Monday, October 22, 2012

Blog 14

Blog #14: Draft short analysis project.  This post should be an ESSAY.  Present your question, codes/categories, patterns, hypotheses and theories in a story form similar to the forms used in the sample research essays we read on commenting and WAW courses.  You may want to use tables or charts to present how your data fits into categories, and you may want to use headings to break your essay into sections.  Good luck!


Due to family situations I was not able to go into further detail with editing my rough draft.  I plan to have an updated draft shortly.



Short Analysis Assignment
     All writers write in a way that simply works for them. Writing has been opinioned to be an art of it’s own and how one decides to express themselves may vary based on how others perceive their writing and capabilities. Being a student for the past sixteen years I have noticed many different strategies for writing based on how my teacher’s taught writing. Unlike some, I find it useful if a professor comments on my writing whether it is something I take to heart or something I ignore.  I want look into how the complexity of professors’ comments can encourage or discourage a writer. The details within professors’ comments may benefit some writers, but discourage others based on their writing abilities and interests.
     Through many observations and days of analyzing professors’ comments within papers there were many similarities as well as differences. Many of the comments among the six papers were positive comments. For example, comment number six in Sample 4 mentions,  “There are definitely important reasons to cite (and to not plagiarize). My gut says you might need to go deeper into some of them, particularly those the audience may find surprising.” This is a very detailed comment and the professor offers additional research that the writer can do to strengthen their paper. It seems as if the professor has high expectations and that is why they give the writer more ideas for their paper. On the other hand, in Sample 5 the professor does not seem to give the writer a lot of feedback which may lead the student not to revise their work to their full potential. One negative comment in particular is as follows, “Too much repetition here, cut to your point.” This comment may discourage the writer because they may interpret that their professor did not put much time into reading their paper. The professor is clearly not giving the writer the feedback that they need to better enhance their paper. The writer may believe that their writing is at the professor’s expectations since there is no additional information regarding how to get to their focus or what to cut in their paragraph. Interpretation means a lot through the description of a professor comments and perhaps the personality of the professor as well.
     I do find it beneficial when a professor gives me feedback that can lead me towards a better paper. In Sample 3, the professor gives the writer a link that they can use to support their ideas between images and text of fashions. The writer can look at the link provided to go into more details regarding fashion. This comment is very well thought out by the professor, which the student can find valuable in their revision. On the other hand, in Sample 5 the professor circles “fighting” and comments, “or love making”. Although, this comment is not as useful as the previous professor’s comment, this professor goes into providing the writer with a comment they can use to their advantage. The advice given by the professor in Sample 5 is not as descriptive as Sample 3, but it does offer the writer feedback in terms of correcting smaller issues in their paper.
            To look into a deeper issue of how the comments are viewed as a whole I will describe the length of the comments in Sample 1 and Sample 6. Most if not all of the comments in Sample 1 are longer than a sentence and seem to ask a question for the writer. For example, Sample 1 mentions, “The basic ideas of this paragraph are clear, but I feel they could be taken further. Why should students care about opposing viewpoints? How should they deal with them if they must be incorporated into the argument? The bullets in this sections are good advice for research in general, but it doesn’t really tell students how to deal with sources that challenge their viewpoint and that they can’t ignore.” This comment is four sentences long and allows the student to think critically in terms of what they are speaking about in their paper. On the contrary, Sample 5 has comments that are roughly about three words each. The length among these comments does not describe what the reader can work on to support that particular point in their paper. For example, “not soul but taste.” The professor could have suggested different words or phrases the writer could have used to get their point across which is what the professor did in the other Samples I have previously mentioned. Length means a lot in terms of the thought that the professor gives to the writer. The more questions that the professor asks the writer the more the writer can add to their paper to make it stand out.
      In conclusion, the more detailed a professor’s comment is the more advantages that the students can receive from the comments. Comments that are only a few words long do not offer the writer much in terms of suggestions. Overall, the professors comments in all of the Samples except Sample 5, write to the students on a personal note. The personal paragraph contains information based on what went well in the writer’s paper and what the writer may want to focus on to meet the expectations of the assignment. Sample 5 does not give the writer any personal comments that’s gives the writer confidence and assurance. **don’t know how to end**
**may change research question? Can mine be answered?**

No comments:

Post a Comment