Dawkins&Bryson

Dawkins:

Questions for Discussion& Journaling

1. Dawkins seems to be challenging the punctuation rules that are given to us today. The main question that he seems to be wondering is the idea of how commas have such a huge effect on a sentence and how it's structured. The difference of how the different commas set not only how the sentence is structure but the entire tone of the sentence.  

5. Personally I didn't ever realize how punctuation really sets the tone for every sentence, especially when describing,etc. I never realized how important comma placement was, I just kinda forgot and did what I was taught to do. I never realized the importance of where something so small was placed. But it doesn't just stop at comma's, it continues on to the idea of how something like a period and exclamation point can change the entire tone of what you're saying in your writing. 

Applying&Exploring Ideas.

1. 

Dear Mr. Redito,

Even though I did enjoy your Honors American Government class, you gave the most difficult assignment ever. That will forever haunt my life, but seriously. Your rule of not using "is, be, would, were, was, are, and, I" in writing really made me question your sanity. The only explanation for your madness was that this was the type of writing I need to do for writing. Truthfully, It's been 5 weeks in college, I highly doubt as an economic major I will ever need to follow those sickening rules for my future papers. Not only did you make that paper difficult but having certain words in a paper don't make it any less credible. You asked for a research paper, but you completely forgot to make sure students understood the "research" part, as an American Government class that paper was only constricting but 8 pages as well. There is no explanation to your madness, it didn't improve the quality of my writing just my chance of a stroke at an early age. 

Sincerely,

Joy Trinh 

Bryson:

Before You Read

3. Technology has changed many things over the years, from laws to ways of communications. But one of the more noticeable changes that has happened throughout this whole process is the change of english and how we all speak to each other. Typically it's not always considered grammatically correct, from the strange combination of words like "y'all" or "ain't". Sometimes it can be a whole new territory for a generation that has thought of grammar as everything. Personally for me, the change of lingo can be difficult, i often have to rely on urban dictionary to find out the new trends in words. I'm often old fashion when it comes to words, so I don't follow lingo as much as other people my age do. Many new words are "brick", that means 'cold' not something you can build a house with. Another popular word is 'mad', but it usually means "many" not an emotion.

Discussion&Journaling 

1. Bryson is challenging the rules of the english language. He questions the origin and all these rules that we all seem to follow yet don't have an explanation for. Why we use certain words the way we do, and why we consider something incorrect grammatically. He questions the definition of words and the way we use them. The way he challenges these rules is questioning them. He brings up points on how english follows latin so much ,then asks why. He really focuses on questioning more than really answering, maybe because there are no real answers for these questions. These 'traditions' of writing have been in bedded into our systems for awhile. 

3. Prescriptive is when we use these rules into our way of writing and speech. Descriptive is the description of these rules that are given to us. A good example would be how we use commas, and the separation of words in a sentences. It gives us a real example of how we're suppose to compose a sentence. Descriptive is already knowing what the use for certain words are. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

1. While reading this article, Bryson constantly brings up the change of the english language. We've used different words for different definitions that sometimes that can be completely random at times. Bryson brings up the idea of how latin is/was such a big part of language now, and now these rules seem to be changing. You see this when people use words like "rofl" or actually say "OMG" in real life. Personally I don't think Bryson is thrilled with the change but he's accepting of it since there is nothing he can do to change it. 

Bernhardt

1. " If we were to encourage students to experiment with visible features of written texts, we would increase their ability to understand and use hierarchical and classificatory arrangements. Because of the opportunities it offers for visual inspection, writing heightens awareness of categories and divisions, changing the way people conceive classificatory relations." (35)

2." The typical classroom essay is composed of sentences which resemble each other in their full, declarative structures, arranged in paragraphs with low visual identity(except for boundaries, signaled by indentation)." (36)

3. "The law of good continuation or good figure also underlies the effect of emphasis in a visible text" (40)

4. "Traditional advice to vary sentence structure or sentence openings to avoid boring the reader or to keep sentences from sounding choppy would be misdirected here, where structural isomorphism must be maintained." (41)

5. " Instead of attempting to base teaching practice on scant and tentative results, we may find it more expedient to view the rhetoric of visual design as an evolving art." (42) 

1.  The quote is something teachers should really keep in mind, Many teachers used the same methods of teaching for their students the same old blackboard with notes, little to no visual features that can help students. Many teachers don't realize their mistakes in teaching but this quote obviously states what they should be doing. Obviously presenting something visually is a whole lot easier than presenting something that's just bland and has nothing attached to it, it also helps students remember easier as well.

