Estevan Trejo and Leonardo Avila
Eng 1301.28
Trang Phan
9-27-2010
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing.” College English, Vol. 41, No. 1 (1979): pp.19-37.
Summary 5 – Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Linda Flower asks in her article, “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”, “If writing is simply the act of ‘expressing what you think’… why is writing often such a difficult thing to do? (Pg. 19)” She begins to answer the question by describing two distinct types of writing: Writer-Based prose and Reader-Based prose. The former entails an effective writer not simply expressing what they think on the subject, but transforming their thoughts into coherent, intelligible sentences for the reader to easily grasp and manage (Pg. 19). The latter involves what is likely to be an ineffective writer merely “expressing themselves by offering up an untouched and under processed version of their own thought” (Pg. 19). Though Writer-Based prose is both a natural style of writing and thought, it is usually not enough to communicate the author’s purpose and intentions to the reader. And “although Writer-Based prose often fails for readers and tends to preclude further concept formation, it may be a useful road into the creative process for some writers. The structures which fail to work for readers may be powerful strategies for retrieving information from memory (either semantic or short-term) and for exploring one’s own knowledge network” (Pg. 28).
Question: What do you think of Writer-Based prose and it being utilized for essays?
Response:
If you have ever critiqued a confident writer’s essay only to find that their paper makes little sense to you, the reader, the culprit may very well be Writer-Based prose. “As both a style of writing and as a style of thought, writer-based prose is natural and adequate for a writer writing to himself or herself” (Pg. 19). On the other hand, when preparing something to be read by others, it becomes imperative to produce something a bit more substantial and refined. With Writer-Based prose, we often unfortunately fail to clearly reveal our purpose, concepts, or perspective to the reader. If a reader is unable to derive these important components from the essay utilizing their rhetorical reading strategies, the author has failed to create a shared language and shared context between writer and reader (Pg. 20). This is the essence of Writer-Based prose. When the reader is unable to easily grasp your stance on the topic, the writing is likely yet to be transformed into the preferred Reader-Based prose (Pg. 19). In closing, I believe that essays should be written with the reader in mind, and thus, Writer-Based prose should be avoided while writing essays.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
SQR5
Brie Fenton, Yesenia Ontiveros
English 1301.28
Trang Phang
Sept. 29, 2010
Writer-¬based Prose: a Cognitive Basis for Problems in writing
Flower, Linda. “Writer-¬based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing” College English Sept. 1979: pgs. 19-37
Summary:
Writer based prose is okay to do when a writer is writing to their self. When you add in other readers, it causes trouble. There are usually problems transferring your own thoughts into something others would understand. The reader based prose is when you are writing to communicate with the reader. You use terms and express ideas in a way readers will understand. During writer based, they dont keep in mind that the readers may not understand the point they are trying to get across.
"Reader based prose reflects the purpose of the writers thought; writer based prose tends to reflect its process." (20) Writer based prose shows writers how they dissect information and get it accross. It reflects their thinking process. First drafts are much like writer based proses. Once you get to the second draft, it makes much more sense and conforms to a writer based prose. "The structures which fail to work for readers may be powerful strategies for retrieving information from memory and for exploring one’s own knowledge network." (28)
Question:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of writer based prose?
Response:
The advantages of writer based prose, it to shows the writer how to come across the ideas and how the writing in transfer to paper. This process teaches them more about themselves and the way they write. The disadvantages are the reader may at times not know what the author is writing about, or get his thought across. This not bad because the reader may not get the full picture of what the author was trying to interpret.
English 1301.28
Trang Phang
Sept. 29, 2010
Writer-¬based Prose: a Cognitive Basis for Problems in writing
Flower, Linda. “Writer-¬based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing” College English Sept. 1979: pgs. 19-37
Summary:
Writer based prose is okay to do when a writer is writing to their self. When you add in other readers, it causes trouble. There are usually problems transferring your own thoughts into something others would understand. The reader based prose is when you are writing to communicate with the reader. You use terms and express ideas in a way readers will understand. During writer based, they dont keep in mind that the readers may not understand the point they are trying to get across.
"Reader based prose reflects the purpose of the writers thought; writer based prose tends to reflect its process." (20) Writer based prose shows writers how they dissect information and get it accross. It reflects their thinking process. First drafts are much like writer based proses. Once you get to the second draft, it makes much more sense and conforms to a writer based prose. "The structures which fail to work for readers may be powerful strategies for retrieving information from memory and for exploring one’s own knowledge network." (28)
Question:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of writer based prose?
Response:
The advantages of writer based prose, it to shows the writer how to come across the ideas and how the writing in transfer to paper. This process teaches them more about themselves and the way they write. The disadvantages are the reader may at times not know what the author is writing about, or get his thought across. This not bad because the reader may not get the full picture of what the author was trying to interpret.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
SQR5
Hiram Lopez
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/29/10
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Summary:
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
In this article, when a writer is composing using writer based pros, he or she loses the reader by not keeping them in mind because they are writing their ideas in a way that is only understandable to them. A problem that can occur with writer based pros can be underdeveloped ideas, which can lead to poor discussions. A study about egocentric nature of a person was performed, which showed that children told stories but only talked about them because they did not have the cognitive capacity to assume the listeners point of view. In teaching writers to recognize their own writers based writing and transform it because it can give inexperienced writers, the confidence and motivation to go on. The style of writer based prose can come from internal thoughts and the use of code words, and by using semantic, episodic, and short term memory can help get ideas across to the reader to help them understand what you are trying to get across.
Question:
Can using writer based prose make you a better writer?
Response:
Writer based prose was when a writer focused on certain subject and made their writing comprehendible only to themselves and not to the people that read their work. Writer-based prose shouldn’t be scrapped, because teaching a writer to recognize their own writer-based prose can help them to transform their writing by giving the writer strong positive value and achievement for the writer even though he or she failed to communicate to the reader. This can give inexperienced writers the confidence and the motivation to go on. By recognizing this as a special skill and task, we can give writers self-conscious control over the abilities they already have. Because, writer-based prose is like a half-way place for many writers, it is like their a rough draft that can be transformed from the groundwork laid in the first stage of a process and begin to write in reader-based prose and making us better writers.
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/29/10
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Summary:
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
In this article, when a writer is composing using writer based pros, he or she loses the reader by not keeping them in mind because they are writing their ideas in a way that is only understandable to them. A problem that can occur with writer based pros can be underdeveloped ideas, which can lead to poor discussions. A study about egocentric nature of a person was performed, which showed that children told stories but only talked about them because they did not have the cognitive capacity to assume the listeners point of view. In teaching writers to recognize their own writers based writing and transform it because it can give inexperienced writers, the confidence and motivation to go on. The style of writer based prose can come from internal thoughts and the use of code words, and by using semantic, episodic, and short term memory can help get ideas across to the reader to help them understand what you are trying to get across.
Question:
Can using writer based prose make you a better writer?
Response:
Writer based prose was when a writer focused on certain subject and made their writing comprehendible only to themselves and not to the people that read their work. Writer-based prose shouldn’t be scrapped, because teaching a writer to recognize their own writer-based prose can help them to transform their writing by giving the writer strong positive value and achievement for the writer even though he or she failed to communicate to the reader. This can give inexperienced writers the confidence and the motivation to go on. By recognizing this as a special skill and task, we can give writers self-conscious control over the abilities they already have. Because, writer-based prose is like a half-way place for many writers, it is like their a rough draft that can be transformed from the groundwork laid in the first stage of a process and begin to write in reader-based prose and making us better writers.
