WP3: Bazerman Transformed

Older Audience Transformation: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8FXUB2Y5mTOallKbXVBQVBDZVk

Younger Audience Transformation: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8FXUB2Y5mTOcTlXckdER0duc0U

Chadwyck Moore

De Piero

Writing 2

May 29, 2016

Conversations in the Classroom: Transforming Bazerman’s Conversational Model

            The academic article I chose to transform is Bazerman’s A Relationship between Reading and Writing: The Conversational Model, which covers a new method of teaching writing. Bazerman proposes to approach writing with a focus on the individual voice of the author instead of the traditional reading drills, the key point being to emphasize and develop a writer’s individual voice over teaching writing as a discipline. This is accomplished by having students comment on one another’s work and refer to readings in a “conversational” manner--a focus on engagement and analysis of the text. For the transformations, I aimed to create something for the classroom. I played with the image of the teacher referring to a handbook on how to teach the class and the student’s consulting a poster as a reference.

When working for a younger audience I got to thinking about what kids liked. This got me reminiscing about being in elementary and how the classrooms were decorated. I recalled being in class, seeing posters related to the subject on the wall, and wanted to create something similar. The students I was aiming for would be of a younger age, elementary school (6-13 year olds) specifically. I decided upon this audience because I felt that this age group would be the ones to be taught the conversational model, as learning under the new model should start as soon as possible. Being pre-teens—a rather unfocused stage in everyone’s life—I knew that the audience would expect something to grab their attention. Their lives as students (and the infographic meaning to be a reference) would also mean they would need the graphic to be easy to understand. The kids would also expect entertainment, bland readings are hard to push through and for a pre-teen, Bazerman would be a Boreman!

To meet their expectation of ease of reading, I focused on my framing and visuals. McCloud places emphasis on the importance of visual framing in how the viewer reacts to a piece. Since confusion is not a reaction I wished to incite, I chose a no-nonsense format that clearly separated each section of information. Every header is placed evenly apart from one another and assigned their own little block. All images are viewed from the side or at a slight angle and placed in a uniform fashion. These framing decisions continue into the visual aspect. Posters are expected to be visually appealing and the appearance is what attracts viewers in the first place. These images are used to keep the student’s attention as a visual aid can aid with understanding. To further meet the visual expectations of the audience, I added the use of color to the image. Black and white posters do not inspire attentiveness, so I made sure to make the poster was colorful. The combination of color with entertaining images encourages students to pay attention to the poster.

McCloud states that the intensity of presentation can help the viewer care about what they are looking at. Taking this into account I began to research class posters and found that each one used small images. I figured that these images exist as attention grabbers –and knowing I needed to grab attention—I decided to add my own drawings. These images reference one of Bazerman’s main ideas and are adjacent to each header. Each one is presented in a comic style to better appeal to elementary schoolers. My personal favorite is the “Rhetorparrot”, who represents Bazerman’s criticism of students who practice the traditional model sounding like parrots. The parrot (like the other images) is a quick reference for students; they can look at the parrot and remember what they should not be doing. These daring doodles ensure that even the most spacey student will have to come down to Earth to view!

I used a variety of moves to appeal to audience expectations.  My “Candy Colors” are used to grab the attention of the viewer and make the poster more visually appealing. Color makes the poster more fun to look at; the images looked boring without color. A better looking image means a more attentive viewing of the piece. In addition to color, “Fanciful Fonts” were placed throughout the poster. Multiple fonts were used to keep the information pleasant to read. Since the poster is a visual medium, the way the information is displayed is just as important as what is said. Times New Romans is a perfect font for an essay, but it’s a bland way to draw attention. By using “fanciful fonts” I was able to ensure that the viewer of the poster would be more likely to read what is written.

            Sticking with the idea of the classroom, I aimed to appeal to the teachers of these elementary schoolers. My goal when transforming Bazerman’s piece into something for the educator was to maintain his information, like his descriptions of the model itself, but to shift it into a clear how to. The handbook is a visually appealing alternative to the full article, providing key info for young educators to shape their class with. The audience would expect to see the important parts of the conversational model, as they have likely read the article themselves. Teachers would also want any reference that was provided for them to be professional and easy to understand, a reference handbook shouldn’t be complex. To meet these expectations I made moves that aided focused on the visual appeal and content of the handbook.

