Peer Review of

Editorial 15b

Editorial 15a

Open Post to Peer Reviewers

Peer Review for

Project 4 Production Report 2

Audience Questions

1. Making videos is a medium that I am very familiar with and therefore am not too concerned with planning. Much of project will be determined by my spontaneous creativity.

2. One major epiphany I had while creating this portion of the raw material is that much of my project will be composed of other people's clips (movie clips, tv show clips, etc.), properly cited of course. For instance, I rushed a fraternity this semester and I'll use that as evidence to m preoccupation this semester and I'll use a clip from Dazed and Confused in which a young Ben Affleck paddles a young man with a very "frat" paddle.

Outline Excerpt

Body One: My Background

• Evidence 1
• A summary of younger years, when I first developed an interest for creative writing.
• This proves that I had always had a passion for the English language.
• This is important because it kind of juxtaposes the struggles I had in English 109H.
• Evidence 2
• A summary of all the things I had going on during my second semester of college.
• This proves that I had a lot on my plate this semester.
• This is important because it helps explain many of my problems this semester.

Adaptation of Outline Excerpt

(A shotlist for my body 1)

1. Bust shot of me (included with dialogue)
2. Various shots of family photos and photos of a younger me (included with dialogue)

Project 4 Production Report 1

Audience Questions

1. Since I was left with no other choices in terms of the genre I'd use, I decided to make a video (my favorite medium). In terms of translating my outline excerpt in raw material, I found some difficulty because I haven't yet shot or compiled anything so I just used a shot list.

2. The production of this raw material was mostly uneventful as nothing was really produced yet just conceptualized. However, I did just recently realize that I might have problems producing a content-filled introduction given my limited number of shots.

Outline Excerpt

Introduction

• Idea 1
• Have an introduction that starts with a scene depicting a typical deadline night for me.
• Idea 2
• Give a summary of my life leading up to English 109H.

Adaptation of Outline Excerpt

(A shotlist for my introduction)

1. POV shot as I walk down the street to go to class (included with narration)
2. Low angle tilt of my computer (included with narration)
3. Eye level shot of me screaming into a pillow (included with narration)
4. Close up of the submit button on D2L (included with narration)
5. Bust shot of me (included with dialogue)

Project 4 Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Monday, May 2nd

• What need to get done:
• Solidify plans for the entire project (in my dorm)
• Find out how to extract and cite YouTube videos (in my dorm)
• Check out a camera (from the library)
• Shoot/compile introduction and body 1 (in my dorm and various locations on campus)
• What I need:
• Camera
• Laptop

Tuesday, May 3rd

• What need to get done:
• Shoot/compile body 2 and 3 (in my dorm and various locations on campus)
• Edit introduction and body 1 (in my dorm)
• What I need:
• Camera
• Laptop

Wednesday, May 4th

• What need to get done:
• Shoot/compile body 4 and conclusion (in my dorm and various locations on campus)
• Edit body 2 and 3 (in my dorm)
• What I need:
• Camera
• Laptop

Thursday, May 5th

• What need to get done:
• Edit body 4 and conclusion (in my dorm)
• Rewatch entire project (in my dorm)
• Make a list of what else needs to be shot (in my dorm)
• What I need:
• Laptop

Friday May 6th

• What need to get done:
• Reshoots (in various locations on campus)
• Edit reshot shots (in my dorm)
• Rewatch project (in my dorm)
• Submit project (in my dorm)
• What I need:
• Camera
• Laptop

Project 4 Content Outline

Content Outline

Introduction

• Idea 1
• Have an introduction that starts with a scene depicting a typical deadline night for me.
• Idea 2
• Give a summary of my life leading up to English 109H.

Body One: My Background

• Evidence 1
• A summary of younger years, when I first developed an interest for creative writing.
• This proves that I had always had a passion for the English language.
• This is important because it kind of juxtaposes the struggles I had in English 109H.
• Evidence 2
• A summary of all the things I had going on during my second semester of college.
• This proves that I had a lot on my plate this semester.
• This is important because it helps explain many of my problems this semester.

Body Two: My Challenges and Failures

• Evidence 1
• An articulation of my problems with time management.
• This proves that scheduling was a major issue for me.
• This is important because this was a major reason I struggled during this course.
• Evidence 2
• An articulation of my problems with finding things I'm passionate about to make projects about.
• This proves that finding passion in my work was a major issue for me.
• This is important because this was a major factor in my struggling.

Body Three: My Successes and Triumphs

• Evidence 1
• An articulation of my ability to be resourceful in crafting my projects.
• This proves that I do have some strengths.
• This is important in insuring that my essay is not too negative.
• An articulation of my ability to be creative in creating my projects.
• This proves that the creative talents I learned early in life helped me to succeed in this course.
• This is important because it explains many of my successes in the course.

Conclusion

• Idea 1
•  A summation of all I learned in the course.
• Idea 2
• An articulation of my plans following my completion of English 109H.

Reflection

Revised Post to Peer Reviewers

Here is the hyperlink to my podcast.

I feel that it should be known that I missed the firs round of revisions due to complications... So any input on my project would be greatly appreciated.

The major weaknesses in my project would probably be a lack of content if anything which I tried to compensate for with sound effects, interviews, and quotes.

The major virtues of my project are for sure the interviews because I feel no other podcasts have tried to include anonymous statements on a taboo issue like I have.

Peer Review for Mike Duffek

For my peer review of a fellow class-member, I decided to review the podcast on national security by Mike Duffek, "P3-Draft".

Why I gave him a content suggestion...

• I felt that a lot of the content he presented was very well argued and thorough but it kind of felt like too much at once. Maybe if the information were broken up into smaller sections I wouldn't have been as overwhelmed as I felt.

Why I think this helped...

• I feel that this recommendation is viable because by breaking up the sections: maybe by sound effect or voice over, the listener would have more time to ponder, understand, and digest the information provided to them.

