Considering Types

In this blog post I will be looking at the different types of argument found on pg. 414 of Writing Public Lives. I will narrow down to two different arguments that I think will be suitable for my Public Argument project.

The first argument that I think would work for my project would be Evaluative Argument. I think this would work best because I would be examining the effectiveness of the information being transmitted either via audiobooks or by reading a book. It's not a piece of legislation, which is an example in the reading, but I think I could use the evaluative argument components in order to strengthen my overall argument.

The second argument that I think would work for my project is the Position Argument. Since I am evaluating audiobooks vs. books this seems to fit the classic model of pro/con which is what the Position Argument is modeled off of. In order to fit this argument I would have to pick a side and develop some own defenses would might be kind of tricky.

I don't know if a proposal argument would work because I'm not suggesting another way to absorb information, I'm simply evaluating two different sources and comparing them. Introducing something else would take away from the other information.

Library of Congress. "Dusk at U.S. Capitol." 12/07/13 via Wikipedia. Public Domain License.

EDIT: 

For this reflection I read Hallye's  and Mira's blog posts. Hallye chose the position argument. I think she would use it in a different way than I would but it was interesting to compare the differences. After reading her blog post I also realized refutation would probably not work for my topic because I'm not refuting just one specific thing; I also need to discuss the positives of one side. Mira chose evaluative as well so it will be interesting to see how she uses it in comparison to me.

My Rhetorical Action Plan

In this blog post I will be Developing a Rhetorical Action plan based off of the questions found on pgs. 412-413 in Writing Public Lives.

Since it was pretty long, I decided to create it in a google doc. You can access it by clicking here.

Veganbaking.net. "Vegan Blueberry Muffins." 09/07/10 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

I read both Hallye's and Alex's rhetorical action plans. Hallye was very detailed in hers and her rhetorical action plan ended up being pretty lengthy. Mine is also pretty long because I included all of the original questions. Alex was more concise and chose to answer all the questions in one long, lengthy paragraph which I think works as well. I think the genres that Hallye chose are suitable for her topic. Alex only included one kind of genre and that was the persuasive essay but I think that works too.

Analyzing Purpose

In this post I will be answering some questions found on pg. 326 of Writing Public Lives.

1. Freewrite for a few minutes on the goal of your public argument, or what you would like to see happen as a result of your argument. What do you want your readers to do, feel, think, believe, etc. as a result of leading it?

I made a coggle because this seemed to be the most logical for brainstorming. Click here to access it.

2. Now that you have an idea of what you want to accomplish, draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. Label the left side "Plausible Actions/Reactions" and the right side "Not Plausible." Then, fill these categories with likely and unlikely results of reading your analysis.

Here is a link to my google doc which I made to respond to this question.

3. From your freewriting and list, we can now build a chain of likely consequences for your public argument. Take a plausible action from your list and then trace out the possible effects of it. For example, if you said "Raise awareness about issue, draw a line beside it and then state what raising awareness might accomplish. Let's say that awareness might motivate the public to act. Draw lines outward from that for the possible actions the public might take.

Here is a link to a coggle which I made to respond to this question.

4. Now, think through the possible audiences that you might want to address. You want to think about the people who are most likely to move towards achieving your goal. Draft out a paragraph that describes the groups of people who are most likely to advance your cause.

I think one audience that might advance my cause would be neuroscientists or any kind of scientist that conducts research on the best ways to transmit information. They would be the ones that are most knowledgable about which medium is best for retaining and learning new information. They would also be aware of what kind of information is best suited for a certain kind of medium. Another group of people that might be interesting in advancing my cause are those in the English and writing fields. They are the ones that are most knowledgable about content writing and would be the best to turn to for producing an audiobook. These two groups of people are the most essential groups for my topic.

Diliff. "Beluga Whales." January 2006 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons license.

Analyzing Context

In this blog post I will be answering some questions found on pg. 340 of Writing Public Lives.

1. What are the key perspectives or schools of thought on the debate that you are studying?
Some of the key perspectives would be scholars in the English fields. Audiobooks rely on the written word in order to come to life so it would be important for them to analyze how audiobooks are transforming reading. Another key perspective would be from neuroscientists who would be able to examine how well the information is transmitted - are people able to retain more information through reading or listening? These two groups of people would be most important for understanding audiobook effects.

Here is a link to an article that discusses how information is retained through reading vs. listening. It discusses in depth an experiment conducted by Bill Bryson.

2. What are the major points of contention or major disagreements among these perspectives?

• Which way is more useful to retain information - listening or reading?
• Are audiobooks replacing printed books?
• Are audiobooks only successful because they are sensationalized through narration?

