Hello Winter 2013!

Maybe you’re confused why there’s a blog you never heard of? Here’s the reason: I didn’t use it this semester except once or twice. Cause y’all are submitting things in a bit different way. Also because I found once that having a blog and Learning Suite and a Syllabus was too much for students to follow. (Well, it used to be called Blackboard, but whatevs. Actually, no, id DOES matter. Because another reason I didn’t use the blog is cause we were having to get used to the whole Learning Suite thing.)

I might link here one or twice, though. Don’t panic.

Slight Change of Plans for Office Hours

I just sent y'all an email. I might have said "tomorrow's" office hours, but it's 3am, I should have said "Friday's," or "Today's."

Oh well.

The other instructions still stick. Read over the instructions in your email, and we'll get anyone who wants to meet a meeting.

thanks, y'all. (no need to comment)

You have some options for class today.

Check either your email or Blackboard "announcements" for more information.

Jeff L's Analysis of "How to Argue Effectively"

Critical Analysis for Dave Berry’s How to Argue Effectively

In a humorous sense and hilariously mocking article to those who feel they know everything, Dave Berry has envisioned perfectly how to effectively argue with someone, having no current knowledge of the subject, and still being able to win the argument. This is no easy task, hence forcing some different approach ideas. The author creates a refreshing new perspective on the subject, breaking the mold of the typical argument with hilarious alternatives towards keeping the argument running and alive. In light seriousness, Berry uses humorous suggestions to effectively keep an argument alive, gain the support of an audience, and humiliate/frustrate the opposing arguer.

One instance of this change of perspective is the advice to drink liquor, and make things up. It goes on to say that by drinking liquor, the desire to fight back and actually enter the argument will drastically increase. At this point it’s safe to say that usually the argument is just to prove a point that it can be won. The suggestion to make things up follows up with the liquor, giving an answer for every question that will be asked by using exact figures, and made up academic sources. A solidifying statistic is hard to and rarely questioned in an argument. This portrays the off-the-wall approach that Berry is arguing with its risky originality in entering an argument by falsely proving that the topic is previously known knowledge. This process shows how by always having answers and keeping a strong stance can lead to an elongated argument that frustrates the competitor, and gives possibility for a supportive audience.

Another thing he encourages is the use of meaningless but weighty sounding words and phrases such as “let me put it this way”, “as it were” “in terms of”, and “per se”. Also listed are some Latin abbreviations i.e. “e.g.’ i.e., and “Q.E.D.”. This type of wording works well as seemingly scholarly phrases continuing to aid the reliability of what’s being argued. These fillers that light up the statements with believability and add a false sense of knowledge when in reality; the topic is new and foreign. In order to gain supporting audiences and keep the argument alive, these words act as supporters and fillers to the ideas that need refining touches to the rough drafted ideas in the head. They will continue to frustrate the opposing arguer, as well as showing confidence in what’s being said in the argument.

Adding onto the previously stated instructions, is the importance of taking not just a strong offensive side, but a defensive side as well by using snappy and irrelevant comebacks against the opponent. Some effective examples include “you’re begging the question”, “you’re being defensive”, and “don’t compare apples to oranges”. These are comebacks to revert to when the argument presented by the opposing seems to actually make sense, and needs to be confronted with authority and confidence. Whenever the opposing side feels like ground is gained, this will take away the short victory, and make them second-guess their arguments by taking them off guard. This is an example of one of the humorous ways to prolong an argument and giving it the potential to drag out as long as necessary for either the opponent to give up on the case, or to be lost in a confusing mess. These comments turn the pressure back on the opposing arguer, and give reasonable chance to frustrate and humiliate them, by manipulating them with irrelevant phrases.

The final instruction in winning is degrading the opponent’s stance by comparing him to a n object of public disgust. The example used by Berry is the comparison of the opponent to Adolf Hitler. This is sneakily accomplished by slipping in phrases such as “you remind me a lot of Adolf Hitler”, or “that sounds like something Adolf Hitler would say”. The point of doing this is to make the opposing arguer and the audience second-guess their thought process over the argument, and shift support. This is another irrelevant way of surprising the opposed with off-the- wall phrases that don’t add to the argument or relate in anyway, but simply degrade the opponent. This is the ultimate way of humiliating the opposing arguer that is hard to get around. This can cause them to become more frustrated, due to their confusion and growing loss of their supporting audience.

