Monthly Archives: December 2021

Failure is Always an Option

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“Mistake” by Sergei Chuyko. Unsplash

Failure is a word nobody wants to hear regarding their own work. A person that fails didn’t try hard enough or is lazy.  In the book Bad Ideas About Writing, Allison D. Carr speaks about how failure is seen in a bad light, when in reality it’s a stepping stone on the path to success. In her essay, “Failure Is Not an Option”, she speaks about how failure is “a reset button for the brain”. Finding out what doesn’t work is a way to learn. Math scholar Manu Kapur agrees with D. Carr. In his essay, “Productive Failure in Learning Math”, he states that we naturally fail when trying something new.

 

             Carr states that the stigma about failures started centuries ago. In the 19th century literacy became a necessity for all of society, and not just the wealthy. The school system was created and reading, and writing were subjects that were taught. According to Carr, eventually literacy became a way to divide “the worthy poor from the unworthy” (Carr). Carr states that “…success and failure in this realm came to be perceived not simply as an indication of intelligence or economic advantage, but as a matter of moral fiber” (Carr). In other words, a person’s worth began to be determined by the level of their intellect. This caused people to obsess over success, and not see the learning opportunities failure brings.

Carr states that when trying to perfect a skill, you’ll likely have many failures before you achieve even one success. She says that success is centered around failure, and that is especially true in writing. Carr says that writing is a process, and not an easy one. She states that when you try to avoid failure and refuse to take risks, you withhold your creativity. Carr is a writer and has determined that success in writing comes after years of failure. Carr says that nobody is born with exceptional writing skills, and that it takes time and repeated failure to have a good writing ability.

          Cognitive researcher Manu Kapur has a similar take to what Carr states. In his essay, “Productive Failure in Math”, he states that people learn from their mistakes and failures. Kapur states, “…we seem to learn better from our own failed solutions than those of others…” (Kupar). In his essay, Kapur speaks about two experiments he performed to gain a better insight on how useful failure is in learning. The first was a controlled experiment with two groups. The first group of students were taught a method, and then told to solve a problem. The second group of students attempted to solve the problem before being taught the method. Kapur found that students who attempted to solve the problem on their own first showed greater conceptual understanding. In his second study, he had students attempt to learn from the failed problem of the first group. Although they performed better than the students who were taught the method first, they still didn’t do better than the ones that attempted to solve the problem before being taught.

Brain from wooden puzzles. Mental Health and problems with memory. Brain from wooden puzzles. Mental Health and problems with memory. Mental Health Stock Photo

“Mental Health” by designer491. Unsplash

The group of students that failed at solving the problem before being taught outperformed every other group. Kapur calls this productive failure. “Productive failure students, in spite of reporting greater mental effort than DI students, significantly outperformed DI students on conceptual understanding and transfer without compromising procedural knowledge” (Kapur). Kapur is stating that the students who were left to their own devices performed better than those who were taught. This shows that failure is a learning tool, and that productive failure can help students learn. Kapur believes that we naturally fail before we succeed, and he states that our brains are made to function that way. Kapur’s better idea is for people to acknowledge that failure is natural.

         In conclusion, Carr and Kapur both believe that failure is natural, and sometimes unavoidable. Both state that failure is beneficial. They both have the same belief but showcase it differently. Regardless, both have the idea that failure shouldn’t be so taboo, and that it should be more acceptable in the school system. Writing shouldn’t strictly have a pass or fail system; we should think about how to make our writing flow, and sound creative. Being overly worried about how writing will look in the eyes of others makes the writing predictable. Failure should be appreciated because without it, success wouldn’t exist.

Works Cited

Carr, Allison “Failure is Not an Option.” Bad Ideas About Writing, edited by Cheryl E Ball and Drew M Loewe, West Virginia University Libraries, 2017, 76-81.

“Productive Failure in Learning Math.” Cognitive Science: A Multidisciplinary Journal, by Manu Kapur, Cognitive Science, Inc, 2014, pp. 1-16

A Better, More Inclusive Standard Academic English

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In her essay “Strunk and White Set the Standard,” Laura Lisabeth discusses the limitations of The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White. The Elements of Style is a popular reference book on Standard English that can trace its roots back to 1918. However, Strunk and White’s style of English “marginalizes the identities, knowledge, and being of many people who come from other literacy practices” (Lisabeth 118). An alternative to Strunk and White’s style of English is the idea of “understanding Standard Academic English as a historically formed, culturally specific language among many other languages (Lisabeth 119). Only by first understanding there is a problem, can we begin to address it.

“Everyday English Book” by Ivan Shilov. Unsplash.

