Prompt #10: C.R.A.P.

In my English class we recently read an online article about web-style writing. Web-style writing is something that truly fascinates me, because many people know very little about it, but it consumes probably 75% of the populations daily lives.

Everyone considers, at least a little, the meaning behind what they are writing on there various social media networking sites. Something most of them probably don't consider is the background work that went into making sure that media network site is enjoyable and attractable for all audiences. In this decade every one is a target audience for the internet. It seems these days children are born and raised on the internet and  technology. If the internet consumes so much of everyone's life, why not learn how to use it the right way. 

Whether they know it or not, visual design is what draws people into these websites so prominently. There were several different aspects to this article on visual design, but the one I was drawn to was the C.R.A.P. method. The C.R.A.P. method is one that was edited in the article by Matt Barton, James Kalmbach, and Charles Lowe:

C-contrast
R-repetition
A-alignment
P-proximity 

All of these four features go into making a desirable and workable web page. Contrast means that the webpage can't have colors that clash, giving the reader a possible headache. Repetition is just how it sounds. It's the process of repeating words, colors, or background of the design. The alignment is, basically having everything centered. No one wants to read words going crazy all over the page. The last of the C.R.A.P. method is the use of proximity. Proximity may be them most important one of all. The letters, phrases, boxes, anything that might be included on the webpage cannot be too close to too far apart or the reader will become frustrated and give up on the text altogether. These four elements work together to create a successful, design savvy webpage.

The need for these four elements nowadays sky rockets from what the meaning behind these were 10 or even 15 years ago. Almost everyone is using the internet in some way. Every day business's are updating there webpages to attract more customers or artists are finding ways to interact with there fans to gain more success. Even politicians have websites to promote voting. These are only two examples in a wide variety of reasons why using the C.R.A.P. method works. This concept gives the webpage a more desirable look, but it also gives it a more credible one. Viewers of this webpage are more likely going to come back to visit it, if the design is pleasing to the eyes. This is where this method comes in and is useful. The more likable a webpage is for anyone viewing it, the more likely it is that someone, somewhere is going to share it. "What's that you say? You know where I'm going with this, well then you'd be right, RHETORICAL VELOCITY STRIKES AGAIN."

(I apologize for the all caps, I get carried away and I haven't had anyone peer review this yet, *cough cough*, so my writing is out of hand right now).

So, back on the topic, this method is needed and extremely useful. Would you want to read this blog if it was in bright pink letters with a neon yellow background? No, you probably wouldn't. Websites need rhetorical velocity to be successful and for the website to be successful, it needs the C.R.A.P. method.

Have a lovely day and keep this in mind... 

Always, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine. 

~Kelsey 

This is my last blog post for this project *sigh.* That's okay though, because I enjoyed it so much I'm highly considering starting another one or maybe even continuing this one on my own. It was an enlightened experience for me and I really enjoyed it. As I wrote, I learned things about myself and writing that I will forever keep in the back of my mind to be pulled out at a moments notice when needed. It was quite fun at times and I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with every one of my readers. I don't know when I'll be back, but no need to fear, the wait won't be to long. 

Prompt #9: Peer Review Party

Peer reviews. They are dreaded in every classroom across the world. I've never heard anyone say, "YES, WE GET TO PARTICIPATE IN A PEER REVIEW, PARTY TIME!" I'm not saying someone, somewhere didn't get totally pumped for a peer review, but it most likely didn't happen. If it does happen, it doesn't happen often.

I think if teachers and professors had a different method for peer reviews students wouldn't see them as such a  negative aspect of writing. I don't think students know the positives of peer review enough to see it in a good light in the first place. I believe the first step to peer review should be the explanation as to why peer reviews are important. The professor could give the students examples of how successful it is with writers outside of the classroom. It always helps for students to know how they are going to use this information one day outside of that particular class.

The professors should give the students a guide for the peer review so that they know what is expected of them to give the most useful feedback. I know it can be confusing about what to fix in a paper and it's hard to put in the effort of trying to figure out but if they had a guideline to go buy it would be a lot easier for them. The guideline should include having positive comments and redirection of the paper. The students shouldn't always have to have comments that make them feel bad about there work, just a little redirecting can help a lot when it comes to the peer review.

