Portfolio wrtg2010

Writing 2010 Portfolio By: Larson QuickTable of Contents: ,[object Object]

Behavior Change Project, pages 5-10

Evaluation Argument: The True Cost of Oil Shale, pages 11-18

Repurposing Assignment, pages 21-23

Proposal Assignment, pages 24-31

Rhetorical Analysis: To Drain or Not to Drain, pages 32-37

Rhetorical Analysis: Lake Powell: Two Different Views, pages 38-41December 6, 2010 Dear Reader, The following is a portfolio containing various writings I have done. The purpose of this portfolio is to show the improvement that has occurred in my writing by taking WRTG-2010 at the University of Utah. The works included come from the assignments we completed during this course, as well as assignments from other classes. I am including five writing assignments from this course, they are: an evaluation argument, an opinionated article review, a repurposing of a past work, a proposal and a rhetorical analysis. Also included are a behavior change research paper and a rhetorical comparison I did my senior year of high school. These pieces of writing are included because they all involve rhetoric. The format of the portfolio will be a caption describing why the paper is included, then the paper itself followed by a works cited page. The variety of the documents I am including helps maintain the point that my writing has improved. The various genres show the different concepts I have learned and improved upon during this semester. I am focusing on a few different areas on writing in this portfolio. Persuasive writing, rhetorical identification, argument comprehension and, diversity in my writing are the different areas I will focus on. These different areas of writing and the documents they are contained in work to support my claim that I have improved as a writer this semester. In order to promote the diversity of my writing abilities and to show that skills from the WRTG-2010 course apply across various genres of writing I have included my behavior change project paper, the repurposing assignment and a proposal letter. These pieces of writing vary in genres, from a personal letter to a Power Point presentation. The purpose of rhetoric is to be able to convince others of something. Being able to use that rhetorical skill in various genres of writing is essential, thus another reason why I included those pieces. Other skills besides those of rhetoric were applied in these papers. Citing was also used in them, another skill I have improved because of taking this writing course. The ability to indentify rhetoric in writing is a skill I have been working on since my senior year in my high school writing classes. Through taking WRTG-2010 I have improved that skill. This is demonstrated by two pieces I have included in this portfolio. They are the last two documents to appear. The first is a rhetorical analysis and the second is a comparison of two different authors and how they use rhetoric. In essence the writings are very similar. They are even more similar because they are both based on the same essay. By showing an older piece of work and a new one I am helping to demonstrate progression. It is also interesting to see the difference in analysis. The most recently written one is much more in depth then the later. I am happy to see such improvement in my writing as it helps to keep me motivated. Comprehension of complicated subjects is an entirely necessary skill in higher education. I have demonstrated my possession of this skill by including the evaluation argument paper. In this paper I thoroughly researched a subject and presented it to an audience. In WRTG-2010 we were able to choose the subject that we wanted to evaluate. Choosing a subject that intrigued me was very important in my success of this assignment. I actually cared about the subject, making my research more enjoyable. The assignment was not like others, where you dread doing them. It was fascinating to delve deeply into an issue and then use the information found to write a paper. The freedom of this assignment as well as other assignments was a key part of my learning in WRTG-2010. Another assignment that allowed us free reign over the subject mater was the opinionated newspaper article review. This was one of the first assignments we had and most likely the shortest. I completed it fairly quickly but it was a good learning experience. I found an article that interested me and also had enough information to review. This assignment helped get the wheels turning and the momentum started for the larger assignments in the term. In conclusion, this portfolio is very good evidence to the improvement that I have experienced thanks to the WRTG-2010 course and my professor. Through the assignments I have seen growth in not only my writing but my way of thinking as well. I have become more aware of rhetoric that is used by others every day to convince me to do what they want. My skills as a writer can always improve, I plan to use this knowledge and the momentum gained from this course to improve my writing further. I plan to use this energy to pursue my academic goals in writing as well as other facets of higher education. Thank you, Larson Quick Behavior Change Project By: Larson Quick I am including a paper I wrote for a Healthy Lifestyles class. I am including this paper because it is of a different citing format, APA, and because it, like the papers I wrote in WRTG-2010, is meant to use Rhetoric to justify an action. This paper is a review of a behavior that I changed/added to my life. It includes scientific articles that support the change that I made. I used these scientific articles to justify that the behavior change I was making would actually be beneficial and worth my time. I used various strategies learned in WRTG-2010 to justify my action. I used reliable sources and included personal examples. This paper is to show that the skills learned in WRTG-2010 can be applied across a broad spectrum of classes as well as show that I am capable of formatting papers using APA citation. Larson Quick Behavior Change Project November 14, 2010 The behavior I choose to add to my life was meditation. I choose to engage in meditation for 20 minutes each day. I choose to add mediation because of its numerous health benefits, mentally, spiritually and physically. Meditation is not a hard thing to engage in, and it is easy to learn how to do it. Because of its relative ease and effectiveness, meditation was a very practical habit to add to my life. Other motives for engaging in meditation were the stresses I face every day