Reflection of the Quarter
Before attending my first class of English 151, I had negative expectations for the course. I never enjoyed writing throughout high school and did not look forward to having to take a writing class in college. However, today I can honestly say that I am glad I got placed in your class because I have learned far more in your class than I did in any of my other three courses. The past ten weeks have greatly affected my overall writing skills, especially regarding discourse communities and taking into account who will be reading my texts.
Now I am supposed to attempt to persuade you that I deserve an 'A', which I will admit, I am not too comfortable with this, but it is of great importance to me to get an 'A' in English 151. To start off, I want to tell you that I read every assignment in our Downs and Wardle book and did my best to analyze the text and answer the questions correct, even though some articles were rather difficult to fully comprehend. I also followed all of your requirements for each paper we did throughout the course and tried to be really helpful with my peer revisions. If you decide not to give me an 'A', that is perfectly fine, but I want you to really consider me for that prized grade and think of the effort I put forth in all of my assignments before deciding.
I chose to include my fourth paper, a major rewrite of my second paper, one of my homework responses, and one of my peer revisions.
Fourth Paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85855993/Paper-4-Edited
Major Rewrite: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85872109/Final-Revision-Paper-2
Homework Response: http://cambolin.blogspot.com/2012/02/february-27th-homework.html#comment-form
Peer Revision: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84605751/Anna-s-Revised-Paper
I do feel like I acquired a great deal of knowledge about rhetoric, discourse communities, and how to analyze scholarly articles while taking part in your class. Thank you for a great freshman English class and have a wonderful spring break.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Paper #4
In this research paper, I was trying to show how literacy technologies are constantly changing, ranging from quill pens to the most recent ones, computers. My main claim was that writers need not worry about whether writing technologies are beneficial or not, but they should accept the change and learn how to adapt to the most recent technological advances. I used several sources to support my claim and I provided points from scholarly authors. I had a few counter-arguments that were just showing how the latest technologies have caused people to become poorer writers. I think my paper had a decent flow and had plenty of sources to make it stronger. The only thing I'm worried about is if my paragraphs are too long. I want my peer responses to make sure everything I wrote actually makes sense and the topic doesn't change. If I had more time I would probably write a few more paragraphs.
Here is the link to my 4th paper:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83809454/The-Connection-Literacy-and-Technology
Here is the link to my 4th paper:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83809454/The-Connection-Literacy-and-Technology
Friday, March 2, 2012
Research Paper Introduction
People have had multiple views on whether technological changes have helped or hindered people's writing, however people in this conversation should understand that these changes are going to happen and we should think more of how we can help people adapt to these changes. The history of writing has undergone numerous different forms of literacy technologies that have continued to encourage people to express themselves through writing. As of today, the the media-based writing has changed how, why, where, and how much we write as students and the mass public. This article will investigate how teachers and authoritarians can help students incorporate newer technologies into their writing.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Annotated Bibliography
Here is the link to my annotated bibliography:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83450015/Annotated-Bibliography
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83450015/Annotated-Bibliography
Sunday, February 26, 2012
February 27th Homework
Summary:
In their article, Reading and Writing Without Authority, Penrose and Geisler argue that gaining authority does not come through knowledge solely, but by being able to "understand the development of knowledge as a communal and continual process." They demonstrate this by comparing text written by a first year student (Janet) and a doctoral student (Roger). The two scholarly writers discover that authority develops when students acquire confidence in their ability to analyze texts while thinking of the author's motivation and reasoning for writing.
QD:
3. Janet's method is known as the information-transfer model because she simply finds information through research and transfers what she has gathered into her writing. Roger uses a different strategy with his writing; He sees his paper as a conversation and he is more knowledgeable with the topic, therefore he is able to find that gap to fill.
4. I don't think Janet has much confidence in her writing and seeks credible sources to make her writing sound better. She tries to throw information into her paper, even if it conflicts with her other claims, because she does not fully understand what she is reading while researching.
5. My writing is more like Janet's because I haven't developed that ability to see writing as a conversation, which has made me lack confidence. I think this English class has helped me see that writing should be based on an argumentative standpoint and I am slowly becoming like Roger.
MM:
The next time I write a research paper I am going to try to become more confident with it and not just rely on the information I find through my sources. Another way I can improve my future research papers is by attempting to become more knowledgeable with the topic so I will be able to become part of the argument.
Response
I think this article will really help me out for our next paper because it showed me how to have authority with my writing. Confidence plays a key role in developing authority and this article taught me how to gain that confidence and sound more credible.
In their article, Reading and Writing Without Authority, Penrose and Geisler argue that gaining authority does not come through knowledge solely, but by being able to "understand the development of knowledge as a communal and continual process." They demonstrate this by comparing text written by a first year student (Janet) and a doctoral student (Roger). The two scholarly writers discover that authority develops when students acquire confidence in their ability to analyze texts while thinking of the author's motivation and reasoning for writing.
QD:
3. Janet's method is known as the information-transfer model because she simply finds information through research and transfers what she has gathered into her writing. Roger uses a different strategy with his writing; He sees his paper as a conversation and he is more knowledgeable with the topic, therefore he is able to find that gap to fill.
4. I don't think Janet has much confidence in her writing and seeks credible sources to make her writing sound better. She tries to throw information into her paper, even if it conflicts with her other claims, because she does not fully understand what she is reading while researching.
