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.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
February 22nd Homework
Johns Summary
In her article, Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice, Ann Johns argues that communities of practice are closely related to John Swales' discourse communities. She then describes what it is like to be in academic communities and professional communities. Johns talks a lot about the language and text within a discourse community and she describes the conflicts that occur within these different communities.
1. There are several complications that Johns points out regarding joining a discourse community. The first one is the cost of affiliation, which means everything costs money and some people might not join because they don't have any. The next problem is the authority of the community. People will disagree who should be in charge causing arguments within the group. Another complication is change because when new people come into the group they might break rules or change other things regarding the community. Dialogue and critique are also factors that cause problems within a group because disagreements arise.
2. Change in a discourse community often occur as members grow older, they meet new people that have different views, and when they read new information. Their views change because they learn new things, causing their thoughts and opinions to change. A historical example of this is when Martin Luther King Jr. became the civil rights leader and began to slowly change people's views.
3. I do not think that learning to read and write in different discourse communities have altered my sense of self, values, or beliefs. I stick strong to my beliefs and values that I have always had and I feel like I have been exempt from this conflict because I have never been in a discourse community that tried to change my personal views.
4. I think that Johns' views on learning how to read and write do not change your identity because although you do learn new things, you are still the same person, just maybe a little wiser. When I learn new information, my opinions rarely change I just realize why other people might think differently than I do.
5. The authority I have had over the types of texts I write in college has been a little greater than in high school because I am allowed to express my own thoughts more freely. There is still an assignment sheet that I have to follow, but it is not near as strict as it has been in the past.
6. I think it is considered a minefield because you never know how long you can break the rules without getting punished severely. I have been punished a few times for not following the criteria perfectly, but the teachers just made me correct so I wouldn't get a failing grade.
MM
Understanding what Johns wrote about in this article will help me decide if I want to become part of a new discourse community because I will know the pros and cons of it. The positive things I learned from her writing that will help me out is whether I can financially afford the group and I will know to examine the community before joining and see if I would actually fit in. A negative thing I learned is that some discourse communities might try to persuade me to believe in certain thing that the rest of the group does.
Reflection
I think this article was interesting and it expanding on John Swales' article that we had previously read. Although I didn't completely agree with everything Ann Johns' said, I think this article will help me later in life when I attempt to join new discourse communities.
In her article, Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice, Ann Johns argues that communities of practice are closely related to John Swales' discourse communities. She then describes what it is like to be in academic communities and professional communities. Johns talks a lot about the language and text within a discourse community and she describes the conflicts that occur within these different communities.
1. There are several complications that Johns points out regarding joining a discourse community. The first one is the cost of affiliation, which means everything costs money and some people might not join because they don't have any. The next problem is the authority of the community. People will disagree who should be in charge causing arguments within the group. Another complication is change because when new people come into the group they might break rules or change other things regarding the community. Dialogue and critique are also factors that cause problems within a group because disagreements arise.
2. Change in a discourse community often occur as members grow older, they meet new people that have different views, and when they read new information. Their views change because they learn new things, causing their thoughts and opinions to change. A historical example of this is when Martin Luther King Jr. became the civil rights leader and began to slowly change people's views.
3. I do not think that learning to read and write in different discourse communities have altered my sense of self, values, or beliefs. I stick strong to my beliefs and values that I have always had and I feel like I have been exempt from this conflict because I have never been in a discourse community that tried to change my personal views.
4. I think that Johns' views on learning how to read and write do not change your identity because although you do learn new things, you are still the same person, just maybe a little wiser. When I learn new information, my opinions rarely change I just realize why other people might think differently than I do.
5. The authority I have had over the types of texts I write in college has been a little greater than in high school because I am allowed to express my own thoughts more freely. There is still an assignment sheet that I have to follow, but it is not near as strict as it has been in the past.
6. I think it is considered a minefield because you never know how long you can break the rules without getting punished severely. I have been punished a few times for not following the criteria perfectly, but the teachers just made me correct so I wouldn't get a failing grade.
MM
Understanding what Johns wrote about in this article will help me decide if I want to become part of a new discourse community because I will know the pros and cons of it. The positive things I learned from her writing that will help me out is whether I can financially afford the group and I will know to examine the community before joining and see if I would actually fit in. A negative thing I learned is that some discourse communities might try to persuade me to believe in certain thing that the rest of the group does.
Reflection
I think this article was interesting and it expanding on John Swales' article that we had previously read. Although I didn't completely agree with everything Ann Johns' said, I think this article will help me later in life when I attempt to join new discourse communities.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
February 20th Homework
Swales Summary
In this article, The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales generates his own concept of what he calls discourse communities. He argues that there are six characteristics that are necessary for identifying a group of people as their own discourse community. Groups are formed depending on common interests, and Swales describes this as "genres". These genres allow people to stay on topic and make sure that those who join the group understand the criteria of this group.
1.
5. A discourse community I belong to is my high school basketball team. We all share common goals, such as winning each game and getting better each and every day at practice. Our lexis is combined in signals or names that we all know, usually plays. Our genres that are recognizable by our members, are texts that show basketball plays step-by-step with X's and O's.
MM
No after reading this, I do not notice anything different about my own reading experiences.
Swales Response
This article was a boring read for me, although it did prove some interesting points about discourse communities. I learned a lot from this article and now when I write for certain discourse communities I will understand how to present my information better.
Gee Summary
In his article, Literacy, Discouse, and Linguistics: Introduction, James Paul Gee attempts to prove that the main focus for literacy studies shouldn't be language, or literacy, but social practices instead. He argues that Discourses, with a capital D, are combinations of saying, doing, being, valuing, and believing and that we all acquire some sort of Discourse throughout our life, normally early in life or in peer groups.
3. Discourse with a capital 'D' means the combination of saying(writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing and discourse with a lowercase 'd' means connected stretches of language that make sense. I think this makes sense because Discourse evaluates all forms of expressions instead of just through language.
4. Primary Discourses are the ones we first use to make sense of the world and interact with others.
Secondary Discourses are gained after our initial socialization within our home community,
non-home-base social institutions, such as local stores, churches, schools, and other organizations.
Dominant Discourses are secondary Discourses that bring potential acquisitions of social goods,
like money, prestige, and status.
Nondominant Discourses are secondary Discourses that bring solidarity with a certain social
network, but not greater value in status or social goods.
5. This means that if you don't display an identity then you're a pretender or beginner. The implications of this are, for example, if you don't display fluency in a Discourse then you're marked as a nonmember of the group.
