WP3

Genre Transformation

Twitter Might Actually Be Making You Smarter

By Buzzfeed Staff: Beatriz Ulloa

Who would have thought that the day would come where Twitter would actually be making us smarter!?!? Those twitter rants may be a way to stay more engaged in school. Say what?!

It turns out that a group of researches conducted an experiment to see what effect tweeting can have on the way we learn and engage with the topics in class. They performed experiments and calculations to understand how twitter can affect our intelligence.

The experiment involved them checking out the interactions between the experimental group with twitter and engagement in the classroom.

And guess what they found?!?! Twitter is not making us completely brain dead

In the experiment they found that the students that engaged with the subject outside the classroom using twitter on average ended up getting better grades than the control group that did not use twitter.

So for all those who doubted the twitter generation. Where is the apology?

Adult Version

Parenting Magazine

Let’s Talk About Twitter

It seems like just yesterday our children were focused on learning how to take their first steps doesn’t it? Before we know it our children are in college and we are no longer always physically there to take care of our little babies. We are told time after time to protect our young adults from social media, but that may not always be the case.

My daughter always talks about how no one her age actually goes on facebook, and that’s why she prefers twitter. I myself am an avid facebooker and love to scroll down my “feed”, so I never understood the purpose of writing my thoughts for the world to see in only 140 characters. I never really had the urge to understand twitter either, because I didn’t think it was a productive use of time. The matter of the fact though, is that much like other social media websites, twitter may indeed be playing a role in the way our children interact. In fact, there may be a more productive side of twitter that may positively influence college students grades.

According to some research, evidence has been found that links better grades with the use of twitter. The study found that the students that used twitter were more likely to ponder about subjects in school when twitter was involved. The study proved that it can be beneficial for professors and students to develop twitter interactions to boost grades and participation. I am always trying to encourage my daughter to participate more during class discussions, so I am open to introduction of twitter as a device used in the classroom. Of course if Twitter turns out to be more a distraction than a tool, I won’t hesitate to talk to my daughter about it. I encourage you all to have an open conversation with your child about how Twitter can be used in a positive way.

Your Fellow College Momma-

Beatriz

To read more about the experiment click the link below

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00387.x/suppinfo

Warning: This reflection will be longer than 140 characters ;)

You may have guessed it already, but I’ll tell you anyways. My WP3 topic was primarily about twitter and how it can be used as a positive tool in a college setting. I used the article, “The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades” as a base for my two transformed articles. I chose to write a buzzfeed article that’s directed towards students that are going into college or around college age. For the older audience I chose to write an online advice article that can be found on a website such as Parenting Magazine for parents with college-aged children. Throughout the process I utilized the knowledge that I had retained from class and the other writing projects. I realized that each move I made had the power to transform a piece into a different genre.

“The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades” by  R. Junco, G. Heiberger and E.Loken investigates the effect that twitter has as an interactive tool in a college setting classroom. They decided that there was a lack of empirical evidence about twitter use and grade performance, so they carried out an experiment to analyze the relationship. The study takes course in a college classroom over the course of an academic semester. The students in the study that used twitter to engage with the professors and the subject matter actually received better grades than the students in the group that did not use twitter at all. The results of the experiment conclude that when used appropriately twitter can enhance the way that college students learn. The evidence that they found was that twitter enabled students to think about the class topics beyond the classroom.

As a college student I found it easier to compose the buzzfeed article, because I knew what I expected as the audience. I am also more familiar with buzzfeed articles so I have noticed certain components that set them apart from other articles. Buzzfeed articles usually start out with attention grabbing headlines that discuss a topic that readers may be interested about. In this case I mentioned how twitter could be making YOU smarter to emphasize how this article may be relatable to the general audience. The you adds a personal touch and enables a relationship to be established between the author (me) and the college aged student scrolling down buzzfeed. I gave myself the title of “Buzzfeed Staff” to give myself credibility as a professional writer for Buzzfeed. To further add to my credibility I hyperlinked the experiment that I based the article on, so that the readers have the ability to read it if they are interested. The hyperlink is a useful tool that many of buzzfeed articles use, and it also saves the writer space from having to go in depth about the original article.

