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C++ Programming/Programming Languages/C++/Code/Statements/Variables

Variables
Much like a person has a name that distinguishes him or her from other people, a variable assigns a particular instance of an object type, a name or label by which the instance can be referred to. The variable is the most important concept in programming, it is how the code can manipulate data. Depending on its use in the code a variable has a specific locality in relation to the hardware and based on the structure of the code it also has a specific scope where the compiler will recognize it as valid. All these characteristics are defined by a programmer.

Internal storage
We need a way to store data that can be stored, accessed and altered on the hardware by programming. Most computer systems operate using binary logic. The computer represents value using two voltage levels, usually 0V for logic 0 and either +3.3 V or +5V for logic 1. These two voltage levels represent exactly two different values and by convention the values are zero and one. These two values, coincidentally, correspond to the two digits used by the binary number system. Since there is a correspondence between the logic levels used by the computer and the two digits used in the binary numbering system, it should come as no surprise that computers employ the binary system.

 * The Binary Number System

The binary number system uses base 2 which requires therefore only the digits 0 and 1.

Bits and bytes
We typically write binary numbers as a sequence of bits (bits is short for binary digits). It is also a normal convention that these bit sequences, to make binary numbers easier to read and comprehend, be added spaces in a specific relevant boundary, to be selected from the context that the number is being used. Much like we use a comma (UK and most ex-colonies) or a point to separated every three digits in larger decimal numbers. For example, the binary value 44978 could be written 1010 1111 1011 0010.

These are defined boundaries for specific bit sequences.

The smallest unit of data on a binary computer is a single bit. Since a single bit is capable of representing only two different values (typically zero or one) you may get the impression that there are a very small number of items you can represent with a single bit. Not true! There are an infinite number of items you can represent with a single bit.
 * The bit

With a single bit, you can represent any two distinct items. Examples include zero or one, true or false, on or off, male or female, and right or wrong. However, by using more than one bit, you will not be limited to representing binary data types (that is, those objects which have only two distinct values).

To confuse things even more, different bits can represent different things. For example, one bit might be used to represent the values zero and one, while an adjacent bit might be used to represent the colors red or black. How can you tell by looking at the bits? The answer, of course, is that you can't. But this illustrates the whole idea behind computer data structures: data is what you define it to be.

If you use a bit to represent a boolean (true/false) value then that bit (by your definition) represents true or false. For the bit to have any true meaning, you must be consistent. That is, if you're using a bit to represent true or false at one point in your program, you shouldn't use the true/false value stored in that bit to represent red or black later.

Since most items you will be trying to model require more than two different values, single bit values aren't the most popular data type. However, since everything else consists of groups of bits, bits will play an important role in your programs. Of course, there are several data types that require two distinct values, so it would seem that bits are important by themselves. however, you will soon see that individual bits are difficult to manipulate, so we'll often use other data types to represent boolean values.

A nibble is a collection of bits on a 4-bit boundary. It would not be a particularly interesting data structure except for two items: BCD (binary coded decimal) numbers and hexadecimal (base 16) numbers. It takes four bits to represent a single BCD or hexadecimal digit.
 * The nibble

With a nibble, we can represent up to 16 distinct values. In the case of hexadecimal numbers, the values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F are represented with four bits.

BCD uses ten different digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and requires four bits. In fact, any sixteen distinct values can be represented with a nibble, but hexadecimal and BCD digits are the primary items we can represent with a single nibble.

The byte is the smallest individual piece of data that we can access or modify on a computer, it is without question, the most important data structure used by microprocessors today. Main memory and I/O addresses in the PC are all byte addresses.
 * The byte

On almost all computer types, a byte consists of eight bits, although computers with larger bytes do exist. A byte is the smallest addressable datum (data item) in the microprocessor, this is why processors only works on bytes or groups of bytes, never on bits. To access anything smaller requires that you read the byte containing the data and mask out the unwanted bits.

Since the computer is a byte addressable machine, it turns out to be more efficient to manipulate a whole byte than an individual bit or nibble. For this reason, most programmers use a whole byte to represent data types that require no more than 256 items, even if fewer than eight bits would suffice. For example, we will often represent the boolean values true and false by 00000001 and 00000000 (respectively).

Probably the most important use for a byte is holding a character code. Characters typed at the keyboard, displayed on the screen, and printed on the printer all have numeric values.

A byte (usually) contains 8 bits. A bit can only have the value of 0 or 1. If all bits are set to 1, 11111111 in binary equals to 255 decimal.

The bits in a byte are numbered from bit zero (b0) through seven (b7) as follows: b7	b6	b5	b4	b3	b2	b1	b0

Bit 0 (b0) is the low order bit or least significant bit (lsb), bit 7 is the high order bit or most significant bit (msb) of the byte. We'll refer to all other bits by their number.

A byte also contains exactly two nibbles. Bits b0 through b3 comprise the low order nibble, and bits b4 through b7 form the high order nibble.

Since a byte contains eight bits, exactly two nibbles, byte values require two hexadecimal digits. It can represent 2^8, or 256, different values. Generally, we'll use a byte to represent:
 * 1) unsigned numeric values in the range 0 => 255
 * 2) signed numbers in the range -128 => +127
 * 3) ASCII character codes
 * 4) other special data types requiring no more than 256 different values. Many data types have fewer than 256 items so eight bits is usually sufficient.

In this representation of a computer byte, a bit number is used to label each bit in the byte. The bits are labeled from 7 to 0 instead of 0 to 7 or even 1 to 8, because processors always start counting at 0. It is simply more convenient to use 0 for computers as we shall see. The bits are also shown in descending order because, like with decimal numbers (normal base 10), we put the more significant digits to the left.

Consider the number 254 in decimal. The 2 here is more significant than the other digits because it represents hundreds as opposed to tens for the 5 or singles for the 4. The same is done in binary. The more significant digits are put towards the left. In binary, there are only 2 digits, instead of counting from 0 to 9, we only count from 0 to 1, but counting is done by exactly the same principles as counting in decimal. If we want to count higher than 1, then we need to add a more significant digit to the left. In decimal, when we count beyond 9, we need to add a 1 to the next significant digit. It sometimes may look confusing or different only because humans are used to counting with 10 digits.

In decimal, each digit represents multiple of a power of 10. So, in the decimal number 254.
 * The 4 represents four multiples of one ($$4 \times 10^0$$ since $$10^0 = 1$$).
 * Since we're working in decimal (base 10), the 5 represents five multiples of 10 ($$5 \times 10^1$$)
 * Finally the 2 represents two multiples of 100 ($$2 \times 10^2$$)

All this is elementary. The key point to recognize is that as we move from right to left in the number, the significance of the digits increases by a multiple of 10. This should be obvious when we look at the following equation:

$$(2 \times 10^2) + (5 \times 10^1) + (4 \times 10^0) = 254$$

In binary, each digit can only be one of two possibilities (0 or 1), therefore when we work with binary we work in base 2 instead of base 10. So, to convert the binary number 1101 to decimal we can use the following base 10 equation, which is very much like the one above:

$$(1 \times 2^3) + (1 \times 2^2) + (0 \times 2^1) + (1 \times 2^0) = 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13$$

To convert the number we simply add the bit values ($$2^n$$) where a 1 shows up. Let's take a look at our example byte again, and try to find its value in decimal.

First off, we see that bit #5 is a 1, so we have $$2^5 = 32$$ in our total. Next we have bit#3, so we add $$2^3 = 8$$. This gives us 40. Then next is bit#2, so 40 + 4 is 44. And finally is bit#0 to give 44 + 1 = 45. So this binary number is 45 in decimal.

As can be seen, it is impossible for different bit combinations to give the same decimal value. Here is a quick example to show the relationship between counting in binary (base 2) and counting in decimal (base 10).

$$00_2$$ = $$0_{10}$$, $$01_2$$ = $$1_{10}$$, $$10_2$$ = $$2_{10}$$, $$11_2$$ = $$3_{10}$$

The bases that these numbers are in are shown in subscript to the right of the number.

Carry bit
As a side note. What would happen if you added 1 to 255? No combination will represent 256 unless we add more bits. The next value (if we could have another digit) would be 256. So our byte would look like this.

But this $$9^{th}$$ bit (bit#8) doesn't exist. So where does it go? To be precise it actually goes into the carry bit. The carry bit resides in the processor of the computer, has an internal bit used exclusively for carry operations such as this. So if one adds 1 to 255 stored in a byte, the result would be 0 with the carry bit set in the CPU. Of course, a C++ programmer, never gets to use this bit directly. You'll would need to learn assembly to do that.