What I drew upon from in class discussions (an intangible source material)...

• When discussing the genre conventions of each genre in class, it was brought up that a podcast is specifically and exclusively audible genre. Therefore, going back and rereading something is impossible, instead the typically lazy audience won't go back and re-listen to something that requires more thought because it requires more effort.

What I liked...

• I felt that the author employed a very crude and blunt diction in order to be as straight-forward to the audience as possible. This mentioning of taboo subjects in the argument against increased government intervention in private Internet affairs makes in more entertaining and realistic.

Peer Review for Ben Meyer

For my peer review of a fellow section-member, I decided to review the Quick Reference Guide of Ben Meyer on the redesigning of the SAT, "New Year, New... Test?".

Why I recommended him to make him a content suggestion...

• When first reading through this essay, it was quite hard to find any gaping flaws. On the second read through, I noticed a odd imbalance in the sources referenced to page count ratio. Basically, I feel that, even though you are walking a thin line with QRGs, you could further furnish your essay with your salvaged content in order to lengthen your impressive essay.

Why I think this helped...

• I believe that my recommendation to the essay was valuable because there is a very thin line one most walk on when writing QRGs on the border of too much and too little information. I feel by alerting the author of this he might lean on the side of safety and add a little more content.

What I drew upon from in class discussions (an intangible source material)...

• In the preliminary lessons of the course, our class was tasked with listing the various contextual boundaries of the different genres we would have to do our projects within. When addressing the QRG, two somewhat opposing rules where mentioned: having succinct content and providing the reader with complete knowledge on the subject.

What I liked...

• The true beauty of this project lies in its heightened attention to its audience. Who'd read an essay on the changes made to the SAT? Those taking the SAT. The QRG relies on conversational and causal diction and an easy to follow layout in order to appeal to his younger audience. 

Reflection on Project 3 Production

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:

1. Sadly, no dramatic successes come to mind for this week. I feel that much of my time was spent just following the directions of the outline I made. I feel that my use of interviews might yield a very successful project.

2. I feel that I'll need to find a better way to include my sources because it is very difficult to give them credit in the podcast genre. Currently, they are unmentioned so I might just start prefacing with something like: "According to a study by Mr. Blahblahblah on Dotcom.com...".

3. Next week will be a challenge because I have a lot of content to create in not a lot of time. Plus I have various extracurricular obligations to attend to as well:(.

4. I feel a little uneasy about my project right no because of this is the project with the highest point value, the one where I must express the most of my own opinion, and the one with a medium I am least familiar with.

Production Report 11B

CONTENT OUTLINE EXCERPT:

INEBRIATION AS AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL CONSTRUCT (BODY 1)

• EVIDENCE ONE: 
• An anonymous interview with a high school friend of mine on how drinking is an important part of a teenager's social life.
• This is important because gives a voice to the true feelings of adolescents.
• This will prove that young people truly feel that their rights are being infringed upon.
• EVIDENCE TWO:
• An anthropological account of the social importance of inebriation in primitive and modern applications.
• This is important because it illustrates the importance of drinking in human social circles.
• This will prove that the want to drink is an integral part of human culture and therefore its prohibition is unnatural.

RAW CONTENT (script of my podcast):

With me today I have an anonymous interviewee who is here to tell us about his experience as a college student has personally experienced the social utility of drinking especially in circles considered too young by the government.
***The interview will be done during the time of the recording***
Surprisingly, the idea of "getting messed up" being an important, even vital, component of the human social structure are supported by long-trusted anthropological records. Alcohol and various other recreational drugs (marijuana, peyote, ayahuasca, etc.) have been important in various religious rites and rituals since our species's humble beginnings. Furthermore, some believe these drugs are responsible for our creation of religion and a few others believe that they might be responsible for our bipedial nature, Terence McKenna's Stoned Ape Theory.

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:

1. Once again, I had to try to keep my passage as brief as possible to compensate for the podcast format. Furthermore, I decided no to overplan my interviews in order to maintain a conversational and casual tone with the interviewee.

2. I noticed that I am going to need more raw content and factual support to aid my argument while, finding out a way to give my sources credit using the podcast format.

Production Report 11A

CONTENT OUTLINE EXCERPT:

INTRODUCTION

• THESIS:
• The current drinking age is detrimental to the physical, social, and legal wellbeing of minors.
• GRABBERS:
• Open with a personal experience on how the current drinking age has effected me.
• Detail the history of the law determining the legal drinking age.

RAW CONTENT(a script for my podcast):

In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act was passed and threatened to significantly reduce federal highway funds to any state that did not outlaw the consumption of alcoholic beverages by people under 21 years of age. This law sought to make our nation's youths safer, but instead transformed many minors into criminals before the eyes of the law, created a distrust and fear of law enforcement amongst our nation's youth, and prohibited American citizens from indulging in a vital social construct as old has advanced human culture itself. In the college setting, the aforementioned detriments of this law are very, very apparent.

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:

1. Due to the podcast's exclusively auditory form, I had to try to keep the content less bulky and had to eliminate all pontification and fluff. I tried to make my intro succinct yet grabbing to compensate for the podcast genre.

2. Nothing too surprising (like an epiphany or unexpected problem) happened during my production process. I guess those will really pop up when I am recording my project.

Editorial Report 2

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

1. I beefed up the content of my essay by added some words to reassert my assertions in my conclusion paragraph. This practice really helped me to make my conclusion sound more intelligent and to add to my rather short essay.

2.Once again, I did;t need to make any changes to the form because this is one of the hundreds of rhetoric essays I have written... not to sound cocky.

