Summary:
In the article by Michael Kleine entitled "What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One--and How Can We Get Students to Join Us," Kleine begins by describing a library scene in which students are scattered everywhere writing research papers and not focusing on their work. He mentions how they're copying work, and not actually writing it themselves. Kleine then flashes back to the nights when he was in the same position as those students. He describes how he was once doing the exact same thing. He describes the entire scene as a "nightmare."
Kleine then comes up with questions that become meaningful for him to answer. He wants to discover if college teachers who participate in academic writing live in the "night library" such as those kids he described in the scene at the beginning of his article.
He discusses the model for the writing process which he developed with two of his colleagues and argues that research in writing should be "strategic" and "heuristic," which by definition in the article means "a problem-solving pattern." He uses metaphors to compare his model with hunters and gatherers.
A little later in the article, Kleine mentions how the use of his model in his classes improved the writing and overall work of his students. He then talks about interviewing eight professors to find out what they did when they were at work. He explains his discoveries through his research and makes the point that all of his interviewees were always excited to talk about their writing and work and how they did it out of interest mostly, instead of other reasons. He basically found that each person he interviewed did things similarly with their work, yet very different at the same time. Kleine concludes that researching is "too complicated to code."
Pre-reading (pg. 23):
About half of the classes I am taking require researched writing. I imagine spending a lot of time studying and trying to develop my own process of writing and researching, with a slight base on past research and sources. To accomplish the projects, I'll need to manage my time well, do much research, and think deeply into my writing. I will have to really analyze and evaluate all research and focus on the subject matter and even relate it to my own experiences.
Questions for Discussions and Journaling:
1. Kleine's ideas are very detailed and beyond how I have researched and written in the past. His model for writing is complex and I have never really thought deeper into the research process the way Kleine has.
3. Sources have always played an important role in research. The professionals Kleine interviewed still used sources, as well as their own translations and thoughts. The difference is that many students who have done research papers have based it more on other research and sources, and did not use as many of their own ideas and put less thought into it. Like Kleine said in the beginning of his article, the students in his library scene were just "copying" and not writing. This explanation Kleine makes is similar to past experiences I had with research papers.
4. If I did what Kleine talks about, my research would definitely improve. It would take a lot of effort and getting used to, but I would be focusing less on the ideas of other people and their research, and more on my own thoughts.
My thoughts:
This article by Michael Kleine was full of much information and was at times confusing. However, Kleine put a lot of work, thought, and research into his article and seemed to care deeply about the subject matter. He cares about students and wants them to better understand the complicated process of writing and researching. I could tell that he really wants to help students.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Reading Response 1
Summary:
In the article "Argument as Conversation," Stuart Greene intends to inform readers about arguments in relation to writing, to our lives, and to everyday conversation. Greene claims that arguments on certain topics come from research and conversations that have occurred beforehand about said topics. Basically, he is saying that an argument you make is directly related to someone else's argument or research. Greene says that when making an argument in writing, you must bring up research already made about the topic, talk about your stance on the issue, and suggest further questions and research that can be made. He argues that you also need to support your opinions and beliefs well. He does not think that it is necessarily about persuading readers to believe what you do. It is more centered around what you personally think and about giving reasons as to why you think what you do. Greene presents the idea of "framing" and compares framing in the writing world to taking a picture. He also discusses research and showing readers that you understand what others' have said.
Pre-reading (pg. 9):
In everyday conversation, an "argument" is used to express ideas and controversial opinions about an issue. Arguments can be over basically anything. We argue to present our standpoint on a topic and to explain why we believe what we believe. In an academic setting, I think that an argument is used slightly to persuade. Also, even though it is mostly opinionated, arguments in an academic sense are meant to focus on a specific theme and give knowledge on an issue.
The difference is that in everyday conversation, we're not necessarily trying to get everyone to agree with us or give them more information on what we've "discovered" about a topic. We're mostly trying to defend and stand up for what we think. It is part of human nature to be defensive about something we are passionate about. In an academic setting, an argument is really trying to get us to better understand why something is viewed in a certain way.
Questions for Discussion and Journaling:
2. Greene quotes the passage by Kenneth Burke to get readers to really grasp the concept of how arguments are related to past arguments and conversation about a topic. He uses "dialogue" to describe the way we write a "researched argument." It presents writing in a way that is saying conversation is a crucial part of writing arguments. This may challenge the idea that writing is completely about persuasion, or the thought that writing has nothing to do with communicating with readers and getting them to think and apply what is said to everyday life and conversation.
3. Framing is used to detail and highlight certain areas and parts of a piece of writing, and to give readers a better view of what the writer is seeing in their head and what they think. Greene compares framing to photography. He explains how when someone is trying to take a picture, they want to focus on a certain area of the picture and certain surroundings. Certain things they do not want the picture to be focused on, so they try to block it out more by setting up their camera in different ways. Framing seems important to Greene because he seems to want people to look at things in a similar way as other people and for people to better understand one another's views. Framing allows a writer to hit the important details of an argument and in turn helps readers to focus on those things and to really analyze and think about it.
