Melissa's Site

Essay 1, Draft 1

I thought it was interesting how academic writing is considered to be argumentative writing. It is important to engage with other people’s point of view as well as listen to others around is and summarize their views in a way that we can respond our own ideas or opinions. You need to include more than just your opinion on things when arguing a statement. I really liked how they pointed out that traditional five paragraph essays typically leave out the importance of arguing and how we won’t argue unless we are provoked. So if we don’t argue unless someone’s said or done something to provoke us then why wouldn’t we do that on paper as well? It makes complete sense and its something I’ve never actually thought about. We need the views of others in order to support our point of view and argue it. I also found it interesting how they pointed out the “why are you telling me this” component of writing. When writing it is important to impact your reader by doing more than just making logical statements. You have to find of way to enter the conversation by giving the view of others. Basically saying what they say. The way to do this is by summarizing what they have to say then setting it up with what they want to say. If you don’t respond to what others have to say then your argument doesn’t have a point. Therefore it’s meaningless. When you include what they say we give the reader the opportunity to pick a side and agree on things whether that be from both sides or just one. Understanding the opinions of others gives us a reason to argue. If there weren’t critics or people who believed differently then us out there then there would be no point to argue.

In The End of Food by Lizzie Widdiecombs, we are introduced to Rob Rhinehart, a entrepreneur who is just barely getting by. Rhinehart was getting tired of his lifestyle and needed a change. He came up with a list of thirty-five ingredients needed for survival, which he then turned into the magical “Soylent”. Rhinehart created this product as a meal replacement. He goes on to describe this product as a magic potion with all the nutrients you need to survive. This Soylent product does wonders for your body. It helps clear up skin, improve physique, make teeth whiter, hair thicker, and more. What more could you ask for? It’s a cost effective way to obtain your nutrients while not spending a dime, it is what you would call a life hack. It’s not just a money saver but also a time saver. There’s no need to spend time cooking or preparing food anymore. You’re giving yourself more time in the day to do whatever you’d rather be doing. Rhinehart decides his product has potential and value and realizes he could make a company out of it. He went from a broke man to selling over 30,000 units of Soylent for $65 to consumers all over the world. Rhinehart goes on to say that this is the future of food, it’s the end of food.

Soylent may seem like a great product to have to some people but for most I don’t think they would want it. Sure this Soylent product may be all hype in the beginning but I know for a fact it wouldn’t last for long, like most things in todays society. Food is a big part of everyone’s day-to-day life. Everyone enjoys food. We like to be able to taste our food; we like to feel all the different textures and consistencies that food has to offer. I personally like to chew my food not drink it, it gives me more time to enjoy what I am eating. Food is a diverse and cultural thing so why would we give it up for a single meal replacement that has no meaning to us. Soylent may have great benefits but is it really worth it?

In They Say I Say, The Art of Quoting, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein, the authors of the book, point out some very useful and helpful tips when it comes to quoting. Quoting other’s work within your own makes the reader know that what you are stating is in fact true. Using quotes adds creditability as well as reliability, you can sort of serve it as evidence to your case. I found this to be a very helpful tip because I never really saw quotes that way, I never used them to back up what I was saying. After reading this text it made me realize I should incorporate them more into my writing pieces (without over doing it of course). Graff and Birkenstein also pointed out that whenever using quotes you must be sure to introduce the quote as well as explain why that claim connects with what you’re trying to prove. This is beneficial to know because you don’t want to drop the quote at the end of a paragraph and call it good. You want to back up the quote and show its importance to your writing piece. I also really liked how within the text they added little templates for introducing quotations. It’s very helpful, if you’re ever struggling to add quotes to your own work you can just reflect back on those templates provided.

Drafting is the first step and base of any final writing product. It a very important step that is always necessary for one to take. When I start to draft I like to have a plan, a layout of all the key points I want to hit. Usually I’ll do this by either making a bullet point list or just simply writing out the main points I want to touch base on. Doing this allows me to organize my essay into sections that allow the final product to flow together. Once I have the whole layout set up that is when I can finally start to put it all together. I type all my ideas up and structure it into paragraph form, always making sure to start with an introduction and end with a conclusion. After my base is done it is time to start revising.

Revision is the next step in order to be a successful writer. I typically like to wait a day or so after crafting my draft to revise the piece. This allows for me to clear my mind and have a fresh start on it. Once my mind has been cleared I open it back up and read through it again. First I fix any quick errors such as grammatical or punctual then move on to the bigger corrections. The bigger errors include fixing any unwanted sentences, adding sentences, making smoother transitions, and the list goes on and on. I fix it all up until I am satisfied with it then I’ll have someone else proof read it and revise it for me to check for anything that I may have missed. After all of that is done I have my final and complete writing product.

This drafting and revising process has so far been working for me. I found that not waiting till the last minute and procrastinating it really helps. Not procrastinating allows me to have more time to focus on the piece as well as more time to think about it and revise it the proper way. I have switched up this technique through the years to find what works best for me and what doesn’t. I am sure there are more things I could be doing to make my drafting and revision process more efficient but for now this is what works best.