ivanatrillo-blog

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WELCOME TO RWS 1302

Where you will spend most of the semester interacting with other students!

So here you are, complaining at how summer is over and you must go back to school. [sigh] I feel you. But look at the bright side, your new professor is Ms. Villa!!

Ms. Villa is such an amazing teacher! she is funny but serious and straight to the point when it comes to assignments. This class is a hybrid class, meaning that you will only meet once a week and most of your work will be done at home in sections called modules on blackboard. When I first started this course, I was very confused about how the modules worked, but trust me, you will get the hang of it. Just keep track of the dates the assignments are due and you will be fine. 

like the blue bunny said, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!!this class is not an easy grade, but it is not impossible to get high scores on all of the assignments, you just have to earn them. you will have major assignments such as the Genre Analysis, Film Documentary, etc. but the one I consider the most challenging was the Literature Review. Just take your time and be assertive when doing your research. FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND CHECK THE RUBRIC!!! otherwise, you will be fine. Ms. Villa is very clear when giving the instructions, but if anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to contact her. She will do her best to answer all of your questions!!!

This class can seem a little scary and difficult at first, but if you just give your all, you will succeed! I believe in you!!

Some learning Strategies I picked through out the semester is to read the modules before class so you have an idea of what will be discussed in class and you can be ready to ask questions. Also, get started in the assignments as early as possible so you can go to the writing center and get it revised  it revised, this will increase your chances of getting a higher grade.

well, that is all I have to say about this course! Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful semester!

[ivanatrillo-blog]

I agree with you that creating a video is another way for us to communicate and not just rely on text. I also think your groups video was great and did a good job at delivering a message. It was really cool to see a simulation of the coronary artery with the hose and the water. congratulations!

Week 15

1.What is the purpose of submitting a video in a writing class? 

The purpose of submitting a video in a writing course is to learn new means of communication. Writing is a form of communication to present a goal. But a video is another way to communicate to the audience and present a message.

2. Explain how you composed your message (purpose) in multiple forms.

Throughout the video we presented our message by many ways. We used ethos, pathos and logos. For logos we showed statistics. We also made a clip explaining what coronary heart disease is. We also explained in clips what to do to prevent coronary heart disease. These clips were both ethos and pathos. They had some humor and they were informative.

3. Did the structure and delivery of the film doc worked to achieve its advocacy? Yes/No. Explain. 

I believe the structure we choose for the video was a good way to present our message. It was a unique way to present a message. It kept the audience entertain and focus on the message.

4. Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question.

I selected question number two I used my knowledge from making the video. So the strategy used is ethos. I helped to create the video. So I know where we got the information an every we did throughout the video to achieve the goal. I used the gif of the recording of the ghost to symbolize how our group did clips for the video.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 15

First of all! happy first of May!

OK now in all seriousness,

For many people, creating a video for a writing class is very unexpected. For me, not really. Writing is just one of many forms of expressing an idea, event, or emotion,  but its certainly not the only way in which a person can transmit a message. Communication is key for the survival of our human interaction, and with technology growing so fast, it is very important to be able to communicate in different styles, videos being one of them. I see this assignment as an opportunity to grow as a writer, because its like bringing words to life with sound and visuals. Creating a video is combining old skills such as writing and research, with new skills such as editing. 

My group and I composed the purpose of our film doc in multiple ways. We used the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos. In order to establish ethos, or our credibility, we decided to interview a professional psychologist, Dr. James Michael Wood. Through this interview, we provided background information on our issue. We also included videos created by JAN (Job Accommodating Network). We focused on this organization as our big solution to our issue, so providing clips from their videos established their credibility and told our audience a little more about them. For our pathos, we picked two completely different songs to provoke different emotional response. the first was a slow piano song to bring seriousness to the information being presented and cause an emotion of sympathy. The second song was more upbeat to bring an emotion to want to make a change. For logos, we used statistics and information found through our research. 

For the actual presentation of the video, we decided to go in two directions to make it fun and informative for our audience. we provided a brochure with more information about JAN. We also dresses up as some of the characters of Inside Out in order to represent the different emotions people with Bipolar disorder go through every day. we also brought cupcakes for the class with the colors of our characters to demonstrate how each emotion is a unique part of the person with Bipolar Disorder and all come together. 

I believe that the way my group and I delivered our message was very successful because it was informative but also made a call for a change. Our video was serious and informative and the solutions were to a certain extent simple and logical. All of the decisions we made on how we wanted our video to look was with the sole purpose of making our audience understand that bipolar disorder is a serious mental disorder like any other and deserves seriousness. My group and I are very happy with how it turned out because our hard work payed off.

(My group and I celebrating both our hard work and the premier of Game of Thrones!)

