Geoffrey Carter wrote an article called “Writer’s Block Just Happens” in the book Bad Ideas About Writing. BIAW author Geoffrey Carter, Donald Murrary from ‘When Writers Can’t Write’ and David Barthelme from ‘Not Knowing’ all believe that writer’s block has a solution they do though disagree on the solution. According to Geoffrey the concept of Writer’s block is “overblown”. It’s a common misconception that writers go through period of ‘writer’s block’  where they simply can’t write and it the worst time of their life. Writer’s block is not something to shy away from or just happens out of nowhere. There are solutions for writer’s block. Anyone can develop a process to help them get out of writer’s block. To do this, writers need to get to know  their writing process and what works for them. Every source has a different way to conquer the delay known as writer’s block. Murray believes that its a part of the process is to be delayed while writing and it isn’t smart to “write to write”. He sourced David Barthelme that believes that writing without knowing what apart of what makes writing magic.

Explanation

The differences between the solutions  for writer’s block connects them all at the main idea of the existence of solutions for writer’s block. Ideally, Carter’s solution gives the writers a chance to expand their writing in a unique way, “by playing with words and names. Doing so, I believe, negates the very problem of writer’s block.”(Carter 101) He doesn’t believe that writer’s block should actually affect the amount of work you can produce. His idea for fixing writers block is challenging yourself with using different words to create different concepts and overcome  writer’s block. “Whether the patient was calling Bergler out as a burglar”(Carter 101) Professor Carters idea of how to solve the writer’s block contrasts from Murray idea. “We delay writing until we can find the need to write.” (Murray 3) When writers are struggling to write they shouldn’t write is the idea that Murray is trying to convey to the readers. This contradicts Carter because he gives writers a quick fix for the block but Murray just says embrace it. Barthelme on ‘Not Knowing’ “without scanning process engendered by not-knowing, without the possibility would be no invention.”(Barthelme 510) In other words not knowing where the writing is going can be beneficial and even assist at moments when feeling lost in your writing. The concept of not knowing creates inventions and things unexpected.

Geoffrey V. Carter addresses his reader “As a writer myself, I know that writing doesn’t always come easily. Fortunately, I’ve always been good at researching things before I really start writing.”(Carter 99) In other words writing will not always be simple but it is very important for writers to actually research and prepare themselves for what the task ahead. This idea agrees with Murray in a one way of saying writing won’t come fast and easy all the time. Some writers don’t accept that and expect for writing to be a constant thing with the flow of tons of ideas 24/7. “Amateurs try to write with words; professionals write with  information. They collect warehouses full of information, far more than they need, so much information that its  sheer abundance makes the need for meaning and order insistent. (Murray 2) The point of researching and having prior knowledge is important before immediately writing, it also suggests that the lack of research can  prohibit writing. 

Writers are destined to be stuck at some point and Barthelme feels strongly that it’s normal. His book is written where he is actually writing a story, while demonstrating his process of writing at the same time. The way he formatted his chapter in the Georgia Review made it difficult to find the places where he described his thoughts about ‘writer’s block’. It was very abstract like he never explicitly  said writer’s block but to infer he was talking about what he does when he doesnt know whats next in writing. “Let us suppose that someone is writing a story. From the conventional signs he takes an azalea bush, plant it in a pleasant park… what happens next? Of course I don’t know. It’s appropriate to pause and say that the writers who, embarking upon a task, does not know what to do.” (Barthelme 509) He starts an actual story to show the process of adding more to whatever you are writing. He later on talks about how if writers are  immediately ready to write and always knowing what’s next it is no longer art but “Journalism and sociology.” This is not the type of writing that Barthelme wants writers to do. He believes it should be more organic/natural.

Conclusion

Writer’s block is not something that just happens. It can be solved and there isn’t one correct way to avoid it. Every person can find a process that works for them when they don’t know what to write next. Carters article is a composition of anecdotes where a writer found themselves blocked and how they found their way out. “I want to mention how it reinforces some of the other strategies for overcoming writer’s block that I’ve come across”(Carter 100)  It gives writers multiple people and theories to relate to. This provides support for the idea that there is a solution to the problem of writer’s block. BIAW provided multiple ways to overcome writer’s block. Murray and Barthelme and Carter share ideas on what writers block does to a writer but they all fortunately give writers different ways to fight it or even accept it.

Geoffry Carter wrote an article called “Writer’s Block Just Happens” in the book Bad Ideas About Writing. BIAW author Geoffrey Carter, Donald Murrary from ‘When Writers Can’t Write’ and David Barthelme from ‘Not Knowing’ all believe that writer’s block has a solution they do though disagree on the solution. According to Geoffrey the concept of Writer’s block is “overblown”. It’s a common misconception that writers go through period of ‘writer’s block’  where they simply can’t write and it the worst time of their life. Writer’s block is not something to shy away from or just happens out of nowhere. There are solutions for writer’s block. Anyone can develop a process to help them get out of writer’s block. To do this, writers need to get to know  their writing process and what works for them. Every source has a different way to conquer the delay known as writer’s block. Murray believes that its a part of the process is to be delayed while writing and it isn’t smart to “write to write”. He sourced David Barthelme that believes that writing without knowing what apart of what makes writing magic.

