Revsions

I would have to say that I probably revise everything that I write at least twice, but usually three times. If the paper is a creative writing, I revise with an eye more toward content and overall form. If the piece is expository in nature, I read and revise mostly organizational components.

However, since I have been inundated with composition theory this semester, I have noticed a trend in my writing toward more in-depth revision. I don't think that I necessarily go through more drafts, but I think about that process much more deliberately. I have begun to look for things like paragraph structure more closely, as well as style components of my actual sentences. I have been reading Style by Joseph Williams and he harps on the old-new contract, parallel constructions, and balanced phrasing. Erika Lindeman's writings on paragraphs and sentences have furthered the attention to detail. Also, my own work on grammar education has led me to think about the smaller parts of my writing and how they may fit together as a whole.

Teaching about Words

Summary:
Lindeman is discussing the importance of understanding words as transient rather than static in this chapter. If students come to their writing with a fear of choosing the wrong word or form, their writing is likely to be confusing and filled with inconsistencies. She suggests the importance of helping students become more comfortable in talking about their own language and being able to see their own writing as a living thing. There are several ways that the author says this can be accomplished is lots of classroom practice and discussion about such topics as parts of speech, effectively using active and passive voice, recognizing inflectional and derivational suffixes, and viewing style as word choice.

Response:
Lindeman does a great job in every chapter of reinforcing the idea that students are just as gifted in language as the instructor. The responsibility, then, lies with the instructor to help them view their language as something that can be changed from speech to the more conventional edited American English. There is also the idea that the more language is discussed, the better students become at writing for different audiences and making choices about style. I also liked the part about using nonsensical words to illustrate the systematic nature of inflectional suffixes.
Lindeman points out that while textbooks can be useful tools, the best way to help students become more proficient in their own writing is to use their own writing. Some teachers may be reticent to do this because it takes the ball out of their own court and makes the classroom a bit more unpredictable, but the extra effort certainly gets the desired results.

Paragraph Revision

Original:
1) One of the the most effective things that I saw in Prof. Law's teaching of the writing process was her use of "error logs".
2) When the students turn in the final draft, the teacher grades and comments on them for conceptual and mechanical flaws.
1) At that point, the students are given the opportunity for a revised grade only if they complete their error logs.
3) The student must look up every mistake in their handbook and copy the rule onto a piece of paper.
3) Then, they must rewrite the flawed sentence/word/idea and incorporate it into the revised paper.

Revised:
Students are also led through the revision process by using "error logs". When they turn in their final draft, the teacher grades and marks them for conceptual and mechanical flaws. At that point, the students are given the opportunity for a revised grade only if they complete their error logs. Each student must look up every mistake in their handbook and copy the rule onto a piece of paper along with the flawed sentence/ word/ idea. Finally, all revisions must be incorporated into the new draft.

Teaching Paragraphing

Summary:
Chapter nine is one in the series of chapters focusing on the mechanics of witting and the best way to teach them. Lindeman mentions Bain's English Composition and Rhetoric, which can be a helpful tool in the structure of any writing. The tenets designated as important are usually most useful in the revision process.
The rest of the chapter follows some steps that can be used teaching paragraphing. The first important thing for composition writers to remember is that paragraphs are processes rather than products. Once that is understood, the instruction can proceed. Lindeman suggests that taping informal conversations can work to help students understand the flow of thinking and how that can be applied to writing, especially the coordinate and subordinate sequences.
The final segment of this chapter gives some sample lessons for teaching paragraphing.

Response:
I really like any type of instruction that attempts to make students feel as though they are already ready to master the concepts which are being presented to them. The "Paragraph as progress" idea that is featured in chapter nine reflects exactly thins concept. If the teacher is willing to put themselves on more of the level of a guide, I think that learning can flow more reciprocally.
As far as the actual teaching methods which Lindeman suggests, I was interested in the taped conversations and the revision lesson. Students would probably be interested in taping and analyzing their own conversations as opposed to looking at examples in textbooks. The revision lesson is a very important (and often underestimated) part of composition instruction. When words have been placed on a page they acquire a sense of permanence. It takes a lot of practice to master the art of editing.

