My Thoughts on Comments

The comment thread of an article is often a place on the Internet where ordinary people, much like you and I, go to express their opinions and ideas regarding a particular piece of writing. This is the place where people contribute to discussions, tell their own personal anecdotes, and even add seemingly random bits of information, all in the hopes that they will have their voices heard. This post will discuss some comments from an article published by The Independent, titled "International Yoga Day controversy as India is accused of pushing 'Hindu agenda' on Muslims."

The Credible Comments

Some commenters came across as more credible than others for a variety of reasons. Whether it was the experience they contributed, the facts they added to the discussion, or even just the way they articulated themselves through the comments section, they each were able to come across as credible and reasonable. For instance, let's take a look at Nasir Khan's comment below: 

Khan, Nasir. Screenshot from my computer. 08/29/15 1:16pm.

In his comment, Mr. Khan voices some concern that yoga is becoming a campaign in order to reach a certain religious or political end. He does not seem to identify with either group in this comment; rather, he identifies as a Humanist, who does not practice yoga for any religious purpose.

Because he has established himself as a Humanist who practices yoga in a secular manner, Khan's credibility increases. As I was scrolling through pages of comments, his contribution was like a breath of fresh air for me, as he neither establishes himself as a Hindu nor as a Muslim. He merely speaks from personal experience when he says that he practices yoga for "physical fitness and mental balance," and thus, in his experience, yoga is not an entirely religious practice. In this case, Khan's credibility increases because he has no apparent bias and he contributes his own personal experience through his comment.

Another relatively credible comment was voiced by Ezsasa here:

Ezsasa. Screenshot from my computer. 08/29/15 1:18pm.

In this comment, Ezsasa worries that this controversy is in fact a "manufactured controversy." She seems to believe that the views that are described in the article are not held by all Muslims in India. By saying this, she does not seem to truly take anyone's side in the controversy; rather, she is of the opinion that people are intentionally making this event a controversy.

In this case, I felt that Ezsasa's comment was credible. She backed her opinion by speaking about the "over whelming participation from kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, and Bengal" and then went on to explain that these places usually consist of a large majority of Muslims. Although I do think that she would have sounded a bit more credible if she had cited a source for this information, her factually based argument did make her sound more credible.

The Not-So-Credible Comments

In this section, I will write about some of the comments that did not seem to be reasonable or credible. These are the comments that made me shake my head furiously, roll my eyes, and even, on occasion, voice my disagreement out loud. One comment that I did not find credible was contributed by Angel Eyes:

Angel Eyes. Screenshot from my computer. 08/29/15 1:23pm.

Angel seems to be voicing some fear about the government's apparent inability to curb poverty in India, but it is unclear where exactly this fear is coming from. Her comment does not seem to be directly related to the article, so it is difficult to even understand what her viewpoint is on the controversy that the article is written about. It is completely possible that 80 percent of Indians do "live on under a dollar a day," but the irrelevance of the comment completely undermines Angel's credibility. Due to the arbitrary nature of her comment, Angel lacks credibility in this case.

This next comment also completely lacks credibility:

Bosnianbob. Screenshot from my computer. 08/29/15 1:28pm.

Bosnianbob contributes to the comment thread merely by throwing around insults. He seems to be angry about something, but the vague use of "these people" does not even let the reader know whom he is referring to. Based on these insults, I can only presume that he finds some group of people, either the government or the Muslim dissenters, "bewildered" and "retarded," but it is nearly impossible to tell where his opinion lies. Rather, by spouting off these seemingly random insults, he shows that he is neither a reasonable nor trustworthy source.

Reflection

My classmates' posts showed me that, even if our choice in controversies are different, the underlying qualities that make comments credible or un-credible remain consistent. 

Casey's post about scientific fraud was very interesting and analytic. I was really intrigued by the fact that scientific fraud is such a controversial issue, and I generally agreed with Casey's analysis regarding the comments. The credible comments actually contribute fact-based information to the discussion, which increases the authority of the writer. In addition, even if they are opinionated, they do not let their judgements negatively influence the way they come across in the comments thread. However, the un-credible comments often come across as ignorant or irrelevant, and the authors often let their bias negatively influence the tone of their comments.

Sam's analysis again mirrored the way I analyze comments in comment threads. The commenters that use logic to back up their claims increase their own authority by doing so, which makes their comments seem credible. However, the un-credible comments are clouded by bias, which makes the commenters seem unreliable. Even if I do agree with any of these comments, the tone of the commenters makes their entire viewpoint seem un-credible.

My Controversy

While scouring the internet for an interesting controversy to write about, I discovered this article regarding an ongoing Hindu-Muslim religious controversy in India.

Moftah, Lora. "International Yoga Day 2015: Hindu, Muslim Religious Controversy Plagues Indian Heritage Celebration." Screenshot from my computer.

This article, found in the International Business Times, speaks of the International Yoga Day in India. This campaign was advocated by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi as a day to celebrate national pride throughout India in the form of yoga. However, despite the government's claim that this event is optional and non-religious, many Muslim activist groups have criticized the event as a way for Hindus to force non-Hindus to practice some of their religious practices. The event has added to a longstanding conflict between Hindu nationalist groups and Muslim organizations due to its apparent religious connotation. Having been raised in a predominantly Hindu family, I have always noticed this tension between Hindus and Muslims, but I never truly understood the extent of this conflict, or even the reasons behind it. This article really opened my eyes to the scope of this ongoing religious conflict in the country, which seems to have only been exacerbated by the implementation of an International Yoga Day. 

