Steven Brady
Dr. Stuart
Found of Writing
5/13/13
Preface
In the course foundations of writing we were asked to write three papers, which were the
three major assignments. We were then asked to take everything that we produced and put it in
one portfolio. Not only did we have to put everything together, we had to prove our
understanding of this course. Over the past eighteen years my writing has been improving and
I’m proud to say that this is what I have shown for it. In this class, after completing all of the
informal and major assignments, I have reached and grasped a good understanding of all five
goals.
I completed Goal A in my first, second and third paper; I was able to compose for various
audiences and purposes, including those required by academic audiences. My purpose in my
“Paper One” essay was to tell a story about a significant incident in my life, which not only tells
the story of what happened, but tells the story of what I have learned and have taken away from
it. I wanted my audience to learn from my mistakes as well. In order to do that, I tried to grasp
my audience on an emotional level. I did this by using descriptive and powerful words that made
the audience feel like they were at my car accident. For example, “Getting closer and closer, I
could see the exit in front of me. It was so close, but little did I know it was so far away. As I
started to switch into the exit lane, my car hit a patch of ice. I was driving about 50-60 miles per
hour as I fish tailed exactly 180 degrees and went head first into a concrete bridge. “POP!” I
ended up spinning off the wall and facing 180 degrees in the opposite direction” (Paper One,
paragraph 8).
In “Paper Two,” the purpose of my essay was to review a relatively new product in a non
bias way, in order to persuade my audience to share a particular judgment. I did this by first
establishing who I was, which helped to understand who I was actually addressing in this paper.
For example, “Being a big hockey fan I couldn’t get enough of watching or playing it. After
seeing the commercial for NHL 13 I was pumped. Not knowing anything about the game or
having any experience ever playing it, I decided that I was going to go out and buy it” (Paper
Two, paragraph 1). This shows that I’m trying to address big time NHL fans that would be
interested in this review. I tried to persuade my audience to share a particular judgment by using
non bias comparisons between NHL 13, Madden 13 and NBA 2k 13. For example, “NHL 13 is
the only game that’s has brought together every game mode option in sports game history, to this
day. You will not find as much Variety in game mode options in Madden 13 or NBA 2K 13”
(Paper Two, paragraph 5). This not only catches the eye of NHL fans, it catches the eye of most
sports fans.
In “Paper Three,” the purpose of my formal essay was to inform my audience about what
makes a particular Microculture tick, and in the process persuades them that the members of this
community have reasons for acting, believing, communicating, and thinking as they do, even if
these reasons might initially appear strange to outsiders. I did this by showing the audience that
stereotypes of fraternities are not true and that there are more to the “brothers” than drinking and
doing drugs. For example, “There are positions that have to be held by a “brother” in order to
make the fraternity run smoothly. Each job is specific to a set of guidelines that each job holder
has to follow. These jobs need to be done correctly or the frat can take a downfall. Everyone
needs to chip in their time and effort to keep the frat in Nationals” (Paper Three, paragraph 12). I
also wanted to show the love and compassion to the audience by adding emotion from one of the
“brothers.” For example, “I definitely get that feeling, the feeling of being a family. I wasn’t
really going to join a frat because of the stereotypes of everyone being jerks, but it’s nothing like
that, you really get something out of this. I love these guys and I have never been closer to
anyone else ever before” (Paper Three, paragraph 18). Overall, I was able to compose to
different audiences and purposes very well.
I completed Goal B in my first, second and third paper; I was able to compose using
language appropriate to genre. In “Paper One,” I used more of a story format that was
accompanied by pictures in order to put the reader in the scene of the event. For example as in
my use in Goal A, I used powerful and descriptive language in order to make the reader feel like
they were there. A picture of my car after the accident happened contributes to Goal B. For
example, “Getting closer and closer, I could see the exit in front of me. It was so close, but little
did I know it was so far away. As I started to switch into the exit lane, my car hit a patch of ice. I
was driving about 50-60 miles per hour as I fish tailed exactly 180 degrees and went head first
into a concrete bridge. “POP!” I ended up spinning off the wall and facing 180 degrees in the
opposite direction” (Paper One, paragraph 8). I chose to use this
picture because it catches the reader in an eye opening way. With
this type of paper it is mainly told by the pictures and this picture
could tell the whole story.
In “Paper Two,” I used non-bias language to successfully
produce a convincing review. For example, “On the positive side
the crowd noise and interactions during the game are unbelievable. I was playing as the New
York Rangers and they started chanting “Let’s go Rangers” like I was actually at Madison
Square Garden” (Paper Two, paragraph 4). By keeping from showing my opinion and actually
making an honest review, the audience will be persuaded to think it’s a great game considering
the language I used.
In “Paper Three,” I used more formal language with the help of taxonomies and
paradigms to conduct a proper Ethnography. For example, I used this paradigm to compare and
contrast two types of fraternity meetings. The use of this increases the credibility of this paper.
