Hi Class :-)I hope you're doing well as we approach the final stretch of the semester! I appreciate all of you for your effort and progress, and will continue making myself available via phone or during in-person appointments as needed.
Many posts from last week struck me as exciting for various reasons, but I'll point out just a few Greatest Hits:
As a historical account, Amara's post, "The Growth of Phoenix", reads clearly and objectively. I like the informative tone: http://amararodriguez.blogspot.com/2010/10/growth-of-phoenix.html
Read, also, Jessica's post, "Living in a Material World", which is a fair-minded analysis of the positive and negative cultural outcomes of living in a materialistic society. It already has the shape and organization techniques of academic essays, which makes it a great candidate for revision:
http://jlchee.blogspot.com/2010/10/26-october-2010-page-418-1.html
April's post, "American Italians", contains some heartfelt informal reflection about a topic of personal importance, which makes it enjoyable to read: http://aprilpage333.blogspot.com/2010/10/american-italians.html
Similarly, Tasha's "Can't Buy Me Love" is an enjoyable reflection on material culture:
http://tashasfinalenglishclass.blogspot.com/2010/10/cant-buy-me-love.html
Both April and Tasha's posts show the type of brainstorming-style reflective writing that, though it is not perfect for the purposes of academic argument writing, could reveal a seed of purpose to begin new writing. As pre-writing, it's both valuable and constructive.
This week, you'll continue reading and responding on the topic of Capital Economies.
Though the readings for this week come from disciplines that are related to the subject of economics, you'll notice that the writers to try to engage with a wide audience of readers - even those of us who aren't necessarily familiar with the language and purposes of Economics. Your first article, "Wall Street's Quant King: David Shaw's Secret Formulas Pile Up Money", describes a scenario that educates all kinds of readers about the shared qualities of computers and finance. Just as the writer, James Alley, is careful to be accessible and interesting in his use of tones, language, and information, you too should consider elements of style that make your content more interesting.
In writing, we often talk about a rhetorical concept called "ethos". Ethos refers to the writer's authority, and is descriptive of the way a writer conveys their thoughts. Developing a trustworthy, likeable, and accessible ethos - or persona - allows for a reader to feel that the writer is, in fact, an authority on the subject at hand. Without adequate ethos, a reader can easily dismiss a writer as incorrect, even if their claims are well-reasoned and their points speak truth.
In this week's readings, you'll get to see how writers make topics in math, economics, and computer science seem important and interesting to even readers like me, who are easily bored by such topics. ;-) You can learn a lot about the craft of writing from these articles. View how writers construct text in ways that make their topics approachable. Since all of you will be writing an essay about a topic in Capital Economies, you would do well to pay close attention to what you like about someone else's writing on the topic so you can apply similar techniques in your own work.
Continue to read, post, and develop your ideas this week. I realize the semester is getting busier and busier, but some of you are actually posting work that's less accomplished than previous writing. I encourage you to at least review and meet the basic guidelines for online class homework, even if you do find yourself strapped for time.
I look forward to reading your thoughts.
AP
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