The Role of Audiences - Fulwiler

As I started reading this, I agreed with a lot of the points. I liked the idea that we generally learned how to distinguish between audiences at an early stage but only with oral language because we use it much more often and essentially are continuously practicing it. At the bottom of page 173 is where I was not to pleased. Ha. "However, as an individual writer, you can make choices that will influence this difficult audience positively -- especially if you understand that most of your instructors are fundamentally caring people."

I do not agree with that statement at all. For the most part, before I entered graduate school, I hated most of my teachers. They just did not seem to give a shit about what they were teaching or whether or not the content was of any value or whether or not we truly understood anything. From middle school to my last years of my Bachelor's, I had so many teachers that really were not fundamentally caring. I think this should not even be mentioned in the writing. If anything, I'm pretty sure a student can gauge whether or not a teacher cares about them simply by how they treat them. I know it says "most." But even that is pushing it.

Anyway. The rest was pretty agreeable. I like the part discussing how you should ask for a certain kind of feedback and how teachers enjoy reading things or learning new things etc. I used to grade papers for a couple of instructors and I would definitely get bored reading the same thing -- but I sometimes blame the teacher for making such closed prompts that the results will most like not vary.

This whole post seems very anti-teacher and I do not mean to be. Just in general, not everyone has the opportunity to have a great instructor so I think that should also be accounted for very explicitly.

Turning off my biases

From 12 Readers Reading

While reading Donna's persuasive essay on prayer  in schools, I found that my hyper-liberal, progressive critic emerged and pushed the composition instructor to the margins.  Besides the errors in writing, she was just flat out wrong in so many of her points. If she was my student, I can see how it would be challenging to conference with her and leave my  personal bias out of the conversation. I also wondered: if the essay mirrored my beliefs, biases and prejudices, would I be as diligent in finding errors in arguments.

Blog #7- Writing a Lit Autobio...the aftermath

So this was an interesting assignment. I don’t like talking about myself or writing in first person, so most of the steps with this paper were a struggle. I tried writing it in third person and justified it as a stylistic choice, but I quickly realized that wasn’t going to work—so I took a break and talked to my dad. We discussed some of the games we remembered watching together and recent events involving racism on the pitch. Particularly Dani Alves, a Brazilian Barcelona player (probably one of the best players that the team currently has) who experienced racism on during a game—fans of the opposing team threw bananas at him when he ran to the corner to convert a corner kick. This conversation spark a lot of new ideas, so I moved away from some of the stuff I came up with in class and tried re-framing my lit autobiography around some of the events that my dad and I discussed. Usually, the my writing process is solitary and contained to brief online conversations with Jennifer where I ask, “Hey I’m thinking about writing this?” and she’ll respond, “yeah that sounds good.” With narratives, I usually talk them out with Jennifer, but this was a personal story, so I wasn’t overly willing to share until it was complete. She read my draft during class, but after I spoke to my dad I felt a lot more comfortable asking her advice, so I went from there. 

Blog #7: Post-Process

I think that unlike my formal essays this literacy autobiography was easier in some ways to write. I think that I was alleviated by the fact that I didn't have to synthesize information and try to sound smart. But I was left astray because I couldn't rely on critics or texts. I couldn't hide behind my academic voice. This literacy autobiography required me to rely on my memories and be honest. This made me uncomfortable. Because the class forced me to work on my project beforehand, I had some material to work with before I had to finish it. I had a running start and a direction. I think that what this project forced me to do was confront my personal inside voice and use it. Unlike my younger SI students who are much more comfortable asserting and inserting their voice in their academic work, I've been trained out of it. I can write an academic essay (perhaps not as well as in previous semesters), but creative works not so much. I can orally develop stories, I can talk about characters with my writing partner--Brenda, but I can't seem to physically get myself to write them down anymore. I think in some way I am afraid of being completely honest, and of being exposed. And, I think the solution is just to write.

Reflection on Lit Auto-bio (it's sappy, but true...)

Looking back on my lit autobiography I’ve been thinking a lot about how lucky I am that I had my 7^th grade teacher.  She fired me up to do the best I could in school.  She is indirectly responsible for me overcoming my dyslexia because of her AR assignments which triggered my mom to get me books on tape. When I think about this and where I’m at now I can’t help dropping a big F bomb thinking about how my life could be VERY different right now if my series of events did not happen.  That scares me because I could be something disgusting like a Math major or something super lame like an underwater basket weaver. Anyways, the project had me thinking about all of the amazing teachers I’ve had on this journey of education and overcoming my dyslexia.  I’ve had so many fantastic English teachers that put me on the path to my MA and though my autobiography only covers one of these amazing teachers I have many of them to thank.  Like I can’t stress how much I would not be in an MA program (let alone for literature and rhet/comp) if I didn’t have a series of amazing English teachers that really pushed me into this field.  I just wanted to read books so I took as many English classes as I could.  Before I knew it I was being told that I was doing a good job in these classes.  I never thought I’d excel in reading in writing as a kid, but here I was with so many different teachers believing in me.  The next thing I knew I was going to my *back up school* CSUDH because Harbor College FORGOT to send CSULB my transcripts, and this is one of the greatest things that happened to me.  This series of events lead me to an MA program at a school that fits me so perfectly.  Ok I know I’m going way off track now.  What I’ve been really been meaning to say is this project helped me connect a lot of dots about education as a whole and not just one aspect of learning to read, and when I look back on everything I’ve learned from then to now, I am humbled by my experiences and grateful I had them.

