From Academia to Social Media

I researched Jocelyn Hollander for this blog post, she's a published author from the latest issue of Gender & Society I obtained. She and C.J. Pascoe wrote the essay, "Good Guys Don't Rape: Gender, Domination, and Mobilizing."

I was able to find Hollander on linkedin and facebook.

She has a very professional persona, but allows some of her personal interests to be shown public. On her facebook, her profile pic celebrates marriage equality, she follows very liberal and social-justice oriented people, and is interested in sociology, community, and gender-related groups. Her linkedin shows that she has had a very good education from well-known schools, and has obtained a Ph. D in sociology, so she's credible.

How does their persona on social media differ from their persona in the pages of the academic journal?

I couldn't see her facebook posts, unfortunately, so I haven't seen writing besides the pages in her academic journal. In, "Good Guys Don't Rape: Gender, Domination, and Mobilizing," the writing has sophisticated language, makes use of question and answer style, and has a liberal, feminist bias, but remains factual.

startupstockphotos.com. "person woman laptop" 2/15/15, via pexels. CC0 License.

Academic Discourse & Genre

For this blog post I skimmed through the journal issue and analyzed the different genres and their conventions and purposes.

Genres:

1. Introductory/Opening Article from the Editor-

"Transitions" it explicitly says "As I write this, the editorial team and I are preparing the first issue under my editorship. We are in a state of transition from one editor to the next, from one issue to the next."

2. Essay-

ex: "Good Guys Don't Rape: Gender, Domination, and Mobilizing Rape" it is formatted similarly to an article, the main difference being the headings and diagrams. The essay does not have any tables or images of statistics, it has indented paragraphs and is cleanly sectioned off by the headings "Gender," "Domination," and "Mobilizing Rape." There is no abstract, just an introductory.

3. Letter-

ex: "An Open Letter from Black Women to the Slutwalk" it is simple and straight to the point; there is an introduction, a subheading labeled, "The Issue at Hand" and one other subheading labeled "What We Ask."

4. Book Review-

ex: "Book Review: Mobilizing Piety: Islam and Feminism in Indonesia by Rachel Rinaldo" It differs from articles and essays because, "There is, of course, no set formula, but a general rule of thumb is that the first one-half to two-thirds of the review should summarize the author’s main ideas and at least one-third should evaluate the book." (Book Reviews, Indiana University)

5. Article-

ex: "Women in Power: Undoing or Redoing the Gendered Organization?" it has headings and subheadings, article notes, diagrams (statistics and graphs)

Figure 4

Purpose and target audience of each genre-

Opening Article From Editor: To explain what will be addressed in the rest of the issue's content and why it was chosen. The typical viewers of their journal, but also people interested in the absurd rise of rape happening left and right.

Essay: The multiple essays all have their own themes because the editors of Gender & Society reached out to several professors and authors who study/research different subjects (i.e. sociology, law) in order to get different perspectives on the issue of rape. All of the essays have the goal in mind of theorizing rape from their focused/speciality area of study.  I think the target audience depends on each essay's theme, but I think rape affects everyone, and therefore, the message is meant to be relayed to the people who might even least expect it.

Letter: The purpose of this letter is to show what social change and protest can do on the issue of rape. The letter's target audience is all women, but also American society.

Book Review: The book reviews do not relate to the theme of the journal's February issue (theorizing rape), necessarily, but the books are all related to gender and women's studies. I think their purpose in the issue is to critique and recommend books that readers of "Gender & Society" might be interested in. The target audience are all of the readers of the journal.

Article: The article's purpose is to encourage women leadership and shows the benefits to it- that it could lead to a decrease in gendered segregation in the workforce. The target audience is young women who can make this difference/change, or organizations/management who need to accept the change and facilitate it.

Report on My Interviews

What are the most significant or interesting genres that you learned about from your interviewees? Please identify at least THREE specific genres from your discipline/field of study that your interview subjects discussed writing within.  

1. Journal Articles
2. Books
3. Public Art


How do these genres differ from one another? Think about things like genre convention, content, purpose, audience, message, and context as you describe these differences.

Books and journal articles both tend to discuss research and studies, but differ in length and other ways depending on the content. Journal articles and books are very different from public art. They are typically academic, and the audience is usually academics, activists, and students. The purpose of journal articles is usually to inform or give the audience language to use or ways to understand people and society in concern with gender and women's issues. Public art can take on many different forms, unlike journal or academic articles. The purpose of the art is usually to highlight social justice issues and raise awareness, the audience for art might extend to a wider range of people, not just academics.

Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is challenging and/or difficult about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

Journal articles can take a very long time, especially because writing projects in general can take long. They require patience and a long-term strategy for academic publishing.

Sometimes working on smaller projects takes away from larger/more crucial writing projects.

Because of the controversies surrounding gender and women's issues, writing can easily stir people who are very biased and emotional on the topic, so thinking about the audience and language is crucial to focus on when deciding an approach and writing style.

Some work is very disciplinary and may take a while for readers to find it, and some is "too esoteric" for "general academic audiences."

Based on the information you gathered in your interviews, what is exciting and/or rewarding about writing within these genres (from a professional's point of view)?

Gets people, students, faculty, or parents thinking in a different way.
Intended audiences are usually responsive.
Helping activists on social issues
Teaching students concepts and theories that they've actually done research on


Where in mass media - popular, academic, and/or social - can examples of this genre be found? If genre examples cannot be found within mass media easily, where can genre examples be found/located?

Many online publication sites like SAGE journals that publish Gender & Society and Sex Roles, the professionals' websites, and blogs or The Feminist Wire. 

startupstockphotos.com."man person desk notebook office writing whitespace computer business workspace write taking notes guy workplace work space writer" 9/4/14, via pexels. CC0 License 

Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Journal

Unfortunately, I have reached out to two different librarians and they told me they do not have any recent, physical copies of academic journals related to my major (definitely not the popular ones I wrote about in the blogpost before), everything is online as an ebook or computer file. 

Here is a selfie of me with my online academic journal! 

The cover photo on the library website made the publication company (SAGE) and volume/date (vol. 30 number 1/ February 2016) blurry when I tried to zoom in. 

Authors
There are 23 different authors in this specific issue of "Gender & Society." The authors are Jo Reger, Black Women's Blueprint, Valerie Jenness, Sarah Fenstermaker, Patricia Yancey Martin, Nicola Henry, Michael A. Messner, C.J. Pascoe, Jocelyn A. Hollander, Poulami Roychowdhury, Nancy Whittier, Kevin Stainback, Sibyl Kleiner, Sheryl Skaggs, Cheryl Cooky, Nazli Kibria, Vikash Singh, Jamie M. Sommer, Celia Valiente, Anne Esacove, Kristen Barber, Shirley A. Hill, and Donna Bobbitt-Zeher.

Most of these authors have written essays and articles, and some have written several book reviews. Many are doctors and professors at universities, such as Dr. Kristen Barber, part of the SIU Sociology faculty. Valerie Jenness is a published author of at least four books and is a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and in the Department of Sociology at the University of California Irvine. A unique organization is Black Women's Blueprint, an activist group for women and girl's of African descent. They engage in research, workshops and movements.

Audience
The intended audience for this journal issue is women interested in how different areas in society are affected by cases of rape. In the table of contents, a main heading is "Theorizing Rape through Time, Place and Relations" and has a lot content under it.

People involved in the law, fraternities and/or athletics, prisoners or military persons, that relate to the issue in the different articles are the secondary audience. One article is titled, "The Rape Prone Culture of Academic Contexts: Fraternities and Athletics."

Context
The context surrounding this journal issue is the prevalence of rape and areas of occurrence throughout history; what has changed, what has stayed the same.

The content in this journal are, mostly, all related to rape and attempts to come up with reasons as to why it occurs in certain situations, like during wartime or what kind of people are rapists; they dig deeper into where sexual assault is common and try to give understanding based on things like gender, sexuality, violence, and domination.

Message
I decided the overall message of this journal article is that rape has never been concentrated in one area, and that rape has become a true epidemic in our culture that needs to be evaluated by its roots and understood in order for change to occur. The articles feature rape in law and political context, in academic/professional/athletic societies, in prisons, in the military, and more areas in order to show how widespread of a problem this is and has become.

Purpose

The purpose of this journal is to provide awareness and promote change. With showing the science behind the occurrence of rape throughout time and how it affects everyone, it hits people emotionally and makes them feel involved in the problem. People will want change and not want to become apart of the statistics, or a desensitized culture.

My Major

In this blog post I'll be responding to questions that help me get a deeper understanding of gender and women's studies, and professionals within that major.

What do students in your program or department learn how to do?

GWS makes students more open-minded, and teaches us how to be more tolerable and accepting. It prepares us with critical thinking, presentation/speech, social and writing skills. Students gain an understanding of differences of gender, race, sexuality, culture, social class, they learn how to be better analyzers of information, they learn how to initiate change and think about the future.

