A Critical Eye

For my reading today I will be learning strategies for a reading with a critical eye. The book explains that reading textbooks with new vocabulary is hard and it can be difficult to pick out key concepts and understand the reading. I have felt like this a couple of times while reading texts in college. The book assures that the more you read these academic texts the easier it will become to understand them. They suggest getting a brief overview by skimming and then reading it again paying close attention to details. Something I use while reading to get the main points is annotating. All I do is highlight the parts I believe are important. Another tip I find useful is summarizing a text so I can understand what exactly the author is trying to get across. Check for fallacies because they often seem plausible, but have faulty reasoning. This is good advice when reading a persuasive essay.

Analyzing Texts

When reading through the Analyzing Text chapter I enjoyed reading about the commercials aimed at women. I found these ads to be very sexist and honestly, a load of crap. If someone pitched an ad for Listerine, Lux, or Resinol like that these days I think they would be laughed at. Taking into consideration that these commercials are from the 20's, 30's, and 40's I'm sure they worked well in getting consumers to buy the product because back then people were more gullible. It's not that they were stupid they just didn't know what we, as consumers, know today. I know that using a certain soap won't get me a husband or that using a certain mouthwash will keep me "sweet". Lantry also points out how all of these themes have a weak factor in women's struggle for equality in the world of sex roles. The main theme is that pleasing men causes happiness in women. These ads kind of remind me of the more current "Axe" commercials where girls are falling over each other to get to the boy who sprayed Axe body spray on himself. Only this commercial is aimed at men saying women will be all over them if they use this product. In reading the many texts analyzed by people I enjoyed reading the Lurid Numbers on Glossy Pages! by Katharine Q. Seelye. She is writing about the techniques magazines use to catch a reader's eye as they are walking by the newsstand. The main way magazine publishers get reader's attention is by big numbers on the front covers. We've all seen them before "53 easy workouts", "21 hair and makeup how-tos", and "65 sex positions she/he will love". I'm not gonna lie these types of magazines always catch my eye as I'm standing in line at the grocery store. That is exactly what they are meant to do. David Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health, said that smaller numbers were better for exercise tips, because readers want something manageable. Lesley Semour, the current editor of Marie Claire, says "Research shows numbers sell." Just being a consumer and looking at the magazines my friends pick out I would have to agree that yes numbers do sell.

Getting The Job

Today in my readings I found an interesting fact that the book points out. They said that readers of job application letters and resumes, may reject applications if they contain a single error if only because it's an easy way to eliminate potential candidates. This is a useful tip to know since I will be looking for a job once I graduate, which isn't too far away. In order to have a good resume or letter you must edit and proofread your paper. 

Editing is the stage when you work on the details of your paragraphs, sentences, words, and punctuation to make sure your writing is clear, precise, correct, and as effective as possible. They say the goal isn't to make your writing "perfect" but to make sure it is effective in reaching your audience or purpose. I also find this an excellent tip because everyone thinks if your paper is punctually and grammatically correct then it is perfect. Yet if you don't reach your purpose then it is ineffective. The book also says to make sure you know the meaning of every word in your writing. If I am unsure if I have used to word in the write text I always look it up and make sure it fits with the sentence, which they say is a good thing to do. Always make sure if you use words like "he" or "they" or "it", that your readers will know precisely who you are talking about. Another common mistake many people, including myself, do is use language that could be considered sexist. Like using words such as manpower and policeman when referring to people who may be women.

Next is proofreading. Proofreading is the final stage of the writing process, the point where you clean up your work to present it to your readers. I really have to get myself to try if I want to be an effective proofreader. The book says proofreading demands that you slow down your reading and examine every word and punctuation mark. This is hard for me because I don't like to read slow and take the time to study each word.

My Writing

Today for my reading an interesting statement the book made caught my eye. It said, "The best advice on assessing is don't." They go on to explain that when writing we need to let the words flow without worrying if what your writing is right or wrong. When writing for others the book tells me to assess me writing in 2 stages. First consider how well it meets the needs of my particular rhetorical situation, then studying the text itself to check its focus, argument, and organization. You always need to know the purpose of your writing, the audience, the genre, the stance, and the design. Always make sure your readers can understand your argument and what you are talking about in your writing.  In this text they say that writing is like practicing a sport or playing an instrument, it takes time to get it right. Once you have looked through your own paper with a critical eye and had some peer reviews we must now start to revise our draft. Donald Murray says writers need to read, reread, and reread, standing back and perusing the entire text for problems. After reading all the ways I can edit my narrative with the help of myself and my peers I think now it will be easier to find the flaws in my story.

Tips For A Good Story

In my first reading for my English 103 class it made a good point to not wait until the last day or two until a paper is due. So many things can come up; your computer could crash, an emergency might pop up, or a printer could jam. They say doing papers 24 or 48 hours before it is due is "asking for trouble". I'm not gonna lie I am a horrible procrastinator so I need to take this advice to heart. It also suggests using the techniques talked about in the previous blog such as looping, listing, and clustering to help when you have writer's block. They also state that "the goal of using details is to be as specific as possible, providing information that will help you audience imagine the subject o make sense of it." They advise to use specific details not labels such as "moron" or "very smart". You should also incorporate sensory details into your story. They help readers imagine sounds, odors, tastes, and physical sensations. When using objective descriptions avoid expressing emotion or opinions. Yet, subjective descriptions allow the writer's opinions and emotions to show. When writing a narrative authors typically put them in chronological order, reverse chronological order, or as a flashback. Use time markers besides the obvious dates such as one early evening or the next morning. As you write your narrative you ned to think about the message you want to convey  and the audience you want to reach. Dialogue is a way of bringing in voices other than your own. Always use the correct punctuation, paragraphing, and signal phrases. Interviews can also be an affective tool to show dialogue. Using all of these tips will help you write a good narrative.

