Within this article is my paper 4 and my major re-write of paper 1. My 4th paper is about texting and academic writing and if it affects writing. I think that the strength of my 4th paper is my introduction. I believe that I covered what my argument was and the background along with it. The weakness of this paper is the "body" of the article. It could probably have more information about what other scholars think about this subject to strengthen how it's approached by readers. In my re-write paper 1, it's about how big of a problem plagiarism is, and how it can be fixed. The strengths with this article is the amount of information I found to use in the article. But my weakness is probably having a short introduction that didn't explain much about the article. I think that I deserve a higher grade in this class because I improved a lot with my writing skill over the course. I started out writing papers the night before it was due, and making the paper as short as possible and not extending the amount of information within the paper. Now I am writing a week in advance, and describing the information more in depth. I also did all of the class assignments that were asked to do, and I took in a lot of the information that we learned in the class. I thought that this course was very helpful with improving my writing abilities for the future. I have a better understanding of how writing should be done and that there is no rubric for writing. I do think that to make the class more interesting you could do more group activities instead of giving a lecture for the full two hours. I don't think that I could have learned any more than I did this quarter and think that you covered a lot of aspects in writing.
With my 4th paper, my claim is that texting does affect the way students write, but in a positive way. I supported my claim by getting sources explaining that texting is actually a way to practice reading and writing, you just need to decipher the words and letters. My counter argument is that teachers still do not approve of seeing texting lingo in writing, and that students need to realize what they are writing and control it. I think that I had a really strong introduction, but didn't back it up with the rest of my paper. I tried fixing my paper by fixing the problems Paige found, and I attempted to make the flow better. If I had more time to work on this, I would have worked a lot more on the flow of the paper.
With my 1st paper, my claim is that plagiarism shouldn't be punished in most cases because students sometimes don't know that they are plagiarizing. I supported my claim by finding information about some different types of plagiarism, and what some authors think about plagiarism. My counter argument that I found is that even if students don't know that they are plagiarizing, they should still be punished. I think that the "body" of my article is my strongest point in the article, while I think my introduction is my weak point. I improved my article by changing the way my article looked to improve the flow, and I added a little bit more information to back up my claim.
Here are the links to my papers:
Paper 4- http://www.scribd.com/doc/84989542/Does-Technology-Affect-the-Way-You-Write
Re-write paper 1- http://www.scribd.com/doc/85868413/Plagiarism
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Cover Letter Final Paper #4
With this paper, my claim is that texting does affect the way students write, but in a positive way. I supported my claim by getting sources explaining that texting is actually a way to practice reading and writing, you just need to decipher the words and letters. My counter argument is that teachers still do not approve of seeing texting lingo in writing, and that students need to realize what they are writing and control it. I think that I had a really strong introduction, but didn't back it up with the rest of my paper. I tried fixing my paper by fixing the problems Paige found, and I attempted to make the flow better. If I had more time to work on this, I would have worked a lot more on the flow of the paper.
Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84989542/Does-Technology-Affect-the-Way-You-Write
Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/84989542/Does-Technology-Affect-the-Way-You-Write
Monday, March 5, 2012
Paper 4 Cover Letter
With this paper, my claim is that texting does affect the way students write, but in a positive way. I supported my claim by getting sources explaining that texting is actually a way to practice reading and writing, you just need to decipher the words and letters. My counter argument is that teachers still do not approve of seeing texting lingo in writing, and that students need to realize what they are writing and control it. I think that I had a really strong introduction, but didn't back it up with the rest of my paper. I would like any advice about my paper, but would like to know what I could do better on with the "body" of the paper. If I had more time to work on this, I would have found more arguments and counter arguments.
Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83912358/Does-Technology-Affect-the-Way-You-Write
Link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/83912358/Does-Technology-Affect-the-Way-You-Write
Friday, March 2, 2012
Paper #4 Introduction
How many times do you text a day? Do you use shorthand, or texting lingo? If you do, you probably have used that lingo in your writing at one point whether it was accidental or not. Many students are using this language in their everyday writing, and teachers are getting annoyed with this problem. But some people don't think that texting and academic writing is a problem, rather than it is helping students write more.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Annotated Bibliography
Here is the link to my annotated bibliography:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83444550/Annotated-Bibliography-Paper4
http://www.scribd.com/doc/83444550/Annotated-Bibliography-Paper4
Sunday, February 26, 2012
February 27th Homework
Summary:
In their article, Reading and Writing Without Authority, Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler argue that everybody has different beliefs of what knowledge is. They prove this claim by constructing an experiment involving Janet(a college freshman) and Roger(a doctoral student), and ask both of them to write papers about paternity.
QD 3-5:
3.) Janet's writing is based off of a system that she uses for all of her papers. She writes papers by using the way she was taught by her teachers before college, which may include the five-paragraph papers, or a syllabus type of writing.And with this, she needs to look up a lot of information for her paper. Roger's writing style however, is very different from Janet's. Since Roger is going for the doctorate degree, he doesn't necessarily need to look up as much information that Janet needs.
4.) I think this happened to her because she was not confident in her own writing. Since this happened, she wanted to believe any information that she found is correct even if it doesn't go with her argument. Although most amateur writers tend to believe that any information they find on the internet is true, they need to know the difference between what is correct and wrong.
5.) I find myself to write similar to Janet as I do a lot of information-transfering for my papers. But I do find myself every now and then writing like Roger, because with some of the subjects I have written about in the past I have a lot of knowledge for them. So it depends wether or not I have knowledge about the subject.
MM:
This article will help me with future papers so that I keep my confidence level up about how I am writing, and with the way I write my paper. If I don't know much information about a subject, I won't complain about it but rather strive to get the information.
Reflection:
I thought this article will help me in the future because this will remind me to never get down on myself when I hit writers block, but to try and fight through it. This article is very useful because young writers can learn that confidence is the key to writing. If you aren't confident about the way you write, the paper will turn out bad.
In their article, Reading and Writing Without Authority, Ann M. Penrose and Cheryl Geisler argue that everybody has different beliefs of what knowledge is. They prove this claim by constructing an experiment involving Janet(a college freshman) and Roger(a doctoral student), and ask both of them to write papers about paternity.
QD 3-5:
3.) Janet's writing is based off of a system that she uses for all of her papers. She writes papers by using the way she was taught by her teachers before college, which may include the five-paragraph papers, or a syllabus type of writing.And with this, she needs to look up a lot of information for her paper. Roger's writing style however, is very different from Janet's. Since Roger is going for the doctorate degree, he doesn't necessarily need to look up as much information that Janet needs.
4.) I think this happened to her because she was not confident in her own writing. Since this happened, she wanted to believe any information that she found is correct even if it doesn't go with her argument. Although most amateur writers tend to believe that any information they find on the internet is true, they need to know the difference between what is correct and wrong.
5.) I find myself to write similar to Janet as I do a lot of information-transfering for my papers. But I do find myself every now and then writing like Roger, because with some of the subjects I have written about in the past I have a lot of knowledge for them. So it depends wether or not I have knowledge about the subject.
MM:
This article will help me with future papers so that I keep my confidence level up about how I am writing, and with the way I write my paper. If I don't know much information about a subject, I won't complain about it but rather strive to get the information.
Reflection:
I thought this article will help me in the future because this will remind me to never get down on myself when I hit writers block, but to try and fight through it. This article is very useful because young writers can learn that confidence is the key to writing. If you aren't confident about the way you write, the paper will turn out bad.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
February 22nd Homework
Johns Summary:
In her article, Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice, Ann Johns explains that it is possible to be involved in many different discourse communities. She gives her own definition of a discourse community and describes what it is like to be part of an academic community. She also explains the conflicts that can occur within each of the different communities.
QD 1-6:
1.) One of the big problems that can occur within a community is somebody being in authority to all the other members of the group. Another conflict that tends to occur is a disagreement with the group members. This conflict I feel is the worst one because everybody wants to do something the way they think is best.
2.) In gee's article, change was a good thing. It meant that when somebody had to leave the group they would be replaced by somebody to complete the group. In Johns' article, it is very similar but with a little more detail. Here the group members would all have the same goals to get more intellectual and knowledgable, and strive to achieve those goals.
