Step Away From the Adjectives

I want to start off by saying that I love adjectives. I love reading a well written passage filled with vivid adjectives and imagining myself in the description. However, using adjectives correctly can be challenging and also take time to master. After reading some of the sample pieces earlier in the year and having some sessions as a tutor in the learning center, I  wonder how much is too much? It seems to me that many times writers will string a bunch of adjectives together to try and make their work sound better. However, like all of you know, this does not work out.
I think the main problem with this is that sometimes students don't realize that they are either killing parts of their paper with these unnecessary words or they are not using in a clear and concise manner. Many times students use multiple adjectives and do not have them in an order that allows readers to understand. This can hurt a paper so incredibly much.
Learning when and where to use adjectives can be tricky. Most individuals want to just throw them in everywhere to try and be as descriptive as possible. I think that adjectives are used for spicing up a writers work. Too many people depend on adjectives to try and convey their writing. This can lead to the over use of adjectives. I think that there are many ways to help writers limit the amount of adjectives they use while still being as descriptive as possible.

Another thing I really liked in this section was the Adjective vs Appositive chart on page 137. I think this small but clear chart could benefit so many writers.

Over the past few weeks, I have opened my book and read the assigned reading and have learned so many new things. When I see a lesson on adjectives, I like so many others, immediately think, "oh yea I learned that so long ago, I know what that means." But even as a senior in college, I am refreshed with things that I can use in my everyday writing to better myself. Many people would be surprised about what they could relearn if they changed their mentality about grammar. I know I was.

Once again, after reading, I am left wishing I had been taught the readings in more depth. After reading about parallel structures, I know I will be using this in my own writing when I have the chance. I love the mentor texts the book provides because they are excellent examples. I never really compared my writing to art or music before. I love the way Noden does this.

Literal repetition happens a lot more than we all think. When I see examples in everyday life I really do not think much about them. However,  after reading this chapter I have a better understanding of them. I can fully appreciate why they are added and needed in our writing. I usually so not use a whole not of these in my writing, but I can see that in some cases I am missing out. They way these simple techniques change the dynamic of a sentence or a paragraph. The way literal repetition enhances writing is easy and it can really be used by anything.

I love the section on extending rhythms to paragraphs. I think that writers usually struggle with this because it does not focus on single sentences but piecing many sentences together. When reading all the examples I can envision all of the details and paint a picture.  The second example of the news room really hits upon this practice. The example is concise and straight forward. But the alliteration allows me to have an incredible picture in my mind. I can literally imagine myself in the news room surrounded by the hustle and bustle.

. I think that it is very important to be teaching younger learners this lesson. The techniques this chapter provides can be very helpful to a writers development and they way a writer can grow

Multigenre Paper

Multigenre papers combine all the elements of a traditional paper with a twist. Multigenre papers allow students to do the research and place it in creative formats. I love the idea of a multigenre paper because it is so outside of the box. It revolves a little bit of added work and a little more planning but I think that it is a nice change from the traditional paper. After hearing about the paper in class I thought it would be a fun assignment and I looked forward to looking into it more. After looking over the website and doing the reading I am excited to create this project. While I am still unsure about the direction I will be taking my project, I am super excited about creating the elements.

One example that I especially liked was "Like Wax: a Critical Look at Gender in Shakespeare." I thought that the author was very creative. I enjoyed the many visuals they used and some of the unique ideas for the different elements. The author also used a lot of different writing styles in their presentation. I liked the amount of variety this person decided to use in their paper.

I think that I will have a bit of a problem deciding on which different components to use because so many appeal to me. I am very excited to start planning out my project and be creative. I think that more teachers should incorporate a lesson like this into their classes because it is an easy way to get students to have an interest in their work.

Every time I read more in Anderson, I am sad that I have not had the experiences he talks about in his book. The style he uses to teach his students is a fresh and fun approach to learning grammar. I really like the lesson he provides on pronouns. I think it is an interesting approach when her selects a passage and takes the pronouns out of it. By doing this it really helps the students learn with a hands on approach. It makes me wonder if incorporating this approach in most schools would lead to better usage in the future. Anderson uses many graphs and other visuals with the students. I think that being able to see these rules and their mistakes, the students can grasp the concepts better.
In Noden, I found the list of writing Introductory Leads very interesting. As I went through each one I found myself realizing how many of them I do not use. I honestly don't even remember that there are some of the ones on the list. It may be because I haven't had a refresher on them, so I don't really remember them. From reviewing some of the WIFYS students papers and also other students papers from being a tutor, I now notice that they usually stick to two or three of the openings.
It makes me wonder if students just pick the ones they do because they are the easiest or they don't remember the others exist. I definitely think that in some past papers I have written, I could have made a stronger introduction if I would have chosen a different introduction style.
I think that this is one area where students learn it once and it's no longer touched upon really. I think that if students were refreshed on this area, there would be more diverse papers and some students would not struggle so much with introductions.

