Heilker and Yergeau

Summary

This article starts by talking about how recently autism has become a frequently talked about topic in our society and that it is now approaching "critical mass". In just the past few years, many movies, television shows, and even Autism Awareness Day has been created to bring autism into light in our society. The problem that the writers of this article have about making autism such an important topic is that we really do not know anything about it. It then goes on to say that autism is rhetorical because we put so much effort into bringing autism into light in the community, however we don't know anything about it. This article talks about how people with autism can become obsessed with certain things which is why people with autism usually know a great amount about one topic that they enjoy.

 

Connections

The only other article I can connect this to is Gee's article because he too talks about rhetoric and discourses just like this article by Heilker and Yergeau. Gee talks about how rhetoric is a way of being. This is similar to Heilker and Yergeau because they consider autism as a rhetoric, and autism is also a way of being.

 

 

 

I believe it is obvious that the dominant perception of autism is that it is a disability. These authors are arguing that autism is not a disability, but in fact almost a rhetoric or discourse community themselves. They function in their own certain way that is so different that to outsiders it looks like a disability. So, in fact, people who have autism belong to their own special discourse community.

 

Opinions

I found this article interesting. They brought up an interesting idea and made us look at autism in a different way. I liked the part when they talked about how when people with autism really like a topic they know everything about it and talk about it all the time because there were some kids with autism in my high school and they knew everything about science, so I agree with that statement.

Villanueva and hooks

Summaries

The Villanueva article is a huge collection of various poems and short stories. The common theme between all of these poems and short stories is minorities having trouble fitting in in the communities where they reside. They felt alone because of people making fun of them, both the way they looked and because they were struggling to learn a new language. The topics in these poems and stories range from spending time in jail to being called names and not being able to fit in.

 

The main topic in bell hooks article is the trouble that she encountered when trying to write her autobiography. She said she interpreted the struggles as an indication that she was not ready to let go of her past and be fully in the present. She said that every day that went by while she was attempting to write her biography her memories became more and more faded. She ends by saying that when she finally finished writing her biography she was glad she did because writing a biography puts your life into a new perspective.

 

Connections

When i finished reading the Villanueva article, I realized it had a lot of similarities to the Alexie article. Alexie struggled, much like all of the people in the poems and short stories, to conform and fit into their new society.

 

Opinions

The Villanueva article was interesting because it was just a collection of other peoples works that have a common theme. It brought to light the first hand experience that "foreigners" for lack of a better word, have conforming into their society and dealing with the struggles of fitting in to said society. I didn't mind the bell hooks article, and it kind of makes me want to try and write my own biography and see if I can remember what I did in the past.



Devitt and Company

 

Summary

 

This article was a actually a combination of three different articles by three different authors all discussing the similar topics of genre and ethnography. Devitt talks about how genres affect our daily lives. She also talks about how some genres are created specifically for people outside of that community. She goes on to talk about how genres affect our everyday lives such as ballots and the judicial system. She talks about genre analysis, and how some words may have a different meaning depending on what community you are a part of. Devitt uses an example of a court case where the word might means two different things to the lawyer and the jury because they are part of different communities. Bawarshi says that genres are ways of classifying texts, and uses an example of the medical community to show how the same word can mean different things in different communities. Lastly, Reiff talks about how genres and ethnography can help students inside the classroom, as well as take the things they learn in the classroom and relate them to the real world.

 

Connections

All three authors give their opinions on how genres are depicted, and how many different definitions of genre there actually are. They all use different definitions to describe how genres affect our everyday lives. They also have some similar opinions as Gee did.

 

Definitions

 

Bawarshi says genres gives us specific access to the sites of language use that make up communities, in all their complexity. Swales says that only the people in the community can read and understand their texts. This is where they differ. Bawarshi thinks an outsider can study the language of the community and learn the genre of the community without being a part of it, unlike Swales. I agree more with Bawarshi, and I think that would be the better definition to use in our class.

