As a part of the English 101writing course, doing well on an in class writing is essential to excel in the course. During the second in class writing, individuals such as myself, had to respond to the article “Brain Candy” by Malcolm Gladwell. As a result, I wrote about whether or not Gladwell agreed with Johnson’s assertion that pop culture has made America smarter. Upon analyzing my graded in-class writing, I realized several errors that could be fixed. Examining the paper highlighted many of the paper’s problems, such as the use of proper syntax and the use of a passive voice as opposed to an active voice. Although the sentences appear clear, as later stated (in the comments), further proofreading is needed in order to assure a cohesive
Throughout America, people place a high value in their freedom of speech. This right is protected by the first Amendment and practiced in communities throughout the country. However, a movement has recently gained momentum on college campuses calling for protection from words and ideas that may cause emotional discomfort. This movement is driven mainly by students who demand that speech be strictly monitored and punishments inflicted on individuals who cause even accidental offense. Greg Lukianoff and Johnathan Haidt discuss how this new trend affects the students mentally and socially in their article The Coddling of the American Mind published in The Atlantic Monthly. Lukianoff and Haidt mostly use logical reasoning and references to
Co-author of “They Say/I Say” handbook, Gerald Graff, analyzes in his essay “Hidden Intellectualism” that “street smarts” can be used for more efficient learning and can be a valuable tool to train students to “get hooked on reading and writing” (Graff 204). Graff’s purpose is to portray to his audience that knowing more about cars, TV, fashion, and etc. than “academic work” is not the detriment to the learning process that colleges and schools can see it to be (198). This knowledge can be an important teaching assistant and can facilitate the grasping of new concepts and help to prepare students to expand their interests and write with better quality in the future. Graff clarifies his reasoning by indicating, “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue in Source over the student who writes a life-less explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (205). Graff adopts a jovial tone to lure in his readers and describe how this overlooked intelligence can spark a passion in students to become interested in formal and academic topics. He uses ethos, pathos, and logos to establish his credibility, appeal emotionally to his readers, and appeal to logic by makes claims, providing evidence, and backing his statements up with reasoning.
When someone accidentally touches a smoldering oven rack, they are not presented with adequate time to consider every manner they can react. Within a split-second, the human will retract their hand in order to avoid further agony and save their skin. In this circumstance, the sensory nerve which perceived the pain will bypass the brain and reconnect directly to a motor nerve near the spinal cord, which will in turn cause muscles to withdraw the hand. This life-saving device, called a reflex arc, is not the body’s only underlying system with the ability to quickly recognize and react. The novel Blink, written by Malcolm Gladwell, explores the adaptive unconsciousness—a sort of intuitive instinct which is able to detect if something is awry
Malcolm Gladwell starts chapter 2 with the story of computer scientist Bill Joy. In 1971 the University of Michigan opened one of the world's most advanced computer centers. Joy was one of the most famous people to ever walk through that university. Gladwell talks about Joys come up and how he made a name for himself and how he was associated with rewriting java and UNIX. Gladwell then ties everything up and mentioning that Joy succeeded in a brave new world where heritage, connections, and status didn’t matter. He did everything based on his talent and he succeeded because he was one of the best at what he did.
At the beginning of chapter three, Gladwell tells the story of two extremely intelligent people who have high IQs — Christopher Langan, who many call the smartest man in America, and Lewis Terman, a professor of psychology of Stanford University and his group of young geniuses called “Termites.” A special thing about Langan that Gladwell talks about is, if Einstein has an IQ of one fifty, Chris has an IQ of one ninety-five. He has become the public face of genius in American life, he gets invited on many news, shows, and he has been the subject of a documentary by the filmmaker Errol Morris, all because of his brain. Once, a neuropsychologist gave Langan an IQ test, and his score was literally off the charts — too high to be accurately measured. He was speaking at six months of age. When he was three years old, he would listen and follow the announcer read
Many people feel that educated decisions are the best ones, that the more you study, the more you know. Blink, written by Malcolm Gladwell, challenges that notion. He wishes to alter the belief of the average person, and writes with the “desire to push the world in a certain direction, to alter other people’s idea of the kind of society that they should strive after.” Most people in today’s society would much rather trust the decision that comes with a plethora of meticulous research, analysis, and studying to back it up. Malcolm Gladwell’s purpose is to convince us of just the opposite: that sometimes, even against more rational judgement, our split-second decisions are the best. He argues that when people put their instincts to use responsibly,
Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edition. Edited by Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Longman Publishers, pp. 371-377, 2008.
