What is your definition of writing?

What activities constitute writing?

What activities do not constitute writing?

Why?

Writing is a tool used to transmit, record, and build knowledge through written language. Activities that constitute writing is anything that meets the criteria of this definition through written language. This includes the writing of syllabi, satire, historical text, fictitious novels, biographies, etc. Things that do not constitute writing would be works that don’t contribute to these goals. This would be graffiti, casual texts, and most snap chats or tweets.

My writing methods have progressed somewhat since the beginning of this course. At the time of the writing of my first paper I was not familiar with the concepts that I have learned over the past couple of weeks. I was not able to fully grasp the purpose of the rhetorical method, and as a result my writing on the subject was fairly weak in certain areas. My writing was also fairly redundant, and dealt too much in summary rather than analysis. Since then I have learned to better project my own thoughts into what I am writing. I have learned where it is necessary to elaborate my thoughts, and where it is better to leave things unsaid. I have also learned how to structure my introduction, summary, and thesis in a much more effective way than I had done before. My revisions on my first essay helped me to realize these things. Also, the comments I received from my peers helped significantly in improving my writing. They did this by lending me perspective on what readers respond well to, and what they respond poorly to, and the instructor’s comments on my first essay pointed out to me where my writing is weakest.

Bullet #1 – Technology is any tool, physical or mental, that is used to solve a certain problem. Some examples include, a chair, a hammer, a computer, or written language. Some things that don’t count as technology are things that do not solve a problem such as a video game or a movie.

Bullet #2 – Some technologies that you use in writing include

1. Pencils/Pens
2. Paper
3. Computers
4. The internet
5. Peer review
6. Analytical methods
7. Books
8. Blogs
9. Thought webs
10. Multiple Drafts

ERH 101-03 Project 2

ERH 101-03 Project 2

Dear Incoming Student,

When it comes to writing an analysis, the handling of your secondary sources is very important. You will need to draw from your secondary sources to support the statements you make in the analysis of your primary source. In order to do this you will need to paraphrase and quote your secondary sources effectively. In order to do this, you must be very careful to avoid improper citation and accidental plagiarism. There are a few guidelines that you should follow in order to do this. First, it is important that you keep track of all of your secondary sources. Cite your sources before you even begin to paraphrase or quote them. This will help immensely with your in-text citations, as it allows you to insert them as you write. This helps to prevent you from paraphrasing or quoting without giving the source you derived your work from credit. Second, when it comes to paraphrasing, never look at your source while you paraphrase. It is important that your words be your own, and the easiest way to make sure you don’t copy the format of the author that you are reading is to the relay the information you derived through memory, using your own voice. Finally, when it comes to quoting, only use it when you cannot make the author’s message any clearer through paraphrasing. You don’t want your paper to be full of long or unnecessary quotes, so only use them when the author’s words are more effective than your own in supporting the argument of your thesis.

Sincerely,

A Pre-Strain English 101 Student

Signal Verbs

Positive: declares, replies, responds, suggests, acknowledges, advises, agrees, allows, answers, asserts, concurs, confirms, offers

Negative: asserts, charges, criticizes, declares, disagrees, disputes, objects, opposes, replies, responds, suggests

Neutral: believes, claims, concludes, describes, discusses, emphasizes, expresses, interprets,  lists, observes, offers, remarks, reports, reveals, says, states, thinks, writes

Paraphrasing

Paraphrase: Clinton leads Sanders by 2.4 million votes, not 2.5 million.

Analysis: While the article that the student is paraphrasing does make this claim, the student is excluding some essential information. The student can still use this claim, but he/she should add that the reason for this shortened gap is because of the states that held caucuses instead of primaries. Primaries were the only elections that were used in the survey that stated Clinton was ahead by 2.5 million votes, when counting states that held caucuses the author of this article found that Clinton was really only ahead by 2.4 million votes.

Notes for paraphrasing:

• Caucuses were held that were not reported in the RCP tally
• Clinton reported on caucuses that she won
• Primary for Democrats Abroad that sanders won

Paraphrase: While Clinton is still winning by a large margin, the statistics supporting her 2.5 million vote lead are not entirely accurate. There have been caucuses held in several states and territories that were not counted in the RCP tally, as well as some caucuses that were counted that increased Clinton’s lead in the tally. Also, there was a primary held by Democrats Abroad, which Sanders won, but that primary was not accounted for (Kessler).

Quoting

“… Clinton is ahead by 2.4 million votes, rather than 2.5 million votes.” (Kessler).

My article has some Jargon, but not very much. There are acronyms such as ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) and CSTA (Computer Science Teachers Association) and ACM-EPC(ACM Education Policy Commitee). The Article is taken from an academic journal, so the writer assumes that the reader is already familiar with these acronyms. I am learning that my discourse community, the computer science field, is looking to expand its novice induction through high school courses in computer science. I am also learning that there are changing theories on how inductees should be trained. Experts in the community agree that learning from a younger age leads to more successful computer sciences, and they also believe that their field is useful in multiple different professions, and they want more young students to be exposed to the field of computer science.

Dominant discourses are one that most benefit the rhetor, as opposed to non dominant discourses which are more useful in getting the rhetor established as credible. Dominant discourse brings more tangible rewards than non dominant discourse.