Considering Genres

When considering any type of work it is first important to consider how the work will be composed. The genre is the most important step to starting a project besides researching. Each story is developed through its genre, the genre takes the story to the next level. In essence a writer must know how to develop the story by using the genre to engage with their audience.

For this first project in English 109h, I am considering doing the QRG or Quick Reference Guide. A Quick Reference Guide is generally used to provide a short explanation of something through the use of bullet points and short paragraphs. I'm considering using a QRG because the topic I've chosen is a very large and complex topic which would seemingly be a large and insurmountable topic to write an entire paper on. A video or a podcast are also both feasible but I felt that a QRG would display the controversy more effectively than the other options.

During the production phase next week, I am planning to work on several genre conventions of the QRG. Specifically I will be looking through all the sources to create different subcategories in the QRG that will explain the controversy, for example looking at pros and cons to the pipeline and the argument that goes with those pros and cons. I will also be working on creating a title and organizing the subsections. Creating the subsections will help me effectively organize the information from all the sources as well as helping me organize the overall QRG. With effective organization the controversy can be accurately broken down into the different subsections and be accurately depicted and explained to the audience.

I would say that going into the production phase I feel more confident than I thought I would feel going into the production phase. I was able to get everything done in the pre-production phase that I was aiming to complete. I am still very hesitant about the project considering that I have never written a QRG before. I think this project will be a new experience for me, and for that I am intrigued and nervous all at the same time. The only challenges that I anticipate are trying to put together the information into a cohesive work and practicing putting together subcategories for the QRG.

Anonymous, "Information" via The Blue Diamond Gallery
Creative Commons Licence

Cluster of Stakeholders

Every situation has stakeholders, people that stand to gain or lose something from a situation. Everyday people are affected by controversies and arguments and they may not know it. For example some people may not know that they were a stakeholder in the Keystone XL Pipeline controversy: but they were.

The cluster built to show how stakeholders were affected by the potential of building or not building this pipeline will show that certain groups stand to gain a lot from the pipeline while other groups stand a lot to lose from the pipeline being built. Big Oil groups obviously have a lot to gain from an oil pipeline while Environmentalist groups have a lot to lose should the pipeline be built incorrectly and cause a massive crude oil leak on land. The cluster shows how certain groups have certain interests and why they either like the proposed pipeline or dislike the proposed pipeline.

Linda Goldstein "Shimer College Protest" via Wikipedia
Creative Commons Licence

Evaluation of General Sources

Every soundly written work has its roots in sources or ideas; in order to accurately create a work that depicts an event or a situation, an author must analyze the sources and the facts. This unwritten but well accepted rule is extremely important when talking about controversial topics. In order to present an unbiased and balanced response, the author must look at sources from both sides of the argument. The truth in the event usually comes somewhere in between the two sides. 

The most large scale controversy in the civil engineering field lately has been the ongoing conflict over the Keystone XL Pipeline, to analyze why this was a controversy we must look at the sources. The URL to one of these sources is http://mic.com/articles/127860/what-is-the-keystone-xl-pipeline-a-quick-guide-to-the-oil-pipeline-from-the-us-to-canada#.XDdPcLrjp , the other sources URL is http://phys.org/news/2015-11-key-facts-controversial-keystone-xl.html . Obviously the one article ends with a .com and the other ends with a .org, by experience this usually means that the .org website is more credible although it could be related to an organization looking to push their own agenda. The .com website is also credible however it might possibly be an opinion site looking to push their own opinion about the controversy. Usually any site with a .gov can be considered the most official strictly fact website, needless to say other websites are also effective. 

The author of the mic.com article is Liz Rowley while the article by phys.org does not have an author explicitly listed on their page. According to the mic.com page Liz Rowley is a staff writer for the website who is based in New York and focuses on breaking news pieces. The phys.org article does not have an author to research. 

The mic.com article shows when the article was written but not if it has been revised recently or if there has been any additions to the article. The article appears to be in date as it was written in November of 2015. The article has working links that lead to statements and policies and other news stories about the pipeline as well as the people who are involved. Meanwhile the phys.com article states that it is also from November of 2015 meaning it is still in date as well, this site did not show when and if it was updated. The article has links to searches of key terms to provide other news stories from the website about issues related to the link. 

Mic.com's article has the goal of informing the reader of the main arguments for and against building the pipeline as well as trying to guess at which of the candidates for president might vote for or against the pipeline. In this sense the article has the goal of informing the reader while slightly trying to assign political motives of candidates in regards to the pipeline. The phys.org article also states that it is presenting the key facts about the pipeline. They also try to present both sides to the pipeline argument that forms the controversy. They try to summarize why the pipeline is controversial and why people wanted it or did not want it. This site also clearly aligns the Republicans as pro-pipeline and the Democrats as anti-pipeline. 

