4/28/2016
4/27/2016
Writing Project #3
A Theory of Writting
_________________________________
Text Published:
A THEORY OF WRITING
As rational animals considered apart from other creatures by many capabilities - one of them being the efficacy to communicate – men and women long to reach each other. John Donne (1572-1631) said that “no man is an island” because we do not thrive when isolated from others. Communication is one way persons use in order to not be alone. For that purpose, they can talk to each other, make signs to each other, draw pictures to each other, and write to each other. Writing can be a meaningful way to communicate if given necessary attention. It demands time, energy, and money. Meaningful communication is to express oneself in a way that cannot give margin to misinterpretation. So, to be a writer, amateur or professional, is a way people find to approach to express a dimention of onself that must reflects thoughts, just as a physical mirror reflects an image. To write is to communicate a self inner truth. Bare in mind that not all kinds of communication can convey such a replection. It is not easy to write well, but it is not impossible.
The struggle to write lies in exactly constructing such an invisible but sensitive and intelectual mirror to translate in words, which forms sentences, which forms paragraphs, which forms texts, which, hopefully, forms... communication. Just a stream of words – or sentences and paragraphs – in an intended sequence does not mean exchange of ideas. My struggle in writing has been to constuct the exact message I want to convey, not depending only on the words themselves, but in what is written in them and among them, in spite of them and because of them.
Such a work is difficult, but not impossible. It requires practice, training, practice, thinking, practice, trying, practice, reviewing, practice, excluding and including, practice and... more practice. At least it has been like this for me. I don’t believe practice makes it perfect in writing, but it takes you very close to it. Perfection is something always located beyond where we are. Practice puts the writer closer and closer to what might be perfection. My accomplisments are not many, but they are accomplisments. I’ve got some pretty good ideas expressed in texts not so pretty good. And also I’ve got pretty good pieces of writing based on not so wonderful ideas. Those have been my accomplisments. My hopes and efforts points to improve my accomplishments. Four WPA Outcomes are always present when I think about writing, and they are commented here.
The first WPA Outcome, invention, is my ability to come up with original or inventive ideas. In Portuguese, my mother language, such ability is easily expressed in words and finds its accomplishments fast. In English, beautiful language and my language of choise in trying to construct texts, words must be exercised a lot, many times covering distances with the speed of a turtle. With the turtle-rabbit fable in mind, I do believe it is just a question of focusing the abilities to “win the race”. I experience, day after day, text after text, that the turtle transfors itself in a rabbit.
The second WPA Outcome is reading. While writing is a painstaking activity, to read is a pleasure. Critical thinking sets the balance, because on the mirror of life, it is not my intention to reveal only other’s reflections. No offense intended, nor to them, neither to myself. As I receive communication from others, and willing not to be an island standing alone, I must write - in response or not - to the others. We must reach each other, reading and writing, with the essential critical thinking to glue everything together, trying to make – and maybe really making - sense of everything.
From the third WPA Outcome, rhetorical knowledge, I gathered the tools to give a possibility of entrusting my ideas into words, “killing” the ideas as themselves and making them become facts eternally born in text. Knowledge is power, but only if transformed in real power. Rhetorical knowledge gives the power to know how to, conscienciouly, build bridges to connect to the other islands of existence. I experience rhetorical knowledge as one of the foundations of writing and without it, everything crumbles around.
Critical thinking, the fourth WPA Outcomes, works like a sieve, first separating what is “out there”, and in the second instance, how to use what becomes “in here”. I basically criticizes everything I read, just for the sake of critizing, but in a positive way. Almost everything must go through an intelectual sieve, or purpose, in order to be transformed in a critical perspective. After that, and only ofter that, some use can be put in a way that means something to construct and grow the knowledge for rhetorical purpose. I know it does not sound ok, but my advise is that you should feel free to critisize everything you read.
Reading is a must for anyone who wants to think critically. In my case, it makes me aware of all the other islands wishing to connect. I read just about everything and I don’t read more for lack of time. I get the average of one hour per day of free reading, that is, reading what is not required from work and studies. To read is to visit a person and know him/her a bit or a lot, depending. To read is to reach and to be reached, to buid a bridge but only up to the half of it.
Composing is exactly the work of finishing the other half of the bridge. For me, it is the most difficult part from all the four areas mentioned in the “WPA Outcomes Statement”. What I mean by composing is not only to write for the sake of writing. But to write-composing like a musician-writer composes a song, a melody: a sequence of notes put in a particular way, with all the chosen variations – I wish I knew more about music to express myself better using this image. Composing is the result beyond getting the sum of parts together. Composing is not only to have good ideas, but includes them. Composing is not only to write grammatically correct, but includes it. Composing is not only a sequence of words, sentences, paragraphs, texts... but includes and suppose all of them. To compose is to create and make something knew out of a buch of preexisting stuff.
Openness is my chosen Habit of Mind in order to achieve the WPA Outcomes. Opennes doesn’t mean I have to accept everything the comes in my way. It doesn’t mean to believe everything I read. Openness means to give a try just about almost everything. Well, in writing, just about everything. It is the only way to grow, or at least try to grow. Whitout openness there is no way to go beyong the world each person builds for him/herself. Opennes has not always being a natural habit of mind in my life. But with practice, and time given, a second nature just kicks in and then comes the time when openness is not an effort anymore. Only with real choices we have the opportunity to select what we believe to be the right idea, the precise sentence, the correct way to deliver the message, resulting in really expressing what we want to communicate.
When I began this course, I didn’t know it was going to be that good. And it is only good for me because I accept it. I gave a try and it worked well. It does not work better because I don´t get the full potencial it can give. Openness to the course gave me the opportunity to try. Without openness I would give up at the first lesson. “This must be just another course, more of the same I had taken before”, I thought during the first week.
With openness, rhetorical knowledge was able to find its way into my life as a writer. And with rehtorical knowldge I could go beyond the technical texts I am used to write. Rhetorical knowledge is real power. Power given, power taken. Not that I am THAT powerful. For sure I am more powerful to write than I had ever been.
I grew – and will continue to grow – as a reader, a reader, and critical thinker throughout my like by accepting the knowledge given, trying without fear of doing wrong, and always with the desire to do right. How come? Practicing. I am sure this text is not a wonderfully written piece of text, and said that, I can firmily say that is what I have and it is much more that I had ever supposed I could do using written English.
I don’t have any problem writing technical texts work-related. I am pretty good at it. But such texts does not express what I want to say. They let things express themselves using these same hands typing the words you now read. I say that they are not “my texts” even though my name is engraved there as the author. This type of written material reinforces the island in me, letting things communitcate to me and to others, but not letting me communicate with others; they do not help build bridges to connect to people. I mean, real people, real exchange of ideas, real reflexions of life, real identities. It is even worst: technical writing about things permits exchange and reflexions of “ideas” from a product, not from a real person.
My writing related with the work I do for a living is accomplished. The satisfaction is great. Now I aim to have a personal writing experience. With my professional and personal life set, the challenge - for a lifetime - is how to express and help build bridges so I can, being an island, build connections with other islands. The intention is not to destroy my island. As a human being I want to be effective and affective in communicating. I do not agree completely with John Donne. In my opinion, every person is an island and without denying such a reality, men and women long to thrive to reach each other and buid a continent.
The struggle to write lies in exactly constructing such an invisible but sensitive and intelectual mirror to translate in words, which forms sentences, which forms paragraphs, which forms texts, which, hopefully, forms... communication. Just a stream of words – or sentences and paragraphs – in an intended sequence does not mean exchange of ideas. My struggle in writing has been to constuct the exact message I want to convey, not depending only on the words themselves, but in what is written in them and among them, in spite of them and because of them.
Such a work is difficult, but not impossible. It requires practice, training, practice, thinking, practice, trying, practice, reviewing, practice, excluding and including, practice and... more practice. At least it has been like this for me. I don’t believe practice makes it perfect in writing, but it takes you very close to it. Perfection is something always located beyond where we are. Practice puts the writer closer and closer to what might be perfection. My accomplisments are not many, but they are accomplisments. I’ve got some pretty good ideas expressed in texts not so pretty good. And also I’ve got pretty good pieces of writing based on not so wonderful ideas. Those have been my accomplisments. My hopes and efforts points to improve my accomplishments. Four WPA Outcomes are always present when I think about writing, and they are commented here.