3.) When it comes to me learning to read and write, my beliefs and values do not change. I have always stuck with my values and beliefs, and have always defended them if there were any conflicts.
4.) I don't think that Johns views on learning to read, write, and speak change your identity. I think that these things can form around your identity and help you find your identity a little more.But it does not change your identity because you will keep believing what you did before.
5.) I think that my authority over the writing I have had to do in college so far is small. Mostly there is a certain way that the professors want the papers to look and format to follow. So I follow the way my professors want me to so that I can get a better grade.
6.) Rule breaking is like a minefield because you don't know if you will get blown up at by your teacher for breaking the rules or be safe even though you didn't follow rules. Sometimes when you break the rules the teacher or professor will actually like the way you changed the format in your paper rather than take away precious points. But there are some instances where your teacher will not accept that change, and it will feel like you just made a wrong step on the minefield.
MM:
Knowing the "rules" of a discourse community can help you to becoming a member because you will know whether or not you could fit into the group. But it could be a downside because it could feel like the group is pressuring you to becoming somebody that you're not.
Reflection:
I thought that this article had too much information than it needed. If Johns would have just explained the negative parts of being a part of discourse communities, this article would have been much better. With the amount of information in this article, it can lose the readers attention which happened to me a couple of times.
In her article, Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice, Ann Johns explains that it is possible to be involved in many different discourse communities. She gives her own definition of a discourse community and describes what it is like to be part of an academic community. She also explains the conflicts that can occur within each of the different communities.
QD 1-6:
1.) One of the big problems that can occur within a community is somebody being in authority to all the other members of the group. Another conflict that tends to occur is a disagreement with the group members. This conflict I feel is the worst one because everybody wants to do something the way they think is best.
2.) In gee's article, change was a good thing. It meant that when somebody had to leave the group they would be replaced by somebody to complete the group. In Johns' article, it is very similar but with a little more detail. Here the group members would all have the same goals to get more intellectual and knowledgable, and strive to achieve those goals.
3.) When it comes to me learning to read and write, my beliefs and values do not change. I have always stuck with my values and beliefs, and have always defended them if there were any conflicts.
4.) I don't think that Johns views on learning to read, write, and speak change your identity. I think that these things can form around your identity and help you find your identity a little more.But it does not change your identity because you will keep believing what you did before.
5.) I think that my authority over the writing I have had to do in college so far is small. Mostly there is a certain way that the professors want the papers to look and format to follow. So I follow the way my professors want me to so that I can get a better grade.
6.) Rule breaking is like a minefield because you don't know if you will get blown up at by your teacher for breaking the rules or be safe even though you didn't follow rules. Sometimes when you break the rules the teacher or professor will actually like the way you changed the format in your paper rather than take away precious points. But there are some instances where your teacher will not accept that change, and it will feel like you just made a wrong step on the minefield.
MM:
Knowing the "rules" of a discourse community can help you to becoming a member because you will know whether or not you could fit into the group. But it could be a downside because it could feel like the group is pressuring you to becoming somebody that you're not.
Reflection:
I thought that this article had too much information than it needed. If Johns would have just explained the negative parts of being a part of discourse communities, this article would have been much better. With the amount of information in this article, it can lose the readers attention which happened to me a couple of times.
February 20th Homework
Swales Summary:
In his article, The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales explains the six main characteristics of discourse communities, and how discourse communities differ from speech communities. His main point in this article was to clarify the reason why discourse communities are used and how they can help. He supports his argument by explaining each of the six characteristics of discourse communities and what each step does.
QD 1,3,5:
1.) The first characteristic involves everybody in the discourse community and each person has the same set goals to achieve. This relates to everybody in our ENG151 class trying to get the same good grade on a paper. The second characteristic is a certain way that the community communicates with each other. This is kind of like being on a sports team and everybody communicates with each other by using each persons nickname. The third characteristic is an effective way of being able to communicating with the community members. Nowadays, kids communicate by texting on their cell phones or by talking to each other over the internet. The fourth characteristic has to do with the members of the community helping each other to achieve each others' goals. Such as us students in this class giving peer reviews to help our fellow classmates' papers. The fifth characteristic is having your own type of lingo within the community to communicate with each other. And the sixth characteristic explains that each community changes in numbers of members, wether some leave the group or some are gained.
3.) According to Swales, first-year college classrooms wouldn't be considered a discourse community because they are just trying to focus on their own goals and not worried about others. However, in a graduate classroom it's more likely to have a discourse community. By this time the students understand that their fellow classmates are trying to achieve the same goals and they start to help each other.
5.) A discourse community that I once belonged to was my high school club hockey team. I had played with most of those kids since I was 7 years old, so we all knew each other very well. But we do gain new members to the team and lose some as well. We all had the same goal to win our league tournament and the state tournament. Our lexis was the plays we used during games, and calling out each others nicknames so that the other team didn't know who was going to do what.
MM:
This article helped me understand that I had always been in discourse communities without consciously knowing. This article also helps the readers know what they need to do to be part of a discourse community and the different aspects of it.
Reflection:
I found this article to be very useful. I found some things out about my own discourse communities that I didn't know before reading this. He also explain the concept of discourse communities much better than Porter did when we read his article earlier in the class.
Gee Summary:
In his article, Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, James Paul Gee explains what he thinks Discourse really means. He uses words such as meta-knowledge, dominant discourses, and mushfake to help explain his ideal of Discourses. His argument is that Discourses are different from discourse communities. He backs up his argument by saying that with discourse communities you don't need to be fluent, but you do with Discourses.
QD 3-8, 11, 12, or 13:
3.) With Discourses, you are either a member of the group or you're not. He says that with Discourses you are considered to be alone. With discourse communities, you are part of the group until you decide to leave it.
4.) Primary Discourse is the way of communicating that is normal for you. But secondary Discourse involves the mastery of dominant and nondominant Discourses.
5.) This saying means that each person has their own identity based on the discourse community they are with. He backs up this saying with his definition of Discourse which is dealing with the individual not the group.
6.) You cannot teach motivation to read or write, the motivation only comes from your identity. And your identity comes from the Discourse.
7.) In this paragraph, he is saying that you can generally tell if a person is a part of a discourse community or not based on the way they use language around other people. I have experienced a situation like Gee is explaining. On my hockey team, we run drills in practice that most teams don't do in their practices, and when we gain a new player they don't know what to do for the drills.
8.) This test is used to find other people that might be a good part of the community. The benefit to this test is that after the dominant members leave the group, they will know another person will be filling in for them in the community.
11.) Meta-knowledge is using your own thoughts and ideas instead of taking somebody else's ideas or thoughts. Its value is bringing up knowledge that we didn't know we had and applying it to everyday things.
12.) I know that I am part of the hockey Discourse community because I have played the sport for 14 years, I have coached the sport, and I am a referee for it as well. I know the different strategies within the sport and how different situations can unfold. I have also been a leader for many of the teams that I have played for and communicate with my teammates to help them and give them pointers to improve their play.
AEI 2, 4:
2.) The language that I use at home is completely different than what I use in my academic settings. Around my family, I will use terms that my family would understand. My tone is usually calm, or upset depending how I'm feeling, which could cause my tone of voice to be raised. But when I'm around my friends at school, I have a different language so that they can understand me. My tone would usually be excited since I am enjoying the company of my friends.
4.) Generally, if there is a conflict involving beliefs and values, I will try to defend my beliefs and values, and continue believing in my values. I will not let a little argument ruin my beliefs.
Reflection:
I thought this article was kind of difficult to read because most of the definitions were hard to decifer. But other than that, I thought this was a good article to read and had a lot of useful information in it.
In his article, The Concept of Discourse Community, John Swales explains the six main characteristics of discourse communities, and how discourse communities differ from speech communities. His main point in this article was to clarify the reason why discourse communities are used and how they can help. He supports his argument by explaining each of the six characteristics of discourse communities and what each step does.
