In Class: What I Learned in the reading

For the reading today, one of the topics I learned is how the structure of words is much more important that I thought in forming arguments. With individual wording, it is important to avoid jargon and technical terms when writing to large audiences, because it has the potential to deter some of that audience who are unaware of the meaning of those terms. Sentence structure also plays a key role in conveying the meaning of an argument, especially when it comes to length of sentences. Often times powerful arguments start with topic sentences that can be brief and are followed with phrases such as "in fact" or "in addition" to add more inflection into the argument. In addition to wording, style is an important aspect of any argument. In order for a strong argument to be written, it must be done in a style that will be appealing to the audience as a whole. In some cases it is inappropriate to employ one style while at other times it may be a necessity to use that same style.

Unit 3 Job Titles and Descriptions

Job Title and Description: My title in the group is Lead Analyst. In addition to being the Recorder, as Lead Analyst I will do extensive research on my group's topic, brainstorm possible ideas for each of the three texts to utilize for the project, plan meetings ahead of time (as well as elaborate on action items for the next meeting), formulate edit any written text, and assist Tracy and Allie in anything they need help with or do not understand. In the group, I want to be active and helpful in every way possible. I will accomplish any task that is delegated to me, and I will put forth my best work. My primary responsibility is to ensure that all research on our topic is done ahead of time as well as to serve as a resource for Tracy and Allie if they are confused or unsure of where we are going as a group on this project.

Other team members: Tracy Littlefield and Allie Barnes

In Class: Group Work

Last year in my Business Information Systems class, I was placed in a group with members who did not have the same work ethic as I did, which ended up in me doing most of the work for the overall project. Due to the high volume of the work, I was overwhelmed and ended up getting a mid-B on the project despite giving all the effort I possibly had.

An ideal group project for me starts off with being in a group with a similar work ethic that I possess. I want to be with members who do not settle for mediocrity and only want to submit their best work possible. I think it is also important to be with members who pay strict attention to detail and are engaged in the task at hand. Additionally, it is important to me for everyone in the group to participate and be held accountable for their work. It is not fair when the group as a whole receives the same grade when there are others who clearly worked harder than the other members. It always bothers me when members of the group are unprepared for class and meetings (or show up late), so preparation and punctuality are critical for a successful project.

In Class: Analysis Challenges

During this process the biggest challenge for me was avoiding giving my own insight and opinions into the primary source analysis itself. The BCS national championship is an issue that I am passionate about and directly affects all of us at TCU, and leaving my own thoughts about the championship/system out of my analysis led me to see the arguments in a much different way. In addition, this process made me view arguments and rhetoric in a completely different way. This challenged me to view the articles from an unbiased perspective and to see how effective and strong each individual argument was. Although none of the articles that I found were in favor of the current system, the articles I read and analyzed each presented differing viewpoints and they subsequently gave me new insight and more reasons as to why I feel the way I do about the flawed BCS system. There would be times while writing where I would catch myself expressing my opinion, but by the time I got through with the third analysis, I was becoming more efficient and not catching myself in that position.

Unit 2 Proposal

Proposed topic: For this essay, I am planning to analyze the arguments surrounding the current BCS system in college football, specifically in the end of the 2009 season when both TCU and Boise State went undefeated. This is a debate that has been highly intensified over the past few years as many non-automatic qualifying schools (non-AQ's) are now finishing with better records than automatic qualifying ones yet not receiving the same recognition and bowl berths or a chance at the national championship. Due to the system of the BCS, there are no playoffs, which does not allow non-AQ's the chance to prove themselves in the post-season of college football and earn a spot in the national championship.

Primary sources: There are many opponents and proponents of the BCS system, which should provide me with enough primary sources to analyze the rhetorical arguments they make. The end of last season was pretty controversial as there were five teams that went undefeated (three were AQs, the other two were Boise State and TCU) but only two got to play for the national championship. Many of the commentators of this subject are sports analysts, so I will mostly look into articles written by correspondents of ESPN as well as local papers in regards to schools that this directly affects. I will also look into what different Athletic Directors and Chancellors of universities are arguing about the issue, because this is directly related to money that schools could be potentially receiving to due to bowl success and invitations.

Why I chose this topic: Being a student at TCU, this is an event that directly relates to me. Once again, we may finish the season in good standing but held out of potentially the national championship, even if we may be deserving of it. It will be interesting to analyze the different arguments that proponents and opponents of the current BCS system are making, as well as to see which side presents the strongest and most effective arguments.

In Class: First Paragraph

While walking around the TCU campus, whether it be someone's first or one-thousandth time, one will instantly see the quality of the building on the campus. TCU invests lots of money into its campus, more so than most universities. One building in particular, however, stands out among them all: the TCU recreation center. This is a building on campus that is set apart from all others: it is diverse, unique, state-of-the-art, and appealing to all students on campus.

Upon entering the rec center, there is somewhat of an overwhelming feeling that is induced upon first sight. Walking in from the main entrance, you can immediately see the volume of activity going in the recreation center. There are machines everywhere, a huge weight room, various basketball and racquetball courts, and indoor and outdoor pool, a food shop, all creating endless possibilities of what you can do for the time you decide to be there. As you proceed to get your ID scanned, you decide that you wish to go into the weight room. This is no high school weight room, but a weight room on par with most high-tech facilities comparable to Lifetime Fitness and 24-Hour Fitness'. There are rows upon rows of cable machines, multiple benches, a complete dumbbell set that can easily accommodate 25 people at once, two sections to work abdominal muscles, a complete straight-bar and EZ-bar curling rack, as well as two cable machines to work muscles specifically in the back. This is a weight room where you can work every muscle imaginable in the human body.

In Class: Writing Workshops

Writing workshops are something that I have found both very beneficial and quite pointless depending on the circumstances and classes they occur in. The most beneficial workshops that I have been involved in happened mostly during my junior and senior year of high school in my AP English classes. In these classes, many of the students were on similar levels of thinking and writing ability that I was at, which made for a nice atmosphere to participate in group workshops. This was helpful as I received relevant feedback, interesting insight, as well as good advice for proper revision for various essays throughout the year (my senior AP Lit class was heavy in volume of writing so there were usually workshops weekly or bi-weekly). In other classes in high school, namely non-AP classes, I found that writing workshops were absolutely pointless. Most of the kids who would "revise" my paper either had nothing to say about it at all, or they would give me comments that had nothing to do with my paper and were absolutely irrelevant. In general, I would prefer to revise my own paper and then have my peers who I trust to revise my paper, but I am not totally opposed to group writing workshops. On the whole, this class seems pretty diligent and smart, so I trust that the advice that I receive from my peers would be both relevant and helpful in the long run. +