Considering Genre

Gerd Altman "Office, Business, Businessmen" August 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication 

Picking a genre was the hardest part of this pre-proaction stage of the project. I didn't just want to pick any genre, I wanted to plan out what genre I was going to use for each project, to make sure I am comfortable with each project/genre combination.

1. What genre are you going to commit to for Project 1? Why?

The genre I am going to commit to for this project is a Quick Reference Guide. This is because I have looked at all of the projects for this semester and planned which genre to use for each. I chose the QRG for this project because I personally felt as though it is the best option for me and my topic.

2. What genre conventions from your chosen genre are you planning on developing during next week's Production phase? What do you plan to do with the genre conventions that will help you accomplish the purpose of the project most effectively?

The genre conventions I am going to focus on next week are the copy, graphics, facts, links, and title (there's probably more I'm forgetting but that's what I know for sure I will focus on).

3. How are you feeling about Project 1 going in to the Production phase? What challenges do you anticipate next week as you create content for the project?

So far I feel okay about the project. I don't think it's going to be easy peasy but at the same time I don't think it is going to be the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. 

The challenges I anticipate are finishing narrowing down my topic, because I need to do that before I can write my copy. I am not too worried about that because I have the general topic and I have thought of  a way to narrow it down I just need to make sure I can find the sources I need. 

Overall I feel prepared for this project and hope it will go relatively smoothly. The main thing I will need to do is tell myself "don't panic" (hence the picture below).

Pete Linforth "Don't Panic, Panic, Button, Stress" November 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

Cluster of Stakeholders

This cluster was a little more difficult for me to complete because I am still in the final stages of narrowing down my topic. So I did what I could. I was able to find information about people who are for and against raising the minimum wage as well as pros and cons of raising it.

Although my topic is not fully narrowed down, the sources and stakeholders I found are still valuable to my project because they will help with background information. Also, many of the general sources do have specific instances about this debate within them, which I will be able to use as well.

You can find my cluster here: Raising the Minimum Wage Debate Cluster

Gerd Altman "Partnership, Connectedness" November 2014 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

Evaluation of General Sources

My topic is the debate over raising the minimum wage. I am still working on narrowing it down further than that, so for now I am using sources that talk about this debate as a whole so I can get a better idea about my topic before I narrow it down even more. The two sources I'm using are Fortune.com and CNBC.com.

"Saving, Piggy, Piggy Bank, Money" July 2013 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

URL:

Fortune article- http://fortune.com/2015/09/16/ben-carson-minimum-wage/

CNBC article- http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/04/inside-the-minimum-wage-debate.html

Author:

Fortune article- The author of this article is Claire Zillman. When I clicked on her name on Fortune.com it simply said she is a writer for them. She has also written four other articles about various topics.

CNBC article- The author of this article is Kate Rogers. When I clicked on her name on cnbc.com it told me that she joined CNBC in September of 2014 and covers small business and entrepreneurship stories.

Last Updated:

Fortune article- This article was last updated on September 16, 2015. This shows me that it is a recent enough article to be credible for this project and be relevant to the topic I am focusing on.

CNBC article- This article was last updated on September 4, 2015. Like the Fortune article, this is also a reliable article to use.

Purpose:

Fortune article- The purpose of this article is to explain what presidential candidate Ben Carson proposed as his solution to the debate over the minimum wage. His solution is to raise the minimum wage every year (staying parallel with inflation) forever, basically, so this is never an issue again.

CNBC article- The purpose of this article is to explain what different people, republicans and democrats, think about what the minimum wage should be raised to as well as if it should be raised at all. Also the article talks about small businesses and what they provide/pay their employees.

Graphics:

Fortune article- The only graphic on this page is a picture of Ben Carson.

CNBC article- There are two graphics on this page. Both are videos that talk about the minimum wage.

Position on Subject:

Fortune article- This article appears to be more informative on Ben Carson's proposal rather than taking a side. However it appears that the article is in favor of his plan because it states that Ben Carson "veered into liberal territory" with this plan and that it is radical because it "is coming from a Republican."