Me writing the first question consisted of looking at the positive sides of creating a video in a writing class. I just wrote what cam to mind, like many writers do. Writing is a gift given to us so we can have a voice. Through our gain of knowledge, the stronger our voice will be. We must use this gift that many people in the world have been denied, because sometimes we take learning for granted. Just like Edward Bulwer-Lytton said

[ivanatrillo-blog]

Hey Rebecca! I also agree that the best option for your Op-Ed is to write an newspaper article because your audience is employers and adults who are more likely to read the newspaper than check out a blog or a brochure. I agree 100% on your stance in the bipolar issue! good luck n your project! see you tomorrow:)

Week 14

1. The genre I am selecting for my op-ed will be a little more traditional. I plan to use a newspaper article.

2. I believe this is the best format because my audience are business related and I see them as more newspaper reading people. With the newspaper article, its a short, simple, and gets to the point. You can even scan through it and you’ll still get what the article is trying to say.

3. My issue is bipolar disorder in the workplace. It is not a great concern for employers because they have no clue what’s happening with their employees. So my stance is to provide an awareness to the employers to show that some of their employees could be suffering from BD and need help at work. My policy change would be to give BD employees a time to have a counseling session during work and opportunities to work at home in case they weren’t able to at work. This is just some of the mini solutions employers can do to help their employees.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

yout group’s topic sounds very interesting because I myself know nothing about wheightlifting so i assume there are others like me out there. I like how your group is focusing on using all three of the rhetorical approaches, and how you plan on using them look that they may work for your video. Good luck!

Film Doc

For the making of the video, our team is going to use ethos, logos, pathos, these rhetorical choices, will be observed as followed, Ethos will be portrayed on the interviews that are going to be conducted, as well as the sources that are going to be used. Logos, will be incorporated with the use of graphs and statistics, that will help transmit the information visually, also facts and important information. Finally, pathos which focuses on the transition of the message. We will be using pathos to create conscience in teens about the injuries that can be caused if weightlifting is not done properly.

Without these rhetorical choices our video would fail its purpose, which is to inform teens about weightlifting at an early age.

The resource that helped us in the making of the video, and that can absolute help other groups are the outline of the movie, as well as websites related to our topic.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 12: FILM DOC.

My group and I are planning on using logos and ethos as the base for our documentary. We decided to use these two rhetoric approaches because we are trying to have a more serious approach towards our audience in order to provide important information such as definitions, statistics, and facts.

Our group will be focusing on adults with Bipolar Disorder in the work place and how to improve the environment. We plan on providing the definition of bipolar disorder, some statistics about how common this disorder is, and other facts that can help the people suffering from bipolar disorder and the people that work with them. 

Some of the sources that we have found useful are the ones containing facts and statistics about bipolar disorder, and even some that suggest some solutions towards this problem in the workplace.

Since we are not targeting our audience through pathos, we must strive to establish credibility (ethos). We plan on doing this by interviewing a psychologist who is a specialist and has had experience with this topic. we must establish credibility in order to prove we are trustworthy and we are knowledgeable about the topic. 

Last but not least, we decided to not use pathos because  this is a very serious topic and we want to give it the seriousness it deserves and convince our audience that there are things they can do through logos.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

Hey @breeeanadelrey to start off, I really liked the GIFs you used that Amy one killed me!! and I love the big bang theory so the Sheldon GIF was hillarious! and I have to say, I totally agree with you in the fact that when I was researching for my annotated bibliography, I wasn't really considering if they would be the ones I was going to use but they seemed good enough to work. once I was working on the lit review, I also realized that half of my sources didn't apply to my paper, so I had to look for new sources.

but in the end, I was also happy with my end product!

Literature Review post

1. What patterns did you find in the development or enhancement of your research skills?

- I feel like my research and writing abilities really improved with the Literature review paper. Before I hard time with researching and using the information to form the paper, but after this assignment i feel more confident with using research in a paper.  I also feel like I improved with structuring and organizing my paper. Since you had to have a set of sources that you could really rely on, once you had those you were good to go. Overall, I had a difficult time writing this paper but I was content with the outcome.

2. Did your assessment/ evaluation change? If so, how?

-Definitely. When we had to write our annotated bib, I just skimmed through the sources. When I was completing the final paper, I was only using like half of the sources I started out with. I kept finding much better sources than ones I had chosen, and I really wanted to have a good variety our sources as well. I worked hard on making sure each source was credible, and relevant to my research questions.

3. Do you think the methodology described in questions 1&2 worked? Yes/No?

-Yes! Since my research, structure, and organizing abilities improved, I feel like I did well on the assignment. For me, just starting a paper is the hardest part. Before I would just write whatever came to mind, but with this assignment, I made sure to pay attention to the rubric, and complete each requirement. Searching for the right sources really helped me with finding everything I needed to write the paper correctly.

