reading for 2/28

Please read the attached file.

they-say

2/14

So in today’s class, we spent the first part of the session discussing the introduction-writing exercise. Each of you had a different exeperience with this… some of you felt that as you revised you slowly understood more of what you wanted to say, while others felt that your ideas were mainly formed in your head by talking and thinking, and that you didn’t need to revise and do multiple intros. Either way it’s fine. The introducton exercise is designed to get you to think more deeply about what your process is like. What kinds of information do you like to include in an introduction? What kinds of things catch a reader’s attention? How much of your thesis do you want to explain or clarify? These are all the kinds of things you can think about once you’ve written your paper and you go back and look at your introduction. It should really reflect, predict, and engage your reader in the paper to come.

Then we moved on to discussing the exemplication essay. We really fleshed out the two different essays we had read, and began to understand that writing an exemplification essay is sort of an upside down process. While you are usually given a topic and asked to define and think it through, I’m asking you to think about various vivid examples you have in your head, and see which ones can be threaded together to make up a main idea or main topic.

I think most of you understood this pretty well. By Wednesday, I’d like you to post on this blog sharing the examples you will use and the main idea they will illustrate. I know we discussed it in class, but I’d like to share an outline with us all by Wed. I think it will help you stay on task, and help your all learn from each other. The rough draft of the exemplification essay is due Sat. 2/21

All revisions of the autobiographical piece are due by Wed. 2/18.
Some of you were unable to sit down and talk with me after class, so I would like to sit down and meet with you before class this coming Saturday. It’s important to me that I be able to talk with you one-on-one, as it really helps the writing process. Please come in between 9:45 and 11 on Sat. if you still haven’t gotten feedback on your autobiography from me.
L

Exemplification

We will be moving on from autobiography to exemplification essays. Attached is a reading you should have done for class on Saturday. We will discuss this, and brainstorm ideas for an exemplification type of essay.

exemplification

class summary 2.7.09

During Saturday’s class, we first discussed the stories of Foss and Shah. Some of the issues we discussed involved one’s personal transitions in writing skill, the power of words in real life, the rules that apply to different types of writing, and the experience of wanting to assimilate or fit into a larger community while preserving a sense of self.

We then discussed writing good introductions. For those of you who missed class, please email me tomorrow and I will send you the hand-out, along with some pointers about what we decided on each introduction.) With regards to this topic, many of you pointed out that what you’re taught to write is sometimes very simple and boring. Anyone who wants to comment on this blog by sharing a bit more of your experiences with writing introductions, or any further hints about what you think makes a good introduction, feel free. I’d also like it a lot if anyone wants to post an introduction they think is particuarly good, with explanations about why.

As for your own intro-writing skills, I want you to write an introduction and show me each revision you make of the draft from the very beginning, along with some notes about why you made the changes you did. (See example of the reverse of the intro sheet I handed out yesterday).

The topic will be this: Many people are upset right now that the govenor and mayor want to put an obesity-tax on certain foods. Among these would be non-diet soda drinks. Those who choose to consume these drinks would pay a higher fee than those who chose diet drinks. Imagine you are writing an essay exploring this issue, and offering your viewpoint. Then, try to write an essay that does the following things:
1) engages the audience, either through narrative, by raising interesting questions, or through some “gimmick” that grabs their attention.
2) explains the topic clearly
3) set out the main idea you will be arguing
4) maintains a voice that is your own, whether that is sarcastic, serious, thoughtful, uncertain, etc.

I will, on Wed., post a reading for you to read by our next class.

As for your revisions, I realize that you won’t be able revise your autobiographical pieces until I can discuss them with you. I did this with a few of you on Saturday. For the rest of you, I can either meet with you on Wednesday night between 5:30 and 7, or you can review with me the 14th and turn them in via email on the 15th.

Just let me know.
L
attached for people who lost these or were not in class are:
1) sample intros we went over in class
2) sample of the writing process for an introduction (the example was about a movie; your intro revision is about the obesity tax)
3) analysis of your lit. narrative
sample-intros

intro-exercise
analyze-your-lit-narrative

thoughts and ideas

Now that you have all read the Megan Foss piece, along with “Longing to Belong,” I wonder what your thoughts are. Both pieces emphasize the idea that literacy is not just about your ability to write, or even to communicate in words. While we will be mainly working on your written skills in this class, I think it is important to examine how your thoughts are influence and shaped by the culture you live in or the culture you have adopted.

Many of you describe yourselves as writers. What does this mean to you? How do you think your style of writing developed? What kinds of events or people influence your writing? Are you open to change?

Others of you stated that you aren’t comfortable as writers. We spent time in class discussing whether everyone is a writer or not, but in the end, everyone in our class will be a writer for the duration of the semester. Even if you are unsure of your writing skills and style, you can still use this paper as an opportunity to examine the ways you write and think.

The text points out some of the techniques used in “Longing to Belong.” She writes using examples, vivid vocabulary, and dialogue, all of which draw the reader in.

What do you think of this style? Is it appealing to you?

Foss’ piece is much longer and arguably more complex. What kinds of choices do you see her making as a writer? How do you think she wants her audience to react? What techniques does she use to tell her story?

The text offers lots of suggestions on how to start your story. I’ve written literacy narratives several different times. I want to share the most recent one I wrote. I hope that by reading these very different accounts, you can relate and examine the ways you have tried to enter a culture or learn a skill or assimilate in some way to s something.

I’d really like each of you to try to comment on this blog entry. I want to hear how your writing is going, and what kinds of problems you are having. Or if you aren’t having problems, share your process so that others can see what’s working for you.literacy-mom1