The Importance of Arrangement

Arrangement is important.

Occasionally, I post to my personal and movie review blogs. When I write new posts, I am often aware of the importance of an introduction, body, and conclusion, but not necessarily aware of the importance of arrangement. It is certainly important to arrange all the sentences and paragraphs in your writing to blend and work well together, while also conveying your main points to the reader.

While reading about arrangement in chapter 3 of the book, "Patterns For College Writing: A Rhetorical Reader and Guide" written by Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell, I learned some new tools and important tips on how to arrange any piece of writing, whether it be an essay or a blog post.

As a college student, I think these three points from chapter 3 are the most important and helpful in arranging, developing, and outlining your writing:

1. The Introduction must: introduce subject, create interest, and state thesis.
2. The Body Paragraphs must be: unified, coherent, and well developed.
3. The Conclusion must: reinforce thesis, restate main idea, and review key points.

There are many more details and sub-points in this chapter that are also helpful. If you would like to know more, I would suggest reading "Patterns for College Writing." 

Personally, I think this chapter has really helped me to better recognize and appreciate the importance of arrangement.

Image by: Hayley Leach     

An interview with Nathaly Flamenco By: Isabella Montalbetti

                        Interview with: Nathaly Flamenco

            As you grow older, you learn more and more about English and how to use different forms of technology. I’ve noticed how familiarized our generation is to technology compared to our parents and grandparents are. Today I got the chance to interview a fellow classmate named Nathaly Flamenco. I interviewed her about her views of classes she took for literature, how intact she is with technology and her goals throughout her life.

            Nathaly expressed to me that she did most of her writing for school purposes. When she did write for school, she enjoyed writing biographies about different people. This was also Nathaly’s first semester of college, but throughout her years in school she hadn’t had any bad experiences with any of her English teachers. One problem Nathaly told me she had was brainstorming and starting off her essays.

            My next subject with Nathaly was about technology. She explained to me that she had always had technology and devices around her since she was a child. She told me that she has had a computer to herself for quite some years now, and goes on it frequently every day-to-day basis. Nathaly is also experienced with Microsoft word. She also has a few social networking applications on her cell phone.

            Nathaly and I have set the same goals for English 121. We both would like to receive A’s in this class and learn how to write with a much higher standard then how we do now. We both also have trouble coming up with our thesis for papers. One thing we are good at is work shopping because we feel more comfortable and secure. When Nathaly graduates from Front Range she would like to have a major in business administration and hopefully start up her business. Me on the other hand, I would like to graduate as a film major. Nathaly and I really enjoyed each other’s company.

An Interview with Kelsey Robison - by Hayley Leach

Kelsey is a very interesting person and student, and she has a variety of interests.

Kelsey likes to write.

She keeps in touch with a pen pal. When I asked her if she writes weekly emails to a friend, she said, “Not weekly, but I have a friend in Honduras, and sometimes I write emails to her.”

She mentioned that she also likes to write in her journal sometimes.

When I asked if she often writes to-do lists, she said with a smile, “I do. I have a planner and everything. I like to organize.”

She not only liked to talk about writing, she also loved to talk about books.

Kelsey enjoys reading.

When I asked what kind of books she reads, she said excitedly, “I like mysteries and love stories. Those are my favorite and I read them all the time.”

She is a creative person, but she is also a very active person.

Kelsey loves to play volleyball.

When I asked how long she has been playing, she said, “Since I was about 5 or 6. I’ve been playing a long time. I had been playing with 8 girls for 6 years and they were my best friends. They were all seniors last year, and graduated, so I was the only one left on the team.”

During the interview, we discussed what our goals are for the English 121 class. Both of us agreed that we wanted to improve our writing and get good grades, but she also mentioned that she wanted to expand her vocabulary. She also asked me what problems I anticipated for this class. I answered, “I have some issues with time-management. So, I worry about not being able to get my homework done on time.” She quickly replied, “Yeah, I’m nervous about that, too. I play volleyball at my school, and that goes from the end of school to about 6:00 or 8:00, depending on the day. So, I don’t have very much time to do things. My schedule is pretty full.”

Near the end of the interview, we were also given a chance to ask our own questions. She asked me about my hobbies, and I told her I enjoy swing dancing and scrapbooking. Then, I took the opportunity to ask her why she loved volleyball. She answered, “I love volleyball because it is a challenge for me and I never know what the outcome will be.”

