Reading Notes -
My Reactions:
p.455 "Problems make good subjects" -
Nice quote by Donald Murraryp.457 "Argument, opinion, and persuasion should be nurtured as part of every writing workshop and every life. Writing teachers need to plant the seeds for those moments of change, when a student stops being a victim or allowing others to be victimized and writes as an agent, someone who uses written language to
act....They learn to identify problems that need solving and give voice to solutions.
And they learn how to be brave--to send ideas and evidence out into the world and try to have an influence there"
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"Argument/Persuasion" is the main focus of ICU ELP's academic writing curriculum and I believe in its importance. It is a great pleasure to see my students develop as "agents" of change. However, at least in the English Language Program, there is no sending of ideas out into the world yet. We need this! Atwell's idea of sending "petitions" like on p.459 hopefully can be developed somehow? However, it cannot be a "essay homework"; the arguments have to develop out of a genuine desire to see change about something...perhaps the ELP needs an in-house literary magazine for "guest editorial" essays, or an English newspaper, or a contest to submit letters to the editor of the Japan Times-or letters to their parents (?!) or alumni to request donations to charity.p.468 "To teach about essays, I collect them. Every year I clip timely editorials and columns...and the kids and I name the conventions we find. We never find five paragraphs--the essay form still taught in schools--and we seldom find topic sentences, thesis statements etc."
WHAT WE FIND IN GOOD ESSAYS:
Slightly shortened list from Atwell p.468= short, grabbing title, a lead that brings the reader right to the issue, examples, quotes, statistics, humor, sarcasm, a voice-a person behind the writing, a sense that the writer really cares about the subject, personal pronouns I/we, simpoe language, big words defined, simple, short sentences and paragraphs, some paragraphs made of only one sentence, transitional words that connect paragraphs and ideas, evidence and information woven in, anecdotes, anticipation of readers' questions, direct questions to hte reader, ideas in an order that seems logical, surprising combinations of words/ideas, a conclusion that resonates--that gives readers something to think about when they are done reading.
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I agree with Atwell that editorials and many other "argumentative" genres such as business letters or legal briefs do not always use an explicit, easy-to-find thesis and 5 organized paragraphs with topic sentences and summary sentences and "objective" language. It is a pedagogical genre, designed to force young writers to make a point and support it as explicitly as possible. My instinct is that the required format forces us to think about our arguments in a very explicit and structured way. For foreign language writers especially, I think an explicit, organized format is valuable in the early stages of becoming a persuasive writer. Like a sport or musical instrument, you have to practice the basics well before you can improvise and still be effective.
-The advantage of Atwell's list of "real" essay characteristics is that none of them would hurt to have in a well-organized traditional academic essay, possibly except for the "I/we" use --which can be bothersome if overused.
-So...here is a question - Is the "academic essay" a genre that should be learned? Is it useful in life in the future? For MA/PhD students, it probably is. For those that become professionals (like accountants, sales reps, lab researchers, designers etc.) after their undergrad programs, what would be best to write in a history class, for example? Is it a term paper? Is it a witty, journalistic piece like in a history magazine? Is it a website? Hmm...good question.
p.469 "Brainstorming, webs, lists, columns (tables/flow-charts/free-writing)...Kids need to start with quantity, work from wealth, and organize later. " -
Comment
p.470-- "Qualities of an effective book review-learn from reading REAL book reviews" -
Comment: Nice list for ICU ELP to consider for summer reading.
p.470-84 "Qualities of an effective book review/resume/cover letter/profile-learn from reading REAL book reviews"
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Comment: I hope ICU students can do profiles based on interviews of persons in the community, with interviews in either English or Japanese-Possibly of international students or faculty who are at ICU. That could be the "essay" for their culture/race unit. First, practice with each other, classmates, as Atwell shows on p.478. That would be awesome!
Nishizawa is about 2 hours away by car from Tokyo using the Chuo Expressway and is famous for a dazzling array of waterfalls that decorate a scenic 10km river ravine loop trail. We had good weather and were very impressed. The 4km ascent along the river was a little rocky and slippery in some places, but was just right for a 6-year old: shakey bridges, ladders, boulders, ropes and chains to climb for hours. The 6km descent winds smoothly down an old logging trail, going along the ridge above the river--unexciting, but still beautiful and definitely easy to walk down. We took some time to play in the river just before it started to rain.