Calendar Reflection

"Where is the time?!" As a college freshman who is now about one week into her first week of college, this thought has admittedly crossed my mind more than once. However, as I began to make a calendar outlining my weekly schedule, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I actually have a lot more time that I had previously anticipated.

Gibson, Matt. "Time Lost" 2/15/09 via flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial License.

As I was putting together my calendar, I found myself often thinking to myself, "Oh! I have an hour in between those two classes?" I have realized that I often inadvertently overlook small amounts of time between classes and events, and those seemingly small amounts of time do add up.

I think my main goal in all of this will be to make good use of all of the free time I have, whether that's one hour between classes, or five hours at the end of the day. While that doesn't mean I have to study 24/7, it does mean that I have to carefully plan every day to make the most of my time. I know now that I have more than enough time to complete my English 109H homework as well as all of the other homework I have; it's just a matter of sticking to my schedule and making use of all of my time.


Reflection

My classmates' calendar reflections made me realize that I am not alone in this time management struggle. Most of us are new to the college life, and it's definitely making us all rethink our priorities.

• Sam's post helped me realize that there is, in fact, more than enough time to complete all of my homework; it's just a matter of sticking to my schedule. I really liked her idea of scheduling some "blog thinking time" while waiting in lines for food. It goes to show that, even when I'm not technically studying or working, I can plan ahead during the little bits of spare time I get.
• Victoria's post gave me some more ideas I can implement in my own schedule to ensure that I make good use of my time. I particularly liked her idea of spacing time out evenly throughout the week. I frequently find myself spacing my time out unevenly depending on my class schedule, and that only ends up adding to my stress. I will definitely need to learn to spread out my work throughout the week so that I am successful this semester.

My Writing Process

To write or not to write; to plan or not to plan? These are the questions that run through my head as I sit down to write anything, whether it's a blog post such as this, an essay, or even a research paper. In this post, I will address the way my writing process helps me put together a piece of writing, and the pros and cons of writing in such a way.

Enokson. "The Writing Process." 9/7/11 via flickr. Attribution License.

1. What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself to be?

Of the four types of writers discussed in section 3.2 of Student's Guide, I feel that I fall most into the category of the "sequential composer." Unlike heavy planners, I cannot plan ahead to the extent that revision is hardly necessary. However, unlike heavy revisers, I also cannot jump headfirst into a piece of writing without any plan at all. 

Much like the sequential composers, I often spend similar amounts of time planning, writing, and revising. Additionally, while I am writing, I find myself referring back to the previous paragraphs I've written and revising as I go. This allows me to divide up my time between each of the phases of writing roughly evenly.

2. Does your writing process include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?

It is admittedly extremely difficult to confine myself to only one approach to writing. Sometimes I do resemble a heavy planner, going to extreme lengths to plan out every aspect of my paper. Other times, I feel that planning is going to get me nowhere, and I just have to start writing to see where it takes me. It really depends on the type of paper I am writing, and the mindset I have at that particular point in time.

I do feel that I most often use the sequential composer's strategy, in which I spend relatively equal amounts of time on each step of the writing process. I require some sort of plan or roadmap for my writing, but I also need to begin writing before those plans become too confusing to implement. Most often, I revise as I write, going back through previously written paragraphs to revise certain ideas, before moving on to the next part of the paper.

3. Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

Usually, my writing process is relatively successful. Spending roughly equal amounts of time on each step of the process allows me to plan, write, and revise in a well-balanced way. It also helps me make good use of my time, as I do not spend too much time on one step of the writing process over another. 

However, on the downside, my writing process is not always entirely consistent. Sometimes, I might feel that a paper requires more planning ahead of time, but that might cause me to spend less time on revisions. Other times, I might have a difficult time formulating any kind of plan, and I'll just start writing to see where it takes me. In this way, I often combine the strategies of different types of writers, and this inconsistency may prevent me from having a set strategy or approach to writing.

4. Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a different approach? Why or why not?

To me, it seems like the approach of the sequential composer seems to be most balanced. I do not want to spend more time on any one part of the writing process; rather, I'd like to spend equal amounts of time on every part. 

At this point, even though I most closely associate myself with the sequential composer, I think it would be most beneficial for me to more closely follow the sequential composer's strategy. As I mentioned before, I am sometimes not consistent in my approach to writing, so I think I would benefit from an even more balanced approach to writing.


Reflection

Reading some of my classmates' posts really opened my eyes to other types of writing processes, and how those processes work for them.

• Namratha's post gave me more insight on heavy planning and procrastinating, which was honestly a combination of writing processes that I would have never thought to combine. However, it did make me realize that a lot of planning can sometimes lead to some procrastination, especially if you agonize over minor details, like she and I tend to do. This reminded me that I need to balance my writing so that I do plan things out, but not to the extent that I worry over the smallest of details.
• Chelsea's post gave me a better understanding of a writing process that seems to be very similar to my own. I really loved her idea about using outlines to write, as I often tend to stay away from them in the fear that they will only add to my confusion. It also helped me remember that it is important not to let my perfectionist attitude cause unnecessary stress during the writing process, as the smaller details are usually not as important as the bigger ideas in my writing.