The content of the article was straight-forward. In his illustrated article McCloud talks about how framing changes the way that a topic is presented. The framing that I used for this piece was more zoomed out and gave less detail while still giving a general idea of the topic. I chose not to include too many details, because Buzzfeed articles tend to be on the shorter side. I told the reader what the results were, but did not go into detail about how the experiment was designed and how the data was analyzed to reach a conclusion.

Throughout my Buzzfeed piece I made sure to keep a comical, light-hearted tone. I wanted the piece to be informational, but also funny at the same time so I included gifs throughout to help narrate the summary of the original experiment. I also used a lot of ?!!?! to convey my excitement in hopes that the reader would feel excited as well. My main goal was to entertain by giving students news that they probably hadn’t heard before.

The second transformation I did was a Parenting Magazine online article. I am not too familiar with parenting magazines, so I had to go online to look at their general format and at the moves that they make. I chose to base my off an article that is giving an “inside” scoop about parenting. The main purpose of this article is to inform parents about a study that could potentially help their children. I chose to portray myself as a mom to appeal to the ethos of other parents. A parent writer also has experience with dealing with college aged children, which gives the reader a reason to relate. At the beginning of the article, I used the phrase “little babies” to incite nostalgia and to tap into the common primal yearning that parents have to take care of their children. I included a personal story and the mention of a daughter so that the reader got to know a little about who they were receiving their advice from and therefore would feel less hesitant to follow advice from someone they have never met.

In the second part of the article I gave some information about the article that I was getting my information from. I kept the summary brief and factional those sentences to enhace my logos. Afterwards I described the steps that I was going to take with own my child to bring the article back to a personal level. I finish off with my final words of advice, so that’s the last thing that audience reads and (hopefully) remembers. I also attach a link to the original article, so that the information is easily accessible if the parents want to read more about the topic.

As I wrote this reflection I was forced to think about all the details that go into writing a piece for a specific audience. I had to think about conventions within both of the different genres, but most importantly why those conventions are in place. Even though the goal of the buzzfeed article was to entertain, and the goal of the parenting article was to give advice their conventions are both in place to meet their goals. In order to meet these said goals, I had to write for the distinct audience. All in all each piece of writing is made out of tiny moves that creative a cohesive work for the desired audience.

Thlog 8

I think that by far the most helpful example in class last week was the door example of how we can’t go into writing thinking that we know everything. It’s always necessary for me to be reminded that everyday is a new opportunity to prove myself through my writing. I have to admit that for me it’s always discouraging to receive a lower grade than I was expecting and it’s something i need to work on.
The examples that we reviewed in class of the sample WP3s were extremely helpful.
The last time I had reviewed summaries was most likely in third grade. Teachers/professors usually assume that we know what we’re doing because we were taught how to summarize in elementary school. It was helpful to reminded of why we summarize and what we should keep in mjnd when we summarize.
          Activity 8.2 was also a nice reminder of framing. I usually think of framing as a component of film. I think of framing shots in a scene and how that’s a way to control the perspective and information that is displayed for the student. I tend to forget that framing is applicable to writing, and the way I frame subjects is very influential for the readers. I would consider the way we frame things a move, because it’s a deliberate decision made.
          As I revise my WP3 i want to focus on the flow that McCloud mentioned in his article. Due to the fact that I have a certain audience in mind when I’m writing these pieces I want to make sure that my flow is logical for my audience. I have enjoyed the creative part of the WP3 so far; I’m just a little worried about the reflection part afterwards. I know that there are reasons of why i made the moves that I made it’s just the 5-6 page criteria that intimidates me.

PB3A

I was initially going to do a paper about how twitter is destroying children, but I was captivated by another paper I found while doing my research. The paper is titled, “The effect of Twitter on college student engagement and grades”.The essay discusses an experiment that is conducted in order to analyze the effect of twitter in the classroom. The paper concludes that twitter can be beneficial in the college setting, because of how it is used to engage students on the topics discussed in class. The article conducts an experiment within a college classroom setting that tests how twitter interaction helps with interaction on the topics being discussed. The ultimate conclusion is that twitter can be beneficial it just has to be monitored, and it also depends on the students. Twitter therefore allows the students to think about the subject matter for a longer amount of time, and with the use of different platforms.