Explanation

The differences between the solutions  for writer’s block connects them all at the main idea of the existence of solutions for writer’s block. Ideally, Carters solutions gives the writers a chance to expand their writing in a unique way. “ by playing with words and names. Doing so, I believe, negates the very problem of writer’s block.”(Carter 101) He doesn’t believe that writer’s block should actually affect the amount of work you can produce. His idea for fixing writers block is challenging yourself with using different words to create different concepts and overcome  writer’s block. “Whether the patient was calling Bergler out as a burglar”(Carter 101) Profeesor Carters idea of how to solve the writer’s block contrasts from Murray idea. “We delay writing until we can find the need to write.” (Murrary 3) When writers are struggling to write they shouldn’t write is the idea that Murrary is trying to convey to the readers. This contradicts Carter because he gives writers a quick fix for the block but Murray just says embrace it. Barthelme on ‘Not Knowing’ “without scanning process engendered by not-knowing, without the possibility would be no invention.”(Barthelme 510) In other words not knowing where the writing is going can be beneficial and even assist at moments when feeling lost in your writing. The concept of not knowing creates inventions and things unexpected.

Geoffry V. Carter addresses his reader “As a writer myself, I know that writing doesn’t always come easily. Fortunately, I’ve always been good at researching things before I really start writing.”(Carter 99) In other words writing will not always be simple but it is very important for writers to actually research and prepare themselves for what the task ahead. This idea agrees with Murrary in a one way of saying writing won’t come fast and easy all the time. Some writers don’t accept that and expect for writing to be a constant thing with the flow of tons of ideas 24/7. “Amateurs try to write with words; professionals write with  information. They collect warehouses full of information, far more than they need, so much information that its  sheer abundance makes the need for meaning and order insistent. (Murrary 2) The point of researching and having prior knowledge is important before immediately writing, it also suggests that the lack of research can  prohibit writing. 

Writers are destined to be stuck at some point and Bathelme feels strongly that it’s normal. His book is written where he is actually writing a story, while demonstrating his process of writing at the same time. The way he formated his chapter in the Georgia Review made it difficult to find the places where he described his thoughts about ‘writer’s block’. It was very abstract like he never explicitly  said writer’s block but to infer he was talking about what he does when he doesnt know whats next in writing. “Let us suppose that someone is writing a story. From the conventional signs he takes an azalea bush, planta it in a pleasant park… what happens next? Of course I don’t know. It’s appropriate to pause and say that the writers who, embarking upon a task, does not know what to do.” (Bathelme 509) He starts an actual story to show the process of adding more to whatever you are writing. He later on talks about how if writers are  immediately ready to write and always knowing what’s next it is no longer art but “Journalism and sociology.” This is not the type of writing that Barthelme wants writers to do. He believes it should be more organic/natural.

Conclusion

Writer’s block is not something that just happens. It can be solved and there isn’t one correct way to avoid it. Every person can find a process that works for them when they don’t know what to write next. Carters article is a composition of anecdotes where a writer found themselves blocked and how they found their way out. “I want to mention how it reinforces some of the other strategies for overcoming writer’s block that I’ve come across”(Carter 100)  It gives writers multiple people and theories to relate to. This provides support for the idea that there is a solution to the problem of writer’s block. BIAW provided multiple ways to overcome writer’s block. Murray and Barthelme and Carter share ideas on what writers block does to a writer but they all fortunately give writers different ways to fight it or even accept it.

