March 28th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today there was no anything new that happened. I continue to not want to text or use facebook. Other than that classes are going fine

March 27th 2011 / Immersion Project

Sunday evening and I'm i nthe architecture building finishing my stair project. We had to design our own stairs and provide two section views along with two plan views to fully expose each side of the stairs. Along with those stairs I had to construct a scale model of the site that we visited on Friday. I slept until I had to go to studio so there was no chance for me to text or use facebook. I'm glad that these blogs are ending soon because I really don't have anything new to say.

March 26th 2011 / Immersion Project

Last night was rough. I have a terrible cold and all I've done mostly today is sleep and try to drink as much orange juice as possible. Last time I had a cold, I did pretty good at getting rid of it quickly. I plan on doing nothing but sleep and write my blogs for the rest of the weekend. No facebook and no texting. I did get some texts from some friends that had forgot I was in this project.

March 25th 2011 / Immersion Project

Friday! Friday! I don't know if anyone else has heard that stupid song on youtube. Today was a busy day, succesfull without texting or facebook. I still keep getting emails and calls asking if I'm okay because they haven't heard from me in a while. It's crazy how people jump to conclusions.

March 24rd 2011 / Immersion Project

Today was a pretty simple day. English, Landscape Architecture and then Architecture. I'm so used to going without texting now that I'm beginning to wonder if I will be as bad as I was before.

The Modern-Hunter Gatherer

The Modern-Hunter Gatherer mainly focused how how to visually represent your scene for the reader and give them an idea of what situation you were/are in. As the author wrote, I believe he did a very good job at visually representing the scene. He described certain things like walking through the woods up to a tree stand and other aspects of being in a forest and only have the sounds of nature surround you. He expressed the true meaning of hunting--or what he feels is the true meaning--being out in nature and just enjoying what God has provided. Eventually he takes the reader through the process of shooting a big. He does a great job at describing it and again painting a picture for the reader. It didn't matter if you have been hunting before, the reader can picture almost every aspect of what is going on thanks to the creative writing of the author. He describes the meal he was having. The smell and the ingredients themselves. I will do my best to mimic his ways when it comes to my paper.

March 23rd 2011 / Immersion Project

Today I spent the entire day in meetings with CAP professionals and associates discussing inter-graded majors the the effects of different viewpoints from different majors and applying them to the built world around us. A lot of good points were made and I enjoyed the experience. Still no urge to text.

March 22nd 2011 / Immersion Project

Today I had to get up early and finish my English paper to turn in at 8 a.m. I had to catch up on sleep from the weekend before. I had a few people text me today but none worth responding to. Really I'm at a point where texting isn't needed or wanted anymore. It's a great feeling.

March 21st 2011 / Immersion Project

I got done in the architecture building this morning at 4:30. Got up at 7 and went to my drawing communications class at 8. I had to present my project at one. My entire class spent 6 hours presenting to CAP associates. My project was very much liked and I should receive a good grade. I have had absolutely no time to think of texting or facebook. It's a nice change.

March 20th 2011 / Immersion Project

Sunday night and I still have to be here for a couple hours. Making a quick blog and then getting back to work.

March 19th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today was a long day. I got up early to go into the architecture building a work on a project that was assigned to me yesterday. It's due Monday. There is no way that I am going to have any free time this weekend... it sucks

March 18th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today is Friday and yesterday was thursday! Sorry... only certain people will understand that quote. Since it's Friday and a lot of my friends are going home for spring break, I got a lot of text messages regarding hanging out. I held my ground though and make quite a few calls letting them know I already had my spring break. Texting isn't becoming a necessity in my life anymore and it's feeling great. Facebook has disappeared from my days and I feel like I have a lot of extra time. What to do with all of this extra time? Let's have the Architecture profs tell me...

