1. Rosenburg discusses how academic publications won't use sensory language, suspense and other literary methods to keep you hooked on what you're reading. I would like to know if Rosenburg's article is considered academic? I assume it would be because most of the articles we read are. But even for a academic publication I feel like she does a really great job of keeping the attention of the audience; atleast she has kept my attention. The reason I ask is because if it's possibly to make academic publications more intriguing to their audience why would you not attempt to do so. If they're academic publications then they want us to learn from them but they expect us to continue reading something that lacks any "zest" per say.
2."Unless the reading is billed as a review or a synthesis, the only way
that an academic text can even get published is if it claims to argue
something new or different." I have seen so many books out there, that seemed and I assumed to be saying the exact same thing over and over again. Why do we need so many books stating the same thing over and over again? How do they justify if these books get to be published? If one sentence of the entire book is a new idea or concept but the rest of the ideas and arguments are old, it can still be published.
3. Is this text a different type of academic text from the others we have read? I felt the organization, explanations and discussion that Rosenburg used were much easier to understand and she really wanted to help us understand what she was saying. Compared to Greene's framing and arguments where there was no organization, he bounced form issue to argument and in the end I had no idea what he was talking about. Why would all scholars not write in this format is my questions. Especially if they're writing for the college audience.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Informal Writing: Argument as Conversation/Stuart Greene
In his article Arguments as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument, Stuart Greene attempts to analyze the importance of arguments in society and explain the concept of framing to young writers. He points out that arguments and framing are critical strategies to research and writing by analyzing Rodriguez use of The Use of Literacy, a parlor metaphor and other examples.
When I first began reading this excerpt from Greene's book, I saw no straight forward comparisons to any of the other articles that we have read before. I kept asking myself how this excerpt about arguments and "framing" things have anything to do with Allen's The Inspired Writer or Lamott's Shitty First Drafts. Then Greene started discussing how this young boy Rodriguez, a nonnative speaker just wants to put himself in the mainstream for the sake of his education. Rodriguez struggles to cope with school and home. Rodriguez finds Hoggart's book The Use of Literacy and identifies with it. He uses the book to help understand his situation and at the same time advance his ideas as well. Greene goes on to explain how other peoples text can serve as tool for helping you to say more about your own ideas. At this point I was starting to think that this storyline sounded slightly familiar. In Allen's article, she talks about how she uses Bizzell's work as a guide to her own work and she can even she the influence of this authors work has own her own. Because these authors are becoming a tool and a guide to other authors I would definitely consider these author's, Bizzell and Hoggart, to be literacy sponsors, especially in these situations. Both Allen and Rodriguez are extremely influenced by the authors and I think if a person influences your life or your own work that much they should definitely be considered a literacy sponsor. There are many authors that have affected me but I will never have the chance too meet them because they were before my time.
When I first began reading this excerpt from Greene's book, I saw no straight forward comparisons to any of the other articles that we have read before. I kept asking myself how this excerpt about arguments and "framing" things have anything to do with Allen's The Inspired Writer or Lamott's Shitty First Drafts. Then Greene started discussing how this young boy Rodriguez, a nonnative speaker just wants to put himself in the mainstream for the sake of his education. Rodriguez struggles to cope with school and home. Rodriguez finds Hoggart's book The Use of Literacy and identifies with it. He uses the book to help understand his situation and at the same time advance his ideas as well. Greene goes on to explain how other peoples text can serve as tool for helping you to say more about your own ideas. At this point I was starting to think that this storyline sounded slightly familiar. In Allen's article, she talks about how she uses Bizzell's work as a guide to her own work and she can even she the influence of this authors work has own her own. Because these authors are becoming a tool and a guide to other authors I would definitely consider these author's, Bizzell and Hoggart, to be literacy sponsors, especially in these situations. Both Allen and Rodriguez are extremely influenced by the authors and I think if a person influences your life or your own work that much they should definitely be considered a literacy sponsor. There are many authors that have affected me but I will never have the chance too meet them because they were before my time.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Discussion Questions: Shitty First Drafts/ Anne Lamott
1. Does this whole "in the zone" thing with writers actually exist? If Allen was sitting in front of me, writing her shitty draft, I'm just wondering what her expressions would be, especially if she has all of these voices talking to her.