and the chance that meditation gave me to look into myself and realize things that I need to change. Over 600 scientific studies back up the benefits of meditation. An article published by the Harvard Review of Psychiatry, authored by Elias Dakwar and Frances R. Levin also proves this point. In their article they provide two tables that explain the various benefits that have been found to be the result of different types of meditation. They reviewed three types of meditation, Transcendental, Buddhist and Mindfulness meditation. All of these kinds of mediation provided numerous health benefits to the person(s) who practice them. Meditation affected the practitioners multiple ways, physically, mentally and spiritually. Increased spiritual development was noted in all three kinds of meditation. The affects on the brain seem to be the most astounding. All three meditation forms physiologically altered the state of the brain, especially brain activity and brain waves. Buddhist meditation heightened persistent function of implicated brain regions as well as increased perfusion of certain brain regions and promoted neural plasticity. Transcendental meditation promoted neural plasticity, increased GABA, and increased coherence of EEG wave patterns, with alpha and theta predominance. Mindfulness meditation facilitated cognitive and behavioral changes and moved brain activity towards regions associated with calm, neutral appraisal. All of these effects on the brain lead to a calmer, more normal functioning brain. All the meditation forms studied also promoted coping mechanisms, reduced stress response, and normalcy in emotional function of the brain (Dakwar, & Levin, 2009). This article contributed to my behavior change strategy because I was able to learn what meditation actually does and when to use it. I was able to apply that knowledge to my life. An example of such a situation was a time when I was very stressed from school, because I knew that mediation promotes stress relief and coping mechanisms I applied that knowledge, meditated and fixed the problem. The second article I read was a study done to determine whether Brief Meditation or Sham (fake) Meditation was more affective in lowering heart rate and improving cardiovascular function. I was able to learn that brief meditation has greater affect on cardiovascular function. I applied that knowledge to my meditation sessions two different ways. The first by keeping them relatively brief, about 10 minutes each, 20 minutes total a day. The second being engaged in a methodical, “real” form of meditation. The study was conducted by Wake Forest University of Medicine and published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. The study consisted of 82 college undergrad students, 34 males and 48 females. They engaged in Sham Meditation and Brief Meditation Intervention, and there was a control group. The sham or fake meditation was added in order to prove that legitimate meditation techniques work. They meditated for an hour total of three days; each session was lead by an experienced instructor. The results were clear, engaging in Brief Meditation greatly improves mood, lowers heart rate, relieves tension and improved fatigue levels. On average Brief Meditation lowered heart rate by 5 beats while Sham Meditation only lowered it by 2. Tension and fatigue were given a rating from 1 to 18, and participants would rate themselves at the beginning and end of each session. The combination of tension and fatigue results proved that brief meditation works, by showing that the mean score for brief meditation was 29, while Sham meditation was 27. The control groups mean score was 26 (Zeldan, Johnson, Gordon, & Goolkasian, 2010). Article three was published in Professional Issues in Physiotherapy and was written by Neil Abell and David B. Wolf. This article examined a study performed on mantra meditation. This study took participants and tested the effectiveness of certain mantras on their meditation. The participants tried a variety of traditional Indian mantras; these were Sattva, Raja, and Maha. The participants tried all three mantras at different time periods. The most effective mantra in addressing problems with stress and depression was the Maha mantra (Wolf, & Abell, 2003). After reading this article I decided to change my mantra in my meditation to the traditional Maha mantra. By using a mantra I found it easier to maintain my state of meditation and I feel that my results improved. Because the different mantras are related to various aspects of life, I applied the one that would help me most at this period of time. A review of my journal from before and after implementing the meditation clearly shows a difference in my wellbeing. In my journal I recorded my state of well being every day. I did this recording at night and it was a summary of my mood throughout the day as well as how I felt when I was writing in the journal. Before I began meditation I had lower scores on my wellbeing, which I graded on a scale from one to ten. By the end of the process I was scoring high on the scale almost every night. There were some times when no matter what I did my state of well being was still low, usually because of personal choices that had disrupted my meditation. Only a few setbacks occurred during this process. These setbacks were days when I couldn’t seem to reach the proper state of meditation or when I had forgotten/didn’t meditate. These setbacks were seldom, and overall I learned from them. Learning from these setbacks was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole experience. As a whole the experiment went very well, and I am pleased with what has occurred. Currently, I plan to continue with meditation. The benefits that come from it are too great for me to pass up. I am very satisfied with the behavior change that I chose. For me it was the most beneficial thing I could apply to my life as exercise, diet etc. are already in their proper place. I plan to continue meditation for the rest of my life; whether that means the same type of meditation I engage in now is another question. As I continue to meditate and realize what I am capable of I plan on getting into more advanced forms. Meditation has brought me peace of mind in times when I thought it wasn’t possible, because of that this experience has been entirely beneficial. Works Cited Dakwar, Elias, & Levin, Frances. (2009). The emerging role of meditation in addressing psychiatric illness, with a focus on substance use disorders. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 17(4), 254-267. Wolf, David, & Abell, Neil. (2003). Examining the effects of meditation techniques on psychosocial functioning. Research on Social Work Practice, 13(1), 27-47. Zeldan, Fadel, Johnson, Susan, Gordon, Nakia, & Goolkasian, Paula. (2010). Effects of brief and sham mindfulness meditation on mood and cardiovascular variables. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 16(8), 867-873. The True Cost of Oil Shale Evaluation Argument By: Larson Quick The process of evaluating and understanding an issue is an important skill. Being able to present an issue and support a side is also vital. Learning more about both of these skills in WRTG-2010 has improved my writing. Aside from just learning these skills, actually using them in the process of writing a paper has helped me improve. I am including my paper titled The True Cost of Oil Shale in order to show that I have that skill set. This paper demonstrates that I am able to research a subject, create a claim and provide evidence to support that claim. Throughout the paper I use various sources in order to justify both sides of the issue. By showing both sides of the issue I am demonstrating the ability to thoroughly understand a subject and viably present it. Larson Quick WRTG-2010 Evaluation Argument The True Cost of Oil Shale As our nations requirement for energy increases and becomes more expensive, an increasing number of people are looking for an alternative source of oil. Oil shale and tar sands are both in the spotlight as potential energy sources. For almost a decade oil companies have been trying to invent a process to efficiently convert Utah oil shale and tar sand into fuel. Methods have been developed and are used in other areas to do such a task, but Utah’s oil shale and tar sand is different. In fact, the tar sand and oil shale available in Utah does not have water content. This turns out to be quite a roadblock to refiners, who will have to add large amounts of water in order for the refining process to be complete. Other areas of the world have successfully refined tar sand, such as Canada. The possibility of using oil shale is legitimate, but at what cost? This is where opinions become heated and the debate begins. The oil companies, Exxon Mobile and a slew of others, and entrepreneurs endorsing oil shale development, claim that they are capable of developing methods to refine sources efficiently. The oil companies seem to believe that because there is such a large deposit of sources we are almost obliged to use it. On the other end of the spectrum is Western Resource Advocates. They believe oil shale refinement in Utah should not occur because refining oil shale will use large amounts of Utah’s already limited water, it would be a poor energy return and creates large amounts of pollution. The Western Research Advocates is a group of people striving to protect the resources of the west, as the name of the group implies. They are not only involved in Utah but in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nevada as well. Is oil shale development a responsible choice for Utah at this time? The answer lies in a combination of many components. Much is at stake in this vital time, resources, money, land area, and water and air quality are just a few of things affected by this issue. The development of oil shale is not a wise choice for Utah at this time. Utah is the second driest state in the nation (Glick) and oil shale is water dependant. Many new and improved methods of power, that are renewable, are being produced and we have to remember oil shale is not bottomless. With these new power methods we do not need to develop oil shale. Aside from the fact that we should be getting our power from renewable resources (wind and sun), oil shale development is dangerous to the environment and human kind in many ways. The refinement process is also a new technology that hasn’t yet been thoroughly tested, so we don’t know its effectiveness, safety or environmental footprint, when applied on a large-scale basis. Oil shale is not a clean fuel either, and when burned it will contribute to our already poor air quality and carbon emissions. Oil shale development requires many resources to take place. Oil shale is dependant on water to be processed. Utah, and the rest of the western U.S., is already over using all its water as is and oil shale development requires and degrades the quality of water in six ways: mining, processing, energy production, workforce, refining, and reclamation (Glick). Mining requires water for road building and the construction of other infrastructure. The processing of oil shale requires water in order to liquefy the shale. Energy used to refine the oil shale, as well as build infrastructure etc. all require using water in power plants. Lets not forget all the workers who will need additional water for drinking, making food, and the all-important bathroom needs. The refinement, which takes place at a separate location at a refinery, requires water. The last water need would be reclamation. Reclamation would come after the development is over. No one knows how much reclamation would need to take place and in conjunction, how much water would be needed to help restore the areas affected. How much land we will need to disturb for the oil shale is unknown, especially because the deposit is so large. Though very large, deposits of oil shale are not bottomless. They do contain a vast quantity of oil, but the cost of mining and extracting this oil, as mentioned before, is devastating. Our needs for energy keep increasing, as well as the rest of the world. If we are to become a nation on the forefront of technology we need to wean ourselves off of non-renewable energy sources. Utah is embarking on the path to renewable resources; by 2025, twenty percent or more of Utah’s power will come from renewable sources (Brown). This is a great improvement, and the rest of the nation is taking action as well. With the energy coming from renewable sources we can resist the temptation to tap into unredeemable, irresponsible sources. Risks to the environment and man are also other things we need to factor in. Whenever you hear of oil shale the extraction process and refining are the only things you hear about. But what about the risks involved, both to humans and the environment at large? Since it is a new technology that hasn’t seen much usage safety of large-scale oil shale development is unknown. Much destruction of wilderness area will need to take place to mine out the oil shale. The water