6. He shows that there is a similarity between the relationship of Discourse and identity by saying that while you are in that certain Discourse, you develop a growing ability to say, do, value, and believe within that Discourse. You show your identity within the Discourse community.
7. Gee is saying that when someone is taught, within their Discourse group, how to communicate correctly, other members will interrogate them based on the language they use. I have seen a few of my friends act completely different when they are with friends they grew up with because while they were in that Discourse, they communicated differently to fit in with the rest of the members.
8. Dominant Discourse "tests" happen to provide group members with the assurance that they have friends that can relate to them. I think it is a way of fitting in with the rest of your group.
11. Metaknowledge is the sum of what has been perceived or discovered and it is valuable because it allows a combination for successful students and successful social change.
12. I know I am a part of my church Discourse because we all share the same values and believes.
AEI
2. While I am in my primary Discourse I express myself without worrying about grammatical usage and I normally use phrases that my family would only understand. My tone of voice normally stays the same because I don't get to excited or flustered about anything; my values are almost identical to my parents and brother because I was raised that way and I want to stick to them.
In my academic Discourse I try to be more grammatically correct when writing or talking and since nobody would understand some of my phrases, I stray away from using them. My tone of voice is a lot more argumentative while in this Discourse and my values usually stay the same, although I am willingly to learn about other students values.
The sources that overlap are my values, while the rest alter a little bit while I am in an academic Discourse.
4. I navigate between these different Discourses by sticking to my beliefs and values, but changing what I talk about or do within each Discourse. Like within my team Discourse, I become extremely competitive and I probably give more effort to reach a common goal, compared to when I am with my classroom Discourse.
Gee Response
I thought this article was interesting because it made me evaluate all my different groups and think more in depth about how I act and speak while I go from one Discourse to the other. Some of the questions within this article were difficult to answer, but I definitely learned a lot while reading about Gee's perspective on Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics.
In this article, The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales generates his own concept of what he calls discourse communities. He argues that there are six characteristics that are necessary for identifying a group of people as their own discourse community. Groups are formed depending on common interests, and Swales describes this as "genres". These genres allow people to stay on topic and make sure that those who join the group understand the criteria of this group.
1.
- Goals are set by the discourse community that point out its morals, beliefs, expectations, and aspirations. My athletic teams are a discourse community that have the same expectations...to win each game.
- These communities have their own communication styles that they use to send messages to all their members. In sports, we have a way of communicating while playing so we know what each other is doing. (eg hand signals)
- Certain forms of technology and print sources, such as newspapers and books that interest the group's common interests, provide a way of obtaining information.
- Based on opinions of the group and the changing values of the original discourse community, the individuals will adapt and expand their expectations.
- Communities have their own vocabulary, such as grammar that keeps others from gaining information.
- Discourse communities are experiencing shifts of members as people pass away, leave, or become wiser. As my friends and I get older, we have adapted to new interests and began hanging out with different people.
5. A discourse community I belong to is my high school basketball team. We all share common goals, such as winning each game and getting better each and every day at practice. Our lexis is combined in signals or names that we all know, usually plays. Our genres that are recognizable by our members, are texts that show basketball plays step-by-step with X's and O's.
MM
No after reading this, I do not notice anything different about my own reading experiences.
Swales Response
This article was a boring read for me, although it did prove some interesting points about discourse communities. I learned a lot from this article and now when I write for certain discourse communities I will understand how to present my information better.
Gee Summary
In his article, Literacy, Discouse, and Linguistics: Introduction, James Paul Gee attempts to prove that the main focus for literacy studies shouldn't be language, or literacy, but social practices instead. He argues that Discourses, with a capital D, are combinations of saying, doing, being, valuing, and believing and that we all acquire some sort of Discourse throughout our life, normally early in life or in peer groups.
3. Discourse with a capital 'D' means the combination of saying(writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing and discourse with a lowercase 'd' means connected stretches of language that make sense. I think this makes sense because Discourse evaluates all forms of expressions instead of just through language.
4. Primary Discourses are the ones we first use to make sense of the world and interact with others.
Secondary Discourses are gained after our initial socialization within our home community,
non-home-base social institutions, such as local stores, churches, schools, and other organizations.
Dominant Discourses are secondary Discourses that bring potential acquisitions of social goods,
like money, prestige, and status.
Nondominant Discourses are secondary Discourses that bring solidarity with a certain social
network, but not greater value in status or social goods.
5. This means that if you don't display an identity then you're a pretender or beginner. The implications of this are, for example, if you don't display fluency in a Discourse then you're marked as a nonmember of the group.
6. He shows that there is a similarity between the relationship of Discourse and identity by saying that while you are in that certain Discourse, you develop a growing ability to say, do, value, and believe within that Discourse. You show your identity within the Discourse community.
7. Gee is saying that when someone is taught, within their Discourse group, how to communicate correctly, other members will interrogate them based on the language they use. I have seen a few of my friends act completely different when they are with friends they grew up with because while they were in that Discourse, they communicated differently to fit in with the rest of the members.
8. Dominant Discourse "tests" happen to provide group members with the assurance that they have friends that can relate to them. I think it is a way of fitting in with the rest of your group.
11. Metaknowledge is the sum of what has been perceived or discovered and it is valuable because it allows a combination for successful students and successful social change.
12. I know I am a part of my church Discourse because we all share the same values and believes.
AEI
2. While I am in my primary Discourse I express myself without worrying about grammatical usage and I normally use phrases that my family would only understand. My tone of voice normally stays the same because I don't get to excited or flustered about anything; my values are almost identical to my parents and brother because I was raised that way and I want to stick to them.
In my academic Discourse I try to be more grammatically correct when writing or talking and since nobody would understand some of my phrases, I stray away from using them. My tone of voice is a lot more argumentative while in this Discourse and my values usually stay the same, although I am willingly to learn about other students values.
The sources that overlap are my values, while the rest alter a little bit while I am in an academic Discourse.
4. I navigate between these different Discourses by sticking to my beliefs and values, but changing what I talk about or do within each Discourse. Like within my team Discourse, I become extremely competitive and I probably give more effort to reach a common goal, compared to when I am with my classroom Discourse.
Gee Response
I thought this article was interesting because it made me evaluate all my different groups and think more in depth about how I act and speak while I go from one Discourse to the other. Some of the questions within this article were difficult to answer, but I definitely learned a lot while reading about Gee's perspective on Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Cover Letter Paper #3
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 the only weak part might be how we support our claim through our conclusion. We had a few difficulties with the website malfunctioning, which made the process longer, but it all worked out. I want our peer editors to make sure we answered all the questions effectively.
