The Madness

Its that time of the year again world! March madness!!!

LINsanity

The kid is a play maker and a linner. What can i say...

Vigorous, Clear and Economical Style Continued...

So I was looking around the web and trying to find some good clips or images relating to vigorous, clear and economical style, and I found a couple! Here is one image that really sums up what this style is all about:

http://engrishfunny.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/engrish-funny-duh.jpg

This image concludes on the idea that an author should be as simple and clear on his/her writing as possible and make it understandable for the readers.

I found another picture of what an author should try to avoid when writing in vigorous, clear and economical style:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-41wEtLZSR6I/TcTqiAfsMJI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/FX7T1ueFkz0/s1600/Extremely-Long-Status-Updates-In-Facebook-11.png

These types of posts happen all the time on Facebook and are exactly what an author should not do when using this style. An author should try to vary the sentence length and delete any not needed information. Well I hope these pictures helped some of my readers understand vigorous, clear and economical style.

Godspeed world.

Works Cited

Image #1- Engrishfunny.org - http://engrishfunny.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/engrish-funny-duh.jpg

Image #2- Martik Panosian's Blog - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-41wEtLZSR6I/TcTqiAfsMJI/AAAAAAAAA-Y/FX7T1ueFkz0/s1600/Extremely-Long-Status-Updates-In-Facebook-11.png

What in the world is vigorous, clear and economical style?!

Hello blogging world! Its Scott Odorico again to update you on the importance (along with the confusion) of vigorous, clear and economical style! Now if anyone out there is like me, he/she would be thinking, "what the heck is this vigorous, clear and economical style stuff?!" I had no idea what in the world this was when I was first taught it, but luckily, I learned that it is pretty simple stuff. With just editing a paper, most students are doing this anyway, without even knowing it! Vigorous, clear and economical style is simply writing that is clear, understandable and easy-to-read, and is easy to apply to your paper! This style will make work less confusing for the reader and not make the reader think about he/she is reading.

When using vigorous, clear and economical style, there are several guidelines a writer should stick to that will make a paper that much better! These guidelines come from How To Write Anything: A guide and Reference and give some great suggestions on how to edit a paper successfully. Here is the list of guidelines every writer should use if using vigorous, clear and economical style:

-use strong, concrete subjects and objects

-avoid clumsy noun phrases

-avoid sentences with long windups

- use action verbs when possible

-avoid strings of prepositional phrases

-don't repeat key words close together

-avoid doublings

-turn clauses into more direct modifiers

-cut introductory expressions such as it, is and there is/are when you can

-vary your sentence lengths and structures

-listen to what you have written

-cut a first draft by 25 percent or more

(Ruszkiewicz 378-383)

I know what some readers are thinking, "now what in the heck does all this nonsense mean??" Well the truth is, no one really knows. I'm just kidding. It's pretty simple once one gets the hang of it. When looking over this list, some of the rules are pretty easy to understand, such as "listen to what you have written," or "vary your sentence lengths and structures." And then there are others, such as, "avoid clumsy noun phrases," or "turn clauses into more direct modifiers," are a lot more difficult to understand. Well let me see if I can clarify some of these confusing ones for the readers out there.

The rule "avoid clumsy noun phrases" may confuse some young writers out there and give them some worries. Well all this rule is advising against is making a simple noun too long and wordy. An example of a clumsy noun phrase would be:

Members of the entire student body at Oregon High School...

A much more clear and understandable way of writing this would be:

Students at Oregon High School...

With this simple rule, writers can clarify confusing nouns for their readers and make the text shorter at the same time.

Another guideline that confuses some students is "turn clauses into more direct modifiers." This adjustment is easy to spot out in a paper and easy to revise. Modifiers using who, which or that can be replaced with a much more understandable modifier. An example of a wordy modifier that can be revised is:

My coach, who is internationally renowned, expected a higher salary.

A way to simplify this modifier is by cutting the who and cutting the commas, and switching up the word order a bit. A revised version of this sentence would be:

My internationally renowned coach expected a higher salary.

By making this switch, a writer makes his/her work flow easier and roll of the tongue. This switch also allows the readers to simply read and not have to think about the text, which is what the author's goal should be.