2. When I scanning the table of contents for this article and saw that is contained the word shitty, I smiled to myself a little. Lamott talks about a shitty first draft. In high school teachers always tried to help students to understand that a first draft and brainstorming is almost essential to writing papers because the brain gets stimulated. Even for awhile I opposed the idea of brainstorming because I thought it was pointless. Then I had to write a 15 page research paper and I had no choice but to brain storm because I mean seriously what the hell am I going to put on 15 pages. So, is brainstorm a good idea or a bad idea? Or does it just depend on the person and what they're writing?
3. This is really unrelated to the topic itself but do you think it's okay to cuss or use vulgar language in literature? I know as college readers it usually grabs our attention when an author does use it. But would the article still have gotten the point across and been as interesting or affective without it ?
2. When I scanning the table of contents for this article and saw that is contained the word shitty, I smiled to myself a little. Lamott talks about a shitty first draft. In high school teachers always tried to help students to understand that a first draft and brainstorming is almost essential to writing papers because the brain gets stimulated. Even for awhile I opposed the idea of brainstorming because I thought it was pointless. Then I had to write a 15 page research paper and I had no choice but to brain storm because I mean seriously what the hell am I going to put on 15 pages. So, is brainstorm a good idea or a bad idea? Or does it just depend on the person and what they're writing?
3. This is really unrelated to the topic itself but do you think it's okay to cuss or use vulgar language in literature? I know as college readers it usually grabs our attention when an author does use it. But would the article still have gotten the point across and been as interesting or affective without it ?
Discussion Questions: The Inspired Writers vs. The Real Writer/ Sarah Allen
1. How do you decide if someones literature is good or not? Is worthy? Allen is continually discussing how nervous writers get about producing work that people will want to read, that they like. Literature in a way is like art. In one persons' eyes a painting might be an absolute master piece. While to another this piece of art might be nothing out of the ordinary, even boring. How do we decide what is good, who gets to decide. Just because I think a work of literature is very well written and grabs my attention, doesn't mean others will think the same. Personally, I don't like Edgar Allen Poe's work. But he is a very famous author. So is it all in the eye of the beholder when it comes to deciding whether literature is good?
2. Do authors write for the audience or do they write to write and express themselves? I don't think Dr. Phil has any true writing abilities, but he still has books published. But there are other authors out there, who I really believe write because it's how they express themselves and they feel a need, an urge to write. Why do I ask this? I think authors like Dr. Phil have no real talent and write just for the money and the attention per say.
3. From what I'm understanding Allen is describing the inspired author as one who doesn't have fears or worries about what the audience will think of his/her work, never has writers block and everything they write is perfect, per say? The real writer is actually admits and knows that all they're work isn't perfect, they're going to struggle sometimes, they're going to have writers block but it's okay because it happens to the best of them?
2. Do authors write for the audience or do they write to write and express themselves? I don't think Dr. Phil has any true writing abilities, but he still has books published. But there are other authors out there, who I really believe write because it's how they express themselves and they feel a need, an urge to write. Why do I ask this? I think authors like Dr. Phil have no real talent and write just for the money and the attention per say.
3. From what I'm understanding Allen is describing the inspired author as one who doesn't have fears or worries about what the audience will think of his/her work, never has writers block and everything they write is perfect, per say? The real writer is actually admits and knows that all they're work isn't perfect, they're going to struggle sometimes, they're going to have writers block but it's okay because it happens to the best of them?
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Discuss Questions: Literacy Sponsors/Deborah Brandt
1. Are people aware that they are literacy sponsors? I had never even heard of this concept having an actual "name" before reading this literature. For example, I believe that almost all parents are sponsors of their children, whether it be in a negative or positive way. (Assuming parents are part of the child's life). If parents who were negative sponsors understood and were made aware of how large an impact they were having on their children's literacy, would they change?
2.Do the type of sponsors strictly depend on age, class, gender, economic level, religion or race. For example a middle aged christian women, a young black college student, a teen who's parents own a multi-million dollar company or a Japanese immigrant wouldn't have the same sponsors.
3. Is it possible in the future that the internet alone will become a stronger sponsor than any other and all other original sponsors will cease to exist? Will the internet cause us to loose all originality? Or will parental sponsorship always stand as one of the strongest sponsors?
2.Do the type of sponsors strictly depend on age, class, gender, economic level, religion or race. For example a middle aged christian women, a young black college student, a teen who's parents own a multi-million dollar company or a Japanese immigrant wouldn't have the same sponsors.
3. Is it possible in the future that the internet alone will become a stronger sponsor than any other and all other original sponsors will cease to exist? Will the internet cause us to loose all originality? Or will parental sponsorship always stand as one of the strongest sponsors?
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