Link http://literacyhistory.webs.com/
Link http://literacyhistory.webs.com/
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Homework #13
Summary
In Cecchini and Perez's article, Motivation in Literacy and Development, they attempt to show students the numerous motivations there are to find that drive to write and read successfully. They back up their points by interviewing eight first-year honor students at the University of Central Florida, and discover the methods used by each students to develop academic success in literacy, as well as other subjects. All eight students had interesting backgrounds that drove them to want to be literate in reading and writing, whether it was their parents encouragement, siblings teasing them about not being able to read, or the development of computer programs that provided goals and enjoyment in reading/writing.
Do the authors put their own histories into the paper?
There were no personal stories or motivations listed in this paper about the authors' history in reading/writing. They solely relied on other students' stories to help construct their paper. It probably would have helped their paper if they would have included some personal stories of when they were first learning to read and finding that motivation.
Do you refer to yourself in 1st or 3rd Person?
I normally refer to myself in 1st person when writing a paper such as this one. Whenever I include myself in one of my papers, I always use first person; however, I do remember writing a narrative story once in middle school when I used one of my own personal stories and gave myself another character name.
Reflection
I enjoyed this paper because I think it will help me out some with my next paper that is closely related to this topic. My main motivation to read in elementary school was a program that our school started, called Accelerated Reader. With this program, I could read for competitive purposes because I wanted to get more AR points than my friends; plus at the end of the year we could use our points to buy things like CD players and basketballs.
In Cecchini and Perez's article, Motivation in Literacy and Development, they attempt to show students the numerous motivations there are to find that drive to write and read successfully. They back up their points by interviewing eight first-year honor students at the University of Central Florida, and discover the methods used by each students to develop academic success in literacy, as well as other subjects. All eight students had interesting backgrounds that drove them to want to be literate in reading and writing, whether it was their parents encouragement, siblings teasing them about not being able to read, or the development of computer programs that provided goals and enjoyment in reading/writing.
Do the authors put their own histories into the paper?
There were no personal stories or motivations listed in this paper about the authors' history in reading/writing. They solely relied on other students' stories to help construct their paper. It probably would have helped their paper if they would have included some personal stories of when they were first learning to read and finding that motivation.
Do you refer to yourself in 1st or 3rd Person?
I normally refer to myself in 1st person when writing a paper such as this one. Whenever I include myself in one of my papers, I always use first person; however, I do remember writing a narrative story once in middle school when I used one of my own personal stories and gave myself another character name.
Reflection
I enjoyed this paper because I think it will help me out some with my next paper that is closely related to this topic. My main motivation to read in elementary school was a program that our school started, called Accelerated Reader. With this program, I could read for competitive purposes because I wanted to get more AR points than my friends; plus at the end of the year we could use our points to buy things like CD players and basketballs.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Topic for Paper #4
For this academic article, I will be questioning if writing technologies have affected people as writers. And if so, whether this was in a positive or negative way.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Final Draft Paper #2
In this paper, Writing: A Unique Process, I was trying to show the readers how I go through my writing process and that I need to be in my comfort zone to write a successful paper. I also wanted to prove to them that writing is a unique process for everyone because we all write in our own way. My main claim was that by creating my own space to write without distractions, I can write much easier and quicker. I supported this claim with a few texts from Stephen King and some other authors. I think overall my paper works pretty well and has a good flow, but is lacking good counter-arguments. My peer suggested to introduce my quotes from our book better and showed me a few errors I made, as well as some sentences that were confusing. I made sure to include the article that the author had written and attempted to write a more interesting introduction and conclusion.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/81192564/Final-Draft-2-Writing-a-Unique-Process
http://www.scribd.com/doc/81192564/Final-Draft-2-Writing-a-Unique-Process
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Reading Response February 8
In his article, Learning to Read, Malcolm X explains how he learned more about writing and reading while he was in prison. He discovered his love for reading through extensive reading, starting with the dictionary, and moving on to much higher level books. Malcolm said he spent so much time reading because it was how he satisfied his curiosity. Starting as a boy with only an eight grade education, Malcolm shows how he evolved into a great speaker, reader, and writer.
1. Malcolm X's intended audience is students or children raised in lower class families, who had similar educations and lived in rough cities, like he did. His article is written in a motivational style.
2. He defines literacy as being able to read and understand. School-based literacy is being able to read and comprehend it for the upcoming test, but I think in each definition you still have to understand what you are reading.
3. Mr. Muhammad, Norfolk Prison Colony Library, correspondence, visitors, books, and civil rights. Mr. Muhammad and the history of civil rights were the most influential because they showed him how the white men had written history books and simply left the black man out.
4. I think this was a case for Malcolm X because after his only eight years of schooling there was definitely an ideological control surrounding his reading and writing.
6. I have never had a huge interest in reading throughout high school or the first year of college so far. I think the only motivation I had growing up was to be active in sports or spend time outside and this is what caused me to not read as much as I should have.
AEI
I think technologies have changed what it means to be literate in the U.S. today in a negative way because text messaging causes people to start using poor grammar and the Internet has many distractions as well as quick access to answers, which allow people to read less.
Response
I really enjoyed reading this article and thought it was a lot more interesting than the other articles in this chapter. Malcolm X did a great job at writing his article with that motivational perspective and it gave me a reason to want to read more in the future.
Alexie Summary
In his article, The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me, Sherman Alexie shows his readers how he taught himself, a Spokan Indian living on the reservation, how to read through Superman Comics. He did not go to a highly literate schooling system on the reservation and had to teach himself how to read. He had his father to look up to as an influence though because he was an active reader that bought many books from Goodwill and the Salvation Army.
1. When I was in elementary school, my brother would often read Harry Potter books into the wee hours of the night. This was a positive expectation for me because my parents expected me to read like he did and it gave me motivation to gain an interest in reading.
AEI
They did make me believe that anyone can overcome poverty and discrimination as long as they have that determination to read and write. Deborah Brandt's research showed me that even though the stats demonstrate how poor students don't have the same motivation as most children, they can still overcome this by having a good literacy sponsor to teach them.