Overall, vigorous, clear and economical style should be something authors should try to incorporate into his/her paper to make it easier for his/her audience. This style can be achieved by following these guidelines and thoroughly editing one's paper. One last thought I would like to leave all of my readers with is a webpage I came across while googling vigorous, clear and economical style:

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&pbx=1&oq=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=472l15472l0l15598l72l48l14l0l0l4l470l8839l1.29.13.3.1l60l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=5c790db8b679f598&biw=1015&bih=605

Because I could not find a good video on YouTube that has anything to do with this style, I went to google (like any lost person out in the world). This is a google search list when one types in vigorous, clear and economical style. And if one just looks at some of those people who come up on the page one would see Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, Ronald Reagan, as well as Harvard College and Joseph Stalin (a great mind, but in a bad way). This must be a sign how using this style can help one's writing style.

Until next time blogging world!

Godspeed.

Work Cited

Ruszkiewicz, John J. How to Write Anything: A Guide and Reference, with Readings. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. Print.

Website #1- Google -http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&pbx=1&oq=vigorous+clear+and+economical+style&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=472l15472l0l15598l72l48l14l0l0l4l470l8839l1.29.13.3.1l60l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=5c790db8b679f598&biw=1015&bih=605

PEER EDITING CONTINUED

Not so fast blogging world! I was strolling through Youtube and noticed a really good video about peer editing and shows the proper way to go about the process of peer editing and what kind of questions you should be asking. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnIwrCOCcg&feature=related

I hope you liked it and I hope you learned a little about how you should go about reviewing someone's paper. These in depth questions about the information and concepts are really what you should be focusing on and not just the spelling!

Until next time blogging World!

Godspeed.

Work Cited

Video #1: Youtube.com -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmnIwrCOCcg&feature=related

The Always Fun and Exciting Task of Peer Editing! Woo Hoo!

Hello blogging world! Its Scott Odorico again to talk to you about the always fun task of peer editing. And I know what you're thinking, "peer editing? Oh that's easy stuff! I never have any problem with that!" Well the truth is that many teens and students have a pretty hard time with peer editing whether it be handling the truth of a bad paper, or being completely honest with someone who just didn't write a strong paper. I'm here to help you out with some common problems with peer editing and provide some humor along the way.

Now whether you're a student in middle school, or a professional businessman or women, everyone has had to go through the process of writing a paper and having a peer edit it. Many problems come from peer editing, including one of the biggest problems: focusing on spelling and grammar instead of bigger issues and the concept of the paper. Now I know when I read over a friends paper, I usually only look over it and check his spelling, grammar, and possibly some confusion in word order along the way. Obviously I have this process wrong and need some help, which I am working on. One should really focus on these big issues and concept problems rather than specifically only correcting spelling errors. Another idea to keep in mind is that one should grade someone else's paper as one would grade and edit one's own paper. One should also be honest with the author of the paper and tell them what is wrong and what is right, but in a appropriate manner. Many other problems occur with the way people share their comments to the author, and I happened to stroll upon a funny video that covers these ideas precisely. Here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuq4qgRhCc

I hoped you enjoyed it! I thought it was pretty humorous, especially the fact that most of those kids are too young to have actually have written an in depth paper and have had it edited. But it did successfully portray the ways that an editor can poorly give his or her thoughts on one's paper. One has to be appropriate in the way that one expresses his or her feelings about someone else's paper; you don't want to look like mean Margaret or speedy Sandy!

With age comes the ability to accept criticism on one's paper, but sometimes this is not true. When a "defensive Dave" attacks the editor because they are "just to mean to them", he is making a big mistake and won't get the honest opinion from the editor. I found a funny image online that shows a little about this idea, although it is in cat form:

http://www.denisedumars.com/img/lolcats/wrong.jpg

Well I don't know if it made you laugh but it sure got me chuckling to myself. Anyway, this image supports the idea that one should definitely not be to harsh on an author or an editor, and be appropriate in the way they portray a message. Silly Cats.

I recently went through the process of writing a large paper and had several peers, including some classmates, edit it and read over it. Although some of them gave me ideas I did not end up using, it was helpful nonetheless to hear some different opinions and go over some options for my paper. I suggest to anyone having a hard time closing up that conclusion, or figuring out that thesis statement to find a peer and have them read over it to see what they think. Who knows, maybe they will be right!

Finally, I would like to leave you with a list of guidelines to follow when you're peer editing. This list of guidelines is brought to you by Ms. Legler, my Expository Writing student teacher:

-edit the draft the same way you would edit yours

-focus on concepts; not spelling and grammar

-write comments in the margins

-use proofreading symbols

-be specific with problems and strengths; provide examples

-praise the meritorious parts of a paper

-be polite, but be honest

One last thing all authors should remember is to thank your editor for a job well done and for being honest and making your paper top-notch!

