And The Show Goes On

I am wondering if anyone will continue to use their blog even after this class is over. I think it will be a cool way to interact if we still continue to use our blogs. Interesting questions that arise throughout our writing consultant careers can still be posted; and I think that as we mature as writers and gain experience over time, it will be cool to sort of reflect on our own posts and see the progression of our peers. I am hoping to make a few posts every now and then and I hope everyone else does the same. Many great ideas and questions have appeared on these blogs so I hope no one deletes theirs. In fact, for all we know, other students who may be researching ideas for their Writing Consultant courses may stumble upon one of our blogs and use it as a resource.

Last Class

Wow so even though we already had our last class, this will be the final meeting of the coolest class I've had: T-Dols 383 Eng Comp. Throughout the semester we have shared more than just ideas about the writing process. We have made friends and grown to learn more about each other. While I am excited to eat and discuss today, it's a bitter sweet ending. So I am wishing everyone good luck in their writing futures and in their consulting.

Peace.Love.and Writing

Everybody’s Doing It: Athletes

This whole athletes and writing has really sparked my interest. For starters I do understand that some athletes would not be able to get into certain school if it were not for playing a sport, on the other hand there are plenty of athletes who can get in on their own merit, and still others who are walk-ons who got in on their own merit and through their athletic ability, made the varsity team. I myself am an athlete and while I don’t really take too much offense to the whole “dumb-jock” comment that I have heard before it does make me stop and think. When people make those comments I doubt it’s because they have seen the athlete’s writing. Some people are just not good writers or they do not enjoy it so they do not over exert themselves. I agree with Allie on the idea that high school did not prepare them well enough in regards to writing.

The flip side of my argument is that I shadow in study hall with athletes and I have seen an array of writing. Some of it makes me scratch my head and wonder how some kids even passed English, let alone write an essay well enough to be admitted into Richmond (because athletes still have to apply to the school as well, they just don’t get in). Flip the script and I have seen some amazing writers in study hall as well, and even met a few who plan on pursuing a major in English (like me). The field hockey team (chyea!) alone will be the proud boaster of three writing consultants come next semester (when I become official) and I know of other athletes as well who work in the writing center.

I think some athletes don’t receive the credit they deserve. And while I am not saying they should receive special treatment in any way, I do believe sometimes they get ragged on for no reason. Honestly, we are just trying to get a quality education while playing our passion.

There’s Something About Procrastinating…

thank you for this inspired post Long...


There’s just something about procrastinating that is absolutely thrilling. More than half the population suffers from it and almost all college kids do as well, and yet it still plagues the world. To be honest I am somewhat of a procrastinator, although I have been known to turn in an assignment a day early. Ha! No but really when two days or even the day before the paper is due comes and all I have is 200 out of 2000 words, a part of me is excited for the challenge. I mean it’s a pretty big risk to be honest. Seeing whether or not you will finish on time, whether the paper will be good or not, even wondering minutes after you submit it the grade you will receive. I don’t know how many times I have compared procrastinated essay grades with friends while we sit there trying to see who procrastinated more, but who received the better grade. Sure the sugar high gets you geared up and the crash and coffee hangover the next day sucks, but who doesn’t bask in that feeling of accomplishment after. I personally feel proud of myself when I have defied my teacher with his, “You can’t do this the night before” speech…try me sucka. Procrastination will at some point or another lead to my downfall but for now I’m riding this bull and it hasn’t thrown me off yet so I’m going to keep on riding it!

Final College Consultation

It has been a while since I have consulted with my high school student about her college essay. Since we last met she had finished writing her college essay. There was tremendous improvement from the first meeting until now. She had finished writing her list of significant moments in her life and had composed an essay on the effect it had on her. In the beginning, her main concern was the leniency she was given. Normally she would have composed her essay in a more formulaic way, avoiding first person and adhering to the strict prompt of her teacher. However, after our first meeting I encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone in order not to stifle her essay. Well, it worked and she wrote a killer essay. She sent it to me so that I could give it a looker over for her. She wanted to make sure she didn’t get too crazy with her new found writing freedom. After reading over her paper I was pretty impressed with it and her minor issues. Her biggest problem wasn’t even structural or organizational; she had a few too many commas in some areas and a couple misspelled words. I applauded her writing and told her that if she wanted she could also have her English teacher read over it as well (I am more than confident in my skills and teaching, but a more experienced individual such as her English teacher and a second eye might be beneficial). Overall, she fully embraced my advice, and when she fused the advice with her own ideas she was able to produce a brilliant essay. I hope she gets in…fingers crossed ;)