Both articles have some graphics in the form of pictures with captions and dates. Almost all the pictures on both sites were from or of people protesting the pipeline through various means, as well as congresspeople and the President. Both articles also include a map of the proposed pipeline route from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 

As previously mentioned both articles try to take a neutral stance on the controversy, just reporting why it is a controversy as well as what the most recent developments in the controversy were. If readers take the information presented to be absolute truth then they will be forced to pick their own side of the controversy based off their own personal morals: further an economic opportunity at the risk of endangering the environment and pandering to big oil corporations or reject the pipeline and ensure that it wont harm the environment while rejecting the potential for thousands of new jobs as well as the economic impact to the cities the pipeline would go through. Most info from these websites can be backed up by other news articles from other sources and government information releases as well as the Oil Corporation information releases, granted all sources have their own biases. 

The phys.org article suggests related news stories to the article that is being read, however the mic.com article does not suggest articles. As previously mentioned both articles link the reader to other articles through hyperlinks on certain words. Both articles link to more articles within their website as well as linking to other websites. In essence this means they both site reputable sources as well as possibly siting themselves. Both sites do however try to tie in as much information from the field as possible through quotes from people involved in the conflict. 

Meclee "Keystone Pipeline Route" via Wikipedia
Public Domain

 

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

One of the ways that Americans get their information on a daily basis is by reading news stories from national magazines. News magazines take information and throw in opinionated ideas that the writers know will intrigue and get their viewers talking about. For years America has been dealing with an infrastructure crisis which only continues to get worse so I went to see what one conservative magazine and one liberal magazine had to say on the infrastructure issue in this nation.

Both these stories deal with the lack of infrastructure funding and improvement measures even as our nations infrastructure crumbles at its seam. One article looks at the proposed measures to find funding for the nations infrastructure while the other looks at why they believe things haven't worked out the way they were promised over the last 5 years. Both articles involve the president and congress and the squabbling between them. The National Review and the New Republic have very different ideas on whose fault the gridlock is on, President Obama or Congress.

Anonymous, "Crumbling Infrastructure" via Flickr
CCO licence

Ultimately, there isn't anyone to feel sympathetic for besides the American people. The National Review and the New Republic can agree on one thing: the American people are getting screwed out of the promises they were delivered to manage the crumbling infrastructure of the nation. The American people are dealing with an aging infrastructure system, highways and water systems are quickly becoming antiquated. We drive on roads that are past their designed life period and trust bridges that are approaching 50 years old yet no solutions are in sight because of the gridlock that remains in the government.

The least sympathetic parties in this whole situation are the two parties that continue to squabble, the President and Congress. Perhaps the party that is the least conducive to sympathy is congress. Almost everyone can agree that they are the party that is at fault for the lack of action to solve the issue of America's infrastructure. Congress has had many chances to work with the President and pass some sort of funding bill to help provide the funding for rebuilding the nation's roads and bridges and waterways. Both articles emphasize that there have been opportunities for change and opportunities to try and pass a spending bill, The National Review blames the lack of action on the President while the New Republic blames it on congress. Without a collaborative effort by congress and the president, the nation will continue to face an ever worsening problem.

Reddit and What I Found There

Civil Engineering has been quoted by many senators and congresspeople as being "not sexy". However its is a highly important field of work to maintaining the entire stability of the world. Nevertheless many engineers take to Reddit in their spare time to answer questions that people might have on the career. Reddit is a key to understanding what goes through the mind of a civil engineer.

Civil engineers on Reddit come from vast and various backgrounds and cultures. Engineers from across the entire world come to Reddit to discuss ideas and compare work. Many civil engineers ask other civil engineers about finding work in other nations and comparing nations. Engineers from Australia ask about the working conditions and availability in the United Kingdom; meanwhile most of these civil engineers would love to work in the United States, however they say that the visa and work permit programs are almost impossible to navigate. Other Reddit users ask about what tests and materials civil engineers needed when they were getting their degrees. In many instances, the major talk of engineers on Reddit is about the work possibilities and recently completed projects.

One of the most interesting conversations/ debates was from a recent graduate in civil engineering asking about what types of civil engineering would involve the least amount of sitting behind a desk. This user was worried about being stuck in an entry level position and sitting behind a desk for hours a week and working a computer program. The other Reddit users suggested that the new graduate go into transportation planning engineering, a subbranch of civil engineering. Ironically, this is what I wanted to go into specifically and reading those comments about hardly ever being stuck behind a desk using a computer program really reassured me that I was going into the correct discipline. Another interesting thread that I read was from somebody who claimed that the civil engineering discipline was dead and was worthless. This user argued that the field was saturated with civil engineers and the new influx of engineers would be stuck with no work, it was also argued that if an engineer lost his/her job that they would not be able to find another job like it. However this claim from one engineer was disputed by many other engineers who said that based off the current state of the world there would always be a need for civil engineers in the world.