QD 1,3,5:
1.) The first characteristic involves everybody in the discourse community and each person has the same set goals to achieve. This relates to everybody in our ENG151 class trying to get the same good grade on a paper. The second characteristic is a certain way that the community communicates with each other. This is kind of like being on a sports team and everybody communicates with each other by using each persons nickname. The third characteristic is an effective way of being able to communicating with the community members. Nowadays, kids communicate by texting on their cell phones or by talking to each other over the internet. The fourth characteristic has to do with the members of the community helping each other to achieve each others' goals. Such as us students in this class giving peer reviews to help our fellow classmates' papers. The fifth characteristic is having your own type of lingo within the community to communicate with each other. And the sixth characteristic explains that each community changes in numbers of members, wether some leave the group or some are gained.
3.) According to Swales, first-year college classrooms wouldn't be considered a discourse community because they are just trying to focus on their own goals and not worried about others. However, in a graduate classroom it's more likely to have a discourse community. By this time the students understand that their fellow classmates are trying to achieve the same goals and they start to help each other.
5.) A discourse community that I once belonged to was my high school club hockey team. I had played with most of those kids since I was 7 years old, so we all knew each other very well. But we do gain new members to the team and lose some as well. We all had the same goal to win our league tournament and the state tournament. Our lexis was the plays we used during games, and calling out each others nicknames so that the other team didn't know who was going to do what.
MM:
This article helped me understand that I had always been in discourse communities without consciously knowing. This article also helps the readers know what they need to do to be part of a discourse community and the different aspects of it.
Reflection:
I found this article to be very useful. I found some things out about my own discourse communities that I didn't know before reading this. He also explain the concept of discourse communities much better than Porter did when we read his article earlier in the class.
Gee Summary:
In his article, Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, James Paul Gee explains what he thinks Discourse really means. He uses words such as meta-knowledge, dominant discourses, and mushfake to help explain his ideal of Discourses. His argument is that Discourses are different from discourse communities. He backs up his argument by saying that with discourse communities you don't need to be fluent, but you do with Discourses.
QD 3-8, 11, 12, or 13:
3.) With Discourses, you are either a member of the group or you're not. He says that with Discourses you are considered to be alone. With discourse communities, you are part of the group until you decide to leave it.
4.) Primary Discourse is the way of communicating that is normal for you. But secondary Discourse involves the mastery of dominant and nondominant Discourses.
5.) This saying means that each person has their own identity based on the discourse community they are with. He backs up this saying with his definition of Discourse which is dealing with the individual not the group.
6.) You cannot teach motivation to read or write, the motivation only comes from your identity. And your identity comes from the Discourse.
7.) In this paragraph, he is saying that you can generally tell if a person is a part of a discourse community or not based on the way they use language around other people. I have experienced a situation like Gee is explaining. On my hockey team, we run drills in practice that most teams don't do in their practices, and when we gain a new player they don't know what to do for the drills.
8.) This test is used to find other people that might be a good part of the community. The benefit to this test is that after the dominant members leave the group, they will know another person will be filling in for them in the community.
11.) Meta-knowledge is using your own thoughts and ideas instead of taking somebody else's ideas or thoughts. Its value is bringing up knowledge that we didn't know we had and applying it to everyday things.
12.) I know that I am part of the hockey Discourse community because I have played the sport for 14 years, I have coached the sport, and I am a referee for it as well. I know the different strategies within the sport and how different situations can unfold. I have also been a leader for many of the teams that I have played for and communicate with my teammates to help them and give them pointers to improve their play.
AEI 2, 4:
2.) The language that I use at home is completely different than what I use in my academic settings. Around my family, I will use terms that my family would understand. My tone is usually calm, or upset depending how I'm feeling, which could cause my tone of voice to be raised. But when I'm around my friends at school, I have a different language so that they can understand me. My tone would usually be excited since I am enjoying the company of my friends.
4.) Generally, if there is a conflict involving beliefs and values, I will try to defend my beliefs and values, and continue believing in my values. I will not let a little argument ruin my beliefs.
Reflection:
I thought this article was kind of difficult to read because most of the definitions were hard to decifer. But other than that, I thought this was a good article to read and had a lot of useful information in it.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Paper #3 Cover Letter
With this group project we took three different literacy sponsors and explored the pros and the cons of both. The main point of this project is for us to figure out what literacy sponsor is the best. We have supported this idea through research and interviews. We interviewed eight people and asked them many questions about literacy sponsors and which ones they thought were the best. We also did research on these topics to see which ones experts thought were the best. For the counter arguments, we addressed many different literacy sponsors instead of just one. I think that the parts of this project that are working well, are the information that we have gathered and put into the project and also our own opinions about which literacy sponsor we think is the best. I also think that there are a few things that we need to work on. First I think that we could make our interviews better by editing the videos together better. And also we have not put the audio to the project yet which we plan on doing. We want the people that view this project to get out of it that there are many different literacy sponsors and there is not always a clear-cut best one. If given more time, we would have put in the audio and fixed the interviews before the rough draft was due.
Link to powerpoint:http://www.scribd.com/doc/81952537/Project-3
Link to powerpoint:http://www.scribd.com/doc/81952537/Project-3
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
February 15th Homework
Summary:
In their article, Motivation In Literacy and Development, Cecchini and Perez attempt to express the many ways of motivation for students when it comes to becoming literate. They interviewed eight first-year honor students from the University of Central Florida to uncover some ways to developing academic success for literacy. They interviewed these students for their argument that motivation has a big part of literacy development. They uncovered from the students that technology plays a part, each person has their own reasons for the need of being literate, and each persons motivators.
1.) The authors didn't base their research off of their own stories, it was from the students they interviewed. If they included their own stories as well they would have more information to take from and compare the info.
2.) Usually I refer myself in 1st person instead of 3rd person. I find it to be more personal in 1st person rather than 3rd. But these authors used 3rd person in their article because they wanted it to be more relatable with the audience.
Reflection:
I found this article to be very interesting because it was very relatable. I believe this because the authors interviewed other college students' experiences with motivation, and the main audience for this article was for college students. I thought that this was an easy article to read and I would recommend other students to read this.
In their article, Motivation In Literacy and Development, Cecchini and Perez attempt to express the many ways of motivation for students when it comes to becoming literate. They interviewed eight first-year honor students from the University of Central Florida to uncover some ways to developing academic success for literacy. They interviewed these students for their argument that motivation has a big part of literacy development. They uncovered from the students that technology plays a part, each person has their own reasons for the need of being literate, and each persons motivators.
1.) The authors didn't base their research off of their own stories, it was from the students they interviewed. If they included their own stories as well they would have more information to take from and compare the info.
2.) Usually I refer myself in 1st person instead of 3rd person. I find it to be more personal in 1st person rather than 3rd. But these authors used 3rd person in their article because they wanted it to be more relatable with the audience.
Reflection:
I found this article to be very interesting because it was very relatable. I believe this because the authors interviewed other college students' experiences with motivation, and the main audience for this article was for college students. I thought that this was an easy article to read and I would recommend other students to read this.
Final Paper Question
In my final paper I am going to question if our uses of technology affect our writing abilities, and if so how they affect it.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Paper #2
With this paper I am trying to explain to the readers that everybody has their own writing process. One of the points I am trying to get across through this article is that everybody has a flaw in their process, and that fixing the flaws will help improve the processes. I supported my points with my own writing process experiences, and the steps I go through. I think that I started off with a strong introduction, but the weak points I feel happened when I started explaining my writing process; it might be confusing for the readers. I would like to know if the paper makes sense, and if I need to explain some things with a little more detail. If I had more time, I would try to make the paper flow together a little better. After I got my peer review, I didn't change much. He found some grammatical errors and thought some sentences were confusing, but that was all that I fixed.
Link to paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/81143171/ENG151-Paper-2
Link to paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/81143171/ENG151-Paper-2
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
February 8th Homework
Baron Summary:
In his article, From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology, Dennis Baron explains how technology has changed the way literacy is viewed. One example he gives was how the New York Times joined together through contract to get their stories out to the public quicker.
QD 2,4,6:
2.) I agree with his statement that technology is changing the shape of nature. I think that it has a positive effect on how we write now rather than decreasing our writing skills.
4.) I think that the biggest past technology would be the type writer. Everybody used a type writer until computers were created. Type writers were forgotten because a higher technology came along and replaced them.
6.) The pictures that Baron puts into his article keeps his readers interested. The pictures aren't just there to be there either, they contain a message with it, so I believe that it is a part of writing.