Sorry for the delay in blog posts. Breaking my foot has really set me behind in my life, and I am finally catching up.

Last week there were many posts about how teachers can teach grammar and students still don't know the correct way to use it. Practice makes perfect is the common theme among many blogs. This weeks reading ties in, once again, with this theme and provides us with even more examples.

I love reading Anderson because he takes grammar to the next level. He makes sure that the rules and  information are given to his students, but he doesn't end there. He does activities with his students, such as the two-word sentence smack down, that require his students to think outside the box. These activities exercise their minds and make them really understand what they are learning.

As a child, my teachers never did activities like these. I think that this visual element would have been very helpful for me during the learning process. Simply knowing the rules does not provide anyone with the ability to clearly demonstrate they know what they are doing. 

From Anderson's text I can sense that he is a hands on teacher. He is interested in knowing why the students do certain things and he encourages students to answer questions about their writing. This may seem like a little thing, but I can see this being very influential to the students and how they approach their writing. I truly feel like I would benefit from being a student of his, and I am sad that I did not have experiences like the ones he shares with us. 

I agree with Anderson when he talks about grammar is the starting point for all good writing. While we will never know every single rule at all times(at least I won't), knowing the basics can get us pretty far. I feel like skipping over the main starting points is like trying to start a car without an engine, impossible.

I look forward to the rest of Anderson's readings because, with his book, I take away meaning and a fresh take on writing and grammar.

Mechanically Inclined

Mechanically Inclined was an easy and interesting read. Anderson got to his point from the beginning and stuck with that through the first two chapters. Right off the bat I noticed the list of 20 Most common Errors. This list hit the nail on the head. These are so many examples of what writers do wrong. I know that when I look at this list I have had or still have some difficulty with these in my writing.

When I read and edit others writing, I realize I am not alone with this list. These are the most difficult to learn and continue to do correctly. But this makes me wonder...  Why are these on the list? Why are we not learning from our mistakes? How can we fix these problems so that few writers are struggling with them? I really like how in the text Anderson points out that teachers need to focus on how they spend their time. It must be extremely hard to only see students for 50 minutes a day and try to teach them all they need to learn about grammar before sending the on their way. In my opinion, this lack of time is a major reasoning behind why these items appeared on this list. There are so many students that suffer because they next thing has to be taught before they are able to understand the last bit of information.

I really liked when Anderson went on to say, "If parents don't understand why you're not marking papers, take a piece of children's art and stick a transparency over it. Then, start marking all over it, crossing things out, redrawing other parts, putting notes on it. Of course, everyone gasps. Then ask, why would we do this to student writing?" 

When reading students work we need to realize that is not going to be perfect. It is a learning process for them and everyone makes mistakes. Teachers that just mark up the paper and had it back are not allowing that student to grow in their writing. Instead, we are disabling them from any advancement. That student wrote that essay or paper for a reason and in their own voice. We must respect that and work with them to better their writing and grammar, not completely change it and give it back without any instruction. 

After reading the assignment I put the red pen down and read through the essays, absorbing the material. I think in the future I will be more likely to make suggestions and help others learn what they can improve on rather than just crossing things off and adding commas or different words. By doing this I think that we can create better writers for the future. 

Grammar to Enrich & Enhance

The first thing I did when I opened this book was look through the 12 principles on the inside cover. After reviewing these, I find myself agreeing with them. I specially agree with numbers 5 and 7. 

Number 5 says that grammar options are best expanded reading and in conjunction with writing. I really like this because I think one of the best ways to improve grammar is through writing, rather than sitting down and reading it from a text book. I remember learning things about grammar by reading rules and definitions out of a book and not really applying it to anything. Without the application part of grammar, a student cannot really place what they have learned into context. 

Number 7 states that making "corrections on students' papers does little good. I am a firm believer in this. When others make corrections and do not take the time to explain and help a writer understand their mistakes, that teacher is negativity  impacting the writer. There is no way for one to learn if they are not taught the proper way of going about something. I think that whenever a correction needs to be made, a full understanding by the write needs to be present. 

Some of the things in this passage were father unfamiliar to me and somewhat hard to relate to because I do not plan on teaching in the future. With the job that I intend to achieve, I will not be taking the time to teach grammar. As an editor, I may hit upon it when someone comes to me with a mistake, but I won't be taking the time to teach an individual anything about it. By the time they reach me with their articles and work they will have already have had all the education on grammar that they need. 

However, I know that the question is still on the table. Should teachers still be teaching grammar?

In the book it says that as young children, we learn aspects of grammar without any direct instruction. While I believe this is true, I still think that we do need it to be taught to us as we get older. I think that it becomes habit to us as children and we do not really understand it because it is just something we are used to. I think that it is very important to know all aspects of grammar to become a good writer. I may not use everything I have learned from my teachers and I also may not use the formal names of some things that I have learned, but I still think that it is important for me to have learned them. 

I think that there will always be a need for the teaching of grammar in our school systems, now more than ever. It will only benefit individuals in the future.