            I used professional language without the defining of terms in the manual. I decided to write in this manner to create a sense of credibility. Since the manual was written for professionals who already possess some knowledge of English, I felt that it was unnecessary to provide them definitions to terms. This move provides a sense of “insider knowledge”, something noted in Boyd’s Murder Rhetorically and can build a sense of credibility to the work. This credibility is necessary for a handbook; no teacher would want to refer to a book if they felt the author wasn’t knowledgeable.

No one wants to read a dry manual. To avoid this, I used images, colors, and fonts to create a visual appeal to the handbook. I got the idea from my employee handbook at the library; the ideas are separated by colored headers and accompanied by images. By using images the booklet avoids being a block of boring text. Throughout the manual I changed the font style, color, and size. I made this decision to make the handbook more visually appealing. I got the idea to shift the fonts from Writing Spaces where they varied font styles throughout the comic for effect. Even though this was more professional genre, I felt that the same concept could be applied. I changed the size of the headers that open chapters and colors of sub-headers to make the handbook easy to follow. By playing with the font, I was able to make the handbook easy to follow and easier on the eyes.

            My transformation of Bazerman’s A Relationship between Reading and Writing: The Conversational Model into something applicable to the elementary school English classroom was created with the specific needs of each audience in mind. I had to take influence from the class readings as well as real-world examples to create something useful for the classroom. Through varying writing decisions, I successfully transformed Bazerman’s model into something that  the two separate audiences could understand.

Works Cited

Bazerman, Charles. "A Relationship between Reading and Writing: The Conversational Model." College English 41.6 (1980): 656-61. JSTOR. Web. 29 May 2016.

Boyd, Janet. "Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking)." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. By Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 2. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor, 2010. 87-100. Print.

Enterprises, Trend. States of Matter. Digital image. Teachchildren.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2016. <http://www.teachchildren.com/t-38120.html>.

Library, UCSB. Library Student Employee Handbook. Santa Barbara: UCSB Library, 2013. Print.

Losh, Elizabeth M., Jonathan Alexander, Kevin Cannon, and Zander Cannon. "Writing Identities." Understanding Rhetoric: A Graphic Guide to Writing. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 113-39. Print.

McCloud, Scott. “Writing With Pictures.” Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York. HarperPerrenial, 1994.

Publishing, McDonald. Algebra Poster Set. Digital image. McDonaldpublishing.com. McDonald Publishing, n.d. Web. 29 May 2016. <https://www.mcdonaldpublishing.com/p-718-algebra-poster-set.aspx>.

Thlog #8

Finals are steadily approaching and with that our WP3. Everything has really come down to this, with each writing tip and project going towards making this great. That being said, WP3 has been a difficult start. I struggled with finding a transformation I was satisfied with, but have finally decided upon creating a info-graphic for the youth and an advertisement for the older. The transformations have been tedious to work through, but all the assignments we did over analyzing genre and visual literacy helped me together.

            Class covered visual literacy, the importance of paraphrasing, and summary. Visual literacy from the McCloud reading was the most helpful to me as I wanted to use images in my WP3. His points of framing and flow helped me understand the intricacies of images when used in genre. This understanding was focused on comics, but I feel that it helped me better conceptualize how I wanted to form my info-graphic. Paraphrasing and summary taught us how to pick out what was important in readings instead of just listing words. This reflection was important to me as I feel like the activity influenced my decision to transform Bazerman’s conversational model—as it covered the importance of summary.

            As I finish WP3 I can’t help but look back at my last writing projects. I feel that I have improved over the period of the course and am confident that I can convey my transformations well. The openness of the prompt was intimidating at first, but it’s been a lot of fun to work through.

