Final Learning Blog

This class has been a challenge for me. Besides the getting up super early three times a week, (I don't know how I did it every day in high school) it has challenged me as a writer. When I took this English class I was less than thrilled. I thought there were going to be a lot of research papers and readings. This class made me think a lot deeper into writing, especially with our studies on genres. I never sat down and actually thought how set in stone the guidelines were for certain genres. That unit intrigued me the most. I didn't think genres applied to writing. I thought they were just for things like movies and music. I think the moment I opened my eyes a little wider to writing was when we were in the middle of that unit in class. I realized that there was a lot more to writing then just what I felt like doing. It also made me realize that I wasn't as good of a writer as I thought. Yeah, I can write a few little poems that rhyme and I can play with my words a little bit but that doesn't mean I'm a really good writer. I was challenged in this class to write different genres.. and that challenged my thinking towards myself. Not saying that this is a bad thing, because it will help me. In this class, I learned that writing truly is an art with a lot more effort put into it that I ever gave credit for. I thought writing was just something that people did for fun. Sure, I knew that writers had to deal with writer's block and whatnot but it didn't occur to me all the little things that go into writing, for any type of genre.
So I suppose my big "takeaway" from this English class would be that writing has a lot more to it then just the pen and the paper..

Characteristics of GWRJ

1. Both authors went to Illinois State.
2. Both authors discussed writing academic papers.
3. Both articles cited appropriately.
4. McDuffie's article was about English, while Shapiro's was about Biology.
5. Shapiro directly mentions some of her professors.
6. Both articles contained pictures.
7. McDuffie used online articles to write her paper, Shapiro used press releases.
8. Both articles were organized differently : McDuffie used titles for each new point, Shapiro used an essay format.
9. McDuffie's article was easy to read because of it's narrative format.
10. Shapiro listed her references, McDuffie did not.

Halfway Learning Blog

When the group that I was in got together, I thought we had really good brainstorming ideas. We bounced ideas off of each other. I remember us talking about picking a genre for us to work on. In the beginning, we talked about two specific genres:  maps, and diary entries. We explored the map idea briefly, saying how we could take an ISU campus map and then brainstorming the things that we could change about it. We said it would be interesting to see a map without any colors, odd symbols instead of keys, and a few other minor changes. Then, we thought about the diary entry and what we could change about that. At first, we immediately decided to change the location. I believe Sara G suggested that we tape them on the floors of our dorms and it was brought up that maybe we could even write them on the white boards on the doors of residences. After talking to Nicole about the idea, she suggested that the diary entry was a little played out with the media and whatnot. After we reconvened as a group, we discussed how that had actually never occurred to us and that we should still change the location but also some of the content as well. It was suggested that instead of talking about the timely things that a diary would contain, we decided to talk about something that happened maybe a year or so ago. We also thought it would be an interesting idea to change the way our diary entry would look, so we decided to write it in a circular form. After we finally knew what we were doing, we broke up two and two. Corbin and Sara G worked on the research proposal, Paige and I worked on the diary entry. During writing it, we also decided to change the content a little more by using made up words to try and confuse our audience. Corbin and Sara G thought this was a good idea. We did some of it in class and I said I would finish the rough draft myself and bring it to school tomorrow. Writing the rough draft, it was actually difficult to come up with made up words because I am so used to the words I already know. I thought this was a little funny. Also, while writing it I had to decide what words I would replace with the made up ones so I could still form sentences but at the same time confuse the reader. Tomorrow I'll discuss this with the rest of the group and hopefully we can buff out the rough edges and polish our research proposal in class.

Standard English Questions

Evaluating the Standard

1.     When a person speaks or writes in Standard English, what exactly does that mean?

Standard English is English that everyone accepts and understands, even though it is not always correct it is accepted.

2.    How do you think this particular variety of English became the standard?

I think it was because people got more comfortable with less formal English rather than formal.

3.    Should a student use a dialect other than Standard English (or even a different language other than English altogether) in the classroom? If so, in what particular situations (speaking, writing, reading, use of technology, etc.) are non-formal English appropriate?

I think students should use standard English in the classroom. Situations like text messaging, talking with friends and/or relatives, and technological things like Facebook are non-formal.

4.    What makes someone a good writer? What kind of things do they do when they write? (this can be things like how they organize a paper, what words they use, etc.) List a few.

I think someone is a good writer when they use the right words and make whatever it is they are writing about flow. If a person is reading it, they are reading more than just words; they are reading a voice. I think good writers have voice.

5.    You think that someone is a bad writer. What are some things that this person does that make them a “bad” writer in your eyes? List a few.

