Running Head: PLANNING FOR SUCCESS Planning For Success Matthew Phillips ENG 101 Composition I Audra Spicer** July 12, 2015 1 PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 2 Planning For Success Learning to be successful in college is the precursor to being successful in the workplace and in life. College is meant to prepare us for these broader scopes in our lives because life provides us with personal growth opportunities and requires us to make choices. As adults we have a responsibility to live with the consequences of our choices. I plan to be successful in college by practicing critical reading, critical thinking and effective communication; both written and verbal. All three of these skills are a part of my college curriculum because of the importance of the weight they carry towards challenging your thought process and analyzing information in order to learn and grow intellectually. These skills are universal to learning and transcend all class types. It is in the practice of the methodology that we can apply this to any class material. Using the skills are a key to being able to make sound choices in life and to learn from the choices that we make. Advancing your understanding When we practice critical reading we are not just concerned with what we are reading but also the meaning, the intent or purpose and the author's message. When we question the 'what' and 'why' we learn to make our own choices about what we are reading, instead of just reading for information purposes and taking the written words at face value. This process is thought provoking and can lead to forming an opinion or deciding if we agree or disagree with a stance that was taken by an author. Each time we engage in this process we broaden our knowledge and challenge our thinking. We may even be moved to change an opinion that we have held up until then. “Critical reading involves presenting a reasoned argument that evaluates and analyses what you have read. Being critical, therefore - in an academic sense – means advancing your understanding, not dismissing and therefore closing off learning.” PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 3 Critical thinking involves processing what we have read and deciding what it means to us, based on our analysis. This can cause us to think or even act in a certain way because of what we have learned from our reading. This process can assist in making sound decisions and/or informed decisions and to learn afterward from the choices that we have made and the subsequent actions we have taken. For example, whether reading fiction or non-fiction the reader still has a choice to make as to what the information gained means to them and how it has affected their thinking towards a specific topic. "Critical thinking is the art of taking charge of your own mind. Its value is simple: if we can take charge of our own minds, we can take charge of our lives." It is in the combination of critical reading and critical thinking that we can become more effective at communication. We should seek to write in such a way that others can understand our message and we can speak with that same intent. Without effective communication, our thoughts, opinions and/or ideas could be lost or misunderstood. We might be creating confusion or merely a lack of understanding of our message. If our intention, in a particular piece of writing, is to persuade the reader, then it is our responsibility to attempt to do just that in an effective manner. Conclusion In conclusion, I am grateful that, in order for me to gain the most of my college education, I am learning how to exercise the skills of critical reading, critical thinking and effective communication. I know that these skills will prove to be invaluable throughout my career and life. I look forward to using these methods to seek out information in order to evaluate options and make informed decisions that will help me further my goals in life. PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 4 References Critical Reading and Reading Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-reading.html Critical Thinking Skills in Education and Life. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/critical.htm Running Head: PLANNING FOR SUCCESS Planning For Success Matthew Phillips ENG 101 Composition I Audra Spicer** July 12, 2015 1 PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 2 Planning For Success Learning to be successful in college is the precursor to being successful in the workplace and in life. College is meant to prepare us for these broader scopes in our lives because life provides us with personal growth opportunities and requires us to make choices. As adults we have a responsibility to live with the consequences of our choices. I plan to be successful in college by practicing critical reading, critical thinking and effective communication; both written and verbal. All three of these skills are a part of my college curriculum because of the importance of the weight they carry towards challenging your thought process and analyzing information in order to learn and grow intellectually. These skills are universal to learning and transcend all class types. It is in the practice of the methodology that we can apply this to any class material. Using the skills are a key to being able to make sound choices in life and to learn from the choices that we make. Advancing your understanding When we practice critical reading we are not just concerned with what we are reading but also the meaning, the intent or purpose and the author's message. When we question the 'what' and 'why' we learn to make our own choices about what we are reading, instead of just reading for information purposes and taking the written words at face value. This process is thought provoking and can lead to forming an opinion or deciding if we agree or disagree with a stance that was taken by an author. Each time we engage in this process we broaden our knowledge and challenge our thinking. We may even be moved to change an opinion that we have held up until then. “Critical reading involves presenting a reasoned argument that evaluates and analyses what you have read. Being critical, therefore - in an academic sense – means advancing your understanding, not dismissing and therefore closing off learning.” PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 3 Critical thinking involves processing what we have read and deciding what it means to us, based on our analysis. This can cause us to