Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Course Blog Assignment #3
Review three of your classmates’ blogs (accessible via the "English 301 Student Blogs" column on the right-hand side of this page). What have you learned from your peers’ work about strategies for blogging and/or strategies for writing about a public issue? Post your 200-word response using the "Comment" function below.
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The first blog I looked over was Melissa Rhodes blog regarding the idea of book banning. It was refreshing to read this blog as it brought up memories that I had a child, living in a small conservative town it made me remember the days of parents fighting against Harry Potter books being available in the school library. What I really embraced though was Melissa’s way of bringing up a topic that I haven’t really seen played up in the media. It showed that me it is quite possible to open up the eyes of readers about a topic even when it isn’t covered in the media day in and day out.
ReplyDeleteThe second blog I read this evening was Andrew Strittmater’s blog on the “hard hits” in the NFL. I’ve never been invested in sports as I was more of the marching band type. In my blog I’ve often been scared of going over the same points against harassment, feeling that it would be overkill. However, Andrew continues to find new and innovative ways to talk about how the dangers of hard hits really have horrible long term effects on football players. I knew that sports were dangerous but I can’t imagine how scary it is to know you’re about to be tackled and that you may never walk after it, like the Rutgers student who was paralyzed from a hard hit last fall. This blog showed me that it isn’t overkill as long as you continue to be innovative with your topic.
The third and final blog I reviewed was Bridget Feeney’s anti-obesity blog. This blog really hit home for me because I’ve been overweight since I was a child. The way that Bridget spins her blog to deal with what she is dealing with, especially when she had the flu was some of the most interesting writing that I’ve ever had the chance to read. I knew that obesity wasn’t by any means healthy but I had no idea how it affects your immune system. I loved how informative the blog is, but yet it doesn’t come across as a Public Service Announcement. It just completely comes across as though a friendly guide to helping an issue that a lot of people deal with. I think Bridget has a great use of tone and facts, you can use facts but display in writing with a great tone and it’s a joy to read instead of feeling like you’re being preached at by a doctor.
For this assignment I read Rachel Mort, Jared Lathrop, and Bridget Feeny's blogs. I like how Rachel uses her personal experience to give her readers a real sense of how the issue has affected her life personally. It gives us a sense of the issue's importance in a way we can all relate too. Jared's open letter to Dan Savage was intriguing because it introduced us to a movement, a writer, and Jared's perspective on that author in a novel way, rather than just a review of Dan Savage's work. Bridget Feeny took her recent experience with the flu and turned it into a blog entry about the effects of obesity on the immune system-an problem I had never really associated with obesity the way I do something like heart disease. This blog gave me the idea to try using my own experiences with food to shape a blog entry.
ReplyDeleteThe first blog I analyzed was Allison Wright-George’s. The topic, itself, was something I’ve never really heard of before so her first blog post successfully created awareness and defined what was going on. As for style, she uses sources effectively. The links posted throughout her blog help define terms and send readers to credible sources, which in turn makes her blog more reliable. Another helpful feature were the recognizable photos from around campus on her second blog post. This showed me that this issue was occurring locally.
ReplyDeleteThe second blog I read was Danny Kelleher’s. I was well aware of his topic since I peer-revised his fact sheet in class. His initial post has a video that gives readers background info on the topic. I like how he uses hard data, including specific dates, to walk readers through an issue that many people have a misinterpretation of. His blog also has useful links to case studies.
The last blog I reviewed was Erin Fitzwilliams. Her topic is very unique. She brings up an issue that most college students can relate to but may not have thought about before. She posts a links to an adoption shelter and another to an emotional story about a death of an animal from being trapped in the cargo section of a plane in cold weather. By specifying to a local area, the problem becomes more realistic for readers.
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ReplyDeleteI decided to review Jared, Joe and Rachel’s blogs this week. For no particular reason other than the content of what was written caught my eye.
ReplyDeleteJared’s blogs each week is always well-written. I like how personal he gets in his entries every week; especially this week because he brings up a past memory of uncomfortable situations. I also really like how he incorporates video media in his blogs as well and I need to pay more attention to using that. Great job, Jared!
Joe’s blog definitely hit close to home because I sign up for things randomly all of the time without thinking about it when I probably should be more cautious. Considering I had fraud happen to me freshmen year (I still have no clue how that happened) it would be wise for me to not just hand over my address so quickly. I like how Joe put the text box links to his fact sheet and required reading list on the side as an easier way for his audience to access them. I think I should do this, so this way my in case my blog post gets deleted accidentally, again.
Rachel’s blog about childhood obesity is very informative and I like her layout. It’s easy to read the blog about the exercises that she posted for kids to try and they’re not intense ones that are repetitive and feel like a boring workout. Again, I like her video blogs of the exercise videos.
