One Last Post

The last fifteen years have been very long and tough journey. My childhood was suddenly taken away from me , and the fight for live begun. I left my home, my town, I left everything I had in just one night. We left quick. There was not enough time to pack. Backpack full of clothes and food that you can carry was everything we had. These were material things we left behind and we didn't really care about. The only things I regret not taking were the pictures. I needed something to remind me of my past, my life prior to the war. But there was nothing I could hang on, it seemed like we were chosen to start everything over and begin a new journey.

I learned how to survive on a loaf of bread, bowl of rice and 20 years old cookies. There were days when we went without food, water or electricity. We would go to bed as soon as it gets dark and we could just dream about having dinner.

It was hard, but you learn so much. You learn how to appreciate everything you have. Your life,family, your friends, your neighbors, even your enemies. You learn not to take any ting for granted.

In order to survive and be sane you have to be strong. You lean on your friends, and believe me you meet your best friends in times like this. I guess when people go through tough times they tend to let their guards down, then you can see them for who they truly are. There were no rich or poor, good looking or ugly, we all shared the same status.

I am thankful that I am still alive and here today. Love comes and goes, jobs come and go, people get rich and they get poor, but there is only one life. So please live it fully and don't regret anything.

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.

Response to Vic's journalism post

I agree with Vic when it comes to freedom of press in the US. We do have a lot of freedom when it comes to writing, however I believe that the public never get to hear all of it. Everything we read or see is filtered before it hits the air or the news stand. Jesse gave us a great example of a meeting in which topics get picked and dissected, and what happens if his bosses don't agree with him.

Needless to say that some control is better than no control, or too much control. Just imagine what would have happened if journalists could write anything that comes to their minds.

Journalism

One question that stayed on my mind after listening to Jesse Day is how biased are the journalists, and can they really control it. Jesse talked about ethics a lot, and just mentioned bias briefly. In my opinion journalism should be about telling the truth and being as objective as possible. But we all know that journalist are very opinionated and passionate about their jobs, so it very difficult to know if their stories are one sided. I believe that journalism greatly depend on personal experiences that journalist might have, which often might contributed to their bias

This also plays a huge role when it comes to ethics. All of us have different views on what is right and what is wrong, therefore we will make our ethical decisions based on those views. I see how journalist would have a problem reporting something that majority of us might not agree with. Things that are ethical for them might not be ethical to a lot of people and vice versa. In my opinion in order to be successful journalists must have a thick skin, and must love what they do or else they might fail.

Response to Sergiy's News Post

I agree with Sergiy when it comes to Russia Today's news. I have watched their news on several occasions, and I actually was pleased by its content. We all know that the news we see here is filtered before it gets to viewers, therefore we never get to see the whole picture.
That is why it very important for us to watch a variety of news in order to get most out of it.

The News Story

Well, I have always watched the news indirectly, I watched because it was on and somebody else wanted to see it. When I was a kid my dad would watched "all the time" and I would end up watching it with him. I would watch the weather part of the news to make sure that the weekends are going to be nice enough, so I can go out and play. That was the only interesting part of the news. I have always hated the negativity of the news. Although there are positive news, for some reason it is the negative news that get the most airtime. Crime stories seem to be most popular and very inflated.

First it was dad that wanted to see the news, now it is a husband. It is never enough for them. Same stories rolling all day long and they still want to see them. I watch the news once a day and that is enough for me. On the other hand, my dad and my husband watched every time they can, hoping they will hear something different. They don't understand that, what they hear is the same news, worded differently.

I personally like to see the news once a week. On the weekends I usually watch the program on CNN, that gives the summary of weekly happenings . If for some reason I want to see the latest news, I check the Internet, because I can get my news on demand.

Response to Gideon's Freelance Writing

I agree with your view on freelance writing. I have never seen myself as a professional writer, but as I have researched the freelance writing I can see how I would benefit from it. I think that writing about things I know and things that are interesting me could help me become a better writer. I could spend more time researching, writing and enjoy it at the same time. On the other hand I couldn't write about ideas that intrigue me. This is where a freelance writing comes into the play. We can choose and pick topics we write about, and pass on ideas we don't like. Loving what I do is very important to me. I am very adventures and the freelance writing would suit me in this matter. I could express my thoughts and ideas, and at the same time I can choose where to publish those. Like Gideon said, I can write about different topics as long as they are not work or career related.

Freelance Writing

I missed the class on Monday, so I am not really sure what you have said regarding freelance writing. From what I know freelance writing is form of professional writing where writers can write for so many different magazines without committed to any.

Freelance writers work as independent contractors. They have to market themselves, but they also can control their workload as well. The positive side of freelance writing in my opinion is that you can do things on the side and only write when you want to earn extra cash. You can pick who to write for, so you have more freedom when it comes to expressing your writing style. On the other hand if freelance writing is only thing you are doing it my be hard to find a full time job. You have to be very good writer and create a demand for your particular style of writing in order to attract certain magazines.