Literacy Autobiography and Process Writing Reflection

Prepare yourselves for some stream of consciousness writing. Okay. So. When I was originally writing the paper, I was at a loss. I wrote all of my ideas down in class. I did a bit of free writing. I even managed about 4 pages of a rough draft. However, after reading it I realized that my paper was complete and utter trash. This was a blessing in disguise because after taking some time to reflect and tap some of the resources available to me – e.g. the examples, peer feedback, some introspection – I was able to write a whole new draft. In a way, writing the original draft allowed me to purge myself of all the garbage writing that was clogging my creative arteries. I believe that my process needs tweaking in a lot of areas: I need to learn to get all distractions like cleaning and cooking out of the way first; I need to sit down and write for a dedicated number of minutes at the minimum; and I need to not dwell on the fact that writing absolute garbage is Okay as long as I revise it later on. Revision is the key to success, but I did not revise any of this post.

I really surprised when I read the journal of Haswell because he mentioned that some reader rate the essay lower when they know that the writer was of their own sex. Also at the same time, I confused how can I know as a writer that my writing was judged by my gender or by my ability.

Blog #6: Invention Blues--Is it supposed to feel like this?

While reading Rose this past week, I was amused by his students’ stories and their problems with writer’s block. I know I have encountered a number of these issues when writing myself. This last week, though, I had paper for one of my lit classes. I was having trouble starting it, so I did my usual thing: write out the prompt, underline the question, list a few things. But something happened. Well, actually nothing happened. I couldn’t start writing. I blame all the readings we’ve done in this class. I was sitting in the SIL tutoring room, frustrated and annoyed, listening to one of my colleagues help a student with her essay when I decided to start clustering—couldn’t hurt, right? I figured I needed a big map, so I tried it. I started seeing relationships between the examples that I needed to use form. At some point I wrote a rudimentary thesis statement in the corner somewhere. I’d argue that my process, thus far, has been a myriad of rules—which include procrastination. Like Rose’s student, Martha, I like structure—even a messy structure, so I was never drawn to clustering. I don’t what grade I will get, but I finished the paper. I was a lot more confident when I was planning it than when I wrote it, so the readings lied –insert angry emoji here-. Is that normal? Did I miss a step? I certainly didn’t do as much of the invention work as I did for the literacy autobiography, but when I was done with my paper, I didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction with the end product. 

Blog #6: Blockers

I'll admit, I only understood about half of Mike Rose's essay. The technical details of his clinical frame flew over my head, but what I did understand was the struggle he described his students underwent because of writer's block. I felt sympathy with the students who suffered severe forms of writer's block because like them I used to have a strict code of writing. In high school and early in my college career, like Sylvia, I believed that I had to craft the best introduction in order for the rest of my essay to succeed. I don't exactly know why I decided to break this habit because nowadays I simply write to quotes and my introduction is usually the last piece of my writing projects. I think the change occurred in my last two years of undergraduate college when a professor pointed out that my paragraphs were too long and I needed to break them up into smaller more focused paragraphs. This comment completely shook and shifted my writing paradigm. I didn't know what the professor meant, nor did I have an intimation of how to accomplish the task set before me. I think, at the time, I was still beholden to the five paragraph essay. I felt that I needed to fit my analysis and argument into this neat structure. However, as my ideas became more complex, my paragraphs became longer. Breaking the mold was hard, but I think that one comment broke the preset rules I had stored in my mind, so that I became much more flexible in my writing process. I still like the five paragraph essay, I still use it, but I am willing to abandon it should the project abandon it.

The stress and anxiety of writing

Not really sure what this blog is, it's more of a way to help me process my own issues with the comps I'm having right now.

This blog is for me today.  I’m concerned with the mental trauma and stress we impose on our students and the hoops we make them jump through.  Currently I’m having night terrors and massive anxiety attacks over the Comprehensive Exams, and writing is something I think I’m pretty decent at.  This leads me into the stress placed on students learning to write.  If I can barely keep myself together for a writing exam while knowing what I’m doing then how is a student that’s not a strong writer fairing?  I understand we need to test the limits of their comprehension of the materials, but I feel this stress is more damaging to mental health, and more likely to lead to a drop out than learning the writing process. I don’t have the answers to this, but I feel there has to be something out there regarding the mental state of students when it comes to writing and being examined.  How do we as educators make it to where a grade is important, but it’s not the be all end all “thing” of their academic career. When a student just wants that C- to get through the class or to pass the Comps to get their MA, how do we keep them from wanting to leave when their stress is pushed to the limits?   My stress is at its limits and I want to give up most days and I’ve been doing academia for a while now, it’s hard for me to imagine undergrads or freshmen being able to handle this stress and anxiety in a healthy manner while maintaining retention rates. 

