Learning Log Unit 1

https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/

Day 1 - 1/22/20
“Donald J. Trump, Pope Francis, and the Beef That Defied Space and Time” by Benjamin
Soloman
1. - Both the Pope and Trump use intentional, crafted language that gets their point across instead
of just putting their thoughts out there.
- They are both so interested in politics and doing the right thing, but they do not get along and
talk about each other the same way.
2. The Pope and Trump have very different views, but they both use similar strategies to get their
point across. They both rely heavily on language and how they perceive themselves by what they
say.

Day 2 - 1/24/20
“Language Matters: A Rhetorical Look at Writing” by Chris Blankenship and Justin Jory
1. - The building you go to to learn about language, is the product of language, and can lead to a
better job and salary.
- Rhetoric can help us understand and find answers in the statements that we don’t understand. It
also helps us with context, audience, and purpose.
2. Language can be very hard to understand and to connect with people. Not everyone is going to
get the same message from your language so it is hard to see how people perceive it. You have to
practice it and use rhetoric to help make your language work. What the writer says is their
perspective on language, but how we see their language and make it work to us can be very
difficult and different from how they wanted it to mean.

Day 3 - 1/28/20
“Genre in the Wild - Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems” by Lisa Bickmore
1. - We classify writing as a genre in the writing when it occurs frequently enough. It's like a
topic kind of, but it functions and performs the same as a genre. It appears in a recurrent
situation, and is an act of language.
- When you are writing, and as a writer, you don’t necessarily choose the genre. The situation
chooses the genre. Genre lives in the recurrent situation. Wherever it fits, it will become apparent
and then people follow your example in their writing.
2. In some ways I feel like genre makes my writing robotic. I feel as though in genre you have to
follow one topic and not vear from that very much. When you are only focusing on one thing, I
feel as though sometimes I am repeating the same thing and I am sounding robotic. But in other
cases I feel as though it gives my writing a purpose and keeps me on track. Genre what makes
my writing make sense and give it something. There are tons of genres not just for writing.
Day 4 - 1/30/20
“Writing for Community Change” by Elisa Stone
1. - We have numerous privileges as a citizen. We get to elect our leaders, make choices for our
own life, voice our opinions, requests and demands. With this privilege comes obligation, we
need to contribute to and with the members of society to work together for the greater good of
all.
- Service learning enhances student learning, and leads to greater employment opportunities.
Being a good citizen will help you get a higher GPA, and be a more attractive candidate for
many different opportunities. It will also appeal to transfer institutions if you continue to get your
degree.
2. If money and time were no factors, I would engage in the service opportunity called HEFY. It
is humanitarian especially for youth trips. You get to travel to many different places around the
world and help out towns, villages, and people by building schools, making houses, playground
and many other things. It sounds like an amazing opportunity to get involved with service and
help other people in many different, diverse communities. It is costly and takes a lot of time, so if
those were not factors, I would do HEFY all the time. I have always wanted to participate in this.

Day 5 - 1/3/20
“Writing is Recursive” by Chris Blakenship
1. - ​Unlike student writers, professional writers, like Steven Pinker, don’t view each part of the
writing process as a step to be visited just once in a particular order. Yes, they generally begin
with invention and end with editing, but they view each part of the process as a valuable way of
thinking that can be revisited again and again until they are confident that the product effectively
meets their goals.
- But if you’re willing to put aside the linear steps and view invention, research, drafting,
revision, and editing as ways of thinking that can be revisited over and over again until you
accomplish your goal, you will become a more successful writer. Although your future
professors, bosses, co-workers, clients, and patients may only see the final product, mastering a
complex, recursive writing process will help you to create effective texts for any situation you
encounter.
2. The second model more accurately describes the writing process because it is not linear. In a
writing process you can’t just follow the steps exactly from invention, to research, drafting,
revision, and then editing. You have to revisit some of the steps in the wrong order to make your
writing more successful and be a better writer all together. If we step out of the mindset that we
have to follow an order and do the steps exactly, our writing is never going to be anything good.
We need to revisit the steps and do them out of order to think more complex and accomplish
better writing.

Day 6 - 1/5/20
“The Elizabeth Smart Case: A Study in Narrativized News” by Clint Johnson
1. - ​Unlike life, stories present clear meaning. We perk up when we hear them told, and
remember them long after. We reflect on and re-tell them, sometimes reinventing them in the
process.
- Story is the primary way we make meaning from life. And so, sadly, the 800,000 missing
children cases that didn’t easily fit story structure did not “mean as much.” Thus, they were
underreported or not reported at all.
2. Elizabeth Smart's story is so universal because it is the extreme of kidnapping. It also shows
that her parents didn’t give up. Many people were willing to help find this girl. It is a story that
shows the difference between right and wrong and can be very appealing and people will take
her story and learn from it. It is also unique because she was gone for nine months and she was
found alive and well. She is now a motivational speaker and used her traumatic experience to
share her story and affect other people's lives. Her ultimate story is that she went through a lot,
but used her experience in a positive way that really sticks out to the public.

Day 7 - 2/5/20
“Making Choices in Writing” by Jessie Szalay
1. - Writing, and all communication, is no different. Deciding whether or not to answer your
phone is a decision to engage—the same kind of decision you have to make when it comes to
your composition class assignments.
2. ​Making decisions is a fundamental part of writing. The decisions you make will determine the
success of your writing. If you make them carelessly, you might end up with unintended
consequences—a tone that doesn’t fit your medium or audience, logical fallacies, poor sources or
overlooked important ones, or something else.

Day 8 - 2/11/20
“Revision Is Writing. That Is All.” by Lisa Bickmore
1. - Spend some time with your draft and make notes where you know there’s missing
material—ideas that need more exploration or analysis or explanation; source material that needs
to be added or edited; a stronger, more engaging introduction. If you can’t quite figure out what’s
missing, you could also ask someone.
2. Revision isn’t a mystery or a black door. It IS exacting and creative work—it requires just as
much thinking as the original draft, if not more. But a great discovery for any writer is learning
that you can get better at writing through becoming a more deliberate and self-aware reviser.