This week I started with the Anderson readings. I guess this week's theme is going to be verbs.
in the first lesson 4.1 he discusses subject verb agreement. Personally, I do not know how large the problem is with high schoolers and this topic, but I do not really recall having a problem. But then again I could make this mistake and then not know I made it either. The second part of this lesson dealt with correct tenses. Again, I felt that was a little bit of a no brainer.
Actually as I started to page through these lessons, many of the lessons seem logical-- when writing. But Anderson specifically notes, this is what kids 'say'. Which makes me wonder if the kids are writing the same way. Same way with texting I guess. But my dad will say "Imma be right back" but if he were to write down the phrase it would be "I will be right back." or some of my residents will say "That party be off the hook last night man!" but I would hope they would write out, "The party last night was crazy!"
This small tangent brings me to the question: should we as teachers be correcting our kids speech? Is there a danger for students to start writing as they speak.
The shifting tenses section 4.4 I am ashamed to say that I missed the error... this has to be my weak spot in my writing. The only thing is the mini lesson Anderson suggested would not have helped me. I would have asked for clarification, I do not like vague. But he's suggesting I do that to my student to help foster their own.
I'm beginning to realize I am the annoying little student... dang it and I am sorry.
Okay now for chapter 3 of Noden The Artist's Rhythms
okay now for parallel structure, a term I have never heard before, Noden defines as identical grammatical structures that add rhythm and balance to images. Kinda like writing things down in a series. Or at least that is my understanding so far. It could be a whole bunch of symilar words in a line or a phrase repeated over the course of a paragraph but it helps create a flow and mesmerizing quality to writing.
Noden notes that while these phrases/paragraphs/sentences are beautiful crafted and read they are also very powerful spoken. This is a funny contrast to the point I made above.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
March 20
Noden Chapter 9,
Before I start I want to ask a question. After spending hours of precious sleeping time pouring over quotations and secondary sources, second guessing your thesis, waging war in your head over word choices; how many essays has anyone in class written that you actually liked? An essay you were proud of? One that you were interested in reading?
I can only think of one. I wrote freshman year in my English 101 class at IUP about a coming of age story on Che Guevara and a motorcycle trip he took which changed his perspective for life.
I have to admit, I am not too thrilled with this chapter. I did not expect to be reading about non fiction writing in a grammar book.
I did enjoy the rejection of the 5 paragraph essay. I have always tried to push the creative boundaries of my non-fiction writing. The release of my bondage to the 5 paragraph essay was a momentous occasion. I remember even in high school when my senior English class was writing our literary criticisms we were instructed to write sections as we would a 5 paragraph essay. Turning towards this new model, one can see different elements of Introduction, exposition narration quotation, description and conclusion into a beautiful, intertwining piece of art.
I like the idea a lot. But, I struggle with the concepts. I read the ideas and they make sense. Many of the types of introductions can be pared with the lessons we learned last class about painting with stronger verbs and adjectives. But stringing all of these together effectively? I doubt my own skill. Reading theory in a book is nothing compared to practice
Noden Chapter 10- Revising, my second favorite part of writing....
Young Harvey sums up my own perspective, "How do I proofread for errors? I don't know when I'm making an error. If I knew what an dangling participle was, I wouldn't have dangled it in the first place" (231) -- I laughed so hard at this quote. Personally I struggle with active/passive voice, comma splice, along with a few other spelling mechanical errors.
Every time I write these blogs I feel like a downer. So please excuse me ahead of the next few paragraphs. I am frustrated because even if these books do present good ideas I am skeptical. I may want the outcome to work. I just do not know how I can accomplish what teachers with years of experience have accomplished.
Noden suggests there are four sections when it comes to revision: form, content, style and conventions. For each of these sections he presents little ideas and checklists for each section of revision.
First he talks about style. Style, I was always previously taught, was the hardest to bring out in a paper. Content was always held above form. He suggests returning to the idea of brush strokes we learned earlier to help stylize. My worry comes in because I do not remember any of the brush strokes. And if I do not how will my students effectively learn them and apply them to this revision.
For the use of Conventions he suggests having a checklist to go over when revising. I actually like this idea because then it gives me a specific type of grammar to focus on at a time while editing a paper. The form checklist refers to the ideas of the last chapter. Noden emphasis that each genre will have different requirements that we much meet as writers. The checklist helps us make sure we covered everything we need to cover.
Content, the usual focal point of most teachers and students when writing a paper. The checklist for this section focuses on Unity, Development, Coherence and Clarity. Sound familiar? Oh yes.
Before I start I want to ask a question. After spending hours of precious sleeping time pouring over quotations and secondary sources, second guessing your thesis, waging war in your head over word choices; how many essays has anyone in class written that you actually liked? An essay you were proud of? One that you were interested in reading?
I can only think of one. I wrote freshman year in my English 101 class at IUP about a coming of age story on Che Guevara and a motorcycle trip he took which changed his perspective for life.
I have to admit, I am not too thrilled with this chapter. I did not expect to be reading about non fiction writing in a grammar book.
I did enjoy the rejection of the 5 paragraph essay. I have always tried to push the creative boundaries of my non-fiction writing. The release of my bondage to the 5 paragraph essay was a momentous occasion. I remember even in high school when my senior English class was writing our literary criticisms we were instructed to write sections as we would a 5 paragraph essay. Turning towards this new model, one can see different elements of Introduction, exposition narration quotation, description and conclusion into a beautiful, intertwining piece of art.
I like the idea a lot. But, I struggle with the concepts. I read the ideas and they make sense. Many of the types of introductions can be pared with the lessons we learned last class about painting with stronger verbs and adjectives. But stringing all of these together effectively? I doubt my own skill. Reading theory in a book is nothing compared to practice
Noden Chapter 10- Revising, my second favorite part of writing....
Young Harvey sums up my own perspective, "How do I proofread for errors? I don't know when I'm making an error. If I knew what an dangling participle was, I wouldn't have dangled it in the first place" (231) -- I laughed so hard at this quote. Personally I struggle with active/passive voice, comma splice, along with a few other spelling mechanical errors.
Every time I write these blogs I feel like a downer. So please excuse me ahead of the next few paragraphs. I am frustrated because even if these books do present good ideas I am skeptical. I may want the outcome to work. I just do not know how I can accomplish what teachers with years of experience have accomplished.
Noden suggests there are four sections when it comes to revision: form, content, style and conventions. For each of these sections he presents little ideas and checklists for each section of revision.
First he talks about style. Style, I was always previously taught, was the hardest to bring out in a paper. Content was always held above form. He suggests returning to the idea of brush strokes we learned earlier to help stylize. My worry comes in because I do not remember any of the brush strokes. And if I do not how will my students effectively learn them and apply them to this revision.
For the use of Conventions he suggests having a checklist to go over when revising. I actually like this idea because then it gives me a specific type of grammar to focus on at a time while editing a paper. The form checklist refers to the ideas of the last chapter. Noden emphasis that each genre will have different requirements that we much meet as writers. The checklist helps us make sure we covered everything we need to cover.
Content, the usual focal point of most teachers and students when writing a paper. The checklist for this section focuses on Unity, Development, Coherence and Clarity. Sound familiar? Oh yes.
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