PB3A

PB3A

            The scholarly article I chose is the Conversational Model by Bazerman. The article details a different method of teaching writing to students. This model is in opposition of the traditional writing model that treated students as part of a historic tradition. The conversational model instead focuses on the individual voice of each writer, focusing on how they can contribute to any form of writing through conversing with readings. These “conversations” take form through encouraged engagements with texts. These engagements have students paraphrase, summarize, and respond to writings. Through this process students learn the nuances of writing and how to apply it in their own work. This model is executed by the teacher whose assignments center on the student drawing from themselves instead of regurgitating what is being read. These assignments include periodic writing projects supplemented by small prepatory assignments. According to Bazerman, the conversational model creates writers that will be able to contribute to any field that they enter; conversational model education provides tools for creating new writing instead of information of past writings.

Genre for Older Readers: Pamphlets

Older readers would want to understand the idea quickly, possibly to teach it to younger people such as students. Having a pamphlet would also provide a means for images, which could make understanding the piece clearer. The pamphlet would be tri-folded, creating six columns for writing and images. This pamphlet would have text boxes that use large text to make seeing the letters easier for the elderly. The focus would be on providing a brief understanding of what the article covered, honing in on the important parts. The cover would be a title and intro, similar to an abstract, which would attract the reader into opening the pamphlet. The other columns would cover each individual aspect of the conversation model in detail. The pamphlet would incorporate images that could provide examples of texts, diagrams that could showcase the education process, and mock prep assignments. These writings and images could combine to make a visually appealing method to learn what Bazerman was detailing in the article.

Genre for Younger Readers: Poster

            Turning Bazerman’s conversational model into a poster could work for younger audiences because it provides a one shot way of conveying the information as simply as possible. Since young children can vary in reading ability, with Bazerman’s text likely above their growing reading abilities, a visual cue can offer kids another way to know what they author means. The poster could have a book and person having a chat with the words “conversational model” on top. Below the conversation could be three separate headers “accurate understanding of prior comments”, “reacting to reading” and the other parts of the conversational model. Each header would be paired with an image depicting the idea. The use of images is similar to the scientific model posters placed in middle schools, with a picture that shows each step instead of text detailing it. I believe focusing on images appeals to a younger genre because cartoons can be drawn to entertain and educate them about how to approach their writing. Although the poster is limited into how deep it can go, kids do not need a detailed analysis of the model. The poster would provide a means of understanding the model without losing their attention or grasp of the main ideas.

Thlog #7

The quarter has flown by and we recently finished the final draft of WP2. It was a lot to work through, but it is always rewarding to finish something you have been working on for some time. As usual, we got some writing dope writing tips in class. Poemifying your paper was the most helpful to me as breaking down the paper line by line made sense. I could see it being a quick way to check how sentences flow together and making sure the transitions are strong. This would probably combine well with reverse outlining and be another way to check how your ideas are forming in a paragraph.

This week’s class was a tad different with Wednesday’s class being hosted online instead of meeting in person. The online class was a nice change of pace (lunch and writing were made for each other!) and reminded me of online courses I had taken in the past. We covered the moves of painters, which was a different type of analyzation. We tend towards studying moves in the written form so the shift to visual analysis was interesting. That being said, I don’t see how the videos connected to PB3A. The videos seemed like another moves assignment so I’m curious to see the connection appear. Overall, the online class was helpful with the Q&A at the end being the best part. Having some of the questions be answered lessened the pre-paper confusion.

WP3 seems the most different from the other assignments we’ve done t so far and I’m wondering which topic I’ll decide to go with. Genre transformation is new to me so learning that process may be a challenge but I’m hopeful that it will work out well. This being the final project before our portfolio, I may as well go out with a bang!

Video Reflection: Bob Ross & Disney Tree Painters

Some of the moves present in the video are soft and technical speech. Both Bob Ross and Disney narrators explain their steps technically, stressing why they place a line in a certain area. The speech is always soft and steady, with no real change in tone through the entire video. This monotone speech is broken slightly by Bob Ross with him occasionally reaching a higher tone to stress a point, but still tends towards one tone.

The description of the art is where the painters are again similar. The Disney painter describe the concept of their painting, describing how the saw the tree and what they wished to capture. When they begin painting the tree, particular focus is given to the line work, with each painter referring to why they used lines in a certain way. The line work is also stressed by Bob Ross, who in his mountain video made particular note of how to create the hard shapes of the mountain. Both videos have a focus on the paint being used, with Bob Ross having a specific name for each shade of a color, and the Disney painters personal interview showcasing the different paints they chose to use.

