Guidelines and Expectations---
(1)your blog post should be 250-500 words (do not exceed 500 words).
(2)your blog post should engage in conversation with the other bloggers. This means if you are NOT the first one to post you need to mention at least one or two of your peers’ responses in your entry i.e. you may agree or disagree with what someone else’s ideas of what good writing is. You need to cite this person in your response and note why you are citing this person (for example, Kara mentioned that good writing has three components, but I’m not sure I agree. I believe...). Don't forget to do this as it is part of the assignment.
(3) your blog post should respond to the following prompt: (a) what is writing--the definitions, ideas, thoughts, expressions, etc--you associate w/ writing. What makes writing good to you? When you think of arguments and writing--what comes to mind? How do you believe you create an argument? What type of writer do you see yourself as? (b) create a list of 5-8 key terms you believe define good writing and/or good argumentation. By the end of this first blog post, I want you to come up with a definition of writing that includes a list of key terms.
(4) your blog post is due by classtime on Thursday, January 5, 2012.
a) I believe that writing is both an expression of self and an effective means of communicating from one human being to another. I associate writing with mental exercise. By that I mean, if you really want to write a piece at your full potential, then it honestly does work many parts of your brain. I believe that good writing, for me, is thought provoking material found in the composition of either syntax or word choice, or fluency, or metaphor etc. When I think about arguments and writing, negative thoughts about trying to write a better argument than the other person come to mind. I have a word for everything that can be argued, misrepresented, or poorly thought out: Perspective. In order to understand and see the entire situation, it simply takes perspective. That goes for argument writing as it is all a matter of perspective. I believe arguments are based off of opinions that differ from the facts (or in some cases, facts that differ from the opinion) according to one person and their perspective on the matter at hand. I see myself as a creative writer as I write music, songs, lyrics, and much more. However, I do not enjoy writing essays. Ha! b) Understandable, Logical, thought provoking, original, and meaningful to the author. I believe my definition of writing would be and original and logical release for the author that is understandable and thought provoking by the reader as well.
ReplyDeleteWriting to me is a means of communication in which someone can describe an idea or perhaps a feeling or place to another person or other people. I rarely think of writing as a mental exercise as CJ does. More often than not I find myself thinking of it as a taxing chore. I find myself to be a mediocre writer and find that the more difficult the assignment, the more I am faced with my shortcomings as a writer and find myself becoming uninterested. I think that there are different types of good writing. I think that good fiction writing is about painting a picture and putting the reader into the exact moment and following the events of the story as if they are happening to someone right beside them. On the other hand, non-fiction writing is at its best when it is clear and concise and the reader is able to easily understand all the facts and figures introduced to them. When I think of arguing in writing I think of taking what someone thinks is the strongest point of their statement and disproving it with detailed, factual backing. There are two sides to most things, and in order to create an argument I believe all someone has to do is pick one side and find facts to support that assertion. I’m not an extensively creative writer; I find that facts are safe and that I’m able to get my point across in a pretty clear way. I believe argumentation is based on a few key things: facts, description, accuracy, clarity, and organization. A few key terms to good writing are: voice, description, setting, mood, and conflict, and if it is a work of fiction then deep developing characters are also key. I define writing as a means of communication with which a person can describe an idea or feeling or place to another person using a myriad of literary techniques such as voice, setting, mood, conflict, and character development that brings the reader into the piece and captivates them or informs them, once again depending on the type of writing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with CJ and Dylan in saying that writing is a form of communication expressed using symbols and letters. People use writing to express their thoughts so they can be easily remembered or shared with others. I believe when writing is at its best it brings out emotion in people, whether a person gets into a good fiction book and can’t put it down, or someone is outraged that a person has completely different beliefs than them. For me personally, writing must be interesting and cover a topic I know or a topic I want to learn about. When writing lacks details, and is very dry I have a very hard time sticking with it and tend to move on to other pieces. Creation of an argument in my opinion is one of the easiest things to do in writing because no one out there has the exact same thoughts and opinions, meaning there will always be someone that doesn’t agree with your thoughts. So to me most writing is considered to be arguing in some way. I agree with CJ’s thought on perspective and how it ties in with opinion. To create an argument, one must present their opinion and state some facts to go along with it. I have never seen myself as a strong writer since around second grade, but feel that with some practice I can greatly improve my skills. When thinking about good, high quality writing, these traits come to mind: Organization, Interesting idea, Voice, Word choice, Flow, and Mood. Writing is the expression of a thought or idea through a written medium.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, writing helps us a humans communicate not only our feelings but as CJ said as well, it reveals “an effective means of communicating from one human being to another”. Personally, I enjoy writing in order to get my imagination on the page where you can make anything possible. When I think of “good writing” I think about the stories, articles and everyday journals I read that enable us as the readers to really put us in the authors shoes and think about situations in a prospective that you may never have thought about before.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about arguments and writing I have to agree with Dylan. He said “When I think of arguing in writing I think of taking what someone thinks is the strongest point of their statement and disproving it with detailed, factual backing. Through my own wiring experience I have always picked one side when arguing in my writing and I believe its about picking the strongest point and taking everything around it to support your theory. When I think about myself as I writer, I see myself as a creative writer. I enjoy taking a prompt and writing about it in as many perspectives as I can. When I think about good writing I think Jacy had the right idea. When I sit down to write any piece I think of an interesting idea, Organization, how my writing sounds to the reader.