2. What's being said has been what I've been forced to do my entire life. The typical classroom essay that teachers use in their rubrics of grading. But sometimes there are things left to wonder about, the fact that it really oppresses any real creativity, every student seems to be using the same format and keeping writing safe verses creative. At the end of the day, these classroom essays that are bland seem to be all teachers want. 

3. The quote lays the law down, what's basically needed for a good communication is what isn't there. What's underneath all the text and the real meaning are the only way there is going to be "good communication". There is no other way that it can happen without it. It's obvious that without any of these traits that the world would be a mess, it's important to realize the true ways of communication.

4. This quote really gives a good solid advice for struggling students, it's important to not have sentences become bland, and it's worth taking a risk to vary the structure of them to get readers interested. Obviously one of the most difficult tasks about writing is keeping readers interested and continue reading your work. But while you are taking risk there are still rules you must follow so it doesn't go too far and ending up sounding like an idiot. 

5. Another quote that gives another piece of advice to teachers about teaching. It states that it's better to accept visual arts into classrooms because again, they have such a huge beneficial way to help students. It's important sometimes to keep an open mind on not only teaching but learning as well. 

New Writing Construct ?

My new proposal for a writing construct is when teachers give students page requirements. I find it a bit irritating and irrational. The idea of making students write "a minimum of 4 pages" or so on is useless. Most of the time students are forced to just lengthen and ramble on in their papers, in which teachers will complain how the student goes "off topic". But if there wasn't a page requirement- there would be no rambling. I believe that students should have the choice to stop writing when they feel their work has meets the requirement of the assignment. Matter of fact what does word counts and minimum pages have to do with the quality of a piece of writing. It baffles me when teachers rather have a 5 page paper with lengthy sentences then a 2/3 page paper that is of quality and meets the standards that were given. That's my new proposed writing construct.

Porter: Pg (86-100)

While reading Porter's arguments, I could help but to personally disagree. With his points it's easy to question what is originality and if everything is just a copy of a copy. But there is such thing as personal thought and opinions. It can be easy to group things as black or white, but when it comes to plagiarism, it doesn't really touch that subject. There is more to just black and white, which is what Porter is saying. His rigorous definitions of what is plagiarism comes to a bit of an extreme, which is something I don't believe in. 

Question Discussion 

4. My views of how writing is evaluated is completely different from Porters. The idea of a 'community' and having no chance is a bit astounding. To me writing should be evaluated in a non-bias way. Even though sometimes there will be some personal views clashing, there shouldn't be such a huge gap that it would be specifically so harsh. Sometimes I do feel the pressure to side with my teacher for some papers i've written, but most of the time I end up writing in what I believed in because of passion. If you're truly passionate in what you write about, then you can easily erase any doubt in your work. Many times, even though teachers have disagreed with my points of view, they still acknowledge my solid points and evidence. Obviously there are always going to be closed minded people that won't accept your writing, but it's key to remember there are educated open minded people around you, willing to accept your ideas as well. 

5. His work cleverly proves his point in a way. He understands that even his own work is based on other's and so on. The principal that all work is not original and has some origin to it. In my opinion he's doing this for the sole purpose to use himself as an example. Even if he's in a textbook, he's still using other information to back his opinions. As you read his writing you recognize his ideas then realize the number of citations he has. In a way he's proven with his own writing that nothing is in fact "original".

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

In porter's idea of 'plagiarism', it's the idea that every single idea that you put down must be your very own. Nothing can have a 'past' to it, it has to be brand new and fresh without any detection or link to anything before it. Anything after that 'fresh' work is considered imitation therefore in Porter's mind, Plagiarism.

In my idea of plagiarism, it's copying word for word. Showing little or no effort to put forth anything new. You are not allowed to claim ownership/workmanship of  anything that is not yours as your own hard work. Everything should be completely cited and noted.   

Basically both are different as I allow that ideas are allowed to be used, and not considered 'imitation'. 

