Diego's Blog

independent clause: group of words that can stand alone as a sentence

dependent clause: group of words that can’t stand alone, relies on another clause to complete its meaning

run on sentence: two or more independent clauses are not joined correctly

comma: indicating a pause, also used to separate items in a list

apostrophe: used to indicate either possession or the omission of letters

semicolon: indicating a pause usually between two main clauses

period: used for a declarative sentence

question mark: used for question sentences

exclamation mark: used for exclamatory or interjections

italics: use italics for titles of books, newspapers, magazines, musical compilations, works of art, ships, tv shows, movies, etc.

quotations: use quotation marks at beginning and end of speakers words to seperate what is being said from rest of sentence

single quotation marks: used to enclose a quote in a quote

affect vs effect: affect- to influence effect- result/to accomplish

than vs then: than- use with comparisons then- at that time

to vs too: to- toward too- also

hyphenate between words- when two or more words when they come before a noun they modify and act as a single idea, this is called a compound adjective.

Michelle No’s article uses mainly emotionally loaded language and small amounts of ethos and logos. She relates to the audience using memes and dark humor. Her effectiveness in relating to the intended audience and trying to persuade them to believe that Hasan is really trying to do something about the student loan crisis is somewhat there. However, if someone of the unintended audience, such as older people who don’t understand the younger generations humor, might read this they would probably not be persuaded at all and think this article is not useful.  After reading this article, I would probably research more about the topic and Hasan Minhaj’s visit to Congress to discuss the student loan crisis. The topic intrigued me and made me sympathize with the students facing these problems, which makes me want to help. Therefore, I think this article was persuasive to me in believing that something is being done about this crisis and was a door opener into researching more about the topic of the student loan crisis.

Diego E. Miranda

Janel Spencer

WRT101S (12157)

September 22, 2019

Making Light of Student Loan Crisis

According to the chamberofcommerce.org, the average student finishing college also finishes with about $37,000 in debt. Political commentator, Hasan Minhaj, went to the first ever hearing in Congress on student loan debt to address things like the excessive debt students are facing today, and the companies giving these absurd loans that leads these students into being in so much debt. Buzzfeed writer, Michelle No, summarizes some points Minhaj tries to make to Congress. No tries to relate to her intended audience, young generations attending college, by using dark humor and memes, a common thing with today’s young generations. No writes this piece to inform her audience of the ways people are addressing the student loan crisis and to make people want to step up and do something about it themselves. No uses pathos and some facts to support what Minhaj states to Congress and tries to get her point across by relating to the audience using the common humor of today’s students attending college.

Minhaj went to Congress on September 10, 2019 to discuss the student loan crisis, which No summarizes it in her article. Throughout the whole article, No uses many emotionally driven statements to emphasize what Minhaj says to Congress. No says at the first hearing of the student loan crisis, Minhaj “held nothing back.” She later says, “But the burning does not stop there,” referring to Minhaj’s facts that he says to Congress as burns rather than facts. No says at the beginning of the article, “From now, please explain everything to me like you’re Minhaj,” further showing her praise for Minhaj. Many times, during the post, after No believes Minhaj has made a great point, she adds ironic pictures to the article, further trying to add comedy to her article in support of Minhaj.

However, in her article, No does not make many claims; rather she focuses more on summarizing what Minhaj says to Congress, such as how student loan borrowers are asking famous people to help pay their loans. She does however state at the beginning of the article that “the average student loan borrower has around $37,000 in debt.” After that, there is a link to a website called chamberofcommerce.org. In this link there are a lot of statistics and verbiage that might persuade the audience into wanting to do something about the student loan crisis and the magnitude of it. The Chamber of Commerce talks about the student loan debt and how it is a burden “not just for young Americans, but the American economy as a whole.” According to the chamberofcommerce.org, there is more than $1.5 trillion of student debt owed in the United States by 44.5 million people. It further states that 2 million owe more than $100,000 and 0.5 million owe more than $200,000. With the average debt according to the source being $37,102, which is a 78% increase from 10 years earlier. The Chamber of Commerce seems credible and accurate in its statistic. In the About Us of their website they explain that they “research products, write reviews and create in-depth guides and how-tos on topics like ideation, marketing, financing, accounting and human resources” to help small businesses succeed. With all of these statistics, it is a pretty fair claim to say the student loan problem is a crisis for all Americans. 