Persnickety

As writing consultants I know that we are supposed to help our clients improve their writing. My question is: What is considered going too far? And Are we too adamant? I say this because I was looking over a friend’s paper today and some of the ideas I proposed seemed foreign to this individual. One such example was when a sentence read something like this: In both books, a child is helpless and they are left to survive on their own.” To the naked eye this may seem fine and heck, to the average American it may even sound fine, but it’s not. Proper English teaches us that a subject such as “a child” must be accompanied by the following: his or her instead of their. I noted this mentally but never really addressed this issue to my friend after reading her paper. I do this same mistake in my writing and I have yet to be corrected by a professor. I wonder however if I should have said something. It later occurred to me what if the professor were an English professor who was extremely anal about such grammar rules. On the other hand, what if the professor saw and had said nothing. I know that writing consultants are not the grammar police and should not look for every single grammatical error in the paper, but at the same time if we see a blatant error that the writer mistook, should we not help them by showing them the errors of their ways? I am a little conflicted and I want to know if I should speak up next time, or if I am being too anal.

Neeeeervous

As the end of the course draws to a close and the second semester looms in front of me, I am beginning to realize I will soon be a writing consultant. Writers will look to me for help and while I am more than confident in my abilities; nevertheless I am apprehensive about certain things. During my last consultation I was presented, for the first time, with APA format. I have never had to write a paper in that format so far, so when my tutor pointed out the writer may want to check the citations I was taken aback. What if I had been consulting and missed this error? What if the writer did not check it either and decided to submit the paper without checking if the citations were correct? This may seem minute to some and maybe I am paranoid, but if you cite a source wrong that could essentially be seen as plagiarism. Maybe I am just overwhelmed by the upcoming week of finals but I a would be lying if I said I was not a little nervous to be one on one with the writers. Either way I am more than excited.

You Can Pick Your Nose but You Can’t Pick A Classic

Ever wonder who picks all those so called "classics" which we are forced to read, love, and cherish? All throughout my academic career there have always been those novels, poems,etc which were considered classics, and that I should have some genuine appreciation for them. Well, I want to know which person or committee has the sole power to dictate what I ought to read and enjoy. Now don't get me wrong there are indeed some things which I consider classics and do truly enjoy, but I would love to know who has that lovely job??

Computer Consultation

This time around consulting was definitely different. My consultant and I received a paper via e-mail and since the writer had such time constraints, she asked my tutor to just look over it for her. Consulting can sometimes be challenging, but doing it without the writer makes it particularly difficult. Certain things that can be said easily now have to be hand written or typed. My tutor warned me that I should never make corrections on their paper; instead she told me if she wants them to note something, then she will type it next to the sentence with her comments and then highlight everything. Still even writing down specific details and notes is not the same as a face to face consultation. You are not able to read aloud to the reader; therefore they cannot hear for themselves how it sounds, nor can they see reader’s reaction to what was read. Still, the essence of consulting was maintained. She wrote comments to the reader about developing their argument and explaining vague areas. It was a little frustrating trying to decipher what we thought the writer meant in certain areas because she was absent, but we noted it in the end comments. Overall this new experience was a nice change in pace and I know it definitely prepared me for when someone wants me to look over their paper.

What’s Happening to Our Writing?

As the world evolves new things emerge and older ones begin to fade. This is true for cell phones (touch screen in, flip phones out), computers (fewer desktops, more laptops), and this is not solely isolated to technology. As we have been realizing and seeing first hand, writing as well is going through a similar transition. It seems to me that writing is becoming less beautiful. Now just wait before you bite my head off and read my reason why. I don’t mean beautiful as in people nowadays don’t know how to write and every piece of writing is so poorly written that its atrocious, but in high school and even my freshman year Eng 299 class some of the readings were simply captivating. I would read sentences and become awestruck that such a beautiful sentence could be constructed from such simple words. On the other hand, (what people consider)“big” words would be used but only a few, but they would produce such a pithy sentence full of so much meaning in such a terse manner. So I ask you, how do you feel about writing compared to the past? And I guess I should define the past as 19th century and years past. I understand that encompasses a larger time frame compared to now but just go with it.