Another step to take in peer review is letting the students take home the work and let them peer review over night. It will give them time to read everything over a couple times and not have the awkwardness that comes along with editing someones paper in front of them.

A good way for a teacher or professor to tell if the peer review was successful is to get feedback from the students. Not every class is going to work in the same way and not everyone's going to like the same methods, give them options but once you find that option, stick with it. Don't make them peer review just one paper, make them do the same method with every paper so they have consistency with there work.

Everyone would benefit from a successful peer review. The audience of this post is to give students and teachers/professors ideas about how important peer review is and ways to make it a lot more enjoyable and functionable for everyone involved.


Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey

Prompt #8: Plagiarism

Plagiarism: the meaning behind the word is as scary as it sounds. This word haunts students dream across the world. Plagiarism is when one person copies another persons work. Most people don't want to write like anyone else, but some students are so lazy that they steal other peoples work and turn it in as there own. This in turn provides the world with the term known as plagiarism.

Plagiarism is something that students can easily avoid, but chose to dabble in it from time to time any way. That problem goes hand in hand with trying to spread the word about it and how to get students and faculty involved in changing a plagiarism policy at a college. 

For an English group project my class altered our school's plagiarism policy. When we first got the assignment I did not realize just how much changing my group would want to do. I thought to myself, "this is a college document, how much altering can it need." Turns out, quite a lot. This policy was not up to the standards it needed to be to protect students rights. There were many unclear statements made and consequences that did not sit well with me or my group. The most important thing after editing this policy is that it become known. This policy has one of the lowest rhetorical velocities that I've ever seen. Before this project, I didn't even know there was a plagiarism policy. I figured it was just "don't do it and you won't get thrown out of school." Well, I was wrong and I'm sure many other students think the same way. 

That's the first thing wrong with this policy. No one knows about it. I would go about trying to get this policies rhetorical velocity up by getting more students involved. The more behind something someone is the more rhetorical velocity it will have and the more effective it will become. I would go about getting it seen by a wider audience by publishing it in the campus newspaper. The campus newspaper is more effective in rhetorical velocity then many probably think. Most all campus newspapers can be found online. What can people do online? Answer: THEY CAN SHARE!!!! Bingo, we have a winner. The more this policy gets shared the more people care about it and the more likely it is that something will get done about it. This is an effective way to spread the policy, because if other students care and want it to change then I'm probably right in thinking that it needs to be changed. The higher the rhetorical velocity, the more important it suddenly becomes in the eyes of others. 

Once I get people interested in it, then it's time to take it to a higher power. Taking the policy to a higher power is something that will be more effective in the actual final stages of it getting the policy changed. Hopefully, the powers above in the higher status positions on campus will change the policy for the better of the students and it will make the campus a more writing friendly place.

The policy getting changed is an important issue on all campus's that needs attention. I just hope more people pay attention to what they write and how they write it. Plagiarism is a scary issue, but if you stay away and JUST DON'T DO IT, then you should be fine. 

Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine. 

~Kelsey 

Symbol by: Nike 

Saying by: Kelsey 

Prompt #7: Shields, David Shields

Author David Shields takes "quoting your favorite line" to a whole new level in his book, Reality Hunger. Shields book is filled with quote after quote from a wide variety of authors, most unknown that relate to a plethora of different topics. While this book has controversy surrounding it the main argument over Shields book is not about whether it's good or not, but if it has coherence.

According to Merriam-Websters dictionary, "coherence is a systematic or logical connection of consistency or the integration of diverse elements, relationships, or values."  Coherence is a word that most would not use to describe Shields book. His book is labeled from A to Z, with quotes that maybe relate to each other or maybe they don't at all. I think the true battle of coherence in this book is up to the reader. I will argue with anyone that this book is coherent and has a true meaning that goes beyond any genre of nonfiction. 

Let's begin with the audience of this piece of writing. The audience could be anyone who enjoys a good book or any writer looking for inspiration. The audience ties into the coherence because any piece of writing that has a following audience has to have even a speck of coherence in it or the readers would become frustrated, put the book down and never speak of it again. In this case, the book would have low rhetorical velocity because no one would post a Facebook status about it or be writing a blog post for a college English class project about it either.  

