He Says Contends 2/29

When reading this article that was assigned to us, I believe the main point in this was how to ensure you are staying on point throughout your writing process. It is easy to become side tracked, not fully understand what you are reading and/or writing a topic that has no connection what you just read. I like how there was questions that commonly come to mind when reading because most of the time I question if I am writing about the correct topic to using the right words or examples from the article. They were also separated into categories such as,  "How do you Represent What Others Say" and  "What do you Say?" (pg. 140-141) just to name a couple. Some of the questions that I commonly think that are also in the article consist between, "Can readers follow your argument from one sentence and paragraph to the next...?" to do I remind "readers of what others say at various points throughout your text." (pg. 141-142) He then used a Family Guy television show essay as an example for what we just read. Although they were not each pointed out, you could identify a few of the questions and how they were used in an essay.  Before you begin reading the example essay, you read a little annotation on how Peacocke "strengthen existing transitions, added new ones, and clarified the stakes of her argument..."(pg. 144)  With those simple changes, it enhances her essay and her tone in her article changes.


Questions:
1. When you grade our essays, do you follow these? Will we be using these on Tuesday?

Practice Write 2/25

I think the type of visual media i will be using or thinking about either video or website articles. I have already found some alternative ideas for counties that have very little access to clean water and with these mechanisms, they are able to use a filter up too 800 gallons. I was trying to figure out how I can tie that in with our current drought issues, if we could use those filters when we catch rain water amd reusing run off water from the streets to ensure all water is used. I think videos can help me understand this growing issue along with finding other alternatives that can be used to have fresh water. With reading articles online, there can be many pictures and even short clips I can watch to try and use those ideas and try to create our own.

Questions:
1. would it be harder to use online articles for  visual media?

Reflection Blog 2/25

During the process of choosing on a topic to write on something that was sustainable route for a present issue was not as tough as I thought. The hardest part was focusing on a specific issue for sustainable water. I feel decent on writing this essay, the hardest part is ensuring that my writing is on topic and doesn't add any unnecessary information. So far all information that is relaid to us has been clear and understandable. I would like my feedback to be as clear as possible. I also would like to know everything that I did wrong along with positive ones, if I have any.  

Practice Visual Analysis

Dayna Higashiyama

February 25, 2016

English 214

                                                                Practicing Visual Analysis

                In the two films that we watched in class, visual analysis was brought up throughout the films. During the first film, Cowspiracy, they use changed the way they interviewed people. By that I mean, instead of interviewing them in a white, four walled room, they used the background of cows grazing on a ranch. When they changed from their typical background to a natural surrounding that focused on their main topic of discussion, the agriculture industry. The first video clip was simply how cattle raised in America produce more greenhouse gases than the transport sector including cars and planes. Their message is to warn Americans how raising non- grass-fed cattle is ruining the Earth. In the second video clip, it is based on a review analysis on Cowspiracy whether it was accurate or not. Each had their own way of persuading viewers to understand what their argument was about. I began my visual analysis practice on the first film clip, which is the documentary, Cowspiracy.

In the beginning, they began with a man speaking about the serious topic on how we are killing our Earth and eventually will disappear. Then they start with bringing up a website with an article written on cattle produces more greenhouse gasses than automobiles. You receive a visual on cattle releasing fertilizer and greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Bringing that image on the screen and annotating helps those who are watching the film understand and know what he is arguing. The next image that is brought to the screen is a pyramid of cars and automobiles on how much greenhouse gases are released while they are running. On the side, a cow is compared next to the pyramid of automobiles with a higher percentage of greenhouse gases than the combined amount of the transportation sector. Towards the middle of the website images on how many acres of grass fed cattle would need in order to feed the United States population. That alone opens your mind to the amount of room it would take along with billions of dollars farmers would need to spend to feed every American. Although these were simple images that were broadcasted on the documentary, they were able to relay the message on the consequences cattle have to our atmosphere and Earth.

