The Final Blog

When I looked at the hints about the introduction, about it being enticing so as to hook the audience, to not be choppy, but punchy, and to be about 2-4 sentences, I noticed that the NPR audio essays followed those rules exactly, so I thought mine should too. I thought that my introduction successfully portrayed those traits because I used strong diction, with words like “famous”, “roaring”, “carved” etc. I also noticed on many introductions on NPR, that they incorporated an interviewed person right away as to change up the sound of the introduction and get people hooked on believing that other people are interested and involved in the subject, and I also used that tactic in my transcript.

Next, I reviewed the hints regarding the body of the audio essay and how to most successfully convey the bulk of the information at hand. The hints seemed to be based heavily on the interview sections that should be incorporated into the essay. Providing context and analysis to what the interviewees have to say throughout your transcript is very important and well done in the NPR essays because that provides the audience with support, thus a sense of credibility. Without this key trait, the audience may become confused and since it is audio, there is no way to look back on what they have heard, and this could result in them losing touch with the subject and the point completely.  I found that I am successful with this in my own audio essay and a good example from my own is when I am talking about the quality of our Sun Devil Stadium’s field. 

Copied and pasted from my essay, I can show that I introduce my point:

Described as being literally “carved into the desert”, the Sun Devil Stadium not only makes an ostentatious visual statement, as it emerges from between two mountain buttes, but also serves as one of the “best college football facilities in the country” based on its field safety and athlete facilities, progressive renovations, spectator environments and seating options, etc.

Then provide evidence with an interview:

“The quality of just the field and the maintenance that goes into it; our entire crew, including our students, take pride in the field and want it to be the very best” says Brian Johnson, the Manager of the Athletic Grounds Facilities.

Then explain what is being said and provide evidence:

A complete field playing surface renovation was launched in the fall of 1992 right before…

This technique also helps the audience move through questions by introducing and explaining what is said and why.  The use a sound bite to provide further contextualize “real time” happenings is also important to engage the reader and allow them to not get bored of just talking and to make a personal connection to the scenario, and I tried to do that very well in my essay since the ambiance of Sun Devil Stadium strikes the ASU community so strongly.

Finally, I figured in my conclusion that I need to find a way to direct listeners somewhere else for more information, but I do have a punchy one line sentence, not choppy, and I wrap it up by elevating the connection to the Sun Devil Stadium using audio and sound-bytes that anyone can connect to. 

WP #3 Rough Draft

[Sun Devil Entrance Video, first 30 seconds]

Sun Devil Stadium, the original home of the famous annual Tostidos Fiesta Bowl, host of the 1996 Super Bowl, and house of the Pac 12 championship team since 1958, holds 75,000 roaring fans and functions as an extremely important landmark on the Arizona State University campus today.

Senior Associate of the Sun Devil stadium, Don Bocchi explains [interview recording] “I must have been in forty stadiums across the country. There is no setting nicer than this one”.

Described as being literally “carved into the desert”, the Sun Devil Stadium not only makes an ostentatious visual statement, as it emerges from between two mountain buttes, but also serves as one of the “best college football facilities in the country” based on its field safety and athlete facilities, progressive renovations, spectator environments and seating options, etc.

“The quality of just the field and the maintenance that goes into it; our entire crew, including our students, take pride in the field and want it to be the very best” says Brian Johnson, the Manager of the Athletic Grounds Facilities.

A complete field playing surface renovation was launched in the fall of 1992 right before Arizona State hosted Washington for the season-opener. The new stadium addition accomplished four goals that contributed widely to the safety of the players and provided fans with a more interactive experience.

The newly refurbished Sun Devil Stadium presented the Sun Devils with a more durable playing surface, provided better sight lines in the lower seating levels for loyal fans,  an expanded sideline area for better player safety, and finally, it provided advantages to game day television and print photographers. [Touchdown announcement sound]

The dramatic proximity of every seat to the playing field is another feature that has made Sun Devil Stadium one of the nation's finest college football arenas [crowd cheering noise].

The Sun Devil Stadium not only executes high rankings, it also presents a rich history in both athletics and culture.  Sun Devil Stadium was one of the stops on Pope John Paul II’s 1987 trip to the U.S. , where he spoke to an above-capacity crowd of 75,000 as part of his rare and scarce  tour throughout the country.