First, I understand in centuries past and even years past there were not computers, video games, social networking sites, or even the internet to consume people’s time. Everything was old fashioned. Social networking required going to a party, or a luncheon, any place where you had to have face-to-face interactions with others. Times were much simpler and so people had more time to devote to other things and they weren’t preoccupied with knowing everything that happened every second of every minute of every hour.

Second, let’s go back to time like the 1700’s or even the 1800’s, 1900’s or early 20th century. Most people probably spent more time reading and writing as leisure (I wasn’t there but I will assume). The more time they spent engaging in these activities the more they learned and better they got at reading and writing. Now don’t get me wrong I know different societies praised different things (Greeks and Romans praised rhetoric and frequently engaged in it), but it was commendable to be a master of words and such.

I am beginning to lose my train of thought and I hope I have not contradicted myself but I was just wondering if this thought ever crossed the minds of others.

Adapt Not Abandon

After I read Lauren’s blog post about whether or not our accepting of the new forms of literacies will detract from the old literacies we have always been taught, I realized that we shouldn’t have to sacrifice one for the other. Classics like Shakespeare, Socrates, and other great thinkers and writers of the past have lived on for so long and maintained this longevity is because society has reinforced their importance to each new generation. Some of the books that we had to read in core really annoyed me and were hard to understand but once we discussed them some of information I learned was truly astounding. We consider ourselves to be so advanced (I mean we are) with all of our touch screens and cars and even plumbing compared to centuries ago; but if you make it black and white and compare the ideas of some of these writers, they surpass us in some aspects. Their ideas extend far beyond anything I could have ever imagined during their lifetimes. I think it is necessary that we continue to instill in future generations the brilliance of writers past but also those we don’t try and hold on to the past and allow the future to pass by us. We must adapt to the changing times and embrace new literacies and technologies, but we cannot forget the foundations on which we have been established by abandoning them.

High School to College

For the College Application project I opted to help consult one of my friends from home who is a senior this year. She recently began looking at schools and once she had chosen a few she began writing her college essays. The first time I consulted her she was writing to an in state school and the prompt wanted prospective students to write an essay describing a time in their life that had a significant impact on their life and what was the lasting affect of the moment. Since this was not necessarily a formal essay she was a little apprehensive on how to begin her paper. Also she wanted to choose a topic that was meaningful and original without the cliché after affects that most application essays had. She really wanted to wow the review board and standout. Since we were starting from scratch and the first stage of the writing process, I advised her first list all the significant moments in her life even if they did not seem that important. It’s better to start with a lot of material so that we would be able to sift through it all and have options rather than have meager pickings and have to improvise. After some intense brainstorming she finally decided on and event. Once that was done I told her to think of the impact it had on her and all the emotions and feelings attached to that memory. I wanted her to be able to delineate exactly what she had felt. I told her that she wanted to be able to paint a picture for her audience and through her words give the essay life. Having read excerpts from the Bedford Guide about voice, audience, etc, I told her now that she had a basis for getting started on her essay she now needed to focus on her audience, voice, organization, and content. Now that she finally has a foundation for her paper focusing on the major areas will help guide her in the right direction.

Consultants in the Libs

http://www.gonzaga.edu/Academics/Colleges-and-Schools/College-of-Arts-and-Sciences/English/writing-center/

The main focus of this article is the location of the writing center. It’s located “just inside the main entrance of Foley Center Library, in the glassed-in area adjacent to the 24-hour Study Lounge. Come in for a visit!” The point I want to focus on is that the Writing Center itself is located in such an optimal locality. I feel as though writing and libraries go hand in hand. On one hand you have books and in the other hand you have writing. I posted this because it helps tie into my vision for my final project and how having consultants in the library would be ideal for any school but especially one the size of UofR. Obviously at larger institutions this is less ideal because of the monolithic size of some universities (Penn State, Texas A&M, etc). At Richmond however, the library is the main hub of student activity as far as studying. I know I spend the majority of my time here so why would it not make sense to have at least a few on call writing consultants that can assist and aid students in an area with such a vast amount of resources. Now the consultants would not be able to give full on consultations but they can offer tidbits of information or quick words of wisdom. These easy-access consultants are not meant to be quick fixes that tell students what to write in order to achieve the optimal grade. The idea is not perfect by any means but it's a starting point to help students and to provide a little more advertising for the Writing Center in order to encourage student traffic. I am not proposing moving the writing center inside the library but I am suggesting that at least a few consultants relocate here as their work area to help the many students that: need help, have minor questions that they cannot really get through websites or the front desk, have no idea where the writing center is located, reluctant students, etc. What do you think?

