English 112 Blog: Morgan Montgomery

Writing Process…

mmontgo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:44:05 +0000

In coming to a conclusion of English for this year and the research paper, I can look back and realize the changes and how I write now, compared to just four months ago through the readings of both the textbook and research conducted by myself. The textbook outlined and structured my writing much more than anytime before. The philosophies put forth in the textbook served as an asset for myself and my writing. Beginning with introductions through conclusions the textbook outlined a correct way of writing along with class exercises that outlined the direction to write such papers, such as a speculating causes paper or arguing position writing. The textbook helped break down my writing into increments, to the extent to now I work on a lengthy ten page paper becomes not overbearing. The research I have conducted throughout the semester has also enhanced the way I write and incorporate sources into my writing. Sources and research can help structure writing and support it at the same time, making the overall read much more credible. Conducting research has also allowed to me to learn and become a credible writer. In approaching writing, conducting the research prior to the writing is how I prefer. Therefore I am knowledgeable and know the position I am going to argue if it is an arguing a position paper, or to be credible and able to support my causes in a speculating causes paper.

March 26

mmontgo — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:38:23 +0000

Having someone else writing a paragraph I had already wrote was a different experience. I don’t think it helped nor harmed my thinking, it just was an interesting way of reading my thoughts. I feel that what I want to get across in my writing is tough to be done by someone else, as they may not be knowledgable or interested in the writing. Re-writing someone else’s writing was again an ok experience. I learned a few things while doing it, along with realizing how tough it can be to pull the moral of the writing out and basically retelling it in my own words. I learned that obviously everyone does not think in the same ways and it can be tough based on the topic and material covered in the writing. There is a reason why people choose their respected topics and it can be tough to cross lines and write about something that is out in left field to my thinking or opinion. The experience was again ok, but did not change how I wish to come across in my writing on my topic. Cheating is obviously bad in that it can get someone in trouble and is using someone else’s words. Cheating overall is not a good thing and isn’t a practice anyone should try.

Job Loss in State of Ohio

mmontgo — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:29:21 +0000

In the State of Ohio, as many of us know a growing epidemic is growing, job loss. Each day a hard-working, blue collar employee is turned away at the doors from his or hers job, where that particular person may have built their careers. Unfortunately, a slow down has not occurred and it continues across the nation and most importantly here in the state of Ohio at an alarming rate. Many people, including myself faulted trade acts such as NAFTA or CAFTA for the phenomenon, but in recent research perhaps those two actions aren’t entirely at fault. Trade acts such as NAFTA have focused primarily on workings with Mexico or Canada, but yet jobs are moving for the most part overseas. Countries such as China and Japan are moving in production at an incredible rate, taking that very production away from the industrial Midwest right here in the United States. Jobs have moved to Mexico in small numbers as well and trade acts deserve some blame for that, but the ultimate blame should be put on technology. Technology, as we all know is the future of the world. Everything is speeding up, from factories to computers. In return, computers and machines are doing blue collar peoples duties in a factory or workplace right here in Ohio. With technology, presses and lines can be sped up with quicker tools to accomplish the job. So the next you or I have a conversation about the incredible job loss in the State of Ohio, or across this nation, remember to put technology at the top of that argument.

This editorial helps me get focused upon the whole research paper and re-solidify my interest in this topic. The editorial also helped me start thinking about the outline of my paper, along with how I would perhaps write some of my paragraphs.

March 19th

mmontgo — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 20:45:38 +0000

I learned in a source analysis that a lot could accomplished, more than I originally thought. Through a source analysis, I realized how someones primary cause can differ and through several sources arguments can be compared, creating a thought provoking exercise. Also, a source analysis is an opportunity to break down the topic, talk about the topic in a smaller detailed way, essentially focusing myself on the research paper. The similarities between a source analysis and an argumentative in my mind are few, but are there. Both writings use sources and focus on convincing or proclaiming a cause or reason. They both focus on solving an issue or speculating on a cause, and argue a point. Although there are some similarities, differences are abundant.The differences in a source analysis and an argumentative essay are for one in my mind, a source analysis is much more straight forward. A sourse analysis uses two to three scholarly sources and uses synthesis to compare the two. Through that information, the writer or reader can come to a conclusion of what that particular source provides them. The facts at times in a source analysis are agreeable or disagreeable and make for a well written broke down focus of the topic. An argumentative essay is more sloppy of sorts, by using quotes and sources that fit the argument the writer is trying to convince upon, and drilling that point home. Often after writing an argumentative essay, a reader or the audience will be swayed one way, but with a source analysis the writing is focused much more on that of sources and comparable evidence. Also, in a argumentative essay, much more of the writers words are used and that also provides a much more biased approach.