The first WPA Outcome, invention, is my ability to come up with original or inventive ideas. In Portuguese, my mother language, such ability is easily expressed in words and finds its accomplishments fast. In English, beautiful language and my language of choise in trying to construct texts, words must be exercised a lot, many times covering distances with the speed of a turtle. With the turtle-rabbit fable in mind, I do believe it is just a question of focusing the abilities to “win the race”. I experience, day after day, text after text, that the turtle transfors itself in a rabbit.
The second WPA Outcome is reading. While writing is a painstaking activity, to read is a pleasure. Critical thinking sets the balance, because on the mirror of life, it is not my intention to reveal only other’s reflections. No offense intended, nor to them, neither to myself. As I receive communication from others, and willing not to be an island standing alone, I must write - in response or not - to the others. We must reach each other, reading and writing, with the essential critical thinking to glue everything together, trying to make – and maybe really making - sense of everything.
From the third WPA Outcome, rhetorical knowledge, I gathered the tools to give a possibility of entrusting my ideas into words, “killing” the ideas as themselves and making them become facts eternally born in text. Knowledge is power, but only if transformed in real power. Rhetorical knowledge gives the power to know how to, conscienciouly, build bridges to connect to the other islands of existence. I experience rhetorical knowledge as one of the foundations of writing and without it, everything crumbles around.
Critical thinking, the fourth WPA Outcomes, works like a sieve, first separating what is “out there”, and in the second instance, how to use what becomes “in here”. I basically criticizes everything I read, just for the sake of critizing, but in a positive way. Almost everything must go through an intelectual sieve, or purpose, in order to be transformed in a critical perspective. After that, and only ofter that, some use can be put in a way that means something to construct and grow the knowledge for rhetorical purpose. I know it does not sound ok, but my advise is that you should feel free to critisize everything you read.
Reading is a must for anyone who wants to think critically. In my case, it makes me aware of all the other islands wishing to connect. I read just about everything and I don’t read more for lack of time. I get the average of one hour per day of free reading, that is, reading what is not required from work and studies. To read is to visit a person and know him/her a bit or a lot, depending. To read is to reach and to be reached, to buid a bridge but only up to the half of it.
Composing is exactly the work of finishing the other half of the bridge. For me, it is the most difficult part from all the four areas mentioned in the “WPA Outcomes Statement”. What I mean by composing is not only to write for the sake of writing. But to write-composing like a musician-writer composes a song, a melody: a sequence of notes put in a particular way, with all the chosen variations – I wish I knew more about music to express myself better using this image. Composing is the result beyond getting the sum of parts together. Composing is not only to have good ideas, but includes them. Composing is not only to write grammatically correct, but includes it. Composing is not only a sequence of words, sentences, paragraphs, texts... but includes and suppose all of them. To compose is to create and make something knew out of a buch of preexisting stuff.
Openness is my chosen Habit of Mind in order to achieve the WPA Outcomes. Opennes doesn’t mean I have to accept everything the comes in my way. It doesn’t mean to believe everything I read. Openness means to give a try just about almost everything. Well, in writing, just about everything. It is the only way to grow, or at least try to grow. Whitout openness there is no way to go beyong the world each person builds for him/herself. Opennes has not always being a natural habit of mind in my life. But with practice, and time given, a second nature just kicks in and then comes the time when openness is not an effort anymore. Only with real choices we have the opportunity to select what we believe to be the right idea, the precise sentence, the correct way to deliver the message, resulting in really expressing what we want to communicate.
When I began this course, I didn’t know it was going to be that good. And it is only good for me because I accept it. I gave a try and it worked well. It does not work better because I don´t get the full potencial it can give. Openness to the course gave me the opportunity to try. Without openness I would give up at the first lesson. “This must be just another course, more of the same I had taken before”, I thought during the first week.
With openness, rhetorical knowledge was able to find its way into my life as a writer. And with rehtorical knowldge I could go beyond the technical texts I am used to write. Rhetorical knowledge is real power. Power given, power taken. Not that I am THAT powerful. For sure I am more powerful to write than I had ever been.
I grew – and will continue to grow – as a reader, a reader, and critical thinker throughout my like by accepting the knowledge given, trying without fear of doing wrong, and always with the desire to do right. How come? Practicing. I am sure this text is not a wonderfully written piece of text, and said that, I can firmily say that is what I have and it is much more that I had ever supposed I could do using written English.
I don’t have any problem writing technical texts work-related. I am pretty good at it. But such texts does not express what I want to say. They let things express themselves using these same hands typing the words you now read. I say that they are not “my texts” even though my name is engraved there as the author. This type of written material reinforces the island in me, letting things communitcate to me and to others, but not letting me communicate with others; they do not help build bridges to connect to people. I mean, real people, real exchange of ideas, real reflexions of life, real identities. It is even worst: technical writing about things permits exchange and reflexions of “ideas” from a product, not from a real person.
My writing related with the work I do for a living is accomplished. The satisfaction is great. Now I aim to have a personal writing experience. With my professional and personal life set, the challenge - for a lifetime - is how to express and help build bridges so I can, being an island, build connections with other islands. The intention is not to destroy my island. As a human being I want to be effective and affective in communicating. I do not agree completely with John Donne. In my opinion, every person is an island and without denying such a reality, men and women long to thrive to reach each other and buid a continent.
_________________________________
Draft:
Human being are rational animals, apart from other creatures by many capabilities, being one of them the the efficacy to communicate. John Donne (1572-1631) says that “no man is an island” because they do not thrive when isolated from others. To communicate is one way that human beings find in order to not be alone. For that purpose, they can talk to each other, make signs to each other, draw pictures to each other, and write to each other. Writing is the way to communicate which extract, almost always, the most elaborated kind of communication. To produce a piece of writing demands time, energy, money ... and leads to express oneself in a way that cannot give margin to misinterpretation. So, to be a writer, amateur or professional, is a way that men and women find to have a picture of onself that may reflects more precisely than a clean and utterly flat mirror. To write is to communicate the self inner true most of other canals of communicationg can not convey. It is not easy but it is not impossible.
The struggle to write lies in exactly constructing such an invisible but sensitive and intelectual mirror that can translate in words forming sentences forming paragraphs forming texts forming... communication. It is not just the justapostion of words one after the other in order to form a sentence; it is not just a sentence after another in order to form a paragraph; it is not.... well, you get the picture. My struggle in writing has been to constuct the exact message I want to convey, not depending on the words themselves, but in what is written in them, in spite of them and because of them.
Such a work is difficult, but not impossible. It requires practice, training, practice, thinking, practice, trying, practice, reviewing, practice, excluding and including, practice and... more practice. I don’t belive practice makes it perfect in writing, but it takes you very close to it. Or better, closer and closer to what seems to be perfection. My accomplisments are not many, and they are. I’ve got some pretty good peaces of writing on ideas not so pretty good; I’ve got pretty bad peaces of writing on ideas wonderfully conveived. Those had been my accomplisments and my hopes they continue to be accomplishments.
One ability I have is to come up with original or inventive ideas. In Portuguese, my mother language, the ability I have takes a speedier way, in company of a habbit, to find its accomplishments. In English, beautiful language and my language of choise in trying to construct “the mirror”, words take a lift, it seems, with a turtle. With the fable in mind, It is just a question of focusing the ability to beat the true deal. I experience, day after day, ways to express and make real this natural ability for ideas.
Read is a pleaser, write is a painstaking activity. Critical thinking sets the balance. I do not want to be “simply” the reflection of other’s mirrors. No offense intended. Nor to them, neither to myself. As I receive communication from others, and willing not to be an island, I must write, in response or not, to the others not-to-wanting-to-be-islands around me. We must build a continent, reading and writing, with the essential critical thinking to glue everything together and with sense for life.
Rhetorical knowledge has given me the tools to give a possibility of entrusting my ideas to know what road to take in order to kill themselves as ideas and become facts eternally born in the manger of a text. Knowledge is power. Rhetorical knowledge gives the power to know how to, conscienciouly, build bridges to connect to the other islands of existence. Rhetorical knowledge is the foundation of writing and without it, everything crumbles about.
Critical thinking works like a sieve, first separating what is this and what is that, and in the second place, how to use this and that. I basically criticizes everything, but in a positive way. Almost everything must go through the sieve in order to be thought in a critical perspective. After that, and only ofter that, some use can be put in a way that means something in order to construct and grow the knowledge of rhetorical knowledge. I know it does not sound ok, but feel free to critisize it.
Reading is a must and for me is a please. It makes me aware of the others islands wishing to join the continente. I read everything and I don’t read more for lack of time. Unfortunatelly, I get the average of only one hour per day of free reading, that is, reading what is not required from my work and my studies. To read is to visit a person and know him/her a bit or a lot, depending. To read is to reach, to buid a bridge up to the half of it.