Type of
Meeting
General
Meeting
Executive
Board
Meetings Mandatory Location
a month
that can
be
missed
One
Yes
Chapter
House
None,
Yes, only
President’s
unless
for
Apartment
you
members of
really
Exec
have a
good
reason
Date and
Time
Duration
of Meeting
Positions
that Attend
Mondays
at 9pm
Sundays at
9pm
1 hour- 2
hours
30mins1hour
Everyone
President,
Vice
President,
Secretary,
Treasurer,
Fundraising
Chair, Pledge
Marshal, Risk
Management
Chair
Figure 3: Paradigm of Frat Meetings
I completed Goal C in my third paper; I was able to critically, read, select, and use
evidence to formulate and support modes of writing, including argument. The way I chose
outside material to add to my Ethnography, was by finding a source that could compare to my
Microculture. For example, “The “Rush Chairs” responsibility is to have all of the “rushes”
contact information so that the frat can get a hold of them to update them on upcoming events.
He also is responsible to bring in as many “rushes” as possible so that the frat has more of a
chance to gain more members as possible. Just like in Juicing Their Way to the Top the tattoo
artists “Juice” and try to butter up their customers to come to the shop and get a tattoo (Beohlke);
the “Rush Chair” has basically the same responsibility” (Paper Three, paragraph 6). I also chose
a quote from an outside source to show what the actual definition of a Microculture is, in order
for audience to completely understand. For example, “According to The Cultural Experience:
Ethnography in Complex Society, a Microculture is a small group that exists in society that
shares the same culture (The Cultural Experience, pg 6)” (Paper Three, paragraph 1). By using
the outside sources I chose, it made my paper more accountable for the information that I am
sharing.
I completed Goal D in my first and third paper; I was able to interpret and compose in a
variety of media and print/non-print genres. In “Paper One,” I did this by using images to tell my
story. In this paper the pictures were the focal point of this assignment. They were supposed to
be telling the story and the words were just supposed to guide them along. For example, I used
three pictures to tell my story, such as:
As you can tell, you can already put a story together in your head without even having to read the
paper. As for “Paper Three,” I was able to make my explanations clearer to my readers by using
paradigms and taxonomies. For example:
Position
Held By
Executive Board
President
Brett May
Yes
Vice President
Greg Hoffman
Yes
Secretary
Matt Smith
Yes
Treasurer
Seth Michael
Yes
Usher
Sean Dingy
No
Fundraising Chair
Mark Kendra
Yes
Social
Phil Ray
No
Rush Chair
Joe Johnson
No
Alumni Chair
Anthony Fitzpatrick
No
Historian
Ryan Web
No
Pledge Marshal
Mark Kendra
Yes
Assistant Pledge
Doug Martin
No
Marshal
Chaplain
Jimmy Howard
No
Risk Management
Chris Turner
Yes
Figure 2: Taxonomy of Current Positions Held in the Fraternity
General Meeting
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
By using this taxonomy my readers could see all the guys and their jobs that they currently held.
I was able to make this chart instead of having to write out every single guys name and position
in paragraph form. It makes it easier for reader to understand and for the writer to explain.
Overall, being able to use images and charts really benefited my two papers.
I completed Goal E in my first, second and third paper; I was able to describe and apply
appropriate writing processes both individually and in collaborative contexts. Drafting is one of
the most important parts of writing a paper. It is the first rough sketch of your paper. I was very
lucky to have a class that had in class workshops. These workshops benefited me greatly. The
week before the final draft was done; we would have these in class workshops. You were put
into a small group of four or five people and each person would read their paper. At the end of
each reading, the group members would give the reader constructive criticism and try to help in
making their paper the best it can be. Every time we did this, my paper improved immensely. My
group members always gave me a lot of feedback, which then lead to me correcting and
changing things around for the better. As much as the writing workshops helped, the writing
center was also extremely useful. Every time I made an appointment there, I was able to fix
mistakes on my own that I didn’t even realize I could. They make you read the paper aloud,
which helps you catch things that you can’t hear when you read it in your head. The writing
center always helped my grade improve, and it most importantly helped me produce work I can
proudly call my own. One specific example that I remember fixing from my rough to my final
was in “Paper Two.” In the draft of “Paper Two,” my introduction paragraph didn’t really have a
hook. It was kind of boring and it didn’t seem to catch anyone’s attention. I decided that I had to
do something in order to fix it. I ended up taking a quote that was in one of the body paragraphs,
and made it the beginning of my paper. This made my paper so much more interesting just by
reorganizing. People actually wanted to read more. It easily went from a B paper to an A paper
for that one move. Overall, drafting is very important and is a stepping stone to reach the final
draft. Also I learned most importantly that if you have the resources such as the writing center,
take advantage of it, it can only benefit you and your grades.