For the first Major Writing Project for the class the following question comes to mind:

 Question: Can Lighthouses ever be completely replaced as visual guides to sea navigation by such new technologies as Electronic mapping of the seaways as well as sand dredging technology used to keep sand bars from blocking sea lines for shipping?

Rhetorical Precis: Chapter 7

            In Chapter 7of the book Good Reasons the authors Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer give descriptionhow to go about finding a purpose as to write an argument.  As an example they use the example of yourself buying a new car and having it wrecked by a drunk driver.  In this they give several examples of how an argument could be written in order to consider the many topics that could be chosen as arguments.  This serves as an guideline for writers of research papers in considering the many topics that could be covered from the example given above.

Rhetroical Precis: Chapter 9

            In Chapter 9 of the book Good Reasons the authors Lester Faigley and Jack Selzer define the concept of Casual Arguments.  The authors give an outline to six steps in the process of writing a casual argument. In illustrating the process of the steps, the authors use diagrams showing the ways causes and effects are related in order that the reader may get an understanding of how to go about writing a casual argument.  The concept is illustrated to show writers of research papers the process of writing effective casual arguments.

In Consideration of Monetary Value

In answering the question of whether or not information should or should not be free, there is a mixed reaction to this issue.  In writing accounts of myself and my life as a cyclist, there is the hope of publishing as to be able to collect royalties.  However there is also the issue of where this writer accesses new and other info pertaining to everyday life and feeling somewhat hypocritical in wanting free info but yet wanting to charge for their personal publications.  In this is to be considered the privilege of being able to access through the University Libraries databases in order to find articles for research purposes.  However, just recently, this writer was willing to pay $40 to a railroad archives in order to access documents that could be of importance to a class in the current semester as well as to gain a significant insight to the history of a company known as ART.  This company served the specific purpose of hauling local perishables during the last century through the use of ice bunker refrigerator cars.  There is a possible chance that the info could be found online or at a specific railroading library such as the John Barringer Library of railroading in St. Louis.  But because of such an intense interest and having an archivist go to effort to dig up this info prompts the ideal of having to pay for the labor or get a bad rap.  In considering entertainment this writer enjoys the sport of cycling and being able to freely ride.  However, one of the bikes used by this writer had to have a chain replaced with the possibility of replacing the rings and cogs as well.  While the chain would be for a reasonable cost, the other components would have had to come at great cost, which thankfully did not.  And so for this writer it is mixed issue of whether or not stuff should or should not be free.  We don’t necessarily want to be “jacked” for things, but then we all to consider how to make a living as well.

Precis for article, “The Rhetorical Précis”

In the article “The Rhetorical Précis”, Margaret K. Woodworth describes a concept to actively read and summarize books and articles as to be able to interpret the main ideas presented in such writings.  The author illustrates the form of the rhetorical précis in an outline that can be easily interpreted by her readers.  This outline is presented as a four sentence paragraph in order to illustrate how to go about summarizing the important aspects of any written work.  In illustrating the concept in a scholarly manner, Woodworth’s method appeals to those educated individuals who desire to read actively in a manner as to be able to summarize and interpret the main idea of any book or article.

Aaron Swartz Tragedy

In Kevin Poulsner’s article “Aaron Shwartz, Coder and Activist Dead at 26” there is the argument as to how costly documents should be able to be accessed freely.  Poulson examines the controversial argument that would tend to justify hacking efforts as to gain free access to documents that are sometimes expensive to obtain.  Poulson’s purpose is to illustrate that prosecutors should consider both sides in Swartz’s attempts to gain free access to costly articles.  Hence, users of the internet desiring access to scholarly articles will appreciate Aaron Shwartz for his attempts at gaining free access to such databases