Green 1 Noah Green Professor Suzanne Ingram English 1102-100 25 February 2014 Mid-Term Assignment 1) During the first

half of English 1102, the only major assignment that I have completed is

the exploratory essay. It was obvious that the essay that I composed was sub-par, and could defiantly be improved. While I did not receive much feedback from either peer workshop, I tried to revise my paper for my second draft based on things that I thought should be improved upon. This would include adding sensory details, and creating visual images of my passion for my audience. I still found that my essay was sub-par, due to the fact that I found difficulty in expressing my passion in words. My passion is clear in my thoughts, though Im unsure of how to express those feelings on paper. When I received comments from my professor I found that they were nearly identical to the comments that I had given myself on how to improve my essay; therefore, Im still having trouble improving my paper. To resolve my issue with revising my essay, I plan to visit my professor outside of class to receive additional help. Since I have already spent many hours working on my annotated bibliography, it is evident that I am successfully exercising the key concept of independent inquiry. I have already discovered multiple sources containing interesting information and I am certain that I can locate more intriging answers to my question. I am quite eager to locate quality sources, which is driven by my curiosity and passion for the topic. Another key concept that I have been succeeding with during the annotated bibliography is making connections. Due to the fact that I have examined

Green 2 many different sources with different peoples opinions, I have had to make connections between the viewpoints that each source has discussed. Even though my exploratory essay was not the best essay that I have written, it was my best effort at the current time. During this semester, I have completed all of the assignments on time and to my best ability and based on that I believe that I deserve an A- at midterm. 2) Rhetorically Analyzing Sydney Sheins e-Portfolio While analyzing Sydney Sheins e-Portfolio, it was apparent that the primary purpose of it was to fulfill the expectations of the professor in order to earn a good grade. It is also apparent that she intended her classmates and professor to be her primary audience. To begin with, Sydney did a fantastic job utilizing the visual mode. I glanced at every e-portfolio listed on moodle and Sydneys stood out to me the most. I believe this is due to the vibrant photographs and the visually appealing text that she selected. Sydney also did a great job using the spatial mode, since her entire e-Portfolio is well organized, and can be easily read by her audience. The final mode that I thought that Sydney did an exceptional job using was the linguistic mode. In her literacy narrative essay she wrote I began to gaze around the room that I would be volunteering all summer long, sweat forming on the back of my neck because of the humid, stifling air. When I first read this sentence, I was imaging myself walking into that room she was describing, and I think she was able to achieve this feeling in me due to her exceptional word choice. Overall, I thought that Sydneys e-Portfolio was organized in a logical fashion allowing her audience to easily read it. It was evident that she spent the most time revising her literacy narrative essay though every essay she wrote did fulfill its purpose. Sydney was also able to

Green 3 explain her progress in the course, describing what she was excelling at and what she needed to improve upon. In conclusion, I think that Sydney deserved a 96% on her portfolio.

3)

As I have begun my annotated bibliography, I have chosen to research the reasons why

the athletes of Kenya have dominated the sport of distance running for decades. It is a question that I have been curiously researching for years, and am excited to examine a closer level during the extended inquiry project. Throughout my research, I have already investigated several sources that contain intriguing information on this phenomena. Throughout the remainder of my research I hope to gain additional experts opinion on the topic to help me develop an answer to my question. If I was to get the opportunity to speak to several individuals who may have an insight to why Kenyans have dominated the sport of distance running, I would like to speak to four individuals specifically. The first person I would like to speak with is an exercise physiologist who has studied the science of why Kenyans are fast. This would be beneficial to my research, since I would expect to receive information on studies that he or she has performed such as the effects of altitude training. Throughout my conversation though, I believe that an exercise physiologist would say that the Kenyans unique body type has the greatest effect on their success. The second person who I would like to speak with is Adharanand Finn, who is the author of Running with the Kenyans. Adharanand Finn is British and travelled to Kenya during 2011, to live and train with the Kenyans for several months. Since many elite distance running programs are secretive of their training, I would expect Adharanand to have an insight to what specific training the Kenyans go through to become successful. During our conversation, I would expect Adharanand would lead me to believe that the reason of this phenomena would

Green 4 rather deal with socioeconomics. This is due to the fact that the Kenyans believe the only way to be successful in life, is to become an athlete in hopes of winning cash prizes from races. Another person that I would like to discuss this issue with is David Rudisha, who is the current Olympic Champion and World Record holder in the 800m. He lives and trains in a small village, Iten, Kenya, which is notorious for producing world class distance runners. Since David has experienced this Kenyan success first hand, I believe that his answer to my question would be the most intriguing. Due to the fact that David has always lived around elite athletes, I think he would say Kenyas success is simply due to Kenyas tradition of excellence in distance running. The final person who I would like to speak with is Brother Colm O'Connell, who is an Irishman that has been living and coaching the runners in Iten, Kenya for decades. He is the most successful distance running coach in the world, and perhaps would have the best answer to my question. Since I have previously listened to several interviews with him, he says that the Kenyans success is based on one main factor. That is, the people of Kenya live in an athletic culture that promotes the development of distance runners. Living in an athletic culture allows the children to begin running barefoot at an early age improving their biomechanics and strength necessary to becoming champions.