Essay Aid Software??

http://www.suite101.com/content/should-students-use-essay-writing-software-a292411

I mean wow the world has become advanced! I initially stumbled upon this article as I was researching another topic concerning writing consultants and writers, but as I googled it this intriguing article presented itself to me. The title was quite captivating and naturally seeing it I clicked away. Before even reading it my natural assumption was that it was some rinky-dink rip off software where students could type in the topic and a scroll list of criteria would emerge; and through careful filtration of already written scholarly essays the program would produce a wrapped and sealed essay to the student with little to no effort on their part. I thought it was a classier version of buying essays online, it only gave you the idea that you had actually done work but still tried to purport the document as your own hard work. Well after reading the article I realized that the idea and the program itself was a little brilliant. It offered students the same help and advice they would receive had they had an actual tutor helping them only it was a software program. Honestly after reading everything it does and does not do I give it the star of approval (not that my say has any real merit). All of the work is the student’s own so there is no plagiarism (at least on the program’s part) and it is essentially and aids just a technological one. So here’s the question: Thumbs up or Thumbs down??

Censoring

Censoring is an interesting topic as it pertains to the writing center. The first example given of the boy who, in a predominantly female-based course, decided to go through with writing his paper with sexist ideals is a great paradigm for not only censoring but helping students as well. As writing consultants students we strive to help students voice their thoughts and opinions through their writing; however, when their ideas contradict with societal standards (writing sexist, racist, etc remarks) we are conflicted in deciding whether or not to euphemize their papers or to continue to help them. If we advise them to alter their thoughts so as not to seem offensive then we are, whether we know or not or like it or not, censoring them. So if presented with a paper and a student like the one mentioned in the article do we: continue to help them despite the fact that they may receive a lower grade and lose any respect they may have obtained, or do we unfortunately censor them in hopes of trying to save them?

My personal opinion? I would help them.
Whether or not I like what they are saying I will only try and help them make valid arguments using sound logic because I am not the one grading them.

Final Boys’ and Girls’ Club Visit

This is the final visit to the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and surprisingly enough it’s a bitter sweet feeling. Even though we have only spent a short amount of time with our own mentees, all of the kids will be missed. I am hoping today that we can help our mentee finalize the beginning portion of her digital story so that all she will have left to do is gather pictures and chose music. I understand that this is a comprehensive learning assignment designed to teach the kids about their community, technology, and other necessary information but I want my mentee to win. It’s supposed to be a fun activity but from the conversations that Lauren and I have had with her, she has more than enough information and creativity to win. I am hoping all of our advice to her was duly noted and will be used and if she has any other concerns or questions we will cover them today so that she is fully prepared by herself.

GO BIG OR GO HOME.

Project Proposal

For the upcoming final for our class we have the choice of either doing a project or an FAQ. I am going to do the project because I had an epiphany earlier which I thought was genius, but I don't know whether it was better in theory or if it could work in reality. My project proposal is a plan to help promote the writing center and offer students with more opportunities to receive help. Most students have no idea where the writing center is and once they learn that it is in Weinstein then that alone is enough to deter them. I mean I am too lazy to walk from my room to the post office (then again the writing center is important and the free-tanning coupons I get in the mail definitely aren't). Either way I will propose having writing consultants scattered across campus in the major study areas where student traffic is always heavy. There are already writing consultants who work in study hall specifically for athletes, so why not have a few in the library as well?? It would make sense for the writing center to reserve one of the study rooms and have a few consultants in there taking walk-ins helping out students who need help. I think it is a win-win situation because the writing center gets promoted an d students receive the necessary help that will entice them to actually go to the writing center next time. Also possibly writing consultants specializing in the sciences may work in Gottwald, psychology in Richmond Hall, etc. I have no idea how many writing consultants there are nor when they work so this may not be feasible if personnel is low. However, if this is indeed a manageable feat then it should at least be given a trial period and then traffic flow to the writing center should be assessed. I think that if my idea were given a shot it would definitely encourage students to make appointments and help their writing.

