Sections 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6

Sections 17.3-17.6
This whole chapter is going over how to correctly write in closed-form prose and techniques to help you make an effective argument using this form of writing. Section four is all about titles and introductions. We've already gone over this section so I don't think I need to repeat myself.
Section three goes over how to start the argument, by making lists and outlines, and throwing together chunks of what you know and slowly whittling away at them. After that they say to "nutshell" your argument together, which is to essentially throw all the ideas  and bases for the argument together, which helps you create and manage a thesis that flows through the whole paper. Next is the structure, with which they list multiple tools to help visualize the structure of your paper which include: Outlines, Tree Diagrams, and a couple other personal methods.
Section five is about Topic sentences for paragraphs. Topic sentences in paragraphs are essentially just thesis statements that exist for just that particular paragraph and sub topic, rather than something that pertains to the whole paper. They then go on to talk about placement of topic sentences (they should always go at the beginning) and how to revise a paragraph to fit the topic sentence, and vice versa. Section six tackles transitions and guideposts, meaning the travel from one paragraph to the next using transition words. next they go over major transitions which are sometimes sentences of their own. In this it is explained and understood how you need to focus on trying to tie in the transition to the next paragraphs topic sentence.

Pages 384-387

Pages 384-387
This section of the reading is over Proposal writing. The authors explain two kinds of Proposals: Practical Proposals, which target a specific audience with whom they hope to persuade on their topic and issue; the other is Policy Proposal, which is more wide aimed and set to persuade lots of people rather than a specific audience, but from the looks of things we won't be using Policy Proposals this semester. Next they describe how to understand proposal writings, which is necessary to writing one of our own. A proposal writing is described as having three main parts: Description of the problem, proposal for a solution, and justification; in that order and used correctly those are what form to make a proposal. Like most skills in writing it is a process and takes equal dedication to each part to work. The description part is self explanatory, while the proposal for a solution is basically the summary of what you think is a good solution and outcome for this problem you are approaching, and the justification is essentially why you think that. Lastly is a chart explaining strategies for overcoming the special challenges of proposal arguments, which is essentially a guide to how to use your proposal writing to further your argument.
(side note: you told me to remind you that we discussed me turning this in late.)

Pages 155-158

Pages 155-158
This section goes over Bibliographies and how to write them, while also introducing the topic of Annotated Bibliographies  and further delving into how one is written and what goes into one. While a bibliography is merely a collection of cited sources, the annotated bibliography is that plus the writers own commentary on each one. there are Summary and evaluative annotations, summary being just a quick overall grasp of what the cited source is about, while the evaluative one is the authors take on what is written in the cited source and why you're using it in the paper. Next the features of annotated bibliographies are explored, and they are Rhetorical information, A Summary of the source's content, and the writers evaluation of the source. These essentially tell the reader everything the writer borrowed or learned from the cited sources,saving you the time to go and explore said sources to get the full picture the author had. Lastly they go over introducing your annotated bibliography and the process of perfecting it, which usually fit hand in hand with intros and editing of regular sections of papers.

Chapter 1, section 1.1 Chapter 20 Skill 20.1

Chapter 1 Section 1.1
This section is all about coming up a problem and how that ties into a thesis. There are a lot of things in this part about how college writing will require strong problems and strong thesis statements. The most important part of this section is the first table which is titled How Writers Become Gripped By a Problem. It has three columns: Occasion that leads to your posing a problem, examples, and your interior mental state. The overall message I get from this is that we are to pose the problem ourselves. The problem may be something other people have spoken of or know a lot about but when we pose the problem, we are making it our own issue that we are exploring for our own reason or for specific reasons. The final column, Your Interior Mental State, is essentially how your mind reacts to the problem itself, and that process is what makes a similar problem so absolutely varied and individual to each person because no two people have the exact same reactive thought to a problem, leaving a new variation of the problem for you to explore.
Chapter 20 Skill 20.1
This section is about arguing your thesis in response to a research question, which they explain as using your thesis to create an argument for your problem, which in research papers are the main use for a thesis. They next go over Documentation, which is using in-text- citations and bibliographies to allow readers to follow along with your research, since writing an entire research paper by yourself is difficult so it helps to have all sorts of sources and pieces of information that can fill the holes in your paper and your research. Lastly they go over Formulating a Research Question, which is quite important considering that's what we are doing in class right now and what I need the most help with. now, this is different than forming a thesis or coming up with a topic. A research Question is the catalyst that sparks your thesis and the rhetoric and goal of the paper itself.

Sections 17.4 and 17.10

Section 17.4
This section focuses on piecing the whole paper together with effective titles, introductions, and conclusions. Next, some old bad habits and thoughts are put to rest, such as the conveyor belt of ideas, and a funnel leading to your main point. Good titles are claimed to be important too, used as hooks and quick intros to the paragraphs point. Different strategies and their outcomes are explained such as containing parts of your thesis in your titles, to slowly introduce the thesis without blurting it out. The latter half of the section focuses on the elements of a closed form introduction, which they list as: An opening attention-grabber, Explanation of the question to be investigated, Background information, and lastly A preview of where your paper is heading.
Section 17.10
This section finally ties in open formed writing into our current closed form writing, expressing and explaining how though the two are different, elements from each can be used in the other to create an impact. They introduce how to use elements of an open form in writing a closed form without jeopordizing the closedness of it.