Endianness
After examining a single byte, it is time to look at ways to represent numbers larger than 255. This is done by grouping bytes together, we can represent numbers that are much larger than 255. If we use 2 bytes together, we double the number of bits in our number. In effect, 16 bits allows the representation numbers up to 65535, and 32 bits allows the representation of numbers above 4 billion.

Here are a few basic primitive types:

 * char (1 byte (by definition), max value: at least 255)

 * short int (at least 2 bytes, max value: at least 65535)

 * long int (at least 4 bytes, max value: at least 4294967295)

 * float (typically 4 bytes, floating point)

 * double (typically 8 bytes, floating point)

All the information already given about the byte is valid for the other primitive types. The difference is simply the number of bits used is different and the msb is now bit#15 for a short and bit#31 for a long (assuming a 32-bit long type).

In a short (16-bit), one may think that in memory the byte for bits 15 to 8 would be followed by the byte for bits 7 to 0. In other words, byte #0 would be the high byte and byte #1 would be the low byte. This is true for some other systems. For example, the Motorola 68000 series CPUs do use this byte ordering. However, on PCs (with 8088/286/386/486/Pentiums) this is not so. The ordering is reversed so that the low byte comes before the high byte. The byte that represents bits 0 to 7 always comes before all other bytes on PCs. This is called little-endian ordering. The other ordering, such as on the M68000, is called big-endian ordering. This is very important to remember when doing low level byte operations that aim to be portable across systems.

For big-endian computers, the basic idea is to keep the higher bits on the left or in front. For little-endian computers, the idea is to keep the low bits in the low byte. There is no inherent advantage to either scheme except perhaps for an oddity. Using a little-endian long int as a smaller type of int is theoretically possible as the low byte(s) is/are always in the same location (first byte). With big-endian the low byte is always located differently depending on the size of the type. For example (in big-endian), the low byte is the $$4^{th}$$ byte in a long int and the $$2^{nd}$$ byte in a short int. So a proper cast must be done and low level tricks become rather dangerous.

To convert from one endianness to the other, one reverses the values of the bytes, putting the highest bytes value in the lowest byte and the lowest bytes value in the highest byte, and swap all the values for the in between bytes, so that if you had a 4 byte little-endian integer 0x0A0B0C0D (the 0x signifies that the value is hexadecimal) then converting it to big-endian would change it to 0x0D0C0B0A.

Bit endianness, where the bit order inside the bytes changes, is rarely used in data storage and only really ever matters in serial communication links, where the hardware deals with it.

There are computers which don't follow a strictly big-endian or little-endian bit layout, but they're rare. An example is the PDP-11's storage of 32-bit values.

Understanding two's complement
Two's complement is a way to store negative numbers in a pure binary representation. The reason that the two's complement method of storing negative numbers was chosen is because this allows the CPU to use the same add and subtract instructions on both signed and numbers.

To convert a positive number into its negative two's complement format, you begin by flipping all the bits in the number (1's become 0's and 0's become 1's) and then add 1. (This also works to turn a negative number back into a positive number Ex: -34 into 34 or vice-versa).

Let's try to convert our number 45.

First, we flip all the bits...

And add 1.

Now if we add up the values for all the one bits, we get... 128+64+16+2+1=211? What happened here? Well, this number actually is 211. It all depends on how you interpret it. If you decide this number is, then its value is 211. But if you decide it's signed, then its value is -45. It is completely up to you how you treat the number.

If and only if you decide to treat it as a signed number, then look at the msb (most significant bit [bit#7]). If it's a 1, then it's a negative number. If it's a 0, then it's positive. In C++, using in front of a type will tell the compiler you want to use this variable as an  number, otherwise it will be treated as signed number.

Now, if you see the msb is set, then you know it's negative. So convert it back to a positive number to find out its real value using the process just described above.

Let's go through a few examples.

Treat the following number as an byte. What is its value in decimal?

Since this is an number, no special handling is needed. Just add up all the values where there's a 1 bit. 128+64+32+4=228. So this binary number is 228 in decimal.

Now treat the number above as a signed byte. What is its value in decimal?

Since this is now a signed number, we first have to check if the msb is set. Let's look. Yup, bit #7 is set. So we have to do a two's complement conversion to get its value as a positive number (then we'll add the negative sign afterwards).

Ok, so let's flip all the bits... And add 1. This is a little trickier since a carry propagates to the third bit. For bit#0, we do 1+1 = 10 in binary. So we have a 0 in bit#0. Now we have to add the carry to the second bit (bit#1). 1+1=10. bit#1 is 0 and again we carry a 1 over to the $$3^{rd}$$ bit (bit#2). 0+1 = 1 and we're done the conversion.

Now we add the values where there's a one bit. 16+8+4 = 28. Since we did a conversion, we add the negative sign to give a value of -28. So if we treat 11100100 (base 2) as a signed number, it has a value of -28. If we treat it as an number, it has a value of 228.

Let's try one last example.

Give the decimal value of the following binary number both as a signed and number.

First as an number. So we add the values where there's a 1 bit set. 4+1 = 5. For an number, it has a value of 5.

Now for a signed number. We check if the msb is set. Nope, bit #7 is 0. So for a signed number, it also has a value of 5.

As you can see, if a signed number doesn't have its msb set, then you treat it exactly like an number.

Floating point representation
A generic real number with a decimal part can also be expressed in binary format. For instance 110.01 in binary corresponds to:

$$ 1 \times 2^2 + 1 \times 2^1 + 0 \times 2^0 + 0 \times 2^{-1} + 1 \times 2^{-2} = {\color{Blue} 2^2 + 2^1 + 2^{-2}} = 6.25 $$

Exponential notation (also known as scientific notation, or standard form, when used with base 10, as in $$3 \times 10^8$$ ) can be also used and the same number expressed as:

$$ 1.1001 \times 2^2 \qquad ( = 11.001 \times 2^1 = 110.01 )$$

When there is only one non-zero digit on the left of the decimal point, the notation is termed normalized.

In computing applications a real number is represented by a sign bit (S) an exponent (e) and a mantissa (M). The exponent field needs to represent both positive and negative exponents. To do this, a bias E is added to the actual exponent in order to get the stored exponent, and the sign bit (S), which indicates whether or not the number is negative, is transformed into either +1 or -1, giving s. A real number is thus represented as:

$$ f = s \times M \times 2^{e-E} $$

S, e and M are concatenated one after the other in a 32-bit word to create a single precision floating point number and in a 64-bit doubleword to create a double precision one. For the single float type, 8 bits are used for the exponent and 23 bits for the mantissa, and the exponent offset is E=127. For the double type 11 bits are used for the exponent and 52 for the mantissa, and the exponent offset is E=1023.

There are two types of floating point numbers. Normalized and denormalized. A normalized number will have an exponent e in the range 0<e<28 - 1 (between 00000000 and 11111111, non-inclusive) in a single precision float, and an exponent e in the range 0<e<211 - 1 (between 00000000000 and 11111111111, non-inclusive) for a double float. Normalized numbers are represented as sign times 1.Mantissa times 2e-E. Denormalized numbers are numbers where the exponent is 0. They are represented as sign times 0.Mantissa times 21-E. Denormalized numbers are used to store the value 0, where the exponent and mantissa are both 0. Floating point numbers can store both +0 and -0, depending on the sign. When the number isn't normalized or denormalized (it's exponent is all 1s) the number will be plus or minus infinity if the mantissa is zero and depending on the sign, or plus or minus NaN (Not a Number) if the mantissa isn't zero and depending on the sign.

For instance the binary representation of the number 5.0 (using float type) is:

0 10000001 01000000000000000000000

The first bit is 0, meaning the number is positive, the exponent is 129-127=2, and the mantissa is 1.01 (note the leading one is not included in the binary representation). 1.01 corresponds to 1.25 in decimal representation. Hence 1.25*4=5.

Floating point numbers are not always exact representations of values. a number like 1010110110001110101001101 couldn't be represented by a single precision floating point number because, disregarding the leading 1 which isn't part of the mantissa, there are 24 bits, and a single precision float can only store 23 numbers in its mantissa, so the 1 at the end would have to be dropped because it is the least significant bit. Also, there are some value which simply cannot be represented in binary which can be easily represented in decimal, E.g. 0.3 in decimal would be 0.0010011001100110011... or something. A lot of other numbers cannot be exactly represented by a binary floating point number, no matter how many bits it use for it's mantissa, just because it would create a repeating pattern like this.

Locality (hardware)
Variables have two distinct characteristics: those that are created on the stack (local variables), and those that are accessed via a hard-coded memory address (global variables).

