May 30

First, we did a writing into the day about voice.  (See slide 39 on the PowerPoint.)  The class had the following discussion about the writing into the day:

• Finding your own voice you must have no fear.  Only you can describe your own voice.
• The writer was explaining that younger/newer writers take on the voice of what they are reading.  They don’t know if they have a voice or not.  Sometimes, you do that you are putting yourself in a box.  You are getting used to the form instead of finding your own voice.  If you don’t have your own voice, you aren’t drawing your reader to you and into your writing.
• My voice is very windy.  I might be going to Miami but I take 95 North.
• My voice is best in first person rather than in third.  No one else can write my experiences.
• My voice is allowing me to say shocking things and break the rules about what you “should” or “should not” say.  The monster is under that, but even further than that is the stuff you don’t want people to know.
• If you have that one voice that is willing to reveal the monster, other people will be able to connect to it.  You might be scared to say it though.
• It’s universal to think that you’re alone.  You need to have the courage to say it first.
• You only need one person to help you realize that you can do it.

 We went back to the sentences on slide 41 and discussed which one was better for academic writing:

• The second one is better because the first is confusing.
• The first feels like a run on.
• The first tries to hard to sound intelligent.  In the process, the meaning is lost.
• The second is better because it is comprehensible.
• The second is more simplistic for an everyday reader.  The first one would be easier for someone who “claims” to be intellectual.
• My teacher always said, “When you write you always write like a first grader is reading your writing.”  A first grader could understand the second sentence if they could pronounce all the words.
• The first sentence reminded me of the first time I read Shakespeare.
• The second sentence takes into consideration the audience. 

We also went back to the questions we discussed in small group yesterday (see slide 40 on the PowerPoint).

• At the sentence level, you need to always remember who your audience is.  It’s one of the most important things to have a good academic sounding writing.
• It needs correct grammar.
• It needs Standard English.
• Don’t write like a conversation.
• No contractions.
• Don’t write like you text.  Don’t write “da” for “the.”
• Use transitions to help with the flow.
• Don’t write lingo you would use in conversation.
• Don’t use curse words.
• Use correct spelling.
• Use words your audience will understand and relate to you.
• There should always be an expectation in writing.  Don’t cater to an audience just because they have slipped below it.
• Use correct punctuation.
• You need to meet the audience where they are.  But at a certain point, you need to meet them where you want them to be.
• You need a broad vocabulary but not sound like the first sentence (slide 41 on PowerPoint).
• It shouldn’t be exceedingly verbose.
• When I see words I don’t know, it makes me want to look it up.  It pulled me up to a different level.  One word can increase your vocabulary and put knowledge in your brain.

How do you find a balance between using a higher level of vocabulary without losing your reader like in the first sentence (on slide 41)?

• You have to feel it out.
• Make it simple.  You should need to have to look up a word every other paragraph.  It breaks your concentration and attention on the writing.
• It depends on the writer and the audience.
• There are 10 cent words, 25 cent words, 50 cent words and the dollar words.  The majority of your writing should be the 25 (or less) cent words.  Most people won’t know the 50 cent or dollar words.  The audience determines what level the word will be.
• You need to able to use context clues to figure out the words you don’t know.
• I was always told that there is no such thing as a big word.  You either know what it means or not.  But you can always find out what it means.
• You should write 25 cent peppered with dollars.  Hot sauce dollars.
• The more complicated writing can give them more in-depth writing.

Then, we went over MLA formatting.  You need the following:

• Double space (make sure to check the box that says “Don’t add spacing between paragraphs of the same styles”).
• Times New Roman 12 pt font
• 1 inch margins (Note: Versions of MS Word that are newer than 2003 will default to 1 X 1.25 inch margins.  You need to go in an change it.)
• In the top margin of the page on the right, you need your last name and page number.  The header should be Times New Roman 12 pt font as well.
• At the top of the page on the right (not in the margin), you need a heading with the following information:
• Your name
• Instructor’s name (Megan Keaton)
• Course (ENG 111-09)
• The date the draft is due
• The date should be written with the day first, then month, then year.  (4 June 2013)
• Make sure to change the date on each draft
• The heading needs to be double-spaced.
• After the heading, hit enter once and write the title in the center.  The title should be Times New Roman 12 pt font.  It should not be bolded, italicized or underlined.
• After the title, hit enter once and begin writing the paper.

Your first page should look like this:

Paragraph taken from http://grammar.about.com/od/developingparagraphs/a/confessionsslob.htm

Homework:

• Read “Responding – Really Responding – to Other Students’ Writing” (on Moodle)
• Post a daybook reflection to your blog before Monday’s class
• Start drafting your Definition Essay
• Bring handout (on Moodle) on Monday

May 29

First, we completed the writing into the day about “rules” for a thesis (see PowerPoint slide 31).

Together, we created a class list of “rules” on the board.

• Outline
• Contains the point the writer is trying to get across
• Only one sentence
• Could be two sentences
• It is in the introduction paragraph
• It shouldn’t be phrased as a question
• It can be phrased as a question
• It can be implied or directly stated
• Clear and concise
• It should have facts to support the main idea
• It doesn’t have to be at the beginning
• An assertion
• It contains the direction of the paper
• It is the topic of your body paragraphs

What are the different kinds of writing that require a thesis?

• Research papers
• Essays
• Argumentative
• Compare and contrast

Does academic writing always require thesis statements?

• Yes, because it is informative.
• No, because you don’t have a thesis for a descriptive essay
• No, because you don’t need a thesis for creative writing, which is in school

We got into four small groups and scanned through the first 5-6 pages of a professional article.  Each group was assigned one article.  As the groups read through the articles, they paid attention to when the authors did or did not use first person.  We tried to figure out when authors choose to use first person and for what reasons.  In whole group, we had the following discussion:

• He used first person throughout.  He only used third person when he was using metaphors and examples of other people’s writing processes.
• It was from his perspective.
• He used first person when he was giving examples of how to use grammar.
• He is speaking from his experience.
• First person started in the second paragraph because he was making the introduction.  Once the reader had the introductory information, the writer used “we” to speak collectively.
• First person is used to draw the reader in and make it easier to reader.
• A writer might use second person to give a directive.
• The use “you” when they want to convey something directly to you the reader.

Then we talked about the questions on slide 32 of the Power Point.

• Nothing in academia is understood.  You are making an assumption when you use “you”
• It’s unprofessional.
• If you are informing someone of something, you are supposed to assume they don’t agree with you.
• In academia, it’s about personal opinion.
• If you are using second person, you are talking to the student so what would you need a teacher there for?
• It’s like you’re talking down to the reader.
• You are assuming the teacher agrees with you.
• You are supposed to be swaying the teacher’s opinion.
• Teachers say not to use it because they were taught that.
• It’s across the board as far as education.  The professional have already been through school.
• One of the things about writing a paper is that it’s about learning and use second person is absolutes.
• You can use first person, when you are using a personal experience or in narrative.
• If you did research you could talk about your research and the experiment.
• You can use it in compare and contrast if you have collected the data.
• It’s up to the writer when to use first, second or third person.  They just have to make sure it makes sense.
• You can use first and third person in academic writing. 
• When you write about common experience, you can use second person.

In groups of three, we discussed the questions on slide 34 of the PowerPoint.  We read the sentence on slide 35 and took one minute to rewrite it in our own words.  We did the same with the sentence on slide 36.  Then, for writing out of the day, we answered this question:

Both sentences mean the same thing.  For academic writing, which one is better and why?

We will continue this conversation tomorrow.

Homework:

• Read Anne Lamott's "Finding Your Voice" (on Moodle)