Summary: The reading on Dawkins talked about how to use punctuation for your intended meaning or emphasis, the only rule you should be comfortable with would be independent clauses. This reading also talked about the rules in punctuation handbooks should show students what to do and how to do it rather than the other way around. The Bryson reading talks about how he challenges English grammar and how complex we make it and how we need to adapt to the change of language over time.

Synthesis: From these reading I have learned alot, such as using punctuation to my intended emphasis and not to over think punctuation because it can take over your paper. Also, I learned the difference between prescriptive and descriptive and how complex the English language could be.

WAW:Dawkins (139-155)

Questions for Discussing and Journaling:

1: Dawkins is challenging the rules of punctuation more specifically Dawkins states that in handbooks students are told what not to do and how not to do it; better instruction-in any skill is to tell students what to do and how to do it. I agree with Dawkins, I have had one or two of the student handbooks and their all negative, almost like we the students are already guilty of making mistakes

5: The most important idea I learned was that you have to punctuate to your intended meaning or emphasis. This approach allows you to follow "principles" rather than "rules", but in order to do that I have to learn one grammatical element the "independent clause". I also have to learn to not let punctuation take over my paper. I could lose track of what I'm writing about just because I'm too hung up on punctuation.

Applying and Exploring

4: Dear Mr. Fitch,
       One subject that we spent an enormous amount of time was on prepositions. Now I remember having to remember these prepositions but I didn't know why we had to. I really haven't had any use for memorizing these prepositions since the test we took over them. I thought it would be better     if we spent more time on essay structure, stuff that we would use in the future.

ROW:Bryson (61-67)

Before you Read

1: When I think of good english vs bad english I look at the choice of vocabulary. When you read a students paper vs a professional author I can always tell one big difference and that is the choice of words. Im not the best writer and when I would do peer edits last year for some of my friends what always stuck out to me was their word choice. It can make your paper look more cleaner and most importantly keep the reader reading.

Questions for Discussing and Journaling

1: I think Bryson is challenging English grammar and how complex we can make it. It can be so complex to people that are trying to learn English or even native English speakers to learn the more complex parts of English. Bryson said making English grammar conform to Latin rules is like asking people to play baseball using football rules. For example in English it is possible to split up infinitives unlike in Latin where you cant.

3: Descriptive should be defined as a structure of our english as it is used by speakers and writiers. Prescriptive can be defined as the structure of our language and how it is viewed. I have learned tons of grammar structure through my years of high school. How to use commas,semi colons,quotations, the list can go on and on. I think the rule that we learned the most would be when to use a comma and when to not use one. Day after day we would get worksheets where we would have to correct sentences and their comma placement. It wasn't very effective because it was so repetitive.  

Applying and Exploring

1: One example that Bryson saw change over time was ending a sentence with a preposition. He saw that over time it was idiomatic and common in both speech and informal writing. One rule that I saw change over time was the rule "i" before "e" except after "c". I learned that rule has kind of gone by the wayside and that it doesn't work alot of the times. Bryson would be fine with language changing over time because he said "change is both continuous and inevitable".

Bernhardt Reading

Quote

1: “These Multiple considerations of audience and purpose functionally constrain the text, influencing its shape and structure.”

Response

1: It’s very important to know what audience you’re writing to because you can base your purpose and structure to fit their needs. For example if you’re writing to a bunch of five year olds about a college topic they wouldn’t understand it because the vocab and structure you use would not make sense to them

 Quote

2: “Figures which are more strongly defined against their field will tend to appear more important than other figures which share the same ground.”

Response

2: If you want the reader to pay close attention to a specific area your headings can be important, when I see text in bold I usually pay more attention because I know valuable information can come from it. Also, when you use bold headings its helps the reader organize the text easier, so you can sort out the information in your head.

Quote

3: “Unconstrained by linear presentation, the reader can move about, settle on certain sections, read some sections lightly, some intently, some not at all, and still have a good idea of what the text is about.”….. “The localization of the text makes possible the selective use of the text by varied audiences for varied purposes.”

Response

3: These two quotes kind of go hand in hand, but im not sure how you can write something and spread out the information enough so your reader can understand most of the writing even though he/she might skip over something. I guess I can see how you can see the basic information if your skimming but like the one quote said what if you put some important information where the reader skipped over

Quote

4: “The text reflects decisions by the author to adopt a variety of strategies in response to varying ideational content and in the interest of assembling the information attractively for various audiences.”

