Paper Rough Draft

 http://www.scribd.com/doc/78857205/Shawyawn-Sekhavat-Paper1-Peer

Cover Letter for Peer

As I was writing this paper I had in mind all of the rules that were preached to us throughout school about the five paragraph essay. I was trying to show with this paper that we need to rethink about how the five paragraph essay should be incorporated in our english curriculums. I tried providing all sides of the argument including those who advocate teaching the five paragraph essay, those who are against it, and those who are on the fence about it depending on how it is taught. I do not think the organization of my paragraphs were done very well. It was good that there was so much material on scholars against the five paragraph essay. But on the other hand that left the other side of the argument lacking even though my main point was against the usage of this format, or at least against how it is used. I tried providing a couple of examples that would help prove my point and also some basic logic about the pros and cons of following a set format like the one found in the five paragraph essay. If I had more time I would try and see if I could build up the opposing arguments since they seem a bit week in my paper. 

Jan 18th Blog

Allen

In her article “The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen tries to clear up misconceptions about good writing and good writers to help keep students who are trying to write form being discouraged. Allen tries to explain how the idea of the “good writer” just being someone who can easily write without frustration is wrong and that even good writers have to go through many drafts and make many mistakes before they  write something they want to keep. A good method Allen describes to use when you’re having trouble is to read other scholarly articles and try and incorporate some of the format and organization the authors used in your own work. 

  Very similar to Allen, I also found myself at time where I had a hard time writing and saw myself as a bad writer as a result. However Allen makes a good point when she states that even the best of the best in her field still have trouble when it comes to writing. Being a good writer does not always mean being able to come up with material without too much effort.     This article seemed to be the least informative out of the rest of the articles we have read for class. That is not a bad thing this article just was set up more like a story compared to the other works we read. The author in this article seemed to mostly focus on trying to express an opinion rather than try and teach concepts of writing. I enjoyed the dialect the author used, it kept the article interesting and addressed relatable instances. 

Murray

In his article “All Writing is Autobiography,” Donald Murray tries to show how writing in any case is a form of autobiography. He goes on to state that not autobiography in the sense of writing about past events and history of oneself but autobiography in the sense that all writing we do is somehow linked to us and who we are based on how it as written. Anything we have have ever read or heard helps shape who we are and we express ourselves when we write. Murray uses past poems and novels he has written as examples of how he uses his autobiography in his writing. 

GRR: We were always taught in school, very similarly to what Murray states, that all writing for research papers and essays should focus on the objective of the paper and not it’s opinion. Therefore, the usage of pronouns such as I, me, or us was not recommended and was even sometimes marked as wrong because our writing in most cases was not supposed to be viewed as personal. QD: 1.) Murray is asking us to consider the construct of whether or not it is acceptable to make an objective essay or paper personal. 3.) Murray most likely wanted to break away form the typical rules of writing scholarly articles because he wanted the tone of the paper to sound more relatable to students and not so professional. An example of this are the rhetorical questions he asks on the top of page 63 regarding the passage of the novel he incorporated previously. The author also talks about how he failed out of school maybe to set himself aside from his well educated colleges. Murray was writing about something he was passionate about and wanted his voice alone to be heard and not his voice with a twist of professional format and scholarly vocabulary. 4.) Similarly to the scholarly articles that we have read so far, Murray’s incorporates examples from other texts to help prove his point and cites other scholarly sources in his work. He also questions a construct of writing which has been a pattern in the topics of the scholarly works we have read so far. 5.) If what Murray says is true then I would use words such as I and me more often and not be as hesitant to express my own opinion in my writing. MM: One way that understanding Murray’s claims has positively impacted me is that I now realize the importance of expressing my opinion in writing. Murray’s claims have also impacted me in the fact that I now believe that all your writing should be written how you would want it be and not how some strict regulations believe it should be. 

I agree with this article more than most of the other articles we have read because I strongly believe that it should be fine to express your opinion in your writing. Another statement that i strongly agree with is that students should not be told to write about many different things, but a few things that the student is deeply interested in. A student who is writing about something they are very interested and passionate about will be able to come up with much more interesting, genuine, and convincing text than a student who is writing about a topic that does not pertain to them simply for a grade. 

Dawkins

In his article “Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool” John Dawkins describes the different ways writers use punctuation and why they use them. Dawkins argues that the usage of punctuation in writing can help authors emphasis what they want, and that the tone of a sentence can be changed simply by changing its punctuation leaving the words the same. Dawkins uses multiple examples of different sentence structures and also how punctuation usage can change the way they are read. 