What do people who get degrees in this field usually go on to do for work?

-Human resources department

-Teachers/Professors

-Directors of Human Rights Organizations

-Business Owners

-Artists

-Communications consultant

-Administrator of a human services department

-Advocate for victims of domestic violence and hate crimes

-Executive director of a foundation

-Journalist 

-Novelist

-Nurse

-Program director of a rape crisis center

-Psychologist

-Psychotherapist

-Public health educator

-Public relations director

-Social worker

-Work for the law/government

What drew you to this field?

Over Thanksgiving break I met some distant relatives and we were discussing our college majors. The conversation got me brainstorming and thinking about what I'm actually passionate about. I was undecided first semester, and out of nowhere a lightbulb went off in my head. I have always been interested in justice and equality for people, also, I am curious about people and our differences. I wanted to know why we think the way we think and I want acceptance for women and all people. This major is very in the now, and is flexible. I know that I can't go wrong with studying gender and women's studies because it's very progressive.

jaymantri.com ."art graffiti women wall girls" via pexels. CC0 License

My major is very broad, and it is hard to pinpoint three leaders/most exciting people, but I can come up with a few prominent figures that I admire recently. 

Planned Parenthood- Planned Parenthood organization is a huge help to women all around the world, they advise and offer services for all things sexual health-related. I love what they stand for and think they have a huge impact in society for women and their rights. 

Emma Watson- She is more than a celebrity known for her movies, she is an open feminist and involved in many movements and speaks out for gender equality. She is also the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador since 2014, and serves as an advocate for the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign. I think she is well-respected, young, and very smart, which makes her a very powerful tool to spread awareness and change in society for women and all genders. 

Bernie Sanders- I think Bernie actively strives for women's rights; he speaks up about the gender wage gap, women's reproductive rights, and gender inequality. Running for president, he has caught much attention and is well-respected. He genuinely cares about equality in every sense of the word; for all races, genders, etc. 

Top Journals:

1. Gender & Society- a peer-reviewed academic journal, currently published by SAGE Publications in association with Sociologists for Women in Society.

2. Psychology of Women Quarterly- quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal, currently published by SAGE Publications.

3. Women's Health Issues- peer-reviewed, bimonthly, multidisciplinary journal, published by Jacobs Institute of Women's health.

4. Sex Roles- peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer

My Interviewees on Social Media

1. For this blog post, I will be reviewing the social media personas of my two interviewees. Patricia MacCorquodale is on linkedin and facebook. Monica J. Casper is on facebook, linkedin and youtube. 
   
   
   How would you describe each interviewee's social media presence? What kinds of things are they talking about or sharing on social media? Write a brief description of what you learned about them through the listed social media feeds.
   
   
   • MacCorquodale is not very public on social media, she has a few family photos on facebook, and her linkedin lists her credentials and research. She has some of her favorite quotes posted on facebook in her info about life/growth and experience. She also belongs to a book store group, UA Honors Student Council group, and mentions UA in her checkins and workplace. 
   • She has a professional social media presence, but also shares some personal things like family pictures and status'. 
   • Also, posts on her wall + quotes make it seem like she's very liberal, i.e. post about marriage equality and human rights.

   
   

   • Casper is very active on social media. On her facebook, I discovered where she writes by looking at the first post! (Don't need to ask that in our interview, I guess!) She is very family-oriented, into arts and crafts, books, photography, nature, publicly supports human rights/social movements (i.e. "black lives matter") and planned parenthood, likes elephants, cares about traveling and animals.. I can tell she is a very passionate person and writes as well as posts on issues that are important to her. 
   • Her youtube is TheFeministWire, for the feminist magazine she is managing editor of
   • Casper remains professional on her linkedin, and looks like she can change with the times, meaning she seems updated with her social media and in the know.
   
   
   
   
   MacCorquodale- Since she is not very active on social media sites, her persona remains professional. 
   Casper- The issues she writes about are the same, however, her language is different in her academic journals.
   
   

   

   splitshire. "person apple laptop notebook" 2/2/14, via pexels. CC0 License

   
   
   
   

My Interviewees as Professional Writers

I've done some research on my interviewees and they are all authors of books and essays that have been published in academic journals. I will provide more information about them as professional writers in the questions below for this post.