think or even act in a certain way because of what we have learned from our reading. This process can assist in making sound decisions and/or informed decisions and to learn afterward from the choices that we have made and the subsequent actions we have taken. For example, whether reading fiction or non-fiction the reader still has a choice to make as to what the information gained means to them and how it has affected their thinking towards a specific topic. "Critical thinking is the art of taking charge of your own mind. Its value is simple: if we can take charge of our own minds, we can take charge of our lives." It is in the combination of critical reading and critical thinking that we can become more effective at communication. We should seek to write in such a way that others can understand our message and we can speak with that same intent. Without effective communication, our thoughts, opinions and/or ideas could be lost or misunderstood. We might be creating confusion or merely a lack of understanding of our message. If our intention, in a particular piece of writing, is to persuade the reader, then it is our responsibility to attempt to do just that in an effective manner. Conclusion In conclusion, I am grateful that, in order for me to gain the most of my college education, I am learning how to exercise the skills of critical reading, critical thinking and effective communication. I know that these skills will prove to be invaluable throughout my career and life. I look forward to using these methods to seek out information in order to evaluate options and make informed decisions that will help me further my goals in life. PLANNING FOR SUCCESS 4 References Critical Reading and Reading Strategy. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.skillsyouneed.com/learn/critical-reading.html Critical Thinking Skills in Education and Life. (n.d.). Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/critical.htm Running Head: ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY 1 Escape from Slavery Matthew Phillips ENG 101 Composition I Dr. Audra Spicer** July 19, 2015 ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY 2 Escape from Slavery Frederick Douglass in his “Escape from Slavery” essay discusses his viewpoint of slavery with regard to his daily work as a slave, his relationship with his owner, “Master Hugh”, his thoughts regarding escape from his imprisoned life and his feelings as a man and a human being. Douglass puts it plainly when he says, “In the early part of the year 1838, I became quite restless. I could see no reason why I should, at the end of each week, pour the reward of my toil master.” (p. 2) He expresses how he was required to work for someone else with no reward of any kind. He lets his audience understand what it is like to be enslaved. He also clues the reader in to the thoughts of a man when he is not free. Douglass spoke many times of his contemplation about freedom and even his careful planning to obtain it. He expressed in this essay, however, that he could not divulge details so as to not endanger other slaves and those who assisted slaves to freedom safely. He was very careful not to give specific information as to how he arrived in Baltimore and then New Bedford, to finally work as a free man. Even as that working free man, he was not really free. He feared exposure at all times, and made sure to keep himself away from risk as much as possible. ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY References: Douglass's Escape from Slavery. (n.d.). Retrieved July 19, 2015, from http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/douglass/aa_douglass_escape_1.html McGraw Hill. Retrieved July 15, 2015, from http://prod.mhpowerofprocess.com/student/process/110450/ 3 Running Head: GETTYSBURG ADDRESS Gettysburg Address Matthew Phillips ENG 101 Composition I Dr. Audra Spicer** July 25th, 2015 1 GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 2 Gettysburg Address President Abraham Lincoln in his historical, Gettysburg Address, made a proposition or statement to the people that the ground they were standing on, the place that they had come to, would from this day forward be sacred or hallowed ground. He said in his address to the people, “But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract” (Lincoln). Four months earlier, during wartime, thousands of bodies were temporarily placed in shallow graves at the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In this same field, the task was taken on to rebury those who lost their lives in proper, permanent graves. Lincoln declared part of the battlefield to serve as a war cemetery honoring those souls. Lincoln was reflecting on the over 50,000 total men lost in the three day bloody battle fought at Gettysburg itself. “Prior to Lincoln’s three minute speech came music, a prayer, and the featured oration, a two-hour discourse delivered by Edward Everett, retired Massachusetts politician and former president of Harvard. While Everett’s speech dwelled on the details of the battle, Lincoln attempted to give meaning to the events at Gettysburg, indeed to the Civil War itself, by speaking about the ideals for which he believed the Union stood” (D. Voelker). Lincoln's speech was only three minutes long because he was not there to make the speech about him as president, but about the people who lost their lives for a cause they fought for. He was also speaking to his audience showing reverence relating to the subject and focused it as a memorial with respect and solemnness. It made more impact by being succinct because the audience could tune in and hear and remember every word, much more so than a long speech. He also had a very specific message that he wanted to deliver about war and the state of the country. He wanted it to be a lesson learned about the lives lost and the cause they fought for, because it divided the entire unity and very core of America. He questioned how a country in civil war could survive. He started his speech reminding his audience how we gained our freedom “Four score and seven years ago” so that we could have liberty. GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 3 He wanted them not to forget how important that liberty as a nation was and that “all men were created equal”. He was reminding his audience that in fighting for slavery it had created a huge cost to our nation, in lives lost, for a cause that was not fought for freedom for all people of America. With the victory of the Union