Blog Post 15

I. Rhetorical Overview of the Article

1. What is the author's exigence? Why does the author feel the article/argument needs to be made?

A: Brandt wants to argue that literacy doesn’t just happen. Literacy is acquired through learning it from someone teaching you to be literate.

2a. What discourse community is the author speaking toward for the article? WHY do you think that? Provide textual evidence (e.g., specific language, tone, publication venue, etc.,).

A: The author speaking to a group of educators and her peers. She uses words such as "we" and "we prepare students" which tells me that she is speaking to people like herself such as teachers. 

3. What is the author's thesis/argument/niche for the piece? If possible, quote specifically from the text

A: "What I have tried to suggest is that as we assist and study individuals is pursuit of literacy, we also recognize how literacy is in pursuit of them."

II Summary

1. Write a few sentences that summarizes this article in your own words; make sure to cover the main arguments AND conclusions.

A: In Brandt's article, "Sponsors of Literacy", she explains that people do not just become literate on their own. They have to be taught by people, institutions, and circumstances that make it possible for a person to become literate.

2. Take the summary you just wrote and condense it into something “tweetable,” by which I mean a summary that is NO longer than 140 characters. Consider using the same conventions you would if tweeting, meaning abbreviations and informality in language.

Tweet: Everyone learns to talk, being literate is a skill gained

3. What hashtags (#) would you use for this article? Stated otherwise, what key terms would you provide to describe the content of this article?

#learning #reading #writing #skill #sponsors

III. Burkean Parlor/Intertextuality

1. In what ways does this author and/or the ideas in this article connect with, (dis)agree with, speak to or against –I think you get the gist– previous authors and their ideas that we have encountered in this class?

A: I think Brandt's and Dawkins' articles relate to each other well because in Dawkins he states that there is no good or bad literacy. Everyday we are surrounded by literature commercial, newspapers and advertisements. We can learn from these ads about how to use literature effectively. Having the knowledge of being literate is a huge key to be successful in the world, it really doesn’t matter how you use it though.

IV. Assigned Exercises

1a. How does Brandt describe a literacy sponsor? And what are the characteristics of a literacy sponsor?

A: A Sponsor is a person, institution, or circumstance that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way a person becomes literate. Some characteristics of a sponsor are more knowledgeable then the people they are teaching, and they usually have goals in literacy.

1b. Have you ever had literacy sponsors who withheld certain kinds of literacy from you? Where you able to find alternative sponsors for different kinds of literacy?

A: I went to an all boys private Catholic High school and our teachers wouldn’t let us read things that had to do with witchcraft or magic because that goes against the teaching of the Catholic Church. I was able to go to the public library and read these books on my own time.

Personal Reflection

1. How can you apply the information in this article to your own writing process? First, consider the main ideas that the author addresses, then consider other elements, such as organization, style, etc.

A: I can apply the information in this article to my own writing process because the way I have leaned to write has been influenced by many different sponsors throughout my time of schooling. This article directly applies to every things I’ve have learned from grade school to high school and now in higher education in college.

2. What is confusing about the article? What questions do you have after reading the article?

A; I didn’t find the article very confusing, some of the vocabulary was a bit challenging but other than that I completely understand the main points of the passage.

Blog Post 14

I. Rhetorical Overview of the Article

1. Bryson’s exigence is to promote the idea that following English rules constantly is not a necessity since the rules are constantly changing.

2a.The audience is Brysons peers that either work with him or are other educators because he uses the word “we” several times which suggests that he is speaking to people that are on the same level as he is when it comes to experience in the English field.

2b. He would have to dull down his vocabulary use while also using the word “you” more frequently to make a connection to people my own age.

3. Thesis: “Not to put too fine of a point on it, the labels are largely meaningless” on the first page, at the end of the first paragraph.

II. Summary

1. In “Good English and Bad” Bryson explains how there is no right or wrong ways to use English because of the simple fact the “rules” and language are constantly changing.

2. There is not good or bad English, you can make up your own rules as a writer as long as the reader knows what your talking about.

III. Burkean Palor/Intertextuality

1.   This article relates mainly to the Dawkins article because both articles try and change our views on the idea of not following English rules closely because of how rapidly the rules can change.

IV. Personal reflection

1.   Bryson made me question a lot about what I know and how I use English rules. I think this made me realize that the English language is constantly changing and that following the rules closely is a waste of time.

2.   I really don’t feel like he had much evidence to support his claims at times which to me made his argument invalid, but at the same time it did get me to start questioning English rules and why they even exist.

