My Rhetorical Agrument's Strengths and Weaknesses

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The good things I felt worked in my writing process:

I felt that I handled the development assignments well and made an excellent effort to compose my initially draft early and revise it often. I had a lot of input and feedback thrown at me from both aviation and non-aviation students on the topic. I even stopped at the writing center in the library a few times to have more professional writers give me solid advice in the improvements I needed to make. I was very satisfied with the outcome and I really enjoyed the project and the additional writing practice it provided.

The bad in my writing process:

I neglected to create a Rhetorical Analysis Document for all of my sources as well as summaries for each source. I managed to create two RAD's and one summary at the initial stages of the writing process, however; I was not aware that each source we chose required a RAD and summary. In all honesty, I felt that because I have done very similar, if not, exactly the same style project in College Writing 2, so I did not take the "baby steps" as seriously. As soon as the assignment was given to us, I had already developed a mental outline of what I was going to write about without any pre-planning. I still completed the pre-drafting assignments, but I did not continue further preparation because I felt I was ready to write out the entire paper from introduction to conclusion.

The ugly portion of my process:

I cannot say that any portion of my writing process went absolutely awful. I enjoyed the entire process and I feel that it went well from beginning to end. However, the fact that I feel like I did not do enough to aid my peers bothers me. I feel that the awful portion of my process was the fact that I did not make any attempt to help any other students without direction from our professor. I only aided those who shared the front-left side row when I could have helped the entire class. My failure to go above and beyond is most definitely the black hole of my project.   



Rhetorical Argument Thus Far

image source

During my research I actually mad some findings that really surprised me. As it turn out, the FAA actually did do something about the regulation of personal electronic devices while operating aircraft. I suppose my shock to my findings represent a great example of ethos. Much of my research came from news editorials, so they information was presented as new information at the time but the regulation has been in place since 2012. 

In addition to my findings, I became upset after the surprise lost its effect on me. I was not pleased with how the FAA regulated just airline pilots in terms of who can and cannot use tablets and other devices in flight for personal reasons. A distracted airline pilot is just as big a risk factor as a general aviation pilot would be. The fact that the FAA neglected to regulate all pilots throughout every branch of aviation behooves me! I focused the first half of my paper on that fact and expressed how I reacted, as the reader, to my sources information. The final half of my paper was a wind down of how the tablets have proven beneficial to the pilots so far. Many international airlines, like IndiGo, have successfully incorporated the Electronic Flight bag into their daily operations. Overall, I am satisfied with the paper so far. i would like to hear what feedback I get from other students as well as the writing center.  

Revise This Paper Please!

This one goes out to my fellow CW2 classmates...

I am showing you a rough draft of my microtheme below. Feel free to drop some editing advice in the comments section of this post. Thanks!

 Anthony Rene Valadez

Dr. Kyburz

College Writing II

26 September 2015

If Tablets Could Fly

            I thoroughly enjoy modern technology and all its spoils. I also enjoy integrating modern technology into aviation by equipping pilots, like myself, with the latest and greatest gadgets. However, as much as I enjoy how easy mobile technology has made flying, I have some concerns about how tablets and touch screen devices can distract pilots in the air. Thinking more about the issue I asked myself, what are some of the consequences, good and bad, related to equipping pilots with tablets and other devices while in the cockpit?

            The first consequence that sprang into my mind was the obvious one. The use of devices in the cockpit while operating an aircraft could substantially reduce the awareness of the pilot, increasing the risk of pilot error. This risk is especially heightened when the pilot uses electronic during flight operations near an airport, such as takeoff and landing. Pilots must maintain constant awareness all round their aircraft to ensure a safe flight under visual flight rules. Electronic devices can reduce the level of awareness that pilots must maintain.

            The other consequence I imagined is more positive than the first. A common error in aviation is the pilot’s failure to make the right decisions while operating their aircraft. Usually, this is caused by a lack of information onboard the aircraft. With a tablet, the pilot can pull up any necessary information to help make a decision, and avoid getting lost. The need for a manual flight computer will be eliminated because the pilot will have access to a preplanned flight map. Having instant access to your flight plan allows pilots always stay on top of their flight.  

"What did I learn about summary writing this past week?"

Despite my huge devotion of time to the Navy and all their glorious training modules, I was able to refresh my memory on the importance of summary composition and how it affects my writing skills.

Even though I have done it many times before, I have learned the following in regards to summary writing:

• Summary writing helps build communication skills by allowing the writer to communicate a film, documentary, or book to a person who has never seen or heard of it before. This helps the writer develop their descriptive skills. 
• Through my writing, i reminded my self that summary paper is strictly for summery text, meaning I am not allowed to input my own personal analysis (despite how badly I naturally wanted to do so). 
• Finally, I also learned that in summary writing is a tremendous help with building comprehension skills. It takes an awful lot of effort to intake the entire plot of a movie, documentary, or book and summarize the whole darn thing in five to six paragraphs. Of course, i could drone on but I would rather not burden my instructor and peer editors with a twenty page summary.

Anyway, that's what I learned. If you feel you learned something that I didn't mention, feel free to bring it up in the comments. Happy writing!  

 

Deep Water Documentary Reflections

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suw-HbE6AXo

Reflection Questions:

1. What has been your experience with ddocumentary films? Have you seen many? Why? Why not? Do you have a favorite? Why?
2. How can using documentary films as subject matter for this course help you as a writer? Relate to things we have discussed, or add new ideas from your deep reflection.
3. Assuming you have watched your film for the Documentary Project, tell us a bit about your response to it, adding some reflective writing on how watching the documentary will help you as a writer and communicator (aka "rhetor").