This essential guide on how to effectively argue creates a hysterical type of argument that takes on a new perspective on what it means to win an argument. This type of arguing does not necessarily mean that it’s proved that the victor knows more about the subject in question, but at the same time, is able to capture the attributes in winning an argument. It tackles the argument by defeating and confusing both the audience and the opposing argument to believe that the winner is not necessarily right, but that the loser is wrong. This argument strategy takes control of the audience, leaves the opponent confused, humiliated, and frustrated, and ultimately is created by a humorous outside-of-the-box look at the argument.

A Reminder

You get credit for reading any post with the label "Stuff SWILUA says." (So that I can double check these points, leave a comment--just your name is fine--on each post.)

You can click on the label to see all of the posts at once. (You only need to read this semester's. :)

To get full credit, you should also read one of the "rants" I link to on the sidebar. For that credit, leave a comment on this post.

University Writing Would like your Feedback

Dear Writing 150H Student:

University Writing would like to know more about your learning experience in first-year writing. Will you please take a few minutes to leave us your feedback? We take our students' opinions seriously, and we're always looking for ways to improve the way we teach writing at BYU.

You can access the survey here: https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3xv5BhLeyJGaka8

Thanks!

Sincerely,

Brett McInelly, Coordinator of University Writing

Brian Jackson, Associate Coordinator of University Writing

What you need to have in your "Honors Portfolios" other than the Tabbed Section Dividers you print off Blackboard

Some of you are asking about this. I'm going to tell myself it's because we didn't finish that class day (and not that you weren't there or didn't pay attention) and answer it just this once.

1. a paragraph about each BYU semester you've attended under the "undergraduate experience" tab.

2. performances you've seen (since coming to BYU) or art you experienced (etc.) logged into a printout of the "GW Log" (Downloadable from the Honors website, or you can pick up a hard copy in the basement of the MSRB.)

3. your GW papers (NOT the same copy you'll have graded, but the same papers)

4. and any other work you've done this semester or other semesters that you're proud of. (not just writing.)

I think that's it. The folder should be filled in "to-date." Basically, that just means that everything you've already done goes in there and stuff you haven't done doesn't go in there yet. Since you've experienced Winter 2012, a paragraph about it goes in. But you don't have to write about Fall 2016 yet. You won't have references yet, probably don't have a dedicated Honors service project yet, and the transcript part will be your "final" transcript upon graduation, so you don't have that yet, either. Email me if this is confusing. I will shake my head in wonderment, but I will answer your questions.

kcs

Writing Exercises!

These are for homework. I don't think they'll take too long. (And some of y'all have already done some.)

1. Emotion exercise. Think of a time you felt extreme emotion. Any kind. Don't tell me what emotion it is. Just tell me (1) What you heard. (2) What you saw. (3) What you felt. (tactile sensation, physical sensations, not emotional.) (4) What you tasted. (5) What you smelled. (6) To finish it off, give us two last things. First, a time marker ("It was 1999" or "I was Seven" or "It was prom night") and second, what was going on. When you've done all that, read your writing out loud. Do you still need to tell us what emotion you were feeling for it to be clear? If so, how can you change some of the words of 1-2-3-4-5 so that you don't? (Think connotations. "Clobbered," for example, has a connotation of being beaten, badly defeated. It has pain and sweat and slobber in there. These can all certainly imply emotions!)

2. "Grandmas." Write down 5-10 things that the word "Grandmas" makes you think of. Then, think of your own Grandma. Write down 5-10 things about your Grandma that are NOT on the list above. Think about the fact that if the word "Grandmas" made you think of all of those other things, that all of those things are already in the connotation of the word "Grandma" and you don't have to re-use any of them. Strategic use of words for their connotations makes your writing more efficient, and also less boring.

3. October 29, 1999. Think about that day. Now, without telling me anything that you're not 100% sure is true, tell me about what you did that day. How much do you have written down? A lot? I don't think so. Second part of exercise: Do the same thing, but give yourself permission to lie and/or fudge the truth. Question. When you did this, did you suddenly remember something from your past that you're pretty sure IS true? (Even if it was on a slightly different date than October 29, 1999. No one says you need to give a "hard" date to your narratives. Just time markers like "I was seventeen.") Sometimes the human brain is pretty funny. So while you don't want to fill your narratives with lies (because what if you go on Oprah and she reams the crap out of you for it? She's done it before), go ahead and give yourself permission to create a DRAFT that's full of lies. This is especially good to do if you can't think of what actually happened. It's probably in your brain somewhere, you just have to trick your brain into accessing it.

