Final Portfolio

I chose to include four pieces in my final portfolio. I chose the two that were required (paper 4 and a revision of one other paper) and I also chose to include my peer review of Brad's paper because it shows that I did what you wanted us to do when we revised a paper for someone else. The last thing I included was a homework assignment that was assigned. 


The first paper I am going to talk about is paper 4. What I wanted to do with this paper was to look at what the different literacy motivations and sponsors were and to see if they had anything to gain by being a sponsor or not. My main point was that sponsors are everywhere and they aren't always a bad thing. People need sponsors and motivators to become successful readers and writers. I used some professional writers work as backup in my article. I didn't really address too many counter arguments in my paper. I think the beginning of my paper started out pretty strong I think as I went on with it I started getting writers block and really struggled with tying everything in at the end. I want readers to tell me what they get when they read it for the first time and suggestions as to how I can make it seem more professional and flow better. I changed a number of things that were recommended to me from my peers, family, and you as well. I did have a very hard time with this paper as I feel I do better when I have more freedom in the topic I can choose. I struggle with trying to sound like a professional when I am not, but I did put a lot of hard work into this paper. This paper met the criteria you asked for and it helps show that I really do deserve an A in this class.


The second paper I will talk about is my revision of Paper 2. I actually really enjoyed writing this paper because it was somewhat about me. With this paper I was trying to show people how I write and the processes that I go through, some of them being weirder then others. The point I was trying to make with this article is that while everyone may write differently, we all are trying to accomplish the same thing. I tried to support my claim with a lot of facts that  directly came from my findings about myself. I used these in a way to show how I write. The counter-argument I addressed was that there are benefits to writing as either a multi or one draft writer. I really liked my paper as a whole and overall I think it turned out well. I like how it flowed very well. Joey reviewed my paper and told me to change a few things such as directing the paper to the wrong audience so I went through and changed that, as long as a few other small mistakes. After talking with you about it we decided that it needed more of a purpose so I thought about what I could do to change this. My decision was to talk more about the problems that writer's can have when they are in the writing process. I talked a lot about writer's cramp and how it affects writer's. 


Third, I chose to include my peer revision of Brad's paper and my revised version of his paper to show how much work I put into helping him. I knew this final paper was the biggest thing we had done in the class so I wanted to make sure I was as helpful as possible.  The following revision  in red is what I wrote to Brad.

The main point I got from your paper the first time I read it is that hierarchies do exist in writing whether or not we know it. I liked how you had sources to back it up but I did find it very hard to read. I thought your paper was somewhat confusing and I think that you need to help the reader understand more of what you are talking about. Also I do not think it met the requirement for length that Professor Whicker wanted. I would go back through and look at the criteria that he wanted. I didn't see any counterargument in your paper. I understand what your main point was but I would try and tie it in more with what your gap is.

Lastly I chose to include my response to the February 8th assigned homework assignment. This is in here simply because it shows how much effort I put into each and every homework assignment.

Now for the argument. I normally don't feel comfortable arguing with other people, unless it is for something that I feel is right, or for something I think I deserve. I showed up to every single class since the first day and paid attention. I was never on my laptop or goofing off, I always was involved and listening to what you had to say. I did the homework assignments the you specifically asked for and I read everything that was assigned. All of the papers I wrote met the criteria and were turned in on time. I remember the first or second day of class you asked us to write down on a piece of paper if we thought that were strong, average, or weak writers. I remember that I was in a very select group that put weak. I put this because I honestly didn't feel that I had been given the knowledge I needed to be able to apply myself into being an average or strong writer. But after this class I can honestly say that I feel I am a very capable writer. I may have complained at the things we had to read this quarter, or the amount of homework we had been assigned. But now I know that everything you did had a reason. Before I walked into the doors of Ellis Hall, I had never even heard of the term "discourse community". Now, I could give you a very strong definition of what it means. My work gradually improved over the course of the ten weeks and I think you can see that. I worked as hard in this class as I ever had in my life in school. I feel that I deserve and A, and hopefully you do too. Regardless of the outcome of my grade I just want to say thank you for being such a great teacher and for giving me the courage to become a better writer.