Rene Reyes
Edward Aranda
English 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/28/2010
Summary
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Linda Flower."Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing". College Englis, Vol. 41, No. 1(Sep. 1979), pp. 19-37.
Effective writing is not just only to write down your thoughts and expression. Effective writing is to communicate with the audience. To transform the expressed thought into a descriable complex way.
Writer-Based prose is defined as an expressive style of writing understood only to the writer. The function of this prose is to write to yourself and for yourself. Structured as the writer's narritive path of his own confrontation with his subject. It usaually represents the egocentric or inner speech.
Reader-Based prose is defined as an attempt to communicate with the reader. This porse is understood to both reader and writer by sharing the language and context. Also, it has a rhetorical structure which means it has an intended audience, purpose, and serves as a conversation between reader and writer.
Episodic memory is the memory that recalls past events. Like when you remember something you watch on History Channel that relates to one of the lessons. Semantic memory is the memory that remembers the meaning of symbols. For example, H2O is water or the Quadratic formula.
Short-term memory is all the information you can hold at one time. "Trying to evaluate, elaborate, and relate all that we know on a given topic can easily overload the capacity of our working memory."(pg.36) Using Writer-Based prose helps you eliminate these problems temporarily, and then transform the prose to Reader-Based. This strategy helps teachers teach writing better.
Question
Describe the Writer-Based and Reader-Based prose. Why is transformation an effective writing strategy?
Response
When writes write in Writer-Based prose the text is only clear to the writer. This is because the writer is putting his thouhgts (inner speech/egocentric speech) straight from his mind into text. " The symptoms can range from a mere missing referent or an underdeveloped idea to an unfocused and apparently pointless discussion." (pg.19)
Reader-Based prose has communication between the writer and reader. "To do that it creates a shared language and shared context between writer and reader." (pg.20) The reader has a explicit understanding of the writer's meaning. It has an intended audience and purpose; Reader-Based prose has a rhetorical type of structure.
Transformation of a Writer-Based to Reader-Based prose helps writer effectively. This is because in a Writer-Based prose the writer can list all his thoughts and information without having to think about the reader. Once the writer had something he can understand, then the writer can concentrate on changing (transformation) this porse into something that the reader needs and can use.
Edward Aranda
English 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/28/2010
Summary
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
Linda Flower."Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing". College Englis, Vol. 41, No. 1(Sep. 1979), pp. 19-37.
Effective writing is not just only to write down your thoughts and expression. Effective writing is to communicate with the audience. To transform the expressed thought into a descriable complex way.
Writer-Based prose is defined as an expressive style of writing understood only to the writer. The function of this prose is to write to yourself and for yourself. Structured as the writer's narritive path of his own confrontation with his subject. It usaually represents the egocentric or inner speech.
Reader-Based prose is defined as an attempt to communicate with the reader. This porse is understood to both reader and writer by sharing the language and context. Also, it has a rhetorical structure which means it has an intended audience, purpose, and serves as a conversation between reader and writer.
Episodic memory is the memory that recalls past events. Like when you remember something you watch on History Channel that relates to one of the lessons. Semantic memory is the memory that remembers the meaning of symbols. For example, H2O is water or the Quadratic formula.
Short-term memory is all the information you can hold at one time. "Trying to evaluate, elaborate, and relate all that we know on a given topic can easily overload the capacity of our working memory."(pg.36) Using Writer-Based prose helps you eliminate these problems temporarily, and then transform the prose to Reader-Based. This strategy helps teachers teach writing better.
Question
Describe the Writer-Based and Reader-Based prose. Why is transformation an effective writing strategy?
Response
When writes write in Writer-Based prose the text is only clear to the writer. This is because the writer is putting his thouhgts (inner speech/egocentric speech) straight from his mind into text. " The symptoms can range from a mere missing referent or an underdeveloped idea to an unfocused and apparently pointless discussion." (pg.19)
Reader-Based prose has communication between the writer and reader. "To do that it creates a shared language and shared context between writer and reader." (pg.20) The reader has a explicit understanding of the writer's meaning. It has an intended audience and purpose; Reader-Based prose has a rhetorical type of structure.
Transformation of a Writer-Based to Reader-Based prose helps writer effectively. This is because in a Writer-Based prose the writer can list all his thoughts and information without having to think about the reader. Once the writer had something he can understand, then the writer can concentrate on changing (transformation) this porse into something that the reader needs and can use.
SQR5
Linda Flower Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive for Problems in Writing Summary College English Vol 41 No 1 (Sep 1979) pp 19-37
Summary: In this article it goes on discussing and comparing Writer Based-Prose and Reader Based-Prose and how it may affect both the reader and the writer. In writer based prose the writer writes what comes to his or her own mind and what makes sense to them may not make sense to the reader. This being said the writer may have a greater sense of what he/she may have in set towards their writing but the reader may not understand where the writer is trying to get the point being said in the writing cause what might be clear to read in the mind of the writer may not be clear to the reader who is reading the text. In reader based prose it reflects the purpose of what the writer thoughts so it may cause problems to the reader because they can’t really understand nor comprehend what the writer is trying to explain through the text. It’s up to the writer to make thought into a structure and a style to where the reader could understand.
Question: What are ways to get used to writing in a reader-based-prose and is writing-based-prose good for anything?
Response: It’s very difficult to get rid of the egocentric writing most of us inexperienced writer use. It takes a lot of practice, and a lot of focus. In order to write good you need to identify the reader and his/her tolerance to writing. Then when you begin writing always keep the reader in mind and find ways to share more detail in order for the reader to relate it to what he/she’s experienced before. Also big words can sometimes throw off readers, but sometimes curveballs can be very exciting to some readers and it can make it interesting. Writing-based-prose is also good for the pre-writing. It’s not good to use it regularly but when you do use it, use it as a roughdraft or a brainstorm to get your topics straight and to find mistakes and useful information.
Summary: In this article it goes on discussing and comparing Writer Based-Prose and Reader Based-Prose and how it may affect both the reader and the writer. In writer based prose the writer writes what comes to his or her own mind and what makes sense to them may not make sense to the reader. This being said the writer may have a greater sense of what he/she may have in set towards their writing but the reader may not understand where the writer is trying to get the point being said in the writing cause what might be clear to read in the mind of the writer may not be clear to the reader who is reading the text. In reader based prose it reflects the purpose of what the writer thoughts so it may cause problems to the reader because they can’t really understand nor comprehend what the writer is trying to explain through the text. It’s up to the writer to make thought into a structure and a style to where the reader could understand.
Question: What are ways to get used to writing in a reader-based-prose and is writing-based-prose good for anything?
Response: It’s very difficult to get rid of the egocentric writing most of us inexperienced writer use. It takes a lot of practice, and a lot of focus. In order to write good you need to identify the reader and his/her tolerance to writing. Then when you begin writing always keep the reader in mind and find ways to share more detail in order for the reader to relate it to what he/she’s experienced before. Also big words can sometimes throw off readers, but sometimes curveballs can be very exciting to some readers and it can make it interesting. Writing-based-prose is also good for the pre-writing. It’s not good to use it regularly but when you do use it, use it as a roughdraft or a brainstorm to get your topics straight and to find mistakes and useful information.