Composing is exactly finishing the other half of the bridge. For me, it is the most difficult part from all the four áreas mentioned in the “WPA Outcomes Statement”. What I mean by composing is not only to write for the sake of writing. But to write-composing like a musician-writer composes a song, a melody: a sequence of notes put in a particular way, with all the chosen variations – I wish i knew more about music to express myself better, now – resulting in the end, having something that is more than the sum of its part. Composing is not only to have good ideas, but includes them. Composing is not only to write grammatically correct, but includes it. Composing is not only a sequence of words, sentences, paragraphs, texts... but includes and suppose all of it. To compose is to create and make something knew out of a buch of preexisting stuff.
Openness is my chosen Habit of Mind in order to achieve the WPA Outcomes. Opennes doesn’t mean I have to accept everything the comes in my way. It doesn’t mean to believe everything I read. Openness means to give a try just about almost everything. Well, in writings, just about everything. It is the only way to grow, or at least try to grow. Whitout openness there is no way to go beyong the world each person builds for hem/herself. Opennes has not always being a natural habit of mind in my life. But with practice, and time after time, a second nature just kicks in and comes a time that is not an effort anymore to practice openness. Only with real choices we have the opportunity to select what we believe to be the right idea, the precise sentence, the correct way to say so I can really express what I want to communicate.
When I began this course, I didn’t know it was going to be that good. And it is only good because I accept it. I gave a try and it worked well. If it does not work better it is because I didn’t get the full potencial it can give. Openness to the course gave me the opportunity to try. Without openness I would give up at the first lesson. “This must be just another course, more of the same I had taken before”, I thought during the first week.
With openness, rhetorical knowledge was able to find its way into my life as a write. And with knowldge I could go beyond the technical texts I am used to write. Or the “facebook messages” kind of writing. Knowledge is power and the power given, the power was taken. Not that I am THAT powerful. For sure I am more powerful to write than I have eve been.
I grew – and will continue to grow – as a write, a reader, and critical thinking throughout my like by accepting the knowledge given, trying withou fear of doing wrong, and practicing. I am sure this text is not a wonderfully written piece of text, and said that, I can firmily say that is what I have and it is much more that I had ever supposed I could do using English.
I don’t have any problem writing technical texts work-related. I am pretty good at it. But such a texts does not express what I want to say. They let things express themselves using thise same hand typing these words. I say that they are not “my” texts even though my name is engraved there. This type of written material reinforces the island in me; they do not help build bridges to connect to people. I mean real people, real exchange of ideas, of life, not only dry and deathful exchange of other’s ideas. Even worst, ideas of a product.
My professinal writing is accomplished. What I aim now is to have a personal writing experience. Will I get it? Really, I don’t know. My future professional life is set, kind of speaking. No worries about that. My personal life is set also. What is not set, and that is the challenge – I believe, for a lifetime – is how to express my personal believes into professional-content texts that will help me build bridges so I can, being an island, build bridges to connect with other islands.
The intention is not to destroy this island of mine. As a human being I am, of course, na rational animal. I know I am apart from other non-human creatures by many capabilities, being one of them the the efficacy to communicate. By the sake of such a efficacy to communicate I abhor the idea of putting myself apart from other human beings by the lack of effective and affective written communication. I do not agree completely with John Donne. In my opinion, every man and every woman are islands, but not only islands. Without denying the reality of being an island, such a rational animal longs to thrive and reach the continent.
The struggle to write lies in exactly constructing such an invisible but sensitive and intelectual mirror that can translate in words forming sentences forming paragraphs forming texts forming... communication. It is not just the justapostion of words one after the other in order to form a sentence; it is not just a sentence after another in order to form a paragraph; it is not.... well, you get the picture. My struggle in writing has been to constuct the exact message I want to convey, not depending on the words themselves, but in what is written in them, in spite of them and because of them.
Such a work is difficult, but not impossible. It requires practice, training, practice, thinking, practice, trying, practice, reviewing, practice, excluding and including, practice and... more practice. I don’t belive practice makes it perfect in writing, but it takes you very close to it. Or better, closer and closer to what seems to be perfection. My accomplisments are not many, and they are. I’ve got some pretty good peaces of writing on ideas not so pretty good; I’ve got pretty bad peaces of writing on ideas wonderfully conveived. Those had been my accomplisments and my hopes they continue to be accomplishments.
One ability I have is to come up with original or inventive ideas. In Portuguese, my mother language, the ability I have takes a speedier way, in company of a habbit, to find its accomplishments. In English, beautiful language and my language of choise in trying to construct “the mirror”, words take a lift, it seems, with a turtle. With the fable in mind, It is just a question of focusing the ability to beat the true deal. I experience, day after day, ways to express and make real this natural ability for ideas.
Read is a pleaser, write is a painstaking activity. Critical thinking sets the balance. I do not want to be “simply” the reflection of other’s mirrors. No offense intended. Nor to them, neither to myself. As I receive communication from others, and willing not to be an island, I must write, in response or not, to the others not-to-wanting-to-be-islands around me. We must build a continent, reading and writing, with the essential critical thinking to glue everything together and with sense for life.
Rhetorical knowledge has given me the tools to give a possibility of entrusting my ideas to know what road to take in order to kill themselves as ideas and become facts eternally born in the manger of a text. Knowledge is power. Rhetorical knowledge gives the power to know how to, conscienciouly, build bridges to connect to the other islands of existence. Rhetorical knowledge is the foundation of writing and without it, everything crumbles about.
Critical thinking works like a sieve, first separating what is this and what is that, and in the second place, how to use this and that. I basically criticizes everything, but in a positive way. Almost everything must go through the sieve in order to be thought in a critical perspective. After that, and only ofter that, some use can be put in a way that means something in order to construct and grow the knowledge of rhetorical knowledge. I know it does not sound ok, but feel free to critisize it.
Reading is a must and for me is a please. It makes me aware of the others islands wishing to join the continente. I read everything and I don’t read more for lack of time. Unfortunatelly, I get the average of only one hour per day of free reading, that is, reading what is not required from my work and my studies. To read is to visit a person and know him/her a bit or a lot, depending. To read is to reach, to buid a bridge up to the half of it.
Composing is exactly finishing the other half of the bridge. For me, it is the most difficult part from all the four áreas mentioned in the “WPA Outcomes Statement”. What I mean by composing is not only to write for the sake of writing. But to write-composing like a musician-writer composes a song, a melody: a sequence of notes put in a particular way, with all the chosen variations – I wish i knew more about music to express myself better, now – resulting in the end, having something that is more than the sum of its part. Composing is not only to have good ideas, but includes them. Composing is not only to write grammatically correct, but includes it. Composing is not only a sequence of words, sentences, paragraphs, texts... but includes and suppose all of it. To compose is to create and make something knew out of a buch of preexisting stuff.
Openness is my chosen Habit of Mind in order to achieve the WPA Outcomes. Opennes doesn’t mean I have to accept everything the comes in my way. It doesn’t mean to believe everything I read. Openness means to give a try just about almost everything. Well, in writings, just about everything. It is the only way to grow, or at least try to grow. Whitout openness there is no way to go beyong the world each person builds for hem/herself. Opennes has not always being a natural habit of mind in my life. But with practice, and time after time, a second nature just kicks in and comes a time that is not an effort anymore to practice openness. Only with real choices we have the opportunity to select what we believe to be the right idea, the precise sentence, the correct way to say so I can really express what I want to communicate.
When I began this course, I didn’t know it was going to be that good. And it is only good because I accept it. I gave a try and it worked well. If it does not work better it is because I didn’t get the full potencial it can give. Openness to the course gave me the opportunity to try. Without openness I would give up at the first lesson. “This must be just another course, more of the same I had taken before”, I thought during the first week.
With openness, rhetorical knowledge was able to find its way into my life as a write. And with knowldge I could go beyond the technical texts I am used to write. Or the “facebook messages” kind of writing. Knowledge is power and the power given, the power was taken. Not that I am THAT powerful. For sure I am more powerful to write than I have eve been.
I grew – and will continue to grow – as a write, a reader, and critical thinking throughout my like by accepting the knowledge given, trying withou fear of doing wrong, and practicing. I am sure this text is not a wonderfully written piece of text, and said that, I can firmily say that is what I have and it is much more that I had ever supposed I could do using English.
