Final Draft
Revision is a process that every writer must go through to produce something worth reading. Journalists, student writers, or someone just writing an email perform this task because it’s important that the people who are going to be reading what had been written understands it. There is no point in writing anything without being able to convey its meaning, and there are rules for this. In fact there are many rules, so many that there are books written on the subject of how to write. As a student we have to take many classes to learn how to write, and to some extent think; I know I did. There are many different ways of performing the practice of revision, and they are all a little intimidating. Where does a person start? All of sudden you are looking at your own random thoughts spewed all over the page, and thinking to yourself what does this mean? Well most often it means nothing unless you fix it up a little. In "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers," Nancy Sommers explains and gives examples of the differences between people who have been writing for a while, “the experienced writer” and those learning “the student writer.” Sommer's states that while she was interviewing these two groups that students said they did not revise their writing, while experienced writers revised their writing time and time again until they had something worth letting someone else read. Though I can relate to comments from each group in Sommer’s article, I fail to see the difference between the two because of the vagueness of who is included in them. It is my experience as a student and an experienced writer that they are the same. Because revision is a process of learning in itself, making us all students; for every person betters their work while performing it. Experienced or student; we all revise to a certain extent no matter what you call it.
In “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers,” Sommers tells us that the difference between the student and experienced writer, which she says is basically the process of revision. Sommers interviewed different people from those two groups, and found that students didn’t use the word revision. These students said that after they finished an assignment they would read through it again, but that they were basically looking to see if they could have made a better word choice. It seemed from the examples given that these students just wanted to use bigger words to make themselves sound more studious. The experienced students that Sommers interviewed said that they would revise what they had written many times before they could say it was done. She concluded that students put too much emphasis on words, where the people with more experience looked more at the content of what they were trying to say.
Over the years I was taught many different ways of revising by many different people. High School is a blur; it was thirteen years ago, and I think all I can recall is that there was not a lot expected from me in the areas of critical reading and writing. I do know that this affected me later in life when I entered into college. I was told, after my assessment that the first English class I attended would not even count towards my degree. I got an awesome teacher though, and I personally have learned more from him about revision than anywhere else. The most important resource I got from him was to not be afraid to ask for help, and that anything written can always be better. An example of an experienced writer from sommer’s article says “It is a matter of looking at the kernel of what I have written, the content, and then thinking about it, responding to it, making decisions, and actually restructuring it.” In my class we were taught to look for the context of what we write first. To ask questions like, did I achieve the task at hand? Were all the questions answered? Is it clear what I was trying to express? During this process I was taught to ignore spelling and punctuation, for those things mean nothing if there is no clarity. We first practiced organization by doing an outline, which would include; an introduction with a statement that would hook in our reader, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a thesis statement. We would have discussions in class and exchange ideas, and then join our ideas with our outline. The teacher would make us put our thesis statements on the board and we would talk about the clarity and inclusiveness of the whole topic. We worked in writing groups where we would read our essays out loud to one another to look for mistakes or missing elements. When that part seemed good then we moved on to punctuation, and grammar. We were also encouraged to visit the tutoring center at the school which was very helpful. There you were able to sit down one on one with someone and pick apart every aspect of your essay.
After taking advantage of the services of the tutoring center I decided to join them. Being a tutor helped to enforce what I already learned by practicing it on a daily basis. I went to writing seminars where we would practice different elements of writing, and there seemed to always be something new that I would pick up. We were tested on writing elements often, and given handouts on how we could improve. It was not a class, so there was no pressure for a grade. While working there I read hundreds of essays, and this introduced me to other styles. I learned to revise; I had to because I had to teach it to others. The students that I would meet had different ideas about revision. Most of them would bring me a paper and expect me to proof read for them, but that wasn’t part of my job title. In fact it was discouraged, and could even get you fired. The mission was to improve the voice of the writer, to help with organization and content of their essay, and to make sure that they included all the elements of the assignment. Some students would come in expecting this kind of help, and some didn’t. It was always a combination of the two and never one or the other. All students were experienced in some aspects of writing, making them experienced student writers.