Meta Moment:

Porter's study hasn't truly changed anything in my mind. He makes very valid points and arguments, however I believe he doesn't count any slack to work. Even though there are forms of imitation everywhere in the world, there is still originality out there and to completely banish it is nonsense. I still imagine writers as hardworking people who have a talent in putting their voice into words. Which is not a simple task and can be overlooked completely. Porter shows little or no sense of division on the idea of borrowing and plagiarism. Personally I wouldn't adopt his notion of writers and writing to my writing because I still believe in originality in the world. There are still new fresh ideas and technology out there that can be original. 

Elbow - PG 40-60

Getting ready to read:

1. Facebook has become such a world wide presence from it's easy bait for a social media addiction to the ease of being able to keep up with friends so easily. If now more than ever, Facebook has been woven into our lives, like it or not it's there and there aren't any sign of it going anywhere. From simple connections it has to life such as 'adding' a new person you've recently met to having it's own story on the big screen ( The Social Network). Facebook has undoubtably become bigger than ever expected. But even though Facebook has some positive points, there is also a very negative side. The whole idea of judging someone completely on a Facebook profile. Personally when I look at someone's profile picture, if I see something a bit risque or provocative, I automatically assume they're huge attention seekers. My policy when 'constructing' to my profile is to keep everything private as possible. Making sure that all my statues are never too personal, my pictures are anything my parents would be okay with and most importantly hiding any information that could potentially harm me in the future. Hearing stories about how companies now find their potential employees on Facebook and have a check on them, makes me uneasy. Personally speaking, losing out on a beneficial career opportunity due to Facebook would be devastating. So I make sure to never let that happen at all. If anyone compared the way I act at home and the way I act on Facebook, there wouldn't be much of a difference. Maybe my potty mouth at points, but everything else is pretty much rated pg.

2. Using first person would be a blessing, not just for this particular assignment but all assignments. Personally speaking, most of my time in high school during my rough drafts were taking out the "I"s, however it seems a bit ridiculous to me. With so many limitation in writing, many people are so focused on what they can't write, rather than what they could. Restrictions seem to not only stop at writing but also on the thought process. When I used to write, I would always think "okay so I can't write this, or this… What can I write?". If I was allowed to write the way I felt was better for my papers, then my writing would have been stronger. 

Questions for Discussion and Journaling. 

1. When defining voice, there are many words that seem to come to mind, the main word being "me" . A voice would be a personal opinion, something that might be shared or might not be but easily claimed as your own. Elbow's believes that a voice is something that can be measured. How a person can sound and their writing style. If their writing can really connect to an audience. 

Contrary to Elbow's thought's on 'voice', I have a different idea of what a voice is. Growing up in New York City, I've lived to accept the different voices around me. Everyone seems to have their own, though it may seem similar at points. The voices I seem to become most influenced are my parents', teachers' and peers'. Their voices have always stuck to me, and in a way their voices have influenced mine. Their opinions and thoughts have become part of me, and part of my beliefs. 

Applying and Exploring:

1. Based on my beliefs, to me Sincerity is something that comes from within. Something very genuine and that can not be produced or made to be. Resonance is having a strong and lasting effect. In writing there are very writers that can have both sincerity and resonance. With my experience on writing, I understand it's hard to find Sincerity more than resonance. I can easily reminisce times where I would choose an easy argument to write a debate over than the one I truly believed in. In writing that can happen often, people often forget what they truly believe in and just put down the hard facts. I've encountered resonance more through books and stories, many books have had a strong and lasting effect on me. A good example would be the Harry Potter series, I always felt a personal connection towards the novels. 

I understand the whole concept of having these voices in our writing, not only because of their affect on our grades but on others. The importance of writing is because of the fact that writing has a clear way of sending one idea across to another. The effectiveness of processing one idea to another by words. Sometimes I do struggle writing with Sincerity especially if it's for a 10 page paper. But I don't have as much trouble with Resonance, I believe that everyone can easily make a lasting effect with the right words.

Meta-Moment:

Based on my understanding, academic papers don't have much sincerity. They often aim more for resonance for a higher grade. However there should be some sincerity and passion in what you're writing. But for creative writing purposes I never believed that there should be anything that's forced. It's completely up to the author if they want to include such voices. Creative writing is self-expression the idea of trying to make the writing fit a certain voice is useless. It needs to be there before, and can't be forced on. 