I would characterize Bob Ross’ style as individualistic and the Disney painter’s as collectivist. Bob Ross is the only one painting whatever he wants, he does not refer to anyone for how he should draw a tree--he just does it. The Disney painters refer to one another for everything. A scene is not animated until it is clear that they are on the same page, with painters drawing outside of their own artistic style to reach the goal of consistency. Bob Ross’ individualistic style is good for his audience as they are educational videos that aim to teach the viewer, who is likely only painting on one canvas for themselves, how to paint. The Disney painters are collectivist because they paint to create a consistent animation meaning their own individual styles must be thrown to the wayside.

Journal Responses 5/11/16

Q1. So, in the end, how’d your WP2 paper go?  What were you happy with?  What weren’t you?  Why?  Be specific!  I feel that my WP2 went well. I liked the topic I chose and found it to be genuinely interesting to learn about. I feel like that helped me break down the conventions and moves more. I was happy with how I analyzed the sources, I feel that the points I made were accurate and well defended. I am also happy with the overall flow tof the paper. I felt that my ideas flowed well into one another and was an improvement upon WP1. On the negative end I feel that I could have written a better intro and conclusion. I always struggle with writing an intro and conclusion, with on being satisfactory and the other weak. I still feel that the intro and conclusion were better than WP1, but not as good as I would have liked. Overall, I am happy with my WP2 and feel that I applied what I’ve learned over the course well into making the paper better.

Q2. Which 2 or 3 comments that you received yesterday were the most helpful for you?  Why? The comments about my original intro and sentence flow were the most helpful to me. My original intro was fairly weak, I tried to do some sort of question thing that didn’t work out that well. I kept it there for future revision and couldn’t think of a way to make it work out. The comment kinda confirmed what I was thinking. The comment about sentence flow was helpful because it pointed out points in my writing where I got too repetitive. I began sentences with the same two words which made the reading boring, it was poorly done parallelism. This comment helped me find the points where the writing was weak and make them stronger.

Thlog #6

Week six of writing and we are still making movements. Moves and their relation to writing was covered this week and the overlap that it may hold with conventions. We went over how conventions as we see them are a guideline of sorts for writers while moves are their own individual choices. This separation of the two makes the most sense to me as writers do not have a say in the conventions of the genre they decide to write for. The only decision a writer can make is how stringently to follow those conventions and how they wish to express themselves.

This week’s writing tips were focused (as they typically tend to) around making our second writing project stronger. The tips were ways for us to approach the planning of our project such as looking at pictures online for inspiration. Zach has also stressed parallelism this week, with multiple activities showing what it was and how it operates. I’m not entirely sure where I will use parallelism in my WP2, but working on it in class was helpful.

Working through the example essays helped me the most. Seeing how other students approached the writing project helped me reflect on my own. I feel that it made the drafting of the essay less stressful and helped me organize my thoughts in a more efficient manner. I know that my WP2 still needs a lot of work, but working through how mixed-gender work groups operate has been interesting. I like how the different fields approach the topic the most—it’s cool to see what they like to focus on. The topic itself is also relatable as most work groups I am in are of mixed gender, with me tending to be in the minority. Maybe that’s what drew me to the topic? 

Thlog #5

Thlog #5

            The quarter system waits for no one and we have sped into our fifth week of writing 2. This week has been busy, with a strong emphasis on breaking down a writer’s “moves”—the techniques that they use to sway an audience. This seems to be the focus of our second writing project, but I still have some hesitation about starting it. The class activities have all been helpful, with the group activities of finding and naming moves being crazy helpful. PB2B became far more approachable since finishing the class activities and I look forward to learning new tips that will make WP2 just as accessible. The assignment has an increased word count which might make it more difficult, but the topic seems deep enough to make reaching it simple enough.

            Rhetoric is still a common topic and it appears that it will stay relevant. No matter what we’re doing be it finding moves or reverse outlining, a connection to rhetoric is always made. The importance of rhetoric is making itself clear as an overarching course concept and does not seem that it will disappear in the near future.

