Sponsors of Literacy

Before you read: Having newspapers, articles on politics, world news, libraries, and the support system of going to college. Those who give the reasons as to why someone is a good reader are typically adults or well known authorities figures in the community. The reasons a person is usually a good reader is because of the content or if it is well written about the topic at hand depending on the audience as well.

Summary: In her article "Sponsors of Literacy", Deborah Brandt attempts to show the reader that people do not just become literate and she also explains what exactly helps educate people to be literate. She argues that professors are the ones who educate us and help us absorb the knowledge to become a literate individual.

QD: People who are listed under the category as a "literacy sponsor" would be; older relatives, priests, supervisors, military officers, editors, and influential authors. They are usually powerful figures who are rich, more knowledgeable, and contain relationships with those who follow them. They give credit and resources but also benefit to their success as well.

AE: I've never head any books banned in my library at school. They were supportive to all sorts of reads and understood that they are pieces of literature and are needed to be appreciated in that sense. There has never been particular books or authors that was ever put up on a higher account to others. The teachers would discuss what they liked and thought that we would enjoy them.

Opinion: This article wasn't all too bad in the text of how we learn to be literate. It was an extremely long text so it took me a while to read it because I wasn't that into it. I wasn't much for what the literary sponsors were, but it did make me reflect on how I came to be educated today. Everything has an influence on how we think about everything so I really liked reading it and thinking about all the different influences in our lives.

Dawkins & Bryson

Summary

Dawkins: In his article "Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Tool," John Dawkins talks about the very basics of punctuation. He argues that punctuation is very important when writing sentences and how it effects the reading of that sentence. He goes into depth of punctuation rules and how to use them.

Bryson: In his article "Good English and Bad", Bill Bryson attempts to teach us about how the English language is extremely complex and confusing. He argues that our grammar originated from the Latin language and that because it is hardly used in today's time, that we have trouble understand how to use it in the correct way.

Synthesis
Both of the author's discuss punctuation and grammar in their articles. They discuss how you use them properly and in the correct way. Dawkins goes more into the basics of punctiation and how it is used whereas Bryson goes into the origin of our grammar.

Questions for Discussion and Journaling
Dawkins: I usually think of punctuation as if I was trying to publish a book. Knowing how it is used and where it needs to go comes naturally for me, but sometimes I must rethink and see where exactly it needs to go. Dawkins' writing didn't effect much of how I view punctuation because I knew that it plays a big role in how a sentence looks and how it is read.

Bryson: Perspective in the context of teaching grammar would be how a teacher explains to the class how an assignment should be done according to how they see fit. Descriptive in the context of teaching grammar would be how teachers explain a work without giving a biased opinion, but just going into detail of what it is about. I was taught in a Perspective stance because my teachers would always have us do assignments in the way they wanted it to be done without much creativity and following the guidelines that they have created for students to follow.

Opinion: I didn't really like these articles all that much. Dawkins' article was just boring in text and reminded me too much of someone teaching a punctuation class compared to writing more about it. The examples he gave were good, but I just didn't particularly like it compared to Bryson's. Bryson's caught my attention because he taught me about how the words in our language were so very complex when I didn't think they were that hard. He also gave information about Latin and I have always wanted to learn more about that language.

Seeing The Text

Summary: In his article "Seeing The Text", Stephen A. Bernhardt attempts to explain to scholars and writers that using visual text as well as written text will help students better understand what they are reading. He argues that using the visuals in writing a paper helps organize the writing and make the transitions smoother.

Synthesis: This article relates to Scott McCloud's article because he discusses how icons and images give people better comprehension over the reading. Visuals give people something to relate to and to look at while still reading the text. They're more engaged in the reading rather than just focusing on words and words alone.

1) The advantages would be that it gives a clue or idea as to what the next section of the reading will be about. It creates a good transition from one topic to the next. Visuals in headings would be appropriate to use when your paper has a great deal of information and it breaks it down for you and gives a better directive as to what is being said. The writer can then look back to the visual and carry on with their writing.

2) I feel like I write the same papers because they are organized in the same fashion every time. There is nothing to give it any spice. With the visuals, it gives flavor and as the old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words". Bernhardt would recommend my doing this in putting the visuals in my text to grasp the interest of my readers and to help my organization of an essay.