AUTHOR RESPONSE

ROUGH CUT

Creative writers employ various rhetorical strategies in various genres in order to prove themselves to, inform, entertain, and connect to the general audience. Authors commonly attempt to validate themselves as credible writers on a topic in their work. The insertion of fact into creative works is used to create realism. Pathos allows the author to connect with the general audience. The communicative methods of a creative writer are imperative in the progression in the artform itself: Alger inspired Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald inspired Thompson, and Thompson inspired me to write this paper.


RE-EDITED SELECTION

Creative writers employ various rhetorical strategies in various genres in order to prove themselves to, inform, entertain, and connect to the general audience. Authors commonly attempt to validate themselves as credible writers on a topic in their work by connecting to the decorum of their audience and communicating their credentials. The insertion of fact into creative works is used to create realism in order to make the stories more comprehensible and believable to the readers. Pathos allows the author to connect with the general audience through humor, fear, and various other emotional appeals. The communicative methods of a creative writer set forth a linkage of metaphorical dominos as Alger inspired Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald inspired Thompson, and Thompson inspired me to write this paper.

Editorial Report

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS

1. I attempted to spice up the content of my introductory paragraph because I belief that it wasn't gripping enough at the beginning. Also I removed many of the uses of the word, 'American', because I thought it was used too frequently and that it distracted from the true purpose of the essay.

2.I did not have to make too many alterations to the form of this essay because the standard college essay is a genre I am very familiar with writing. I did try to strengthen my thesis though.

AUTHOR RESPONSE

ROUGH DRAFT SELECTION

In 1856, the New England-born, Harvard graduate, Horatio Alger Jr., published his first in a series of books that detailed successful pursuits of the American dream by American teenagers that validated the American dream for many. Inspired by the genre known as the “Horatio Alger myth”, a Jazz-era, social-climber named F. Scott Fitzgerald came to publish various works (i.e. The Great Gatsby) to question the reputable belief in upwards social mobility. Then on November 11, 1971, after having copied various works of Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson would write his magnum opus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, to document the American dream’s demise. The occupation of creative writing—whether it be nonfiction, fiction, or combinant of the two—has always relied on the artful communication between writers and their readers, writers and their peers, and, as is the case the aforementioned “passing of the torch”, writers and their successors. This essential back and forth between creative writers and their various audiences relies on rhetorical strategies to communicate ideas to general audiences.

RE-EDITED SELECTION

In midst of the Gilded era, the New England-born Harvard graduate, Horatio Alger Jr., published a series of books that detailed successful pursuits of the American dream by immigrant teenagers that validated the dream of fame and fortune for youths across the nation. Inspired by the genre known as the “Horatio Alger myth”, a Jazz-era, social-climber named F. Scott Fitzgerald came to publish various works (i.e. The Great Gatsby) to question the reputable belief in upwards social mobility. Then on November 11, 1971, after having copied various works of Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson would write his magnum opus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, to document the American dream’s demise. The occupation of creative writing—whether it be nonfiction, fiction, or combinant of the two—has always relied on the artful communication between writers and their readers, writers and their peers, and, as is the case the aforementioned “passing of the torch”, writers and their successors which is reliant on various rhetorical strategies to articulate ideas to the world.

Open Post to Peer Reviewers

AUDIENCE QUESTION:

I feel that this revision process will be pretty easy. I know, for the most part, what I need to fix in my essay. However, I have the lingering suspicion that I am too confident.

AUTHOR RESPONSE:

What you should know?

• I forgot to put a works cited.
• My conclusion is garbage.

My weaknesses

• Terrible conclusion
• I feel my wording is redundant
• Run-on sentences
• Some of my claims lack depth

My strengths

• Unique structure
• My essay encompasses various genres in depth
• Thorough analysis of rhetoric

ROUGH DRAFT LINK

Reflection on Project 2

1. The restructuring of my essay from my content outline to my raw content went great, mostly because I almost completely ignored my boring content outline. Instead of talking about a different genre's conventions in each body paragraph, I decided to analyze a different work of a different genre for a different strategy for each paragraph. I feel my essay is much more holistic because of this alteration.

2. The biggest challenge is that I ran out of steam towards the end: my conclusion sucks and my works cited is to be added.

3. Next week should be pretty easy... or at least I think all I need to fix is my conclusion and add a works cited. I will try to attend office hours just to verify that these are the only necessary alterations.

4. I feel really confident in my essay. Much more confident than with the last project.

Production Report 8B

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:

1. The conclusion of a college essay is rather straight forward. As usual, I just summarized the rest of the essay and tried to conclude with something to leave the reader thinking.

2. I feel that I especially struggled with this paragraph because I was so tired from writing the rest of my essay. It was easy to write and I guess it's ok as it is, but I really want it to POP!

OUTLINE EQUIVALENT:

• Conclusion
• Closer could stress the importance of the communication between writers.
• Closer could be a personal reflection from someone about to join this community of writers.

RAW CONTENT:

Creative writers employ various rhetorical strategies in various genres in order to prove themselves to, inform, entertain, and connect to the general audience. Authors commonly attempt to validate themselves as credible writers on a topic in their work. The insertion of fact into creative works is used to create realism. Pathos allows the author to connect with the general audience. The communicative methods of a creative writer are imperative in the progression in the artform itself: Alger inspired Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald inspired Thompson, and Thompson inspired me to write this paper.

Production Report 8A

AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:

1. I decided to use the form of a standard college essay because I am most used to doing rhetoric analyses in this format. Being that this a rhetorical analysis of an entire profession, I had to make some tweaks in my introduction to make sure it was less specific than the standard rhetorical analysis introductory paragraph.

2. An epiphany reached at this point in the process was that I could analyze a different piece of literature that I am familiar with for each rhetorical strategy. This allowed me to cover more genres and examples in my essay.