3. What are the possible points of agreement, or the possible common ground between these perspectives?

• Audiobooks have a positive environmental effect - digital, so they don't use trees
• Both audiobooks and printed books rely on the actual written word - however, the way the book is written may be better for printed vs. audiobook

4. What are the ideological differences, if any, between the perspectives?
Many people do not consider audiobooks as actual reading, because you are listening to the book rather than actually reading it and using your brain.

Here is an article by Barnes and Noble, one of the largest producers and sellers of audiobooks. In it they have people share their opinions on whether they believe audiobooks actually count as reading. They prompt people to comment with their own opinions.

5. What specific actions do their perspectives or texts ask their audience to take?
The perspectives prompt the audience to take a specific side - do they believe audiobooks count as actual reading or no? While they are technically books, simply spoken, it is up for debate. While the reader themselves aren't actually reading the book, someone else is reading it aloud for them and they are listening in.

6. What perspectives are useful in supporting your own arguments about the issue? Why did you choose these?
I think both sides are essential in the argument. Some believe that audiobooks are considered reading, but it's important to understand whether information is retained in the same way through listening than through reading. And if they are the same, then what becomes of actual reading? I chose these two sides because they are the most prominent and controversial in this debate. In a sense, they both support and contradict each other which is very interesting to see. They both like books, content, and writing, but the way these books are transmitted is what is causing a debate.

7. What perspectives do you think will be the greatest threat to your argument? Why so?
The biggest threat to the argument is what is becoming of audiobooks. Are they seeing a sharp increase or decline? Whether audiobooks are here to stay is pretty important, as otherwise there really is no debate to begin with. The most important piece of this argument is whether there is evidence that information is transmitted one way better than the other, or if it just depends on the person.

Comet, Renee. "NCI Visuals Food Taco." 1994 via Wikipedia. Public Domain License.

EDIT:

For this reflection I read Alex's and Evan's blog posts. Both Alex and Evan had pretty differing, strong opinions. Alex's was about whether performance-enhancing drugs should be legal. People feel very strongly about one side. Same with Evan's, who was about outsourcing jobs. Although the general consensus from the public was that it was a bad idea. If anything, my controversy seems very relaxed. It's not a matter of life or death. It's simply about audiobooks. However, it could ultimately change the literary world forever.

Audience and Genre

In this blog post I will be analyzing what groups of people would most be interested in my controversy.

Group 1: students in  my own field
Other creative writing majors would most likely be interested in learning more about how audiobooks are shaping reading in the twenty-first century. Especially since we are learning how to write and what makes a good writer, all of that could eventually vanish if people suddenly no longer cared for printed books. Obviously, you would still need to write in order to produce audiobooks but the demand may be different.

Places of publication:
1. Research journal: This is where most students will turn if they are looking for more serious information concerning the topic and would like a reliable source. Usually these type of pieces are very formal and dense but provide a great deal of information that is worth reading about.
Example 1 
Example 2

2. Academic database: This is a great place to go to find scholarly sources from a wide array of different people. This is especially important for Creative Writing majors because it is useful to see how other people are writing and what techniques they are using in order to gain insightful information.
Example 1
Example 2

Group 2: avid audiobook listeners
Another group of people that would be most interested in this topic would be people that have been listening to audiobooks frequently and are exploring more ways to discover new, interesting audiobooks. They might also be interested in learning the effects that audiobooks have on reading in general.

Places of publication:
1. Magazine: These types of people may not be interested in intense scholarly articles and will most likely try to find a more leisurely form of learning more about audiobooks.
Example 1
Example 2

2. Blog posts: These are very easy to read and are more informal which will most likely draw these types of readers in. While they might not be as credible they are usually entertaining to read.
Example 1
Example 2

mbaylor. "La Crosse." 8/24/08 via Wikipedia. Public Domain License. 

Extended Annotated Bibliography

In this blog post I will be sharing my annotated bibliography I wrote. To access it, please click here.

Kujawa, Alex. "Pink tulips plants." 2/28/13 via Wikipedia. Creative Common License.

Narrowing My Focus

In this blog post I will narrow in on three questions from my previous blog post that I feel are most important for Project 3.

Question 1: How will audiobooks impact reading in general - will people become illiterate?
Ultimately, if audiobooks overtook written books then people could become illiterate because they wouldn't have to read anything anymore. Obviously this is very extreme but if there is no emphasis placed on reading physical text then people might lose important speaking and analytical skills that they will not gain through just listening to an audiobook.

