Peer Review

a. I chose to review the form of Chandler's QRG for the first part of my evaluation of peers. I think Chandler's consideration of the QRG genre is evident in that he makes a clear attempt at the concise, informative (personal as well) nature of his composition. His manipulation of text blocks and white space allows for an easy read. However, I do notice one glaring omission if regarding the Quick Reference Guide typical conventions - media. I recommend inserting a graph or a diagram as the message or logistics of any media can be worth a thousand words to a member of the audience - visualization is a great tool to use in the QRG realm. Overall, good job.

b. I wanted to rhetorically evaluate Julia Davenport's Essay for the second part of my peer review process. I personally enjoyed the personal tone as it enhanced the content and provided a certain passionate feel throughout, particularly the intro. The essay is fluid throughout, perhaps almost too fluid as I cannot distinguish the different topics discussed in each body paragraph, but if that is her intention for it to flow throughout, I commend her for it. Nonetheless, I think the genres themselves should be specifically distinguished, perhaps a definition of each genre in their respective paragraphs? Overall, great job, those are my content suggestions for Julia.

Reflection

1. My main success stems from the global and local revision process in which I found that I can cut the ramble and to be blunt, irrelevant jumble, out of my podcast. I cut it down to the nitty gritty and relevant information and I hope this bodes well for me in terms of grading.

2. A challenge I had was quite honestly hearing my own voice over and over again and refining the way I talk and what I talk about (incl. fluidity, coherence, relevance, etc.) through GarageBand. Using a new software I had not ever used before put me significantly behind in my eyes but I put my utmost effort in.

3. Next week, with the commencement of Project 3 Process Work, I will feel relived and refreshed with a fresh start so I am excited for that but also nervous as the genres are winding down and being forced into a form you are not comfortable in is becoming a reality.

4. I felt much more confident in Project 1 because of my mastering of QRG conventions whereas in Project 2 I felt like I was experimenting with the podcast segment throughout the process. 

Editorial Report

a & b. I combined the two sections of the Editorial Report as I revised both my intro and following opening segment (which come in consecutive order) so I will answer the audience questions pertaining to both and elaborate on the similar revisions of conventions on both subsections of my in-the-works composition.

Rough Cut: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Q3DGaEmVgH
Revised: http://vocaroo.com/i/d1P4SAPHInPdQrH

Content-wise, my piece did not change all too much but what I was more so struggling with was the form of it all. Specifically, following the transition and appealing conventions of a decent Podcast Segment was troublesome for me as I am still in the process of learning the in's and out's of GarageBand, the editing software I am utilizing for Project 2. For revision, I integrated what I have learned and added a catchy theme song and some transition sound effects to make the listening experience more enticing and overall better for the audience.

Open Post to Peer Reviewers

During the production phase, I learned a lot not only about the project and podcasts but about my composition style as a whole. Because of this, I have ascertained a good idea of what the post-production process will consist of.


I anticipate the post-production process to be more of the same in that I believe the production process was just the assimilation of all-too-crucial content outline, and I have reason to think the post-production will be just an enhancement of that same process. The content outline was a great addition to our process work and really created a great method to achieve the hardest part of every student's endeavor to create an "A"-worthy project: content (evidence and explanation). I am already aware of what I am lacking in my rough cut (transition sounds, quality of audio, interview excerpts, etc. - in other words, it is the nitty gritty of my commentary and content) and considering my peers will add on to the critique in respect to content, I anticipate the post-production process to be just an enhanced refinement. I believe my strength in the piece is my voice and style, but perhaps that is just something I think and I would appreciate if my peers would comment something constructive if there is something I can do better from a stylistic level.

ROUGH CUT: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0Q3DGaEmVgH

Reflection on Production of Project 2

Between the trials, tribulations, successes, and hoorah's, this has been a much-improved process for me ever since the revision of the course schedule and learning from Project 1.

1. Some of the successes of the long week included my discovery of the way I will compose my podcast segment. Instead of scripting the entire thing, which created a monotonous feel to the entire audial piece, I am now writing something similar to the content outline in which there will be vague talking points and I will elaborate on them with my own mind, recollection of interviews, and just truly discuss with the audience. This personalized approach I feel will not only the deliver information more effectively but create a more intriguing, gripping tone with the listeners. I believe I achieved this through my introduction (rough) which can be found in my production report in my previous piece.

2. The challenges of the week, which I discussed in my creative dilemmas also in the previous post, revolved around the technical facets of composing a podcast. I believe I have gathered my content, but am still working out the kinks of producing an 'A'-worthy and just overall refined, quality podcast as this is my first endeavor in creating a piece like this. This can be seen in my lack of transition sounds in my rough cut.

3. Based on my experiences this week, I believe next week will go even better (I consider this overall week a success as I mastered the content and am progressing in the delivery) as I educate myself on utilizing GarageBand or perhaps, a different production apparatus for the podcast.

4. Overall, I am feeling better about this project than I was about the previous one. I am anxiously awaiting the marks I scored on my QRG to see exactly what Sean is looking for and I hope that happens before Project 2 is required to be released so I can refine even more. Then, I will feel even better about this project.

Production Report

This is the beginning of the turning ideas into motion. Welcome to my production process.

A. Outline Item: 

• Opening
• "From linguistics to arithmetic, the variance of types of datum scientists acquire and processes researchers conduct require specific styles to deliver knowledge to a specific field."
• "In a world of scientific technicalities, logistics, and numerical as well as qualitative data, what possibly could a writer do to capture the attention of the everyday student?"