Link to homework assignment

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85988758

Link to Brad's Revised Paper

http://www.scribd.com/doc/84600475

Link to Paper 4 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85988548

Link to Revised Paper 3

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85988052/What-Type-of-Writer-Are-You

Final Paper 4 and cover letter

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85126430/Final-Paper

What I wanted to do with this paper was to look at what the different literacy motivations and sponsors were and to see if they had anything to gain by being a sponsor or not. My main point was that sponsors are everywhere and they aren't always a bad thing. People need sponsors and motivators to become successful readers and writers. I used some professional writers work as backup in my article. I didn't really address too many counter arguments in my paper. I think the beginning of my paper started out pretty strong I think as I went on with it I started getting writers block and really struggled with tying everything in at the end. I want readers to tell me what they get when they read it for the first time and suggestions as to how I can make it seem more professional and flow better. If I had more time I think I would try and find more sources which is what I will do before we turn it into the Young Scholars of America journal. Brad helped me a little bit with reassuring me that my paper was directed the way I wanted it to be. He, however did not do a markup for my paper, so his help was very limited.

Paper 4 cover letter and link

link-----http://www.scribd.com/doc/83868124/Final-Paper


What I wanted to do with this paper was to look at what the different literacy motivations and sponsors were and to see if they had anything to gain by being a sponsor or not. My main point was that sponsors are everywhere and they aren't always a bad thing. People need sponsors and motivators to become successful readers and writers. I used some professional writers work as backup in my article. I didn't really address too many counter arguments in my paper. I think the beginning of my paper started out pretty strong I think as I went on with it I started getting writers block and really struggled with tying everything in at the end. I want readers to tell me what they get when they read it for the first time and suggestions as to how I can make it seem more professional and flow better. If I had more time I think I would try and find more sources which is what I will do before we turn it into the Young Scholars of America journal.

Introduction

Literacy has dramatically changed in the past hundred years, and so have the forces that shape out learning and literacy practices. (Brandt 331) Brandt claims that people don't just become literate on their own, they need what is called a literacy sponsor. A literacy sponsor is someone or something that helps you gain access to the tools you need to be a strong reader and writer. The idea of literacy sponsors has been around for a long time. The most common examples of these would be churches, governments, or schools. Are literacy sponsors always a good thing though? The answer is no. Sometimes these very literacy sponsors that are giving you access to all of these things also have other intentions. Brandt gives us the example of schools. They encourage you to read, but is it for their own good, or is it for money?

Annotated bibliography link

Annotated bibliography link

http://www.scribd.com/doc/83450416

February 27 HW

Penrose and Geisler Summary- In Reading and Writing Without Authority, Ann. M Penrose and Cheryl Geisler argue that the way people write is reflected upon their rank and authority. They also argue that the difference in their writing stems from their own views about how knowledgable they are on a topic. They give an example of two different people Janet, and Roger. Janet was a first year student and Roger was a doctoral student. They reviewed the two's work and tried to see if there was a difference in the two. Janet obviously didn't write with near as much confidence and Roger did.

Penrose and Geisler Reflection- This was an alright article to read. I did feel that it was pretty predictable though. Obviously a person who doesn't have as much experience writing is not going to write with as much confidence as a doctoral student would. I do think it will give me more confidence with our fourth paper to go out on a limb and not be so safe when I write.

3) The difference between these two is that the information transfer way of writing is what I picture most high school students doing before a research paper. It's just looking at information and summing it up in your own words and putting into your own paper. The constructivist view is more of a personal way of writing. You have more confidence and don't rely as much on other authors as the information transfer writers do.

4) I feel this is the case because she lacks pure confidence. She isn't sure if she can come out with her own claims because she doesn't have enough authority to do so. I think the more experience she gets the better her writing will be.

5) My writing is definitely more like Janet's for sure. I am an information-transfer person more than I am a constructivist.  I struggle to come up with my own ideas and often rely on just relaying information over into my texts.

MM) I think this article will give me more confidence to have more of my own opinion and not rely on other people's work as much. I would like to think it gives me more confidence with any paper I write because it will always be in the back of my head.

