Portfolio
Section One: Cover Letter
Section Two: Key Concepts and Readings
What is research writing?
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Genres of research writing
There are many different ways to write, and different genres to use to convey your point. Tammy Miklebost on writing, published on the George Mason University web site, writes that persuasive essays, poems, expository writing, stories, and journals are all different genres that can be used by a writer to convey a point. Miklebost provides explanations and examples of each genre, and suggest classroom applications, which were applicable to me as an education major (mason.gmu.edu).
I narrowed my list down to atheism and moshing. Those were to two topics that I found myself most drawn to. I know I can relate most easily to those two topics, and I think that will give me an advantage when I do the research project. I think that a fair hypothesis for my research question on moshing is that getting up and moshing serves as a release for working to middle class white youth. They use it to work out the stress and problems of their average ass lives! I think that a good hypothesis for my research question, “why do people go to church?”, would be; I believe people go to church out of habit and obligation and don’t enjoy it. I think that people don’t enjoy church, and I think that they go out of obligation and fear! Doing research on this could be difficult, but I still think I want to check it out. The interesting thing is that I probably could have guessed that these are the two topics I would end up writing about from the very beginning.
I think I am naturally more inclined to write a research journal style paper, purely by the process of elimination. I am not artistic at all so setting up a visualy, arty presentation wasn’t going to happen. Also, the idea of writing a fourty page short story is terrifying to me! That seems like such a long assignment! The most appealing option is to write the 15 page research journal style report. However, if I did write a short story, I would most definitely write it on the church issue. I think it would be pretty easy to build a story with that type of story line already decided ahead of time. Also, it may be fun to try to write a 40 page short story. I also like to argue and debate with people, so I always liked writing persuasive essays. I like to research and defend a point, so I think I would also enjoy writing a research journal style report.
Works Cited
Miklebost, Tammy. “Writing; Genres of writing”. “Literacy at School at Home”. George Mason University. http://mason.gmu.edu~cwallac7/TAP/TEST/writing/3.html
Critical reading for critical writing
Deborah Knott’s article on critical reading and writing really stresses the connection between reading and writing. She says that to write critically, the writer must first do research and critically read other author’s work. Knotts also describes the specific way that an author should write critically. She also goes on to offer tips to writers that new writers would benefit from reading.
Dan Kurkland’s CriticalReading.com suggest the differences between a critical reader and a non critical reader. Kurkland writes that a non-critical reader reads a text for facts, and memorizes the contents of a text for information. Kurkland describes a critical reader, however, as a reader who takes the contents of a text to be a perspective of one author, and don’t necessarily take the contents for fact. Kurkland summarizes that critical reading is more than just very attentive reading, it is an active process of examination and analysis (CriticalReading).
I think that critical reading is actually an important part of being a good writer, and I’m not just admitting that to get in good with the teacher. I think that critical reading gives the reader a deeper look at different texts The critical reader can examine the content on the text and the stylistic techniques used by the author. I know when I try to read critically it always gives me ideas for my work.
Flower’s work focuses on the connection between an author and a reader. She believes that an author must establish a “common ground” that the reader and the writer can share. She thinks that if the writer can create a “common ground” it will decrease the differences in their lives. According to Flower, differences in knowledge, attitude, and needs to be addressed to create a connection for the reader.
My article that was related to Flower’s was about the importance of finding a specific audience. The article stated that it is important to remember that while your instructors will be grading your assignments, they are not necessarily your audience. The article covered a few ways to identify with an audience, and to select an audience.
I believe that people hear what they want to hear. If an audience isn’t interested in a topic, it won’t stick with them and they won’t learn anything. It is important to select an audience and write to their needs to have them relate to the text. I remember learning about how important audience is to art in my english 122 class with Mike Sell. We used Susan Glaspell’s trifles to examine her use of audience. She held the preformed the play in a theater that sat 100 people. She wanted her audience to be small so that they could pick up on the subtleties of the character’s interactions. It all makes perfect sense to me. Audience is important for a ton of reasons.