Malcolm X Summary:
In his article, Learning to Read, Malcolm X explains how he found hope through writing while he was in prison. The things he wrote was letters and rewriting the dictionary, and doing this was how he learned to read and write.
QD 1-4, 6:
1.) I think he was writing to other people that have difficulty with writing because this is an inspiring article.
2.) He defines literacy as understanding reading and writing and trying to get better. He says he became literate when he finally understood what he was reading.
3.) Malcolm X's sponsors included prison, religion, and education. These motivated him because each of them educated him to better understand literacy.
4.) I think this was the case for him because as he was trying to learn from the books, he was confused on some of the vocabulary that was used.
6.) I do believe this is true because if you ask college students today, the majority of them will tell you that they hate reading. I would be included in this group because I dread reading something that I'm forced to read. Even if I could chose what I read, I still wouldn't enjoy it as much.
AEI 1:
I think all the "new" technology actually helps us with literacy because they give us more opportunities to communicate with others. It also helps with finding information much easier than 40-50 years ago.
Alexie Summary:
In his article, The Joy of Reading and Writing, Sherman Alexie describes how he first began understanding the idea of writing. He also talks about facing writing literacy adversity and overcoming those obstacles.
QD 1:
1.) Childhood expectations can have a huge affect on how kids react to learning. If they are given high expectations they are more likely to try harder so that they don't disappoint their parents. But the kids with low expectations will not worry as much to try and learn in school because their parents aren't expecting much fro them.
AEI 1:
I do believe that motivation can get people to the distances they want to go with education. But in the times we are in now where the economy is rough, it makes it more difficult for those with financial problems.
In his article, From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technology, Dennis Baron explains how technology has changed the way literacy is viewed. One example he gives was how the New York Times joined together through contract to get their stories out to the public quicker.
QD 2,4,6:
2.) I agree with his statement that technology is changing the shape of nature. I think that it has a positive effect on how we write now rather than decreasing our writing skills.
4.) I think that the biggest past technology would be the type writer. Everybody used a type writer until computers were created. Type writers were forgotten because a higher technology came along and replaced them.
6.) The pictures that Baron puts into his article keeps his readers interested. The pictures aren't just there to be there either, they contain a message with it, so I believe that it is a part of writing.
Malcolm X Summary:
In his article, Learning to Read, Malcolm X explains how he found hope through writing while he was in prison. The things he wrote was letters and rewriting the dictionary, and doing this was how he learned to read and write.
QD 1-4, 6:
1.) I think he was writing to other people that have difficulty with writing because this is an inspiring article.
2.) He defines literacy as understanding reading and writing and trying to get better. He says he became literate when he finally understood what he was reading.
3.) Malcolm X's sponsors included prison, religion, and education. These motivated him because each of them educated him to better understand literacy.
4.) I think this was the case for him because as he was trying to learn from the books, he was confused on some of the vocabulary that was used.
6.) I do believe this is true because if you ask college students today, the majority of them will tell you that they hate reading. I would be included in this group because I dread reading something that I'm forced to read. Even if I could chose what I read, I still wouldn't enjoy it as much.
AEI 1:
I think all the "new" technology actually helps us with literacy because they give us more opportunities to communicate with others. It also helps with finding information much easier than 40-50 years ago.
Alexie Summary:
In his article, The Joy of Reading and Writing, Sherman Alexie describes how he first began understanding the idea of writing. He also talks about facing writing literacy adversity and overcoming those obstacles.
QD 1:
1.) Childhood expectations can have a huge affect on how kids react to learning. If they are given high expectations they are more likely to try harder so that they don't disappoint their parents. But the kids with low expectations will not worry as much to try and learn in school because their parents aren't expecting much fro them.
AEI 1:
I do believe that motivation can get people to the distances they want to go with education. But in the times we are in now where the economy is rough, it makes it more difficult for those with financial problems.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
February 6th Homework
Summary:
In her article, Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt explains the ways writers become literate and the ways they acquire those skills. She also gives her opinions on the literacy standards that people follow.
QD 1,3,4:
1.) She defines the term 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. Some of the strong characteristics of sponsors are religious and knowledgable.
3.) The sponsors seem to apply more to the upper-classmen than the working-class because society believed that the upper-class would be in better use of literacy skills than the working-class.
4.) Stratified is defined in this paragraph as separating the different classes of people, and the stakes she is referring to are how each class level deserves equal amount of literacy skills.
AEI 1:
I learned about literacy the most with my family, school, and sports. My family and coaches in sports taught me about the importances of responsibility. My school taught me academic and social literacies.
Reflection:
I thought this article was interesting; I have a better understanding of how and why literacies were learned throughout history. But there were some parts that were confusing and I couldn't quite get the message of what she was trying to get across.
In her article, Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt explains the ways writers become literate and the ways they acquire those skills. She also gives her opinions on the literacy standards that people follow.
QD 1,3,4:
1.) She defines the term 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. Some of the strong characteristics of sponsors are religious and knowledgable.
3.) The sponsors seem to apply more to the upper-classmen than the working-class because society believed that the upper-class would be in better use of literacy skills than the working-class.
4.) Stratified is defined in this paragraph as separating the different classes of people, and the stakes she is referring to are how each class level deserves equal amount of literacy skills.
AEI 1:
I learned about literacy the most with my family, school, and sports. My family and coaches in sports taught me about the importances of responsibility. My school taught me academic and social literacies.
Reflection:
I thought this article was interesting; I have a better understanding of how and why literacies were learned throughout history. But there were some parts that were confusing and I couldn't quite get the message of what she was trying to get across.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Paper #2 Cover Letter
With this paper, my main point is that everybody has their own writing process. I also explain that many writers have poor writing habits and that fixing those bad habits will help improve their papers. I supported this by giving examples of what I do for my writing process, and asked the readers to compare mine to theirs. I think that I started off with a strong introduction, but the weak points I feel happened when I started explaining my writing process; it might be confusing for the readers. I would like to know if the paper makes sense, and if I need to explain some things with a little more detail. If I had more time, I would try to make the paper flow together a little better.
Link to paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/80374171/ENG151-Paper-2
Link to paper: http://www.scribd.com/doc/80374171/ENG151-Paper-2
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
February 1st Homework
Responses:
Lamott- In her article, Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott explains how with writing to get an incredible paper you must start out with a bad first draft, and keep improving your paper draft by draft until it becomes what you want your paper to look like. This way after all the drafts are finished, she can take all of the good information from each draft and include them into her paper to sound entertaining.
King- In his article, What Writing Is, Stephen King argues how every writer should take writing seriously and write with a purpose. He talks about how if you write without a purpose, the paper will seem to lack excitement. Along with writing seriously, he explains his preferred place to write and how it helps him become serious with his writing.
Goodman- In her article, Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work, Allegra Goodman explains that the inner critic is the bad voices that she hears, and that we as writers need to overcome those voices sot that we can continue to be a good writer.
Haruf- In his article, To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool Over Your Own Eyes, Kent Haruf starts off by explaining that he has poor habits regarding his writing process. He needs to be in a comfortable place that will make him happy in order to get in touch with his paper. He also takes off his glasses and puts a knit cap over his eyes to write his first draft so that he isn't worrying about it as much as he should, and just put down his thoughts onto the paper.
Sontag- In her article, Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed, Susan Sontag explains that her writing process is exactly what the title says: write, read, rewrite, and repeat. She feels that if you follow this process, you will be more attached to your writing and will be able to get your best work on paper.
Diaz- In his article, Becoming a Writer, Junot Diaz explains his story on how he became a writer. He had a tough road to becoming a writer as he struggled with writers block for years, but eventually got over it. He stayed with his passion because of his stubbornness and never quit what he loves to do.
Using These Essays:
All of these articles don't really compare to another in the sense that they each have their own view as to what the correct writing process is. But I do think that Tony would greatly benefit from these articles because each of these gives examples of writing processes that worked for the authors.
Meta Moments:
1.) I found that having objects around you to emotionally connect you to your writing is very useful for any writer. Another thing I found useful is first starting off with a bad first draft and building your paper from that. The last thing I found useful is that every writer struggles, you just have to work past it and keep going.