            Moving into WP2 I have taken the comments from Zack to heart and am trying to avoid the same mistakes a second time around. One of the comments questioned the breadth of my paper; I covered many topics at the cost of depth. I learned from that mistake and plan to make the next one better by spending more time in the outlining phase, making sure that I don’t stray from what’s importance. I also plan to use the reverse outline to ensure that I avoid the repetition of ideas and move on from each one effectively. The comments pointed out some flaws that I plan to work out.

PB2B

PB2B: Who Really Has Moves?

            Moves are the methods or tricks that an author uses to sway an audience and express their creative voice. These moves vary in their appearance but all serve the same purpose of improving an author’s rhetoric. Through careful analysis an authors’ “moves” used and their effectiveness become clear.

These “moves” being analyzed are conveniently listed in They Say, I Say which provides a move list. Like any move list, the listed moves can be combined to create a killer combo of creative rhetoric. These moves are pulled from Carroll’s “Backpack and Briefcases”. Carroll uses a variety of moves such as adding meta-commentary. Adding meta-commentary is the writer’s addition or breakdown of a quotation—a tack on of their opinion. Carroll uses the adding meta-commentary move to explain a quote, “In other words, most of our actions are persuasive in nature” (page 39). This addition of meta-commentary was used to make sure the meaning of the quote (which is admittedly vague) to ensure the meaning of the quote got through. Carroll continues to string the reader with her moves by surprising them with the introduction of quotations. The introduction quotations is used throughout the essay and used to segue the conversation into its new sub-points. This goal is evident with the introduction of the Kenneth Burke quote (page 39), the quote needing to be introduced was done so. “In fact, our saturation in media and its images is one of the reasons why learning to do rhetorical analysis is so important” (page 38). Carroll chooses this move to uphold the points she makes later in the piece, if the reader does not believe the paper is worth reading they are less likely to complete or even attempt to understand it.

With the establishment of importance being made, a counter argument must also be addressed. To address any counters Carroll uses the entertaining objections “move”; ““So you might be wondering... –why do you need to know how to do more formal analysis?” (page 49). Carroll used entertaining objections well to segue into her conclusion effectively. She was able to drive her final point home well by addressing any final concerns. Once the counter is addressed the ideas must flow smoothly. To make this happen, Carroll uses the commonly used transition such as “For Example” (page 43). These transitions are used to open an illustration that would help the reader understand the concept better. The transitions were highly effective as the reader can clearly know that an example is about to be given.

A move list is not stuck with the manufactured meaning, move lists can also be customized to an author’s personal taste. These custom moves can be assigned trademark titles that embody their meaning and purpose. These moves are discovered in Carroll’s’ “Backpack and Briefcases” and Boyd’s “Murder! Rhetorically”.

With a curious quip, Carroll shifts the reader’s view into an inquisitive state. Carroll uses “Question Quakes” (a mass of rhetorical questions forced into sequence) to drive her points into the readers minds (page 37) (page 49) (page 47). These question quakes effectively guide a reader’s mind to review points being made.

Carroll uses multiple lists to convey information to the reader. The lists are an effective method of providing the information in her argument and help it flow. The lists, found across the piece, are often numbered encouraging it to be coined as the “Carroll Count”. These lists organize the information (especially the large amount she covers) in an easily digestible manner. Carroll’s next move, the “Pay Attention Here”, Carroll uses strong key phrases such as “the key idea…” (page 44) “One final example…” (page 49) to open up her final point for an argument. Carroll chooses to do this to make it clear about what point she was trying to make in a section, she want to avoid ambiguity. This move is effective because the meaning of the paragraph is made clear, if at the cost of a surprise.