Well, that's all for this time blogging world. I will see you next time. Be safe out there.

Godspeed.

Work Cited

Video #1: Youtube.com - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBuq4qgRhCc

Image #1: Denisedumars.com - http://www.denisedumars.com/img/lolcats/wrong.jpg

List #1: Ms. Legler - Peer Editing Guidelines Worksheet - January 4th, 2011

Integrating Sources Continued...

Hello blogging world! I was just strolling through the internet today and came across an interesting video that happens to really help when it comes to integrating your sources. It is about a girl who wrote a paper and had it reviewed and had some minor citing problems in it. She discusses several problems that I have trouble with including hanging quotes and correct paraphrasing. Here is the video for you viewing pleasure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJAqOeQjAo

I hope you enjoyed it and learned a little bit. Comment if you have any questions!

Godspeed.

ANATOMY

Chilling with andrew in the LMC and recooperating from McDonalds. Gross.

#bcfl

Integrating Sources-The most exciting part of writing any paper!

Hello blogging world! Scott Odorico here to talk to you about my prompt for the week, which is integrating sources. I know what you're probably thinking; "Well hey, I already know how to do that!" That's exactly what I thought before I had my memory jogged and before I learned a couple of new things about integrating sources. For those who don't know what this is, it is the use of outside sources and documents in your own work, and citing it correctly so it is considered legal. Some difficult ideas to understand when Integrating sources are punctuation, quotation marks, use of parenthesis, and introduction of quotes.

So what is the first thing I think of when I think about integrating sources? I think about all of those papers I have written, and all of the mistakes marked off because of faulty citing and such. Mistakes such as incorrect punctuation and incorrect parenthesis have really killed me (with grades that is). Since videos and cool multimedia are pretty hard to come by on this topic, I am going to explain and address some major problems most young writers have with integrating sources.

The first problem I would like to address is punctuation. If most writers are like me, punctuation can be fairly confusing when it comes to citing sources. The best way to show you this is to give you an example:

-Scott Odorico stated in his personal diary, "I am simply the smartest man alive, and no one can argue that" (Odorico 3).

So when breaking down this example, one can tell that you simply introduce the quote by giving some outside information or the author and before stating the quote, you must use a comma. This introduction is key to include as you do not want to leave a quote just hanging their with no introduction. This introduction (and comma) introduces the quote following, and brings the reader into the quotation marks. Most writers know how to use the quotation marks, but more problems occur when addressing the end of the quote. In a normal statement, no comma or period is used to transfer into the parenthesis, which is a common problem for some writers. This can be different with an exclamatory remark or a question in a quote. An example of this is:

-Scott Odorico stated in his personal diary, "Is anyone really better than me at anything?" (Odorico 4).

As you can see, when an exclamation mark or question mark is used at the end of a quote, you include the mark as well as end the entire sentence (after the parenthesis) with a period.

As you can see, MLA format is pretty picky when it comes to citing your sources, and rightfully so. When it can lead into legal matters, why not be completely serious about citing sources? For some more information on integrating sources and citing quotes, I have found two pretty good websites for your viewing pleasure:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

and

http://widstudents.wordpress.com/category/integrating-sources/

Well thanks for all of those who read my blog this week and come back next week for my next topic on writing! And remember, correctly cite your sources!

Godspeed world.

Work Cited

#1- Purdue OWLhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/1/

#2- George Washington Universityhttp://widstudents.wordpress.com/category/integrating-sources/

Plagiarism continued...

I was just strolling though the web today and happened to come across two pretty good videos that relate in some way to plagiarism. Check them out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TqD0oKOT6Q&NR=1

and...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnO3AqRkQeU

I hope you enjoyed them!

Also, please check out the Question of the Month!

Godspeed blogging world.

Question of the Month

Here it is everyone! November's Question of the Month!

What would you rather have for the term limit for the President of the United States of America: 4 years or 6 years?

Chime in!

Godspeed.

Plagiarism... Oh Boy... Not this again...

Hello big blogging world! How is everyone doing out there? If you're reading this and you should be working on some sort of term paper and were just looking for some website to take some "useless" information from, than leave! No, I'm just joking, you should most likely stay and learn a little lesson here, but you really should start that term paper.