The intended audience of Michelle No’s article is everyone who’s attending college or plans to attend college. It’s pretty clear who the audience is based on what the article is about. The author tries relating to the audience by using comedy, memes, and dark humor such as saying that $37,000 in student debt is “a really crushing, stressful and anxiety-inducing fact.” She uses strategies like this because it is well known that the young generation of today, which is usually the people with these student loans, uses this type of humor to cope with the stress. The author was predicting that it would be youthful Americans attending college or planning on attending college that would be the audience of this article. If someone of an older generation reads this article, they might not understand Michelle No’s dark humor to try to lighten a stressful topic. 

Michelle wrote this article so the intended audience would see what people are trying to do about the student loan crisis and make people step up and do something themselves. Michelle identifies the significance of the situation and tries to relate to the intended audience by using humor, Chamber of Commerce statistics, and things that Hasan says to Congress. Michelle is trying to open a door, so people research more about this topic of student loan crisis. Michelle is also trying to calm the intended audience by showing that something is trying to be done about the student loan crisis. Furthermore, Michelle is trying to show how big of a crisis this really is in hopes that people not only realize the issue, but also do something about it.

Michelle No’s article uses mainly emotionally loaded language and some facts. She relates to the audience using memes and dark humor. Her effectiveness in relating to the intended audience and trying to persuade them to believe that Hasan is really trying to do something about the student loan crisis is somewhat there. However, if someone of the unintended audience, such as older people who don’t understand the younger generations humor, might read this they would probably not be persuaded at all and think this article is not useful.  After reading this article, I would probably research more about the topic and Hasan Minhaj’s visit to Congress to discuss the student loan crisis. The topic intrigued me and made me sympathize with the students facing these problems, which makes me want to help. Therefore, I think this article was persuasive to me in believing that something is being done about this crisis and was a door opener into researching more about the topic of the student loan crisis.

Works Cited

No, Michelle. “Yep, I’m Still Dying Over This Clip Of Hasan Minhaj Millennial-Splaining The Student Loan Crisis To Congress.” BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed, 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelleno/hasan-minhaj-student-debt-loan-crisis-congress-hearing.

“Student Loan Statistics.” Chamber of Commerce, https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/student-loan-statistics/.

Revised Thesis- No uses emotionally loaded language and factual information to support what Minhaj states to COngress and tries to get her point across by relating to the intended audience using the common humor of today’s students attending college.

Revised Topic Sentence 1- Minhaj went to Congress on September 10, 2019 to discuss the student loan crisis, which No summarizes in her article.

Revised Topic Sentence 2- In the article by No, she does not make many claims, rather she focuses more on summaring what Minhaj says to Congress.

Revised Topic Sentence 3- The intended audience of No’s article is everyone who’s attending college, or plans to attend college.

Revised Topic Sentence 4- No wrote this article so the intended audience would see what people are trying to do about the student loan crisis and make people step up and do something themselves.

Diego E. Miranda

Janel Spencer

WRT101S (12157)

September 15, 2019

Making Light of Student Loan Crisis

According to the chamberofcommerce.org, the average student finishing college also finishes with about $37,000 in debt. Political commentator, Hasan Minhaj, went to the first ever hearing in Congress on student loan debt to address things like the excessive debt students are facing today, and the companies giving these absurd loans that leads these students into being in so much debt. Buzzfeed writer, Michelle No, summarizes some points Minhaj tries to make to Congress. No tries to relate to her intended audience, young generations attending college, by using dark humor and memes, a common thing in todays young generations. No writes this piece to inform her audience of the ways people are addressing the student loan crisis and to make people want to step up and do something about it themselves. No uses pathos and some facts to support what Minhaj states to Congress and tries to get her point across by relating to the audience using the common humor of today’s students attending college.

            Minhaj went to congress on September 10, 2019 to discuss the student loan crisis, which No summarizes it in her article. Throughout the whole article, No uses many emotionally driven statements to emphasize what Minhaj says to congress. No says at the first hearing of the student loan crisis, Minhaj “held nothing back.” She later says, “But the burning does not stop there,” referring to Minhaj’s facts that he says to congress as burns rather than facts. No says at the beginning of the article “From now, please explain everything to me like you’re Hasan Minhaj”, further showing her praise for him. Many times, during the post, after No believes Minhaj has made a great point, she adds ironic pictures to the article further trying to add comedy to her article.