More Research

When I wrote before about grammar instruction I had some opinions about it, but was not really sure how they might be implemented to actually improve student writing. Since that time, I have come to the conclusion that formal grammar instruction of any kind is basically not helpful in developing better writing. This would include rote memorization and drill exercises as well as usage and style suggestions. The problem is that many of the definitions used in grammar research still include this "etiquette" facet of grammar. I will begin my paper with a discussion of how the definition of grammar has been misconstrued and has actually hurt students because they get no instruction whatsoever. The next major point I will explore is what type of grammar is helpful to students. I have a plethora of evidence showing that sentence combining is the answer to developing syntactic maturity and eliminating many of the errors basic writers tend to commit. I also want to emphasize that many students think they do not like "grammar" because they have been made to feel as though they will never succeed. The truth is, they already have everything they need to succeed in this field.

My research presentation will underscore this point. Sentence combining relies on the transformational grammar, which says that all of our linguistic capabilities are in place by the time we enter school. Most students run into problems when they try to translate all of this knowledge from speech to writing. The teacher's job, then, is to give students as much practice in using their own capabilities to build better sentences. When the technique is used in groups and is discussed in class, there can be significant improvement in writing complex sentences and avoiding fundamental errors. During the presentation, I will actually engage our class in sentence combining exercises.

Cognition and Its Place for Teachers

Summary:
This chapters explores (briefly) the creative process. Lindeman references Graham Wallas' The Art of Thought and the "four stages of creative problem-solving". All of these processes (preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification) validate Lyndemann's point about having to be able to not only synthesize information, but also to filter it through all of the sensory modes which are available to us.
The chapter has headings which tell of the author's intent to focus on how we come to cognition, some theories about the cognitive process, and the ramifications for the English teacher specifically.
The section which discusses perception begins by emphasizing the idea that every person translates what they perceive into knowledge through a different route because everyone is different, forming their own set of realities. The section concludes with a discussion about language and the Whorf hypothesis which theorizes that different languages can affect how different cultures perceive the world.
Conception is an important part of the cognitive process and is discussed in terms of prewriting. Lyndemann reminds her readers that just because someone is educated in one field that doesn't mean they are going to understand every discourse situation. She emphasizes the importance of developing writing assignments that can help every student reach their own writing potential.

Response:
All of the things that Lyndemann point out about how the cognitive process can be enhanced the more it is explored made me think of the college experience. I think that the reason people can become such well-rounded individuals at the university level is that they are introduced to so many different approaches to problem-solving. If the depth of perception can lead to a brighter illumination, then all of the general education classes which students dread could be one of the ways to improving thinking.
Another interesting thing was a fairly mundane story in the perception section. Lyndemann relates the story about the wood worker's ability to see the problem through the actual materials he is using and relates this to the feeling of when we "know what we mean but can't put it into words". It seems that this could be why some students are better writers than others. If they are more inclined to think in terms of words rather than working parts, it naturally follows that their writing would be more coherent.

Writing for Every Purpose

I am not sure that I am the best person to write for this topic. Since I have approached my education so non-sequentially, it is difficult for me to remember much of the writing I have done for classes other than English. I have vague recall of having a Biology class which had essay portions on the tests. The interesting thing about that is that I learned more about science in that class than at any other time. I think it has to do with the multi-layered approach to actually "knowing" something. In that class I was required to know the information for test as well as how to use it in the lab and finally I had to process that information well enough that I would be able to write intelligibly about it. Obviously the more levels that are appealed to in learning about anything, the better the student understands it.
There is another side to this, though, than simply having to write essays for tests. The expository writing that is at the center of most English classes can have a profound impact on the critical thinking skills that are required to succeed in any field. Any time a research project is assigned for a class, the students must spend time in all of the stages which are listed by Graham Wallas and referenced here through Erika Lindemann's text: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification. It does not really matter in what discipline these creative processes are honed as long as they are practiced. When a student realizes that they actually have the ability to expand on information and present it in coherent terms, their confidence is enhanced as well as their educational prospects.