Februrary 24th HW

Wardle Summary- In Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces, Elizabeth Wardle argues that it is important to know who you are and what position you hole in the workplace. It may be tough to change the way you are used to writing but it is a necessary change if you want to keep members of your new community happy. She gives an example of a young man named Alan, who struggled knowing his role in the workplace.

Wardle Reflection- I enjoyed reading this article a little more than the other ones because it felt a lot easier to read. I also enjoyed the example she gave us, instead of just being a boring text it kept my attention.

3) I think they didn't have positive results because Alan refused to change the way he wrote. He didn't use it as a learning experience because he never even considered changing. If he would have changed the way he wrote to please everyone and address the emails to the right group instead of everyone he would have gained a lot more respect from the other people in his discourse community.

4) I think that most of the time the decisions we make are  unconscious because we barely think about them we just do what feels natural. When we make conscious decisions I think this is more along the lines of when we have to proofread everything before we turn something in.  

5) I think I have to agree more with Gee on this one because I don't think Alan was every really going to be a part of the Dominant Discourse community.

6)  I think that she is absolutely right when she says he is another tool. He is just there to fix things when they get broken much like a hammer is used to hammer down a nail. He is just another tool.

7) I have had a teacher lose his job over a couple bad decisions he made in the classroom. I also have had a soccer coach get fired because of things he sent to a student via text message.

AEI 1) I think what it means to have authority over a text or discourse community is when you have almost everything completely mastered. people come to you when they don't understand how to do something. I had authority over my discourse community as a soccer team. I was the captain of it and whatever I said or told people to do within reason was respected. I knew I had authority because I was voted on by all my teammates to be captain so I knew I had their respect. I know how it feels to be under someone else's authority in a discourse community and it doesn't really feel to good so I tried to be as best of a leader as I could be.

Final Paper 3 Cover Letter

For this paper we were trying to see what motivates students as a writer and reader. We also wanted to see if literacy sponsors had any impact on these students as they grew up. We did many interviews and including ourselves we had 9 interviews total. We decided that everyone has different motivations whether it be self motivation or your parents motivating you. I liked how we were able to make a website instead of being limited to typing another paper. I enjoyed being able to be more creative. The website did go down many times and it was very frustrating. I wouldn't change anything if we had more time except maybe interview more people. We completely changed our layout so it would be easier to read and more easy to navigate. I like our website a lot better now than I did before the peer reviews. I think our conclusion was very strong and brought our paper together.


link to website-  http://literacyhistory.webs.com/

February 22nd HW

Johns Summary- In Discourse Communities of Practice, Ann M. Johns tries to fill the gaps between what Swales and Gee have talked about with discourse communities. She also explains a new phrase we haven't heard anything about called "communities of practice". This is more along the lines of what practices and values hold communities together or separate them from others. She also talks about the problems that can occur within these discourse communities.

1) Some of the complications of joining a discourse community is that people can be excluded because they lack social standing, talent, money, or because they live in the wrong part of town.

2)  Members can rebel, and this may form a new community and rules will be changed. She gives the example of this happening at her own university (page 511). People change through time and they develop new ways to do things. I use to be a bad writer but through practice I have gotten a lot better at it over time through change.

3) No I have never felt the need to change my values or beliefs inside a discourse community because I value those a lot more than the community itself and wouldn't change those for anything.

4) I agree to a certain extent that there are some trade-offs but I believe these are more minor than she makes them out to be. You don't have to give up anything major to learn how to write or speak in my opinion.

5) In college I have not had the same authority over my writing as I did in high school. At my high school we were able to pick what we wanted to write about almost every time. Now in college we have some say over it but we have to follow a lot different guidelines.

6) I think it is a minefield because it is a very risky thing to do, your not sure what the outcome will be when you do so. I have never tried to break the rules with a school assignment because I am always too worried of the consequences.

MM) Johns' text would help me become a better writer because it opens your eyes about discourse communities and kind of helps you decide if this is something you really want to be a part of or not. Also we learned that some good things may come from rule breaking a little because the outcome can be positive.

