Final Portfolio

My final portfolio contains three pieces; my final paper, revised paper of assignment number 2, and a peer review of Nick's final paper. I have chose these three assignments because, because I believe that these reflect my effort and thoughts toward the course. I believe that final paper brings many good points for people to think about grammar. The sources in which I used greatly back up the arguments that I make. The main weakness that I had while writing this paper was researching grammar and turning it into a conversational piece. I thought that the revision of paper 2 would be very difficult, however, I found it to be not as difficult to explain my writing process in a different way that I did before. I still make the same claims and arguments, but I explain them in a different way. I also included my peer revision of Nick's final paper because, it shows my effort that I put into the course. I have received peer revisions that just tell me how good my writing is and does not help me out at all when I go to revise my paper, and I think that I make very effective comments in which Nick can use to make his paper better. 

This leads me to my argument to raise my grade from my C to possibly a B. I believe that the effort I put towards this course was great enough for me to receive a B. English has never been and will never be my strongest subject, I am more of a mathematical student, which leads me to continually struggle with these type of courses. However, I really did try to get a better understanding of the subject by reading our assigned readings and answering the questions to the best of my ability.

I think that this course brought up many good things to consider in the writing community, however, I wish that we didn't have all of our writing assignments over the thoughts of the "Writing About Writing", book because, it lead me to have little motivation to write after paper number 2. The course began to be repetitive and dull once we got halfway through the quarter, a nice change of pace may have been what was needed for the course. I would have done a lot better on a research paper that was over a subject other than that about writing in the academic community. 

http://www.scribd.com/hartmanb93/d/85258907-Grammar-Paper

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85882360/Paper-2-Revised

http://www.scribd.com/hartmanb93/d/84643741-Nick-s-Peer-Response

Final Paper

In my research paper I am trying to show that the thoughts and teachings of grammar are flawed. The main thesis that I was trying to get across is that people put too much emphasis on how writing is structured, rather than what the content within the text is saying. I used sources to describe what grammar is and what is wrong with the teaching methods we use for grammar. This paper was very difficult, because I found it difficult to use research about a subject such as grammar. I realized there didn’t seem to be much to discuss about the subject. I found it extremely difficult to make my paper lengthy because my sources repeated themselves throughout, or had conflicting viewpoints. 

http://www.scribd.com/doc/85258907/Grammar-Paper

new url for paper

I noticed that my first url was not working properly. Hopefully you will be able to peer edit it before tomorrow

http://www.scribd.com/doc/84580631/Grammar-Paper

Cover Letter Paper 4

My main thesis statement for this paper was very similar to what I discussed in my first paper. I discussed how the teachings of grammar are flawed leaving students with a skewed thought process of the subject. I also brought to the readers attention how standardized tests lead teachers to teach what is necessary and now what should be being taught. I did find much difficulty when I wrote this paper. The sources that I wanted to use for this paper ended up to be very repetitive and lead me to not be able to use them all. The lack of sources lead me to not fully develop my thoughts. For my final, I will find more sources that will add to my argument, which will also lengthen my paper. Link is below

http://www.scribd.com/doc/83940249/Grammar-Paper

Introduction

The educational systems in the United States continually add standardized tests and laws in which to have every student on the same intellectual level. Although these laws and tests do give every student an opportunity in the academic world, they lead to teaching methods being flawed in certain subjects. One subject in which teaching methods have become controversial is grammar. The way that grammar is taught throughout America leads to the crippling of writing composition among students. To resolve this problem, teachers must integrate the ideas of grammar along with other aspects of the English language and writing.

Annotative Bib

http://www.scribd.com/doc/83455586/Annotated-Bib

Feb 27

Summary

In the article Reading and Writing without Authority Penrose and Geisler argue that knowledge or lack of knowledge is not what determines one’s authority. To show this, Penrose and Geisler examine a text from a first year student and a text on the same subject written by a doctoral student. After the two texts were examined Penrose and Geisler came to the conclusion that authority is determined by the level of one’s experience with writing and the confidence that comes with it.

