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?