2.) My thoughts towards good writers and writing hasn't changed. I still believe that every writer has their own writing process and style, and it is subject to change.
Lamott- In her article, Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott explains how with writing to get an incredible paper you must start out with a bad first draft, and keep improving your paper draft by draft until it becomes what you want your paper to look like. This way after all the drafts are finished, she can take all of the good information from each draft and include them into her paper to sound entertaining.
King- In his article, What Writing Is, Stephen King argues how every writer should take writing seriously and write with a purpose. He talks about how if you write without a purpose, the paper will seem to lack excitement. Along with writing seriously, he explains his preferred place to write and how it helps him become serious with his writing.
Goodman- In her article, Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work, Allegra Goodman explains that the inner critic is the bad voices that she hears, and that we as writers need to overcome those voices sot that we can continue to be a good writer.
Haruf- In his article, To See Your Story Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool Over Your Own Eyes, Kent Haruf starts off by explaining that he has poor habits regarding his writing process. He needs to be in a comfortable place that will make him happy in order to get in touch with his paper. He also takes off his glasses and puts a knit cap over his eyes to write his first draft so that he isn't worrying about it as much as he should, and just put down his thoughts onto the paper.
Sontag- In her article, Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed, Susan Sontag explains that her writing process is exactly what the title says: write, read, rewrite, and repeat. She feels that if you follow this process, you will be more attached to your writing and will be able to get your best work on paper.
Diaz- In his article, Becoming a Writer, Junot Diaz explains his story on how he became a writer. He had a tough road to becoming a writer as he struggled with writers block for years, but eventually got over it. He stayed with his passion because of his stubbornness and never quit what he loves to do.
Using These Essays:
All of these articles don't really compare to another in the sense that they each have their own view as to what the correct writing process is. But I do think that Tony would greatly benefit from these articles because each of these gives examples of writing processes that worked for the authors.
Meta Moments:
1.) I found that having objects around you to emotionally connect you to your writing is very useful for any writer. Another thing I found useful is first starting off with a bad first draft and building your paper from that. The last thing I found useful is that every writer struggles, you just have to work past it and keep going.
2.) My thoughts towards good writers and writing hasn't changed. I still believe that every writer has their own writing process and style, and it is subject to change.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
January 30th Homework
Harris Summary:
In her article, "Composing Behaviors of One- and Multi-Draft Writers", Muriel Harris explains the differences between one and multiple drafts, and the problems that each create. She provides examples to prove this point by explaining the good things and bad things of writing for each of these drafts.
1.) Are you a one or multi-draft writer? How do you know?
I think of myself as a one draft writer. When I write, I revise my original draft but still use most of the information that I used first. I don't write multiple drafts when I write; I can get all the information I need into one paper without having to look at multiple drafts.
2.) What, according to Harris, are the disadvantages you might face because of your tendency toward one or multi-draft writing?
One draft writers would not have the luxury of being able to look at multiple papers to take out the information that they thought is effective. Multi-draft writers would have to think of different ways to approach their topic, and this could cause them to wander away from their topic a little bit.
Response:
I enjoyed reading Harris's article because it helped me understand the pros and cons of writing using one or multi-drafts. She did take a while to get her point across through the reading, but I think she got all the information she needed for this article.
Ransom Summary:
In her article, "How Do I Write?", Dominieq Ransom explains what results she found about herself in the experiment she did on how she writes. Her experiment was timed and she struggled at some points during her writing process more than others. For example, she realized that with the time constraint she had to write faster which caused her to make mistakes in her writing.
Questions to Consider:
1.) Some of the things that I found interesting in this reading are the amount of time that she took revising, her biggest distraction was time even though she was in a quiet room alone, and the time she spent adjusting to get into a comfortable place within herself. I think that if I did research on my own, I could learn that writing is based a little bit on the emotions the writer has for any reason. The article a person writes could be full of hatred towards a subject if they are angry at somebody or something going on in their life.
2.) This does not happen to me because I am not the kind of person that gets thinking strongly about things from reading their own notes. I am the type of person to take in the information and express it out on paper.
Response:
I liked reading this article because it was written by another college student, and she was expressing the way she writes, whether it was good or bad. I can relate to this article because I generally have a problem with time management, and get distracted by numbers of things while I am writing. But this goes to show the problems she does have, and lets her think about things she can do to fix them.
In her article, "Composing Behaviors of One- and Multi-Draft Writers", Muriel Harris explains the differences between one and multiple drafts, and the problems that each create. She provides examples to prove this point by explaining the good things and bad things of writing for each of these drafts.
1.) Are you a one or multi-draft writer? How do you know?
I think of myself as a one draft writer. When I write, I revise my original draft but still use most of the information that I used first. I don't write multiple drafts when I write; I can get all the information I need into one paper without having to look at multiple drafts.
2.) What, according to Harris, are the disadvantages you might face because of your tendency toward one or multi-draft writing?
One draft writers would not have the luxury of being able to look at multiple papers to take out the information that they thought is effective. Multi-draft writers would have to think of different ways to approach their topic, and this could cause them to wander away from their topic a little bit.
Response:
I enjoyed reading Harris's article because it helped me understand the pros and cons of writing using one or multi-drafts. She did take a while to get her point across through the reading, but I think she got all the information she needed for this article.
Ransom Summary:
In her article, "How Do I Write?", Dominieq Ransom explains what results she found about herself in the experiment she did on how she writes. Her experiment was timed and she struggled at some points during her writing process more than others. For example, she realized that with the time constraint she had to write faster which caused her to make mistakes in her writing.
Questions to Consider:
1.) Some of the things that I found interesting in this reading are the amount of time that she took revising, her biggest distraction was time even though she was in a quiet room alone, and the time she spent adjusting to get into a comfortable place within herself. I think that if I did research on my own, I could learn that writing is based a little bit on the emotions the writer has for any reason. The article a person writes could be full of hatred towards a subject if they are angry at somebody or something going on in their life.
2.) This does not happen to me because I am not the kind of person that gets thinking strongly about things from reading their own notes. I am the type of person to take in the information and express it out on paper.
Response:
I liked reading this article because it was written by another college student, and she was expressing the way she writes, whether it was good or bad. I can relate to this article because I generally have a problem with time management, and get distracted by numbers of things while I am writing. But this goes to show the problems she does have, and lets her think about things she can do to fix them.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
January 27th Homework
Tomlinson Summary:
In her article, Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts: Metaphors for Revision, Barbara Tomlinson argues the importance of metaphors used in writing, and how to revise them.
QD:
1.) She says this because some people can lie about information in their interview. It's more reliable to research information yourself.
2.) When you focus on trying to interpret the metaphor, you become blind to the rest of the reading. This can be fixed by just write what you're trying to get across to the readers.
3.) The metaphors that are used don't relate to my experiences. I haven't been the type of person to use metaphors in my writing so I probably wouldn't use them.
4.) I was getting confused when she used the different metaphors so I think she was going a little too far with all the metaphors.
5.) I wouldn't use this process because I don't use metaphors very often.
Response:
I personally didn't like this article because I found it hard to read and understand all of the different metaphors that were used. But I do understand the importance of using metaphors, and then revising afterwards.
In her article, Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts: Metaphors for Revision, Barbara Tomlinson argues the importance of metaphors used in writing, and how to revise them.
QD:
1.) She says this because some people can lie about information in their interview. It's more reliable to research information yourself.
2.) When you focus on trying to interpret the metaphor, you become blind to the rest of the reading. This can be fixed by just write what you're trying to get across to the readers.
3.) The metaphors that are used don't relate to my experiences. I haven't been the type of person to use metaphors in my writing so I probably wouldn't use them.
4.) I was getting confused when she used the different metaphors so I think she was going a little too far with all the metaphors.
5.) I wouldn't use this process because I don't use metaphors very often.
Response:
I personally didn't like this article because I found it hard to read and understand all of the different metaphors that were used. But I do understand the importance of using metaphors, and then revising afterwards.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
January 25th Homework
Berkenkotter Summary:
In her article, Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Public Writer, Carol Berkenkotter describes her experimental studies about writing processes for different people and how they work. She based most of her experiment from Donald Murray and got all of his thoughts and ideas about his writing pieces.
