A VERY Rational Argument

    Usually when I find out that we are writing an argumentative paper, I internally groan. It's not something that I particularly enjoy doing. Why would I have to prove a seemingly obvious point with evidence that I spent FOREVER looking for?

    That's when I discovered that-shocker! Some people have different opinions than I do! WOW!

    This rational argument paper is a way for everyone to express their stance on a controversial topic rationally. Notice how I say rationally. This little word at the beginning of the title is pushing the narrative that you MUST be fair. I'm talking scholarly evidence and reasonable points that support your thesis. Not the rationale of "because it just makes sense,".

    I've chosen the topic of, should dietary supplements and weight loss items be allowed to be promoted through influencers. I feel that this topic affects many people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. As a women, of course I get sucked into the black hole that is influencers shoving body issues down your throat. It's inevitable at this point.

    As the gym and being a "gym rat" grows more and more popular, women and men alike may be affected by these influencers as well. It's not just the instagram models now. We can't escape. Body issues obtained by promotions of supplements only scratch the surface of what I'll be discussing in my argument.

    My goal for this final paper is to rationally and effectively defend the claim that dietary supplements and weight loss items should NOT be allowed to be promoted through influencers.

I Take Free-write Very Seriously and You Should Too.

    I look forward to free write every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. I use it as a journal entry to jot down some things I need to get out of my head. 

    After reading my early free writes, it's clear that there's been some improvement. I can remember back to the beginning of the semester when I would write very formally. No emotion, no tone, no personality. It wasn't personal to me and it wasn't exactly my style of writing.

    As my free writes went on, I could see my personality come out more and more with each one. I'm using exclamation points. I'm using purposeful fragments. I can sense my emotion through my writing.

    It might have something to do with my chosen topics. Now that I know we won't turn them in, I write about things that I wouldn't necessarily share with others. I write about things that make me mad, things that make me upset, and things that I'm grateful for. I write about how I'm exploring different aspects of life. 

    I'm creating something special with my free writes. I'm learning more about myself through my free writes than I was before. I had no idea how much 5 minutes spent writing every week would impact me and my mood for the day.

JUST START IT

    Sometimes-no, all the time. I have trouble with essays, or projects, or assignments. I know how to do it, I just don't. 

    It all has to do with actually starting the dang thing. This isn't about procrastination. I could sit in front of my computer for an hour without typing something. I have a very difficult time with just sitting down and starting it. Once I do start though, it's smooth sailing.

    I think that I have a fear of putting something down that I won't like and have to revise. Although revising is good, I have a problem where I want my original draft to be perfect. In a perfect world that would be true, but unfortunately that's not how it works.

    The documentary project was especially hard for me to not only start, but continue. Once I submitted my summary draft, the paper dropped to the bottom of my priority list. I feel as if I physically submitted something, it was finished.

    It took me a very long time to even open up the document again to first, revise my summary, and second, add my analysis. I didn't exactly know where to start, or what to write. It's hard for me to continue writing something when I don't have a ton of guidance.

    I like following a rubric. Something precise that I can double check to make sure that I have every single thing. I didn't mind using student examples to compare and structure my paper. I had never done it before and it is definitely a good skill to have. I think that I was just thrown off by the fact that I had no way of knowing that I was on the right track. 

    I'm curious to see how I will react to the Rational Argument paper that we have coming up. If I choose my topic carefully, and choose something that I am passionate about, I think I will be okay. I have to be smart about it though...

Writing=Revising?

     We have been taught that writing is revising. Do I agree with that? Can writing be truly perfect? Can you revise something to the point where it's worse than the original? Does revising get rid of raw, initial thoughts, feelings, and opinions?

    These are all questions that I think about when writing. 

    Whenever I am writing something, my method is usually to sit down and just write out the entire thing. I don't think, I just write. The result is an extremely rough draft that I end up going over hundreds of times.