Reflection- I thought that this wasn't a very interesting text to read but I know it was important and it will definitely help me with our fourth and final paper. I still am sort of confused when it comes to the difference between the Swales, Gee, and Johns texts we have read. Other then that it was beneficial to read.

Cover Letter 3

For this paper we were trying to see what motivates students as a writer and reader. We also wanted to see if literacy sponsors had any impact on these students as they grew up. We did many interviews and including ourselves we had 9 interviews total. We decided that everyone has different motivations whether it be self motivation or your parents motivating you. I liked how we were able to make a website instead of being limited to typing another paper. I enjoyed being able to be more creative. The website did go down many times and it was very frustrating. I wouldn't change anything if we had more time except maybe interview more people.  I want readers to tell me if we had enough of a conclusion and if we answered our question appropriately. The link to the website is on Brett's page.

February 15th HW

Summary: In Motivation in Literacy Development, Tyler Cecchini and Hugo Perez collectively wrote a paper that tried to figure out what the motivating factors were when it comes to early literacy development in successful students. They did a study with eight different people, all of whom had different majors, birthplaces, and backgrounds. He found out that many of the reasons people learn to read and write vary on the person. For some it was a computer game that helped them read but also interested them, for others it was an older brother who they wanted to be just like. Everyone had their own reason as to why they began to want to read and write. Every student had some sort of motivation, a lot of whom were self motivated.

Reflection: I thought that this was a very interesting article to read and it was also very easy to read because it was written by students. I liked how they had eight different people and their stories. This was a great article to read because it is very relevant to the project we are doing now.

Questions-

1) The authors do not use their own histories in their article. I think they do this so it seems more professional and it is seen as an experiment.  I think that they should have used their own histories to make it more personal and they could relate the others results to their own.

2) They do not use ay first person in this article at all. If I was doing this article I think I would have because it would make it more personal and it would be easier to relate to the results. They might not have used it because they wanted to be more professional and objective.

paper 4 idea

I'm going to challenge if literary technologies and sponsors affect the way people read/write.

Scott's Final Paper 2

With this paper I was trying to show people how I write and the processes that I go through, some of them being weirder then others. The point I was trying to make with this article is that while everyone may write differently, we all are trying to accomplish the same thing. I tried to support my claim with a lot of facts that  directly came from my findings about myself. I used these in a way to show how I write. The counter-argument I addressed was that there are benefits to writing as either a multi or one draft writer. I really liked my paper as a whole and overall I think it turned out well. I like how it flowed very well. Joey reviewed my paper and told me to change a few things such as directing the paper to the wrong audience so I went through and changed that, as long as a few other small mistakes.


Final paper- http://www.scribd.com/doc/81115631


Peer review link- http://www.scribd.com/doc/80572699/Are-You-Really-Who-You-Thought-You-Were

February 8th HW

Malcolm X Summary- In Learning to Read, Malcolm X shares with us how even though he dropped out of school in the eighth grade, he was still able to read and write. He wrote every word in the dictionary down and read every single day when he had time.

Malcolm X Reflection- I thought that this was one of my favorite articles we have read. I enjoyed reading his story and I think that what he was able to do after being in jail was remarkable.

1) His audience is people struggling with reading and writing because he words his story in a way that makes it seem as if he is trying to say that if he did it, so can you.

2) He defines literacy as being able to understand a conversation and school based literacy is being able to read and write.

3) Bimbi, the government, his prison, Mr Muhammad, and many other authors were his literacy sponsors. The most important was the prison system because it allowed him to read of all the books he did and turned him into an excellent reader and writer.

4) I don't think that this was ever the case with Malcolm X.

6) I can see how he says this. In college a lot of people just go through the motions to get their diplomas. He had nothing else to do except for reading and writing and he developed a passion to do so. When I would get in trouble and lose my phone and tv, I would read more too.

AEI- I think it adds a lot more literacies to the world. Now we have to be worried about learning Facebook literacies, text messaging literacies and many others.  To be considered literate today, I think you need to be literate in all of those fields.

Alexie Summary-  In The Joy of Reading and Writing, Sherman Alexie explains how he broke the mold from a typical Indian kid and ended up being a phenomenal reader and writer. He started reading at age three and just grew from there.