This article is helpful for me because I understand that visuals can still be included into essays. I was always under the impression that when writing papers, you're not allowed to use pictures or graphs to use for a "filler" in space. I'd still be a bit timid before I would use a visual unless I knew it would be useful. I was a great public speaker in my class and I was able to apply visuals to my power points, but putting it in text will be a bit more difficult for me to get used to.

Intertexuality and the Discourse Community

Before Reading: I first start off with reading material, teacher's assistance, then the internet.  My idea's I receive are mainly from my teacher's and sometimes from my family members. After taking in their help, I put it to use and seek feedback from fellow friends and different family members who have had nothing to do with my paper.

Summary: In his article "Intertextuality and the Discourse Community", James E. Porter attempts to explain to the reader what intertextuality is and how it has been used in other important documents, specifically the Declaration of Independence. He argues this by using Jefferson's Declaration and showing specific examples as to how he's a great "creative borrower".

Synthesis: This article is like Sarah Allen's "The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer" because in her work, she goes on about imitation writing styles and how it can better your writing abilities. In Porter's work, he shows how there is a lack of originality in the papers because of the intertextuality people use in the work by borrowing other ideas from other people.

QD
4: The way acceptability seems to be more important in texts actually shocks me. To have an effective writing piece, I understand how there has to be other who would be swayed into reading it, but you need to have a certain foundation and build in the writing. My writing has always been evaluated on structure and the basics and was never used for acceptance.

5:  Porter, in my opinion, showed that his work reflect the principle's he's writing about. He goes into great detail about how they picked up on past work and placed them into whatever it was they were using. Whether it be commericals, documents, or magazines. He provides examples of what was used and points out where you can find the intertexuality in them. He gives the names of people he uses in his article and writes more elaborately on what they mean.

A&E: The best way to avoid plagiarism is to not just take different writings and put them into your paper from different sources and call them your own, but elaborate on what it is that they are saying. The main difference between my version of plagiarism and the original is that I say to elaborate on the meanings of what it is the authors are trying to say. Leaving it as is and turning it in is just taking paragraphs that are cleverly put together that flow well, then turning it in as your own work.

MM: Porter's article doesn't change the way I view writers and writing in any slight bit. In a sense, it doesn't change the way I write, but it does. The only reason as to why my writing would be different, would be the elaboration I would put into my paper instead of the simplicity.

Opinion: I thought that how he put his writing could be confusing and could show others that he may not be practicing what he was preaching, but I had to re-read it a few times to understand how he was actually writing his article. He was showing how others were doing the intertexts and how they lack original ideas with an explanation. He didn't just leave it as other works, but he included what he thought and what he discovered by reading other articles as well.

Elbow and Friends

Summary: In his article "Voicing in Writing Again: Embracing Contraries", Peter Elbow attempts to explain that using your in-thought voice is very important because it helps you comprehend what you're reading in a better way. He argues that by hearing what you are reading, are able to understand what you're saying more effectively and can help improve the students article.

Connections: Elbow's article is the same as Greene's Argument as Conversation. When he was talking about how conversations are between two or more people and having the knowledge over something and knowing when to chime. With the inside voice, you are taking time to yourself to think of you information and go over it before you respond to something someone else says. With the using voice, you go over what you're saying as if you are reading the information from your head.

1) By reading aloud what I'm saying, I get a better and stronger understanding because I'm actually reading it and listening to what I am saying. I'm not just hearing it, but grasping the words on paper. Ear training has effected my hearing in a much better way. As a child learning to read, I heard what they were saying and it helped me pronounce words better. I was able to learn words and understand pronunciation in a stronger sense than others. Practicing reading out loud also helped me focus more on what I was reading. It should always be used so you can focus more on what you're saying. You should use it whenever you are trying to grasp something and you're having trouble understanding what exactly it is.

2) Yes, he is playing the "doubting and beliveing" game. If you neglect one side of an argument, you won't be able to counter argue whatever they say. So you should take in both sides so you can determine what side you are playing for then engage in the conversation like in anything else. It gives you a better understanding of what is going on. To stop the tension, you make one side feel like they've lost and the winner having the last laugh. Keeping the tension going will give them a better feel that they're still able to come back with more to say and that gives them a chance of creating a better argument or even possibly discovering something new.

Opinion: The read for me was interesting because I could relate to what he was saying and could agree to it. I have learned that from first hand experience and I've never doubted it. I would use it to read whenever I was in a very loud area and I couldn't concentrate. Out of the three readings, Stephen Kings was my favorite because I could relate to him. The fact a book or novel and take your mind and travel to different places, stir your emotions, and gets you to the point where nothing else matters and you're in your own world, that's absolutely the greatest feeling in the world. To step aside from your boring life and take an adventure somewhere that isn't home.