Globals
Typically a variable is bound to a particular address in computer memory that is automatically assigned to at runtime, with a fixed number of bytes determined by the size of the object type of a variable and any operations performed on the variable effects one or more values stored in that particular memory location.

All global defined variables will have static lifetime. Only those not defined as  will permit external linkage by default.

Locals
If the size and location of a variable is unknown beforehand, the location in memory of that variable is stored in another variable instead, and the size of the original variable is determined by the size of the type of the second value storing the memory location of the first. This is called referencing, and the variable holding the other variables memory location is called a pointer.


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Category:Bengali recipes

Recipes from Bengal.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Category:Bengali recipes


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Cookbook:White Sauce

| Sauces

White sauce is a common name (chiefly in the US and Britain) for the classic Béchamel Sauce, one of the "Mother Sauces" of French Cuisine. In French cooking, Béchamel Sauce is rarely used on its own; it is more often used as the base for derivitave sauces or as a binder for gratinées. Béchamel's American cousin, on the other hand, is frequently used as a finished product. White sauce is generally more highly seasoned than is Béchamel, but the procedure for making both is the same.

Recipes from the 19th century and earlier often call for slowly simmering white sauce, for an hour or more, with whole onions and spices, then straining the finished sauce. Today, it is more common to use dried/ground seasonings; there is little difference in the finished product.

Ingredients

 * ¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
 * ¼ cup (60 g) all-purpose flour
 * 2 cups (480 ml) whole milk
 * ¾ tsp onion salt
 * ¼ tsp ground white pepper
 * 1 tsp ground mustard seed
 * 1 pinch fresh-ground nutmeg
 * 1 bay leaf

Procedure

 * 1) Make a white roux: melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the foam subsides. Add the flour and whisk together, still over the heat, for 2–3 minutes. The flour should lose its raw smell but should not brown.
 * 2) Add the milk to the roux while whisking quickly but smoothly to create a smooth mixture.
 * 3) Add the seasonings and cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Simmer the sauce until it lightly coats the back of a spoon.
 * 4) Remove the bay leaf, taste and adjust for salt and pepper, and serve.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * A sweet white sauce can be made by replacing the seasoning items with sugar (preferably caster). Adding rum or brandy to taste will make this the sweet sauce traditionally served with Christmas pudding.
 * The seasonings can be adjusted according to individual taste and the intended use: some dishes will require a more highly seasoned sauce, others a milder concoction.
 * The flavor can also be altered by adding various herbs (parsley, celery leaves, thyme, etc.) along with the other seasonings. Generally, additions should be strained from the sauce prior to use—straining would not apply, for instance, to traditional parsley sauce, typically served with fish, in which the green of the herb is an integral ingredient. Keep in mind that the sauce should be mildly flavored and that any additions should complement the finished dish, not overpower it.
 * White sauce can be made ahead-of-time: remove from the heat and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface of the sauce to prevent it from forming a skin. Reheat over a low flame, stirring constantly, until it barely simmers.
 * In the event that lumps have formed in your sauce, simply pour through a medium strainer before serving.

title: Cookbook:White Sauce


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Cookbook:Alfredo Sauce

| Cuisine of The United States | Pasta Recipes

Fettuccine Alfredo or "fettuccine all’Alfredo" is a dish made with fettuccine pasta combined with a sauce made from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and butter. The dish was named after Alfredo Di Lelio who opened a restaurant in Rome in 1914 and served “fettuccine all’Alfredo. Fettuccine Alfredo is an exaggerated variation of "pasta al burro" or pasta with butter--a dish that Italians understand better as something that would be cooked at home for simplicity and comfort. The dish became popularized in the United States and through commercialization the recipe has evolved to include heavy cream and other ingredients.

Ingredients

 * 8 oz (2 sticks / 230 g) of butter, unsalted and softened to room temperature
 * ½ pound (230 g) Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (aged 24 months), grated
 * Salt
 * 1 pound (450 g) fettuccine egg noodles

Procedure

 * 1)  Whisk together the butter and grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese until it is creamy. Both ingredients combined should be on the thick side.
 * 2)  Put water to boil in a large pot and cook the noodles until al dente.
 * 3)  Drain the noodles and reserve ½ cup of liquid to emulsify your sauce.
 * 4)  Put noodles back in the warm pot and stir in the butter and cheese mixture with vigorous turning motion while adding pasta water until the noodles are glistening and smooth.
 * 5)  Add salt to taste.
 * 6)  Serve immediately.

Notes, tips, and variations

 * Alfredo Di Lelio, for whom the dish is named, was a Roman innkeeper. Between the 1910s and the 1950s he owned a popular restaurant named Alfredo all'Augusteo in Piazza Augusto Imperatore in the center of the city. The restaurant, now called "Il Vero Alfredo - Alfredo di Roma", is run by the granddaughter of Alfredo Di Lelio, Ines Di Lelio.
 * The original name of the dish, created in 1914, was Fettuccine al triplo burro (Fettuccine with triple butter).
 * Fettuccine is the traditional pasta for Alfredo and its variations because the broad noodles provide just the right platform for the butter fat and cheese.
 * Fresh egg pasta is greatly preferred by some over dried pasta for cream and cheese sauces because the sauce sometimes clings more readily to fresh pasta than it does to dried.

title: Cookbook:Alfredo Sauce


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Cookbook:Macaroni and Cheese

Macaroni and cheese is a dish combining pasta (usually macaroni) with cheese or a cheese-based sauce. It can be made by tossing cooked pasta in a cheesy white sauce or made as a baked casserole.

Sauce
The cheese sauce used in macaroni and cheese is generally a variant on Sauce Mornay, a French sauce consisting of Bechamel sauce with added cheese. The sauce can be heavily customized so long as the liquid ingredients do not exceed the capacity of the roux to thicken it to a usable consistency. Common additions include white pepper or hot mustard, but Worcestershire sauce or even diluted tomato paste can make interesting additions. Fresh herbs should be left until the end of the recipe, while dried herbs will soften nicely in the cheese sauce. Other possibilities for experimentation involve replacing some of the milk with other liquids, with beer and stock being two avenues of exploration. Of course, the most obvious change one can make is in the types of cheese.

The cheeses used in the sauce may be of any sort, but one should keep in mind that at least some of the cheese should be sharp-tasting (lest the sauce be bland) and that some cheeses melt very well (soft bleu, gruyere, cheddar) while others do not (e.g. feta). The most common mixture in American macaroni and cheese is Parmesan and cheddar, with aged cheddar providing a more assertive flavour that some children may dislike.

Packaged mixes use a highly processed sauce based on milk ingredients alongside a large amount of citric acid, which is responsible for both the pronounced sharpness of commercial cheese sauce ("Nacho Cheese") as well as its distinctive texture. This can be done at home by melting one or more cheeses into a solution of a liquid (commonly water, beer or stock) with 1 teaspoon of sodium citrate, available at large markets as 'sour salt.'

title: Cookbook:Macaroni and Cheese


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User talk:Dan-aka-jack

Hi Dan. Good work on the whole Manual thing. I'm the guy who's stuck a bunch of words on the Editing Page, and have a couple of suggestions. Have noticed that the Editing link on the manual's central page needs a bit of work. Firstly, it doesn't lead to the Editing page. Secondly, it contains an Effects link - unnecessary and in fact inapropriate. Thirdly, it links to the Build-your-system page which I suggest should live in the Tools_and_equipment section on that main page.

I'd have a crack myself but am only a beginner at this editing stuff.

Look forward to seeing you around.