Question 2: What country produces the most amount of audiobooks?
It would be interesting to see which country produces the most amount of audiobooks because then one can analyze whether people are smarter through just listening to audiobooks or also reading printed  books.

Question 3: What genres are the best sellers for audiobooks?
What kind of genres sell better for audiobooks - romance, mystery, non fiction? Then I would compare those results to what kind of genres sell best for printed books. It would be interesting to see the difference because audiobooks are more focused on narration than the content, like printed books.

ForestWander. "Owl-in-tree." 05/22/09 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Questions about Controversy

In this blog post I will be asking some questions concerning my controversy.

Who

• What other notable authors have published audiobooks?
• What are the main production companies that develop audiobooks?
• What genres are best sellers for audiobooks?

What

• Are audiobooks better than regular books?
• How much money does it take to make an audiobook versus a printed book?
• What reading medium do readers prefer to read in?

When

• When was the first audiobook published?
• When is the next release for John Schwartz's new audiobook?
• When will audiobooks replace printed books, if ever?

Where

• What country produces the most amount of audiobooks?
• Which country has the most audiobook listeners?
• What state in the United States has the most amount of audiobook listeners?

How

• How has audiobooks revolutionized the reading industry?
• How do english teachers feel about audiobooks?
• How will audiobooks impact reading in general - will people become illiterate?

T, Tomer. "Tulip Festival in Oregon." 2007 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Reflection on Project 2

In this blog post I will be reflecting on my revision process.

1. What was specifically revised from one draft to another?
I specifically wanted to revise how I addressed what rhetorical strategies the author used. I thought the article was especially well crafted in this regard. I realized in my first couple drafts I provided more summary than I did analysis so in my final draft I really attempted to narrow in on analysis.

2. Point to global changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?
I shifted in purpose in that I wanted to provide more analysis on why the author chose those rhetorical strategies over other ones.

3. What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose?
I actually re-read the article and then evaluated how I felt about it and then deemed what I thought was successful that the author used.

4. How does these changes affect your credibility as an author?
I think I wrote it in a way that is more understandable and clearer to the audience so they will be able to understand what I am saying more thoroughly. Through this they are better able to understand stand my argument and form their own opinion about the matter.

5. How will these changes better address the audience or venue?
The reader will better able to understand what I am saying and what Schwartz was saying his article. They will also understand more the rhetorical strategies he used because I broke it down for them with analysis.

6. Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
I reformatted my essay in such a way that I immediately went into analysis of the two rhetorical strategies and then I shifted into a more theoretical analysis. This way it is more clearer what I am writing about right off the bat.

7. How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?
I think they will understand more of what the article was talking about without having actually read it since I tried to do a lot more of analysis of major quotes throughout the essay.

8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing?
I had to go back a couple times and re-evaluate how I was writing and who I was writing for. I think it helped a lot to read some of my classmates essays to see how they were formatting it so I could better format mine.

9. Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?
I think this has helped me grow as a writer because instead of presenting an argument myself, I analyzed how someone else presented one and then deconstructed it which was super helpful in developing my analytical skills.

Young, Robert. "Palm_trees." 02/14/08 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

I read Isaac's and Swati's reflections. I agreed with both of them on multiple ideas. Isaac and I both were able to develop our ideas further from draft to draft. This was helpful because I was able to expand on ideas and make them much more complex than I originally had them which helped the reader understand my essay better. Swati and I went through a similar experience where we wrote our essays in more of a QRG style than in this style so we had to spend some time revising.

Project 2

I have finished writing project 2 and have published it online. If you would like to read it, you can access it by clicking here.

Beckilee. "Fawn-pug-and-black-pug." 04/16/11 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Punctuation, Part 2

In this post I will be analyzing three different types of punctuation that I personally believe I could improve on in my writing. I have already commented on the colon, semicolon, and comma (Punctuation, Part 1).

Apostrophe
I've noticed that a fair number of people use apostrophes wrong. For example, a lot of people put in their biographies on Instagram, University of Arizona 19', which really doesn't make any sense because nothing comes after the 19. As mentioned in Rules for Writers, a lot of apostrophes are used as a way to show possession. I thought it was good they brought up joint possession because I wasn't really familiar with that beforehand.

Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used a lot in essays, and I used them in especially in my rhetorical analysis essay because I wanted to provide support for my argument. I learned that you don't use quotation marks in long quotations; you simply indent the quote. I was already familiar that  you used an apostrophe to end a quotation inside a quotation. 

ie. I cited a quote in my essay. 
“An audiobook that is produced and performed well is a wonder that can make hours of driving slide by or take the dreariness out of a morning run, loading the dishwasher or folding laundry,” said Schwartz.