When I think of writing I agree with everyone above that it is some sort of communication between humans. Writing is very versatile and everyone can do it, some are just better at it then others. What makes writing good to me is when there are a lot of details, its almost as if you can see what the person is writing. I agree with CJ when he says that writing works many parts of your brain. I believe this is very true because to really get what your trying to say on paper you need incorporate your entire brain. When I think of arguments and writing I think of someone who has a very strong opinion in something, trying to convince somebody that what they believe is wrong. I think the argument needs very good diction and things to support their idea. I feel like you create an argument by believing in something fully and having research to back it up. If you get facts it is very hard for someone to disagree with you. I see myself as a moderate writer. I have a lot of troubles getting all of my details out on paper and making them flow. I agree with Dylan when he says he is “not an extensively creative writer”. I have trouble with being creative and getting my point across. Good writing consists of descriptive words, original, organized, the paper flows, and the writing is clear in what it’s trying to get across. My definition for writing is for it to make sense to the reader, the author uses descriptive words, and the topic of the writing is organized and very original.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with CJ, Dylan, and Jacy. Although I agree with other ideas they provided, I strongly disagree with what CJ, Dylan and Jacy said about how writing is just a form of communication using "symbols and letters." Yes, literally that is what a word or a sentence is, whether is communicating an idea, or an emotion, or a fact. However, I do not think writing can be referred to as such a simple thing. Writing is a connection; it's an emotional outreach or relationship that communicates to the reader not through symbols and letters but through the idea and story presented. I associate writing with a creative mind. You don't have to be a genius to be an innovative writer. I really like what Jillian said about how good, great writing consists of description, originality, organization, and clear idea; it communicates to the reader and relates itself to very personal or very general experiences. Let's say you disagree and say a textbook cannot be related to anything in your life you have experienced. FALSE. You and anyone who ever taught you wouldn't know jack crack about ANYTHING. Oh, we would just have to take what everyone said by word as fact and truth? I don't know about that. Writing can tend to provide true information that is SOLID. At this moment, when I think of arguments and writing I think of my philosophy class. Philosophers like Descartes and Gassendi disagreed with one another's ideas but they communicated these disagreements through writing. And THAT is how we know about it. An argument to me is very simple. Anyone who can write it down and have others read it and those readers do not nearly need to agree but if the message, idea, or argument is communicated then it has been made and in my opinion, the argument is good enough if the message is at least communicated and understood, whether it's a news column or a controversial book. To me, good writing is innovative, detailed, well organized, original, vivid, thought inspiring, meaningful, and creative.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone above in that writing is in essence a form of communication. It is a way for individuals to transfer their thoughts to something more concrete. Writing also makes it possible to share ideas with larger amounts of people. Writing is such a strong medium, for it allows some people to get down their thoughts when they would usually be too shy to do so. Writing is also very interesting because there are many different forms of it. Nearly every class I’ve had has required me, in some way, to write. In my opinion, good writing is clear, concise, and easy to read. It must have a flow to it so that the reader does not loose interest, and an argument to keep the writing on topic. I also am a big believer in writing in drafts. Although it is possible for a first draft to turn out well, I think that multiple drafts would make it even better. I’m not sure I agree with Jacy, however that an argument is easy to formulate. It probably is for some people, but for me it is something that I tend to struggle with. Sometimes I tend to veer away from my main point if it’s not clear enough. Another reason for this happening is that I tend to write so concisely that I usually underwrite. If an assignment is supposed to be 3 pages, it is usually difficult for me to make it past two and a half. In my opinion, formulating an argument takes effort to make sure that it is a strong base for the entire piece of writing. I see myself as a writer, who is meticulous and structured. However, I can also loose my focus if I am not careful. I don’t see myself a horrible writer, but it is usually a painful process for me. In order for writing to be good, I believe that it should have a good tone, organization, valid information, a strong idea, and complexity. It should also spark inspiration in the reader.