Response
I really enjoyed this article too because it showed how poorly educated children can overcome their rough lives by reading and finding that interests in education, rather than not paying attention in school and not even bringing writing utensils to class. I can't really relate to this situation, but I think it will help many other students if they chose to read this article.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Reading Response Feb 6
Brandt Summary
In her article, Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt relies on her interviews she constructed ranging from 1900 to 1980 regarding the histories of writers and readers from Wisconsin. All her interviewees are from different backgrounds, ages, and class ranks. She backs up her reasoning with statistics proving that "unequal conditions of literacy sponsorship lie behind differential outcomes in academic performance."
1. She defines literacy sponsor as agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who teach, model, support, recruit, extort, deny, or suppress literacy and gain advantage by it in some way. The characteristics of a literacy sponsor are wealthy, sometimes religious-especially early in the 19th century, and normally knowledgeable.
3. The sponsored "misappropriate" their literacy lessons because they don't take into account the poor students who have limited access, compared to those upper and middle-class students.
4. Brandt uses the term stratified as meaning arranging in a status level. She is referring to stakes as something that stops or limits someone.
AEI
Growing up my primary literacy sponsors were my family, teachers, and athletic teams. My family taught me religious and civic priorities, my teachers helped me with academics, and my teammates and coaches taught me unity as one and pride. Yes I think these sponsors were adequate. I never had access to other religious books, which limited my knowledge and understanding of other people's views.
Response
This article was a little hard to comprehend at first, but as I read more of it I understood how literacy sponsors don't take into account the lower class children that don't have as much access to readings. This is unfortunate and results in lower academic ratings for schools. I agree with Brandt's overall view on this matter.
Baron Summary
In his article, From Pencils to Pixels: The stages of Literacy Technologies, Dennis Baron argues the possibility of computers making us lazy, rather than expanding our knowledge about writing and reading. He describes the main stages of new technologies and the impact they have had on the literacy of our generation. He also states that the pencil is not that much different than the computer.
2. I agree that it is hard to imagine that new technologies are changing the shape or nature of writing is one of his messages in this paper. However I do not agree with him because I feel like these new technologies are definitely causing people to not read or write as much as they have in the past.
4. I think the typewriter was once seen as literacy technology, but is barely seen as one now. These technologies have helped speed up the process of writing.
6. The images and illustration contribute to the thought that new technologies have hindered the overall knowledge of humans. The monkey on the computer definitely supports this idea. I understand them as writing because they show how computer text is easier to compose. Yes, by considering them writing, the list of technologies associated with literacy gets larger.
Response
I really enjoyed reading this article because I completely agree with Baron and it made me see technologies as limiting the overall thought process. I think technologies are great because they make everything easier, however, they don't help us become smarter. Growing up with all these new technologies, has made me accustom to using them to make academics easier and without them I think our generation would be lost.
In her article, Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt relies on her interviews she constructed ranging from 1900 to 1980 regarding the histories of writers and readers from Wisconsin. All her interviewees are from different backgrounds, ages, and class ranks. She backs up her reasoning with statistics proving that "unequal conditions of literacy sponsorship lie behind differential outcomes in academic performance."
1. She defines literacy sponsor as agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who teach, model, support, recruit, extort, deny, or suppress literacy and gain advantage by it in some way. The characteristics of a literacy sponsor are wealthy, sometimes religious-especially early in the 19th century, and normally knowledgeable.
3. The sponsored "misappropriate" their literacy lessons because they don't take into account the poor students who have limited access, compared to those upper and middle-class students.
4. Brandt uses the term stratified as meaning arranging in a status level. She is referring to stakes as something that stops or limits someone.
AEI
Growing up my primary literacy sponsors were my family, teachers, and athletic teams. My family taught me religious and civic priorities, my teachers helped me with academics, and my teammates and coaches taught me unity as one and pride. Yes I think these sponsors were adequate. I never had access to other religious books, which limited my knowledge and understanding of other people's views.
Response
This article was a little hard to comprehend at first, but as I read more of it I understood how literacy sponsors don't take into account the lower class children that don't have as much access to readings. This is unfortunate and results in lower academic ratings for schools. I agree with Brandt's overall view on this matter.
Baron Summary
In his article, From Pencils to Pixels: The stages of Literacy Technologies, Dennis Baron argues the possibility of computers making us lazy, rather than expanding our knowledge about writing and reading. He describes the main stages of new technologies and the impact they have had on the literacy of our generation. He also states that the pencil is not that much different than the computer.
2. I agree that it is hard to imagine that new technologies are changing the shape or nature of writing is one of his messages in this paper. However I do not agree with him because I feel like these new technologies are definitely causing people to not read or write as much as they have in the past.
4. I think the typewriter was once seen as literacy technology, but is barely seen as one now. These technologies have helped speed up the process of writing.
6. The images and illustration contribute to the thought that new technologies have hindered the overall knowledge of humans. The monkey on the computer definitely supports this idea. I understand them as writing because they show how computer text is easier to compose. Yes, by considering them writing, the list of technologies associated with literacy gets larger.
Response
I really enjoyed reading this article because I completely agree with Baron and it made me see technologies as limiting the overall thought process. I think technologies are great because they make everything easier, however, they don't help us become smarter. Growing up with all these new technologies, has made me accustom to using them to make academics easier and without them I think our generation would be lost.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Cover Letter for Paper #2
In this paper, I talk about how I have overcame some struggles I used to have with writing and how having a comfort zone to write in helps out. My main point was to prove that everyone has their own way of writing and by digging deep, anyone can produce a decent paper. It is all in the determination and confidence. I back this up by giving examples of how I had trouble writing in the past and the way I found myself as a writer, mainly because I found that atmosphere I needed to write. I think my paper has several strong paragraphs, but maybe one that needs improvement. I want readers to tell me what they think is the best and worse parts of my paper and provide details of what I could do to make my paper better. I might think of more personal experiences if I had more time to write, but it would be pretty similar to my paper now.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80301831/Paper-2
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80301831/Paper-2
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Writing Response Feb 1st
Lamott Summary
In her article, Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott tries to convince her readers that most writers have just as much trouble as us with finding the enthusiasm and confidence needed to write a decent paper. She says we need to just write a lousy first draft so we can build off of it.
Lamott Response
I thought this article was short and to the point and it made me glad to hear that I am not the only one that struggles writing papers and finding the confidence or determination to do it. This will help me when writing because now I know I can just start off with a terrible first draft and perfect it later.
King Summary
In his article, What Writing Is, Stephen King talks about telepathy and how he sent the reader several things through his writing, in an act of telepathy. He wants to prove that as a writer, you must take it serious and "never come lightly to a blank page."
King Response
I thought this article was very unique and it built up a little bit of suspension to prove his point of telepathy. I like his demeanor toward writing, in that you have to just go do it!
