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Stylistic analysis in literature
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“Text” is an interesting lens to look at writing through. There are literally brand-new spaces for writing being created by new technology and innovations still to be made in existing spaces.
For this reason, I chose to look at my writing through the lens of text. Specifically, I will note what text-space, sometimes referred to simply as space, the writing was completed on or in. Text-space is used in this paper to refer to where the writing was done, whether it be an email program, a forum application, or on a piece of paper. Also I will be looking at the writing as text. In this paper the term refers to the writing as an object, the physical appearance. If the writing is typed, the text will appear considerably different if hand-written, for example. Text is linked to the text-space in many instances, but these distinctions served me well in the assessment of my writings.
Taking a look at the first writing, chronologically; February 3rd, 6:18pm, I wrote an introduction email to a classmate in my American Literature course who had agreed to be my study partner. I wanted to establish the connection between myself and my email presence as well as ensure that he had my email address. The email appears here:
The significance of this email’s typical appearance could be overlooked, so let me take a look at the above writing from a specific perspective. When considering the relation between the act of writing and text-space there is both the mandate, in this paper refers to the limits which the text-space has inherent in it, of the space and the offering, refers to what can be done in a text-space, specifically any possibilities which are more singular to that text-space, of the space. While all writing completed in a space will f...
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...if the writing is to be read by others I tend to shape the text more deliberately, in standardized ways. Despite text-space and text being secondary in these ways, I have also seen that they do have a notable impact on my writing, which brings up the second pattern of shaping text by the text-space, in terms of mandates and offerings. This is a reality which plays into choosing a text-space. In looking at the pieces of writing here, I have shown that I am aware of the mandates of text-spaces, and I effectively choose text-spaces which will not stifle my writing. When regarding the offerings of text-spaces, it obvious to me, there is potential for improvement. Despite being aware of the offerings, I found that I did not take advantage of them effectively, sometimes as a result of over-use and sometimes a result of not utilizing them, specifically in electronic spaces.
Writing is one of the many factors which can lead to an unequal world. Writing was “One of the most important inventions in human history” (Prososki, “Writing”). It was believed to come from the Fertile Crescent called Sumer around 5,000 years ago. Over the years, writing has advanced as people created writing and printing systems, which were able to reach
LeBeau, Sue, (2007). The Writing Process. Retrieved 23 Oct 2007 from the World Wide Web: http://www.suelebeau.com/writingprocess.htm
There are various ways writers can evaluate their techniques applied in writing. The genre of writing about writing can be approached in various ways – from a process paper to sharing personal experience. The elements that go into this specific genre include answers to the five most important questions who, what, where, and why they write. Anne Lamott, Junot Diaz, Kent Haruf, and Susan Sontag discuss these ideas in their individual investigations. These authors create different experiences for the reader, but these same themes emerge: fears of failing, personal feelings toward writing, and most importantly personal insight on the importance of writing and what works and does not work in their writing procedures.
In Peter Elbows’ essay “Freewriting,” he emphasizes the importance of freewriting to improve the writing skills. He suggests writing “at least three times per week” 10 minutes per day in a piece of paper “whatever is on your mind”. Elbow stresses that the writing should be done without stopping, just writing every thought as they come to mind because, in the process, we tend to do “premature editing” of our “mistakes,” “bad writing,” or “unacceptable thoughts and feelings” making our writing “dead.” He explains that in the writing process, we are editing while producing, which it carries an “unnecessary burden” when we look for words and simultaneously worry if they are the correct ones. He believes that our writing skills can be bettered by regular practice of freewriting. The author finalizes that our writing has a voice, which is our “main source of power” that catch readers attention. It depends on us as writers to make it into something better. A voice that will be better heard by the reader.
Bunn, Mike. "How to Read Like a Writer." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Comp. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. Anderson, South Carolina.: Parlor, 2011. 71-86. Print.
The Elements of Style written by William Strunk and E.B. White, and Style: Toward Clarity and Grace written by Jospeh Williams both offer suggestions for establishing the comprehensive application of literary techniques and style. Each book, constructed differently, focuses on various areas of writing through comprehensive basic rules and guidelines. These books specifically identify the basic foundation for writing rules of usage, principle composition and offer suggestions for different types of style approach. The information provided also compels the average writer toward the necessary elements of the writing process through various methods of grammar, punctuation, and style implications. Though they are presented completely different, some of the basic style suggestions found in Strunk and White are somewhat similar to those in Williams. Both books propose that good writing style must consist of: clarity, precision, length, revision, cohesion, and reader sensitivity_all with the application of basic writing rules and guidelines. Although each book can be very helpful to the average writer, the intense amount of instruction may, at first, seem overwhelming.