 

Opinions

 

I enjoyed reading this article because it showed the viewpoints of three different people and how they feel about genres and their communities. Also, I found interesting the amount of different possible definitions of genre, and that none of them could pick just one

 



Smitherman

Summary

The main topic of Smitherman's article is Black English. She talks about whether Blacks should have to learn how to use proper white english or if they should know both dialects. Also, she talks about how today we consider Black english to be grammatically incorrect, but in fact there was a time when it was correct. When white english came along, they changed the language and said that their language was correct and Black english was incorrect. This can be looked at as pretty racist, but what Smitherman is trying to show is how often language gets changed by events and society.

You can connect this article to many readings we have done because they all discuss changing the language. The language needs to change and evolve as the people that speak it change and evolve as well. There can be many different versions of the same language. I know from personal experience that reading a Shakespeare play is almost like reading a different language, even though it is considered English and I speak English.

Sloppy incorrect grammer, according to the author, is when the writer has bad sentence structure and no details or support. Sloppy correct grammar is when the writer uses correct sentence structure and has details to support it, but it may not seem right in the eyes of the teacher or grader. 

I found this article interesting to read. The first thing I like about it is how Smitherman added paragraphs, almost like anecdotes, in smaller font that broke up the article and made easier to read in addition to holding on to my attention. Also, I think she brings up some interesting topics about how language is changing everyday, almost like technology, and there may be more than one correct way to speak or write a certain language.

Bibliography

Learning to Teach the Five-Paragraph Theme

Tara Star Johnson, Leigh Thompson, Peter Smagorinsky and Pamela G. Fry

Research in the Teaching of English 
Vol. 38, No. 2 (Nov., 2003), pp. 136-176

Published by: National Council of Teachers of English

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171635

Title:	Moving High School Juniors Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay Through Teacher-Modeling
Author:	Burks, Brooke

http://etd.auburn.edu/etd/handle/10415/2398

Two New Heuristics in Response to Formulaic Writing: What Lies beyond Oversimplified Composition Instruction

James T. Davis II, Georgia State University

http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/english_diss/73/

McCloud

 

In this article, McCloud talks a lot about images and pictures that we see everyday, but puts them in a different light. He talks about cartoons, especially their faces, and relates to humans being self-centered. He believes that we see ourselves everywhere, even in inanimate objects, and we give things identities and characterisitcs that don''t need them. Lastly, he says that our face is a mask like any other, we have just worn it since we were born. Also, how one sees their face is different from how others see it and vice versa.

 

 

Bernhardt

 

Bernhardt's whole article is about how different characteristics and ways of writing appeal to different readers. Depending on what type of paper it is or who it is for should change what the paper looks like so it will appeal to the reader. It is almost like how they say we eat with our eyes first. If a reader looks down at an article and it is just one long paragraph with no indents, titles, etc., the reader will lose interest very quickly. The way you display your work is just as important as the words in it. I know that for myself I hat reading really long paragraphs. If the article has short paragraphs with titles, indents and the like, I find it easier to read. The more white space the better.

 

 

Opinions

 

I didnt't find McCloud's article to contain anything of great importance. He calls humans selfish because we see ourselves in everything else, but that's because we are a part of everything else. Most things are designed so we can relate to them, like cars. I felt like he was just trying to confuse us to make himself sound smarter than us but he really didn't have an interesting idea.

 

On the other hand, I did like Bernhardt's article, and I agree with what he says. Like I said earlier, if a person looks down at an article that is just pages and pages long with no spaces or titles, they will lose track and get bored quickly. I agree that the way a text is organized is very important if you want your words and ideas to appeal to the reader.

Project 2 Topic

Five Paragraphs

 

One topic of the writing construct that really stood out to me when we were talking in class was that of having to use 5 Paragraphs when writing a paper. The main reason I question this is because what happens if you either have more or less than 3 main points in your paper. You either have to stretch to find another main point and then you have a weak paragraph, or you have to shrink two or more main points into one and then you would have a super paragraph and it may be confusing to read. Also, I feel like dividing your paper into may paragraphs makes it easier to read. If you have to write a 10 page paper and you can only use 5 paragraphs, that means the paragraphs are going to be two pages a piece. For me, reading for that long without a break in the words can get confusing, but if you break it up into sub paragraphs, it will look less intimidating and be easier to read.