Overall freelance writing seems very exciting and is a great opportunity for beginners to prove themselves. Freelance writing seems like a very interesting career, that works well for individuals who like adventure.

Response to Gideon's Post Ch 8&19

Reading your post on chapters 8 and 19 have helped me to understand the the book itself. I like when you said that how you feel personally will reflect your writing style. We have to be careful a how we express our emotions and our personal opinions, especially when we are writing for a client or a boss. We have to adopt to their demands and write to appeal to their style. However, every once a while we have a boss who actually will appreciate our writing abilities and our style and will encourage us to use it. So we have to get out there and find out what people want, and if they want specific style, give it to them, but if they don't care we should use our personal style whenever we can.

Chapter 8 and 19 Readings

Chapter 8
Is talking about creating and expressing our unique writing style. When people read things they usually attribute the style to the writer itself. This is very easy and it gets creative when we write free style, but when it comes to professional writing it tends to be little difficult to accomplish this. There are so many rules we have to follow to satisfy our readers that writing in our own style becomes almost impossible. The book lists different things we can do to make sure that we write in our own style and the reader friendly approach at the same time. It list three different guidelines to accomplish this. Create your own voice, have the right sentence structure
and use the right word choice. Book goes in detail about all of these guidelines, and is great help when it comes to real life writing.

Chapter 19
Is talking about creating a communication project for our clients. When writing for client in our mind we have to make sure that the end product will persuade our client and please him at the same time. First of all we have to understand our clients goals and needs. Then as we are working on the project we have to get our clients permissions on any changes and new ideas we want to implement in our communication project. One question that I ask mysel,f is how can one be creative and please their client in just one project. I think that we would have to sacrifice our creativeness and please our client. Having the positive relationship with the client is very important. Having the same goal in mind will help us get over the differences and work toward the finished project. Communication with our client is very important as well. If there is something that needs to be approved or changed we have to let our client know. Finaly, help the client understand the finised product, and explain how they can benefit from this.

Response to Rich Bowers Rhetoric Post

I like what Rich did as he was explaining the Rhetoric. He gave examples of political ads in his blog, and the ways politicians are using rhetoric to convey their message. Even though a lot of us don't think about this, but their messages get through some people right or wrong. One could actually say that they are doing a great job of using the Rhetoric, especially when they even don't have any facts to support their ideas.

Chapter 6 and 7 Readings

Chapter 6
Is talking about doing a reader centered research in order to write information that is useful and persuasive to our readers. Reader centered research is very different from the research that we do in school. When writing for school we try to learn and understand something we didn't know before, and we don't have to worry if our reader is going to understand it. What matters is that we learn something form the experience itself and we can use it in our future.
On the other hand when we write for work we do it for practical purposes. At work we write for others, we are sharing our knowledge with our coworkers and addressing the issue that are important now. The information we include in our writing has to be valuable and relevant to them. We need to avoid any information that doesn't pertain to them, and deliver it in the timely manner.

Chapter 7
Is talking about a writing style that is persuasive and usable to our readers.
In order to accomplish this chapter is giving seven guidelines.
Begin by announcing your topic, we let our readers know what we are trying to tell them, so they don't have to wonder.
Present generalization before we present details, in order to let them know what our general point is
Move from most important to least important, unless we are presenting something in chronological order
Consult other conventional resources when having organizing difficulties.
Consider your readers cultural background, to avoid misunderstandings.
Reveal your communication's organization by drawing a map of it to readers through forecasting statements, transitions, headings and visual arrangements.
Finally have a smooth flow from sentence to sentence.

Rhetoric

There are three different parts of rhetoric: Ethos, Pathos and Logos.
Ethos is part of Rhetoric that has to do with our personality, I or We. In writing we use ethos when we want to convince people of our credibility.
Pathos is described as a persuasive technique that appeals to our emotions. We use pathos to express our emotion and persuade people that we really care about their emotions as well.
Logos is described as a technique in writing that appeals to our intellect, it is very factual type of persuasion and depends on our knowledge of subject.
We use all three of those parts of rhetoric in every part of our communication. They can be used separately, but in most cases they are used interchangeably throughout our communications. They are all tightly interconnected and are most effective when used together.