4.Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question.

- The rhetorical choices I made answering question 2 were the use of a logos appeal. I really did focus on finding the right sources, and interpreting the information I used correctly. This assignment was all facts, direct quotes and citations so the logos appeal was really used in my paper as well. Honestly I am just so glad this assignment is over with.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 10: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. What patterns did you find in the development, or enhancement, of your research skills?

      I am familiar with writing research papers, annotated bibliographies, essays, and any other kind of writing styles such as letters and emails, but I have never written a literature review and it was hard.I am used to being allowed to be biased and include my opinion in order to help the paper flow and add backup  to the information. For the literature review, you are not allowed to add any opinion and that was the challenge. I am familiar with doing research for papers, and before this assignment I knew the difference between a scholarly article and a blog post, but my priority was never to find different sources in order to have variety. for this assignment, i had to force myself to get out of my comfort zone and find different types of books, articles, credible websites, and even different types of topics within a topic. After writing this lit review, I can see now how beneficial it is to have a variety of sources with different opinions in order to make the information  credible and if needed, argumentative. 

 I also feel like I enhanced the way I write a paper, because I always try to make it good in order to complete all of the requirements and give a little extra, but for this assignment, since there were many guidelines that kept me in track of what i needed and didn't need to do, I feel like I was more objective in to what kind of information was helpful and I became more efficient in my wording choice. 

[Me and @andreaseanez​ writing out lit reviews in the UTEP library]

2.  Did your assessment/evaluation of the sources change? If so, how?

       My assessment/evaluation of my sources changed at some extent.  I feel like my knowledge about research came in handy but I feel like I also learned to used other sources I was familiar with but had never put into practice, such as a primary source. this assignment gave me an opportunity to experiment on the type of sources I use. As I was writing my paper and looking at the sources i had, some I kept and some I kept changing because I would notice that they were not useful.

But for future assignments, now I know that research takes time and that I may not find what i need right away, but that’s OK but i eventually will. 

3. Do you think the methodology described in questions 1 and 2 work? Yes/No. Explain.

    I feel like the methodology explained in the previous questions worked for this assignment and may work for some future ones. Every assignment has its own guidelines and should have its own methodology, but i feel like the methods above can be applied to almost any kind of writing assignment. the quality of your sources are the base of your paper, so the better the are, the better your essay will be. 

4.Select one of the questions listed and explain the rhetorical choices you made towards answering the question.

    Fpr question one, I used a mix of pathos and logos, because I wanted to write about my experience but also include information that can be helpful to me and to others. I feel like I wrote exactly what was on my mind but I included some things that can maybe help someone else. 

      After this assignment, I feel accomplished because I challenged myself and I managed to succeed!!!

[ivanatrillo-blog]

I really like the UTEP databases like academic search complete because they have a lot of articles with good information. Like you said, I think it is very important to make sure you have different point of views and facts because you dont want to take a side on the argument. 

Literature Review Research

The process that I have taken begins with what I want to search in the first place. I had to specifically narrow down my topic to allow for the best results.

Then I continued to search the articles and reading mainly the abstract that way if the article is irrelevant than I can move on quickly. I also paid attention to the authors and if they are credible and biased that way I can use them credibly in my paper.

I found that the best databases to search in where the UTEP Library and Google Scholar. They gave me credible sources and while some had biased articles they made it clear if it was a Scholarly Article or a periodical.

Overall I used different sources that spoke of both sides of the argument in which I am later going to research. This method allowed me to keep my opinion away from the paper, and leave it only as pure facts.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 7: SOURCE RESEARCH

For this assignment, I had to do some research for the literature review.My first step was to make sure I revised the questions I had and that I was sure I wanted to use them, Once I was happy with my questions and was sure they were not FAQs format, I started my research process.

I wanted to make sure that the sources I picked were relatively recent and credible. I wanted to make sure hat they authors of the source were credible and that they were experts in the topic. I had a process of elimination where if a source seemed  non-relevant and outdated, I wouldn't even consider it as a reliable source. Also, if the source did not have a lot of information that could help me, I discarded it.

aimed for sources that were not bias and that looked at different angels and had different point of views. Most were straight up facts, but I managed to find some with different information. 

(This gif represents me searching for good sources and when I would find one!)

At first it was a little hard to find god sources, but after a while it became easier to identify the sources that could actually help me. I used different databases for scholarly articles, and the UTEP library for books,and I also found online books. 

I feel accomplished, because I feel like I did a good job on keeping opinions out of the way so the sources could be reliable andnot bias. 

[ivanatrillo-blog]

Week 6: Rhetoric Choice

My topic for the literature review surrounds the mental illness schizophrenia. 

My questions focus on informing my audience about the treatments and methods a person with paranoid schizophrenia needs and how effective they are.  