Response

4: When authors can use different strategies to keep a reader interested maybe be one of the best tools for writing because sometimes when I read these essays from the English books I can’t follow the information because it’s all so repetitive. When the author uses different organization to display what they’re talking about I can usually follow along easier.

WAW: Porter (86-100)

Questions for Discussing and Journaling

4: The way I've always assumed writing should be evaluated is how well the author conveyed his/her message to the audience without plagiarizing. Sometime plagiarizing can happen without the meaning of it, but if an author uses another persons work and calls it their own is just unacceptable. My writing has always been evaluated on a few main points grammar, organization, information given, and we normally turned it into a website that makes sure there isn't any plagiarizing.

5: I think what anyone writes will have intertextuality unless an author writes about his/her own experiences. Porter's work reflects the principles of intertextuality because I bet someone has already written about intertexuality that has the same information as Porter just relayed in another way.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

2: Plagiarism should be seen as any type of work that directly takes one persons work as their own without giving any credit to the original author. In most points intertexuality with happen because original work is hard to come by. This almost compares with what Porter was saying because he understands that there almost isn't anything such as original work becuase most work is intertextuality.

Meta Moment

Porter's study hasn't changed my mind for the most part because its hard to be a writer and have original work because there are so many people in the world that write about the same things therefore it is so hard not to plagiarize someones work. Porter's notion about writers and the way they write make me not think twice about plagiarizing and makes me more relaxed, so I can write the way I want to.

ROW: Elbow (46-60)

Summary:
The first of the three reading were a bit confusing to me, because how many definitions of voice can there be. Shouldn't we just have are own definition of voice and that's how we should interpret it. The second and third readings I felt I understood more because I'm sure most of us have had trouble with writing drafts and having writers block. When we can relate to a reading we comprehend more of it and find it more interesting.

Synthesis: Now that I know about using voice in our text I can apply to more of my writing and try to get better and better at it. The second and third reading I have more of a connection to because I have had rough draft that I've only written once then turned in my paper. I've also dealt with writers block. Now that I have herd from both these authors I can now use their tips and apply it to my writing.

Getting Ready To Read:

1: Someone who doesn't know me can visit my Facebook and find out who I am just by looking at my page. Facebook creates an identity about you because it shows who you are, who you associate with, if your in a relationship, and many more personal things about yourself. Facebook might not show who you truly are though, say you have a bunch of pictures of yourself drinking, one might say all this person does is drink in reality there just pictures from the weekend where you went out one night in reality you never go out it just looks like that.

2: If you were able to say "I" in most of your papers which I think should be allowed you get to show your emotion and what you think about the topic your writing about. Isn't that what writing should be about showing what you think and your piece of mind on a certain topic

Discussion and Journaling:

1: Voice is what makes an authors writing unique, voice shows patterns and trends in our writing style. I've herd voice defined as developing your own style in writing. Your voice can tell alot about your writing, whether you have a strong voice or weak voice. Elbow seems to define voice as writing with power which go's along with the definitions I had just written. All in all voice is an important part of writing if you want to convey something you really believe in.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

1: Sincerity can be defined as one who speaks their own feelings towards someone or something. Resonance can be seen as an effect a piece of writing has on you. This exercise is tough because its hard to put words into your own definition when you don't have the full grasp of the meaning of sincerity or resonance

Connecting to other Readings

1: I believe what both Kleine and Elbow say is that when we write our voice just comes out naturally and there is no way to stopping it because its just who we are. I know when I write I don't think of my voice, I just write and you can see the patterns of my voice through my writing.

Allen, Berkenkotter and Murray Reading

Summary:

In the first reading which made more sense to me I found out that writing can be hard for most people so we believe that writing that comes easy is the only good writing, but really that is a myth. We just have to be more of a critical thinker and practice it more. In the second reading, which I found somewhat confusing, a writing process can go into depth more than I ever thought. The amount of time that you should spend on planning out your writing, then actually getting to the writing, then finally revising your writing is quite the challenge. If you want to learn to write correct it would be a good idea to follow those rules

Synthesis:

For me to be a better writer I need to change my writing style up. Instead of going with the five paragraph formula that I have been used to doing I should try something different. I should try imitating a different writer and learn some new writing process from him/her. Secondly I need to take my planning and revision skills more seriously, instead of just editing my paper once I need to take it through more steps to make it something I'm proud of. If I even follow these two simple rules I should see an improvement in my writing process. 