March 17th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today has been an easy day. I'm getting so used to going the day without texting that I don't even think about it anymore. I thought it would take longer than just under three weeks for me to totally be immune to the texting curse! I spent most of the day in the architecture building and I'm finding that I'm getting a lot more done now that I don't have my cell phone as a distraction. I hope it keeps going

March 16th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today was such a busy day, I had my phone and laptop in my room. I got back to my room and never touched my phone once. I'm about to go to bed and I checked my phone to see if I got any important messages: No new messages... it's sad in a way haha

Wadsworth Ch. 9-10, RR #7

Chapter 9 is all about the process of constructing an argument. The very first step of constructing an argument is to for get a topic and then develop an argument to go with it. There will always be someone that is trying to go against your argument with a counter-argument. A counter argument is made to go against what you are trying to argue.

It is important to know nearly every aspect of your topic. Know the key facts that people may try to use for a counter attack. Be prepared. Some of the main points of the chapter are to develop a strong argument and making sure that you have enough information to back yourself up.

Chapter 10 is about finding evidence and how to go about putting it towards an argument. In order to have an argument, you need evidence that is more your argument. It supports your claims and gives reasons why your argument is correct and factual. It is very important to find strong resources that are valid and that can be used as support for your argument. I learned that not only should I be getting information regarding my opinion towards an argument, but I should also get information about the possible counter-arguments so I am prepared.

March 15th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today is my birthday and I woke up with roughly twenty messages. I didn't want to be rude so I replied to them all via text because I wouldn't of had time to call each and every person. First mistake in a while but I do not see it as a problem because it did not affect my academics in any way. Good day over-all

March 14th 2011 / Immersion Project

First day back to school and I've already been flooded with work. Looks like I won't have much time to be tempted to text.

March 13th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today is the last day of break. Really unfortunate but ready to go back. No problems with texting or non-academic websites. Just enjoying the time I have with family.

March 12th 2011 / Immersion Project

Not looking forward to going back to school but I'm getting close to my half-way mark; this project is almost done! I will admit that I typed a text message today asking one of my friends if he was busy tonight. I quickly realized how stupid it would be to send that text when I can simply call him. I did so and avoided ruining my text-free spree. Happy Weekend Everyone

March 11th 2011 / Immersion Project

Went over to my uncles house today and spend the entire day outside working on his farm. When there's work to be done, the thought of texting is no where to be found... correlation possibly??

March 10th 2011 / Immersion Project

Not much development since my last blog. Still going without texting and every non-academic website. Getting easier every day!

March 9th 2011 / Immersion Project

Today is my sisters birthday and I almost sent her a birthday text just like I have the past years. I knew that I would be seeing her this weekend so I thought a text would be fine. "Hey, stupid! You can't text," were the exact words out of my mouth as I canceled the text. So, instead, I gave her a call which got a good response. Apparently her day wasn't going so well and a call from her younger brother made it better. I thought to myself if a text would have done the job? Or would a text simply be a second distraction from the troubles of her day. While texting, the social aspects of human-to-human communication are lost.

March 8th 2011 / Immersion Project

I used my cell phone a lot today. Not to text but to call instead. I decided to see how many of the people that I text regularly would agree to talk on the phone with me. I called most of my friends and not many of them answered... which probably was due to the fact that all of the other colleges in Indiana are still in school and not on winter break. I got two call backs. Two of the twenty people I called had the decency to call me back: My friend Adam and my room-mate, Johnny. I think that speaks for them in a way. By having the decency to call me back that shows character and the desire to communicate by calling instead of texting. Want to know who your real friends are? Give them a call and see who you end up talking to.

March 7th 2011 / Immersion Project

My parents are at work today so I don't have a second pair of eyes making sure I am keeping away from texting and facebook. While writing this blog, my mom stated: "Not on facebook are you?" This whole no texting thing is just getting annoying if I'm going to be honest. I can't stand not being able to talk to someone immediately whenever I want to, to just have a simple chat. I could call people and do that, but I realized that most of the people I do text with regularly would have no interest in talking to me on the phone if I called them. Why are people fine with texting and letting the cell phone communicate with someone but when it comes to being personal...they refuse. Question to ask yourself.