My First Time…

My First Time…


Writing an actual essay was in 3rd grade. This may seem early but for some reason I feel as though it’s a little late. Don’t get me wrong it was by no means an in depth analysis on a Judy Blume book; the prompts were more like write about a family vacation, but it was a structured paper with a point, beginning, and end. My teacher (whom I’ll never forget), Mrs. Swebjka always made us write as our first exercise for the day. She would hand us papers with houses on them. The house would take up the entire page. It had a roof: for the intro. Three columns in the middle: 3 paragraphs for each column. Inside each column would be the numbers 1-4 and under each number we would write a sentence, these would eventually become our paragraph. Underneath everything was the base of the house which represented our conclusion. In retrospect it was a pretty neat, crafty, efficient way to not only learn how to write an essay but also how to teach students to write as well.

Everyday we would write. I guess this is one of my few memories of why I love writing and English so much. From an early age I was taught how to write so I didn’t grow up struggling like some people when it comes to writing. Although as I reflect, I can say this is probably what made me such a formulaic writer especially the standard 5 paragraph essay: 1 intro, 3 bodies, and 1 conclusion. Still, I am thankful for the strong foundation I was given because it has unknowingly benefited me tremendously.

Thank you, Mrs. Swebjka

ESL Students: Arabic & Japanese vs. English

ESL Students: Arabic & Japanese vs. English

Since it was my week to review one of the articles for class I decided to focus my blog on my own article because I looked more closely at my articles than the others. I agreed with the major points of the article, but one that sort of puzzled me was the idea that consultants should have prior knowledge of the languages with which they will be handling. In theory, this idea is great! I mean it would be easier for consultants and students to connect and concentrate more on the paper rather than structural differences between their language and English. On the other hand consultants are not linguists. It would be very cumbersome for them to try and understand, learn, and familiarize themselves with problems common to certain languages. For starters, there are multiple languages and it would be ignorant to focus only on common ones like Spanish, French, etc. What about Tagalong, Lebanese, Portuguese, Serbian, etc and other less common languages. Also each year new students and new consultants filter in and out of the writing center so the process would be never ending. The majority of consultants (at least from what I know at Richmond) are students who have hectic lives, booked social calendars, athletics, and other equally important obligations. That being said they have time to familiarize themselves with the mistakes ESL Arabic students make when trying to write English essays. If I were to consult an ESL Portuguese student, knowing some of the common mistakes that occur would definitely behoove me for the session but the opportunity cost of doing so would be too high a price to pay.


Article: Moujtahid, B. "Influence of Cultural and Linguistic Backgrounds on the writing of Arabic and Japanese Students of English." Writing Lab Newsletter 21.3 (Nov. 1996): 1-5.

Boy’s and Girl’s Club

Today will be our first trip to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club to help the students create their digital stories. I am hoping whomever I am helping has already done their interview so I can help them make it into a story. If not then we can talk about whom they will interview and the questions they will ask and that sort of thing. We can begin with getting to know one anther so when they create their digital story I can help them incorporate their personality into the project.

I am excited for this experience because it kind of takes me back home. Although my family is blessed I know other families aren’t as fortunate. My high school was compromised of a vast majority of children from lower income families; also my mother teaches students who are in the same situation. I feel as though I will be able to connect with the students in more ways than one and I am hoping to leave a positive lasting impression.

Non-Trads & Ethics

Gardner, E. et. al. "Writing Center Ethics & Non-traditional Students." Writing Lab Newsletter 26.6 (Feb. 2002

As I read this article a lot of different thoughts crossed my mind. 1) (Even though I am not an official writing consultant) I have had moments when people have asked me to proof-read their papers and I may have committed and unethical act by assuming something about them or their paper before actually reading it. 2) Will I ever encounter a “typical” “non-traditional” student in the writing center and will I be prepared having read this article. 3) Will I ever be in the “non-traditional” student’s position later on in life and if so will I be treated this way? Other random thoughts crossed my mind as well but these were the most salient. One of the biggest points however, was the consultant’s feelings regarding older students. The consultant admitted, “With older students I worry about whether they will see me as too “unprofessional,” or another time when the consultant compared advising an older tutee to “reminding [their] grandmother to wear her coat and hat before she goes outside.” How does a consultant handle these situations professional without feeling compromised as to whether or not they are treating each student equally? In some cases the very nature of our upbringing or teachings regarding authority play some role in how we will interact with different students especially the “non-traditional” and even more so when they remind us of an authority figure in our life (a mother, father, aunt, etc).