Goodman Summary
In her article, Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work, Goodman talks about how she ignores the negativity that arises when she tries to write. She tries to limit her perfectionist side, which is like a critic always questioning her work because if you do that then you'll gain confidence.
Goodman Response
This article was interesting and it will encourage me to be less critical of my writing so that I will be able to get more done when a task approaches me.
Haruf Summary
In his writing, To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool over Your Own Eyes, Kent Huraf describes all his possessions around his desk from trips and how they help him write because they are full of memories and geographical areas that are sentimental to him. He also goes into detail about how he actually blindfolds himself when writing so he can get the delivery of his story down without being distracted by punctuation or grammar or word choice.
Haruf Response
I really enjoyed this paper because it made me realize that by distracting myself from being worried about errors in my papers, I can get all my thoughts out and worry about fixing it later. I also liked how his workplace was described as walking into a sacred place because of the memories all around.
Sontag Summary
In her paper, Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed, Susan Sontag articulates on the process of writing in a more creative way than most authors. She says that if you write something good the first go around then it is only bound to get better the next time you write it.
Sontag Response
This article wasn't quite as interesting as the previous ones because it was more informative as the other ones were more like unique strategies used to write. I did like how she said writing should have some freshness and vividness to it.
Diaz Summary
In his own story, Becoming a Writer, Junot Diaz describes how he became a writer through heartbreak and struggle for 5 plus years. When he almost gave up, that's when he realized he was a writer.
Diaz Response
This story shocked me a little because I was just waiting for him to say that one night all the thoughts he'd been missing started coming to him like clockwork, but it never happened. It did have an interesting ending when he finally realized what he was and that he can always write when everything else is failing.
Using These Essays
I don't see any common metaphors in any of these writings because they are all unique. I did notice that Lamott and Goodman's articles were close in that they believe you need to have confidence to write a successful paper. All these authors have some problems they face with the rules, but I really noticed this in Kent Huraf's paper because he completely ignores grammatical rules when he writes his first draft. I think they all faced problems, just like Tony did in Perl's study because there is always frustration that arises when writing. Yes, I believe Tony would have benefited from hearing these stories.
Meta Moments
1) One thing I found useful was how Huraf surrounded himself with possessions that would spark all the enjoyable memories he has had and produce exciting papers. Another thing I gained by reading these articles was the approach required to write a successful paper that Stephen King presents. The third thing was also from King when he described how he puts his brain somewhere else, so to speak, so that he can think more clearly.
2) The only thing that has changed is the way I will approach a paper from now on. Every writer has their own distinctive way of writing and I feel like even though there were some interesting strategies, I will still write in my own unique way.
In her article, Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott tries to convince her readers that most writers have just as much trouble as us with finding the enthusiasm and confidence needed to write a decent paper. She says we need to just write a lousy first draft so we can build off of it.
Lamott Response
I thought this article was short and to the point and it made me glad to hear that I am not the only one that struggles writing papers and finding the confidence or determination to do it. This will help me when writing because now I know I can just start off with a terrible first draft and perfect it later.
King Summary
In his article, What Writing Is, Stephen King talks about telepathy and how he sent the reader several things through his writing, in an act of telepathy. He wants to prove that as a writer, you must take it serious and "never come lightly to a blank page."
King Response
I thought this article was very unique and it built up a little bit of suspension to prove his point of telepathy. I like his demeanor toward writing, in that you have to just go do it!
Goodman Summary
In her article, Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work, Goodman talks about how she ignores the negativity that arises when she tries to write. She tries to limit her perfectionist side, which is like a critic always questioning her work because if you do that then you'll gain confidence.
Goodman Response
This article was interesting and it will encourage me to be less critical of my writing so that I will be able to get more done when a task approaches me.
Haruf Summary
In his writing, To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool over Your Own Eyes, Kent Huraf describes all his possessions around his desk from trips and how they help him write because they are full of memories and geographical areas that are sentimental to him. He also goes into detail about how he actually blindfolds himself when writing so he can get the delivery of his story down without being distracted by punctuation or grammar or word choice.
Haruf Response
I really enjoyed this paper because it made me realize that by distracting myself from being worried about errors in my papers, I can get all my thoughts out and worry about fixing it later. I also liked how his workplace was described as walking into a sacred place because of the memories all around.
Sontag Summary
In her paper, Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed, Susan Sontag articulates on the process of writing in a more creative way than most authors. She says that if you write something good the first go around then it is only bound to get better the next time you write it.
Sontag Response
This article wasn't quite as interesting as the previous ones because it was more informative as the other ones were more like unique strategies used to write. I did like how she said writing should have some freshness and vividness to it.
Diaz Summary
In his own story, Becoming a Writer, Junot Diaz describes how he became a writer through heartbreak and struggle for 5 plus years. When he almost gave up, that's when he realized he was a writer.
Diaz Response
This story shocked me a little because I was just waiting for him to say that one night all the thoughts he'd been missing started coming to him like clockwork, but it never happened. It did have an interesting ending when he finally realized what he was and that he can always write when everything else is failing.
Using These Essays
I don't see any common metaphors in any of these writings because they are all unique. I did notice that Lamott and Goodman's articles were close in that they believe you need to have confidence to write a successful paper. All these authors have some problems they face with the rules, but I really noticed this in Kent Huraf's paper because he completely ignores grammatical rules when he writes his first draft. I think they all faced problems, just like Tony did in Perl's study because there is always frustration that arises when writing. Yes, I believe Tony would have benefited from hearing these stories.
Meta Moments
1) One thing I found useful was how Huraf surrounded himself with possessions that would spark all the enjoyable memories he has had and produce exciting papers. Another thing I gained by reading these articles was the approach required to write a successful paper that Stephen King presents. The third thing was also from King when he described how he puts his brain somewhere else, so to speak, so that he can think more clearly.
2) The only thing that has changed is the way I will approach a paper from now on. Every writer has their own distinctive way of writing and I feel like even though there were some interesting strategies, I will still write in my own unique way.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Reading Response for January 25th
Summary
In this article, Decisions and Revisions, Berkenkotter tries to imply to her readers that by thinking aloud we can all become better writers because we are throwing all of our thoughts out there instead of bottling them up. Murray responds to this article with one of his own, called Response of a Laboratory Rat, where he provides eleven steps that he underwent and will ultimately help prove that writing IS an act of thinking, as well as writing.
1. Murray's writing process is different than most I have encountered because he expresses himself solely from his thoughts and not of what other writers normally do. He spends more time planning out his writing than I do; however, he does think about who his audience is before writing, which is something I always try to do.
