In Clive Thompson’s article “New Literacy” he argues against the London English professor John Sutherland that technology is changing our academic writing for the better. Texting, Face book and chat rooms may cause the writer to use short hand or slang but it is developing social expression. As long as writers realize when an appropriate time for these styles of writing are, twitter and blogs are helping by increasing the amount we write. Thompson refers to the studies done by Andrea Lunsford, a writing professor at Stanford University. After collecting over 14,000 samples of student writing, Lunsford’s team discovered that the students are becoming more proficient at “kairos”. It means students are getting better at assessing their audience then adjusting their tone and techniques to convey their message the best that they can. Lunsford also stated how she didn’t find a single example of texting speak in any of her first-year students essays.
I agree with Thompson and Lunsford. The younger generation that is currently growing up with the technology of texting and twitter has many more opportunities to socialize and express themselves through writing. I also agree that whether the writing is short hand and blunt or thoughtful and extravagant, it is still practice that folks ten or twenty years ago couldn’t do. At the end of Thompson’s piece of writing he say, “What today’s young people know is that knowing who you’re writing for and why you’re writing might be the most crucial factor of all.” By this he is simply pointing out how younger people have more reasons to write than just for school. If I have to write an assay for English class then it should be carefully crafted, have proper grammar and plenty of detail. When I am just texting a friend or leaving them a note in their locker, there is no reason to write a structurally correct sentence or include details that aren’t necessary as long as the message can be understood. Obviously good teaching will continue to be vital for providing students with a proper education but there is no reason to hate the new ways my younger generation socializes on a daily basis.
Writing is no longer just a task performed for a grade in school or because of your career. It is a form of self expression and can be portrayed as either proper or improper. The fact of the matter is that writing is writing and practice makes perfect. The more we socialize through writing the better off we are when it comes to persuading and debating with others.
Welcome!
Welcome to our Eng 100 Blog “Conversations Beyond the Classroom”! The title of this blog refers to the community of active readers & collaborative learners we are creating by sharing our academic writing for Eng 100 with each other + a larger group of students, instructors, academics, and just about anybody who chooses to follow our blog! When you write and post your reader responses here (and, later, as you write your essays for the course), I encourage you to use this audience to conceptualize who you are writing for and, most important, how to communicate your ideas so that this group of academic readers and writers can easily follow your line of thinking. Think about it this way: What do you need to explain and articulate in order for the other bloggers to understand your response to the essays we’ve read in class? What does your audience need to know about those essays and the authors who wrote them? And how can you show your readers, in writing, which ideas you add to these “conversations” that take place in the texts we study?
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! We encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
As students of Eng 100, you will use this blog to begin conversations with other academic writers on campus (students and instructors alike). We become active readers of each other’s writing when we comment on posts here. And, best of all, we are using this space to share ideas! We encourage you to use this blog to further think through the topics and writing strategies you will be introduced to this quarter. As always, be sure to give credit to those people whose ideas you borrow for your own thinking and writing (you should do this in the blog by commenting on their post, but you will also be required to cite what you borrow from your peers/instructors if and when it winds up in your essays. More details on that later…).
Finally, keep in mind that writing to and for this audience is a good way to prepare for the panel of readers (faculty at WCC) who will be reading and assessing your writing portfolio at the end of the quarter. We hope that as a large group of active readers, we can better prepare each other for this experience. But, in the meantime, let’s have fun with it! I am really excited see how far we can take this together!
--Mary Hammerbeck, Instructor of Eng 100
I like the point you make, to say that "writing is writing and practice makes perfect."
ReplyDeleteIt makes me think that maybe one day, after we have had time to practice with writing in this new social way, we'll learn how to perfect it. And although it may not be the same as the "literature" we're accustomed to now, we'll be able to call it good writting one day. Which is kinda exciting to think about.
This post helped me undertand the article better by how organized it was.
ReplyDeleteGood points and plenty of examples
ReplyDelete