Writing: A Boy’s Perspective

In Chapter 20 of Teaching the Neglected R, Smith searched for an explanation for why boys frequently underperform girls, especially in writing. I like when Smith quotes Newkirk by writing, “the kind of literary work that boys find most pleasurable is undervalued in school: jokes, comic books, adventure stories, and so on” (244). Wouldn’t a multi-genre paper allow both boys and girls to explore these other, less traditional genres of writing?? If we had students participate in a multi-genre paper, perhaps boys would be more interested in writing because they can incorporate their own interests.

I was a little surprised by the quotes from boy students who said that they only enjoy doing things that they felt competent doing. We as teachers need to show them they are competent in writing! Allowing them to have practice without constantly being assessed or criticized will give them motivation and a feeling of competence.

I was also shocked to see that “providing rubrics or model texts…isn’t the answer” (247). We have learned over and over again that these are successful methods! However, as I read on, I began to understand that students must first learn the skills and learn how to do something.  Then, I think, students will benefit from rubrics and models because they understand the process that takes them to that success.

Stacia

Iago and my thesis statement.

The article “The Tyranny of the Thesis Statement” by Alec Duxbury hit close to home for me.  My favorite character of all time is Iago and I have tried to write papers on him countless numbers of times.  Each time I set out to write a paper about him I chose a thesis and stuck with it no matter what.  This strategy produced some amazingly biased writing in which evidence against my thesis was constantly ignored. 

Towards the end of the article Duxbury says,

“The tyranny of the thesis statement in schools is so complete that many students are afraid to write what they know and to explore the ways in which they might examine cause and effect from a starting a point in the knowledge they already have.” 

We need to help our students break from the tyranny of the thesis statement by helping them find their voice through quality writing assignments that matter to them!

Doug.

 

…you can’t start a sentence with “and”

The article, “Teaching English in the World” echoed everything we have learned.  I feel that we have  learned about mythrules and authentic application for the year, and I thought that this article expressed it well.

I have never heard the term, “mythrule”, but I know the meaning and think it is the perfect name for it.  Like Lindblom says, they are “rules that rule no one.” (104) They basically are terms, such as the title of this post, that are enforced in school (and for testing) but are perfectly acceptable in writing OUTSIDE of school.  They are deeply engraved into us that when we are told to ignore the rule, we are shocked.   What do you think about mythrules?

I also felt connected to Lindblom’s idea of an effective writing assignment.  He believes that it should be real: real purpose, real audience, and authentic.  This is what we have been taught this entire year.  When students see that their writing can be seen by others, they will immediately become engaged in it. 

I enjoyed this piece.  It is great to see the things that we are learning being addressed to a larger audience. i am seriously thinking about purchasing the English Journal.

Alexis

Multigenre inspiration!

WOW! I loved the multigenre piece in the first Romano chapter we read! There were a lot of ideas that I am going to try and incorporate into my own piece. This girl’s pieces were just so successful, that I was inspired to continue working and to try new things with mine!

I’m so glad we read this.

Krystina

I pity the fool!!!

And no, this post has nothing to do with Mr. T and the A-Team.  The article entitled “The Sentence Sleuth” by Bonnie Trenga focuses on the styling of sentences and how it is more important sometimes to focus on style instead of grammar. 

Here are four rules that the author presents:

“1.  You shall not write passively.
 2.  You shall not overuse weak verbs like “to be” and “to have.”
 3.  You shall not fluff.
 4.  You shall make every word neccessary.” 

All four of these rules are fantastic suggestions for beginning writers as well as veteran writers.  I find myself constanty breaking these rules, and constantly trying my hardest to catch myself.  Anyone have some other thoughts on the article?

Doug. 

