"Joining the Engineering Community: How Do Novices Learn to Write Like Engineers?"

There are a series of questions that Dorothy A. Winsor focuses on. "How and when do novice employees learn to write effectively?" "Do they learn to write via models or mentoring?" "Do they learn in their technical writing courses in school what they need to know to write effectively on the job?" "Or are there aspects of technical writing that can be learned only at work?" Winsor goes on to answer these questions from a series of survey questions. To answer her questions, Winsor's finds that 53% of the senior students in engineering school say they learned to write effectively through the use of models, 38% from supervisors, 24% from co-workers, 14% from a writing class they were required to take their freshman year, 7% high school training, 5% from classes at work, and 5% from work evaluations. She finishes off her article with six questions that are not conformable with the answers she received from her first survey. The six questions are, "How do novices select models? How do they recognize a goo model?" "What areas do they consciously attend to in imitating a good model?" "Do they use models early in the writing process, with consequences for invention, or late in the process, with consequences primarily for shaping?" "How do they know when they've done a good job of imitating a model? Do their supervisors agree on which imitations are successful?" "How local is the knowledge they gain from models? Will it transfer to other companies or departments?" "Which imitated areas seem most central to their roles as engineers and employees?" This particular article was written mainly for an audience of engineers. Readers like myself became bored shortly after reading this. I feel that what Winsor wrote was interesting in trying to find out how novice writers learn to write effectively, but it was too narrow of a topic. It was too narrow of a topic because there are plenty of jobs, like law enforcement, where the writing can become even more strenuous. However, I do enjoy reading about how people learn to imitate writing. Any novice in any form of writing must learn quickly to become more successful with their writing.

Word count: 367

"Writing and Technology"

Writing, Technology, and Teens: Summary of Finding is an article solely about the facts of teens and writing. Many teens today do not believe that communication over the computer or texting is writing. As a "texter" and an "E-Mailer", I believe that all writing we do is writing. Whether it is texting, posting something on Facebook, or tweeting, I believe that it is all writing because usually you write for entertainment. As a "Facebooker", "Tweeter", and "Texter" I read these things for entertainment. Many teens also find themselves enjoying out of school writing. The reason for this is that they can express themselves through writing, which is a skill not just any writer can have. To me, this is very important because every teen has to find things they can do to express themselves. Some teens sing, some teens dance, some teens draw, some teens write, and the list goes on and on. Interestingly enough, most parents are more positive than their teens about the effect that computers and texting have on their writing skills. As a semi-teenager, I find that texting and computer messaging is not all that cracked up to what people think it is. To me, it is actually kind of burdening on myself with constantly texting people back or e-mailing people back. Something I found very important was the fact that today's teens are motivated to write by relevant topics, high expectations, an interested audience and opportunities to write creatively. This to me is so important because writing is something that can keep your imagination alive and help it grow more and more. Books like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games were inspired by the author's imagination. I strongly believe this article was written well for the audience it was intended for. This article covers a lot of topics concerning writing in and out of school, as-well-as the ties to writing and texting. These authors have a very strong argument that all writing is writing because not only do they have percentages, but they also have supporting evidence. These are all the things i picked up on this interesting article.

Word Count: 357

Michaela Cullington "Texting and Writing"

In Michaela Cullington's Texting and Writing, she discusses her view, as well as other scholars, of texting. Texting is something most of today's teenagers do on a regular basis. Cullington says that texting has a minimal effect on student-writing, whereas Ream, Walsh, and Carey find that texting is the most horrible and damaging thing on student-writing. To Ream, the use of acronyms and shorthand in text messaging is the cause for students' inability to spell and write. She also finds that texting nullifies the ability to convey emotion in their writing because they are used to using "sideways smiley faces." Walsh drops points from her students' papers for using text slang and abbreviations in writing. Carey says that text language has become "second nature" to students. As a "texter" myself, I find myself agreeing more with Cullington because she says, "They recognize the difference between texting friends and writing formally and know what is appropriate in each situation." Most High school students can see the difference between texting their friends and writing a formal paper for a grade in school. What I found most important is that in this article, some students were interviewed and admitted to using abbreviations like gtg for "got to go" and hbu for "how about you"; yet they still believe they are not acceptable for formal writing. I myself rarely use abbreviations, so that I continue to write in a formal manner. This leads me to my next point. There are students that text and don't use abbreviations. I find myself texting more formally because I choose not to use abbreviations and shorthand so that my messages can be longer and worded out so there is no confusion in the message that I send. Even though I disagree with some of the passage and agree with the rest, I can honestly say that this argument is a very strong and is interesting to people like myself who want to learn more about the thought of, "Can texting actually nullify my literacy skills?" This article is written well for the audience it is meant for, as well as readers outside of the audience it is meant for.
Word Count: 364