Monday, September 27, 2010
SQR5
Rachel Reyna & Lisa Lopez
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
Sept. 26, 2010
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive for Problems in Writing Summary
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
Writing can be seen as a complicated way of one expressing his or her feelings. In this article, there are theories and strategies used to prove that, in writing, the gap between a reader and a writer can have a solution. Writer-based prose is a common way for the writer to mislead a reader, which is a cause for underdeveloped ideas and pointless discussion. An answer for this type of dilemma is reader-based prose. The reader-based prose is a strategy used to communicate directly to the reader. This is more useful than the writer-based prose since it reflects more on the purpose, rather than the process like in writer-based prose. The author used a psychology class’ drafts an example to show that the mistakes made would be based off of writer-based prose. The writing-based prose includes three principles that can have a useful purpose: function, structure and style. The functional system can be used by a writer to conduct his/her thoughts in way that will cause simple understanding to the reader. The structure of a writer can show how they usefully use information and the style of the writer comes from their flow of thought.
Question: What is egocentrism and in what way does it benefit someone? How was it described in the article?
Egocentrism is when someone speaks their mind or says whatever is on their mind. A great example used in the article is that of a child. The child is used here as an example of egocentrism because at a certain age children usually talk about themselves. It’s not about boasting though, it is more about self discovery. When a child talks out loud, or figures out that they like ponies and they talk about that certain thing all the time, each day they learn something different. Egocentrism is not about selfishness or boastfulness; it is more about self realization. Writers can benefit with egocentrism because of the fact that it lets them express their beliefs and what they feel is right. I know I was egocentric at one point as a child. When I was about three years old, all I could do was ask questions and speak my mind out loud. Nothing was able to stop me from speaking my mind because I didn’t really care. I could go on and on about ponies and cats. Egocentrism could help a writer depending on the circumstance. A writer can use this to help him create better ideas and learn more things about himself. Egocentrism is like a brainstorm except it includes the person to talk about themselves, to themselves, and to others.
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
Sept. 26, 2010
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive for Problems in Writing Summary
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
Writing can be seen as a complicated way of one expressing his or her feelings. In this article, there are theories and strategies used to prove that, in writing, the gap between a reader and a writer can have a solution. Writer-based prose is a common way for the writer to mislead a reader, which is a cause for underdeveloped ideas and pointless discussion. An answer for this type of dilemma is reader-based prose. The reader-based prose is a strategy used to communicate directly to the reader. This is more useful than the writer-based prose since it reflects more on the purpose, rather than the process like in writer-based prose. The author used a psychology class’ drafts an example to show that the mistakes made would be based off of writer-based prose. The writing-based prose includes three principles that can have a useful purpose: function, structure and style. The functional system can be used by a writer to conduct his/her thoughts in way that will cause simple understanding to the reader. The structure of a writer can show how they usefully use information and the style of the writer comes from their flow of thought.
Question: What is egocentrism and in what way does it benefit someone? How was it described in the article?
Egocentrism is when someone speaks their mind or says whatever is on their mind. A great example used in the article is that of a child. The child is used here as an example of egocentrism because at a certain age children usually talk about themselves. It’s not about boasting though, it is more about self discovery. When a child talks out loud, or figures out that they like ponies and they talk about that certain thing all the time, each day they learn something different. Egocentrism is not about selfishness or boastfulness; it is more about self realization. Writers can benefit with egocentrism because of the fact that it lets them express their beliefs and what they feel is right. I know I was egocentric at one point as a child. When I was about three years old, all I could do was ask questions and speak my mind out loud. Nothing was able to stop me from speaking my mind because I didn’t really care. I could go on and on about ponies and cats. Egocentrism could help a writer depending on the circumstance. A writer can use this to help him create better ideas and learn more things about himself. Egocentrism is like a brainstorm except it includes the person to talk about themselves, to themselves, and to others.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
SQR 5
Mario A. Garcia, Vanessa Magdaleno
ENG. 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/26/10
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
SUMMARY:
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
If a writer is composing using writer based prose, they are not keeping their reader in mind, and writing their ideas in a way that is only understandable to them, such as in reader based prose. Problems that occur with writer based prose are underdeveloped ideas, which then lead to poor discussions. A study was performed in order to study the egocentric nature of a person. It was seen through children telling a story using only body language, that the audience is not kept in mind, and that the children assumed the audience understood what they were doing.
The functional system used in writing is the way a writer manipulates his/her knowledge into some acceptable form of meaning. The structure of writer based prose shows strategies for working with information. The style of writer based prose come from internal thoughts, as well as using code words. Using sematic memory, episodic memory, and short term memory all can help get your ideas across to the reader more effectively.
QUESTION:
What can you do to diminish writer-based prose in your writing and how will this help you to become a better writer?
RESPONSE:
Writer-based prose as we discussed is when a writer focuses too much on a certain subject and makes it only comprehendible to himself/herself and not to people that are reading their work. The best and most certain way to make your writing be easier for others to understand is to have someone read your work. They can give you feedback as to what they do not understand and then you can concentrate on those certain areas and make them more explanatory for your readers. Also using this short term memory technique is very useful when many things are going to be explained. You cannot go ahead and give brief quick examples of all the ideas you have in mind for fear that you will forget what to say. Instead you have to take each idea and give clear examples of each giving all the thoughts you have in mind about each individual subject. When this is done you can still cover everything you want and be able to express your thoughts with enough depth that anyone who reads what you have read will understand your writing. Imagine trying to tell a story to someone without words. The only way to get your point across would be by using body movements. In your mind you are processing so many ideas at a time that you think everyone knows what you are talking about. Instead what you should do is try to gather all the information possible for a certain part of a story and think of the best way possible to act it out. It is the same way with writing. You cannot expect everyone to know what you are talking about when all you are doing is putting down things that only you understand. It is obvious as to how this will make you a better writer. When writer-based prose is eliminated from your writing you know that you are not only speaking to yourself which is the first step to making you a much better writer.
ENG. 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/26/10
Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing
SUMMARY:
Linda Flower. “Writer-Based Prose: A Cognitive Basis for Problems in Writing”. College English, Vol. 41, No. 1. (1979), pp. 19-37
If a writer is composing using writer based prose, they are not keeping their reader in mind, and writing their ideas in a way that is only understandable to them, such as in reader based prose. Problems that occur with writer based prose are underdeveloped ideas, which then lead to poor discussions. A study was performed in order to study the egocentric nature of a person. It was seen through children telling a story using only body language, that the audience is not kept in mind, and that the children assumed the audience understood what they were doing.
The functional system used in writing is the way a writer manipulates his/her knowledge into some acceptable form of meaning. The structure of writer based prose shows strategies for working with information. The style of writer based prose come from internal thoughts, as well as using code words. Using sematic memory, episodic memory, and short term memory all can help get your ideas across to the reader more effectively.
QUESTION:
What can you do to diminish writer-based prose in your writing and how will this help you to become a better writer?
