Week 15: Using our rubric with my Research paper

• The argument is worth making
• The writer has (tried to) arrange the writing in line with purpose and audience
• The style effectively supports the purpose, argument, and reading comprehension
• The argument and examples work together
• All sources are cited appropriately, in MLA or APA format, in in-text and works cited references.
• There is evidence of revision (which requires that the writer keep and then turn in all drafts with the final version).
• Given the revision, the grammar and mechanics are appropriate for the audience and purpose.
  A criterion you can choose to use:
• The writer took risks in the writing. (If you want this to be part of your own personal rubric, let me know what risk you want to take in your writing—such as trying a new style—in order that we can help you with it.)
  Extra credit criterion:
• The writer uses "bubbler" appropriately in the paper.

     Yes I believe my argument is worth making.  As I discuss in my paper, the 21st century is filled with new technology that is changing our society.  The internet and digital reproduction offer new tools for instruction and experimentation.  My paper discusses how we perceive new technology, specifically video games, and the potential they possess to change the way people learn.

     Over the course of my revisions, I have repeatedly narrowed my argument aligning it with a specific purpose and specific audience.  I have selected to arrange my argument rhetorically as a perception vs. reality paper, explaining to older generations who have not experienced the development of video games first hand their effect on the developing mind.  My style and arrangement are intrinsically connected.  I communicate my argument through a series of logically sequential ideas, and my tone takes into account the audience I am addressing.  I attempted to convey a tone less formal than that of an academic journal, but still professional and authoritative due to my intended audience being comprised of adults, parents, and educators.s

     The examples I use in my argument relate the ideas of other academics engaged in the same discourse.  I cite various publications and academic journals written by professors and scientists who study educational psychology and video games.  I begin by addressing the stigma associated with video games that prevents them from being viewed as tools for education, referencing a quote by Jenny Weight in her article Self, Videogames, and Pedagogy. I then continue with an explanation of what is misunderstood, and how video games should be viewed.  Finally, I give an example of the value of video games as educational tools, explaining how video games can educate individuals in the multiple literacies  of the twenty first century which responds to my original research question.

     All sources are cited appropriately in MLA format, all in text quotations are punctuated properly.  I have included a Works Cited at the end of the paper.

     Plenty of evidence of revision over various stages.  I have copies of each draft as I have revised over the semester.

     The grammar and mechanics are as appropriate as I can find.  I have revised the paper personally multiple times as well as having another look at it.  I took many efforts to remove any comma splicing, and denoting any redundant phrases and dependent clauses with commas.

     

Week 13: Reflecting on reflecting on reflecting

When I revise my reflection paper, I plan to include further analysis of what we learned: how the information I acquired will be translated into useful knowledge.  I also want to include more reflection on how I can communicate what I learned to others, and the future after this class.  While I touch upon the future use of the what I have learned, I would like to expand upon how this class will benefit me moving forward.  My next revision will also include more attention to what is missing, what I felt was unclear or uncovered in our discussion of composition, literacy, and education.  For example I would like to discuss the absence of defining discourse and the various types/interpretations of what discourse is and does.

Week 13: Reflecting on reflecting

In my own reflection I focused heavily upon referencing the materials from the reading and trying to articulate how I will use the knowledge I acquired in the future.  I didn't specifically articulate the process of how I changed, but instead focused on how each reading/concept changed the way I view composition.  I know that my reflective paper displays thought about the writing itself and re-evaluation of what I have learned, because the writing itself is a working out of my thoughts.  The paper is comprised almost entirely of my thoughts/reactions to the content of the course.  I think my reflective paper is missing a shift in opinion.  While I admit that the class has changed me, I have not directly stated my opinion of composition and how it has been altered through the experience of this course.

Week 12: State of my Research Paper

     My draft in its current state is most certainly making a worthy argument.  I believe the research and examples that I have uncovered support my argument more than adequately.  I have continually revised, reshaped, and critically engaged my research topic even skipping back to the invention stage when necessary to reform a more suitable argument for the research topic.  I more than anything have been pushing myself to take risks, and take stances which I am not comfortable taking.  I have driven myself to address my research topic from a critical perspective even to the point of subverting my original beliefs and arguments in favor of addressing an ongoing academic discourse.  My area of concern at this stage is finding the arrangement and style which will generate the response I desire from my intended audience.

Week 12: Poster Draft

In creating my two poster draft ideas, I found my self contemplating how symbolism and representation work within a visual composition.  The Dondis article discusses how abstraction and emphasis can convey complex meanings when used properly.  I focused heavily on these two concepts in my drafts.  I was interested and concerned with how much audience was a defining factor in my visual composition.  As I worked through ideas, I realized that creating an image to reflect my idea was heavily influenced on how a spectator reacts to visual stimuli.  To make my argument important and accessible, it also has to be easily interpreted.  I think my concern with how to entice the audience in my visual composition will translate to how I refine the rhetorical structure of my paper.  I want to change my paper to make it as engaging and clear to my audience as possible, in contrast to its current emphasis on deep ideological discussions.

Week 11: Writing as a matter of taste

It is important to understand that anything that is the product of another human being was created with a specific purpose.  While that purpose may not appear to be relevant, or may not have value to an individual, it is important to realize that all products are expressions, created with the intent of conveying a specific reaction to the human condition with the hope that another may see it and relate.  The confusion of taste, of quality, of value, of power all come from a subjective interpretation that the world and its parts were created for the purpose of aiding the self, which is a false claim.

Week 11: Where am I in my draft?

When I was first given this assignment, I selected to discuss the connection between Video Games and Education.  At the time it seemed like a simple one to one connection, and an argument that could easily be supported.  As I wrote the my original idea became more complex.  What specifically can we learn from games?  The answer was nothing specific.  I found research studies, journals, news and news articles all discussing different types of learning that result from the playing of different video games.  Not only were the types of learning complicated, but my simple concept of Video games became a complex topic as well.  As I researched how we learn from video games, I realized how many different video game types and genres their were and how each has its own capacity (or lackthereof) for education.  Then I realized that the type of learning I believed was important from video games, was not just "learning" but learning practical skills, that actually benefit the player.  As I changed the emphasis of my paper I realized that a video game itself does not simply teach people practical skills, it is in fact a combination of many behaviors connected to the playing of the game.  The more I wrote, and the more I acquired new research, the more I have changed my original research topic.  The experience of writing itself has taught me about what I was originally trying to comment upon.  I now am working to develop a unique interpretation of these two concepts and how they relate.  What that is... I have yet to learn.