table will also drop because of the amount needed by the shale developers. The environment of North-Eastern Utah is fragile, and will take a long time to recover from oil shale development of any size. The recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico along with countless mining disasters should help remind us that any time we delve into the Earth for resources we are taking a great risk. A great example of this is Canada’s pursuit of tar sand development. “The problems associated with turning tar sands into liquid fuel are similar to those en- countered with oil shale: They are both a poor excuse for an industrial-age hydrocarbon. In the most productive Alberta sites, it takes 2 tons of tar sands to produce 1 barrel of oil. (Utah’s tar sands deposits are generally inferior to Alberta’s deposits in both quality and composition.) In other words, every time you put 20 gallons of gas made from tar sands in your car, you will have displaced at least 4,000 pounds of earth. And, like oil shale, tar sands require a tremendous amount of energy to heat the bitumen and turn it into a liquid” (Glick). Utah’s oil shale will have extremely similar affects because of its poor quality and low water content. Energy analyst Randy Udoll, of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA calculates that, “per ton, oil shale contains one-tenth the energy of crude oil…about the same energy as a baked potato” (QTD. In Glick). One-tenth the energy means a higher pollutant output. Carbon emissions are a hot topic these days, and for good reason. The greenhouse affect from these emissions is adding to an increase of our globes temperature. Burning more fossil fuels to power our energy needs is a dumb choice, especially when one looks at the facts. Dr. Adam Brandt, from Stanford University’s Department of Energy Resources Engineering, puts it into perspective for us. Oil shale retorting (the process that separates the components that are made into fuel from the shale) produces one and a half or more greenhouse gases then conventional oil (QTD. In Glick). This occurs through out the process of refining, upgrading, retorting and use in a combustion engine. The price of oil shale is too great for us to pay, but there are those who beg to differ. There are many people who believe oil shale is the answer to our energy crisis. A study by the Rand Corporation, a company that analyzes situations and comes up with solutions, “estimates 800 billion barrels of oil” (Bartis) is contained in oil shale, in the North Eastern corner of Utah. “That’s three times the number of Saudi Arabia’s oil reserve” (Horsley). With our current energy usage it would take around 100 years for us to deplete the oil shale supply. It is obvious that the resource is there. Because there is such a large resource just sitting there why wouldn’t we want to use it? At a time of such turmoil in the Middle East and with oil prices skyrocketing why shouldn’t we just develop oil shale and cut off our need for Middle Eastern oil? Technology to develop oil shale cleanly is being developed and will be complete very soon. These new technologies and methods will make developing oil shale almost harmless. The new technique involves heating the oil shale while it is still in the ground. A Utah based company, Red Leaf Resources inc., were the developers of this new technology. They claim to be able to refine the oil shale with no water, little pollution and virtually no vegetation/groundwater damage. Allowing Red Leaf to develop oil shale would create a large industry in North Eastern Utah. At a time when the economy is in the slumps it seems apparent that any new industry or job options should be developed. The oil shale industry would create a whole new economy in Utah at the same time as creating jobs. A quote from the Rand Corporation’s report on oil shale puts it in simple terms, “a multibillion barrel per day industry would also yield a few hundred thousand jobs in the shale producing areas” (Bartis). It’s clear that jobs and money are just what the economy needs at this point; oil shale is a possible solution to the problem. Oil is the largest conventional fuel source in the country and that being said there is obviously a large amount of money in it. High paying jobs would come from the oil shale industry as well as entry-level work. The government would also benefit via taxes, land leases and other contracts. The money both Federal and Local government would receive could be used to improve schools and the community at large. It is clear that there are many benefits to developing oil shale in Utah. In the end it comes down to a matter of vision. Bringing the facts together puts it into perspective. Will we decide to serve our current needs without much thought? Or will we ponder on what the future will bring and work to make the future great? Oil shale development and production should not occur. The reasons against oil shale are clear and outweigh the reasons for it. Remember what is at stake: the future. Keeping Utah a place that is clean and habitable should be our focus, this means stopping oil shale development. If we want our children to be able to have the water, clean air and recreational space they deserve, we need to think twice about developing foolish energy sources like oil shale. The future is in our hands! Let us remember the quote by the wise visionary Henry David Thoreau, “In wildness is the preservation of the world” and choose not to develop oil shale in Utah. Works Cited Bartis, James. quot;
Gauging the Prospects of a U.S. Oil Shale Industry.quot;
www.rand.org. Rand Corporation, n.d. Web. 29 Sep 2010. Brown, Elise. quot;
Utah's Renewable Energy Zone Task Force.quot;
geology.utah.gov/sep/renewable_energy. Utah Renewable Energy Zone, n.d. Web. 22 Sep 2010. Glick, Dan. quot;
Fossil Foolishness.quot;
www.westernresearchadvocates.org. Western Research Advocates, n.d. Web. 22 Sep 2010. Horsley, Scott. quot;
Squeezing Oil Out of Stones in the Rocky Mountains.quot;
