Assignment #11

Our group came to the decision of non member student athletes. We chose this audience because we thought we could have an effective argument on why it would be a good decision to come to BYU to play sports. We plan on talking about the tradition of excellence throughout the BYU athletic department as well as show off the great facilities, coaches, fans, and equipment that are available to BYU student athletes. We were also thinking of targeting an audience of just a normal student showing off the recreation activities that BYU offers as well as what the state of Utah has to offer.

Throughout the semester, I learned a great deal about audience and the importance of identifying the audience of papers that I have written or will write in the future. It is imperative that I identify who I am writing to because it will have an affect on how I write. My style and many other factors will be molded to whom I am writing to. I found it important that if I need to ask my instructor on who the audience is, it will help me to decide what possible topics I will write about as well as how my topics/arguments will be presented. I plan on asking as well as focusing my audience down to as specific as possible to better help my writing.

Assignment #10

Annotated Bibliography

1.) Hutcheson, Nicole, and Times S. Writer. "Refining Small Engines." St.Petersburg Times (Florida) October 4 2008, sec. BAYLINK; HOMES: ENVIRONMENT: 1F.

The source came from the lexis nexis academic data base. It is an article that is written about how small powered engines are being created to have better emissions and cause less harm to bodies of water as well as the air. It talks about how with this new technology, it will be hard to use your old watercrafts. It talks about the improved air quality that is expected to have by 2011.

I plan to use this source in my final paper by giving information on what is being done to prevent pollution. I will talk about the efforts that are underway to have more efficient watercrafts. I will more than likely quote a short informative quote concerning the action that is underway. I will also discuss how this applies to buyers of watercrafts and how it will affect their purchasing.

2.) Pinchin, Karen, and Canadian Press. "New Rules Won't Keep Sewage Out of Lakes; Loophole in Boating Law Gives 5-Year Exemption to Older Watercraft." The Toronto Star July 9 2007, sec. NEWS: A18.

This source is an article that talks about what is being done to stop toxic sewage from hurting the aquatic environment. Canadian and American law makers are starting to crack down on free sewage releases in lakes. This is harming the animal life and is making the water toxic and harmful to humans who go on the lake. It gives older watercrafts five years to figure something out to save the sewage and dump it somewhere other than in the water.

I will use this source in my essay to show the reader that sewage dumping is extremely harmful to the environment and can possibly harm their own lives. This will also show action that is being taken. This will make my paper stronger because it supports my argument and shows that the problem can eventually get better. I will probably paraphrase the information because it is pretty lengthy.

3.) "UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES; Sydney Harbors Deadly Diet for Sea Creatures." Biotech Business Week April 21 2008: 2334.

This source is a good one that I came across. It gives an in depth look at the effects that water crafts have on wildlife. It talks about how harmful heavy metals (not the music) get stuck on the sea weed and other aquatic plant life. The wildlife then eats these toxic plants and then, in most cases, both organisms die. This can be corrected by proper laws that can be put in place.

I plan on using this as ammunition to convince the reader that action needs to be taken. The author does a good job in concisely summarizing the problem. I will quote the author and then discuss more in depth as to what can happen. This quote will give more strength to my essay.

4.) Mueller, Gene, and the W. Times. "Riverkeepers Go to Court Over Pollution." The Washington Times December 19 2007.

This source shows that it is a real life problem. People are actually trying to fix the problem. They are going to government officials to try and fix the problems. This is a court case where excessive pollution is going into a river.

I will use this source as a validation that people are getting angry over the problem. It also talks about how the problem is being solved. I will paraphrase the article to get my point across. It also shows that the government is involved and that action is being taken.

5.) Werner, Erica. Tougher pollution rules for mowers, watercraft. 05 Sept 2008. Associated Press. 23 Nov 2008 .

This article talks about the exact restrictions that the EPA has now put on for watercrafts. It talks about how this will better help the aquatic wildlife. It also talks about the similarities that if the same thing was done to trucks, that one in five trucks would be removed from the roads. This puts in perspective the importance of the movement.

I plan to use this to show the detailed facts that are brought up. This will help my argument because it shows what is being done. These are tougher pollution laws. I will also use the comparison between road vehicles and watercrafts and the equivalent of taking one in five off of the road. I will also mention that the bodies of water will be cleaner and lots safer.

6.) Dieter, Mathew. "Jet-Ski Ordinances." The Environmnet Sector. 23 Nov 2008 .