Allen (Pg 29-34)

Summary: This article really describes the idea that writers/writing isn't always what it seems. Not every writer is in love with writing all the time and that writers themselves don't get writers block as well. Allen even admits to the feeling that everyone else feels, the bitterness of being stuck and having nothing to really write or discuss about. The idea that nobody even well respected writers have perfect days on writing. Even though writing isn't always perfect that you should be careful of who is revising your own work. The main idea is that writing is like a sport, there needs to be practice and dedication to work, and without any of that your writing will never be what it could be. 

Getting Ready to Read:

1. A writing construct that often comes up is the idea of plagiarism. When it really draws the line. Most of the time when people think of plagiarism, they think of a college student copying and pasting word for word a paper. But in some instances there will be people that have just read an article and put the the information into "their own words". Yet at some points, it can still be considered plagiarism. The idea of stealing someone's ideas is a question of what is 'original'. Our modern day culture has bloomed from the idea of 'borrowing' ideas. Many students often forget the idea of 'plagiarism' as they're getting inspired off a piece of work they truly admire. Many professional writers themselves use plagiarism, take the hit book "50 shades of grey", the book was originally a twilight fan fiction. One of the best selling books of all time was based on another best selling book, and so on and so forth. The idea is that everyone at a time has plagiarized intentionally or not. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

1. It would be a flat out lie to say that I've never used the method of imitation on high school papers or any of my past writings. Most of the time it was unintentional, I didn't think I was truly doing anything wrong, I still used MLA citing for my sources. Now I'm starting to realize that my approach is a 'shaky' one, it's not something that's taken lightly. However, in my defense when a teacher gives a student a 5 page report that's due off a topic that was never covered in class, it doesn't allow the student much legroom to work with. Especially if the teacher requires fact and no opinions. With facts, it's the idea that is agreed on. There is really no way to "create" a fact without taking an imitation of another fact. I believe that in circumstances of providing proof and facts, that imitations should be allowed. 

Q-D&J:

MM

Throughout high school all my english teachers would talk about these inspired writers. All these perfect writers that have done this and that, all doing it not only seemingly effortlessly but flawlessly as well. When you hear all of these expectation, it can't help but to affect you in such a negative light. Writing long and difficult papers to meet the expectations of teachers is not only tedious but unattainable as well. The idea of a perfect writer that knows what to put in their writing and what to leave out all while being grammatically correct all at once is an almost task to complete. But in reality an 'inspired writer' isn't really someone who's writing is perfection while avoiding writer's block all at the same time. An inspired writer is a person that bases their information and expands on what they're given. Having writer's block and not wanting to write doesn't make or break the inspired writers. The idea of expanding on what's given and running with it, making it their own. That's what an inspired writer truly is.  

Berkenkotter & Murray (Pg 216-235)

Summary: The article itself was about one of the key techniques writers use, which are Planning and Revising. No matter what type of level of writing you may be on, true professionals still go back and look at their work and spend tons of times reviewing and editing. Usually overlooking the importance of such steps are often what cause trouble for writers. 

Question& Discussion. 

1. While reading Murray's writing process I noticed the fact that he often jumps around, he doesn't really stick on one thing for too long. Also while observing his writing style he spoke about planing and the idea of 'framing'. While he was explaining the ideology of planning and revising, I realized that he spent so much time just on revising. It made me wonder how much time he spent on his work. Comparing my writing style to his is definitely different. I've been trained by my english teachers to stick to one thing, and to never jump around. But what I do (like Murray) spend lots of time planning on what's going where (to avoid jumping around) but also revising making sure everything is correct not just grammatically but sense-wise as well. 

3. This study really changed Berkenkotter's understanding of the writing in so many ways. Before she knew that Planning and Revising was important but  she didn't realize the true importance to writing. I think Murray's study really showed the true idea of planning and revising writing in the fullest extent. It shows the idea of going back and forth and so on until the piece of writing has been thoroughly edited in a way. 

AE:

1. Personally when writing, I really spend my time doing my research first so I know what I'm talking about. I thoroughly look into my topic and become involved in it so I know I can give all my effort, then my second step is planning. I take a piece of paper and separate my paragraphs into topics, making sure each paragraph and topic smoothly 'flows' into the next topic without sounding random. Then I start writing my first very rough draft, knowing I'll edit most of it out. When my first rough draft is edited, I often take that draft and do more work on it. Depending on how I personally feel about my work, then it'll be complete. Most people believe that since I'm a freshmen, my level of writing is on a pretty good level. I believe that if I put the most effort and edit/plan meticulously that my writing can be great. 