Overall it appears that since civil engineering is so broad there will always be a need for civil engineers. I was relieved to learn more about my specific interest in civil engineering: transportation engineering. My biggest fear is that I will end up in a job at a desk for 50+ hours a week, not the ideal job in my opinion. I would much rather go into the field and do work in real life not behind some computer screen. I had expected more discussion and argument between the very wide variety of civil engineers; however, this was not the case as most of the engineers on Reddit were in agreement over the challenges of the profession. Even when they had a disagreement, these civil engineers were, pardon the pun, very civil with each other.

Anonymous, "Metropolitan Area, County of Los Angeles Map", 6/30/1958
via Flickr, CCO Licence 

Twitter and What I Found There

Ironically, my major is civil engineering. The very major that was given in the example. Nevertheless I will outline what is being said and discussed in the civil engineering field recently. Civil Engineers must deal with the task of designing and building of the infrastructure of the entire world, thus there will always be issues in the field that are controversial.

Twitter's use as a major communication tool between people in every field of studies makes it a valuable tool to find out about issues and controversies within the field. The major talk of twitter is about the politics behind different projects, including whether different nations will pass legislation to help combat growing population and aging infrastructure. Other twitter branches look back at historic civil engineering feats and how they continue to impact the world to this day. One twitter feed talked about the issues facing the world today and how civil engineers could tackle these challenges.

The civil engineering twitter world is full of stories none more interesting than the notion of a new concrete that could stand up to the riggers of extraterrestrial use, especially use on Mars. This invention brings humanity one step closer to taking a manned mission to mars and potentially staying there. Civil engineering has long been about constructing the essential connection tools of the human race on this planet but now it may soon include constructing the essential elements of survival on other planets. Another story found on twitter talked about how civil engineers and governments could cope with a "megacity" with a population of over 30 million people, an occurrence which could happen in the future.

Overall I was very impressed with the ideas I saw floating around twitter. The very future of the world lies in the hands of those who build it which is why the world needs civil engineers. The fact that these engineers are being proactive in their ideas for the future is key to ensuring the best possible future for humanity. I was quite surprised by how much these twitter feeds focused on the future and not current projects in the civil engineering field. I expected many civil engineers to focus on what they had been working on, yet most feeds focused on what opportunities the future may bring.

Anonymous, "Boyne Bridge", via Google Images
Public Domain

Evaluation of New York Times Stories

The New York Times, hereafter the NYT, is and has been one of the most influential newspapers in the entire United States. People from across the country read the paper frequently and the paper is a source of knowledge and idea sharing across the nation. The paper covers everything from opinion articles to political and science news.

Each article in the NYT is formed around one topic and in general one series of events. I recently looked at two articles from the NYT, one in the political section, one in the opinion section. Both of these topics are considered to be "hot topics" for today's modern culture. One article focused around the history of gerrymandering, a political term for the reconstruction of voting district lines in order to give one party the statistical winning advantage.

Anonymous, "Redistricting" via Flickr
Public Domain

The opinion piece looked to emphasize the need to eliminate gerrymandering which is seen as a cause of congressional gridlock. In it the NYT focused on one man specifically, Elbridge Gerry was one of the original drafters of the constitution and according to the NYT he was a true patriot who just was looking to give his party the advantage. Without the background information of the "main character" the history of gerrymandering would not be complete. Meanwhile the opinion article about the poisoning of the water supply of Flint, Michigan focuses around the governor of Michigan and the hyper-conservative politicians like him. This character focus makes the article an opinion piece, without the personalized character focus the story would only be a news article.

Each article has a specific setting to set the importance of the article. For the political piece about gerrymandering, there isn't a specific place but rather a general place of each voting district in the United States. The opinion piece is specifically focused around a certain city and state, ie Flint, Michigan. The piece also recalls similar dangerous political measures taken by mayors in London, England in the 1850's that would throw public safety to the wind in favor of saving a little money. Location enforces the reality of the situation, almost every writer can use location and personalizing the story in order to get the their audience to respond.

Many articles feature balances between two different sides of an argument however both of the articles I chose to analyze did not feature the other side of an argument. For instance, the article about gerrymandering did not try to show any support for gerrymandering and the article on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan did not feature any arguments for small government and trying to cut the budget while still maintaining the safety of the public.

Course Projects

In general, English 109h will focus on four major projects. These projects are aimed at growing the variety of media that our generation has at our disposal. The following post will attempt to analyze the four major projects that we will attempt this semester.