David

2 a.m. 9th Dec 2005

 * Hi Dave. Thanks loads for getting involved.  Yeah, the structure of the book is a bit shoddy at the moment.  It's half way between the old naming system (Movie Making Manual-Page Name) and the new naming system (MMM/Chapter Name/Page Name).  Sorry about this.  I hope to get a chance to fix it soon.  Keep up the good work. dan_aka_jack 17:55, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Why have you been blanking pages like Movie Making Manual-Cinematography? Angela 22:42, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

 * Hi. I've been blanking pages like Movie Making Manual-Cinematography because the Movie Making Manual is now adopting a category-based navigation model.  The Movie Making Manual-Cinematography page used to be a table of contents for the Cinematography section... that role is now provided by the category:cinematography page.  But you're right to raise an alarm: I should have put forwarding links on the old pages instead of blanking them.  I am now going through those blanked pages and putting forwarding links on them.  Thanks, Jack  Dan AKA Jack 13:35, 23 September 2005 (GMT)

Glad you like my idea - seems to work pretty well for your book too. I like your Cuba photos and I expect my girlfriend will too, she's writing a novel about Cuba and is trying to get funding to get there to make sure she's accurate. She's a photographer in Manchester - lisabarryphoto@hotmail.com. Please let her know if you have advice on obtaining funding for that, or anything else possibly relevant. User:Ricky clarkson 28th September 2005.
 * Hi. Thanks for your message.  Thanks loads for figuringing out the idea - it's working really well for me.  That's cool that you found my website!  I'm afraid I don't know much about obtaining funding for photography - my cuba photos were taken whilst I was on holiday there.  I wish your girlfriend the best of luck though - Cuba is an amazing place to take photos.  It's visually very striking.  Thanks,  Dan AKA Jack 11:39, 28 September 2005 (GMT)

Business ideas
You'll now find this at User:Dan-aka-jack/Business ideas. This way the deletion requirement is fulfilled but it's still readily accessible to you. Enjoy! :) GarrettTalk 12:26, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

 * OK, thanks. dan_aka_jack 14:23, 8 October 2005 (UTC)

template syntax
Don't know if you saw this; I replied to Staff_lounge a couple days ago. Kellen T 10:36, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Cool, thanks - I'll look into it this weekend. dan_aka_jack 16:23, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Note to self, this has been moved to the Archive.

deleting pages
--Derbeth talk 11:51, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

 * OK, thanks dan_aka_jack 11:48, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Wings 3D
You created this page but forgot to add it to Template:New and a bookshelf. Please, remember about it or noone will find your books. Greets --Derbeth talk 09:15, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Um, that's very very worrying. I definitely didn't add that page and yet it's marked as dan-aka-jack.  I will investigate.  Thanks for notifying me.  Thanks, dan_aka_jack 10:37, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Something similar was happening on Wikipedia back when MW 1.5 was new, but it was supposedly squelched since that initial appearance. Perhaps you should file a bug report? GarrettTalk 19:17, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

invitation of a wikibook study
Hi Jack, I'm inkeys, a graduate student at Indiana University. My advisor and I, we're working on a study of wikibooks online authors' experience. I read the movie making manual. It's impressive. We would like to invite you to participate in this study and we'll learn from your experience. The formal invitation letter is attached below. Thank you so much.

This is an invitation to participate in a case study related to the Wikibook project. The purpose of the study is to understand online authors’ self-efficacy, which involves the motivation to write a Wikibook, beliefs regarding one’s knowledge of the topic, previous experience and success in writing a Wikibook, and ability to help coordinate the Wikibook project and interact with other authors. If you agree to participate in this particular case study, please email (cl17@indiana.edu) and we will schedule a one hour interview with you at your convenience by phone or by email. Your responses will be anonymous.

Your input to this project is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and consideration,

inkeys

Image copyright problem with Image:Jahashaka1.jpg
Thanks for uploading Image:Jahashaka1.jpg. The Wikimedia Foundation is very careful about the images included in Wikibooks because of copyright law, and requires that we maintain a strict copyright policy. The image that may soon be deleted unless we can determine the copyright holder and status.

The copyright holder is usually the creator, the creator's employer, or the last person who was transferred ownership rights. Copyright information on images is signified using copyright templates. The three basic license types on Wikibooks are open content, public domain, and fair use. Find the appropriate template in Image copyright tags and place it on the image page like this:.

Please signify the copyright information on any other images you have uploaded or will upload. Remember that images without this important information or giving false information can be deleted by an administrator. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, or ask another Wikibookian at the help desk. Thank you.  – Mike.lifeguard  | talk 23:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Climate change
Hi Dan, I added a link to my suggestions on solving climate change (made a wikibook herefore) at your Climate change wikibook. Hope that's OK. Thanks, KVDP (talk) 16:11, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dan-aka-jack


text:
X86 Disassembly/Linux Executable Files

ELF Files
The ELF file format (short for Executable and Linking Format) was developed by Unix System Laboratories to be a successor to previous file formats such as COFF and a.out. In many respects, the ELF format is more powerful and versatile than previous formats, and has widely become the standard on Linux, Solaris, IRIX, and FreeBSD (although the FreeBSD-derived Mac OS X uses the Mach-O format instead). ELF has also been adopted by OpenVMS for Itanium and BeOS for x86.

Historically, Linux has not always used ELF; Red Hat Linux 4 was the first time that distribution used ELF; previous versions had used the a.out format.

ELF Objects are broken down into different segments and/or sections. These can be located by using the ELF header found at the first byte of the object. The ELF header provides the location for both the program header and the section header. Using these data structures the rest of the ELF objects contents can be found, this includes .text and .data segments which contain code and data respectively.

The GNU readelf utility, from the binutils package, is a common tool for parsing ELF objects.

File Format

Each ELF file is made up of one ELF header, followed by file data. The file data can include:

 * Program header table, describing zero or more segments
 * Section header table, describing zero or more sections
 * Data referred to by entries in the program or section header table

The segments contain information that is necessary for runtime execution of the file, while sections contain important data for linking and relocation. Each byte in the entire file is taken by no more than one section at a time, but there can be orphan bytes, which are not covered by a section. In the normal case of a Unix executable one or more sections are enclosed in one segment.

Relocatable ELF Files
Relocatable ELF files are created by compilers. They need to be linked before running.

Those files are often found in  archives, with a   extension.

a.out Files
a.out is a very simple format consisting of a header (at offset 0) which contains the size of 3 executable sections (code, data, bss), plus pointers to additional information such as relocations (for .o files), symbols and symbols' strings. The actual sections contents follows the header. Offsets of different sections are computed from the size of the previous section.

The a.out format is now rarely used.

title: X86 Disassembly/Linux Executable Files


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Grammar and Mechanics

Understanding Grammar

 * What is Grammar?
 * The Parts of Speech
 * Nouns
 * Pronouns
 * Verbs
 * Adjectives
 * Adverbs
 * Conjunctions
 * Prepositions
 * The Parts of the Sentence
 * Types of Sentences
 * Active and Passive Voice

Understanding Mechanics

 * What is Mechanics?
 * Punctuation
 * Commas
 * Semicolons
 * Colons
 * Apostrophes
 * Quotation Marks
 * Hyphens and Dashes
 * Parentheses and Brackets
 * Capitalization

Common Errors

 * Know your patterns
 * Mixing up words that sound alike
 * When subjects and verbs don't agree
 * When pronouns and antecedents don't agree
 * When subject and object pronouns are incorrect
 * Missing commas after introductory elements
 * Missing commas with compound sentences
 * Missing or unnecessary commas with restrictive or non-restrictive elements
 * Sentence fragments
 * Missing or misplaced apostrophes
 * Unnecessary tense shifts
 * Run-on or fused sentences
 * Comma Splice
 * Disruptive commas
 * Dangling, misplaced, and squinting modifiers
 * Logical Fallacies
 * Commonly Confused Words

Writing feedback
Teachers can use the following pages to provide students with information about specific errors in their writing. If the students' papers are graded online, write a short comment and add a link to one of these pages.
 * Enumeration consistency
 * Unclear demonstrative pronoun reference

When providing feedback to any writer, whether they are a peer or a student, there are a few general rules of thumb. Make comments specific and clear. Instead of simply using words like "good" and "awkward" to summarize a comment, try using phrases that directly state what sounds awkward or which part of the paragraph / sentence sounds good. However, do not smother the students’ paper with writing. This can be detrimental to students’ psyches and affect their writing process. Try to work with a theme. If a paper has recurring errors in a specific area, address this error once and provide the grammatical rule (if one applies) or provide an example to help the student improve.

For example, in the following sentence a writer is using two different verb tenses within the sentence.

Example: "From outside the building I could hear the opening bands tearing through their sets, and all the way from the sidewalk I felt the beat and vibrations from the drums and bass guitar literally make my rib cage shake"

Example Instructor / Peer Comment: "We have two different verb tenses within this sentence. For clarity you'll want to stick with a single verb tense. I would suggest using something like '...making my rib shake'..."

Inevitably, this type of constructive feedback will require more time with each assignment the person is grading. However, constructive criticism may be the best route to see positive and significant changes within a written work. To speed up the feedback process consider inserting links to websites like the Purdue OWL, St. Cloud State University's Literacy Education Online (LEO) or other online university writing labs. Listed below are different attitudes to consider adopting while providing feedback.

7 Types of Active Feedback

1.     Correcting- removing errors or mistakes from written work

2.     Emoting- adding expression or emotion to a written work

3.     Describing- giving an account or conveying an idea or impression within writing

4.     Suggesting- offering or proposing changes for consideration

5.     Questioning- putting a question to or expressing doubt about an aspect within writing

6.     Reminding- causing a person to remember or making the writer aware of something

7.     Assigning- designating additional writing for a particular purpose

Attitudes as a Reader:

Editor- The editor provides feedback mainly on grammar, punctuation, syntax, sentence structure, and word choice. This type of feedback is typically time consuming. Requires thorough knowledge of standard written English in addition to strict adherence to grammar rules. Those who choose to provide editor-type should be wary that the criticism is balanced with praise.