My level of experience doesn't just rely on the time I've spent writing, but it has also reflected on my pursuit of perfection. As a perfectionist, my level of experience takes more of a toll because I remember the past mistake's I've made on my writing before and take note of that. The level of experience is based on my time spent, and the mistake's I've learned from.

Meta Moment:

Berkenkotter and Murray's reading have shown me quite a good amount of information. One of the most important idea's it's shown me is the importance of planning and revising. Not that I overlooked the importance of it before but I didn't realize how much it affected the quality of a piece of writing. After reading this I'm sure that I'll look into planning more and editing as well.

9/10- McCloud & Berger

McCloud:

Before You Read:

1. My favorite cartoon back when I was kid and even now is Bug's Bunny. The looney toons will forever have a spot as favorite cartoon show.  From all the bug's bunny stuffed animals given to me to my dad buying me the Space Jam movie that has been one of my favorite movies since. I relate to the character easily, Bug's Bunny personality is a bit like mine, his tricky yet nonchalant attitude reminds me of my own. Another feature of his that I can relate to is his 'New York Accent', since I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the accent is something I easily find comforting for some reason. One physical feature that I used to connect with was his buck rabbit teeth, back when my teeth were growing I had buck teeth that I wasn't so fond of, as a kid I found it was easy to relate to bug's bunny not just personally wise but sadly look wise as well.  

2. Children often draw stick figures because of their basic nature. There is nothing easily recognized and drawn than a stick figure. But I do believe that stick figures do show some kind of self-awareness to the basic features people usually have. The simple idea of a circle head with 2 arms and 2 legs makes even the complex human body easy to see. As a child, even now I've not been blessed with a talent for drawing, so I've always drew stick figures to show the basic summary of my point. Drawing stick figures easily shows self awareness because of the idea that it is a type of "self portrait" even thought it might not be descriptive or interesting, it cuts to the basic showing development throughout childhood.

Question for Discussion and Journaling:

1. Adults still really enjoy the simplicity of cartoons because of it's basic nature. Cartoons and nostalgia are kind of tied together in a way. Not only are cartoons easy and simple but they also bring back the memories that might have been buried before. Based on my personal experience I know that when I watch my  favorite childhood cartoons, I always remember watching the same characters that haven't grown while I have. It's something so simple like a cartoon character that can bring back memories of a simpler time, I think that's why adults still find cartoons entertaining. Another reason could be the "interesting factor" take for example the idea of reading a comic over reading chapters of a book. For many people it can be more entertaining watching a cartoon in action rather than reading hundreds of words. I strongly believe that there is no "age limit" on cartoons, there isn't a 'rule' about finding yourself interested in a topic you enjoy. I would think that McCloud would understand that cartoons are still apart of adult's life. The idea that cartoons give a different vibe and representation of a topic can be refreshing for more adults that find reading tiring. 

2. McCloud cleverly uses cartoons to really reel the reader's in. If he put all the information he stated in regular writing textbook form then a lot of the student's wouldn't find his points all that interesting. The fact that he was able to convey his points into a sort of visual representation really did help. It not only proved his points but actually drew in students that usually despise reading and genuinely interested in what he had to say. To be honest if he used an ordinary writing style to  set up his points, not only would students pass it off as a regular essay with no help but also he wouldn't be able to straight out prove the points he was making. Through writing can be helpful, in this case of the point he was trying to make, the idea of cartooning was way more beneficial. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas: 

1. Personally I believe that visual imagery should be highly incorporated with teaching strategies. Not only is visual imagery is an easier to understand for students but it's also more memorable. From my own experience I usually have a higher chance of remembering something from class if it's in a form of visual imagery. From the video clips or even pictures, I think visual imagery should be required in every subject when it comes to learning. There is no specific sort of lesson or subject that would benefit more for it, I believe if every subject used this idea that more students would come out with better grades. 