Lastly, the second video clip was a review and analysis on the first clip of Cowspiracy. They began with interviewing two specialist that study and experiment different ways to improve our drought. Those two conservationist are Kamyar Guivetchi and Manucher Alemi who both work for the California Department of Water Resources. They were able to explain ways for homes, individuals and companies can use to cut back on the water that is used daily and alternatives to ensure no water is wasted, but then they were asked about how much the agriculture business uses water. They both had no clue on the use of water and it seemed that they were hiding something. In fact, most people know little to no information on the amount of water is used for agriculture and the meat industry. They gave a huge and important demonstration using a kid pool and letting the water pour over until gallons of water were shown. That demonstration helped visualize the thousands of gallons used and wasted daily on a meat and agriculture. They also stated that the animal agriculture companies have 0 water usage. They also included statistics on the water usage, carbon footprint and greenhouse emissions from cleaning the meat, processing and finally on a dinner table where an individual consumes it. With those statistics being reliable and truthful, it educates viewers with the facts. In the end, with the growing number of population, the power of the government and the greed for money, processing and eating of meat will always be in our culture.

               

Practice Write 2/23

It is important to analyze the rhetoric of an ad to understand the argument the artist or writer is trying to persuade us with. How is he/she using certain ideas or ways to persuade us as a reader. How is he/ she using images that are edited or fixed to ensure we are thinking the same way as them? This is important in academic writing because we want readers to be persuaded into what we are thinking. We can use reliable resources, statistics, or pictures to enhance our side of an argument.

Questions:
1. What happens if the reader doesn't see or feel the same way you do after reading your article? What are a few examples to change your writing to help ensure your reader understands what you are talking about.

What Does the Picture Say?

In the few pages that we were required to read in "What Does the Picture Say?" has opened my eyes on how many children, teens and adults rely on the internet and social media to see pictures. By that I mean, they don't actually see it in person, they see everything from behind a cell phone or internet screen. To begin with, what does Intertextuality mean? The definition given to us in this article means, "It refers to the ways that texts, whether written or visual, are interpreted one in the light of another to produce new meanings." (Werner) I understand from this meaning is you see one image either in person or one computer and from there you may interpret your own meaning from that one image. You as a person may see something different in each photo because "interpretations are influenced by what is both inside and outside of a picture’s frame." (Werner) Werner also describes in what I think is his main purpose in a form of questions, those questions are: "What is intertextuality? What forms does it take? What are the implications?" (Werner) We base our findings and thoughts of two images off of those questions to allow ourselves to fully explore our own meaning of an image.
Adding to this, implications are often brought onto a picture such as "textbook writers are similar to newspaper editors when selecting and matching material" (Werner). The main purpose for implications is to only allow readers to see or think what the writer provides for them, in this case selective choosing of images, enhancing and altering them.


Questions:
1. How are writers able to get away with the altering of images just to make readers see and believe what they want? I believe everyone thinks differently, therefore it could not always work.

practice write 2/18

The first and only peer revision group I have been apart off was in english 114 during last semester. He basically just put us in groups and made us talk, we never were instructed on what we needed to do. They were unhelpful and I nevee benefitted from it because we had no guidelines to follow. That is the only experience I have had with peer revision groups.

Questions:
1. Are we staying in our peer revsion groups the whole semester? I think that it would benefit staying in our same revision groups a lot because our group will already know what are topics are and feel more comfortable with each other.

practice write 2/16

I feel comfortable and excited about my issue, finding a sustainable way to preserve our water. Although when I wrote my first idea draft, I was too broad. I now need to make my topic more on one issue. My idea draft wasn't the best, but it is still the first idea draft which makes its easier to change and help me realize my mistakes as well. I know I do want to focus in finding a sustainable option to perserve our water during this drought, but would it be a bad idea to add alternative ideas and ways to fnd other options? Such as, water filters, community involvement, etc.

Analyzing Visual Rhetoric: Advertisement/ From Inquiry

In this article, I understood how to identify and analyze an advertisement using visual rhetoric. The main goal or point that I understood was to understand and use these next six points when reading or analyzing a text and image. They provided individual boxes that summarized how to analyze an advertisement piece and key points one wants to hit. In each advertisement ad, you want to ensure you identify ethos, logos, and pathos along with three other steps. The first step in analyzing an advertisement piece is "noting where the ad appears." (pg.238) It could simply be where it is placed which makes a huge impact such as New York Times or People Magazine which "aims to reach a broad, educated, even affluent, readership interested in keeping up with current events."pg. 238) The second step is to "examine the main image or text that captures your attention." (pg. 238) Examine whether it is a text or image that your readers have emotion too. The third step is to "reflect on what draws to this image or text." (pg. 238) Capturing your readers attention with images or something that catches your emotions draws them in with interest or relativity. The fourth steps starts with the evaluation of ethos that the author created or sponsored in the ad. Ethos is a visual as it does it written rhetoric, both trying to convey their readers how the writers wish to be perceived. Your goal in the fifth step is how a text or image appeals to the readers emotion, also known as pathos. The goal with pathos is to allow a readers evoke emotions from those texts or images. The final step ensures that the reader understands the entire ad or composition emphasizing on the text or images portray to them.