RESPONSE:
Writer-based prose as we discussed is when a writer focuses too much on a certain subject and makes it only comprehendible to himself/herself and not to people that are reading their work. The best and most certain way to make your writing be easier for others to understand is to have someone read your work. They can give you feedback as to what they do not understand and then you can concentrate on those certain areas and make them more explanatory for your readers. Also using this short term memory technique is very useful when many things are going to be explained. You cannot go ahead and give brief quick examples of all the ideas you have in mind for fear that you will forget what to say. Instead you have to take each idea and give clear examples of each giving all the thoughts you have in mind about each individual subject. When this is done you can still cover everything you want and be able to express your thoughts with enough depth that anyone who reads what you have read will understand your writing. Imagine trying to tell a story to someone without words. The only way to get your point across would be by using body movements. In your mind you are processing so many ideas at a time that you think everyone knows what you are talking about. Instead what you should do is try to gather all the information possible for a certain part of a story and think of the best way possible to act it out. It is the same way with writing. You cannot expect everyone to know what you are talking about when all you are doing is putting down things that only you understand. It is obvious as to how this will make you a better writer. When writer-based prose is eliminated from your writing you know that you are not only speaking to yourself which is the first step to making you a much better writer.
Friday, September 24, 2010
SQR4
Emily Perez & Monica Torres
Eng. Comp
Trang Phann
09/24/10
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Eng. Comp
Trang Phann
09/24/10
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
Christina Haas and Linda Flower believe reading should be thought of as a constructive process. Using a think aloud procedure they watched as readers tried to make meaning of the text known as “rhetorical reading” page 167. As well as when readers attempt to construct a good statement many things may be required such as “searching, inferencing, and transforming one’s own knowledge”. Page 168.Rhetorical Thinking is when you take something you already and add more to your knowledge by reading more about it. In the article “College composition and Communication” they refer to a good reader as having large vocabulary can, read quickly and, are able to do well in compression tasks” page 170. Other students assume if they understood all the words they’ve read it correctly. When experienced readers write comments on what they have read they use “content strategies” page 175. Comments in which don’t include much detail on the readings are referred to a “function/feature strategies” page 175. There is also a third strategy known as “rhetorical strategies” page 176 these strategies help readers uncover the actual event of the text. In the article, they state their first attempt would be to introduce rhetorical reading [insert something to make it more understandable]. The readers shouldn’t be taught how to read the text but how to understand it well enough to write about it.
Question:
Will these strategies become productive to student readers?
Response:
There are three different strategies in this article and from my understanding they are suppose to help students out. I personally think they will help students out because the article talks and explains how everything is used, and if it is taught well the students will pick up these strategies quickly and use them. The article also lets students know that reading and understanding a fraction of what is read doesn’t necessarily help. Many students seem to have that problem of reading the text and not having a clue on what they just read. In order to help the reader understand better, the student should search and use basic knowledge to become more influenced by the topic. These strategies allow the readers to identify if they are “good readers” and with better ways to fully understand exactly what they read.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
SQR4
Brie Fenton and Yesi Ontiveros
Eng 1301.28
Trang Phan
09/20/10
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Haas, C., Flower, L., “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning” College Compositions and Communication. May 19: pgs, 167-183
When you read text, you make your own meaning of it. We dissect readings and think of how our own experiences relate to them. Trying to understand the purpose of a text requires searching, inferencing, and transforming of what you already know. The “multiple-representation thesis” helps us explain why we need to do this. “It suggests that readers’ and writers’ mental representations are not limited to verbally well-formed ideas and plans , but may include information coded as visual images, or as emotions, or as linguistic propositions that exist just above the level of specific words.” (169). Therefore, it is possible for different readers to form different concepts about the same piece of writing.
Teachers are now focusing on teaching students how to read in a certain way so they all get the same meaning from the same text. Many students paraphrase instead of analyzing the readings to actually get meaning out of them. They read for information rather than constructing representations. Rhetorical strategies go beyond the actual text, they try to find out the authors purpose, context and effect on the readers. Rhetorical reading is an extra strategy that experienced readers use. This is what teacher’s desire for their students to use.
What do you consider to be a “good reader”?
The article explains a good reader as someone that comprehends and understands everything they are reading but they don’t analyze it. They read for information. A good reader does not use rhetorical reading strategies and is unable to read critically. They can identify important parts of the article but don’t connect using their previous knowledge. “They paraphrase rather than analyze, summarize rather than criticize texts.” (170)
In our point of view a “good reader” is any one that can go beyond the actual text, someone that can elaborate into the meaning of the writing. The reader sees the information the author is trying to get across, they understand his/her point of view. A good reader analyzes and criticizes the text. They build representation of meaning and understand intended effects. A good reader is always interested in the topic so they can add on and understand it more. Personally, we do not consider ourselves good readers because it’s hard to analyze a text when you have no interest in it. Many people have different interpretations of what a “good reader” is, we see them as a person who can elaborate on texts and use the ‘felt sense’ to relate to it.
Eng 1301.28
Trang Phan
09/20/10
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Haas, C., Flower, L., “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning” College Compositions and Communication. May 19: pgs, 167-183
When you read text, you make your own meaning of it. We dissect readings and think of how our own experiences relate to them. Trying to understand the purpose of a text requires searching, inferencing, and transforming of what you already know. The “multiple-representation thesis” helps us explain why we need to do this. “It suggests that readers’ and writers’ mental representations are not limited to verbally well-formed ideas and plans , but may include information coded as visual images, or as emotions, or as linguistic propositions that exist just above the level of specific words.” (169). Therefore, it is possible for different readers to form different concepts about the same piece of writing.
Teachers are now focusing on teaching students how to read in a certain way so they all get the same meaning from the same text. Many students paraphrase instead of analyzing the readings to actually get meaning out of them. They read for information rather than constructing representations. Rhetorical strategies go beyond the actual text, they try to find out the authors purpose, context and effect on the readers. Rhetorical reading is an extra strategy that experienced readers use. This is what teacher’s desire for their students to use.
What do you consider to be a “good reader”?
The article explains a good reader as someone that comprehends and understands everything they are reading but they don’t analyze it. They read for information. A good reader does not use rhetorical reading strategies and is unable to read critically. They can identify important parts of the article but don’t connect using their previous knowledge. “They paraphrase rather than analyze, summarize rather than criticize texts.” (170)
In our point of view a “good reader” is any one that can go beyond the actual text, someone that can elaborate into the meaning of the writing. The reader sees the information the author is trying to get across, they understand his/her point of view. A good reader analyzes and criticizes the text. They build representation of meaning and understand intended effects. A good reader is always interested in the topic so they can add on and understand it more. Personally, we do not consider ourselves good readers because it’s hard to analyze a text when you have no interest in it. Many people have different interpretations of what a “good reader” is, we see them as a person who can elaborate on texts and use the ‘felt sense’ to relate to it.
SQR4 Fernando Miguel & Marco Potrillo 9-22-10
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
In this article they go on talking about these different processes and how writers and readers have their own aspects and mind sets that sets experienced and inexperienced apart. They go on talking about Rhetorical reading and how experienced writers use their past and emotional experience to make a topic come to life. And the inexperienced writers like students we were taught different to use strategies, strategies that will get us a picture on what the topic was about to help make the paper meet certain standards. The certain strategies will only help meet standards not ones that we wish to surpass like those of a well experienced writer. This article also goes on to talk about “multiple-representation thesis” which explains a certain change and the process of constructing. This was shown when they experimented on three students to see how they think when they read to see if they understood what they read . In function/feature strategy it talks about readers and how they can pin point the important parts and words or sentences for example "This is the main Point” or “This must be an example” or “I think this is the introduction” while in content strategies it explains what the text was saying but in function/feature were used to name what the text was doing “ here he is contrasting” “ this part seems to be explaining” this is how the reader is relating to the text itself being able to ask and question the text.
