Author: akennie

Respond to, TS/IS “The Art of Summarizing” pp. 30-41

Summarizing is one of the most difficult things to do. It’s like highlighting needed information in a textbook. You don’t want to highlight the whole page, but you also don’t want to highlight one or two words. Finding a happy medium in the type of content and amount of content you use when summarizing is really difficult to find and is something that I often times struggle with. In this section of They Say, I Say, there are many points that Birkenstein and Graff provide. They write, “Generally speaking, a summary must at once be true to what the original author says while also emphasizing those aspects of what the author says that interest you.” (Birkenstein and Graff 31) While summarizing it’s important to provide the author’s beliefs, it’s also vital to include what aspects of that summary pertain to your beliefs and overarching point. They make a point to help the reader understand that summary is a great way to follow your own agenda. Birkenstein and Graff do point out that it’s also important to stay away from certain vocabulary to keep writing lively and interesting while still getting the general point across. With this, it’s also essential to keep the audience or reader engaged by making the summary relevant to the point because a purposeless summary can weaken an overall argument.

What values does Carver bring forward in this story through experiences with food? Be detailed and specific with your response and use the text for support

 

Throughout Carver’s story, “A Small Good Thing,” it is prominent that he brings forth many pertaining values that are associated with food. He speaks a lot about how sharing a meal with someone can not only teach you a lot about someone but also open your eyes up to perspective. Being able to recognize everyone’s background can change the way you act. It’s surprising to think that a lonely baker and a mourning couple can find solace in one another over something as simple as hot rolls and yet Carver shows that it’s incredibly important to find these moments throughout life. Carver writes, “‘…I am just a baker. I don’t claim to be anything else, maybe once, maybe years ago, I was a different kind of human being. I’ve forgotten, I don’t know for sure. But I’m not any longer, if I ever was. Now I’m just a baker. That don’t excuse my doing what I did, I know. But I’m deeply sorry. I’m sorry for your son and sorry for my part in this,’ the baker said.” (217) The baker, despite not really having done anything wrong other than asking for payment for a cake that was never picked up, still apologizes and recognizes these feelings of regret for people he doesn’t even know. Carver also goes on to write, “‘You probably need to eat something’ the baked said. ‘I hope you’ll eat some of my hot rolls. You have to eat and keep going. Eating is a small, good thing at a time like this,’ he said.” (217) This advice is really what ties the rest of the story together. While the Weiss family waits for their son to wake up they neglect their need to eat and take care of themselves. They are so roped into what could happen with their son they forget that taking care of themselves is also an important factor. The baker despite being forcefully yelled at by a grieving mother still finds the kindness or share warm rolls with the couple and push them to keep moving forward.

Throughout this long and painful process, I made many realizations about my revising skills. I found that in past experiences, it was primarily focused on grammar, sentence structure, and credibility. I feel like we were given the grade we were given solely based on those criteria. What I have now discovered is that revision is very much content based as much as it is grammar based. I found myself constructing and molding these vivid scenes throughout my paper and then consistently moving them around to form a cohesive idea that supported my overall thesis. I found that I paid more attention to phrasing and being clear through my writing then I did on spelling. That being said, I did also focus a lot on the grammar aspects of things with many proofreads near the end of this process. If I were to change anything, I’d likely try to encompass my thesis more throughout my many body paragraphs. Although I feel like I was able to communicate my emotions effectively in the essay, I feel like a weak point would be my thesis. I’d also love to go back and take more time to look at transitions between paragraphs. This narrative is very much telling a story and I’m not sure if my story was smooth enough as it traveled from paragraph to paragraph. I approached this essay tentatively. I was very much afraid of what college-level English was going to bring to the table. I feel as if I’ve been pulled many different directions when it comes to telling me how to write. I worried that college English was going to add to the list of contradicting opinions on the best way to write academically. Although that is very much what happened, I find myself becoming more and more comfortable with writing and feel myself moving in my own personal writing style. This essay was challenging and something that was not expected, but I am very proud of myself for tackling this process with open arms.  There were very few times throughout my writing career where I enjoyed writing an academic essay and rather was proud of writing an academic essay, but all in all this essay was not only enjoyable for me, but it was something I can be proud of no matter what grade I receive.

Respond to “Starting With What Others Say” from They Say/I Say

Finding an author’s perspective can be difficult. It essential that authors get across their point and maybe even why they hold that opinion. This isn’t true in all writing of course because sometimes there is no point to be disputed, but nevertheless, the main idea of an author’s work should be clear to the reader. This also is important from a writer’s perspective. They way we portray ourselves is solely out of how well we come across as a writer. Specifically, when we reference one another that’s when it’s important to step back and recognize what they say before what I say. Authors Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff speak briefly about what it is to reference they before referencing your own opinion, “remember that you are entering a conversation and therefore need to start with ‘what others are saying’ as the title of this chapter recommends, and then introduce your own ideas as a response. Specifically, we suggest that you summarize what ‘they say’ as soon as you can in your text,” (Birkenstein and Graff 21) It seems so simple, yet it can be very complicated to thoroughly understand how to introduce them before you introduce your own solid opinion. Birkenstein and Graff go on to say, “After summarizing the ideas you are responding to at the outset, it’s very important to continue to keep those ideas in view.” (Birkenstein and Graff 27) Through argumentative or informative essays it’s essential to keep in mind what the author you’re referencing has as an overall opinion and how that is going to credit your own. All in all, Birkenstein and Graff provide many options on how to introduce the they in your essays on a situational basis. I personally have never really struggled with speaking about what they say, but I also haven’t had the most of the experience with writing academically in that context. These examples give me a solid view of what to expect when writing in many different outlets.

What global comments/suggestions did you find the best from your peers?

Where were the best global comments/suggestions you offered your peers?

What important feedback/discussion point weren’t captured on the page that came up during your discussion? Be specific and reference your peers and their papers. You may benefit from looking back over the essays you peer reviewed.

What did you wish had come up looking back over your peer review comments

The global comments and suggestions that helped me the most were surrounding the process of connecting my father’s memories and experience within his own family to my own experience as an only child. The members in my group noticed that it was a very abrupt change moving from my father’s experience growing up on my own and I’m lacking the contrast of the two that still connects to my overall thesis.

I believe that the best comments I offered my peers were involving their these. I noticed that there was so much meaning and significance relating to one dish throughout the paper that wasn’t being displayed in the intro paragraph of their essays. I think that going back into their essays and pulling out those juicy emotional ties to the dish and trying to mold that into a thesis is an important aspect of what this paper entails.

 

I think a few important things came up during group discussion than they did on paper. Specifically, on Kyle Getty’s paper, I recognized that he had included a lot of humor from his grandmother which resonated well with me as the reader and I suggested that going back through his essay and including that emotion more would strengthen his paper and the emotional ties with the reader. We also talked a lot about voice. Between Madelyn Hayes, Breana Hogan and Kyle Getty, I noticed that there sometimes lacked a voice that takes an essay from informational to heartwarming. I feel like the common agreement between all of us is that we could easily go back into our papers and read them to ourselves and recognize where we need more voice.

 

Although I feel as if I did a good job at being thorough throughout my peer edits, if I were to go back I’d include more annotations regarding phrasing and grammar because as much as content is important, so are the structural aspects of the essay. If I had left more comments regarding structure it might have been easier to apply to strengthened the overall essay.