Rhetorical Methods

With the topic that we are presenting about, athletes receiving special treatment, I think there are many different ways to get the audiences attention. First by using logos, we could give statistics about all of the free apparel and other amenities that are given to them compared to normal students. This would spark the emotions of all the students who have to pay for their classes and pay for their tutoring. We could also use pathos to get the other students to realize how much more the student athletes are valued over the rest of us and catch the eye of others within the surrounding communities. The way the university treats some of our athletes doesn't prepare them for the real world if they don't make it as professional athletes. Turning them into intelligent adults throughout college should be the major priority but that's not always the case.

Unit 3 Portfolio Author's Note

This project has been difficult in some areas but also a good change from the normal papers I have written.

The Letter to the Editor was similar to some papers I have written where I respond to what someone else has written. The first draft I wrote, I felt was a good first draft. After receiving the comments from my group members I recognized I wasn't adding enough of my opinion about the topic. I added a little more opinionated views and now feel that it is a well developed piece.

The Op-Ed piece was probably the most uncommon paper I have written. I had never really been assigned a paper in which I can put as much feeling and emotion into it as I wanted. Because I dislike the parking here at TCU so much this wasn't very hard to do. I feel very strongly about this topic so the feelings flowed freely. When I started this paper I put a lot of my views into it. But for my second draft I added many personal accounts and the views of others as well.

The humor piece was something I liked doing. It allowed me to express how I felt about the parking in a lighter manner yet still get my point across, a comic strip. The first draft I developed was in pencil. For the second draft, I added color, put the drawings on computer paper, and added an additional picture at the end.

Author's Note: Humor Argument

When this assignment was given to us I was not real sure on how to complete it. First off, I am not an artist. Second, I don't know how to write a play or skit. After hearing that its not the art, but the idea that is graded. That's when I decided to make a short comic strip. I think the comic gets across the point I am trying to make without offending anyone or being off topic. Right now I feel I have a decent humor piece but it definitely needs to be re-drawn and maybe add some color.

Humor Argument

With the topic being the parking issue that exists on TCU's campus I chose to draw a cartoon or picture showing what its like. The main way I chose to make it funny was by using exaggeration. I started with a person pulling into the 'Freshman Overflow' lot. Next there is a picture of the person leaving the lot and passing a sign that read, "TCU Main Campus- 25 miles". This is an obvious exaggeration but shows what walking from there sometimes feels like. After the picture of the mileage there is a piture showing how exhausted the person is and how he is going to resort to an alternate of getting to campus.... hitch hiking.

Author's Note Op-Ed

When I started this paper I was a little confused on what to do. It seemed to me that it was alot like the letter to the editor but I couldn't see how I was going to change that enough to create an entirely different paper. After going through the last class, I realized it could be much more opinionated. I could really put some feeling into the paper rather than avoid biases. I was able to finsh the paper due to some family issues but so far I think I am off to a good start. The next paragraph to come will be about statistics concerning this solution such as the potential cost of a parking garage and how many spots are available to students and faculty. The next after that will be opinions from a student, other than myself, and a faculty member to get a wide range of views. I feel most of my mistakes I make in my papers are in a grammatical sense, so until the paper is completely finished I need some input on that area, as well as advice in other areas.

Op-Ed Prewriting

Prewriting

1. When looking at the different Op-Ed articles that were written and published in the Dallas Morning News, I realized just how much opinion is really thrown into these pieces. There was an Op-Ed written about the Dallas police officer, Robert Powell, in which the author didn’t hold any of his feelings back, or so it seemed. After reading a few others, I am beginning to notice how different this paper is from the other two portfolios we have completed. The first two were supposed to be completely unbiased whereas this one is on the opposite side of the spectrum.

2. So what specific topic about the parking at TCU do I feel should be focused on? I feel it should be the fact that a problem exists on campus but yet nobody seems to write about it and the university spends a million dollars on flowers and other landscaping when a parking garage would be much more helpful than a few plants that are going to die or other less useful things.

