The Writing Puzzle
As I bring my third term at Southern New Hampshire University to a close, I have come to realize that writing is akin to working a jigsaw puzzle. When first viewed, there are pieces everywhere; some are upside down or sideways and there is no structure yet. I usually have a vague sense of what the picture appears like in my head; nevertheless, I occasionally remain unsure how to fit the pieces together. Personally, the remarkable areas of learning in this course were the organizational tools, thesis statements, narrative storytelling, and persuasive essays because each taught me the necessary mechanics and tools to complete this composition puzzle in a way that pulls these fundamentals together in a cohesive, easily understood manner.
The first task of working any puzzle is to understand the required elements. Starting without a solid
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The class has facilitated my learning how to keep my audience and purpose at the forefront when creating documentation intended to persuade. As Professor Anderson commented in my feedback, I needed to add more of my own voice and reflection into the essay, simply stating the facts was not enough (Anderson). This was an unfamiliar concept for me as there is no citation requirement in business and pulling facts together to support an argument is how I would previously create a persuasive report. That being said, I believe my persuasive business presentation will be much better in the future as I understand the importance of reflecting on facts, providing background, and detailing the significance of the data. Hence, the instruction on narrative and persuasive writing style is analogous to moving beyond the edges of the puzzle and putting the middle pieces together; while this may require the most time, the picture is just a shell without this level of
In Downs and Wardle’s article, they argue and identify the flaws in teaching writing in college. Demonstrating the misconceptions that academic writing is universal, but rather specialized in each case. Citing studies and opinions from esteemed professionals, Downs & Wardle state their points and illuminate the problem in today’s many colleges.
Learning to read and write are both considered to be fundamental human skills, that we begin to learn from the day we start school. As time advances, as do our minds, and we are expected to evolve in our reading and writing skills. Finishing high school is a large milestone for the lives of young adults; however, there is so much to learn in order to reach the next big milestone. To be a writer in college can challenge our preconceived thoughts on how we write. Although some skills remain unchanged, high school graduates are faced with overcoming new ways of doing a skill that seems so simple that it is practically innate. The definition of writing skills for college students is much different than high school. However, considering we have come so far it is time to go over the information we already know and challenge ourselves with ideas that we are yet to learn more about.
While Murray emphasizes the emancipating affect that a process-oriented curriculum has on students, Andrea Lunsford explains how the process approach to writing--adopted by and aligned with the field of Composition and Rhetoric--frees not only students, but teachers and scholars as well. Theories governing Composition and Rhetoric break down boundaries "between disciplines, between the genres of reading, writing and speaking, between the theory and practice, between research and teaching." Janice M. Lauer and Andrea Lunsford similarly point out the cross-disciplinary nature of Composition and Rhetoric and how this creates and directs scholarship in the field.
Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.
At the beginning of the quarter, I had preconceived notions as to what "good" writing looked like, and how I should formulate it. I found that to be successful in this class, I had to leave my thoughts from high school at the door and start from scratch. I quickly came to understand, for example, that a thesis statement is completely different than a claim. This was a big issue for me as I was confident in my thesis-writing abilities at the beginning of the quarter. However, when I received multiple papers back regarding my claim, I was discouraged. Although I didn't have any specific goals for my own writing at the beginning of the course, this immediately became a goal for me to work towards. I needed much additional help, and found the Odegaard Writing Center to be particularly useful. I took what the tutors there had to say directly into account, along with Allison's recommendations. With their help, and also in following by example, I devel...
I started the semester not knowing how I would adjust going from a high school writing class to a college level writing class. I felt my writing was above average, but writing was never one of my strong suits. I had no way of knowing if my writing competency could hold up to college academic standards. I took expository writing with Professor James Brady. Over the course of the semester, multiple learning objectives were learned through my essays. These learning objectives were subject matter knowledge, writing process knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, genre knowledge, and meta-cognition.
As I began my journey through this course, I figured that I may encounter difficulties as writing, in general, is not one of my strengths. In fact, I have always had a subtle disdain for the writing and english courses, as I have found them repetitive since middle school. I mean I figured there’s only so many ways I can write a persuasive essay under the guise of other objectives. I figured this course would be a typical writing class envisioned with an onslaught of countless assignments that would be regarded as “process work”. Thus far, my expectations have been the polar opposite of the course. The course’s emphasis on rhetorical tools, devices and appeals within multiple mediums has allowed me to view composition in a slightly brighter
Throughout High School, going to English, there were always four questions that crossed my mind. Are we reading a book? Watching the movie of this book? Writing one essay on the motifs of the book? And lastly, I thought this was English so why aren’t I being taught English? My High School experience is a prime example of what Stanley Fish and Maxine Hairston mean when they say that teachers are spending too much time on things that will not benefit students writing skills. Stanley Fish wrote in the New York Times, “What Should Colleges Teach?” and Maxine Hairston wrote in College Composition and Communication, “Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing.” Within both of these articles, Hairston and Fish agree with each other and my High School experience that Composition classes are not focusing on the right things.
Writing can have many goals: to inform, to persuade, or to entertain, but in each section of writing the major
During the transition from a high school writer to a collegiate writer, my strength at understanding the basic principles of good writing has remained consistent. I grasp the ...
As I chose to take this class and better my writing skills at a college level, I knew this class was going to be difficult. With a total of four essays to write I knew I had to be on my game from the beginning. Throughout durations of this class, I have learned how to become more responsible, plan ahead of time, and how to become a better writer. With each mistake made i have been able to learn and improve. An Ad Analysis, Comparative Analysis, Narrative, and an Argumentative Essay are the four papers we had to write for the course.
Although adequate writing skills are indispensable for life, leisure, and employment, quite a few students do not learn how to write effectively. Since writing is an exercise in thinking, it is important to balance the process of writing with the mechanics of writing. The areas of the brain involved in the writing task are varied yet interrelated; therefore, a student’s individual needs will determine the method of instruction they receive. Many students who have low expectations for their own academic success will not make even minimal efforts to complete a...
As I look back on my schooling I can’t believe how many papers I’ve written throughout my life. Naturally as I’ve grown up, my writing has developed from learning how to write sentences all the way up to the pages of essays that consist of deeper criteria. I know for a fact that I’m a better writer now than I was before. College writing is more challenging and I’ve had to learn how to adjust to it.
The ability to write well is not a naturally acquired skill; it is usually learned or culturally transmitted as a set of practices in formal instructional settings or other environments. Writing skills must be practiced and learned through experience. Writing also involves composing, which implies the ability either to tell or retell pieces of information in the form of narratives or description, or to transform information into new texts, as in expository or argumentative writing. Perhaps it is best viewed as a continuum of activities that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of “writing down” on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end (Omaggio Hadley, 1993). It is undoubtedly the act of
Crème, P., & Lea, Mary R. (2008). [PDF format]. Writing at University (3rd edition.), McGraw Hill Education. Retrieved from www.kantakji.com/fiqh/Research/ti134.pdf.