So, my point remains, coherence is something that I believe this book follows quite well. The excerpt I'll be referring to is from the Y chapter. Shields is a smart man, if you can write a book, you're smart. That's my philosophy. It may seem like he puts lots of random quotes in or is just choosing the ones he likes but I think that's a misconception. Some of them maybe, but there are a few I would like to discuss that he put in this chapter that I think allude to the whole point of the book: thinking outside the box of writing.

The quote 606 of this chapter states, "If you write a novel, you sit and weave a little narrative. If you're a romantic writer, you write novels about men and women falling in love, give a little narrative here and there etc. And it's okay, but it's of no account. Novel qua novel is a from of nostalgia." Shields chose this quote and put in the book almost in a sneaky sense. A lot of the quotes from this section contain quotes on writing, reading, and quotes about types of novels. This quote is a give away to what his whole book seems to contain a lot of: writing as a free art. No one has the ability to say a piece of writing isn't what the author intended it to be. Only the author knows that. The author and the piece of writing from the author have there own from of relationships and values that are connected. There are writers and readers out there who see romance as a not credible source of fiction but who are they to say this to the people who enjoy these novels. They aren't. These authors are thinking outside of the box, just like Shields.

In section 610 Shields is the quote, "The kinds of novels I like are the ones which bear no trace of being novels." Once again Shields is sliding tricky quotes into his book to make the reader think. Why would he put that there? What does it mean? He means that novels don't need a pattern, if the reader wants to find a story in there bad enough, they will. When they find that story behind the words it goes right along with the rest of the piece, forming coherency. Shields piece is the best example. Some people may not see this piece as coherent. Those people aren't using there creativity to look beyond what is simply written out on a page. 

The next quote is 617, "Never again will a single story be told as though it were the only one." This is one of my favorites because it compliments to the whole section of Y. Every piece of writing is a story, whether it's nonfiction or fiction. That's just the way writing works. Where writers mean to or not, all writing eventually molds itself into a story. Even scientific research has story behind it. No one sees that when they look at it though because they aren't digging deeper and peering between the lines of the writing. It's not always necessary to do that but when you do it's pleasant surprise to find. 

Basically, my point on the coherency of this book is that Shields suggests that what is coherent and what is not, is up to the reader to determine. Writing, like art, should not be bound to a box, but yes, I believe it is coherent. I think Shields wants the reader to read between the lines. There would be no need to look for coherency then, because the coherency would find the reader. 

Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine. 

~Kelsey 

Works Cited: 

Shields, David . "Reality Hunger: A Manifesto." Trans. Array Alfred A. Knopf. New York : 2012. 199-219. Print.

Prompt #6: Rhetorical Velocity

"Hey, did you see that new YouTube video?" says almost every person across America to there best friend, coworker, family member, or spouse on any given day.

What no one realizes when they say that short phrase is that they're participating in a world-wide epidemic known as rhetorical velocity. Rhetorical velocity is what happens when something has "gone viral." This happens every day and every minute. The meaning behind this phrase is the spread of something in pop culture, news, or really anything that can be posted on the internet and can be sent to another person at a fast pace. Records are being broken every day for the video, picture, or piece of news that is spread the fastest.

The audience for rhetorical velocity is literally everyone. Any person with a computer or smart phone can go on YouTube and watch the latest "baby laughing" or "kittens surprised" video and share it on there Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or blog in a matter of seconds. Even if there "friend" on those sites wasn't looking for a lighthearted video to brighten up there afternoon, there it is on there timeline and all they have to do is click play.

When thinking about how simple it is to just click play on your computer and watch the kitten be surprised for 17 seconds or see a meme about the Queen of England being "not amused" at the olympics is something that most people take for granted. If this was 1902 the only way you were going to see a kitten be surprised is if you bought a kitten and had the free time to play with it. Spreading pictures and videos gets easier as days go by. All it takes to share the latest picture or video is the click of a button. Most sites now actually have a "share" button on there websites making it even easier, and faster, to post a video of that surprised kitten or the meme of the all important Queen.

