Academic Writing: Email Draft

Dear _________,

My name is Nicole Cohen, and I am a student at Antioch University. I’m currently working on a writing project for my Academic Writing class. I am contacting you in hopes of setting up an appointment to interview you and to learn more about your organization, ____________.

Having my concentration in the Communications field, I feel as though I could really benefit by learning more about how your organization works and interconnects proficiently. I am excited to hopefully have a chance to meet with you to discuss the way you use writing to communicate effectively.

Any information or artifacts you can give me will help me in my quest to better understand forms of communication, and why writing is necessary for an organization such as your own would be more than appreciated. If you are open, I would like to meet with you some time this month. I really appreciate your time. Feel free to call or email me.

Thank you,

Nicole Cohen

702-374-2435

Ncohen1@Antioch.edu

Compare & Contrast

      When I was first trying to decide which books to chose I was stuck. I soon remembered a Netflix documentary I had watched a couple years ago with my roommate by the name of Mortified Nation. This documentary is all about digging up adults embarrassing journal entries from when they were younger and reading them in front of a crowd in a comedic style. The genres and conventions of all three of the journals I chose are adults reflecting on their journal entries from when they were young and naïve.

            Rewriting Romance by Alexa Alemanni was the first journal I read from Mortified the book. When you look at this journal entry as a whole it looks like a small cluster of drafted letters. Each time the author wanted to reply to a letter from the boy she had a crush in acting summer camp she would write-out draft after draft until she had it just right. Analyzing each of the letters was actually very interesting some letters would give a true representation of how she actually felt about this boy, whereas other letters were very right to the point and emotionless I think this was done like this to show that even though the author had all of these feeling for this boy she needed to suppress these feelings in order to develop a relationship with him.

            The second journal I found was also from the book mortified. The first three things shown before getting to the journal entries are a picture of the writer in a heart shape and the title “The Biblical Sense”. The next picture is a religious quote “The beauty of gods love fills all my days with joy!” The final picture is the author possible still in high school. From the surface level of this journal it’s very easy to assume that the writer is a very religious person whom most likely journals about her religious experiences. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover would definitely come into play for this situation. For each journal entry there is a date meaningful for the author to vent about her sexual frustration. The frustration mostly dwelled down to being faithful to her religion but also wanting to experiment with boys. What all of this tells me is that the author used this journal as her escape and venting tool for when she was stuck in a world where she could not express her thoughts without severe judgment.

The last journal I dissected was one I found online, called The Diary Project. A Russian girl, who grew up in New York, created this blog. She kept a journal since she was 8 years old. The author has uploaded all of entries on to her blog and added a little commentary section where she reflects on what she wrote when she was younger. I read an entry from April 1996. Her journal makes me feel as though she is trying to set the record straight. In 1996 her younger self wrote about how optimistic and positive she was after getting her heart broken, but now present day, year later she is coming back with more experience and confidence to state that the original feeling she wrote down were there to make it sound like she had it all together even though she has distinct memories of falling apart.

            What many people do is try and put the perception out that they are cool calm and collected. Through these journal entries there is an insight on the true feelings that love can bring about. In The Biblical Sense, the author didn’t try and give off the cool calm and collected vibe. Although that vibe might not have been picked up in her writing it was a perception she was giving off to the rest of the world outside from her journaling. All three of these journalists used their journals as a great escape. They couldn’t express their true emotions so they used journals as a way to cope and get through the emotions that have been suppressed. 

            Even though all three of these Journals had a theme of reflection and understanding love, each approach was very different form of writing. Biblical Sense created a stream of journal entries from every other week while Rewriting Romance was the most unique because her entries were all letter drafts.

            I chose the convention type of reflection because one day I think it would be amazing to look back in my journals of forgotten memories and to truly be able to perceive the entries for what they really are. Journals are like time capsule and it’s amazing to see growth and development over the span of a life time.