Chapter 4, 5, 16, and 23 readings

Chapter 4

After I read chapter 3 I was pretty sure that this is all I need to know to be able to write a reader centred paper. However, when I started reading chapters 4, 5, and so on I realized that this is just a beginning.
Chapter 4 is describing how to write reader centered pieces that are highly usable. In order to write effectively by using these strategies we have to know what our readers are looking for.
It is very important for us to be able to identify the readers need, and include information that is necessary for reader to understand. Organize information hierarchically, group alike ideas, and give the main point first. What I found interesting is that graphics play very important role in work communication, and just like a chapter 3 mentioned, we have to consider cultural differences

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 is ho to write persuasively in competitive and cooperative work environment. What is that we can do to make our readers interested in our writing. First and and very important guideline not just in this chapter, but in every day life as well is to listen. If we don't listen to what people are asking for how can we give it to them. Once we hear what they want we need to respond and persuade readers to follow our direction.
Focusing on readers goals, needs, concerns and values, and learning from our readers concerns give us an opportunity to learn what our readers want.
This chapter also introduced the three parts of rhetoric: Logos, Ethos and Pathos and ways we can use them to write persuasively.

Chapter 16

This chapter is talking about team communication. This is the first English class that is talking about the team communication. So far only my business courses address teamwork. I think that the information presented in this chapter will be very useful. I have worked and wrote in a group before, yet I never new the guidelines on how to write in a team existed. I have been in different teams, and we usually followed the certain rules that we agreed on. Now that I am reading this chapter I am finding out that we actually followed most of the guidelines without even knowing them. First stage is always selecting a leader or sharing the leadership. After that comes the task distribution, sharing plans and responsibilities, making the schedule and deadlines. But before any of this is done, the team must decide on a specific topic. The only problem I have seen occurring in the past was using the meeting time efficiently. People would usually come to the meeting and discus personal issues, so in the end we wouldn't have enough time to work on our project.

Chapter 23

This chapter is explaining how to write reader friendly instruction's. Most of us come across and use different instructions at some point in our lives, and most of those instructions don't give us information we need to complete a project. The book list different steps needed to write instructions that are usable (chapter 4) and persuasive (chapter 5). Since a lot of people don't like to read instructions we have to persuade them to do so. Also the information we are presenting has to be what they are looking for, be usable. When writing instructions we have to follow certain guidelines to make it effective. Using graphics is very helpful for readers to understand, as well as safety warning to keep them from getting injured. Overall, this chapter was very helpful, and am looking foreword to reading a set of instructions so I can critique it.

Comment On Todd Anderson's Writing

I just want to add that I agree with Todd when he asks how will we know that way we want things to be will happen. How can we know if we did well before we even submit our writings to the reader? How do we know that something that seems right to us might be unacceptable to the reader?

Chapter 3 Reading

Chapter 3 explains how to write effectively by defining our objectives. There are several guidelines that have to be followed in order for us to accomplish our goal. The book list 10 guidelines writers have to follow in order to write a reader centered paper. The most important objective is a developing a mental picture of our readers and writing to accommodate their needs. We have to do a thorough research of our readers attitude, their demands, personal characteristics, and cultural background to be able to get our point across. We can have the best possible ideas out there, but if our readers fail to understand our point of view our ideas might become worthless. We have to communicate in the language of our readers. In the real life different organizations create their own language, and in order to communicate effectively one has to know what that language is. There is also one important point that we all should consider, that is writing to the readers with multi cultural backgrounds. This is where it gets difficult. although most culutres have a lot in common theire differences are even greater, and learning those differences is the only way to communicate our ideas.

Chapter Readings

This reading was an introduction of what lies ahead. I know it is only three chapters but I already feel more comfortable writing.
Chapter 1 is an introduction on technical writing which is very different from writings I did for school so far. Technical writing is emphasising reader friendly approach and effective communication.
I especially found interesting the part that is talking about reader-centered strategies that we can use now on page 18.

• Help your readers find the key information quickly. Stating main point at the beginning
• Use an easy to read writing style, shorter the better, active vs passive voice, speaking in plain language
• Highlight the parts readers will find persuasive
• Talk with your readers, ask them what they want, show them that you are writing for them to understand.

Chapter 20 and 22 are an extension of chapter 1. Here we see examples of writings that we use in workplace, such as memos, letters e-mails and proposals. I have written memos and letters before, but I have never had a chance to write a proposal. The information presented in both chapters if easy to follow and understand. The author is following his suggestions from chapter in his examples of different writing structures, writing for an audience and using the being on the point.

Free Style Writing

I am one of those people who try to postpone every English or writing class until the end. As a business major student my strong side are numbers, although I know that writing is a huge part of what I will do for my career. That is why I am here today to accomplish something I have not done before. I have taken numbers of different English classes before, from basic grammar and vocabulary classes to research writing courses, but none of those classes have taught me how to write a memo or a letter or how to respond to an e-mail in more professional way.

I write every day at my work, I communicate with people mostly by e-mail, yet like I mentioned above I have never received any formal education on e-mail writing. That is why I am very excited and I am looking foreword to learning all of those "tricks" that will help me to communicate with people in more effective way.

Blogging itself is a new thing for me. I usually write with purpose, and a reason, however I like learning new things that will help me to stay in touch with current affairs. I am very open minded and I see this experience as something that will just add to my life resume.