In their Introduction to the “They Say /I Say” book, Gerald Graff and Cathy Brikenstein strongly believe that their templates will improve the reader’s writing skills. Graff and Brikenstein insist that writing is just like an activity we are used to do continuously, and if we follow certain process, we improve our writing and “help [our] writing become more original and creative.” (11) The authors also added that writers must give the opposing argument (they say) and then comes the thesis, which “should always be a response to the arguments of others.” (4) Personally, I agree with most of the points that the authors argued about.
Chapter 12 of they say/I say begins with an anecdote. The set up is a classroom discussion, stating that you make a comment, then other classmates continue the conversation, making no reference to your comment, going onwards in a new direction. This is showing how no actually cared about the other views in the class, only their own. This demonstrates how important it is to have disciplined moves and practices while entertaining a conversation, which then reflects on writing situations, mostly for identifying who/what you are replying to. The top two learnings in this chapter are “frame your comments as a response to something that has already been said” and “To change the subject, indicate explicitly that you are doing so.”
”― Patrick Rothfuss. There is power in words, power in the way they can bring new ideas and opinions to the people who perceive them. The people who understand this the most, are the people who use them to weave stories for their audience. It stands to reason that these practitioners might draw from each other, as a student who cannot help but to glance over at another student's work with the purpose of improvement.
250200 - Course Journal Evaluation Unit 1: Introduction to Composition, Entries 1-6 June 30, 2017, ENTRY 1: Me, a Writer, Attitude: My position about writing is that I dislike the exercise, I know this course will help me appreciate the writing. The main problem I have is putting my ideas in writing. I am sure this course will help me to be able to state my ideas, then improving my writing skills, it is important to me to write my ideas clearly. The support of my family encourages me to continue to practice writing.
Baron claims that, “...not everyone should write because not everyone has something to say”(Baron 707). Not everyone’s material is worth to reading so why create pieces that will be neglected to readers. If profound literature is created, readers will gain excitement and therefore writers will also gain success. When writing is overdone, the meaning of literature and its logic minimizes. Baron’s purpose is to clear up the issue of why not everyone should write and the public can easily gain an insight into why
The article by Donald Murray entitled, “The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts” provides readers a better understanding of the writing process and argues that writers learn to write, by writing and rewriting. Murray also contends that writers must learn to be their own best enemy. Well, I believe I have this trait covered! I will confess, that I purposely saved this course for last, due to the number of years between my last structured learning experience and returning to school to complete a BSN degree.
They Say/I Say “Template” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, presents the reader with a multitude of writing “templates” that are designed to help foster, not only one’s basic writing ability, but also their creativity. Authors Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein even go as far as to argue that writing in this format, and later conversing in this manner, can “get us thinking critically about our own beliefs.” Specifically the template “They Say/I Say” is the most important for a young writer to master, since they believe that strong, academic writing involves, not only the writer’s opinions, but also the stances of others. In their view, “the best academic writing has one underlying feature: it is deeply engaged in some way with other people’s views.”
The combination of gaining new perspectives from the connections that our readings create and the practice I have had writing seven now has allowed me to develop my ideas much further than day one. I think that my greatest weakness when writing these pieces, is that sometimes I don’t fully grasp the question or reading material until after we have talked about it in class. I don’t think that that fully inhibits my short writes but I sometimes find myself wishing I would have thought of a better interpretation when I was writing. I do appreciate that short writes are formulated in such a way that it is a response to what we think about the readings or a questions and that there necessarily isn 't always a correct answer for any of the prompts, merely just a well thought out idea or response. I am happy with the work that I am doing in my thought pieces
Rhetoric is an invaluable tool that writers can use to enhance their work. With this in mind, it is important when conducting research to be aware of the rhetorical devices an author may be using and how they effect a person’s research. Recent research on learning styles has turned out a wide range of facts, figures, and statistics. By studying rhetoric, a researcher can better identify a biased source. Over the past several decades, awareness of the three learning styles has grown significantly.
As I have learned how to conduct writing conferences, I know that the words that I choose to use will greatly impact my student’s learning. Questions such as, “What are you doing as a writer today?” will challenge my students to see themselves as writers and be able to think through their process of writing. (25) In addition, while teaching number talks, I have asked the question, “How did you figure that out?” (31).
Whenever I think about what I have learned since the beginning of this course—English 101, It always gives me a great pleasure to tell myself and people around me that I have learned something great; something that can make me a better writer. However, I have learned some writing skills based on the course’s teaching learning objectives that can help me in my future courses. Also, I’m glad, because my strength in writing essays have increased. Most especially, writing narrative essay in MLA formatting. I might not be an excellent writer, but I know I have not stopped learning, and I know I will get pay-off in the long run if I can keep the ongoing pace of my learning—guaranteed.
As I was reading Melissa Duffy’s “Inspiration, and Craig Vetter’s “Bonehead Writing,” I found myself connecting with Vetter’s paper more than Duffy’s. I found that the presentation in “Bonehead Writing” to capture my attention, and that Vetter’s feelings about writing was similar to my opinion on writing. Through his wording and humor, I think Craig Vetter wrote the best essay. I find that the wording and presentation of an article or essay influences my opinion of the writer, and it affects how I receive the idea they are trying to present to me. Craig Vetter uses a blunt approach to convey his idea that writing is nearly impossible to teach, and describes writing as “A blood sport, a walk in the garden of agony every time out.”
Robertson, Taczak, and Yancey in “Notes toward a Theory of Prior Knowledge”, they discussed the topic of transferring prior knowledge to new situations, and how students can use their prior knowledge in new rhetorical situations, with the desired results. They theorized that there are three ways that students respond to new situations: drawing on previous knowledge and using it a way that is very similar to the way they have used it in the past, reworking what they know to fit the situation, and creating new knowledge and practices for how to use it. For the first type of transferring they mention, they give an example of a man, Eugene, who when faced with a new situation, broke up his writing into smaller goals so that it would be less complex
Writing essays and other types of posts has always been difficult for me. But, throughout this composition class, I have learned many interesting and new things about the different types of writing styles. When starting this class, I considered myself to be an average writer with run-of-the-mill vocabulary, ordinary sentence structure and typical finished products. This class has helped me greatly improve my writing skills in a variety of ways. I have learned multiple things by taking this class, such as new ways to approach writing and that there is much that I still need to learn about composition.
While the words grow harder, the pages grow longer our literary development becomes advanced. As years have progressed I have increased my ability to read and write through the great childhood experience that is known as, going to school. “Start them young” was