All the responses I got from my friends were very similar. They all agreed on some basic rules of punctuation. The one thing that seemed unanimous throughout everyone was that these rules could never be broken or the sentence would be incorrect. QD: 2.) Dawkin states that "Handbook rules provide no instructions for use of the comma." He also states that the punctuation rules in the handbooks are not always things that good writers agree on and that most of punctuation is dependent on what the author wants to emphasize. 3.) The principle of raising and lowering entails that raising is when the author uses punctation to put emphasis in a sentence and lowering is when the author refrains from using too much punctuation to keep the sentence less important than the ones previous. 5.) I did not know that the hyphen and semicolon can be used almost interchangeably. I always thought that each had a distinct and unique purpose. 6.) I typically do not pay too much attention to punctuation partly because, admittedly, I am not too good at. I refrain from using punctation I do not need I might throw in a comma here or there but I never used something I am not sure about. MM: I believe my teacher wants me to read this article because this idea of rhetorical punctuation might better absorbed by a student if it came from a second source. A source, that not only provides numerous examples, but also presents evidence. 

Honestly I did not like this article at all. It was a boring read and I did not get much out of it. The dialect used in this text was a little harder to follow than the ones previous. Everything we read cannot be interesting but I found the articles on concepts of writing much more intriguing then one on just a mechanic of writing such as punctuation. 

Steadman

      In the article "Annoying Ways People Use Sources," Kyle Stedman attempts to provide insight on the best ways to incorporate citations and quotes when writing. The article contains multiple issues that Stedman tries to shed light on including quote usage, how sources are cited, and how quotes are introduced then followed by an example of each as he explains how it can be fixed. The author also uses multiple metaphors to help get his/her point across including dating spiderman, running over an animal, and being at the movie theatre. The authors main audience could potentially be anyone since anyone might have to use citations in their writing but the majority of his audience are most likely college students since they are the ones that probably have to use citations in writing the most.
      Stedman's tips differ from those of Greene, Kantz, and Porter because their advice mainly had to do with constructs and concepts of writing. Stedman's however, deals much more with the mechanics or writing as he tries to show efficient ways of incorporating quotes and citing sources. The way I was taught to use sources in the past is very similar to how Stedman describes we should use sources. My views about using sources have not changed but I have learned better methods of using quotations in my writing based on Stedman's advice and examples.
        This article was one not only an easy read but also very intriguing. The author kept the text interesting especially with the kind of dialogue he/she used when describing instances such as being stuck behind someone on the highway and running over an Armadillo. Although I thought that some of Stedman's advice on using quotes was mere common sense, like building up to a quote beforehand instead of just using it randomly. Other tips Stedman expressed however where very helpful including the point Stedman made about analyzing a quote after it has been used.

WAW: Porter

      In the text "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community" the author, James Porter, tries to reshape the way we think about plagiarism and creativity. Porter almost tries to decriminalize plagiarism in writing community because he does not view it as bluntly as just simply stealing someone else's ideas for your own. He makes a great example when bringing up Thomas Jeffersons writing of the Declaration of Independence and how even though he is thought of as the author, many of the things he wrote in there came from the ideas of many other people. Is Jefferson a plagiarist? Or was Jefferson creative in how he strung together different works into one. There are the questions Porter asks and how every writer is just part of a community that all contribute their works and not one single person can have %100 claim everything they have said sometimes it is the way someone has used other peoples words that might make then creative.

       GRR: I interviewed my mother about writing and she expressed that most authors have contributed somewhat to her writing not because she has used what they have said but rather that they showed her a new way of writing. Every author has their own style and format they write and my mom said she took buts and pieces of these works to help her with her own writing. Her writing is always on her own even if she is using some else's words because she is using them in a different context and in different ways. QD: 2.)  I agree with Porter's statement that intertext takes away the thought of writers as individuals because it does not award the credit for creative writing rather just state that they created their work as a compilation of other writers. 3.) Porter refers to anonymous writers as "romantic" because they are original and come up with their own material.  4.) Porter's criteria on evaluation writing is much different then the criteria that I grew up with. What I was taught that writing should always be original and in your own words. Porter however, believes that, sometimes, it is the way that you use others words that makes you creative. 5.) His article does not fail to express his principles, it does however in a way contradict itself int that you could also view his text as not originally written by him but a combination of different peoples ideas. Regardless if the article is original or not, the message that Porter wants to get across still in my opinion, reaches its audience. 6.) According to Porter, the harm in viewing writing as individual is that it takes the credit away from anyone who might have contributed or even inspired the person to write. %100 of the persons text cannot not always be all of theirs. There definitely other writers in the community that helped shape this particular persons writing style whether he/she may know it or not. MM: Porter changed how I view writers and writing only a small amount. I still disagree with his "intertext" because it takes individuality away from writers. Creative and original thoughts can still be put on paper without having to give credit to someone else for it.
    I definitely thought that this was one of the better and more interesting articles we read even though sadly that is not saying much. It was interesting to see a scholars different view on plagiarism because all throughout school plagiarism was viewed as one of the worst thing writers could do and was normally severly punished for doing so. Here is someone, most likely a college professor, however, stating that it is all not that bad depending on how you incorporate their words.