Questions:
1. When analyzing a ad, does it limit that types of ads? Such as a cereal company to a a fundraiser for wounded warriors. Are you able to analyze each the same because they are too different topics?

Predictions on Oryx and Crake

Before I opened the book or looked on the back of Oryk and Crake, I truthfully knew nothing about this book before I choose this book during one of our classes. From reading the back of the book, I read how it was a love story and between two best friends. I was drawn into this book because I am a huge sucker for love and fairy-tales. I personally have never read a book written by Margaret Atwood, but I have heard nothing but positive information about her as an author. I had a few predictions before I sat down and read the first two chapters of the book. From reading the back of the book, i assumed that Snowman, known as Jimmy fell in love with Crake who is his best friend. My prediction on their relationship was forged from a strong friendship before their true feelings came to the surface. I predict that their relationship grew from a terrible living situation and they only have one another that can rely and trust one another, but unfortunately he lost her and he becomes different man. I also predicted that this has to be based on the corruption of their government in the book that put them on an island for unjustified reasons. After reading the first two chapters, I discovered that there are children on the island as well, known as the green- eyed children that roam the land, enter the ocean and have no such sort of protection from the harsh sun. They are simply living their lives taking in step by step and approach Jimmy when they have questions that they think he can answer. In the beginning of chapter 2, Jimmy described his life before the island but the beginning of huge corporations changing his parents environment at work, whether it was women that were made to strip and searched too new rules being placed for workers to follow at OrganInc. By just reading the first two chapters, I know this book will be based on Jimmy's life, how he got to the place he is now, and a little about his family. I am interested in learning the kind of man Jimmy had to turn into with all negative factors in his life.

Draft #1 Sustainable water solutions

Dayna Higashiyama

English 214

February 12, 2016

                                    Draft One for Essay #1

         Finding a sustainable yet affordable way to conserve our water during this drought has been tough, many failures and lack of hope. Water is key to our way of life and for over a hundred years have destroyed our natural resources for water because of mass development where water used to be, over pumping our aquifers, contaminating many of our rivers around the world and lastly, not taking our part in conserving it ourselves. We are constantly wasting water whether it comes to wasteful water usage, not allowed to catch rain water, putting sewage and trash into our streams and oceans, that’s just to name a few. If we are not able to find a sustainable route to conserve our water now, future generations will suffer tremendously and our human existence might be destroy faster than we thought.

         There have been many inventions, actions that are currently being tested, used or dismissed for common household use. Some actions that are currently being taken is catching and reusing rainwater. One law in that has been passed and currently enforced is the catching of rainwater, which in fact Southern California is struggling to sustain the amount of clean and useable water to their residents. Southern California does not receive much rain during fall or winter, but when it does, the cities allows precious water to flow down the streets, into drains and lastly into the ocean. If made legal to catch and harvest rainwater, communities can provide clean water to families and stop depleting other lakes, aquifers and surface water. Simple changes like that can improve our drought and hopefully one day we can be completely dependent on ourselves.

Fortunately, companies can help conserve and produce clean water for ourselves; we can also do simple tasks at home to keep our usage of water at a minimum. These simple changes such as using water quantity monitors, using water effective appliances, not watering our plants daily and excessively can help perverse more water. Along with doing simple improvements inside your house, you also can to the outside, such as changing your pipes to an efficient piping system. Efficient piping systems are insulated in and around along with being leak proof which limits your household water waste. With that being said, households can also take part in creating drought friendly yards and gardens. Putting grass in our yards requires gallons of water and kills off our natural plants in that area. Creating a drought friendly yard can bring more life, less water and more wildlife, depending on where you live. These positive changes can help be a fun, affordable, and helpful solution in finding a sustainable solution to our water crisis.  

         Simple changes can make a huge impact on the environment, the California drought and in our own homes. Changing the law to allow the catching and harvesting of rainwater allows simple yet an affordable way for communities to connect with their citizens and neighboring communities. By adding simple water quantity monitors and using the least amount of water possible in our daily habits can easily help decrease our drought a little. Communities and individuals in their daily lives should consider finding sustainably ways to help our water shortage and ultimately find a solution to our problem. Being involved just in your home will help, teaching others and expanding ideas with one another can help generations to come.

