FIrst Peer Review Session

Class on Wednesday had one of the more successful peer review sessions I have participated in. I am glad we had two people look at our paper, because I received two very different perspectives. Both liked the style I approached the paper with, which I was very glad about. I was worried since I used a very narrative style, and less technical, that it would not be responded to as well. Whitney gave very helpful comments on what more I could add to my paper (and I need to add a little more, because I'm just about to get the fourth full page).
I also realize why Jackie was so non-descriptive on how we were to write the paper. Each paper I looked at was completely different, and both were different from my own. This allowed us to bring forth our own style and interpretation of how to describe our findings. I would have guessed the essays were for different assignments because of how distinctly different they were. I'm sure every paper in the class is distinct from every other, which will make reading them much more interesting for Jackie!
Overall, I think the review session went very well, and I look forward to working with my peers on the next paper. One issue that bothers me is that we were not able to compare our different results. On our assignment it said we would be able to talk as a group and find out how the professors differed. I think this would be an interesting discussion, and I hope we still get the chance to do it.

Grammar Snobs 1-7

I love this book!  I have been asking teachers for years to explain grammar to me, and no one could help me understand the rules.  I have always known how to write correctly, and I am good at finding grammar mistakes, but I did not know the specific rules.  This book is the best way to brush up on grammar rules.  It is funny, enjoyable, and interesting - so I actually remember what I read.  It is a relief from other books I've been reading for school.  The book is so interesting I accidentally read an extra chapter before I stopped.  

I enjoy the humor she uses to make her points.  I also enjoy the chapters were she explains why a well known rule is no longer valid.  I already knew that you could end a sentence with a preposition, but I was glad to see so many sources opinions on the subject.  It helps to know these rules, so when someone asks, I can give them a direct and confident answer.  

Responding to the last class:  I think the rhetorical triangle is a great tool.  I just feel a little worried about the expectations for our paper.  The creative writing exercise we did was interesting, but I was not planning on writing my paper that way.  I am glad we have our peer review session so I can see how other people approached their papers, and how it differs from my approach.

Response to Chapters 8-10 of Writing to Change the World

I'm not much for original titles, even though I should be.  

I thought our last class was very successful.  There are definitely many similarities between writing and tutoring, and I think it was good to put her ideas into the context of our situation as tutors.  

In chapter eight, the author assumed her writing process would work for everyone.  She also oversimplified ideas, or restated points I consider to be "duh" points - ideas that seem obvious.  For example, our metaphors will be affected by our age, gender, social class and etc.  Everything we write will be affected by our context; even while considering our audience, we cannot change the fact we think the way our life situations have led us to think.  I also feel she wasn't very interested in writing her book.  She tells a lot about how to have good writing that will change the world, but didn't write according to all her terms.  One quote I found particularly funny was, "We need not beat people over the head with our ideas.  Readers are quick learners."  I agree completely with what she said, but I also think she does not follow that idea through all portions of her book.  There are times she stays on a topic a little too long.  There are also times I feel her title says everything for the section, the text following it is just repetition.  She also does not acknowledge that everyone has a different writing process.  I also feel like great writing that does change the world was not necessary done according to her description.  

     By the time I began chapter nine, I wondered if her definition of  "change writing" also included fiction writing, such as Animal Farm.  Sometimes I feel her structures do not open themselves to fiction writing, although many of her later points are relative to all writing.  She talks about not alienating readers, yet one time in the book she said people were "story-seeking organisms."  I find this to be very alienating.  Near the end of her section on "Insiders, Outsiders, and Connected Critics" she had a brilliant quote by Ted Kooser: "Your feelings will surface no matter what you are writing."  This is a very true quote.  I also thought the excerpt on marriage was very well written.  The difficult thing of reading this book is often her quotes and excerpts are written in a much more engaging way than the rest of her book.  

     I think chapter ten is one of her more valuable chapters.  Revising is critical, and I do not think all writers are encouraged enough to revise.  I had a teacher than had us turn the essay in, and then turn in a final draft for a grade later.  I found that I rewrote or reworked most of my essay before turning it in again.  Having the time to revise means fighting procrastination.  I think students today need help with this - all the reminders we can get!  I also think it would be useful for more professors to encourage revision by having draft deadlines separate from the final paper.  I must add one more idea to her thoughts about "Read[ing] Your Work Aloud."  It is invaluable to read your work aloud, and even better if you can get someone else's opinion.  I just think it should be stressed that reading aloud to yourself is also valuable.

Also, I want Phil's reaction to the first paragraph under "Use Your Audience to Help You Focus."

One last thing - what college campuses ban books with the "F-word"???