            In the article by No, she does not make many claims, rather she focuses more on summarizing what Minhaj says to congress. Such as how student loan borrowers are asking famous people to help pay their loans. She does however state at the beginning of the article that “the average student loan borrower has around $37,000 in debt.” After that there is a link to a website called chamberofcommerce.org. In this link there is a lot of statistics and verbiage  that might persuade the audience into wanting to do something about the student loan crisis and the magnitude of it. The Chamber of Commerce talks about the student loan debt and how it is a burden “not just for young Americans, but the American economy as a whole.” According to the chamberofcommerce.org, there is more than $1.5 trillion of student debt owed in the United States by 44.5 million people. It further states that 2 million owe more than $100,000 and 0.5 million owing more than $200,000. With the average debt according to the source being $37,102, which is a 78% increase from 10 years earlier. The source seems creditable and accurate in its statistic. In the about us of their website they explain that they “research products, write reviews and create in-depth guides and how-tos on topics like ideation, marketing, financing, accounting and human resources” to help small businesses succeed. With all of these statistics, it is a pretty fair claim to say the student loan problem is a crisis for all Americans. 

            The intended audience of No’s article is everyone who’s attending college or plans to attend college. It’s pretty clear the audience based on what the article is about. The author tries relating to the audience by using comedy, memes, and dark humor such as saying that $37,000 in student debt is “A really crushing, stressful and anxiety-inducing fact.” She uses strategies like this because it is well known that the young generation of today, which is usually the people with these student loans, uses this type of humor to cope with the stress. The author was predicting that it would be youthful Americans attending college or planning on attending college that would be the audience of this article. If someone of an older generation reads this article they might not understand No’s dark humor to try to lighten a stressful topic. 

            No wrote this article so the intended audience would see what people are trying to do about the student loan crisis and make people step up and do something themselves. No identifies the significance of the situation and tries to relate to the intended audience by using humor, Chamber of Commerce statistics, and things that Minhaj says to congress. No is trying to open a door so people research more about this topic of student loan crisis. No is also trying to calm the intended audience by showing that something is trying to be done about the student loan crisis. Furthermore, No is trying to show how big of a crisis this really is in hopes that people not only realize the crisis, but also do something about it.

            No’s article on the student loan crisis uses mainly pathos and some logos. She relates to the audience using memes and dark humor. Her effectiveness in relating to the intended audience and trying to persuade them to believe that Minhaj is really trying to do something about the student loan crisis is somewhat there. However if someone of the unintended audience, such as older people who don’t understand the younger generations humor, might read this they would probably not be persuaded at all and think this article is not useful.  If I read this article I would probably research more about the topic and Minhaj’s visit to congress to discuss student loan crisis. Therefore I think this article was persuasive to me in believing that something is being done about this crisis and was a door opener into researching more about the topic of student loan crisis.

Works Cited

No, Michelle. “Yep, I’m Still Dying Over This Clip Of Hasan Minhaj Millennial-Splaining The Student Loan Crisis To Congress.” BuzzFeed, BuzzFeed, 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.buzzfeed.com/michelleno/hasan-minhaj-student-debt-loan-crisis-congress-hearing.

“Student Loan Statistics.” Chamber of Commerce, https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/student-loan-statistics/.

Introduction- No uses pathos and some facts to support what Minhaj states to Congress and tries to get her point across by relating to the audience using the common humor of today’s students attending college.

First paragraph- summarizing the piece and background.

Second paragraph- what claim Michelle No supports with her piece and intro to her rhetorical strategizes.

Third paragraph- analyze the rhetorical strategizes.

Fourth paragraph- intended audience and point No tries to get across.

Conclusion- my opinion on the article and summarize the whole essay.