Alexie Reflection- I think that this article makes it clear that anyone can become a strong reader and writer regardless of if you were "expected to be stupid" or not. It was an interesting article and I liked reading it.

QD 1) I think that these expectations can affect a child's literacy because if someone feels like they are destined to fail, than that will always be weighing in the back of their minds. On the other hand if someone knows that they are destined to succeed then that in turn will make them more confident and give them the confidence to be a good writer. My parent's always expected me to be able to read and write so it kind of felt like the natural thing to do.

AEI 1) I don't know that this is always the case but I do feel as if there a very good chance for everyone to be successful. For the most part anyone can get into a library or get ahold of a magazine to read. Some people can't get ahold of the resources and this is where I think Brandt's research comes into play. If they can't get ahold of any one of those things then I think they won't be able to be as successful.

Baron Summary- In From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies, Dennis Baron talks about how technology is changing the way we write. We use to use a pen and paper, now we aren't comfortable using anything besides an Apple computer. The introduction of new technologies changes the way we go about communicating with others.

Baron Reflection- I think a lot of what he said in this article is very true.  When a new piece of technology is introduced, and old one must be replaced. This changes the way people communicate. It was a pretty easy article to read and it was pretty interesting.

2) I do agree that this seems to be one of his messages. I however disagree and I believe that this is changing the way people write today. Just look at texting for example, if we didn't have phones then we wouldn't have the problem of people shortening words to be quicker.

4) Other examples of early technologies are the typewriter and  the telegraph. They were all very popular when  they came out, but they now are a thing of the past. New technologies leave them in the dust.

6) They contribute to the article because they show how technology has changed. I do not understand them as writing. I do think considering them as writing would require that we add them to the list of technologies commonly associated with writing and literacy.

February 6 HW

Brandt Summary- In Sponsors of Literacy, Deborah Brandt talks about how the way people are raised affects their writing and literary skills. She gives us many different examples and stories of people from all different backgrounds and explains how their lifestyles affected how they go about writing.

1) A literacy sponsor is someone who influences how we become literate, whether it is a person or a institution. The characteristics of a literacy sponsor is that they are rich and knowledgeable.

3) They misappropriate their literacy lessons because they don't take into consideration that the students are from different backgrounds and don't have the same access to technology.

4) I think when he talks about the term "stratified" she is referring to status levels and by stakes she is referring to what is at risk

AEI- Growing up my primary sponsors were my mom, dad, and teachers at school, and friends. They taught me to be respectful and to treat others how I want to be treated. I feel as if I had access to anything I wanted to when it came to literacies.

Brandt reflection-  I liked how he gave us many different details and examples about how the way people are raised affects how they go about writing.

paper 2 and reflective cover letter

What I was trying to do with this paper was to give people an insight as to what goes through my mind as I am writing, and what kind of writer I am. The point that is implied is that everyone writes differently than other people. I supported my claims with sources and points that they had used in previous work. I really enjoyed writing this paper and thought that I got my points across and did what the paper asked me to do. I would especially like to get some feedback to see if my paper flowed like I wanted it to. If I had more time, I'm not sure if I would have changed anything.

Here is a link to my paper:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/80309058

February 1st HW

Lammot: In Shitty First Drafts, Anne Lamott explains that writers need to have a "child's draft" which is the first one that is horrible and no one will read, the second draft which she describes as an "up draft" where you fix it up, and the third and final draft, the "dental draft" where you check everything out.

King: In What Writing Is, Stephen King talks about telepathy and how it can be used in writing. He gives us an example with the rabbit in the cage and describes how that can connect us even though he didn't give specific details we are thinking the same thing.

Goodman: In Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work, Allegra Goodman talks about how to be a confident writer you need to believe in yourself and love your work, because that is what makes it hard to critique. She also talks about blocking out all the the bad voices you may hear when your trying to write.

Haruf: In To See Your Story More Clearly, Start by Pulling the Wool Over Your Own Eyes, Kent Haruf talks about all of the strange things that writers do to help them write better and the environments in which they do so. He describes his writing space in the coal room of his house which he has a lot of meaningful items all around him. He also will blind himself by taking his glasses off and putting a stocking cap over his eyes so he isn't distracted by grammar and punctuation errors.