CNBC article- This article is definitely in favor of raising the minimum wage by the tone of how the author is writing. However this article also just focuses, instead of debating, on what the minimum wage should be raised to, and what other business owners/politicians believe it should be raised to.

Links:

Fortune article- These are the links this article provides: according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, established in 1938, and 2013 bill introduced by Congressional Democrats.

CNBC article- This article only provided one link within the reading which was mid-term ballot measures. However the article provided one "read more" links which was LA union wants to be exempt from the $15 minimum wage.

Reddit and What I Found There

Kevin Phillips "Reddit, Com, Vote, Comment" October 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

I'll be the first to admit, I use almost all forms of social media. But when it comes to Reddit I'm clueless. I've never used it, let alone gone t the website. That being said I was not very excited for this blog post. To my (happy) surprise, however, Reddit was easier to use than I thought. And right off the bat I found what I was looking for.

1. What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exhanges of ideas about?

I began my search on Reddit by just searching for "business," and I found a few stories that would work for this assignment. Many of the threads I found talked about small businesses and asked other people on Reddit (I think someone referred to them as Redditors? So we'll go with that) if they go to "mom n pop" businesses, if they support small businesses, etc. I also found threads from Redditors asking others is an undergraduate business degree was a good idea, as well as business related advice.

2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums?

The first interesting debates/conversations I found on Reddit was "How many of you Redditors make an effort to support local "Ma and Pa businesses/restaurants?". I chose this topic from my Reddit search because I know that small business have been having trouble in the economy lately. Many responses in this thread were from people who owned small businesses themselves and they wrote about how their regular customers were the backbone of their business and they appreciate everyone who comes in. In addition to those comments, many Redditors wrote about how them and their families support these Ma n Pa businesses whenever possible.

I also found the thread "Is an undergraduate business major worth pursuing?". I found this thread intriguing because I myself am getting a business degree (and I also do believe it is a smart move for me) and therefore I was curious what other people had to say about it. Looking through the replies I noticed that a large part of this thread turned into "my daddy said this" and "well my daddy said that" and was one big argument. Which wasn't very informative.

3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums?

Overall I was not very impressed by Reddit. The threads I found and looked through definitely had opinion based responses as a majority of replies. The threads are just people posting what they feel is right, or what they do, instead of factual information about whatever the question is. Therefore, if I had to pick between Reddit or Twitter for news stories, I would definitely pick Twitter first.

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories

The two news magazine websites I chose to look at were Fortune and Bloomberg Business. Both of these websites provided a huge variety of news articles ranging from world news to state news. Both websites also had a large selection of news-related videos available for people to watch.

The two news stories I chose to look into and write about are "Cruz Campaign Gets Flack for Pressuring Iowa Voters" and "North Korea Says It Is Holding U.S. Student Over Hostile Attack"

Gerd Altman "Cloud, Blog, Tweet, Like, Share" March 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

1. What is the debate, disagreement or argument in the story about?

Cruz article- This article's debate is about presidential candidate Ted Cruz's tactic of improving voter turn out in the Iowa caucus. What he did exactly was send out mailers to people in Iowa, apparently resembling an official notice, showing voters their voting percentage in the past few years. The mailer also is said to have included the statement "CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE." The people involved in this story are Ted Cruz, Iowa's secretary of state Paul Pate and republican strategist Rick Wilson.

N. Korea article- The man issue in this article is about how a U.S. college student from Virginia University traveled to North Korea as a tourist and is accused of trying to bring down North Korea's "single-minded unity at the tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation," according to KCNA. However, authorities will not release exactly what the student allegedly did. The main people involved in this story are the Korean government and the student from Virginia University.

2. Who is the most sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why do they evoke feelings of sympathy from you?

Cruz article- The person who evokes sympathy from me in this article is Ted Cruz. However, I do not have sympathy for him because of my political stance or anything close to that, because that is not what the assignment is about. That being said, I am approaching this issue from a non-political stance.

