Wake up
Housekeeping
- Deadline Reminder
- The middle of the semester comes knocking. And the consequences seem real and immediate. The White Paper that a few weeks ago was a vague pledge to “donate when I get my tax refund” is suddenly an overdue bill, and the Definition Argument is still pretty iffy, while the Rebuttal Argument certainly can’t be accomplished until my Hypothesis is nailed down to something like a firm Thesis that another author might want to refute.
- About half of my students are usually ready for this drastic rise in the sea level. The other half feel as if they’re suddenly drowning.
- Right on cue, students who aren’t ready to fully commit to their research miss a class, maybe two classes. They ignore emails and texts from their professor, figuring that he’s too busy to pester them more than once.
- Once the deadlines for the Short Arguments are past, they no longer feel like a weight around the neck. It’s easy to let those delinquencies slide for a few days. A week. After 48 hours, they’re already worth no more than 50/100 points, so “what’s the point?”
- For some, this slide is irreversible.
- For the in-betweeners, interaction with the professor is something to dread. Coming to class late, leaving early, or sneaking out to avoid confrontation, seems like a reasonable survival technique.
- I get it.
- I too put things off.
- I do them when I absolutely have to.
- I do them poorly sometimes because I haven’t left myself enough time to do them well.
- But I’m an idiot.
- You don’t have to be.
- The people I have to report to are reasonable people who gladly work with me when I acknowledge my thoughtless procrastination, my dread at confronting the problem.
- If you have to be like me, be like that version. The guy who acknowledges he’s late and his work is not up to par and whose committed to making it better.
- Be the enlightened version of me.
- Don’t miss classes. Don’t ignore my texts or emails. Don’t think you’re too late, or too far behind, or too confused to catch up, or too fill-in-the-blank.
- IT’S THE HALFWAY POINT. (Well, to be honest, it’s past half way.)
- You can turn this sucker around.
- I will push you up that hill like nobody else who ever had your back.
- But I won’t pull you up.
- You have to take the first step.
- If you haven’t posted your first Short Argument yet (Definition/Categorical), post it immediately, as soon as you can.
- And if you’re not going to be ready to post your Causal Argument in two weeks, your Refutation Argument two weeks later, then post something that looks like a 1000-word Argument. Ask for very specific feedback. Get into the game. Pretend it’s essential to you. It might not feel like it right now, but I am your biggest supporter and fan. Until you let it slide.
- Don’t. Let. It. Slide.
- Very few of the 50% who start to fade at the middle of the term do well at the end of the course. Beat those odds. Right now.
- End of rant.
Evaluating Sources Task
- Coursework. Safer Saws Lecture.
- Safer Saws Task
- Steve Gass demonstrates his invention
- DUE DATE MON MAR 22 (11:59pm, SUN MAR 21)
Pinned to the top of the blog.
- Advice for your Safer Saws assignment
612119d
bluntwriting88
capched
cardinal7218
cfriery
chavanillo
Chris McGee
christianity19
clementine102
comicdub
compiistudent
corinnebuck1219
daphneblake25
dayzur
g903254
gabythefujoshi18
goldin92
gooferious
hailthegreat8
hazelnutlatte123
honeysucklelilac
icedcoffeeislife
imgoingswimming
iwantpopsicle
doorknob9
BabyGoat
jeffbezos123
jets1313
johnwick66
justheretopass
kobebryant32
kowiklinski
l8tersk8ter
aquarela
metro111c
mrmba1
mysterylimbo
nina525
nousernamefound1
nyaj32
oaktree1234
pardonmyfrench13
person345
pomegranate4800
Jessicariccio
rosekyd
rowanrat
rowanstudent24
runnerd4
shadowswife
SmilingDogTheProfWants
sonnypetro29
tcarter101
thecommoncase
wafflesrgud22
wazoo1234
yourfavoriteanon
Counterintuitivity 
If ever in San Francisco, always turn wheels towards the curb to prevent sliding downhill if parking brakes fail
Most simple and common explanation for when real life objects fall apart or go wrong is gravity
The cause of some events such as death are a bit deeper than simply how someone died
NASA at one point attempted to send a grade school teacher up to space (Some opportunity)
Challenger crashed because NASA did not want to delay the launch any longer (Complete ignorance and arrogance for the lives on board the shuttle)
Desire for publicity and to please large audience is possible reason for challenger’s demise
One of the strangest explanations for the demise of the challenger is the construction of roman chariots and the use of two horses
Keep on keeping up with deadlines because it keeps me from getting overwhelmed and makes life overall easier
Professor will keep pushing us up the hill, but will NOT pull us up without initiative on our part
More advanced technology becomes, more regulation is required
Safer Saws Assignment: DUE MON MAR 22
LikeLike
Nice. I like the little pep talk you gave yourself, CW.