Allen & Berkenkotter

Before You Read: For starters, as soon as I read what lied in the quotations, I felt this sudden feeling just drop inside of me. As a person who has experienced death at 16 years old due to the passing of my fellow students, the thought of explaining it is horrifying. Then again, how can you explain what death is to a child when you can't answer the following questions they have when they basically are your own, depending on what you believe in of course. If I were to explain to my soon to be ten year old brother what death was, my best way to explain it was that a person's life ends when their body shuts down and can no longer work when they are older. Younger deaths can occur due to whatever they choose to do to themselves or a severe accident that ends the life which still shuts down the bodies functions. It wasn't hard to write, but seriously thinking on it was just a reminder that death happens and it is hard to explain to others if they don't understand or they have questions that follow. As humans, we don't really know for sure what happens after we die. That is a question that, in my eyes, can never and shouldn't be answered.


In her article "The Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer", Sarah Allen attempts to explain how to write a good paper by imitating the writings of other authors to help improve writing styles as a student aiming to better their writing.  She argues that by observing your writing and having writer's you consider to know what they are doing help revise your papers can improve your writing and help you find the connection you are looking for to make your paper better.

In her article "Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer", Carol Berkenkotter attempts to explain how by planning, revising, and editing your paper, you will be able to write articles more effectively by spending a great amount of time on all three topics. She conducts an experiment where she has Donald M. Murray say his thoughts aloud without analyzing what he is saying so she can figure out how others go about writing their papers and narrowing it down to what it is this subject does to make them more effective.

Synthesis: Berkenkotter's article relates to the same as Kleine's because both of them use other scholars to conduct experiments to test their theories. Both experiments have the soul purpose of hoping to better students writing and improve their papers.

QD 3: The study helped Berkenkotter's  understand of writing processes because it showed that you need a large amount of time to plan, revise, and edit papers so that they are written to the best of their abilities. With partial response from Murray, he even stated that he now realizes that articles take over a year to actually be a complete piece of work.

A&E: My time spent on writing is usually in one setting. I compose an outline of what I'm wanting to write through the 5 paragraph essay and simply begin to write. My level of writing is literally at the high school level. When reading my papers, they sound smart, but I feel like they are on a simple level of writing. The writing process reflects my experience on writing because I don't seriously take a whole lot of time when going over it. It's alright, but nothing to special. Mediocre would be the best word for the time I spend on the writing.

MM: To help write more effectively, I need to start by spending a lot more time planning my writing so I can create a better paper. The time period spent on what I'm going to do is the key to an effective paper.

I didn't really like the article with Berkenkotter. It was just really hard to comprehend what she was saying and doing and it was just a hassle for me to read. When I tried to reread it, I still had a hard time following what she was saying. Allen's article was easier to follow in because she could openly say how she bettered her writing and the exact words of how to do it.

Berger and McCloud Reading

Berger- In his article "Ways of Seeing", Berger talks about women and men and how they both differ from one another. Women perceive their presence as a more internal view as well as some external, by appearance, actions and words, while men base their presence of an external force, their power. He argues how nude paintings in earlier times portray the views of them and how it is not only being used today, but how women continue to see themselves and how they believe everyone else sees them.

McCloud- In Scott McCloud's article "The Vocabulary of Comics, he explains to the audience how our mind focuses on multiple things at a time and yet we still know what they are. He aruges that icons can represent different things to each individual because our mind perceives  things differently according to the person. By using the comic book format, he allows a simple idea to reach out to people so they can pay attention and understand what he is trying to discuss in a better, more easier way.

Synthesis- Both Berger and McCloud's articles discuss visual art, but they also go into detail about how our minds perceive art and how we connect to it. In Berger's article, he explains to us how women and men view themselves and what they go by. The current surroundings, the deeper meaning within themselves, how they personally view themselves, and how others view them. The mind generates ideas to influence what we do and how we perceive other things and ideas. McCloud goes into the simplest way of getting an idea across to people by doing it with pictures. Using the visual, it still creates a certain way for people to view what is going on and how they should take it. Their mind still perceives a certain view, but it's all in how the artist made it. Both of the articles include the visual aspects to get the point across of what they are trying to say.