www.npr.org. Nation Public Radio, 23 May 2006. Web. 21 Sep 2010. Op-Ed Review By: Larson Quick This was one of the first assignments we did for WRTG-2010. I am including it because it was a good skill practice. It was a short assignment where we read an Opinion Editorial in a newspaper then produce a summary of the rhetorical strategies used in the article. Before doing this assignment we talked about some of the basic strategies of rhetoric such as Pathos, Logos, and Ethos. I was familiar with those forms of rhetoric, but previously had a hard time identifying them in persuasive writing. This assignment helped me to understand the various rhetorical strategies and see them in action. Larson Quick September 4, 2010 WRTG 2010-09 Op-Ed Review Opinionated Newspaper Article Review Author and M.D. Joe Cramer writes about the relationships between parents and children. He writes about the especially difficult relationships that occur when a divorce, legal battle or other situation is present. His focus is on situations, which cause the child to be essentially by raised by “ Officer Krupke or Judge Judy” as Dr. Cramer writes (Cramer). Dr. Cramer compares the importance of the family relations crisis that seems to be occurring with other big events. The importance between the national debt and the scars left by neglect is just one of the examples he uses. His articles focus is on turning our attention away from the popular news stories and back to what matters, the family. This piece is composed using various rhetorical strategies. The genre is an Op-Ed piece. The rhetorical strategy of Pathos is used heavily in this piece. The author uses our sympathy toward children to help prove his point. His affective use of Pathos brings us deeper into the essay and makes it more personal. He uses examples of parent’s fighting/arguing, which is something the majority of people have experienced. By using an example that is applicable to everyone he shows that the problem is real and needs to be dealt with. Another factor that plays into the essay is that the author is a Pediatric Dr., someone who sees children and their parents every day. Because of his experiences we trust that he knows what he is talking about. Works Cited Cramer, Joe. quot;
Parental Conflicts More Harmful than any Disaster in the News.quot;
Deseret News 4 September 2010, Weekend Ed.: A17. Print. Repurposing Assignment By: Larson Quick I am including a copy of an assignment where we took a past writing assignment and repurposed/changed it in a major way. I am including this piece because it shows my ability to convert a paper to another form of media. I took an evaluation argument paper I wrote on Oil Shale and repurposed it into a Power Point presentation that could be understood by the average college student. The ability to change a somewhat complex paper into an easily understood presentation is a useful skill. This is yet another example of how a skill I improved in WRTG-2010 has improved my writing abilities. Larson Quick November 15, 2010 Repurposing Assignment Repurposing Assignment: Visual Write-Up The subject of oil shale development is very vast, and can often become confusing. To those who do not have a degree in Geology, aren’t interested in energy resources or have no knowledge of oil shale development, understanding the issues of oil shale development can be difficult. This problem is why I have decided to create an informative Power Point presentation to show the problems/issues associated with oil shale. My audience will be focused on the average college student ages 18-24. My presentation will contain both images and words in order to inform the audience in the clearest way possible. The presentation will address the issues associated with oil shale development, the effect the development will have on us (Utahans) and will present statistical evidence to back up the reasoning. The potential effect of oil shale development will be shown and what those issues entail. Statistical evidence will be presented from various credible sources. The issues that will be addressed will be the ones that affect my audience most. Because my audience is younger, the issues I will discuss will affect them and their future the most. Some of the issues with oil shale development that will be highlighted are: water usage, greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions, natural land destruction and the fact that it is a poor energy source. These issues are not the only ones, but the most pertinent and potentially devastating. Only the most important information on the subject will be in the presentation. Cutting out non-vital information will allow the viewer to learn the basics without all the confusion of unnecessary technical jargon etc. Condensing the information down also allows for faster delivery of the presentation. Shorter length will accommodate those with short attention spans and people with little time. Images will also be used to convey some of the message of the presentation, because we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. The images I will use will be relevant to the subject matter. I will use the images to depict stats, places, urgency and relevancy. Pictures of wilderness land destruction will help me to get the message across. A graph will also help the viewer to clearly see what the certain statistics in my presentation mean. The timeliness of the issue will also be proven by images of current situations. Before vs. after images will also be shown in order to provide a contrasting view into the issue. This way the viewers will be able to see for themselves the potential issues. The combination of both visuals and writing will help my presentation to be as effective and possible. The information contained in the writing will be further presented by images. Images especially appeal to my audience because they are used to seeing advertisement with images every day. The fact that they are accustomed to images pushes my presentation to contain multiple and diverse images. The Power Point format and images are what I deemed to be the most affective way of delivering my message. By using those formats I was able to turn a somewhat boring subject into an interesting presentation. The goal of the presentation is to educate, and by using images I was able to do so more affectively then if I was to only use words. The following is a link to the Power Point Presentation: Proposal Assignment By: Larson Quick Knowing how to use the skills of rhetoric in real life can be challenging, but once those skills are mastered they are very useful. In WRTG-2010 we practiced this skill by writing a proposal argument to a specific audience. I wrote a letter to fellow college students urging them to vote in the coming election. I used basic rhetorical strategies, including the use of statistics, to convince my audience to vote. By using proven methods of rhetorical writing my letter was much more effective then it would have been if I had written the letter with no method behind it. Larson Quick Writing 2010 Proposal Assignment Dear Fellow Student, As we enter this