Adaptation of Item: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0OgZjQRemhi

B. Outline Item:

• Conclusion
• Importance of conventions
• Consideration of audience in scientific realm of composition
• Utilizing correct genre in appropriate situation
• Ways genres in this discipline vary from genres in another

Adaptation of Item: http://vocaroo.com/i/s01pGzSbhALA

1. Form was utilized in producing a production report for my introduction in that they are both vital, necessary components of a podcast segment and the tone, content, and clarity adds to their respective power. When I present the information, I believe that will be the easy part - assimilating interview segments, evidence, and commentary together as much of that is done in my content outline. However, grasping a viewer's interest and pulling it all together with the correct inflection of voice, transition, music, on-topic discussion, and resolution, are much more up in the air. I want to follow the form of presentation, explanation, and resolution within my podcast and I believe the former and latter are the most difficult (particularly with the required tone and personalized conventions of a podcast) so that is why I chose to include these two items in my production report.  

2. The technicalities of composing a podcast proved to be my biggest obstacle in this production process. I value the appearance and appeal of my blog posts and I could not properly embed my podcast the way I wanted to in the post, so that was a bother to me. Additionally, I am still mastering GarageBand and finding the transitory sounds, intro. music, and refinement tools necessary for an excelling final draft. Luckily, this is a rough cut so instead of wasting time on something I know would omit eventually, I did not include those things quite yet - just vague content that I will further elaborate on when I refine my project. 

Reflection on Pre-Production

With the new look on blogging going forward, a lot went right, some went wrong, but I'm feelin' alright.

1. The successes of this week and overall revitalized structure of our classroom can be captured in one word: efficiency. Instead of having of what I viewed as unnecessary blog posts in the rubble of what truly mattered, we just had the three most significant parts of the pre-production phase that were emphasized by the blog posts. As a result, I really think I maximized the value of my time amid a busy week of midterms. I am most happy with my production schedule as with a bulk of the content already produced in my content online, I can constructively assemble my project over the next week with the concrete schedule I have made. I have made a promise to myself to adhere to the scheduled dates and times. Identifying the genres I will investigate beforehand, such as the poster-presentation, and finding examples, as from the academic journal Nature Neuroscience, and revealing the importance of the evidence have already substantiated my effort to stop my procrastination habits.

2. Not much went wrong, other than the time I am submitting this as I had an extremely busy day and just got home and was a bit overwhelmed after rushing to submit blog posts this past Sunday, just two days ago. My hope is this one hour I took to put my all into my pre-production phase rather than rush it to submit before midnight will not cost me my grade.

3. Based on my experiences this week, I think next week will go accordingly to my success of the pre-production phase. During the writing process, I often struggle with the assortment and actual selection of information and commentary during my production but thanks to the new pre-production components, much of that has been accomplished efficiently and time-effectively so I envision next week being relatively easy.

4. I am feeling much better about this than Project 1, to be honest. I think this is much a due to the new blogging and remodeling of the course Sean instituted this week.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Content Outline

Project 2: The Rhetorical Investigation

Podcast Segment

• Opening
• "From linguistics to arithmetic, the variance of types of datum scientists acquire and processes researchers conduct require specific styles to deliver knowledge to a specific field."
• "In a world of scientific technicalities, logistics, and numerical as well as qualitative data, what possibly could a writer do to capture the attention of the everyday student?"
• Powerpoint Lecture (conferences, upper division education, general education, etc.)
• E1: timeliness and work seemingly simple PowerPoints required from professors have to effectively deliver lesson, message, etc. to audience
• under-appreciated, conventions (succinct, vague but informative style in PowerPoint to attractively present information and capture student's attention)
• PowerPoint from class
• E2: consideration of audience is all-important in this genre
• Conference of youth? elderly? General Education course? Upper Division course? Professionals? Peers? Students? 
• Gather what the audience does or does not know, what they have or have not experienced
• Difference between classes for pre- and accepted majors for Neuroscience
• Scientific Papers (research/laboratory reports, articles, reviews, data, etc.)
• E3: existence of reviews, articles, and reports
• explanation of each's conventions and purpose
• Example: Dr. Lynne Oland's selected publication (review of PubMed document, discuss perspective of reviewer and level of critique - appeal to ethos - required from a nuanced professor)
• article's length and inclusion of graphs
• E4: the common rhetorical situations for each type of scientific paper
• emphasis of audience and consideration of audience
• Example: Dr. Nighorn's peer-reviewed studies (discuss process of review, perspective as peer reviewee - how much do you keep? how heavily do you weigh the suggestions? others professors - ethos (credibility)? 
• detailed and elaborate and extensive report
• Poster Presentation (school campuses, conferences, lectures)
• E5: 'most interesting, powerful genre to compose' - Dr. Nighorn
• combination of textual and visual elements, seen by far more people than any lecture or paper will be
• Example found on Internet
• E6: must be attractive, easy to read, informative
• conventions: plenty of white space, colors of visual (media, chart, diagram, etc.) are not too vibrant but maintain appeal, succinct, thorough and informative, fit onto whatever size poster must be (8.5 x 11? Actual poster size)
• used at conferences and around school campuses
• What makes the ones we see in the halls at the U of A what they are?
• Conclusion
• Importance of conventions
• Consideration of audience in scientific realm of composition
• Utilizing correct genre in appropriate situation
• Ways genres in this discipline vary from genres in another