ROW: Allen

Getting Ready to Read:

1: I think the writing construct that exist for most students is the five paragraph paper which entails an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. I know for myself I have never followed a different writing construct than that one. High school teachers drilled it into our minds that, that was the right writing construct to follow. Professional writers don't follow that construct because that's not how a professional writer writes or gets their point across. Professional writers go through a much more extensive writing construct that has much more information than what the five paragraph structure looks like. The only similarities I could see between student writing constructs and professional writing constructs is that their will probably always be an introduction, body paragraphs with information, and lastly a conclusion.

Applying and Exploring

1: I have never used the method of imitation through writing, but I realized after reading that it would be a good idea to get a different perspective to make yourself a more rounded writer. If I were to imitate another professional writers construct it would help me develop new ideas and tips to help me get past what many people call writers block.

Discussion and Journaling

1: Allen poses that the myth of the "inspired writer" is that if writing doesn't come easy to you then you'r not a  good writer. So, students believe that the writing that comes easily is the only good writing. The reality of the "inspired writer" is that for many of us, is an alien discourse. We have to work at it and critically think about it to become better.

Meta Moment

There have been plenty times where I felt that I should of been inspired about a topic, but no emotion comes out and I cant write what I really feel. The only way I could ever overcome this is thinking long and hard about the subject on hand. If you think about something long enough an idea will eventually come to you. Now that I read Allen's article I think there is one tip that I will try and that is trying to imitate another writers writing style. This should eventually help me because I can develop newer writing constructs and if I practice it enough writing will simply come easier to me.

Berkenkotter & Murray

Discussion and Journaling

1: I was surprised to the extent of Murray's writing process. Hours and hours of revision, going back and forth to make corrections was truly tons of work that I would never put myself through. Murray's writing process only compares to mine in one way and that is revision. Of course I don't go into depth like he does, but I do think revision is an important part of a writing process. Normally professional writers have a very long time to edit their papers for a perfect finished product, unlike most college students papers are due fairly quickly which is one reason our writing process are different.

3: Berkenkotter stated "They've got to get a sense of the other self speaker" which I think means they got to see what other people might see when reading their papers. In the planning and revising section writers move back and forth between planning, translating, and reviewing their work which might be to much jumping around.

Applying and Exploring

1: I spend most of my writing process on trying to get enough information to support my thesis, which I can see now from reading this article isn't the most important aspect of writing a paper. My level of writing is below average, I think partly because I'm not to creative, which can be worked on with more practice. I need to do a better job of planning out my writing, then revising my writing. I normally revise my paper once have someone else look over it and feel that, that's enough editing. After finishing this article I found out there is much more to a writing process that I need to improve on.

Berger Questions

Before you read

If I was going to draw a picture of a woman I would draw her facing my way, looking right at me. I would choose to draw her that way so you could see her whole face and the emotion she might portray. If you cant see her face then you lose purpose from the picture. I would choose to have this female in a scenic surrounding. The scene I would put her in would be a simple. Maybe the female next to a tree. If you have to much happening it gets to busy and you don't see the purpose in the picture. The female would have clothes on with the intent to be naked and not nude. Naked is to be oneself or reveal yourself, which I think has a deeper meaning than being nude according to what Berger said.

I picked two images one being Matt Damon and the other being Reece Witherspoon. Matt Damon's photo seems to be more professional and sleek, while Reece Witherspoon is more informal showing her in a dress probably making people that look at the photo jealous. Almost all pictures of celebrities show an advertisement of some kind to make you buy the product and there always picture perfect.

Questions for Discussion

1: I think the artist's that drew these paintings knew exactly what they were doing. There is always a reason for something. I know a picture from now vs. the paintings in this article would be way different but that just goes with changing demographics. I think Berger would agree with me because these artist painted the woman as who they thought they were and not for anything else.
2: I have seen images of posed women in magazines where they're trying to advertise a product. Those pictures are way different than the ones Berger is referring too. The woman in advertisements are always photo shopped and you really never know what they look like without all the work done to the photo to make it perfect. Unlike the paintings Berger is referring too you can see a big difference you cant photo shop paintings, so you get a better purpose and more emotion from those photos.

Applying and Exploring
1: The only artwork that men are often looked at in a viewed way is modeling because models always make it look like who they are mean you have to be exactly like them because there using a certain product or so forth.