March 6th 2011 / Immersion Project

I keep receiving emails and calls from people. In these countless emails and calls I get the same question: "Why are you mad at me?" I really have been thinking about this question and why people are so inclined to relate the absence of communication with the belief that someone is mad at you. People that use texting and facebook daily believe that this constant ability to connect with others is a way to determine your friendship status with those that you have the ability to connect with. If someone doesn't talk with you of course it is going to plant some curiosity in your mind but I still don't understand why people drastically make the assumption that if someone doesn't use texting or facebook to contact you, then they are mad at you.

March 5th 2011 / Immersion Project

SPRING BREAK 2011!... It's a terrible time to be without Facebook and texting... just terrible. I can't text any of my friends and a lot of my friends won't talk on the phone which I find slightly ridiculous. I spent most of my day with my phone in my pocket and surprisingly enough, I had so many things planned out that I never once had an urge to text until later towards bedtime when I usually have my spree of texting people. In a way it's a calming act that slows down my day and allows me to have conversations with multiple people. I miss that part. Being able to talk to more that one person at once. Especially since all my friends are still at school since our Spring Breaks are different. Saturday = Complete with no cheating.

March 4th 2011 / Immersion Project

I decided that I can't just hind my phone so I don't text. I need to learn how to control my urges and not just toss my phone out completely. Keeping my cell phone away from me turned out to be problematic since I missed a couple urgent calls from family members yesterday. So, it's final that I am going to keep my phone with me at all times and simply do my best to not text. Turns out that me saying all websites besides "educational websites" are banned was a very terrible decision! I thought that would only mean Facebook mostly. I forgot about other websites that I go to such as Stumbleupon.com... It's been difficult to keep myself from going to that website especially. I think that once the new week begins and I am on spring break, things will just get worse.

March 3rd 2011 / Immersion Project

Today was a difficult day. For some reason I always wanted to text. Since it had been two days, I guess my mind couldn't take it anymore--I needed to text. But, instead of texting, I quickly told me room mate to take my phone from me and to only give it back to me if someone calls that day. I couldn't trust myself. I spend most of my day working on projects in the architecture building which really kept texting off of my mind. All around, it was a successful day.

March 2nd 2011 / Immersion Project

I had to make a decision today. And I made the wrong one. I received a text message today from one of my friends back home asking when I was off for spring break. Instead of calling them and giving them the answer, I simply sent: "This weekend." As short of a message as it was, it was still going against what I had agreed to doing. Mistakes will happen in anything we try, but I was hoping it would take longer than two days to come to that situation. Any failure is going to be disappointing, but I'm just going to mark down my mistake and move on. I've already noticed a change in my productivity. We've all heard that time travels fast when you're having a good time. But really, time travels fast when you're thoroughly engaged with the topic at hand. In my architecture studio, I would manage building models and texting. My four hour studio session always seems so long and I now understand why: By alternating "texting" and building, my mind doesn't stay focused on what it should be focused on. When I kick texting out of the equation, my mind stays focused and time goes by more quickly. Now my cell phone only gives me the time; not a distraction.

March 1st 2011 / Immersion Project

I started out this immersion project very well. I woke up and immediately remembered that I wasn't allowed to text or get on any non-academic website. I was almost happy about it too. It was a chance for me to gain my independence back from these electronic obsessions. I did have many occasions where I would receive a text message, read it and then begin to reply. However, every time I caught myself in the act and stopped. I had to decided how to tell everyone that was texting me why I was ignoring them. I decided if people send me a text message, immediately after, I will call them and explain the situation. There were about sever or eight phone calls that I had to make. I then continued to tell them that if they wanted to talk to me, they could email me or call me on my cell phone... I haven't received any phone calls since then. Which gets me wondering: Are people texting because they want to talk to you? Or is there a different reason why people are so inclined to send messages but not call and verbally communicate.