2. Adults usually say they've grown out of "cartoons" because they have this idea that since children watch cartoons, adults shouldn't. If an adult said he/she watched cartoons, they would be easily perceived as "childish", the media has programmed that idea into many people. I truly believe that if people didn't have so much regard for what people thought or had to say, there would be more adults watching cartoons. But obviously cartoons can not be avoided, such examples include political cartoons found in newspapers and cartoon in advertisements. Cartoons are inevitably found in everyday life with or without permission.   

Berger:

Before you read:

1. Two celebrities I've chosen to compare happen to be the famous Adam Levine, and the infamous Linsey Lohan. Even though both are very different career wise and public perception as well, they do have similarities. Adam Levine is often seen as the typical rugged bad boy and Linsey Lohan is also known to take her walk on the wild side as well. But the difference is the way the media perceives them, Levine (with his successful musical and judge of the voice) career is often perceived as a true "player". With a long list of ex-girlfriends being Victoria Secret Models, he doesn't receive any share of criticism over his obvious promiscuity. While Linsey Lohan with a barely there career is criticized over every bit of her life, from her fashion choices to her reckless behavior. It really makes you wonder, If Levine (a male) did the same Lohan did or vise versa, would the media respond the same way. Often times women are given the benefit of the doubt, a women who is promiscuous can be called harsh names, while males that are known for their fair share are often given praise. Another comparison is personality wise as well, if a women demands she's often called a "diva" by the media. But when a male has demands it's suddenly acceptable and he's considered a "boss". 

Question for Discussion and Journaling:

1. Personally I don't think the artists fully understood the deeper meaning behind what they did. I think a lot of it was self- consciously and without any realization of the affect they had on the idea of "nudity". Most of the time, I believe that the artists often find what they feel is "beautiful", and at that time they truly appreciated the beauty of a women's curve and being. They didn't realize the deeper meaning of placement and how the painting was drawn. Their main goal was just to put what they saw into a piece of canvas. Self-consciously they didn't realize what they were doing exactly, but they did to some extent. I believe that more artist now have put a more deeper meaning towards art then the artist did back then. I think Berger would agree that artist understood what they were trying to put on canvas just not the affect of their work on the future generation.      

2. Back in New York, there would be dozens of billboards filled with scantily clad women posing for a specific company. Most of them being designer perfumes or simple things like fizzy drinks. Even in Ohio, there is still the unfortunate opportunity to view these ads. They're found everywhere, from magazine advertisements to television commercials, there always seems to be this infatuation with the idea of women. Even on covers of highly respectable magazines there will be tons of posed women. This really relates to what Berger is speaking about because of the fact that women are still often pictured the same way. Nobody really photographs an extremely weight lifting muscular women. Instead most women are very thin and look always delicate in mostly all advertisement even if the theme is "sexy". I believe that the portrays in the media about women haven't changed a WHOLE lot, women are still expected to be flawless and delicate but now they're expected to mix that in with sexuality as well. I don't think what the visual media wants have changed for women, instead it's re-vamped and set it's goal's higher. 

Applying and Exploring Ideas:

1. The way that Berger described the paintings of men back then hasn't changed much. Men are still expected to look rugged and muscular , but just in general "manly". Any on looker can see that it's obvious that men have give that role when posing for photos. Even in little J-14 magazines for pre-teens, their idols like Justin Bieber are often posed in a masculine way, showing a strong jawline and tight muscle shirts. But the difference of today and the past is sexuality. The paintings back then didn't really display as much sexuality as it did before. A huge generation gap is the idea that women do have more freedom and say. They're allowed to freely express themselves not just vocally but sexually as well (even if it does get backlash). 

3. It was when Berger brought it to my attention, it was when I realized that even in the happening times, you can see that models are positioned for photo shoots. They are all positioned in some type of sexual way to get the attention of the reader/observer. The main factor of today's photo's of women are to make sure that they show their curves. Showing off their best features and flaunting it in a sexual way. Take Victoria Secret model's for example, they're not poised in any regular way, the photographers obviously have an image about what they're taking a picture of. In today's world, you see a lot of sexuality and obviously photoshop doesn't help with that idea. All photos are airbrushed perfectly, creating this image of what women should be but in reality aren't.   