                                                                                      Introduction
In the blog “Bad Ideas About Writing” Quentin Vieregge states that one of those bad ideas is believing that the five paragraph essay writing method is rhetorically sound. Authors Robert Connors and Lil Brannon express the same sentiments in their blogs. They all contend that the five paragraph method is grossly overrated by many educators and overused in primary and secondary schools. Vieregge, Connors and Brannon all believe that by using the method students spend more time trying to stick to rigid guidelines and producing models than creating in depth independently thought out papers. A better idea to this bad idea is for teachers to use other less formulated approaches to writing in the classroom that are less restrictive and more widely used in colleges.
                                                                                    Explanation
The five paragraph method consists of an introduction that usually has an attention grabbing hook and a thesis that states the argument, three paragraphs that support the thesis and a conclusion that restates the thesis and closes the paper. Using this method, students are usually given a topic to discuss using the formula. Quentin Vieregge says that students aren’t taught to think and feel fully but “rather they’re taught to learn their place as future workers in an assembly line economy: topic sentence, support, transition, repeat.” (Vieregge, 211) He says he and other opponents believe that requiring this repetitive approach restricts writers from expressing themselves in other ways and “all but guarantees that writing will be a chore (for students.” (Vieregge, 211) A writer trying to replicate a model won’t use their skills to expand, explore and explain with enjoyment, he said.
College professors want their students to think more critically and creatively and actually enjoy the process of research and writing. “Most college writing instructors have eschewed the 5PM, contending that it limits what writing can be, constricts writers roles, and even arbitrarily shapes writers’ thoughts.” (Vieregge, 209) According to Vieregge, college professors aren’t looking for robotic writers but writers who can independently express themselves with creativity and clarity. They also want students to be able to express themselves using different writing techniques.
Most great philosophers and writers don’t write in using one particular format, so why is just one taught in high schools and four year colleges? What reasons would these teachers have in teaching an arbitrary format to young developing writers? Defenders of this method may say things like “Skilled writers use templates all the time; they actually enhance creativity; and they’re meant to guide and inspire rather than limit.” (Vieregge, pg 211) and “The 5PM gives the writer a starting point, it’s like the skeleton of the paper.” Vieregge says skilled writers may use some sort of templates but they don’t use the five paragraph method nor is it certain that they even approve using them.
Some five paragraph proponents have also argued that the model helps students who lack structure and for in their writing. Not according to Lil Brannon who says students who use this method aren’t really learning to build upon a structure but to simply learning to imitate one. “Students learn that writing means following a set of instructions, filling in the blanks.” (Brannon, 3). Instead of creative structure they are learning apply formulaic writing formats to their discourse. This can be seen in lower academia where students are given step by step instruction. They must master one skill to be declared ready for learning more complex material. The writing process becomes more robotic than fluid and grades are given on the basis of one following rigid directions rather than true comprehension and free expression.
Children who learn to conform to these set of guidelines are seen as smart while those who don’t are often branded as slow or in need of special education. These so called “struggling writers” are put into these remedial classes where they are still programmed to learn the five paragraph format. Brannon states “The deficit model labels these same children as remedial or even having learning disabilities.” (Brannon,18). This way of evaluating writing skills is both damaging and discouraging, Brannon states. process discourages individuality and creativity of young and impressionable writers.
According to Robert J. Connors this process has been going on since the early 1900s. Connors gives a statement which shows the prior usage of templates similar to the five paragraph method. He says “The first—which was the rise of single mode textbooks, especially those dealing with exposition. The second was the appearance of the new sort of textbook which I like to call “thesis text.” (Connors, 18). The text explains the history of books that demonstrate how to use single discourse templates. Out of all of them, the five paragraph method was the most popular since it gave teachers the belief that it was the best way of helping students formulate coherent paragraphs.

                                                                          Conclusion
Our school systems are being greatly hindered by this seemingly reliable writing format. Connors states “These teachers believe they are being “good teachers,” putting their faith in the institution of schooling and helping their students, they believe, secede in it.” (Connors,19) Teachers spend more time teaching a format than actually teaching students how to write. They are doing students a disservice. The testing industry pressures teachers heavily to give their students guidance and structure so the five paragraph method seems convenient. This method makes it easier for teachers to determine and generalize their students weaknesses when writing is complicated and vast, especially for beginners. Teachers just grade by finding topic sentences, counting the sentences in each paragraph and looking for a definite thesis. This grading process completely ignores the writer’s message and meaning. This leaves students thinking this writing method is appropriate and standard. Then these students bring the five paragraph method way of thinking and writing to college but they receive poor grades from their professors who are confused on why the students are writing in a format their rubric didn’t ask for.

                                                                               Work Cited
Connors, Robert J. “The Rise and Fall of the Modes of Discourse.” College Composition and Communication 32.4(1981): 444-55.

(Wickenheiser, Natasha. “Lil Brannon Et Al., ‘The Five-Paragraph Essay and the Deficit Model of Education.’” Scrapbooked Inquiries, 18 Apr. 2016, scrapbookedinquiries.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/lil-brannon-et-al-the-five-paragraph-essay-and-the-deficit-model-of-education/.

Textbooks, Open Access. “Open Access Textbooks.” Bad Ideas About Writing | Open Access Textbooks | WVU Libraries, textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/index.html.