While The Elements of Style has remained popular for decades, it is not without its detractors. Even in 1959 “… The Elements of Style was greeted with criticism by the field of college composition for being vague and misleading about the complex act of learning to compose academic writing” (Lisabeth 117). Professor Lisabeth herself excoriates “the kind of writing Strunk and White put forth as good writing” as a discourse that limits and excludes (Lisabeth 118). Feagin discusses Shirley Heath’s Ways with Words epilogue where changes in the schools which have eliminated the possibility of creative teaching have discouraged teachers to the point that many are leaving the field (Feagin 491). These criticisms suggest there is room for improvement and flexibility in Standard Academic English.

In understanding Standard Academic English as one culturally specific language among many other languages, then its criticisms, what is a better system? “Sociolinguists point to the ways English is already operating as a flexible medium, repurposed by American users to include, for example, Black and Latinx variations and the language and punctuation of social media, all of which expand the expressiveness of English and make it relevant to more users” (Lisabeth 118-119). A better system encourages flexibility and creativity to fully bring out the identities and knowledge of the people using the language. This system would not be limited to a personal capacity; “access to such uses of language can help many emerging academic writers to develop more competence and to perform better in school as they capitalize on existing meaningful ways of expressing knowledge” (Lisabeth 119). Therefore, students can also benefit professionally. Feagin, through Heath, discusses the value of this better system in helping teachers “deal with non-mainstream children from Roadville- and Trackton-like communities who were having trouble in school and gives examples of projects which worked in that particular population” (Feagin 491). The better system did not marginalize or trivialize the identities and cultures of the non-mainstream children, but rather included them and was enhanced by their uniqueness.

“White Printer Paper” by Toa Heftiba. Unsplash.

In conclusion, while The Elements of Style by Strunk and White has been widely taught for many decades, it is not the only possible style of Standard Academic English nor the best. By recognizing English as a constantly evolving language rather than something rigid and exclusive, we can understand there are better systems. Feagin corroborates this by saying “we need such an extended work [A Way with Words] to show us how ignorant we are of the people around us” (Feagin 491). Then, comes the important steps of bringing that awareness and teaching those better, inclusive systems to the next generation of students. After all, they will be the ones to inherit the English language and enhance it in ways we could never imagine. As Professor Lisabeth states “these networked ways of writing, along with social-media inspired ways of thinking about punctuation, continue to explode definitions for what constitutes meaningful language and educated English” (Lisabeth 119).

Works Cited

1.) Lisabeth, Laura. “Strunk and White Set the Standard.” Digital Publishing Institute, 2017. Bad Ideas About Writing E-book, https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf#page=128.

2.) Feagin, Crawford. Language, vol. 61, no. 2, Linguistic Society of America, 1985, pp. 489–93, https://doi.org/10.2307/414163.

BAD IDEAS OF WRITING

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We have been hearing that Johnny can’t read since the 1950, in this research project we are going to talk about “reading and writing are not connected,” taken from the book bad ideas about writing, by Ellen C. Carillo. And I will connect what Ellen C. Carillo said about “reading and writing are not connected” and what Merrill Sheils said about why Johnny can’t write. In this research project we will see what the good ideas about writing are.

 

Ellen C. Carillo said the relationship between reading and writing.  She explains why reading and writing are the most important skill needed by all students as they both help students to develop effective communication skills. Ellen briefly explains the connection between reading and writing, and she mentions what needed to be done. Ellen thinks is great idea when writing and reading are connected, and students learn both skills simultaneously. According to the surveys taken reading and writing have close relationship and they both need to be taught together.

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Teachers, instructor and professors must teach students how to read an article and at the same time also teach them how to write what they were reading about and make sure that the students understand what the article is discussing about. Reading and writing are the most essential tools help students to interact with the writer and it helps them to understand what writer.

 

Reading and writing are the most essential tools that help students to interact with the writer and it helps them to understand what writer is trying to say. As Ellen says, “although writing is more often thought of as a creative act, reading is just as creative” (Ellen C. 40). According to various research done, students reading abilities are often more underdeveloped than their writing, this means they still need to do a lot of work for their reading skills also at the same time.

On the Reading and Writing Connection: It's not Just Another Buzzword - Writable

Merrill Sheils discussed the chances of writing and reading skills of all different students according to the level of education their belong to. She said how a steady erosion of reading skills among American students since 1965. Even the SAT scores showed the biggest drop. Majority of American tend to use only the simplest sentence structure and the most elementary vocabulary when they write. And the study shows that 13- and 17-year-old are far more awkward, incoherent and disorganized.