Average Reader- The average reader feedback focuses primarily on what the writer is attempting to communicate. Reading the text as though it were an ordinary magazine or newspaper, the author gains perspective through the reader's reactions to the text. Text reactions include responding to descriptions, arguments, and examples provided within the paper.

Academic Reader- The academic reader analyzes the text for how well the paper conforms to the standards of academic discourse. A knowledge of academic standards is needed in order to provide feedback as an academic reader.

Coach- A coach is someone who actively facilitates the development of writing. This is perhaps the most complex attitude as it adopts various aspects of the three previous attitudes listed.

Citing Sources

 * Citing Sources
 * Plagiarism


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Reviewing

Overview of Reviewing
Sooner or later, someone is going to hand you a piece of writing and ask for your opinion. You may be asked to review another student's essay as part of your class work. Perhaps a friend or a younger brother or sister has come to you for help. If you develop a reputation for being a good writer, then the chances are good that even your boss might ask you to look over letters or policy statements and offer your professional opinion. In any case, if you really want to do a good job in these situations, you're going to need reviewing skills. You're going to need to be able to identify problems, suggest alternatives, and, more importantly, support everything you say with reasonable claims. Furthermore, you must do all this in a convincing way that makes the writer want to make the changes you suggest. You must know what's wrong with a document, why it's wrong, and how to fix it.

You've probably heard the saying, "A writer is his own worst critic." Whoever said this undoubtedly suffered from poor self-reviewing skills. After all, it's easier to spot problems in other people's writing because our own ego (or pride) doesn't get in the way. Another problem is that sometimes we get so caught up in what we want to get across in our writing that we don't pay enough attention to how we're expressing it -- a sentence that makes perfect sense to us might be total gibberish to someone else. Thankfully, these are all problems that can be overcome. You can learn to fairly and accurately review your own work. One way you can get better at self-reviewing is to spend time reviewing other people's work. Eventually, you'll develop a knack for spotting errors that will serve you well as you edit and revise your own work.

Writers, particularly new writers, often find that letting other writers review their work is tremendously helpful. Most universities have writing centers, where students can have their essays reviewed for free by experienced student writers or tutors. These tutors can work with you one-on-one to help you improve your writing and earn better grades.

You should realize that reviewing your work, like planning, drafting, or revising, is a recursive process. It is not something a writer does just at the end of his work. For instance, you may want to write an introduction to an essay and have it reviewed by a teacher or classmate before trudging forward. If you're on the wrong track, you'd be better off knowing about it sooner rather than later -- especially if a deadline or due date is looming.

In the academic world, journal articles and books are nearly always "peer reviewed" before they are accepted for publication. Sometimes these reviews are "blind," meaning that neither the writer nor the reviewers know each others' identities. This process is meant to make the process fair and ensure that every scholar gets a chance to get her work published. Academic reviewers must evaluate a work, recommend that it be published or rejected, and (hopefully) offer the writer substantial advice about how his work can be improved.

In this chapter, we'll talk about how to develop the skills you'll need to become a star reviewer. We'll start by discussing "criteria," or the standards you'll stick to when writing reviews. We'll talk about what to look for in a document and how to provide the very best advice to the writer. Finally, we'll talk about how to handle criticism from reviewers who evaluate your work.

Establishing Criteria
Let's suppose that you just gave your paper to your roommate and asked her to look it over. You explain that you've been working on the paper for three days and that you really want to earn an A. "I want your honest opinion," you say. "Don't worry about hurting my feelings. What do you think?"

You watch your roommate's face as she reads your paper. She grimaces. Laughs. Yawns. Finally, she hands you the paper back and says, "This sucks."

This may be the type of "review" you are accustomed to receiving -- overly critical and not very helpful. Perhaps you agree that your paper is in trouble and needs help, but without a better understanding of what's wrong, you aren't likely to be able to do much about it. Furthermore, how can you trust your roommate's judgment of your paper? What if it just so happens that your roommate is neurotic about starting sentences with "But," and, seeing such sentences in your paper, decided right there that the paper was terrible?

Ultimately, what makes an evaluation worthwhile is the soundness of its criteria. As a writer, you want to know not just whether someone likes your paper, but also what factors they are taking into consideration when they review your paper. Both the reviewer and the person being reviewed need to be as clear as possible about the criteria that will be used to evaluate the work. Are your reviewers only looking at your grammar, or are they also determining the rationality of your arguments? Does a comma splice make a bigger difference than a rough transition between paragraphs?

All of these matters should be spelled out clearly beforehand, either by the writer or the reviewer. As a writer, what are you personally working on? It's not a bad idea to think about your strengths and challenges as a writer before handing over your paper to a reviewer, or to use work that has been returned to you in the past with feedback. For example, if you're writing a paper for a professor you've had before, and who has made comments on your past work, use those comments to provide your reviewer with a focus. If you are the reviewer in this situation, ask to see the assignment and rubric, if possible. You can also ask the writer for specific guidelines, areas of greatest need, or even anything s/he might know about the grader. Is the person giving the grade unconcerned with punctuation conventions but a martinet about tense shifting? The point is, the more focused the reviewer and writer are, the more effective the reviews are.

Writing Helpful Comments
In the example above, you were not able to gain any insights or knowledge from your roommate letting you know that your paper "sucks." What you wanted was some kind of feedback that would help you improve your paper, so you could get a good grade. You don't know if your paper "sucks" because it lacked a strong thesis, if it sucks because your writing strayed from the assignment, or if it sucks because of grammatical errors. You can be a better self- and peer-reviewer than your roommate was. Given the previous example, how hard can it be? When you're reviewing your own paper or the paper of a friend or classmate, ask yourself a few questions:

ORGANIZATION FOCUS STYLE DEVELOPMENT CONVENTIONS
 * 1) What are your initial thoughts? What strengths and weaknesses does the paper have? What parts confused you, or might be confusing to other readers? What's the most important thing that the writer is trying to say?
 * 2) How is the paper you're reviewing organized?  Again, does it start with the broad and move to specifics?  Do all sentences support the paragraph's topic sentence, and do all paragraphs support the thesis?  Is there an Introduction that draws in the reader, or does it restate the assignment and become redundant? Is the paper organized in a way that will make sense to readers? Does the writer employ transitions effectively? Does the paper flow from beginning to end?
 * 1) Is the paper focused on the assignment?  Does it follow the same thought throughout the paper, or does it jump from subject to subject?  Do I feel like I'm still learning about/thinking about the same subject at the end of the paper that I was at the beginning of the paper?
 * 2) Try to paraphrase the thesis of the paper as a promise: In this paper, the writer will... Does the writer fulfill his/her obligation stated in the thesis?
 * 3) What's the writer's position on the issue? What words does the writer use to indicate his/her position?
 * 1) In what style is the paper written?  Does it work for the subject matter and assignment? Will the paper appeal to its intended audience? Is the writing at an appropriate level for the target audience?
 * 1) Does the title indicate what the paper is about?  Does it catch your interest? Does the opening paragraph draw you in? If not, can you suggest a different approach to catch the readers' attention?
 * 2) How is the development of the paper carried out?  Does it start with a broad subject and then move to something more specific?
 * 3) Does the concluding sentence draw the argument of the paper to a close by bringing together the main points provided in the paper, or does it just end? Does the writer conclude in a memorable way, or does he/she simply trail off?  If the ending is too abrupt or too vague, can you suggest some other way to conclude the paper? Does the ending introduce any new topics?
 * 1) Are common or appropriate writing conventions followed? Are grammar, spelling, punctuation and other mechanics observed?

While reviewing the paper, make notes in the margins of any problems you find. If you believe that developing a paragraph a little bit more would be helpful to the argument, write. If you are unclear of something, write <? not sure>. If you notice a missing comma, insert it in the correct spot, but be sure to set it off somehow so that you or your friend will notice the correction. If another word might work better, write  to indicate inappropriate word choice.

Please note: It is important not to overwhelm your writer with comments. As much as possible, try to avoid repeating similar comments (e.g. don't correct every single comma error you find). Also, although it can be tempting to make some of the changes you suggest yourself, you never want to rewrite the work you are reviewing.

Responding to Criticism
Nobody likes to be told that what they are doing isn't right. But what separates good writers from other writers is that good writers are able to take criticism, realizing that nobody is perfect, and use the criticism to help them, either with the assignment at hand, or with writing assignments in the future.