Not having free time brings me to another point about rhetorical velocity. In this day and age people as a whole may work hard, but they most certainly play harder. It wasn't until the past ten years that people had basically a computer in there pockets that they could whip out at any time. This changes rhetorical velocity even more, because you can now share on the go. I think that this is what really makes things go viral, because everyone has limited attention span. The majority of people who share videos don't sit at home all day on the computer, no they share that video in-between classes, on lunch breaks, in-between cooking dinner and helping the kids with homework.

This makes you, the person who shared the video, the second author in the situation. By second author, I mean that along with the person or persons who made the video, picture, or posted the pieces of news you shared there creation and made it gain rhetorical velocity. Some may argue that there is no such thing as a "second author" but I disagree. Does anything someone makes matter if no one is around to appreciate it? The person who shared the authors creation brought it to a wider audience and gives that author a new platform with there work, which brings me to talk about show-business. Anyone can post a video or make a picture but a lot of professional artists count on rhetorical velocity to make money and keep a steady hand on the entertainment business: (before I talk about these next two artists remember that it's a free country and I can "fangirl" over whoever I please). For example, the latest videos on YouTube that went viral in a matter of hours are that of One Direction and Justin Bieber. Both artists put out videos within days of each other. They counted on there fans to spread there respective videos the fastest to make them have the most views in the smallest amount of time. I've watched both videos and I know which one I prefer, but I'll let you make your own decision.

                                

                                
Regardless of if the artist is a singer, dancer, painter, writer, etc., they most likely use the internet to spread the word about there work. The use of rhetorical velocity is relatively new, when regarding technology. In the 80's, no one had a computer or smart phone to pass along the latest Micheal Jackson video. You had to wait for it to come on MTV if you wanted to watch it.

It's easy to see rhetorical velocity as a good thing, but it has it's downfalls. Some of them include copyright and cyber-bullying. In the end the rhetorical velocity is here  and it'll probably be here until we all become robots and can share our thoughts by shaking hands or something (scary thought). Alright, I'm off topic now, I'll just leave with this...

Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey
(I'm fully aware that it is now winter and the sun has gone into hiding but humor me, I want to keep my catch-phrase)

Prompt #5: Academic Research

The most dreaded part about college: Academic Research. Notice, I didn't say it was the worst part about college, just the most dreaded part. Academic Research takes up a lot of time. It's hard to find sources and lets not forget about those pesky annotated bibliographies.

When starting a college research project it is important to be familiar with your schools library. The library is your friend! Last semester I dabbled in a bit of research, but not a ton. The school's library has many resources that will make academic research a thousand times easier. Trust me.

It was required for my English 301 to watch six videos on the different types of places you can find academic research in the library or anywhere on the web. One of the main videos previewed, was ways to create a "search statement,"which is keywords that help narrow your topic. The videos showed EBSCO Host and how to access that web browser. It also showed how to use the library system to find books. Most people don't want to find books for research but sometimes they can be the most reliable. The deeper you have to search for the research, the more useful it will be in your paper. These sources are extremely vital in becoming a good researcher and finding reliable, relevant research.

Academic Research are two words that most students dread hearing about from there professors. Majority of students don't like academic research because it's hard work. The needed academic journals won't just pop out at you. If your "search statements" aren't direct enough you'll end up with thousands of articles. The "search statements" are just the beginning.

Academic research is not as bad as it sounds. Most likely you've chosen a topic that your are remotely interested in so finding information to cover that topic should be interesting.

Academic research is difficult because you never know where the research will lead you. You could start off with one topic nailed down but then you start researching it and it can change five different times. You keep reading different things on your topic and trying to pinpoint the exact information for your paper and that is a challenge. I don't think academic research has to be as bad as everyone sees it to be. Most students/people don't like what they don't understand. They are afraid of things they can't navigate and then it makes them feel a certain way towards that issue. Academic Research is one of those things that students don't like. If every student had a course on how to properly locate academic sources, I would guess the dislike of academic research would decrease supremely. Even if professors took time out of class to show students that academic research is not as scary as it sounds, students would not be so hesitant about it.

