Bad Habits

Today, in substitution for biting my nails, I did 250 sit-ups. I just turned on my radio and got to working out. It took me about 20 minutes, and I was doing them pretty fast but I had to take breaks after about 50. I just did 5 sets of 50. It was pretty hard on my stomach, but no pain no gain I guess huh? Now, I feel a bit refreshed and tired but it is definately for the better! I resisted biting my nails all day today, but that my be because there aren't any nails to be bitten. They are already bitten. Oh well, still feels good to be working out feeling the burn again.

Journal for Bad Habit...

My worst daily habit would definately have to be biting my nails. It just happens. I'll find myself in class or out with my fingers in my mouth chomping at my nails. It is a bad habit that I need to kick. Today, I substituted biting my nails for jogging a mile on a track. The results were great. Not only did I feel great after jogging (extremely painful and exausting for its been years since my last mile-run) a mile in so long, I also felt a bit more energetic. Now, I feel tired, a bit too tired to bite my nails which is a good thing. Working out in place of nail biting was a great substitution that I hope to stick with for the bettering of my life and health.

Goals and audience for my writing process...

My writing process post was interesting to me because I don't think that I've ever had to explain my writing process, I just wrote. That said, it took me time to focus on the goals of this particular piece. My goals for this piece was to give in detail exactly what process I go through whenever I sit down to write. I just thought of all the things such as keeping a clear mind and focusing on the topic at hand, that I do when I write. Most of the things that I explained were done without ever thinking about them. It was kind of difficult to write about how I write just because whenever I sat down to write a paper, it came naturally really with no set process. That said, my goals were to give myself a general overview of the things that I do naturally whenever I write. Like I said, I don't really have a set of rules that I follow when I write, I just write. Almost all of my writing has been done just sitting here at my computer desk in front of my laptop and typing away, with proper info on the topic at hand. I do researching when writing on unfamiliar topics and apply the facts with a little opinion. If I am very knowledgeable on the topic at hand, I usually am informed enough to write about it.

Goals and audience for HEADPHONEs article...

When thinking what would make a good topic for our class blog, I instantly knew what may intrigue some of the UNM students. The audience was UNM. I realized that almost every student wears headphones, including myself, and a question popped into my mind that I myself was especially curious about. That was are headphones good or bad for your health or hearing? I wanted to let students as well as all headphone users know the possible effects of using in-ear style buds, which seem to be the headphones of choice for most people around campus. Letting people know that they may be harmful for your hearing health is all I really strived to do. I just wanted to get the fact that they are harmful when used improperly out to a general audience of UNM, college students, and all headphone users out there. I think it is an important issue because so many people have mp3 players with ear buds and they may be damaging their ears. My goal was to explain possibe negative effects of wearing them as well as solutions on how to prevent hearing damage( wear ear-muff headphones, limiting use of headphones, and keeping volumes below medium setting).

Goals and audience for persuasive writing...

I had many goals for my writing on how to write persuasively. They included giving an audience of students, college students particularly, all the info they would need in order to compose an effective persuasive writing piece. That is, what is the topic you are debating about? Does it have two opposing sides because in order to write an effective persuasive piece of writing, two sides must be involved in order to try and persuade ones thoughts toward yours or vice versa. Like I said, the audience was my english classmates and all college students whom are in an English course. A persuasive piece tends to make the reader change his or her mind on the topic at hand. I dug deep into the web to find all the info possible for creating a persuasive piece and explained just what to do.

Goals and audience for diction...

The audience for this particular diction piece were to those students whom struggle with writing styles. Just what tone do you use for certain writings? That is a question that I strived to figure out and further try to explain. I myself struggle a lot with diction and I strived to find any and all the info about diction. My goals included giving people a better understanding of how to use their voice and style for papers. What papers? Academic ones as well as informal ones. I just wanted to give straight forward info on diction while explaining how to write.

Diction

Diction Joey Sanchez


Struggling with writing style is something almost every writer deals
with. How do we choose the right words to use in our writing pieces?
Choosing what words you use is your diction and even though there is no
one single correct diction in the English language, there are different
words or phrases chosen for different contexts. Who is your audience;
that is who are you communicating with? Are you communicating with a
college instructor, a police officer, your friends or family? You do
not necessarily greet each of the above the same way do you?
Sometimes it seems like my papers aren't clear enough. They lack
clarity when read throughout their entirety. It seems that I may be
writing too casual for my intended audience. I have found myself
talking in my papers as I would talk to one of my friends. It is an
easy problem to get mixed up into but identifying when you are or
aren'€™t choosing the right words is very important. How does one
identify what words they choose to use? To identify this problem you
must ask yourself, is your social context formal or informal? Perhaps
this is the biggest question when dealing with one's diction.
Recognizing formal and informal social context may be the key when
choosing what writing styles to go with.
So is your audience formal or informal? If formal, make sure to avoid
wordy language. Being too broad and vague are enemies of formal
diction. Being clear, specific and almost straight to the point is what
formal diction is all about. You want formal papers to be easily
readable, not just understandable. Anyone can write an understandable
piece of writing but that does not necessarily mean it is easily
readable and clear. Writing formal diction is not personal, it’s
impersonal and that means you should avoid your personal input on the
topic at hand. Stick to the raw information of the topic at hand. What
are the truths of the topic? Write off that first and try to
incorporate complex words, elevated language, and a dignified tone.
Informal diction is plain, everyday language that may consist of slang,
idiomatic expressions, and simple common words. This style of diction
is avoided in most cases although it is one of my worst writing
problems. When I say, “Yo, what’s up man, how’s it going?” I am
speaking informal diction style.
Finally, rhetoric is important because it is the art of using language
effectively. What is your intended purpose? Have you considered your
audience and organized your thoughts? Was your writing clear and
logical? Once your purpose is clear, your writing will flow better.
Understanding your audience will influence your choice of words,
examples, details and tone. Sentences, paragraphs, sequences must be
orderly. From the first word to the last, strive for continuity and
further development. Use transitions in your writing to avoid repeating
yourself. Add unexpected picture to your pieces of writing while
avoiding the already obvious. Say only what absolutely has to be said
on whatever the topic. Avoid everything else. Adding your own style is
important, but in academic writing clarity, simplicity, and orderliness
are key.