Works Cited
Kurland, Dan. “What is critical reading?” CriticalReading. 2000. 2-10-10. http://www.criticalreading.com/critical_reading.htm
Evaluating Sources
Texas A&M libraries and Cornell University library break the process of critically analyzing information sources into a several step process. Both documents begin the process by looking at the article’s author, date of publication, publisher, and where the journal was published, as opposed to looking at the content of the article. By doing these things, researchers are able to get a better idea about how resource will be able to help with their research, if at all. The second step is to analyze the content of the document. Before reading the entire article, both documents that I read suggested that the reader scan the article and read the preface and conclusion. By doing this, a researcher is able to get a better understanding of the author’s direction and purpose in the article. When reading an article, a researcher should also be looking for the intended audience of the article. If the article is intended for a more advanced or a less advanced audience, for example, it may not be a useful resource. Another thing that needs to be addressed by a reader is whether or not the author is objective or biased. If the author is biased and writes based on opinions as opposed to facts, the article may not make a good resource (texas a&m).
I think critically analyzing an information source is important, because it would take forever to read every single source cover to cover to see if it’s worth using. Writing a huge research paper is a huge assignment in and of itself. It take a long time to carefully chose the sources that will be used. The whole process would become almost impossible if a researcher took the time to read every single potential source that they came across.
Works cited
| CRITERIA | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Comments |
| 1. Effectiveness of research. | x | The research is solid, but the author only references the NYT and a few movies. | |||||
| 2. Creates a story for the reader | x | Several case studies that provide interesting stories for the reader. | |||||
| 3. Speaking to the intended audience | x | Used familiar language and humor, which is fair for an audience of blog readers. | |||||
| 4. Introduction | x | Starts off with a startling story that hooks the readerin. | |||||
| TOTAL = 18/20 | Add’l comments: |
Nice job Peter Turchin |
Section Three: Letters
Dear Marlen,
I assumed you weren’t lying in that first email you sent us when you said that this class would be the most demanding course we have had thus far as students. I feel like were being totally emersed in this whole new system that I was totally not ready for. I recognize that that is probably the best way to learn the process, I’m just saying its miserable.
I am really concerned that I will fall behind in this borderline overwhelming work load. I have a few other really homework intensive classes too, so that doesn’t help. But, I’m committed to trying really hard to do well and get an A in the course. I am an english major and I would be embarrassed to get anything but an A in an english course.
Another things that makes me nervous is those surprise tests! I know we get to fail one and still be ok, but I’m confident in my ability to screw seemingly simply things up. I would be pissed with myself if I failed this course because of that! I think I passed the first two so far so I hope I’m off to a good start.
I think the thing that will help me most in this challenging course is that I do really have a passion for english. Admittedly research writing may not be my favorite aspect of english I still look forward to the challenge. I want to learn everything I can about english so I can graduate and be brilliant! Thats the plan as of now.
Sincerely,
Dave
Dear Marlen,
This is my last reflective letter. Basically, it’s just a thank you letter. I have learned so much over the course. The only reason I stayed in your course after you told us how miserable it was going to be was because I am an English major and I figured I needed to be prepared for anything that IUP could throw at me if I wanted to be successful, so i figured your course was a good test.
I have grown so much as a writer over the last semester. Doing work that is usually done in later years of college has definitely put other smaller assignments into perspective. I feel like I am a more confident writer and English student from having taken your course.
I hated the blogs all year, but now that they are finished I can definitely see why you had us do them. They became a valuable resource by the end of this whole process. Also, they made us do our work and learn everyhting we were supposed to as opposed to just faking our way through. They were a lot of work, but I suppose learning and growing as a student does take work.
I am excited to move on in my English career here at IUP, and see what kind of challenges are to come. I face them with a new confidence because of the learning that went on in our class. Also, I loved how close our class became. I made several new friends from the course, and that is a really rare thing.
Thank you for your hard work, and thank you for making me work hard!
Sincerely,
Dave Donovan
Section Four: handout and annotated bibliography