I don’t have any problem writing technical texts work-related. I am pretty good at it. But such a texts does not express what I want to say. They let things express themselves using thise same hand typing these words. I say that they are not “my” texts even though my name is engraved there. This type of written material reinforces the island in me; they do not help build bridges to connect to people. I mean real people, real exchange of ideas, of life, not only dry and deathful exchange of other’s ideas. Even worst, ideas of a product.
My professinal writing is accomplished. What I aim now is to have a personal writing experience. Will I get it? Really, I don’t know. My future professional life is set, kind of speaking. No worries about that. My personal life is set also. What is not set, and that is the challenge – I believe, for a lifetime – is how to express my personal believes into professional-content texts that will help me build bridges so I can, being an island, build bridges to connect with other islands.
The intention is not to destroy this island of mine. As a human being I am, of course, na rational animal. I know I am apart from other non-human creatures by many capabilities, being one of them the the efficacy to communicate. By the sake of such a efficacy to communicate I abhor the idea of putting myself apart from other human beings by the lack of effective and affective written communication. I do not agree completely with John Donne. In my opinion, every man and every woman are islands, but not only islands. Without denying the reality of being an island, such a rational animal longs to thrive and reach the continent.
_________________________________
Instructions:
WRITING PROJECT #3: A THEORY OF WRITING
in two stages:
1-) before revision and proofreading
2-) after revision and proofreading
1-) before revision and proofreading
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
As writers learn, work, and grow, many of us find it helpful to construct a “theory of writing.” For your third project—and as an important part of your final e-portfolio—you will have the opportunity to construct your own theory of writing as a way of helping you to chart, analyze, and enrich your own writing. This theory should be developed from your literacy practices throughout the course and beyond.
In this short essay, you will reflect on your development as a reader, writer, and critical thinker and explain how your learning has led you to a specific theory of writing. Your theory should be informed by your literacy practices and the learning outcomes of the course. It should also suggest how your prior experiences with writing will prepare you for successful engagement in future personal, academic, professional, and civic occasions for writing. Your reflection and theory of writing should be supported by concrete evidence (i.e. quotes, examples, screen shots, anecdotes, and/or other examples) from your own work and composing practices.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. Your essay should include a thesis that makes a claim about what you understand the act of writing to be, and your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph.
2. Your theory of writing should illustrate your current struggles, accomplishments, and abilities as a reader, writer, and critical thinker.
3. Your essay should relate your writing and your writing process to one bullet point of each of the four outcome areas of the “WPA Outcomes Statement” (i.e. “Rhetorical Knowledge,” “Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing,” etc.). Additionally, you should discuss how you used one of the Habits of Mind from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” to achieve one or more of the WPA Outcomes.
4. You should support your claims about writing with specific and concrete references to your own work (i.e. notes, process work, passages from your essays, project reflections, Writer’s Journals, feedback on your peer's work, etc.). This support might take the form of quotes, screenshots, excerpts, narrated examples, peer reviews, anecdotes, etc.
5. Your theory of writing should conclude by suggesting how your growth as a reader, writer, and critical thinker throughout first-year composition prepares you for future personal, academic, and professional writing and research projects.
6. Within your essay, you should not merely provide support; instead, you should explain what your support is support for and how that support works.
7. Your completed essay should have a title and be approximately 1700 words in length.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
2-) After revision and proofreading
WRITING PROJECT #3: A THEORY OF WRITING
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
As writers learn, work, and grow, many of us find it helpful to construct a “theory of writing.” For your third project—and as an important part of your final e-portfolio—you will have the opportunity to construct your own theory of writing as a way of helping you to chart, analyze, and enrich your own writing. This theory should be developed from your literacy practices throughout the course and beyond.
In this short essay, you will reflect on your development as a reader, writer, and critical thinker and explain how your learning has led you to a specific theory of writing. Your theory should be informed by your literacy practices and the learning outcomes of the course. It should also suggest how your prior experiences with writing will prepare you for successful engagement in future personal, academic, professional, and civic occasions for writing. Your reflection and theory of writing should be supported by concrete evidence (i.e. quotes, examples, screen shots, anecdotes, and/or other examples) from your own work and composing practices.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. Your essay should include a thesis that makes a claim about what you understand the act of writing to be, and your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph.
2. Your theory of writing should illustrate your current struggles, accomplishments, and abilities as a reader, writer, and critical thinker.
3. Your essay should relate your writing and your writing process to one bullet point of each of the four outcome areas of the “WPA Outcomes Statement” (i.e. “Rhetorical Knowledge,” “Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing,” etc.). Additionally, you should discuss how you used one of the Habits of Mind from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” to achieve one or more of the WPA Outcomes.
4. You should support your claims about writing with specific and concrete references to your own work (i.e. notes, process work, passages from your essays, project reflections, Writer’s Journals, feedback on your peer's work, etc.). This support might take the form of quotes, screenshots, excerpts, narrated examples, peer reviews, anecdotes, etc.
5. Your theory of writing should conclude by suggesting how your growth as a reader, writer, and critical thinker throughout first-year composition prepares you for future personal, academic, and professional writing and research projects.
6. Within your essay, you should not merely provide support; instead, you should explain what your support is support for and how that support works.
7. Your completed essay should have a title and be approximately 1700 words in length.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
in two stages:
1-) before revision and proofreading
2-) after revision and proofreading
1-) before revision and proofreading
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
As writers learn, work, and grow, many of us find it helpful to construct a “theory of writing.” For your third project—and as an important part of your final e-portfolio—you will have the opportunity to construct your own theory of writing as a way of helping you to chart, analyze, and enrich your own writing. This theory should be developed from your literacy practices throughout the course and beyond.
In this short essay, you will reflect on your development as a reader, writer, and critical thinker and explain how your learning has led you to a specific theory of writing. Your theory should be informed by your literacy practices and the learning outcomes of the course. It should also suggest how your prior experiences with writing will prepare you for successful engagement in future personal, academic, professional, and civic occasions for writing. Your reflection and theory of writing should be supported by concrete evidence (i.e. quotes, examples, screen shots, anecdotes, and/or other examples) from your own work and composing practices.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. Your essay should include a thesis that makes a claim about what you understand the act of writing to be, and your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph.
2. Your theory of writing should illustrate your current struggles, accomplishments, and abilities as a reader, writer, and critical thinker.
3. Your essay should relate your writing and your writing process to one bullet point of each of the four outcome areas of the “WPA Outcomes Statement” (i.e. “Rhetorical Knowledge,” “Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing,” etc.). Additionally, you should discuss how you used one of the Habits of Mind from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” to achieve one or more of the WPA Outcomes.
4. You should support your claims about writing with specific and concrete references to your own work (i.e. notes, process work, passages from your essays, project reflections, Writer’s Journals, feedback on your peer's work, etc.). This support might take the form of quotes, screenshots, excerpts, narrated examples, peer reviews, anecdotes, etc.
5. Your theory of writing should conclude by suggesting how your growth as a reader, writer, and critical thinker throughout first-year composition prepares you for future personal, academic, and professional writing and research projects.
6. Within your essay, you should not merely provide support; instead, you should explain what your support is support for and how that support works.
7. Your completed essay should have a title and be approximately 1700 words in length.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
2-) After revision and proofreading
WRITING PROJECT #3: A THEORY OF WRITING
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
As writers learn, work, and grow, many of us find it helpful to construct a “theory of writing.” For your third project—and as an important part of your final e-portfolio—you will have the opportunity to construct your own theory of writing as a way of helping you to chart, analyze, and enrich your own writing. This theory should be developed from your literacy practices throughout the course and beyond.
In this short essay, you will reflect on your development as a reader, writer, and critical thinker and explain how your learning has led you to a specific theory of writing. Your theory should be informed by your literacy practices and the learning outcomes of the course. It should also suggest how your prior experiences with writing will prepare you for successful engagement in future personal, academic, professional, and civic occasions for writing. Your reflection and theory of writing should be supported by concrete evidence (i.e. quotes, examples, screen shots, anecdotes, and/or other examples) from your own work and composing practices.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. Your essay should include a thesis that makes a claim about what you understand the act of writing to be, and your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph.
2. Your theory of writing should illustrate your current struggles, accomplishments, and abilities as a reader, writer, and critical thinker.
3. Your essay should relate your writing and your writing process to one bullet point of each of the four outcome areas of the “WPA Outcomes Statement” (i.e. “Rhetorical Knowledge,” “Critical Thinking, Reading, and Composing,” etc.). Additionally, you should discuss how you used one of the Habits of Mind from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” to achieve one or more of the WPA Outcomes.
