On of my favorite Youtubers, Ryan Higa, recently started a podcast called "Off the Pill" in which he talks with friends and guests while not on his ADHD medication. In this particular episode Ryan covers a wide range of topics with his friend Paco and special guest Chad Wild Clay. The main topic was talking about how Chad Clay became a Youtuber specifically a "Youtube hacker" and while this was the main starting topic it segways into more discussions such as elitist or mob mentality, conspiracy theories etc. The style seemed really free flowing and unscripted which allowed for the three to casually crack jokes and tell stories that were seemingly unrelated but no matter how far or long they rabbit trailed they were always able to come back to Chad and his story which kept them from running out of things to talk about but also kept the podcast uniform and on topic. One of the things I liked most was how there roles were organized in a way so that Ryan was hosting, Paco moderated and Chad was the guest. This allowed for the conversation to stay structured but not become rigid throughout the podcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu5p7s5jyOc&list=PLRU-B1PBK4BsEuswQeyiA73eMqlnEUpQn&index=22&t=0s
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After the Storm by Andrew Grace was as immersive an experience as you can get. I’ve seen footage of several tornadoes, seen the aftermath of more, and even been in a couple myself. But Andrew Grace documents the story so well I can understand the events that transpired better than if it was depicted by a news report or interview. The descriptions of very specific events created a very vivid timeline of that day. Every thing from the sound of the tornado, the last footage from the news station, to the room that he hid in with his cats, all theses little details made it as if I was walking in Grace’s shoes. Because of this it was easier to sympathize with him which only made the depth of his story greater. All of this was designed to and effective in reaching a large range of people. To make the event of the tornado as real to those who weren’t there as it was for the ones that we’re. While the story can give a powerful message about a future past disaster and a community that came together, I believe the true purpose of this story was to make people realize this disaster was more than what you see on the other side of your TV screen. Breaking news isn’t supposed to be personal, it's just there to get out as much information as fast as possible. But a story like Grace’s takes you beyond the headlines and makes you think what it was truly like if not just anyone, but if you were there in that storm.
My process in writing my rhetorical analysis essay was pretty straight forward. The main goal was to first identify uses of rhetorical writing and see which categories had the most or more importantly strongest examples. After deciding which rhetorical strategies i would write about, i began to craft my intro paragraph and my thesis. The thesis was a little difficult for me however. I had a general idea on what it was I wanted to write in was well as the examples I would use to support my claim. I just didn’t know how to put it on paper. So I wrote an intro paragraph, as very loosely put together thesis, and an outline for the rest of my ideas that would support the thesis once I finished it. During the consultation, I learned that I was struggling to write my thesis because I didn't fully understand the questions that i needed to answer within the essay. I went back and carefully reread the directions made sure to understand the questions and formulated a more coherent thesis statement based on what I already had. From there the process was streamlined, I simply needed to follow the examples I already had in my outline, expand on the ideas, and fully support my claims. After finishing my second draft i got ready for peer review. Those who peer edited my essay had a few common notes one of which being I still wasn't making a complete claim with respect to the question asked, and needed to revise my thesis again. I also got ideas from my own editing whether it was examples I overlooked that could make my own argument stronger or ways to make my writing style stand out more. In my final draft I didn't make any real major changes. I added what was needed to answer the question to completion and changes whatever grammatical errors and awkward phrasings were left. One of the main things I took from this was I don't dislike peer review nearly as much as I used to or thought I would going into this. Especially with the guidelines I knew what to look for in the essays and could offer much better feedback. I also don't hate rhetorical analysis essays as much as I used to, at least for this assignment. I think the main reason for that is that rather than reading speeches or persuasive essays I got to read and break down something short and comical making this a lot less strenuous and a little more fun.
Right off the bat you can tell that the author, George Watsky, isn't a happy-go-lucky optimist. From his tone you can't quite peg him as a pessimist but he walks the fence between pessimism and realism which is an odd tone to have because we later find out he's a comedian. It was interesting to see him go from town to town, following the same routine every time but getting different outcomes from his experiences. He mentioned at one point that he had no reason to expect to connect to students in one town more than he did to those in another but yet he had no reason not to expect it. Through this expert Watsky shows that you can't necessarily assume the outcome of an experience based on prior ones or even the route that led you to that one. This video was especially hilarious because of not only how simplistic and real Watsky's views we're but the jokes he cracked broke this simplistic ordinary tone and made them hit that much harder. The simple irony of him being a comedian but not exactly having an always comedic look and personality simply added to the humor of this excerpt.
Writing is something that is often difficult for me simply because I put a lot of pressure on myself. Many times I get worried about not having enough content or covering all the bases so I simply "word vomit" then go back and delete or refine what i originally have. The other thing I worry a lot about is my tone. The common thought for me is "do I sound too smart". Now when I say that I usually mean, does my writing sound superficial. I don't usually talk in common conversation the way that I write so I worry about wither sounding too casual, or not sounding the way people hear me when I speak. That being said, i do try to use colorful language. While I'm not great with sensory descriptions I try to use creative analogies and and metaphors to advance what I'm describing or sometimes put a funny twist on what I'm talking about. I do tend to wait until the last minute even though it stresses me out more than I can express but what stresses me out more is whether or not my ideas are perfect enough or even good enough to put on paper so I don't write much until I'm under such a time constraint that i have no choice but to start and even then I usually don't finish on time. I'm going to focus to improve this though. I have too in order to survive college. That being said, my next two goals will be to improve my descriptive writing and to get more frequent help throughout my writing process so that I don't feel behind the eight ball so much.
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October 2019
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