2. He wants to write to an audience that enjoys what he has to say. I also intend to direct my writing to my audience because I feel like if they aren't intrigued by how I write, then they won't enjoy my writing. I think a lot about my audience when I write.
3. This study showed that a lot of planning is done before writing, which agreed with Berkenkotter's percentage of time devoted to this process. But the revision state might be misconstrued because a lot of revision occurs in the planning or prewriting activity.
1. I spend the majority of my writing time thinking of ideas and writing them down as soon as possible. My writing experience follows this article's statistics because I also most of my time planning and editing.
MM: I learned that it is a lot easier to write about a topic that I am familiar with, so researching something I am foreign with will help me become a better all around writer.
This article was interesting and I feel like it related to my form of writing a lot. The Jack and Jill example where Berkenkotter said she struggled trying to write to little children about the concept of death, showed me that I was not the only one that struggles with writing in a way I am unfamiliar with and inexperienced. I think this article will help me spend more time revising my papers.
In this article, Decisions and Revisions, Berkenkotter tries to imply to her readers that by thinking aloud we can all become better writers because we are throwing all of our thoughts out there instead of bottling them up. Murray responds to this article with one of his own, called Response of a Laboratory Rat, where he provides eleven steps that he underwent and will ultimately help prove that writing IS an act of thinking, as well as writing.
1. Murray's writing process is different than most I have encountered because he expresses himself solely from his thoughts and not of what other writers normally do. He spends more time planning out his writing than I do; however, he does think about who his audience is before writing, which is something I always try to do.
2. He wants to write to an audience that enjoys what he has to say. I also intend to direct my writing to my audience because I feel like if they aren't intrigued by how I write, then they won't enjoy my writing. I think a lot about my audience when I write.
3. This study showed that a lot of planning is done before writing, which agreed with Berkenkotter's percentage of time devoted to this process. But the revision state might be misconstrued because a lot of revision occurs in the planning or prewriting activity.
1. I spend the majority of my writing time thinking of ideas and writing them down as soon as possible. My writing experience follows this article's statistics because I also most of my time planning and editing.
MM: I learned that it is a lot easier to write about a topic that I am familiar with, so researching something I am foreign with will help me become a better all around writer.
This article was interesting and I feel like it related to my form of writing a lot. The Jack and Jill example where Berkenkotter said she struggled trying to write to little children about the concept of death, showed me that I was not the only one that struggles with writing in a way I am unfamiliar with and inexperienced. I think this article will help me spend more time revising my papers.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
January 18th Reading Response
Allen Summary
In her article, The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer, Sarah Allen convinces students, writers, and teachers that writing does not come easy for any of us. She argues that through vivid revision and editing from other colleagues or teachers, we can all become better writers. She says, "in that listening-talking, reading-writing relation, a collision, the inevitable momentary connection, happens.
Allen Response
My experiences of writing are similar to those of Sarah Allen's because I have also found it extremely difficult to write a paper that does result in tons of ink scribbles on it, even after I thought it was written as well as possible.
Murray Summary
In his article, All Writing is Autobiography, Murray attempts to prove to everyone that we all write using our own experiences and that no writing is completely fictional. He argues that all writing is your own because you are always the same person, whether you are writing poetry, fiction, academic articles, essays, newspaper columns, or even textbooks.
GRR
The guidance I received when writing school work was limited from my teachers because they rarely taught us how to properly write. They, more or less, just told me the basic construct required of our papers. My freshman English teacher in high school helped me out the most when it came to understanding how to successfully write a well-written paper. Through my friends peer-editing, I received the best input and could better my final draft.
QD
1) Murray is trying to tell us that writing should be moved closer to personal or reflective narratives, instead of fictional pieces of writing. He does admit that some of his his non-fictional work has some made-up parts to it, but by using your own experiences in your writing, your work will become better.
3) His article: contains a lot more incidents that he actually experienced, uses imaginative pieces to help keep the reader intrigued, uses past dreams to incorporate into his work, and writes poetry and fiction "to free himself of small truths in the hope of achieving large ones. He wanted to break the usual "rules" for writing in this scholarly article so the readers would have an easier way of understanding where she is coming from.
4) Murray's article is similar to other forms of the "scholarly article" genre in that it contains a poem entitled, Winthrop 1936, Seventh Grade, which contains text that is completely factual. It is also similar to previous articles because he assumes that readers will write their own poems based on it. That we all use others' writings to inspire our own work.
5) Murray's arguments did not change the way I think about writing because I like to incorporate my own experiences in my work. The only thing I might change is using some more creative non-factual texts to help my reader enjoy it more and not become bored while reading it.
MM
Muray's claims will have a positive impact on me as a writer because my attitude will change when I sit down to write a paper. I will incorporate many of my life experiences in it and try to write for my readers so they won't get bored with what I am trying to say.
Dawkins' Summary
In his article, Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool, Dawkins attempts to prove to teachers that by studying actual writings, rather than hammering down all the grammatical rules day in and day out, students will become much better writers. He argues that punctuation is important, but there is rarely ever one specific way to punctuate a word pattern in our English language.
1st GRR
My sister's treehouse, which was made of wood scraps and cardboard, made a great place to play with her friends.
QD
2) "Handbook rules provide no instructions for use of the comma"
"Handbooks do not do not offer help for interdependent clauses of three or more"
"Handbooks do not tell when to use a dash or a semi-colon"
3) Raising is the pressure to use a mark higher in the hierarchy for clarity purposes, while lowering is when you avoid using a comma between independent clauses.
5) After reading this article, I now know that handbooks do not provide single ways to format a sentence. I also learned that "learning to punctuate effectively requires only a little knowledge of grammar."
6) In the past, I have actually worried somewhat about punctuation in my writing. Dawkins has made me think less of punctuating, according to all the rules, and more about writing a fluent paper.
MM
By reading this article, I can learn more about punctuation being rhetorical than I would if a teacher explained it because the multiple examples allow me to actually see the many different rules when it comes to punctuation. I gained knowledge that will help me worry less about correctly punctuating my sentences. It will help me write a lot more productively.
In her article, The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer, Sarah Allen convinces students, writers, and teachers that writing does not come easy for any of us. She argues that through vivid revision and editing from other colleagues or teachers, we can all become better writers. She says, "in that listening-talking, reading-writing relation, a collision, the inevitable momentary connection, happens.