Reading Response: 9/7

1. What Kleine talks about really lines up with a lot of my personal experiences, from the whole library nightmare to even the simplest problems that most people face when researching for their writings.  Most of my more recent experiences have been with the whole late night library nightmare. Procrastination and being easily distracted don't mix well, and when you have work to do in a short span of time left, theres a ton of cramming. During my high school years, I would always rely on the idea of just googling my topic and then pull up the top 10 links and just re-word the information that I thought I really needed. Kleine mentions that most student's simply don't "write", they simply just 'copy' their work. That I could sadly relate to, but he fails to mention that sometimes that when teachers assign work, it's often difficult to really 'write' with the topics given. Students often have to turn to websites and the information given to them, as teachers often don't cover a topic of an paper fully (in hopes that students will self sufficiently learn by simply writing a paper). But in fact Kleine does describe the way I and most peers have done their research. The idea of looking up information just to re-word it as much as possible. Re-wording , to me used to be considered summarizing which was what I thought the paper asked for. Which usually it does, a large part of a paper is usually a summarization of what you know or what you learned with the research conducted. 

3. Sources play a very big part of the interviews that Kleine interviews, sources give a huge amount to a paper. The sources admitted themselves that they use the idea of reading and then writing. Sources can either break or make an opinion. It's obvious that sources can be a big part of the picture. The idea that sources doesn't always give non-bias factual information. Take fox news as an example, if anyone took Fox News as a credible source for non-bias information, there would a lot more republican biased opinions. Without realizing, I've done exactly what Kleine has talked about, the idea of just searching for the information needed, stopping then writing about it. I didn't realize that it could affect my writing in such a huge way until Klein brought it up. The difference between good solid research and just simply summarizing the work given to you, is the product. The paper written, if done with the right solid research not just summarization will often have more solid work that doesn't just involve a skimpy summary that the teacher has probably read before.  

4. Even though it's difficult to admit, there are changes that needed to be made in order to improve the quality of my papers. During high school, I was often in Honors classes that required 5-8 page research papers that demanded credible information that meshed with a well written paragraphs. Kleine presented the theory of "hunting and gathering" to me, which I found very insightful and could be potentially become useful in the future.  The whole idea of better researching equaling a better paper baffled me at first but as I continued to read Kleine's points, I realized it was needed. In order to have a well written paper, solid research not just summarization is needed. In the future when writing a paper, I will strive to do more research to attain more information and a perfect paper.

Reading Response: 8/29

QD: 

2. In the "of-quoted passage" by Kenneth Burke, Green quotes the statement again because of the example it seems to easily set to readers. The quote itself seems to give a clear understanding of debates and points of views. This metaphor also shows this idea of "sink or swim", that can be completely avoided in a good debate if the right steps are followed. The metaphor is the idea that you're in an environment and sort of 'entering' into a conversation. But not just any type of casual conversation, it's a heated debate that could be on anything from a tv show or politics. It's so heated that nobody can really tell you what's going on so you're forced to just listen and attempt to understand what's going on. Once you figure out what's going on you pick a side and enter the argument. Now this is the key point, you can either have a very good argument and know what you're talking about based on what you heard. Or you can say something that can be easily refuted by the 'opponents'. Once this goes on this idea of 'team's are formed, you answer and someone refutes and vise versa. Even if your argument may be good or bad, it will continue to go on with or without you. 

The way it presents writing is in the sense that your writing and research can go either way. And how every argument you make is involved in a web of connections. Everything you've ever argued about has a connection to a different subject. The way you enter an argument is the same way you should write, it should be knowledgable and clear identifying each issue and situation clearly. 

The  metaphor also challenges the idea of putting yourself out there, throughout the years we've been taught to never put yourself out there only facts. But the idea of writing is that by putting you ideas and a good amount of research out there, it can be considered good writing along with research. 

3. The idea of framing is a strategy that uses the conflicting and different points of view to your advantage in your argument. Say for example you're debating an intense subject of abortion, by using framing you can use the opponent's views as a way of making your point. First by bring it up then basically 'slashing' it and pointing the flaws, so the opponent can't use the argument since you've already destroyed it's point and meaning. If used the right way, framing can be the key to winning an argument because of the intellectual 'sabotage' of information that it helps to boost your own views while 'destroying' others. 

Framing is a big part of Greene's life due to his position as a writer. He not only uses framing during his writings to prove his argument but to shed light to other arguments in a way. Even if he does have to dismiss the argument he still brings a different view point to the picture that might not been seen before. Framing also encourages stating your opinion and making yourself known for your points that might be different from the world's. And by defining your argument, it gives more opportunity for readers to easily understand and respond. Greene also thinks that by using framing it helps writing turn into a way of conversation rather than just words on a page. Lastly, according to Greene, framing is not only a way to organize  the writer's thoughts but the reader's as well.