5. My writing is more like Janet's because I haven't developed that ability to see writing as a conversation, which has made me lack confidence. I think this English class has helped me see that writing should be based on an argumentative standpoint and I am slowly becoming like Roger.
MM:
The next time I write a research paper I am going to try to become more confident with it and not just rely on the information I find through my sources. Another way I can improve my future research papers is by attempting to become more knowledgeable with the topic so I will be able to become part of the argument.
Response
I think this article will really help me out for our next paper because it showed me how to have authority with my writing. Confidence plays a key role in developing authority and this article taught me how to gain that confidence and sound more credible.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Cover Letter Paper #3 Final Draft
For this multi-modal assignment regarding Literacy History, we tried to find out what motivates children to learn how to read and write. We interviewed six people and included our own stories in this project to help us figure out what the main motivation is for students. We did not come up with a single motivation that stood out among the rest because everyone has their own stories, and finds motivation in something different. The people we interviewed were completely random and we realized that parents are a big reason why people learn to read and write, but competitiveness and siblings are also factors when it comes to kids wanting to be good readers and writers. I really liked being able to change from the normal written paper format and do this project by creating a website. I think we have good background stories for this assignment and we changed the layout a little bit, plus added a tab.
Website link: http://literacyhistory.webs.com/
Website link: http://literacyhistory.webs.com/
February 24th Homework
Summary
In her article, Identify, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces, Wardle argues that it is hard for people to understand the importance of aspects like identity and authority in their paper. She gives examples showing how having identity and authority in your paper is very influential and will help it out. A man named Allan becomes the key of her paper when she goes through the process he takes, including the workplace, identity, outcome, and authority. Learning to to write in new communities is tough and Allan was a great example, since he was struggling with his identity in new groups.
3. I think that Allan did not have positive results because he did not want to adapt to the way his community wanted him to. The answer to prevented conflict is simple; he could have just conformed to how his community wanted him to change.
4. I agree with Wardle because I often say things unconsciously and don't think things through before I say them. Most people are similar to me and don't always filter what they say.
5. I agree more with Gee in this matter because your primary Discourse is what shapes you, so if people are tying to get you to adapt to a new community that is opposite of what your used to, you will struggle adapting. The new Discourse might have values against your own, which will make it hard to become a member.
6. I think that Allan was used as a tool in this article because he was used as facts and data that Wardle collected, rather than an actual part of the community.
7. I remember my baseball coach cussing out one of my teammates for making an error that cost us the game. He realized later that he was wrong for reacting so forcefully and was really apologetic after the incident. This caused players to lose respect for him, which in turn caused him to lose some authority.
AE
I think that when you write with authority, people view you as a credible source and agree with what you write. Having that authority in your discourse community means that the members value what you say, since everyone shares common beliefs. I believe as I wrote more and more, I started becoming more credible and eventually gained that credibility and authority over my readers. I have had many papers where I felt like I had no authority throughout out it, mainly because I could not relate to the prompt. An example of a discourse community I earned authority over would be my high school class. I became part of the national honor society junior year and participated in many community service projects, as well as represented my class at graduation, with the other 15 members. By gaining this leadership skill, i gained authority within my discourse community.
Reflection
I liked this article and found it easy to understand. Although I learned a lot from the past two articles regarding Discourse communities, I thought this one taught me the most and really helped me get a better grasp on the concept of these communities. After reading this article, I think I need to become more authoritative with my writing so that my readers will respect my points better.
In her article, Identify, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces, Wardle argues that it is hard for people to understand the importance of aspects like identity and authority in their paper. She gives examples showing how having identity and authority in your paper is very influential and will help it out. A man named Allan becomes the key of her paper when she goes through the process he takes, including the workplace, identity, outcome, and authority. Learning to to write in new communities is tough and Allan was a great example, since he was struggling with his identity in new groups.
3. I think that Allan did not have positive results because he did not want to adapt to the way his community wanted him to. The answer to prevented conflict is simple; he could have just conformed to how his community wanted him to change.
4. I agree with Wardle because I often say things unconsciously and don't think things through before I say them. Most people are similar to me and don't always filter what they say.
5. I agree more with Gee in this matter because your primary Discourse is what shapes you, so if people are tying to get you to adapt to a new community that is opposite of what your used to, you will struggle adapting. The new Discourse might have values against your own, which will make it hard to become a member.
6. I think that Allan was used as a tool in this article because he was used as facts and data that Wardle collected, rather than an actual part of the community.
7. I remember my baseball coach cussing out one of my teammates for making an error that cost us the game. He realized later that he was wrong for reacting so forcefully and was really apologetic after the incident. This caused players to lose respect for him, which in turn caused him to lose some authority.
AE
I think that when you write with authority, people view you as a credible source and agree with what you write. Having that authority in your discourse community means that the members value what you say, since everyone shares common beliefs. I believe as I wrote more and more, I started becoming more credible and eventually gained that credibility and authority over my readers. I have had many papers where I felt like I had no authority throughout out it, mainly because I could not relate to the prompt. An example of a discourse community I earned authority over would be my high school class. I became part of the national honor society junior year and participated in many community service projects, as well as represented my class at graduation, with the other 15 members. By gaining this leadership skill, i gained authority within my discourse community.
Reflection
I liked this article and found it easy to understand. Although I learned a lot from the past two articles regarding Discourse communities, I thought this one taught me the most and really helped me get a better grasp on the concept of these communities. After reading this article, I think I need to become more authoritative with my writing so that my readers will respect my points better.
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