Response to "Letter From Birmingham Jail"

     Dr. King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail" is brilliant.  I am not able to sufficiently describe my deep emotion from this piece - by all means it is good writing.  He eloquently addresses criticism by explaining honestly and openly how he sees it differently.  For each point he includes many examples; he brings common examples and historical ones into his argument.  His historical examples relate his cause to those of great thinkers such as Socrates and great advocates for change such as Jesus.  His examples are so true I would imagine they would be hard to dispute.  The only disagreement would be created by someone who did not read his argument or refused to acknowledge the truth out of ignorance.  With these logical, historical associations, Dr. King also brings in personal examples that are so strong that any open reader would feel his emotions.  Along with his wonderful ideas, Dr. King includes so many profound truths.  It would do everyone good to read this letter, and be forced to realize how many of the issues could be addressed today.  The prejudice he describes still exists today; some of the people being victimized are different.  The lower class, gays, Muslims, people from the Middle East, Mexicans, and many more meet with hard prejudice today.  Many churches reinforce these prejudices, just like the churches he described.  If only every ill-treated minority had such a powerful speaker and fighter for freedom, equality, and peace, the world would be a far better place.

If someone this great existed, and helped to change the world, it gives me hope that the world is better off than I felt.  There are always those who come and help change the world.  He does so much more b talking and speaking out against what is wrong!  I wish I had the courage to speak the truth in such as way as the world is forced to hear.

One side note - Dr. King new much more about writing and acting to change the world than the author of Writing to Change the World.

Response to Chapters 6 and 7

To begin, I feel skipping the first chapters was not a good idea.  I had begun the book at the beginning, but all I got through was the introduction and chapter one.  Up to that point, I was enjoying the book and also found it very interesting.  Skipping ahead to chapter six did not work out well.  I felt much more alienated than when I began - it was a little difficult to jump in her new ideas with no connection to the old ones.  I would like to go back and read the chapters I missed.  Also, her connection with Therapy and Writing took me off guard, at first.  I found it odd she began each small portion of her chapters by taking about therapists and then using those ideas with writers.  In chapter six, she addressed every problem a writer could have getting started writing.  I appreciated the quotes she had in this chapter from other writers.  Those quotes seemed to work as encouragement for her arguments and for a writer having trouble getting started.  Chapter seven delve into therapy and writing as two very similar things.  This chapter redefines the idea of audience for me.  I always thought of the audience as who would read the work, not as who would be helped.  I think approaching the audience as if they entire audience is one client could be difficult, everything would have to be very generalized to reach everyone.  Yet, the greatest idea she presented was connecting with the person.  If you tell a story that person can relate to, it will help him or her to better understand the idea and be more willing to accept it.  This way, writing to the audience as clients will work, since the stories will be personal.  I also realized that this is a great chapter for tutors.  It relates writing and therapy, both of which are involved in a tutoring session.  You cannot just tell someone to change their paper - they'll never learn!  Approaching writing differently may help a tutor to better help someone with his or her writing.  It is very interesting to think about the relationship that exists between writing, therapy, and tutoring.

Respond to the Whaling Piece

     According to  the Current Traditional Theory of Composition, the whaling paper is almost equal with positive and negative results.  Grammar, spelling, punctuation and mechanics are basically fine, but rules dealing with form have been neglected.  There are no paragraph breaks in the paper; an essay cannot be only one paragraph.  There are four distinct breaks in the paper, when these breaks are added five paragraphs are created.  By adding these paragraph breaks, the correct form of a five-paragraph essay appears.  Japan and the United States are not given equal comparison in this essay.  The paragraph on Japan is much shorter than the two describing whaling in the U.S.  This goes against the form of having a comparative essay equally describing both groups.  The paper is also single spaced, not double spaced, which leaves no room for comments and is an obvious neglect of the rules.  

     The paper also neglects rules of internal citations and a works cited page.  The internal citations are not done correctly.  Since these are punctuated incorrectly, it becomes difficult to distinguish which sentence belongs to the citation.  Also, where is the works cited page?  The citations are useless without a works cited page.  

     This essay does not demonstrate mastery of the rules of writing, and therefore is not a good essay.  If the rules mentioned above were followed, meeting all criteria, then it would potentially be a good essay.

1 - Writing About Myself as a Writer

I have always been confident as a writer. I normally have an easy time writing an essay. I would say my strength is I can write down ideas I want in my paper, sit down and write the whole paper from start to finish. Unfortunately, I normally do this close to the deadline, and cannot revise as much as necessary. My writing, as dealing with grammar and sentence structure, has improved since I began working at the writing center. Grammar has always been a weakness in my writing, but due mostly to my inability to revise a paper. Since I have been helping others to revise their papers, I have greatly improved as revising my own. Despite the improvement, I still struggle with tense. After I have written a paper, I go back and find I switched between past and present tense. Even once I discover this, I have trouble deciding which to use. In some cases, it seems changing is necessary, but I have never checked the rules. If I have any writing ambitions, it would be to continue learning and improving my writing.