As [Kahn] was drafting and revising this essay, [he] asked several classes to read it. There was strong disagreement among [his] students over which sections they found most convincing: the more traditionally academic, or the more narrative/anecdotal. How would you answer that question, and why?

I would answer this question with the narrative/anecdotal approach because normally something is more believable when the person experiences it. If someone has experienced a certain thing, they will most likely be more convincing to listeners because they have a story to tell about it.

What lessons that you’re learning about ethnographic research can you imagine applying to other kinds of research and writing that you do as college students, or beyond?

In ethnographic research it pushes “to generate, collect, analyze, and synthesize more material” in order to thinking uniquely (Kahn). As a college student, this kind of research is beneficial because it gives you a unique and different approach to the assignment, making you more knowledgable and accurate in your research.

In Gee’s “Literary, Discourse, and Linguistics,” she explains how you can speak with perfect grammar, but at the same time, be wrong. She explains how language isn’t really language until you use it correctly. Think this is true because some people use “big words” and “perfect grammar” to make it seem like they know what they are talking about. If you dissect what the author is really saying, it could potentially be false or misleading. I think by using a rhetorical analysis in order to dissect a reading, it can change the readers whole perspective on the author. If the genre of the reading is inconsistent, it can often be misleading, meaning that an author has to keep a consistent tone within the whole piece to really persuade someone into what they’re thinking. I am often convinced by someone argument if they speak with passion and they are using correct and consistent terminology. Sometimes you have to dive deeper to know what someone is really saying to you before being convinced by a slight explanation. In school, I will hear teachers or professors speak with vast grammar and length, but i won’t really understand what they mean because of the word choice they use. After some more explanation, most of the time, I start to understand the pint they are trying to reach. This is kind of what Gee is saying. If you don’t understand, dive deeper, pick apart things you didn’t know you had to pick a part, and find a different, more understanding meaning in everything you read.

My media diet is a little bit unusual. Most of my time is spent watching Tiktoks. Tiktok is a fairly new application where people post 15-60 second videos for entertainment. It is kind of a new addiction of mine. It entertains me and takes up a majority of my free time, which isn’t good. I also LOVE to read. During the semester, it gets harder to read with all the homework assigned, but as a student who grew up in the technology-based generation, I think that I am unique for my yearn for a good book. My favorite author of all time is Jason Meyers. Meyers’ most popular book is “Exit Here.” Jason Meyers is a different kind of writer. Excuse my language, but his books are quite f*cked up, making them super interesting to read. I can relate to his made up characters in the way that they like to party, but on the inside they all have one thing in common, a troubled past. I have all of his books and I have reread each of them about ten times, they are so addicting. Okay, enough about Jason Meyers. I think growing up in this generation it is important to have something outside of social media to rely on. On social media, people post their opinions and spread fake news around, making social media somewhat toxic. I will sometimes watch the news and read news articles in order to keep up with what is going on around the world. I mostly use social media as entertainment instead of a place where i get information on people, places, and news.

My favorite genre to read and watch is romance. I feel as though I know this genre well because I am a hopeless romantic. The romance genre brings out my emotional side by using pathos, which appeals to people’s emotions and can make them relate to the characters in stories. Another genre in popular culture is comedy. Comedy and romance can go hand-in-hand in the way that they both use pathos; The comedy genre uses pathos by making people giggle and smile, while romance makes peoples hearts flutter. Romantic-comedies are a popular movie genre that attracts both men and women to the theaters. The Kissing Booth is a perfect example of a romantic comedy because it provides humor into a love story.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.