Formulas

I'm not sure if my paper follows an exact formula. It is more of a mix of several of the formulas that we talked about in class. It has an introduction followed by a thesis or a statement of fact. Then, it goes into an expanded version of the body of the 3-part essay. Throughout the essay there are pathetic points that try to persuade the reader through their emotions. Lastly, there is a conclusion.

Issues Paper Thesis

A person who achieves a high standard of fame and world recognition has an obligation to their community. The more fame and recognition that a person or group obtains the greater the scope of their influence becomes.

I'm not sure if that's exactly a full thesis statement but it's the best way that I can phrase the idea that is bouncing around in my head right now.

RA Reflection

I really didn't mind writing the RA. I was used to doing papers like this in high school so I felt very prepared. I picked the Wal-Martian article and I think that was a good article for me. There were very specific examples that I could pick out of the text to use in my analysis.

I really liked how we did the peer editing this time around. I liked being able to see how several different people worked with their articles and to see their approach to the assignment. I feel like I got some really good feed back from the people in my group.

Doing OpEd before the RA also really helped me. In the OpEd we had to discover our voice and how we were going to make our own voice heard in our writing. I think that by learning that skill in the OpEd process I was able to carry it into my RA.

Altogether I liked writing the RA and I think I learned a lot from it.

Figurative Language in my Article

Diction is a main form of figurative language in the article "Wal-Martian Invasion." The author is very sarcastic and informal with her language. In order to bring about she uses words that over-exaggerate her point. Some of these words include: abysmally, engulfed, and ostensible. Personification is also employed to some extent in the article. The author describes Wal-Mart as this alien creature that is out to do evil while in all reality it is merely a company. Instead of making reference to the head leaders of Wal-Mart she makes jabs at the company as a whole, giving it these characteristic that are alien like. Overstatement is also all over the article. The whole article is a gross exaggeration and the author continually makes overstatements that not only dissuade the reader, but also, hurts her credibility.

RA Thesis and Body Paragraph

I chose the article "Wal-Martian Invasion"

Thesis: The article, "Wal-Martian Invasion" presents an ineffective argument to convince Americans that Wal-Mart stores, and their mass expansion, are an issue in our country today due to the informal diction, vagueness of examples, and excessive over exaggeration. Because of these faults the author fails to convince her readers that a change needs to occur.

Body Paragraph: Over exaggeration through the entire article fails to establish a sense of credibility in Enrenreich. Excessive exaggeration dissuades the reader of the point that Ecnrereich is trying to make. The reader has a hard time believing that she truly knows what she is talking about. Enrereich is giving her straight opinion and fails to back up her argument with valid facts from a valid source. "Earth to Wal-Mars, or wherever you come from: Live with us or go back to the mothership." By saying that the Walmart company and employees are from another world Enrenreich demonstrates that her view of the issue is too clouded by her own opinion to include actual facts and statistics about the issue. This diminishes her credibility as a writer.

OpEd Reflection

Over all I really enjoyed writing the OpEd. I liked that we could pick our on topic. That really helped me to be interested in what I was writing. I felt like the writing process that I used for this paper was the best that I've used so far and that this is also the best paper I've written in a while. I loved that it wasn't very formal. I was able to really put my personality into it and create my own voice.

The conference really helped me in my writing. Chris was able to see things that I never picked up on and if I hadn't had a conference I think my writing would have struggled because of that. However, the writing center did not help me. The tutor that was working with me was really rude. I could tell that she didn't agree with me and I felt that that created a bias. She was more picking on my opinion than my writing. She did have a few good points but it wasn't a good experience.

I think that my writing was greatly improved by working on this OpEd and I hope that what I have learned can carry with me into my other papers.

Claim, Reason, Assumption

Claim: The claim for my OpEd is that fast food is unhealthy and that options in the cougareat should be healthy options opposed to the unhealthy fast food options.

Reason: The main reason for my claim is that habits are formed in our youth. Healthy food choices need to be made now so that our futures are healthier and obesity can be avoided.

Assumption: I must assume that my readers are worried about their health now and in the future. I also must assume that the faculty of BYU are concerned about the health of their students and are willing to make a change.

A Little About Me

My name is Alyssa Dustin and I was born in Idaho Falls, ID. I lived there for the first few years of my life until my family moved to Vancouver, WA so that my dad could attend dental school at OHSU. After my dad finished dental school we moved back to Idaho Falls. I lived there until the age of 7, when we moved back to Vancouver so that my dad could start his own dental practice. I have lived there ever since. I love it there. It's so green and beautiful, however, it does rain for most of the year. I graduated from Union High School just about 3 weeks ago. At Union I was involved in several different activities. My main activity while in high school was swimming. I was a competitive swimmer from the age of 9 up until my senior swim season. I competed mostly in the 100 backstroke and the 200 IM (individual medley). This past November I place third in both these events at the district meet and went to state on the 400 freestyle relay. I was able to compete at state 3 years and was and alternate one year. I earned many recognitions from my swimming such as a varsity letter all 4 years and Academic All-American.

After finishing my senior swim season I became interested in CrossFit. I've been doing CrossFit for about a year now and I love it! CrossFit is a workout program and a way of life. It involves all sorts of exercise movements such as: lifting weights, pull ups, muscle ups, and much more. I'm looking for people to do CrossFit with me here at BYU so if anyone is interested or is already familiar with CrossFit talk to me! Someday, hopefully in the near future, I would really love to become a CrossFit trainer and be able to help others with their fitness goals.

I also have goals that pertain to my education. My major is undecided at this point, however, I do have interest in nutrition and dietetics. I would like to go into something medical such as dentistry or physician's assistant. I do tend to change my mind on what I want to do quiet often so for now I'm going to get some generals done and see what kinds of things I like and decide on a major later.

Some interesting facts about me are: I'm still 17 until July 12th. Also, I come from a family of 3 girls. I'm the oldest. My younger sisters are 13 and 10. Lastly, I love wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Not to brag but I'm actually pretty good at wakesurfing. It's so much fun and I love it!

As far as my OpEd I would like to write about an issue that has to do with nutrition and health on campus. A possible thesis is: On campus dining facilities such as fast food restaurants promote unhealthy eating habits. I looked around the cougareat today and noticed that the majority of the options for dining there are fast food establishments. I think that having all of these unhealthy options so readily accessible to students creates habits of unhealthy eating which, while we are young, might not have too much of any impact on our bodies but as we grow and leave campus will translate into an unhealthy lifestyle and obesity.