Allen Response
My experiences of writing are similar to those of Sarah Allen's because I have also found it extremely difficult to write a paper that does result in tons of ink scribbles on it, even after I thought it was written as well as possible.
Murray Summary
In his article, All Writing is Autobiography, Murray attempts to prove to everyone that we all write using our own experiences and that no writing is completely fictional. He argues that all writing is your own because you are always the same person, whether you are writing poetry, fiction, academic articles, essays, newspaper columns, or even textbooks.
GRR
The guidance I received when writing school work was limited from my teachers because they rarely taught us how to properly write. They, more or less, just told me the basic construct required of our papers. My freshman English teacher in high school helped me out the most when it came to understanding how to successfully write a well-written paper. Through my friends peer-editing, I received the best input and could better my final draft.
QD
1) Murray is trying to tell us that writing should be moved closer to personal or reflective narratives, instead of fictional pieces of writing. He does admit that some of his his non-fictional work has some made-up parts to it, but by using your own experiences in your writing, your work will become better.
3) His article: contains a lot more incidents that he actually experienced, uses imaginative pieces to help keep the reader intrigued, uses past dreams to incorporate into his work, and writes poetry and fiction "to free himself of small truths in the hope of achieving large ones. He wanted to break the usual "rules" for writing in this scholarly article so the readers would have an easier way of understanding where she is coming from.
4) Murray's article is similar to other forms of the "scholarly article" genre in that it contains a poem entitled, Winthrop 1936, Seventh Grade, which contains text that is completely factual. It is also similar to previous articles because he assumes that readers will write their own poems based on it. That we all use others' writings to inspire our own work.
5) Murray's arguments did not change the way I think about writing because I like to incorporate my own experiences in my work. The only thing I might change is using some more creative non-factual texts to help my reader enjoy it more and not become bored while reading it.
MM
Muray's claims will have a positive impact on me as a writer because my attitude will change when I sit down to write a paper. I will incorporate many of my life experiences in it and try to write for my readers so they won't get bored with what I am trying to say.
Dawkins' Summary
In his article, Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool, Dawkins attempts to prove to teachers that by studying actual writings, rather than hammering down all the grammatical rules day in and day out, students will become much better writers. He argues that punctuation is important, but there is rarely ever one specific way to punctuate a word pattern in our English language.
1st GRR
My sister's treehouse, which was made of wood scraps and cardboard, made a great place to play with her friends.
QD
2) "Handbook rules provide no instructions for use of the comma"
"Handbooks do not do not offer help for interdependent clauses of three or more"
"Handbooks do not tell when to use a dash or a semi-colon"
3) Raising is the pressure to use a mark higher in the hierarchy for clarity purposes, while lowering is when you avoid using a comma between independent clauses.
5) After reading this article, I now know that handbooks do not provide single ways to format a sentence. I also learned that "learning to punctuate effectively requires only a little knowledge of grammar."
6) In the past, I have actually worried somewhat about punctuation in my writing. Dawkins has made me think less of punctuating, according to all the rules, and more about writing a fluent paper.
MM
By reading this article, I can learn more about punctuation being rhetorical than I would if a teacher explained it because the multiple examples allow me to actually see the many different rules when it comes to punctuation. I gained knowledge that will help me worry less about correctly punctuating my sentences. It will help me write a lot more productively.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Steadman Response
Summary:
In his article Annoying Ways People Use Sources, Kyle Stedman tries to show teachers and students how to fix simple errors caused when trying to cite sources using quotations, paraphrases, or in-text citations. He shows how many students throw quotes into their papers to attempt to sound smarter or improve their paper, when they really just need to incorporate introductory sentences to introduce what they are quoting. Stedman suggests how he thinks sources should be properly introduced, punctuated, and cited when writing a paper.
Response:
Steadman's advice is presented in a different manner than the way Greene, Kantz, and Porter wrote their articles. He writes about the common mistakes that students often make when attempting to use sources, while the other writers talked about how students can improve their writing skills. His advice comes in a more interesting way because he uses an analogy to begin his article. In the past, I was taught to use sources through paraphrases, quotations, or even block quotes with either the MLA format or APA style format. My views have not really changed after reading this passage, but I feel as if it was helpful because it was like a review of what I had learned in high school.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Response to WAW #3
GRR
I tend to rely on my teachers, close friends, and family to help me with my writing. Since most of them have their own way of developing ideas and brainstorming, I can experiment with their methods and find what works the best for me. I like to use credible sources to back up my research and then normally have friends read my rough draft and revise it for me. In high school, my teachers were also great at giving me feedback and/or advice.
Summary
In his article Intertextuality and the Discourse Community, James Porter tries to prove to teachers and students that a majority of texts contain "traces" of other texts. Writers build their texts by adding to what others might have already written and further their ideas on the topic. Even in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson used John Locke's theory to help produce the greatest historical text that our country is based upon. He argues that plagiarism might occur each and everyday.
QD
2) I disagree with Porter because without other sources there will be a limited number of writers who actually produce texts that provide readers with quality information. By using other texts, they can expound their opinions and use previously written texts to help them.
3) He calls the idea of an autonomous writer romantic because they are expressing their own thoughts without using what others have already said. They have a relationship with their writing.
4) Before reading this article, I thought that writing should be evaluated on a basis that is acceptable to the the writer, themselves. This is different than my writing because I have always written to please whoever is grading my paper and I followed their criteria. I still expressed my feelings, but it was constricted to what was expected in my writing.
5) His work fails to reflect on the principles of being "original" because he uses a quote from Vincent Leitch to help convince to readers that texts are all related to previous ones.
6) Porter says that by imagining writing "as individual, isolated. as heroic," it puts writers on a pedestal when they really aren't worthy because it is all borrowed from others.
MM
His study has changed the way I imagined writers and writing. I don't think of writers as being nearly as original as I did before reading this since they all base their material off of others. Adopting this notion of writing, would change the way I write because I wouldn't write as an individual, expressing my own thoughts on paper.
I think this article was interesting and it definitely changed my view on writers and their work. This was helpful because it taught me something new, but I still plan on writing with a sense of originality. However, I think it will be useful to help me with researching and using other people's ideas to strengthen my paper. I agree with Porter that most texts have used other sources.
I tend to rely on my teachers, close friends, and family to help me with my writing. Since most of them have their own way of developing ideas and brainstorming, I can experiment with their methods and find what works the best for me. I like to use credible sources to back up my research and then normally have friends read my rough draft and revise it for me. In high school, my teachers were also great at giving me feedback and/or advice.