4. You should support your claims about writing with specific and concrete references to your own work (i.e. notes, process work, passages from your essays, project reflections, Writer’s Journals, feedback on your peer's work, etc.). This support might take the form of quotes, screenshots, excerpts, narrated examples, peer reviews, anecdotes, etc.
5. Your theory of writing should conclude by suggesting how your growth as a reader, writer, and critical thinker throughout first-year composition prepares you for future personal, academic, and professional writing and research projects.
6. Within your essay, you should not merely provide support; instead, you should explain what your support is support for and how that support works.
7. Your completed essay should have a title and be approximately 1700 words in length.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
_________________________________
Done!
_________________________________
Writer's Journal # 20
Reflection of
Reflective Writing
_________________________________
Text Published:
Reflecting on Reflective Writing
Reflective writing helps the students learn and develop as better writers by making the writers look at the peace of writing with "new eyes" and "new thinking", like if they were critics of writing. Just the act of thinking about what has been written already helps. In the same way that thinking about a subject is an essential step to write a text, thinking about the writing is an important process to iluminate the road that the author travelled before.
I have been amazed by the way my writing is progressing. The experience is wonderful, requires lots of work, thinking, trying and retrying, and getting it done; and then getting it better, each time.
_________________________________
Draft:
Reflective writing helps a student learn and develop as a better writer by making the writer look at the peace of writing with "new eyes" and "new thinking". Just the act of thinking about what has been done already helps. In the same way that thinking about a subject is an essential step to write a text, thinking about the writing is an important process to iluminate the road just travelled by the author.
I have been amazed by the way my writing is progressing. The experience is wonderful but requires lots of work, thinking, trying and getting it done; and then getting it better, each time.
I have been amazed by the way my writing is progressing. The experience is wonderful but requires lots of work, thinking, trying and getting it done; and then getting it better, each time.
_________________________________
Instructions:
Writer’s Journal #20 – Reflecting on Reflective Writing
OVERVIEW
By this point in the semester, it should be abundantly clear that reflection is greatly valued by writers. Different writers may have different reasons and goals associated with reflection, but they tend to share their reliance on--and trust in the productivity of--reflection.
DIRECTIONS
In this Writer’s Journal, you will have the opportunity to continue thinking about reflective writing and your relationship to it. This Writer’s Journal will involve three steps.
Step 1
If you have not already, please read “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?” by Sandra Giles.
Step 2
After reading, please answer the following question from the reading (from page 203 of the reading):
- Why does reflective writing help a student learn and develop as a better writer? How does it work?
In answering this question, please draw upon both Giles’ reading and your experiences in our class so far. Be sure to be as detailed and thorough as possible.
SUBMIT
Please type (or paste) your response to these questions in the box below. Be sure to read over your response to be sure it says what you want it to say. Once you are satisfied with your response:
1. save your progress,
2. copy your response so that you can include it in your portfolio,
3. and submit your response.
OVERVIEW
By this point in the semester, it should be abundantly clear that reflection is greatly valued by writers. Different writers may have different reasons and goals associated with reflection, but they tend to share their reliance on--and trust in the productivity of--reflection.
DIRECTIONS
In this Writer’s Journal, you will have the opportunity to continue thinking about reflective writing and your relationship to it. This Writer’s Journal will involve three steps.
Step 1
If you have not already, please read “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?” by Sandra Giles.
Step 2
After reading, please answer the following question from the reading (from page 203 of the reading):
- Why does reflective writing help a student learn and develop as a better writer? How does it work?
In answering this question, please draw upon both Giles’ reading and your experiences in our class so far. Be sure to be as detailed and thorough as possible.
SUBMIT
Please type (or paste) your response to these questions in the box below. Be sure to read over your response to be sure it says what you want it to say. Once you are satisfied with your response:
1. save your progress,
2. copy your response so that you can include it in your portfolio,
3. and submit your response.
_________________________________
Done!
_________________________________
Writer's Journal # 19
Reflection
_________________________________
Text Published:
Reflection
The most unexpected and surprising about the process of composing Writing Project #2 compared to my process of composing Writing Project #1 was the interviews. It was unexpected because I never thought an interview conducted by me could, at this stage of my academic studies, enter one of my essays. Surprising was the content of the interviews. They are very refreshing.
The most challenging was to describe the place in study. Nothing was confusing and nothing was frustrating to compose Writing Project # 2. The assignment helped by giving clear instructions and steps to take.
The most critical, and important part, of the writing process is to put the ideas in a way they are true and sound compreensible to the reader. To the question “If you were invited to teach someone else something about writing tomorrow, what would it be and why?” I would not change a bit from what I had stated in Writing Project # 1. The difference now is that the idea is clearer to me.
The WPA Outcomes value reflection and reflective writing because they make the author think about the very own process of creating and evaluate the meaning of the text. Reflection is not a separate act from writing and is an essential part of writing.
_________________________________
Draft:
The most unexpected and surprising about the process of composing Writing Project #2 compared to my process of composing Writing Project #1was the interviews. It was unexpected because I never thought an interview conducted by me could, at this stage of my academic studies, enter one of my essays. Surprising was the content of the interviews.
The most challenging was to describe the place in case, nothing was confusing and nothing was frustrating to compose Writing Project # e. The assignment helped by giving clear instructions and steps to take.
The most critical, and important part, of the writing process is to put the ideas in a way they are true and sound compreensible to the reader. To the question “If you were invited to teach someone else something about writing tomorrow, what would it be and why?” I would not change a bit from what I stated in Writing Project # 1. The difference now is that the idea is clearer to me.
The WPA Outcomes value reflection and reflective writing because they make the author think about the very own process of creating and evaluate the meaning of the text. Reflection is not a separate act from writing and is an essential part of writing.
The most challenging was to describe the place in case, nothing was confusing and nothing was frustrating to compose Writing Project # e. The assignment helped by giving clear instructions and steps to take.
The most critical, and important part, of the writing process is to put the ideas in a way they are true and sound compreensible to the reader. To the question “If you were invited to teach someone else something about writing tomorrow, what would it be and why?” I would not change a bit from what I stated in Writing Project # 1. The difference now is that the idea is clearer to me.
The WPA Outcomes value reflection and reflective writing because they make the author think about the very own process of creating and evaluate the meaning of the text. Reflection is not a separate act from writing and is an essential part of writing.
_________________________________
Instructions:
Writer’s Journal #19 – Writing Project #2: Reflection
OVERVIEW
Congratulations! You have now worked through Writing Project #2. As you probably have learned from our course so far, reflecting after a long writing project can provide writers with insights about their writing, thinking, and composing practices and processes. Writers can then leverage these insights in future writing projects.
DIRECTIONS
In this Writer’s Journal, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the process of completing your second major writing project for English 101. To help you in this reflection, please respond to the following questions:
Be sure to be as detailed and thorough as possible, and use examples to help explain your response. Be sure to read over your response to be sure it says what you want it to say.
SUBMIT
Once you are satisfied with your response, then do the following:
1. Type or copy and paste this writer's journal into your portfolio. Click here to log into your Weebly Account
2. Type or copy and paste this writer's journal into the box provided below in the Self Assessment assignment.
OVERVIEW
Congratulations! You have now worked through Writing Project #2. As you probably have learned from our course so far, reflecting after a long writing project can provide writers with insights about their writing, thinking, and composing practices and processes. Writers can then leverage these insights in future writing projects.
DIRECTIONS
In this Writer’s Journal, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the process of completing your second major writing project for English 101. To help you in this reflection, please respond to the following questions:
Be sure to be as detailed and thorough as possible, and use examples to help explain your response. Be sure to read over your response to be sure it says what you want it to say.
SUBMIT
Once you are satisfied with your response, then do the following:
1. Type or copy and paste this writer's journal into your portfolio. Click here to log into your Weebly Account
2. Type or copy and paste this writer's journal into the box provided below in the Self Assessment assignment.
_________________________________
Done!
_________________________________
Writing Project #2
Ethnography
_________________________________
Text Published:
Church and religion, a place to find and incorporate peace
Everybody wants to be happy. Peace has a major role in developing happiness, because without peace happiness seldom finds its way. Not all paths and behavior lead to find and live, in practical ways, peace. Church – the physical building - and religion – a set of faith in a reality broader than self - are two of these direction of a peace in life. Although no mentioning any particular church and faith, let’s consider those church and religions promoting wellbeing for all people on Earth. So, going to church and practicing a religion turns out to be a place and a way of life to, not only find, but also incorporate, peace in the very exercise of living.
Being a religious person myself after experiencing conversion, I decided to do my research on the subject of religion and faith, so dear to me and so much the expression of "myself". Because religion and faith are broad subjects, I decided to narrow the research to the effect of peace, personal peace. And I have, for the purpose of this papper, a very personal reason.
