Skip to main content

Issue 5 and 6


While reading Issue Five: Composing Together, I learned a lot of valuable tips and tricks to working together as a team. In college so far, I have been asked to work in many different group settings. I severely disliked group projects at the start, because much like the people in this issue, I found myself doing all of the work. After reading how to properly deal with collaborative projects, I feel much more comfortable about them.
Issue Five suggests to readers that in order to successfully create a collaborative project, the goal of the project needs to be thoroughly thought through. Instead of simply jumping into solving a problem or completing a task, the group needs to assess the various paths they can take. After this, then the work should be split up based on the individuals strengths and weaknesses.
As an engineering major, working collaboratively in a team is a huge part of my everyday life. Like many group projects, some members of the team will refuse to contribute, and I end up being stuck with all of the work. I have a hard time splitting up tasks among teammates and making sure other people do their work because I am very introverted and I have a hard time forcing myself to lead. Before reading this article, I had a lot of issues with my team and I did not know where to start in order to fix it. After reading this issue, I know how to effectively take tasks and split them up among my team, and make sure that our collaborations run as smoothly as possible. Now, I do not despise working in teams, because this issue has made me realize that is an essential skill that I will need not only for my future as an engineer, but in many more aspects of life.
Issue Six: Research: More Than The Detective Work, covers how to successfully research different things in life. Writers Losh and Alexander use the visual metaphor of detectives to show readers how to choose proper sources and make sure they are sources they can trust.
I have always assumed that if a source was on social media, it was likely not trustworthy. Social media is full of opinions and often times "fake news" so I have avoided all sources from these sites.
Issue Six taught me that sometimes sources from social media can be a great help. They can give an insiders information on their views of current events. Another thing I learned from Issue Six is that it is a good idea to broaden your sources further than simple quotations. When writing a research paper, it is always a good idea to include quotations, but sometimes it is better to include summaries, or paraphrases of the sources instead.
Finally, Issue Six discusses how it is easy to get distracted and run into poor sources when researching online. Although it will seem like a shortcut, it may take more time to find valuable and credible sources online. Researchers will need to find a scholarly web browser, and then search for sources there. After they find a source that they deem credible, they should research the author or publisher to see if it is appropriate to use.
Issue Six taught me a lot about how to analyze sources and choose credible ones, which is a very daunting task when it comes to researching. This issue was very helpful in clearing up some of my concerns.
“Government Announces Anti-Fake News Unit.” BBC News, BBC, 23 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42791218.
“Why Choose Us – Sterling Engineering.” Sterling Engineering Group of Companies, 6 Oct. 2015, segoc.com/group-of-architects-working-on-a-project/.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Issues 7 and 8

Issue Seven: Rethinking Revision teaches readers how to successfully revise their academic work. If someone were to ask me to revise my work before reading this issue, I would focus heavily on correcting spelling and grammar. I would possibly remove some sentences or add some sentences here and there, but that is as far as I would go. I never thought about revising work as anything more than just making simple corrections on the surface, but this issue has taught me that this is not the case. According to Issue 7, revision is about "seeing a composition anew, with fresh eyes-- seeing your work as if you were another reader" (Losh et al). Issue 7 goes on to discuss how Ethos, Logos, and Pathos connects to revising your writing. "Do your rhetorical choices present you as a trustworthy writer? Is your reasoning presented logically? Are you attentive to how you move the emotions of your audience?" (Losh et al). Ethos, Logos, and Pathos were a very important ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Issue 4: Argument Beyond Pro and Con

After reading Issue 4: Argument Beyond Pro and Con, I gained a lot of useful insight over how to create a strong argument in both an academic and professional setting. I have never really considered academic arguments done in research papers or other scholarly forms to be so similar to conversations, but this issue thoroughly relates the two. "A good argument is actually a lot like a good conversation. It is important to represent more than one side." Writers Losh and Alexander use the idea of a talk show host to explain how presentable and well structured arguments are much like real life conversations. For an argument to be successful, it needs to represent more than one side. The visual representation of the talk show host helps readers better understand this idea because "in a way, talk shows stage debates as conversations among several different participants" (Losh et al 158). This visual metaphor kept me interested in what I was reading and learning. Durin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Issue 2: Strategic Reading

Upon reading Issue 2 of Understanding Rhetoric, a Graphic Guide to Writing, I was introduced to the idea of strategic reading. One reading strategy presented in this issue is critical reading. Critical reading is a more active way of reading literature where the reader deeply analyzes and interprets what they are reading. Writers Losh and Alexander present the idea of critical reading by examining Frederick Douglass' autobiographies. The use of Frederick Douglass' book as a way to demonstrate critical reading helped me understand how to effectively analyze text. I have read Douglass' autobiography in the past, so this was all familiar to me. Being able to look at his words in a new way made the information seem so much more powerful. The choice to use Douglass' work implements the idea of Ethos. Frederick Douglass is an extremely well-known and admired activist, so using his words makes the points much more credible. Even in Douglass' own writing, he ...
Post a Comment
Read more