Bailey, Eric. "people coffee notes tea" 7/31/14, via pexels. CC0 License

Types of Professional Publications 

(according to their website, CV and/or other easily findable online resources that list their publications):

Patricia MacCorquodale:

Patricia has authored several essays and published books. She has been published in "Feminist Studies, Inc.," "IEEE Spectrum," "Social Science Journal," "State University of NY (SUNY) Press," and "Gender & Society." 

Monica Jasper:

Monica has written books and many essays pertaining to gender and women's issues. Publications that worked with her are Rutgers University Press, Routledge, NYU Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Metropolitics, "Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology," "Gender and Society," and "Women's Studies Quarterly."

Publications and Genres

MacCorquodale-

1. Women in the Law: Partners or Tokens? (Gender & Society, 1993)

2. Authority in Transformation (European Journal of Women's Studies, 1996)

The first example is a formal essay from "Gender & Society," and SAGE published it. The second example was also published by SAGE, but it's excerpted from the European Journal of Women's Studies. Both journals are formal and publish academic and scientific essays.  

Monica Jasper-

1. A Tale of Two Technologies: HPV Vaccination, Male Circumcision, and Sexual Health

2. Love in the Time of Racism

The first example is an essay that was apart of "Gender & Society's" December, 2009 issue. It was published online in "SAGE journals," a professional and academic publishing company. SAGE does not have a specific focus when it comes to the essays they publish. 

• The essay includes feminist science studies and research. This essay is formal and in a PDF, it reads like a research paper, and it also includes formal citations. 

The second example is an essay published in "Ada," an open-access peer-reviewed journal that focuses on gender, new media, and technology. Ada is preserved by the University of Oregon's "FemBot Collective," run by their School of Journalism and Communication. 

• The essay reads sort of like a QRG or blog post. There are pictures, it was formatted for the web/blog, and hyperlinks are used, rather than formal citations that are found in traditional published essays.

Context

(See the bulleted questions on Student's Guide page 180 for specific questions about context). Cite specific details from the pieces in your answers.

For Patricia:

What is the date of publication or delivery?

• "Women in the Law"- December 1993
• "Authority in Transformation"- May 1996

What medium is used to deliver the message? What "rules"or conventions are typical to the medium?

• Written text/essay. 

What contemporary events may have shaped the author's views and the audience's response?

What social and historical movements are related to the topic?

What are the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the primary and secondary audiences?

What are the physical and material surroundings of the event or text (i.e., the city where a speech is delivered or the magazine in which a text is published?)

What other texts (i.e., texts of the same genre, by the same author, written in the same time period, etc.) relate to your text? It is a reaction to these other texts?

For Monica:


What is the date of publication or delivery?

What medium is used to deliver the message? What "rules"or conventions are typical to the medium?

What contemporary events may have shaped the author's views and the audience's response?

What social and historical movements are related to the topic?

What are the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of the primary and secondary audiences?

What are the physical and material surroundings of the event or text (i.e., the city where a speech is delivered or the magazine in which a text is published?)

What other texts (i.e., texts of the same genre, by the same author, written in the same time period, etc.) relate to your text? It is a reaction to these other texts?

Message

what's the message of each piece; How did you decide this? Cite specific details from the pieces in your answers.

Purpose

what purpose is each piece trying to achieve? Cite specific details from the pieces in your answers. 

My Interview Subjects

I'm really excited, but nervous starting the second project. I think it's awesome I get to reach out and meet professors within my major, it will be beneficial in the future, too, to have made these connections. In this post, I will be giving specific details about the people I am interviewing.

Interview Subjects

1. Dean MacCorquodale

I'm interviewing Dr. Patricia MacCorquodale, or Dean MacCorquodale.

Title:

-Dean of the Honors College

-Professor of Gender and Women's Studies and Sociology

-Author

Higher Ed. Degrees:

1. Ph.D., 1972-78, Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
2. B.A., 1968-72, Sociology, Carleton College

Experience:

Dean MacCorquodale has been a teaching Gender and Women's Studies and Sociology for 37 years

Patricia MacCorquodale. 1) University of Arizona Honors 2) University of Arizona GWS

Interview Details:

Date- Monday, February 29th

Time- 11 a.m.

Location- Slonaker House 105 (office)

2. Monica Casper

Additionally, I am interviewing Dr. Monica J. Casper. 

Title: 

-Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

-Professor of Sociology and Gender and Women's Studies

-Sociologist

-Author

-Co-editor of TRIVIA: Voices of Feminism

-Managing editor of The Feminist Wire

-Founding co-editor of the Biopolitics series at NYU Press

Higher Ed. Degrees:

1. Ph.D., 1995, Sociology, University of California, San Francisco
2. B.A., 1988, Sociology, University of Chicago

Experience:

Monica has been involved in gender and women's studies professionally since 1995, although her Ph. D. was in sociology, and her postdoctoral fellowship was in biomedical ethics.