Question: What is “Good Reading”?
Response: What is good reading? Didn’t even know there was such a thing but according to the text its how we understand it and how we read critically. Like how now a day we students use bigger vocabulary words, read faster and recalling what we read but that’s not what good reading is all about. It's about comprehending the writing in multiple levels to help us understand the writers intention of the writing and the point he or she is trying to make. And it's not all about forcing your brain to make it read the topic, anybody can do that, but it's about how you can relate to it and try to make it as interesting as possible so you can understand it.
In this article they go on talking about these different processes and how writers and readers have their own aspects and mind sets that sets experienced and inexperienced apart. They go on talking about Rhetorical reading and how experienced writers use their past and emotional experience to make a topic come to life. And the inexperienced writers like students we were taught different to use strategies, strategies that will get us a picture on what the topic was about to help make the paper meet certain standards. The certain strategies will only help meet standards not ones that we wish to surpass like those of a well experienced writer. This article also goes on to talk about “multiple-representation thesis” which explains a certain change and the process of constructing. This was shown when they experimented on three students to see how they think when they read to see if they understood what they read . In function/feature strategy it talks about readers and how they can pin point the important parts and words or sentences for example "This is the main Point” or “This must be an example” or “I think this is the introduction” while in content strategies it explains what the text was saying but in function/feature were used to name what the text was doing “ here he is contrasting” “ this part seems to be explaining” this is how the reader is relating to the text itself being able to ask and question the text.
Question: What is “Good Reading”?
Response: What is good reading? Didn’t even know there was such a thing but according to the text its how we understand it and how we read critically. Like how now a day we students use bigger vocabulary words, read faster and recalling what we read but that’s not what good reading is all about. It's about comprehending the writing in multiple levels to help us understand the writers intention of the writing and the point he or she is trying to make. And it's not all about forcing your brain to make it read the topic, anybody can do that, but it's about how you can relate to it and try to make it as interesting as possible so you can understand it.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
SQR4
Hiram Lopez, Jason Pena
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
9-22-10
“Rhetorical Reading Strategies and The Construction Of Meaning”
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
The authors discuss a point at the beginning of the article,.. “reading should be thought of as a constructive rather than a receptive process”(167) I took the “meaning “as the reader should gain something from a piece of work rather than just reading than just reading it just to read it. It’s a somewhat complicated theory. Similar to past articles, a case study is taken “think-aloud procedure” where they “watched as readers used not only the text but their own knowledge of the world, of the topic, and of discourse conventions, to infer, set and discard hypothesis, predict, and question in order to construct meaning for texts”(167). This allowed them to see the vast variations of interpretations that the readers had on the same text. The article suggests that the readers and writers’ mental representations are not limited to verbally well-informed ideas, and plans, but may include information coded as visual images or as emotions. All this means that most readers/writers visualize what they are reading or writing rather than having “well-informed ideas and plans”(169), beforehand. The article continues about good reading, but basically its saying that being a good reader depends on intellect, not in those words say, but that the meaning behind it.
Question:
What can someone get out of reading something rhetorically?
Response:
Before, I read this article I didn’t really have an idea of what rhetorical reading was, and now that I know about it I can use this form of reading so I can actively attempt to construct textual context of the text and make sense of it. I think that this form of reading can help someone, because by reading this way they can like I said, “before make sense of the text” and learn more from it because they will be paying more attention to the text and gaining a better understanding of what the author is trying to say. They can do this by recalling past images, emotions, and experiences. In doing so, the reader can come up with a hypothesis and they will be able to come up with questions about what they read, and understand the author’s feelings about the writing and the audience it was intended for. By doing this I believe people can get more out of the reading.
ENG 1301.28
Trang Phan
9-22-10
“Rhetorical Reading Strategies and The Construction Of Meaning”
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
The authors discuss a point at the beginning of the article,.. “reading should be thought of as a constructive rather than a receptive process”(167) I took the “meaning “as the reader should gain something from a piece of work rather than just reading than just reading it just to read it. It’s a somewhat complicated theory. Similar to past articles, a case study is taken “think-aloud procedure” where they “watched as readers used not only the text but their own knowledge of the world, of the topic, and of discourse conventions, to infer, set and discard hypothesis, predict, and question in order to construct meaning for texts”(167). This allowed them to see the vast variations of interpretations that the readers had on the same text. The article suggests that the readers and writers’ mental representations are not limited to verbally well-informed ideas, and plans, but may include information coded as visual images or as emotions. All this means that most readers/writers visualize what they are reading or writing rather than having “well-informed ideas and plans”(169), beforehand. The article continues about good reading, but basically its saying that being a good reader depends on intellect, not in those words say, but that the meaning behind it.
Question:
What can someone get out of reading something rhetorically?
Response:
Before, I read this article I didn’t really have an idea of what rhetorical reading was, and now that I know about it I can use this form of reading so I can actively attempt to construct textual context of the text and make sense of it. I think that this form of reading can help someone, because by reading this way they can like I said, “before make sense of the text” and learn more from it because they will be paying more attention to the text and gaining a better understanding of what the author is trying to say. They can do this by recalling past images, emotions, and experiences. In doing so, the reader can come up with a hypothesis and they will be able to come up with questions about what they read, and understand the author’s feelings about the writing and the audience it was intended for. By doing this I believe people can get more out of the reading.
Rene Reyes
Edward Aranda
English 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/21/2010
Summary
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Reading is a constructive process not a receptive process. Meaning is not received through reading, but constructed by building your representations. Constructive process works by using “rhetorical” reading strategies. Reading rhetorically is to analyze the author’s intention of their writing. For example, the writing’s purpose, the audience it was intended to attract, who the author is, and the effects the writing should have on the reader.
Also, combining it with critical thinking and experience you should be able criticize or agree with your beliefs. This is a type that helps writers understand what they are writing the article also tells us about another strategy “multiple representation thesis” which it’s a certain change and the process of constructing this was to see if the reader understood what he read and how fast they read.
Question
What does it mean to have "rhetorical" reading strategies?
Response
To use "rhetorical" reading strategies is to analyze the author’s intention. Using rhetorical reading strategies is to read between the lines and find out the purpose of what your reading. Also, its described as a discourse act, a conversation between the read and the writer. Some things you will agree on while on other things you won't. "These examples demonstrate some of the range of rhetorical strategies: comments concerned with author's purpose, context or source, intended audience, and actual effect."(pg.176) I’m going to use a Women's Health article as an explanation to try to explain more clearly. When most students read this kind of article all they do is learn about women's health. However, you have to think about who is the author. Is it a women specialist type of doctor how wrote this or just some woman how did her research and wrote about it? How is the author's intended audience? Of course it’s going be women that are concerned about their health because this information mostly like would be useless for a man or child. What is the purpose of this article? To inform women about health problems and healthy behaviors and habits. Which in effect it should persuasive the reads of this article to change their habits and behaviors to healthier ones. However, some readers might criticize that some of the subjects this article talks about are not problems and the advice it gives them isn't much useful.
