EvJens

My relationship to writing has changed over the course of this semester. Although English still is not my favorite subject, I enjoyed taking ENGL 1204H a lot. I was expecting to completely dread English in college, so I was fortunate to have been placed in honors where I could get my 6 credits of English through one 3 credit class. I was a little nervous going into honors because I know writing is one of my weaknesses but unlike English in high school, in this English class I got to write about things that were fun to write about - I really enjoyed writing the papers I was assigned during this semester. Over the course of this semester, I have grown to like writing more and am almost sad I am done with “English,” despite knowing that I will still have to write essays and will continue to use English every day. I had already learned about rhetorical strategies in AP Language and Composition during junior year in high school, but it was nice to go over the appeals and strategies thro...

         I am choosing my inquiry essay over my rhetorical analysis essay about energy drinks and my research article about attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder because I believe my audience will be more interested and curious – it would also be the most fun for me to present. My inquiry essay is about how I went from classical ballet to powerlifting. I intend to use a lot of visuals of myself as well as professional dancers and powerlifters to help explain the differences between the two besides the obvious ones. One of the major challenges I think I will face is making sure I keep my presentation interesting and informative - without being too specific, which could bore my audience, but also making sure that I am specific enough so that I have substance in my presentation and my audience can see at least a hint of the depth of my inquiry essay. My primary focus will probably be of comparing and contrasting these two very different activities because I...

The Intro: Your introduction pulls the reader in because you introduce such a silly idea that seems so general but then you relate it to something so basic and well-known in a way I wouldn’t have thought of - it brings in some humor. Your topic was interesting because a lot of people know what meditation is, but they don’t they have a shallow understanding and your essay delves in deeper. Although short, your introduction made me want to read on to learn more about the claim you made that meditation actually improves one’s life even though it consists of basically doing nothing. Organization: Your article is organized pretty well. This is still a rough draft so there is not much to say but you definitely hit on what meditation is from multiple perspectives and the how, what, when, where, and why by talking about different ways to practice meditation and what it physically does to our body. You may want to add more examples of statistics and research. Voice and Audience: This artic...

The Intro: A biography is an interesting choice! You do a good job at pulling the reader in with what happened to be an ironic statement. Your essay caught my attention with that hilarious graduation quote, which brought back my memories that were made half a year ago at my own graduation. I want to read on because I am interested to hear more about Edwin Hubble’s extraordinary and likely successful life. Both brilliant and physically adept! I thought your introduction was good because it got me interested while also keeping what you will reveal in your essay a mystery, leading me to want to read on. I have no suggestions. Organization: I thought that your intro was good at giving information on the type of character that Hubble has, and then by saying he has a whole list of experiences and achievements in life makes him very impressive and gets the reader intrigued without giving away all of your information. The transition into your next paragraph was great because it brought in b...

Imagine having to take a pill every day of your life not really knowing what is in it or how it works, but knowing that it will “help” and it is “good for you”. In second grade, my mother took me to a children’s psychologist to get a baseline of my mental health and intelligence. Where I am from, second graders take a test that will either place them in “GT” classes, which meant “gifted and talented,” or regular classes. After getting almost a perfect score on the test, my mother wanted to make sure that I would be able to handle GT classes as sometimes I was slow in my work and processing skills. The psychologist determined that I had high intelligence and would likely excel in the GT program, but that I might run into issues down the line.  I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), more commonly referred to as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). At this point, no actions were taken and I continued on, accepting a place in the GT program. Some peopl...

In Charles Seife’s The Loneliness of the Interconnected , Seife effectively informs readers about the internet and human behavior through the discussion of different case studies. Seife is effective at reaching people because of the disturbing yet interesting information he shares. He writes in a way that is kind of like a story with varied sentence structure, which helps keep the reader entertained and on edge. I primarily noticed the impact he had using short, simple sentences such as “Even against your will,” “Then came the internet,” “Bit by bit, it is driving us toward extremism,” etc. (Seife). The angle on this is a little unclear because the views are extreme and futuristic, but it is hitting on the negative side of being so interconnected and focused on technology and the internet. With fake news and the ability to spread ideas easily on the internet, people can receive validation for their ludicrous beliefs. The “so what” is that internet users need to be wary about what is ...