Look at the World with Fresh Eyes

There were two quotes that I just wanted to mention from the article because I think that they can sum up some of the reasons why multi-genre writing is so important. The first is from the Moynihan piece. She writes, “Students would begin no with a thesis but with a quest for answers (69). The other quote is from Wirtz: “Authentic writing situations, I argue, are resposes to a perceived need to communicate” (23). These quotes can mesh together nicely. They stress the importance for students to write about topics that matter to them. Therefore, student choice in the classroom is essential for our students to grow and explore. When students begin a paper with a thesis and end it by repeating the thesis, they are missing out on creativity. Now, I know that some thesis papers are required and students should know how to do these. However, their writing will become dry, boring, and only done for the teacher if they only write these cookie cutter essays. I know that alot of us have noticed through this class and through working with the Ink Peppers that we have lost come of that creativity. It’s hard to look at the things around us with fresh eyes when we usually have to write in order to follow a teacher’s standards or requirements. It’s freeing to find the creative writer in me again.

Stacia

Multigenre-Multigendered Research Papers

The article by Mary Styslinger was very interesting.  She provided a glimpse into her students’ minds through their multigenre work.  What stuck out the most to me though was a comment she made towards the end of the article.  She said.

“Great complexity can also be conveyed through multigenre papers.  When students are no longer limited by the number of paragraphs, citation formats, or singleness of form, students are no longer constrained by singularity of idea.”  (56) 

I agree with her 100% and also believe that given the chance, students can amaze us in new and wonderful ways every time we give them a chance too.  Too often too little is asked of students and the mutigenre paper is a great way to give students a chance to think in new and different ways. 

Doug.

Readings from the EJ — 4/15–4/22

Please read and organize a blog response that includes 3 (or all 4) of the authors’ perspectives on/suggestions for engaging students in research writing. Include specific references to the texts of these pieces. How do you look at your own multigenre piece w/fresh eyes? What inspires you here?

After reading, ask yourself the question, can I live without the EJ??? Student membership in NCTE is only $20 and you can receive the EJ for a year for $12!! Can’t beat that. KES

Username: kstearns Password: aussie1

Multigenre-Multigendered Research Papers (March, 06)

Research Writing: The Unfamiliar-Genre Research Project (March, 06)

Creating Possibilities: Embedding Research into Creative Writing (March, 06)

A Collectibles Project: Engaging Students in Authentic Multimodal Research and Writing (Sept. 07)

You also have the ROMANO chapter “The Many Ways of Poems” (handout on 4/15)

Please email me your attached A Day in the Life piece no later than Thursday during what would be our normal class time. Thanks!! KES

Give me more drama!!!

The Romano chapter on Prose Fiction was a great help to me.  I am currently writing a short piece of fiction for my multigenre piece and I was struggling with it a bit.  Reading about what a dramatic scene should be has now prepared me to sit down later tonight and give the scene another go with some fresh ideas in my head.  One of the passages that really stuck out for me was,

“A dramatic scene doesn’t just inform you about what happens.  It sets characters in motion.  They do things, they speak, they interact.  Dramatic scene appeals to our sense of visual imagery, especially visual imagery that moves.  Readers thrive on that.” (71)

Another passage was,

“Resist explaining, summing up, and analyzing.  Create scenes instead.  Become like the novelist or filmmaker.  Dramatize without interpretation.” (72)

I think most of us are so used to analyzing and summarizing that it becomes difficult to sometimes just let our creative minds flow.  The chapter on prose fiction has shown me that to be successful with my multigenre paper I need to let go and just write. 

Doug

Digital Storytelling

When I began to read about digital storytelling, I had expected it to be interesting, but for some reason, I had not expected that the writing process was used in digital storytelling. I suppose that I did not see the connection between the two. Lisa C. Miller addresses this: “With digital storytelling, words and the writing process matter as much as ever. We still must take students through that process, from coming up with an idea to collecting information to focusing and organizing to drafting to revising” (173).  I figured that I would mention this just in case I was not the only one who is a little amazed at this pretty obvious connection.

Also, Miller makes a great point when she says that “computers aren’t going away” (174).  That reason for teaching digital storytelling is SO TRUE! In fact, they are not only going to stay around, but they are going to become more and more mainstreamed and accessible. Practically everything will become even more computer-oriented, so since that is the world our students will be growing up in, we need to teach them how to be successful in such a world, and that definitely includes using technology for creative and academic purposes.

Krystina