Blog 1

        Summarizing text is a crucial skill in writing because it allows you to pick out the key topics and concepts that the author is getting at.  Doing so without any bias towards the subject adds to your ability to describe how and why the author created the piece of writing.  I often think of it as a motive or what drives the author to write.  In some cases it can be difficult but with the right tools, it can be simple and straight forward.  What can also make it easier is breaking up the article approaching each section one piece at a time.  This takes away any confusion or any sense of being overwhelmed by the big picture of the article. As the course progresses, it will become important to analyze text to write various structured pieces of writing such as rhetorical, analytical, informative, or persuasive. Nearly every profession today requires some form of writing whether it’s straight journalism or simply emailing your boss.  As an engineer, it is critical to convey and report important aspects of design, functions, and processes to leaders or team members.  If the is a misconception or confusion, it can cause many problems and holdups down the road.  Learning about the individual rhetorical elements (ethos, pathos, logos) has enabled me to interpret and understand how advertisements use a specific element to appeal to the public to encourage them the buy their product.  

When reading an article about the top restaurants in a city from a magazine, I can connect ideas on why it was written, who was it written for, and how the three rhetorical elements made the article stand out. For example, this restaurant is expensive so it’s aimed for the wealthy; they describe the flavors of a dish by using words like bold, divine, full-bodied, and succulent. This is important because it allows readers to almost think like the author and go through the process of piecing together ideas and facts just as they could have.

         As a faculty member at Yale University, Todd Gilman wrote an article entitled “Combating Myths About Distance Education” to give advice and inform other educators about online courses.  He first explains how other university members and educators alike seem puzzled and doubtful when he would tell them he has taught or is teaching a non-face-to-face course.  That is due to the assumption that these courses are difficult to teach compared to traditional classes and require more effort.  The class outcome is not only decided by the instructor but also by the students who are enrolled.  Both sides must be prepared and responsible for deadlines, dates, and assignments.  Gilman also talk about the transition from a traditional course to an online course.  The key aspects he outlines in this section are organization and course design which are both important for maintaining strong communication as well as a streamlined webpage for navigation purposes.  He stresses to create a webpage where students can easily find material, dates, and notifications and ends with how important communication is because in online courses, students don’t have access to office hours or to meet in person.