Learning Log

English 2010

15 January 2019
“Donald J. Trump, Pope Francis, and the Beef That Defied Space and Time”
Benjamin Soloman

1. “Instead, they used intentional, crafted language to take specific actions, to

create new meanings, and to assert their identities in the world. In other words,
they used language to do things, make things, and be things.”
2. “In other words, the tool we use to build our society is language. Each of us,
every day, is using language to create this world.”
3. The author of the article accomplished his purpose by suddlely expressing their
opinions to convince the reader to lean one way or another. The author wanted
the reader to be on the pope’s side rather than Trump’s. He did this by giving
examples that boosts the Pope’s reputation, and explaining why Trump’s
statements were illogical.

17 January 2019
“Language Matters: A Rhetorical Look at Writing”
Chris Blankenship and Justin Jory

1. “Most basically, though,rhetoric is a discipline built on the notion that ​language

matters.”
2. “We use rhetoric as a way to investigate, understand, and use language.”
3. When the authors state that “language is difficult, and it’s messy,” they mean that
in school you learn a bunch of English rules, but when you write you end up
breaking a lot of these rules to write. Also, when speaking a language, people
use slang and other words that are not in your English dictionary.

22 January 2019
“Genre in the Wild--- Understanding Genre Within Rhetorical (Eco)Systems”
Lisa Bickmore

1. “In these cases, simply knowing that there are genres—typical ways of using
language that recur in the situation—can help a writer assess how to respond,
and to figure out what genres are typically used in that situation.”
 2. “So a genre is an act of language—for our purposes here, mostly acts of writing,
in particular—that behaves in typical or characteristic ways, which we can
observe in repeated or persistent situations.”
3. I do think that genre makes my writing sound robotic because depending on what
I’m writing I often use the same tools and language to write it. So, if you look at
all my writing the language I use would all be similar. Genre also makes my
writing more robotic because when I know what type of thing I’m writing I will
usually write it the same way I wrote the last one of the same type.

28 January 2019
“Writing for Community Change” section 3
Elisa Stone

1. “With this privilege comes an obligation, and that obligation is to be contributing

members of society who work toward the greater good of all.”
2. “Still, research shows that what makes people truly happy tends to involve
working toward a cause outside of their own immediate needs and wants: in
other words, service to others actually improves your own well-being.”
3. If money and time were not a factor I would want to find a way to help get clean
water and vaccinations to everyone. It is horrible to think that some people can’t
even get clean water to sustain life, and they’re dying of awful diseases that
could be prevented by a simple shot.

28 January 2019
“The Elizabeth Smart Case: A Study in Narrativized News”
Clint Johnson

1. “Heroes in Smart’s parents, who were wealthy enough to stay in the public eye,
and eventually Smart herself, a victim straight from central casting: young,
female, blonde, attractive, wealthy, white.”
2. “Smart’s kidnapping readily lent itself to being told as a traditional narrative, with
a clear perspective on heroes and villains, and a dramatic conflict progressing
through multiple obstacles to a victorious climax and resolution.”
3. I think what makes the Elizabeth Smart story universal and long lasting is that her
parents really got the word out about Elizabeth and continued to put word out. I
also think that it is remembered because Elizabeth shared her story, andthey
found the guy who kidnapped her.
 30 January 2019
“Writing is Recursive”
Chris Blankenship

1. “In modern English, recursion is used to describe a process that loops or

“runs again” until a task is complete.”
2. “Unlike student writers, professional writers, like Steven Pinker, don’t view
each part of the writing process as a step to be visited just once in a
particular order. Yes, they generally begin with invention and end with
editing, but they view each part of the process as a valuable way of
thinking that can be revisited again and again until they are confident that
the product effectively meets their goals.”
3. The second image is a more accurate way to writing because there isn’t a
set way that everyone writes, or at least there shouldn’t be. The second
way allows for more freedom when writing, and overall better writing.

1 February 2019
“Making Choices in Writing”
Jessie Szalay

1. “In order to produce the best writing you can—and not be miserable while you’re
doing it—you’re going to want to pick a topic that really, truly interests you, with
which you are excited to engage, about which you have the resources to learn,
and about which you can envision having something to say.”
2. “I’ve often thought of my own writing as a process of selecting. Rather than
starting with an empty page, I sometimes feel like I’m starting with every possible
phrase, thought, and a dozen dictionaries. There are so many stories I could tell,
so many sources I could cite, so many arguments I could make to support my
point!”
3. Strategic Choices
a. Syntax
b. Create a tone
c. Use appeals
d. Use figurative language
e. Provide enough background language
5 February 2019
Open Letters

1. “Dear Italy” - Sarah

a. “Slowly but surely though, Italy, you revealed some of your charms to me.”
b. “My Italian, although already good, became coloured with the accent of
the senese territory, and my taste buds learned to crave things previously
unknown to them.”
2. “An Open Letter to High School Students about Reading”
a. “I am the coeditor of two books about college readiness… so I´ve spent a
great deal of time thinking about what high school students need if they
want to be successful in college.”
b. “Another important study that has helped shape my understanding of the
importance of reading to college readiness was conducted by French
sociologists Pierre Bourdieu and Jean-Claude Passeron.”
3. Both of the letters that I read had a conversational tone. The letters felt like they
were talking to someone even though they had a general audience. They also
both used personal experiences. This is important in an open letter so people
know more about you since you aren't always close to the person your writing to.

