Always Have a Game Plan….. or Strategy

The author writes in several places about reading academic texts as entering a conversation. What does this mean to you? How can you have a conversation with a text?

To me, reading academic texts as entering a conversation means to ask questions frequently. Whether that be to ask yourself, a peer, or your professor. Asking questions is the first step to learning. Discussions are very much helpful guides to understanding. Hey, they told Albert Einstein he was not smart enough to advance to the next grade because he asked too many questions, but look where asking questions got him. I thoroughly enjoy discussing class readings with my fellow peers, they tend to open my eyes to some bits and pieces I failed to notice.

How might the reading strategies discussed in this article have an impact on your writing? Will you be more aware of your introduction, conclusion, and clues you leave throughout the text for readers? Talk with other writers to see what they may have learned about writing from this article on reading strategies.

After reading this assignment, I realized how important it is to read between the lines, or basically pay attention to details. It also reflects upon my writing with the fact that using detailed explanations is a good thing. I will put more effort into making my writing more detailed and scrupulous.

Check out thru reading I reflected on: Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources by Karen Rosenberg

October 25, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: college, education, english, high school, writingTags: 160, advice, college, composition, english, FYC, high school, papers, reading, reflection, relatable, rhetoric, RWT, student, thinking, writing Leave a comment

Use the “Source” Luke! (In Honor of the New Star Wars Movie)

During my writing career, I have used a variety of different sources. I have used books, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. Mainly, however, I used web sites and scholarly journals. Now, focusing mainly on my assignment on “everyday writing,” I began gathering research from online photos and personal photos from personal experiences. Also, on YouTube I have watched plenty of videos of the actual promposal taking place. They are quite entertaining, I must say. As I continue to research “promposals,” I think it would be fantastic if I could find an online article describing someone’s experience with their promposal. It would be intriguing to see promposals from a different perspective as mine. As Cynthia R. Haller says in Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources, it is perfectly healthy to pull points from other people’s experience and or writing, because this helps to keep us informed and knowledgeable about our topic.

October 23, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: college, education, english, high school, writingTags: 160, advice, college, composition, english, FYC, high school, papers, reading, reflection, relatable, rhetoric, RWT, student, thinking, writing Leave a comment

Your writing has worth & value… YOU have worth & value

“EXPRESS YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!” –James White & The Watts

The form of everyday writing I chose to focus on says a lot about teenagers in today’s society. I chose to shift my focus to “promposals”. Teenagers display a sense of themselves through this quirky idea of asking a person to prom or, really any sort of formal dance. Promposals have just recently become so popular. They trend on multiple social media platforms, and there are even videos on YouTube of the proposal in action. They can go from a plain sign that says “prom?,” to a huge drawn out and creative ordeal. I’ve actually watched a promposal on YouTube, where a girl had to follow clues to reach the actual proposal. It was pretty creative! The whole point of promposals, is to show the person you care about them and would be honored to have them as a date. The audience for these proposals would mainly be teenage girls, since boys normally do the asking. The problem with it, however, is that this type of writing does not appeal to everyone. It is highly unprofessional and as some would say, “cheesy.” As, Laura Bolin Carroll would say in Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis, we can influence each other through writing. So, spending that extra 10 minutes on a catchy slogan for your promposal, just might score you a date with the girl of your dreams.

 

October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: college, education, english, high school, writingTags: 160, advice, college, composition, english, FYC, high school, papers, reading, reflection, relatable, rhetoric, RWT, student, thinking, writing Leave a comment

“I write as though I am whispering in the ear of the one I love.”

I titled my article this because I found this quote by Terry Tempest Williams to be so beautifully raw. There are people who enjoy writing, and then there are people who do not care for writing at all. I feel as if it is a subjective experience, however people always write on a daily basis and do not even realize it. For example “tweeting” is a form of everyday writing in which people use the social media platform called “Twitter” to communicate. People discuss their opinions and ideas publicly as an attempt to start a movement. They also use it for much simpler things, like wishing an old friend a happy birthday. “Tweeting” relates to the readings, because it is used to express yourself and it serves as a way to share some of your passions with the world. That can be intimidating, yet fulfilling at the very same time.

Check out the readings I related everyday writing to:

Williams in Why I Write &  Roozen (17-19), Estrem (19-20), and Russell (26-27) in Naming What We Know

October 19, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

Writing Conventions on Writing Conventions on Writing Conventions

The reading assigned to the class, titled “Excuse My Excess” by Lauren E. Tyrrell, was very informative. Not only informative, but written in such great detail. However, one thing that I did not particularly enjoy was how all over the place the fonts and font sizes were. It made me feel a bit overwhelmed. Back to things I did like, I thought it was very helpful the way she used real life examples. This makes it a whole lot more relatable.

One particular snip it of the reading I enjoyed was “I stopped gnawing on my pen cap just long enough to murmur ‘Thanks’ and reach over the edge of my desk to receive the slim, stapled stack of paper.” I can fully relate to this experience. She is nervous about her grade, she is nervous she did not do well, and she is nervous about what the professor, might think.

As the author of this reading mentions, she follows conventions because they help make it easier for her to organize her paper. I agree one hundred percent. Witting conventions are basically guidelines for me and I use them as I please. I am not saying I am completely strict with them, but when I am unsure on what to do I can always count on the good ole writing conventions to help me out of a slump.