This article brings up an interesting argument concerning sound pollution. Personal watercrafts can reach up to 60 mph and over 120 decibels. This has caused communities to want to ban the crafts. The sound doesn’t affect the wildlife but it is loud and can be annoying or even cause hearing impairment.

I will discuss this issue as a reason to show other ways that watercrafts can potentially pollute the water. This doesn’t directly harm the wildlife but it does affect the community. I will quote the author on their facts. Then I will discuss them in greater detail.

7.) Patton, Karen. "The PWC Controversy - Getting Along With Nature." suite101.com. 01 Mar 1998. 23 Nov 2008 .

This article also talks about sound pollution. It discusses how the use of personal watercrafts can disrupt others who are trying to enjoy the lake or national park. It talks about a sound ordinance and an unwritten rule that PWC users must abide by. This shows respect to all people that are enjoying the resource.

I plan on using this source to have more information concerning noise pollution. This is when I will discuss the unwritten rule and how it is being used. I will also discuss the issue on how it is being taken care of. The government puts a sound ordinance and talks about the advancement in technology concerning PWC’s.

8.) Krantz, David. "Water Pollution and Society." 23 Nov 2008 .

This site has an in depth research on all sorts of water pollution. It talks about the many different causes of water pollution as well as many pictures where I am able to see the effects first hand. This also talks about how it happens and what is being done about it from a societal perspective. It also gives a good understanding about water and what the quality is.

I plan to use this site as a strong basis of my information. It brings up many solid points and facts that will help me to effectively write my essay. I plan to paraphrase a lot of this information to relay it to the reader. I will mainly use the types of water pollution and how they come about.

9.) Rubin, Ken. "Reply to ASK-AN-EARTH-SCIENTIST." University of Hawaii. 23 Nov 2008 .

This site is an excellent source for me and answers many questions on a college level. It is a professor at Hawaii that answers many questions concerning the subject. This site helped me gather more information about the subject and was fairly in depth to help me know more. The many questions and answers helped me understand more.

I plan on using this information as background information. This will help the reader gain a base of knowledge concerning the subject. I will then be able to go into more detail about water pollution. This foundation also helped me to focus on the basic things before going into more detail.

10.) "Water Pollution." Clean Water: Our Precious Resource. Chewonki. 23 Nov 2008 .

This article looked at the many aspects of water pollution. It talked about how it comes about and what happens because of it. It also lists many facts concerning the wildlife and the habitat that lives around aquatic environments. It is on high school level so it was easy to understand and was interesting too.

I plan on using the facts that are given about water pollution. Theses facts will help better my argument because it is actual proof that water pollution really does have an effect on living organisms. I will also use the background information to provide a basis for the audience. This will in turn present a better argument.

Assignment #9

The important elements that were discussed in chapter eight were clarity, coherence, conciseness, voice, delivery, punctuation, language usage, and layout. Reading about each of these different styles of writing will make my paper and future papers that I write much better. I would always just write and never had these things that were discussed in the back of my mind.

Often times when I think of clarity, I think of if my writing is clear to myself, not the potential reader. I need to make sure that my paper is clear to the audience that will be reading it. A way to do this is to have my paper edited by more than one person. They can give me feedback on if it is making sense to them or not.

I didn’t even know what coherence meant before I read about it. I always just thought that it meant awake or alert. But in regards to writing, it means having my paper make sense. It flows nicely from idea to idea and has nice transitions.

I have always just tried to fill up the amount of assigned pages assigned to write. As hard as it is, conciseness is important when writing. I need to be as powerful as I can in the least amount of space.

The importance of voice never really mattered to me because I didn’t really care. I just did the assignment. However, the more I look at it, it is important that my personality, writing style, and how I want readers to perceive me stays consistent throughout my paper. This means that quotations I use should somewhat be similar to my writing style and that I am able to effectively relate them to what I am saying.

Punctuation is just a way to end and connect sentences right? Wrong. After reading this section, I realized that punctuation really can affect the way a reader reads and feels about a statement. The reason I though of this was because of the examples given in the chapter eight. I need to better pay attention to my punctuation and think how it will potentially affect the reader.

I like how the book said that language use is to be used as linguistic etiquette. In my research paper, I need to be mindful of all types of people. To include everyone, I should use plural words such as them or us.

The book mentions that a good page layout can strongly affect the persuasion of a reader. I need to follow the instructions about the format of the paper so I can be a more persuasive writer.