Khrystalle's Analysis of "We do Abortions Here"

Khrystalle Weathers
Writing 150
Critical Analysis Paper
The Reality of Working in an Abortion Clinic

Of all the careers available to today’s society, working at an abortion clinic proves to be one of the most emotionally trying, mentally controversial, and involves separation of physical and emotional processes. The challenges and stresses of this career are openly revealed within this account provided by Sallie Tisdale. Her first-hand involvement brings forth the reality of this career path by drawing the reader into her experiences and making each specific situation real and relatable. In We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story, Sallie Tisdale uses anecdotes, internal dialogue and pathos to effectively communicate her experience as a nurse performing abortions on a daily basis.

One instance of an anecdote is present on page 183 when she shares her experience; “Soon I am talking to an eighteen-year-old woman pregnant for the fourth time. I push up her sleeve to check her blood pressure and find row upon row of needle marks, neat and parallel and discolored.” It is an extreme example of the type of women that Tisdale found herself working with. She simply does not state that she works with women of all extremes, suffering from addiction, failed contraception or a variety of other hardships, such examples are scattered throughout the text to communicate countless points. This more powerfully contributes to the story by providing real accounts of real women which forces the reader to realize the reality of the topic.

An example of internal dialogue takes place on page 184, “I look at abortion as if I am standing on a cliff with a telescope, gazing at some great vista. I can sweep the horizon with both eyes, survey the scene in all its distance and size. Or I can put my eye to the lens and focus on the small details, suddenly so close…How can we do this? How can we refuse?” This is an internal conversation that Tisdale experiences, debating the moral standing of her chosen career. She banters back and forth with herself, establishing both pros and cons to her field of work. Majority of this article is written from the first person perspective, leaving immense amounts of room for internal dialogue. Including this tool successfully draws the reader in, thinking of each of the author’s experiences from a more personal point of view, sometimes placing themselves in her shoes.

An instance of the use of pathos is present on page 188, “Maggie helped her onto the table, and as she lay down the fetus was delivered into Maggie’s hands. When Maggie told me about it the next day, she cupper her hands into a small bowl-‘It was just like a little kitten,’ she said softly, wonderingly. ‘Everything was still attached.” This is a direct example of the ongoing debate as to whether or not a fetus is considered alive or human, Maggie’s experience demonstrated the realness of life before birth. Her apparent overwhelming of emotion is hard to ignore, the loss of life, whether it be in a born or unborn child, pulls on the strings of anyone’s heart. Various examples similar to this are utilized throughout the story to, once again, make the issue more real and relatable.

In We Do Abortions Here: A Nurse’s Story, Sallie Tisdale uses anecdotes, internal dialogue and pathos to effectively communicate her experience as a nurse performing abortions on a daily basis. Many of her very personal experiences are cleverly and artistically incorporated into her piece. Each of the tools that she involves throughout her paper makes this article incredibly compelling and surprisingly interesting to read. Her perspective, as someone who has chosen to pursue a career in this field , is unbelievably intriguing and effective at opening readers’ eyes to the other point of view.

Austin's Analysis of "The Solitude of Self"

Austin Walters
Honors Writing 150
Kerry Spencer
3-17-2012
Solitude of Self

When is it that a person has progressed to their full potential? And how is it each individual can gain their own internal greatness? In “The Solitude of Self” Elizabeth Cady Stanton provides us the answers to these questions by using powerful analogies, stories, and intuitive reasoning to effectively show us that the ability to look deep within and discover ones true potential of who they really are is of limitless value.

One example Stanton gives of needing to be capable of finding who you really are is in the scenario of a household fire. When everyone in the home awakens to flames enclosing around them and smoke billowing into their lungs is there one person who is at more of an inconvenience than another? The answer is no. Thus why should any individual be obligated to “point the way to safety” for anyone else? (166) The woman and the man both should be equally capable of having attained their own self sustenance and be capable of escape and as mentioned in the text a woman and man both can, thus showing they are on equal grounds. When Stanton contests Galatians 6:2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens,” with, “…humanity has not yet risen to that point of self-sacrifice; and if ever so willing, how few the burdens are that one soul can bear for another!”she emphasizes the value of unlocking our full potential yet again. (167) No person can fully bear another’s burdens, only partially. Will you be the one curled up in the corner needing help or the one who is bursting into rooms saving those incapable of saving themselves? That is the difference between who has had their solitude of self and developed that complete inner potential and become their true selves.