Edward Aranda
English 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/21/2010
Summary
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Constructions of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Reading is a constructive process not a receptive process. Meaning is not received through reading, but constructed by building your representations. Constructive process works by using “rhetorical” reading strategies. Reading rhetorically is to analyze the author’s intention of their writing. For example, the writing’s purpose, the audience it was intended to attract, who the author is, and the effects the writing should have on the reader.
Also, combining it with critical thinking and experience you should be able criticize or agree with your beliefs. This is a type that helps writers understand what they are writing the article also tells us about another strategy “multiple representation thesis” which it’s a certain change and the process of constructing this was to see if the reader understood what he read and how fast they read.
Question
What does it mean to have "rhetorical" reading strategies?
Response
To use "rhetorical" reading strategies is to analyze the author’s intention. Using rhetorical reading strategies is to read between the lines and find out the purpose of what your reading. Also, its described as a discourse act, a conversation between the read and the writer. Some things you will agree on while on other things you won't. "These examples demonstrate some of the range of rhetorical strategies: comments concerned with author's purpose, context or source, intended audience, and actual effect."(pg.176) I’m going to use a Women's Health article as an explanation to try to explain more clearly. When most students read this kind of article all they do is learn about women's health. However, you have to think about who is the author. Is it a women specialist type of doctor how wrote this or just some woman how did her research and wrote about it? How is the author's intended audience? Of course it’s going be women that are concerned about their health because this information mostly like would be useless for a man or child. What is the purpose of this article? To inform women about health problems and healthy behaviors and habits. Which in effect it should persuasive the reads of this article to change their habits and behaviors to healthier ones. However, some readers might criticize that some of the subjects this article talks about are not problems and the advice it gives them isn't much useful.
Monday, September 20, 2010
IMPORTANT!!!
Hi everyone,
Thanks 1. Estevan Trejo; 2. Leonardo Avila; 3. Rene Reyes for the Group Discussion today. It was pretty good one for the first time.
To improve the quality of the discussion next times, I have posted "Group Discussion-Instruction" for our reference. Please find it under GROUP DISCUSSION in the blog home page.
The next GROUP DISCUSSION will be postponed to next Monday. I decided to stay with Haas and Flower's article for Wednesday class.
I suppose everyone is clear about what to do for the homework. Don't forget to bring SQR4 (done in pairs) and "Double-entry reading Journal" to class on Wednesday!!!
Email me if any of you has questions.
See you all again Wednesday!!!
Thanks 1. Estevan Trejo; 2. Leonardo Avila; 3. Rene Reyes for the Group Discussion today. It was pretty good one for the first time.
To improve the quality of the discussion next times, I have posted "Group Discussion-Instruction" for our reference. Please find it under GROUP DISCUSSION in the blog home page.
The next GROUP DISCUSSION will be postponed to next Monday. I decided to stay with Haas and Flower's article for Wednesday class.
I suppose everyone is clear about what to do for the homework. Don't forget to bring SQR4 (done in pairs) and "Double-entry reading Journal" to class on Wednesday!!!
Email me if any of you has questions.
See you all again Wednesday!!!
SQR 4
Vanessa Magdaleno, Mario A. Garcia
ENG. 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/20/10
SUMMARY:
“Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May,1988), pp. 167-183
In this article, it was observed, and clearly seen that readers can gain different interpretations of the same text. Readers were given a college level text, and were studied to understand the constructive process while reading being played out, and to see if readers are in control of their discourse when reading.
Haas and Flower explain what a “good reader” is. Good readers are more than just having a large vocabulary, recall content well, and read quickly. They should be able to analyze rather that paraphrase and be able to go more into depth as to what is written on the text. Another characteristic is to be able to read and see different perspectives.
A study was done to readers to see how readers come up with meaning. Experienced writers were observed making sense of their reading, while student writers tried to understand the text by simply using text based strategies, such as just seeing the clear meaning of what is written, not challenging it, or questioning it. The subjects thought about their own perspectives when reading the text, and analyzed the issue. This would help them to understand the text. Flower and Haas saw that more experienced writers gained more on the rhetorical situation to break down the text, and sometimes come up with hypothesis’ about what was read, and tried to understand the author’s purpose. However, the less experienced writers based their focus on the specific text. Rhetorical processes play a huge part in critical reading, which is desired for students to learn.
QUESTION:
What can a student get out of reading critically and rhetorically? Why do you believe it's important to use constructive view?
RESPONSE:
Being able to read rhetorically can help gain a better understanding of a text. It can help absorb all the facts and be able to construct and understand the meaning, by recalling on past images, emotions, and experiences. Just as in the study done by Flower and Haas, if a student reads rhetorically, he/she should be able to come up with a hypothesis about a text. In doing so, students will be able to trigger questions and want to know more about a subject read.
In addition, reading critically and rhetorically can help a reader go to the next level and try to understand the author’s purpose. “A text is understood not only as content and information, but also as the result of someone’s intentions, as part of a larger discourse world, and as having real effects on real readers” (170). It is important to try and grasp the author’s feelings about a topic, why he/she wrote it, and their intended audience.
The way readers record information absorbed has a huge role in rhetorical reading. Beliefs, images, and emotions all play into how a student constructs meaning of a text. The way a person interprets a text helps to analyze and explore not only the meaning, but the content, why it was written, the author’s beliefs, and how it was organized.
We believe that it is extremely important to go further that the text, and look deeper into what is being said. Just like many of our peers, we often read what is expected and not analyze what we're reading. We realized that we can gain a whole different perspective if we read critically. It is challenging, and at times confusing, but in the end, we'll know we'll have a better understanding than someone who just read to just get a basic understanding of the content.
ENG. 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/20/10
SUMMARY:
“Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May,1988), pp. 167-183
In this article, it was observed, and clearly seen that readers can gain different interpretations of the same text. Readers were given a college level text, and were studied to understand the constructive process while reading being played out, and to see if readers are in control of their discourse when reading.
Haas and Flower explain what a “good reader” is. Good readers are more than just having a large vocabulary, recall content well, and read quickly. They should be able to analyze rather that paraphrase and be able to go more into depth as to what is written on the text. Another characteristic is to be able to read and see different perspectives.
A study was done to readers to see how readers come up with meaning. Experienced writers were observed making sense of their reading, while student writers tried to understand the text by simply using text based strategies, such as just seeing the clear meaning of what is written, not challenging it, or questioning it. The subjects thought about their own perspectives when reading the text, and analyzed the issue. This would help them to understand the text. Flower and Haas saw that more experienced writers gained more on the rhetorical situation to break down the text, and sometimes come up with hypothesis’ about what was read, and tried to understand the author’s purpose. However, the less experienced writers based their focus on the specific text. Rhetorical processes play a huge part in critical reading, which is desired for students to learn.
QUESTION:
What can a student get out of reading critically and rhetorically? Why do you believe it's important to use constructive view?
RESPONSE:
Being able to read rhetorically can help gain a better understanding of a text. It can help absorb all the facts and be able to construct and understand the meaning, by recalling on past images, emotions, and experiences. Just as in the study done by Flower and Haas, if a student reads rhetorically, he/she should be able to come up with a hypothesis about a text. In doing so, students will be able to trigger questions and want to know more about a subject read.