ReplyDeleteTo a certain extent, I agree on the assertion that writing is a means of communication. Writing is a vast part of our every day life. It can include everything from reading a good novel, to sending e-mails. Like Jillian said, writing is very versatile, and can vary from filling out our resumes to song lyrics. Writing is a way for us human beings to express ourselves, on a personal level and/or a professional one. Being a very impatient person, I easily find texts lacking compelling arguments, as well as being too monotonous. Consequently, I regularly find myself abandoning a text or novel. Ergo, a good writer is a person who is able to captivate the readers' attention from the first line. I agree on what Jillian said about good writing; it has to be concise, structured, and original. Additionally, the writer must be able to draw a good picture of the emotions meant to be in the text. If these criterias are fulfilled, the text is not monotonous, due to its originality, nor lacking compelling arguments, because of the text's structure. A good text has to be so compelling that any argument wins through, even though the reader actually disagrees. Hence, a great writer is defined by how well he/she arguments. Well written arguments are logical, concise, as well as it is supported by facts.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when it comes to our daily correspondence through technological devices, I believe valuable parts of communication can be lost. Writing does not express body language as well as personal interactions.
I think that writing is a variable thing, which depends on the writing types. Obviously, I disagree with everyone above. For example, CJ, Dylan and Jacy think that writing is a way of expressing information with symbols and letters, which means they think that writing is a simple thing. In my opinion, writing is not only a simple thing. Writing can be divided into narrative writing, argumentative writing, expository writing and practical writing. Narrative writing can be divided into poetry, prose, journal and fiction. I agree with Dylan that fiction writing is about describing details and letting the reader feeling the exact moment. Moreover, poetry writing is beautiful, sophisticated and vague to some extent. On the other hand, argumentative writing and expository writing should be concise, clear and straight, and should let reader easily understand the author’s purpose. Apparently, there are two situations that of writing, so it cannot be easily defined. Writing is everywhere in our daily life, and is a necessity. For instance, when we apply to the university, we write an essay. When we do an experiment in labs, we write. When we text someone, we write. Etc. Thus, writing is significant in our life, even though I do not like writing. Making an argument is very simple. One just approach these two keys, fact and organization, one will make an argument. By the way, I am a direct writer, so I never write poem and fiction. Good writing consists of good organization, accuracy, vivid, effective, and detailed as well as creative and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my peers in that writing’s main purpose is communication. Whether too talk to our friends about plans, put our thoughts down on paper, inform an audience on a topic, or argue a point, we use writing to deliver some sort of information to others that they might not have otherwise known. It is a medium we use in everyday life, even though we don’t always realize it. I think that some people think about writing as just the essays and such we are assigned in English class and normally loathe, but there are so many other forms we use on a daily basis, such as texting, facebook chats, and notetaking, that are often overlooked. With substantive writing, such as essays and books, I think the most important aspect is for the author to maintain his/or hers personal voice. It is easy to tell when someone is writing in a way they think others want. Everyone individual is their own person, so the words they put on paper should be unique to them as well, and be a representation of their identity. It seems like a lot of time, people focus more on language and using words that make them sound smart instead of making a piece that is both enjoyable to read, and serves the purpose it was written for. I have no shame in writing using words that are not particularly impressive or difficult, and have a final product that is true to who I am, I’d like to think enjoyable to read, while still getting my point across.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Annalise as well as Charlotte with the fact that writing is a means of communication. Sometimes words aren't enough, or as you say something you can't get across what you truly mean, and that's where writing comes in. Writing provides a blank slate for words to be organized and put together in a way that expresses more than just speaking. This is the way writing helps me. I blog on my own time and I find that I have infinite prose, because I write just as I speak. My readers which are my friends can picture me saying these exact things because of the way I write it. That helps me put prose in more formal papers. I think of argumentative writing as persuasion. However, as one argues to someone as they speak, it often becomes off topic and people lose their point. In writing, arguing provides that same blank slate where everything connects, and if you do it correctly, staying on point, with creative ideas, the expression of this argument becomes close to impossible to fight. I believe you create an argument by first lying out what is at stake. Clearly there will be two sides, and by choosing one, it gives you an automatic counterargument. Creating an argument involves taking this counterargument and being able to fully explain the reason why your argument is stronger. That probably doesn't make much sense as you read it...but I suppose I could say that an argument is created when you realize you have something worth arguing about. I see myself as a freelance writer mostly. I write emails a lot, and I really enjoy doing my blog. I can incorporate pictures and just say what is on my mind. I still have flow to it, sentence structure, etc., but I think it is entertaining and helps me create ideas for more formal writing. I love to write when I have something to write about. I enjoy writing in general, but when I have that one idea or subject, I just go all out and I think that results in some great writing. I'd like to think I'm enjoyable to read, easy to understand, creative but also make the reader think about what I wrote after they finish the paper. I want my ideas to stick. Some terms I believe define good writing would be creativity, originality, prose, concise, understandable, and easy-flowing.
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