Neubert&McNelis SQR #5

Summary:
The Article begins with and example of a student evaluation to an essay. It shows that peers are not very comfortable with critiquing other peers work. They would rather be general about it rather than specifically pointing out errors and revisions. For that reason a method was brought forward called "PQP" or "Praise-Question-Polish." Basically, what this means is you say what you like about the essay followed by something you dont understand followed by something that could help improve the essay. Students responses were usually said to be vague, general but useful or specific. The article gives explains why some of them are good responses and why some of them are not helpful at all. After students were taught the method of PQP they were able to give more specific response.
Question:
Why is the PQP method more effective rather than just making a response without it. (When critiquing essays)
Response:
The PQP method is very effective because it gives a good balance of constructive criticism and praise when it comes to responding to other peoples essays. I think peer to peer learning is a very good way to enhance our revising capabilities. Without the PQP method I think I would just be one of those students who gives general responses. I would probably say something along the lines of "I liked your essay. It was good. I would fix the last paragraph." but now after reading the ariticle my response will be more specific and I will try to pin point every detail of what needs to be altered in my peers essays. I will definately use the PQP method. Its effective because it tells you the good traits of your essay, the things you need to work on, and the things that are unclear and need more explanation. I feel like the PQP method is full proof for critiquing essays. Its going to be very helpful when we use it to revise our second draft's.

Murray SQ&R #4

Summary: The article reflects on the idea that writers have to write before writing. In the article Murray describes four forces which help a writer move forward when they are trying to complete their first draft. The first force is resistance to writing. It can also be referred to the “Law of Delay”. Murray intention for this article is when someone gets an idea about writing they feel themselves stray away from it. Its almost like procrastination is inevitable when it comes to writing. The second force is the forces for writing. This involves what the writer feels. It is the perception of the writer. It is how much the writer knows about the subject he/she is talking about. The writer now puts the audience into consideration. The third force is Rehearsal for writing. The point that Murray is trying to get across through this force is that before a person begins to write they should discuss what they are going to jot down. A person should draw pictures the way little kids do before they write. The last force is “The signals which say write”, which pertains to the moment when the time has come to write. When the signals are there like “smelling a poem” or “catching sight of rabbit”, then you know its time to write. Lastly, a teacher should give his/her students enough time to brainstorm; to get their thoughts straight. The prewriting process is very important and should be taken into careful consideration when assigning a deadline for a paper. The student needs to have time for rehearsal; they need to have time to write before writing.
Question: What is the purpose of resistance to writing?
Response: Before reading this article I always thought it was a bad thing to keep putting off my writing assignments but now I see the other side of the spectrum. I think it’s a great philosophy to be able to say that putting off your writing is a good thing. It gives you more time to think and plan what you are going to write about. In high school, my teachers have always been big on timed writing. Timed writing essays usually go one of two ways. A, I spend all my time brainstorming and then I have very little time to write or B, I start writing right away and my thoughts come out all jumbled on paper because I have no time to think about what I was going to write. No matter which method I choose that doesn’t really show a person’s true writing ability. I believe what Murray believes. He says writing is waiting. Waiting for ideas to pop into your head. Waiting for a thought to come out of no where and hit you on the head. I shall wait…

Three views of english 1301 SQ&R #3

Summary: The first view of English is writing as product. Product is depending on text to learn how to write. In other words, being a good reader will help give students ideas about what to write and therefore they will be transformed into sufficient writers.The product view is based on writing essays. It is based on traditional teaching methods and on the teacher-as-critic form of grading such as,the teachers search for misspelled words or grammatical errors, etc. The second view is writing as process. This view often called "Process-centered" or "expressivist-teaching" relies on having students write about the things that interest them. This view is more about free writing. The teacher's job in this view is to help the students build their confidence. Some of the things that students write for process are journal entries, autobiographical material, personal reaction assignments etc. Students also comment on other classmates writing drafts and call it a "work-in-process." The third view is writing as system. In the view of system writers look at their world and turn their own experiences into knowledge. Students in this view collaborate with one another. This view focuses on the ecological model. Students must learn that good writing comes from being able to look at a task, a language, a rhetoric, and an audience. The article end with finding the "common ground" between all three views. This is teaching because no matter what the method, students are all still trying to learn how to become better readers and writers.
Question: Which of the three views can I relate to the most? Which do I like best and why?
Response: Although all three views seem helpful and effective, I think the one I can most relate to could be writing as process. In this view students are allowed to have an open opinion. Students are given the opportunity to express themselves. I, myself, am a journal keeper. I love writing my journal. This form of writing is just easier for me because I'm no writing for a purpose or even for a grade. I'm simply writing for the fun of it. Its more like free writing. There really isn't any guidelines or rules. There is no right or wrong. This method is very effective in the sense that it helps students develop their own opinions about what they want to say or how thy feel about a certain topic. I think even you, Mr. Shoney, have used this method in our English 1301 class. Whenever you tell us to take out something to write with and write on. When you tell us to write about what we got out of the article. You aren't exactly telling us what to write; its our opinion. Its just writing for the sole purpose of us being able to tell you what we think. (kind of like this response about what I think) :)

