Quality and Communication When it comes to critical thinking, reading and writing are two factors that deal with the critical thinking process. A few key aspects of critical reading and writing are identifying the tone in ones writing, how to throughly read and annotate a text, and the revision process. In the essay, “The Maker’s Eye”, Donald Murray explains how the attitude of a writer, listening to what readers have to say and how to edit your own writing makes your work better when critically thinking in college. These aspects of critical thinking, reading and writing make will keep the reader interested and make the writing easier to translate when read. As a writer is writing they must critically think of how they want readers to react to their writing. Although the understanding of the writing might be clear a writer should consider that “the aim of writing is communication, not just self-expression” (Murray). A reader can not look into the writers head and understand what they are trying to convey, with that being said, the authors tone in their writing is a huge factor in critical thinking. Since a piece of writing must have a certain tone “writers must hear and respect their own voice” (Murray). I struggle with this because I often have a hard time believing in my own quality of writing. Hearing and respecting your own voice is important because it can help you improve your own writing. Constructive criticism will also help a writer create a better piece of
In Donald Murray’s essay “The Maker’s Eye,” he says that writing is not a short process and that writers must create a series of drafts before he or she has a successful piece of writing. They also have to be open to both negative and positive feedback because each draft can be edited to make it clearer. Murray also talks about the importance of rewriting, which includes processes like scanning drafts and modifying problems which sentences are not relative to the thesis in order to make them readable (Murray, p.83). In addition, writers must remember to be more conscious of readers’ interests and be certain their readers want to receive the information, which the authors are trying to convey accurately. In other words, writers must understand
Donald Murray provides strong advice on the drafting process in his essay, The Maker’s Eye. By beginning with a boost in confidence, Murray reassures his reader that everyone, even the most renowned writers have to start somewhere. In explaining what he perceives to be the chronological order of the writing process, he tells his readers to: “detach themselves from their own pages so they can apply both their caring and their craft to their own work” (Murray 1). In order to understand how one’s audience perceives a piece, they must remove themselves and be critical. Murray continues by describing the seven elements one must consider in constructing their first draft: subject, audience, form, structure, development, dimension, and tone. In tackling
Writing, and literacy in general, is one of the founding cornerstones of modern society. It is difficult to find any sort of occupation that doesn’t require at least some basic writing skills. From business managers to lawyers to doctors, despite their notoriously bad handwriting, all require intimate knowledge of writing skills. Yet, teaching critical writing skills is not the cure-all to solving the problems that the public education system faces in producing students better prepared to tackle the challenges of the world as Peg Tyre portrays it as in The Writing Revolution. Critical writing skills, despite its current underemphasis in the classroom, should not be the only focus of the public school system’s curriculum as Peg Tyre suggests in The Writing Revolution, because critical writing skills do not prepare students adequately enough for the standards of the real world which require more technical skills, critical writing skills only teaches a small subset of underlying critical thinking skills, and critical writing skills education, as presented by Peg Tyre, is formulaically based which can result in long-term inability to further student’s critical writing skills despite initial success.
By examining the ideas in the essays Freewriting by Peter Elbow and The Makers Eye: Revising your own manuscripts by Donald Murray. One can gain a better understanding of the process of turning a piece of writing from an inspiration into a craft. By examining the elements lined out in each essay can be beneficial in creating a piece of writing that is beyond a college or student level. Elbows essay lines out the importance of a strong prewriting regimen. That editing too early can ruin writing. He believes that by using the method of free writing, it can inspire ideas that may be limited when worrying about grammar. While Murray emphasizes the necessity to create many drafts to form writing into its full potential. Saying each draft is an opportunity to discover what the author has to say and they the best way to say it. By transforming writing into its maximum potential it goes from being an idea an inspiration a masterpiece.
In the essay “Shacks” by Edward P. Jones, it includes questions at the end of the section where students can use critical thinking so that it can help them get a better understanding of the writer’s strategies and the essay’s elements. Before each essay begins, the book includes an introduction about who the writer is and about what their essay is going to be about to help students have a better understanding on what they’re going to be reading.
