I personally think, that I did at least a decent job on my Literacy Narrative, however, I am also aware that there is always room for improvement. First and foremost, I know that I need to learn to use descriptive language more effectively, because while I can use basic descriptions, more specific words escape me, on occasion. As for the paper itself, I do wish I'd done a bit more research as to my early literacy history, since I do not remember much about that time aside from my mother reading to my brother and I. Along with adding more in that area, I believe that I could have gone into more detail when it comes to my middle school years, as I did not elaborate on what exactly I did read, when I read. Those are, honestly, the only things that come to mind when I think about corrections from a writing standpoint. From a writing process standpoint, however, I do have something that very clearly, even to me, needs improvement. That being, I usually dislike writing an outline, if I can avoid it, I will. Obviously, I wrote one for the paper, but that is just from a broad standpoint. If I had to select one specific flaw when it comes to my writing process, that would definitely be it. So, there you have it. My reflections on the paper about my own Literacy History.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Murray & Strasser
According to Murray, all writing is autobiography. The reason for him to say this is because whenever someone writes anything, they write it in their own individual way. The words they chose, the tone they take, the way they see the world, and the way they think. It's all their own, personal way of writing, neither right nor wrong. If one had to categorize the separate reasons, it would probably end up being a split between things that readers can actively see, such as the words that are chosen and the tone taken, and things that are important and noticeable to the writer, like the way the world is seen and how they think.
Murray's arguments probably wouldn't change the way I write all too much, if he's correct about them, since changing it would be doing the exact opposite of what he's saying is writing. However, they probably would change the way I think about it because, as of now, I really don't purposefully put too much of myself into most writing assignments, though it obviously does happen.
As for the last few papers, texts, what-have-you, that I've written, most of them are considered autobiographies in the way that's described, because I always write things in my own way. What I mean by that, is of course that I write everything from my own point of view and state of mind, without trying to back up and act like someone else.
She says this because, if you're not enjoying what you're writing, then you're not properly using your skills in writing. The reasoning that I think is behind this, is that you can't write anything truly good, something that's worth being acclaimed and praised, unless it's something that you actually enjoy researching and writing about. Personally, I can agree with that. It's incredibly boring to write about something that doesn't interest you, and there's no way you can use your skills to the fullest doing it.
There is nothing stated directly that Fish's students won't be able to create "meaningful" writing, but I can see why she would believe that. If you constantly pound something into some one's head, like Fish seems to be doing with Grammar, they will end up memorizing it, but at the same time, they'll hate it because they've had to do so much of it, and so much of the same thing at that, over and over. In short, she probably is right to assume that at least some of Fish's students won't be able to get anywhere writing, but others probably will at the same time, if only because of how people work.
Finally, from personal experience, I can say that school does indeed separate your mind, body and spirit. It's so droning, so repetitive, that by the time you're finally finished and ready to move on, you've been taught, even if it was unintentional, that school must always be something that you resent.
Murray's arguments probably wouldn't change the way I write all too much, if he's correct about them, since changing it would be doing the exact opposite of what he's saying is writing. However, they probably would change the way I think about it because, as of now, I really don't purposefully put too much of myself into most writing assignments, though it obviously does happen.
As for the last few papers, texts, what-have-you, that I've written, most of them are considered autobiographies in the way that's described, because I always write things in my own way. What I mean by that, is of course that I write everything from my own point of view and state of mind, without trying to back up and act like someone else.
She says this because, if you're not enjoying what you're writing, then you're not properly using your skills in writing. The reasoning that I think is behind this, is that you can't write anything truly good, something that's worth being acclaimed and praised, unless it's something that you actually enjoy researching and writing about. Personally, I can agree with that. It's incredibly boring to write about something that doesn't interest you, and there's no way you can use your skills to the fullest doing it.