    I like this method because it allows all of my thoughts to come out naturally without room for second guessing. If I know that I'm going to revise it anyway, I write better. I do enjoy having the opportunity to submit drafts and getting feedback. It helps me assure myself that my first draft won't be my last.

    Writing my summary analysis has been a little difficult for me because its hard to revise a summary. If a summary is all stone cold facts, then how can they be fixed? I know format can always be fixed, but is that still considered revision?

    So, do I think that writing is revision? Yes and no. Writing can be revised and revised and revised as many times as you can or want. But the question still stands: at what point is too much? I do enjoy revising because it gives me the opportunity to connect ideas better, or frame my words in another way, or change things to fit the tone. Housekeeping things. Not full paragraphs.     

    Writing is revising to a certain extent. Do you agree with this statement?

Guided Reflection: Stutz

1.  There was one scene in Stutz that actually got to me. I am not one to get emotional in movies, let alone a documentary. In this scene, Stutz asks Jonah if he wants to talk about his brother(who had recently passed away). They had already been talking about Stutz's late brother, but I just felt the mood shift. I could see Jonah immediately put up a wall and the emotion drained from his face. He sat there for a few seconds before saying no and quickly moving on. Throughout the film the audience sees Jonah Hill's goofy personality and humor despite the more serious message. In this specific scene, I saw Jonah Hill vulnerable. I saw the hurt in his face and the pain in his eyes. It made me feel so empty, like even someone that seems the happiest can be hurting. It made me really pay attention to him for the rest of the film. How Jonah do
   dodged any questions that involved his emotions or past. If he did talk about himself, he made it into a joke or lightened the mood. This scene, although 10 seconds, made me feel so sad for him. It set the tone for the rest of the film.
   
2. Something that surprised me was that Jonah Hill went into depth about how his insecurity about his body affected his life. I really didn't expect him to go into depth about him personally. I thought that the whole film would be more about Stutz and his techniques. It was very surprising to hear Jonah Hill talk about how even after he had the money, and the fame, he still wasn't happy. That caught me very off guard because it made me realize that you really never know what's happening in someone's mind. Even if they are living your dream, or you think they have it all, they might not. The people who look like they have it all together, might be falling apart. It was surprising, but very refreshing to see a celebrity be 100% real.
   
3. I didn't have any questions after the film, but I took a lot of feelings with me. I didn't expect for this film to affect me the way it did. I found myself extremely interested in the techniques that Stutz taught us about. I researched them further after the film and use them during my days. They are extremely helpful and I find that they are helping me put a lot of things in perspective. It was very interesting to use these techniques and then actually realize that I was using them. I felt very strongly about this film and I use the techniques throughout my week.
4. Avoiding research in our summaries would take away from the raw emotions and reactions in a summary. Although they are straight facts, you can se how the viewer interpreted it based on what they might emphasize. or what they might leave out. Research could take away the originality from the summary.

Free-write: Free or Topic?

    Personally, I love free write. Notice how I said free write. I like starting the day writing about something that might be bothering me or stressing me out. 

    Usually when we write about a topic, its controversial and I'm forced to voice my opinion way too early in the morning. Topics feel too restricted and it doesn't feel free anymore.

    Writing about something that you want to or need to write about can be extremely beneficial. Maybe something has been weighing on you, or life is just too much in your mind. Getting everything down on paper is a way to help think something through.

    Or maybe nothing is weighing on you at all. You can write about gratitude, or something that you are excited for, or anything else about your life. Since our class is at 8:00 a.m. its nice to start off your day with writing about something that makes you happy. Acknowledging what makes you happy or what you are excited about can easily put you in a good mood that early.

    Even if you don't write about yourself, writing about something else that you like is always good. Sports, music, academics, anything that might spark interest to you or others.

    I understand that if we are given a topic, we are still able to write our own opinion, but I would still prefer the freedom. I really do enjoy free write and I also like hearing what others wrote about. It gives me inspiration for the next free write.

    Which do you prefer? Free or topic?