Proposal

mmontgo — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:12:11 +0000

The proposal for essay three was much more useful than I thought it would be for such a short assignment. The proposal zeroed in on the focus of my essay and what I need to concentrate on. I now have a clear understanding, with my sources in mind what my essays cause will be and where to focus my attention. An instructor would ask for a student to write a proposal for several reasons. A few is what I detailed above, to focus my attention and get my outline set for the essay I am about to write. The proposal is also a way for the instructor to see what exactly the students are going to write about and have the opportunity to make changes if necessary. The proposal is a great stepping stone so that an essay of eight to ten pages will not be a complete surprise to the instructor. The value of learning how to write a proposal is it sets a written, well thought out outline for the student to have. Without a proposal, the students writing can become a mess in such a large essay. Proposals are not always necessary, but in a large researched essay that will be graded, I see them being very valuable. For a student to write a proposal when not assigned would realistically unlikely, as most students are not going to do work that isn’t assigned in college life. I will write a rough draft of a proposal in the future, to list my causes, thesis and audience. It would be unlikely for myself to make my proposal as detailed as the one I turned in though. A proposal would be very helpful in any writing in the future though. I can see myself writing as I said a rough proposal on just not research essays, but any essay where I feel I may need a guide and structure before attacking the actual writing.

Building a Thesis

mmontgo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:39:05 +0000

1. My issue of the loss of industry and jobs in the State of Ohio is current and reliable. Jobs are still being lost to this day and the phenomenon has been occuring for several years upon decades. To make the information relevant, I can connect with the people of the State of Ohio, as job loss has directly effected them. With accurate research and reliable sources leading to the causes, the thesis and essay can all come together.

2. I live in the State of Ohio and have heard on countless occasions, whether it be family or media of the increase in industries moving out and the rapid job loss. Ohio has a serious problem with this and I know from personal knowledge that Ohio is becoming a run over state. From reading magazine article, newspapers and watching the news of the problem people are facing, I am credible before researching further the issue.

3. There are many misunderstandings in the issue and obviously not all people have felt it is serious, as past politicians have done little to help the growing problem. People have different viewpoints into the causes of industries moving out and with research the issue can be looked at in depth. I know of some personal examples that can help the essay. Research can be found through news organizations and government institutions of the statistics and overall summary.

4. My take on the issue of job loss and loss of industry is something must be done. The State of Ohio will become a burial ground for factories and industries who have moved for economic reasons. Incentives and stimulus packages must be given to corporations in every effort possible, to keep them right here in the base of the industrial midwest. Through what I know, my tentative thesis can be the following: Causes for the job loss and recession in industrialization are numerous, including geographic location and unionization of companies, but the primary cause is actions taken by politicians with acts such as NAFTA and CAFTA.

Essay 3

mmontgo — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:45:06 +0000

I began this thought of what exactly I want to do my research paper on with a very broad, open minded focus. I am interested in many things, including sports and surprisingly politics, unlike many college kids. Many ideas are important to me, including family values and friends. That would be entirely too boring and not too interesting to research about, with a lack of resources. Interests of mine, as I said included are politics, which I think would be a very interesting idea to research with the election and popularity of politics now more than ever. With the election year of 2008, much is open to dispute and research. Looking at sports, the baseball scandal and popularity of sports more and more has plenty of topics to look at. Both of these topics, politics and sports are probably one the most open topics and disputed daily on national television. Several different directions and aspects can be addressed with both politics and sports. As I have said, it is very popular and everyone seems to have an opinion on both of them. Some aspects that I can find interest in looking at these two topics are the decrease in popularity of government across the board in the United States. Obviously there is a growing distrust in everyday U.S., where people do not have confidence in their own elected representatives. It appears that people take less interest overall in elections and government institutions as well. Another issue that can be connected to politics is the lack of funding for public school systems. Especially here in the State of Ohio, funding is a serious issue and school systems from across the state struggle to keep facilities running and faculty paid. Another struggle is passing school levies, as tax payers do not want to add more costs to their taxes. That can lead to another issue, and that is the lack of work and job loss here in the State of Ohio. Ohio is decreasing considerably in big corporations, and overall is losing population do to the Midwest losing its backbone of industry. Effects of this could be NAFTA and CAFTA, with trade agreements leading to companies moving overseas. Many theories and arguments can be addressed in each of these topics. A topic I believe I want to choose is the job loss and ever going problem in the State of Ohio. It hits right here, close to home and effects people’s lively hood each day. Some can argue against the causes, but no one can deny the job loss and big companies moving out of the state. I am interested in this topic because it connects with political decisions, along with the economy and the people of this state. I have had the opportunity to work in a union environment for two summers, and see the competitive and ever growing competition that leads to decisions that are drastic to the people. My question to my audience, who will be the people of this State, is what in your life has been affected by job loss and the loss of the industrialized State of Ohio?