I hear inner Strunk and White voices of “don’t overwrite”, “write in a way that comes naturally,” and so forth, going through my head. I have visions of endless Williams examples and illustrations on clarity. I see weeks of blog writings flashing through my memory. From all of this, I now own and believe in a firm and personal definition of what style is and what good writing entails. William Strunk and E.B. White’s book The Elements of Style, along with Joseph M. Williams’s book Style Toward Clarity and Grace helped lead me to this point, which is: what is the point?
When I am assigned to write an essay, the first thing I do is panic. I panic because I always seem to run into the same problems with my writing process. I have no central idea. I have no clue what I actually want to write about. When I was younger, I always started by making a web or an outline because thats what my teachers encouraged me to do in school, but I don’t do that anymore. Now I sit in front of my laptop, I take a deep breath, close my eyes, gather my thoughts, and type. I just let my thoughts flow onto the page. When I don’t feel the pressure of writing to an audience, my writing is completely different than it is when I am writing something that I know my professor or peers will read. As I am writing this exact sentence, I don’t quite know where I am going with it. My writing process is unorthodox and unorganized, but it is what I do everytime. When I stop trying to follow the linear model of writing, explained by Nancy Sommers as the process of forming an idea, writing about it, then revising afterwards, I feel that I am more capable of discovering something meaningful within my words. When I am forced to write a thesis statement and base my paper solely on it, it doesn’t come out as good as I think it should. It decreases the potential for my ideas to grow and discoveries to be made. It limits me to a single statement and narrows my thoughts, preventing me from discovery.
Grabe, W. & Kaplan, R.B. (1996) Theory and practice of writing Addison Wesley Longman Limited, Harlow, Essex, England. Martlew, M. (1983) The Psychology of Written Language, Developmental and Educational Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, U.K. Protherough, R. (1983)
Any craftsman knows that you need the right tools to complete a project successfully. Similarly, people need the right language and usage to communicate in a positive way. How people write is often a problem because they don’t have the right tools, but a bigger problem occurs when a writer “is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything at all” (592). If a writer carries this mentality, why try to communicate in the first place? People need...
In The Power of Writing by Joel Swerdlow, we are presented to the importance of writing to our civilization. Throughout the years written information has emerged as a primary method of communication. Individuals use whatever is available to write to convey their message. Early forms of writing include carving symbols in stone and bone, written leaves, silk, papyrus, parchment and paper. At the present time writing is used in many settings; for example we have books, text messages, online blogs, lyrics, street signs and emails. There are no limits to written information, and most importantly it can be preserved indefinitely. Writing helps me communicate to others, my identity, creativity and imagination. Individually, I use writing to compose lyrics, write about my personal experiences and to connect with my family. In my opinion, writing is an important tool of communication in my personal and professional development, because it gives an insight of my individual ideas.
Looking back over the course of the semester, I feel that I learned many new and interesting uses for technology within the classroom – both for classrooms that have a lot of technology and for classrooms that are limited with technology. For the majority of the class, we utilized William Kists’ book The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age (2010), which provided multiple modes of instruction that both utilized and/or created technology. One of the first things that I remember, and consequently that stuck with me through the course’s entirety, is that individuals must treat everything as a text. Even a garden is a text. The statement made me change the way that I traditionally viewed Language Arts both as a student and as a teacher, as I very narrowly saw literature and works of the like as texts only; however, by considering nearly anything as a text, one can analyze, study, and even expand his/her knowledge. Kist (2010) states that society is “experiencing a vast transformation of the way we “read” and “write,” and a broadening of the way we conceptualize “literacy” (p. 2). In order to begin to experience and learn with the modern classroom and technologically advanced students, individuals must begin to see new things as literature and analyze those things in a similar manner.
Letting Go of Words suggests that there are several ways for organizing content. The one way that does not create a successful communication is to organize the content with the author of the content in mind. This rule is important because it teaches me to put aside my ego and my needs and expectation and to pay attention to diversity. 4. Think “information,” not “document” (Redish, 2012)
The electronic reader is encouraged to think of the text as a collection of interrelated units floating in a space of at least two dimensions. Her movement among units does not require flipping pages or consulting the table of contents; instead, she passes instantly and effortlessly from one place to another (Bolter 175.)
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/