I am now 56 years old and have been participating in church actively for more than 30 years. I had never been a bad person bedore my conversion, but participating in church brought me a personal peace that, is not something I do not take for granted, because is a reality to be sought and put in practice every day. That is, hard work. According to the persons and situations, life presentes or we construct our ways. Human beings, directly or indirectly, create in a great degree, what life is all about, I am a priest for six years and 5 months now, and one of my meaningful responsabilities is to, by attendidng confession, giving spiritual guidance or even just talking to people, help them and get helped, find peace in a world, community, family and person many times sourrounded by wars of any kind.
The subject of working to make religion to be a reality in a practical and daily basis, affecting the person in the level of the very exercise of having a life, a peaceful life as much as possible, has been my path, both in church and in religion. With the text to be written about ethnography, I realised that it has been a long time since I talked to people about religious beliefs and practices in an way that the information comes from them, not from myself trying to help them. I mean, beyond what it is obvious and granted, give on step ahead. I might be, since a pretty good time, in "automatic mode" and wanted to, besides listening to people and considering things (from a probably new perspective), make a revision of what has been my life in this perspective and community and come to a conclusion if the way I have been conducting my religion and faith is matching people’s perspectives and necessities. So, after such step of considering myself part of a community, I decided to search for the space that embraces the physical center of the community and the persons who participate in church, in same way. What is different is that, instead of them looking for me, it was the other way around; I came to them.
My fieldnotes are from the church where I preside most of the masses. I started outside and then came inside. I noticed and meditated about all the high buildings surrounding the church, this same edifice that decades ago was the tallest in the neighborhood. What used to be the tallest tower and a reference, now is just a tiny construction with no visual reference at all. In a world lacking so much peace, maybe the physical reference of time given by the huge clock on top is gone; maybe the image of Saint Joseph on top of the clock is no more a physical indication of what is to be found inside. When a person walks by withou knowing the place is a church, seldom realises the purpuse of the edifice. Looking above doesn’t help either because all the other buildings grab the attention in the first place. Anyway, in such a busy life and occupations in checking the smartphone, who directs hes/her eyes towards the sky, anyway? My conclusion is that the spiritual reference of the church is more importante and essential than the physical reference today, at least for this temple.
Then I decide to enter. The church is small and cozy. Sitting on one of the pews and looking at the building itself gave me a fresh perspective of the place I am so accostumed to. The time I was there was very signficant, also. Usually, I preside mass in the very morning or at night, times when there are people around, noises abounds and conectiong with people and their occupations of the duty ahead. This time to do the fieldnotes, it seems to be a completely diferent place. My fieldnotes happed to be at lunchtime os weekdays. The place transmits peace. It is almost all white, color broken by the pews (light brown) and the saints’ images. The place is clean, smells good and the silence is imperative and invites to meditation. I saw some people sitting, some others kneeling and a few standing, specially in front of the images of the saints. The silence is broken occasionally by some whispering of people either praying or briefely greeting each other. Once or twice some snoring from people falling asleep, on purpuse of by chance. Not all of them visit the place to pray. A few were there with no spiritual purpose: to take a rest, flee from the hot sun outside; some checked their smartphone now and then. I visit the church for 5 days, always from twelve to one pm. The fieldnote experience gave me not only a fresh perspective of the place but also a "flesh" perspective, comming to a conclusion (reinforcing my mission in life) that the building is a place to gather people and welcome them, helping them with their struggles and their hopes. Not solving their problems, but giving them tools so they themselves can make a decision and act upon it. The interviews done there helped to reinforce and such conclusion.
I was able to do eight interviews, only. All of them adutls, 5 women and 3 men. I travel a lot and, within two weeks, what I was able to do was this much. They were very good interviews from people I don’t have acquaintances. Some of them knew I was a priest and this was the first time they talked to me besides the usual greetings. They all knew what the interview was about. I decided to interview them on the spot with a purpose of not giving them too much time to be prepared. On purpose, I didnt whant to give them too much time ahead to think about the interview. I intended to capture what came to that moment. I had only 5 questions ready and I was prepared to conduct the interviews asking other questions which would come up at the moment and according to the development of the conversation. The first question, after asking their names and how they were, was to know what they came or came to that church for. The answer was unanimous: to find peace. Other words were mentioned, like praying, ask help from God and/or the saints, returning to give thanks to God and the saints, but the one word said from all of them was “peace”. The next question, derived from the fist one, was to ask what kind of piece, that is, where they needed the peace. The asnwer varied: five of them needed peace in the family (all women), at work (two men and three women), in the religious community they usually went (one women) and peace within the self (four women and all three men). Although they touched on other subjects, I perceived that the central point was peace, in a way or another. And they were there in church not only to get stronger and getting more peace, but also to take such a peace with them and apply to their lives, their families, their workplace, etc. All the interviews, none of them lengtly because the people interviewed were all there during their lunchitme from work, revolved basically around the “peace” subject. Although the interviews were not long, for sure they were moments of real encounter with real persons. That is the most precious of all this academic work.
The academic asks also asks to include 2 to 3 multimodal elements such as photographs, videos (of the people, sites, activities, and artifacts that I have researched), hyperlinks to relevant materials, clips of audio or video from recorded interviews, and so forth. I had a video from Youtube and a picture. That said, new information from the course inform the students that they cannot put them, directly, in the final work due to the some lack of technical support. I have them, but they will not be available in the course's site because of the new information given.
This results from academic work reinforces my personal mission in life, which is to connect with people, help them and be helped by them. It gave a refreshing view on what I am: a people's person, altough sometimes I feel inadequate in my community, specially when I consider the comments that comes from some of my colleagues, trying to convince me not to give too much attention to “regular” people or telling me that I don't give credit to myself by being such a simple person. This academic work sent me back to my roots and deepened my understanding and experience of life, reinforcing what being a priest is all about: be there for people in need, not necessary and almost exclusively giving attention to academic results and "high end" people, like people with lots of courses, rich people, persons with political power in the community.
Strangelly enough, all this academic work on fieldnotes and interviews supports the frames of my general insight in life and, specifically, my insight in this perspective of life: to be there to help others and be helped. The academic work reinforces my beliefs, values, and practices, not only defining the community I belong to, but also confirming the conclusions about my very existence, my seach for peace for all, physically and spiritually speaking. Gladly, I am not alone. Join us!
_________________________________
Draft:
Everybody want to be happy. Peace has a major role in developing happiness, because without peace happiness seldom finds its way. Not all paths and behavior lead to find and live, in practical ways, peace. Curch – the physical building - and religion – a set of faith in a reality broader than self - is one of these places and direction in life. Although no considering any particular church and faith, let’s consider those church and religions promoting wellbeing for all people on Earth. So, going to church and practicing a religion turns out to be a place and a way of life to, not only find, but also incorporate peace in the very exercise of living.
Being a religious person myself after experiencing conversion, I decided to do my research on the subject of religion and faith, so dear to me and so much the expression of "myself". Because religion and faith are broad subjects, I decided to narrow the research to the effect of peace, personal peace. And I have, for the purpose of this papper, a very personal reason.
I am now 56 years old and have been participating in church actively for more than 30 years. I had never been a bad person bedore my conversion, but participating in church brought me a personal peace that, although is not something I take for granted, is a reality to be sought and put in practice every day, according to the persons and situations life presentes or we, human beings, directly or indirectly create, I am a priest since november 2009 and one of my meaningful responsabilities is, by attendidng confession, giving spiritual guidance or even just talking to people, is to help them find peace in a world, country, state, city, community, family and person many times sourrounded by wars of any kind.
The subject of putting religion to work in a practical and daily basis, affecting the person in the level of the very exercise of having a life, a peaceful life as much as possible, has been my path, both in church and in religion. With the text to be written about ethnography, I realised that it has been a long time since I talked to people about religious beliefs and practices in an way that the information comes from them, not from myself trying to help them. I mean, beyond what it is obvious and doing one step ahead. I might be, since a pretty good time, in "automatic mode" and wanted to, besides listening to people and considering things (from a probably new perspective), make a revision of what has been my life in this perspective and community and come to a conclusion if the way I have been conducting my religion and faith is matching people’s perspectives and necessities. So, after such step of considering myself part of a community, I decided to search for the space that embraces the physical center of the community and the persons who participate in the community, the difference being that instead of them looking for me, it was the other way around; I came to them.