Q&D
1) McCloud uses the comic book format to convey his ideas because it is a fairly simple way for people to understand what they are reading. They can look at the pictures and understand what is going on while also reading about it in the word bubble. His points would only suffer because his article is about how a simple idea can be picked up on by any person. Using pictures and words,

2) Berger has explained how men and women are different due to society's thoughts on their image. How women are portrayed in today's society are genuinely different, but are still the same. This generation of women are seen in a negative or insecure manner. They do see themselves in a different way, but because of advertisement and what society believes a beautiful woman should look like, it turns their thoughts sour. Back then, they were more seen as a well rounded figure with more meaning to them. They had internal thoughts, yes, but they also took in everything that they did to send out a certain message about them and not just by appearance.

3) I believe you assigned us to read these articles to show that writing isn't the only way of telling a point. Using the visual effects is also a way of getting a point across to people and help them understand what they are saying much easier. It's not just a textbook, novel or article. It's just a more intriguing way of getting people to read.

Opinion- I really loved reading this. I have always been a big fan of how people in society are so easily influenced by others opinion. The way our mind perceives certain images or think accordingly to how we see something is just amazing. We usually have a general idea as to what everyone thinks, but how they really take it in is something beyond our grasp and that is why I found it fascinating that even back then, the thoughts are the same as ours today only slightly different. The only negative thing about McCloud's article is how it kinda makes me think that maybe some people are just lazy and the only thing they really look for is pictures and not what's in the text. That was the only down siding thought to both of the article's.

Project #1

     Like most of the students, I did decide to go with the 5 paragraph essay. My reasoning for that would be because that is what I was first taught even when I began writing papers. I want to go more in depth over what it is to see if maybe teachers back where I'm from could even use a better way of telling future students on what structure they could use.

Library

     The videos about Alden library show that there are 7 floors with different functions inside the building. You may check out and use anything that they have in there, but you are not allowed to take them outside of the building. One area that's not inside Alden, is Gliden Hall where they have cds, magazines, and anything else that involves music.
     I already knew most of this information, but I only had a brief understanding of it. Watching the videos gave me a more in depth experience of what does on in our library.

Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively

Before Reading: One of the recent arguments I've been in where it was resolved happened only because we had looked up the research from the internet using multiple sources. They never really had a comeback with the argument so that was how they knew the battle was lost. Due to the lack of knowledge for a returning argument, it was merely left alone, but not really solved.

Summary: In her article ,"Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively", Margret Kantz attempts to explain to the audience that they shouldn't read textbooks as mere stories and also how they need to find a strong way of writing an original argument. She argues that by assuming of

Q&D: Kantz says that facts are what they are read out to be. Just truth in statements with no swaying opinions. Opinions, on the other hand, are what you as an individual develop by observing and seeing what the facts have been given to and you make it out to be whatever it is you see it as. Arguments is the clashing of the opinions, but lack value when neither party has a way of supporting their views.

Kantz says that students don't know how to read articles which can play an important role when writing a paper. It can also be a problem for students when they are trying to write a paper in an organized fashion. From my own personal experience, I see where she is coming from because I would read the text and not really comprehend what it was over and then when I would write the paper, it would be difficult and would fold creating an invalid paper. I am able to connect with her writing because she is very thorough with the ways how students see and overview their papers. With my friends, we would look at each other's work to see if it made sense and we would get different responses over the same general topic.

A&E: The relationship between creativity and research weren't really close in writing as I've grown to learn in high school. With research papers, we don't really have a creative way to write when it has to be over facts and facts alone. The only real creative thought would be what we would have to write over, if we were able to chose what it was over. The ways how we overlap in our ideas would be how we both believe that creative thinking is an essential part to writing. Without any creative aspects to your writing, it creates a boring paper and ceases to catch anyone's interest. Also, you can't have an original argument if you lack a creative mind. Kantz doesn't really influence my writing because I already knew that creativity and interest catches attention or at least a second glance when it comes to a good read.

Margret Kantz has given me a better outlook on research papers. She explains in detail how other students usually write, but she also tells us that that's okay. Since I started writing research papers, it's typically the same thing over and over again with no real feeling in my writing. She's basically saying that I need to put my mind to work to create a more interesting paper. After reading this, I'll be able to take more papers into consideration and figure out how I will be able to write a well written and original research paper.

I will be doing my first project over the 5 paragraph essay. I've always used it to write my work so I figured why not go more in depth as to why I've always used it.