QDs

3. The information transfer model refers to Janet’s writing because she is still a student in the writing world, and the way that she writes is by finding research and transferring the information into her writing. Another reason that Janet uses this method is a lack of knowledge of the subject, which leaves her with no other choice than to regurgitate information. Roger, on the other hand, is a graduate and may look at writing in a different way then Janet because, he sees his writing as conversational and less structured. Also his knowledge of the subject allows him to have a “continual process”.

4. I think that this was the case because as a student Janet was probably more confident in her sources because they are published articles and she probably looks at herself as an amateur. I also experience this with my writings, and I would rather rely on my sources then my own thoughts.

5. My writing is more like Janet’s because I am more of an information- transfer model rather than a constructivist model of knowledge. I am an information- transfer model because I feel that I am an amateur with my writings, so I rely on my sources and findings to compose my texts.

MM

After reading this article, the next time I write a research paper I will try not to just regurgitate the information I find. I will write with more a constructive and conversational way. Also, I will not lessen my abilities by second guessing my own thoughts and relying mainly on my sources.

Reflection

This article really made me think about how I lessen my ability to have authority. The whole article I referred to Janet’s ways of writing as my way because we share many similarities. I hope that from now on when I write I will be able to have more authority in my writing.

Cover Letter #3

The main point the our group was attempting to address is that there are many factors that contribute to people's literacy stories. To show this, we interviewed six individuals and asked them about their stories as to how they became literate and what their thoughts about it are now. We got a variety of answers which backed up our point that there are many contributing factors to people's literacies. I liked this project because it was a nice break from the standard papers that have been previously assigned. However, there were some difficulties that came with making the website, but all in all, it was pretty easy to compose a website

http://literacyhistory.webs.com/

Feb 24

Summary

In her article “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces”, Wardle argues that in order to succeed in your writing, you sometimes must change. Wardle discuss how your identity may conflict with a new discourse community. She presents this information by telling a story about Alan who has recently graduated from college and is struggling to communicate with his fellow employees.

QDs

3. I think that Alan and his work community did not have positive results because, he was not willing to change in order to “fit in”. I think that if he allowed himself to change for his fellow workers, then he would be able to communicate more fluently.

4. I do agree with Thompson when e states that people use language unconsciously. I think that in my writing, along with everyone’s writing, you put yourself in the writing without even attempting to. When you put yourself in your writing there may often be underlying meaning that you never intended to put.

5. I agree more with what Wardle by saying that Alan was resisting the discourse community. I think that Alan would have been able to successfully join his discourse community if he would have been able to adopt the identity that people in that community imagined for him.

6. I think that Alan is a community member not a tool, because he is a random sampling.

7. One example of a person that has institutionally ascribed authority that lost it by linguistic behaviors is my basketball coach. This incident happened after a game when he was giving his post game speech but, he used language and words that were not necessarily appropriate for the situation. He temporarily lost authority from me because of his actions.

AEI

1.     I think that a person that has authority over texts and within a discourse community is someone who has been educated thoroughly. They must be able to answer questions and educate others about the topic. The only authority I seemed to have was on my sports teams when I was an upperclassman. I feel that I slowly gained authority with my experience and skill with the game, and by the time I was a senior others looked up to me and respected me with my decisions.

Feb 22

Summary

In her article, Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice Johns extends the thoughts that Swales and Gee discuss about discourse communities. However, Johns goes further by explaining the problems that can occur with discourse communities. She discusses issues such as rebellion from certain communities.

QD

1.     John’s discusses the political aspects of joining in a discourse community. Some people may feel that you do not belong or they are above you, which makes it difficult to join a certain community. Also, Johns says that when a discourse community changes views it is difficult for some people within the community to change with everyone else.

2.     John’s means that people who join a discourse community may not have the EXACT same views as the others, and they can make minor changes to others thoughts. I feel that this is always happening in the exploration of science. First, the world was thought to be flat until Christopher Columbus persuaded people it was actually a sphere. Another example could be that everyone thought the earth was the center of the solar system until Copernicus declared that it is actually the sun that is in the center.

3.     I haven’t felt that learning to write or speak in a new discourse community conflicted with my sense of self, values, or beliefs. However, I have attended a public school my entire life, which is filled with a plethora of different personalities, and gave you an opportune environment to express yourself. Also my family is very supportive in whatever it is that would make me happy, which also could be another reason I have been exempt from this conflict.