3/3
LikeLike
Cause and effect essays explain why things are caused. The challenger explosion in Jan. 1986. The flight was rushed and icicles formed on the launch pad. The hot gas got out of the O rings and caused the explosion. Roman streets were built as long as the width of two horses. The solid rocket boosters of the Challenger were built in pieces because there were transported by train into small tunnels. The Challenger exploded because the width of the rear of two horses. The rocket boosters should have been built in one piece. Do not delay and procrastinate. Post anything that has 1000 words. By posting, you will have something to talk about and can receive feedback. Evaluating Sources task. The assignment evaluates why the writer chose the evidence and argument they chose. One paragraph analysis of sources that support the use of the Saw stop. Don’t exhaust the material. Due on SUN 3/21 @ 11:59 PM.
LikeLike
This won’t make sense to you if you ever go back to read it. 🙂
3/3
LikeLike
Wake Up
-Why the Challenger Exploded
–Casual arguments answer the question why
–the lowest value cause is the cause
–you are searching for the explanation after the explanation
— o-ring failure, it was cold that morning, NASA ignored the warnings, the way Roman’s designed their horse drawn carts
Housekeeping
-visual rhetoric assignment needs to be done by today
-you NEED to sort out your priorities
-you’re still digging yourself out of the hole you created when you didn’t do anything for 2 weeks in February it’s okay, ONLY if you continue to move forward
Evaluating Sources Task
-Safer Saw Task
–DUE SUN 21 @ MIDNIGHT
LikeLike
Little steps, Honeysuckle, but always steps. And ask for feedback as a signal that you’re posting.
3/3
LikeLike
Wake up
Mostly your target audience is the reader that is interested in your topic and has created an opinion on the topic.
Cause and effect arguments always try to answer why things happen.
You can answer as many contributing causes, but you should be striving to find the explanation of the explanation as well.
Why did the challenger fail, it was too cold, NASA rushed it, they wanted to make sure they had something to show on live tv, and the failure in the design of the rockets.
The size of the hoses determined the sides of the carriages. That led to the trains deciding how wide the train’s track should be.
This connects to the challenger because the rockets had to be connected if they were built at the same time.
Your causal argument may have to involve an explanation/description of all the different causes of the argument.
Housekeeping
We went over housekeeping, which focused on people that have been late on turning in their assignments and skipping class. We just went over the way for them to get out of these holes and get back on track.
We need to take the first step and reach out to the professor, then he will do steps 2 and 3 with you.
Safer saws lecture
We are going to be examining the safer saw, this is a saw the recognizes the value of human flesh and stops itself when it comes into contact with your skin.
Customers can start suing black and decorator because they didn’t sell a safer saw.
We looked at a sample entry of what the safer saw task should look like.
LikeLike
Very nice, Iced.
One note:
An opinion, yes, but not a radicalized reflex opinion. Some readers are just beyond reaching. You want the interested reader who’s still flexible and open to new evidence.
3/3
LikeLike
When writing you must keep in mind the target audience.
Cause and effects arguments are used to explain as to why things happen.
You can name as many contributing causes as you like, but you should be striving for the explanation that requires no explanation after
Why did the challenger explode?
It was to cold on the morning of the launch
The company that built the booster rushed the launch when they should have delayed the launch
The O2 ring failed resulting in hot gas spilling onto the gas tank causing the explosion.
The width of two horses were responsible, since they determined the width of carriages which determined the width of railroads which determined the width of the tunnels, which resulted in the company building the rocket in parts and shipping them to Florida. Which resulted in them placing the O ring in the rocket that would go later on and explode.
We are about half way through the semester, you need to make sure that you are on top of your work and that you aren’t falling behind. Make sure to turn in any work that’s due.
Just make sure you keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Evaluating sources and writing to a specific audience.
Find a claim and write about whether or not you can accept or reject the claim.
LikeLike
Sounds like an interesting class.
3/3
LikeLike
Notes 3/15
Causal effect arguments- always trying to explain why something happens, always a reason for something. Ultimately, you should find a final explanation and don’t have to explain much anymore. For example, the spaceship Challenger failed due to the cold, the company rushing it, needing something to show on tv, rings didn’t expand in the cold and couldn’t keep the gas in. The decision to send a civilian in space also created pressure.
Have to keep up with work as we’re past the halfway point, will find that procrastinating will kill grades at this point.
LikeLike
For me the explanation that is the most fundamental cause for the disaster is that NASA wanted to launch that big PR stunt despite the danger.
3/3
LikeLike
-try to imagine who will be reading your essay
-for our casual argument, we’re arguing why one thing causes another
-the lowest value cause is the true cause
-if we’re saying something caused something else, we have to keep asking ourselves “why?”
-There are usually multiple factors that play into the reason why something happens
-The challenger exploded thanks to a horse’s tail
-The root of causes can be way farther back than you may think
-in our casual argument, we may have to explain a bunch of different reasons for different causes
-we’re past halfway in the course, it is almost time for the real thesis
-must take into account the reader’s point of view, and that each person will have a different perspective on your topic
-tasks on safer saws
LikeLike
This is good prep for the Safer Saws exercise:
3/3
LikeLike
3/15
Not everyone is your audience. Not everyone can be reached or convinced.