Army and the battle over, we the people now had the opportunity and obligation to carry on the message of equality, that those who fought, were able to gain momentum for. Lincoln stated, “It is for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced” (Lincoln). When Frederick Douglass spoke in his essay, “Escape from Slavery” he also focused on equality of all people. In his writing he reflected on the life he escaped from, while he was owned as a slave. Douglass knew that freedom was not free. Even when he escaped his master and lived in freedom in the north, he still feared being sent back to his master if recognized. Both Douglass and Lincoln had a goal to abolish slavery and seek equality for all. They just had to go about it in different ways. Douglass had to be somewhat clandestine in his ways since he was afraid to affect the lives of people involved in the abolitionist movement because it was still very active in helping people escape slavery and be free. “Such a statement would most undoubtedly induce greater vigilance on the part of slaveholders that has existed heretofore among them” (Lincoln). Lincoln was in a position of power to affect the masses as president. Had it not been for the actions of these two extraordinary gentlemen, who knows how history would have played out? It is evident, however, that they both did much to further the cause of equality in America. GETTYSBURG ADDRESS 4 Reference: Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg (New York: Touchstone, 1992). Retrieved July 25, 2015, from http://www.historytools.org/sources/lincoln-gettysburg.pdf The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, Vol. IX, Ed. John G. Nicolay and John Hay (New York: Tany-Thomas Co., 1905), 209–210. Douglass's Escape from Slavery. (n.d.). Retrieved July 25, 2015, from http://www.americaslibrary.gov/aa/douglass/aa_douglass_escape_1.html Running head: I HAVE A DREAM 1 I Have a Dream Matthew Phillips ENG 101 Composition I Dr. Audra Spicer** July 25th, 2015 I HAVE A DREAM 2 I Have a Dream One hundred years after the end of the Civil War, the continued segregation and discrimination of African Americans drove Martin Luther King Jr. to address the American Public on August 28th, 1963. This was a violent age in which riots and hate crimes were common. As a political and cultural leader, King was expected by his supporters to move Americans into a future of acceptance and injustice rectification. At the same time, King had to appeal to all races in order to promote peaceful progress. Through his speech “I Have a Dream”, King utilizes repetition and moral appeal to bridge the gap between African American and Caucasian Americans. King begins is speech by reminding the audience that the Emancipation Proclamation was meant to be the start towards equality and equal rights for all United States Citizens. However, King claims that this early promise of a new beginning was never fulfilled. African Americans were still “crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” (King, 1963). The idea of this injustice continues on throughout the speech and the plea to “Let freedom ring” is repeated multiple times within the speech (King, 1963). According to the ABC News journalist Alexis Shaw; “King also used traditional rhetorical devices that enhanced the power of his words -- particularly his use of repetition, which highlighted the points he wanted to resonate with audiences” (Shaw, 2013). This blending of repetition and appeal to an individual’s sense of morals is one strategy that keeps the audience hooked on every word of “I Have a Dream”. King first identifies the moral dilemma of inequality and then calls for action with a rallying cry. The slow buildup of the emotion in his speech draws the attention of the audience towards King’s main points. Although King calls for equal treatment and correction of the unfair treatment of African Americans, he also urges African Americans to be patient and to never resort to violence. His I HAVE A DREAM 3 plea for peace and equality is another appeal to morality. Caucasians are more likely to take King seriously because he understood that change would not happen instantly; but that it could happen peacefully and without further damage to either race’s morals. King urges Americans to maintain the “struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline” (King, 1963). Since King’s audience included both races, it made sense for him to be fair to both sides. If he had solely attacked America for inequality, the general public may have responded with violence instead of understanding. Instead, King calls for respect and cooperation from both sides of the spectrum. Conclusion I believe that appealing to your audience and their sense of morals is important. A speech should be written with the audience in mind from the beginning in order for the speech to be well received. King proved his expertise as a speech writer and giver because he kept his audience in mind from start to finish. His speech left African Americans feeling motivated for change and opened the eyes of Caucasians without being insulting. For my narrative persuasive essay, I would like to use a bit of repetition and moral appeal to draw the audience into my experiences. I believe that moral growth is important, and King’s speech is a prime example of how to fairly use moral appeal to connect with and inspire the audience. No matter what topic I choose, I will try to make my narrative flow and build up to an engaging story and analysis of the situation by examining the morality of my topic in regards to my audience. In this way, I can incorporate repetition as an engaging part of my narrative that will hopefully draw the reader in. King’s speech was not only uplifting back then, it is still a memorable and inspiring work today. King’s ability to speak to such a wide audience is due to the sense of fairness, the repetition of key phrases, and the slow build up that engages the audience and inspires them to I HAVE A DREAM overcome the struggle for equality. If my narrative persuasive essay utilizes these strategies effectively, I believe my writing skill will have improved tenfold. 4 I HAVE A DREAM 5 References Shaw, A. (2013, August 27). How Martin Luther King Put Rights Movement 'Where His Mouth Was' in 'Dream' Speech. Retrieved July 31, 2015. 2013 McGraw-Hill Education. I have a Dream. Module 4 - Summary Assignment Reading/Annotating Activity - Martin Luther King
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