Shadowing

This shadow session was by far one of the most entertaining experiences. Once again I was shadowing in study hall so it was another athlete whom I knew. She had a 5-6 reflection paper concerning a book she had to read. This assignment was for her feminist course with six other students. She had to read a book and then present it to the class (she did not specify but I assume the other students had to do it as well). She had already finished the paper so her meeting with the consultant was heavily focused on editing and revising. The majority of her problems were grammatical, occasionally using the wrong verb tense. About 3/4ths of the way through the consultation she revealed (after numerous added commas and semicolons) that it was more of a speech rather than a reflection paper. Hence, she did not have to submit it to her teacher; she only had to read it aloud. Upon hearing this the consultant looked confused and then proceeded to ask, through laughs, why she had seen her for help if it did not have to be turned into the teacher. The writer replied that she wanted to make sure that it sounded well since she had to read it aloud to her class. After that since the session was basically over we shared some laughs over what occurred.

Overall the paper was well written and had it been turned it for a grade I am more than positive that the writer would have received at least a B.

My first shadowing experience

My first shadowing experience!! For starters the consultant that I am shadowing is a teammate of mine so we already have a good relationship. She actually encouraged me to pursue the writing consultant position so we have conversed about papers, the position, and other things entailed in being a consultant. Since I am shadowing in study hall, all the writers are athletes so I see more than a few familiar faces. The appointment my consultant had was actually my teammate so it made it easier to shadow without having the awkward silences and looks and moments that normally come with first time meetings. The prompt the writer was given was a little ambiguous and very lengthy. It was for a leadership class and the students had to formulate a question discussing leadership and how it related to the ideas of society and the individual. Throughout their paper they had to integrate articles from class to develop a theoretical answer to the question. Overall the prompt was fairly long and pretty complex when you read it. It took about 15 min just to decipher what exactly the assignment. The nice part about it though was that the writer had yet to begin her paper so she was still in the beginning stages of developing concepts and ideas. With an assignment this complex I feel as if she had already started and been at any other stage of the writing process then there would have been a mess of problems. She might have been attached to certain ideas and editing and changing them would have created more problems. We spent a little bit of time deciding the format of the paper because organization was the key to fluidity with this topic. She finally decided to begin with her question, include the articles and then use the evidence from the articles to answer the question. For the most part she had a pretty good idea on how she was going to write her paper. The only problem encountered was formulating the thesis. There were so many criterions to cover that the writer had no idea how to fit it all into one sentence. Once this happened the consultant told her that she could actually put her thesis in more than one sentence. I had never before heard this so I questioned the consultant. She told me that it was mostly a high school thing and that if necessary you could actually have a thesis in more than one sentence. I was pretty amazed by this (and I am still a little skeptical) but hey she could be right. After that we were pretty much finished with the session. I offered the writer a few tidbits of information about different strategies and techniques that work for me, and the consultant and I both showed her the writer’s web in case she needed further help afterwards. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time shadowing and I cannot wait to see the finished project or what grade she receives.

My Goals

I am currently not doing as well in this class as I possibly could be doing or should be doing. This is entirely my fault. Once I leave class all I want to do is sleep, not because class is boring but because I am so sleep deprived. My days are packed with classes, meetings, practices, lifts, study hall, etc. I am exhausted. No excuse though. To combat this I have decided to challenge myself to write everyday in my blog or at least comment on someone else’s blog which I have read. Whenever fresh ideas hit me I will write them down and repost them later. As far as the other projects I have taken the initiative to get a head start on them keeping tabs as I go. As of yet I am only truly slacking on the blogging part, so that is my main focus. Identify the problem early and handle it.