If your roommate tells you that your paper sucks, you probably want to ask him or her why it sucks. If your roommate says that you are continually writing run-on sentences, ask for advice on how to correct them or look in a writing guide to learn how to fix them. By handling criticism constructively, you'll be more aware of your common errors and less likely to repeat them, or at least will know how to find and correct them the next time you write.

If, while meeting with a tutor, you learn that you need further development of some of your ideas for clarity, revisit your writing and judge for yourself whether or not you do. Ask yourself if you understand since you are the one who did all of the research and know what you mean (probably a good indication that the tutor was right), or if you are comfortable that a reader would understand what you are saying without more information.

Remember: as the writer, you're in control of your paper. When people offer criticism, they're usually just trying to help you. Try to keep that in mind. Take the suggestions when you think they make sense, and discard the ones that don't.

Peer Review Sample
Here is an example of an essay submitted for peer review. The assignment is to write a paper about anything in nature: a plant, an animal, a natural disaster, anything. Practice reviewing with the steps mentioned above. What would you say to the author?

Sample Comments: Here, the peer reviewer has made matched remarks to specific sentences and passages in the essay and has included a more detailed global comment last.

1. Describe the scent of the location

2. Good descriptions of the essence of the back yard and pool

3. Good use of personification and imagery

4. Include more description of the neighbors

5. Unnecessary descriptive words, particularly adjectives and adverbs

6. You got some weedy adjectives and adverbs going on. EVERYTHING has been gilded and painted up; this is like the prose equivalent of (the one on the left). Cut as many adjectives and adverbs out as you can. In fact, I hate to say this, but don't "describe the scent of the location" unless the scent of the location is important/remarkable. Do I care that you ate awesome kabobs? I might, if it's important/remarkable in any way, but so far, no. What this looks like to me is, somebody told you to write a descriptive scene, you thought, "how pointless!", so you wrote a descriptive scene with no point. Is there a reason to describe this backyard pool Eden? Did a murder happen there later on? Is that where you first learned an Important Truth About Life? Are you going to get into a fist fight with the neighbors? Is there, in short, anything interesting at all about it?

Peer Review Sample 2
Here is another example of an essay submitted for peer review on the same topic as Peer Review Sample 1. Again, practice reviewing with the steps mentioned above.

Sample Comments: Here, the peer reviewer has organized her/his comments based on the five criteria and has made specific references to sentences and passages where appropriate.

ORGANIZATION FOCUS STYLE DEVELOPMENT CONVENTIONS
 * 1) After the introduction paragraph, there is not much narrowing.  The topic broadly seems to be jalapenos.  Perhaps the writer could try picking one specific question and sticking to that.
 * 2) The organization needs to be improved.  Perhaps repeating the questions would help, or as previously stated, sticking to the development of one specific question.
 * 1) The paper seems to fulfill the assignment very well, but it does jump subject somewhat, particularly beween paragraphs 3 and 4.  I do like the theme of the jalapeño being presented as a national mystery; perhaps that could become the thesis statement.
 * 2) Unfortunately, he thesis of the paper doesn’t seem to exist.  The questions in the first paragraph gives the reader an idea of where the paper is headed, but there really is no statement explaining what the writer is trying to prove.
 * 3) Does the author have a position?  If he/she does it must be that he/she reveres the jalapeno. There doesn’t seem to be much controversy in here for the author to support or oppose.
 * 1) The title is clever, but could be a little more specific.  It isn’t so much an ode, but more of an investigation.  However, it does catch interest.
 * 2) The style and tone are spot on.  For the topic, which is not very serious, the laid back humorous style seems to fit in very well.
 * 1) This paper certainly has plenty of personality.  The author has a nice balance of humor and information.  However, I find myself getting lost in the middle.  Perhaps if the author were to repeat a question at the beginning of each paragraph, the reader could be remembered of what the thesis is.
 * 2) The conclusion is funny, but I don't think it really does its job; I find the last sentence especially confusing and unconnected.  Perhaps the author could keep what he/she has, but add in some more review of all the information that is covered.
 * 1) The conventions seem to be ok. BUT WHERE ARE THE CITATIONS??? The author needs to develop ethos by sharing where her/his information came from regarding jalapenos.

title: Rhetoric and Composition/Reviewing


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Exposition

What is Exposition Writing?
Exposition can be either oral or written. It is used to explain, interpret, inform, or describe. An expository writer must assume that the audience has no prior knowledge regarding the topic being discussed. So the topic must be written in a clear manner explaining how things work (you can however, leave out common knowledge--you probably are not writing for first graders).

As most academic terms, exposition can acquire various definitions depending on the context in which a writer is using the word. The HarperCollins Collins English Dictionary defines exposition in seven different disciplinary contexts.

1.	Within the Communication Arts / Journalism & Publishing discipline, exposition is defined as: a systematic, usually written statement about, commentary on, or explanation of a specific subject

2.	The act of expounding of setting forth information or a viewpoint

3.	(Business / Commerce) of a large public exhibition, especially of industrial products or arts and crafts

4.	The act of exposing or the state of being exposed

5.	(Performing Arts / Theatre) the part of a play, novel, etc., in which the theme and main characters are introduced.

6.	(Music / Classical Music) Music the first statement of the subjects or themes of a movement in sonata form or a fugue

7.	(Christianity / Roman Catholic Church) RC Church the exhibiting of the consecrated Eucharistic Host or a relic for public veneration (Harper Collins Dictionary)

Types of Exposition

 * Description - The author explains a particular topic by showing characteristics, features, and examples.
 * Comparison - The author shows how two or more topics are alike.
 * Contrast - The author shows how two or more topics are different.
 * Cause and Effect - The author demonstrates the cause while showing the effects of the cause.
 * Problem and Solution - The author explains a problem, then explores possible solutions.
 * Analytical - The author evaluates a topic or argument revealing its strengths and weaknesses.
 * Classification - The author sorts things into useful categories, makes sure all the categories follow a single organizing principle, and gives examples that fit into each category.
 * Sequence - The author lists items or events in numerical or chronological order.

Find a Topic and Research
First you must find a specific aspect of a topic that would interest you. You will have to research the topic extensively so that you can explain it—what exposition is all about. Research your topic extensively. You will probably have to spend quite a bit of time, but remember that the researching can be exciting. The general initial researching may even provide some valuable information that you want to explain. Researching is like exercising: at first it hurts, but with time you become stronger and it's easier to flex your researching muscles. After you have decided upon a topic, you can create a thesis.

Thesis
An expositional paper is most easily written when you have a "tight" thesis. This means that the focus of your topic is extremely specific. When your thesis is concise, you can write at length because you know exactly what you should be writing about. But when you have a sloppy, vague thesis, you can become lost and your writing reflects this. This goes back to choosing a topic focus that deals with something specific, and not overly general. A thesis makes a claim regarding your focus and is supported by details and facts. It is written in one or two complete sentences. An example of a thesis would be: “Gardening can be a rewarding hobby because of the creativity involved, the variety of plants, and the many uses of plants.”

Create a Sketchy Outline
After you write your thesis, create a sketchy outline so that you have a game plan for your paper. Your outline should have information that you want to include for each part of your thesis. For our thesis example, we could find lots of information that could support the different parts of gardening. Notice the word could--just because we have the information doesn't mean we must use it in the paper. This is a rough outline after all.

Start Writing
Too often we don’t begin writing because we are stuck—don’t be, just start writing. You can begin anywhere. Start writing where you feel the most comfortable. When you have your outline, as sketchy as it may be, it reminds you of ideas that you want to include in your paper. Remember though that readers are interested in what YOU have to say—they don’t want to read regurgitated quotes and opinions of others, so make sure that your point is being heard.

Structure
The structure of an expository piece consists of first an introduction that contains the most crucial element—the thesis—the main point you wish to convey. After the introduction is the body, in which you clarify the different aspects of the thesis in great detail. The final piece, the conclusion, restates and rephrases (using different words) the thesis and ties up any “loose ends”.

Introduction
The very first part of your introduction should have an attention-grabbing device (a hook) to engage your readers. Hooks can be statistics, facts, questions, or unusual details. Don't make general statements such as "it is clear that..." because you are trying to explain something that perhaps your reader doesn't know, so it would not be clear to them. Instead be informative. The introduction will also contain your thesis. Good topic referring to Rhetoric. One can check it at the essays writing companies and already written essays accomplished by writing service writers.

