.  Finally, there will be some constraints on my paper. Constraints affect my decision-making and deal with presentation (Carroll 49). For example, one of my constraints is...

Using outside sources in your academic writing is incredibly important, especially if you’re a writer with few credentials of your own. When you think about it, it’s kind of like borrowing authority on a topic, with the added bonus of not having to conduct experiments, studies, and surveys yourself. One writer that makes excellent use of citing outside sources is Mike Bunn, author of the essay “How to Read Like a Writer.” In his paper, he utilizes these sources as in-text citations in order to relate to the reader and address some of their experiences, provide analogies that support his ideas, and point out how paying attention to an author’s choices can better help a reader understand the text.  Bunn can safely assume that many of his readers will be students of higher education. As a result, he takes statements from students and professors alike in order to relate to them, making it easier to convey his points. He takes a comment from Charles Moran, for example, an English Pr...

My essay is titled, “Dealing With Procrastination: A Student’s Perspective.” The context of my essay has to deal with my own experiences as an academic with meeting deadlines. There are many instances where I find myself being incredibly productive, but not in the right ways or at the right times. For example, prior to writing this post two hours before it was due, I cleaned my room, washed the dishes, and did laundry. All very productive things that needed to be done, to be sure, but I chose to do them specifically as a diversion so that I could feel like I was contributing to something without actually having to do my work. I knew what was due and at what time, and yet I chose to do something else. Some people procrastinate by doing what is fun or enjoyable- what they would rather do instead. I, however, opt instead to pursue an avoidance type of procrastination. As the writer, my context is connected to my personal experiences and my purpose. I struggle with this issue, and so my pu...