Twitterative Design

The future X-Games happening right here in CALIFORNIA by the International Drone Racing Association.

Pros: Location capitalized, short easy to read. Identify with X-Games audience

Cons: Not much detail

International Drone Racing Association hosting tournaments worth $20,000-$100,000 in competitions from all around the world.

Pros: Get the idea, no kairos, hard to identify with,

Cons: May be too wordy, boring

STAR WARS probe racing coming closer to ‘reality’ with the onset of competitions by the International Drone Racing Association with purses from $20,000-$100,000 all around the world

Pros: Relevant to Star Wars fans especially with new movie coming up, crisp and clear,

Cons: Maybe a bit long and wordy

The future of extreme sports is drone racing as revenues reach $105 million and establishment of IRDA hosting competitions with purses from $20K-$100K around the world.

Pros: Identify with extreme sport fans, numbers signify importance

Cons: IRDA not written as International Drone Racing Association

Not just for kids! Drone racing reaches new heights with formation of International Drone Racing Association hosting competitions with purses of $20K-$100K.

Pros: Makes all people think this is suitable for all ages, pun on heights, numbers in K

Cons: Not much detail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

READING RESPONSE: LYNCH & HORTON’S CHAPTER 9, “EDITORIAL STYLE”

Chapter 4, “Interface Design”

1) How is navigating a web site similar to finding your way around a real, physical, geographical place like a city? How is it different?

It is similar as the process of orientation, route finding, closure and mental mapping are similar. However, instead of a journey where you have to travel, on the web you just teleport.

2) Consequently, what are some best practices for aiding users in navigating through your web site? What are some no-no’s?

Key practices include being organized by having a menu and trying to make a page distinct from each other to avoid confusion. The website should also take preconceived notions about design into place to create a more pleasurable user experience instead of the user trying to find something in a new position. For example, menu and links are on the top right and etc. I would avoid having pages that are similar to each other and numerous backlinks.

Chapter 7, “Page Design”

3) How does gestalt theory apply to visual rhetoric?

This applies as humans are designed to make a problem of things and attempt to solve these problems. As a result, a puzzle will really get someone interested as their first notion will be to solve the puzzle.

4) What are some best design practices that Lynch and Horton recommend for creating effective, trustworthy, user-friendly web pages?

The page should be visually appealing by utilizing CRAP principles. As a result, the page will be visually appealing and may create a better user experience.

Chapter 9, “Editorial Style”

5) What’s one reason many people find reading on a computer uncomfortable?

This because some pages might be in very small font and inadequate brightness. As a result it becomes a strain and many people print pages to read.

6) What is the inverted pyramid that journalists abide by?

Humans are shown to have short attention spans and will remember the first sentences and scan from there. As a result, journalists insert the most important information in the beginning so the reader can get a general idea and then scan the rest of the article.

7) In this chapter, Lynch and Horton discuss ways that writers can accommodate the habits of online readers. What are these habits and how do Lynch and Horton practice what they preach?

This is by having the main points in the introduction. In other words, they should use the inverted pyramid as a rubric. We can see this done in their website and article.

READING RESPONSE: “TWITTER POSTINGS: ITERATIVE DESIGN” AND “WRITING FOR SOCIAL MEDIA”

1) In redesigning his tweet, what is Mr. Nielsen’s primary concern? In other words, he redesigns so that his tweet is…what?

His primary concern is to convey the message of the berlin conference to the audience. Thus, he redesigns each tweet to be more effective and remove unnecessary words so the message is as straight forward as possible. As a result, this makes it more appealing for the reader.

2) Describe some of Nielsen’s revisions. Which revisions had the greatest impact on the quality of the tweet? Were there any revisions you disagreed with?

His revisions usually considered of him cutting down on words to make it more short and concise. This also made the tweets more straight-forward. He also made Berlin in caps to highlight the location and it catches the eye and I feel readers remember it.

3) According the Nielsen Norman Group’s user-research, what are some of the best practices for businesses wanting to communicate with clients through social media? What are some no-no’s?

The company should post in chronological order and appropriate content. The posts should also be small and clear. A business should not post too frequently, as it looks like spam.

4) How does Mr. Nielsen practice what he preaches?

This can be seen in the revisions of the tweets he uses as his examples and the very own layout of his article. This is seen in clear website design, effective headers and sentences which are to the point.

 

READING RESPONSE: “SOME PEOPLE”

The background colors are very relevant to the story as the background represents the mood of the story. For example, in the happy flashback the panel color is yellow while usually it is red when there is something angry or disturbing. There is also repetition in the phrase of ‘some people’. The characters are also in the center of the panel to show the audience that’s who you should focus on. You can also admire the notion of when the author zooms in and zooms out of the panel to show individual thoughts and when the panel is zoomed out you can see interaction of more than one character.

