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.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
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
Below is the link to my paper.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/78811480
Thursday, January 12, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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.
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.
Monday, January 9, 2012
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.
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.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
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.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
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"
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"
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
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.
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