Murray Summary:
In his article, Response of a Laboratory Rat- or Being Protocoled, Donald Murray describes his own writing processes and explains the way that it works.
QD:
1.) Murray's writing process ideas are good ones. But I don't write the way he does because my mind just travels in its own direction.
2.) He doesn't communicate with his audience as much as other academic writers do. I write in a similar way because I find it hard sometimes to communicate with my audience. Although I don't communicate with my audience as well as I should, I do think about what my audience would think if I wrote something in particular.
3.) She started to think about planning and revising a little more than she did before she conducted this experiment. She understands that planning may be the most important part to writing a paper because you need to have an idea as to what the paper is going to say and to have an effective argument.
AEI 1:
When I am writing, I try to only focus on getting the information I need and applying it to the paper. I never go a little farther into my research. I think that I am an average writer even though I only write papers for schoolwork, but I can create a good paper if I apply myself to it.
MM:
One thing that I learned to write more effectively would to spend more time planning and revising my papers. If I could plan ahead and know what I'm going to write, I would have a better path to getting a paper finished. And if I revise more, I would have a more academic paper that could relate and communicate with my audience better.
In her article, Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Public Writer, Carol Berkenkotter describes her experimental studies about writing processes for different people and how they work. She based most of her experiment from Donald Murray and got all of his thoughts and ideas about his writing pieces.
Murray Summary:
In his article, Response of a Laboratory Rat- or Being Protocoled, Donald Murray describes his own writing processes and explains the way that it works.
QD:
1.) Murray's writing process ideas are good ones. But I don't write the way he does because my mind just travels in its own direction.
2.) He doesn't communicate with his audience as much as other academic writers do. I write in a similar way because I find it hard sometimes to communicate with my audience. Although I don't communicate with my audience as well as I should, I do think about what my audience would think if I wrote something in particular.
3.) She started to think about planning and revising a little more than she did before she conducted this experiment. She understands that planning may be the most important part to writing a paper because you need to have an idea as to what the paper is going to say and to have an effective argument.
AEI 1:
When I am writing, I try to only focus on getting the information I need and applying it to the paper. I never go a little farther into my research. I think that I am an average writer even though I only write papers for schoolwork, but I can create a good paper if I apply myself to it.
MM:
One thing that I learned to write more effectively would to spend more time planning and revising my papers. If I could plan ahead and know what I'm going to write, I would have a better path to getting a paper finished. And if I revise more, I would have a more academic paper that could relate and communicate with my audience better.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
January 23rd Homework
Kleine Summary:
In his article, "What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One- and How Can We Get Students To Join Us?", Michael Kleine discusses how students have less experience to effectively gather information from researching and to form it into their writing. He based this off of his colleagues and his own experiences, as well as interviewed researchers to know what their thoughts were compared to others'.
QD:
1.) In my experiences, I never really went far into researching for papers. I generally just got the information that I needed regarding my subject and didn't search any further.
3.) I do not think that sources play a big role in the professionals research. But for me, it was always important because it was required to have certain sources. I also wanted to make sure I got the correct information for my paper. Kleine thought that it was more important to gain knowledge from what you are writing about, but I just wanted to make sure I got enough information.
4.) The way I research would change because he wants us to read more sources and go deeper into the information. If I did this I would receive more information for my papers to back up my arguments.
Reflection:
I found this article interesting because it covers a little bit of everything from the past readings. Before reading this article, I never thought about getting more information than what was actually needed in all of my papers that I have done, but now my view towards that has completely changed.
In his article, "What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One- and How Can We Get Students To Join Us?", Michael Kleine discusses how students have less experience to effectively gather information from researching and to form it into their writing. He based this off of his colleagues and his own experiences, as well as interviewed researchers to know what their thoughts were compared to others'.
QD:
1.) In my experiences, I never really went far into researching for papers. I generally just got the information that I needed regarding my subject and didn't search any further.
3.) I do not think that sources play a big role in the professionals research. But for me, it was always important because it was required to have certain sources. I also wanted to make sure I got the correct information for my paper. Kleine thought that it was more important to gain knowledge from what you are writing about, but I just wanted to make sure I got enough information.
4.) The way I research would change because he wants us to read more sources and go deeper into the information. If I did this I would receive more information for my papers to back up my arguments.
Reflection:
I found this article interesting because it covers a little bit of everything from the past readings. Before reading this article, I never thought about getting more information than what was actually needed in all of my papers that I have done, but now my view towards that has completely changed.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
January 18th Homework
Response To Allen:
In her writing, The Inspired Writer v. The Real Writer, Sarah Allen argues the different challenges that not only students face, but everybody that writes. I enjoyed how she wrote about writers fears of writing because it explains even the best writers are still afraid to write. I feel like I really connected with this writing because I've never enjoyed writing, but I'm not too bad at it.
Blackboard Reading Question:
My past experiences compare to Allen's reading greatly because I have always struggled writing papers and articles. I have never been inspired to write anything in my life, but that doesn't mean I'm a bad writer.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this article by Allen because I related directly to it. I have always feared writing and I don't think I will ever enjoy writing. But I know that it's something that I have to do, and I can only hope to get better.
GRR(57):
When I was in high school, I was never really taught on how to write correctly. It was more of learning the format the teachers wanted us to write our papers in. And most of my friends say they had the same experiences as I had in high school, they learned more of the format rather than learning academic writing.
Murray Response:
In his article, All Writing Is Autobiography, Donald Murray argues that most of people's writings are autobiographical because whether the writers know it or not, when authors write they tend to write about their experiences without using themselves in the stories.
QD 1, 3-5:
1.) I think that Murray is trying to get the readers to reconsider using autobiography in more of our writings.
3.) Murray uses his writing as a way to express his emotions, whether it's through poetry, or a simple story. This proves his point as to writing is autobiographical. He also wanted to break away from the usual "rules" of writing to explain a little easier to the readers that writing is autobiographical.
4.) Although his article is very different than previous articles we have read, it is also similar in some ways. He puts some factual information into his article and I also using a form that students may find difficult writing themselves.
5.) Murray's arguments change my view of writing a little bit. I would change by including more emotion and some of my personal experiences into my writing pieces.
MM (66):
To me, I think that inputting your own personal experiences can have a positive impact towards a persons writing, and the fact that when your writing about your own experiences, you would look forward to writing more than having an assignment on writing a summary from a reading.
GRR(139):
1.) My sister's treehouse, which was made of wood scraps and cardboard, made a great place to play with her friends.
2.) The treehouse was made of wood scraps and cardboard, and made a great place for my sister and her friends to play.
3.) My sister's treehouse made a great place to play with her friends; it was made of wood scraps and cardboard.
Response to Dawkins:
In his article, Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool, John Dawkins argues that sometimes it's ok to break the rules regarding punctuation. He goes on to explain that most college handbooks don't provide some information on the use of punctuation, and that punctuation is based from the way the writer is intending the readers to understand their article.
QD 2-3, 5-6:
2.) Handbook rules provide no instructions for use of the comma, punctuation is all different depending on the sentence structure, and that handbooks don't generally help with interdependent clauses.
3.) The idea behind raising and lowering regarding to punctuation is to decide how much emphasis the writer wants to put into the sentence or article that they are writing. It may impact your choice of using punctuation and how much emphasis is being used.
5.) Before reading this article, I didn't think of punctuation as raising or lowering a level to make a sentence with more or less emphasis. I always thought punctuation was to be used in a certain way for the sentence to sound correct.
6.) I usually think of punctuation as a way to complete the sentence, and to help it make sense for the readers. I do worry about punctuation quite a bit because I always thought that it had to be a certain way for a writing to be good. Reading this article has changed my views to using punctuations because I now know that punctuation can be used mainly to put emphasis into a sentence.
MM (155):
I think that our professor wanted use to read this article because it would have been tough for a professor to explain why punctuation is rhetorical without all of the examples that Dawkins had in his article.
Reflection:
I found this article tough to read, but it contained a lot of information that I have absorbed. And with that aspect, I think this is a great article for other students to read in the future. It gave me a new understanding as to how punctuation can be used.