In the book The Bluest Eye Mrs. Breedlove talks about who was her motivation, who gave her drive to start dressing up nice and refashioning herself. She started using celebrities as role models or a mirror to help her find ways for her to get the same physical attractiveness they have. In the book Mrs. Breedlove mentions that,”I went to see Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. I fixed my hair up like I’d seen hers on a magazine. A part on the side, with one little curl on my forehead. It looked just like her… There I was, five months pregnant, trying to look like Jean Harlow, and a front tooth gone. Everything went then. Look like I just didn 't care no more after that. I let my hair go, plaited it
MiniEssay Prompt 1 Based on what the authors discussed in the issue of “Writing Identity”, writing is always changing to meet the needs of different audiences. When it comes to the way we speak to people, our voice changes according to who we’re targeting. The reason for this is to establish the right setting for the authors and writers to their readers. With having the proper tone in writing, it can capture the audience to understand the writer's thoughts and ideas.
“Critical Thinking in college writing: From the Personal to the Academic” by Git DasBender, focuses on how to approach critical thinking and writing. The text explains that Critical thinking doesn’t always mean criticizing the writer, but understanding what was written so you can provide a thoughtful and well informed opinion. A key component of forming such opinions is by reading attentively. This can be done by listing relevant questions, ideas and quotes. In order to form a personal response it can be done by telling a story, or by reflecting on a key point or idea of writing a letter.
In this article Critical Analysis: What It Is and Why It Counts, by Facione, it discusses the components and structure of reading critically. Facione approaches this topic by describing the differences of analyzing critically versus analyzing poorly. He also describes the thought process and intellectual correlation between critical analysis and typical behaviors regarding people’s ability to analyze situations.
Welcome to College Critical Reading 101. This essay will discuss the two books, and assignments in this course. This course will teach you critical thinking skills via varied challenging reading materials. The main focus of this course is to teach students how to evaluate information, while developing critical thinking skills. The two books you need are available online, the professor will assign PowerPoints and various online discussions and activities.
Most of the time in literature, voice is simply the way a person writes. But in the critical thinking process, voice is more than that: it is the manner in which a person expresses themselves through speech and writing, and what opinions they have on certain issues. Every voice is different because each has been influenced by different circumstances.
Secondly, Greene and Rose both seem to agree that reading critically and actively is important reading strategy for college student. Greene believes that reading critically which means asking questions about what the author’s arguments are and deciding if students agree or disagree with the author’s arguments is more vital than merely accepting information from the reading. The author seems to believe so because reading actively leads to developing students’ own claims. Some maintain that reading critically is an important reading strategies because “reading entails […] using framing concepts in order to shed light on our own ideas or the ideas of others” (Greene 32). In this quote, framing means asking questions what are author’s arguments and why does he claim the argument when students read.
Writing is more than simply picking up a pencil and making lines or hitting keys on a keyboard. The amount of thought that goes into a piece is what gives it value. This is why critical thinking is one of the most important things for a writer. Most papers are constructed through multiple sources or ideas; however, a writer must maintain an independent voice while synthesizing different views or their voice will be lost in a jumble of separate ideas. In order to synthesize different ideas, writers must be able to see different perspectives. By objecting one side of an argument and countering its stance, the writing becomes powerful because it can change minds. Synthesizing ideas, opposing positions, and independent are all factors that create
Throughout life, people in many positions attain knowledge that can be of use in a variety of different ways, such as a job, a social setting, or an educational setting. Throughout the first semester of freshman year at the University of Oklahoma I was a participant in a Principles of English Composition class that was intellectually challenging whilst still maintaining the expectations of a first year English class. In the semester of English 1113, the class discussed discursive practices, metacognition, critical reflection, and strategies to transfer knowledge that has been gained to other events in our lives. Learning about the structures of discourses and how writing is constructed specifically to the context by which the writing is
Is there an art to thinking that, when cultivated into its full potential, will improve the quality of a college student’s work? College students may become overwhelmed when writing. This is typically because they have not developed critical thinking. These students do not have a thought process that analyzes and evaluates with a view to improve it (Paul and Elder 4). A college student who is a critical thinker, however, often strays away from egocentric thinking, applies the universal intellectual standards, and possesses the essential intellectual traits (Paul and Elder).