7 February 2019
“Peer Review”
Jim Beatty

1. “The least helpful thing you can do when peer reviewing is correct grammar and
typos. While these issues are important, they are commonly the least important
thing English professors consider when grading.”
2. “Resist the powerful urge to get defensive over your writing. Try your best not to
respond until your reviewer is finished giving and explaining their feedback. Keep
in mind that your peers do not have all the information about your paper that you
do. If they misunderstand something, take it as an opportunity to be clearer in
your writing rather than simply blaming them for not getting it.”
3. “A friend can offer another perspective or additional information of which you are
initially unaware. Again, you can get the most direct advice by visiting your
professor during office hours to go over ideas and drafts.”
4. From past experience I have always found peer review helpful if the person is
actually trying to correct it rather than just looking over it to say they reviewed it
 to get points in the class. It is helpful to get a fresh set of eyes on the paper to
make sure that the things that you wrote don’t only make sense to you.

11 February 2019
“Personal Literacy and Academic Learning”
Marlena Stafford

1. “Personal literacies are the reading and writing practices individuals engage in
during activities of their own choice and for personal satisfaction or to meet
personal goals.”
2. “Once we become aware of the various personal literacies we practice in our
lives, we can begin to see their connections to the academic literate practices we
must develop to meet our academic goals.”
3. Timeline

Birth Learn to read and write Class journals 2nd grade book First personal Journal

3rd grade first essay on the color green Class book Start to write more essays Book reports

Poetry Science reports Book essays 10th grade speech English 1010 Open Letter Now

13 February 2019
“You Will Never Believe What Happened: Stories We Tell”
Ron Chistiansen

1. “We all tell stories. For humor. For clarifying our view of the world. For
asserting our identity.”
2. “Stories are our attempts to make sense of the world. We narrate our
experience in order to connect with others and validate our own
experience and self-worth. We shape our identity through these stories.”
3. Stories help us relate to one another, so when we read them you relate
them to experiences that you have had with people, or you see yourself in
the story. It helps us to realize we are all human.
15 February 2019
“Is That a True Story?”
Ron Christiansen

1. “I would argue, however, that one thing is clear: the minute we start to retell a
story from our past we are constructing it from our point of view, so there’s no
need to get too worried about getting every detail correct. It’s impossible.”
2. “What really matters isn’t so much whether it’s true in the forensic sense, in the
legal sense.” Instead, “What really matters is whether people are making
something meaningful and coherent out of what happened. Any creation of a
narrative is a bit of a lie. And some lies have enough truth”
3. Truth is complicated because we can’t remember all of the details of a story so
we have to embellish it a little. But you don’t want to embellish it to the point
where it’s not true.

21 February 2019
“Adding The Storyteller’s Tools to The Writer’s Toolbox”
Clint Johnson

1. The power of scene

a. “Writing stories requires that we write meaningful scenes: areas of intense
focus where we describe people, places, and actions in order to make a
reader feel they have witnessed something themselves. That ability—to
use language to create an experience in a reader’s mind”
2. The power of experience
a. “Stories can provide new experiences by which people can make sense of
the claims they encounter.”
3. The power of sensory detail
a. “As a storyteller, you know the importance of sensory description. To
describe something using the senses not only gives an additional texture
of reality to the subject, but it can help memory.”
4. The power of voice
a. “Most good stories are about dramatic, interesting characters, people who
the author creates yet are not the author. Their words—dialogue—have
great power to establish unique, distinctive voices separate from the
author’s own voice as a story’s narrator.”
5. The power of conflict
 a. “You know that every good story is about conflict because conflict means
people care. Conflict is produced when different individuals or groups
have competing interests and take action trying to achieve their personal
goals, often by overcoming resistance from others.”