Assignment #8

The topic I am going to write on is the use of steroids among college athletes. At first, I was just going to write on the use of steroids by all athletes. I thought that it was too broad so I narrowed it down to college athletes. I also feel that I can relate better to this narrowed topic because I am involved with drug tests.

So far I have used the Harold B. Lee Library as well as its website to start my research. I have looked at official NCAA documents pertaining to steroid abuse by college athletes and how the NCAA is trying to prevent the problem. Various articles talking about the subject have given me insight and a better knowledge on the topic that will help me best write this paper. I found an interesting website that has some journals from a college athlete on how he was able to use steroids and pass all of his drug tests. He talks about how far athletes will go so they can become bigger, stronger, and faster. They will do whatever it takes to get around these drug tests. I have also learned about the long lasting effects of steroid abusers and former users testimonies and how they wished they would have never used steroids. They say that they just get caught up in the present and don't look at the consequences down the road for both themselves and their potential families.

This research is just a small part of what I need to do for my research paper but it has given me a good start on the things I will write about. I will begin my outline soon so I can start my paper.

Assignment #7

Food
Fact: Do slaughter houses meet the regulations set by the government? Are they ethical in the way the kill animals?
Definition: What makes food organic? Is it better?
Quality: Does eating organic food make it better?
Procedure: What do we do about these issues?

Baseball
Fact: Do steroids in baseball really enhance the users performance? Or does it just make the user stronger?
Definition: How do steroids work? Do they hurt the user over time?
Quality: Does using steroids make you become an obvious better athlete than your opponents?
Procedure: What do we do about athletes that have used steroids? Should an asterisk be placed next to their names on Major League Baseball records and archives?

Shoes
Fact: Is it unfair that shoe companies pay citizens of countries outside of the United States to make shoes at very cheap wages?
Definition: How much do they get paid? Does this compare to typical American wages?
Quality: Does it matter where the shoes are made? Are they of the same quality?
Procedure: What is being done to prevent this unethical problem?

Video Games
Fact: Do video games take up too much time of peoples' lives? Does it lead to social problems?
Definition: How much time is spent on video games per person? What do different video games do to people?
Quality: Which video games lead to violence? Do the ratings really have an affect on who buys and uses the video game?
Procedure: How is this problem being resolved? Is any action being taken place?

I think I am leaning towards doing an in depth research about steroids in sports. I don't really know how it can tie to the environment, but maybe you and I can come up with a way that it does.

Assignment #6

Frankly, my feelings on rhetorical analysis aren’t that positive. I don’t see why anybody would care on what strategies and appeals to emotion are used to convince the reader and/or audience that the author’s argument is either effective or ineffective. I have never read an actual rhetorical analysis. I don’t see where people need them to judge an author’s argument. I am not saying that rhetoric isn’t used, because that is most definitely not the case as rhetoric is all around us and it is second nature to us that we hardly even recognize it.

When writing my paper, I was all burned out because I thought it was going to be extremely difficult. But when Mr. Keeley suggested that I find a quote that uses rhetoric and then I simply ask myself the question on why this quotation is effective at convincing my audience that the argument is successful. This made my paper that much easier to write. I would go over my paper asking myself that why question and that would not only help me lengthen my paper as well as give it a more in depth analysis. At the end, my paper was longer than the requirements and I had to edit parts out that either weren’t as strong or that didn’t apply best to the argument.

Some things that I gained from this assignment that I more than likely wouldn’t have learned elsewhere was recognizing what exactly rhetoric is and how it is used to convince various audiences on different persuasive topics. I was able to use this skill to write my paper.

This assignment has helped me recognize all of the rhetoric that is going on in the world. With the election coming up, various parties are trying to persuade the audience (or potential voters) who are the best candidates for leading and guiding our country. This also applies in ads, whether they be on the television, internet, or anywhere else people are trying to sell products to potential consumers. If I want a job, I need to do my best to persuade my employer that I am the best person for the job and I need to appeal to certain emotions the person that is interviewing me to sell myself. By studying the most effective ways of rhetoric, I have a better chance at landing a job that I am interested in and would love to have. I also see rhetoric often used in the media. If a news station like a university more than another, they will promote them on commercials or even on their newscasts. This is seen in Utah with KSL and ABC 4. KSL likes Brigham Young University while ABC 4 is most interested in the University of Utah. This persuades viewers to like the university that is being advertised more by their favorite news station.

However, all in all I thought that this assignment wasn’t that helpful to me. I think that another assignment could better help me throughout my college years. But I am glad to have finished it and looking head to the research paper or whatever assignment is coming up next.