My fieldnotes are from the church where I preside most of the masses. I started outside and then came inside. I noticed and meditated about all the buildings surrounding the church, this same edifice that decades ago was the tallest in the neighborhood. What used to be the tallest tower and a reference, now is just a tiny construction with no visual reference at all. In a world lacking so much peace, maybe the physical reference of time given by the huge clock on top is gone; maybe the image of,Saint Joseph on top of the clock is no more a physical indication of what is to be found inside. When a person walks by withou knowing the place is a church, seldom realises the purpuse of the edifice. Looking above doesn’t help either because all the other buildings grab the attention in the first place. Anyway, in such a busy life and occupations in checking the smartphone, who directs hes/her eyes towards the sky, anyway? My conclusion is that the spiritual reference of the church is more importante than the physical reference noways, at least for this temple.
Then I decide to enter. The church is small and cozy. Sitting on one of the pews and looking at the building itself gave a fresh perspective of the place I am so accostumed to. The time I was there was very signficant, also. Usually, I preside mass in the very morning or at night, times when there are people around, noises made and with the ocupations of a duty ahead. This time it seems to be a completely diferent place. My fieldnotes happed to be at lunchtime os weekdays. The place transmits peace. It is almost all white, color broken by the pews (light brown) and the saints’ images. The place is clean, smells good and the silence is imperative and invites to meditation. I saw some people sitting, some others kneeling and a few standing, specially in front of the images of the saints. The silence is broken occasionally by some whispering of people either praying or briefely greeting each other. Once or twice some snoring from people falling asleep, on purpuse of by chance. Not all of them visit the place to pray. A few were there with no spiritual purpose: to take a rest, flee from the hot sun outside; some checked their smartphone now and then. I visit the church for 5 days, always from twelve to one pm. The fieldnote experience gave me not only a fresh perspective of the place but also a "flesh" perspective, comming to a conclusion (reinforcing my mission in life) that the building is a place to gather people and welcome them, helping them with their struggles and their hopes. Not solving their problems, but giving them tools so they themselves can make a decision and act upon it. The interviews done there helped to reinforce and restablesh such conclusion.
I was able to do eight interviews, only. All of them adutls, 5 women and 3 men. I travel a lot and, within two weeks, that what I was able to do. They were very good interviews from people I don’t have acquaintances. Some of them knew I was a priest and this was the first time they talked to me besides the usual greeting. They all knew what the interview was about. I decided to interview them on the spot with a purpose of not giving them too much time to be preparede, like it would be if I asked to interview them later in another time. I intended to capture what came to that moment. I had only 5 questions ready and I was prepared to conduct the interviews asking other questions which would come up at the moment and according to the development of the conversation. The first question, after asking their names and how they were, was to know what they came or came to that church. The answer was unanimous: to find peace. Other words were mentioned, like praying, ask help from God and/or the saints, returning to give thanks to God and the saints, but the word said, from all of them, it was “to find peace”. The next question, derived from the fist one, was to ask what kind of piece, that is, where they needed the peace. The asnwer varied: five of them needed peace in the family (all women), at work (two men and three women), in the religious community they usually went (one women) and peace within the self (four women and all three men). Although they touched on other subjects, I perceived that the central point was peace, in a way or another. And they were there in church not only to get stronger and getting more peace, but also to take such a peace with them and apply to their lives, their families, their workplace, etc. All the interviews, none of them lengtly because the people interviewed were all there during their lunchitme from work, revolved basically around the “peace” subject. Although the interviews were not long, for sure they were moments of real encounter with real persons. That is the most precious of all this academic work.
The academic taks also asks to include 2 to 3 multimodal elements such as photographs, videos (of the people, sites, activities, and artifacts that I have researched), hyperlinks to relevant materials, clips of audio or video from recorded interviews, and so forth. I had a video from Youtube and a picture. That said, new information from the course tells the students that they cannot put them, directly, in the final work due to the some lack of technical support. I have them, but they will not be available in the course's site because of the new information given.
This results from academic work reinforces my personal mission in life, which is to connect with people, help them and be helped by them. It gave a refreshing view on what I am: a people's person, altough sometimes I feel inadequate in my community, specially when I consider the comments that comes from some of my colleagues, trying to convince me not to give too much attention to “regular” people or telling me that I don't give credit to myself by being such a simple person. This academic work sent me back to my roots and deepned my understanding and experience of life, reinforcing what being a priest is all about: be there for people in need, not necessary and almost exclusively giving attention to academic results and "high end" people, like academics, rich people, persons with political power in the community.
Strangelly enough, all this work on fieldnotes and interviews supports the frames of my general insight in life and, specifically, my insight in this perspective of life: to be there to help others and be helped. The academic work reinforces my beliefs, values, and practices, not only defining the community I belong to, but also confirming the conclusions about my very existence, my seach for peace for all, physically and spiritually speaking. Gladly, I am not alone. Join us!
Being a religious person myself after experiencing conversion, I decided to do my research on the subject of religion and faith, so dear to me and so much the expression of "myself". Because religion and faith are broad subjects, I decided to narrow the research to the effect of peace, personal peace. And I have, for the purpose of this papper, a very personal reason.
I am now 56 years old and have been participating in church actively for more than 30 years. I had never been a bad person bedore my conversion, but participating in church brought me a personal peace that, although is not something I take for granted, is a reality to be sought and put in practice every day, according to the persons and situations life presentes or we, human beings, directly or indirectly create, I am a priest since november 2009 and one of my meaningful responsabilities is, by attendidng confession, giving spiritual guidance or even just talking to people, is to help them find peace in a world, country, state, city, community, family and person many times sourrounded by wars of any kind.
The subject of putting religion to work in a practical and daily basis, affecting the person in the level of the very exercise of having a life, a peaceful life as much as possible, has been my path, both in church and in religion. With the text to be written about ethnography, I realised that it has been a long time since I talked to people about religious beliefs and practices in an way that the information comes from them, not from myself trying to help them. I mean, beyond what it is obvious and doing one step ahead. I might be, since a pretty good time, in "automatic mode" and wanted to, besides listening to people and considering things (from a probably new perspective), make a revision of what has been my life in this perspective and community and come to a conclusion if the way I have been conducting my religion and faith is matching people’s perspectives and necessities. So, after such step of considering myself part of a community, I decided to search for the space that embraces the physical center of the community and the persons who participate in the community, the difference being that instead of them looking for me, it was the other way around; I came to them.
My fieldnotes are from the church where I preside most of the masses. I started outside and then came inside. I noticed and meditated about all the buildings surrounding the church, this same edifice that decades ago was the tallest in the neighborhood. What used to be the tallest tower and a reference, now is just a tiny construction with no visual reference at all. In a world lacking so much peace, maybe the physical reference of time given by the huge clock on top is gone; maybe the image of,Saint Joseph on top of the clock is no more a physical indication of what is to be found inside. When a person walks by withou knowing the place is a church, seldom realises the purpuse of the edifice. Looking above doesn’t help either because all the other buildings grab the attention in the first place. Anyway, in such a busy life and occupations in checking the smartphone, who directs hes/her eyes towards the sky, anyway? My conclusion is that the spiritual reference of the church is more importante than the physical reference noways, at least for this temple.
Then I decide to enter. The church is small and cozy. Sitting on one of the pews and looking at the building itself gave a fresh perspective of the place I am so accostumed to. The time I was there was very signficant, also. Usually, I preside mass in the very morning or at night, times when there are people around, noises made and with the ocupations of a duty ahead. This time it seems to be a completely diferent place. My fieldnotes happed to be at lunchtime os weekdays. The place transmits peace. It is almost all white, color broken by the pews (light brown) and the saints’ images. The place is clean, smells good and the silence is imperative and invites to meditation. I saw some people sitting, some others kneeling and a few standing, specially in front of the images of the saints. The silence is broken occasionally by some whispering of people either praying or briefely greeting each other. Once or twice some snoring from people falling asleep, on purpuse of by chance. Not all of them visit the place to pray. A few were there with no spiritual purpose: to take a rest, flee from the hot sun outside; some checked their smartphone now and then. I visit the church for 5 days, always from twelve to one pm. The fieldnote experience gave me not only a fresh perspective of the place but also a "flesh" perspective, comming to a conclusion (reinforcing my mission in life) that the building is a place to gather people and welcome them, helping them with their struggles and their hopes. Not solving their problems, but giving them tools so they themselves can make a decision and act upon it. The interviews done there helped to reinforce and restablesh such conclusion.