Devan Twibell: Literacy Narratives

As I read Tanya Barrientos story it made me more aware of how quick people are to judge others. She grew up in the 60's and 70's when different ethnicities were not as widely accepted in the U.S. as they are now so she separates herself from her Guatemalan ethnicity and tries her hardest to be "white". Then suddenly society changes and children were told to picture America as a "multicolored quilt". Tanya had tried so hard to fit in with white people that she says "I was left wondering where I fit in". So now she wants to embrace her Latino heritage so she takes lessons and listens to tapes to learn Spanish but she still struggles to fit in with the rest of the Latino community. She tries to speak Spanish with others and always ends up getting a dirty look when she stumbles over a difficult sentence. I see Tanya's predicament and it would be a hard place to be in always wondering who you were and where you belong. At the end she asks if there are others like her and if so to speak up and not be embarrassed.

At first while reading Frederick Douglass's story and reading how his mistress was teaching him to read, I thought to myself that there were "good" slave owners. I was happy to see that she was teaching him the alphabet. Then he describes how all of her heavenly qualities disappear when her husband tells her to quit teaching him. He describes her as anxious to do better than what her husband commanded. This is when we are introduced to Frederick's ingenuity. He makes friends with the poor white boys and trades bread in exchange for reading lessons. In his reading of Sheridan he was showed slavery in the eyes of the author who was anti-slavery. He learned to detest his enslavers and said that the readings, "Had given me a view of my wretched condition, without remedy". I think after reading something like that anyone would feel hatred for their masters and not have anyway of getting rid of this hatred. He now wishes that he couldn't read because all it brings to him is anger and misery. After speaking to some irishmen he decides to learn to write so he can escape to the North. Once again Douglass's cleverness shows as he reads the timber from the ships. He would trick boys into teaching him to write by saying he was better than them. It amazes me that he grew up as a slave and after years of teaching himself learned to read and write well enough to write this narrative and many other documents. He served as an advisor to President Lincoln and voiced his opinions against slavery.

While reading Malcolm X's exert I was in shock of everything he did while in prison. How someone could enjoy the tedious task of copying the whole dictionary is incomprehensible to me. I am glad that after I read Malcolm's opinion on college that not everyone shares his opinion. He says his problem with colleges is that, "There are too many distractions, too much painty-raiding, fraternities, and boola boola and all of that". He says he studied for as much as fifteen hours a day. Of course if we all studied that much America's youth would consist completely of geniuses but let's be honest we would be miserable.

When Amy Tan says that she winces when she describes her mother's English as "broken" it shows you how much she appreciates her mother's language and she doesn't like to refer to it as something that needs fixed. To Tan her mother's english is perfect and it is what helped her shape the way she saw things and the way she observed the world. I believe Tan should be commended for doing what she wanted and not what everyone else thought was best for her. She was told to go into math and science and stay away from writing but as she describes her rebellious nature took over and she did the opposite. I like how this story centers around the love and respect Tan has for her mother even if in the past she has embarrassed her several times with her broken english. Tan also says how so many Asian-Americans go into engineering but not many into creative writing programs. She wonders if other Asian-American students have this so called "broken" English spoken in their homes and have teachers who steer them away from writing which is what happened to her. I think this is a good assumption that could be true.

Mike Rose story is witty and fun to read. He describes his life as child with personal memories that one can easily picture in their mind. When he gets his chemistry set you can feel his excitement as he describes mixing solutions and seeing the results. Then when he hears of Ada's brother he wants his experiments to be dangerous. He says "I wanted all those wonderful colors to collide in ways that could blow your voice box right off". This kind of frightens me coming from a child but it does show his excitement for experimenting. Then after getting his job selling strawberries he would tell stories to the kids who would otherwise have him for breakfast. Shortly after getting this job he was introduced to astronomy books and became fascinated with the stars and planets. He says he could sit for hours with potato chips and the stars tracking the sky.

Freewriting is just writing for five or ten minutes non stop just to get ideas on paper. Once the time is up underline parts that interest you. We did this in class and I think that it would be a useful tool in writing a story. Looping is writing for 5 or 10 minutes and then picking out the important parts at the end. Then write again for 5 or 10 minutes and repeat what you did before. You continue to do this until you have a complete understanding of the topic. I don't like this process as well because it takes longer than freewriting which I think is effective enough for me. I think listing would be an effective process just because there are no boundaries and you can list any topic that comes to mind. This way you have all your topics out on paper for you to observe and look through. Clustering is what I used in grade school, middle school, and high school. You put your topic in the middle and then write things related to that topic around it. You continue to do this until you have no more ideas. Outlining is a good writing tool to use because you can get all of your main ideas onto paper and it shows the relationships among your ideas.