In the essay, “Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Better Writers” Josh Keller comments on the education of students by exploring positive and negative effects of Internet experiences with writing. Keller is a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education which is a job information source for college and university associates. Keller’s examination of internet use reflects students, teachers of English, scholars, and adults of education. Some scholars agree colleges should bring lessons from writing in classrooms, and likewise feel the writing is more connected with the audience. However, others suggest tweets and blog post administers dissatisfactory writing traditions. Some of the reasons
As I read Francine Prose’s article in class, I was momentarily stunned by how unapologetically blunt she seemed by tyrannically ranting about the repetitiveness and utter blandness of America’s high school literature curriculum. Most people I know prefer to take the easier route of skirting around the subject of America’s education system – or prefer to respond to the debatable topic with a tone of vague disinterest and indifference. My patience waned as I saw more and more people view this nationwide problem with dismissiveness, as they answered to this situation with an annoyingly monotone unison of, “Who cares?” Their droning answers to this alarming situation made me understand that not many people truly know just how horribly the curriculum
Nash was a student attending Princeton where he struggled to be attentive in class, because his only concerns were with creating formulas and equations. When Nash finally graduated he took on a teaching position at MIT, better known as Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As the film goes on, Nash is welcomed to the Pentagon by William Parcher, an agent that is only a figure of hallucination as we find out later. He has been called upon to decipher difficult government codes; leading to him becoming a secret spy. While at MIT, Nash has an encounter with a fellow student named Alicia that he later goes on to marry. After a while, Alicia begins to notice John’s erratic behaviors and calls in help from psychiatrist, Dr. Rosen. Through observation, Dr. Rosen tells Alicia that he believes John is showing signs of paranoid schizophrenia. Throughout the movie Nash starts to cook up imaginations of Charles, Marcy, and Parcher. As he kept having increasing bouts of disorganized behavior, hallucinations, and delusions, Nash was put on insulin shock therapy with antipsychotic drugs to treat his illness. In private, John withdrew himself from taking these medications and soon began to repeat the strange behaviors from before. Then with his wife Alicia’s help they found new ways to cope with his disease other than
This English 2201 multidisciplinary course, instructed by Professor Mckoy, refreshed and introduced writing disciplines that allow the writing process to be conducted and allow writers to effectively present and support their arguments. Throughout this class I have learned how to become a more focused, intelligent and developed writer as opposed to entering English 2201 prior. Understanding the distinctions between authoritative and popular resources allowed me to understand the critic and frame that goes into research and information passed along through media and publication companies to scholars and enthusiasts alike. This gave me the foundations to look at an ethical issue in my selected field of study and further relate to an issue that develops interest and awareness for a subject to further examine. The projects from category 1 allowed me to write
Twenty years ago, the thought of instantly publishing your thoughts for the world to see with the simple push of a button, would have been a dream. Today, websites and on-line forums have made this dream possible. Through the years, technology has made advancements in many fields. Today, nowhere is that more apparent than in the field of writing. Electronic writing’s detractors fear that the increase of electronic writing will spell disaster for modern language. History does not support this claim however. Some additional complaints about electronic text are that it is not aesthetically pleasing and it is awkward to read. This is a copout for people unwilling to change with the times. Books will always have a place in writing, but doubters had better hop on the bandwagon soon, because computers and electronic writing are here to stay. In the educational arena, printed texts are becoming increasingly obsolete. The amount and variety of information available on the internet have made reading electronic text not only an option, but in some areas, a necessity. Electronic writing has changed the modern perception of who is a writer is by offering a wider range of places for authors to publish their work and opinions. Computers and the internet have become too mainstream to ignore. Electronic writing may never completely replace printed text, but its use is becoming increasingly more popular.
Books are mind-vacations, intelligence-enhancers, shielded adventures, and champions of inspiration awaiting discovery. Obstinately analytical individuals often argue against the necessity of mandatory high school English courses, citing literature’s functional ‘uselessness’ as proof of their delusional position’s validity. However, pervasively influential in its role as developmental catalyst and accolade to imagination, the study of literature is educationally essential because it represents a timeless testament to the unchanging nature of humanity.
Looking back on the semester it is easy for me to see how much my overall writing has improved because of this class, WRA 110, Writing: Science & Technology. Because of the different projects, papers, readings, and assignments, I have gained a stronger foundation in the understanding of technological and rhetorical literacies. I now have a better understanding of the requirements and expectations of college writing. This course has helped me improve my overall writing by developing in five major areas: organization, audience, research, citation, and revision.