Tim Collins....Straight from the Heart

I think that Tim Collins did an amazing job in describing Marie Fatayi-Williams’ speech in “Straight from the Heart”.  Mr. Collins makes the reader feel like they are standing in the crowd during the actual speech about the death of her son. He paints the picture of the red double-decker bus that involved in the bombing in the city of London.  Tim describes Marie’s words to “have fed such an acute hunger for explanation, have slaked such a thirst (hunger & thirst are related words) for expression of the sheer horror of Thursday’s events.”  The examples “orators, statesmen and playwrights, of Shakespeare, Churchill, or Lincoln” are superordinates used to describe how great her speech was.  Mr. Collins gives the visual of Marie holding her son’s picture as her emotions of despair; hopelessness and the longing to be with her son makes the reader feel her heartache uses pathos.  Since Mr. Collins relates and shares the emotions of being a writer gives him creditably (ethos).  At the end of Tim Collins analysis of “Straight from the Heart”, the reader has heartache for Marie’s loss but also the feeling of inspiration due to the fact that she could stand up in front of a crowd and give such a courageous speech. Tim Collins' analysis is just breathtaking.

Rhetorical?

Once I googled the meaning of the word Rhetorical, I had a more of an understanding of what my blog was supposed to be about, but still a little confused. So here goes nothing.....After selecting a debatable article or essay that interests me, I will start with an introductory paragraph that gives a brief explanation of what my article is about. I will also include if I agree or disagree with the author and if they were convincing enough.  After the first paragraph I will build the body of my essay that gives details that support the beginning paragraph. Within the body of my essay I will explain what emotions that the author is using and what format is being used. The ending paragraph of my essay will resemble the beginning paragraph. I will again summarize what the article or essay was about and give my conclusion on if I was convinced or not and why or why not.

Self Reviewing Questions......Not good.

Wow, using the self-review questions really lowered my self-confidence in writing and makes me realize that I have a lot to learn.  Writing has always been a huge weakness for me; they say that we are our own worst enemy and at this time, that statement couldn’t be any truer.  After answering those questions, I realized that I left out things that are needed to make my paper complete. I have been worried about this paper from the very beginning, but I will take the criticism and move on to becoming a more efficient writer; hopefully. I feeling pretty silly now.

Comparing Styles

My writing process isn’t really a process; it’s more like chaos in my head. When reading Natasha Ribble’s writing process, she and I are very similar; we both seem to overthink things and are not strong writers.  I wouldn’t call myself a procrastinator though, but because I tend to overthink assignments take longer than they should. Writing has always been a weakness of mine and I don’t like be weak or to lose, so usually I try to turn them into challenges. Natasha mentioned how her biggest problem is getting started.  I’m the same, I’ll pick a topic and research and get good information and then I’m stumped and that’s where a lot of my time is wasted.

I wish it was easier for me to write papers and essays; one way I’m planning to improve this is actually using an outline or the app that Brooklyn Earnheart mentioned in her writing process blog. This app, Mind Map Diagram, looks to be very beneficial to me. Even without the app, Brooklyn seems very relaxed with how to write a paper while, I’m stressing about future papers already. I also am going to try and use the steps listed in our book; prepare, explore my reading, plan and organize, draft, and review and revise.  I feel like I prepare and explore pretty well, but I start struggling when it comes to planning and organizing my thoughts; which is odd because I am a planner and an organized person, there’s always room for improvement.  I realize that when I am intimidated about something, it is a weakness that I have either consciously or subconsciously and I hope that this class will help me with this.

Will Dave Duncan return to baseball?

The article I found is from Fox Sports and relates to my favorite MLB team, The St. Louis Cardinals.  Dave Duncan, a former pitching coach for the Cardinals, was the topic and whether he will return to baseball. Duncan left the Cardinals in January of 2012 due to his wife fighting brain cancer; she died in June later that year and currently his son, Chris Duncan also a former Cardinal, is also fighting brain cancer. Duncan says that he’s not sure if he’s ready to coach just yet but would listen to any club that is serious. (Rosentha)

 The article explains some of Duncan’s career; he was a catcher for Kansas City, Oakland, Cleveland, and Baltimore and later coached in Cleveland; he also coached with Tony La Russa for 28 seasons with several teams. Duncan says that he loves the game, just not some of the issues that come with it. (Rosentha)

This article shows mostly pathos as it explains Dave Duncan’s loss of his wife to brain cancer; many can relate to a loss of a loved one and unfortunately through cancer. The article continues with pathos by explaining about his son also battling cancer. I couldn’t image losing my spouse to a terrible disease and then having to worry about losing your son the same way.  Duncan’s career could be considered logos because they are facts and can be researched.

 

Rosentha, Ken. "Duncan Mulls Return to Baseball." FOX Sports. N.p., 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Sept. 2013.

Using Logos, Pathos, & Ethos

When dealing with Logos, Pathos, and Ethos; you are inviting your audience to go on a journey with you.  For an example, if you were giving a speech on speaking out against suicide, your audience would want to know how you are linked to this issue. You would then explain to the audience how you felt at the moment you were told that your father had committed suicide.  This would be pathos because the audience will feel your despair.  You would continue with how as a young adult with younger siblings, you dealt with this tragedy. By letting the audiences relate to your story, you receive creditability; ethos. To give facts or concrete information, you could show them the death certificate or the newspaper report.

 

Using Logos, Pathos, and Ethos in your writing can be very beneficial to both the writer and the audience.  Literature containing logos, pathos, and ethos, not only allows you to express your emotions about the topic but also lets your audience agree and engage with you or disagree and ask questions on the topic.

Know Your Audience

Deciding how to speak or to write to different groups all depends on who they are and their age range. I speak to both of my children different and then also speak to my husband another way. When speaking to my youngest, who is two, I use simple words that are easily repeated and easily understood; with my oldest, who is nine, I speak to him more complex and more like an adult.  It is easy to carry on a conversation with my oldest because if he doesn’t understand something he is able to ask questions. Communicating with my husband is just like speaking to any other friend or family member; you use slang and words that you both are comfortable of using.

 

The best way to speak or write for an academic audience is to be organized and structured; using a thesis statement is a great way to start or end your essay or paper.  Regardless on where you decide to place your thesis statement, an academic audience expects the opening sentences or paragraph to be clear in presenting your topic and in what direction you are taking them.  It’s important to not wonder off in a different direction than you stated in the beginning; an easy way to stay on track is to use the PEE Structure.  Point: the main focus of the paragraph; Evidence: backs your point and thesis statement; and Explanation: proves your point and thesis statement.  If you are able to incorporate these tips into your essay or paper, you should be able to get your audience’s attention and retain their attention.

My Own Process of Writing

My writing process is not as well organized as I thought it was; it’s actually chaos that only causes me hours of unnecessary stress. My first step to writing a paper or essay is researching my topic, which probably takes more time than it should due to not narrowing my topic; next is browsing through articles, which turns into more researching because I’m not finding what I want; and finally printing them.  Once my articles are printed, I attempt to thoroughly read through each of them and highlight what information will be beneficial to my paper.  Then, I usually make notes in the margins reminding me what I should use to open my paper with and what to include and finally piecing all my information together. At this point my stress level is extremely high because I am aggravated with how long it’s taking me to gather everything and by then I’m not even satisfied with the topic that I selected. I never once think about my audience; however, I do try to make it enjoyable for my instructor to read. I’ve came to the conclusion that I tend to really over think writing a paper. After reading the text and viewing the videos, I realize that there is an easier way to completing a paper or essay and my process was way off base.