Blog Post 13

I. Rhetorical overview of the audience 

1. In this article Dawkins explains that punctuation is taught in only one way which is the only way to use punctuations. He also states that punctuation is rhetorical and can influence how a reader looks at or reads text. 

2. Dawkins discourse community are educators and his peers

3."First, manuals of style and college handbooks have it very wrong when it comes to punctuation, (good writers don"t punctuate in that manner)"

3.3.

3.

II. Summary

1. In Dawkins "Teaching Punctuation as a Rhetorical Took" text he compares and contrasts the differences of handbook writing to professional writing. He looks at the rules of punctuation and explains how there is no right or wrong way to use punctuation. He also explains how punctuation is rhetorical and how it change change the way readers understand what they are reading. 

2. Tweet

Learning how to punctuate is best done with studying actual text.

#norightorwrong #nomorehandbooks

III. Burkean Parlor/ Intertextuality

This article relates to Bryson's article because they suggest and explain how following the rules of writing isn't always the best way to write nor does it make your paper more effective.

IV. Personal Reflection

1. The information i gathered from this reading is that you don't always have to follow the rules of writing. It is important to step out of the box when it comes to writing if that means getting your points across more effectively. I do not struggles when it comes to punctuating, but if I could come back to this article for references when writing my next paper.

2. These articles confused me as to why there are even writing rules if they are rarely followed. Also it made me question who gets to say which way of writing works best and why the rules are the way they are.

Blog Post 12

I. Rhetorical overview of the audience 

1.) Bernhardt wrote this article to explain the importance of visual text and how readers connect to this style of writing.

2a.) This article is towards teachers and people who educate students. Bernhardt talks about how visual text is an important tool for for teachers to teach students which leads me to believe he is talking to teachers and not to students

2b.) Thesis: "A text can be seen, must be seen, in a process which is essentially different from the perception of speech".

II. Summary 

1.) In Steven A. Bernhardt's article "Seeing the Text", he explains how using visual imagery can help readers better understand the material while still effectively getting the point across to the audience. He says that visual texts always needs headings for the reader to understand the material. There are many different ways in which someone can use visual text; such as power points, brochures, etc.

2.) Tweet: Visual learning is an effective way to communicate to different audiences rather than boring text #English1510 #Bernhardt

III. Assigned Exercises 

QDJ

1.) Bernhardt characterizes the typical classroom essay as consisting of “full, declarative sentences, arranged in paragraphs with low visual identity” (36). Do you struggle with generating or reading this conventional, low-visual type of writing? Why or why not?

A: I personally do struggle when it comes to reading articles that are low-visual types of writing. Im a very visual learner and when a text has only a small amount of visual writing the message of the article does not get to me like the visual type of writing does. I like to picture things in my head when reading or have visual examples of what I'm reading rather then just reading information that is layed out in front of me.

AEI 

I. Rhetorical Overview of the Article

1. Bryson’s exigence is to promote the idea that following English rules constantly is not a necessity since the rules are constantly changing.

2a.The audience is Brysons peers that either work with him or are other educators because he uses the word “we” several times which suggests that he is speaking to people that are on the same level as he is when it comes to experience in the English field.

2b. He would have to dull down his vocabulary use while also using the word “you” more frequently to make a connection to people my own age.

3. Thesis: “Not to put too fine of a point on it, the labels are largely meaningless” on the first page, at the end of the first paragraph.

II. Summary

1. In “Good English and Bad” Bryson explains how there is no right or wrong ways to use English because of the simple fact the “rules” and language are constantly changing.

2. There is not good or bad English, you can make up your own rules as a writer as long as the reader knows what your talking about.

III. Burkean Palor/Intertextuality

1.   This article relates mainly to the Dawkins article because both articles try and change our views on the idea of not following English rules closely because of how rapidly the rules can change.

IV. Personal reflection

1.   Bryson made me question a lot about what I know and how I use English rules. I think this made me realize that the English language is constantly changing and that following the rules closely is a waste of time.

2.   I really don’t feel like he had much evidence to support his claims at times which to me made his argument invalid, but at the same time it did get me to start questioning English rules and why they even exist.

2.) Does font change the way we understand and interpret text?

I think that font can sometimes change the way we interpret text. Looking at a bland size 12 Times new Roman font on a paper tells me that the article is going to be boring while lacking a visual identity. If the font is colorful and larger it makes it easier to read and connect to.

IV. Personal Reflection

1.) I personally liked this article because it connected to me and my visual learning style. This helped me realize that this is the type of reading/learning style I enjoy while also teaching me to look out for this style of writing in many different types of texts.

2.) I didn't like the article because it was really directed at students. It was directed more to teachers and educators, so in that sense I felt some what a gap between me and the author.