Overcoming Challenges

mmontgo — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 00:21:01 +0000

In this Essay, I continue to work on many of my weaknesses that I have in writing. I hope to include more sources while working with synthesis. In my rough draft, I did not include enough cited source work, but will have to be included. I also want to continue working on Meta d, by wrapping my paragraphs all together in the conclusion sentences. Essay 2 can be improved in many ways from Essay 1. First is with MLA format, and eliminating those stupid mistakes. Second is including more support in the essay and backing my points up with examples and cited information. Essay 2 can be built upon Essay 1 in many ways. Everything that we have learned and went over up to this point, including Meta D and MLA citing information on Essay 1 can be in turn used on Essay 2. Essay 2 brought synthesis work along with it, and those three items can all be taken on to Essay 3 and beyond in writing in the future. All this information can used just not in English, but in other courses as well to help improve my writing skills. Overall, by taking the positives out of Essay 1, eliminating the negatives and working on my rough draft of Essay 2 hard, I can improve on my overall writing in English 112. I look Essay 2 to be a positive experience, and hope to reach my goal.

Writing Process

mmontgo — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

The writing process discussed in From Inquiry to Academic Writing is a good way I believe to be a good writer. I have used the writing process described in From Inquiry to Academic Writing to an extent, but have not done it entirely in the process they suggest. When putting together and thinking about a writing assignment, I do most of the things that is described. I may not do these suggestions or outline in the order the writers suggest though. For example, in Chapter 3, when the authors speak of analyzing the reasons used to support a claim, I review all of the ideas but do not go in the order that the authors describe in the book, such as recent to relevancy, to reliability. All of the information is valuable in From Inquiry to Academic Writing and will lead to a strong writer, no doubt. The ideas to developing a thesis is a bit long, and in the time it takes to read Chapter 5, someone could develop a strong thesis. Realizing the ideas in the book to reaching a solid thesis is helpful though. When I begin to write a paper, I first develop what I want to focus my paper on based on personal knowledge and interest, if we have the choice of choosing the topic. After that I develop a stance, if that is necessary and slowly, through writing notes and working through my essay I come together with a hopeful solid essay. I also do the little things, as maintaining credibility and at some point going through many of the steps described in From Inquiry to Academic Writing, to make my essay the strongest it can be, although it doesn’t always work that way. Finally, after the essay is entirely complete with writing, I go back reading for corrections, grammar, word choice and any other corrections that strengthen my paper. Often, I admit my rough drafts do not have the benefit of editing as much as they deserve, but is something I am continuing to work on.

Synthesis- Country Concert ‘08

mmontgo — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:29:50 +0000

A story of mine that involves synthesis, along with attempting to persuade someone, is a trip this summer to The Country Concert in Fort Laramie, Ohio. I went last year and had a great time with some friends, but this year I want a few closer friends to go, including my 21 year old friend who would make the trip much easier. The concert includes many big time singers, including Kenny Chesney, and is a 4 day event. I will only be staying 3 days. With this website, http://www.countryconcert.com, it represents the good time and fun that can be had. It is in Fort Laramie, Ohio, a near 2 hour drive from my hometown. As I said, I was in attendance last year so I know what the concert is all about. They know nothing about the Country Concert and are leery of traveling 2 hours for 3 days to something there not sure about. To persuade them all into going, 3 of them, I have done a few things. First, I’ve continued to talk about it and act like we are all going no matter if they have said yes or no to going. I have also ordered an extra ticket already, dropping nearly a hundred dollars counting on one of them to go and making them feel guilty if one does not. I am certainly confident that one will. I will continue to say all good things about the trip, and act as if we are all confidently going until one says no. It will not be a loss, because there are other friends going down separate from me. I am confident through this convincing and persuasion, shortly they will all want to go, through the evidence and pictures of last year.