Response To Aaron's Webmaster

I agree with Aaron when it comes to the response we got from the webmaster. It seems to me they are trying to defend their actions, they are not accepting our feedback for what it is. We just tried to help here, but they seem offended and might have hard time dealing with constructive criticism. I like Aaron don't believe that any changes will be made, at least soon.

I have to be honest and say this was not the class of my choice. It is required and I kept postponing it until I had nothing else to take. I have talk to some of my classmates who have taken English 402 before, and all I heard was boring, same old, waste of time.
I came to this class with no expectation, and I am leaving it with great accomplishments. I learned great deal of "tricks" I can use in my future education as well as my career. The greatest tool that I got from this class is writing to the reader. Now I use it at work all the time. Every once in a while I catch myself writing a long story, and then I remember great tips from 402 . Then I start editing, and cutting, and the final product looks exactly what we do in our class. Short and strait to the point.

the group project has been a great experience, and the individual research paper is probably different then any research papers I have written before. I will write it with the readers in mind.

Peer Response

I have to say that giving doing presentation in this class will be easier then in my previous classes. The main reason behind this, is the blog. All of us have read numerous blogs every week and become familiar with names, ideas, styles and opinions. I don't know if Kat has done this intentionally, but she sure did a great job. I am at school two nights a week and I rarely have a chance to talk to my classmates. However this blog has enabled me to meet a lot of people and talk to them weekly. Because of this I am confident that presentations will go smoothly.

Chapter 17&18 Reading

Chapter 17 went over things I learned in speech 101, but it also incorporated a reader-listener centered approach this book is focusing on. The major challenge of having a successful presentation is the ability to talk to you listeners in a conversational style. In order to connect to listeners we have to get their attention by talking to them in language they will understand. The book lists some tips for developing a conversational style. Create your talk with your audience present, use word you in the first sentence, using personal pronouns, short sentences, choose word listeners will understand immediately. Graphics and extra tools are just there to support what we have to say.

Chapter 18 was on creating a reader-centered websites. I have created website for some of my previous classes and we went over the same information. Good website should be easy to understand, clear of clutter and user friendly. A lot of websites look fancy with a lot of graphics and sounds, but most of users want the speed, they want to get in an out.

Persuaders

What I got from watching the Persuader's documentary is going to change my view of advertising forever. I actually felt sick to my stomach by watching those advertisers who think of themselves as mind readers or psychics. They think that somehow they can read our minds and predict what we want to buy. They supposedly can read our feelings and try to satisfy our needs, based on what they find about us. I have never followed the message advertisers try to rely, but I know a lot of people out there who blindly believe that advertisers are there to help them. If they just new that those same advertisers see us everyday people, as animals with reptile brain whose actions are controlled by feelings not the intellect. The problem that we all face is that advertising is going to get worse before it gets better. There is one question that needs to be asked. How far advertisers are willing to go before they hit the stopping point, and what will happen if they do?

Chapter 2, 9, 10 reading

Chapter 2

This chapter like the rest of the chapters in the book is describing how to write a reader centered paper, in this case resume and job application letter.
Defining objectives, planning, drafting and revising are steps we need to follow in order to have the right impact. Although one would assume that following these guidelines would produce the perfect resume there other things we have to consider. First of all we have to know our readers. Most of us have one general resume that we use when applying for different job, but the book suggests that we should tailor our resumes to specific employer. We have to find out what their needs and goals are and we should let them know what we can do to help them accomplish these goals. In case that two employers have similar goals we can use the same resume, while altering our objectives. When it comes to writing a reader centered job application letter I was very surprised that 60 percent of employers said that a job application letter is just as important as the resume.

Chapter 9&10

Chapter nine is describing how to write a reader center introduction, while chapter ten is talking about the conclusion. The beginning is the most important part, this is were we try to catch our readers attention. If the introduction doesn't appeal to our readers it is most likely that they wont read the entire paper. In conclusion we basically tell them what the problem was and what steps we are going to take next to solve the problem. There are some forms of writing such us proposals, formal reports and instructions where we stop after making the last point,

Response to Melissa Dawson Ch 14 & 15 post

I agree with Melissa when it comes to revising at work. In school we usually get a chance to write a drought and then revise it to perfection. We revise it before we turn it in and then we often get a chance to revise it to get a better grade after we have already turned it in. In real life, we don't get such opportunity. We have deadlines to turn our projects in and those deadlines are, very often announced hours before our writing is due. Therefore we don't get a chance to revise enough before the deadline.



Since we cant afford to put things down and come back and read, reading out loud helps a lot in situations like this. I have done it so many times at work and I can say that it really helps. By reading out loud I am able to hear myself and address any mistakes or issues in my writing. I often act as my own editor.