A Note to New Students

Dear English 110 Students,

First off, hello and welcome to your first college English class. You and your writing style are about to begin a whole new journey. From blogs meant for a public audience, to analytical research papers written for a strictly academic audience, this class will help jump start and mold your writing/researching skills. Not only will you learn to write for different viewers in mind, but you will learn how to better analyze and critique all kinds of information. Though it may not always be the most fun class, the skills this class teaches are essential throughout not only college, but also your whole life. So, take this class as an opportunity to grow and expand your way of thinking.

I know for me it was a little intimidating to have to write for different audiences, but my advice here is to just go for it. Let your writing flow and connect with viewers in more open and public writing spheres. Accept the challenge of trying to engage your audience, and make your work interesting. I also really suggest doing the readings for the class. Both Writing Analytically and Commonplace have excellent ideas and points that can greatly help improve your writing, and help you learn to think in a new light.

As this quarter quickly comes to a close, I realize how this class definitely has set me up with the right tools for success in the rest of my college writing, and I am glad I have had the opportunity to take it.

Have fun, learn, and grow throughout this next quarter as you dive into English 110.

Sincerely,

Sarah Gillespie

Interesting and Mature Conversation

Though I have not recently had a super heated debate about religion, I have a very close friend who recently went through an interesting conversation about faith. He is a strong follower of Christ, and one day several of his roommates approached him with a question regarding religion. They’re question was, “How can you have such strong faith? I mean with a God that’s not physically here, how do you know?”. How do you know what’s out there? And, if you do, how on earth can you place all your trust in it? These are questions that continue to haunt many people today, and they are hard to answer.

So, as you can imagine this caught my friend a little off guard, but rather than most who would tend to lead the conversation into a heated debate, he kept a very steady and informative tone. It helped I think that the friends approached him in not a confrontational, but a curious manner, so there was no need for either side to it to turn the discussion into something hostile. Attempting to answer the questions thrown at him, my friend began to talk a little bit about how he was brought up and when he accepted the faith personally and what not. His main point however, was that he places his faith in what he believes to be a great, powerful, and almighty God. The roommates’ responses of course were along the lines of, “Oh, well I’m not good enough,” or, “Well, you have to rely on yourself to get things you want done.” My friend then tried to explain that he believes that you don’t have to go through anything alone, and that God is there to help everyone, not just “good” people.

Each side laid out more ideas, and the conversation continued for awhile. What is remarkable, however, is that the talk kept a civil tone the entire time. Each side respected the other, and neither let their emotions get out of control. I think this is key when having discussions about religion. Each side must maintain a mature tone if the conversation is to remain productive. Otherwise, the discussion may turn into a heated argument that neither side wants to get into.

Enough Evidence?

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/10/23/christian-coalition-joins-hunting-group-in-climate-change-fight/

In his blog, FaithWorld: Religion, Faith, and Ethics, author Ed Stoddard put up a post titled “Christian Coalition Joins Hunting Group in Climate Change Fight.” Automatically, readers are drawn in by the interesting title which includes terms that are sometimes thought of as contradictory. Readers would be intrigued by the fact that the Christian Coalition, usually thought of as a peaceful group, is joining some kind of fight. It is also interesting to note that while Stoddard did use the term “Christian Coalition” in the title, he did not use “National Wildlife Foundation”, but rather referenced to it with the words “Hunting Group”. This word choice helps to put a more fascinating spin on the blog.

The majority of the post goes on to tell about the debate on Capitol Hill over global warming and green house gas emissions. Stoddard uses quite a few direct quotes from both the Christian Coalition and the National Wildlife Foundation as evidence to better show each group’s position. He does portray, however, the Christian Coalition and what he terms “the religious right” as no longer unified, but rather confused groups that are moving further away from their traditional values. For example in one part of Stoddard’s post he says, “…[in] religious right circles the climate change issue is seen as downright hysterical,” yet just a few lines later he mentions, “…most hard line conservative Christians are no longer united on this issue.” Also later on, he states, “But a big chunk of their base seems to be parting company with them on this issue though climate change skepticism still runs deep in the U.S. heartland.” Though there are a few examples given of right wing leaders stepping away from their party’s view, it should not be enough to convince readers that the entire Christian “base” is changing positions.

I think that for the most part, Stoddard does a good job with providing adequate evidence about the specific group’s mentioned positions especially the Christian Coalition’s new stance on the climate change issue. However, I do not think he has enough evidence to support the underlying theme that all of “the religious right” is no longer united on what they believe.

The space I am going to analyze is the room I am sitting in right now. I’m at the student-athlete computer lab in the Younkin Success Center. The room is about the size of a normal classroom. It has approximately fourteen computer stations lining the walls. These work areas are set up almost as mini cubicles so that you are not disturbed as much by the person sitting next to you. There are also round tables in the middle of the room that have computers. These work great, but the more secluded desks lining the wall are better if you are really trying to focus on something. There is also a printer and various office supplies available for use in the room. On the walls there are pictures of different Ohio State logos, sports, and motivational quotes. However, one wall is a floor to ceiling window that overlooks Neil Avenue. This is nice because it lets in natural light, but sometimes noises from the street can get annoying. As far as sound from within the room goes, it is pretty quiet besides people typing. Of course, there is the occasional murmur or hushed laughter of a group.

This room is perfect for its purpose: studying. It is a calm and relaxing place that student-athletes can come to get work done after a hard day at practice. I really enjoy the pictures and quotes on the wall because it reminds me what I’m striving towards not only in my sport, but also in my academics. Although the room’s primary function is for school work, later on at night when people are tired and just trying to get those last few study-table hours in, it can become quite the social outlet. People become much more talkative, and the room begins to take on a lighter feel. As the night goes on people meet other people, and new friends are made. While this is not what the room was designed for, I do think it is an important aspect of the space. I feel that this “social atmosphere” helps build unity and friendship across all of buckeye athletics, rather than just within specific teams.

Blog #1

Coming into college, I really feel that I am about to enter into a whole new world of writing. Although I had some very good high school English teachers, I do not believe that any amount of my high school writing fully prepared me for writing in college. The writing that was required from us was all generally the same. Most of my papers were all designed to explain something, or to present different sides of an issue. Teachers never wanted to see our own opinions or have us pick sides in our papers, and we were never really asked to analyze anything either. We might have had to provide information about someone else’s analysis, but then, it was just explaining their research.

Thus said, I am very excited for this class because I feel that it will broaden my writing ability. I think our paper will be a great first step in helping me to gain a better feel for writing with different objectives. I am excited to see where I will take it, but it is a little daunting for me as I have never done anything like it. However, I find it intriguing because we are actually required to analyze how a certain issue is portrayed or written about. Before this assignment, I never thought too much about that aspect of the media, but now I realize how much word choice and presentation can make a difference in what an article, video, or image is trying to say.

I am also interested to see how my writing will adapt throughout the course as we are required to write for various audiences. I believe that it will be very good for me, and it will help me become more comfortable in adjusting my writing style for different situations.