Mastering the Art 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). College students, just as other humans do, suffer heavily from egocentric thinking. This is the absurd assumption that they have practically figured out the way things truly are and that they have done this objectively (Paul and Elder 9). Political figures are famous for being egocentric thinkers. Donald Trump, for example, once said “I will build a great wall – and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me – and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.” (Rosslee and Chandler).
Sufferers of egocentric thinking often forget to consider the rights, needs and limitations of others (Paul and Elders 9). This causes their papers to not have a desirable effect. Students should evaluate the thinking which reared this thought of Marco Rubio “The way to turn our economy around is
The Author Reid, E Shelley states the importance of writing, and the tools that college students have in order to create a well-organized, legible and informative essay. The article “Ten Ways to Think about Writing: Metaphoric Musings for College Writing Students” is divided in ten general principles of writing, showing clear examples of each principle through the work, She perfectly explains how reasoning and creativity could work together as a tutorial for college students essay writing.
In Dan Berrett’s article, “Students Come to College Thinking They’ve Mastered Writing,” the idea of freshman thinking they are or must be a refined writer is discussed. Students may think this way coming into college, but their teachers do not. While students might feel satisfied and think that they are prepared with their writing skills, professors found that these students did not necessarily meet the expected level (Berrett 1). Many students reported that they would normally write around 25 hours every week. They said that most of those hours of writing was for more formal purposes like passages to make changes in society (Berrett 1). It was found that one reason the new students might feel this way is that their assumptions about writing differed greatly from those of faculty members and their expectations. One big thing that students will not get for a while, is that good writing is not just listed as a bunch of steps one is to follow that automatically make one’s writing good. Good writing requires one to be in different mental states; it requires the understanding of how to write for different audiences and different reasons (Berrett 2). Berrett includes in the article that writing is not just universal and that in order to do very well, writers must use different forms of writing specifically for their purpose (2). It seems as though students think that, before they even take a class, they are supposed to know everything about writing; in reality, they are supposed to learn new skills and enhance others (Berrett 2). Berrett says that many believe the schools these students previously attended with their test focus might cause these feelings about writing (2). Berrett ends his article by saying that students these days do not think that informal writing actually counts as writing, and that students should practice writing for informal purposes because it can help them (2). Even if they feel like it, students are not fully prepared to write in all contexts when they arrive at college.
Murray is insightful not only to instructors but also to learners. Murray argues that the challenge facing writing is the fact that teachers have treated it as a product rather than a process and the same concept passed on to students. The author holds that the main problem with this view is that students get to receive irrelevant criticisms that are not related to their learning goals. While I tend to agree with the author based on the arguments presented, it is notable that Murray has paid little attention to the idea of education in the contemporary world. In most learning institutions, the outcome of the writing is considered more than the process. As a teacher paying attention to the process of writing but not be consistent with the students, who are mostly driven by
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.
In “How Do I Write a Text for College” (The World is a Text, 2006), Patty Strong said that writing in in college is much more different than writing in high school and so as the purpose of it. In high school student were told to write texts depending on their prior knowledge while on an institution of higher education students have the flexibility to write not only about what they already learnt but what they are trying to learn. In addition, writing in college requires a higher level of critical thinking and understanding, but it will unequivocally expand their knowledge.
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.
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.
The survey result Berrett includes shows that students see writing as “basically a performance”. Berrett also introduced an argument from the “Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing” report, which claims that writing is not a “linear process”. The author states that successful writing requires various processes, habits and experiences, such as “curiosity, flexibility, persistence and metacognition”. Since for most highschoolers, writing is ‘’framed as preparation of tests”, they do not have the opportunity to “develop ideas or raise prose”. The author suggests the students require change in their mindset of writing. However, the only evidence the author provides is from a students’ self-reported survey, instead of actual writing assignments. This rather subjective evidence results in a less convincing argument. Despite this flaw in logic, I personally agree with the author. I find the transformation of writing from high school to university is challenging. The main reason is that my writing experience back then was more about “following directions”. The format and structure of the writing assignment was provided, and all the information I need was spoonfed to me. As a result, there was no researching and developing my own idea, and in the first week of university, when I was asked to write a lab report with my own theory, I brainstormed for hours before eventually generated one. Nevertheless, I hold onto the hope that improvements on creativity in writing can be made as I gradually develop my “curiosity, flexibility, persistence and metacognition”. In general, although I agree with the author’s opinion, I felt his claim lacks
From elementary school to high school, I was taught that my writing had to be structured and follow strict criteria. After I arrived in Mr. Mukherjee’s ENG 102 class, I was given the opportunity to express my creative freedom through words and graphical pictures. It can often be difficult and challenging to improve upon my own writing abilities unless motived with an idea in mind. When looking back on my time at ASU, I thought about the goals that I wanted to address for myself and the course goals that my instructor had set for the class. These goals include ones that I had accomplished to the best of my ability and ones that I need to address as well as improve.
In “Expectations for College Writing,” the author indicates the importance of thinking and communicating to succeed after college. A writer’s style acknowledges a social or academic expression. A writer’s skill to rationalize ideas and think critically demonstrates an essential technique for enhancing communication in the work environment.
“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.
One of the student learning outcomes through which I was able to see my writing improve this semester was applying critical thinking and reading skills to
Art education is often underestimated by many who believe that school was created to teach only analytical concepts such as mathematics and literature. However, research has shown that art courses are important, even necessary for students in elementary, middle, and high schools. These art classes may include not only visual arts but performing arts such as dance, theatre and choir. Barbara Streisand said, “Art does not exist only to entertain, but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, in a constant search for the truth,” (Quotations). Streisand points out that there are multiple benefits to art whether it be painted by a brush or sung from the heart. Art has the ability to allow people to see situations from
Fine arts is creative art, especially visual. Today it has become very appealing to various people of many different classes, but the type of people that can perform these different arts are from an unlimited variety of backgrounds. They could come from a horrid background or a state of poverty, or from the wealthiest family in their region, but if that person is gifted enough in any type of fine art, whether it be poetry, architecture, performing arts, or theatre that could modify that person's life entirely. If they put themselves out there to let their talents be shown to their maximum potential, they could be benefiting themselves well enough to either be that person to land a record deal, or be an author of the latest award-winning novel, or the star of the newest play on broadway, the list goes on and on. By doing this, letting themselves and their talents be perceived by others who would be willing to invest their time and money into them to watch them perform, watch their work or others things that could come along with being part in a fine art. This does not change the way I see things really, if anything it makes me appreciate it more, how truly inspiring it can be to see someones life turn around, most of the time, for the better. And I would say that I do in fact care, without fine arts, daily life would be unembellished, it brings life and an interesting, entertaining feel to our everyday lives. Whether we are listening to music
To some, academic art is traditionally used to describe true-to-life artwork, advocated by the European art academies. One of the most noted academies in history is the French Royal Academy of Art. Originating in the 17th century, the Royal Acad{\'e}mie was used as a weapon in the struggle for political and social power. This was done by creating a clear line between what was art and what was craft, providing education to a select few who produced approved work, and eliminating the competition by exhibiting only Academic endorsed artwork. Understanding the foundations on which the Royal Acad{\'e}mie was built on provides a gateway into clarifying their practices and ultimately their downfall in the 20th century. When the Acad{\'e}mie became tied with The Salon, "young artists could find themselves promoted to prominence through patronage connections and collectively seek protection of artistic interests" (Rosenfeld).