D. Baron "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies" Review

"From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies," is Baron's argument that computers have changed peoples' literacy skills for better or for worse, and that word processing made writing easier than ever before, and better than any machine used for typing. What I found the most important about Baron's Article is when he says that writing technologies become more and more popular when they begin to surpass popularity of the previous writing technologies. It truly showed that the United States is constantly developing technologically. His comparison between writing and speech spoke out to me because writing does not offer any form of tone to other readers, but it does allows communication over time and distance. Something new that I learned was the fact that today's pencils used to not be meant for writing, but in fact used for marking lines for woodwork. Today's computers were not originally meant for writing technology. These two examples that Baron gave interested me because it shows yet again another thing developed for more than one purpose. Baron's main focus on this article is to explain writing technologies and how they have developed to how they apply to us today. I feel that this writing article definitely appeals to the audience Baron wrote this for. I am a very curious person, and reading this article teaches me about writing technologies. Audiences who are similar to me, that have no knowledge prior to reading this article, would be glued to reading into this because It starts off from the very beginning of writing technologies to modern day writing technologies. To me, it seems that the way this article was written was really simplified to about a tenth grade level so that I, as well as other readers, could easily understand the information provided. Baron wrote this in an excellent way for readers to understand.
From chisel and stone, to pencil and paper; Writing technology has constantly changed throughout history. Things like pencils and computers, originally used for a separate purpose, have developed so widely since they started out, show how writing technology has transformed over history.
Word Count: 353

"My Writing Process"

My writing process can be really simple depending on what I am writing for and about. For an Academic Paper I usually write about the facts or I write with a lot of “fluff” depending on what class I am writing for. But that’s beside the point. To start off my writing process I read more into what it is I will soon be writing about.  I will usually read through books or the internet and write down key points to help the flow of my paper. After I do that, I brainstorm. I write down what I know about the topic and I start my outline. The outline, to me, is the hardest part; I will work on an outline for hours at a time to find the almost perfect flow for my paper. Then, I begin to write. The thesis is the second longest part of my writing process because I spend my time erasing and re-wording or re-constructing sentences to successfully piece it together. Then, I write my paper. For an English paper, I usually start off my writing with a short story about myself (usually comedic) to entertain and “hook” the reader so that they do not get bored of it. I will include all of my readings and all of my knowledge of the topic to my highest extent. After I finish my writing, I usually get a friend or family member to revise it. I expect the revision process for the person to take about thirty minutes. If they do not, then I take my paper to another person to successfully get a long and thought out revision because I am an absolute perfectionist. After all they finish, I revise it myself to come up with a sense of closure because I feel that my writing is never perfect. Finally, I type up my paper. After finishing my rough draft (depending how long it is); typing up my paper takes me no longer than ten minutes. This is my writing process that I have used since I started writing papers for school.

"Writing Process of Famous Author"

Doctor Seuss (my most favorite author) has the most interesting and distinguished writing process of any author I have read into. His use of rhyme maintains a constant and clear flow of sentences. Example:

I do not like
green eggs and ham.
I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
Would you like them in a house?
Would you like them with a mouse?

As a child, those were my favorite verses. The rhyme scheme kept me entertained as well as the sentences growing more and more by the line. The way Doctor Seuss wrote his books stood out because I do not recall reading any other book that followed the same pattern of rhyme scheme or hold any characters as different and interesting as Doctor Seuss did. Doctor Seuss's writings also had hidden meanings in them. If you read his books enough, you will see that "The Sneetches" was about racial equality, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was about materialism and consumerism of Christmas Season, "The Butter Battle Book" was about the arms race, and "Horton Hears a Who" was about anti-isolationism. Doctor Seuss even once stated that Yertle the turtle was Adolf Hitler.

Doctor Seuss's writings weren't always perfect to him. Unlike most any writer, Doctor Seuss would accept money for his writing after he was finished instead of before he finished. He would throw out about 95% of his work until he decided on a theme for the book he would be writing; he was a true perfectionist.

From his first writings to his last, Doctor Seuss was and will always be one of the greatest writers the world has ever seen. He is the interesting and most famous author to me, and will always be.

"Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitive Analysis of Writer's Block" (WaW 533-46) QDJ 1, 2, &4

Q1) Create a List of all the rules that, according to Rose, interfere with "the blockers" writing. What rules, if any, do you find yourself forced to follow that seem to get in the way of your writing?
A) "What exactly is the audience seeking that reads the beginning (the beginning is everything)", "If sentences aren't grammatically correct, they aren't useful", "You must always make three or more points in an essay", "Rage for order (linear writing)", "Writing must present an array of images, ideas, ironies gleaned from the literature under examination", "if the assignment matches your expectations, you have done a good job of analyzing the professor's intentions", "I won't go on until I get that first paragraph down", "One achieves "flow" in one's writing through the use of adequate transitions", and "One achieves substance to one's writing through the use of evidence" are all the rules that Rose states that interfere with "the blockers." Rules I find myself getting tangled in would be, "If sentences aren't grammatically correct, they aren't useful" and "Rage for order (linear writing)".

Q2) Describe the difference between the rules that blockers in Rose's study were following and those that non-blockers were following. What accounts for the difference?
A) The difference between "blockers" and "non-blockers" are the pure fact that non-blockers use flexible rules and blockers use strict rules when they write. The difference is Algorithms and Heuristics.

Q4) Based in Rose's study and descriptions if writers and their rules, write a "rule" explaining what makes a rule good for writers, and what makes a rule bad for writers. You'll get bonus points if you can tell whether your rule is an algorithm or a heuristic.
A) A good rule for readers is to stay grammatically correct throughout their writings (Algorithm), but a bad rule to follow by is rejecting a rule that conflicts with your writing (heuristic).