I definitely think that being able to know how to find different resources will be very helpful. This can be used in future classes and throughout everyday life. Also, another thing that has really been something to note from this class is looking deeper into things that seem one sided. I am talking about the values of someone who believes in something or one side of the argument and also good research, whether it is a reliable source or not. In the future I know that the one thing that will help me is the aspect of looking deeper into things. Going into law, I definitely want to have good research on everything and be able to sympathize with jury and others to win a case.
Blog Post #13
To write my dirty draft, I sat down in my room after having completed all other work or things that might bug me or be on my mind during writing so that I did not get distracted or fins a reason to stop writing or “take a break.” I had my friend help me brainstorm some points i want to talk on and some counterarguments that an outside perspective could have. After that, I focused on writing and getting all of my very own words down there on paper. My dirty draft ended up being very short but I was pleased with the work that I did because it was all my thought. I feel like doing that and getting all my feelings, points, and arguments down on paper helped balance out my essay between what was mine and what I found online. Also, it really helped put everything in order and made my essay flow because I started out having good transitions that I could build off of. Doing this was definitely a change for me. I didn’t realize how beneficial knowing what I personally wanted to say and writing that down was. But now I will definitely use that in the future. To revise my essay I printed off an extra copy of my second draft and collected reviews from peers and Jill. On that extra draft I wrote all the helpful comments I received onto one paper so I could later just go in my essay and revise without having to jump around, get confused, or get distracted. From helping in peer review I learned that there are a LOT of different writing styles and from an outside point of view, what an author is trying to say can be very confusing which helps me know that when I write, I need to be aware of that as well.
Blog Post #12
- The group of peers would more than likely, upon hearing my argument, be in agreement with the aspect of funding NASA as a whole. I think it is not common knowledge to know about private funding, although many people do know who Elon Musk is, although they might be ok with two-sided funding because they think of people like Musk. In general, I believe that in order to have a good opinion and be able to agree with my topic or disagree, you would need to be educated.
- A diverse group of peers is more likely to be less informed than I am, especially since I was uninformed when I started learning about two-sided funding. For them to make an educated decision, they would need to know how much money (in comparison or side by side with the government) these private companies would put into the research. They would want to know the pro’s and con’s about two-sided funding, and how, although having limited access to what NASA has open to them and uses for “free” doesn’t really affect the general public, it does affect scientists and slows down technological advances. The group of peers will probably already know about Elon Musk and have a bias towards him, making them see all private funding as the personality of Musk. They will definitely know about NASA.
- I definitely do have a two-front war including the views of those on full government funding, and full private company funding. I might want to take on the full government funding first because it ties in with what I want to be my opening claim and I can also address what we have been doing for a while. Because my opening claim will sound like I am agreeing with the opposing side, I want to take a more in between tone. I definitely want to make my opinion known but I don’t want my essay to seem like I am forcing my opinions on others. I want to win the reader over to my side by facts and not force/ making them feel guilty.
- My thesis is going to be a little shocking to the reader since I will seem to be arguing the case of a different viewpoint when actually, I am just making my case stronger. I feel like in the end, most people will agree with me because I feel that the general public would benefit more from combined funding rather than black or white.
- In the past, I have addressed the opposing views and looked into what someone could use against my claim. This definitely works for obvious reasons and with that, it helps in this paper because it’s not my first time looking into the opposing view.
- Introduction
- Address opposing viewpoint
- Strong thesis
- First body paragraph
- Full fund by gov.
- Taxes
- Budget cuts
- Less technological adv.
- Pretty controlled
- What we are use to
- Full fund by gov.
- Second body paragraph
- Full Private comp. Fund
- Slower tech. Advances
- Using equipment costs money
- Lower taxes/gov. Does Not pay
- Meets needs gov. Cant.
- Better opportunities
- Full Private comp. Fund
- Third body paragraph
- Both Gov. and Private
- Tech would be produced at good rate.
- Tech would cost to use but gov fund would help with that.
- Lower tax
- No one power has too much control over nasa
- Make sure to touch on bad things coming out of this and rebuttal
- Both Gov. and Private
- Closing
- ???
Blog Post #11
Throughout the time we have had to revise and shape our topics and essays during the course of this class, my topic has been changed many times. My original goal was to talk about extraterrestrial life or other Earth-like planets. That idea became harder and harder as I tried to research which may be because the idea of actually putting into motion finding a new Earth is new. So, because I was lacking sources, I decided I would change my topic to general space exploration and if it is a good idea or if it is “obsolete.” This topic was not challenging but did pose a big concern. Nobody really had opinions about it. It was never a black and white feeling they had, it was always a neutral standpoint. So finally I arrived at my completed topic, which has three really good sides all with good information to back it up. My main goal for every essay I write is to try and have the best formatting possible and lay it out nicely. This is my main goal because when it is hard to read something, my brain tends to get turned off and very frustrated, making the appeal of reading it dramatically decrease. another big goal was my topic as a whole. I wanted to write about something that had enough information on it so that finding viewpoints wouldn’t be so challenging but also piqued my interest at the same time. and with that, the topic needed to be something I was interested in but wasn’t something I had a strong opinion about. After reading the sample essay, I see that Prichard’s paper is relatable with an opening statement of their mother nagging them to take their vitamins. This really makes the paper seem stronger and definitely makes me want to read more which is something I want in my paper. Also, when in closing, she reviews back to what was said in the paper to recap aspects of her argument and leaves someone who disagrees with her questioning their choice.
