The author, Natalie Wexler is a one of the founders of the board of trustees for the Writing Revolution. In her article, Why Americans Can 't Write, with the advent of email, writing ability has become more important than ever, and writing deficiencies have become increasingly apparent. The writing skills have been lacking in America, and the reason is because schools have only 24% of the students in eighth and 12th grades were proficient in writing and just 3% were advanced. The exercise doesn 't provide kids with the tools they need to write analytically. The standards in middle and in high schools teachers expect students to know things.
The book, True Notebooks, by Mark Salzman, is about the author volunteering at L.A.’s juvenile hall to teach young offenders how to write. The teenage boys in his class are high-risk offenders, they are in custody for murder or other serious crimes. This book is a great read for anyone, especially writing students, who can gain inspiration from these troubled kids who express themselves through their writing. This book should be required reading in Professor Marquez’ English B50 class because it is captivating, moving, and it can motivate a struggling writing student.
This chapter can help young writers in English class with their papers in many different ways. For instance, Trimble gives examples on what a veteran writer does in order to make their writing interesting. He also gives out techniques on how you can get a reader’s attention or how you can fix your writing to make it readable instead of having nonsense. What makes this difficult for me as a writer is that I write what ever comes to my mind and it will not make sense. Another thing that makes it difficult for me as a writer is that I am not good at getting the readers attention and having him hooked on to my work.
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.”
Journal Response The chapter “A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers” by Erika Lindemann describes how people use rhetoric unconsciously on their daily lives through writing or speaking. The term rhetoric is explained as being influential; teachers in particular are described to make use of rhetoric means to encourage their students into learning. Nevertheless, the rhetoric term has been under discussion over the years. The initials connotations given to this term were on the negative side; Lindemann describes how thinkers from old times expressed that the term rhetorical was mostly inclined towards the usage of appealing language leaving the importance of the message itself aside.
In her essay "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington presents her argument that texting does not impact formal writing written by students. She discusses the concerns presented by many people about how texting language can transfer into writing, but through the use of personal experiences and credible sources she discusses how this is not true. Her use of multiple different studies and situations help boost her argument and allow the reader to truly see how students actually do formal writing. She presents a strong argument as to why those who believe students don't have the control and knowledge to write formally, instead of with text speak, are wrong.
Annotated Bibliography: Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 2, Parlor Press, 2011, pp. 70–86.
His many rules for writing have brought him great success and have made him one of the best writers of his time. From this memoir, I was able to pick out bad writing habits I have, but I also noticed little things I do that can be stressed more to upgrade my work. With rules from symbolism to adverbs, this book could teach students the best techniques. To best explain King's writing suggestions, he included personal stories and humor to keep readers engaged and interested. The many tips I learned will continue to aid throughout my year as an AP Language and Composition
As I walked into Dr. Hamer’s classroom on Thursday, August 13th I did not know what to expect. It was only the second day of Dual Credit Composition, and we knew we were getting a our first paper assigned⎼so soon! but I had not mentally prepared myself. About five minutes after Dr. Hamer told us, “Good afternoon,” she began passing out the rubrics. I look down at the paper and read the title “reflection based on narrative: literacy narrative.”
Writing About Writing, A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 481-495.
Numb. She felt numb all over and detached as she walked around inside the ruins of her old house in a daze. Now and then Nancy stopped to look at objects or pieces of broken things that brought more memories crashing back on top of her. Her tears had dried and restarted many times over until she felt that there was no way that she could cry any more.
Though it seems like the semester began just a few weeks ago time has flown by fast. I must now look back through these past months and identify my changes as a writer. As time went on I had developed in the approach I was taking to the writing process. At the beginning, I would not put much thought into the word choice I would use or how my paper was organized. Although, now I carefully sweep through my mind searching for the best ways to phrase my point and organizing sentences to the best of my ability.
My Writing Struggles After taking AP English III, I became better at organizing my papers, but realizing I need to improve my grammar skills and staying focused on my supporting points. All throughout my writing career, I was always thought to be an outstanding writer, especially using vocabulary above my grade range. Naturally, I would see myself as an excellent writer as well until I took Mrs. Bingham’s AP English II course. Mrs. Bingham always gave pointers, tips, and work to improve my class’s writing skills as a whole.
Writing has always been an issue but yet interesting subject of mine. As hard as I try and write essays, and papers I just can’t get the hang of writing. But after taking this class, I did learn different writing technique and improved my writing proficiency, material body of formatting, and how to uncovering and properly use sources. Through class exams, essays, and a research paper, I was able to learn new writing skills. Although I have learned a variety of things, my writing still needs improvement.
Writing is a language. If we take simple words and bluntly put the phrases into paragraphs, it defies the meaning of this broad dialect. I, Abigail Platon, will not only understand this odd, foreign language but make it my own while painting a picture with the power of correct grammar and lines of beautiful word choice. The only way I can find a gateway to this dream is through, one, hard work on my own and, two, in Temple City’s English Honors class. Through this program, I can achieve the goals I desire to complete, either in the academic year or the “foreseeable” future.
