Second major writing project.....second peer revision cycle. This time around I felt like the revision process was much easier on my part due to my ability to pick out student's essays. During the first round of revision, I had to wait for my partners to post their essays; this time around I had the freedom to select essays on a "first come-first serve" basis. I also found the Wikis much easier to revise with than Google Docs because I could post messages at the bottom of the essays that would go hand-in-hand with my corrections for the student.
The one issue I found this time around with the review process is the lack of attention some essays may receive. My essay is a notable example of this, as it is now almost ten o'clock Thursday night and I have had one person so far revise my paper. Other than this issue, I felt like the peer review process has so far been a much better learning experience (personally) so far.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
What Others Are Saying?
Choosing someone's blog to follow was actually challenging due to the fact I had to browse over multiple blogs. However I came across Jessica's blog and felt like there were areas of interest that clashed between us. For instance where Jessica mentions she tends to agree with using the active voice in writing, I tend to utilize the passive voice. I feel like this variant however does depend on the writer, however this is just one area where Jessica and I don't see eye to eye. It also doesn't surprise me that this rule comes from Strunk and White's book.
An area however where Jessica and I do see eye to eye on would regard the issue of forming the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's'. Now I am not saying we agree with this rule, in fact we both disregard it. I think that just adding an apostrophe to the end of a word that ends in 's' is considered grammatically correct. I just don't see why one would add an additional 's' to the end of a word.
One other thing I noticed when I was reading through Jessica's blog post resided in a particular sentence. Now while I know that my writing is nowhere near perfect, I felt like this issue should be raised. Here is the sentence:
"My decision to become a Journalism minor is the main thing that has helped me implement these rules into my writing more consistently."
While the sentence sounds grammatically correct, shouldn't it read more like this:
"My decision to select Journalism as my minor was the main thing that helped me consistently implement these into my writing."
Just throwing it out there? I wonder who would agree with my revision more? S&W or Williams? Hmmmmmmmmm.....
An area however where Jessica and I do see eye to eye on would regard the issue of forming the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's'. Now I am not saying we agree with this rule, in fact we both disregard it. I think that just adding an apostrophe to the end of a word that ends in 's' is considered grammatically correct. I just don't see why one would add an additional 's' to the end of a word.
One other thing I noticed when I was reading through Jessica's blog post resided in a particular sentence. Now while I know that my writing is nowhere near perfect, I felt like this issue should be raised. Here is the sentence:
"My decision to become a Journalism minor is the main thing that has helped me implement these rules into my writing more consistently."
While the sentence sounds grammatically correct, shouldn't it read more like this:
"My decision to select Journalism as my minor was the main thing that helped me consistently implement these into my writing."
Just throwing it out there? I wonder who would agree with my revision more? S&W or Williams? Hmmmmmmmmm.....
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Comparing Strunk & White to Williams
Upon my completion of Williams' book, I felt a sense of familiarity flow through my mind. While Williams and S&W differ in terms of their guide's structure, they both offer similar theories for revision. However the processes of these similar theories differ for the most part between these writers. For example, Both Williams and S&W believe in clear and concise writing, but Williams' approach differs in regards to S&W's approach. Williams suggests that there are two main principles that help create clear and concise writing, whereas S&W offers the suggestion of eliminating needless words from a sentence. S&W also suggest to avoid "loose" sentences, or sentences with two clauses.
Williams and S&W do agree on different revision techniques as well however. S&W mention that the number of the subject in a sentence will help determine the number of the verb; a theory that Williams can relate to. Another common theme that runs through both books would be the theme of utilizing an active voice in one's work. Both Williams and S&W suggest using the active voice because it is more direct and vigorous in a work and helps catch a reader's attention more effectively.
In regards to the usefulness of Williams and S&W's different texts, I believe that both texts offer good advice in revision technique. However I favor S&W's guide for revision because of its structure. S&W wrote a straight to the point guide that is in itself clear and concise in regards to reaching out to reader's needs. I felt like Williams' style guide was more of a "read" versus a guide. This however doesn't take away from the information of Williams' book, however I feel like writer looking for an effective revision "guide" for writing will end up finding S&W's guide "The Elements of Style" more effective than Williams.
Williams and S&W do agree on different revision techniques as well however. S&W mention that the number of the subject in a sentence will help determine the number of the verb; a theory that Williams can relate to. Another common theme that runs through both books would be the theme of utilizing an active voice in one's work. Both Williams and S&W suggest using the active voice because it is more direct and vigorous in a work and helps catch a reader's attention more effectively.
In regards to the usefulness of Williams and S&W's different texts, I believe that both texts offer good advice in revision technique. However I favor S&W's guide for revision because of its structure. S&W wrote a straight to the point guide that is in itself clear and concise in regards to reaching out to reader's needs. I felt like Williams' style guide was more of a "read" versus a guide. This however doesn't take away from the information of Williams' book, however I feel like writer looking for an effective revision "guide" for writing will end up finding S&W's guide "The Elements of Style" more effective than Williams.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Revising With Williams
(Just to note, I do realize I am pushing the limit on getting this one done around midnight. I purchased a new laptop :] and have spent the last two days transferring files and applications.)
"Eastern Michigan University is open to students who have the potential to succeed academically as determined by a review of official high school records and/or college records. Admission to the University is based on a combination of factors including, but not limited to, the review of high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum and scores on standardized tests."
(The re-edit)
"Eastern Michigan University offers students the opportunity to achieve academic success simply by a review of official high school transcripts or college records. For students to gain admission to EMU, the evaluation of high school or college grade point averages and curriculum will be taken into account, along with scores on standardized tests."
I revised this passage by focusing on how the sentences flow along with a grammatical breakdown of words. I replaced words like "records" with official words like "transcripts". I also re-worded most of the passage because I disliked the sentence's flow as I read it aloud. I simply sat down for a few minutes and attempted to simplify the sentence as much as possible, all while keeping smooth flowing sentences. As Williams suggests in Chapter 2 on page 21, clear writing has two principles. These two principles are: 1) The subjects of the sentences name the cast of characters, and 2) The verbs that go with those subjects name the crucial actions those characters are a part of. I essentially tried to follow these steps in order to offer clarity to this passage.
"Eastern Michigan University is open to students who have the potential to succeed academically as determined by a review of official high school records and/or college records. Admission to the University is based on a combination of factors including, but not limited to, the review of high school or college grade point average, high school or college curriculum and scores on standardized tests."
(The re-edit)
"Eastern Michigan University offers students the opportunity to achieve academic success simply by a review of official high school transcripts or college records. For students to gain admission to EMU, the evaluation of high school or college grade point averages and curriculum will be taken into account, along with scores on standardized tests."
I revised this passage by focusing on how the sentences flow along with a grammatical breakdown of words. I replaced words like "records" with official words like "transcripts". I also re-worded most of the passage because I disliked the sentence's flow as I read it aloud. I simply sat down for a few minutes and attempted to simplify the sentence as much as possible, all while keeping smooth flowing sentences. As Williams suggests in Chapter 2 on page 21, clear writing has two principles. These two principles are: 1) The subjects of the sentences name the cast of characters, and 2) The verbs that go with those subjects name the crucial actions those characters are a part of. I essentially tried to follow these steps in order to offer clarity to this passage.
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