Blog Post #10
My topic is on space exploration with a focus on aspects like funding and relevance. When I started out researching, I was too focused with my topic and it turned out to be a major complication. After revising my topic, the outcome lead to space exploration but because I had already researched deeper in on certain things, it didn’t feel like I was starting over, more so just taking a step back. The wonders of space have captivated the interest of individuals for a very long time and in astronomical terms, we have been able to make great accomplishments within space for only a short period of that time. Space exploration got big in the ’50s when the United States and the Soviet Union went into the “space race.” Although it was more of a competition between the rivals, it turned into a fascination for understanding space to the public’s eye. After the space race, it seems as though peoples enthusiasm for space ended, sure kids wanted to be astronauts and spacemen when they grew up, but when they did finally grow up, it seemed like space had lost its touch. From the 2000s to today it feels like space exploration has lost its touch and is not relevant to everyday life. This makes me ask the question, is space exploration really needed anymore and if so, should we be funding it? One standpoint I found says that we should continue to fund NASA and keep exploring space because you never know what will be found in the future. It is agreed that funding should continue because, in the scheme of things, NASA isn’t receiving as much funding as the average ignorant person on the subject thinks. Another idea is that we should stop funding NASA and their projects because it seems like there have been little astronomical discoveries lately pressing the thought that there are better things to spend money funding. The last argument I came across was that certain aspects of space exploration should be funded and others should be set aside and abandoned. All of these groups of ideas have good points but also downfalls like, if we stop now, we could be stopping the discovery of how the universe really did come into existence or the possibility that there are other life forms out there. There could also be a problem with “half-funding” as one discovery might rely on something that has been cut out of the budget. All these things need to be taken into consideration when writing my essay and I intend to elaborate and find the best research that I can.
Blog Post #9
After switching my topic to space exploration aspects, I am finding it a lot easier to access points of view and counterexamples to my essay. The first source I found was
https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/Why_We_03_pt1.html
Because I altered my topic, It was a lot easier to find viewpoints that strain my topic. This made me really excited because it is what I was having troubles within my first idea. Since I can now find these counterexamples, my search words were “space exploration repercussions.” This NASA article popped up and I think it will help with my essay pretty well because it goes through all the consequences of space exploration and includes what has happened in past missions. I think NASA is pretty credible because it uses legitimate science and evidence based on credible scientific sourcing. NASA is unbiased and does not use emotional words and listens to the consensus of experts in the given scientific field and publish peer-reviewed science. Some sources in this category may have a slight political bias but stick to scientific principles.
My second source was
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/space-exploration-and-us-competitiveness
I want to use this source in my essay because, in it, it talks about funding and how much NASA actually spends or had to spend. I think it is pretty interesting to see the percentages and graphs of this because we estimate the cost to be much higher than it is. This source is from the Council on Foreign Relations. Upon looking the organization up, I found out that it is a US nonprofit think tank that specializes in US foreign policy and international affairs. On their “about” page, it says “CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.” This seems to make them credible but at the same time, these sites may not live up to the word.
My last source was
https://news.utexas.edu/2015/10/19/continued-support-of-space-exploration-is-a-must/
This .edu really helped me because it was an article on opinion. If America does not fund space exploration, we will not succeed. The very beginning statement is “Exploration is at the core of the American spirit, and public support for NASA’s voyages of exploration has never wavered while political support has been bipartisan… we must continue to lead the world in discovery and continue to robustly fund the space program.” Because it is a school (the University of Texas at Austin), it seems pretty credible to start off and it definitely helps that they have a huge budget for just one school year. on the other hand, they provide public access to a first-class education and the tools of discovery which is great but makes it a little less credible because it is a public college. If this school was private, the acceptance rate would be lower and seem more credible. But, just because of that, it does not make the school not credible.
Blog Post #8
Over spring break, I plan to spend a good portion of my time researching and since the lengthy break allows for more focus on these studies, I am hoping to find an argument to my topic. Because I live in a town of 110 people, I don’t have the option to visit a local library seeing as I do not have one in my tiny village. Since lateral reading works well for me, I will take my notes that way. I want to keep my two-column notes in my notebook because it helps me to not have to switch back and forth between tabs on my computer and I see myself being better focused this way.
Blog Post #7
I feel like I have learned a lot so far about Critical writing and reading as well. English 102 has really helped me because when we learned how to read laterally, it opened my eyes on how to think about what an author is saying or what I think of his or her words. This really helps me shape my paper and use the author’s words nicely to promote my topic but also on retaining information. I also like the peer review because it makes me think about my fellow classmate’s ideas and build off of theirs to help them but while in that process, makes me think about my paper and what I can do to improve my writing. Because these reading skills help me learn and understand better, it will allow me to write a more thorough and well thought out essay.
Blog Post #6
An additional informational source I found was a piece from USA Today. Although this source is written in 2003, the fact that it is outdated helps with my argument. This article states that within the next ten years, we will have found another earth like planet. that would mean that we should have found an extrasolar planet in 2013 and we did not. Additionally it states that if in twenty years we do not detect these planets or other life, we will rule out the possibility of these other earths. This can lead us both ways of should we continue looking, or is it time to stop.
Blog Post #5
This article tells how we have not yet found any other Earth like planets, but it is counted on that we will continue to look because of our races fascination with extraterrestrial life. It poses questions like is our world a common occurrence or an outlier, or, is it possible that a planet unlike our own can harbor life. This article continues to tell how there are many factors that lead into important qualities that an extra solar planet must have to be like ours.
This scholarly source proves useful when it comes to the subject I have chosen because it touches on the procedures we go through to find these types of other Earths which leads into cost. Helpfully, it shows that we may or may not want to keep funding these tests.
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