Nick's English Blog

    Living around Atlanta has influenced me into seeing my community as more diverse and connected. Atlanta has many different cultures, backgrounds, and types of people, which has helped me understand and appreciate the differences between people.     In class Wednesday, we went in depth on breaking down a speech; looking at rhetorical appeal, rhetorical situation, and rhetorical choices. We talked about how rhetorical choice applies to specific situations, and how certain things are better to say than others depending on the audience. This helped me understand that effective communication is not just about what you say, but also how and why you say it. I can use this when analyzing speeches and when making my own arguments because I will be more aware of my audience and the choices I make.

      The most creative thing I have ever made was a cryptocurrency sniping bot using coding and python. My friend and I purchased some baseline code for the bot and made it much faster and effective at spotting, also known as sniping newly created coins available to trade. The point of the bot is to find and send coins quickly, allowing for early purchase, resulting in potentially large profits. I feel like this stands out as my best, most creative work because it is very unique and not many people have an effective, working bot. Also, it required a lot of work to make it efficient, with less bugs and glitches.     In class today we learned about Rhetorical Situation. This is essentially the buildup and context around why an argument is being made. We utilized the SPACECAT acronym to break down a speech by President Donald Trump. This is a simple, effective way to understand Rhetorical Situation surrounding arguments, and it works sort of like a checklist....

      One time I felt completely lost was when I first moved to a new school. I did not know where anything was, who anyone was, or what the norms were. It felt like everyone knew each other and I was completely by myself.      During class on Monday, we went in depth on Claims of Value and how to write criteria lists to fulfill claims of value. We then completed an assignment that required us to create criteria lists for certain claims of value.     This class helped me to understand the defining factors of a Claim of Value and a criteria list. I also better understand how to create criteria lists for Claims of Value and the differences between argumentative claims.

       When I was younger, I believed that if you swallowed gum it would stay in your stomach for seven years. I remember being very careful not to swallow gum, since I thought it would inside me for a long time. As I got older I realized that this is just a common myth and gum is able to pass through your digestive system.       In class, we learned how arguments can be used to convince people to change or question what they believe. We also discussed rhetorical appeals like ethos, pathos, and logos and how they can make an argument more persuasive.     This class and prompt made me realize that some of the things I heard when I was younger were based more on what other people told me rather than actual evidence. I learned that it is important to question information and look for good reasoning and evidence rather than accepting something as true immediately.

      One argument or disagreement I had that I wish I could've handled better was when I was mad at my friend for getting us in trouble. My goal was to prove that my point was right, but I should've focused more on persuading instead of just trying to win. If I used the idea of understanding my audience, from the book, I would have listened to my friend's point first then explained in a way she would understand better. In class today, we read and learned the main ideas of chapters 1-3 of Thank You For Arguing. We learned that arguing is not about winning or proving someone wrong, and its more about persuading to get the best outcome. Also it is about choosing the right approach instead of just forcing your opinion.  These chapters made me realize that I usually focus too much on proving that I am right in an argument. I can improve my arguments by setting a better mood and other standing the opponents point of view better.

       A time when I tried to persuade someone to do something I wanted was when I tried to get my mother to purchase something for me. I used ethos by reminding her that I had been responsible and productive throughout the week. I used pathos by explaining how the purchase would make me extremely excited and happy. I used logos by giving logical reasons why it was worth the money, like saying there was a sale and how often I would use the item. Logos was the most effective because giving reasonable evidence made my request seem more responsible rather than just asking for money. In class, we learned more about the three rhetorical appeals; Ethos, Logos, and Pathos. Ethos focuses on the appeal to credibility, Pathos focuses on the appeal to emotion, and Logos focuses on the appeal to logic or facts. We also learned that choosing the right appeal can help your argument better. I learned that different situations call for different rhetorical approaches in arugments. I...