WAW: Kantz

     The article "Helping Students use Textual sources Persuasively" written by Margaret Kantz aimed on helping students know what it is required to write well and write originally. Kantz focuses on informing the reader that it is a very good idea when writing a paper to make it into an original argument and not just try and regurgitate facts onto a page. A good way Kantz tries to show this is through an example of a past student working on a paper, if you conflicting bits of information are found, do not try and find which one is correct, whether why there was confusion on the topic in the first place.
    QD: 1.) Kantz tries to illustrate that the three are actually more closely related and each can be used in an academic environment and help teach a point because not all solutions to problems have a single defined, straight-forward answer. 2.) Kantz is somewhat correct on some of the things that student misunderstand for example how she talks about how many students think that textbooks are written only to present certain facts. Kantz also talks about how students view writing papers as just doing enough research to state facts on an essay. 3.) Kantz showed a new way to write essays which seems to prove a better point because it is a method that does more than just state information.  6.) Yes, I think Kantz may have influenced how I will write and do research. Kantz's method of looking for the information while researching and presenting it on paper seems to be more effective since it offers more than one way to interpret it. MM: The main construct that Kantz was trying to challenge was that essays should be done so in that they just try and present information on a topic rather than presenting an argument with different sides on the issue. It is important to understand her claims because her method offers an alternative way of looking at information and may help students write more persuasive essays.
       The article has some interesting parts in it. I believe that this article has helped me somewhat with how I will write my next essay. This article shows a new way to write an essay which I believe is much better and more thorough. Writing an essay as an argument with information from both sides rather than stating information from one point of view seems to get the overall message across to the reader much more efficiently.

Reading Games

         The Article "Reading Games" by Karen Rosenberg started with a brief background on the author  mainly throughout her college years but then focused on strategies to use while reading.  The author goes through different elements that should be focused on in writing for example the introduction, conclusion, and titles. Rosenberg tries to help college student with this article by trying to point out how some things should be read and what we should have in mind while we are reading.
         A construct of reading I would like to challenge is if using the standard 3 main ideas followed by 2 supports each is the most effective way of writing a paper. Rhetoric to me means how someone interprets someone else's text. Rhetoric is important when it comes to reading academic articles because it has to do with how you will take the information presented in the reading.
       I somewhat enjoyed the reading. The author was a good writer so throughout most of the reading I was interested. Some of the points she made made sense like how a good conclusion should be read but some other things seemed a little obvious like pointing out that it was important to read the titles. All in all however it was a good article and I learned from it.

       

WAW

In the reader "Writing about Writing" the authors, Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs try to explain in their intro how their book takes a different approach when it comes to teaching writing. They suggest that instead of being taught how to write, we be taughtaboutwriting. By providing steps for making a good introduction to a paper through the "CARS" model and providing examples of each step, the authors show how we will be taught about writing. In his article, "Argument as Conversation" Stuart Greene tries to explain how arguing can be a very good thing in an academic setting because it provides multiple ways of looking at an issue from different people's opinions. He many tries to articulate that it is important to develop a good question that accurately addresses the problem and does require one concrete answer. He helps show his point through using the term framing as a way to take someone else's work and using it to help express your own ideas which he provides an example of by showing something a student wrote with this method. Both passages are directed to college students.

GRR: I would define the word argument as an exchange of opposing ideas between two or more people in which one party tries to convince others that their view on the topic is correct. Using the word argument in everyday language mostly has a negative label to it. Certainly no one is pleased when they find out that some of his friends got into an "argument." Arguing in an academic setting however can be beneficial for learning since you get different points of view and can compile everything you've heard in order to come to a conclusion that makes the most sense to you. QD: 1.) According to Greene, not only does reading serve as a way to obtain information for a paper but it also models what good writing should look like. If you read a paper written by an excellent writer you not only obtain information from the text, but always a template as to how you should write your own papers. 2.) The passage is quoted again because it is the part that emphasizes Greene's idea of framing the most. Burk's metaphor helps connect an event that happened in the Dominican to a normal part of American culture. The metaphor helps show how the event affected the writer. 3.) Framing is using someone else's text to help express your own ideas and thoughts. Framing can be used as a tool to help the writer articulate what they are trying to say by using past works he/she has read. The framing concept of transculturation was shown through the metaphor of the Dominican children running after the man with the ice cream much like American kids do with an ice cream truck. AEI: 2.) Greene's article was set up almost like a conversation between himself and the reader. He shows what he is teaching in his writing when he offers more than one way to look at a topic or by providing different sides of an argument over the same issue. He helps show how arguments cannot be one dimensional and can branch out to other topics through examples from other texts.

The reading was remotely helpful. It did provide some examples of good ways to set up an introductory paragraph and the different texts help portray his ideas a little bit better. It is interesting to see that this book claims to have a very different approach when it comes to teaching students how to write.

My Relationship to Writing

     Throughout high school I was always pretty good at writing. The majority of the time I did very well on my essays and papers. I'd like to think I'm pretty creative when it comes to presenting the information necessary. Despite liking writing, I always hated english class as a whole mostly likely because reading is not one of my fortes. Especially when it is on something that I am not interested in which is the case for the majority of the time when it comes to things we have to read in english. Writing papers were and are my ace in the hole in english because thats one thing I know I'm really good at when it comes to english class.