Discursive

Writing is a form of communication. Scholarly works, essays, e-mails, text messages, 3rd grade notes in class...they are all forms of communication. While reading ch.7 in Keith Hjortshoj's "The Transition to College Writing" within the first few pages millions of ideas flooded my mind. A couple of weeks ago in class we discussed why teachers assign essays and other such writings. My own response was that since it had always been done, naturally the cycle would continue, but also because when language first began and all things were new people did not have technology so they used what they had. This led my argument to communication as well. People wrote notes and letters and essays and books because they could not call their peers or friends on the phone and relay the information. I also said how it allowed information to be dispersed between generations. How writing in the past enables today's world to read the ideas of Freud or Nietzsche or Shakespeare or anyone else. On pg 139 of his book Hjortshoj writes how, "The great power of writing includes the freedom to converse with readers in the future and, as a reader yourself, with other writers in the past, including those who are no longer alive. Instantly, I felt like such a genius! When I first stated my point in class I felt as if people heard my and understood what I was saying but thought I was going too far with the question. In reality what I said made total sense. Writing does allow us to transcend time and space in a way. Things I post on this blog obviously cannot be read in the past but future generations maybe 200 years from now may find this post. And even when I write a paper describing Richard II's histrionics in Shakespeare's Richard II Shakespeare himself will never read it, but I am in a sense discussing his play with him. Writing is a very personal activity but once it is shared it becomes a means through which communication is created.

Interview

Last Monday I interviewed my former history professor, Professor Galgano, for my digital story. It was a hectic day for me and I did not have time for a prolonged session, but I learned an enormous amount of information not only about his writing style and techniques but about myself as well. Prior to the interview I sent him an e-mail with the questions I wanted him to consider so he had an idea of what I would ask. My first question was about his personal writing process. For him it depended on the piece. Scholarly works were more planned, researched, and organized; whereas personal works like creative writing, poems, or even short stories were less formulaic. Following his process I asked follow-up questions like: What time of day was most conducive to his success? Did he prefer pen and paper or technology (smart phone, laptop, other handheld devices, recorder, etc.)? And other questions related to his writing habits. I received a good amount of information for my project, but the most salient point Professor Galgano made was when he referred to his writing overall like a relationship. Like most relationships he said some days he hated writing while other days he loved it. It required work, his writing was not naturally perfect; but that was also the enamoring part about it. After all the research, and editing, and rewriting he had a polished piece of art that he had created. The key to having a successful relationship he said is to, “write everyday” and “aggressively edit.” Whether it is a journal or you revise a piece of writing for another class or anything else, writing daily is the key. On the editing portion of his advice, he told me, “don’t be so enamored with a phrase that you can’t get rid of it.” For me that was the best advice he could have said. I often find myself stuck on a paper because I feel as though one word, line, phrase, etc is so brilliant that is simply must stay and if other parts of my paper do not agree then they must be altered or deleted. FALSE. The way he said to combat this problem is to create a word bank where you keep thoughts and ideas because they may work for other pieces or in different types of writing. Truthfully, that one quote will always stay with me and will hopefully improve my writing if I follow it.

Btw: Anytime when he is not running after his children or preparing dinner or has a moment to himself in his study is when he is most successful, and Professor Galgano prefers pen and paper but will jot down and idea using his computer or phone if that is all he has available.

Youth Cutlture & Digital Media

Currently as a class we are learning how to create digital stories for our own projects that will be created based on interviews with a professor we have chosen. At first I viewed this as a creative way to present my subject's thoughts and views on the writing process and present it in a different medium other than essay format. It seemed easy enough at first: write a page and half with the most salient points, keep the story concise and cogent, make sure it has a message. Easier said than done. As an example we had to watch a sample digital story, and in my opinion it was 2/5 stars. The timing seemed a little off and while that seems a little picky, lining up the words, music, and pictures properly can have a drastic effect on how the entire piece is perceived. More importantly I never truly saw the point of the story. From the title I gathered it was an international student's journey to UR but story itself did not seem to capture all that the author wanted the audience to know. And personally the narrator's voice irked me for some reason (picky, I know).

Stories used to be strictly pen and paper and as the world and technology has progressed so have the ways in which stories are created and shared. Personally I thought I had seen them all...until I learned about digital stories. My discovery of digital stories is the same experience represented by Glynda A. Hull in her article "At Last: Youth Culture and Digital Media: New Literacies for New Times." She explores digital stories as a new way in youth connect to one another. I had no idea that digital stories were so popular. They are a viable way for students to learn about technology and integrate it into the learning process. Nowadays students not only have to learn basic reading, writing, etc (all things standard regarding academics) but they also need to be tech savvy. It is common practice to be able to type and expertly know one's way around the internet and ubiquitous programs like the windows triple threat (word, excel, and powerpoint). Technology is taking over the world and it is continuously pouring into academics at the earlier levels such as kindergarten, intermediate and middle school. It is only a matter of time before digital stories proliferate and become household words.