election season we are constantly reminded of the low percentage of college age students who vote. Utah itself has seen a large drop in voter turnout (Daley). It is clear that students aren’t voting. Such a low turn out from such an educated, creative and active group of people is surprising. The numbers are surprising, only 62% of college-educated youth turn out to vote (Tisch). Why is it that as University of Utah students we do not all vote? The resources are there for us. Volunteers from the ASUU, Republican Party and Democratic Party have been around campus helping students register to vote. We also have the opportunity to vote on Campus, and even vote early if we want to. As students, we have plenty of resources to encourage us to vote. If these resources aren’t doing the trick what would? As students of the University of Utah we should take pride in our independent voice and influence. Perhaps the easiest way to express your voice is to vote. By voting you are breaking out of the silence and letting your voice be heard. When we don’t vote we have no right to complain about the government, because we did not take the opportunity we had to influence it. We need to grow up as students, and start living in the real world by voting. There are many other reasons to vote as well. As students we need to vote because voting helps us develop who we are, it adds to our life experience, it forces us to make choices that influence the future and it also helps us understand our community. Many students also complain that they don’t have the time to vote. I agree that a small minority, legitimately don’t have time. Voting only takes about 10 minutes, a small fraction of time we could all find in our week. The solution to the low voting turn out from our demographic is simple; get registered, get educated and be heard! What good would going out and voting do if our vote doesn’t have any effect? The reality is our votes are important. College educated young people make up around 50% of the young adult population (Tisch). Imagine the effect we could have in any election. Thousands of votes would come from college students. These votes could be a big deciding factor in who will when an election. Because we, college educated youth, make up such a good portion of the population our votes really do have an effect. Our effect on the voting demographic is obvious, because we can have an effect, we are obligated to vote; luckily doing so is not hard or time consuming. As mentioned before, getting registered to vote is easy. Information, a registration sheet and even online registration is available online at elections.utah.gov. Getting information on the candidates, propositions, amendments etc. is important, and easy to locate as well. This information can be found at elections.utah.gov/2010 VIP/District3.pdf. Read through the candidates, learn of their affiliations, education, and previous positions, in order to find out who best relates to you and supports your values. Once you have decided which candidates to vote for, get out and vote! Where might I find a voting area one might ask? There are voting stations at most libraries, schools and city buildings, so finding a place to vote should be a piece of cake. The closest voting station to the University of Utah is actually located on campus. It is on the first floor of the Marriot Library, across from the café. You can also look up your voting area at www.votesmart.org. The University of Utah is a place of learning, and being a student means you are willing to take on and learn different things. If we didn’t wish to grow in some way we wouldn’t be in school. Voting helps us develop who we are as a person. It also influences us to further develop our morals and opinions. Everyone should want to discover who he or she really is and what he or she believes, so they can use that information to lead a happy life. We all need beliefs, though these beliefs can differ from person to person. Differences in opinion are bound to occur and are a good thing as they add some color to life. These differences make a government that is flexible and run by the people. Such governments are democracies. One of the greatest accomplishments of mankind is democratic government, for the people by the people. All of us at the U of U are under such a form of government. Therefore our life experiences are very related to the government and how it is run. If we choose to vote we shape what the future will hold and what will be available to us. By ignoring your right to vote you are lessening the impact you have on the future. The leaders we choose today will be the ones who define what happens tomorrow. There is more to voting then just choosing people to make laws, represent us etc. Being a part of something bigger than ones self is also a vital part of the voting experience. Voicing your opinion in the form of a vote and thus shaping our society, helps us feel part of something bigger then ourselves. Knowing that your opinion has helped shaped your future is satisfying. Even if your candidate does not win, you still contributed and showed your support. And as a side note, there is always next election. Staying involved with politics in between elections is good to do, though not everyone has the time or commitment. If nothing else get out and cast your vote, after all it’s your future on the line. When you think about the future what do you see? Do you think its possible for your future to be how you want it if you don’t make any decisions? The answer is no. Life is full of decisions, some more important then others. These important decisions are usually the ones that will influence our lives greatest. When you vote you make a decision between various options. Each one of these options, if chosen, will have an effect on the future. Being sure that you are properly educated becomes very important at this point. Do some research, find out what you believe to be the best option, and then vote for it. Taking a proactive step like this makes other life choices less stress full. Remember your immediate community and the nation as a whole are affected by our vote. The world is full of billions of different communities. As a person you are a part of some sort of community. Understanding the community you live in can be difficult sometimes. Doing research before you vote exposes you to the issues of the area, the potential leaders and the values that your community has. Being exposed to those things will help you better understand your community. For example, the community living in