3. So what should be done? As stated before, I feel the best way to solve the parking fiasco at TCU is to build a parking garage. By doing so it would keep on-campus residents from parking in the lots that commuters rely on. Also think of game days in the fall for the football team. I couldn’t imagine having to park a few miles away from the stadium and walk to the field, a parking garage would be a perfect solution.

4. I believe using logos would be the best approach. By giving statistics on the number of students TCU has commuting each day and showing the limited number of parking spaces available to those students, I think those who read about this will also recognize the problem we have. Also giving the amount of money spent each year by the university could shine some light on the subject.

5. I think a mixture of a few different approaches will be most effective. As said before giving facts and numbers concerning parking spaces and money spent will help uncover this problem as well as using personal experiences. Not only would my personal experiences help but those of other students or faculty that utilize the parking here at TCU.

6. I think the only research I would need to do is looking in to how the money is spent each year, how many parking spaces are available to each group of students or faculty, and getting some personal stories from others around campus.

Author's Note: Letter to Editor

This type of paper was very new to me when I read through the assignment. Most papers I have written don't have to do with what I think about another persons writing but solely on my views. By writing something like this I feel I have broadened my writing abilities. In my first draft I feel I have written a decent paper. One thing I am worried about is the paper being too lengthy, which is something I'm not used to. I would like input on whether or not I am following the guidelines of a letter to the editor, is this what one should look like?

Letter to Editor- First Draft

Dear Editor,
When I first read the this article, “Parking problems require resolutions” by Brian Chatman, I thought to myself, “Finally someone is voicing the opinions that most students here have.” This was until I read the date of the article, February 17, 2004. I couldn’t believe that this was the latest article from the Daily Skiff about the parking problems at TCU. Although I was shocked about the date, I realized that the issues in the article are still issues today: people park illegally and there aren’t enough spaces for all the students who commute, close to their classes. The major point or idea that I support is that of a parking garage.
One way this author shows the existing problems is by adding a personal experience. He walks up and down the rows of cars and notes all of the illegally parked cars without parking tickets and the large amount of commuter students who are searching endlessly for a spot. This helps paint a picture of the problem instead of maybe just stating the number of tickets that have been given to those parked illegally in the past month or so.
As the author says, this problem leads to the next. With so many parking spots being taken by those who shouldn’t be there, those who are coming from off campus can’t park in the spaces provided for them. By saying that he avoided eye contact with the drivers entering the parking lot because over their annoyed looks, he uses the method of pathos to gain support. I myself have been frustrated many times when looking for a parking spot and seeing a freshman’s car parked in the lot for sophomores and upper classmen.
As for the solution he offers to solve these problems, I fully support the idea of building a parking garage for all the on-campus residents at TCU. By doing this it will free up many of the lots that sophomores and other residents fill. Making the addition would also make it more convenient for those who have to park in the ‘Freshman Lot’ or the ‘Overflow Lot’. When I was a freshman the parking didn’t bother too much. Yes it was annoying have to park far away and then walk back to my dorm carrying my laundry I had brought from home, but I thought that was just something I had to go through as a freshman, almost like a rite of passage. Now as a sophomore I have become very annoyed with the parking situation. The ritual of going from the ‘Sophomore Lot’ near the recreation center checking for parking and failing to find one, then to the ‘Daniel Meyer Coliseum Lot’ and again having no luck is not something I like doing. The result of these failures causes more frustration because the only alternative is the ‘Freshman Lot’ and ‘Overflow Lot’. The shuttle that TCU runs from the ‘Overflow Lot’ to the dorms is nice but not as convenient as a parking garage would be. One way Chatmna might have improved this suggestion to the parking problem would be to give some statistics on the number of spaces currently available and how that would change if this solution were put into action.
I haven’t met a fellow student in my two years at TCU that was completely satisfied with the parking layout or situation on campus. Something needs to be done about these existing problems, especially because of the growing number of students each year enrolling to TCU. Whether it is building a parking garage or an alternate plan, these problems have existed far too long.

Cameron Kinlaw