SKIM

The main topic in the article SKIM is to provide different yet effective ways of revising individuals essays during peer revision. "Academic writing is a collaborative enterprise." (p.273) which allows students to work together with other students, teachers and outside help. The article provided many different steps during your peer revision which allows you to follow and help that essay reach its full potential. During the peer revision process, there is a triangle called The Composition Pyramid which has three different stages. There are three stages: "The top of this inverted pyramid corresponds to the early stages of writing."(pg. 274), "The middle portion of the pyramid corresponds to a later stage of the writing process... discuss the extent to which the writer has organized the argument logically and used sources effectively to support the thesis."(pg. 275) and lastly the bottom of the pyramid is "is the final stages of drafting... the writer's focus shifts to grammar and style..."(pg. 276). By following these stages through out your revision, you are working to help each write the highest potential essay possible. They also provided different multiple questions that you want to answer while revising essays that can lead you to find your strengths and weaknesses. You don't want to just provide negative comments but also positive remarks just to ensure that the writer is on the right path.

Questions:
1. When revising and editing other drafts, are we allowed to have these questions that are provided for us in this passage on the side of us?

Practice Write 2/11

My understanding between the difference of a topic and an issue is that a topic is a subject you choose to write about after you research an issue. When you write your topic on that issue and your main goal is to enhance the source your writing about. An issue is something that is or has happened in our world or society that you are interested in. The issue I am focusing on is finding a sustainable way that is cheap, afforable and reliable alternative to perserve our water. With the shortage of water comtinuing to grow, laws have been put into place such as catching rain water is illegal, it is making it extremely hard for individuals, families and communities to find a way to sustainable solution for water. So far, I just choose a topic and haven't formed an inquiry question but I am looking to develop one soon. My process of finding a topic was kind of difficult because there were so many choices too choose but I think my topic on finding a sustainable way to preserve our water during this drought is a huge topic and important. I see this happening back in SoCal, which involve my friends currently collecting rain water and have made their houses into drought friendly yards. From there, I haven't really began a draft or an inquiry question but I know I will create one this weekend.

Question:
1. I am struggling to create an inquiry question. What are some pointers you could provide for me?
2. When writing our first essay, how many sources should I be looking at during and siting from?

So What? Who Cares? Saying Why it Matters.

"Who cares?" and "So What?" are two different questions yet they are asked together constantly. "who cares?" "literally asks you to identify a person or a group who cares about your claims" while "so what?" "asks about the real-world applications and consequences of those claims- what different does it make if they were accepted."(pg. 93) In the article, "who cares?" and "so what?" was broken down into different sections to fully explain the difference between both of them. To begin with, "who cares?" has simple templates that can be used to follow when reading or annotating a reading. In Denise Grady passage from the New York Times, she fully explains her findings instead of saying "scientists used to think" which makes a statement more clear and easy to follow. It doesn't lack the excess amount of information that would be just thrown into a passage or essay to just increase the length. Through out these templates provided to us in the article, their main goal is "establishing the type of contrast between what others say and what you say that is central to this book." (pg. 96) The main goal of these templates is to help you "create a dramatic tension or clash of views in your writing." (pg. 96) Creating your writing that clashing and makes the individual feel invested and will read until there a solution is found. Along with "who cares?", "so what?" also has templates to help guide you in your process of writing an argument. "So what?" goal is to link your argument to another idea or issue that readers already know is extremely important. These templates want you to hook your reader by suggesting the "real-world applications of your claims". (pg. 99) By hooking your reader with your claims, it demonstrates your care and side of an argument but you tell your readers "why they should care."(pg. 99) Along with knowing that you both care about an argument, you should also frame it in a way that allows your readers to bring emotion to care about that topic. The main point of the argument I read and understood is the difference from "who cares?" and "so what?". Before reading this, I did not know how little of a difference they were, but after annotation and reading it multiple times, it is a little more clear.

Questions:
1. Will we be reading more articles that show the difference between them?
2. When writing an argument, how do you know if there will be either one of these questions through out your argument? Will we be practicing in class on different ways to enhance either one of them?