Framing allows writers to construct an organized and thought piece of writing that contains a clear viewpoint yet bringing up other views to put a clear view into the reader's head. 

AE. 8/29

2. Greene's article itself is an example of a "conversation" with readers. He's arguing the point of how writing and an argument/debate is similar and in order to have good writing you must use key tools such as framing. He frames his argument in his writing by bringing out a clear point that writing is "conversation" and bringing up metaphors to prove his points. By bringing up these metaphors he basically dismisses any type of doubt that readers have about how writing is just writing. He uses the metaphor to prove that in writing (like an argument) you can either 'sink or swim', if you don't have a understand or clear point in your writing, it's not going to be good. Personally I believe that Greene does practice what he preaches, he uses what he encourages students to use when writing. He gives a clear point of view on what he's talking about. He presents the information then continue to prove it's validity.  

I'm not entirely too sure about the writing construct. I'm a bit divided between two topics either Plagiarism or how different educational subjects often clash on how they want their students to write. The whole idea of what a writing construct is confuses me so I'm not sure where to go about. I didn't really find anything because I wasn't entirely sure what I was really looking for. Are there any specific websites where I can find a topic that I can use ? Or do I have to specifically look for one by myself ? I'm still a bit confused about this whole idea !

Topic: Reading As Conversation: using sources

QD.

1. In the writings by Kantz, she proposes that facts are basically claims that are recognized by society as the 'truth'. Such examples that Kantz uses is the idea of how the earth is round, and states that it is known as a fact, however it can change with opinion as many can consider the earth as a more complex shape and not just "round". Kantz is basically saying that 'fact's are just claims that can change with thought or time. Important books such as textbooks and encyclopedias are known for their factuality in reality according to Kantz, they're just agreed 'claims'. 

Kantz also states that opinions have a way of changing facts in their own way. Ideas are always there, and that affects opinions in every way. Most students are usually taught that an agreed and accepted opinion is somehow a fact. 

But part of the whole delicate system of facts and opinions are the arguments that change the way people think. When there are arguments involved there is self questioning and arguing about what the facts might be. Coming to a point that new ideas with thoughts due to arguments can lead to new agreed claims that turn into known facts. 

2. Kantz is constantly stating that students often forget who their source's audience is. Forgetting that it even though it could be factual, it's a better chance that the writer is pleasing it's targeting audience throughout the book. Students often forget the real meaning of a fact, forgetting that facts are basically society accepted claims. Another misunderstanding is due to the fact that many students growing up accepting facts and turning them into arguments that they forget to question what the facts actually might be. 

Overall the list of things students don't really understand/misunderstand is easily relatable. I think I've personally done all the mistakes Kentz has mentioned. From forgetting the author's audience to even the simple idea that facts are just accepted claims. With all the research and science going on, it's often difficult to forget what a fact really considered to be. 

AE

2. Prior to this class I was taught to really keep creativity and research away from each other. That they were both in different areas and there should be no cross between them. Research was to base the information on hard cold facts, and looking up the correct information. On the other hand creativity was very encouraged in certain classes and banned in others. Take Chemistry for example, there was no way that I could find a 'creative' side to it, yet research in chemistry was looked in such a positive light. On the other hand Kentz thinks that creativity and research should go hand in hand. There should be a creative way to turn research into something you can use in a paper. Our ideas certainly don't overlap, yet I still understand where she's coming from. She thinks that in order to write a good paper with solid research, there needs to be a creative way of blending it in with facts. Her way would be perfect for writing subjects but unfortunately I still believe I can not use 'creativity' in certain topics such as chemistry. 

Meta Moment:

A problem that comes up constantly is the 'writer-based prose' where students usually think that 'factual texts' tell them the truth about the topic instead of the arguments there. 

Another one of the constructs that don't work is the rhetorical reading. It can not be used to create great arguments. 

Kantz is analyzing that they all don't all have positive effects sometimes and students need to use them in the correct way when writing. It would be really useful to understand her claims and findings because it could really improve the way we write our essays , and how we research in the first place.