In this article Merrill said that a student who can’t read with true comprehension, it will be hard to write well. “Writing is, after all, book-talks,” says Dr. Ramon. And she talks about most of student who graduate from high school and college their writing skills are poor, this means teachers and professors must put more effort in teaching reading and writing at the same time. This will develop student’s skills in both reading and writing. According to the various survey taken shows that most of students ‘reading and writing skills are poor, and the teachers and professors do not teach students both skills at the same time.

Writing in a Nation of Testing: Why Johnny Can't Write
 

In this article Merrill says more professors did not specialize in English in their college year. Like Merrill said,” Even where writing still is taught, the creative school discourages insistence on grammar, structure and style. Many teachers seem to believe that rules stifle spontaneity” (Merrill Sheils. Pg. 2).

Are Reading & Writing Connected? – Rifka Schonfeld

Generally, all professors should be focusing on teaching active reading and all students need to start practicing reading and writing at the same time. Students must stop thinking about reading and writing as two different things, they need to learn both simultaneously. Even professors should be teaching both together. If students understand that reading and writing are connected and practice both together, they will be successful in both the reading and writing communication skills.

 

Works Cited

           

Carillo, Ellen. “Reading and Writing Are Not Connected” from Bad Ideas About Writing | Open Access Textbooks | WVU Libraries, 2017, https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf

Merrill sheils, “why johnny can’t write.”  December 8, 1975, united states edition; pg. 58

http://engl4190fall2011.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/46866774/sheils_johnnycantwrite.pdf

 

pictures uploaded:

https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf

 

https://www.writable.com/2018/11/27/on-the-reading-and-writing-connection-its-not-just-another-buzzword/

https://www.landmarkoutreach.org/strategies/the-reading-and-writing-connection/

LOGOS IS SYNONYMOUS WITH LOGIC

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                        Ethos, pathos, and logos are the three strategies identified by Aristotle as means to support argument. In her essay, Logos is Synonymous with Logic, Nancy Fox states “However, an often simplistic, formulaic, and transactional use of these complex terms detaches them from their potential meaning.” (Fox 174). Ethos, pathos, and logos are all great for making arguments, but there must be connecting language for the argument to not seem too simple. If the writer does not use ethos, pathos, and logos in right ways there will be misunderstanding between the writer and the reader. Moreover, if ethos, pathos, and logos are not used the correct way then the reader will not be convinced. Such highly complicated terms are frequently used in a simplistic, formulaic, and informational manner, which detaches them from their intended purpose.

                   

                        The goal of most educative writing is to be demonstrative. A successful essay can make readers change their minds, look at the problem differently, or come with new solutions. However, readers can be difficult to persuade! Over 2,300 years ago, Aristotle declared three different strategies called rhetorical appeals, which writers and speakers used to make their argument more convincing. Rhetorical appeal strategies are helpful for writers and speakers.

Logos is one of the strategies that can help writers.

               

                One of Aristotle’s most important contributions was that he introduced rhetoric as one of the three main elements – along with logic and dialectics – of philosophy. In the first line of Rhetoric, “Rhetoric is the counterpart of Dialectic” (https://www.researchgate.net) Aristotle argues that logic is involved in reasoning for scientific certainty. Reasoning and rhetoric are related branches of philosophy.

                         

In her essay, Fox states, “Audiences and particular rhetorical situations may require logical reasoning and even syllogisms, but situations are rarely completely encompassed within one form of reasoning or arguing.”( Fox 174) This means that if someone can use a combination of the three rhetorical elements in their persuasive speaking and writing, they will appeal to their audience’s emotion and sense of reasoning, and therefore their writing will be more convincing. It can be tricky to try to weave logos into their persuasive writing and speaking. For example, there are two types of appeals directed at the rational side of the reader using facts and logical explanation: Logos and Ethos. The first type is to appeal to logic, by making sure the facts are relevant and well documented, the second type increases the writer’s credibility.

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Logos is Synonymous with Logic: A Bad Idea

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Understanding the meaning of Logos and other rhetoric styles is something students become familiar with as early as middle school. Throughout the years leading into high school, the same basic interpretations of rhetoric are often overly-simplified and taught to generalize their specific meanings to just one word or phrase.

As a result, in her essay “Logos is Synonymous with Logic,” in Bad Ideas About Writing, author Nancy Fox states that logos, a rhetoric style, has much more meaning than just stating logical facts and basic reasoning. Instead, she describes it in a complex and artistic matter. One of the sources Nancy Fox mentions in particular, The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University, agrees that limiting the meaning of logos to “logic” is a bad idea because today’s understanding of logos doesn’t resonate with its complex structural purpose. The lack of detail when explaining rhetoric confuses a student’s knowledge of logos and makes it difficult to understand it thoroughly in the literature. Together, Nancy Fox and the Online Writing Lab believe that discussions about the meaning of logos and rhetoric need to take place more descriptively and give credit to their original interpretations. This way, students and future learners can better understand how to use rhetoric under real-life circumstances.

