Comparing my writing style to that of my peers is difficult.  I feel I am very simple when I write about anything.  I have to just start typing, no planning first, just type off the top of my head about a topic.  I consider that my rough draft.  I then go back and fix things, or make things sound like they make sense.  I have never been a good writer.  I was reading how my classmates plan and organize their writing, and I don't come too close to anyone when it comes to how much planning they put into it.  I do however compare a little to Brooklyn she says her "writing is basic" I feel my writing is very basic, but she does still plan more that I do.  I like how Sara has someone "another peer" read over her work, I do that too.  I like for someone to tell me if it sounds good before I turn it in.
     I wish I could compare to some of the other classmates, but my writing has never went to that much extreme.  I am planning on taking more time and using all my classmates advice on how to plan and make a draft and finalize my work the proper way.

     I read a short story called "The Star" by Esther Claes.  The story was about the end of the world, and this teenage star was trapped in her house with her parents while the end of the world was happening.  They were dropping bombs on the United States, starting from the East Coast, and ending where she lived which was Hollywood.  All the maids and help left the house early, and the parent's slowly awaited what they knew was coming and they couldn't stop it.  This story was wrote in a teenage way of reading, and it kept my attention.
     The story "The Star" showed Ethos by stating that the "president was on TV crying and begging" it made it feel real the way she explained it in the first paragraph of the story.  Made you believe her empathy over the subject by also letting you know that she didn't believe that it was going to happen.
     In the story she used Pathos by expressing her worries and concerns, and also by trying to keep her mind off of the end of the world by giving herself a pedicure and hiding under her covers, going to sleep, and telling herself she was going to wake up in the morning.  She broke down and cried once and told herself she was going to be o.k.
    The use of Logos in the story was hard to determine.  It was fiction and there was really no truth to the story.  It kept my attention by me wanting to find out if the radiation reached the west coast where her and her parents lived.  I believed her when she explained the horror in her parents voice when the radiation did hit the west coast and they were outside her room trying to talk to her there voices were faint like they were dying, but she was ignoring them, because she didn't want to think of her parents dying.  It was a very sad story of horror, and it was interesting.  

Logos, Pathos, and Ethos

     Loges are what you need to be able to let the reader know the facts you used for reasoning.  You have to be able to support the argument, it lets the reader know the facts and they know your not making it up.  You don't want to give a wrong percentage or number for a topic, that would be wrong facts.
     Pathos show your emotion in what you are writing about.  It allows you to show the values of your story.  Emotion is a very strong thing, and if you can show your emotion while writing it makes your reader more interested in what they are reading.
     Ethos are what you write about that lets the reader know how trustworthy you are, lets the reader know the credibility of the writer. It is how you refer to different views.  Ethos lets you use your knowledge about topics and research would be a must if you are writing about a subject you don't know all the facts about.

     How I adapt my speech and writing for different people would be to understand the reader, and make sure I know who my audience is.  If you know who your audience is you will know how to write to where it will keep their attention.  For instance you would write for different ages, you wouldn't write big words that a younger audience couldn't understand, but then you wouldn't write like a child if your audience was an older crowd.  If I was writing something about a certain sex like menstrual cycle I would direct it more towards women
     Thesis statements and PEE structure are important for academic audiences because they tell your reader about the discussion, and allows them the opportunity to keep reading or it may be of no interest to them. Thesis statements tell people what to expect from the rest of the paper.  It keeps the reader interested to see what they are going to read next.  This also gets the reader and opportunity to dispute your paper, and make a claim that may be in the beginning of your paper.

     My usual writing process is hard for me to describe.  I've never really been any good at writing, it has been a challenge for me in the past.  I have always tried to focus on my own personal experiences to get an peoples attention. I believe that if you can bring personal situations related to the subject it makes it more interesting.  When I was in high school (let me tell you that was a long time ago) I had a hard time writing anything.  I believe that now that I am older and have experienced life that I have more interesting things to tell about.  Like my kids, and the hardship we've been through, also all the wonderful times we've had.  I believe that is the stuff people want to hear about.  People love drama when it's not their own, or so it always seems.  I've took a lot child psychology courses, and it seems I had a lot to write about because of my experience taking care of children.  That would probably be the easiest writing I have ever done in my life.  Experience in life pays off when it comes to writing essays and short stories.

Ways to stay engaged in an online class are to keep in touch with your peers.  If you have problems with something and have questions it is good to be able to ask your peers for help.  Sometimes it takes the instructor awhile to get back to you on certain issues.  I have took a lot of online classes and my peers helped me out so much.  Another way to stay engaged is to check email daily or even twice daily.  I know I have checked mine before and didn’t have email but then checked it later in the day, and to find out it was very important that I knew this information before the next day.  If you read all the material your instructor puts online it will greatly benefit you also.  If you don’t read it or watch the videos you are guaranteed to miss something that is important.

    I love online classes, having children and juggling work makes it hard to drive to campus, and walk a mile to class.  To keep engaged in an online class is very important in passing the course.  If you fall behind it makes it that much harder to pass and get the credits needed to graduate.