Journal 1

If I can invite David Wallace into a class discussion, I would ask him many questions. First I would ask him how he did such a good job on getting his point across to the readers. I would ask what techniques he uses in his writing that he could potentially pass on to me to help me be a better writer. I have a lot of trouble with trying to get my point across to the reader as I write an essay. I tend to state the facts more than work up a mini debate in my paper. So I would ask him to help me with that.

Journal 2

My experience drafting my writing projects is not that good. When I was in high school I would write my paper and be done with it. I would never go back and do a second and a third draft. In my English classes we would have a 30-minute peer review of our papers. The peer reviews did not get us far at all. Not many people voiced their opinions in the groups and if they did there were few that actually cared about helping you out. Most of the kids in my classes used that time to catch up in their personal lives than to peer review.

Journal 3

Inserting a quote into an essay or article is pretty powerful. It does more than just back up the point that you are trying to get across. It also brings the authors feeling into the text as well. When I insert a quote into an essay I mostly am doing it to try and get my point across. Trying to back it up with textual evidence. I never really knew how to properly insert a quote into an essay, or a way to introduce a quote without it sounding weird or out of place in the text. I found that this text really helps you with inserting quotes into essays because it gives you a template to follow the next time your are trying to insert quotes into your writing. Another important part about using quotes in your writing is that it now only backs up your writing but it gives your writing creditability as well. All around I found that The “art of quoting” really helped me get a grasp on how to properly add quotes into my writing.

Journal 4

The End of Food by Lizzie Widdicombe is an article about young tech entrepreneurs that essentially came up with a mixture of chemicals that is needed to survive. In other words, extracting the chemicals that we take in we when digest food and putting them in a blender and mixing them with water. This mixture is called soylent. The article argues that this can be the new replacement of food. It goes in to explain that we would not only lose out on food but all of the social entities that comes with food as well. I personally do not agree with soyent being a replacement for food. I think that it should be looked at as a filler meal almost like a protein shake. It should not be a replacement for all foods.

Journal 5

After I read They Say/ I Say I got many helpful tips to help my writing. One of the tips that stood out the most to me was when it talked about using the ideas of others as a foundation to build your writing. I have never put the reader’s opinions in my writing before. I’ve always wrote my essays on my perspective or my view. I never took into consideration to put in what the readers think as well. I think that this will really help my wiring as I go along in my career. It will help me build strong arguments in my papers. It will also help me get my point across by backing it with with what some people think. Then adding the opposing side into my paper as well so the readers can have a better understanding before they chose what side of the debate to join. I think by implementing this technique into my writing it will make me a much stronger writer.

Journal 8

After reading chapter one of they say I say, there were many things that the author touched upon that stood out to me. The most important thing that stood out to me was that it was talking about creating a string thesis early on in your writing. This is to keep the reader in track of what he or she is reading. It helps to make sense of your paper. this is a major problem I have in my writing. I have come to find that I end up putting my thesis towards the end of my papers. I have to work on establishing a point and keeping my writing in check. Another big thing that stood out to me was when you are entering a conversation on a specific point or topic to make sure to include what audience is saying. This give the whole “they say” aspect to your writing. It helps grasp an idea of what your audience likes and it helps keep the reader engaged. I think after reading this chapter, the pointer will help to improve my writing in the future.

Journal 9

the things that I revised the most in my essay was focusing on where exactly to place my thesis. i originally had it at the end of my paper but my peers helped me realize that it was not a good spot for it. I also needed help trying to find a way to tie the quotes I picked into my essay. I thought that the peer review was a huge help on the way my essay was revised and how I was able to dig into my paper to see what mistakes I made

Journal 10

Passage 1, “but here’s what I don’t get: how is it that we are so eagar to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves?” (Pollan 3). There are many good answers to that question. First it seems to me that the American people have become content with watching other people make food on TV because they can imagine the taste and the smell and almost actually get the feeling that you can taste and smell what you are watching. So why would someone try to mimic something that is already filling that “void” that needs to be filled. In this case the food is touching on a few of the five senses. My next explanation to that is that the American people are simply becoming more and more lazy that watching someone make something actually satisfies the viewer.
Passage 2, “The Food Network has figured out that we care much less about what’s cooking than who’s cooking.” (Pollan 11). A great example to this would be Rachel Ray. She is a at home mom who’s cooks well prepared homemade meals. One of the biggest reasons she is so widely popular is because people at home can relate to her. The viewers are more focused on how she is so outgoing. How she has a great personality and relates to the everyday mom. This shows the viewers that you do not need to be a five-star chef to cook great meals for your family at home. That is what draws in most of the attention. She can choose from an array of different recipes, whatever she picks her viewers will try to make it at home.
Passage 3, “The time and work involved in cooking, as well as the delay in gratification built into the process, served as an important check on our appetite. Now that check is gone and we’re paying the consequences.” (Pollan 19). Back in the day when people cooked homemade meals it would take time and preparation to cook it, and then finally eat it. All that build up to the meal seems to make it more enjoyable. One of the ways that is method of cooking can be gone is because now you can grab fast food or a frozen meal that can be ready in minutes to eat. This takes away at the traditional way of preparing, cooking and then eating a meal. When you go out and buy fast food there is no preparation or cooking that you need to do. All you have to do is consume it. Another problem I find with this is that fast food for example McDonalds, you already know what the food is going to taste like before you see it or smell it. Unlike a home cooked meal you can make the same dish five times and it could taste a little different every time.

Journal 11

The assigned reading in They Say/ I Say talks about trying to understand the writer when you are reading their writing piece. If you have a text and it is hard for you to understand then you can break it down and take it piece by piece. You can translate the writers writing into your own words to help you understand the piece better. If there are a lot of words in the writing that you do not understand, then you can make a list of the words and look them up in a dictionary or online to help you understand what is being talked about. Another technique the book brought up was questioning something in the writing that maybe did not make sense to you. When a reader questions the writing it makes them use critical thinking skills to help them think more in debt about the writing. As the reader you want to look into the authors writing to try to pick out his argument. Understanding what the author is thinking about helps the reader understand the writing as a whole.