Boyd uses dramatic titles such as “getting in touch with your inner detective” and “Cultivating your inner coroner” (page 65) (page 68). This move, called the “Crime Caption”, separates the information creatively and makes the reading entertaining. Each dramatic title uses a mystery/crime theme such as coroner and detective references. These Crime titles are an effective way to separate the ideas and organize them, while still serving to entertain the reader. Boyd’s next move is the “Delayed Definition”. Boyd delays providing her definition of rhetoric until the end of the paper. The essay refers to rhetoric through the piece but only provides an author’s definition a t the end. This delayed definition was used by Boyd as a stylistic decision wishing to frame her paper in this manner. It worked because she built to the definition instead of breaking the definition down.

PB2A: Gender Ratio in Relation to Group Leadership Emergence

The article I have chosen is from the Journal of Applied Psychology, titled "The Effects of Proportional Representation and Gender Orientation of The Task on Emergent Leadership Behavior in Mixed-Gender Work Groups" and is by Karakowsky and Siegel. Like many studies, when finished it was sent to a journal for publication. This publication follows multiple conventions that are quickly caught upon further inspection. First, the paper opens with an abstract. The abstract is an introduction of sorts; it informs the reader of what the paper will cover. The abstract is placed at the beginning so readers can have a better understanding of what is being studied, as the titles are not always the most descriptive! Information presented is defended through the use of citations. Outside sources are quoted to build the background and defend the author’s claims. Citations are used to build the credibility of the premises written. The text is presented in two columns. The columns stand as two textual pillars, compiling the information that the researchers have input. This convention exists to keep the information organized; it’s hard to get lost between two blocks! The columns of text are only broken for headings and tables. The headers (usually italicized) break up sections, cluing the reader in on the information that will be discussed below it. The article covers a lot of information and in as such requires an efficient method of presentation. This need fueled the decision to use tables in the paper. A table organizes data obtained from research and presents it in an easy to read fashion for the reader’s convenience. The paper ends with the discussion section, where the findings are broken down. The discussion section is placed at the end to break down the technical jargon of the results section.

Karakowsky and Siegel use ethos and diction heavily throughout the paper. Ethos is their most common rhetorical feature with the citations being their preferred method of building it. The citations are a form of ethos as they uphold the statements being made by the duo. Their citation for the statement about women being more affected by gender incongruence is evidence of their need to defend their points (page 620). Ethos is also built by placing the author’s university below their name. By attaching an educational institution, the research that follows appears more credible. Science is based on evidence and the evidence they provide is through their citations and info presented.

The diction of the paper is notable with the use of jargon and high language. Jargon is used throughout the article with words like “tilted” and “skewed” taking new meanings (page 622). Technical research terms are also used by the authors and are a helpful way for a reader to know what field the paper is from. The technical terms let a reader know that what they are reading is an applied psychology paper and as such will use terms from that field. The jargon also serves to build ethos, as only applied psychologists would have different definitions for common words. The high language is exhibited through the lack of slang used in the article, creating a formal feel for the reading. The removal of slang combined with the use of polysyllable words create an elevated language which informs readers that the material being covered is both formal and serious. The word and language choice was a deliberate decision made by the authors’ to separate their work from pop culture works and represent themselves as experts. By avoiding slang and instead writing with jargon in high language, Karakowsky and Siegel build how they wish their paper to be read and represent themselves as scientists/psychologists.

The researchers wanted to know how gender ratios affected leadership behavior in mixed gender group; whether men or women were more affected (if at all) by being in the minority or majority group when the team is divided along gender lines. The research also covered how the gender association of the task affected leadership emergence of the respective genders. To answer these questions researchers used experimental observation where they observed multiple groups of varying gender distributions and recorded their discussions while they solved an assigned problem. The group discussions were recorded with the leadership of each group participant rated by group members and the research panel. The numbers were all compiled into a formula and the results were compared.

What struck me as most important to the piece was the discussion section where they listed the limitations of their study. The researchers admitted the difficulty of generalizing their findings based on their sample population, duration of the study, etc. This admittance of the lack of generalization is noteworthy as although their findings are interesting, they lack the ability to be applied outside of their specific parameters.

Thlog # 4

THLOG # 4

This week in writing 2 has been enlightening. The tips that we’ve gone over have been interesting with the reverse outline being more helpful than I first believed. I use outlines and filling in the blank often to work through a paper but the idea of doing that last never occurred to me. Breaking down each paragraph to a one sentence summary made the point of each segment clear and anything that broke the flow of ideas easily stood out. I see myself using reverse outlining in the future as it does add another way to catch anything that could have been missed.