Writing Center Relationships

If writing centers are, in a sense, a service to students and are supposed to create better writers, should there be an exclusive relationship between student and consultant or should professors be involved as well? I feel as though this may be specific only to English courses or those with strong concentrations in writing or some form of text (creative writing, journalism, etc). When you write a paper for science or history I feel as though professors care about the persuasiveness and conciseness of the paper but courses such as those are more factually inclined. Does your physics professor really care about your progress as a writer or if you were able to accurately relate Newton's Law to another aspect of physics? Are they genuinely concerned or do professors want grade A work? I guess what I mean is I feel the relationship between the student and the consultant should be free from outside influence. Students should be able to actively engage with their consultant so that ideas can flow freely without after thoughts of what their teachers may think. Today in class I heard stories of how students had been afraid to say certain things because they did not know how their professor would react. Any trepidation on the student's behalf only diminishes the experience because they cannot fully commit themselves.

On the flip side if a teacher refers a student or would like to receive follow up reports to make sure students are really progressing, then that is acceptable. However, this leads me to my lingering question:

How then do consultants accurately perform their job while (for lack of a better word) catering to both parties?

In some sense the teachers need to be involved (make sure students are not just goofing off and are truly progressing).

But students should also be able to fully engage their consultants freely without fear that they may be reprimanded by their professors for speaking truthfully.

(I hope none of this was contradictory:P)

Writing Process

Buildings= blueprints, Cooking= recipes, Cartoons= sketches, before most things are constructed there is a preset model that must be followed in order to ensure the desired results. Writing is nothing like that. In the words of William Zinsser, “Writing is no respecter of blueprints- it’s too subjective a process, too full of surprises.” Whether the thesis is written first or the writer brainstorms with thought bubbles and flowcharts or free writes whatever ideas pour into their heads, every writer has a different process that works for them. It is amazing to know that one writer may brainstorm for hour upon hour writing, rewriting, revising and editing only to produce a paragraph worthy of reading. On the other hand someone else may only need half an hour to produce an entire first draft. There are many different techniques to the writing process but a good foundation always begins with prewriting and ends with revising.

What is your recipe for writing success?

Good Writing

What is good writing? This question was posed last class. We were required to look over a sample student’s paper discussing the legalization of drugs and assess it. I did not want to go into the assignment nit-picking at every misspelled word and trivial mistakes. However after reading through the entire paper, despite the syntax and spelling errors, the last paragraph (in my opinion) could have constituted as “good writing.”

Consider a paper with good syntax, without grammatical errors, etc. Now compare it to a paper with misspelled words subject verb disagreement, but this paper is concise, cogent, and answers the prompt with supporting evidence. Which of the two should be considered good writing? Are both of them good examples or just one paper superior?

In essence I cannot really say which paper is “good writing.” To me (as far as grading) the teacher determines if something is good writing, after all they administer the grade. Although in terms of the academe peers, superiors, audiences, and critics alike have different opinions.

So in my opinion, despite the cosmetics (spelling and other things), if writing that can convey the author’s message/ opinion/ point to the reader is good writing. Rarely, is the author of the writing present to be asked questions. If the reader can clearly understand the writing then it can constitute as “good writing.”

Bullsh*t

Out of the assigned articles due for class this week, “A Kind Word for Bullshit: The Problem of Academic Writing” by Philip Eubanks and John D.Schaeffer was on by far of the best and veritable articles I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. This article (turned book) describes the paradoxical phenomena that is collegiate writing and everything beyond. From my experience when fellow classmates of mine write they begin with solid facts and as the papers/ assignments progress less becomes educated and more becomes fabricated. Most often this occurs when professors impose guidelines such as page lengths (7-9 pgs.) or word counts (500 words). Students start with what they know but if they run out of ammo and haven’t hit the target, then they begin to bullshit their way to the end. I myself have done this many times in order to please professors and teachers alike throughout my academic career. And with my impending English major I will probably continue to do so. A poignant parts of the article that arrested my attention was the idea that, “professors write prolix books and articles, students imitate their professor’s style, and professors rewards them for it- because professors often think that abstruse academic writing “sounds just right; it sounds professional.” (382) Students learn the system and how their professors operate. Once a student realizes what his professors wants he then gives it to him in order to receive a better grade.

To sum it all up “when a student can write intelligibly and intelligently about a book the student has not read, that is bull. (William Perry “Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts”)

And come on is that not the goal of most students especially on pop quiz days in Core? (r.i.p)