Today my blogging prompt is simply plagiarism. And yes, very annoying, yet very important. Plagiarism, for those who have no gosh darn idea what it is, is the act of making someone's work your own without their permission and without citing their work either. This happens often with students, especially those lazy and forgetful enough to put off that huge term paper to the last day, and have to go online and copy documents completely for their paper! I know this doesn't happen to me in school, and hopefully not for you either.

In my junior year of high school right now, I am currently taking Law and American Society which takes an in depth look in law and other problems that occur from day to day life in our lives. I am telling you all this because we happen to be studying civil law right now, which is the act of one party against another party, usually in attempt to sue the other party. Now this situation happens a lot with conflicts over things like copyright, which is technically plagiarism! Copyright, again for those who do not know what it is, is the legal term for someone's exclusive rights to an object, and no one else may attempt to recreate it at all. This is the first thing I think of when I tumble across the term plagiarism.

Another thing I think of when I happen to be learning about plagiarism is all of those TV shows or movies that may take a line or idea from another TV show or movie. Now I'm sure most of you have either heard of something along these lines or even witnessed something that looked awfully peculiar and similar to some other show you watch. I found a clip that shows a great example of this exact idea. It is a combination of clips from the website College Humor, who actually took these lines and ideas from the movie Inception, and South Park who has been accused of plagiarizing College Humor's work. It is very clever and is actually a pretty amusing clip. Here you go (please excuse the last 5 seconds or so if you are easily frightened or do not like fake blood):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H-ezqMhZA8&feature=related

That video is a pretty good summary of what happens often when movie makers or show makers release a new hit.

I found one other video that is pretty funny and is about plagiarism and may actually be considered plagiarism itself. The reason I say this is because if any of you readers have seen the Subway commercials who voice dub all the actors with really high, squeaky voices to make it humorous, this video may relate to it for you. Here you go again world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC2ew6qLa8U

That video is pretty educational for being humorous, and as well as stressing the ideas in my opening paragraph for this blog. Well that's all the information and videos I have on plagiarism for my fellow bloggers today! And remember, don't put off that huge term paper to that late sunday night (I know I don't). I will blog with you later friends!

Godspeed.

Logical Fallacy Blog Re-post

Hey bloggers!

Just a quick fix on my last blog about logical fallacies, I wanted to correctly cite the source for the last web page I used.

Work Cited

Oly. "Logic 101 – a Nifty Link « Oly's Random Rants and Ravings." Oly's Random Rants and Ravings. Oly's Random Rants and Ravings, 23` Oct. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

As well as this cite, I have recently found a hilarious ad online that I believe, and apparently so does the owner of this clip, is a ad populum fallacy. It is for Fed-Ex and attracts others to their product by saying everyone makes a commercial this way. Please watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBjBFSBLdp0&feature=related

There you are! Have a fantastic day world.

Godspeed.

Logical Fallacies and All of those problems!

Hey blogging world! The Scott Odorico here again to talk to you about my next prompt, which is the wonderful world of logical fallacies.  For those who do not know what these are (just like I was), a logical fallacy is an incorrect argument or reasoning in attempt to persuade someone in an argument.  These are very common devices, and there is a range of them! So many of them in fact, that it would take almost this entire page up if I wrote them all down.  I'm just kidding of course, there are not that many (that I know of at least), but here are some key ones that I may discuss later on: slippery slope, ad hominem, straw man, and false dichotomy.  These logical fallacies are so common that most of do not even recognize them due to how often they appear in everyday life!

When I think of logical fallacies, I instantly think about those ridiculous politicians (yes, those of both parties) who go above and beyond on trying to make an argument in their favor.   These politicians often use straw man, or ad hominem fallacies which somehow always, always, always ends up in attacking the other politician (what a surprise, right?).  The straw man fallacy is characterized as misrepresenting an opponents argument in an effort to make one's own argument much more attractive.  The ad hominem fallacy can be defined as attacking a person making an argument rather that discussing the argument.   One pretty good example of the ad hominem fallacy is between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, when they exchange attacks on the issue of nuclear war.  Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Here there is some attacking going on between these two politicians that obviously results in some false claims.  Another more humorous, and fake example of an ad hominem fallacy is one of Steven Colbert, on his show on Comedy Central, called The Colbert Report.  Although it is not exactly real, it stresses the idea of logical fallacies, nonetheless.  Here is a clip from Steven Colbert's The Colbert Report:

Steven Colbert's comedic brilliance really makes this video tolerable, and gets the viewer away from the fact that an actual politician is saying something like this about another politician, on national television!