                   Most high schools in the United State focus on formal outlining as a way of organizing students’ papers or essays. According to Kristin Milligan, in her essay “Formal outlines are always useful,” in the book Bad Ideas About writing, believes that “formal outlines are always useful” is a bad idea about writing because she believes it inhibits the development of writing skills of students. In Wavoord Barbara E. et al’s article of “Functions of outlining among college students in four disciplines” looked at the role outlines play in students’ work, especially how students can incorporate different writing strategies with the outlines. In Flower and Hayes’ article of “Problem-solving strategies and the writing process” focused on the writing process which highlighted individual differences of students and how they approach writing as a communication problem to be solved. From all these sources the better idea about writing here is that students should adapt the use of outlines with other strategies to enhance the development of their writing process. “Formal outlines” are not supposed to be mandatory. Rather, they should be made flexible such that students can easily adjust and adapt the use of it as and when necessary. This essay tends to focus on students and teachers, as they are the main users of mandatory outlines for them to embrace the idea of adapting the use of outlines to suit each students’ individual differences of the writing process.
                 Formal outlines just help students to organize their ideas quickly without going into details or helping them to develop these ideas to make a better argument or take a position on the topic they are writing on. The formal outlines given by teachers just focus students’ attention on the organization or how the essay should look like after they are done, which just makes the outlines a priority rather than directing their focus towards the writing process. According to Milligan, “instead of only choosing a familiar and mandated organizational form, students should be allowed to use the strategies that work best with their own intelligence to foster their growth” (Milligan, 164). Based on this idea, it would be more beneficial if teachers would always consider the uniqueness of their students when assigning papers to them. Individual differences and how each student approach learning, or writing plays an important role on the extent to which teachers make outlining of assignments mandatory for their students. One major thing teachers need to consider is, to make assignments open enough to cater for the different learning characteristics each of their students come on board with so that they can learn to adapt and incorporate different strategies in their writing process. This is to help students develop their writing skills and improve upon their writing process and be able to make a better argument on a topic without just concentrating on meeting the assignment requirements. 

                   Being aware of one’s own writing process is very helpful when one is writing a paper that is somehow complex, and he or she is able to strategize to incorporate different strategies into the writing process. The use of mandatory outlines tends to hinder the development of this writing skill since most teachers don’t take individual differences into consideration when assigning writing papers. Every writer has their own writing process and a continuous practice helps them to improve upon these processes. Writing is a messy practice that needs to be seen as a communication problem. In solving this problem, students need to incorporate different strategies in their writing process which the use of formal outlines tends to hinder. Opening up the writing process for students to become aware of their individual differences helps them to strategize when they become stuck at a point in writing a paper. According to Flower and Hayes “an even more compelling way to organize a paper is to simply follow the pattern of your own discovery process” (Flower and Hayes p.459). This means that the when students become aware of their own writing process and what works for them would mold them to become better writers. This self-awareness can help them to adapt their strategies when faced with complex situation of generating an idea as they work on their papers or essays.

                   The use of mandatory outlines tend to hinder creativity in students’ paper, especially not being able to address their readers and turn their attention in a particular direction and being able to sustain it throughout the writing process. Creativity here means students are able to adapt their writing skills or combine it with other strategies in developing one’s ideas in such a way that it arouses the interest of their readers to keep reading till the end. The flexibility in the use of outlines can be demonstrated by students as they interestingly combined this with other writing processes when assignments papers are open enough, Walvoord et al acknowledges that “students used to outline recursively, interspersed with other writing strategies” (p. 416). The use of outlines recursively encourages students to explore multiple writing strategies at every stage of the writing process that can help in their personal skills development. Milligan also pinpointed that “when students decide to adapt outlines to benefit their personal writing method, it reinforces the fact that writing is recursive and a non-linear process” (Milligan p. 165). Using outlines recursively brings out quality in student paper which tends to foster this creativity and focuses students attention on developing their ideas in an interesting way that  helps them to approach their work with authority and voice without just writing their paper in a linear hierarchical structure just to meet the teacher’s expectations.

                   In conclusion, the aim of this paper is not to write off the use of formal outlines rather to promote the adaptation of outlines in combination with other writing strategies to enhance the writing skills of students. Though formal outlines are good, teachers should not encourage students to stick to this style of writing but should urge them to be more dynamic with their writing skills so that they can be able to handle any kind of writing assignments, even the most complex and frustrating ones, “in doing so, there’s possibility that students’ beliefs about their writing efficacy will increase” (Milligan p. 164). With the hope of increasing flexibility and opening up the writing process to promote self-awareness,this would also help students to become more confident in their writing skills, even those that lack the ability to change their tactics when faced with frustrations of trying to generate an idea especially when they have less or no idea about the topic they are writing on, “although the writer has alternative procedures she or he may not have enough self-conscious awareness of his or her skills to invoke them when needed” (Flower and Hayes p.451).  This awareness can bring to bear in the minds of students that writing is an important skill they can master. Further research can be done by analyzing the effect of individual differences on the writing process.   

CITATION

Milligan, Kristin. “Formal Outlines Are Always Useful.” BAD IDEAS: 163.

Walvoord, Barbara E., et al. “Functions of Outlining Among College Students in Four Disciplines” Research in the Teaching of English (1995): 390-421.

Flower, Linda S., and John R. Hayes. “Problem-Solving Strategies and the Writing Process.” College English 39.4 (1977): 449-461.

what is reading and writing??