Sontag: In Directions: Write, Read, Rewrite. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 as Needed, Susan Sontag discusses a more creative  way to revise your writing. She says that even though something may be very good the first time it is written, it can get better the more times you write it.

Diaz: In Becoming a Writer, Junot Diaz shares with us the story of how it took him a decade to finish just one novel. He went through a lot of problems such as writers block and a lack of confidence in himself as a writer.

Using these essays: I don't see any common metaphors in the writings and I don't see them grappling with rules either. I did see Junot Diaz struggle like Tony did with his writers block.

Meta Moment: We have to gain a lot more knowledge about the ways to write. One thing for example is that we need to take our mind off of our writing. Another thing I learned is that you need to keep writing in order to get your best work. Lastly I think it is important to never lose the desire to write even if something isn't going as planned like what happened with Diaz.

Reflection: I thought most of these articles were beneficial to read and were interesting such as the Lammot and King articles. Also I think that Diaz's article was very important to read because it shows you to never give up when your writing because eventually it will come to you. I thought Sontag made a great point when she said you need to write your work more than one time. Haruf made a great point about being comfortable when you write such as how he writes in the coal room.

January 30th HW

Harris Summary: In Composing Behaviors of One and Multi Draft Writers, Muriel Harris explains the major differences between the two different types of writers. While one draft writers can stay calm and accept a decision and move on, they may not be getting everything out of their writing. One draft writers can also pace themselves a lot better than multi draft writers can.

Harris Reflection: I really liked Muriel Harris' article because it really opened my eyes on the difference between the two. While I am a one draft writer, I learned that I may not be getting everything I can out of my writing.

Questions- When I write papers I am a one draft writer. I know this because I never have written more than one paper and choose the best one, I start with one and make the appropriate changes I need to. The disadvantages of this she states on page 182, is that I may be limiting my options and making decisions very quickly instead of thinking about what would be best.

Ransom Summary: In How Do I Write? Dominieq Ransom studied herself and what she does when she writes, in a study for her English journal assigment. She found out a lot about the tendencies she had as a writer, such as how when she is doing a timed writing exercise she finds it a lot easier to write because she doesn't have much time ad she can get her thoughts out. She also discovered that she does make a lot more simple mistakes such as spelling words incorrectly and grammar errors. She came to the conclusion that about 15 percent of her time is spent correcting these mistakes. Writing her thoughts down as she went also helped her. She realized at the end of the study the strengths and weaknesses that she has a writer. She found that she could be a better writer if she had more time.


Ransom Reflection: I like the way that she did the study and was able to record her tendencies. I can relate to a lot of the things that she does during her writing. Overall this was one of the easiest articles to read and one of my favorites.

1)  I don't think that this happens to me, I can get ideas for writing without taking notes. No i do not try and write for exploration.

January 27 hw

Tomlinson Summary: In Tuning, Tying, and Training Texts, Barbara Tomlinson discusses eight different metaphors that people can use in their writing and revising stages. She wants us to better understand the writing process and to think about what it means when we talk about our work. Not all metaphors are completely true and factual.

1) She is saying that metaphors can't always be trusted.

2) I feel that if we just look at a metaphor then we will not get a good sense of the work as a whole. We can get around this by making writing more creative and individual

3) Yes "Tying Things Off" and "Fixing Things" are metaphors that I do use constantly. I always go back through and kind of trim the fat in a way of my papers of work that isn't really necessary. I also look through my paper a lot for errors.

4) I think that she did go a little too far because you can always go through and change work even if it is in a later stage. Not everything has to be kept the same or deleted.

5) Yes I think subconsciously I use all of these techniques in my work, especially the two I stated in question 3 and they do have a role in the revision process.

Reflection: I think that this was a somewhat interesting article to read. I have always struggled with metaphors so when I read the first few pages I was relieved that it was written in a way that is pretty simple to understand and it is a new perspective on them as well.

