Dodging the Draft

Chapter 14 the drafting chapter. I honestly have never found much use in drafting exercises. I find it much easier and (at least in my case) much better to just right a very crude rough draft then re-read, re-edit, polish, re-read, re-edit, and polish some more. As I mentioned in chapter 17 I really enjoy the revising portion of writing so maybe this is my reason for disdain toward drafting exercises. A very well organized first draft leads to much less revising. I know this seems illogical because more revising means more work in the end but as I said I like it so I don’t feel logic comes into play here for me. That being said this is the first time I have effectively made and used an outline to pen up a rough draft and I have to admit it was wonderful. I mentioned several blog posts back about my continued struggle with organization and an outline really helped me with that flaw. Despite my previous drafting bashing I must admit that this chapter contains a lot of very helpful tips and isn’t the usual rubbish they push at you on this topic. If you don’t like the revision process I would highly recommend a close reading of 14 it will most likely make for a quick revision later

chpter sevonteen is Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17 is all about revising and editing both very essential parts of the writing process and oddly it’s probably my favorite part. I really enjoy watching a crude rough draft turn into a solid final draft after a few coats of polish. I really like to put myself in my reader’s shoes, as this chapter suggests, and do a run through my paper. As I do I analyze; would I get that if I hadn’t written it? That fact seems like a stretch how can I make it more credible? And similar questions are common for me during these analyses. Another thing I do that the book also suggests is as I’m reading I ask myself who cares? If I can’t read it and see the point how could someone else? If you can’t see your point you know you have some more revising to do. One very good idea I had never thought to do was read the document from finish to start so the natural flow of reading it will be disrupted. This will force your brain to focus a little harder on each word and help you catch those pesky little typos. I feel like every time I reread something I wrote, even years later, I can’t help but fix this or tweak that just a little which leads me to believe there is no true FINAL draft for a writer, just the draft you finally stop re-reading.

Fine Design

          First off I want to start by making note this is the only class in the history of my school career where I have actually needed the very expensive book I was required to purchase. So thank you for actually putting my money too use!

          Chapter 18 is all about the design elements and options you have for your paper. "The design decisions you make will play a critical role in how your readers understand, react to, and work with your document"(285). It has several very useful tips on how to best lay your paper out, such as, how to use font size and typeface to catch a readers attention. A lot of the tips come off as a little obvious to be fair, but they are really good tips. The most useful part in this chapter, at least for me, is near the end when they break down several articles into their design elements. I found it really helpful to see the things they discussed during the chapter put into play in actual magazine articles.

Chapter 15: How to Use People

   

Ok so how to use people sets a negative tone to this chapter so let’s use the phrase they use. Chapter 15: Using Sources Effectively. Ok so that title explains it all, this chapter is just about how to best implement your sources into your work. It discusses using relevant sources, how to present conflicting sources, as well as how to use sources to support your assertions. That is all covered in the first half of the chapter, the second half the focus shifts from how to best use a source to how to properly use the source. They talk about how to properly quote someone such as the correct way to do block quotes or partial quotes. This is good to know... correction, this is essential to know in order to avoid accidently plagiarizing someone when you simply meant to quote or present their ideas as theirs. It would be awful to fail a class or worse because of plagiarism, when you honestly thought you were giving your sources their due.

Sweet 16

            Chapter sixteen is all about jazzing up your writing. The main focus is on developing sentences into clear concise and entertaining paragraphs. you cant have a mundane paper or no one will want to read. It also gives a helpful hit on developing your voice that I couldn't agree with more and that is READ. The more books, articles, and journals you read the more different writing styles you'll encounter. This will help you find sentence structures you like and also find style you may think to avoid. I was happy to see that several of the tips for improving your style I already implement, or at least try to implement into my writing. I also made note that several of the things to avoid I seem to occasionally implement into my writing. Of coarse this is a good thing to have pointed out; why would I work on fixing it if I don't think its wrong.

The Clock Strikes 12

            Chapter 12 is the chapter on developing your argument, unarguably a very important aspect of a successful paper. This chapter basically covers how to first choose your reason and then present the information in an appealing way to your audience. There are many different ways to approach your appeal. You can appeal to Authority, a means of asking someone to accept your reason because an authoritative figure supports it. You can appeal to emotion, though not recommended in academic writings where logic should prevail. You can appeal to principle values and beliefs as well as character and logic. There is also a large section on how to keep the integrity of your argument by avoiding such things as sweeping generalizations and red herrings.

 Quick note: the book talks about how the term red herring came from the practice of sweeping red herring, which apparently stink badly, across your trail to throw off tracking dogs. Not really important, just a fun fact.

ONE ONE

Chapter 11 is the chapter that first gets to the writing part of the paper with developing your thesis statement. Your thesis statement is essentially the main point or argument you’re trying to convey to your readers and is often closely related to your research questions. It is important to note that while researching your topic your opinion or views my change from started. This is normal and ok and should not slow you down so long as you change your thesis to reflect your change in opinion and change in direction of the paper. I have, for some time, known what a thesis statement is and how use them; however this chapter really clarifies how to best use one. It demonstrates how just rewording the thesis can set the reader up for a different experience. For example the statement the federal government should leave marijuana legalization up to the individual state sets the reader up for an argumentative paper where as the statement those in federal government need to pull their heads out and allow the state to decide on the legalization of marijuana would set the reader up for an opinion essay.