“Why the Challenger exploded”
Assignment notes:
LikeLike
Brilliant.
4/3
LikeLike
3-15-21
LikeLike
Good work, C.
3/3
LikeLike
We’ll be writing a cause essay
When staying in san francisco, california, you should park your car a certain way
Gravity causes the cars to roll down and land in the san francisco bay
There are 2 versions to the reason “why”
There’s always a cause for everything
Nothing happens without reasoning
Christa McAuliffe was the first non-astronaut
The challenger failed for multiple reasons
NASA was rushing the flight, there were icicles formed on the runway, they wanted something to provide for the television to see
Trains were created because of 2 horses. Train tracks are normally 4 feet wide. Everywhere started to use this standard. Started by the Romans
Don’t give up, it’s the halfway point of the semester and it’s still possible to do well if you put in the effort.
Safety is very important
People are willing to buy products that they know are safer. It shows to them that companies have their consumers safety in consideration.
LikeLike
An odd mix of quirky facts and actual content takeaways. But it shows you were paying attention.
3/3
LikeLike
3/15/21
Cause and effect always try to find why it happened
Strive to find the explanation at which we stop finding explanations
We know some whys
Challenger failed because it was to cold, rushed process, not prepared all the way, also the rear end of 2 horses
We have created the width of everything with two horses’ asses because the chariot and the roman empire. It got passed down
The challenger exploded because it wasn’t built together; it was built in pieces.
We went over house keeping items
Talked about how missing an assignment becomes natural if you continue to keep doing it
Be up front if you are behind. Take ownership of it and talk it out with the professor so you guys are on the same page.
You have to take that first step and ask for help
We talked about Evaluating Specific sources and the hw we have to do by the 22nd.
LikeLike
Charming how you distanced yourself from the procrastinators with “you guys.”
3/3
LikeLike
In today we started with a warm-up on why the challenger exploded. The example of why your car would roll down a hill is not because the parking brake failed or because it’s parked on a hill but because of gravity. We can name many contributing causes we like but we need the main explanation for why something happened. We looked at all the possible causes, but the real cause was the rocket booster had to be broken up to be transported. This caused a leak which led to the explosions. We should look deep as possible into a cause in order to understand the problem is what we learned.
In our housekeeping, we went over keeping up with work. If we are not finished writing we should still just post what we have before the due date. Even some good notes are better than nothing.
We are going to have a safer saws task where we evaluate sources.
LikeLike
I don’t dispute your Notes, Swimming, but I want to offer this perspective just to keep us on track. You say, correctly:
But it’s ALSO true that “the real cause” of the explosion was NASA’s insistence on launching (to promote their PR agenda) despite the well-known dangers. You have identified the PHYSICAL cause. I am offering the SOCIAL cause.
3/3
LikeLike
-Some people are radicalized in the opposite direction of your argument and you can’t convince them in a thousand words.
-Causal arguments answer the question of why things happen.
-If you’re parked downhill, you can turn your wheels towards the curb so if your parking break fails, your car will roll into the curb and stop. If you’re parked uphill, you need to turn your wheels away.
-The goal is to provide an explanation that stops further questions.
-One reason that the challenger failed was because the temperature was too cold. It was cold enough for icicles to form on the launch pad.
LikeLike
3 points just for recording this essential lesson:
3/3
LikeLike
Targeting your message to a particular audience.
Keep your audience in mind when writing.
Most people will not have automatic interest in your topic.
Cause and effect arguments always try to answer the question of why things happen.
Some people are radicalized in one direction.
People approach your subject matter with different attitudes.
Evaluating sources and writing to a specific audience.
Convince audience to change their mind.
Safety is important.
All you can offer your audience is an angle.
Offer them evidence to change their mind.
A car rolls down the hill and into the bay why?
Any car parked on the street is in danger of rolling down the hill, and at the bottom of this hill there is the bay.
What caused your car to roll into the bay?
Gravity caused your car to end up in the bay. Parking brake could be a problem too but ultimately it was gravity that caused the car to roll down.
If you can figure out the cause you should be able to figure out who is responsible
( I missed class this morning but I watched the recording ).
LikeLike
I did notice you weren’t in the Zoom room, Udoka. Good move getting these notes in on the same day.
3/3
LikeLike
-Keep audience in mind when writing an argument
-Most people will not have automatic interest in your topic so you’re limited to those who are
-Want to try to offer them a piece of evidence that they can use
-Your target audience is those who are interested in your topic
-People will approach your subject matter from different attitudes
-Cater to them and make them feel comfortable
-Go over a physical object that’s trying to make its way to the marketplace
-Focusing on point of views
-the main picture is often overlooked
-why did the challenger fail? It was too cold outside(cause and effect)
-Choose the evidence and rhetorical strategies that are most likely to appeal to the audience
-Arguments try to answer the question of why things happen
-Causal argument will involve explanations or descriptions of a bunch of different causes(historical reasons)
-This is the point of the semester when you want to start catching up on your work and creating a solid portfolio
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice work, RR.
3/3
LikeLike