Every week I will post a new question for you to respond to on the blog. You will add your answer as a regular post (from your dashboard) and will comment on another classmate’s post through the comments section (on the blog main page). See the Blog Assignment Guidelines page for further instruction.
I will keep a running list of the questions here, but be sure to post your responses according to the guidelines.
Question 1 (2/28-3/5): Introduce yourself to the other blog readers. However, you CANNOT discuss your likes/dislikes, hobbies, age or physical characteristics.
Question 2 (3/7-3/12): Have you ever used a word or phrase repeatedly in confidence only to find out later that it didn’t mean what you thought it did? What was the word or phrase? What happened? What was the “fallout” of your misuse? How did you find out you’d been wrong? How did you feel about being corrected/being wrong?
If this has never happened to you, have you ever argued with anyone else about the use of a word or phrase? What was the word or phrase in question? What was the outcome of the argument? Why was the argument necessary (what was at stake for you/the other person)?
Feel free to tell a funny story, a serious one, or something in between. You might have had one of these experiences when using a different language than your native tongue. You might have had this happen at school, work, with friends, with family, etc.
Question of the Week 3 (3/13-3/19): Write about a time when you feel you were “defined” or “labeled” by someone else. You might choose an example where you feel you were inaccurately or unfairly defined/labeled. Often stereotypes do just this. Or you might choose an example when someone’s definition or label of you changed the way you thought about yourself. Perhaps someone showed you how your behaviors/thoughts/actions make you fit certain criteria.
What happened? What did you do? What was at stake for you or what was the outcome of this event? Did others take up this definition of you also? If so, what did you do? Did you argue? Did you try to change peoples’ minds? Did you embrace it? Did you make changes in your own life?
If this hasn’t happened to you, can you think of a time when you (perhaps) have defined, categorized or labeled someone else based on how you felt they fit the criteria of something? What happened? What did you do? Were you fair/not fair to do this? Did the person know? What was at stake/the outcome of your “defining” of this person?
Question of the Week 4 (in-class) 3/20-3/26: This week’s question will be answered in class as a group activity.
The argument I hand to your group is your position.
Identify an opposing argument to your position. It might be the opposite of your position or you might be trying to sort out “gray area” in the controversy.
Who is a potential audience for this argument? Identify them as concretely and specifically as possible.
What do you know about them already?
What do you need to know about them in order to understand how to argue with them? What arguments might they provide that you need to rebut?
Why this audience? What do you want them to do with your argument?
Why/how do they have the power to act? What can they do? Why should they do anything?
What kinds of arguments are most likely to be effective in creating an effective response (or win against) the opposition? If you can, name the rhetorical appeals you think will most likely work in your favor/will convince your audience of your position.
Post your answers to the blog as this week’s Question of the Week. Tag your group members.
If you miss the day of the activity you must answer the question below (only if you miss class the day of the activity).
Write about a time when you lost an argument or were stumped by someone’s rebuttal to YOUR claims. What was the argument about? What was said? What strategies did your opponent employ? Why did her/his argument “win” over yours? Why were you stumped?
Question of the Week #5 (3/27-4/2): How do you (you specifically, not someone in general) conduct research online? How do you go about finding sources for a paper? How do you know if the source is good or not?
Question of the Week #6 (4/4-4/9) This one was done in class. Students chose a list of potential audiences to whom one might write a letter: professor, other students, boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, parents, boss, government. I chose the theme: argue with your audience why you should be the emperor/empress, king/queen, supreme ruler of your classroom, school, relationship, house, workplace, or state/country.
Writers needed to consider the rhetorical appeals that would be appropriate to their respective audiences. In class discussion volunteers identified their audience and which rhetorical appeals they attempted to use, then they read their letter aloud for the class to discuss.
If you missed the day of the class activity, choose one of the audiences listed above and write a letter arguing the same thing. Identify your audience, the appeals you are trying to use, and why they are appropriate to your audience.
Everyone has until 4/17 to respond to posts for Question of the Week #6.
Question of the Week #7 (4/11-4/17): Where is the best location to spend Spring Break? Somewhere warm (swimming, sunning, snoozing on the sand)? Somewhere cold (skiing, sitting by the fire, snoozing under the quilts)? At home (snacking from my own fridge, spending time with friends/family, snoozing on my own couch)? Your classmates are your audience. How will you convince them what is the “best?”
Question of the Week #8 (5/25-5/1): What’s one thing you think most people should know how to do by the time they become middle-age? Why? How should/can they learn how to do that if they haven’t already?
Question of the Week #9 (5/2-5/8): What is one world problem that you think needs a solution? Identify the problem and offer YOUR ideas for a solution. Describe what needs to be done, how the solution will be implemented and who will should be responsible for undertaking your idea.
Question of the Week #10 (last one!): What’s one NEW thing you learned this semester in this class? Identify what you learned and how you imagine you’ll apply it to some other aspect of your life.
that has happened to me when i first moved to this country. i did fully understand the meaning of the word like. i alwasy though as a kid that the word like means that i like or i have feels for you. but when i came here i found out that my techer liked me. i did not what to think of it, i thought she ment that she had feeling for me. i did not tell anybody but then one day i was talking to my friend and he asked me if any girls liked me and i told yea my 5th grade techer likes me alot said. and my friends who was raised here said no way that can not be true because the ms G, was really pretty and she like 20 years older then me. but then my friends explained to that what i think the meaning of like means is not totally right, becuase the word like can fallow under alot of different meaning for example i like this ball, that does not mean that you have feelings for that ball. thats when i asked my teacher. ms G, that in what way do u like me ms G. she said as a cute little boy who is my student. thats when i truly understand the meaning of the word like.