Since schizophrenia is a serious mental disease I chose logos as my rhetoric approach. I wanted my question to reflect the importance about the disease. I wanted my questions to be answered by facts more than anything else. 

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 6: MY RHETORICAL CHOICES

The topic of my research questions is postpartum psychosis. This mental disorder is not very accepted by society because to them its wrong for a mother to neglect her child. In reality, this disorder is more complex than just “neglecting” your child. It a real mental disorder that affects many mothers and if it goes untreated it can lead to suicide and possibly the harming of the new born. 

For this assignment, I had to come up with three research question, which sole purpose are to inform my audience in more detail about my topic. My intention is to inform them about treatments, statistics, and other relevant things that can be answer in one simple google question. 

In order to be able to inform my audience in the most effective way, I used logos to make my questions more factual than emotional. My questions are structured in a way that an answer can be provided through research and make the question bring awareness to the topic.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

@andreaseanez Thank you! 

WEEK 6: MY RHETORICAL CHOICES

The topic of my research questions is postpartum psychosis. This mental disorder is not very accepted by society because to them its wrong for a mother to neglect her child. In reality, this disorder is more complex than just “neglecting” your child. It a real mental disorder that affects many mothers and if it goes untreated it can lead to suicide and possibly the harming of the new born. 

For this assignment, I had to come up with three research question, which sole purpose are to inform my audience in more detail about my topic. My intention is to inform them about treatments, statistics, and other relevant things that can be answer in one simple google question. 

In order to be able to inform my audience in the most effective way, I used logos to make my questions more factual than emotional. My questions are structured in a way that an answer can be provided through research and make the question bring awareness to the topic.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 6: MY RHETORICAL CHOICES

The topic of my research questions is postpartum psychosis. This mental disorder is not very accepted by society because to them its wrong for a mother to neglect her child. In reality, this disorder is more complex than just “neglecting” your child. It a real mental disorder that affects many mothers and if it goes untreated it can lead to suicide and possibly the harming of the new born. 

For this assignment, I had to come up with three research question, which sole purpose are to inform my audience in more detail about my topic. My intention is to inform them about treatments, statistics, and other relevant things that can be answer in one simple google question. 

In order to be able to inform my audience in the most effective way, I used logos to make my questions more factual than emotional. My questions are structured in a way that an answer can be provided through research and make the question bring awareness to the topic.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

hey @andreaseanez I like the topic you picked, schizophrenia is a very interesting topic because there is not a definite cure and its origin is still unknown to psychologists. I cant imagine what its like to have schizophrenia but I am sure its not pleasant. Good look with your assignment fellow psych student!

Week 6: Rhetoric Choice

My topic for the literature review surrounds the mental illness schizophrenia. 

My questions focus on informing my audience about the treatments and methods a person with paranoid schizophrenia needs and how effective they are.  

Since schizophrenia is a serious mental disease I chose logos as my rhetoric approach. I wanted my question to reflect the importance about the disease. I wanted my questions to be answered by facts more than anything else. 

[ivanatrillo-blog]

WEEK 6: MY RHETORICAL CHOICES

The topic of my research questions is postpartum psychosis. This mental disorder is not very accepted by society because to them its wrong for a mother to neglect her child. In reality, this disorder is more complex than just “neglecting” your child. It a real mental disorder that affects many mothers and if it goes untreated it can lead to suicide and possibly the harming of the new born. 

For this assignment, I had to come up with three research question, which sole purpose are to inform my audience in more detail about my topic. My intention is to inform them about treatments, statistics, and other relevant things that can be answer in one simple google question. 

In order to be able to inform my audience in the most effective way, I used logos to make my questions more factual than emotional. My questions are structured in a way that an answer can be provided through research and make the question bring awareness to the topic.

[ivanatrillo-blog]

I really like your choice of gifs, they are really relatable!!! I also had trouble with the analysis at first, but after struggling for hours I got more comfortable with the analysis.

Week 5: Genres

1) What did you know about genres before this assignment and what impact do you think studying genres may have on your writing?  

I did not really know much about genres except that there are many types of categories for genres. By studying genres I believe that it will help improve my writing skills by being able to be more opened minded with the different types of genres.

2) What are the complexities of using genres?

Genres may sometimes be difficult to use because one may find itself struggling when analyzing the different types of genres and trying to get the message across to the audience.

3) What is the value of studying and/or writing about genres?

Studying different types of genres enables us to explore the different features, purposes, and conventions within each genre. Each genre has a particular format and structure that provides organization and makes it easier to make observations about that particular genre. Once we know how to navigate through each kind of genre it will be easier to find the information we seek.

I decided to explain the selection of the GIF for the third question. I believe that it reflects the thinking process one goes through when analyzing genres and when you realize the importance of genres.