September 23, 2015September 23, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: college, education, english, high school, writingTags: 160, advice, college, composition, english, FYC, high school, papers, reading, reflection, relatable, rhetoric, RWT, student, thinking, writing Leave a comment

Reflection on Reid’s “Ten Ways To Think About Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing Student” (RWT 11)

Which section of this essay do you remember most clearly? Write down what you remember about it, and explain how you might use an idea in that section to help with a writing task that you’re doing this week. Why do you think this section stuck with you?

I remember “Lost Money and Thank-you Notes: What’s in an Audience?” or section 4 the most. The author, Reid, mentions how teachers are constantly stressing how important your audience is, and I think that is why that particular section stuck with me. I actually laughed when I read it because I could picture my professor elaborating on how your audience is so important, which it is so important. Reid gave an example of how when you ask people, in general, for money it may take you a while to think of something professional to write, but when you ask a friend, you are more relaxed. This little reflection on this particular part of the reading assignment helped me to realize audience is important in every situation, and it just reminded me that I owe two of my friends some money.

What other rules for writing have you been told to follow, either at school or outside of school in your workplace, community group, or online setting? List a couple of rules that weren’t described in this essay, and note down whether you think they’re most connected to the principle of writing from knowledge, showing enough detail, or adapting to readers’ needs. Also, if there’s another principle for writing that helps you a lot, something you always try to do, add a note about it so you can share it with your classroom peers.

In high school some writing rules I was told to follow were: try not to use the pronoun “you”, essays should contain five paragraphs and use MLA format. High school teachers also constantly say how “college is much stricter when it comes to writing”. However, for the two classes I have taken in my college courses, I have found that you can be free in your writing and that you can express yourself much easier. A rule that was not mentioned in this reading was to not OVERUSE the pronoun “you”. In high school, again, they are very strict about this rule. In college, they are more laid back about it.

Click here for link to reading

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: college, education, english, high school, writingTags: 160, advice, college, composition, E Shelley Reid, english, FYC, high school, papers, reading, reflection, relatable, rhetoric, RWT, student, thinking, writing Leave a comment

First Draft To Final Paper= Success (RWT10)

As a sophomore in high school, the biggest writing assignment I had was a research paper on, basically, our plan for the future. Not too intimidating right? That was of course sarcasm. I started my paper with many doubts and being very disappointed in my first draft. However, by the time I finished, I was so satisfied. Not only with the fact that I felt so informed about college and my “future”, but also with the professional tone of my paper.

In the reading, “Shitty First Drafts” by Lamott, it talks about how even great writers get upset with their first draft, but by the time they finish they end up being happy about it. That may be blowing your mind right now. You are probably thinking: “How could you be upset with something from the start and then happy with it by the end?” Think back to when you wrote a paper, remember how stressful it started out, and then remember having that satisfying relief when turning it in. If you never had that feeling, well then good luck to you!

September 17, 2015September 18, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: writingTags: advice, college, high school, papers, writing Leave a comment

Anxiety Faced When Writing (RWT9)

What are you most anxious about, when writing? For example, do you worry most about grammar and mechanics? About organization? About the deadline? About page length? Why?

• When I write, I am most anxious about having my thoughts flow nicely. I don’t want the reader to think I am “stupid” because I have a choppy paper. Sometimes, it is very difficult for me to think of ways to make one idea flow into another without having it sound odd. I try to think of words that sound sophisticated, so my paper will sound more professional. When thinking of good words to use, it becomes difficult to keep my paper fluent.

No doubt most students are at least peripherally, if not entirely, concerned with what grade they get on a paper. Given that pressure and/or in addition to that pressure, what are you most anxious about, when sharing your writing with others—e.g. classmates and/or the teacher? For example, do you worry most about your audience thinking your ideas are stupid? About readers misunderstanding your argument? About your peers/ teacher judging you according to how well you write?

• As mentioned above, I do worry about my readers thinking my paper sounds “dumb” or “unprofessional”. I also worry that the teacher will disagree with my opinions and give me a bad grade based solely upon those opinions of mine. For example, politics is always such a touchy subject. When I speak my opinions about politics, I feel as if the teacher will be angry with my views and dislike me more because of where I stand politically.

September 15, 2015September 17, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment

High School vs College Writing Techniques (RWT8)

• How did what you wrote in high school compare to what you have/will do in your academic writing in college?

In high school, I wrote many research reports, which I can also expect to write in college. I wrote many essays using MLA format and cited all my work accordingly. I have done this and will continue to do this throughout college. In high school, I was taught to make my topic very clear. I will carry over this rule into my college papers, as well. I was incorrectly taught to avoid using “I” when writing my papers, but from reading this assignment I now know that is not necessary.

• Think of two different writing situations you have found yourself in. What did you need to do the same in those two situations to place your writing appropriately? What did you need to do differently?

Two different writing situations I am choosing to compare and contrast are my sophomore year of high school research report on college and my college course comparative analysis of 2 bios. In both papers, I properly used MLA format to write and cite my paper. I made my topic clear and correctly separated the paper into paragraphs, which flowed nicely. However, in my high school paper I would need to make a stronger introduction and conclusion. I would also need to make my body paragraphs more detailed and have more examples to support my arguments.

September 13, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: writingTags: advice, college, high school, papers, writing Leave a comment

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August 31, 2015 by hgilhooley Categories: Uncategorized Leave a comment