According to the chamberofcommerce.org, the average student finishing college also finishes with about $37,000 in debt. Political commentator, Hasan Minhaj, went to the first ever hearing in Congress on student loan debt to address things like the excessive debt students are facing today, and the companies giving these absurd loans that leads these students into being in so much debt. Buzzfeed writer, Michelle No, summarizes some points Minhaj tries to make to Congress. No tries to relate to her intended audience, young generations attending college, by using dark humor and memes, a common thing in todays young generations. No writes this piece to inform her audience of the ways people are addressing the student loan crisis and to make people want to step up and do something about it themselves. No uses pathos and some facts to support what Minhaj states to Congress and tries to get her point across by relating to the audience using the common humor of today’s students attending college.

Aleigha Weaver and Diego Miranda

Gun Control and Recent Shootings

Conservative Bias, Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/thoughts-and-prayers-gun-control

1.In the article “Thoughts and prayers versus gun control” I believe most claims are supported by more claims. In the article according to Frank Turek of CrossExamined.org, he says that guns have always been around and that has not changed, but what has changed is straying from religion, that there is no God, and there really is no meaning to life.

2. The source above is a man that runs an organization about Christinanty so I think he is going to try to relate it to religion. From my point of view, even the source has a skewed view.

3. The emotional impact that are being given are based on religion and that being the solution to gun control.

4. The article isn’t neutral with their word choice because the quotations that are used come from republican views only. The article talks about believing in God being a solution to the mass shootings. “there is no God, and there really is no meaning to life.”

Liberal Bias, The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/13/people-are-fed-up-after-el-paso-dayton-shootings-gun-control-groups-seize-momentum/?noredirect=on

1. In the article “‘People are fed up’: After El Paso and Dayton shootings, gun-control groups seize momentum” all of the claims are supported by facts, but doesn’t show full evidence.

2. Most of the sources used in the article are from democratic people. Most of the quotes used in the article are feelings of democrats after the recent shootings.

3. The emotions that are being quoted in the article are how democrats feel about the shooting and why gun control needs to happen. This makes the reader feel like gun control is the solution to ending mass shootings.

4. “With many in the anti-gun community writing the obituary of the NRA, we are scoring big wins in the legislative, legal and public policy arenas,” There are multiple quotes from the NRA and democrats, therefore I do not think this article has neutral quotations.

Neutral Bias, The New York Times

1. In the article “After String of Mass Shootings, Democrats Begin New Push for Gun Control”, all claims are backed up with evidence.

2. The evidence is credible and pertains to all topics in the article. I like the way the article shows quotations and feelings from both republicans and democrats. This article isn’t trying to persuade that gun control is the solution or isn’t.

3. The emotions from this article come from the events of the recent shootings. When it is brought up it shows that something needs to change in America.

4. The language of the article is overall neutral. 

I am a writer who has a lot of curiosity. I like to know things just to know things, and if something peaks my interest then I usually research it a little and figure out some things about it. I also am pretty good at understanding different perspectives. I can think of something subjectively rather than throw my opinion into the mix. As a person in general, I’m also good with meeting deadlines. When I know something is planned or due, I am pretty good at meeting the deadline or making a schedule where I can complete it by the deadline.

●  What type of content are your top three posts (or most recent) on your timeline? Is this pretty typical for your timeline? What kinds of social groups/communities are you a part of? Compare what you see with what your peers see. Are there more similarities or differences?

My top three posts are from my friends from high school and a fitness person I follow. This is pretty typical for my timeline. I am apart of groups with my friends from high school and in the military. There are more similarities.

●  What is the relationship between what you see in your social media timeline and what you know or believe?

I really only see personal posts and some fitness things on my social media. I only really follow my friends from high school and the military. I also follow some fitness people to get workout ideas. Nothing that any of them post is really bias. It is more like personal things or fitness related.

●  How does your social presence compare with the professional/student biography that you created?

I believe it compares alright. I don’t post a lot of things on social media. The only things I post are about my wife, or when I do something fun. There is probably more information in my student bio then on my social media.

●  Where do you find examples of bias in your social media timelines?

The only bias’s I could think of would be on my explore page. I don’t think its really on my timeline. I don’t follow any bots, and none of my friends are really people that post all the time, and when they do post it’s not really opinion based or argument topics.

●  Answer: who do I potentially influence on social media?

I don’t think I really influence anyone. I don’t post things that would make an argument or are opinion based. I just follow my friends mainly.

●  Answer: who do I engage with most on social media?

I engage mostly with my friends in the military or from high school. Other than that i only follow a select few out of that list.