OUTLINE EQUIVLENT:

• Introduction
• Grabber could stress the importance of the communication between creative writers to society.
• Grabber could trace the passing of inspirations through a chain of authors: Horatio Alger novels inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald inspired Hunter S. Thompson, etc.
• Thesis: There are many tendencies in the vital communication between creative writers

RAW CONTENT:

In 1856, the New England-born, Harvard graduate, Horatio Alger Jr., published his first in a series of books that detailed successful pursuits of the American dream by American teenagers that validated the American dream for many. Inspired by the genre known as the “Horatio Alger myth”, a Jazz-era, social-climber named F. Scott Fitzgerald came to publish various works (i.e. The Great Gatsby) to question the reputable belief in upwards social mobility. Then on November 11, 1971, after having copied various works of Fitzgerald, Hunter S. Thompson would write his magnum opus, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, to document the American dream’s demise. The occupation of creative writing—whether it be nonfiction, fiction, or combinant of the two—has always relied on the artful communication between writers and their readers, writers and their peers, and, as is the case the aforementioned “passing of the torch”, writers and their successors. This essential back and forth between creative writers and their various audiences relies on rhetorical strategies to communicate ideas to general audiences.

Reflection on My Pre-Production Process

1. My interviews, despite the brevity of my interview with Dr. Sheehan, went pretty well for the most part. I definitely got some really good "soundbites". For instance, Sheehan gave me an excellent soundbite regarding the conditions that led her to become a writer: she articulates on her parents' backgrounds as writers and how it affected her.

2. Time management, as f**king usual, was my biggest setback this week. The previous activity where I had to make a production schedule should help me out though... Need evidence? Check out when ever blogpost I've ever written was submitted.

3. The last activity will hopefully help me to better organize and manage the production segment of this project. Procrastination has a funny way of sneaking up on you though...

4. Overall, I feel that this project will definitely be better than my last one (which isn't saying much).   I will really need to finish the rough draft to provide an accurate assessment.

Production Schedule

MY SCHEDULE:

3/9/16 at 10:00pm in my dorm

1. Write introduction for rough draft
2. Do blogpost 8.1

3/10/16 at 2:00pm in my dorm

1. Write first body paragraph for rough draft
2. Do blogpost 8.2

3/11/16 at 10:00am in my dorm

1. Write second body paragraph for rough draft
2. Do blogpost 8.3

3/12/16 at 10:00am in my dorm

1. Write third body paragraph for rough draft
2. Do blogpost 8.4

3/13/16 at 11:00am in my dorm

1. Write conclusion for rough draft
2. Make minor local revisions

Content Outline

The following is the outline for my second project in this class:

• Introduction
• Grabber could stress the importance of the communication between creative writers to society.
• Grabber could trace the passing of inspirations through a chain of authors: Horatio Alger novels inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald, F. Scott Fitzgerald inspired Hunter S. Thompson, etc.
• Thesis: There are many tendencies in the vital communication between creative writers
• Body Paragraph One
• Main Point/Central Question: Who do creative writers write for?
• Support 1: Sheehan's quote on wanting smarter people to read her work
• Support 2: Foley's quote on wanting people of different and similar views to read his work.
• Body Paragraph Two
• Main Point/Central Question: What kind of person becomes a creative writer?
• Support 1: Sheehan's quote on her parents being writers.
• Support 2: Foley's quote on his military experience helping him write.
• Body Paragraph Three
• Main Point/Central Question: How has communication between creative writers and the occupation of a creative writing changed overtime?
• Support 1: Sheehan's quote on the technical advances in publishing.
• Support 2: Foley's quote on the change in society's open-mindedness improving the industry.
• Conclusion
• Closer could stress the importance of the communication between writers.
• Closer could be a personal reflection from someone about to join this community of writers.

Report on My Interviews

1. Important Genres:

1. Novels
2. Short Stories
3. Political Commentaries

2. In terms of purpose novels and short stories are very similar as they both aim to tell a narrative. Political commentaries have a more specific purpose as they usually aim to correctively ridicule politicians or policies. There is room for overlap between these genres as some of history's best novels were political commentaries at their heart: The Wizard of Oz, The Jungle, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The audiences and forms of all the aforementioned genres are truly dependent on the author's intent, however political commentaries tend to attract only those interested in politics.

3. The greatest difficulty in writing any of the aforementioned genres, or any genre in creative writing, is time management. Turning a profit for a professional writer is extremely difficult so writers typically have other jobs plus familial obligations.

4. From my interview I have collected that besides turning a profit and being published, being able to connect with an audience with similar ideas is extremely rewarding.

5. Examples of creative writing can be accessed easier than ever with the invention of mobile, non-print reading devices like the Kindle.

Jansson, Johannes. "Books". 3/8/11 via Wikimedia Commons. Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Denmark.

From Academia to Social Media

1. I had a hard time finding the journal editor and author of the introduction, Ariel Levy, on any social media mostly because her social media presence was eclipsed by a rather attractive actress of the same name. I was able to a Wikipedia page, a LinkedIn, a Twitter, and a Facebook account.

2. Her Twitter account is mostly devoted to documenting various news events because she works for the Huffington Post, showing me that she is a current events-oriented person. Moreover, her Facebook is unavailable to anyone not friends with her, showing me that she has a rather private social life. Her LinkedIn documents various achievements in various news mediums including print, radio, and television.

3. The beautiful and romantic voice she employed in the introduction to the journal, "For me, reading the essays in this anthology was as satisfying and invigorating as glimpsing a school of dolphins rippling in and out of the water: a privilege (Levy xviii)", is juxtaposed by factual, unbiased format of her news background.

Notwist. "Gonzo". 12/2/08 via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

Academic Discourse and Genre

1. There are various genres present in the journal that all fit under the umbrella term: "essay". In terms of structure, some are in paragraphs, as you'd expect. Yet, others are numbered and some are more poetically formatted. Moreover, the purposes of the essays vary with the form as some are narrative, some reflective, some informative, and some lyrical.

