Author's Note for Unit 3 Portfolio

My unit 3 portfolio is finished and I am very proud of what I have written and drawn. For the letter to the editor, I have three drafts including the final draft and the prewriting. For the op-ed, there are two drafts including the final draft. I am really happy to have been able to write about the RA position. In the op-ed piece, it was therapeutic to write about my frustrations and when I finished that final draft this morning, I was able to look at it and add the positives of being an RA. In the humorous argument, I came up with the idea by Googling "office newspaper cartoons" and pulling from what I saw. When I had my meeting with my group at Barnes & Noble last Monday, Megan and Marian did not have any suggestions for me. They really liked what I had and thought that it tied in well with the op-ed and letter to the editor. After the in class workshop, I decided to redo the drawing after someone commented that it was a bit cluttered. I agreed with that and I think that the final draft of my drawing is cleaner, concise, and conveys the argument that RAs are overworked.

The theme that binds my letter to the editor, op-ed, and humorous argument is that the RA position is not understood. In the letter to the editor I point out that the economy is a driving factor in the spike in RA applications, but that people need to be aware of what they are getting themselves into because the position is overwhelming and stressful. In the op-ed, I give a more detailed description of what RAs do and basically, I try to bring awareness to my audience about how and why we need to be respected. Lastly, in the Humorous argument I depict how stressed an RA is and some of the crazy requests and calls that we deal with throughout the semester.

So that is my unit 3 portfolio. :)

Author's Note

This is the 2nd draft of my humorous argument. I really like the newspaper cartoon that I made. I researched some Google images about office cartoons and that really helped me to make my own. I am satisfied with my piece and I would definitely like to avoid having to make another sketch because when it comes to my drawing skills, once I get it right it won't be right again, but if someone wants to add some comments on how to make it funnier or make my argument more clear than that is fine.

First Draft of Humor Argument

My first draft of my humorous argument is a newspaper cartoon. It is set in a residence hall office with the RA on duty lying on the floor with exhaustion and stress. The type of humor I used is exaggeration and I thought that the newspaper theme would be appropriate since we have written a letter to the editor and op-ed. The humor in this piece makes my point that RAs are unappreciated and overworked by showing how much work we have to do in a setting where residents see their RA all the time. Also, some of the the requests that the residents make show how crazy some of the situations we deal with are. Overall, I am really satisfied with it and I can't think of any changes I want to make since I am not a good artist and I like it the way it is.

Humorous Selection blog

Extremely surprising to me, it did not take long at all to find a humorous piece to blog about. At first, I stopped by Colbert Nation because The Colbert Report is one of my favorite shows and I think Stephen Colbert is hilarious and a genius, but that is neither here nor there. I searched his videos for anything relating to college life, but did not get anything that really applied to being an RA which I assumed would happen. Then I started to think about my ULTIMATE FAVORITE TV show, The Office (which is the most brilliant and hilarious tv show on air right now).

The Office is known for its sometime subtle but other times brazen jokes. In this case in season 4, Pam Beasley went to New York Pratt School of Design to pursue her dreams of being an artist. In order for her to afford to go there, she had to become an RA. The episode does not go to great detail to express how she feels about being an RA, but there is a scene, in which her now fiance, Jim Halpert (heart skips a beat)surprises her at her dorm. Later on in the episode, the camera focuses on Jim in the lobby of the dorm watching tv because one of Pam's residents ran into her room crying because her roommate drank her soy milk.

For most people it may not have been funny, but this is an example of an inside joke and subtle humor made for past and current RAs. We constantly have to deal with our time being interrupted by various residents with problems.

This is the best that I could do, but I am pleased that I get to use The Office :)

Author's Note

This is the first draft of my op-ed. I get the feeling that I missed the mark on this one. I did do research before hand and found two other op-eds in college newspapers about RA stuff. Now that I think about it, this is really the 2nd draft of the op-ed. I threw out the first one because I was writing that one when I was angry so my mood is VERY MUCH reflective in that particular piece. The one you are reading I think is too informational and maybe not "op-edy" enough (I hope you understand that). If you can give me comments on what to eliminate, what to keep, what to expand on, I would sincerely appreciate it. As a resident, do you feel I should incorporate some more convincing examples to get the audience to believe that we have a tough job. Can you also say whether or not you believe my argument. This will really help to restructure it if necessary.

I hope I haven't overburdened you.
Merci

Pre-Writing for Op-Ed

For my op-ed, I plan to focus on the hardships of being an RA. Many people don't understand the job until their first day on their own. I hope to enlighten readers and call them to action as far as being more considerate and thoughtful of RAs. I am going to outline the 4 main parts of our job: safety, paperwork, training, and other. In each category I will cite specific examples as to what we do on a daily basis. The pathos appeal I think would be most effective because facts will be good here, but bringing up general experiences that RAs have had with residents and vice versa will keep readers more enthralled, I think. Personal experience is more effective as I said before because not everyone knows what we do, hence the point of this piece therefore quoting info from the ORS website's description is bland. Bringing in real world action will make it more believable.

There is no research to be done on my part because I have had 1 years experience which will more than enough to get my point across.

Author's Note for 1st draft

I totally forgot to post my author's note with my 1st draft, so here it is after the fact.

This is the 1st draft and I really like what I have. It is missing a statistic because I am waiting on that individual to get back to me with that info. I am always open to hearing suggestions on what will sound better as far as phrasing. Please identify anything that sounds confusing or needs more expansion. Please comment on whether there is enough commentary or if you think I should add some more argumentative points. As always, please check for grammar and punctuation.

Gracias

Topic for Unit 3

I scoured the internet for hours upon hours looking for local articles about RAs. Initially, I looked through the Skiff and they had nothing even though RA selection was not that long ago. I DID find an article from the New York Times published on March 22 about the rising amount of RA applications about the economy. I have decided to stick with this article even though it focuses on RAs at NYU, Cornell, and Seton Hall University, an RAs job will always be the same, with minor detail changes, regardless of the University. The changes the article was centered around are in fact the same trends that are appearing at TCU.

I really hope this article will get approved because I really need to write about something that doesn't pose as many challenges as the last one did. I also really need to vent- being an RA is insanely stressful, which is one of the points that I will make in my editorial. Finding an article about RAs definitely completes the requirement for being in my local community. As I said before, if you are an RA at one university, you can be an RA at every university because our job is consists of the same things, but every university department that deals with RA has slightly different requirements that RAs must meet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/education/23resident.html?ref=nyregion

New Topic Idea for Unit 3

I haven't found the exact article yet, but I do plan to find some type of advertisement in which I can argue effectively. I plan to write about TCU RA selection. It effects TCU students directly because each year we have at least 100 students apply or at least show interest, but usually only 30-40 upperclassmen get selected. I believe current RAs and people who apply could be perturbed by this because we don't feel that there is an accurate representation of what an RA's job actually consists of- the good and the bad. Often time, the bad part of the job is obscured, which is typical when people apply for any kind of job, but I feel it is important that if the Office of Residential Services continues to select people who cannot stand the demands of being an RA than something is obviously wrong and its coming from the inside.