    The ability to read and write is called literacy. Which is the most important skill that one can learn because it’s used in so many places like in schools, work, home and everywhere you go. I did a lot of research about reading and writing and I had different but at some extent same perspective from different authors and what they think about reading and writing. From the book, Bad Ideas About Writing, I read one from the many sections of the book “Reading and writing are not connected,” (38-42) written by Ellen C. Carillo. From this section of the book, according to the author she believes that is a bad idea to continue privileging writing at expense of reading. This is a bad idea because reading and writing go hand in hand, and they are related so teachers shouldn’t focus only on one. The author also says that in public debates about the best way to teach literacy at the college level that people fail to acknowledge is that reading, and writing are connected practices and, as such, the best way to teach them is together. In other words, Ellen C. Carillo thinks that is a better idea to teach reading and writing together because they are connected and benefits are greater than when taught separately,  like the author said, “Although writing is more often thought of as a creative act, reading is just as creative. When one writes, one is creating meaning by putting words and ideas together. When one reads, the same thing is happening” (40). Research has shown that when students receive writing instruction, their reading fluency and comprehension improve however, without strategies for reading course material and opportunities to write thoughtfully about it, students have difficulty mastering concepts. This shows that reading and writing are connected, and they should be taught together without neglecting one.

“why is the kid struggling to write??

You may ask, does every scholars or authors think the same way Ellen C. Carillo think is a better idea about reading and writing? For in depth about this question, I scrolled through the For further reading of, ‘Reading and writing are not connected’ written by Ellen C. Carillo, and  I found two sources that I decide to do a further research on and try to find what the two authors think is a better idea about reading and writing. These two sources are, Robert Scholes’s “The Transition to College Reading” and “A Relationship between Reading and Writing: The Conversational Model1” written by Charles Bazerman. In Robert Scholes’s “The Transition to College Reading,” he focuses on how to deal with the problems or deficiencies in the preparation of college students in literature courses. The author gives advice to student, stating that they need to connect the development of reading and writing skills to the real world. Just like the author of “Reading and writing are not connected,” Robert Scholes swears that reading is neglected by many teachers and they only focus on teaching writing only. On the other hand, in the Article “A Relationship between reading and writing” written by Charles Bazerman was mainly about how reading and writing relate to each other. it talks about how a lot of people don’t understand the relation therefore causing a lot of struggle when writing. it also talks about a writing method using ancient antecedents and how it disciplines a person’s writing because writing in content disciplines requires mastery of disciplinary literature (59). When people think of reading and writing they are aware that they connect but avoid the real reasons why. There are steps that one must go through, that the author feels show great importance. One thing in the article that caught my attention was that the amount of information that people know about reading and writing effects how they write in subjects such as history, biology, and philosophy (61). He also talks about the many splits in writing that can make it more complex, in thinking about reading and writing in a broader view so that people can make connections (62). Basically, these three authors have the same point of view when it comes to reading and writing. They both believe that is a better idea that teachers should teach reading and writing together because they are related to one another thus, one can’t be a good writer without being a good of a reader. Reading and writing both play a role of someone’s level of literacy. I remember in my elementary grade years, I spent most of my time reading books and the more I read the more I became good at it. As a result, I started learning new vocabularies and structure of writing like how to put thoughts together and flowing in a logic way. My reading perfected my writing.

reading and writing where is the big deal?

    In conclusion, I agree with all the three authors and my thoughts on what step should teachers take is advice on “reading and writing are not connected,” Ellen C. Carrillo said, “We are all encountering more text and visual images than ever before. There is a great deal at stake if we don’t take the opportunity to teach active reading alongside writing. Instructors need to teach students different strategies for reading the complex texts they will encounter throughout their academic careers and in the world” (41). Also reading and writing develops a communication skill.  All students deserve higher literacy level that’s why they attend schools for education and teachers should be able to provide a better way of teaching. Instructors might also provide a strategy such as reading like a writer, wherein readers notice the choices a writer has made and understands the relevance of those choices to their own writing.

references:

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

•  'Transition to college reading' Robert Scholes Pedagogy (2002) 2 (2): 165-172

• https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/books/mindful/chapter6.pdf

“Writing Knowledge Transfer Easily” yesterday not be what we think is going to occur. Therefore, we as student get stuck in writing before we even start writing and see what the results looks like. Reading and learning may be different subjects. As an introductory college students taking normal classes, it is important to obtain knowledge, which will be helpful and useful for their next writing courses or to apply those knowledge into more advance classes. Why don’t we just start learning to transfer and move forward to motivate ourselves without thinking about what we can do and can’t do? It is possible to improve writing knowledge transfer in students’ ability. Along the way two other sources will be mentioned.

According to Carillo, he mentions the word “Automatically.” He describes that student don’t automatically transfer what they have learned from one class into another. Student struggle by taking require introductory courses. Students benefit from struggle as it help them to learn their lesson. A students can accomplish writing knowledge transfer by continuing to write, never giving up. For example, let’s say a student doesn’t know how to write the alphabet but he wants to learn how to write, he realized that he can start tracing over the letter, so that later he can quickly write on a paper without looking. This means he is a capable learner and can transfer his writing knowledge. Everything started with just putting the pencil on the paper and starting to write until the edge of the paper.