Body
Now that you have your specific thesis, along with your sketchy outline, you must support your thesis claim by using concrete evidence and examples. You should exfoliate your thesis. Remember that expositional writing assumes that your readers have no prior knowledge regarding your topic, so you must explain things very clearly. Parallelism can be very important in your paper. It can give the readers a feeling of structure and importance. Pick a method of organization and stick with it.

In our example, we would explain in detail how much creativity is involved in gardening. We could write about the style of impressive European or Oriental gardens. Next, we would show how there are a variety of plants. We could write about plants found in different climates. Finally, we would explain the many uses of plants. We could write about floral bouquets and vegetables.

Because exposition’s purpose is to inform, you will want to establish common ground with your readers. You should write objectively, which will fulfill the purpose of explaining things.

Conclusion
A conclusion wraps up your paper by recalling your main points, but do not use the identical words that you used in your introduction. Conclusions and introductions are like frames, they should tie your whole paper together. You should explain your main points briefly and freshly. Don't be sloppy--this is the last impression you are making.

Sample Exposition Assignments
Here are some sample assignments to prepare you for a real exposition paper or essay. Remember that your audience has very little previous knowledge of your topic!

Sample Exposition Essay
Assignment: Explain an aspect of cellular phones.

Why Is This Good?
First the introduction, a surprising and interesting quote, immediately catches your attention since it equalizes words and drugs. The introduction has a tight thesis, “The cell phone has revolutionized the way that the world communicates with each other and spreads the good word.”

The body explains the revolution of cell phones. Notice how the writer clearly defined what a phone line is and how it works. The writer transitions into another topic by asking a question, “How does a cell phone work if it is not connected to the phone lines?” Asking questions is an easy rhetorical device that can make your paper flow more smoothly.

Finally, this conclusion ties together the paper since it recalls the main themes. By using different words, the conclusion is fresh and not predictable. It is future looking. “It is a very powerful tool for getting our words around, and it will take us places in the future that we have never dreamed of.”

title: Rhetoric and Composition/Exposition


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Narration

What is Narration?
Narration may serve a variety of purposes in writing. It may serve as the primary mode in a narrative. Narration may also be used just like reasons and examples to support a thesis, based on either fact or invention. Often, it is used to increase reader interest or dramatize a point the writer wants to make. For example, Aesop wrote fables for his clients to use in their legal defense. They were short, easy to remember, and illustrated the client’s argument. Traditionally, narration was used to recount the facts of a legal case, in order to put them into context and structure them in the best possible light for the speaker’s purpose. Plutarch used narration as the basis for his comparison of Greek and Roman notables. In his 1989 history of the Civil War, Battle Cry of Freedom, James MacPherson uses narration to support the theme of the contingency of history. In short, narration has been used as proof for a long time.

What is Narrative?
A narrative is a constructive format (as a work of speech, writing, song, film, television, video games, photography, or theatre) that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to tell", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled". [Oxford English Dictionary Online, "narrate, v.". Oxford University Press, 2007]

 * First Person Narrative: A mode of narration where a story is told by one character at a time, speaking from their own perspective only. "I", "My", and "I'll". EXAMPLE: I went to the store before I bought myself a flower.

 * Second Person Narrative: A mode of narration where a story is told with the use of "You", "Your", and "You'll".   EXAMPLE: You went to the store before you bought yourself a flower.

 * Third Person Narrative: A mode of narration where a story is told with the use of "She", "He", "They", and "They'll". EXAMPLE: They went to the store before they bought themselves a flower.

 * Multiple Narratives: A mode of narration where a story is told with the use of several narrators which tell the story from different points of view.  The task, for readers, is to decide which narrator seems the most reliable for each part of the story.

 * Unreliable Narratives: An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is in question or has been compromised.  This narrative mode is one which is developed by an author for various reasons, but is usually done so as to deceive the reader or audience.  In most circumstances, unreliable narrators are first-person narrators, but third-person narrators can also be unreliable.

Let's look at this in another way. Narration IS a telling but more than that it is a showing through actions proper, that is, what the characters do, say, and think when necessary.

A story, then, is always told by a narrator--either an objective, God-like narrator or a subjective human character. The omniscient, God-like narrator tells the truth because he can't do otherwise. He tells the story strictly through dialogue (Effaced Omniscient Narrator), by focusing on only one character whose mind he reveals to us (Central Intelligence Omniscient Narrator), by letting us into the mind of more than one character (a Roving Omniscient Narrator), or by getting us into the mind of all of the characters (a Hovering Bard Omniscient narrator). The subjective narrator, on the other hand, can get us into only that narrator's mind, and because he's human his story is subject to his limited perspective and understanding and thus not as reliable as the omniscient narrator and by force is unreliable.

These are not "rules" but simply the nature of story-telling as shown by the vast work of stories of craft and vision of the highest order of writers. These observations do not pertain to genre fiction such as first-person detective and "popular" fiction, that is, non-literary fiction.

Elements
The minimum requirements of narration include: "The Ant and the Grasshopper". One example of narration requirements - Aesop's Fables
 * A beginning, middle, and end
 * A main character, perhaps others as well
 * A setting in time and place
 * Motivated (or caused) action
 * Supports the thesis ("It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.")

Classical Arrangement
The classical arrangement indicates how narration may be used:
 * Introduction
 * Narrative
 * Proposition (thesis)
 * Confirmation (more examples, reasons, or narration)
 * Refutation (of competing explanations)
 * Conclusion1

Modern Practice
Today, writers commonly begin their essay with a short narrative which leads to the thesis:

 * Short Narrative
 * Thesis
 * Supporting examples and reasons
 * Opposing viewpoints
 * Conclusion

Or, they may use narration to support their argument:

 * Introduction
 * Thesis
 * Supporting examples and reasons
 * Narrative
 * Conclusion

Many organizational methods exist for incorporating narration into writing. In the end, it will depend on your purpose and audience as to how and where (and even "if") you use it.

 * "Shooting An Elephant by George Orwell"
 * "Walden, Chapter 12"

Narrative as Argument
In some instances, narrative itself becomes argument. In rhetorical narrative, the thesis being forwarded is often not explicitly expressed, or is placed in the mouth of a character or voice within the narrative.

Such narratives often rely on audience familiarity with type or convention for their effect. For example, in the Biblical parable, a Samaritan is portrayed as kind and generous to an injured man in the street. This relies on audience understanding of a Samaritan as a social group disliked by the Jewish community at large, here portrayed as carrying out Jesus' directives despite his social standing. Another example may be a Russian agitprop play, where the Western capitalist factory-owner is portrayed as the insolent, greedy antagonist opposed to the noble, generous Communist proletariat who eventually defeats him through use of superior philosophy and will. In these instances, the audience is encouraged to connect their previous experience of these characters and situations with the narrative's presentation of their interaction.

Examples of argumentative narrative forms:
 * Parable
 * Allegory
 * Didactic story
 * Extended metaphor
 * Agitprop story/drama/film

In addition to these genres, there are theories which posit a rhetorical function to all narrative, insofar as they require a particular set of commitments to be made by their audiences in order to become effective. Such theories would see the above-mentioned deep structure of narrative (equilibrium-disequilibrium-equilibrium) as providing an exemplary instance of problem solving, whether negative or positive.

Student Essay
Below is a description of the process one might go through to write an essay supporting the thesis with narration.

Answer the following questions:

 * What is the purpose of your essay? What point do you want to make?
 * What specific statement (thesis) do you want your story to support?
 * What audience do you wish to address? Your professor? Your classmates? Some fictional audience? This will determine how formal or informal you can be, what assumptions you have of what your audience knows and likes.
 * What is your setting, in time and place? Or, where and when does the story take place?
 * Which events best illustrate your purpose in telling the story? Which events are clear in your mind, and will be most easily related? What is the best order to relate the events? Treat this question like a brainstorming process, and list as many events as you can remember. Then narrow your list to the most pertinent to your thesis statement and inherent purpose.

In our example essay, the writer may start with the events of his freshman year, going all the way through to his senior year.

Once you have stated the purpose of your essay, formulated a thesis, selected an audience, identified a setting, and brainstormed the events of your story, it is time to begin writing. Keep in mind that the more detail and description you can fit into your essay, the more the story will come alive for the reader. Also, your conclusion should relate how the events in the story changed you as a person with regard to your purpose.

Revision Hints
As with any form of essay, it is always important to go back and revise the first draft. Proofread the essay carefully, and look for ways to improve its overall appearance. In the case of narration, make sure the story flows for the audience. Do the events of the story make sense? Also, look to make sure that each event relates directly back to the purpose and thesis. Does this particular event reinforce my thesis? When writing a narration, it is also important to look for ways to make the story more vivid for the audience. Go back and include as many descriptive words and details as possible. Once you are satisfied with your product, make a clean and neat final copy.

title: Rhetoric and Composition/Narration


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Evaluation

What is Evaluative Writing?
Evaluative writing is a type of writing intended to judge something according to a set of criteria. For instance, your health might be evaluated by an insurance company before issuing a policy. The purpose of this evaluation would be to determine your overall health and to check for existing medical conditions. The better your evaluation, the less the insurance company might charge you for coverage.