3: I don't see how the positioning of woman can make or break a picture. I think the view of the face really depicts how the artwork turns out. Also the background or scene the woman is in makes a huge effect on artwork.

McCloud Questions

Before you Read

One of my favorite cartoons was Scooby-Doo. I think I liked Scooby-Doo so much because I was mysterious like the whole gang. I wanted to find the problem or solution that was at task and try to help people with their problems. Most of the characters in Scooby-Doo were the same because they all had the same interest "to catch the bad guy" for me it wasn't about catching the bad guy but finding the solution to the problem and that how I connected to the show.

Questions and Discussion

1: First off I think Mccloud would be fine with adults watching cartoons. When adults watch cartoons it helps them pick-up on their imagination that they lost as they matured. Its probably nice as an adult to watch your all time favorite cartoon. It probably brings them back to some great memories which is nice from time to time as an adult.

2: I think Mccloud used the comic book format because it made it easier for readers to understand. It sticks out from all the readings I have done so far because its something new and different. People remember new and different and I think that's what Mccloud was trying to do. If Mccloud expressed his feelings through writings I honestly would forget more than half the information the next day.

Applying and Exploring

1: I think more teaching strategies should contain visual imagery. I say that because for myself I am more of a visual learner. I find it easier to remember information if it wasn't in the writing form like things normally would be. I think your memory would improve because Its easier to remember an image than trying to remember words

2: Mccloud contends that we would see our self more in cartoons or generic images because the images are very simple. Its hard to pay attention to small details that's why we remember the basic stuff easier. When I look at the photograph or realistic portrait of a person I always wonder what it would like to be in there shoes so I could really get a good purpose for the picture. That way I can really understand whats going on.

Library Tutorials

The search engines given I thought were helpful and gave me plenty of sources for my subject. It is difficult though to find a subject that is too specific and might take awhile to find your right source on the computer. On the other hand the search engines are credible and teachers in high school always told us to have credible information. The database I was using most was the ArticlesPlus. It seemed very simple and well setup. I could find my information very quickly without sifting through to many articles. I would recommend these search engines to other students because they have helped me gather information for my subject.


http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ946620.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1075293512000049

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360131511003174

Writing Construct Proposal

For this assignment I propose that teachers/instructors always allow students to pick a topic they would enjoy writing about, as long as goes with the subject assigned. I know for myself in high school I was told what I had to write about and it really never interest me. Now sometimes In high school I could pick what I wanted to write about, on those papers I seemed to receive better scores. If a topic didn't interest me I never put much work into it because I never wanted to do any extended research or even give the topic much thought. Therefor If students were allowed to write about topics that interest them, you would see a paper that was given much more thought and purpose.

WAW:Kantz (67-85)

Questions for Discussion and Journaling

Q1:
In a rhetorical argument Kantz contends that a fact is a claim that an audience will accept as being true without requiring proof, although an explanation might be asked for. An opinion is a claim that an audience will not accept as true without proof.

Q2:
-Citation format, Coordination of source materials with the emerging written product, writing a synthesis according to the number and length of the sources, abstractness or familiarity of the topic, uses that the writer must make according to the sources, degree and quality of original thought required, the extent to which the sources will supply the structure and purpose of the paper, Students read sources as if their stories, students expect their sources to tell the truth, and many students don't understand that facts are a kind of claim.
-I think Kantz is correct, I dont necessarily comprehend everything in the list above, but after reading about it the one I understand the most is the degree and quality of original thought required. When I always wrote papers I never went into deep thought as I should of. Making my papers unoriginal and very basic. I also understand now that I must make the best use out of my sources and going about using them in different ways.

Applying and Exploring Ideas

Q2:
When writing papers you need to find a angle such as inventing a problem and purpose for a paper and create a structure for your argument, much like Alice wanted Shirley to do. Instead of just relaying information from the text to reader, you want to find a niche and build off of it. The best example is Shirley picking a side of an argument and having a purpose for her paper. Creativity and research start to run into to each other when you gather information and find an interesting way to show them. For certain students like me I think that is easier said than done. So, if I can find a more creative way to relay my information I think I would be better off.

Meta Moment

I think Kantz is trying to tell us to write in a more abstract way instead of just going the easy route. This would be more useful to us in many ways including better grades on papers, but I think we might learn about a topic more if we think it through and critically think about it. This way we would show purpose to our papers.