RR #5 Chapters 6 and 7

Chapter 6 focuses on reading rhetorically and not purposefully. When reading purposefully, as the reader we have a goal in mind about our reading. When we read rhetorically, we begin to think about the context in which the article or book was written: Who it was written for, who is was written by and who the intended audience is. When reading, we should first quickly read over the text to discover the main point, then we should look further into it and look for the details. According to the book, the reader should be able to clearly explain the point of the text after reading it. If the reader can not state what they read, then they did not read enough of the text to fully understand it. The next thing discussed is paraphrasing, quoting and when to use them. When paraphrasing, you summarize the authors ideas and thoughts in your own words. When paraphrasing, you must also provide a citation of the text from which you received the information. When quoting an author, you must use quotation marks at the beginning and the end of the quote. Also, just as you did with paraphrasing, you must also provide a citation from which you received the information.

Chapter 7 says there are four things that you do with information you gather: Verify, copy, respond and fill in the gaps. When verifying, you are making sure that the source from which you received the information is a valid resource. When you copy information, you are using verified information towards your project. When you respond you discover what questions it answers and also what other questions it may bring up with new information provided. Lastly, filling in the gaps is gathering any information you need in order to create a valid statement or argument.

Sometimes it is difficult to know when you should quote someone or paraphrase something they have said. I knew the difference before the two when I read chapters six and seven but now I know more about them and how to purposefully use them in my writing. Learning how to use verifying, copying, responding and filling in the blanks as a resource to better papers was a definite learning experience from the two chapters.

Book Club Review

The beginning of 'No Impact Man" is a summary of why the author wants to go an entire year without producing waste and carbon dioxide. At first he wanted to write a book that involved telling people what they are doing wrong and how terrible of people they are for emitting too much carbon dioxide. Producing carbon dioxide is inevitable. Everyone produced it, even while breathing. But the author soon came to realize that basically telling readers that they are terrible people would not be a productive way of approaching the situation. As a fellow polluter, he decided that the best way to teach people about their harmful ways and how to solve them is to be an example. He will go a year without producing carbon dioxide and what carbon dioxide he does produce, he will counter with the elimination of others emission such as cleaning waste from a river.

Chapter two starts his long process. During his first approach to being a "no-impact" man, he failed miserably by using a paper towel to blow his nose. The first day. The first time he had to make a decision for the benefit of the planet. He failed. Then he realized something: "This is going to be hard." He went on with his day and came upon another problem. When grocery shopping, does he choose paper or plastic? He later figured out that a re-usable bag was the way to go. He was frustrated with himself because he doesn't know all that he needs to do. He needed to adapt as he learned what the right things to do were exactly. As he moves on through the process he and his family start to discuss what problems they will meet and what they have decided to do in order to lower their emissions.

Ch. 4-5, RR #3

     In chapter 4, Wadsworth explores how you determine what you know about your topic, identifying what you need to learn about your topic and developing a plan for finding any secondary resources that are available that will support any research you have completed thus far. There are two kinds of research: Primary Research and Secondary Resources. Primary research is when you go straight to the source of your topic to answer any questions that you still may have. A Secondary Resource, is when the information you receive about your topic, does not come directly from the primary source. The book goes on by helping the reader choose when they should use primary research or secondary resources by focusing on the audience, the topic/question and the author. Multiple types of resources are provided such as: Static, syndicated and dynamic. Also, there are three ways that texts are viewed: Edited, peer reviewed and self-published.
      In chapter 5, Wadsworth explored how to go about developing a research plan, what ethical considerations are important to keep in mind, how to interpret and present the results of primary research and when and how to conduct interviews, observations and surveys. According to Wadsworth, there are three types of primary research: Observations, Interviews and Surveys. Also, there are three methods of data collection: Gathering your data through your own senses, asking questions of one or more people in person and asking questions of larger groups of people. Double-entry journals are used in order for writers to keep their observations and analysis/responses separate.
     These chapters were very helpful when reading. When conducting research, it is important to make a list of what you already know about your topic and what you don't know yet, but need to know in order to write your paper. Writing down these items will not get the answers for you, but instead you as the writer need to come up with an organized and efficient way of coming up with the answers needed. Determining when to use primary research and secondary resources is now understandable. This only flowed over into chapter five when the book explored how to go about developing a research plan which was very helpful to me because coming up with a research plan has never been a practice I had acquired during research activities.