Assignment #5

Environmental issues have always a very large part of society. People’s views are different and many confrontations have occurred because of these varying looks on things. Some people want the environment to go untouched while others could care less what resources are used, just as long as they get what they need when they want. The article “Arctic Eyewitness; When will we realize we can’t drill our way to cheap gas?” talks about one environmental issue that is currently in discussion. Is it ok to drill in The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge located in Alaska? The article discusses why it is not ok to do such a thing. The author by the name of Mary Essen is effective in his effort to convince his audience that the valued land in Alaska is definitely not ok to drill for oil.

Although the article that Essen wrote was published in a Buffalo, New York newspaper, I am going to say that his targeted audience is the American people, mainly oil users and potential voters. His main message is that drilling for oil in this precious land of Alaska because it harms the environment and the drilling will not help gas prices go down because the gas industry is a global economy and drilling in one part of the world, will not help the gas prices go down.

Mary Essen uses his ethos to help his argument be more valid and his attempt to convince the population that this drilling should be stopped. He has done lots of research regarding this topic and you know that by reading the article. He knows lots of information and facts about the issue that better supports his argument. He talks about Exxon Valdez and how oil spills harm the environment and that the Exxon Valdez spill in particular, can kill thousands of animals and destroy the habitat that many of these animals live in. He makes note of President George W. Bush’s unpopularity by saying, “What’s changed is that artificially high gas prices have made it easier for oil companies and the Bush administration to manipulate the Americans into supporting an energy policy that will lead to even greater oil industry profits.” He is looking down on President Bush’s administration by making it sound like he knows what is best for the American people and what president Bush is doing is completely wrong.

Essen talks about deity and how the Indian people view the land that is being drilled upon as the “sacred place where life begins.” This points out that God knows about this place and it should be treated with respect because it is a sacred place. Marty Essen relates his personal experience to the reader to help convince that he knows what he is talking about. He personally went to the location and spent time there and to see of its beauty. He and his wife were able to canoe down rivers on the The article makes the reader feel guilty and shameful for wanting lower gas prices and not for not really paying attention about the causes and effects that it would have on the environment. It also appeals to emotion by giving a very detailed description of the land that is being used for oil. Upon their arrival to the drilling sight, Essen describes, “A sickening brown haze told us we were nearing Prudhoe Bay.” This immediately put a vivid image in my mind that this beautiful land is being ruined by this nasty brown cloud of smoke. Nobody wants a thing of beauty to be destroyed by something that can potentially be stopped.

location and had the opportunity to admire the wild life that lives in the area.

Marty Essen appeals to emotion in many different ways. He makes the point, mentioned above, that drilling in Alaska will not drop the gas prices because gasoline is involved in a global economy. He says, “We can’t drill our way to cheap gas. We can, however, with only a minor conservation effort, save more oil than we’d ever pump out of the Arctic Refuge. And if we put a full effort into weaning ourselves off oil, we won’t be passing the problem on to future generations.” This points out that it will effect the future of America.

Essen also talks about that this may affect the wildlife near you. In this important land, Essen exclaims, “More than 50 species of migrating birds hatch their chicks. Many of those birds will migrate to a park, forest of body of water near you.” This personally relates to many people that have birds around where they live. They will want them to continue to stick around and the drilling in Alaska could potentially cause that to not happen anymore.

Marty Essen is successful in using his sense of reasoning that the drilling in the Alaskan land in the sense that it is not necessary because it will not change the gas prices. His timing in writing the article is important because gas prices are a very large national issue. He is logical in his analogy between the size of the drilling factory and the cob webs in a house. Two different measurements are taken when explaining the size of the drilling area. They are 4,240 acres and 640,000 acres. Essen explains, “Imagine you come home from vacation and find cobwebs in every room, stretching from chair to chair and from wall to wall. You consult two friends - - an oil company lobbyist and an environmentalist. They lobbyist says, “The webs are thin. Let them me. You’ll still have most of the house to yourself.” The environmentalist says, “My dear friend, you have a spider problem!”” This is a logical explanation on the measurement of the oil field.

In conclusion, Essen used ethos, pathos, and logos in an effective way to convince the reader that drilling on this precious Alaskan territory can be harmful to the environment. He calls for action using a sense of patriotism. After reading the article, readers will walk away with a different outlook on gas prices and that drilling for more oil will not effect the price of gas in America.