End punctuation
I think they only time I have been grammatically incorrect with periods is when I was citing something within an essay. I like how Rules for Writers addressed when to use a period, exclamation point or a quotation mark. I thought it was also helpful that they mentioned how after an abbreviation, like i.e., you do not add another period. 

ie. I put a period after the parenthetical citation.
While there can be certain qualities that can help make an audiobook better, there is no set of ingredients that make it an instant classic (Schwartz).

Fritz, Bruce. "Sunflowers." via Wikipedia. Public Domain License.

Paragraph Analysis 2

In this exercise I will be discussing the paragraph analysis I completed. I went paragraph by paragraph to analyze each one. I realized I could organize them more in terms of logos, pathos and ethos and make my conclusion paragraph tie together more some of the different ideas presented. Also I think I could lengthen some of my paragraphs to include more quotes and analysis in order to strengthen my thesis. Otherwise I think my grammar is pretty good and I worked hard to have good topic sentences.

Here is a link to my paragraph analysis.

Mozart, Wolfgangus. "Spoons." 2009 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Revised Conclusion

In this post I have revised my conclusion. I used the "Looking Forward" approach as described on pg. 56 of Student Guide's reading. I took into account my peers advice to talk about the author which I have done in  my new conclusion. I also have included a quote which gives the reader some food for thought and gives them room to form their own personal opinion. I think this conclusion is a lot more effective in making the reader think.

Old Conclusion:
Audiobooks do not take away imagination from the reader, but rather, enhance it. Actors personify the characters in order to give them a more animated, lively feel. This way the reader feels like he or she is personally interacting with the characters and story instead of just having a one-sided relationship, which is usual with just a printed book. Storytelling itself dates back centuries and with the rapid rise of technology it will only continue to change forms and grow into new mediums. Audiobooks are only the beginning of this new bridge between the author and the reader. In years to come, audiobooks will continue to rise which will lessen the environmental impact and continue to grow the literary base in a new form.

Revised Conclusion:
A story is a story, no matter what medium it is told in. The continued rise of digital stories, especially audiobooks, will only continue to rise in the next couple decades. Schwartz acknowledges this growing trend in the past couple years and indicates its continued rise in the foreseeable future. Audiobooks have enhanced the act of storytelling by alleviating the task of writing, and storytelling itself may continue to change forms in the next couple decades. As Schwartz mentioned in his article, "Storytelling is a unique performance medium that has its own performance dances, that is unique to its own experience."

DarlArthurS. "Colorado Springs Hot Air Balloon Classic." 08/31/08 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Revised Introduction

In this post I will be completely revise my thesis for my essay. I think my new introduction clearly articulates what I am going to address over the course of my essay. I also focus more on the writer and article itself and the rhetorical strategies that the author employs. This is also good because that is the goal of the project.

Old thesis:
With the rise of technology in the late twentieth-century, and especially now in the twenty-first century, reading has been transformed into different forms. Most recently, Amazon launched the first e-reader in 2007 with the release of the "Kindle." In addition to e-books, audiobooks have also gained popularity especially with the release of online streaming services like iTunes and Amazon Audibles. Audiobooks enhance the act of storytelling through the use of narration to further supplement the reader's imagination and alleviate the task of reading. John Schwartz, a writer for The New York Times, effectively uses the rhetorical strategy of personal expertise in order to strengthen his argument.


Revised thesis: 
Audiobooks have increased in popularity in the last couple decades based on the introduction of new technology and a higher demand for more leisurely, accessible reading. New York Times writer John Schwartz analyzes the commercial success of audiobooks in his article, "Sound Check." Certain characteristics are essential to a successful audiobook. Schwartz uses the rhetorical strategies of personal expertise and anecdotes in order to create a personal connection with the reader, which very much mirrors the intended goal of audiobooks - to have the reader empathize with the story being told.

Betts, Steve. "Alaska Range from UAF." 11/19/2011 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Reflection on Project 2 Draft

For this exercise I peer reviewed Laurence's and Evan's drafts.

Do you have an identifiable thesis? Does it point to the specific rhetorical strategies you analyze in your essay, or are you merely using vague terms like ethos, pathos and logos?

I think my thesis is very identifiable. However, I do believe I can make my thesis more thesis and provide more support by being less general about the rhetorical strategy that my author uses. I would like to fix that in  my next draft.

How have you decided to organize your essay? Does each paragraph have a central point that is support with evidence from the text and in-depth analysis?