Summary
In his article Intertextuality and the Discourse Community, James Porter tries to prove to teachers and students that a majority of texts contain "traces" of other texts. Writers build their texts by adding to what others might have already written and further their ideas on the topic. Even in the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson used John Locke's theory to help produce the greatest historical text that our country is based upon. He argues that plagiarism might occur each and everyday.
QD
2) I disagree with Porter because without other sources there will be a limited number of writers who actually produce texts that provide readers with quality information. By using other texts, they can expound their opinions and use previously written texts to help them.
3) He calls the idea of an autonomous writer romantic because they are expressing their own thoughts without using what others have already said. They have a relationship with their writing.
4) Before reading this article, I thought that writing should be evaluated on a basis that is acceptable to the the writer, themselves. This is different than my writing because I have always written to please whoever is grading my paper and I followed their criteria. I still expressed my feelings, but it was constricted to what was expected in my writing.
5) His work fails to reflect on the principles of being "original" because he uses a quote from Vincent Leitch to help convince to readers that texts are all related to previous ones.
6) Porter says that by imagining writing "as individual, isolated. as heroic," it puts writers on a pedestal when they really aren't worthy because it is all borrowed from others.
MM
His study has changed the way I imagined writers and writing. I don't think of writers as being nearly as original as I did before reading this since they all base their material off of others. Adopting this notion of writing, would change the way I write because I wouldn't write as an individual, expressing my own thoughts on paper.
I think this article was interesting and it definitely changed my view on writers and their work. This was helpful because it taught me something new, but I still plan on writing with a sense of originality. However, I think it will be useful to help me with researching and using other people's ideas to strengthen my paper. I agree with Porter that most texts have used other sources.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
January 9th Reading Response
Summary
In Margaret Kantz’s article, Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively, she attempts to help college students decipher the difference between factual texts, such as textbooks, and other writings from authors that might be bias towards a subject. She argues that authors will write their papers with a persuasive approach and that students, like us, should understand who the author is and what background knowledge they actually have on the topic. This will help students understand that some texts are presented in as arguments in rhetorical context.
The word rhetoric, coming from a writing standpoint, is how writers communicate with their readers with the knowledge of knowing how readers will interpret what they are stating. When reading academic articles, it is important to know what rhetoric means because it helps us understand what writers are trying to prove to us and how they present it in their own style.
Questions for Discussion
1) Kantz contends that facts are truthful and meant to be taken literal, opinions are what writers believe and may be factual if they are knowledgeable about what they are writing, and arguments can be completely off base depending on how strong writers have confidence in what they are attempting to prove. I feel like arguments are normally not accurate.
2) Students:
· Don’t know that authors present information with their own twist to it (bias).
· Misunderstand some things because they read them as stories.
· Don’t comprehend that some texts are written as arguments and should not be interpreted as facts.
I think Kantz is right because I have the same problem of understanding how I should read texts. I tend to believe that a scholarly author states facts and is always completely accurate. I understand all of Kantz’s points after reading her article.
3) Kantz’s article taught me that I should tell myself, before reading a passage, that it may be written persuasively and not factual. When I read something that is a persuasive source, I should use it to back up my argument only if I agree with it.
6) Yes, after reading this I will research and write differently because now I know that sources should be taken with the understanding that not everything within it is factual and it may be written based on the author’s opinions.
Meta Moments
Kantz uses the conception of rhetorical situations and understanding how to contemplate readings
using a tool known as Kinneavy's Triangular Diagram. There is an Encoder, which is the author, a
Decoder, who is the reader, and Reality, which is the actual meaning. This is helpful because now I
will read persuasive articles like they are a code and know that I should carefully read over it and
"decode" or discover the factual meaning. This will help me pick apart writings
and not just assume that they are truthful.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Cameron's Response Blog
GRR:
The word argument in an everyday conversation is used when people converse in a slightly aggressive manner, while in an academic setting I feel like the word argument simply means that students are expressing their feelings about a topic, which benefits everyone. Without arguements, we would not be able to see various points of views or gain knowledge based on others' opinions.
QD:
1) According to Greene, reading plays a prominent role in what is expected of me when it comes to writing because I can incorporate others' points to base my opinion and further my knowledge of a topic.
2) Greene quotes this passage by Kenneth Burke to prove that every argument is connected to other arguments. The metaphor shows that you can gather information from others top help yourself express your own thoughts. Although you enter the discussion late, you can still catch up and join in it. This presents writing in a strong opinionated way.
3) Framing is an organizational method that can be answered with tools you have and answers the questions- how, why, or, whether, and the the extent to which. The metaphor underlying framing is the perspective the author is presenting. This concept is important to Greene because he encourages writers to voice their perspective in their writing. Framing allows writers to name their position, offer definitions and descriptions of the principle of the argument, specifies the argument, which encourages others to provide counterarguments, and it also helps with organization.
AEI:
2) Greene's article does not represent a conversation. He frames his argument by using other authors to help back up what he is saying and help prove his point. I think Greene practices what he preaches because he follows his own format and his writing is the way he says it should be.
The word argument in an everyday conversation is used when people converse in a slightly aggressive manner, while in an academic setting I feel like the word argument simply means that students are expressing their feelings about a topic, which benefits everyone. Without arguements, we would not be able to see various points of views or gain knowledge based on others' opinions.
QD:
1) According to Greene, reading plays a prominent role in what is expected of me when it comes to writing because I can incorporate others' points to base my opinion and further my knowledge of a topic.
2) Greene quotes this passage by Kenneth Burke to prove that every argument is connected to other arguments. The metaphor shows that you can gather information from others top help yourself express your own thoughts. Although you enter the discussion late, you can still catch up and join in it. This presents writing in a strong opinionated way.
3) Framing is an organizational method that can be answered with tools you have and answers the questions- how, why, or, whether, and the the extent to which. The metaphor underlying framing is the perspective the author is presenting. This concept is important to Greene because he encourages writers to voice their perspective in their writing. Framing allows writers to name their position, offer definitions and descriptions of the principle of the argument, specifies the argument, which encourages others to provide counterarguments, and it also helps with organization.
AEI:
2) Greene's article does not represent a conversation. He frames his argument by using other authors to help back up what he is saying and help prove his point. I think Greene practices what he preaches because he follows his own format and his writing is the way he says it should be.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
What is Writing?
I see writing as a way of expressing emotions, thoughts, or providing information to others. The numerous genres of writing provide almost everyone their own desired way of writing in however fashion they want. Writing is special to me because it allows me to present my point of view in an organized format.
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