Response:

1.           Growing up as a child, I had a profound curiosity that I had always set out to pacify. I was always hungry for knowledge and answers to my endless questions. I never had a successful relationship with reading as I was very picky about what I wanted to read and never found reading fun or entertaining. My disinterest in reading but continuing thirst for knowledge lead me to watching documentary films to quench my thirst for knowledge. I began watching documentaries at around twelve years of age and continued doing so to this date. It became a hobby that I practiced monthly. Since then I have seen too many documentaries to count. I actually found the films more interesting than popular cinema because of their factual nature. I find fictional cinema entertaining, but nonfictional documentaries to be truly interesting. I suppose it was the thought that "Wow! These things really happened!" drew me closer to documentary film rather than popular cinema. I have seen so many now that I cannot recall ever choosing a favorite simply because I appreciate them all. 
2.           In terms of developing my writing skill, I believe documentary films can aid by improving my ability to interpret, summarize, and analyze someone else's work. To be able to successfully interpret another person's work helps to build a writer's understanding of how other people write and communicate their ideas. By noting and observing how others formulate their ideas through documentary films, writers can convey how they would formulate their ideas and compare and contrast how they differ from how the original author told the story. This is the beauty of summary writing, also known as paraphrasing. Essentially, the novice writer is telling the story of the film in their own words. This form of writing is especially profound when summarizing older films where the language is not as modern as today's. I discovered this immediately as I watched the documentary posted above. Not only is the language in the film from the late 1960s, but it is also in English dialect. As a millennial young adult in modern America, it would be a little challenging for me to paraphrase the documentary in my own words because its is foreign and from a different decade. It is this particular challenge that would help me, and many other young writers like me, to build on their writing skills. 
3.           After watching the documentary posted above, I'd have to say that my overall reaction was shock and sadness over the end result of Mr. Crowhurst's journey. The reason I chose this particular documentary as opposed to the other interesting titles is because I am a sailor myself and the idea of sailing around the world alone in a small vessel is not foreign to me. In fact, it was the title "Deep Water" that initiated my decision to choose this particular documentary to focus my writing assignment on. Right away I suspected the title to have nautical ties and after I read the description, I was hooked. In the beginning of the film they introduced the focus of the film and the protagonist. the idea of being a twenty first century spectator of a circumnavigational sailing race in 1968 excited me during the first half hour of the film. I believe I am more connected to the film than most because I sail and I know first hand the difficulties sailors encounter on the high seas. The film was also very educational for me because up until seeing the film, I had no idea England hosted a circumnavigational sailing race in 1968. As the film reached its end, my excitement became a growing concern for the dimming hope of Mr. Crowhurst's success. Learning of his death in the end brought shock and sadness as I tried to imagine how his family and all the people from his town of origin, where he had cast off nine months earlier on his journey, felt in response to Crowhurst's failure and suicide. I could not help but pity him for his efforts to secure a better life for himself and his family. My overall opinion on the film is that I enjoyed the plot because I can relate to it as a sailor, and that it is an inspirational story for anyone who may have the privilege of viewing it.                     

   

Slacktivism at its Finest

Slacktivism at its Finest

In a recent browse of the Department of Defense news network, I stumbled upon this particular petition shown in the link below and decided to participate. What I didn't know was that by taking part in the online petition I was committing slactivisim.

Now you're probably asking yourself, "What the heck is slactivism?" Well I can explain.

According to Google, slacktivism is "actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g., signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website."

What that basically means is slacktivism is our society's way of gaining support for a particular cause or belief without going through the hassle of campaigning and advertising. 

The link I posted below is a prime example of an online petition to save the F/A-18 Growler from not making the cut for the 2013-1014 Fiscal Year. Rather than assembling volunteers to rally in Washington DC to protest the government, a group of activists put together a website that allowed anyone with internet access to send a formal template letter to a congressman in support of keeping the aircraft in the budget. This takes the planning, organization and distribution of protest apparel and signage completely out of the equation. Proving that today's society is finding alternatives via technology and the internet to supplement hard labor. Hence the term slactivism.    

  

Please support adding EA-18GGrowlers to the Fiscal Year 2015 budget

Currently, the Fiscal Year 2015 President’s Budget Request does not include funding for continued...

IMGE.RALLYCONGRESS.COM

http://imge.rallycongress.com/14769/test/

Exploratory Research Paper Reflections

What I liked about the project:

• I liked that we were asked to add a personal voice to our findings and share our reaction to the information we gathered. I am not used to that writing style so it definitely was a new learning experience for me. 
• I liked the freedom of the project and how we were able to research whatever topic we researched. From the first description of assignment I knew my research was going to be be done on a modern military aircraft, which immediately got me pumped and anxious to begin conducting research.
• I also really enjoyed the personal one-on-one meeting with Dr. Kyburz. That meeting helped me determine between two research topics and Dr. Kyburz pointed me in the direction that ended up being a better learning experience for me. Up until I wrote that paper, i knew nothing about the Russian Sukhoi T-50. 

What I didn't like about the project:

Image Source

• I liked everything about this project! =)

What I learned from this project:

• I learned a lot about how exploratory research differs from a regular research paper. 
• I learned a lot about a brand new aircraft that I knew nothing about other than its name. 
• I learned how to properly cite web sources in in-text citations in MLA format. 
• I learned that exploratory research is much more fun than informative research.