Academic Writing 310: Reading Reaction #2

Crafting Electronic Messages Chapter 7:

Our world is becoming more and more digital everyday.  With new advance we are so used to having things and receiving things instantly. Businesses are being to more frequently use instant messaging in a formal setting. I think that this is a more effective way to get a quick response back in our fast pace world. I found this article to be very helpful and informing on social media sense it can at times be very overwhelming.

Writing Routine and Positive Messages Chapter 8:

With any product there is going to be different levels of knowledge that comes with it. I have personally found that the FAQ section on websites –that I purchase items from—is generally very helpful. Being able to get feedback from the company that you’re investing your time and money into is the key to receiving customer loyalty and it ensures they will most likely buy from your company again.

Communication between the company and consumers is so vital for the company growth and for a company to get great reviews and positive feedback. I found it interesting how companies and utilize feedback to help make their product even better and correct any flaws. I found it interesting how companies spend so much time making sure there are no errors in their messages. I have been in situations where I rush and make mistakes and my message comes out seeming unprofessional. This was a great reminder to make sure I take the time to make my messages more professional

Understanding Rhetoric:

I’m always a fan of the Rhetoric comic so I was excited when I saw that in our readings list again. Rhetorical statements are everywhere and they work as identities, weather it’s a business suit or a comic t-shirt, it can all make a statement about the person who is wearing them. We can tell what different social role someone plays based on what the chose to wear.

Personal Journal 339: Reading Reaction #2

How to Read Like a Writer:

This was a very interesting passage to read. I feel as though we are so used to hearing that we must read and then reflect on what we read, but here the author is stating that we can actually learn different writing styles and adopt them to our own style of writing to help us grow as writers. Instead of reading to understand ideas, we can actually just read to understand a piece of writing. I personally feel like I can use this way of thinking often. To get inside the authors head and analyze their writing style can help me understand different types of techniques and improve my own writing style. This would be a completely new way for me to read because I’m very used to the traditional reading and analyzing styles. I think it might be challenging just because I’m so used to getting inside the authors head looking for ideas on their writing but not to actually understand why the wrote something the way they did. I’m excited to give the RLW a try!

Pay Attention:
In this Chapter when Rubin describes how when she multitask it takes her away from present experiences I instantly thought how every time I’m at dinner or even just simply talking with friends, there is always the rude interruption of the cell phone. I am also extremely guilty of over using this multi-tasking device. Reading this chapter was definitely a friendly reminder to be more present with the people in our lives. Part of creating mindfulness is to stop just going through the motions of your day and to really take time and be aware of your actions. To me, this is a very important thing that I'm going to incorporate more of in my life.  

Academic Writing 310: Reading Reaction #1

Understanding Rhetoric:
Okay, the comic style reading was beyond cool. I was expecting the traditional format and this was a great surprise. I like how they used the layout of the book to show an example of rhetoric and to prove that writing can be in any kind of space or place. There's all different types of writing from something personal like a text message, or a paper that you might be assigned to write by a college professor. Whatever the writing situation maybe it has it's own demands. This specific section of the book stuck out to me the most because I didn't look at writing in that way before.
Everything's an Argument:
The style of this book might be less appealing but I thought the content was still very interesting.When you hear the word argument carries a negative affiliation along with it. I was pleased to discover the invitational arguments and the Rogerian arguments. Both of these types of arguments are actually a very positive and sophisticated ways to have a discussion.

Personal Journal 339: Reading Reaction #1

The Happiness Project: "Getting started"

 Probably my favorite out of all the reading! As a successful full time writer with a great family and well off husband and living the Upper East Side, its hard to imagine that that person would be searching for more happiness. Reading the first chapter was very enlightening. Everyone is on their own adventure in life and just because a person has a lot of awesome material items does not mean that they are eternally fulfilled with happiness. I liked how the writer organized her thoughts by making the 12 commandments and challenged herself to new goals to tackle for every month. This chapter made gave me new ideas on organizing my personal journal. Working hard to make yourself a better person can benefit yourself and the others around you so much. Instead of waiting for something bad to happen to make a big life change you can start now, and if that bad thing does happen it will be easier to adjust and cope.