Monica J. Casper. 1) Personal 2) University of Arizona

Interview Details:

Date- Monday, March 7th

Time- 1:30 p.m.
Location- Douglass Building Room 200W (office)

3. Bill Simmons

I'm sharing a google document with Dr. William Paul Simmons, who goes by Bill Simmons.

Title: 

-Associate Professor of GWS 

-Honors Interdisciplinary Faculty

-Author

Higher Ed. Degrees:

1.  Ph.D., 1996, Political Theory and American Politics, Louisiana State University
2. M.A., 1992, Political Science, Louisiana State University
3. B.A., 1987, Political Science and Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Experience:

Bill has been teaching since 1997, working in the GWS department at the U of A since 2013, and

William Paul Simmons. 1) Personal 2) University of Arizona

Interview Details:

I will send Bill the questions before this Friday in a google doc.

Interview Questions:

1. I’m just beginning to delve into my major, but I’ve already noticed how broad of a field gender and women’s studies is. What kinds of research, in particular, do you conduct the most or what peaks your interest?
2. What is your brainstorming process like, in regards to research?
3. What is your favorite, or the main type of media you produce in your field?
4. Could you provide me with any examples, or point me in the right direction to find the best ones?
5. Do you ever work with non-textual based genres, such as podcasts, presentations at conferences, or other audio or visual?
6. Does social media play a role in your job? Do you think any genre conventions, or the audience, has changed with the advancement in technology and the social media wave?
7. When writing, what purpose or values do you have in mind that you try to communicate?
8. Who do you write for? Please name any internal and external audiences you have.  
9. What audience has been the most responsive to your work and who has been the most frustrating to connect with?
10. What are your go-to tools or software for different writing projects?
11. Is time management and procrastination ever a problem you encounter in writing professionally?
12. Do you have any favorite places to go and write? Any places where you dislike to write?
13. Is there anything about professional communication - in general or in your particular position - that you think students or young people just starting out in the field should know?
14. Would you be open to answering some follow-up questions (email)

Local Revision: Variety

For this post, I will be discussing the sentence variety in my project 1 QRG.

North.jvta. "creative writing." 2/13/2014, via wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0

1. How much variation is there in your sentence structures in the current draft? Can you spot any repetitive or redundant sentence patterns in your writing? Provide a cogent analysis of what the Rules for Writers reading tells you about your sentences.

I have a lot of sentence variation in my project. The only redundancy I've spotted is when I repeat "In simpler terms" when explaining some claims/quotes from two stakeholders, and I personally like the consistency. I don't think it is monotonous. I have inverted sentences too, that make my writing interesting. Also, I have sentences where I already moved adjective phrases and adverbial clauses to the front, like it says to do in the book. Example: Peeking through the thinly draped windows, the sun illuminates various faces and meals set on the reflective tabletops.

2. What about paragraph structures, including transitions between different paragraphs (or, for video/audio projects, different sections of the project)?

For paragraph structure, I begin new paragraphs after intros or conclusion, and to indicate a new idea or a shift in opinion, like a contrast. Also, I make use of transition words, like "additionally" and "for example."

3. What about vocabulary? Is there variety and flavor in your use of vocabulary? What are the main strengths and weaknesses of the draft's approach to vocabulary?

I think my vocabulary is one of the biggest strengths in my project. I use a mix of sophisticated language, but also casual words, and I think it is pretty effective. My peers have said they really enjoyed the details I put in for the descriptions of stakeholders. I think my vocab and my tone makes my voice distinct, and is easily identifiable in my writing. 

Brutally Honest Self-Assessment

For this blog post, I will be giving my honest opinion on how I feel about my project and my effort in creating it.


1. How are you feeling about the project you just submitted for assessment? Give me your raw, unvarnished opinion of your own project overall.

Ok. I'm happy with my project. Really happy, actually. I think my topic is great, and I think I've done a pretty good job. I do have some doubts about the organization of my final paragraphs and the citations/sources.

2. What are the major weaknesses of the project you submitted? Explain carefully how and why you consider these elements to be weak or under-developed.

One weakness is my closing of the project. It might seem rushed, or I might have missed some information in explaining what ultimately happened in the end for the stakeholders. 

3. What are the major strengths of the project you submitted? Explain carefully how and why you consider these elements to be strong or well-developed.