PROPOSAL ESSAY POST-MORTEM REPORT

1) What were some of the challenges you encountered as a switched genres, i.e. from writing a research essay that primarily aims to inform to writing a proposal essay that primarily aims to persuade? How did you deal with those challenges?

It was difficult for me to adjust to the new persuasive genre at first. However, after sitting down with the teacher I was able to get on track and make a good essay that had effective wording. I also decided to use other sources to make a more defined viewpoint.

2) What would you say are the strengths of your Proposal Essay? Where are you at your most persuasive?

The struggle was transitioning to the persuasive style of writing. I also had to change my sources and get very current information to ne more persuasive. I feel my intro was very persuasive and set out a good transition to the rest of my essay.

3) What audience did you have in mind as you wrote our Proposal Essay? How did you make rhetorical choices based on that audience?

My audience was the American public in general but more focused towards college students and graduates with outstanding college debt. As a result I used formal language in my essay and relevant examples for my audience to connect to.

4) What did your writing process look like for this Proposal Essay? Is that different in any way from what it looked like for your Mapping the Problem Essay? What accounts for those differences?

My writing process had a modified mapping the problem essay as my first draft. However, this was wrong and after identifying the problem I wrote in the correct format and made it persuasive. My sources were more current and my language had more ‘aggressive’ and persuasive words compared to my previous essays.

Money Reading Response Questions:

1) The design of money isn’t something I’ve considered much–at least until this podcast. What are some of the design flaws of US currency raised in this episode? Can you add anymore to this list? What are some of the reasons offered for why US money doesn’t get redesigned?

 

The flaws with American currency is that the bills are not durable, they are all uniform in size and is not usable for people with disabilities. The US bills are also the same color and only feature white men. I feel in todays age it is time for a woman or African American to be featured on the bill. The US bill does not get redesigned since the US is a superpower and if it does redesign it show that the US is not stable.

 

2) Besides the design of money, consider the design of this story.  This story could have been presented as a traditional text-based news story–minus the podcast, the embedded YouTube video, the images, and all the clickable hyperlinks. In fact, in its earliest iterations, this story probably was just text-based–in the form of a story pitch and then script. So why go through all the trouble of remediating that text? What do the audio, video, images, and interactive features (like hyperlinks) add? More specifically, how do they persuade in ways that text can’t? Try to point to specific examples.

 

The interactive features make the article more accessible and ‘fun’ to read. The YouTube video really explains what its like being blind and handling US currency. This proves the design flaw the article was talking about without using too much text. The podcast is also a feature to the people who do not have enough time to physically read the article.

 

 

3) How do/did your reading habits change when you “read” new media as opposed to regular text-based readings?

 

Instead of reading the text as normal, I stopped and clicked on the Youtube video link as that’s how the article was structured. After clicking on the interactive features the article made better sense as those links were placed strategically.

READING RESPONSE: REMEDIATION READS

1. Where do you see content from the 9/11 Commission Report showing up in the graphic adaptation? How has it changed?

 

The people from the report represented as characters, the chronological order and story. I feel the graphic novel has added imagery which may seem unusual due to the severity of the matter. However, this does seem more appropriate for the general public as people can identified easier with characters in picture form. Some details have also been looked upon from the report as the graphic novel is more straight to the point and the fact that you don’t know who committed errors in the graphic novel.

 

2. What can a graphic novel do that a gov’t report cannot? Why? What are some of the different affordances/constraints of the two media? What different effect/affect might the different mediums have?

 

A graphic novel can’t have that same sense of formalness or authority than a graphic novel, since there are seals, watermarks, logos in the report and the fact that the report is highly detailed. However, due to it being so lengthy the graphic novel hooks the reader with images and makes it more readable. The graphic novel also makes the understating of the reader easier since the reader is not overwhelmed with so much text.

 

3. What do you think SId Jacobson and Ernie Colón are trying to accomplish by remediating the Report this way?

 

I think the whole purpose of this article is to inform the public of the United States. I feel the graphic novel also makes it comprehendible to people who are illiterate. Since this event had such a significant impact it is crucial that the American people know.

 

READING RESPONSE: SHANKER, ATOM, AND BIEMILLER ON FOOD CHOICES

Shanker references to many credible studies to back up her claim that organic produce is not worth the extra cost. Thus, Shanker utilizes logos to get her points across by showing her skill as a researcher and the fact that she also looks at the other side of the argument. Although her wording makes the point on her side, none the less she does acknowledge the fact. For example, she states that organic food does contain slightly more nutrients than conventionally grown produce. She also argues the claim that organic food is better for the environment by showcasing reports that contradict that theory.