Haas and Flowers SQ&R #2

Summary:
This article is about reading; also, being able to know how to read and comprehend what you are reading. This article emphasizes the importance of reader’s understanding. Thus, knowing how to paraphrase, analyze, summarize and criticize. The point of this is to be able to build multi-faceted representations of the text. The article goes on to give instances of the kind of responses people give when reading a text. Kara (inexperienced freshman) and Seth (experienced graduate) are the examples and they both found the paragraphs they read to be rather confusing. Preceding, the article then moves on to focus on strategies for constructive meaning where we were provided with a graph that stated most students use content strategies. Content strategies help the reader get information from the text. Rhetorical reading is also a strategy, but it is hardly used. When using rhetorical reading it should be seen as the “progressive enlargement of the constructed meaning of the text.” Rhetorical reading and critical reading go hand in hand with each other. The real task for a person to improve their writing is by learning how to become a rhetorical reader.
Question:
Why is rhetorical reading the best strategy to use when trying to find meaning through a reading/article?
Response:
In my opinion, rhetorical reading is a great strategy to use and I know I probably fall into the percentage of people who never use that strategy. It’s a shame, because I know it’s very effective when I’m reading for comprehension, or when I’m just reading in general. In the article, there was a sentence (page 170) I really enjoyed. It was “Many of out students are ‘Good’ readers in the traditional sense: they have large vocabularies, read quickly, are able to do well at comprehension tasks involving recall of content.” I completely agreed with that statement. When I read that my mind just opened up and I realized that’s what teachers do. They drill certain strategies into you. They tell you to do things a certain way and they make you believe that’s the only way. I know in my high school, even in my AP English courses, my teacher was always telling me I needed to be a fast reader. She would drill us with SAT vocabulary tests just to expand our vocabulary, and for every essay she had a specific format which she wanted our essays to bee in. In a sense, I’m sure vocabulary, speed , and written content is important but it isn’t the only aspect of importance. Rhetoric plays a great role in the reading and writing and therefore should become a mastered strategy.

Downs and Wardle SQ&R

Downs and Wardle SQ&R #1

Basically, this article involves a new method of teaching a first year composition (FYC) course. The article emphasizes the importance of being able to understand some activities related to scholarly inquiry and it goes beyond the basics of grammar and reading. This new method called “Teaching about writing” creates a proposal that by learning the fundamentals of writing, students can in fact become better writers. Instructors of the course should also be able to respond to the writing, therefore making them experts at reading. In the first case study Jack is insecure about his writing but over time the course helps him start thinking for himself. Due to the course’s focus on the way writing works, Jack was able to learn some key principles of writing. In Stephanie’s case study she learned about the connection between reading and writing. She was able to expand her knowledge about her rhetoric and writing skills. The outcomes that came from the course included increased self awareness about the course. Students learned a lot about the techniques of writing just from reading about it. This course helps students look at writing as more than just words or required texts. It helps students to become aware of the “words of real people” with purpose sought out between the text. Research is a lot like a conversation. In order to research something you must have some sort of background knowledge on the subject beforehand. The pedagogy isn’t perfect like nothing in this world is perfect. The course work is demanding and hard to grasp at the beginning. There is very limited resources and no textbook for first-year students. Students writing assignments may not be perfect but with time they will improve. The teachers of these courses should be knowledgeable but a significant amount of teachers do not have the proper training. How will learning about writing help us become better writers?
As students we’ve always been taught to write a certain way or to follow a certain format but this is completely new. Learning about writing and about ourselves through our writing is the perfect way to progress our already smudgy writing techniques. Being that I am a senior in high school/freshman in college (any way you look at it) I know my writing skills aren’t the best out there. I firmly believe and support this whole “Writing about Writing” idea. I think it can, in the long run, become very effective because it will help me see what improvements I need to make in my writing.