2. The Different Genres Present:

1. The Narrative Essay
• Typically made up of a various paragraphs
• First person
• Past or present tense
• Meant to illustrate a major life experience
2. The Rhetorical Essay
• Occasionally satirical
• Typically made up of various paragraphs
• The voice of the narrator is not always the voice of the author
• Meant to persuade the reader
3. The Lyrical Essay
• Occasionally written in numbered segments
• Meant to be reflective
• Purpose is not determined by the genre

3. My Definitions

1. The Narrative Essay
• A first-person essay aimed to tell of an important life event of the author in attempt to make the audience sympathize with him/her.
• Targeted Audience: People who have not experienced anything similar to what the author is describing because the author aims to make them understand his/her unique experience.
2. The Rhetorical Essay
• An essay that through satire or other persuasive methods attempts to make the audience side with them on an issue.
• Targeted Audience: Anyone without a stance on the issue or a malleable opinion because the author is aiming to persuade them.
3. The Lyrical Essay
• An essay that employs various structures to poetically or reflectively discuss a topic.
• Targeted Audience: Anyone with the ability to comprehend the structure of the piece because the varying structures can be confusing for some. 

INeverCry. "Bacon Essays". 5/9/12 via Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.

Rhetorical Analysis of an Academic Journal

1. There are 23, some alive and some dead, authors featured in The Best American Essays (2015):

1. Ariel Levy (Editor of the journal and writer of the Introduction)
2. Hilton Als
3. Roger Angell
4. Kendra Atleework
5. Isaiah Berlin
6. Sven Birkerts
7. Tiffany Briere
8. Justin Cronin
9. Meghan Daum
10. Anthony Doerr
11. Malcolm Gladwell
12. Mark Jacobson
13. Margo Jefferson
14. Philip Kennicott
15. Tim Kreider
16. Kate Lebo
17. John Reed
18. Ashraf H. A. Rushdy
19. David Sedaris
20. Zadie Smith
21. Rebecca Solnit
22. Cheryl Strayed
23. Kelly Sunberg

These authors are all held on a pedestal by the editor to be the best published essayists of the year of 2015: "The Best American Essays features a selection of the year's outstanding essays, essays of literary achievement that show an awareness of craft and forcefulness of thought (Levy xiii)." The authors come of various backgrounds, ages, and upbringings.

2. The primary audience of the passage is most likely serious purveyors of nonfiction literature given the intensity of its diction with words like: "kvetching", "altruism", etc. Given its widespread release, it can be assumed that its secondary audiences include the general public. 

3. The context of this journal is overwhelmingly dependent on the year its reflecting on: 2015. Since it aimed to pick the best articles published in 2015, the content was specifically chosen to reflect the aforesaid goal: "To qualify for the volume, the essay must be a work of respectable literary quality...(Levy xiii)."

4. There was no real overall message to the journal except to stress the overall beauty of literature, especially works published in 2015. I determined that there was no overall message because of the various topic covered by the various authors included.

5. I believe the journal aimed to illustrate the vast literary potential of mankind through various essays of merit by various people of various backgrounds: "For me, reading the essays in this anthology was as satisfying and invigorating as glimpsing a school of dolphins rippling in and out of the water: a privilege (Levy xviii)."

My Discipline

1. Students of my major, creative writing, learn how to best discover their own voices in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction through the analysis of others works, the analysis of our own work, and various critiques.

2. Typically, unemployment (as my father would say), just kidding. Usually, people with my major tend to go on to professions completely unrelated to their major (i.e. flight attendants, CEOs, and teachers) because it is such a hard profession to truly succeed in.

3. The aforementioned near-impossibility of success in this field led to me really want to do it (I'm weird in that way). Moreover, the opportunity to change the world with the written word just has my idol, Hunter S. Thompson, utilized was also a major factor in my decision to pursue a creative writing degree.

4. Three Important Figures in Creative Writing circa 2016:

1. Chuck Palahniuk
• He is exciting to me because he has a sardonic and grotesque writing style similar to my own and has achieved significant mainstream success.
2. J.K. Rowling
• She has received enormous profit from one super-successful series of novels.
3. Stephen King
• He has published more books than the two previously mentioned authors combined and has been a household name for decades.

5. Three Important Academic Journals:

1. The New Yorker, published online and in print
2. Ploughshares, published online and in print
3. The Best American Essays, published yearly in print

Young, T. "Cool. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson". 11/23/06 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

My Interviewees on Social Media

Aurelie Sheehan

1. I was only able to find her on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

2. The majority of the things posted on her more social, social media accounts (Twitter and Facebook) were links to articles for writers (i.e. book recommendations, interviews with writers, and writer advice columns). This combined with the fact that she has a Wikipedia page tells me that she is a major figure in the writing community and that she acts much more humbly then she ought to.

3. As previously mentioned, she acts much more humbly (or more does not act as conceded as I'd expect) in her works being that she has one various awards and has made a name for herself. This humbleness is visible through her appreciation for other authors: "I enjoy her fiction as I enjoy many good books (see above—serial lover under the blanket, snow outside, etc.) (Sheehan)."

Seth Foley

1. Foley has a much more humble social media presence, given that he only has a Facebook and definitely no Wikipedia page.

2. His Facebook page is exclusively for personal use, given that none of his posts revolve around his writing. Having interviewed Foley, I know that writing for him is a very internal and personal craft.

3. His persona in his writing can best be defined has loud and Hunter S. Thompson-esque, while his social media is very casual and much less intense: posting about cats, hippies, and Marine-memes.

O'Shea, Pete. "Writing Tools". 4/8/11 via Flickr. Attribution 2.0 Generic.

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

Aurelie Sheehan:

1. Aurelie Sheehan has written a for a variety of creative mediums: short story collections, novels, nonfiction pieces, and a novella. She has won a variety of awards for her works as well: the Pushcart Prize, a Camargo Fellowship, the Jack Kerouac Literary Award, among other grants and prizes.