Another large logical fallacy in our country is the false dichotomy fallacy.  This fallacy, which is defined as simplifying an argument so that there are only two choices or outcomes to choose from, appears often in commercials to make a decision easier for the viewer.  One video I found is a great in depth look at false dichotomies and shows some good examples of ones in our country today. Here is the video for your viewing pleasure:

This man has some wonderful insight on the world of false dichotomies.

The final fallacy I would like to talk about today is the slippery slope fallacy.  This fallacy, which is characterized as assuming that event X will set off a chain reaction of events resulting in dire conditions, is often in everyday talk and communications.  Most of us, at some point in our life time, have probably said the phrase, "Oh, you're on a slippery slope, buddy!" And if you have said this, you used a logical fallacy! Woo Hoo! NO! Not "woo hoo" at all. To be a successful speaker and a successful arguer, one must try to stay away from logical fallacies.

Finally, if you are looking for some more logical fallacy fun, visit this blog post I found online, it is very amusing (especially the video).

Fallacy Blog

Talk to you next time blogging world!

Godspeed.


Work Cited

Video 1: Chen, Andy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebT1Oo6yDMI&feature=related)
Video 2: Comedy Central, The Colbert Report (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ24HdCPN9E)
Video 3: Shanedk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-fZ_jHMwFE)
Link 1: (http://randomrantsandravings.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/logic-101-a-nifty-link/)

Oregon Soccer

Playoffs. A team.

What in the world are ETHOS, PATHOS AND LOGOS? and what are they doing on this blog...

Well some of us know what ethos, pathos, and logos mean, but I sure didn't when they were first introduced to me. Ethos, in short, is the appeal to character or to an individual, pathos is the appeal to emotion (you, know really sad or really happy), and logos is the appeal to logic and reason (facts). These three terms came easily to me because, well, all writing I think has one of these three uses in them and can at times be easy to spot out.

When I first hear ethos, or the appeal to character, I instantly think of presidential campaign commercials. These, to me anyway, seem like the epitome of ethos usage in a type of writing. The main idea of these commercials are simply to impress a viewer and make him or her like you! Some commercials you see about elections can be pretty serious, but I know I have seen some just ridiculous commercials that are almost completely false. I don't believe this one is real, but proves my point nonetheless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGqSmReVpTM

Pathos, although not the most important use in my eyes, is important and can help your writing nonetheless! This can be an important part of writing persuasive papers, and in my case (for my writing class-shout out to my teachers) proposal writing. Many common people like me and you readers are suckers for a sob story, which many advertisements take advantage of. I actually theorized about this that if you can make something sad, and soppy, a woman (or a man) will like it and will be interested in it, but that theory is still in the works of experiment... and was only thought about during 45 minutes in a class period. But anyway, when thinking about sad and soppy stories trying to convince an audience of something, nothing rings my bell better than the classic animal cruelty commercials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gspElv1yvc

Well, that clip sure spoke to my heart. Now I will have to push through these last paragraphs sobbing inside.

Now on to the last term of the day: Logos. In my mind, the usage of logos is clearly the most important term here. No one can say facts are lying and any fact given has to be played into consideration when thinking about the situation at hand. Now what is the first thing I think of when logos is at hand...

Well that's something different... silly Scooter. But what I do think of when logos is on my mind is this one funny commercial I have seen recently that uses logos, in a sarcastic way, to prove its point. It's a Worx Energy commercial and is pretty funny. Here it is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2cZFNNwO7s&feature=related

Now I looked up some quotes using these three terms, and the best one I found was using pathos and by actor John C. Reilly and must be about (and I'm just guessing here) a new TV show he his producing.

This is real human drama, we're not creating some amusement park ride for the summer. Even though the movie is really exciting to watch, it's got a real pathos behind it.
John C. Reilly


Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/pathos.html#ixzz1cbKw01Yq

There you are world, all of your Scooter insight on Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Stay classy world.

Godspeed.

Videos...Again

If some of my viewers had trouble viewing videos, and the Stu's Song in particular. I am reposting the video here for all viewers that couldn't see it, because, well, it is just a spectacular song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpOdCWaTsIk

Please watch!!

:)

Godspeed.

Videos

I apoligize if any videos don't work. They would if you got smart and bought a MAC already.

Godspeed.

Mooobileeee

I am now mobile! Blog me.. Because now I WILL blog you right back.

Fun Size

I don't realize why they call the little candy bars "fun size," theres nothing fun about it.