One experienced writer in Sommers article said, “I like the idea that a piece of writing is never finished, just abandoned.” I like this idea too! Anything that has ever been written could have been a little better with one more draft, though there does come a time when it’s necessary to just move on. I was taught this as a student, so I relate to it, but I am still a student. Sommer’s states “students understand the revision process as a rewording activity,” but not all students do. Students can be experienced writers and experienced writers can be students. It is unfair to either group to say that one doesn’t go with the other. Sommers use of the terms “student” and “experienced” that describe the writers are to vague. How does she define the difference between the two? Though I do like the examples she used and I agree that there are students who do not understand how to revise at all, I believe most do.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Essay 1 Draft 2
Draft #2
Revision is a process that every writer must go through to produce something worth reading. Journalists, student writers, or someone just writing an email perform this task because it’s important that the people who are going to be reading what had been written understands it. There is no point in writing anything without being able to convey its meaning, and there are rules for this. In fact there are many rules, so many that there are books written on the subject of how to write. As a student we have to take many classes to learn how to write, and to some extent think; I know I did. There are many different ways of performing the practice of revision, and they are all a little intimidating. Where does a person start? All of sudden you are looking at your own random thoughts spewed all over the page, and thinking to yourself what does this mean? Well most often it means nothing unless you fix it up a little. In Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers, Nancy Sommers explains and gives examples of the differences between people who have been writing for a while, “the experienced writer” and those learning, “the student writer.” Sommer's states that while she was interviewing these two groups that students said they did not revise their writing, while experienced writers revised their writing time and time again until they had something worth letting someone else read. I fail to see the difference because of the vagueness of whom is included in her groups. It is my experience as a student and an experienced writer that they are the same because revision is a process of learning in itself, for every person betters their work while performing it. Experienced or student writer, and we all revise to a certain extent no matter what you call it.
In “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers,” Nancy Sommers tells us that the difference between the student and experienced writer, which is basically the process of revision. Sommers interviewed different people from those two groups, and found that students didn’t use the word revision. These students said that after they finished an assignment they would read through it again, but that they were basically looking to see if they could have made a better word choice. It seemed from the examples given that these students just wanted to use bigger words to make themselves sound more studious. The experienced students that Sommers interviewed said that they would revise what they had written many times before they could say it was done. She concluded that students put too much emphasis on words, where the people with more experience looked more at the content of what they were trying to say.
Over the years I was taught many different ways of revising by many different people. High School is a blur; it was thirteen years ago, and I think all I can recall is that there was not a lot expected from me in the areas of critical reading and writing. I do know that this affected me later in life when I entered into college. I was told, after my assessment that the first English class I attended would not even count towards my degree. I got an awesome teacher though, and I personally have learned more from him about revision than anywhere else. The most important resource I got from him was to not be afraid to ask for help, and that anything written can always be better. An example of an experienced writer from sommer’s article says “It is a matter of looking at the kernel of what I have written, the content, and then thinking about it, responding to it, making decisions, and actually restructuring it.” In my class we were taught to look for the context of what we write first. To ask questions like, did I achieve the task at hand? Were all the questions answered? Is it clear what I was trying to express? During this process I was taught to ignore spelling and punctuation, for those things mean nothing if there is no clarity. We first practiced organization by doing an outline, which would include; an introduction with a statement that would hook in our reader, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a thesis statement. We would have discussions in class and exchange ideas, and then join our ideas with our outline. The teacher would make us put our thesis statements on the board and we would talk about the clarity and inclusiveness of the whole topic. We worked in writing groups where we would read our essays out loud to one another to look for mistakes or missing elements. When that part seemed good then we moved on to punctuation, and grammar. We were also encouraged to visit the tutoring center at the school which was very helpful. There you were able to sit down one on one with someone and pick apart every aspect of your essay.
After taking advantage of the services of the tutoring center I decided to join them. Being a tutor helped to enforce what I already learned by practicing it on a daily basis. I went to writing seminars where we would practice different elements of writing, and there seemed to always be something new that I would pick up. We were tested on writing elements often, and given handouts on how we could improve. It was not a class, so there was no pressure for a grade. While working there I read hundreds of essays, and this introduced me to other styles. I learned to revise; I had to because I had to teach it to others. The students that I would meet had different ideas about revision. Most of them would bring me a paper and expect me to proof read for them, but that wasn’t part of my job title. In fact it was discouraged, and could even get you fired. The mission was to improve the voice of the writer, to help with organization and content of their essay, and to make sure that they included all the elements of the assignment. Other students would come in expecting this kind of help.