I have decided to organize it such that I introduce the article I am analyzing first, then a background on the author, and then analyzing the rhetorical strategies he uses in order to strengthen his argument. I think I could add more analysis about the rhetorical strategies which would lead to the development of more paragraphs.

Did you identify and analyze the five elements of the rhetorical situation?

I think I have included all five of them.  I would like to further develop on the idea of ethos, pathos and logos however in order to strengthen my essay overall. I will have to rely on peer feedback in order to see if they agree if I have included all of them.

Did you explain how and why certain rhetorical strategies were employed? Did you discuss what effects these strategies have on the intended audience and overall effectiveness of the text? 

I think this is something I am lacking. I did thoroughly explain what strategies the author uses but I think it would be helpful in analyzing why he used those strategies compared to other ones. I think I did a good job explaining the rhetorical strategies the author uses and then describing them.

Are you thoroughly using evidence in each paragraph? Do you mention specific examples from the text and explain why they are relevant?

I think I could add more quotes in order to strengthen my essay. This would be also helpful to the reader in case they hadn't read the article beforehand. Also I think the rhetorical strategies would make more sense with more evidence included in the essay.

Do you leave your reader wanting more? Do you answer the "so what" question in your conclusion?

I think I could definitely improve on this area. I give my own analysis of the author but I don't really invite the reader to form his or her conclusion based off of the information I give them.

Lon&Queta. "Cero llenar de Colombo cacti." 12/9/06 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Punctuation, Part 1

In this post I will be analyzing three different types of punctuation that I personally believe I could improve on in my writing.

Comma
Commas are very typical in everyday writing and even formal writing. The key is how to use them correctly and sometimes I think I can be excessive with the amount of commas I use. I think the section that really stuck out and helped me was 33d titled "Do not use a comma between cumulative adjectives, between an adjective and a noun, or between an adverb and an adjective." I feel like I make this mistake a lot when I use two or more adjectives to describe something and then end up using way too many commas. Overall I think this section really solidified my understanding of commas in general and how to properly use them.

Semicolon
The semicolon is kind of confusing to me but this section helped clear up some issues. I think you need to set up in your sentence in a way where it is an appropriate place to put it, as in planning out how you're going to write out your sentence ahead of time. I liked the section that said "use a semicolon between independent clauses linked with a transitional expression" and then listed a bunch of adverbs that would be useful in this area.

Colon
The colon has always been really confusing for me. I think the only time I have ever used it properly when I was listing off something. Sometimes it's really easy to put a colon where a comma should be, and the book addresses this. The book did give some good examples on how and where to use a colon which was especially helpful, ie. My roommate is guilty of two of the seven deadly sins: gluttony and sloth.

Jurvetson, Steve. "Colorless gem cut from diamond grown by chemical vapor deposition." 03/27/06 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

For this reflection I peer edited Evan's and Laurence's drafts of rhetorical analysis. It was nice reading other people's drafts in order to compare them to my own. Evan had some punctuation errors that I was able to notice after reading the Student Guide's reading. For example, one of his sentences read "Politician, David Perdue, has been quoted saying that he supports and is proud of his past experiences in outsourcing jobs." I knew that there was no need for a comma between "politician" and "David." Good grammar is essential in writing an essay and so it was nice to have a refresher on this topic. 

Draft of Rhetorical Analysis

In this post I will be sharing my first draft of Project 2 based on the article "Sound Check" by John Schwartz which was published in The New York Times. I think I have done a fairly decent job writing this but I would ask my peer reviewers to look out for the flow of my project. Does everything flow together well? Or should I rearrange it somehow? I have solidified my arguments and have support but I'm curious to know if there is a better way of organizing it.

You can access my Project 2 Draft by clicking here.

"Summer Flowers." 05/17/2014 via Pexels. Creative Commons License.

Practicing Summary & Paraphrase

In this post I will be practicing the art of summary and paraphrasing by taking a quote from the article "Sound Check" by John Schwartz.

Original Source

"When actors and other performers talk about their craft, it can be difficult to tell wisdom from yammer. But it’s hard to argue with the result: an audiobook that is produced and performed well is a wonder that can make hours of driving slide by or take the dreariness out of a morning run, loading the dishwasher or folding laundry. I don’t know how to define a great audiobook, but to paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, I know it when I hear it." - John Schwartz

My Paraphrase of Original Source

Actors that perform well can enhance the quality of an audiobook simply with the sound of their voice and different changes in pitch, regardless of their expertise or years of experience. A good audiobook is instantly noticeable based on these qualities of narration, animation, and content which can make dreary tasks much more enjoyable. While there can be certain qualities that can help make an audiobook better, there is no set of ingredients that make it an instant classic.

