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.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
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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