ENGL 2010, Intermediate Writing (EN)
Credit Hours: 3.0
Course Description: Extends principles of rhetorical awareness and knowledge making introduced in English 1010 and increases the ideological engagement within the classroom. Interrogates socioeconomic and political issues.
When I took this course, my assignments were mainly based on two projects: a report inquiring into place and an argument narrating a sense of place. The course was different than other ENGL 2010 courses in SLCC because this one was based in the concept of place and writing a particular issue of a place in Salt Lake county that you will not hear on the news that is engaging and interesting. Our topic chosen was to be incorporated in both projects 1 and 2. I decided to my projects on the Ascent Academy West Jordan Campus that was in construction in early 2014 and will start it's first academic school year this August 2014. Listed below is my projects along with their statement of goals/reflections of each project.
Project 1 - AAA: Appeals to Ascent Academy
![Project 1 [Final Draft].pdf](classes/components/File/resources/images/pdf.png)
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Project 1 [Final Draft].pdf Size : 2359.531 Kb Type : pdf |
The original inquiry question of the report is: What kind of appeals do parents have with their children enrolling/attending at the Ascent Academy in West Jordan? This question lead me to the point of wondering what caught parents attention to having their kids enrolling at the academy. The whole content didn’t change much other than that it consists of parents and the principal’s view point of the academy.
The way the report is structured is the view points and insights of parents and the principal of the academy along with some interesting similarities and contradictions between all of them. Having different view points of the issue made the report more interesting and engaging.
The most significant decisions I have made in organizing my report through the InDesign program is the way I laid it out. I developed line patterns on the ends of the pages with two columns per page with photos that tie in with the issue of the report.
One of the two weakness that I had on the report is using citations within the text, but I mention where the text is coming from and who said it within the text. Another weakness that I probably had is since I had so much information from interviews and from secondary sources, I had a problem in deciding what to put in the report that best fits with the issue. It took a significant amount of time for me to decide what to put in the report, but I did the best that I could. If I was revising the report again, I would go back and reread through it or have another person read the issue as well and see if he or she can pick stuff out that I couldn’t have.
Project 2 - The Grand Tour of Ascent Academy
The argumentative issue I am address in my project is two things. First, there were some complaints of Ascent Academy West Jordan Campus that the enrollment process is through a lottery system where it is done randomly and limited to the amount of students who can attend. Second, there were also complaints of how the junior high in the academy is small and offers less electives and class options compared to larger junior high schools. I feel this issue is an issue of civic importance because many parents want to know what will be best for their kids in deciding a good education and how the process of apply works.
What kind of SLC resident would find this project relevant and why, and how have you tried to “speak” to this audience specifically in the project?
I find this project relevant to the residents in West Jordan and throughout SLC because the academy doesn’t necessarily pick students just in West Jordan but throughout Salt Lake county. I specifically tried to focus on the parents that have their kids planning on attending Ascent Academies by integrating parental views and the principal’s views of the issue.
What is your purpose for creating this project? What do you want it to do? What do you want your audience to feel or think after experiencing the project?
The purpose of the project is to create a tour of Ascent Academy West Jordan Campus for parents and kids to see, so that it helps them to decide whether or not Ascent Academy is the choice for school. I want the audience to feel as if they were there at the scene and to get an idea what the academy is all about and what it had to offer.
Talk about specific places in your audio or video project where you feel like you’re clearly portraying your purpose to the audience. Also, talk about places in your project where you feel like you’re setting the context to help them understand the timeliness and occasion for your narrative argument.
The places in my video presentation that portrayed my purpose to the audience is particularly when the audio clips come in on the background. There are three audio clips: two from parents and one from the principal. They both portray and lead into the main argument of the issue. I felt pretty much throughout the video (beginning, middle, and end) portrays well what the setting of the context is in helping the audience to understand what the video is about. I specifically address in the beginning of the video that it is going to be a tour and that I am coming from a parent’s perspective.
Describe and provide a rationale for the sequence and organization of your project. What are its parts and how do these parts work together? How would you revise the sequence or organization if you could do the project over — and, as importantly, why?
The way I prepared and put together my project is gathering all the information and captured images and audio interviews that I needed. I placed my pictures in order the moment you see it first then walk inside throughout and then outside of the campus. I specifically organized my pictures in way that creates a tour of the academy inside and out. I written my narrative argument based on the pictures I have laid out first. It worked out pretty well. If I was to do this again in revising and organizing the project, I would try to write the story first and then incorporate pictures. It may create the same story, or it could potentially be a different story.
What were at least two challenges you experienced while creating this project, and how did you address or overcome the challenges? What did you learn about writing, if anything, from these challenges?
A challenge that I experienced while creating this project is figuring out how to incorporate a picture of the interviewee in the video while the interviewee is speaking, so you know who is speaking and what they look like. I specifically said who is going to speak next before the person starts talking which is the best thing to do, but I thinking it will make the project look interesting and more professional like a news report with the image incorporated with the audio clips. I also had a challenge trying to cut and edit audio clips that is relevant to the argument of the issue being discussed. Sometimes I get extra noises in the background, but I was able to put the audio clips to together nicely and evenly spaced out for the audience to understand what is being said. I learned that the project was a little difficult at first to start out in figuring out what story to tell that is relevant to SLC and how to portray the audience, but I can definitely say that I think I did a pretty good job at the project.