The four major projects this semester seem daunting at first glance. The most nerve racking part of these projects will probably be the production of a video for one of the projects. I have never made a video for anything before in my life which means not only will I be learning something knew but I will also need to be good at it. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of these projects are that they all relate to each and every person's own major and area of study. I will be interested to find out more about my own discipline as well as finding out more about other areas of study. Although each of the projects are related to my area of study, there will need to be a lot of preparation for each project; first and foremost, each project will need research from various sources and proper preparation of each source will allow the easiest access to information. Secondly, each genre should be paired with the project that will best fit it in the opinion of each writer. Since each project is fairly comprehensive, each project will require a lot of devotion and hard work. In order to achieve this, it is paramount that each deadline is met on time. Although this time crunch isn't unusual for college work, I would have to say that previous English classes have helped prepare me for projects of this scope, particularly the written essay. In my preparation for this course I have written many essays in the High School AP English courses. I hope to bring my ability to manage time as well as the ability to detail information during planning. Although the four major projects were fairly straight forward in their explanation of what was expected, I still have a few questions. I would like to know if reusing evidence found for one project on the other projects is allowed. Secondly I would like to know if there is a length limit or minimum on the podcast and the video.

Bainbridge,Dane, "Podcast of Doom Cover" via Deviant Art
Public Domian

In reflection, many of my classmates have the same concerns about these projects that I do. Most of us worry about time management and getting all the projects done on time. Many other people are concerned with the different types of media and how the inexperience with these media types will affect their ability to put together good work. Certainly I share in these worries and understand them. These responses are in response to Malik Bullock and Marvin Chaires.

Investigating Genres

Uncovering the Podcast.

The Podcast is one of many genres of communication. "Tonight Show" TV host Jimmy Fallon frequently uses a podcast segment from former NBA basketball player Shaquille O'Neil as part of his monologue routine. Although the "Shaq Podcast" is meant to be funny and lighthearted, most podcasts are informative and talk about opinions and ideas in a "public forum". Some examples of podcasts are the "TED Talk" podcast, the "Fresh Air" podcast by NPR, and the "How Stuff Works" podcast. 

1. The podcast can serve many purposes, first and foremost is to inform the listener of information or perspectives that they do not already possess. In addition, the podcast must be fun and entertaining in order to keep the attention of the listener. In many cases this entertainment comes from the podcast speakers personality. 
2. Many listeners find their podcasts through websites of celebrities or companies or through various recommendations from other people. However a good spot to start looking for podcasts is through various media stores like iTunes, the Android Marketplace, the Google Play store, etc. Personally, I find it easiest to locate new podcasts on iTunes. 
3. The podcast is typically aimed at the working person who doesn't have time to devote to watching a TV show, thus they need to be able to continue to work or do activities while they are listening to their informative podcast. However in general, podcasts can be effective for any busy person looking to stay busy while being able to catch up on the latest news, politics, sports, ideas, etc.
4. Podcasts are different from most other types of writing or media in that they feature voice segments exclusively. Podcasts feature interviews like other forms of media, but they also feature soundbites. Unlike written interviews and video segments, everything is a podcast is focused around vocal delivery. 
5. In conclusion, a podcast can be described as a type of media in which ideas and opinions are spread about in an informative and interesting way. Podcasts entertain and inform in a way which allow the listener to continue to function in everyday life while being informed. 

Anonymous, "Microphone, Audio, Radio" via Pixabay
CCO licence

Many of my classmates were thorough in their descriptions of different types of media. Upon reflection, they have described video essays. The point out that new media must be able to engage the senses in addition to informing the audience. This makes most new media types more effective than a traditional essay would. 

This reflection is in response to Sofia Haserot and Gabby Dietrich.

My Writing Process

When composing any sort of media, the creator or author must recognize their own style of writing. In the "Student's Guide to Writing", four types of writing are defined: heavy planners, heavy revisers, sequential composers, procrastinators. All four of these writing styles have benefits and setbacks. Here are my personal observations of my own writing style:

1. When I consider my own writing style I must attest to the lack of revising that I do. Based off my own observation I would certainly state that I am a "heavy planner". Writers in this category, like myself, tend to have highly developed drafts and thought processes behind their writing creation. I spend more time just thinking and formatting in my head than I do revising the writing. 
2. Most aspects of my personal writing process fall into the category of a heavy planner, however my writing style can also develop into a sequential composer style. This essentially means that when I have trouble developing ideas on paper or in thought I tend to do more revising than I usually would. The sequential composer will spend equal time planning and revising. 
3. Just like any writing process, my writing can be measured on a scale of success. My writing style is fairly successful if success is measured by good grades and effective communication. However this is only a general trend meaning there are some instances where I will achieve lower grades than normal when certain things occur. For instance, when my train of thought is interrupted multiple times, my grade on the paper will suffer incrementally. 
4. Experimenting with different styles of writing can be helpful to grow as a writer, however I believe that in my case the changing of a style will interrupt the ability to effectively write. After all, if something is working well for you, why would you change it?   

Anonymous, "Businessman, Space, Desk", CCO licence