Group Members: Jared E., Rome G., Tanner T., and Kelsey W.

1. Questions for Dr. Rand:

a. How do you best structure an argument? Do you start with your personal views
or the views of others?
b. Relating to my (Rome) project, without doing research, how do you believe
friends are made best--online or in person?
c. Relating to my (Kelsey) project, which do you believe best shapes a person’s
outlook on life--bad or good experiences?
d. Relating to my (Jared) project, what do you think makes an effective argument in
a story?

2. As recent high school graduates, we were taught to structure our papers in the manner
in which the authors states is ineffective. It is not believed that the way she writes is
condescending due to the fact that one can take what she writes as constructive
criticism, which, in turn, can help improve their quality of work. In her article she does
not blame or make anyone feel at fault due to their lack of knowledge on how to write a
well-rounded essay. She merely gives suggestions without explicitly saying that one
must due these or their paper is ineffective. To divert away from these common forms of
stylistic and structural writing, it is best if we are shown various works of research
papers while we are in high school learning about what makes an effective argument.
However, as college students we must get caught up and learn now to restate and give a
conclusion without explicitly restating the contents of the paper. As far as the stylistic
issues, we collectively agree that we have all abused these methods of writing. Similar
to what she previously stated, we think that the word “because” can be restricted while
still having someone’s explanation come across as efficient. She, also, did not include
anything on writing voice. When we are in high school we have a very flat writing style
due to the way we were taught. It is not until our later high school years, or even college,
that we start to develop a writing voice and that is only if you decide to grow one. Lastly,
she did not include how to form a introductory paragraph to draw your readers in.

Word Count: 280