4.     I do agree with what Johns is saying because in my opinion, to be fully submerged in a discourse community your views should be strong about the subject. An example of this could be the Greek life on a college campus. I have heard people say how much they have disliked fraternities but once they join they swear by them

5.     My authority over the types of texts I have done so far in college is very slim. Every writing assignment that I have done has set rules to follow and a certain viewpoint to argue. The only authority that I have had in college is when the teacher allows us to pick the topic to write about but, that is still very limited.

6.     Rule breaking is a “minefield” for students but not for more famous or established academic writers because as a student it is a big risk to break the rules because, it is our teacher’s final decision in the end. While established writers can take the risks because they are already well known, so they can basically make their own rules.

Meta Moment

The ideas that Johns discussed made me not want to abide by the rules of a discourse community. I feel that when you do not fully abide by the rules you contribute to the community.

Reflection

I thought that this article was somewhat repetitive because some of the ideas discussed were previously mentioned in Swale’s and Gee’s articles. However, I did like how Johns brought up questions to think about that have not been brought up before.

Feb 20

Summary

In the article The Concept of Discourse Community Swales describes his “six characteristics” of a discourse community. These six characteristics are what allow people to know which community they actually fall into. When these characteristics are utilized it makes it easier for people to join another community.

QD

1.

·      A community will always have known common goals that are trying to be met. When there are goals to be met, the interactions are more effective.

·      Every community will have its own means of interactions. There are many forms of interactions that are used: meetings, technology, letters, memos, etc.

·      Members of the community use the interactions to get constructive information back.

·      If thoughts or opinions of the group change, then they will use the change to their advantage, and absorb new information from the change.

·      Each community have a specialized way of speaking or writing. Some communities have abbreviations for certain words, while others will use different punctuation.

·      Discourse communities will see many different changes in its members, however, in order for the community to remain stable there must be balance between the experts and the amateurs.

3. Swales would not look at first- year college classroom as a discourse community because the thoughts and opinions of the students of the classroom are probably not the same. However, a graduate class would be a discourse community because you probably share the same values with others in your class after so many years of college.

5. A discourse community that I am currently in is one involving my friends. Our goal, most of the time is to have fun and enjoy life with one another. The way that we talk to each other can be viewed as our lexis, because we sometimes use terms and make jokes that others will not understand.

Meta Moments

I personally don’t understand anything differently in my own writing, but Swales made it very clear to what a discourse community needs to survive.

Response

Beginning this article was very hard to understand and follow, but when Swales began discussing the different characteristics it was more clear. At times I felt that this article was difficult to read. I did think it was interesting how he listed the six characteristics that discourse communities are consisted of.

Gee Summary

In the article Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics Gee discusses how language and grammar are not important at all, but ways of “being in the world” are what make up a Discourse.

QD

3. A discourse just describes the connected strengths that make sense. Discourse with a capital D is describing how one is “being in the world”. Discourse with a lower case d is a part of Discourse.

4. Primary Discourse- This is the first thing we do to understand the world.

Secondary Discourse- We leave our comfort zones at home and interact with institutions not at home

Dominant Discourse- these are when we find our inspiration

Non dominant Discourse- These are interactions between your community

5. The implication of this claim is that we all are one big discourse community, however, we are separated with different views.

6. This is connected to his claims about the relationship between Discourse and identity because when a person learns how to read and write, a person can interact with their own community. Also they will be able to find out what they “say, do, value, believe”.

7. I think that Gee is explaining a form of survival of the fittest, because in order to stay in that dominant Discourse you need to be able to be knowledgeable and prove that you belong in that group. This reminds me of fraternities in college because, the pledges need to learn the fraternity’s ways and prove to them that they would like to join,

8.The benefit to having tests within a discourse community is to maintain a strong and intelligent group.

11. A discourse community that I am involved in is the one with my friends. I know that I am in it because I feel a sense of acceptance.

 AEI

2. My primary discourse, along with many other people began with the values and views of my family. My family was my first influence on me, which put me in the same discourse community as them. We understand each others communications either by tone of voice, or phrases.

4. The way that a person should navigate between this type of Discourse communities by learning what others values are and use that information to expand your horizons.

Response

This article was very difficult for me to thoroughly read. However, I understood the main ideas that Gee was trying to get across to the reader.