-identify common ground with your audience

-choose a topic you care about, that also is a contested issue

-thesis= topic+ claim

-identify other perspectives

-forms of argument: introduction, narration, partition, confirmation, refutation, conclusion

-differentiate between fact and opinion

-induction: reasoning from examples to conclusions

-deduction: reasoning from general to specific

-Toulmin- claim, data, warrant

-Fallacies of relevance: personal attack, bandwagoning, false authority, appeal to tradition, etc.

-Fallacies of ambiguity: hasty generalization, begging the question, guilt by association, circular argument, slippery slope, etc.

what makes me feel comfortable in a class: background noise, laid-back vibe, classmates are respectful, professor is available, dimmer lights.

what makes me uncomfortable in a class: no room to move around, silence, no visual aids, professor hovers over.

Who is the author? What are his intentions? He is a journalist, but he has said “I don’t think of myself as a real journalist.” He has some controversy surrounding his writing. This writing was intended to be sarcastic with some humor.

Does he treat opposing sides fairly? No. He demeans people who are “yankee haters”. He does this to emphasize the sarcasm.

What is the rhetorical context? He includes references to events that happened and were relevant at the time of publication. He is responding to events such as Alex Rodriguez being traded to the Yankees.

Who is the intended audience? Anyone who dislikes the Yankees is the audience he is speaking to.

What values do the writer and reader have in common? Both have passion for baseball, and Stein is using that passion to get a reaction out of the audience.

Does the writer use illustrations or examples to prove points, show events, or explain methods? He uses a lot of past events that were relevant in 2004 to emphasize his writing.

Does the writer build a case for his position by starting with widely accepted knowledge? No. He starts off with opinions/accusations in a harsh manner.

Does the author appeal to reason? Not really. This is not to be taken very seriously.

Does the author use/invoke emotion to help make the point of the story? Yes, for comedic purposes.

-question the text. is the author writing with a bias? always research the author to see their viewpoints and make note of how it influences their writing.

-make note of how the text is structured, and how/why that affects the text

-read the text more than once.

-ask yourself if the text reminds you of anything else you’ve read. explore how it made you feel while reading it/after reading it.

-write a summary of the text.

-identify facts vs opinions.

-determine the validity/authority of the writer and the text.

-identify the purpose, audience, and stance.

-I’m at UCBA because college is a societal expectation for success.

-I chose this class because it was required for my credits, and it was the only class left available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

-I’m from Cincinnati.

-I’ve lived here all my life.

-My major is Communication.

I chose it because it is very broad and I can be flexible with considering careers.

-I watch a lot of movies and TV shows.

-I can wiggle my ears.

-Hard skills: Cooking, Photography, Media training

Soft skills: Efficient communication skills, reliability

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.