Sections 2.2 and 2.3

Section 2.2
This part of the chapter goes over Thesis statements, a topic not used much in our last two papers but one that is very prominent in college writing. They explain the Thesis statement as the answer to your question you are posing for or against your topic. The thesis is both a tool to change your reader's view of the subject, while the thesis statement is the overall expression of what you want to change their view to side with. Thereafter tips are given to help you change their views, and after that they go over what they call a "surprising reversal" and other techniques to build tension, which in this context is used to describe being brought towards new ideas.Lastly is a section devoted to developing Thesis statements.
Section 2.3
Unlike the last two papers the majority of our future papers in college and more specifically this class will be closed-form prose. in this they explain the paper should be opened with an introduction to the problem, not the thesis, which is essentially the view we want them to reach, which would be mroe suited as a conclusion or stepping blocks to help the reader know where we are trying to take their thought process to. The rest of the chapter is devoted to learning how to better create an introduction that both leads to the thesis and lures the readers in.

Chapter 5 Section 5.1

Chapter 5 Section 5.1
Understanding Rhetorical Reading
In this chapter they go over the process of reading in a rhetorical sense rather than writing, since its always good to gather information before starting a paper, and also it enables us to read someone elses work and identify the rhetoric in that and use it in our own. They mention some things we should look for are Vocabulary, Unfamiliar Rhetorical Content, Unfamiliar Genre, and a Lack of Background Knowledge.
After expressing some tips for reading the rhetoric better they introduce a topic they call reading with and against the grain, meaning to read a paper with an attitude akin to positivity, looking for the things done right, and then adversely reading it for that which could be done better. After that they talk about Summary writing, which is self explanatory that it is writing a summary of events or just the essential information, that which is the base of your writing. Lastly they approach the topic of response writing, which is essential writing your own work based off of or approaching the argument made in a different paper, which takes good rhetoric skill in both writing and reading, and combining the two skills.

Chapter 13 pages 309-317

Ch 13 Pages 309-317
Engaging in classical arguments.
This chapter backtracks from what we have been learning in the first two papers to focus on picking a side and defending or arguing against it. They talk of "engaging classical arguments", which they mean to be picking a topic and a side of said topic and using literary and rhetorical skills to determine your standing and make visible a point or a standing that you discovered through your writing. They explore what an argument is, and in the book it says "the study or argumentation involves two components: truth seeking and persuasion."
they then go on to list tips to "grow as an arguer" and develop new techniques to defending your point and seeking truth in your topic as you explore the argument and find new positions and standings as well as proof behind standing arguments.  Lastly they talk about finding arguable topics, which is necessary, as there are certain topics you can't find much ground for starting an argument seeing as it is black or white, or adversely too grey, with too much flexibility to be proven.

Chapter 3 Sections 3.1 and 3.2, ch 13 pages 329-330

Section 3.1
How Messages Persuade
Different from what we've been learning so far, todays reading went over Angle of Vision,  which is a technique to convince readers of a CERTAIN/SINGULAR point of view rather than exploring all options as we have been previously. It goes to explain how to use sentence structure, vocabulary, and correct selection of words and details to show the angle of vision. After this they explain how to determine the different angles of vision present in a topic or story or writing, using an image and a story as examples after which they dissect them, showing which aspects of the writing or image belong to the angle of vision. Finally they conclude by stating strategies for constructing an angle of vision, with examples such as: State your intention directly, select details that support your intentions, and choose words that frame your subject in the desired way or have the desired connotations.
Section 3.2
Messages Persuade through Appeals to Logos, Ethos and Pathos.
This section goes over Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, terms and rhetorical devices I am quite familiar with. They explain how each one works, with Pathos being an appeal to emotions, logos being an appeal to logic and reason, and ethos be an appeal to character and trustworthiness. They then briefly explain how the three while being different also work together and can blend to create the ultimate appeal depending on who you are trying to reach.
Ch 13 pages 329-330 (I threw these in this post rather than make a single post for 2 pages)
Informal Fallacies
They include an intro to fallacies "murky reasoning that can cloud an argument"
the common fallacies they introduce are: Post Hoc, mistaking sequence for cause. Hasty Generalization, grouping things together without proper knowledge or research. false analogy, where the two things being compared or argued are too different to be correctly used like that, and then they go on to list the rest.

Chapter 18 Skills 18.1

Skills 18.1
In this Chapter the Authors start by explaining the difference between a narrative story and an and then chronology.  In their description they say that both a story and chronology depict events as they happen in time, but thats where the similarity ends and a story evolves and becomes something more by exploring more than just the depiction of the events.
They list 4 criteria for a "story": Depiction of events Through time, Connectedness, Tension, and Resolution. The first two Criteria are often found in chronology and story, while the other two are what separate the two. They go into further depth over the four criteria. They use references and draw back to the stories in the book we read for class and used them for examples as they explain each of the four parts and how they all fit together. For the connectedness section they talk how the in the story they fit in better and more thematic while in the chronology it is basically just sequentially and in a chronological order rather than in what order works best for explaining the story.