One experienced writer in Sommers article said, “I like the idea that a piece of writing is never finished, just abandoned.” I like this idea too! Anything that has ever been written could have been a little better with one more draft, though there does come a time when it’s necessary to just move on. I was taught this as a student, so I relate to it, but I am still a student. Sommer’s states “students understand the revision process as a rewording activity,” but not all students do. Students can be experienced writers and experienced writers can be students. It is unfair to either group to say that one doesn’t go with the other. Sommers use of the terms “student” and “experienced” that describe the writers are to vague. How does she define the difference between the two? Though I do like the examples she used and I agree that there are students who do not understand how to revise, some do.
Revision is a process that every writer must go through to produce something worth reading. Journalists, student writers, or someone just writing an email perform this task because it’s important that the people who are going to be reading what had been written understands it. There is no point in writing anything without being able to convey its meaning, and there are rules for this. In fact there are many rules, so many that there are books written on the subject of how to write. As a student we have to take many classes to learn how to write, and to some extent think; I know I did. There are many different ways of performing the practice of revision, and they are all a little intimidating. Where does a person start? All of sudden you are looking at your own random thoughts spewed all over the page, and thinking to yourself what does this mean? Well most often it means nothing unless you fix it up a little. In Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers, Nancy Sommers explains and gives examples of the differences between people who have been writing for a while, “the experienced writer” and those learning, “the student writer.” Sommer's states that while she was interviewing these two groups that students said they did not revise their writing, while experienced writers revised their writing time and time again until they had something worth letting someone else read. I fail to see the difference because of the vagueness of whom is included in her groups. It is my experience as a student and an experienced writer that they are the same because revision is a process of learning in itself, for every person betters their work while performing it. Experienced or student writer, and we all revise to a certain extent no matter what you call it.
In “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers,” Nancy Sommers tells us that the difference between the student and experienced writer, which is basically the process of revision. Sommers interviewed different people from those two groups, and found that students didn’t use the word revision. These students said that after they finished an assignment they would read through it again, but that they were basically looking to see if they could have made a better word choice. It seemed from the examples given that these students just wanted to use bigger words to make themselves sound more studious. The experienced students that Sommers interviewed said that they would revise what they had written many times before they could say it was done. She concluded that students put too much emphasis on words, where the people with more experience looked more at the content of what they were trying to say.
Over the years I was taught many different ways of revising by many different people. High School is a blur; it was thirteen years ago, and I think all I can recall is that there was not a lot expected from me in the areas of critical reading and writing. I do know that this affected me later in life when I entered into college. I was told, after my assessment that the first English class I attended would not even count towards my degree. I got an awesome teacher though, and I personally have learned more from him about revision than anywhere else. The most important resource I got from him was to not be afraid to ask for help, and that anything written can always be better. An example of an experienced writer from sommer’s article says “It is a matter of looking at the kernel of what I have written, the content, and then thinking about it, responding to it, making decisions, and actually restructuring it.” In my class we were taught to look for the context of what we write first. To ask questions like, did I achieve the task at hand? Were all the questions answered? Is it clear what I was trying to express? During this process I was taught to ignore spelling and punctuation, for those things mean nothing if there is no clarity. We first practiced organization by doing an outline, which would include; an introduction with a statement that would hook in our reader, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a thesis statement. We would have discussions in class and exchange ideas, and then join our ideas with our outline. The teacher would make us put our thesis statements on the board and we would talk about the clarity and inclusiveness of the whole topic. We worked in writing groups where we would read our essays out loud to one another to look for mistakes or missing elements. When that part seemed good then we moved on to punctuation, and grammar. We were also encouraged to visit the tutoring center at the school which was very helpful. There you were able to sit down one on one with someone and pick apart every aspect of your essay.