In her writing, The Inspired Writer v. The Real Writer, Sarah Allen argues the different challenges that not only students face, but everybody that writes. I enjoyed how she wrote about writers fears of writing because it explains even the best writers are still afraid to write. I feel like I really connected with this writing because I've never enjoyed writing, but I'm not too bad at it.
Blackboard Reading Question:
My past experiences compare to Allen's reading greatly because I have always struggled writing papers and articles. I have never been inspired to write anything in my life, but that doesn't mean I'm a bad writer.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this article by Allen because I related directly to it. I have always feared writing and I don't think I will ever enjoy writing. But I know that it's something that I have to do, and I can only hope to get better.
GRR(57):
When I was in high school, I was never really taught on how to write correctly. It was more of learning the format the teachers wanted us to write our papers in. And most of my friends say they had the same experiences as I had in high school, they learned more of the format rather than learning academic writing.
Murray Response:
In his article, All Writing Is Autobiography, Donald Murray argues that most of people's writings are autobiographical because whether the writers know it or not, when authors write they tend to write about their experiences without using themselves in the stories.
QD 1, 3-5:
1.) I think that Murray is trying to get the readers to reconsider using autobiography in more of our writings.
3.) Murray uses his writing as a way to express his emotions, whether it's through poetry, or a simple story. This proves his point as to writing is autobiographical. He also wanted to break away from the usual "rules" of writing to explain a little easier to the readers that writing is autobiographical.
4.) Although his article is very different than previous articles we have read, it is also similar in some ways. He puts some factual information into his article and I also using a form that students may find difficult writing themselves.
5.) Murray's arguments change my view of writing a little bit. I would change by including more emotion and some of my personal experiences into my writing pieces.
MM (66):
To me, I think that inputting your own personal experiences can have a positive impact towards a persons writing, and the fact that when your writing about your own experiences, you would look forward to writing more than having an assignment on writing a summary from a reading.
GRR(139):
1.) My sister's treehouse, which was made of wood scraps and cardboard, made a great place to play with her friends.
2.) The treehouse was made of wood scraps and cardboard, and made a great place for my sister and her friends to play.
3.) My sister's treehouse made a great place to play with her friends; it was made of wood scraps and cardboard.
Response to Dawkins:
In his article, Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool, John Dawkins argues that sometimes it's ok to break the rules regarding punctuation. He goes on to explain that most college handbooks don't provide some information on the use of punctuation, and that punctuation is based from the way the writer is intending the readers to understand their article.
QD 2-3, 5-6:
2.) Handbook rules provide no instructions for use of the comma, punctuation is all different depending on the sentence structure, and that handbooks don't generally help with interdependent clauses.
3.) The idea behind raising and lowering regarding to punctuation is to decide how much emphasis the writer wants to put into the sentence or article that they are writing. It may impact your choice of using punctuation and how much emphasis is being used.
5.) Before reading this article, I didn't think of punctuation as raising or lowering a level to make a sentence with more or less emphasis. I always thought punctuation was to be used in a certain way for the sentence to sound correct.
6.) I usually think of punctuation as a way to complete the sentence, and to help it make sense for the readers. I do worry about punctuation quite a bit because I always thought that it had to be a certain way for a writing to be good. Reading this article has changed my views to using punctuations because I now know that punctuation can be used mainly to put emphasis into a sentence.
MM (155):
I think that our professor wanted use to read this article because it would have been tough for a professor to explain why punctuation is rhetorical without all of the examples that Dawkins had in his article.
Reflection:
I found this article tough to read, but it contained a lot of information that I have absorbed. And with that aspect, I think this is a great article for other students to read in the future. It gave me a new understanding as to how punctuation can be used.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
January 13th Homework
Steadman Summary:
In his article, "Annoying Ways People Use Sources", Kyle Steadman argues about his pet peeves with errors in writings. He explains the correct way to use quotations in text after showing the wrong way of using them. He also shows the correct ways to citing sources such as punctuating, and citing them correctly at the end of your writing.
Response:
I don't think that Steadman's article compares to the previous articles that we have read because Steadman gives examples as how to not do certain things when writing, but he does provide the way to fix the examples. In the past, I have been taught to only cite my sources using either MLA or APA format. I wasn't required to adding any quotations to my writing. My views as to using sources has changed a little bit because I never used the quotations in my writing, but now I know how to use them correctly.
In his article, "Annoying Ways People Use Sources", Kyle Steadman argues about his pet peeves with errors in writings. He explains the correct way to use quotations in text after showing the wrong way of using them. He also shows the correct ways to citing sources such as punctuating, and citing them correctly at the end of your writing.
Response:
I don't think that Steadman's article compares to the previous articles that we have read because Steadman gives examples as how to not do certain things when writing, but he does provide the way to fix the examples. In the past, I have been taught to only cite my sources using either MLA or APA format. I wasn't required to adding any quotations to my writing. My views as to using sources has changed a little bit because I never used the quotations in my writing, but now I know how to use them correctly.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
January 11th Homework
GRR #2:
I get help for my writing pieces from a bunch of different sources. My two main sources would be using the internet and my class books. I get advice and feedback from my friends most of the time, but also from my teachers when I get done with rough drafts. But most of my ideas just come from me thinking about the subject right on top of my head.
Reading Summary:
In the reading, "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community", James E. Porter argues on his opinion about plagiarism. He gives a bunch of examples, mainly from American history, describing how some people, such as Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence (page 89), used others' ideas from documents for their own pieces. He also uses the word "intertextuality" and defines it as the principle that all writing and speech arise from a single network (page 88). He goes on to talk about how through the use of intertextuality, people could use and borrow parts of text from other writers.
QD 2-6:
2.) I would disagree with Porter when he say that it makes writers less important. Even though that the writers may use other peoples words, they still agree with the person they are using the work from. What makes writing important is how effectively the text reaches out to the audience reading it.
3.) Porter says this because he thinks that the fact of writers being able to write freely is a great opportunity to express all of their feeling into a writing.
4.) Before reading Porter's article, I thought writing was based on how the format was being used and whether it was appropriate for the intended audience. But the way my writing was being evaluated in the past was based on how well the grammar was used, and if it followed the basic 5 paragraph layout.
5.) Porter does use other writers work in his article and based on what he says regarding intertextuality, no article is original. So based on those facts his article isn't original either, even though he does cite all of his sources.
6.) The problem with that statement is that all writers borrow work from other writers. Even if they do cited all of their sources, it doesn't make their writing individually done. There were figuratively more than one writing in Porter's article even though he was the only author.
MM:
My views of writers and writing have not changed after reading Porter's article. I have always been able to use other writers works as long as I cited their work correctly. But I do still believe writers can write their own articles without using other writers works. I also wouldn't change the way I write if I took Porter's notion of writers and writing.
Reflection:
I found this article interesting. I liked all of the examples of intertextuality that was used even with the Declaration of Independence. But I do feel like I already knew a lot of the information given in this article before reading it.
I get help for my writing pieces from a bunch of different sources. My two main sources would be using the internet and my class books. I get advice and feedback from my friends most of the time, but also from my teachers when I get done with rough drafts. But most of my ideas just come from me thinking about the subject right on top of my head.
Reading Summary:
In the reading, "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community", James E. Porter argues on his opinion about plagiarism. He gives a bunch of examples, mainly from American history, describing how some people, such as Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence (page 89), used others' ideas from documents for their own pieces. He also uses the word "intertextuality" and defines it as the principle that all writing and speech arise from a single network (page 88). He goes on to talk about how through the use of intertextuality, people could use and borrow parts of text from other writers.
QD 2-6:
2.) I would disagree with Porter when he say that it makes writers less important. Even though that the writers may use other peoples words, they still agree with the person they are using the work from. What makes writing important is how effectively the text reaches out to the audience reading it.
3.) Porter says this because he thinks that the fact of writers being able to write freely is a great opportunity to express all of their feeling into a writing.
4.) Before reading Porter's article, I thought writing was based on how the format was being used and whether it was appropriate for the intended audience. But the way my writing was being evaluated in the past was based on how well the grammar was used, and if it followed the basic 5 paragraph layout.
5.) Porter does use other writers work in his article and based on what he says regarding intertextuality, no article is original. So based on those facts his article isn't original either, even though he does cite all of his sources.