I am conflicted about what genre I should do for the younger audience. I either want to write a picture book sort of horror story where twitter is originally this spooky character, because no one was willing to make friends with him. After the kids find out that the spooky character is actually a cute puppy that was covered in mud. The moral of the story would be something super corny like, “You can find friends where you least expect them”, or “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. I would use simple language to write it and keep the tone light. There would be a happy ending of course! Also, I’ve noticed that children’s books don’t have that many characters because children get confused with complex storylines, so I’ll keep the story straight-forward. The age group I’ll probably write for is the five to six year range when kids are learning how to read.

I am also interested in the whole tween magazine universe. I collected stacks of magazines after our school did a fundraiser that involved selling magazine subscriptions. One of my favorite magazines was Tiger Beat. The cover was filled with Disney Stars ranging from Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers, and Zac Efron. Each issue promised that it would contain the latest scoop, so I would advertise the same thing in my article. I would use slang and make sure that I call out “grown ups” for being “totally lame” for trying to be cool by using twitter to appeal to a younger audience. The point of this article will most likely be to warn tweens that adults are trying to infiltrate the sacred grounds that they use to share their stream of consciousness to the world, and advise them to start using a new platform. I will include fake quotes about what popular teen celebrities think about adults joining twitter to reinforce my argument. After all, how can a tween argue with Tiger Beat when celebrities like (insert teen celebrity I will find) agree with the fact that twitter is meant for people under 25 only.

I will transform the twitter issue into a parenting article in a magazine. “How to Tweet Like Your Kid”. I will use outdated terms and vague assumptions that other parents often make when referring to children. I will have a formal tone, but when it comes to the example tweets I will try to imitate an adult that is trying to sound younger than they really are. I will include examples of how to format a tweet, and how to make a tweet effective even with the 140 character limitation. I have noticed that a lot of parenting “how to” guides are geared towards an audience of adults that seek out to feel more connected to the children. So I will promise within the article that using twitter correctly is guaranteed to fortify the connection between parent and child.

Thlog 7

So what? Who cares? I DON’T KNOW, but I should have thought about it more. So far I think that the WP2 has been the hardest assignment to date. I definitely need to focus more on why my analysis matters. I didn’t feel confident in my thesis, and that reflected in the feedback I received.

I think I would have benefited from feedback on my PB2B like the feedback we got on the PB1B. Also, I should have looked over the syllabus more thoroughly. I am glad we get the opportunity to revise our first two writing projects to turn into our final portfolio, because I wasn’t totally happy with my WP2.

I’m excited about new writing assignment though, because of its creative quality. I am not the biggest fan of academic writing to begin with, but I do think I’m going to like the format for WP3. I’m not the biggest fan of academic writing because I get bored of my own writing and that just frustrates me. I don’t like the pressure of writing for a grade. I am aware that the academic writing is beneficial for my university career, and I am grateful I get the opportunity to learn how to improve my writing, but I still don’t wake up in the morning thinking, “Yay! I am so excited to write a research paper today.” . I do sometimes enjoy reading research papers though, because of the information that they contain, but it really depends on the topic. Due to the unconventional format of WP3 I am super stoked to read other people’s finished products. In my Children’s Media class we are asked to think like a child in order to understand advertisement directed at children, so I’m looking forward to think like an artist that has children in mind.

Video Response

Bob Ross and His Happy Trees (Family Guy)
Moves: Animation, parody, describes the brush type, describes the bush as "happy and lil"
Because this video is a parody they simplify the process and speed it up.


Bob Ross/ Distant Trees
Moves: Soft/calm speaking tone, makes the sound distinct enough so you can hear the paint brush movements, close up of his hands, draws from memory ( he is not actually looking at trees)

He mentions why he does what he does. He explains why he makes them bigger in the middle and smaller towards to the center so it creates a little pond. He continues to talk about what "effect" the brush movement has on the overall painting. He keeps saying the phrase "happy little" ex. happy little reflections. (how can reflections be happy?) He also shows techniques that don't create the same effect that he is trying to make. Zooms in and out to show the depth of the picture and draw focus on the different layers.


Bob Ross/ Painting Mountains
Moves: the word very to add more description to the simple language he uses(very flat, most popular, little roll of paint, push very hard, very very basic shape). Scraping noises are audible

He talks about how light affects how mountains look and how they are going to try to replicate that effect through the image.