Furthermore, there are a variety of ways that students may navigate to promote themselves as transfer learners. One of my second sources shows different way of transferring method. According to, “Transfer of Learning, High road and Low road transfer.” Salomon and Perkins (1989, Perkins and Salomon 198). High road transfer is not in general reflexive, but it demands time for exploration and the investment of mental efforts and low road transfer is too mediated by external or mental representations but is a relatively reflexive process. In this case two road can work as a team by getting connected with each other. This is another way in which student can transfer their learning ability. Flexible is another key word for students to be motivated by different learning styles and requirement. For example, “In many situations, transfer will indeed take care of itself – situation where the conditions of reflexive transfer are met more or less automatically “(Salomon and Perkins, p8).  Situations come from different angles therefore a student must be influenced by the expert.

Moreover, there are more methods that illustrate how students and transfer learning interact. “Similarity and analogical transfer.” (Vosniadou and Ortony 1989). In this source the authors provide several ways of transferring knowledge especially analogical mapping and relations of situation, etc. When we see the word “map” we know that there are multiple way that student can transfer learning. The part here is that learners can figure out by trying every direction as free-direction. For instance, here what the author mentions by Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.: “Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up.” This text the readers might think of an instance of pure mapping by conveying the knowledge structure from the mind of planting, growing to the idea of development where they receive a completely new thought about the latter domain. But the result here is not as much conveying the new knowledge as it is concentrating the attention on certain parts of the existing knowledge.

As a result, every student likes to guide themselves into different direction to select transfer or learning and writing. These authors of the three sources that I have read describe transfer is not impossible but shouldn’t be taken for granted. Day by day we meet the requirement that we need in order to transfer ourselves into different positions. Transfer comes hard when we examine the steps. In this case we must keep marching forward. There is no end for transferring but there is unlimited performance that we can develop to obtain more knowledge from transferring. In education students can achieve plenty of transfer if there is a blueprint.

Sources:

Carillo, Ellen C. “Writing Knowledge Transfer Easily.” In: Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, (Eds). Bad Ideas About Writing. West Virginia University Libraries, Digital Publishing Institute, 2017, p34-37.

Perkins, D. and Salomon, G. (1992). Transfer of Learning. In: [online] Jaymctighe.com. Available at: https://jaymctighe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Transfer-of-Learning-Perkins-and-Salomon.pdf

Vosniadou, S. and Ortony, A. (1989). Similarity and analogical reasoning. [online] Citeseerx.ist.psu.edu. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.320.7650&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Strong writing and writers don’t need revision

When writing revision is key in order to be a better writer weather you are a writer or not, better writing that should be your goal from the start. Remember even experienced writer have problem to overcome. Writing should never be seen as perfect in the first place. When writing you should be looking improve in every writing situation. You should think of writing as reflection of you. If you never attempt to receive feedback from an outsource hoe will you ever get better at writing. Never forget to embrace messy writing.

• Revision Strategies to encourage strong Student

Having a clear understanding of what you are actually writing is a big key to actually learning what you are doing right or incorrectly. You have to really think about what actually exist in writing or when it come time to show the audience, they will be even more lost and uninterested. Erica Lynn Cirillo-McCarthy think it’s better to direct your writing and look at it as working parts, almost like a machine or gears. Sommers says that revising confuses the start and the finish the agent and vehicle it confuses in order to find the exact argument. Revision is not meant to confuse the writer but to blur the way writing is perceived to be which a perfect writing process it should be messy. Sommers believes that students should embrace the messy recursive way of writing to challenge the writer. Revision is really a correlation of you and the writing meaning your writing represents you this is what your audience will be looking for, the personality in your writing. Nancy Sommers main thing was trying to get students past the simple way of the writing process and order to be stronger with revision. Nancy Sommers also stated that students focus to much on word choice and sentence organization. Sommers really wanted students to move past the word components of writing and teach themselves how to view writing as an expansion of ideas.

• Seven keys to effective feedback

Feedback is used to describe all comments after everything is finished, advice and other things. Feedback is no more than information about your efforts to reach your objective. Some examples of feedback would be tone of voice the reader letting you know what he is truly feeling about your wring process. To even receive feedback the writer should already have an idea of what their goal is. Studies have shown that teaching less and giving student feedback will result in better knowledge. An example of feedback could be my football coach telling me that I give too many steps on the snap of the ball or my baseball coach telling me my rear elbow to too low causing me to miss the ball. Feedback should useful to the writer, there to help in a user-friendly manner.

• Being transparent

Being able to get useful feedback is important in ways of learning new thing about yourself as a writer, being a writer the effect you give means a lot you have to look for clue within the audience, such face expression, giggles and gasp because it all correlates to the effect and personality your writing have. But as for the audience feedback should be user friendly, why? The feedback won’t be any good to the writer if they are not understanding it or overwhelmed by the criticism. You have to get the writer to understand the importance of what you saw that was a flaw in order to expect any improvement. 