25 February 2019
“6 Keys for Success”
Nikki Mantyla

1. Simple
a. “And he kept it concise. He could have gone into a drawn-out rant, venting
anger instead of appealing to the audience. Instead, he kept his grievance
simple and funny.”
2. Unexpected
a. “Writers who incorporate the unexpected in strategic ways—with a
shocking statistic in a report or a fresh take on a classic recipe or an
unheard-of position on a controversial subject—are more likely to hook
their audience. Without such surprise, our chances of being memorable
are low.”
3. Concrete
a. “When instructors say, “Show, don’t tell,” this is what they mean. Telling is
weaker because it gives a secondhand report: how it was a classy concert
hall where nobody would expect crappy equipment, how Seinfeld griped
about the spotlight, how everyone thought it was really funny. On the other
hand, showing with concrete details means readers experience firsthand
input and draw their own stronger conclusions.”
4. Credible
a. “Writers can also buy cred by touting their own expertise: experiences with
the topic, relevant places they’ve worked or volunteered, observations that
sharpened their perspective, surveys or interviews they’ve done, classes
they’ve taken, even their age.”
5. Emotional
a. “Projecting emotion is important but tricky. Good writers don’t want to
overdo it, and they don’t want to use fallacious or unethical approaches,
such as fear mongering. Done well, emotional appeals can have a
powerful lingering effect.”
6. Story-Based
 a. “The best story type for each piece of writing will depend on its situation
and purpose and audience, but using miniature stories like the spotlight
tale can be a great method for highlighting a writer’s subject in a
memorable way.”
7. Conclusion
a. “That’s the power of language to do things, be things, and make things in
the world. That’s the power our writing can have when we master
language/writing as a resource.”

28 February 2019
“Story as Rhetorical: We Can't Escape The Story No Matter How Hard We Try”
Ron Christiansen

1. “A rhetorical analysis … now that sounds rigorous and academic. Personal

narrative . . . sounds squishy, personal, even wimpy.”
2. “I’ve admitted to past beliefs I’d rather keep hidden from students. In fact, I’m a
bit ashamed that I wrote that sentence, which to me now clearly demonstrates
my narrow view of people who are not LDS.”
3. “In one sense the chapter title gives away the entire thrust of the chapter—writers
must create an itch that readers want to scratch. Kind of an interesting way to
think about the purpose of writing, isn’t it?”
4. A story is an argument because you are practically arguing for your reader to
believe you. So, the reader can come to imagine your point of view and put them
self in your situation. Stories help others believe you because you are sharing
something that can be personal to them.

4 March 2019
“The Narrative Effect: Story as the Forward Frame”
Lisa Bickmore

1. “Some stories keep the timeline simple, starting with the earliest event, and
moving ahead deliberately to the end, or final event. But no matter how the writer
manages the timeline, in a story, a reader expects to be anchored explicitly in
time, and to be able to orient him or herself in time”
2. “Stories also help readers understand why and under what conditions the story
matters. This, by the way, is true of most kinds of writing that matter to
 readers—either the situation is clearly understood by all those who receive the
piece of writing, or the writer makes that situation clear.”
3. “As readers, we also hope for an opportunity to see into a vivid story-world that
has a sense of lived-in-ness, of detail and texture. This is what Herman refers to
as the “qualia”—the “what it is like”–ness of a story. Writers create the worlds of
their stories by using sensory detail, but also by evoking the narrator’s or other
character’s states of mind.”
4. “A long story structure, such as a novel, has the room for highly elaborated
characters; shorter story structures, such as essay-length memoirs or profiles,
may have less room for expansive exploration, but even there, writers develop
scenes, characters, and situations by using economical strokes that help the
reader to see into a world, to imagine what that world is like, and even to be able
to place themselves in that world, if only for a brief moment, and to move along
with the writer as s/he unfolds the narrative.”
5. “A narrative text puts story first; it frames the reader’s experience of the text by
forwarding, or emphasizing, story-telling strategies.”
6. The biggest take away that I got from reading this essay that I want to make sure
to do in my essay is to provide details. I liked how she mentioned that the reader
should be able to imagine everything around them. This is something I struggle
with, but I know this is what I need to do to make my story more interesting.

6 March 2019
“Punctuation, Memes, and Choice”
Nikki Mantyla

1. Something that was new to me was the section on emphasis and de-emphasis. I
liked the way that she described these things because I didn’t know that you
could de-emphasize something like you could emphasize.
2. I thought it was interesting that while I was reading this article I started to notice
the punctuation tricks that the author was using in her own writing. I didn’t notice
it before, but it really made a difference in how the writing sounds in my head.
3. Something that I have always been confused about is when to end a paragraph if
your whole paper relates to each other. She cleared that up, and she even added
that you can end a paragraph when you want to emphasize something. I think I
can improve on splitting up some paragraphs instead of having a few long ones.
8 March 2019
“Peer Review”
Jim Beauty

1. I think that is true that only correcting someone’s typos is unhelpful because
typos are something the writer can correct on their own, but the writer can’t see
how someone else views their paper, or say what sentences are confusing to
them. In the past I have had people just correct the grammar, and I probably am
guilty of this myself. Although it’s nice to see the little mistakes that you might not
have catched the first time, it would be more beneficial if they would have given
commentary like a teacher would grade the essay, so I can see where I needed
to improve.
2. The best writing does come out of a communal effort because when two people
work together they can let each other know what is missing or needs to be added
together. Two minds are better than one. Peer review works best for me because
sometimes things make sense in my mind because I know the whole story, but
it’s hard to make something make sense to everyone.