One story given to extend her argument was that of the king’s daughter in Shakespeare’s play “Titus Andronicus.” Being in a far worse scenario than many could imagine, with her tongue and hands cut off, she had no one to count on but herself. With this ailment simple tasks to us such as; eating, talking, dressing, or even opening a door could seem impossible to say the least. In many of our minds she would have more than enough justification to ask for help or say it is far too much to ask, but she knew what the better road was to take. It may not be the easiest at times but in the end it is the better option because as Stanton stated, “nothing adds such dignity to character as the recognition of one’s self-sovereignty; the right to an equal place.” Although “young and friendless” this girl still begins to find her solitude of self because she too recognizes what is to be gained from it. In the end this girl builds a character within herself that in no way could have been formed if constantly depending on others. Without that time of realization of what needs to occur ahead of her she could never have reached such potential.

Another story Stanton shared was that of Prince Kropotkin and how he managed his extensive time in prison with no tools such as pen, paper, ink, or books.

To this he replied:

“I thought out many questions in which I had a deep interest. In the pursuit of an idea, I took no note of time. When tired of solving knotty problems, I recited all the beautiful passages in prose and verse I have ever learned. I became acquainted with myself, and my own resources. I had a world of my own, a vast empire, that no Russian jailor or Czar could invade.”(Stanton 166)

Hopefully it does not take as drastic of an experience as this to help someone find their true self, but through this Kropotkin explains that no matter what happens to an individual the solitude of self will always be there. And by doing this he further cements into our minds its immense value. We too can have “a vast empire,” just as Kropotkin and, just as mentioned, what makes it of limitless value is that it cannot be taken from us. In fact it is what makes us who we are and drives our inner abilities.

Along with these stories, Stanton shares another brief analogy that effectively portrays her meaning. It reads:
“In hours like these we realize the awful solitude of individual life, its pains, its penalties, its responsibilities; hours in which the youngest and most helpless are thrown on their own resources for guidance and consolidation. Seeing, then, that life must ever be a march and a battle, that each soldier must be equipped for his own protection, it is the height of cruelty to rob the individual of a single natural right.”(Stanton 165)

Compare our lives to a soldier at war. By having our true selves recognized we are protecting ourselves from possible dangers. This “protection” we give ourselves is so valuable that Stanton claims it to be “cruelty” to deprive someone of having it.

The instance of intuition that Stanton gives is when she states “Nature never repeats herself, and the possibilities of one human soul will never be found in another. No one has ever found two blades of ribbon grass alike, and no one will ever find two human beings alike.”(Stanton 164) By this one can instantly conclude that they too are that “one in a million” or that “unique blade of grass.” By telling the audience that everyone, after attaining their solitude of self, has something that no one else in the world can offer. If individuals such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, George Washington, or numerous others had not come to such a realization the way we live and the worlds we live in would be an entirely different place. This intuition makes us look within ourselves and wonder if we, in time, may to be that individual who changes innumerable lives forever. Something indeed of limitless value that once again starts with something so simple as to have our own solitude of self.

Stanton also states that because we are all so different our deepest feelings and the way we feel in their occurrence is not fully understood by anyone but ourselves as well. Because no one understands it like we do, by saying this she emphasizes just how important it is for us to be able to rely on ourselves. We cannot rely on others because others do not understand because as Stanton later states, “…our most bitter disappointments, our brightest hopes and ambitions, are known only to ourselves.”(Stanton 165) Thus, although being an individual is found through our solitude of self, it makes us become even more of an individual and needing to rely even more heavily on our own strength. It becomes more and more valuable as we become more and more of a unique individual.

By showing us all of the different instances in the past and also those that have potential yet to come, Stanton shows us the endless possibilities of solitudes value. Whether it be saving yourself, or others, from a fire, overcoming personal trials, or realizing that you are the one that can make the difference, Solitude of self is something only you can find for yourself. As mentioned, one soul cannot bear all the burdens of another and thus we need to be able to carry them for ourselves. This ability opens up the door for so many great opportunities and the list only continues to extend if one can apply it to themselves.

Works Cited

•Elizabeth Cady Stanton. “Solitude of Self.” Print. Rpt. In Readings for Intensive Writers. Comp. Susan Jorgensen. 5th Edition. Provo: BYU Academic. 2007. 163-169. Print