Applying and Exploring Ideas:
2. Greene's article does represent a "conversation." His whole article focuses on the idea of an argument being based on other arguments and conversations people have had. His article is an argument itself, meaning in order for him to have a viewpoint and stance on the subject, he had to have done research and studied others' ideas on the same subject. This represents the "conversation" that Greene discussed in his article. He frames his article by highlighting the main subtopics in the issue and by giving detail in each one. Greene does a good job of giving his argument, while also showing that he has applied what he believes into his article and his everyday life and conversation.
My thoughts:
The reading was fairly interesting to me. I never really thought about arguments and how they relate to conversation, not only in our lives, but in writing. I hadn't thought about the fact that our arguments are based on past thoughts and beliefs other people had and still have. I think that it will be helpful to me and make me think more on why we argue. It will help me to think about and look for other viewpoints and reasons as to why some people argue something in different ways. After reading the article, I realized that I agree with Greene. We all have our opinions, but our opinions are usually brought up by something else. Something causes us to say what we think, and then an argument has a chance to form from that. If nothing was there to give us thought and opinion, we would say nothing at all. Arguments would not exist.
In the article "Argument as Conversation," Stuart Greene intends to inform readers about arguments in relation to writing, to our lives, and to everyday conversation. Greene claims that arguments on certain topics come from research and conversations that have occurred beforehand about said topics. Basically, he is saying that an argument you make is directly related to someone else's argument or research. Greene says that when making an argument in writing, you must bring up research already made about the topic, talk about your stance on the issue, and suggest further questions and research that can be made. He argues that you also need to support your opinions and beliefs well. He does not think that it is necessarily about persuading readers to believe what you do. It is more centered around what you personally think and about giving reasons as to why you think what you do. Greene presents the idea of "framing" and compares framing in the writing world to taking a picture. He also discusses research and showing readers that you understand what others' have said.
Pre-reading (pg. 9):
In everyday conversation, an "argument" is used to express ideas and controversial opinions about an issue. Arguments can be over basically anything. We argue to present our standpoint on a topic and to explain why we believe what we believe. In an academic setting, I think that an argument is used slightly to persuade. Also, even though it is mostly opinionated, arguments in an academic sense are meant to focus on a specific theme and give knowledge on an issue.
The difference is that in everyday conversation, we're not necessarily trying to get everyone to agree with us or give them more information on what we've "discovered" about a topic. We're mostly trying to defend and stand up for what we think. It is part of human nature to be defensive about something we are passionate about. In an academic setting, an argument is really trying to get us to better understand why something is viewed in a certain way.
Questions for Discussion and Journaling:
2. Greene quotes the passage by Kenneth Burke to get readers to really grasp the concept of how arguments are related to past arguments and conversation about a topic. He uses "dialogue" to describe the way we write a "researched argument." It presents writing in a way that is saying conversation is a crucial part of writing arguments. This may challenge the idea that writing is completely about persuasion, or the thought that writing has nothing to do with communicating with readers and getting them to think and apply what is said to everyday life and conversation.
3. Framing is used to detail and highlight certain areas and parts of a piece of writing, and to give readers a better view of what the writer is seeing in their head and what they think. Greene compares framing to photography. He explains how when someone is trying to take a picture, they want to focus on a certain area of the picture and certain surroundings. Certain things they do not want the picture to be focused on, so they try to block it out more by setting up their camera in different ways. Framing seems important to Greene because he seems to want people to look at things in a similar way as other people and for people to better understand one another's views. Framing allows a writer to hit the important details of an argument and in turn helps readers to focus on those things and to really analyze and think about it.
Applying and Exploring Ideas:
2. Greene's article does represent a "conversation." His whole article focuses on the idea of an argument being based on other arguments and conversations people have had. His article is an argument itself, meaning in order for him to have a viewpoint and stance on the subject, he had to have done research and studied others' ideas on the same subject. This represents the "conversation" that Greene discussed in his article. He frames his article by highlighting the main subtopics in the issue and by giving detail in each one. Greene does a good job of giving his argument, while also showing that he has applied what he believes into his article and his everyday life and conversation.
My thoughts:
The reading was fairly interesting to me. I never really thought about arguments and how they relate to conversation, not only in our lives, but in writing. I hadn't thought about the fact that our arguments are based on past thoughts and beliefs other people had and still have. I think that it will be helpful to me and make me think more on why we argue. It will help me to think about and look for other viewpoints and reasons as to why some people argue something in different ways. After reading the article, I realized that I agree with Greene. We all have our opinions, but our opinions are usually brought up by something else. Something causes us to say what we think, and then an argument has a chance to form from that. If nothing was there to give us thought and opinion, we would say nothing at all. Arguments would not exist.
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