From Identifying claims to analyzing agruments (pgs 73-81, 87-89)

When writing an essay on an huge issue, identifying the main questions and forming them will allow you to incorporate the most important parts of your essay. A few questions you will probably come across are "what are the concerns of the authors I've been reading? What is my argument in response to their writing? What kinds of evidence will persuade my readers?" (pg. 73) just to name a few. When you want to answer those questions to their fullest potential, you should consider these answers: "identifying an issue, understanding the situation, and formulating a question"(pg. 73) Not only is identifying the main issue in your argument important, but providing a personal experience can strengthen your writing. Including a personal experience can "argue a point, to illustrate something, or to illuminate a connection between theories and the sense we make of our daily experience."( pg. 75) Your goal is not to tell your story, but enhance and strengthen your side of the argument. The main point that I learned from this article was the idea of academic writing and how you want to base your writing off of theirs. Your main goal in enhancing your academic writing is building "on and extends the ideas of others." (pg. 77) and you will learn and realize by "extending other people's ideas, you will extend your own." (pg 77). With each point that I read about, there were different along with successful ideas to strengthen your argument. Along the way you may run into some issues, but following these six steps will ensure your identify and fix your mistakes. Those steps include: draw on your personal experience, identify what is open to dispute, resist binary thinking, build on and extend the ideas of  others, read to discover a writer's frame, and consider the constraints of the situation.These steps can help ensure you are writing and hitting these key steps to have the most successful essay one can write. A few other steps were brought out in the argument which allows you to create formulating an issue based question. These questions provide a step by step to create your own issue based question.




Questions:
1. What is binary thinking and how do you understand if you're experiencing it?
2. How often and will we learn how to use the steps to formulating an issue- based question?

Transcommunality pt. 2

In the second part of Transcommunality, again the issue of being able to accept one another and instead of acting out in anger, use their ability of communication to find an even ground. You can trace back in history through many Native Tribes with the "combination of autonomy and coordination is a fundamental aspect" (pg. 47) of many of their societies. In the Haudenosaunee villages, which they relied on a "complex form of interaction that accepts and celebrates autonomy of distinct groups while also emphasizing cooperation and affiliation among those same participants." (pg. 49) With knowing how important and unique communication and acceptance is, our society and schools could potential change for the positive. Another huge factor in this reading was about the "Peacemaker" who created peace, communication and acceptance among tribes. The Peacemaker's "most desirable goal would not only a cessation of violence but the active interactions which could create a better world for everyone." (pg. 50) My interpretation of that portion of the article is creating a sustainable and reliable way of finding a way of human interaction that will benefit not only a few individuals, but a community. With our society being so diverse with different cultures, finding an even and acceptable solution can be tough and sometimes a common ground can seem inevitable, but with constant positive interaction and conversation an answer will be found. One important quote I found in the article that I believe is very important and allows both sides of the party to be heard is find and agree before hand on "protocols that managed both agreement and disagreement so that many voices could be heart but disruption avoided." (pg. 53) This allows both parties to come in with a more level head with the knowledge of the protocols ahead of time which permits a deeper conversation and lastly an agreement to happen. Throughout this article, many points that were brought up was how to dismiss a disagreement or confrontation before it happens. In order to have a clear leveled conversation verses an angry and violent conversation, rules are put into place beforehand and an mediator is present during the discussion. I believe that starting to practice and teaching children at young ages at home and in schools will help change our society for the better. Although difficult to begin this transformation of our society, we could potentially see the decrease of violence in homes, streets and work force which will allow a healthier and safer environment for all.

Questions:
1. How do you begin to teach children, parents and companies the proper way of communication when there has been a different belief for every individual, diverse culture and in a whole society.
2. What would be appropriate protocols that would be agreed beforehand and shared with others?

Transcommunality

Reading through Transcommunality, it was a difficult text for me to understand the first time I read through the text. I understood that constant change and acceptance towards one another is a clear and helpful way to understand, agree and accept one another. In order to be understand our extremely diverse society, acceptance is key to all. Childs provided a huge example of the disagreements were the Native Americans. The "cultural erosion and terriosm" (pg.17) towards the change of religion for Native Americans, many saw them as traders and wanted to fight against them. Eventually through many hard understandings, acceptance and trust, many groups began to accept one another. I also understood that transcommunitly is not only of "ethnicity, race, class and gender" (pg. 21) but also many other diverse aspects in order to accept on another. It takes "tremendous discipline and courage" (pg 21) to not act out with anger, hate or grudges when someone or others don't believe on what you believe.