Finishing the WP1 was relieving and working through the assignment in class was helpful. The peer review activity helped with revising the paper (everyone is super helpful with their comments) and made the final draft less daunting. Going from starting the paper and having no clue how to approach it to having some inkling of what makes genre has been fun. English class has always been a favorite of mine and writing is no different.

The in-class activities have been interesting with the murder project standing out the most. Writing the police report was fun but comparing how everyone wrote was the most interesting part. Seeing how every group came up with a completely different focus for their writing with the same info had me wonder about the link to the next assignment. I’m curious about what the next project will entail as it seems like a lot more than the previous writing project. Starting out I already feel confused about what exactly the assignment will be like but I’m probably thinking too far ahead. Narrowing down a topic will be tedious but I’m looking forward to deciding it, writing about a topic I choose definitely makes the work easier (and I have no one to blame but myself if it’s boring!).

PB1B

The science generator uses big words whenever possible. The words in the sentence serve to make the sentence longer and appear more scientific. This leads to sentences full of mindless jargon and long words randomly placed. It reads like the writer got their first thesaurus. The sentences are otherwise well organized and grammatically correct. Figures are used but since the words are generated randomly, they are meaningless. The paper is segmented through the use of headers, which act as transitions between the different topics covered.

The comic generator uses three frames with a random image filling each image. The comics are all done in color and include one or both of the main characters. The comics generated also focus on facial expression, drawing the characters faces so they fill most of the frame. This allows more details in the face to be shown, allowing emotion to more easily be conveyed to the reader. The comics vary in tone with some being incredibly dark, depicting suicide, while others show partying and compliments. This randomness leads to the whole comic rarely making sense as a whole. This nonsense is what makes the generator appealing as it can often lead to humorous sequences.

Contrary to the previous generators, the meme generator has a rigid structure; each meme must follow a set precedent. Each meme must have two lines, top to bottom, and use impact font text. Every meme is composed of an image that serves the dual purpose of pop culture reference and showing the subgenre of meme that the generator is following. The subgenre of the meme dictates that the content of the text must follow the image that accompanies it. For example, the Morpheus meme must begin with “what if I told you?”. This rigid structure allows the generator being able to create convincing memes that are often impossible to distinguish from human created memes.

The final generator I chose was the rap generator from rappad.co. The rap generator takes a random  word or phrase and uses it as a topic to create a song about. The generator tends to a basic rhyme scheme and attempts to base the rhymes of the topic. The songs make pop culture references whenever possible and however far from the topic they may be. The songs do not have a set length with some being only four bars long. The language used is always casual and often vulgar; with references to sex and drugs being frequent. Quotes from other rap songs are also used whenever possible with Tupac appearing to be the most popular to draw from. Bravado is common in all songs, with some form of flaunting of wealth or women existing.

What is happening in the generators can help someone understand genre because, the generators show, in an extreme manner, the actual conventions of a genre. The science paper generator also displays how figures are used and referenced, the frequency of citation, and the diction of a scientific paper. The exaggerated papers that the science paper generator creates can help a STEM student better understand what makes a CS paper. The meme generator can provide endless examples of a certain meme, allowing someone to learn how to make their own. The comic generator can help a beginning artist grasp the importance of facial expression and emotion in comics. The rap generator can help a beginning rapper understand basic internal rhyme in songs. The generators can create entertaining nonsense because they are truly random. The generators can still be used as a learning tool of genre by studying their exaggeration of their respective genres’ conventions.