January 25th HW

Summary:
 In "Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer" Carol Berkenkotter talks about the writing process and what goes on in the mind of a writer. She does a study with Donald M. Murray and we learn more about that in "Response of a Laboratory Rat- or, Being Protocoled. We learn a lot about the many things that Murray thinks about and what he does when he is writing that maybe he didn't even know about himself.

1)  I think that Murphy and I share a lot of the same processes of writing especially when it comes to the amount of time we spend planning out our writing before we actually write it. I don't worry about the audience as much as he said he did.

2) I think his audience is more professional than mine is. My writing is definitely a lot more easy to read and less professional.  I don't think about my audience near as much as he does.

3) I think it changed her understanding because like it says on page 227 "it shed new light on the great and small decisions and revisions that come from planning" . In other words Murray spent a lot more time on the planning process then she thought he would.

1) I spend a lot of my writing time on the planning process. Most of my writing I do in my head before I even sit down to write. I honestly think that I am just an average writer and even though I did get pretty good grades on my papers, most of the teachers grading it were pretty easy.

Meta Moment: One thing I learned is that I need to be more aware of how I write and the process I go through and this might help me become a stronger writer.

Review: Overall I think that these were very interesting articles and that I learned a lot about the way I write.

January 23 HW

Klein Summary: In "What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This" Michael Klein tries to explain to us the proper way to go about writing a research paper. He interviews many different writers to see if his theory is correct. One of the answers he gives us is the Hunter and Gatherer Model, another is that he thinks students need to be better taught by their instructors on how to better enrich their writing (page 31).

1) What Klein talks about is very similar to the way I write, and a lot of the people I know write. I wasn't taught very well how to do proper research growing up.

3) Klein makes it seem as if sources aren't as important to professionals as it is to students. We are taught to cite everything or else it is considered plagiarism, and the professionals kind of just use their own knowledge that they have gained and a lot more of their ideas.

4) I would change the way I do research by doing a lot more reading and trying to understand a lot more about what I am reading. I used to just try and find a bunch of quick facts and quotes to use for my paper and sometimes after a paper I still wouldn't understand it.

Review: Overall I think that the article was definitely beneficial because it really opened my eyes on how I do research.

Reflective cover letter and link to my paper

The point I was trying to make with my paper is that the way teachers grade papers needs to be changed. My main claim was that constructive criticism is a lot more beneficial to a student then correcting every error. I tried to support my claim with personal experiences and a study that was done as well as information from a couple of different books. I addressed the counter argument that teachers are just trying to help us, but really they are hurting us by correcting everything. I liked my paper and thought that most of it was working well. It was however hard to find too much information to back me up with the point I was trying to make. I want readers to really sit down and think about how often they felt like they weren't a good writer after they got a bad grade on a paper. If I had more time I probably would have tried to find more counter-arguments against my main point.

Below is the link to my paper.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/78811480

Jan 13 HW Steadman's reading

Steadman's Summary: In the article "Annoying Ways People use Sources" Steadman shows many different errors that people make when citing their sources. He not only shows us the mistakes that many people make, but most importantly how to correct them. He also talks in a way that appeals to people of all ages.

1) Steadman's advice is a little different than the other authors because it is a lot easier to understand and he puts it in more simple terms.

2) In the past I was taught that as long as you had the source listed then it was fine. It didn't really matter how you started to introduce the source as long as it was there.

3) I now know that there are a lot more right and wrong ways to cite sources than I thought there was.

Review: Out of all the articles we have read I think this one was the easiest to understand. I liked how he would explain what the mistake was that was made and in simple terms show us the easiest way to correct it. I definitely think it was worthwhile reading this.

Jan 11 HW

Review: In "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community" James E. Porter explains that every idea, thought, or story someone has come up with is based off of something else that another person has said at one point or another. The big example they give is on page 89 when they say that Jefferson even had borrowed ideas to put into the Declaration of Independence.

GRR 2) I get help from a few different people when I am writing. The first person I used to go to was my mom because she is a teacher. She would help me by looking over my papers and proofreading them for me. I knew when she told me to change something she knew what she was talking about and trying to help me. Another person who was helpful was my junior year english teacher. She would proofread papers even if we didn't have her anymore as a teacher. The last people who I go to for help are my roommates. They have to write papers too for their classes so it is easy to help each other out.

