9/29/14

I am facing many challenged when writing this analytical review. One challenge in particular is choices. In Understanding Rhetoric the emphasis was stressed on the fact that writing is all about making choices. It is hard for me to decide which aspects to choose to talk about and which aspects I should leave out when forming the argument. I have so many options to write about that I need to make choices and dictate which are crucial to the argument and which are supportive so as to fit within the word maximum. I am experiencing this challenge as a result of myself not being a very concise writer. In order to fix this problem, I am thoroughly reviewing my argument and highlighting all of the evidence and examples I use and arranging them in order form most important to least important in regards to my argument. Hopefully by accomplishing this, I will filter out what is necessary and form a more concise argument that fits within the restrictions placed in the prompt.

Plagiarism

Having read the handout, I conclude that yes I have plagiarized. Most of the time unknowingly, I have plagiarized myself as well as the works of other scholars. Much of this is due to the inconsistency in teaching to children what constitutes plagiarism. Until just recently in my education, I was completely unaware of what actually constituted plagiarism and how to rectify certain situations in which plagiarizing was an issue. There are so many different ways to cite and different expectations for citing with each instructor. Some are very lenient with the subject of plagiarism, while easier on the student this provides a problem for learning accurate citing criteria and learning how NOT to plagiarize. I have cited material incorrectly multiple times, and sometimes I still do to this day.

I would have done things differently if I had known it was happening. Although why dwell on the past if you can’t change it. I can only resolve to do better in the future and not plagiarize work be it someone else’s or my own now that I have a clear and thorough understanding of the very grey lines deciding what is plagiarizing and what is not.

People read differently depending upon what exactly they are reading. This means that people will not read a comic book the same way they read a biology textbook. There are different types of reading, such as visual reading versus analytical reading, that intertwine with each other and often are subject to what the reader is reading and for what purpose the reader is reading. For example with our textbook, I read very visually. Meaning I pause often and pay close attention to reading and understanding the pictures in addition to the writing on the pages. The understanding of the pictures helps me remember and understand the points being brought across the text. However, for my history class, I read very analytically. I pay close attention to the very wordy historical facts that are being expressed to me. I pick out the most important information form the text and I retain the information most elaborated upon and repeated. I read differently depending upon what I am reading and why I am reading. If I am reading for enjoyment I might pay less attention to the details and read faster or less thoroughly than if I am reading for informative purposes.

            There are always ways to improve as a reader. I hopefully will improve as a reader simply by having the textbook that we do. By being forced to undergo visual literacy, I am broadening my reading capabilities and allowing myself to read in different ways than I normally would have as a science major. In the sciences it is all dry, factual information being thrown at you that you must read very closely so as to remember as much as possible. With this more laid-back visual approach to reading, I am focusing less on detail and more on combining reading techniques, such as reading pictures and text. This technique is helping me learn to read in a way where I am grasping the overall concepts more thoroughly than sort-of-grasping a ton of minute details. I would like to improve my ability to apply the technique of overall reading and combination strategies to more thoroughly understand what I am reading, why I am reading it, and what I should be taking away from it. 

As I am exploring my writing capabilities, I find that I am struggling to maintain the ability to switch off my overly proper academic and scientific writing style to write more personally and laid back. I find it difficult to write about things where I am not given a topic and I simply supply the facts. Exploring personal reflection and different writing styles is difficult, yet intriguing to me. I have this struggle because I have always been a very science and math based student. Therefore, the majority of my writing has consisted of theses supported by scientific fact and elaborate justifications. When writing an open ended prompt with a more personal topic I find it difficult to fully express the topic of  the writing prompt. Not only am I experiencing this problem, but I also find that I am a rather less-than-direct writer. I often lack conciseness and beat around the bush when addressing topics for fear of almost being too direct and surface-perfect.
To address these problems I am constantly trying to reflect upon and review my writings. I observe whether or not I am addressing the prompt, and if I am, how long does it take for me to get the point across. I make sure to thoroughly understand the prompt I am answering and the end goal before i begin brainstorming and writing. Hopefully these attempts will work on my areas of weakness, and I will discover new techniques to further develop myself into a good writer. A writer capable of academia as well as personal writing.

My initial reaction to Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" was one of pride. Being a member of an immigrant family and a second generation American myself, I can totally understand where she is coming from with the 'different Englishes' that she speaks regarding where she is, what she is doing, and whom she is speaking to. I am so thankful that she overcame her embarrassment and continued to develop her personality into her career and accept the lifestyle that she was born into. She really drew on her ethos, or credibility, when she opened up her excerpt and stated "I am not a scholar on English or literature..." she was openly stating that she cannot give more than personal opinion and all that she has to say is credible based on personal experience. She is not trying to give fact based on her PhD or other extra credentials. Rhetorically, Amy Tan is brilliant in that she draws on personal experience using pathos to force the reader to empathize with her transition from embarrassment to embracement.
When analyzing the two pieces collectively, I would say that Tan and Douglass both use pathos and kairos most effectively of all of the rhetorical strategies available throughout both of their pieces. I say this because both Tan and Douglass perfectly incorporate the different aspects of their respective purposes in a well thought out, timely manner. There is no moment is either of the excerpts where one feels that "her example came too soon", or "his personal story would have been better appreciated earlier in the text". One example of well done kairos in Tan's excerpt was the parallel juxtaposition of two sentences, the first being what her mother was telling her in "broken english", and the second being what she was actually saying to the man on the phone in "proper english". One example of well done kairos in Douglass' excerpt comes when he approaches the subject of his mistress teaching him to read. If he had began the story earlier in the excerpt it would have felt awkward and misplaced. However, Douglass began his story at an appropriate time and therefore the story was very fluid in motion.
There were moments where I felt less than persuaded by the author throughout both of these pieces. In Tan's piece, I would have strayed away from the amount of times she exemplified her mother's inability to speak "proper" English. Her examples, while well done and thought out, gave the piece a bit of redundancy and therefore made it harder to follow all the way through. In Douglass' piece I would have been more clear that he was taking us into his beginning of life, rather than just mentioning things happening in the past. I felt unsure of the exact timeline of his story and whether or not he was speaking about himself presently or in the past.

My personal reaction to Douglass' narrative was one of astonishment, embarrassment and pride. Through reading Douglass' journey and pathway from birth to enslavement, to violence, to education, to freedom it instilled a sense of pride for Douglass. All that he accomplished in the face of such setbacks and oppression opened up my eyes to all that we have in today's society that we as citizens of America, myself included, take advantage of every day. For Douglass, learning and education was a joyous experience for him that lead to his ultimate freedom. Education is still the pathway to freedom for every man, woman and child that lives today. Douglass calls on pathos to create a sense of empathy that one has for him to force yourself to experience the pain, anguish, anticipation and release that he experienced on his journey of life. Through re-living these experiences with him I as a human became astonished and embarrassed that one human could have treated another the way that humans treated Douglass and other Africans. He purposefully takes you back through his lifetime and personal experiences, using logos appeal, so as to create the perfect timeline and allow the reader to experience the joyous ending he had as a free man. Douglass used both logos and pathos appeal to tug perfectly on my heart strings and allow me to enjoy and experience his journey similarly as to how he did and did again in writing this excerpt.