Final Learning Blog

I did not learn much from the first unit, but the last two have been interesting.  I learned exactly how one should not go about testing a genre of literature and my failure to learn anything makes me wish I could do unit two over again.  I did learn some things from unit two, but they were not about genres.  I got to practice giving surveys again and I was eager to implement what I learned about giving surveys first semester.  I feel like it gave me a chance to refine my skills in gathering the information I wanted from participants and while I was still dissatisfied with the survey results, I think I could administer a competent survey after my experiences in unit two.

I really liked the peer reviews we did in class and the fact we learned how to become better peer reviewers.  I have never had an instructor, from high school or college, address how to peer review, much less how to be a good peer reviewer.  I can count the number of positive and constructive peer reviews I have been a part of, outside of this class, on one hand, but I have found every peer review in this class helpful.  I wish we had more time to peer review during the course of this class, especially with the final article, I felt rushed during our peer reviews and I think I could have gotten more out of them if we could have had more time.  Until this class, I despised peer reviews and outside of this class I still find them largely unhelpful.  My English professors almost always set aside time for them, but they are never useful.  I think we could have spent more time on learning how to become better peer reviewers and I definitely think that it is something that should be addressed in introductory English classes for English majors.

The final article was the most challenging unit for me and often made me extremely frustrated.  I think it was a good way to end the semester and challenge us to employ skills we have been learning during the semester.  Especially considering that most classes don’t do anything like that, final tests draw on previous learned knowledge, but rarely does a class require me to actually employ any knowledge or skill from a course to create something.  I think I learned a little bit about myself from the assignment and that really did surprise me.  When I was writing it, I was just trying to get through it, but as I kept going and started to edit my article I realized a couple things.  It’s been a long time since I have written a really challenging paper and I had honestly forgotten what it was like.  Writing a challenging paper can be extremely stressful and frustrating.  I stressed when I did not have a topic and I felt childish and stupid when I was not prepared for class.  It takes me back to experiences I had with papers in high school and it was not pleasant.  It made me realize that I still have a very long way to go before I am even a decent writer and I need to be more aware of how I can improve my writing. 

I am surprised by how much I learned from this class, while a lot of what we talked about and sleeked to improve were by no means new concepts to me, but the practice is still important.  The most important things that I took away from this class were a better understanding of current social and historical contexts and stronger writing skills.  Discussing cultural and historical contexts was interesting, because I don’t consider the cultural and historical contexts of present times in the same way that I consider the contexts of the past.  I think it’s easier to look back on the past and identify contexts than it is to identify them as they are going on presently.  I think this is mostly due to personal bias, I have a very biased view of the present world and it’s more difficult for me to examine and identify my biases than those of other people from the past.  On the other hand, I think that I have a better view of a particular point in the past, because it can be generalized.  This is not the case with the present, everything is unfolding around me and it’s harder to find large patterns with shorter time periods and take into account everything that is happening.  I also found the writing we did for English 101 to be very helpful.  It seems plainly obvious now, but practice always helps and I am pretty sure, at least for me, I will never be too good for it. 

Proposal: GOOD grammar is overrated

1. Article arguing that correct grammar usage and sophisticated word choice should not be a major concern in academic papers/texts if it does not make the paper/text harder to understand for readers. It's best for authors to write in a form that feels natural to them
2. Academic papers (college level)
3. Combination of personal experience and research
4. Possibly internet forums
5. MLA style citations

FINAL LEARNING BLOG 2

I think my unit two research project was a little flawed from the get go.  I do not think that changing the language of our diary entry was subtle enough.  If I had the chance to do it again I would change the format of the diary entry, I probably would not use a diary entry either. 

            Through our project I learned that people can’t completely understand a text that has “made- up” words in it.  Some of it can be understood using context clues, but for the most part it can be interpreted in a lot of ways.  It makes me wonder how difficult it into translate literature from one language to another or try to understand a dead language.  It also makes me realize how much can be expressed in just a few words, especially if they are “loaded words.”  Some words carry strong or vivid connotations.  I think testing people’s reaction to words with a traditionally strong connotation(s) would make for an interesting study.  I think I would start by writing a horrific and heart wrenching text, but use fairly happy language or visa- versa.

            I know this course is supposed all about independent work on things we are have not considered before, but I was slightly confused in this unit.  I had no idea what you were looking for in our research.  Social and historical contexts are major factors in our perception of reality.  They are infinitely complex concepts and basically any observation can qualify as a comment on social and/or historical context.  This really is not a problem in and of itself, but I do not think that you’re simply looking for just any observations.  In the layout for the unit research findings, under section five, you give us fairly specific instructions.  “Finally, this section connects your research to those larger writing/contextual/rule issues that we’ve been studying all semester.”  I have absolutely no idea what these specific contexts and rules are referring to.  I remember discussing their existence in class, but that is it.  I do not remember any specific “issues” we associated with historical and social contexts.

            My final thoughts on unit two are that I have done something I have never really done before.  I have never constructed a research test to evaluate social and historical contexts of literature.  It is a much different way of learning about social and historical contexts than I am used to.  I consider these contexts everyday when I read for my other English class and I sure I will be doing the same for the next few years, but this was different.  Studying literature that is being influenced by today’s society and perception of history is so much more direct.  It is a different level of interaction with other people and our current perceptions.

Notes 2/27- monday

Diary Entry
- possibly 8th grade girl's perspective
- location: someone's whiteboard, bathroom door, in front of elevators
- very personal in nature, "if someone read this I would just die"
The purpose of this study is to explore the how people react to a traditionally private genre posted in a very public place

Standard English

1. Standard English means different things to different people, English is spoken by a diverse group of people and there is no universal definition. I think it is safe to say that most English- speakers would describe their idea of standard English as the language they use daily when writing and speaking.

2. The variety of English that an individual may define as standard is the form of English that they would be most familiar with. It is probably the English that they encounter most often and use to communicate with.

3. There are situations that students should use a different language than English in the classroom, for example Chinese students probably should not speak English in most classrooms settings, unless it is an English class of course. Students in classrooms of English speaking establishments should also consider not writing or speaking in their idea of standard English if their message can be expressed in a better form of English, whatever that may be.

4. I think that a good writer is someone who achieves what they want from their writing. For example, writing is most often used to convey a message and a good writer will be able to convey their message to those who read their writing and also take pride in the way they conveyed the message.

5. I think that a bad writer is someone who does not convey the message they had in mind or does so in a manner that dissatisfies the receiver.

6. Some people do not speak or write English in a way that I perceive to be standard, but that does not imply that their idea of standard English is incorrect.

7. I really have no authority to say what types of writing students should be doing in elementary and secondary school to prepare for college and the work force. I also have no idea how to respond, the only thing that I can say for certainty is that the writing they should be doing should prepare them for the writing they will be doing in the future. Specifically writing that will help them to convey their ideas in such a way that a reader can understand their thoughts.

 8. no