Bob Ross/ Painting an Evergreen Tree
Moves: repetition ex. back and forth. assumptions: everyone knows there's 500 branches in a tree

The main focus is the tree, more specifically he talks about the movements of the brush to enhance the appearance of the branches.

4 Disney Artists Paint One Tree
Moves: Celebrity appearance (bringing in Walt Disney), Incorporating famous cartoons, a mixture of animation and live-action filming, background music, more descriptive language ( a tree is a marvelous piece of architecture), similes ( the tree is like a sky scraper), personification ( tree is a living thing full of personality), different locations, using actual trees as inspiration

The video mentions specific requirements for the background/trees. They mention that it must harmonize with the characters and the mood of the scene. The trees are looked at as live beings that participate within an animated film.

Journal 5/11/16

Q1. So, in the end, how’d your WP2 paper go?  What were you happy with?  What weren’t you?  Why?  Be specific!  (Remember: this is fodder for your end-of-quarter metacognitive reflection)

I am actually not completely done polishing up my paper ( Thank you Zack for making it due at 10). So far though I am pleased with the topic I picked and the articles I chose for the different genres. I am STILL not sure about my thesis. I don't know if it's too broad or if it needs to be more specific. I am still changing it around a bit. 

I really like how my essay is structured in comparison to my first WP1. I didn't realize how much of a difference the structure of paragraphs made until I wrote this essay. 

Q2. Which 2 or 3 comments that you received yesterday were the most helpful for you?  Why?  

A sure helpful comment that I received was that I needed to incorporate moves more in my paper. I addressed things that would be moves, but didn't give a definition or an overview to what the concept of "moves" means to me. Also, I appreciated that I was told to summarize less and analyze more, because that means I have more room to analyze now, so I think my paper will be stronger. She also told me that my paper was easy to follow because of how I had organized my paper, which reassured me, because my intent was to make my essay more reader friendly.

Thlog 6

WP2 is due this upcoming week!!! So far my favorite activity has activity 6.2 A Tale of WP2s. For me, reading other people’s work gives me the structure I need to begin writing a five page essay. My main focus this time is to try to incorporate quotes in a way that boosts the credibility of my writing, but also flows. I think reading my essay out loud will reduce the chances of sentences sounding awkward. My essays tend to be one sided when writing, so it was helpful when #7 asked why it seemed like the “Chief” was hating on psychologists. In my essay I will hopefully be able to present the different genres in a more factual way without letting my bias completely take over.

I also liked seeing the different resume examples. First of all, I need to clean up my resume so it gave me a couple of ideas of what I need to fix. Most importantly though it was interesting to analyze the different components of the resumes in relation to the moves that we have been talking about in class.

Another thing that I need to work on is parallelism. The examples we used in the lesson were clear, but when I’m writing I don’t always break down sentences to make sure that they are parallel to each other. When I read my essay most of the time I just skim to make sure that there are no major errors, and totally overlook parallelism.

I am still unsure about my topic for my WP2. I am also unsure about my thesis. I think once I finish with the rest of my paper more of it will make sense. I am having the same problem breaking up my paragraphs as before. I am so used to breaking things down based on topics, so I automatically started breaking my essay down in the intro, 3 body, and conclusion format. I am in the process of fixing that so it adds structure to my essay.

On a side note: I went home this weekend for Mother’s day and whilst I was home I was able to spend some time with my bestfriend that goes to school in Nashville. She is the coolest of the cool. She is a singer-songwriter so I made her sing me songs by the beach and I snapped a picture of her (see below) . She has a sondcloud so I suggest you give her a listen at reganrousseau! ( see I don’t hate my friends ;) )

PB2B

Moves-a-thon

The They Say, I Say Appendix gives an overview to the typical moves that authors tend to use in their writings. In class we established that moves are important to understand, because often they have underlying functions. It is also beneficial to analyze other writers’ moves, to improve and expand the ways of writing.