A person is a bad writer in my eyes when they use cliche phrases like "And I'm now going to talk you about such and such.." Something like this that completely bores the reader. I also think that a person is a bad writer if they have gramatical errors. It is extremely difficult to focus on a paper if I have to stop every three seconds and go "It should be 'you're', not 'your'."

6.    Are there times when a person you meet doesn’t speak “correct” English? What does that person do that is “incorrect”? List a few things.

To me, incorrect English is simply English with errors. If a person is speaking in non-formal terms and is using slang that does not make sense, it is incorrect English to me. Also, when a person is not using the correct words to try and explain or describe something.

7.    What particular types (or genres) of writing should students be doing in elementary and secondary school to prepare them for college and the work force?

I think formal English should be taught at an early age because I am seeing more and more students using incorrect English on even the most informal settings, such as Facebook.

8.    Does standard English=correct English? 
Not always.  

Learning Blog

After re-reading my rough draft to my article, I realized there were a few minor details that I needed to add in then I was set. A few times I caught myself trying to write in a different context. I would have to go back and shorten the more descriptive, lengthy sentences and make them shorter. To me, newspaper articles are both descriptive and short. This was particularly difficult for me because I'm used to writing longer essay-type assignments. Throughout the paper, I kept asking myself what would be interesting to read. I tried to come up with interesting facts to put in the paper. In my interviews, I got pretty much the same answers as I expected. I put the opinions in my article but honestly could have done fine without them. I would have liked more diverse answers as well as a wider range of interviewees. The two people that I interviewed were the same age. Other than that, I feel like I did well on this article considering I am used to a completely different style of writing.

Revised Learning Blog

Before I started researching for this article I was a little unsure as to the content that I needed, so I was planning on writing the article from what I already know how to write. By this, I mean longer and more drawn out essays. The first day that we specifically talked about newspaper articles and how they were short, sweet, and to the point, I realized that I had to revise my outline that I had already set. My outline consisted of talking about how Spring Break as we know it today started, how it has changed over the years, different hot spots that are popular for college students, and what some college students do instead of going to get wasted for one or two weeks. After narrowing that down with the assistance of peer editing and a few class discussions, I chose a sub-topic that I think will be more interesting to my peers. Also, it will hopefully be short, sweet, and to the point. I was debating one day on how I would be able to write this, because I have always had an issue with length. I tend to write more than is needed. While in high school this was encouraged because students willing to write more than the bare minimum came few and far between. In college, that is not always the case. I even had to revise my admissions essay for Illinois State four times to get it down to the acceptable word limit. During my research, I am hopeful that I will get a better understanding of the format for newspaper/online articles because I have never written one before. In regards to this unit, I think it will be easier for me to spot the correct format for the article I am writing, considering we discussed this numerous times in class. As I mentioned before, I will be using interviews in my article. With these interviews I hope to get different perspectives on spring break so I can have a more rounded insight about my topic when it comes to writing it. I want everyone who reads my article to be able to relate to something that someone has said in it. This is mainly the reason why I have contacted many different students from various colleges. To narrow this even more for Illinois State students, I plan on taking a survey from random students on campus to give insight to our specific students. I think this will be very beneficial to my article. After gathering all the information that I have already, from class, peers, and individual research, I think that when it comes time to write my rough draft I will be more specific on my topic and it will be easier and more beneficial to receive feedback for my final draft.

Rubric/Learning Blog

Rubric/Criteria for Newspaper/Online Article

• Not formal
• Informative
• Lengthy words
• Witty voice
• Transitions
• Citations
• Statistics
• Opinionated as well as factual
• Quotes from famous people/sources
• Interviews and a lot of quotes from interviewees 
• Stories sometimes good vs. bad
• Directed toward certain audiences
• No indention for the start of a new paragraph
• Visually : Sometimes a picture of the author or picture related to topic
• Location of articles

Learning Blog
The topic just kind of hit me when you talked about being relevant to college students. I'm pretty sure I was already thinking about what I'm going to be doing this spring break. After I chose my topic, in class we had time to look up sources. I was just randomly reading things and interesting articles about spring break that sort of shaped how I wanted to write my article. I mostly used google but tried to find more reliable sources after you had told me the ones I had probably weren't the best. I then moved over to article sources like USA Today and other news websites. During the peer review, I asked my fellow classmates to let me know what they would find interesting about an article about spring break. I mentioned to them that the topic itself was a little vague, and that I had thought of three different sub topics that could be generated from it. They gave me their opinions about which one they thought would be the most interesting, which I found to be very helpful. Currently, my thought process for the article is to set up several different interviews with some kids I went to high school with who are now attending different colleges. I plan to ask them various questions about this upcoming spring break as well as past ones and their opinions on some of the statistics that I have gathered so far.