QD 1) Before I read after the first page of the article I was under the impression that intertextuality just means that all text can be drawn back to another person saying that. After I read I am a little more confused about what it means than I was before I continued reading.

QD 2) No I do not agree with him when he says that individual writing is less important because of intertext because I believe that anything, anyone writes is still important. It may me more to some people than it does to others but that doesn't make it any less important to who wrote it.

QD 3) The autonomy of the writer is called romantic because we overlook important questions that an intertextual view of writing would provoke.

QD 4) Porter's way of evaluating writing is different because his way is basing it off of how well it is "accepted" (page 96) and my view on how I thought it would be evaluated is by how well it is written and what it is written about.

QD 5) I don't think that his article can be called original because he was making points on the first page of his article that nothing is original so how can his be any different?

QD 6)  The problem it seems to create is that students are now afraid that what they are writing might have been written by someone before them and they are scared that it could be plagiarism.

MM) Yes his study has changed the way I think about writing. I know think that every time I will sit down to write a paper in the back of my head I will always be thinking about if someone else has already written this same exact sentence before I did even if I have no knowledge of them doing so. Yes it would change the way I write.

Summary: Almost everything we write has already been written or said by someone else.

January 9th HW

To me the word rhetorical means trying to figure out how a person is going to interpret what the message is that your sending. Two different people can look at the same paragraph or sentence and interpret it two completely different ways. The word rhetoric has to do with academic articles because it helps them figure out what they want to say depending on people react to it.

QD 1) She concludes that they are just a bunch of things that people believe are true so they think they have to go off of that.

QD 2) Yes, I do think she is correct about all of those things. As students we are taught that if we don't know something to go and look it up in the textbook because that is one of the most reliable sources. I also agree with what she said about how rhetorical reading will help you understand what it is your reading a lot more.

QD 3) Yes it did, even if everyone thinks something is a fact, there is always someone who has a different viewpoint who can persuade you differently into believing that it is true.

Metta Moment)  Kantz is trying to analyze many arguments including that we think textbooks are 100 percent reliable and we just assume that everything we read from it is a fact. Also she says at the end of the text that papers need to be written with less facts and sources and more creativity.  Creativity would allow papers to be more personalized and you wouldn't have to worry as much about citing sources and finding every single fact you can to make your paper "better".

Summary: Not every source or fact you read is true. Also writing needs to be more creative instead of all facts.

Idea for first paper

I am going to challenge the theory that there is a fine line between having your own ideas and plagiarism. I think it is a lot easier for someone to plagiarize accidentally then people think it is.

January 6 HW

 GRR 1) I would define an argument as a disagreement between two or more people about a certain topic. It is used in everyday topic because people have arguments all the time over both small and big things. In an academic setting the word argument could be used in a way that it is a case against a point, such as a debate. The difference between the two is that outside of an academic building an argument means a fight, and inside one it usually means a civil case against a point.

 QD 1 ) We use reading all the time whether it is looking for information or if it is when we are about to write a persuasive paper and we use it to enter conversations in the world that are already going on.

 QD 2) The reason he uses the parlor example is to show that you can't just jump into to something like writing if you don't have enough information to write about. Everyone can perceive how you say something differently like what happened in the story.

QD 3) Framing is a way for authors to make you perceive something one way instead of another. The metaphor used is the photographer changing the lens to frame a picture. Framing helps writers bring ideas into focus.

AEI 2) Yes this is a conversation and it is with us, the reader. Green does practice with what he preaches in "Argument as Conversation"

My Relationship With Writing

Writing is a very important part of society today. Without it millions of stories would not have survived in this world unless they were written down. Writing is a way for authors or anyone at all for that matter to express their viewpoints on a certain topic. Also it is a way for them to tell stories that include many valuable lessons. I can think of a few books that have shaped how I live my life differently. My relationship with writing is kind of average. I don't mind doing it but I never write unless it is an assignment for school. I do enjoy to read what other people have written because you get a better feel for who they are as a person. Someone can be a very quiet person but then they let it all out on paper because that is easier for them.