2. "My City (or, On the Idea of Making It My Own)"

"Advent 12/9: Aurelie Sheehan on Zadie Smith"

Aurelie Sheehan has written, as illustrated by the examples, personal commentaries on her life and reflections and analysis's of other writer's works. The difference between these two genres is quite obvious, one is based off of introspection and the other examining the thoughts and ideas of another as articulated in their written work. Formatting-wise they are all the same.

3. The first hyperlinked piece really has no context because it was written purely to personally reflect on the various cities that she has lived in: "Now I live in Tucson, Arizona. I've been here fourteen years. It's home in a sense, in large part because this is where my husband and I have raised our daughter, and we've got good friends here (Sheehan)."

The context of the second is a reflection on the works of Zadie Smith so she there is the contextual issue of honestly reflecting on her work without too harshly criticizing her peer. Luckily, it appears as though Sheehan had no major disagreements with Smith: "Any writer can feel like a narcissist—in the lazy form of that word. Me, me, me—as mentioned—I’m tired, I’m sad, I’m lonely. And yet, as Smith asserts, we’re in this game to connect. Connection is all (Sheehan)."

4. The first published work's overall message is that our setting and the act of traveling  has a definite effect on who we are as illustrated by the following: "I write what I believe or see or imagine, and you write what you believe or see or imagine, too. Finally, it's a place of the imagination, after all, and there's infinite space to move (Sheehan)."

The second published work's overall message is to inform the reader on Zadie Smith's work: "I am writing to tell you about Zadie Smith’s book, Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays (The Penguin Press 2009)."

5. The purpose of "My City..." is an elaboration of her feelings on having lived in various and how they have grown on her: "This was an excellent experience, but living there forced me right away to reckon with my ability to render place (Sheehan)." 

The purpose of "Advent 12/9..." is to personally reflect on the work, "On Changing My Mind: Occasional Essays", by Zadie Smith: "She has reminded me that I’m not alone. “My writing desk is covered in open novels,” Smith writes, and I believe her. All our desks are covered in novels, invisible cities filled with friends and foes (Sheehan)." 

Seth Foley:

1. Seth Foley has no published works but is currently working on a novel on modern politics and his experiences as a Marine inspired by the 9/11 tragedy.

Litterio, Antonio. "Power of Words". 5/26/11 via Wikimedia Commons. Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. 

My Interview Subjects

Interviewee No. 1

1. Name: Aurelie Sheehan

2. Place of Work/Job Title: English Professor at the University of Arizona

3. Degrees: BA and MA in English

4. Years Worked in Field: First published in 1994, so 22 years.

5. Picture:

Aurelie Sheehan, http://www.aureliesheehan.com

6. Time and Location of Interview: 12:45 on February 25th, 2016 in the Modern Languages 471.

7. Interview Questions:

1. How would you describe your societal role as a creative writer?
2. How has your background and past prepared you for the aforementioned societal role?
3. What genres do you most contribute to and what conventions do you employ?
4. What kind of internal audiences do you write for in your work?
5. What kind of external audiences do you write for in your work?
6. How has the profession of creative writing changed since you started working in it?
7. How do you approach time management when it comes to your writing?
8. How mindful are you about your audience when writing?

Interviewee No. 2

1. Name: Seth Foley

2. Place of Work/Job Title: Manager at Hippie Gypsy, Currently working on a political commentary novel.

3. Degrees:  BA in Political Science

4. Years Worked in Field: At least a year.

5. Picture: 

Seth Foley (on the left), No professional website  

6. Time and Location of Interview: Via Email on February 27th, 2016.

7. Interview Questions:

1. How would you describe your societal role as a creative writer?
2. How has your background and past prepared you for the aforementioned societal role?
3. What genres do you most contribute to and what conventions do you employ?
4. What kind of internal audiences do you write for in your work?
5. What kind of external audiences do you write for in your work?
6. How has the profession of creative writing changed since you started working in it?
7. How do you approach time management when it comes to your writing?
8. How mindful are you about your audience when writing?

Brutally Honest Self-Assessment

1. I am honestly really worried having never submitted a QRG before. I am afraid it was too brief which was sadly intentional because I was trying to be loyal to the succinct QRG format.

2. The brevity and the lack of depth are my biggest concerns.

3. I feel that I was extremely careful in maintaining the structure and style of a QRG.

4. I NEED TO IMPROVE MY TIME MANAGEMENT. I ended up having to quit my job to finish this assignment and still missed some major deadlines. NEXT PROJECT WILL BE DIFFERENT!

Local Revision: Variety

1. Upon analysis, I have revealed that I have a natural gift for sentence variation. However, I used simple sentences, as defined in the Rules for Writers on page 154, sparingly. My paragraphs about the various sides to the issue is a touch repetitive upon comparison.

2. My sentence transitions have mostly been replaced by the various subtitles that I used to label each paragraph. As previously stated, I feel that my paragraph introduction structure is a bit too uniform.

3. My vocabulary could use a little more flavor. My greatest strength is that my simple vocabulary is loyal to the QRG format. My greatest weakness is its redundancy that can be avoided by describing the stakeholders in more depth.

Local Revision: Pronoun Usage

1. I used pronouns rather sparingly. This is most likely a sign that I need to go more in depth in my project because pronouns are only used correctly when referring to the subject for at least the second time so I am mentioning too many people just once. Perhaps, I am focusing on mentioning everyone in the conflict opposed to honing in on the most important people.

2. There is one instance where I use the word "we" to refer to the audience and I in the context of "This year's Academy Awards is set to pick the best pictures and performances for 2015, the year we saw Ferguson and various other fatal police shootings of African American citizens." I believe this is effective in connecting with the audience over a national tragedy.