Wadsworth Ch. 2-3, RR #2

Chapter two focuses doesn't focus on step on how to write a paper, but the research and writing process instead. It covers the steps on planning and researching materials so that when you do need to start writing the paper, you have already began the planning for it. Chapter two explores four main points in the research and writing process: Myths about writing and research, classical and contemporary writing processes, basic research and comparisons of writing and research in different academic disciplines.
There are three myths provided: 1) You must complete each step in the writing process. This is a myth because it is not always necessary for the writer to cover each step in the writing process. Only do what is necessary in writing a paper. 2) Each step is equally important and time-consuming. This is a definite myth because in writing, not only are the steps not equally important but they also take different amounts of time to complete. 3) The steps are linear. There is not a defined way that you must go about using these steps in the writing process. A writer may jump from one step to another when writing a paper (Shown in Figure 2.3 on page 19)
When covering the foundations in Classical Rhetoric, five key terms are given: Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory and Delivery. These five terms construct available means of persuasion. 

In chapter three, the book explored three main points: Analyzing a writing situation, choosing a topic and focusing a topic by research question. The first topic covered in "Analyzing a writing situation" is the term: Kairos. Whenever communication is needed in a situation, the situation can be considered "Kairotic." The book continues to go and gives ways to take advantage of Kairos.
When considering the situation you are in, you need to think of related topics to your writing topic such as the purpose of your writing, who the audience is and the author of the book.
When generating topics it is best to first find out what you really find important. Finding a topic to write about is one of the most difficult steps in writing a paper. It's the first decision you have to make.     
     In my personal situation, coming up with my topic has always been the hardest part of writing a paper. I would never fully commit to a topic and I would always second guess the topic I did write about. It's best for me to start by writing down multiple topics that interest me. From there, I continue on by narrowing down my options until I come up with a couple choices that I feel are efficient. From there I can choose which topic I feel is the best one for my paper.

Engaged in Research

     Being interested in writing is not a common experience for me. Since I have never been the best at writing, finding a way to be interested in writing was always a challenge. However, last semester in English 103, I came to realize that in order to be interested in writing, I must be interested in the topic I'm writing about; and for the first time of my life, I was.
     The assignment was: Problem and Solutions of America. In this assignment we were told to approach a problem of America and give our solution to it. Since I got to choose my topic and I had the power to make it an interesting one, I decided to write about a problem in my major; specifically: Urban Design. My paper would cover the importance of transforming urban environments into an environment that would have the same characteristics of a village; trees, a community feel and detailed buildings, streets and accessories.
     Since this was the first time I had ever truly felt an interest in writing, I spent hours working on this project. I was able to use many of my books from my architecture classes as well and interview some of my professors. After multiple drafts and many hard-working hours, I created one of my best papers.
     After realizing that I could actually enjoy my time writing if I have a topic I can relate to,  I was filled with anticipation to see my grade. A few weeks later, that day came. I got a B. Just a B. Here, I thought this was one of my best papers ever and in my professors eye, it was barely above "average" work.
     I realized at that moment that this was a time for learning. Although I had found a topic that I considered enjoyable and spent numerous hours constructing what I considered my best paper, I learned that I didn't care that I received a B instead of an A. That was one person's opinion and I was not going to let that bring down my excitement towards this project. This was my best paper and I was confident in my approach.