I really like the language I use, and I think my tweet graphics are different and cool. I like my big picture connections at the end, too, I just hope I didn't leave anything out that was really prevalent. 


4. What do you think of how you practiced time management for Project 1? Did you put enough time and effort into the project? Did you procrastinate and wait till the last minute to work on things? Share any major time management triumphs or fails....

Sometimes I focused my attention and effort in the wrong areas. I need to weigh things and see where my time should be spent most, especially when it comes to the blog posts. I know I procrastinated and I also overthought a lot of elements. For the next project, I want to start the blog posts earlier, and see how much extra work I need to do that the posts don't force me to do.

Navartierre, Adinda. "Big party" 8/7/11, via flickr. CC BY 2.0. 

Local Revision: Pronoun Usage

In this post I will answer questions pertaining to my post on the pronouns I used in Project 1. These two posts are a lot simpler and direct, compared to the verb ones.

1. Based on your analysis, how effective is your pronoun usage in Project 1? What does actively examining your pronoun usage tell you about your writing syle?

I think my pronoun use is not too excessive. Something I like is that I found that I say the actual names of people, like Dr. Nucatola, David Daleiden, and Planned Parenthood a lot more than the respective pronouns. I think it is very easy to follow my QRG because of that. 

2. Are there any instances in your project where you speak to or refer directly to the audience? If so, how effective are these moments at creating a bond or connection between audience and author? If not, why not? Explain why you're choosing to leave your audience out of your writing. There's nothing wrong with that, per se, but you should be able to give a sophisticated explanation of your choices.

I speak to the audience a lot- especially in my question and answer style throughout the QRG. It definitely builds a connection, in my opinion. Also, by saying "you" and "us/we" I directly involve the readers, making them feel a slight responsibility, like they should listen or realize that this event is relevant. 

Unsplash." Typewriter Book Notebook Paper Writing Write" 6/15,via pixabay. CC0 Public Domain.

My pronouns

Here is a list of all the pronouns used in my project 1 draft.

it (video)
she (nucatola)
she
he (daleiden)
he
their (pp)
he (daleiden)
his
he
he
he
his
his
he

Karolina Grabowska.STAFFAGE. "Stack of magazines & pencils in gray cup" 4/9/15, via pexels.  CC0 License.

he                                                    
him
he
their (pp)
they
they
their (politicians)
their
them (pp)
it (video)
his (daleiden)
their (waiters and waitresses)
they
our
he (daleiden)
he
he
he
he
he (daleiden)
they (Bill O'Reilly & NR & National Catholic Register)
him (daleiden)
you
we
they (all people)
their
you
yourself
you
they (CMP)
their (CMP)

Local Revision: Passive and Active Voice

In this post I will list the active specific, active general, and passive verbs that are present in my project.

Active (specific)                                      Active (general)                                      Passive

released                                                  showed                                                  pursed

disturbing                                              discusses                                                called

aborted                                                  sounding                                                 seen

selling                                                   explains                                                   enhanced

sipping                                                  appearing

preserving                                              representing

profit                                                     expected

cooperates                                           focusing

lies                                                       find

consent                                                 opened

comprised                                              used

schmoozing                                           held

affiliated                                                view

highlighted                                           stand

commits                                                pass

compromise                                          filmed

appalled                                                completed

defund                                                  concerning

stirring                                                  met

exists                                                     enjoy

peeking                                                 record

draped                                                   turn

illuminates                                            edited

clanking                                                makes

cross                                                     reminded

synthesized                                            mentioned

ensues                                                    respond

spliced                                                 

citing

appealed

catch

scrutinizing

Karolina Grabowska.STAFFAGE. "Girl writing on a keyboard" 5/4/15, via pexels. CC0 License.

1. Looking at the breakdown of your verb choices here, what do you notice about your current draft? Are the actions in your piece mostly general, vague or non-specific? Are the actions mostly vivid and specific? Are there instances of passive voice? Summarize what you learned by analyzing your verb usage in this way.

There are some instances of passive voice. Most of my verbs are specific and make my project more detailed and descriptive.  I noticed that my QRG is more interesting to read due to the vocabulary.

2. Based on this analysis, how could your use of verbs be improved overall in the project? Be specific and precise in explaining this.

I am pretty happy with my use of verbs in my project because I have a good mix of both general and specific verbs, too many of specific verbs and I might come off as trying too hard to sound smart. Also, I cut out a lot of detail for descriptions of people and locations, and I found it made my project much more professional and sounded better.