In addition, reading critically and rhetorically can help a reader go to the next level and try to understand the author’s purpose. “A text is understood not only as content and information, but also as the result of someone’s intentions, as part of a larger discourse world, and as having real effects on real readers” (170). It is important to try and grasp the author’s feelings about a topic, why he/she wrote it, and their intended audience.
The way readers record information absorbed has a huge role in rhetorical reading. Beliefs, images, and emotions all play into how a student constructs meaning of a text. The way a person interprets a text helps to analyze and explore not only the meaning, but the content, why it was written, the author’s beliefs, and how it was organized.
We believe that it is extremely important to go further that the text, and look deeper into what is being said. Just like many of our peers, we often read what is expected and not analyze what we're reading. We realized that we can gain a whole different perspective if we read critically. It is challenging, and at times confusing, but in the end, we'll know we'll have a better understanding than someone who just read to just get a basic understanding of the content.
SQR4
Marco A Portillo
Eng. 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/20/2010
Eng. 1301.28
Trang Phan
9/20/2010
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
In this article they go on talking about these different processes and how writers and readers have their own aspects and mind sets that sets experienced and inexperienced apart. They go on talking about Rhetorical reading and how experienced writers use their past and emotional experience to make a topic come to life and how the inexperienced writers like students we were taught different to use strategies that will get us a start on what the topic was about to help make the paper meet certain standards but not ones that we wish to surpass and make a paper meets those of a well experienced writer. This article also goes on to talk about “multiple-representation thesis” which explains a certain change and the process of constructing. This was shown when they experimented on three students to see how they think when they read to see if they understood what they read . In function/feature strategie talks about readers can pin point the important parts like words or sentences “ This is the main Point”, “This must be an example”, “I think this is the introduction” while in content strategies explains what the text was saying but in function/feature were used to name what the text was doing “ here he is contrasting” “ this part seems to be explaining” this is how the reader is relating to the text itself being able to ask and question the text.
Question: What is “Good Reading”?
Response: What is good reading didn’t even know there was such a thing but according to the text its how we understand it and how we read critically. Like how now a day we students use bigger vocab words read faster and recalling what we read but that’s not what good reading is all about but to comprehend the writing in multiple levels to help us understand the writers intention of the writing and the point he or she is trying to make.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
SQR4
Lisa Marie Lopez
English 1301
Ms. Phan
September 18, 2010
SQR4
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May,1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
This article talks about how different strategies are used to construct and create written essays. One strategy introduced to us at the beginning is called “rhetorical reading” which is a strategy that is mostly used by the more experienced writers, is a type of tool that helps writers and readers understand the meaning of what they are reading. The article talks about how imagination is helpful when it comes to reading and writing. Emotional connection, simple association, or subordination, stated by the author in the article, is the cognitive process of reading and writing. The article explains how “multiple-representation thesis” helps explain transformations and the process of constructing. An experiment is done on three students testing to see how they think when they read, if they understand what they have read, and how fast they have read. “Content strategies” is explained in the article as a strategy that helps the reader better understand what they are reading. The article differentiates the differences between experienced readers and writers, and student reader/writers. It also talks about how rhetorical reading is being taught to students.
Question:
What do you think is good reading? How would you define rhetorical reading?
To me, good reading is when a person can comprehend what they have read. A good reader is someone who actually takes mental notes, or takes actual notes of something they read to better understand it. I am the type of reader that needs to jot down notes and reread what I have read so that I could not only understand what I am reading but also so I could imagine it. A good reader is someone who could analyze what they have read and criticize. They ask themselves questions and imagine in their minds what they have read. Rhetorical reading is a strategy used to help the reader criticize, identify, and analyze in their own words and ways. I often use this tool whenever I read because it really helps me to create imagery and helps me to foresee what is to come, or what I didn’t understand. Rhetorical reading is not really used by students; it is mainly used by those who are experienced. It is recommended that students use rhetorical reading because it helps the reader and writer with structure in their reading skills. When I had to do summer reading for high school, I couldn’t really comprehend what I was reading so then and there I used rhetorical reading. I got out my pencil and jotted down notes and characteristics on all the characters in the book. It really helped me understand who the character were and what their purpose was.
English 1301
Ms. Phan
September 18, 2010
SQR4
Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Christina Haas and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning”. College Composition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May,1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
This article talks about how different strategies are used to construct and create written essays. One strategy introduced to us at the beginning is called “rhetorical reading” which is a strategy that is mostly used by the more experienced writers, is a type of tool that helps writers and readers understand the meaning of what they are reading. The article talks about how imagination is helpful when it comes to reading and writing. Emotional connection, simple association, or subordination, stated by the author in the article, is the cognitive process of reading and writing. The article explains how “multiple-representation thesis” helps explain transformations and the process of constructing. An experiment is done on three students testing to see how they think when they read, if they understand what they have read, and how fast they have read. “Content strategies” is explained in the article as a strategy that helps the reader better understand what they are reading. The article differentiates the differences between experienced readers and writers, and student reader/writers. It also talks about how rhetorical reading is being taught to students.
Question:
What do you think is good reading? How would you define rhetorical reading?
To me, good reading is when a person can comprehend what they have read. A good reader is someone who actually takes mental notes, or takes actual notes of something they read to better understand it. I am the type of reader that needs to jot down notes and reread what I have read so that I could not only understand what I am reading but also so I could imagine it. A good reader is someone who could analyze what they have read and criticize. They ask themselves questions and imagine in their minds what they have read. Rhetorical reading is a strategy used to help the reader criticize, identify, and analyze in their own words and ways. I often use this tool whenever I read because it really helps me to create imagery and helps me to foresee what is to come, or what I didn’t understand. Rhetorical reading is not really used by students; it is mainly used by those who are experienced. It is recommended that students use rhetorical reading because it helps the reader and writer with structure in their reading skills. When I had to do summer reading for high school, I couldn’t really comprehend what I was reading so then and there I used rhetorical reading. I got out my pencil and jotted down notes and characteristics on all the characters in the book. It really helped me understand who the character were and what their purpose was.
SQR4
Alyssa Vasquez
Ashley Favata
ENG 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/20/10
SQR#4: Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning
Haas, Christina., and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of
Meaning.” College Compostition and Communication, Vol. 39, No. 2 (May, 1988), pp. 167-183
Summary:
The article Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning by Christina Haas and Linda Flower in my opinion shows how these strategies are ones built over time. No one wakes up and becomes a great reader much less writer. Actually dissecting a reading and relating the article to real world experiences, understanding the author’s purpose and his effect toward the reader are all aspects needed to fully create an understanding of the reading. “Rhetorical strategies take a step beyond the text itself… In rhetorical reading strategies readers use cues in text, and their own knowledge of discourse situations, to recreate or infer rhetorical situation of the text they are reading” (176). Students mainly just paraphrase, but experienced readers does that and more. A rhetorical view of reading is a great way to open up to the topic and see it and understand it in different perspective, using this strategy helps evaluate the reading by asking questions in order to construct meaning for the text. As students, unlike experienced readers, we are taught to rely on text-based strategies to construct meanings, so we don’t have same full sense of reading as the experienced readers. “To interpret any sophisticated text seems to require not only careful reading and prior knowledge, but the ability to read the text on several levels…”
Question: What does rhetorical reading do for students?