I was able to do eight interviews, only. All of them adutls, 5 women and 3 men. I travel a lot and, within two weeks, that what I was able to do. They were very good interviews from people I don’t have acquaintances. Some of them knew I was a priest and this was the first time they talked to me besides the usual greeting. They all knew what the interview was about. I decided to interview them on the spot with a purpose of not giving them too much time to be preparede, like it would be if I asked to interview them later in another time. I intended to capture what came to that moment. I had only 5 questions ready and I was prepared to conduct the interviews asking other questions which would come up at the moment and according to the development of the conversation. The first question, after asking their names and how they were, was to know what they came or came to that church. The answer was unanimous: to find peace. Other words were mentioned, like praying, ask help from God and/or the saints, returning to give thanks to God and the saints, but the word said, from all of them, it was “to find peace”. The next question, derived from the fist one, was to ask what kind of piece, that is, where they needed the peace. The asnwer varied: five of them needed peace in the family (all women), at work (two men and three women), in the religious community they usually went (one women) and peace within the self (four women and all three men). Although they touched on other subjects, I perceived that the central point was peace, in a way or another. And they were there in church not only to get stronger and getting more peace, but also to take such a peace with them and apply to their lives, their families, their workplace, etc. All the interviews, none of them lengtly because the people interviewed were all there during their lunchitme from work, revolved basically around the “peace” subject. Although the interviews were not long, for sure they were moments of real encounter with real persons. That is the most precious of all this academic work.
The academic taks also asks to include 2 to 3 multimodal elements such as photographs, videos (of the people, sites, activities, and artifacts that I have researched), hyperlinks to relevant materials, clips of audio or video from recorded interviews, and so forth. I had a video from Youtube and a picture. That said, new information from the course tells the students that they cannot put them, directly, in the final work due to the some lack of technical support. I have them, but they will not be available in the course's site because of the new information given.
This results from academic work reinforces my personal mission in life, which is to connect with people, help them and be helped by them. It gave a refreshing view on what I am: a people's person, altough sometimes I feel inadequate in my community, specially when I consider the comments that comes from some of my colleagues, trying to convince me not to give too much attention to “regular” people or telling me that I don't give credit to myself by being such a simple person. This academic work sent me back to my roots and deepned my understanding and experience of life, reinforcing what being a priest is all about: be there for people in need, not necessary and almost exclusively giving attention to academic results and "high end" people, like academics, rich people, persons with political power in the community.
Strangelly enough, all this work on fieldnotes and interviews supports the frames of my general insight in life and, specifically, my insight in this perspective of life: to be there to help others and be helped. The academic work reinforces my beliefs, values, and practices, not only defining the community I belong to, but also confirming the conclusions about my very existence, my seach for peace for all, physically and spiritually speaking. Gladly, I am not alone. Join us!
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Instructions:
WRITING PROJECT #2 - ETHNOGRAPHY
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
For Writing Project 1, you examined a ritual, practice, behavior, or habit (what we will generically refer to as a “cultural phenomenon”) in your personal life to better understand your cultural identity, relying on the conventions of autoethnography to write about it from a first-person perspective. In many ways, you crafted a narrative (or story) that explained how and why this cultural phenomenon defined who you are as an individual.
For Writing Project 2, we are going to ask you to look beyond your own identity to the identity of a larger cultural group or community to which you belong. We are all a part of multiple, different, sometimes even contradictory cultural groups or communities: through our families, we might be connected to a specific ethnic or racial community; our religion might connect us to another community; the music we listen to might connect us to another group; sports activities might connect us to yet another community. This assignment asks you to choose one of these groups or communities to which you belong and to investigate it.
You will investigate this group or community in order to inform others about what these cultural phenomena suggest about the community and its values, beliefs, and practices. This will give you and your readers greater insight into how the group or community understands and defines its own identity. As an insider, you may think you already know your community well. However, one of the goals of the project is to challenge your own preconceptions and reflect more deeply on what defines this group. To this end, you will engage in research as a participant-observer, meaning you will engage in primary research—interviews, observations, and field notes—to understand this cultural phenomenon from the inside out.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. In your essay, you should include a narrative structure that tells the story of how you conducted your research.
2. You should summarize, explain, and discuss the results of your close, detailed observations and field notes in a way that is understandable to your readers.
3. You should also summarize, explain, and discuss the results of your interview(s).
4. Drawing upon your observations, field notes, and interview materials, your essay should present your reflections and insights on the community or group you have researched. Your primary insight should derive from your synthesis of the data you have accumulated: your observations, field notes, and interview materials. You should discuss this material at length, explaining how it supports or frames your insight, what it suggests about the role of specific beliefs, values, and practices in defining the community, and drawing conclusions about why and how the community defines itself.
5. Your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph. Your primary insight should help to structure the essay for the reader.
6. You should include 2-3 multimodal elements such as photographs (of the people, sites, activities, and artifacts that you have researched), hyperlinks to relevant materials, clips of audio or video from recorded interviews, and so forth. You must make sure that your reader understands why you are including these elements and why including them enriches your piece of writing. Consider what media beyond text might reinforce your main idea to readers, convey in another way the significance of your autoethnography, and/or appeal to your readers from a different register.
7. Your completed essay should have a title, be approximately 1700 words in length, and be formatted to adhere to the MLA or APA style guide.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
***NOTE: By clicking Submit, I certify that I have SECURED PERMISSION to use and post the results of my interviews. I also certify that I have received and retained signatures (electronic or physical) from any and all interviewees on the interview consent form provided in the ENG101 GFA course.***
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
For Writing Project 1, you examined a ritual, practice, behavior, or habit (what we will generically refer to as a “cultural phenomenon”) in your personal life to better understand your cultural identity, relying on the conventions of autoethnography to write about it from a first-person perspective. In many ways, you crafted a narrative (or story) that explained how and why this cultural phenomenon defined who you are as an individual.
For Writing Project 2, we are going to ask you to look beyond your own identity to the identity of a larger cultural group or community to which you belong. We are all a part of multiple, different, sometimes even contradictory cultural groups or communities: through our families, we might be connected to a specific ethnic or racial community; our religion might connect us to another community; the music we listen to might connect us to another group; sports activities might connect us to yet another community. This assignment asks you to choose one of these groups or communities to which you belong and to investigate it.
You will investigate this group or community in order to inform others about what these cultural phenomena suggest about the community and its values, beliefs, and practices. This will give you and your readers greater insight into how the group or community understands and defines its own identity. As an insider, you may think you already know your community well. However, one of the goals of the project is to challenge your own preconceptions and reflect more deeply on what defines this group. To this end, you will engage in research as a participant-observer, meaning you will engage in primary research—interviews, observations, and field notes—to understand this cultural phenomenon from the inside out.
REQUIREMENTS AND DELIVERABLES
1. In your essay, you should include a narrative structure that tells the story of how you conducted your research.
2. You should summarize, explain, and discuss the results of your close, detailed observations and field notes in a way that is understandable to your readers.
3. You should also summarize, explain, and discuss the results of your interview(s).
4. Drawing upon your observations, field notes, and interview materials, your essay should present your reflections and insights on the community or group you have researched. Your primary insight should derive from your synthesis of the data you have accumulated: your observations, field notes, and interview materials. You should discuss this material at length, explaining how it supports or frames your insight, what it suggests about the role of specific beliefs, values, and practices in defining the community, and drawing conclusions about why and how the community defines itself.
5. Your essay should be organized in such a way that a reader can follow your thinking and reasoning from paragraph to paragraph and within each paragraph. Your primary insight should help to structure the essay for the reader.
6. You should include 2-3 multimodal elements such as photographs (of the people, sites, activities, and artifacts that you have researched), hyperlinks to relevant materials, clips of audio or video from recorded interviews, and so forth. You must make sure that your reader understands why you are including these elements and why including them enriches your piece of writing. Consider what media beyond text might reinforce your main idea to readers, convey in another way the significance of your autoethnography, and/or appeal to your readers from a different register.
7. Your completed essay should have a title, be approximately 1700 words in length, and be formatted to adhere to the MLA or APA style guide.
PROJECT SUBMISSION
- Rough Draft: Your rough draft will be submitted for peer review and to your e-portfolio.
- Revised Draft: Your revised draft should be uploaded to your e-portfolio.
TIPS
- Get started early.
- Review this week’s materials and discussions.
- Set a writing/research schedule and stick to it.
***NOTE: By clicking Submit, I certify that I have SECURED PERMISSION to use and post the results of my interviews. I also certify that I have received and retained signatures (electronic or physical) from any and all interviewees on the interview consent form provided in the ENG101 GFA course.***
_________________________________
Done!
_________________________________
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