• Good and Effective consistency

Feedback should be always there no matter what. The problem is really that most writer think that they have it no that that they have receive and that’s it but No, because what happens the next time you have to be the performer again, but this audience is way different. There’s always time and a place for constructive criticism.

• Adjusting your performance

With performance feedback is needed and should be timely, why?  Instant feedback is great because the performer could have a chance to alter his effect on the audience. Having the opportunity to do this allows the writer to plan ahead and learn how to move the audience the way he want weather its emotion or verbal. the main thing is that writers have to learn that making errors is a bad thing, but not learning from them is.

• What feedback shouldn’t be

First let’s talk about what feedback shouldn’t be, saying that you didn’t do this right or I don’t like how you expressed this is not feedback, you have to dig in and give them useful info that they can actually work on, no one can work their writing with criticism like “I don’t like this”. These are three examples of what feedback shouldn’t be.

• You need more examples in your report.
• Gloves would work better for this job.
• You should run on your toes.

Sources:

Erica, Lynn, Cirillo, McCarthy. “Revision Strategies to encourage strong Student Writing”, Stanford University., (2014)

Grant Wiggins, “Seven Keys To Effective Feedback”, ASCD.org., (2012)

Laura Giovanelli, “Bad Ideas about Writing”, pg 104 -108, (2017)

Does writing knowledge transfer easily? Ellen o carillo believes that writing knowledge transferring easily is a bad idea. she believes that educators should come up with new ways to figure how to teacher writing to promote the transfer knowledge. the curriculum must be redesigned to meet the needs of transfer knowledge and educators must be taught to do so. it does not matter how an educator teaches; they just must incorporate metacognition. metacognition Is defined as the awareness or understanding of one’s thoughts. metacognition in the classroom will allow students to think about what they are learning. the exercises taught by metacognition will give students the potential to think about what they have learned and possibly put students in a position to transfer the writing knowledge they have learned. it is actually useful to anybody transferring knowledge to any future context. there have been teachings tested that benefits the teachings for transfer. “They found that students in courses with instructors who taught for transfer did transfer their writing skills and knowledge more regularly than students who were in other types of writing courses.” this proves that the metacognition teachings is a better way of transferring the writing knowledge in students. if the studies are taken serious, colleges and university will soon see that the upbringing of the new curriculum and teachings will not keep the myth of writing knowledge transfer easily, alive.

teaching first year writers to use text is an important in transferring your writing knowledge. Douglas Downs, a professor at Montana state university, has written an article called “teaching first-year writers to use text: scholarly readings in writing-about-writing in first-year comp.” he speaks the importance of reading and understanding the text you are reading. in the first paragraph of his article he states” if we take as given that reading is embedded in communities of practice, so that making meaning of texts requires readers to construct representations of texts with reference to the activity the text is a tool in meditating…” He indicates that if students are taught to think about what they are reading, they have a better chance of being a better writer. Douglas Downs also speaks on James Sosnoski’s “hyper-reading.” hyper reading is the reading you do when you look something up on the internet. The features of hyper reading include filtering, skimming, peeking, imposing, filming, trespassing, de- authorizing, and fragmentation. these are all the short cuts of reading and you do not understand the text in which you are reading.

teaching rhetorical reading is the most grounded reading technique there is. Douglas downs teaches his students that making sense of the scholarly texts and helping them learn how to participate in the activities is what we call rhetorical reading. downs refer to what Christina Haas constructing a rhetorical frame by rhetorically moving past autonomous texts to account for many rhetorical elements. rhetorical reading points out that context simply means the activity system that a text comes from. it is easy to teach a student rules for understanding work of a scholarly. what people don’t realize is, the texts are motivated and have an agenda which is what shifts a student’s perspective from fact to argument.

there are ways of knowing, doing, and writing in the disciplines. Michael carter has written an article on the ways of knowing, doing, and writing in the disciplines. disciplines are defined by training people to do by the rules or a code of behavior. within writing, disciplines is defined as to impose order on serious writers and to refine their writing techniques. Michael carter suggests in his article that teachers must first understand their students writing before they can guide them in the next direction. after they have understood, they can then provide them with the criticism they need to become a better writer. writing outside he suggests is that you are writing for you, creatively with the rules. writing disciplined is you are following grammatic rules and regulations about writing and being a writer. “one way of understanding the distinction I am drawing between writing outside and writing in the discipline is the difference between knowledge and knowing,” he suggests that there is difference between knowing and knowledge. knowledge is what you have told or taught while knowing is what you have understood or taken from the knowledge that you have been told. the organization in the principle of knowledge has always been seen as conceptual knowledge. this is why educator and students understand learning in a discipline process in a short-term memory. the question is how you bridge the gap between writing in or out the disciplines.