The reason I have sympathy for Ted Cruz is because I truthfully do not see anything wrong with what he did. He did not threaten voters for not voting, he was simply trying to encourage people to come out an vote, which actually is a positive thing considering many people do not vote, when they should. This is because especially at this early stage of the election, for both sides, every possible vote is critical.

Could Cruz have gone about encouraging voters a different way? Maybe not an official looking notice? Yes. But is this the biggest thing voters and the media should be focusing on as the election and caucus approach? Absolutely not. There are much bigger issues at hand for both sides that candidates and the media should be focusing on, not petty things like this.

N. Korea article- While reading this article I definitely have sympathy for the student that is being held by North Korean government. This is because North Korea is a scary place, and that government does not let much information out, therefore how does anyone know if this child is guilty if authorities will not release exactly what he supposedly did?

The article even says that "North Korea has used detained U.S. nationals in the past as a way to draw prominent American figures such as former U.S. President Jimmy Carter into Pyongyang as mediators to open dialogue with Washington." Reading that makes me very suspicious on how legitimate the accusation of this student is.

3. Who is the least sympathetic character in the story? Who are they? How are they involved? Why can't you easily sympathize with them?

Cruz article- I have the least sympathy for any voter who was "offended" by the mailer Cruz sent out. If I received a mailer like that from any presidential candidate, I would either simply throw it away if I didn't agree with it, or if I agreed with it I would go and vote. In my opinion there is no reason to make a huge fuss over something as silly as a piece of mail encouraging you to go and vote. In addition to that, candidates are obviously wanting people to come and vote for them, otherwise why would they be running? Therefore, of course they will do what they can to encourage more voters to go to the polls.

N. Korea article- I am in no way sympathetic with North Korea on this issue. Everyone knows that North Korea is a shady place (for lack of a better word). With the recent testings of their hydrogen bomb and wanting to be recognized as a nuclear power, who knows what the reason could be for throwing this American in jail.

Twitter and What I Found There

Kevin Phillips "Tweet, Twitter, Internet, Social" December 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

Although I have a Twitter, I only actively use it on occasion. I mostly just scroll through my feed when I'm bored or look at cute puppy videos or stuff about country music stars. That being said, after I scrolled through Twitter for a good hour looking at stuff completely unrelated to business, I got to work.

1. What kinds of things do people on Twitter seem to be talking about, debating, arguing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exchanges of ideas about?

Simply searching the word "business" on Twitter did not help me in finding what I need. The search mostly provided me with tweets from random people use the word business in a casual sentence. So I got more specific.

I then tried searching "business news," and at first glance I thought that did the trick. After giving the search results a further look, however, I realized that my search mostly brought up three things: Nigerian daily news, news that isn't news (aka people tweeting "Want to expand your business news? Follow these people!), and a small variety of actual news stories mostly relating to google or small businesses.

The last search I tried was "American business," in an effort to find news stories from this country. This was a success. The search results provided tweets mostly relating to the "State of American Business Address," which, if I'm being honest, didn't even know existed.

2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting conversations or stories you found in the Twitter feeds?

Two of the more interesting/factual accounts I came across were @TheEconomist and @businessinsider. Both of these accounts are verified on Twitter, which I thought was a good sign, so I started looking through them.

One thing I noticed as I was scrolling through both of these accounts feeds is that the business insider has less "news" based stories like politics, or war, or the economy and more stories about psychology and how much David Bowie left to his children.

The Economist, however, provided me with many news stories pertaining to other countries politics, American politics, and some other articles here and there.

3. Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening on Twitter? Were the people in these feeds talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing?

Overall, I was pleased by this unknown territory of Twitter that I had yet to explore. There were many factual and beneficial articles posted to these Twitter feeds, many of which sparked my interest, and I followed a few accounts during the process as well.

Evaluation of New York Times Stories

The two stories I chose from the New York Times to focus on are "22 Clinton Emails Deemed Too Classified to Be Made Public" and "G.O.P. Debate Without Trump Draws 12.5 Million Viewers" I chose to write about these because politics is something that interests me and these specific stories in particular caught my eye.