My Summary of Original Source

John Schwartz highlights the qualities that make up a good audiobook and can make difficult tasks fly by an instant with the use of good narration and storytelling, which is instantly detectable (Schwartz).

Tornër, Eric. "Jobo Ranzang, Tibet, January 2011." 01/2011 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

Project 2 Outline

In this post I will discuss the outline I have made in reaction to my previous post where I talked about my theses and the article John Schwartz wrote for the New York Times, called "Sound Check."

I have outlined my essay in a Google doc, which can be accessed by clicking here.

I thought it was kind of hard to write this because usually when I write an essay I figure out how to write it once I start actually writing. I usually don't write outlines but this was helpful in narrowing down what I wanted to talk about and how to best strengthen my argument.

Rebeccarawrr. "Outline of a five-and-a-half tentacled octopus." 2013 via Sketchport. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

For this reflection I read Alex's and Swati's blog posts. I thought Alex outlined a good essay and I especially liked how he talked about HOW he wanted to write his essay and what contributed to a strong essay in his opening paragraph. Obviously he may not want to include that in his actual essay but I thought it was a nice reflection. Swati did a very thorough job outlining her paper which will be especially useful once she starts writing her draft. I also think I can strengthen my analytical strategies more as well as narrowing in more on my body paragraphs.

Draft Thesis Statements

In this post I have constructed two thesis statements that reflect the article written by John Schwartz, "Sound Check." I have decided to write one thesis statement in favor of audiobooks, and one thesis statement that is against it.

1. Audiobooks diminish the reader's interpretation of a story and limits imagination in addition to the act of storytelling itself.

This thesis might be easier to expand on simply because I agree with it more. My personal belief is that while audiobooks are fine, they can never replace the act of reading itself. I'm not sure how much information there is out there concerning this thesis so that might be another thing to consider if I choose to develop on this one.

2. Audiobooks enhance the act of storytelling through the use of narration to further supplement the reader's imagination and alleviate the task of reading.

There is a lot more information on the internet that supports this thesis so this would be a lot easier to extrapolate on. This would also be easier to develop on because the author in the article I examined agrees with this thesis more, especially since he wrote and narrated an audiobook himself.

Plum Leaves. "A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch." 04/21/13 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

I read both Andrea's and Alex's thesis statements. Andrea's thesis statements were very strong and complex and she has a lot too work. Alex had very concise thesis statements that were equal in strength. I realize I might want to narrow in more on my thesis statements in order to make them stronger and make the argument more visible. I haven't decided which one I agree with more yet.

Analyzing My Audience

In this post I will be answering the questions posed on on pg. 41 of Student's Guide Reading. I will be answering them based on the article "Sound Check" written by John Schwartz and published in The New York Times.

Who am I writing for? What are the audience's beliefs and assumptions?
For the purpose of this project we have been assigned to write for incoming freshmen that are also in our major/field. My major is Creative Writing so that's what I will be writing about. I assume that the audience's beliefs are that they believe in the value of the Creative Writing degree and the art of writing itself.

What position might they take on this issue? How will I need to respond to this position?
It depends how they feel about the development of audiobooks and e-books in order to please the modern consumer. Some may believe that reading should take place purely in the written form and should not be animated through audiobooks because it takes away from the imagination developed by the reader. John Schwartz seems to take the side of the audiobooks so I will need to provide enough evidence to support that.

What will they want to know?
I believe they will want to know how audiobooks have changed not only reading but the act of storytelling itself. Obviously the twenty-first century and the rise of technology has brought a lot of changes.

How might they react to my argument?
Some people may not like audiobooks and completely disagree with them. As such they might not agree with my author's comments about audiobooks.

How am I trying to relate to or connect with my audience?
I am trying to connect with them by way of my major as we all have the same field. I will need to convince them that audiobooks are of value and not taking away from the art of writing.

Are there specific words, ideas, or modes of presentation that will help me relate to them in this way?
Maybe reinforcing the idea that audiobooks are still, generally, books even if they are not in the written form.

Escamilla, Alejandro. "Left-handed writing with wristwatch." 07/09/14 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

For this reflection I read the blog posts of Andrea and Isaac. We all had pretty similar ideas and answers to the questions that were posed in this post. I also noticed that we were all already heavily in favor of one side. I think this will be fine as long as we avoid typical pitfalls and present all of our information adequately. I will have to see how everything goes I guess.