The Happiness Project:"Aim Higher Work"
This was an easy chapter to relate to, especially because I was working with my blog in the midst for reading it. I like how there is a constant theme of the author organizing her writing. In this section I thought it was brilliant how she took one of her "Secrets to adulthood" (Ask for help) and created a strategy group with two others. It gave me a nice little reminder that even the best of writer ask for help and that it's not a sign of weakness but more of sign of growth and maturity. 

Writing Down the Bones:
I  took the most notes on this reading. There were so many helpful tips that I felt related to me so well. I loved the analogy of training yourself to love running and how after some forced repetition you can cancel out the voices and excuses and just get it done. It's so interesting to think that writing works the same way. I love Goldberg's theory of creating a page in your notes and writing down random thoughts or stories and how that can help you write when you've hit a mental block. I've realized that my best writing happens when I don't think to much about what I'm actually writing and just go for it and let the words flow. Goldberg gives examples of her own work and explains that when writing she normally has many spelling errors and ignores the margins and just let's her writing flow, which I believe is exactly how writing should be 

Biscuit Manufacture: 
For me this reading started off a bit odd, I couldn't quite grasp where Bottom was going with all of this "Biscuit" talk. I didn't think I would enjoy this section as much as I did. I loved the humor and I thought it was an interesting take on how biscuits were actually designed to fill psychological yearnings.

Overall I enjoyed each one of these readings and felt like I could either relate or learn from them.

About me

Hi there,

       Writing these "about me's" are always kind of awkward, so bare with me. I'm Niki, I'm a city girl from Las Vegas, NV and no I didn't grow up in a hotel and unfortunately my mom is not a showgirl. I grew up in a little suburban community about 20min off of the strip, called Summerlin. I moved to Santa Barbara 3 years ago on a whim and haven't regretted that decision once. Moving to a small beach town and not knowing a single person was the kind of fresh start I craved. I loved growing up in Vegas, but the heat definitely limited my outdoor options. Now I'm outside every chance I get whether it be sun bathing on the beach, hiking, or paddle boarding; it all beats the 110 plus heat in Vegas during the summer months.

      I attended SBCC for the past 3 years, and I had no idea what I wanted to do my first year there. It wasn't until spring semester of my second year when I took Intercultural Communications with Tina Kistler (A professor also at Antioch) that I truly started to realize what direction I wanted to head into. I fell in love with the course and her teaching style as well. It was definitely a "kill-two-birds-with-one-stone" situation because her class lead me to discover my concentration in the Communications field and also helped me find Antioch. My interests are now in radio, PR, and mass media. Four years ago, I was on a completely different track with a completely different mindset so it's really amazing to see how far I've come and I'm excited to see what the future has in store for me as far as my personal and professional life. 

       Some other things that interest me are food and traveling. 

Food has always played a huge part in my life because my dad is a chef, so growing up, I would always cook and bake with him. It wasn't until I moved to Santa Barbara that I fell in love with Hippocrates concept of, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Living in Santa Barbara has taught me how to live a healthy lifestyle and treat my body with respect. I've been vegetarian for the 3 years I've lived here, and that change alone has had such an astonishing impact on my body, mind, and soul. I'm hoping I can somehow find a way to incorporate my passion for healthy cooking with my concentration. During my free time, I'm always researching health food articles or looking up new recipes and having all my friends and roommates try my new creations. Cooking is only fun for me if I get to share it with others, so I'm sure at some point I will be bringing my healthy spin on cupcakes or cookies into class! 

      One thing that every college graduate has shared with me is that studying abroad is an amazing experience, and those who weren't presented with the opportunity of studying abroad have really regretted it. So, the pressure is on with this being my last year and all. I'm looking into some study abroad programs for spring, but if all else fails my big plans for post-graduating are to go backpacking through Europe with my mom. 

    Though this is just a tiny bit about myself, I hope you guys got an idea of my interests and hobbies. I'm really looking forward to getting to know everyone this semester, and I wish everyone the very best of luck!