After taking advantage of the services of the tutoring center I decided to join them. Being a tutor helped to enforce what I already learned by practicing it on a daily basis. I went to writing seminars where we would practice different elements of writing, and there seemed to always be something new that I would pick up. We were tested on writing elements often, and given handouts on how we could improve. It was not a class, so there was no pressure for a grade. While working there I read hundreds of essays, and this introduced me to other styles. I learned to revise; I had to because I had to teach it to others. The students that I would meet had different ideas about revision. Most of them would bring me a paper and expect me to proof read for them, but that wasn’t part of my job title. In fact it was discouraged, and could even get you fired. The mission was to improve the voice of the writer, to help with organization and content of their essay, and to make sure that they included all the elements of the assignment. Other students would come in expecting this kind of help.
One experienced writer in Sommers article said, “I like the idea that a piece of writing is never finished, just abandoned.” I like this idea too! Anything that has ever been written could have been a little better with one more draft, though there does come a time when it’s necessary to just move on. I was taught this as a student, so I relate to it, but I am still a student. Sommer’s states “students understand the revision process as a rewording activity,” but not all students do. Students can be experienced writers and experienced writers can be students. It is unfair to either group to say that one doesn’t go with the other. Sommers use of the terms “student” and “experienced” that describe the writers are to vague. How does she define the difference between the two? Though I do like the examples she used and I agree that there are students who do not understand how to revise, some do.
Monday, September 21, 2009
In-class free write
1. The arguement that I am trying to make is that there is a process to revision and how I personally revise my own essay's while compairing it to the text Revision Stratigies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers by Nancy Sommers.
2. So far I have used the text by summerizing it and comparing my own experiences. I have one quote, but need more.
3. I have organized my draft so far by introducing the articale and the idea of revision. Next I talk about my experience of being a student writer. Then I talk about what methods I have learned and where. Next I give a another example of my learning process for revision.
4. So far I feel like my draft is a little unorganized. It needs a stronger thesis statment and more qoutes. I can't think of one sentence that stands out to right now, but I'm sure there is one.
5. I would like feed back on the organization of my paper. I am struggling with time needed to write this paper.
2. So far I have used the text by summerizing it and comparing my own experiences. I have one quote, but need more.
3. I have organized my draft so far by introducing the articale and the idea of revision. Next I talk about my experience of being a student writer. Then I talk about what methods I have learned and where. Next I give a another example of my learning process for revision.
4. So far I feel like my draft is a little unorganized. It needs a stronger thesis statment and more qoutes. I can't think of one sentence that stands out to right now, but I'm sure there is one.
5. I would like feed back on the organization of my paper. I am struggling with time needed to write this paper.
Essay # 1: How were you taught to revise? When you revise for school, do you tend to focus on micro issues, as the students in Sommers’ study did? Or do you focus on global issues of argument and audience, as the experienced writers in Sommers’ study did? How did you learn your revision techniques? Describe your writing process using Sommers' terms, and then analyze why you write the way you do. Use specific examples from both Sommers' research and your own experiences.
Draft #1
Revision is a process that every writer must go through to produce something worth reading. Journalists, student writers, or someone just writing an email perform this task because it’s important that the people who are going to be reading what had been written understands it. There is no point in writing anything without being able to convey its meaning, and there are rules for this. In fact there are many rules, so many that there are books written on the subject of how to write. As a student we have to take many classes to learn how to write, and to some extent think. There are many different ways of performing the practice of revision, and they are all a little intimidating. Where does a person start? All of sudden you are looking at your own random thoughts spewed all over the page, and thinking to yourself what does this mean? Well most often it means nothing unless you fix it up a little. In Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers, Nancy Sommers explains and gives examples of the differences between people who have been writing for a while and those just learning. Sommer's states that while she was interviewing these two groups that students said they did not revise their writing, while experienced writers revised their writing time and time again until they had something worth letting someone else read. One experienced writer said, “I like the idea that a piece of writing is never finished, just abandoned.” I like this idea too! Anything that has ever been written could have been a little better with one more draft, though there does come a time when it’s necessary to just move on.