Sugarhouse most likely has different values, leaders and problems then the community of Holladay. These two areas differ in population, size, income, and many other things. All of those factors contribute to the community, thus creating diverse communities even though they are relatively close to each other. Remember, the small amount of time we invest now will greatly affect the rest of our lives. Time constraints are possibly one of the most common excuses used by students as to why they don’t vote. Voting in itself only takes about 10 minutes. Researching candidates can be time consuming, though it doesn’t have to be. If you visit the website, elections.utah.gov/2010 VIP/District3.pdf, short and concise profiles are available for each candidate. Using this resource will make the whole process take less time. Another tip to lessen the amount of time you spend in the voting process is to be wise of your voting location. Something you can consider is to vote early. This is available at the Huntsman library on the first floor, by the café. Early voting is available to anyone who is currently registered to vote. As an added bonus, early voting also saves the county money, a vital thing in these tough times. There are many advantages to student voting, so it is hard to object to an issue such as this. Getting students to vote is very important and many people put a lot of time into making it a reality. The two alternatives to my proposal are not voting or being forced to vote. Not voting is sabotaging yourself, and can even benefit those who you don’t support. Being forced to vote is not a pleasant alternative. Forcing people to do things is taking away freedoms and it also degrades the experience. There are those few who could benefit from the lack of teens voting. Those candidates whose agenda does not really fit well with the student agenda might benefit if the student doesn’t vote. Also, “newer” issues such as abortion, legalization of Marijuana and environmental laws are very pertinent to students. If students don’t vote laws regarding those issues will be passed without the input of those whom the laws affect most, us. An alternative proposal is that students are forced to vote. Obviously this would increase the turnout, but is it a good solution? It is not because when people are forced to do something they generally don’t take very much time to learn about it or take any interest in it. Because of that reason many students wouldn’t take the opportunity to vote seriously. Voting would become a mere distraction from life, a chore in a sense. Forcing people to vote would not be a good alternative. These are the two alternatives to my proposal, not voting or being forced to vote. By choosing to vote by your own accord you are proving that we as students have an impact. You are also demonstrating the fact that we are responsible citizens, ready to enter the real world. Because we choose to vote there is not a need to be forced. The respect and impact of students will become more real with an increase of student voters. Lets all work together to increase our turnout this election! This election season get out, get educated and vote! Remember that you make a difference. Our choice is whether to vote or not. I encourage you to do the proactive thing and vote. The influence of the student community will be strengthened and felt by the rest of the community because of your action. By establishing ourselves as an influential part of society we will gain more respect and credit for shaping society. Instead of watching your third episode of South Park that day, go vote. An education is more than going to school. It is living life. When we vote we are living life and becoming responsible citizens. The message is clear, get out, get educated and vote! Thank you for your time. Sincerely, Larson Quick Works Cited Daley, John. quot;
Early Voting Begins.quot;
Deseret News 19 Oct. 2010: n. pag. Web. 26 Oct 2010. Tisch, Jonathan. quot;
Youth Voting.quot;
www.civicyouth.org. C.I.R.C.L.E., n.d. Web. 1 Nov 2010. Rhetorical Analysis By: Larson Quick I am including this piece as a comparison to a similar piece I wrote during my senior year of high school, which is included following this piece. This work is much more organized, developed and thought out. A more clear understanding of rhetoric that was gained through WRTG-2010 can be seen as compared to the other paper. My sentence fluency has also increased. This paper is also much more professional then the following, as it has proper MLA citation, another skill learned from WRTG-2010 that has improved my quality of writing. Rhetorical Analysis Larson Quick WRTG 2010-009 To Drain or Not To Drain Emotions run high, on both sides, whenever draining what Edward Abbey calls a “graveyard”, is mentioned. In the popular essay Damnation of a Canyon, outspoken wilderness advocate Edward Abbey delves deeper into the issues behind the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell. His witty writing style and vast knowledge of environmental issues plaguing the Southwest are key pieces in engaging readers in his work. Abbey confesses to be a “butterfly chaser, googly eyed bleeding heart and wild conservative”, alerting readers to his potential bias in the matter. Although he has such a bias, many from both sides of the spectrum have continued to read his works. A summary of the work in question follows. In order to make his knowledge of Lake Powell, before and after damnation, Edward refers to his previous experiences. He then tells of his experiences involving the canyon before and after it was corked. Some of the many negative physical affects of the dam are then mentioned, such as the “bath tub ring” which fluctuates with the water levels. Other losses are brought to attention: loss of wildlife, side canyons, springs, streams and natural pools. In order to make his essay less biased Abbey mentions the opposing views and justifications of the dam. Improved recreation, revenue, access and electrical power are some of those reasons. Abbey then moves on to refute all of these reasons. The cost and ease of seeing Glen Canyon is mentioned. He goes on to state that what you could once see in a 40 dollar raft must now be seen through much more expensive means (power boat or tour), with much more hassle. In conclusion the author gives a basic summary of the scenario of a drained Lake Powell. A drained Lake Powell would be somewhat of a wasteland, speckled with garbage, sunken boats and debris and “skeletons of long-forgotten, decomposing water-skiers” as Abbey