Presentation Outline and Research

I have found a lot of information about the failing print news industry.  I think that I can use it to forecast what will happen when technology catches up with literature.  The Kindle and other book devices are effecting print books, but I think that blogs, podcasts, and other literature sites will be the forms that change print literature as we know it.  They put all of the power into consumers hands which can have bad as well as good consequences.

Presentation Outline:

Speech Topic: The Death of Print

Purpose: To examine its effects on literature

I. Introduction: Explain what “the death of print” means and define “print.”

Herron, Jeremy. “Shrinking newsrooms are hurting PRINT MEDIA IN THE U.S.” Bangkok Post. July 22, 2008. The Post Publishing Public Co. July 27, 2008. http://www.bangkokpost.com/220708_News/22Jul2008_news16.php

Rosensteil, Tom. “As the Audience for News Shrinks, What's Next?" NPR. March 12, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7854201&sc=emaf

 A. Statement of Topic: The death of literature in paper print

  1. Clarify the different causes contributing to the death of print.

  a. technology that preserves our literary traditions
   
  i. Kindle/books on cd/other

  b. technology that changes what literature is

  i. podcasts/blogs/online literature sites  

 B: Signpost/Preview: The importance of podcasts, blogs, and online literature sites: how they put us in charge of literature.

*Transition: It is our dollars that have put us in charge in the past. Yet… 

II. Body:

 A. First Main Point: Money

  1. People expect things to be free online 

Rosensteil, Tom. “As the Audience for News Shrinks, What's Next?" NPR. March 12, 2007. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7854201&sc=emaf
 

  a. music industry/news comparison

  b. earning a living as a writer

  2. Online literature sites

a. Quidian in China will pay 

Sydell, Laura. “Chinese Authors Find Creative Outlets on the Web.” NPR. June 26, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91895391&sc=emaf.

i. Is it a living wage?  
 
  *Transition: Quantity vs. quality

B. Second Main Point: The deterioration of literature

  1. Quidian admits that this is a problem with their site.

Sydell, Laura. “Chinese Authors Find Creative Outlets on the Web.” NPR. June 26, 2008. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91895391&sc=emaf.

  2. Podcasts and Blogs
 
  a. news casting’s “citizen journalists”

Todd, Douglas. “Biggest revolution in 120 years hits journalism - adding ethical anxiety.” The Vancouver Sun. July 19, 2008. Canwest Digital. July 27, 2008. Mediahttp://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thesearch/archive/2008/07/19/biggest-revolution-in-120-years-hits-journalism-adding-ethical-anxiety.aspx

  i. faulty reporting  

  b. “citizen writers”
 
  *Transition: Flip side – “citizen writers” and undiscovered talent

C. Third Main Point: Opportunities

  1. Talent found on Blogs and Online Literature Sites 

  a. Crazy Aunt Purl

Crazy Aunt Purl. July 29, 2008. Laurie Perry. July 28, 2008. http://www.crazyauntpurl.com

  i. our power as readers

  2. Creative competition
 
a. challenge to be unique

b. competing for an audience
 
  *Transition: ultimately, this is what these forms do, 

III. Conclusion: (Repeat points) We are now the editors.

My Real-life Example of Parallelism

This comes from the New York Times article "New Scrutiny as Immigrants Die in Custody."  

Original text:

"Complaints focus on a lack of independent oversight and failures to enforce standards for medical care, suicide prevention and access to legal help."

This statement contains a correlative conjunction that can be rewritten with parallelism:

"Complaints focus on a lack of independent oversight and [on a] failure to enforce standards for medical care, suicide prevention and access to legal help."

“Real-world” Grammar Examples: Parallelism

I think that the writers of both examples felt that they had already related their meaning and did not consider that using parallelism would make their writing stronger. 

1. The Crocker Science House should have put an "in" in between "and" & "4" like so: "The Crocker House accommodates 12 student residents in 4 double rooms and [in] 4 single rooms." I think that they didn't feel it was necessary to repeat "in" - that the previous "in" covered both phrases.

2. I think Peers Educating to End Rape thought that their meaning was clear without adding "you can" before their list like so: "Get involved with our group. [You can:]..." This addition makes the entire list tie together. Then they should take the website address and put it at the bottom or the top of the page because it does not belong with this list.

The Craft of Research

The Craft of Research Summaries
1. The Craft of Research stresses the importance of writing for an audience. It says that a writer must anticipate their reader’s arguments with their writing topic. As well as inviting a reader into the “conversation,” addressing readers’ arguments also gives the writer credibility because it shows that their writing topic is sound and that they have thought all aspects of it through.