Cluster of Audiobooks

In this post I have linked the coggle I have made concerning the topic of audiobooks based on the article "Sound Check" by John Schwartz which was published in The New York Times. I found this exercise helpful in breaking down the key points of Schwartz's argument. I narrowed in to focus in on the qualities that make a good audiobook, the act of recording itself, and how audiobooks have changed storytelling.

To access my coggle, please click here.

Collins, Marjory. "The New York Times newsroom, 1942." 08/31/1942 via Wikpedia. Public Domain License.

Analyzing Rhetorical Strategies in Sound Check

In this post I will examine the rhetorical strategies found in the article published by John Schwartz, titled "Sound Check."

Appeals to Credibility or Character

• Personal stories - Schwartz describes his own experience recording his own audiobook. In his article he writes about the art of the audiobook, the qualities that make up a successful audiobook, and then he himself demonstrates this through recording his own audiobook which deems him very credible. The reader also gets more insight into the mind of the author.
• Reference to credible sources - Schwartz spends a great deal of time discussing other authors that have recorded audiobooks and also discusses actors and their feelings towards recording an audiobook. For example, Schwartz discusses Tina Fey as an example. This leads the reader to believe that Schwartz has done his research and is thereby an authoritative figure that enables him to give a sound opinion on audiobooks.

Schwartz carefully goes about writing his article. These strategies above are very handy in making him sound more credible and luring the reader into understanding more of the audiobook. He is sort of biased since he wrote an audiobook himself.

Appeals to Emotion

• Personal stories - This enables Schwartz to connect with the reader on a more personal level because not only is he providing research about audiobooks but he is also giving the reader insight into his own experience with the audiobook.
• Level of formality -  Schwartz writes that a general audience could understand the concepts present in his article. This also enables the reader to connect with Schwartz on a more personal level because he is not too formal

Schwartz is trying to elicit an interest from the reader about the audiobook. He is somewhat successful through the use of his personal stories and informal writing. These qualities do not detract from his credibility however.

Appeals to Logic or Rational Decision Making

• Interviews or expert opinions - Schwartz interviews various authors and actors to gain their input on the audiobooks. This is helpful in deeming him more credible.
• Clear transitions between sections of text -  Schwartz shifts ideas without detracting from the main idea. He organizes his paragraphs in such a way that they flow together very nicely.

These strategies are the most effective because while this is somewhat an opinion piece, Schwartz creates himself as a more credible source as he provides information about other writers. Also, paragraph organization is essential in making a coherent argument.

Janson, Johannes. "Book." 03/08/11 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:

For this reflection I read both Isaac's and Hallye's blog posts. Something that they both did that I didn't do was incorporate quotes into their argument which I thought was very effective. Like me, Hallye wrote quick blurbs about each of the rhetorical strategies and how they are relevant to the main argument. I think I did a fairly good job of addressing each point however without the need for quotes.

Analyzing Message in "Sound Check"

This post I will be focusing on the questions posed in Student Guide's reading on pgs. 180-181 based on John Schwartz's article, "Sound Check."

Does the author.....

• Express an idea or opinion?
• Respond to a particular occasion?
• Inform the reader about a misunderstood topic?
• Analyze, synthesize, or interpret?
• Reflect on their topic?
• Advocate for change?
• Move the readers to feel a certain way?

The two bullets that are most relevant to this article is "does the author express an idea or opinion?" and "inform the reader about a misunderstood topic?" The audiobook genre has been relatively new up until the last two decades with the introduction of new technology. The author attempts to express his own opinion about the audiobook and give a list of the qualities that make an audiobook the most successful. He also informs the reader in this way as he himself explains how very little people know what actually goes into making an audiobook. Schwartz also describes the quality of a voice and the persona that the narrator must adopt while recording an audiobook. He also talks about the aspect of essentially acting, as if it is a play occurring but you can only hear it. There are several layers that go into making an audiobook.

The article does not advocate for change and does not move the readers to feel a certain way. Schwartz simply gives information regarding the audiobook genre and leaves it to the reader to figure out which way they side with. He also does not advocate for change in the audiobook genre. He himself has recorded an audiobook so he wouldn't say to get rid of them.

663highland. "Interior." 03/28/10 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Analyzing My Own Assumptions

In this post I will be analyzing my own assumptions based off on my previous posts in response to the article written by John Schwartz, "Sound Check."

1. What cultural or social values, beliefs, etc., do we share with the society or culture in which the text was written? Why have they endured?
The general population has grown to adopt the audiobook and e-book culture. Many people argue that it saves a lot of trees and thus reduces our environmental footprint on the Earth. The author does seem to side with this argument as he has recorded an audiobook himself and admires other successful audiobooks and authors. I think they have endured for so long because of the rise of technology in the 21st century.