Response: “To interpet any sophisticated text seems to require not only careful reading and prior knowledge, but the ability to read the text on several levels, to build multi-faceted representations. A text is understood not only as content and information, but also as the result of someone’s intentions, as part of a larger discourse world, and as having real effects on real readers” (170). The problem here is that students are reading only for information. I agree with the article in that rhetorical reading seems to be a strategy above average students use and the average does not. I feel in my reading experiences I have only come to try and understand what the author is stating and only after completing the reading I am able to ask myself questions which go beyond the actual readings context. Although I have I have found English to be my better subject, I have never been an above average reader. In elementary our school’s method of teaching reading comprehension was a colored system of short stories organized by length and complexity. At the end of each reading were a series of questions to test the reader. These were the primary methods our school system used to test a readers understanding. I think that from this point students such as me are shaped and molded to only grasp an understanding, and as the article discusses choose “nodes” of information that are in a reading. This article never fully discuses what rhetorical reading analysis is, so the reader is left to decide for themselves what the actual definition is. So with these rhetorical strategies helps us build a better view of what we are reading to have a better understanding of what we are reading.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
SQR3
"Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers"
The article basically explains the differences between the methods of revision used by student, and adult writers. A case study was taken on twenty students from Boston University, and the University of Oklahoma with "SAT verbal scores ranging from 450-600."(pg.380 2nd paragraph) The twenty experienced writers were adult journalists, editors, and academics, form Boston and Oklahoma, the main difference was the level of experience between the two groups. "Four revision operations were identified: deletion, substitution, addition, and recording, and four levels of changes were identified: word, phrase, sentence, and theme."(pg.380 4th pg.) Once the study was done they found that student writers are not comfortable using terms such as revision or rewriting, but instead the phrases scratch out and do over again. This is somewhat the same concept as revision just with minimal differences. This case study shows that most of the student writers were still a bit unsure of their full potential as young composers. Adult writers however, have grown from these amateur habits and "describe their primary objective when revising as finding the form or shape of their argument"(pg.384 pg. 2) In the conclusion of the article it states that students need to rely on their own internalized sense of good writing in order to fully understand the concept of revision, and once this is achieved their skills should increase, so on an ending note to student writers, "try taking a look at your writing through your "own"(pg.387 pg.2) eyes for a change"
Q: "How can Student writers gain the necessary skills to become classified as "experienced writes?"
R: Perhaps students lack confidence levels that experienced writers have gained over the time they've spent as authors. Lack of intellect may not necessarily come into play, but possibly lack of knowledge in specific areas. "It is a sense of writing as discovery-a repeated process of beginning over again, starting out new-that the students fail to have"(pg.387 pg.2) This can almost answer my question completely, but i feel that students writers just need the right motivation, or inspiration to lead them to composing as proper as an experienced writer does. "Students need to seek dissonance of discovery, utilizing in their writing, as the experienced writers do."
Q: "How can Student writers gain the necessary skills to become classified as "experienced writes?"
R: Perhaps students lack confidence levels that experienced writers have gained over the time they've spent as authors. Lack of intellect may not necessarily come into play, but possibly lack of knowledge in specific areas. "It is a sense of writing as discovery-a repeated process of beginning over again, starting out new-that the students fail to have"(pg.387 pg.2) This can almost answer my question completely, but i feel that students writers just need the right motivation, or inspiration to lead them to composing as proper as an experienced writer does. "Students need to seek dissonance of discovery, utilizing in their writing, as the experienced writers do."
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
ATTENTION!!!
Everyone,
I have put the date for each group in the GROUP DISCUSSION part. Please check out your group and start working towards your presentation schedules.
Also, please bring your SQR3 to class tomorrow to do peer revision.
See you all tomorrow
TP
I have put the date for each group in the GROUP DISCUSSION part. Please check out your group and start working towards your presentation schedules.
Also, please bring your SQR3 to class tomorrow to do peer revision.
See you all tomorrow
TP
SQR2
Rachel Reyna
English 1301.28
Trang Phan
Sept. 13, 2010
Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers
Summary:
Nancy Sommers states in the article that “current models of the writing process directed attention away from revision”. Sommers‘ article describes the different contrasts between student and experienced writers. She uses a variety of resources to help understand more of the revision process and how it affects students and writers. the absence of research on revision, then, is a function of a theory of writing which makes revision both superfluous and redundant, a theory which does not distinguish between writing and speech. Although, the author took theories from other writers, one can also learn about revision.
Revision can be considered as a rewording activity. Different students in the article are used to
give their strategies on how they use revision in their writings. One student stated about his strategy “Reviewing means just using better words and eliminating words that are not needed. I go over and change words around.” Experienced writers also defined their revision process in Sommers’ article. “My first draft is usually very scattered. In rewriting, I find the line of argument. After the argument is resolved, I am much more interested in word choice and phrasing” is the point of view of an experienced writer.
Question:
How important do you think it is to revise a paper with detail? How and with what methods would you want a peer to revise your paper?
Response:
I personally feel that some students should not give only one statement when it comes to revising a paper. I feel that revision statements that are clear, honest and precise will be the most useful to a writer, especially when they are a student writer. When revising a paper, one should be able to point out the writers mishaps and explain their thinking. If one is not honest or precise, then how is that going to help the writer become a better one? I would want someone to revise my paper with cruelty and honesty. Some might feel honesty can be cruelty, but in my perspective I think it is those two factors that makes someone a better writer. I would want to know everything from about my grammer mistakes to my sentences flowing. I understand why Sommers felt compelled to write an article about revision. It is a useful tool to create a good piece of literature.
Sommers, Nancy. “ Revision Strategies of Students Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” College Compositions and Communication Dec 1890: pgs 378-388
"Peer Response: Teaching Specific Suggestions"
Jason Pena
Eng, 1301.28
Instructor: Trang Phan
9/13/2010
“Peer Response: Teaching Specific Revision Suggestions”
The article discusses responses pertaining to “teaching specific revision suggestions”
In middle school students, using the PQP, “Praise-Question-Polish, method.” This technique helps students gain confidence in their writing and also allows the students to focus on the task at hand. An example of “praise” would be; “The details you used to explain the situation on the fire were very graphic and believable, they allowed me to paint a mental picture of what I was reading.” Once that’s out of the way, ask a question, maybe there was a particular part of the story that you didn’t understand. Then lastly “Polish” it of, this means to make a specific suggestion for improvement so that the writer can fix any mistakes that had been made. The article states that different writers had different responses to PQP, depending on the different activities set up on the observation; some may have had more of an affect than others. “Total class, Small group, Individual work, and follow up,” are all ways that PQP can be used, so different writers will benefit individually from these activities. The ending results allowed observers to make the accusations that they did in the article, PQP is a fantastic method of teaching proper revision suggestions.
Q: If this technique works well for middle school students, can it be useful for helping other students in higher grade levels as well?
R: The method PQP has very useful strategies that I believe can in fact help any writer, skilled or unskilled.Another survey should be done so that it can become a proven fact that PQP is a successful revision method. I myself as a young writer would like to use PQP because I know it will greatly improve my SQR’s and compositions, as well as anything else I can compose. This article was very informative and having learned about the PQP technique I feel confident that my skills as a writer will only get better, and I hope my fellow classmates benefit from PQP as I have.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)