2. The Craft of Research identified three different types of sources and how to use them. They are primary sources, secondary sources, and tertiary sources. A primary source is a pure source such as a book or “map” that provides information about a writing topic. This should not be confused with a secondary source which is an article or other writing by another author who supports or disagrees with the same or similar subject you are writing about. The tertiary source is an overview of a topic or secondary source. Both secondary sources and tertiary sources can help a writer come up with ideas: by looking at others’ arguments in secondary sources or getting a general idea about a topic in a tertiary source. Yet, the book says that Primary sources are the real evidence that supports a writer’s argument and must be used as much as possible.

3. The Craft of Research also defines the make-up of a successful argument. They assert that it should contain a “claim,” that is supported by “reasons,” that are backed-up by “evidence.” The “claim” is a thesis in which a writer supplies “reasons” for supporting. Further, The Craft of Research also says that the “evidence” is most effective if it comes from primary sources.


3 Ways The Craft of Research can help my writing:
1. I have addressed my audience's arguments in past papers. I wouldn't say that I have done it in every paper but I have been assigned to write a commentary and used that technique then. I think reading about this aspect of writing in such detail will make me much more aware of it in my future papers.

2. I never realized the difference between sources. I think I may have over used secondary sources in past papers. If I found an expert arguing something similar to myself, I would use them as back-up for my own argument. Now I will take the time to review their sources so I can round out my argument better.

3. I think that I usually write with a claim, reasons, and evidence. It is something that just gets drilled in, however subtly, when you are an English major. I think, however, that my writing will become better if I become conscious of this design. I will have an easier time staying on track. My recent paper, the academic critique, was suffering from such organization that I eventually fixed because of peer review. I could have save myself a lot of revisions, however, if I had been conscious of the "claim/reason/evidence" model.

Apostrophe Practice Questions

1. Sons'-in-law homes

2. Arkansas' rivers

3. Jim and Joans' house

4. Ph.D.s' research

5. Mcgraw Hill, Inc's advertising

6. Fred the electrician’s estimate

7. Anyone else's idea

8. Witnesses' depositions

9. The airport's upper level

10. My friend's daughter

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1. The tree surgeon couldn't save the white spruce's limb.

2. The user's manual for the new software package was so confusing that most consumers returned it to the company.

3. Window's intuitive commands make it easy for users to move from one application to another.

4. I will be in Hawaii on Mother's Day, in New Mexico on April Fool's Day, and in California on Veterans’ Day.

5. Grover Cleveland was the peoples' choice.

6. Each participant filled out the Reader's Comment Form.

7. He has his bachelor's degree; now he plans to get his master's and possibly his doctorate.

8. The National Secretaries' Conference will be held in Houston this year.

9. For appearance’s sake, the feuding vice presidents kept their differences to themselves during the monthly staff meeting.

10. It's my brother's in law idea to have the family reunion at a spa.

11. We have been invited to a holiday party at the Roth's.

12. The telephone company's president’s idea was to offer discount rates to seniors.

Summaries of "Integrating Sources"

1. Explains the difference between a primary source and a secondary source. A primary source is one that provides information that the writer must then interpret such as stats. A secondary source is from a scholar or other reputable person that supports your argument. Also explains that citing your sources gives your writing credibility, allows the reader to find your sources, and shows that you appreciate your source.

2. This section discusses appropriate ways: summary, paraphrase, notes, and quotes, to integrate sources into a paper. It also defines the rules of using these techniques.

3. The “Citing Sources” section addresses when or when not to cite your sources and reasons for doing so. The section also provides examples of citations and explains which types of citations are appropriate for specific genres of writing.

4. This section is about the “Misuse of Sources.” It identifies some typical ways that writers misuse their sources; such as intentional and unintentional plagiarism or “misrepresenting” a source’s ideas to better suite the writer’s argument. It also examines the reasons writers may take part in these kinds of misuses, the consequences of doing so, and what to avoid so that the writer can produce original work.

5. “Styles of Documentation” lists the different styles of citing sources, as far as in-text and works cited pages, when writing for certain topics, such as humanities and sciences. It also lists rules for handling different types of sources within those topics, such as magazines, books, and electronic sources.

Souper Salad's em dash

An em dash is an easy thing to misuse.  I think it resembles a pause or addition to people who are unaware of it's proper use. Before I knew how to use them, I would use em dashes as a sort of "um" in my paper.  I thought I was saying, "I just thought of this, so I'm adding it spontaneously to this sentence."

I think that Souper Salad used an em dash to emphasize that what they are saying is interesting.  The line "the first set is also used for defense" is not important to the overall message.  But Souper Salad is emphasizing the idea that they are crab specialists, so we better eat at their restaurant.