My Pronouns

My Pronouns:
We (my audience and I)
Many (those who believe the Oscars are whitewashed)
Many (those who believe the Oscars are whitewashed)
Their (those who believe the Oscars are whitewashed)
Many (George Clooney, Barack Obama, Viola Davis, etc.)
Some (Will Smith, Spike Lee, Jada Pinkett Smith, etc.)
Others (those who believe the Oscars are not whitewashed)
Many (those angered by Leonardo DiCaprio not winning the 2014 Best Picture Oscar)
He (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Local Revisions: Passive and Active Voice

Active (Specific):
Overlooked
Voice
Voiced
Announced
Overlooked
Overlooked
Soothe
Broadcast

Active (General):
Have
Existed
Places
Is
Have
Picked
Is
Pick
Saw
Was
Argue
Were
Take
Use
Were
Has
Increase
Is
Are
Were
Supports
Argue
Be
Decided
Go
Call
Be
Is
Is
Win
Are
Be
Outdated
Is
Has
Pick
Cites
Back
Is
Continued
Were
Angered
Has
Were
Fix
Is
Provide
Feel
Offended
Revised
Tell

Passive:

Has
Served
Are
Has
Led

Has

Has
Has
Are
Considered
Have
Pointed
Have
Expressed
Produced

Questions:

1. Analyzing my verbs for passivity has been an eye-opener for me. The majority of my verbs do not pop and precisely describe the actions of the controversy's key players. Also there are too many instances of passive voice. Revision is needed!

2. I need to use more precise verbs and less passive voice.

Local Revisions: Tense Usage

Past:
Existed
Has
Served
Picked
Saw
Was
Were
Overlooked
Has
Led
Has
Has
Were
Considered
Pointed
Has
Voiced
Announced
Were
Overlooked
Expressed
Produced
Decided
Outdated
Has
Continued
Were
Angered
Overlooked
Has
Were
Offended
Revised

Present:
Have
Places
Are
Is
Have
Is
Pick
Argue
Take
Use
Voice
Are
Have
Increase
Is
Are
Have
Supports
Argue
Be
Go
Call
Be
Is
Is
Win
Are
Be
Is
Pick
Cites
Back
Is
Fix
Is
Provide
Feel
Soothe
Broadcast

Future:
Will tell

Questions:

1. The present tense.

2. I believe that my emphasis on the present and past tenses gives my project a reflective and scene-setting tone. I feel that by abstaining from the future tense until the last line that I properly alluded to the ongoing nature of this controversy with my tone.

3. I feel that my tones, though shifting frequently between the past and present tenses flow well because in their contexts I properly articulate the causes using the past tense and then the effects using the present.

4. I use the present tense frequently in order to illustrate the incompleteness of this controversy which is important because the event in question has not happened yet.

My Verbs

Verb List:
Have
Existed
Has
Served
Places
Are
Is
Have
Picked
Is
Pick
Saw
Was
Argue
Were
Overlooked
Has
Led
Take
Use
Voice
Has
Has
Were
Are
Considered
Have
Pointed
Has
Voiced
Announced
Increase
Is
Are
Were
Overlooked
Have
Expressed
Produced
Supports
Argue
Be
Decided
Go
Call
Be
Is
Is
Win
Are
Be
Outdated
Is
Has
Pick
Cites
Back
Is
Continued
Were
Angered
Overlooked
Has
Were
Fix
Is
Provide
Feel
Offended
Revised
Soothe
Tell
Broadcast

Frequency:
Be (and other tenses): 21
Have (and other tenses):10
Pick (and other tenses): 3
Overlook (and other tenses): 3
Voice (and other tenses): 2
Argue (and other tenses): 2

Local Revision: Wordiness

From my draft:

"For the eighty-eight years that the Academy Awards have existed, the award show has served as American (and occasionally global) cinema’s equivalent to the ESPY Awards for sports and athletics, the Tony Awards for theater, the Grammy Awards for music, the Emmy Awards for televised programs. The Oscars, being the oldest of the aforementioned award shows, places the burden of deciding the year’s best actors, actresses, films, directors, and other key players in the field on a board of over 6,000 members of the film industry known as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Opposing the People’s Choice Awards and many other modern awards programs, the victors are chosen by the peers of the nominated filmmakers not the general audiences. Therefore, the AMPAS’s pick for best picture is not always what the masses would have picked."

Revised excerpt:

"The Academy Awards have long been American cinema's most popular awards show. The Oscars relies on the 6,000 or so members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to vote on the year's best films, filmmakers, actors, and actresses. Since the general public does not have a say in who wins or gets nominated it is not uncommon for the AMPAS's to rival common opinion."

I believe my revised draft is rather boring in comparison to the original. However, its succinctness is more relevant to the style of a quick reference guide. I will probably try to make it 10-20% as brief to adapt to the genre yet not sacrifice my diction.

Peer Review 2

For my second round of peer reviewing, I reviewed Nicholas Hoover's video and Jianna LoCricchio's quick reference guide.
Here are their drafts: Hoover's Draft and LoCricchio's Draft.
1. After watching Hoover's video, I was left with an impending sense of doom because at some point in the near future I will have to produce one myself. I also realized that I need to start thinking of ways to differentiate my video from everyone else's and to make it entertaining as soon as possible.
2. My top three issue with my draft

1. I feel like it is too short.
• To fix this, I plan to do a lot more research on my controversy this weekend in order to have enough information to add another section to my quick reference guide.
2. I feel like I could go in depth on the various stakeholders.
• To fix this, I plan to perform vigorous research with the specific goal of finding suitable quotes that sum up each stakeholder's view on the controversy.
3. I feel like I could focus more on setting and occasion.
• I plan to research specific places in which my controversy is a hot topic, besides Hollywood.

