April 25, 2011

Today we covered quite a few things. First we covered chapter 14 on Clarifying Terms. Writing definition which most are short, they consist of a synonym a phrase or a sentence. Some terms can also be defined by etymology, or word history. Sometimes definitions occupy a paragraph or an entore essay. Short definition is simple definition; and the longer one is extended definition. Some techniques for writing simple definitions are basic dictionary meaning, synonyms, direct explanation, indirect explanation, and analytical or formal definition. Then we did the exercise on writing simple definitions which was pretty easy and fun. With the second exercise on a text-based activity for groups or individuals I really didn't understand it until i heard some of the examples. Then for the third exercise on completing patterns of definition was a bit confusing at first then as i was putting my ideas together it was pretty easy afterwards. Chapter 15 Writing to Persuade we scanned through it but it was pretty straight forward and understandable. Argument is writing to persuade and persuasion on a topic about which reasonalbe people disagree. Persuasion is when we try to influence people to think a certain way. We covered Logical fallacies which are thought patterns of primary concern in argument. Eight kinds of logical fallacies are Post hoc, false analogy, hasty generalization, false dilemma, argumentum ad hominem, begging the question, circular reasoning, and non sequitur. Then as a class we covered exercise 1 on identifying logical fallacies and some of the statements were really funny. Then the last thing we covered was chapter 16 on writing the research paper. We went through the steps and did the exercise 1 on form for bibliography and works cited. Class was really interesting and time was used wisely. See you all next week!