6.) The problem with that statement is that all writers borrow work from other writers. Even if they do cited all of their sources, it doesn't make their writing individually done. There were figuratively more than one writing in Porter's article even though he was the only author.
MM:
My views of writers and writing have not changed after reading Porter's article. I have always been able to use other writers works as long as I cited their work correctly. But I do still believe writers can write their own articles without using other writers works. I also wouldn't change the way I write if I took Porter's notion of writers and writing.
Reflection:
I found this article interesting. I liked all of the examples of intertextuality that was used even with the Declaration of Independence. But I do feel like I already knew a lot of the information given in this article before reading it.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
January 9th Homework
Rosenberg Response:
I found this reading very interesting because Rosenberg is explaining his ups and downs with all of his college reading experiences. He describes how each writing piece that anybody writes will have a different audience that it's directed to. But what I understood this reading to mainly be about is that not everybody will enjoy writing, but you must find an effective way to writing for your pieces to be successful.
WAW Response Summary:
With these two readings, the gist of them is basically saying that we have learned a lot of things about writing and thought of them to be true, but there is more to understand that is the real truth about writing. The other part of this reading talks about how teachers/professors sometimes need to give their students a little bit of criticism in order for them to improve their writing skills. But it isn't just the teachers job to make sure they get better. The students also need to find different, and creative ways to improve their writing skills.
Rhetoric:
I took COMS103 last quarter and this is where I learned about rhetoric. I understand it as a way to relate to the audience you are speaking/writing to, and to communicate to them based on the type of audience to whom your speaking. It is used in academic articles because teachers want students to try and follow steps to use for certain types of writing.
QD 1-3&6:
1.) Facts, opinions, and arguments aren't always your own thoughts. Sometimes when you join a conversation, you find yourself agreeing with a lot of things other people are saying. So I think what Kantz is saying is that all of these things are generally taken from other people's opinions.
2.) Students think that all the answers for their homework should be in the textbook so that they don't have to do any work. They also believe that everything in textbooks are true facts, when in reality, some of the stuff is just opinions of the people writing. I do think that Kantz is correct with the list that I provided simply because I thought the same way with textbooks. I feel like I would understand her list better if I personally experienced these things.
3.) Her article did teach me a little bit about persuasive techniques. I now understand that if you use some of your own personal experiences to try to persuade, it will be more effective than trying to just explain your point.
6.) I do believe it will change my perspective towards my writing skills, but I think i already knew most of the information Kantz gave us on what to expect when we do research on a paper.
MM:
After reading this chapter, I feel that Kantz is talking about rhetoric a lot in order to persuade your audience. Knowing the importance of rhetoric as a writer will make you a stronger writer in the long run because you will know how to connect with your audience effectively.
I found this reading very interesting because Rosenberg is explaining his ups and downs with all of his college reading experiences. He describes how each writing piece that anybody writes will have a different audience that it's directed to. But what I understood this reading to mainly be about is that not everybody will enjoy writing, but you must find an effective way to writing for your pieces to be successful.
WAW Response Summary:
With these two readings, the gist of them is basically saying that we have learned a lot of things about writing and thought of them to be true, but there is more to understand that is the real truth about writing. The other part of this reading talks about how teachers/professors sometimes need to give their students a little bit of criticism in order for them to improve their writing skills. But it isn't just the teachers job to make sure they get better. The students also need to find different, and creative ways to improve their writing skills.
Rhetoric:
I took COMS103 last quarter and this is where I learned about rhetoric. I understand it as a way to relate to the audience you are speaking/writing to, and to communicate to them based on the type of audience to whom your speaking. It is used in academic articles because teachers want students to try and follow steps to use for certain types of writing.
QD 1-3&6:
1.) Facts, opinions, and arguments aren't always your own thoughts. Sometimes when you join a conversation, you find yourself agreeing with a lot of things other people are saying. So I think what Kantz is saying is that all of these things are generally taken from other people's opinions.
2.) Students think that all the answers for their homework should be in the textbook so that they don't have to do any work. They also believe that everything in textbooks are true facts, when in reality, some of the stuff is just opinions of the people writing. I do think that Kantz is correct with the list that I provided simply because I thought the same way with textbooks. I feel like I would understand her list better if I personally experienced these things.
3.) Her article did teach me a little bit about persuasive techniques. I now understand that if you use some of your own personal experiences to try to persuade, it will be more effective than trying to just explain your point.
6.) I do believe it will change my perspective towards my writing skills, but I think i already knew most of the information Kantz gave us on what to expect when we do research on a paper.
MM:
After reading this chapter, I feel that Kantz is talking about rhetoric a lot in order to persuade your audience. Knowing the importance of rhetoric as a writer will make you a stronger writer in the long run because you will know how to connect with your audience effectively.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
January 6th Homework
GRR #1
The word argument has a lot of different definitions according to different peoples views towards it. My definition for argument would be an unfriendly confrontation between two people that have opposite views about a subject. This type of argument is generally used in an everyday setting. But the word argument, in my opinion, has a different meaning when someone uses it in an academic setting. I see the meaning for this more as a debate about a matter rather than an unfriendly confrontation. These two meanings are different because they both have different attitudes in the ways they are used. For the everyday setting, its more of an angry conversation between a group of people, as compared to the debate, which is more friendly in trying to defend a side for the argument.
QD 1-3
1.) Stuart Greene believes that reading is very important for college students in gathering information for all of the writing projects they encounter, such as essays, editorials, and library research.
2.) The reason that Greene put Burke's quote into his writing is because the "oft-quoted passage" helped explain and back up his own writing piece on arguments. The metaphor that was used in this passage is when the person walks into a heated argument late, but then picks up on the conversation and decides to jump into it. The way that this situation was presented makes the reader feel like they are the one in the argument, but it also challenges readers to think about how they would react to a situation like this.
3.) The concept of framing is an important part of writing. It allows you to take pieces of the authors work and still give them credit for the work. Framing is a metaphor for writers to explain their arguments within their writing pieces. This is important to Greene because it helps him with all of his different writing styles. Overall, framing can be used for all writers in a positive sense.
AEI #2
2.) I believe that Greene does pose a conversation, and it would be with the reader. It helps the reader learn better techniques for when the reader has to write a piece for school. He frames other authors and writers in his article to gather information for other readers in the future. I think that he practices what he preaches because he uses all of the techniques in his article.
The word argument has a lot of different definitions according to different peoples views towards it. My definition for argument would be an unfriendly confrontation between two people that have opposite views about a subject. This type of argument is generally used in an everyday setting. But the word argument, in my opinion, has a different meaning when someone uses it in an academic setting. I see the meaning for this more as a debate about a matter rather than an unfriendly confrontation. These two meanings are different because they both have different attitudes in the ways they are used. For the everyday setting, its more of an angry conversation between a group of people, as compared to the debate, which is more friendly in trying to defend a side for the argument.
QD 1-3
1.) Stuart Greene believes that reading is very important for college students in gathering information for all of the writing projects they encounter, such as essays, editorials, and library research.
2.) The reason that Greene put Burke's quote into his writing is because the "oft-quoted passage" helped explain and back up his own writing piece on arguments. The metaphor that was used in this passage is when the person walks into a heated argument late, but then picks up on the conversation and decides to jump into it. The way that this situation was presented makes the reader feel like they are the one in the argument, but it also challenges readers to think about how they would react to a situation like this.
3.) The concept of framing is an important part of writing. It allows you to take pieces of the authors work and still give them credit for the work. Framing is a metaphor for writers to explain their arguments within their writing pieces. This is important to Greene because it helps him with all of his different writing styles. Overall, framing can be used for all writers in a positive sense.
AEI #2
2.) I believe that Greene does pose a conversation, and it would be with the reader. It helps the reader learn better techniques for when the reader has to write a piece for school. He frames other authors and writers in his article to gather information for other readers in the future. I think that he practices what he preaches because he uses all of the techniques in his article.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
What Writing Means To Me
I believe that writing is a way for a person to express their feelings towards anything they have experienced throughout their life. Many people tend to writing to bring back great memories, or to tell a sad story that they have gone through in their past. But for me, writing is nothing more than just getting schoolwork done. I have never peculiarly liked writing, but it is usually something that is required of me to do.
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