There is nothing stated directly that Fish's students won't be able to create "meaningful" writing, but I can see why she would believe that. If you constantly pound something into some one's head, like Fish seems to be doing with Grammar, they will end up memorizing it, but at the same time, they'll hate it because they've had to do so much of it, and so much of the same thing at that, over and over. In short, she probably is right to assume that at least some of Fish's students won't be able to get anywhere writing, but others probably will at the same time, if only because of how people work.
Finally, from personal experience, I can say that school does indeed separate your mind, body and spirit. It's so droning, so repetitive, that by the time you're finally finished and ready to move on, you've been taught, even if it was unintentional, that school must always be something that you resent.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
"Skills to be Learned"
Of the listed skills, the one that I am probably the least familiar with is the MLA formatting/citations and the like. Now, obviously, I know how to post citations themselves, and I know the reason that they're necessary, but overall, I'm not too experienced with actually using them due to not having to write all too many essays in school. Another issue that arises from that section, is that I don't even own Microsoft Word. For whatever reason, my computer didn't come with it installed, so I've had to just use OpenOffice instead, as it's free.
I suppose another area where I lack experience is in critiquing others' work, as I was home-schooled from my freshman year of high school onwards. The reasons behind that are various, but it boils down to the school that I live in the district for being less than stellar. Anyway, due to being home-schooled, the opportunities for me to actually look at the work of other students were slim at best, for reasons I believe are somewhat obvious.
Next on the list, is probably C, "Compose an effectively organized essay that focuses on a clear purpose and develops major points that support it's main idea(s) in reasonable effective ways." I've always had issues with finding a way to properly end off an essay, either that, or I accidentally make it go for too long because I get slightly off topic and can't find a proper transition to use to get back on topic. The reason for this is probably at least partially because I don't like to talk in front of people too much, so I tend to ramble on with writing in place of it, or something along those lines. As for why I want to improve, it's lost me points on papers a couple of times, and for such a stupid and easily resolved reason, I think it'd be odd if I didn't want to.
I guess for the final one, it'd have to be letter B. When it comes to the whole 'writing process' with planning, drafting, and so on, I've never really been all too enthusiastic about it, because I've always thought it was somewhat annoying. Obviously necessary, but still annoying and bothersome, since, unless it was required, I've always had the bad habit of jumping headfirst into a paper with not too much planning, and editing and revising as I go along. A terrible habit, I know, but it's one I've got because I'm very impatient with things and dislike it taking more than a week or so to actively finish a paper.
So, there you have it. The areas, in order, that I believe need work more so than others with my writing. Apologies if it's a bit longer than requested since as I've said, I'm not the best at actually limiting my words.
I suppose another area where I lack experience is in critiquing others' work, as I was home-schooled from my freshman year of high school onwards. The reasons behind that are various, but it boils down to the school that I live in the district for being less than stellar. Anyway, due to being home-schooled, the opportunities for me to actually look at the work of other students were slim at best, for reasons I believe are somewhat obvious.
Next on the list, is probably C, "Compose an effectively organized essay that focuses on a clear purpose and develops major points that support it's main idea(s) in reasonable effective ways." I've always had issues with finding a way to properly end off an essay, either that, or I accidentally make it go for too long because I get slightly off topic and can't find a proper transition to use to get back on topic. The reason for this is probably at least partially because I don't like to talk in front of people too much, so I tend to ramble on with writing in place of it, or something along those lines. As for why I want to improve, it's lost me points on papers a couple of times, and for such a stupid and easily resolved reason, I think it'd be odd if I didn't want to.
I guess for the final one, it'd have to be letter B. When it comes to the whole 'writing process' with planning, drafting, and so on, I've never really been all too enthusiastic about it, because I've always thought it was somewhat annoying. Obviously necessary, but still annoying and bothersome, since, unless it was required, I've always had the bad habit of jumping headfirst into a paper with not too much planning, and editing and revising as I go along. A terrible habit, I know, but it's one I've got because I'm very impatient with things and dislike it taking more than a week or so to actively finish a paper.
So, there you have it. The areas, in order, that I believe need work more so than others with my writing. Apologies if it's a bit longer than requested since as I've said, I'm not the best at actually limiting my words.
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