Weekly Log

            So far the first week has gone well for me. My family came down to Santa Barbara to visit for my birthday and we had a pleasant lunch. I was not able to visit home in since December, so it was nice to see my family in Santa Barbara. So far my classes look interesting enough and seems like this quarter will be a manageable one. Currently taking Feminist studies 50, which will be my first feminist studies class and I’m looking forward to it. I don’t have much formal knowledge of women in social justice and am interested in learning more about it. I am also taking a human geography class with a friend of mine as well. I rarely get to take classes with people I know, so it will be nice to have someone I know to review material with. I have been in good health, which is always a good thing. Watched El Clasico over the weekend and saw Barcelona fall to Real Madrid, much to my friend’s dismay. I’m not sure I’ve seen someone so into a game before in my life. I’ve only recently begun following soccer and one thing I have noticed is the dedication to the sport some fans have. I swear that soccer is a religious experience to them and seeing their team lose is like seeing God himself get killed. Barcelona fans take El Clasico more seriously than I think I ever could. The first week of the quarter has shown me that the next few months will be busy. Many of the due dates for the classes overlap, balancing org involvement with studying will be a challenge, and all of my classes require a lot of writing so I imagine myself in front of my laptop for most of the quarter. All being said, I have a good feeling about this quarter.

PB1A: Album Review

An album review is a textual genre that exists to judge an album on its merit, to answer the question of whether an album is good or not. The genre is one based on the reviewer’s opinion that is typically backed through some form of analysis of the album and how well they defend it. This defense of opinion makes album reviews an argument for the score the reviewer assigns to an album. Album reviews are written for music fans and act as a guide for how good or bad an album may be to them. Music fans follow album reviews as many of them listen to far too many artists to analyze each album. This leads to the audience wanting to know whether an album is worth listening to, creating a demand for album reviews. The reviews are released by magazines, critics, and popular music reviewers. They are all typically released within the week of release of an album, making the review more relevant to readers. A dated album review is a useless review. Album reviews vary in their style as different writers have differing takes on the album. Some reviews are lengthy, taking great steps to defend the opinion of the writer, while others are brief, taking a first impressions approach to the album. Some reviews will have a critical tone, especially if the reviewer did not find the album enjoyable. This leads to no two reviews having the same style, but they still share many conventions. Album reviews almost always quote the album they review, with the writer choosing some of their favorite lines from the project. These quotes serve as a form of textual evidence for what the reviewer is describing to the reader. Album reviews also have a scoring system of some sort that they use to assign a value to it. These scores stand as a quick way for readers to understand how the reviewer rated the album. The placement of the review score varies between critics, with some at the beginning and others at the end. The way the review score operates varies as well. Reviewers use different scales with some choosing scales of 1-5, others 1-10, and 1-100 as a scale to rate the album. Album reviews are album reviews because they analyze a sound and how it flows for an entire work. When an album is reviewed the songs are not only judged for their production, lyrics, etc. but how they fit the overall theme of the project as a whole. The flow from one track to another is judged just as closely as the song itself. Album reviews are only different from book reviews in how the writers describe sound instead of words. An album review tries to communicate how something sounds to someone who has never heard what the writer is describing. This leads to language that is specific and full of adjectives. An album review is an album review because it can turn a sound into words, words that can be used to imagine the sound.

About Me

            My name is Chadwyck Lamont Moore Jr. I am named after my dad who got his name from an Elvis Presley movie. I am the oldest of four children and from a Navy family. As such I moved frequently through my life, living across the country for a few years each time. Most recently, I am from Lemoore a small town in the central valley of California. I am in my second year at UCSB and pursuing a major in political science with a minor in philosophy. Since starting college, I have tried to experience what the campus has to offer and as such am involved in a few campus organizations. I host a radio show on KCSB called South Coast Hip-Hop and have done so since my freshman year. I also write for the music news department reviewing albums, shows, making artists profiles, etc. I am a member of the Black Student Union and vice president of the Black Pioneer’s Renaissance Organization, an umbrella org of the BSU. BPRO’s mission is to represent the black males on campus, outreach to high schools, community events, etc.  I also work part time at the UCSB library in the inter-library loan department. Between the clubs and classes, my life is fairly busy but I do make time for relaxation. Whenever I have free time I enjoy spending it listening to music, reading, going to concerts, mixing music, or playing games with friends. I love watching horror movies and am a fan of classic slasher films, the suspense they could create is lost today. I have always been a dog person and have one back home named Max, who I wish I could bring to school with me. I am not a morning person, faithfully believing that there is nothing that needs to be done before the sun is up.