I looked at Melissa Rhodes', Mackenzie Mays', and W Foreman's blogs for this assignment. I looked at each of the blogs because I found the titles to be interesting.
ReplyDeleteMelissa's blog about banning of books is one that I really like. I love to read, so I always wonder about why books are banned. I have never experienced book banning myself, so I like the fact that she included stories of hers and her friends'. The only thing I find that is a weakness in the blog is that she will say she doesn't like a certain book or author. She states this after mentioning a fact or a story about a certain book being banned. I don't feel it is necessary to say that she doesn't like the book or author. Personally, I find it to be a little off putting and makes me want to stop reading.
Mackenzie Mays' blog about homeless people in Morgantown was really informative and interesting. I believe she did a good job on the order of her information, as well as the information that she used. It seems that every time I walk on High Street I run into the same homeless woman asking for money. I never have any to give her though. I walk away feeling bad and complaining about how I never have any extra money to give. So I like the fact that Mackenzie tells of other ways to help, because I never would have known about them.
W Foreman's blog about the cap on internet bandwith showed that the cap on bandwith alotted by internet companies is becoming very constricted. I use the internet all of the time and don't think about how much bandwith that I'm using. I think the strongest parts of the blog is: the listing of how much bandwith certain companies allow and giving an example of a family using bandwith. I wouldn't have thought about how much bandwith I use until he broke down simple things like a person playing a game or watching videos.
The first blog that I read for today was Bridget Feeney’s blog on Obesity. She used personal experience to help her write her blog. I found her personal experiences to help her blog by making her blog seem more serious. The readers of her blog will be able to relate or feel that the info is more than just writing facts. She has experienced or is experiencing this problem just like most of her readers. The only thing I would fix is maybe make the works under the title a different color cause it blends in with the background in some places.
ReplyDeleteThe seconded blog that I read for today was Danny Kelleher’s blog on trying to get the support to legalize the medical use of Marijuana. I found this blog interesting cause I didn’t know it was illegal in 35 states. The use of a video and link to give his viewers more info on the subject makes this blog seem more serious and professional.
Finally the third blog that I read was Erin Fitzwilliams’ blog on stray cats and dogs in Morgantown. I like how you can feel that she is very serious on the subject of her issue. She uses personal observations and experiences in each one of her blogs. Maybe it will help her blog a bit more with more facts. I was able to relate to this blog because in my home town we have a stray cat problem but every time it comes to vote to have an animal shelter built it is voted against.
As I read through my classmates' blogs, I see there is a lot to be learned from their blogging techniques. For starters, I've learned that every post doesn't need to be earth shattering or contain tons and tons of evidence or research; they can be based on one or two facts and expanded upon with opinion or an analysis of the current state of things. Second, I saw the authors of several blogs tying one blog post into another, or building on each. These people would include a sentence or two in each new post to review previous posts or to show how they relate to the current one. Finally, I noticed that some students decided to make the blog more personal than others. I think that for certain topics this can be effective, as it gives the author the opportunity to connect with their audience on a deeper level.
ReplyDeleteThe first blog I read was Danny Kelleher's "Medicine Gone Green." I love that he talks about little-known facts, like that the government denounces medical marijuana use, yet has ties to it financially. He also takes an impartial, informative tone in his writing that would make any reader take his topic seriously. I really like that he changed the layout of his blog to fit his topic, with a green theme and background pictures. I might try doing the same with my blog.
ReplyDeleteSecond, I looked at Rachel Mort's blog about pancreatic cancer. Her blog is very personable, and she speaks directly to the reader about their experience with pancreatic cancer and what they're doing to help find a cure. I like that she adds personal details about her own family's struggles with the disease--it makes the blog more real and lets me know that she's truly invested in the issue. Another thing that I like is her use of multiple font colors in her entries. It adds a colorful aspect that makes the blog stand out.
Peter Rondy, in his Undergraduate Debt at WVU blog, also talks about his personal experience with the topic. I think that readers would be more inclined to listen to what he has to say since he's a student with the same problems that they may be facing. He speaks directly to students and offers specific ways that they can get help with financial difficulty. I really like his use of information from the DA. It shows that he's keeping up-to-date with his topic and is generally well-informed about it.
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ReplyDeleteI wanted to revisit Jared Lathrop's blog, as I follow it regularly. He inputs so much of his own personal experiences and anecdotes that it feels more than a class project. And that's absolutely great.
ReplyDeleteI read Allison Wright-George's blog about environmental issues. It's something that I can agree with. Allison uses plenty of factual and statistical information, but maybe less personal. But it's still convincing and interesting to read all the same.
I also read Rachel Tibbs about childhood obesity, a very big issue that's currently a topic up for debate. She uses tips, along with facts to possibly help out a parent reader with an obese child. She also uses personal anecdotes from her past to illustrate a colorful story and maybe why she feels the way she does about the picture.
