Unit 2 proposal

For my unit 2 proposal I decided to write about New England Sports Ventures takeover of Liverpool fc from the now owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks. I chose this topic because it is happening right now and there should be plenty of primary sources available. There is also a very big debate going on due to the fact that American owners will be replaced by more Americans. People are worried that the new owners will run the club into the ground like the previous ones did. My primary sources will come mostly from news organizations like Fox Soccer and BBC America but I also intend to use first hand accounts from blogs. Because the event is happening right now, it shouldn't be too difficult distinguishing between primary and secondary sources; I expect almost everything to be primary.

I chose this topic because Liverpool fc is my favorite team and it seemed like a good topic which will have a variety of different styled sources. It should be interesting to look at an American writer's perspective over that of a British one due to the fact that many Brits want nothing to do with American owners and Americans haven't firmly grasped the concept of the values and passions of soccer in England.

In Class: First Paragraph

You walk to the door of The Flying Saucer, a big green door meets you, old looking with a feel of history. As you open it you notice a sign stating, "This building is history, anyone that touches it is part of history." Walking in you are immediately hit with a smell of the bathroom. You notice it's 15 feet in front of you and you wonder why they would put a bathroom in the front entrance. But this distraction dies down quickly as you take a right into the main restaurant and see a welcoming sight. Dark woods and warm colors fill the room, the walls are accented by hundreds of golden plates. The sofa and chairs look calming and inviting. On the far side of the room is the bar, there must be at least 50 different beers on tap.

In Class: Peer workshops

Over the years I have had the opportunity of experiencing peer workshops in my English classes. They never seem to be very beneficial though, usually because my papers are about a subject for an intended audience. The peers think they know something about the topic (their usually wrong) and like to give their opinions on it. Rarely do they actually help structure my essay or give me advise in a positive manner. I would much rather prefer meeting with the teacher to discuss positives and weaknesses in my papers. Their input seems to be much more beneficial to the revising process. The only thing that I can think of that is good about the peer workshops is that they sometimes catch things that I miss and the more readers the better.

In Class: peer observation notes

After reading the peer reviews I realized that I missed a few things when observing my space. I never mentioned anything about the outside appearance of the bar. I did say it was in downtown Fort Worth but that is not descriptive enough. I also need to make note of the rhetorical appeal that the smells, color, and general atmosphere has. What emotions do these things arouse, do they show Pathos, Logos, or Ethos.  On the other hand, things that I thought were interesting that my peers observed were how crowded it got on a Tuesday at 5. Also, something else that was pointed out was that I wasn't asked for my ID on the weekdays but there was a bouncer at the door on Saturday. Does this infer that they don't care very much who orders a drink during the week? I Feel that I did a pretty thorough job observing The Flying Saucer but after reading the peer observation notes I realize that I did miss a couple important things.

In Class: Observing The Saucer

I made it to the Flying Saucer only three times, but what I observed was tremendous. For the most part, my expectations were met, I observed what I thought I would observe. However, there were things that I didn't really expect to take place that did.

Starting with what I did expect to observe would have to be people drinking beer and I saw plenty of it. The majority were drinking darker colored microbrewed or imported beers and very few had large domestics like bud light or coors light. I also expected and did see a larger crowd on the weekend compared to on the weekdays. I knew there weren't going to be very many people in at 2 in the afternoon (everyones working) while the bar would be full at 10 at night on a Saturday.

Then there were things that I did not expect to observe but did and things that I had never noticed prior to sitting and just watching. During the day when there were only around 10 people in The Saucer I happened to see two people reading books, and about five of the people were alone. I also noticed that all the servers were women and the bartender was very knowledgeable about the beers they had.

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos of my Public Space

After going to my public space a few times this week I have begun to realize the amount of information that you can get while sitting back and observing. I have ethos, pathos, and logos appeals that will help strengthen my paper while giving the reader a better sense and feel of the area that I am trying to describe.

Ethos: The credibility of a restaurant is huge. If you have it, people will come from miles around to eat and drink there. On the other hand, if you have no credibility, you are probably closing down soon. The Flying Saucer is "cool" because it is different than other bars and restaurants. It is set in a pub style with quality items rather than ones that serve for one purpose, and that would be to get you drunk. The bartenders are very knowledgeable when it comes to these drinks. They know over 200 different beers and do a good job choosing the right one for the right person if the situation arises. Also, the fact that there are so many saucers (those who have drank over 200 different beers) with peoples names on the walls shows that they come back over and over again to have a good time.

Pathos: The Flying Saucer's appeal to emotion might be different for some people. To me, the feeling that I get when walking in is a sense of comfort and welcoming. The colors are not shouting, but rather inviting. There are comfy couches and seats that might belong in a home. If you are not in that type of mood then you can go outside where there is a life band playing on the weekends. Music is a great emotional appeal especially when you know the songs.

Logos: If you were to look at the numbers, you could say that The Flying Saucer is one of the few bars in Fort Worth that serves such a high number of beers. Something that I did before I first knew of  the bar was look at reviews online from those who had previously been. With a really good rating, this helped in my decision to try it out. Lastly, you can make the argument that if you like to try beers from around the country and around the world then you will like The Flying Saucer. This might be a little debatable but I see it more as using reason and common sense than making an assumption.

In Class: Logos

The artifact that i brought in today that represents logos is the stats and awards of baseball player Albert Pujols. I decided to choose Albert because I feel you can make a case of him being the best player in current baseball and possibly one of the best of all time by looking at his numbers. All the facts are layed out on a paper easy to understand, this way you can compare him to known greats like Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and a few others. There is no disputing the evidence that Pujols has hit 30 homeruns and batted over 300 for the ten seasons he has played professional ball. What may be in dispute could be if he will continue his exceptional playing ability as long as those in the past. The statistics sheet of Albert Pujols is a clear example of logos, it shows the facts, and the facts say he is one of the best.