Pete Linforth, "Top Secret, Report, File, Secret" December 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

1. Does there seem to be a "main character" or "protagonist" to the story? If so, who is it and how are they are the "center" of the story? If not, are there any important or central characters in the stoy at all? What role do they play?

Clinton article- The "main character" of the first news article is Hillary Clinton. This is because the entirety of this article concerns the deemed "classified" emails sent from Hillary Clinton's personal email. There are also quotes from other people in the article as well, including Marco Rubio, Brian Fallon, Dianne Feinstein, and more.

Trump article- The "main character" of the second news article appears to be about Donald Trump, but is more about the numbers and factual information about the debates as a whole. Donald Trump is the central character, however, because these statistics were brought about because of his lack of appearance at the last Republican debate.

2. Where do the specific events in the story take place? Is there a specific setting? Describe the settings for the stories and how they influence the plot and characters.

Clinton article- There is no real "setting" in this story because it talks simply about her email server. However the email server is a huge influence on the plot of the story because of the fact that it was a private server that sent the "classified" emails. This affects the characters because it appears to be against Hillary Clinton and not supporting her, however the story also includes quotes from Democrats supporting Clinton.

Trump article- Similar to the Clinton article, the Trump article has no real "setting" as well. The setting could be seen at news stations such as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC because that is where the majority of the statistical numbers are coming from.

3. Is there any kind of disagreement or debate happening in the story? If so, who is particiapting, why are people debating and what seems to be at stake for the different characters in the story?

Clinton article- This article contains a huge debate that has been going on for quite some time now. The debate is over Hillary Clinton's email scandal, where she sent out classified emails from her personal server during her time as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. The people participating in this story are supporters and opposers of Hillary Clinton. The main thing at stake, according to this news story, is not only Hillary Clinton's reputation, but also her chances at becoming president in the upcoming election of 2016. This is because Hillary Clinton could be federally persecuted for this offense.

Trump article- This article is more informative about factual information, instead of posing an issue about a debate. The story simply talks about how the viewers of this last Republican debate compare to others, and how much coverage Trump's Iowa campaign received at the same time that the debate was on.

"Donald Trump, Donald, Trump" November 2015 via pixabay. Public Domain Dedication

Course Projects

What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects?

What I am most nervous about is picking the '"right" form for each project. I know there is no "right" form I just mean picking the form that I think works best for each of the different projects. I am worried that I will end up picking a form that doesn't work for me for that particular project, making the process more difficult. Addressing the different forms, I am definitely most nervous for the video assignment as well as the podcast. This is because I have never done a video assignment or a podcast so it is something very new for me. However this will give me a chance to branch out and try something new.

What are you most interested in or excited by in regards to the four major projects?

Although I am also nervous about interviewing something for project number two, I am also excited about that. This is because I am an outgoing person once people get to know me, however I can be quiet when I first meet someone so I feel as though this interview will help me be more open right off the bat. Also, I am excited for the personal reflection assignment because I love looking back on old projects and assignments to see how I've improved.

Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?

I will definitely need to work on my time management and not procrastinating on these projects. All four of these projects, especially the interview, will take a lot of planning and setting up times to do certain things, and if those things get put off, the project will be rushed and not done to its full potential. Because most of my classes this semester appear to be writing based I think it will be difficult to try and balance my time between the writing assignments I will be required to do.

How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?

My past English classes have prepared me for the challenges of this course because of the workload. My English classes in high school had a lot of reading assignments that I had to balance my time management to get them done. This class is similar in the sense that I have to balance the workload of the projects, instead of reading.

Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?

If we find a topic I am very interested in outside of our major am I allowed to use that topic for a project? For project two am I allowed to interview two professionals or if I interview one professional do I then have to interview a grad student or someone at the university in my field as the second person (if that makes sense)?