Another point they could be taken into consideration regarding academic research could be taken as a challenge for professors. Along the lines of comparing "street smarts" and "intellect" and thinking about my last post on blogging, professors could try the route of bringing in relevant information from the students lives into academic research. If professors tried to help compare real life to the research process it might be a good way to get students more involved in research and not make them dread it so much.

Whether they know how to do it well or not, academic research is something that all students will have to take part in at some point in time in their academic career. This topic will never go away. I wish academic research wasn't as scary to students as it is because it would benefit them quite a bit if they knew how to do it correctly. I think that students would be able to get the full academic reward of this knowledge they've found, if they weren't so stand-offish about it.

In other words, academic research is unfortunately one part of college that will always be that issue that no one wants to talk about, much less fix, until it is right under their noses for an essay. If students did choose to turn their cheek and try to find the good in research, they might find that it's not as bad as it sounds and they might just enjoy it.



Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine. 
~Kelsey

Prompt #4: Read All A-Blog It!

You may wonder why I titled this blog post "Read All A-Blog It," well wonder no more. This entry will be based on answering some questions about an article I found from The New York Times. It was based on the logic of blogging in the classroom. As anyone could tell from my former posts I feel strongly about blogging being used in classrooms, so when I was reviewing articles to post about I felt this one was the most relevant to my own school blogging assignment.

The author of this article is clearly responding to the use of blogs being used in the classroom as an effective way of teaching. This article is based on blogging at an elementary level, but it exceeds the possibilities to be relevant for any age group. The author is trying to get across that if small children can use blogs and it be an effective way for them to express themselves, why not older students as well?

The author is agreeing with the use of blogs. It can be seen that he is agreeing because of the references and quotes he is using from the school mentioned in the article. He gets the opinions of teachers that not only agree with the use of blogs but are doing everything they can to incorporate the use of blogs into there own classrooms. These teachers discuss using the blogs on assignments, because it is an easy way to give the students immediate feedback. I see what he is saying and I agree with him. As a student myself this is such a great mechanism for students. When doing a writing assignment it is always so important to have any kind of feedback. I realize this article is addressing it in the form of younger students but it can be seen in a versatile light for the effective use of feedback on writings from the older students to.

There is a lot of motivation for this argument. The author who is interviewing these teachers is seeing a whole new side to blogging. These teachers are looking ahead to the future. This is something that the author picks up on. The author is aware, as are the teachers, that technology is constantly changing. Having the younger kids pick up on the constant changing is something will benefit throughout their educational experience.

Anyone who reads this article would be able to tell that the article is mainly centered around the use of blogging in this one particular school, but I chose to dig deeper into the words. The people the author  interviewed are the educators that are teaching the future of society. If these kids aren't motivated to do well in school then that decreases the chance of a successful working class in the future. Writing is a big part of the process of getting a respectable education. Encouraging these young students to write about even a simple field trip could forever change the way they perceive writing. They are getting a hands on learning experience with immediate feedback. Teachers are being trained in the use of this technology and it is helping further there technology skills along with the students.

This brings in another point that the use of blogging in a classroom is not only benefiting the students technological advances, but also benefiting the teachers.

You can't have blogging without the use of technology. This article explores the use of blogging in the education system so I believe it is necessary to showcase technology as a form of educational use in schools, too. Technology is a 'hot topic' in the education world because it is constantly changing. Teachers need to stay on top of the ever changing track of technology as much as the students. Blogging is a huge part of technology and if the teachers want to have an advantage along with students, this use of technology will be helpful to them in there careers.

On another note, this article is dated back in 2004. Most people would have wanted something more current. I used an article from that year to show how far the blogging system in schools has come throughout the years. In the year 2004, blogs were just being introduced and now I am using one on my college English assignment. I used this article to show how effective blogging can be and has been, since it was first discovered as a teaching mechanism. This article shows how relevant blogging is and how much it has improved after eight years.

No matter who you are, whether it be a student, a teacher, or anyone else, get yourself a blog. You'd be amazed at how writing in a constructive way can change the way you perceive things.

Have a lovely day, always remember to stop and enjoy the sunshine.
~Kelsey





Article Cited:
Selingo , Jeffrey. "In the Classroom, Web Logs are the New Bulletin Boards." Technology. The New York Times, 19 August 2004. Web. 23 Sep 2012.