He held Mass for 75,000 at Sun Devil Stadium and as Don Bocchi remembers: “All the Sun Devil logos and words with "devil" painted on the stadium's facade had to be covered up for the Pope to agree to enter the stadium”.

Among the hundreds of concerts, one of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Rolling Stones,  played a show at Sun Devil Stadium as part of its 1981 tour, which was filmed and released on video, “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” in 1983. [Have piece of song playing throughout that line].

[Commencement speech intro] In the most recent historical production, President Barack Obama delivered the ASU commencement address at the stadium on May 13, 2009 before a crowd of 70,000 including 9,000 graduates, the largest U.S. audience for Obama since his inauguration.

Finally, though our Sun Devil Stadium, the Home of Sparky and commemorated Frank Kush field, plays a key role in the rich history of Arizona State and the largest university in the nation as a whole, it plays its most major and crucial role in the athletic culture of this community. The Home of Sparky has an abundant influence on not only our own ASU family and our athletes, [start NFL audio] but also the surrounding community, the Pac-12 university conference, and even the National Football League, or as you probably know, the NFL.

Most importantly, the Sun Devil Stadium is important to the ASU community [start crowd cheering] and the athletes which participate and utilize the field accordingly. The stadium allows for the entire university to gather together with a common goal, leading to a multitude of connections and a sense of community, friendship, and pride, which ultimately strengthens the university as a whole. [End crowd cheering].

Though it is strongly debated today, sports play a crucial role in society in various ways, including the sense of community mentioned earlier, the promotion of health and well-being, learning about crucial social skills like development and commitment, and “understanding of service and personal responsibility” as mentioned in an article posted by USA Today, all of which are extremely beneficial throughout the rest of our lives in the real world.

[descriptive audio from 50 year celebration] The athletics at Arizona State provide great entertainment, develops loyalty to schools, community togetherness, and has itself an important educational role for team members that lasts a lifetime, as ASU alumni James Harden explains about coming back to watch football at Sun Devil Stadium “ This is my home. A lot of great memories here of coaches and fans, just everybody” [maybe insert interviewer also?]

[closing sun devil stadium announcement]. 

Blog for WP #3

The Good Idea:

For our third writing project, I have chosen to create a transcript about the construction of the Sun Devil Stadium.  This was a major event in 1958 as our college was developing and Sun Devil Stadium still functions as an extremely important landmark on the Arizona State University campus today. Described as being literally “carved into the desert”, the Sun Devil Stadium not only makes an ostentatious visual statement, as it emerges from between two mountain buttes, but also serves as one of the “best college football facilities in the country” (thesundevils.com) based on its field safety and athlete facilities, progressive renovations, spectator environments and seating options, etc.

 I chose the Sun Devil Stadium not only because of its high rankings and rich history, but because of the role that it plays and the influence that it has on the ASU family, our athletes, the surrounding community, the Pac-12 university conference and even the National Football League, or NFL. Most importantly, the Sun Devil Stadium is important to the ASU community and the athletes which participate and utilize the field accordingly. The stadium allows for the entire university to gather together with a common goal, leading to a multitude of connections and a sense of community, friendship, and pride, which ultimately strengthens the university as a whole. Also, though it is strongly debated today, I would agree that sports play a crucial role in society in various ways, including the sense of community that I mentioned earlier, the promotion of health and well-being, learning about crucial social skills like development and commitment, and “understanding of service and personal responsibility” (USA Today), etc. all of which are extremely beneficial throughout the rest of our lives in the real world.

The Brainstormed Sources:So far, I have researched about the history of the Sun Devil Stadium though the ASU websites. I have also done some light research into the importance of sports in society, in school/college, and in health, through articles published through accredited media sites, medical and science journals, and psychology articles. I hope that I can find books in an ASU library concerning the history of the stadium and I hope to find a movie/documentary on sports in our society. Finally, I have considered interviewing head, or assistant coach, or athletic coordinator of one of our most popular ASU sports teams, and I have already sent emails concerning such information.  