Criteria
The key to effective evaluative writing is starting off with a clear and precise argument. Your main argument is what you will use to perform the evaluation. You may want to argue that a Chevy Tahoe is better than a Ford Expedition based on its horsepower, gas mileage, capacity, warranty, etc. Other evaluators might argue the difference between their towing capability. Whatever the main argument may be for your evaluative essay, make sure that your argument is clear.

P#1

Alex Gomez

Prof. Colletti

English Composition 1 (28435)

8/26/2021

Covid-19 Real/Fake In discussions of Covid-19, one controversial issue has been decided if the virus is real or a way for the government to scam them. On the one hand, one side argues that Covid-19 is a serious virus which can lead to many deaths or cause serious health problems. On the other hand, the other side believes that Covid is not a real thing and is just a flu. Others even believe that Covid could be both. My own view is that Covid is real because Covid has affected me personally with my family. According to Rappler, their claim is that Covid is not real, and is instead a program for “massive depopulation of over 80% of the population”. However, the facts say that the coronavirus is a naturally occurring virus, and that it was not a laboratory created virus. according to the journal article from nature medicine. The CDC recommends getting the vaccine as soon as possible according to their website. However other sources are saying that the vaccine will increase your chances of getting Covid-19 by 80%, and the side effects are all similar to just getting the flu. Side effects such as: Chills, headaches, muscles pain, and tiredness. However, there are serious health problems with these vaccines that have found only two serious types of health problems after vaccination, both of which are rare. These are anaphylaxis and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after vaccination with J&J/Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine. The Media has been a huge deciding factor on whether or not people should be vaccinated, and risk becoming a statistic. One side doesn't want to trust the government however they don’t want to die as well. Although the other is willing and desperate for the vaccines if it will protect their loved ones. I personally did not believe that Covid-19 was real until my father had caught and nearly died from the virus. I never thought that it would ever affect me and my family. So, I now believe that Covid-19 is 100% real. P#2 In conclusion with discussions of Covid-19, one controversial issue has been decided if the virus is real or a way for the government to scam them. On the one hand, one side argues that Covid-19 is a serious virus which can lead to many deaths or cause serious health problems. On the other hand, the other side believes that Covid is not a real thing and is just a worse flu.

Work Cited Safety of COVID-19 Vaccines | CDC Rappler covid-19 - Bing Three major scientific controversies about coronavirus (theconversation.com)

How to Evaluate
A big question you might have is: how do I evaluate my subject? That depends on what your subject is.

If you are evaluating a piece of writing, then you are going to need to read the work thoroughly. While you read the work, keep in mind the criteria you are using to evaluate. The evaluative aspects may be grammar, sentence structure, spelling, content, usage of sources, style, or many other things (to make sure you are going in the right direction, you can make use of an editor or a typer). Another thing to consider when evaluating a piece of writing is whether the writing appeals to its target audience. Is there an emotional appeal? Does the author engage the audience, or is the piece lacking something? If you can, make notes directly on your work itself so that you remember what you want to write about in your essay.

If you are evaluating anything else, use your head. You need to try, use, or test whatever thing you are evaluating. That means you should not evaluate a 2005 Chevrolet Corvette unless you have the $45,000 (or more) to buy one, or the money to rent one. You also need the know-how of driving a car of that power and a base of knowledge of other cars that you have tested to make a fair comparison.

On the note of comparisons, only compare things that are reasonably alike. People don't care to know how an apple compares to a backpack; that is for a different type of essay. Compare different types of apples to each other and different types of backpacks against each other. That is what people are looking for when reading comparisons in an evaluation essay.

Whatever you are evaluating, make sure to do so thoroughly. Take plenty of notes during the testing phase so that your thoughts stay fresh in your mind. You do not want to forget about a part of the subject that you did not test.

Introduction
In the introduction of your evaluative essay, you should clearly state the following: what you are evaluating (the subject -- like a 2009 Toyota Prius) - the purpose of your evaluation - what criteria you are evaluating your subject on (mileage, price, performance, etc.)

For example, you should not just write that you are judging the taste of an apple. You should explain that you are judging the sweetness, bitterness, and crispness of the apple. ...

Body
Unlike some types of essays, the introduction is not the most important part of an evaluative essay. Most readers already want to read about the subject that you are writing on, so you don't need to draw them in with a fancy intro. Your audience just wants the information!

Be sure to be very descriptive and thorough when evaluating your subject. The more you leave out of the essay, the more unanswered questions your readers are left with. Your goal should be to cover all aspects of the subject and to tell the audience how good or bad it is. Consider, for example, not only what quality the subject possesses, but what is missing. Good evaluations measure the quality or value of a subject by considering what it has and what it lacks.

Conclusion
The conclusion for an evaluative essay is pretty straightforward. Simply go over the main points from the body of your essay. After that, make an overall evaluation of the subject. Tell the audience if they should buy it, eat it, use it, wear it, etc. and why. After that is done, your essay is over. Good job!

Sample Assignments
Here are some sample assignments to get your brain pumping:

 * Evaluate the plans for a new Minnesota Twins ballpark (found here: New Ballpark Plans). How does it compare to the current Metrodome in Minneapolis in terms of seating, concessions, cost to build, etc.?  In the end, is it a good idea to build their proposed park?

 * Evaluate your backpack. Test its durability, comfort level, ease-of-use, storage capacity, fabric quality, manufacturing quality, etc.  Compare it with one or more of your former backpacks and/or one of your friend's backpacks.  Also, compare it to a different type of backpack (example: duffle bag VS. two-strap backpack).  Take notes on each backpack and rate them against each other.  Is your backpack the better one?

title: Rhetoric and Composition/Evaluation


text:
Rhetoric and Composition/Plagiarism

Overview of Plagiarism
According to dictionary.com, plagiarism is defined as the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own.

The Council of Writing Program Administrators' definition for plagiarism: In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when a writer deliberately uses someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not commonly-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.

There are three conventions in writing for situations where you must provide reference.
 * When you use someone else's ideas, such as the above definitions of plagiarism, cite them.
 * When the way in which you are using a source is unclear to the reader, make it clear.
 * Acknowledge any help you receive from someone on writing the paper.

Citing your sources is easy; do it and save yourself from getting in a lot of trouble.

Examples of Plagiarism
The following is adapted from Diana Hacker's A Pocket Style Manual.

 * Your research paper is a collaboration between you and your sources. To be fair and ethical, you must acknowledge your debt to the writers of those sources.  If you don't, you are guilty of plagiarism, a serious academic offense.  Three different acts are considered plagiarism:
 * failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas,
 * failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and
 * failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words.

If you wrote something in your paper such as this:

 * When writing a research paper it is important to acknowledge your debt to the writers of those sources. It is a collaboration between you and your sources.  Failure to not acknowledge your sources is an act of plagiarism.

and did not put any reference to Hacker, it would be plagiarism. A proper way to use the work would be this:

 * Diana Hacker stresses how important it is "to acknowledge your debt to the writers" of sources you use in your writing. She states that your paper "is a collaboration between you and your sources".  "failure to not acknowledge your sources is an act of plagiarism" (Hacker 115).

It is also important to not only cite your sources in your work but also include a detailed reference to the work at the end of your paper on the works cited page. An example for the previous source is below:

 * Hacker, Diana. A Pocket Style Manual . New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2004.

Rules to Help You Avoid Plagiarism
The following rules are taken from Rosen, Leonard. The Academic Writer's Handbook: Instructor's Copy. 2006, pages 122–124.

 * When quoting another writer, use quotation marks and give credit.
 * When restating the ideas of others in your words, give credit.
 * Avoid using words, phrases, or sentence structures from the original source.

Patchwriting
Patchwriting means taking another person's words and sentences and reworking them, changing words or phrases here and there, to make it appear that the writing is your own. Patchwriting is academically dishonest and should not be done. Sometimes, students patchwrite even if they don't mean to. But whether it was intentional or not, the offense is still an offense. It's important to summarize and paraphrase carefully to avoid patchwriting and plagiarism. A paraphrase uses parallel keywords to restate both the implicit and explicit claims and evidence of the author. Writers need to include citations with paraphrases because the information in the paraphrase is not the writer’s original thought.

title: Rhetoric and Composition/Plagiarism