Over the years I was taught many different ways of revising by many different people. Students, teachers, friends, even my mom, have their own ways of rewriting. Some people take days, weeks even to revise, and some just glance over the page. What I learned in High School is a blur. It was thirteen years ago, and I think all I can recall is that there was not a lot expected from me. I do know that this affected me later in life when I entered into college. I was told, after my assessment that the first English class I attended would not even count towards my degree. I got an awesome teacher though, and I personally have learned more from him about revision than anywhere else. The most important resource I got from him was to not be afraid to ask for help, and that anything written can always be better. In class he taught us to look for the context of what we write first. To ask questions like, did I achieve the task at hand? Were all the questions answered? Is it clear what I was trying to express? During this process I was taught to ignore spelling and punctuation, for those things mean nothing if there is no clarity. We first practiced organization by doing an outline, which would include; an introduction with a statement that would hook in our reader, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a thesis statement. We would have discussions in class and exchange ideas, and then join our ideas with our outline. The teacher would make us put our thesis statements on the board and we would talk about the clarity and inclusiveness of the whole topic. We worked in writing groups where we would read our essays out loud to one another to look for mistakes or missing elements. When that part seemed good then we moved on to punctuation, and grammar. We were also encouraged to visit the tutoring center at the school which was very helpful. There you were able to sit down one on one with someone and pick apart every aspect of your essay.
After taking advantage of the services of the tutoring center I decided to join them. Being a tutor helped to enforce what I already learned by practicing it on a daily basis. I went to writing seminars where we would practice different elements of writing, and there seemed to always be something new that I would pick up. We were tested on writing elements often, and given handouts on how we could improve. It was not a class, so there was no pressure for a grade. While working there I read hundreds of essays, and this introduced me to other styles. I learned to revise; I had to because I had to teach it to others. The students that I would meet had different ideas about revision. Most of them would bring me a paper and expect me to proof read for them, but that wasn’t part of my job title. In fact it was discouraged, and could even get you fired. The mission was to improve the voice of the writer, to help with organization and content of their essay, and to make sure that they included all the elements of the assignment.
Draft #1
Revision is a process that every writer must go through to produce something worth reading. Journalists, student writers, or someone just writing an email perform this task because it’s important that the people who are going to be reading what had been written understands it. There is no point in writing anything without being able to convey its meaning, and there are rules for this. In fact there are many rules, so many that there are books written on the subject of how to write. As a student we have to take many classes to learn how to write, and to some extent think. There are many different ways of performing the practice of revision, and they are all a little intimidating. Where does a person start? All of sudden you are looking at your own random thoughts spewed all over the page, and thinking to yourself what does this mean? Well most often it means nothing unless you fix it up a little. In Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers, Nancy Sommers explains and gives examples of the differences between people who have been writing for a while and those just learning. Sommer's states that while she was interviewing these two groups that students said they did not revise their writing, while experienced writers revised their writing time and time again until they had something worth letting someone else read. One experienced writer said, “I like the idea that a piece of writing is never finished, just abandoned.” I like this idea too! Anything that has ever been written could have been a little better with one more draft, though there does come a time when it’s necessary to just move on.
Over the years I was taught many different ways of revising by many different people. Students, teachers, friends, even my mom, have their own ways of rewriting. Some people take days, weeks even to revise, and some just glance over the page. What I learned in High School is a blur. It was thirteen years ago, and I think all I can recall is that there was not a lot expected from me. I do know that this affected me later in life when I entered into college. I was told, after my assessment that the first English class I attended would not even count towards my degree. I got an awesome teacher though, and I personally have learned more from him about revision than anywhere else. The most important resource I got from him was to not be afraid to ask for help, and that anything written can always be better. In class he taught us to look for the context of what we write first. To ask questions like, did I achieve the task at hand? Were all the questions answered? Is it clear what I was trying to express? During this process I was taught to ignore spelling and punctuation, for those things mean nothing if there is no clarity. We first practiced organization by doing an outline, which would include; an introduction with a statement that would hook in our reader, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and a thesis statement. We would have discussions in class and exchange ideas, and then join our ideas with our outline. The teacher would make us put our thesis statements on the board and we would talk about the clarity and inclusiveness of the whole topic. We worked in writing groups where we would read our essays out loud to one another to look for mistakes or missing elements. When that part seemed good then we moved on to punctuation, and grammar. We were also encouraged to visit the tutoring center at the school which was very helpful. There you were able to sit down one on one with someone and pick apart every aspect of your essay.