3. My top three strengths

1. Loyalty to the format of a quick reference guide.
• As I add more sections to my QRG, I hope to maintain the short, sweet, and to-the-point tone of m first draft.
2. Analysis of my controversy being an example of a greater social issue.
• By relating the controversy to a greater flaw in our society, I manage to thoughtfully conclude my entire QRG.
3. The general flow and consistency.
• Typically my writing style erratically jumps from tone to tone, but I feel that this QRG, due to its pragmatism, is very consistently toned.

AJC ajcann.wordpress.com. "Peer Review". 5/23/2008 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License. 

Peer Review 1

For my peer review, I graded Rashaan Malik's QRG on the NFL Concussion Controversy.

Two Things I Liked:

1. He made excellent use of the QRG format and seemed to have a knack for its diction and flow.
2. He did an excellent job of illustrating both stakeholders' position on the issue without being too blatant (like having each stakeholder and their intentions described in different sections of the QRG).

Two Mistakes I Noticed:

1. Certain paragraphs were too meaty in my opinion to be considered a part of the QRG. More succinct information could have been supplemented.
2. Little traces of descriptive story telling are apparent: "It was a cold Pittsburgh fall morning...". I feel that this did not coexist well with the QRG format.

Draft of Project 1

My draft , on the whole, can best be described as a very, very rough draft. I feel that I have not yet grasped the fluidity of the organization and diction of the typical quick reference guide. However, I do feel I accurately identified the various stakeholders in the controversy, though I could add more depth. I am also pretty happy with my conclusion, though it will need a lot of editing.

Cluster of Stakeholders

My Cluster is aimed at unveiling both sides of the controversy on whether the Oscars are showing favoritism towards white members of the movie industry or if it is purely based off the nominees merit. Many black filmmakers who were not nominated are now boycotting the Oscars and feel discriminated against since they were not nominated and aim to increase minority representation at the Oscars. On the other side, the Academy believes that it fairly picked its candidates and wants to accommodate the misrepresented minorities without compromising it's integrity.

Bueso, Davidlohr. "Academy Award Winner". 9/6/2009 via Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License.

Reddit and What I Found There

For a forum on creative writing...

1. What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exhanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in the Reddit forums.

On the creative writing page of Reddit, there are numerous debates and meaningful exchanges criticizing and giving advice on various works of creative literature posted by the author. Also on the page there are various people asking for specific advice on writing short stories: character development, creating tension, etc.

2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums? Hyperlink us to the two different Reddit threads and explain why you found those debates interesting. Be specific and honest and be yourself. I don't want you to blah-blah-blah this. I want you to really engage.

The first interesting debate I saw was posted in response to a question of how to create tension at the beginning of a story. The advice provided was contradictory as one Redditers told the original poster to rely on loglines: a tool used in screenwriting to generalize a movie's plot in one sentence and another said to focus on the complexity of the plot when writing a complex introduction. I found the debate interesting because the original poster simply used the discussion to pontificate about his own story.

My second debate was a criticism of a story written by the original poster. The first commenter heavily criticized the story claiming that the writer was "trying too hard". The second commenter believed that the story was fine as it was. I found it interesting because the online context of the debate made it easier for the first commenter to criticize the writer openly without ever meeting the person.

3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums? Were the people in those forums talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking aboput or things you had no idea they'd be discussing? Explain in concise specific detail.

For writers on a creative writing forum, I assumed that they would have had better vocabularies. Also, I expected there to be much more posts on the page, which was only occupied by around twelve posts. I anticipated that the page would be mostly devoted to literary criticisms so I was not surprised by anything I saw content-wise.

ZyMOS-Bot. "Reddit". 1/1/10 via Wikimedia Commons. Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

For the article called "The Epic Fail of Hollywood's Hottest Algorithm", posted by Vulture, a branch New York Magazine...

1. What is the debate, disagreement or argument in the story about? Explain cocisely, but with
specificity and precision. Name specific people, places, things, events, dates, times and/or other identifying details.

The discussion of the article is based around the business practices of Ryan Kavanaugh, a man who claimed to have cracked the code on how to make high profit producing movies in 2003. Kavanaugh is extremely integrated into the movie industry and is known to be friendly with Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, and many other famous actors and figures in the business.

2. Who is the most sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why do they evoke feelings of sympathy from you?

The most sympathetic characters of the story would be all those who were let down and effected by the failure of his formula especially Relativity Media because they were invested heavily in his algorithms. I feel sympathetic towards all those effected because they all suffered great loses.

3. Who is the least sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why can't you easily sympathize with them?

Ryan Kavanaugh was the least sympathetic character because many suffered because of plan's failure. He posed as a prophet of movie success and led many to believe that he was the "boy genius" of Hollywood. I have a hard time sympathizing with him because of all the people he harmed out weighs his own suffering as his plan failed.

For the article called "Bernie Sanders Is Getting a Surprising Amount of Donations", posted by Fortune Magazine..

1. What is the debate, disagreement or argument in the story about? Explain cocisely, but with specificity and precision. Name specific people, places, things, events, dates, times and/or other identifying details.

The story was questioning the ability of Bernie Sanders's campaign to beat Hillary Clinton in the primaries of the 2016 presidential election without the support of the wealthiest people in the country.  Many believe that Sanders has found a way around needing the support of wealthy lobbyists as his donations increase and more polls are won in his favor.

2. Who is the most sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why do they evoke feelings of sympathy from you?

The most sympathetic character of this story is Bernie Sanders because he is essentially the "little train engine that could"of the 2016 primaries. The New York-born presidential candidate is also trying to win the election without accepting money from the 1%.

3. Who is the least sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why can't you easily sympathize with them?

Hillary Clinton is portrayed simply as the anti-Sanders in the article. I find her hard to sympathize with because she is doing everything to win the election that Sanders morally refuses to do.

Comets sock. "bernie-sanders-franklin-nh-20150802-DSC02607". 8/10/15 via Wikimedia Commons. Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License.