Blog 9: Improvement

If you had to name one way in which your writing has improved this semester, what would it be? Discuss.

My writing has most improved by gaining experience working with more flexible styles. Previously most of my writing has been dictated by the standard intro--three body paragraphs--conclusion style. Sometimes there were more than three body paragraphs but they all followed a very strict and boring format. Nearly everything in the paper was dictated by a scientific formula. 

For example, the title had to exhibit one of thirteen attention getting methods. The first sentence of the introduction also had to exhibit an attention getter. There had to be a phrase that transitioned from the attention getter to the thesis. After the thesis came a foreshadowing sentence which listed the topics of the body paragraphs. Every body paragraph had to start with a transition which mentioned the topic of the previous paragraph and then the topic of the current paragraph with relationship to the thesis. The end of every body paragraph had to have a summative sentence which mentioned the thesis and the topic of the paragraph. The conclusion had to restate the thesis and re-mention the topics of the body paragraphs. The final sentence of the conclusion had to make reference to the title or first sentence of the introduction to make the paper come full circle.

These rules and guidelines made decent papers, but at times they forced the writing into a stringent and repetitive form. This semester I was actually able to break away from the ultra-strict scientific paper and write more or less how I wanted. It's helped me change the decent scientific style to a much more smooth flowing style.

Blog 8: Sources

For my first source I read an article from EBSCO that discussed how Kickstarter began and some of its successes and failures. It also discussed how crowdfunding sites would change the way small businesses get started. It said that restrictions on crowdfunding had been relaxed a little to encourage more investments in companies. I believe this article will be rather useful for my thesis.

The next source I read went into a good about of detail about the JOBS Act signed by President Obama in April 2012. It talked about how the act loosened restrictions. The source also talked about the influence crowdfunding would have on companies. It mentioned some of the successful stories of Kickstarter and also how fraud is prevented on Kickstarter. This source should also be good for my paper for it's details on the JOBS Act.

Blog 7: Research

Topic: Crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter
Hypothesis: Crowdfunding sites are allowing Americans to choose what products they want even more directly.

What I know:

• Kickstarter is a way for people to fund projects.
• Many projects have been successfully funded, Nikola Tesla Museum, Ouya, Pebble, et al.
• Many people are skeptical of these sites
• Some funded projects never work out

Research:

• Find articles that help to contrast American choices
• Find articles on the background of Kickstarter and Indiegogo
• Find articles on the successes and failures of Kickstarter and Indiegogo

Schedule:

Fully Commit to Topic by Wednesday 14th

All research and full works cited list done by Friday 16th

Rough Draft Completed by Friday 23rd

Final Draft Completed by Thursday 29th

Blog 6: Paramedic Method

Original:
Generally this claim sounds absurd since it states that a commercial which offends two large groups of people should be allowed to air on the grounds that it offends both groups rather than one group. However, this is actually quite common justification in today’s society; just look at the television cartoon South Park. It pokes fun at numerous different groups of people from a variety of races and religions, yet the show has already seen sixteen seasons and years of television. The reason is because not every member of the groups being parodied find the jokes to be intolerably offensive. Similarly, while some females might find a commercial that stereotypes women offensive, not all women would find the commercial offensive. Likewise the hidden male stereotypes that likely exist in the commercial are not offensive to the vast majority of males. A commercial that offends both groups without crossing the line has found a good harmony and should be allowed to air on television.

Paramedic Method Revised:
Generally this claim sounds absurd since it states that a commercial which offends two large groups of people should be allowed to air on the grounds that it offends both groups rather than one group. However, today's society often uses this justification; just look at the television cartoon South Park. It pokes fun at numerous different groups of people from a variety of races and religions, yet the show has already seen sixteen seasons and years of television. Undoubtedly, because not every member of the groups being parodied find the jokes intolerably offensive. Similarly, while some females might find a commercial that stereotypes women offensive, not all women would find the commercial offensive. Likewise the hidden male stereotypes that likely exist in the commercial are not offensive to the vast majority of males. A commercial that offends both groups without crossing the line has found a good harmony and should be allowed to air on television.