After taking advantage of the services of the tutoring center I decided to join them. Being a tutor helped to enforce what I already learned by practicing it on a daily basis. I went to writing seminars where we would practice different elements of writing, and there seemed to always be something new that I would pick up. We were tested on writing elements often, and given handouts on how we could improve. It was not a class, so there was no pressure for a grade. While working there I read hundreds of essays, and this introduced me to other styles. I learned to revise; I had to because I had to teach it to others. The students that I would meet had different ideas about revision. Most of them would bring me a paper and expect me to proof read for them, but that wasn’t part of my job title. In fact it was discouraged, and could even get you fired. The mission was to improve the voice of the writer, to help with organization and content of their essay, and to make sure that they included all the elements of the assignment.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Difficuly Paper #1
In “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Writers,” Nancy Sommers tells us that the difference between the student and experienced writer is basically the process of revision. Sommers interviewed different people from those two groups, and found that students didn’t use the word revision. These students said that after they finished an assignment they would read through it again, but that they were basically looking to see if they could have made a better word choice. It seemed from the examples given that these students just wanted to use bigger words to make themselves sound more studious. The experienced students that Sommers interviewed said that they would revise what they had written many times before they could say it was done. She concluded that students put too much emphasis on words, where the people with more experience looked more at the content of what they were trying to say.
I liked the examples of the experienced writers that Sommers used. I felt like I could relate to them because I personally may write the same paper five times before I turn it in for a grade. These examples gave me confidence in my own experience of writing because it reminded me that I’m not alone in this process.
Since this article was about student writers, and I am one myself, let me give my definition of what I think revision is; the process of actively re-reading and re-writing looking specifically for clarity of my argument and the main points that I am trying to convey. I do use words like re-write, or revise because I believe it is the most important process in writing.
The problem that I have with this essay is who are these students and where are they receiving their education? Why does Sommers say that most students don’t use the word revision? It seems like it’s a pretty common word in the terms of a person’s education. I am pretty sure the concept was introduced to me on my first day of college. I have a hard time believing that student writers don’t go through some process of revision besides just changing words. I don’t believe that a person can read through a paper that contains a bunch brain spew and says “that’s great, but I should change a few words.” I felt like students were not given enough credit as a group. They were dumbed down a bit. All of Sommers examples of student writers seemed to similar one another, as where the examples of experienced writers were very different.
I have tutored in the past, in English, and in my experience students have trouble with the content of their paper. They are still finding their voice, learning to express themselves through language, but I have never heard a student say, “Do you think I should change this word.” On the other hand, they’re worried about if they answered the questions that had been assigned by their teacher.
I liked the examples of the experienced writers that Sommers used. I felt like I could relate to them because I personally may write the same paper five times before I turn it in for a grade. These examples gave me confidence in my own experience of writing because it reminded me that I’m not alone in this process.
Since this article was about student writers, and I am one myself, let me give my definition of what I think revision is; the process of actively re-reading and re-writing looking specifically for clarity of my argument and the main points that I am trying to convey. I do use words like re-write, or revise because I believe it is the most important process in writing.
The problem that I have with this essay is who are these students and where are they receiving their education? Why does Sommers say that most students don’t use the word revision? It seems like it’s a pretty common word in the terms of a person’s education. I am pretty sure the concept was introduced to me on my first day of college. I have a hard time believing that student writers don’t go through some process of revision besides just changing words. I don’t believe that a person can read through a paper that contains a bunch brain spew and says “that’s great, but I should change a few words.” I felt like students were not given enough credit as a group. They were dumbed down a bit. All of Sommers examples of student writers seemed to similar one another, as where the examples of experienced writers were very different.
I have tutored in the past, in English, and in my experience students have trouble with the content of their paper. They are still finding their voice, learning to express themselves through language, but I have never heard a student say, “Do you think I should change this word.” On the other hand, they’re worried about if they answered the questions that had been assigned by their teacher.
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