2. What cultural or social values, beliefs, etc., do we not share? Why not?
Personally, I strongly dislike audiobooks. In order for me to fully appreciate a story I must read it on paper with my own voice inside my head. I can never understand or fully wrap my hand around just audio. The author doesn't seem to mind this but then again doesn't state whether he prefers printed books compared to audiobooks or vice versa. He simply suggests that he does indeed like audiobooks and does not have a problem with them.

3. If the text is written in a culture distant or different from our own, what social values, beliefs, etc., connect to or reflect our own culture? What social values, beliefs, etc, can we not see in our own culture?
It is written in an American culture primarily because the author is American and works for one of the oldest American newspapers in the country. Also, audiobooks tend to be a more American thing especially with the creation of the Kindle.

4. If the text is written in our culture but in a different historical time, how have the social values, beliefs, etc., developed or changed over time?
This text was not written in a different culture. However, since it was published more than three years ago, it is possible that the author has changed his stance on whether he likes or dislikes audiobooks.

Nickrds09. "Frogner Park Trees." 06/03/12 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

EDIT:
For this reflection I read both Samantha's and Alex's blog posts. Samantha wrote about education reform while Alex wrote about the legalization of performance drugs. I think it was interesting to note that all three of us generally tended to disagree with the author at one point or another. There wasn't someone who wholeheartedly agree with what the author was saying, which I think is a good thing. You have to be very critical of everything you read, especially on the internet.

Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

In this post I will be analyzing the cultural setting behind the article published by John Schwartz in The New York Times titled "Sound Check." This article was published on November 12, 2012 on the New York Times website (online) and in print publication, headquartered in New York City but distributed nationwide.

1. What values, ideas, norms, beliefs, even laws of the culture play an important role in the text?
This article discusses in depth the rise of the audiobook genre and the qualities that make a successful audiobook. It is a new medium and form of reading as not long ago the only way to read a book was on paper. The author himself has published an audiobook and recounts recording his own book which may prove for him to be a little biased. Some people are very apprehensive of the audiobook and e-book genre and instead like to reinforce the written word on paper. The 21st century has brought a rise of technology that has indisputably influenced the rise of the audiobooks.

2. Does the text address these cultural values, beliefs, etc., directly (by directly mentioning and responding to them) or indirectly (by presenting a scenario or narrative that address them)?
The author does spend a great deal of time describing other authors that have recorded their own books and does briefly mention some interviews with actors that had to record the audiobook. He does address his own fear of recording an audiobook but not in opposition. Rather, he wants to focus on the qualities that he has deemed the most influential in making a good audiobook and use them when he records his own book. He seems to be in favor of the audiobook just based on the fact that he recorded one himself. He directly mentions everything stated above.

3. What is the relationship of the text to the values, beliefs, etc." Is it critical of these aspects of the culture? Is it supportive? Does it seek to modify these aspects of the culture in a certain way?
It directly addresses the values. While the author does appear to take a stance, he spends a great deal of time addressing qualities of a successful audiobook and examining both sides. As such, he is both critical and supportive. If anything, the author aims to make people more aware of the work that goes into recording an audiobook.

Sykes, Bev. "Actors Jim Brochu and Steven Schalchlin performing in the play The Big Voice: God or Merman." 09/15/22 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons License.

Culture Analysis of "Sound Check"

In this post I will be analyzing the text I have chosen to focus on in this module is by John Schwartz, whose article "Sound Check" was published in the New York Times in 2012. He focuses on the audiobook genre and what goes into recording a good audiobook.

1. Keywords
audiobook: the act of reading has now been challenged with the introduction of so-called audiobooks where a person isn't actually reading at all.
voice: the most important aspect of an audiobook, as defined by the author in this article. The voice of the narrator can make or break an audiobook.
acting: not only has reading a book itself changed, but the way a book is read. The narrator must adopt a certain persona when recording an audiobook.

2. Thesis
There was no thesis plainly stated so I developed my own thesis based off of my analysis.
Successful audiobooks are entirely dependent on the nature in which they are written and the talent and portrayal of the actors and/or authors reading them aloud.

3. Connection

It is of great value to understand the importance of the keywords in order to properly understand the thesis. The three keywords are also the three main aspects of a successful audiobook. The author writes in this article the qualities that make a successful audiobook and characteristics that detract from the story. The reader is more likely to like a successful audiobook.

Einarson, Nicole. "Audiobook_logo_small." 10/24/12 via Flickr. Creative Commons License.