humorously states it. He estimates that in 30 years Mother Nature would give us back what we lost by damning Glen Canyon. In Damnation of a Canyon, Edward Abbey uses the classic rhetorical strategy of writing with authority or Ethos, delivers many legitimate and well thought out reasons, and makes us desire what was destroyed by the Glen Canyon Dam in order convince us that Powell should be drained. All of this was being written at a time when much debate was ensuing about damning rivers. These components combine to form a compelling and convincing essay. Using the rhetoric of Ethos is commonplace in most opinionated and/or persuasive essays. Damnation of a Canyon is no exception. Edward Abbey uses his experiences with Glen Canyon in order to affirm his authority on the subject. Having spent much time in Glen Canyon before the dam and having worked as a Park Ranger on the newly built reservoir, one could say that Abbey’s authority is justified. The majority of people who read his essay never saw or knew Glen Canyon before it was damned, so we must trust his judgment and authority on it. On the other hand most of the people who read the essay have seen and used Lake Powell, probably enjoying the time they spent there. Abbey’s other experiences with wilderness issues strengthen his authority, biased though it might be. Our lack of experience with the free flowing Glen Canyon leads us to rely wholly on Abbey’s descriptions and opinions. He also has the fact that he is a successful writer and nature conservationist on his side. All the problems that he has addressed over the years are as important or more so then the dam in Glen Canyon. The wisdom he gained from other issues is respected and he is accredited with supporting a good amount of environmental movements, such as tree spiking, Monkey Wrenching, and the preservation of the Southwestern desert. Many legitimate reasons are stated by Abbey to support his point of draining Glen Canyon. The first is that by filling the dam much recreation potential was lost. This statement is proved by land area, canyons, pools, springs, rivers, Indian ruins, amphitheaters, cliffs, and natural bridges etc that were lost. Instead of those things we now have a large body of water, cliffs and a few “sterile” beaches. Seemingly quite a loss when the two scenarios are compared. Especially when put into Abbey’s words “...the difference between life and death. Glen Canyon was alive. Lake Powell is a Graveyard”(Abbey). The second reason is that, before the dam, a person could see the canyon “with a minimum of seven days time…and the capitol outlay of about 40 dollars”(Abbey). Now if you wish to see the canyon you must either rent a powerboat, own a powerboat or take a tour with a set agenda. All three of these options are much more expensive and take away from the experience according to Abbey. We cannot forget that when someone buys a raft they keep it, making future river trips possible for even less money. What about food the reader wonders? Well the author covers that as well by mentioning the delicious channel catfish that were overly abundant in the river. One can see that all of these reasons and surely many more can be made to support Abbey’s claim. The vast majority of Americans never had the chance to float the pre-dam Glen Canyon. Abbey was lucky enough to be able to do so. The great amount of detail he gives about the canyon makes the reader desire to go experience the things he refers to. Love for the canyon is also expressed in the way that Abbey speaks of it. If he loved the canyon so much the reader also assumes that they would love it too. Because of this desire to see and experience Glen Canyon, Abbey plants a desire to drain the reservoir and return it to its natural state. The unique environment that was present in Glen Canyon is yet another reason why draining it would be beneficial. It was pristine wilderness and could return to that state with a little help from Mother Nature. All of Edward Abbey’s facts, stories, descriptions and convincing strategies weave together to form a convincing essay. He also states opinions about American energy usage that seem to target those who are concerned with the power production of the dam. Though he does not go into much detail developing this argument, he does make us feel guilty for needing so much electrical power. His phrase from the essay, “as the nations establishes a way of life adapted to actual resources and basic needs” (Abbey), is used to convince us that we should cut back on our power usage. Thus making the power from the dam less necessary. Another reference to American culture occurs when he refers to the fact that Rainbow Bridge is now more accessible because of the high reservoir level. Because of the easy access now every one can see the bridge, heaven forbid they have to hike 6 miles, as was the case before the dam. This is a stab at the laziness that has taken over a substantial number of Americans. These two other arguments are not very developed but help Abbey to illustrate his point. Damnation of a Canyon helps open the readers eyes to the affect dams have on a river system as well as the public. By reading this piece we become much more educated and probably gain an opinion on this popular issue. Because of those two things, Abbey’s essay is a success. Aside from forming an educated opinion on dams, readers are also prompted to contemplate our level of laziness and our energy usage. All of the issues contained in this piece are very common in work by Edward Abbey. Works Cited: Abbey, Edward. Beyond the Wall: Essays from the Outside (Damnation of a Canyon). 1st ed. 1 vols. Markham, Ontario: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 1971. 95-105. Print. Rhetorical Analysis of Two Different Views By: Larson Quick I have included a rhetorical analysis I did during my senior year of high school in an Effective Writing class. This class first introduced the concept of rhetorical strategies to me. I am including this document to be compared with the previous one. Both are rhetorical analysis, and they are both based upon the same subject, Damnation of a Canyon by Edward Abbey, though this piece also includes analysis of a separate piece by Wallace Stegner. By comparison you can tell that the concepts I learned in WRTG-2010 have helped me to better understand rhetoric in writing. I have also improved in my grammar use and sentence fluidity. The document is in pdf. Form, please scroll down to the next page to view document.

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