Writing, Revision, and Writing

The readings for this week were diverse, to say the least. While Brodkey’s article was too long for my taste, there was definite gold in that mine. One such knowledge nugget is the following quote: “At issue is the unquestioned power of a pedagological authority that insists that teachers concentrate on form at the expense of content.” As a teacher, I see this far too often with middle-school children. What they’ve written commands less attention than how it was written. My favorite quote is this one: “Discursive resistance requires opportunities for resistance.” I believe that line is powerful, and no, I’m not going to explain why. Beyond that, Harris and Rose share in different, albeit repeating themes of readings thus far. They both explore ways to be flexible in writing – don’t allow rules to bind you! – and to use revision for more than shuffling your vocabulary – try changing your content!

In Trainor journal, I want to say that person's writing is affect by the person's thought, gender, and environment.

Blog #5: Lindemann and Rewriting

Rewriting, Lindemann writes that the term is often thought of as "dirty" (189), and I think that is true. Specifically, Lindemann's assertion students only see rewriting as "...rewording, approaching the process with what she calls a 'thesaurus philosophy of writing' (190) rings true to my own process. I think I approached rewriting as "rewording" as Lindemann suggests because I was so hesitant to destroy hours of work and to get rid of words that might not help my argument. Even now, whenever I write I keep an open word document for orphan sentences, words, or paragraphs. I guess, I just want a place for my words to live even if I don't use them all the time. Yes, I still use the thesaurus to find the right words when I write a paper, but I don't necessary abstain from deleting or excluding passages that I have spent hours on. I think at this point of my writing process, my mind immediately begins to look for a shape and a form for how I want to present my work. As a child, I think my revision process was a solitary one, or one that I only shared with close friends (by which I mean one). I hated the peer editing process. I didn't like having other people 'edit' my work, or more specifically I feared other people 'judging' my work. Even today, as a supplemental instructor, I constantly hear students hate peer editing because they don't trust the grammar editor credentials of their fellow peers. If this is the case, then how can we make peer editing more productive? Why do we insist on using this strategy? Should we just follow the strategies from Elbow-Belanoff? Center of gravity? Pointing? Sayback? Metaphorical Feedback? If these strategies were effective, why are students not familiar with them already? What's happening in the elementary, middle, or high school English classroom where peer editing was enforced and thus, soured students' mouths? I think there is some value in these strategies, but I would like to see examples and concrete activity models of how these are used in the classroom. More than that, how did I change from looking to reword passages to looking for shape for my formal writing process? When and how does this change occur in a student?

Blog #5: My Process and Some Elbow/Belanoff Stuff

Elbow and Belanoff outline a number of different ways to respond to someone’s writing in Summary of Ways of Responding. Although they all seem fairly accessible, I am wondering if they really work when an instructor assigns a Peer Review? The “No Responding: Sharing” option is interesting, but it seems like the reader/writer would know what to listen for when they are reading the paper out loud, so does this strategy work for an ESL student? I’ve used the “Descriptive Responding” option before, but I have found that it’s a double edged sword because students sometimes feel like they’re put on the spot. When the student is receptive to feedback, they’ll be okay, but when they fear criticism, this option seems to further intimidate them (but maybe I did it wrong O_O).

My Writing Process—a bit more thought out

As for my own writing process, I apologize for misunderstanding last week’s blog entry, I usually begin by creating a rough/basic outline of the main points of my discussion. I’ll do one or two bullet points to help me remember any important pieces of analysis that I need to incorporate. 

If I have a prompt, I need to type it out myself—I feel like it helps me process the question better and I delete parts of it when I feel I have address it in my essay. This might be more psychological? I don’t know, maybe I’m a kinetic learner? -insert thinking emoji here-

A lot of the time though, I will write entire paragraphs by hand before I type them up, usually my first draft is composed of different bits of paper with a few sentence scribbled out somewhere (I usually think of these as my nuggets of brilliance, even though most of the time these turn out to be utter b.s). Once I’ve typed up my scribbles, I type up quotes—both primary and secondary sources. I type an arrow (—>) and write my analysis/discussion sentences. Like my initial scribbles, I usually have more than 1 Word Document open as I work in pieces and at some point, I cut and paste everything onto 1 WordDoc. I do a lot of editing as I write, I’ll be honest, I usually think a lot about what I’m going to write, then write the scribbles, but when composing the final draft it’s more like I vomit onto the page the night before. I don’t like free writing, but I use listing quite a bit. I have only recently started clustering, and it’s been okay. I like the bubbles, they make me feel like I’m drawing instead of writing. 

Blog #5 - I, think.

In regards to the writing process, the Straub and Peer Response readings go hand in hand. As a teacher and writer, I have some qualms about group work. However, after reading these two, and working together in class, I can see how it can be productive at all levels. Personally, I believe that the peer response group activity works best during the early- and final drafting stages. I also think that reading papers as Readers more than anything is good for encouraging writers, but seems to fall short in classes where there are more syntactical or grammatical issues than those of content. As with partaking potions pertaining to pleasure, all must be in moderation.