REFLECTION

After reading Olivia and Mariana's posts I felt better about my concerns and worries knowing that my classmates feel basically the same as me. I think these projects and the different forms will be a challenge in different ways for different students but it will be beneficial to us in the end. It is definitely reassuring to know that all of my classmates are in the same boat as me and that we will be able to help each other out with questions as each project comes along. 

Investigating Genres

What purpose(s) does this genre usually serve?

A Quick Reference Guide typically serves the purpose of explaining a topic, ranging from something as simple as coffee to as complex as world issues, in a relatively short article. This allows the reader to understand the basics of the issue they are interested in without having to know every detail.

Where, how, or in what context do readers usually find this genre?

This genre is typically found in magazines or on websites that is focused mainly on entertainment/sports news. However there are also Quick Reference Guides relating to national and/or world issues that can be found on websites of major news contributors.

Who is the typical audience for this genre?

I feel as though the audience for this genre can vary greatly depending on the content of the article. For example, a Quick Reference Guide that is about a popular pop singer would attract an audience of younger readers that relate to the person the article is about. An article about a world issue would typically attract an older audience or people interested in politics. Quick Reference Guides are a great way for people of any age to obtain quick information about a subject they wish to know more about.

What are some of the key features or characteristics that are unique to this genre, distinguishing it from other texts?

Throughout my research of this genre, I have found that most Quick Reference Guides have a variety of subheads, sometimes posed as questions, throughout the text. These subheads make the text easier to read because the content is logically put into different sections. Also, most Quick Reference Guides have pictures, illustrations, or charts imbedded in the text as well, helping the reader visualize what the author is talking about in that part of the article.

Based on your answers to the questions above, come up with a definition in your own words for this genre.

My definition for a Quick Reference Guide would be that a Quick Reference Guide is a short article or piece of text with an intended use for informing an audience about the broad issue or point of a wide variety of topics.

REFLECTION

I read James and Tianna's posts and they both wrote about quick reference guides as well. They both did a great job explaining them. I thought that the strength in James' post was explaining more in depth how the quick reference guides are used by mentioning politics and news throughout his post. Tianna's post was laid out very clean and was easy for me to read and also contained great information. I also read her reflection and can completely relate to her feeling as though her writing style is different because that is how I feel, so it was nice to see someone else feels the same. Overall I am excited for this class and this whole new experience using Blogger because I have never used something like this before.

My Writing Process

What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself to be?

I feel as though I generally fit into either the "heavy planners" or "procrastinators" categories, depending on the project at hand. But I will admit, I tend to lean towards the procrastinator side.

Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?

The first step of my writing process is trying to be a "heavy planner," but in doing so I procrastinate for a while, and then get back to it.
When I get to the heavy planning stage, I eliminate all distractions (phone, television, music, etc.) and think about what I am going to say and how I'm going to say it. Using this method definitely helps me write the finished product because of all the previous planning I had done.
My next step is to sit down and write what I had thought about without scrutinizing every detail but simply focusing on the big picture.
The last step of my writing process is to revise. I re-read my entire work to check for grammar, spelling, and punctuational errors throughout my writing.

"Pencil, Sharpener, Notebook, Paper" September 2015 via pixabay. Public domain dedication license

Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

Overall I would have to say that my writing process seems to be fairly successful. I complete the assignment on time, and I feel as though my process improves each time.
A weakness of this process would be the procrastination. The procrastination sometimes hinders the amount of time I have for my "heavy planner" stage.
However a strength of this process is the "heavy planner" stage and the parts following. This is because I am able to plan, write what I think, and then revise. Revising at the end instead of during is beneficial for me because I am able to stay on track and complete the writing first, before moving on to find errors. Also, simply writing what I am thinking at the time without over thinking helps keep my ideas flowing, helping me think of more material to write as I go along.

Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?

As I have said previously, the one "approach" (I guess you could call it) that I would change would be the procrastination. I have made progress in not procrastinating as much, however sometimes I still tend to procrastinate for too long. I still have work to do to battle my constant procrastination however I do feel as though, in general, I am improving. The rest of my writing process, however, works for me, so I would not change that approach at this time.