They Say, I Say  moves

Introducing Something Implied or Assumed

In Navigating Genres, Dirk says, “I would surmise with near certainty that at least one of these headlines made you laugh”. The truth is that I did not laugh as a I read any of the headlines, I thought some of the headlines were amusing but not enough for them to solicit a laugh. The reason for this strategy is to connect to the reader. If Dirk had been right, and I did laugh it would have formed a connection between the two of us. Although it can also be dangerous to assume, because assumptions are not always right.

Capturing Authorial Action

Bunn in How to Read like a Writer utilizes the move of capturing authorial action. The sentence reads, “Charles Moran, a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, urges us to read like writers because…” (pg.84). Using words such as urges, argues, and declares can be more powerful than simply using the word states. Words with action often give a tone to the sentence. In this case the word urges suggests that Charles Moran is adamant about reading like a writer instead of being passive about reading like a writer.

Explaining Quotations

Seven’s “So What? Who Cares” uses an example of how explaining quotations can be beneficial to an essay. Seven explains, “Notice how Grady’s writing reflects the central advice we give in this book, offering a clear claim and also framing that claim as a response to what someone else has said” (pg.94). Sometimes a quote that is used is unclear. In order to make an argument clear it is often necessary to reiterate what a quotation is saying to tie it into the main argument.  

Commonly Used Transitions

Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis by Laura Bolin Carroll uses a variety of common transitions in her writing. For example she transitions from one idea to the other by saying, “However, when this same teacher hands you an advertisement, photograph or article and asks you to write a rhetorical analysis of it, you might have been baffled or felt a little overwhelmed (pg.48).” Transitions are a simple way to indicate to the reader that you are shifting between ideas. A transition such as however suggests that there is going to be a different idea than the one that was previously stated.

Adding Meta Commentary

Dirk also uses meta Commentary in Navigating Genres. The article states, “ In other words, knowing what a genre is used for can help people to accomplish goals, whether that goal be getting a job by knowing how to write a stellar resume, winning a person’s heart by writing a romantic love letter, or getting into college by writing an effective personal statement (253). Meta Commentary seems to just be a kind of re-explaining a claim that has already been mentioned, but expanding on it. It is another way to clarify a topic and make the argument more reader friendly.

Other moves

I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham

Elbow’s chapter, “Teaching Two Kinds of Thinking by Teaching Writing”, discusses his ideas on first and second order thinking. Within the chapter he argues that, “I’m not trying to disparage spoken discourse or nonverbal back-burner work” (59). He mentions what he is not trying to do. Many assumptions can arise by a reader when a writer presents an argument, so explaining what he is not trying to do can clear up confusion. Most papers include what a writer IS trying to say, but leave out what they’re NOT trying to say, and I think they are both helpful.

Thank you Dictionary

Often times for a reader it is difficult to decipher what certain terms mean, or what the main argument is. In Murder!(Rhetorically Speaking) by Janet Boyd she helps out the readers by giving out definitions for terms. For examples she states, “Here I offer my definition: rhetoric is what allows you to write (and speak) appropriately for a given situation, one that is determined by the expectations of your audience, implied or acknowledge, whether you are texting, writing a love letter or bleeding a term paper” (100).

She includes the definition at the end of the paper to emphasize what she means throughout the paper when she uses the word rhetoric. Also, the reader is left a helpful tool to use when reading other essays.

Not Bullet Proof

“Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis”, by Laura Bolin Carroll goes into lists to identify examples of her claims. She lists the different types of examples of rhetoric in bullet points (56). The bullet points add organization and structure to the essay. On some occasions when lists are too long it can be confusing to just read a list of words divided by commas. The bullet points are an alternative and more noticeable way of listing important points.

Lab Rat

Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking) by Janet Boyd includes many instances in which the writer tells the reader what to do. For example she demands that reader to, “Take a moment to visualize the five facts, and then pick up a pen or turn your keyboard and write for five or so minutes as if you were a detective”(88). Boyd encourages an interactive relationship between the reader and the writer by telling the readers what to do. The readers serve as lab rats to prove the points that the author explains afterwards.

Scandal

An easy way to appeal to college students is by presenting them with scandalous ideas or titles. “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott is a perfect example of that. At first the title may induce giggles, and grab a person’s attention. The reaction of the word shitty may be different depending on the reader, but it is likely that people will pick up the article and read it because of the eye-grabbing title. It is an effective title for college students, but other more professional readers may dismiss the piece based on the title.