I began by checking out Jocelyn Wagoner's blog regarding foreign language in schools. I noted her ability to seamlessly stream a handful of links into her blog post without interrupting the reader's pace. I also appreciated the volume of links in her posts, which I feel essentially add another dimension to the content altogether. Links in my posts are few and far between, something I could improve upon. Next, I took a look at Bridget Feeney's blog regarding obesity in the US. I noted the personal style of her writing. Her posts have a general feeling of informality that keeps readers from feeling alienated by the information. My posts tend to be fairly rigid in their voice, something I would care to change after having read Bridget's blog. Finally, I read up on Danny Kelleher's blog about medical marijuana use. Danny really pours on the facts, but it works really well. In a debate with so much research and weight behind the issue, there really is no need for editorializing. The facts speak for themselves and Danny knows that. My issue of Net Neutrality is not so steeped in fact, so I need to be more cautious with my speculation and add more notable perspectives.
ReplyDeleteI began by looking through Bridget Feeney’s blog on obesity, and I like how she signs her name at the end of some of her blog posts. This is a nice personal touch that a lot of people would probably like. I also like the amount of detail she crams into all of her posts, and how she provides the links to her information. One thing I would recommend Bridget look at is the layout of the blog, since at a glance it can be hard to see where some information is (pages, profile, etc.) but overall very good.
ReplyDeleteI also read Danny’s blog on medicine. He provides great arguments within his posts, and provides credible links when necessary. From a design perspective, I would recommend that he either change the background color or the heading text color, since Green on Green can be hard to read. This is more of a nit-pick though.
The final blog I looked at was Erin’s blog on animals in Morgantown. An immediate suggestion I have is to shorten the blog description, just because it feels kind of wordy (not that it isn’t information we want to know, though). I really like the data in her fact sheet, as it does a good job of bringing us into the argument. The cat calendar is a nice touch as well.
The first blog I looked at was Allison Wright-George's. I think that her topic is a very important one. I think that she makes great use of factual evidence and she also places her opinion in the right areas and she doesn't over do it or go on a tirade and just preach about the issue. She's very passionate about this topic and you can really tell in her writing.
ReplyDeleteThe next blog I looked at was Mackenzie Mays'. I think that her topic, Homelessness in Morgantown, is also another very important topic. A lot of people don't know that there are homeless people in Morgantown because it's not really publicized that often. I think that by her bringing into light will help out those less fortunate and I also think that her most recent blog post is a particularly great one. She focuses on the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" and I think she's a great writer.
The final blog I looked at was Rachel Tibb's blog on Childhood Obesity in West Virginia. I think her topic is particularly important because today there are a lot of children who are unfortunately obese or overweight and it really is a problem. I think her approach to the topic is great and I really did like her most recent post about the different ways you can help your child exercise. I think she has chosen a great topic and I like reading her posts.
The first blog I decided to check out was Andrew's blog on hard hits in the NFL. I chose Andrew's blog because sports generally don't interest me, so I wanted to see if how they were written about would spark any interest at all. I read all of Andrew's entries because the topic was surprisingly interesting to me after I started reading. I learned a lot about Andrew's topic but the main thing I learned is not to dismiss a subject you typically don't enjoy because a different writer and a different spin on the topic might help you enjoy reading about it more.
ReplyDeleteI then looked at Bridget Feeny's blog on the epidemic of obesity that is currently plaguing our country. This is a topic that has always greatly interested me so I was excited to see what Bridget would bring up in her blog. Her most recent post about alternative eating was extremely interesting and informative. I think a lot of people out there should get as much information about eating alternatives as they can so they can begin to lead healthier lifestyles.
The last blog I chose to look at was Erin's blog about stray animals in Morgantown. I'm very passionate about strays all over but especially in Morgantown. I volunteered at the shelter last semester so I was glad to see that someone had chosen this topic. I like that Erin has separated her posts into different animal types. It helps to be able to be more detailed about each animal types situation in each post instead of having to have to do a more general overview in one post.
I viewed Jared Lathrop’s blog on stopping harassment and saw how he made his blog very personal. His writing style makes the reader feel like he is talking to them individually which makes it easier for the reader to be interested in the topic. He signs every one of this post. His blog has a mini-biography and a list of his interests. It is much easier for the reader to know the author as well. I could use some of these strategies on my blog to make it more personal. Joe Rinaldi has a great design element to his blog compared to mine which has very little design. I think people would be more interested in reading blogs that are appealing visually. The issues he talks about in his blog are also interesting in how they address the overall issue. He talks about how it is good with advertising and how it has changed the idea of privacy between generations. I like how is post are all over the place talking about accessibility on Facebook. Kate Everly’s blog is about social media in public relations. She uses pictures and images of different kinds of social media that is used by public relations. She has also found isolated cases like the KFC example to prove her point.
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