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In her essay “Logos is Synonymous with Logic”, author Nancy Fox argues that the three basic rhetoric styles, ethos, pathos, and logos, have become overly simplistic, and there is a misinterpretation of their “potential meaning.” In her essay, Nancy Fox quotes from Aristotle’s, On Rhetoric, where he describes rhetoric, specifically logos, as much more complex and meaningful than perceived in today’s explanations.

A similar perspective is present in the article, The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University, where it expresses foundations of the meanings and interpretations of what Logos and Logic genuinely mean. It states that “Logos is frequently translated as some variation of “logic or reasoning,” but it originally referred to the actual content of a speech and how it was organized” (The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University).

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In Fox’s chapter of “Bad Ideas About Writing,” she uses many references from the Greek philosopher Aristotle’s text “On Rhetoric” stating, “Aristotle presents logos as the argument itself, aligned with ethos, the appeal of a speaker’s character, and pathos, the appeal to audience attitude or feeling” (Nancy Fox 174). Fox further explains that “the ancient Greeks had a variety of definitions for logos, including computation and exposition, as well as forms of verbal expression, such as oratory and poetry, that represent an expansive and faceted story” (Nancy Fox 174). This further explains her argument that logos in its original explanations isn’t limited to the simple meaning of “logic.” She expresses that when logos is described logically, it defines the ideas and thoughts expressed by students and writers.

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The limitation of their verbal thoughts and ideas is often confusing when teachers or instructors tell students to “make arguments about political, social, artistic, policy, or cultural topics that cannot be demonstrated or logically proven” (Nancy Fox 175). This statement emphasizes how crucial it is for teachers to explain the true meaning of logos in its original form, not limited to “rhetorical arguments,” and how this can help reduce students’ confusion when put in professional argumentative situations (Nancy Fox 175). Therefore, she further explains how the interpretation made by students when watching movies or listening to songs affects their understanding of its true meaning. Teachers and students should appropriately analyze logos to decoy the confusion as well “teaching logos as logic in rhetorical arguments sets students up for confusion” (Nancy Fox 175). 

They may study the myriad ways we build arguments, from articles to films, stories, songs, and marketing or political campaigns (Nancy Fox 175). She conveys how the implementation of new “technologies”  to express logos in its original creative forms adequately, such describes logos not as simply meaning ‘logic’ but also “as fuzzy logic and informal logic” (Nancy Fox 176).

 “structure” By Simone Hut. Unsplash.

As Fox and Purdue University states, today’s meaning of “Logos” is displayed simplistically and not related to any other sense rather than “logic.” The limitation of this information limits one’s understanding of logos and how it needs to go against current teaching standards. Purdue University also states that today’s path of understanding logos primarily reflects logical reasoning rather than its structure. “Today, many people may discuss the logos qualities of a text to refer to how strong the logic or reasoning of the text is. But logos more closely refers to the structure and content of the text itself. In this resource, logos means “text.” (The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University). Furthermore, this explains how simply interpreting logos from a different perspective can change one’s understanding. Therefore, it should be taught in broader descriptions and give much more credit to its original explanators.

Just as Nancy Fox uses information from the sources of rhetoric, the ancient Greeks, The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University, also refers to them. The OWL makes the statement that “many people have heard of the rhetorical concepts of logos, ethos, and pathos even if they do not necessarily know what they fully mean.” (The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University) It also states that “these three terms, along with kairos and telos, were used by Aristotle to help explain how rhetoric functions.” (The Online Writing Lab (OWL) of Purdue University) In basic terms, all rhetoric styles work together descriptively, providing information even in everyday situations. 

“reality” By Marc-Olivier Jordoin. Unsplash.

In conclusion, expressing logos and rhetoric needs to be addressed in language and literature for future generations. Thoroughly teaching and understanding the true meaning of logos can help students learn and develop professional standards for themselves and their futures. It is up to teachers to improve these standards and a student’s responsibility to accept and appreciate the appropriate knowledge when presented to them. It is a double standard.

On the contrary, can logos ever truly be understood?

 
 
 
Works Cited

Fox, Nancy. “Logos is Synonymous with Logic.” Bad Ideas about writing, edited by Cheryl E Ball and Drew M Loewe, West Virginia University Libraries, 2017, pages 174-177, https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf

Writing Lab, Purdue. “Aristotle’s Rhetorical Situation // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, n.d., https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/rhetorical_situation/aristotles_rhetorical_situation.html