Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing
Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating
Although I am not the best writer ever, I do better communicating through text than speaking aloud any day. Writing has taught me how to get my thoughts together and communicate my thoughts more clearly. Also, when it came to research I had to read various documents and ask myself what was the authors’ purpose, how does this relate to me, and how would this benefit my paper and audience, if I were to use this as a source. Reading allows me to learn and writing helps me to communicate those things.
Rhetorical Ad Example: “Over the years of 2000, there has been much controversy and protesting about the safety of our Earth. People all over the world have encountered an advertisement promoting awareness of either global warming, recycling, climate change, or any popular issue concerning the Earth’s environment. One of the most popular companies that stand for the value of Earth is the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). This company, founded in the 1960s, has been very effective in bringing attention to environmental concerns. Their main focus is to grab the attention of all humans in an attempt to make them more mindful of the planet they live on and share, especially, with its wildlife (WWF).”
Understand a writing assignment as a series of tasks, including finding, evaluating, analyzing, and synthesizing appropriate primary and secondary sources
I learned that mapping things out and making them into a list helps to get your work done faster and successfully. In all of my writings I planned out how I would go about completing the essay or project even before the first rough draft to meet the expectations required. However, some were easy enough to jump on the assignment write away. For instance, the final portfolio that you are currently reading was not very difficult. I had a pre-write sheet to lay out my thoughts and figure out what examples I would use as my sources. This made this assignment go by smoothly.
Integrate their own ideas with those of others
All of my projects did not require sources and using others thoughts, except my own. The only project that I used to integrate someone else’s thoughts with my own was for my “Best Of” project. With the help of Roger Ebert, I explained the greatness of Kevin Hart in Think Like a Man.
Example: My favorite character is Cedric (Kevin Hart), who plays the odd ball of the love circle as “The Happier Divorced Guy.” While the ladies are stuck on figuring out the rules in the book and the men are studying what there is to know, Cedric is enjoying life. “He spends most of his time in so-called gentleman's clubs, having 30-minute relationships that all have happy endings, and it's hard to argue he isn't happy” (http://www.rogerebert.com/). Also, Kevin Hart (Little Fockers) is one of the funniest individuals ever, and it is almost impossible not to enjoy a movie with him in it.”
Understand the relationships among language, knowledge, and power
I always believed that knowledge was power but without language how would anyone know about the knowledge that you hold. Language affects everything around us and the way you communicate influences your surroundings. I never thought about how powerful language was until I realized that hey, you can be knowledgeable but the way you communicate your idea shows how exactly you use the knowledge you have. In my Kickstarter project, I showed my audience how well I use my knowledge and communicated an idea I think they should take note of.
Example: “TAOAI is a web-series based on young people who want to pursue their dreams in either fashion, music, entertainment, graphic design, drawing, modeling, photography, dance, and so much more. In the web series episodes, the artist will take us on their journey of making their dreams come true, through an interview/documentary. Because of the small amount of entertainment/art industry resources in Arkansas, this web series will help bring the creative minds and talents of these young people to the eyes of others to expand their network and gain more support. These young people also inspire and influence practically other young people, but maybe older, who might want to take the same career path, to take their dreams higher and to never give up on them as they (interviewee) work hard to make their dreams come true as well.”