I feel that Arom’s style of writing is very persuasive, since it feels that the reader has a choice to decide whether to buy organic or not. I felt more interested as nothing was pushed on me but I as the reader feel power and the ability to decide for my self what is right or not. Arom states that organic food is healthier as the number of pesticides is lower than conventionally grown food. The author states that organic food may not be healthy. Thus, I feel this author is only giving the facts and letting you decided what’s right.

I feel that Biemiller’s work may be a bit biased due to the fact that the author mainly looks at the pros of Antioch college’s healthy dining style. I feel as researcher the author is not as credible as the others due to word choice, such as him describing the salad bar as ‘beautiful’ or the fact that he describes the food as ‘plain but tasty’. I feel these are just opinions and that only facts should be laid out in the article.

PROJECT 1 POST-MORTEM REPORT

1) What, if anything, did you discover about your topic by writing about it? What, if anything, did you discover about writing in general?

My topic is why tuition costs is so high, and learned a lot on how tax dollars are spent and why colleges have tuition that is so high. Another interesting fact I learned is that, if the government cuts its expenditure from defence and invests that money in education college tuition could decrease more than 50%. From this assignment, I realized that making adjustments to a good draft is quite difficult to make it even better. From my essay, I learned that good essays require good transition sentences. This was a slight problem for me as I did not have a lot. The best thing I learned is that you can have fun writing if you are passionate about the topic. 

2) Which reading(s) that we’ve covered so far have had the most impact on your writing? Why? How did you see it (or them) influencing your Mapping the Problem Essay?

I found the assignment on Sam Forman very useful, as he was able to write a very well written essay being a freshman. As a result his essay was like a model for me to follow and improve my own writing. This influenced my essay by me editing my structure and how I incorporate sources into my essay in an interesting way that also brings out the authoritative tone.

3) From handout to handed in, what did the writing process for your Mapping the Problem Essay look like? Was this in any way different from how you’ve written bigger projects before? If it was different, was it different a better way? How so? Are there any best practices you employed that you want to remind yourself to use again?

The writing process was quite similar to my other projects as I usually try to write a good first draft. This in turn leads to minor correction I have to do when writing my final draft. In a project in high-school I had to conduct primary research and use more primary research than secondary research in my essay. However, in this project I used secondary research. I would like to reming my self to try to always write a goof first draft. This is because it more likely you will get a higher grade than trying to come up with a quality final draft from a SFD in my opinion.

READING RESPONSE: WHY ACADEMICS’ WRITING STINKS

1) What’s the popular explanation outside universities for why academics suck at writing? What’s the popular answer within universities? In Pinker’s opinion, however, what are the two major contributors to the poor quality of academics’ writing?

The popular explanation outside universities is that academics “suck” at writing because they try to hide the fact that they have nothing to say and try to cover this up by using “dress up” words that the average person does not understand but looks sophisticated. However, Pinker believes that academics write poorly due to the abstractness and complex lingo that the author uses in his/her field that amateurs do not understand. Another reason is that, the majority of university presses approve of complex words in their papers to show that the author is “serious” about his work.

2) Pinker names six obnoxious attributes of the “self-conscious style.” What are they?

There are six attributes of self-conscious style:

Metadiscourse: This is when the author’s work is filled with verbiage and “guides” the reader with previews and summaries.

Professional Narcissism: This is when researchers forgot who their target audience is and “describe the obsessions of their federation”

Apologizing: This is when the writer, presumes that the reader has sufficient knowledge in the topic and as a result do not define many concepts in their works.

Shudder Quotes: This is when the writer uses quotation marks but does not necessarily agree with the term inside the quotation mark.

Hedging: This is when writers use filler words to show that they are not 100% behind their ideas. Most academics use hedging in order to get off the hook when someone critiques their writing.

Metaconcepts and nominalizations: This is when the writer stores his/her ideas in abstractions. This results to when the author can not call anything by its name.

3) Are you prone to any of these attributes in your own writing? Why? Do you think some of these attributes might actually be redeemable?

I use metadiscourse and hedging sometimes in my writing, when I want to increase the word count or when I am not a 100% sure or confident of what I am writing. I don’t think any of these qualities are redeemable as they do not make your writing attractive and easy to comprehend for the reader.

4) What do you value most in another writer’s style?

I value a clear, cut type of writing that tends to be straight to the point. For example, Ernest Hemingway approaches his works in this method. I value this, as it makes reading more interesting and easily comprehensible for me.