I see that all three authors have agreed the curricula has taught students they must follow a system and keep up to make it in writing, when in reality that is not the case. the learning process for individual is different and not every educator should teach in the same way it has always been taught. all three of these authors seem agree that most students have not been prepared college and university level writing. a better idea would be to create a curriculum that benefits a student to become a better writer instead getting them by just enough to move up to the next level.

Abdimalik Hersi
12/05/2019

In this text, I will be discussing about Allison D. Carr’s essay “Failure Is Not an Option”. According to Carr, saying that failure is not an option in writing is a bad idea because Carr believes that failure occurs every day to millions of people whether they are writers or teachers. Both Carr’s argument and her sources indicate that making failure an option is a better idea about writing. For instance, they all think that when someone fails- in this case writing, it is an opportunity for that person to learn and grow. They also indicate that making failure an option gives them the freedom to effectively acknowledge their mistakes and make improvements from it.

In “Failure Is Not an Option” Allison D. Carr describes several reasons why writers should avoid saying that failure is not an option in their writing field. She argues that failure is a fundamental part in writing. According to Carr, she states that “Failure should be welcomed, if not actively sought out, signaling as it does both the presence of creative, risky thinking and an opportunity to explore a new direction” (Carr 76). By saying this, Carr means that failure is necessary in writing because she thinks that failure allows writers the opportunity to acknowledge and take responsibilities for their mistakes. This could also mean that Carr believes failure helps writers to effectively think and produce a good writing. She also believes that good writing requires “years—decades, probably—of repeated failure” (Carr 78). This shows that writing requires lots of practice and essentially with failure. Then, it leads writers into gaining the confidence of their written work. For instance, as Carr mentioned good writing doesn’t come easy because it is a process and within the process a writer gains the confidence of their written work. Also failure is not limited only in writing but it also takes place in all academics as well. In “Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class” Katrina Schwartz describes “Carol Deck’s research on growth mindset” (Schwartz). According to Schwartz, she states that “The Stanford psychologist found that children who understand that their brains are malleable and can change when working through challenging problems can do better in school. Now, many school districts are attempting to teach growth mindset to their students” (Schwartz). This shows that the study conveys children can learn better when they have growth mindset. And they can also develop their learning strategy because Schwartz thinks that these children don’t have a fixed mindset. Also Schwartz states “PERTS has developed a toolkit to support the adults in children’s lives who are struggling to change their practice” (Schwartz). This means that these students have been through some challenges, in other words they have failed multiple times. However, Schwartz thinks that since their brains are malleable they were able to overcome their challenges. Similarly Carr’s argument that failure should be an option in writing agrees with Schwartz main Idea in her essay about growth mindset. Moreover, Carol Dweck’s research on “Growth Mindset” also agrees with Katrina Schwartz. Her study focuses on student’s attitudes about failure. In her research, Dr. Dweck talks about growth mindset and fixed mindset. She states that “When students believe they can get smarter, they understand that effort makes them stronger. Therefore they put in extra time and effort, and that leads to higher achievement” (Dweck). This shows that when students have growth mindset they make mistakes but they don’t give up rather they overcome and continue with their work. This could mean when Carr says that failure should be an option in writing she also believes that growth mindset gives writers the freedom to produce a good writing process which leads them to be successful in their writing. It also shows that failure encourages students to take their failures and use them to learn and grow.

We can see that all of these three sources say that failure is good in academia. They believe that failure helps both students and writers to learn and grow. They all agree that failure should be an option. From my perspective, I also agree with their argument for several reasons. First, I believe that in general failure happens to everyone whether they are students, teachers writers, and etc. I am still in my first year of college and I am still facing challenges in my English class. For example, during the first moth of my English class, I was assigned to write a self-reflective essay. However, I didn’t know where to begin or how to start it even though I was given instructions. Eventually, I have started it with the help my English professor and I was able to submit. However, I received a poor grade as well as comments and feedbacks from my professor. The comments and feedbacks indicated that I have failed to give enough examples. But my failure to give enough examples have encouraged me and changes because in my later writing assignments I was able to avoid the same mistake. This shows us that failure gives us the opportunity to learn and grow as we practice more and more. If you are a writer and are afraid of failing, I suggest that you think failure as an opportunity for bettering your writing.

Work Cited

1. Carr, Allison D. “Failure is not an option.” In: Cheryl E. Ball, Drew M. Loewe, (Eds). Bad Ideas About Writing. West Virginia University Libraries, Digital Publishing Institute, 2017, p.76.
2. Schwartz, Katrina. “Growth Mindset: How to Normalize Mistake Making and Struggle in Class.” KQED, 27 Jan. 2017, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/41700/growth-mindset-how-to-normalize-mistake-making-and-struggle-in-class.
3. Dweck, Carol. “Decades of Scientific Research That Started a Growth Mindset Revolution.” The Growth Mindset – What Is Growth Mindset – Mindset Works, https://www.mindsetworks.com/science/.