Ch 16 concept 16.4

Concept 16.4
This section of the book is on peer reviewing, a topic present in most every english class I've every taken but one that is almost never expounded upon. Only in brief spurts are we explained how to properly review someone else's paper and give them proper feedback to help them revise, nor are we taught how to use someones review to revise and better our work and our own skill. This chapter explains helpful positive ways of helping a peer improve their paper and proper responses to problems that could be found in a paper. They give a quick guide to peer reviewing, and it includes telling us how to do a basic overview, essentially finding the biggest global issue in the paper and addressing it, going into more depth and finding smaller global issues in the paper, and evaluating the writer's argument, basically delving into the soul of the paper and determining whether the base of the paper, the thesis or argument, is fitting, well made, or approached correctly in the paper. Only after all this is it ok to go after small grammar, spelling, and minor placement errors. LAstly they approach the responsibility of the peer reviewers, explaining how peer reviewing is so important on multiple levels, including the fact that focusing when peer reviewing can help you find mistakes in your own paper and writing and as you help your peer fix theirs you can learn how to fix your own.

Concept 1.3

Concept 1.3
The Rules for Good Writing
In the introduction to this section the authors put to rest the old adage that writing has to follow set precise rules in order to be "good", and more importantly, in order to get a good grade. They then go on to express different methods that should take the place of rules, explaining how writing is much more complex and fluid than to be aimed and fit inside certain rules. The rest of the chapter goes on to explain the difference between closed and open form prose. From what I learned from this is that closed is much more structured in how it approaches a topic, using unified paragraphs, topic sentences, focused transitions and an overall connection throughout the paper that is often referenced, while Open form is the near opposite of that, whilst still retaining order and structure it is focused more on exploration and the growth of thought rather than reaching a conclusion or trying to express something. With the help of a chart, the Continuum is explained, and that is basically a standing of which genres and kind of writing should be written in closed or open form prose, and how to identify which to use and how to use it for your particular paper. In closing they go over how the guidelines of writing shift based on the rhetorical setting.

Chapter 2 Concept 2.1

Concept 2.1
Talks of "wallowing in complexity" and how the questions you'd ask a teacher or adviser, questions with a set answer and the goal to eliminate misunderstandings are way different than the questions you'd ask while writing, which lead to debate and complexity.
Goes into detail how the very act of writing can help one wallow in complexity and explore topics and questions and produce ideas. They then explain Freewriting, Focused Freewriting, and Idea mapping and how each one differs and helps with the creative process.
Overall this chapters focus is on the discovery and development of ones ideas in the form of a thesis, or a proposed answer to the question you want to present in your writing. The text book talks of developing your ides through brainstorming and creating until you come up with enough ideas to piece together and form a question from.

Chapter 16, Concept 16.1, 16.2, 16.3

Concept 16.1
The book begins to explain why revision is so important to the writing process and how expert writers put a lot of focus on each individual draft, not spitting them out for the sake of having them but making each one an individual step towards the goal of the paper. They also explain how multiple drafts help, in examples of that doing so helps you remind yourself of the rhetoric and audience, and also is a great way of watching how the idea for the paper grows and expands over time
Concept 16.2
Local and Global changes are introduced and explained, stating that global changes affect the whole paper, whether that be structure, content, or purpose, whilst local changes only affect short pieces such as 1-2 lines of the paper. After that they list off reasons and strategies for global and local revision.
Concept 16.3
This text book even has a paragraph on why it's illogical to start the paper before the night its due.
The book lists off ten habits and tips to improve not your writing but the way you write, and the writing process pertaining to college writing.

Chapter 1, Concepts 1.1 and 1.2.

Concept 1.1
The main focus of this concept is understanding that writing is taking a problem and addressing it, answering it, or analyzing it. then it begins to address how to properly find a problem worth writing about. One line I really like from this is when they say "beginning college students typically imagine questions that have right answers," and I really enjoy how that leads us to realize that what we are questioning and seeking in our writing should be open-ended, or ever changing and fluctuating questions that are more akin to philosophies. Sometimes you can use a "big question" in your writing, aka something lots of people are talking about and interested in, or you could create a problem of your own that you could solve or delve deep into in your writing.
Concept 1.2
Rhetoric, like we discussed in class is the use of language and symbols to influence others or situations. There are actually people called Rhetoricians. What do they do? What great deed dons you the title Rhetorician? This section focuses on teaching us how to think of the purpose in our writing, who are we trying to influence, what are we trying to make them think or feel, and why are we trying to do that. I've never in my school writing career given either the problem matter or the rhetoric behind my writing a second thought so I quite enjoy what these two sections have to say.
When writing you need to find a Rhetorical Aim: your relationship to the audience and what you hope to accomplish. For example my current audience is the professor, to show to her that I have read and understand the materials, but I also am the audience in a sense, since I shall be using what I have written here to refresh my knowledge of these concepts if the need arises.