After reading They Say I Say, there are a few things I will keep in mind while editing my paper. They Say I Say talked about the title of the book and how one should state their own ideas in response to others as an effective writing method. Making sure the argument and rebuttal are correlated is a huge piece of creating an effective work of writing. Another helpful tip was talked about in the art of summarizing section. The book tells readers to put yourself in someone else's shoes when your writing a summary so that you will be objective and not let your opinions cast a shadow on the summary. Following, it is important to blend your quotes into your writing so that they flow together. The reader should not be able to tell a distinct difference between your writing and the authors writing, the words should all flow together to create a combined effort of ideas all correlating to the main topic. Another thing I hope to apply to my writing fro the reading is that disagreeing is okay in a paper as long as you have reasons to back it up. The book provides different ways to disagree and then back up your argument with details and reasons why you came to the conclusion that you did.

self evaluation

over all, I think my presentation went well. I was prepared for my presentation when I was asked to go. I found it helpful to reiterate my ideas to the class as a means to understand the information I have gathered better myself. I believe I had a clear thesis about the foodie culture as a whole and think I got that point across. As for the background information I think I had an effective transition from a thesis to some other main points back to the conclusion which restated my thesis. I am happy with how the presentation went and know that it will be helpful in fixing my paper before the final copy is due.

Writing and Research

My current research process consists of filtering through the posts of the blog Seattle Foodster. Whether it's a typical Capitol Hill breakfast or Seattle's version of the perfect grill cheese sandwich, the blog Seattle Foodster contains a wide variety of different restaurants, foods, recipes, and food news.  I have found that some of the more well known restaurants recommended on the blog include Metropolitan Grill and Duke's Chowder House.  As for recipes and food news, the blog provides recipes ranging from mixed drinks, to salads, to entrees. Some of the challenges that have become apparent with this type of blog is harder to gain research about the identity of the blogger themselves since the blog tell little about the writer and focuses more on the food. Setting this detail aside, I am confident I will be able to create an exceptional research paper with the information provided on the blog.

Chapters 4-7 Blogging

In the Blogging book by Jill Walker Rettberg chapters 4-7, the author explains the "new freedom to publish  at will," (85 Rettberg) and how journalists are more susceptible in the current times of technology to post about a wide variety of topics.  The bloggers perception of themselves subtitle goes over how bloggers don't think of themselves as journalists.  I also found it interesting that there is a lack of women bloggers on the web. Although bloggers are said to claim they don't consider their writing as journalism, you don't need a degree to call yourself a journalist and therefore blogging has somewhat replaced traditional journalism.

Writing and Research

I have chosen to research and follow a blog on food.  From this project I hope to not only improve my writing skills as I write about my findings on the blog but to also find facts and useful information about food to be able to use in my everyday life.  I hope to learn about all kinds of foods, restaurants, and the many types and cultures under the umbrella of food.

Who am I as a writer?

I use writing as a means of academic fulfillment as well as a creative outlet. I write to communicate my thoughts in a creative and unique way.