Questions:
1. How do we teach transcommunitly to generations to come?

Practice Write 2/8

In the text of Transcommunality, the most difficult part about the text was understanding what the author was trying to provide for us. I had to read this passage a few times to try and understand what the author was trying to get across along with looking online to help further explain his topic. I helped myself by annotating through the text and leaving myself side notes so I could remember a specific or important point in the text. What I got from the reading was transcommunailty was about bringing together different cultures, beliefs and people. When one group of people struggled with something, instead of fighting, communication was key along with finding a even ground to help one another. I also learned communication was huge and the world today lacks one on one conversation and interaction which is dividing us as a society. Childs made his argument more clear by constantly providing examples and different ways of explaining it as well. By annotating, looking up information I was confused about and re reading helped me understand the dense context by Childs. 

"Create a Research Space"

While reading CARS article, the main points that I understood John Swales was explaining about is the important ""moves" that almost all research introductions" that are always made. These moves will help you understand the "authors' projects better from the outset" in order for you to reach your full potential in not only your research but also the paper that you are writing. The main point of this article is for students to identify "these moves in instructions to the articles you read" which allow students to reach their full potential of understanding their article to the fullest. The main argument is to help provide The main point and goal of "Create a Research Space" is to have us understand main goals we would want to follow in order to create the clearest and convincing paper.

Questions:

1. How efficient/ inefficient is following these moves?
2. How do you know where you can put a niche and what is the appropriate amount of niches to put in your paper?
3. Will we be practicing using the outline that they provide us to write our own papers?

Practice Write 2/4

The normal writing proccwss got academic writing is inquiry question, research, brain storm, outline, idea draft. The readings helped me undertsand and expand my knowledge on how to write a successful draft. In order to do so, there are many other important factors to do before you wven consider writing. I realized that I need to do more research and understand the question or idea I am being asked to write about before I start my draft. Reading this article added that writing is an educational conversation, inquiry is important and making sure you have as much information as I can before you can brain storm.

Starting With Inquiry

While reading "Starting With Inquiry" I was able to understand more about educational conversations, understanding personal examinations and also examining alternatives on different topics one is writing about. The main points of this article is for a writer to focus on four different academic key points which are:
"1. inquiring 2. seeking and valuing complexity 3. understanding that academic writing is a conversation 4. understanding that writing is a process."
Along with focusing on those four different key points, the author gave us steps on writing a successful draft, steps on how to collect information and important material that will help your argument and key points to look at while revising your own paper.

Three questions that came to mind when I was reading this article:

1. Are we going to be learning more on how to strengthen our arguments?
2. How would we be marked down if we use a word incorrectly in our argument?
3. Is there other important key points or tips on learning to write a stronger argument?

Feburary 2nd. Practice Write

My take on sustainability is someone who can last for a long period of time while being thrown complications, problems and situations, yet are able to over come them all. An example of sustainability is the fact that I work out at 6am in order to maintain my muscle mass and as much strength as I can while not being able to Crossfit and Olympic Weightlift daily. Im sustaining this routine daily even when I rather sleep, eat junk food and be lazy at times because I know where I know what my goals are for the future. Some topics that interest me are learning how to become a stronger writer and reading our book of choice to start our book club.

They Say/ I Say Annotation

From reading They Say/ I Say, I can affirmatively say that using templates will not diminish my creativity when writing. I also came to an understanding that it is okay to use "I" even though some teachers prohibit the use to some students. Although in-conclusion to my take aways I am in full understanding that these models will not only improve my writing but improving reading. After reading through the chapters the key points are: that entering a conversation also en tales writing, "the moves that matter", and provides very useful friendly templates. While working with these templates it will help prepare you to engage in the different kind of different critical thinking that will be required of me at this college level. "instead of focusing solely on abstract principles of writing, then, this book offers model templates that help you put those principles directly into practice." (pg 2) When you are trying to make an important point or impact in your writing, three key points you should have in your statements are "logical, well supported, and consistent" (pg. 4) points. Using "they say/ I say" in your arguments can help strengthen your arguments even if you aren't a professional writer. Even if your argument sides more of the disagreement, it can help you focus on your key points of disagreements.  It can also work as both " agree and disagree at the same time."(pg. 8) My three questions that came to mind reading this article are: 1. Why is it okay to use "I"? 2. How useful are these templates going to be? 3. What will this book not provide me with?