Putting it all together, a.k.a The Difficult Part

                I think that I will start my piece with describing the importance of the Sun Devil Stadium to ASU, as I think that it is important to be straightforward with your topic and objective so that the audience never gets lost in what you are trying to explain/argue.  I think that like constructing a building, I need to put the story of the stadium together piece-by-piece, and in succession, to explain how/where it was built, why it was built, the renovations and upgrades throughout its existence, and how it has been successful in its intentions (i.e. how it has served our sports, famous NFL sports, and how it serves today). Within the piece, I think I should occasionally ask a question and then answer it, like they do on a lot of NPR podcasts, and i think I will be able to include our fight song/alma mater, sounds of the crowds that have occupied the stadium, interview clips from a coach or player, and ASU Chants to show off the spirit that comes alive in our stadium, and I think those will be successful ways to make transitions and to insure that the audience isn't bored and that the audience gets the true sense of what it feels like to be connected as Sun Devils as Arizona State University. 

November 8th Blog, Writing Project #2 Reflection

Our second writing project for English 101 was interesting and unlike any project I have ever been assigned before. I really liked how unique the project was and how we, the students, could be creative in the sense that we could choose any topic that relates to us and Arizona State University, but I also appreciated how well structured it was, since we were only allowed to use credible, supportive resources and measurable, supported evaluative criteria. Since we could pick any topic, I felt like we evaluated interesting, applicable, and relatable subjects, which made it easy to analyze and express to the audience the benefit of the subject and the value of each of the places on the map. For me, it was easy to find sources that explained what a “good” or “healthy” job is and what qualities that kind of job possesses, but sometimes it was difficult to find sources that were highly credible and applicable to the college-age group and community. When it came to the sources, much of the evaluative criteria that worked to define that good or healthy job were majorly another person’s or company’s opinion. Also, when it came to my subject, it was sometimes difficult to find evaluations and criteria for a job that isn’t meant to be a long lasting career. Overall though, I think this project wasn’t extremely difficult, and for me personally, it was educational for both inside the classroom, regarding English, and outside the classroom, in the real, working world, where I will be spending a lot of time and putting forth much effort. This project was beneficial to writing, sources within writing, and new knowledge that I can take into the world and exercise/consider in my own, personal life. 

November 1st Blog

    In reading chapters 17 and 18 in Joining the Conversation, I found that though the information within the reading was mostly aimed to help readers write, cite, and design a formal, written essay, it was extremely relevant when applied to our second writing project.

     In chapter 17, “Using Sources Effectively”, most of the information about sources and how to use them I had already learned through AP courses in high school, but I think that the most important idea that the chapter aims to address is that sources are important for support and clarification. The chapter uses bold titles like “Provide Evidence” and “Align Yourself with Authority”, to focus the ready to the definitive fact that a reliable source constructs reliable and credible support for a statement that an author makes. Chapter 17 states “Aligning yourself with authority shows your readers that your points are supported by a leader in that area-…-and that you are not alone in your convictions. Essentially, this technique allows you to borrow the credibility and status of someone who has compiled a strong record of accomplishment” (Palmquist, 575). This quote explains perfectly how using reliable sources are important in building up you own credibility, which is extremely relevant to Writing Project #2, as we are evaluating the degree of effectiveness of our chosen, thus personal topics, along with the help of sources; as I see it, we are essentially practicing the idea of aligning ourselves with authority within our writing. It is important to remember, however, to” use attributions and in-text citations” (a bold face title, page 578) “such as according to’ or ‘as the author points out- to alert your readers that the point is not your own” (578). This is crucial in any writing piece that you generate using credible sources, as plagiarism is a serious situation that you do not want to put yourself into.

    Chapter 18, “Designing Your Document” had a lot of information concerning exactly as stated, no matter the document you are aiming to create, but I thought that just focusing on the basic Design Principles (page 596) would be beneficial for our writing project. As we basically have a layout that we are required to follow for this project, the principles can apply mostly to the annotations we create for our maps, which is still important as the document you create needs to appear as professional as your argument: “A consistent design can also convey a sense of competence and professionalism to your readers, increasing their confidence in the quality and credibility of your document” (596). As the design of a document is just as important as the purpose, this chapter reminds the reader that “One of the most powerful tools writers have for accomplishing their purpose” (597) is setting a solid tone. If you can establish your tone, credibility with your sources, and finish with implementing a design which engages the audience, you can elicit a better response from your audience, especially on important or pertinent subjects.