“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”
-William Wordsworth
Strengths. Weaknesses. Favorite works.
“You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. ”
William Blake
My strength lies in my editing skills. I have never been great at creating content out of nothing, but once that process does get underway, I enjoy and thrive at revising my work. I like to revisit multiple times to create my final product. I also enjoy editing others’ works, and have others’ edit my work. The collaboration allows for new perspectives and points of view to create a more dynamic finished piece.
I believe my greatest weakness would be spelling and wordiness. Sometimes, I will get into a trance-like state when writing, and will not consider fundamental grammar rules. However, my skills in editing can help save me in the end.
My favorite works are small sonnets written in my private sketchbook. I am no artist, writing or otherwise, but occasionally I will have a spark of inspiration and something will appear in those pages I am very pleased with. Poetry is definitely my favorite genre to write in, and more specifically I like writing sonnets. The structure and rhyme schemes make it a challenge, similar to a puzzle, finding the right words and phrases to flow together seamlessly into a story for the reader.
Understanding Rhetorical Situations. With help from the Mad Hatter.
The Mad Hatter is a perfect representation of rhetoric. His round-about way of speaking leaves most audiences baffled, unsure of what exactly he is trying to say, but Alice comes along and listens as he speaks in riddles, also unsure of the right answer. The Hatter replies to Alice that he “hasn’t the slightest idea.” Though at first glance, one might think the Hatter is a bad rhetor, but he is just attempting to have his tea party guest consider the possibilities, consider a different way of looking at a situation and finding a new answer that was previously unseen. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to any rhetorical situation, the rhetor can only look at the situation from as many points of view as possible to consider all exigences for that particular situation. The goal of the rhetor should not be to convince the audience one way or the other, but to achieve higher understanding of the topic presented and to open the floor to continue the discourse in future settings.
In Black and Write 
I found your post very interesting and well thought through. I agree that adding a study would strongly enhance the effects of his argument because he would have proof to go hand and hand with his experience.
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Hello! This summary, even though confined by a word count, was quite intricate. You especially caught my eye with his kairos, as I did not know that at the time. How interesting! Very good job!
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I like that you brought up the amendment that was overturned. It was brought up right at the beginning of the article, yet I had quickly forgotten how this lead to so much conversation in his classroom. I also like your point of him being in an older generation than his students, therefore he has experienced and seen much more when it comes to his identity. I wouldn’t have thought of it like that.
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I appreciate how you included the notion that networked classrooms provide a safe environment for students to express themselves. I also appreciate how you included the socio-political environment of the time, which influenced Alexander’s point of view.
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(In response to the Alexander piece)
Alexander’s exigence is highly convincing and relevant, and I think that composition classes are uniquely equipped to deal with more complex issues, due to the interpersonal dialogue that occurs in them.
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