It was very interesting to learn about Kelsey. Naturally, it was fun to talk about the things we have in common, but it was also fun to hear about her variety of interesting and unique set of interests.

Let Steroids into the Hall of Fame

1. What is the writer's general subject?
    The writer's general subject for this article is baseball players using drugs.

2. What is the writer's main point?
    The writer's main point is to explain his view on drug use in national baseball leagues. He believes that they should make their own choices when it comes to drugs.

3. What are the writer's key supporting points?
    One key point is that if any person uses these drugs, then the baseball players should be allowed to as well. Another one of his key points is that fans and others should be aware of and have access to the same drugs, in order to make the field level.

4. Does the writer seem to have a particular purpose in mind?
    The writer is arguing on behalf of baseball players in these leagues. He believes if the baseball players want to make that decision, they are adults and can decide on their own.  He believes that it should be an option for them to choose as long as they notify people.

5. What kind of audience is the writer addressing?
    The type of audience the writer is addressing to is fans of these leagues, athletes of these leagues, and athletes in training. Also the writer could be addressing to the board members that create these rules in order to persuade their decision and opinion about drugs.

6. What are the writer's assumptions about audience? About subject?
   He seems to be assuming that his readers need to be persuaded to agree with his opinions.

7. Are the writer's ideas consistent with your own?
   No, not currently.  Personally I believe that you would rather see how truly talented every player is rather than seeing how much drugs they can take to improve their performance. 

8. Does the writer reveal any biases?
   Yes. Although he does mention different opinions, he often follows one opinion with another that stands against the first.

9. Do you have any knowledge that challenges the writer's ideas?
   Drugs can alter performance to be better or worse.  I have seen it work in the beginning of the game, but towards the end of the game the player got very tired and passed out ultimately loosing the game.   

10. Is any information missing?
     No, not according to our knowledge.

11. Are any sequential or logical links missing?
    No, not that we know of.

12. Can you identify themes or ideas that also appear in other works you have read?
     Other themes that have also appeared in other works that we have read are newspaper articles, magazine articles and articles we have fallen upon on the internet.

13. Can you identify parallels with your own experience?
      In my experience I have been in a basketball league where another player was suspended for the use of drugs just like how baseball players were suspended for their use of drugs. Personally I think if you are prescribed to the drugs you are taking, there shouldn't be any consequences.

By: Kelsey Robison, Sofia Montalbetti, and Hayley Leach 

Adventures in the Life of Hayley Leach

    I sat down with Hayley Leach this past August 25, 2015.  One topic came up during the conversation and that simple statement is that people can be mean.  That simple fact did not stop Hayley Leach.  After bullies became too much her during her third grade year, Hayley’s mom courageously decided that homeschooling would be the best option for her.  Hayley immediately joined a homeschooling theater group and performed many musicals with that group.  Hayley Leach is an exciting girl, with many talents, that was home schooled and she learned many important lessons throughout this process. 
    Creative and nonfiction are the usual ways that Hayley writes.  She posts often on a blog that she has been updating for a while now.  Along with updating her blog, Hayley loves reading fantasy novels.  One of her favorite authors is Jane Austin.  Jane Austin is not a fantasy writer, but Hayley loves reading her books because of the way that she writes.  Hayley has received helpful tips when reading in order to improve her writing.  Most of the writing she does for school is research papers.  Hayley has had wonderful experiences with her previous English teachers.  Being home schooled provided her the opportunity to edit her own papers due to being. Often times her mom would help her write, and over the years of being home schooled Hayley and her mother became very close. 
    Hayley and I seem to have similar goals with taking this class.  One of them being that we would both like to achieve getting an A, but also improve immensely in our individual writing skills.  Writers block seems to also be an issue for both of us when given an assignment.  One problem that Hayley foresees in her future in this class is time management.  She says motivation was a big hurdle to overcome while being home schooled.  Problems I foresee for myself would be frustration, nerves, stress, and the work load.  Being a high school student, coming to a college class is a little scary at first.  Coming up with ideas seems to often give both of us trouble when writing.  Outside of school I play volleyball and Hayley swing dances.  School is very important to both of us, but Hayley has grown tremendously with her experience in homeschooling. 

By: Kelsey Robison