Writing A Template In They Say I Say

While writing might seem like a simple task, it can be a daunting task for a lot of people. Sometimes it can be hard to express the ideas in your mind in the words of a paper. This results in a disconnect with what a writer may actually think. A great writer is one that can transform his thoughts into words perfectly. This is a craft that takes many years to perfect, which is why writing is troublesome for a lot of us. Many students also have had bad experiences with writing. Maybe they had a teacher that didn’t try to support them and their writing. They might not have ever gotten the help they needed and may feel that they are in a hole where their writing can’t get better. At this point, they just accept that their writing will never get better.

As Goshgarian states in Exploring Language, “Most college writing is an exercise in persuasion – an attempt to influence reader’s attitudes about the subject matter” (90). In order to effectively persuade our audience, we must not only write skillfully, but also be able to send a clear, interesting, and concise message. In chapter two of the above mentioned book, Goshgarian provides various articles with insights on how to improve our writing. I found “Beware the Trap of Bore-geous Writing”, by Ayelet Waldman; “The Case for Short Words”, by Richard Lederer; and “Saying is Believing”, by Patricia O’ Conner very interesting as they all highlight the importance of writing clearly and provide valuable advice on how to do it better. However, I personally found “Saying is Believing”, by Patricia O’Conner, to be the most helpful resource due to the reasons I intend to explain in this essay.

In L. Lennie Irvin’s “What Is ‘Academic’ Writing?” Irvin presents the reader’s with the necessary skills to probably compose a colligate level paper. Doing this, Irvin exposes common myths of writing. These myths include that writing is simply a trait that cannot be improved. He explains by stating if one wishes to improve their writing skills they must think about the way they present an idea rather than fretting about the grammar. Irvin also clarifies terms such as analyze and argument. While these are just some of the major points, Irvin thoroughly explains to students new to college how to compose a collegiate level essay.

They Say/I Say Review Many college students find themselves struggling, while trying to write papers in their English classes. This book was written to help you though these struggles. They say/I say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein is a book that was designed to help students be better writers. I think that this book is absolutely a huge help to anyone in need of becoming a much more confident and better writer. This book has helped me learn how to write more structured sentences and how to form them in ways that sound better and are also more grammatically correct than before. I have learned how to properly demonstrate and use many writing techniques such as making quotations, playing the believing game, how to write strong summaries, how to plant a “naysayer”, and incorporate “so what?” and “who cares?” into my writing. This book can be extremely helpful to anyone in need of assistance or for people interested in

AS in Fine Arts Shalyra Alleyne 901234091 Bullock, Richard, and Goggin, Maureen D, and Weinberg, Francine, editors. The Norton Field Guide to writing with readings and handbook. W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

In their book They Say I Say, Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst outline strategies writers can use to avoid common mistakes often seen in academic writing. The book thoroughly outlines the different components that make up academic writing, such as initially summarizing what others have said before, responding with original ideas, proving a purpose to the writing, and connecting the writing in a logical and eloquent manner.

They Say I Say preface and introduction explain how this book is going to educate us and how we should exercise different writing ideas as students. It discusses how the book is going to help us look at different writing methods like templates. The prefaces’ main topic is templates and

Semester Test Writing is about telling your story to the world and changing the perspective of how things appear to you. Writing is about sharing your voice with the world one word at a time. It’s about creating your own opinion statement with just the right amount of detail. All writers have something they want to say, and everyone is a writer. The most important thing you should always remember as a writer is believing in yourself. If you can believe in your writing, then you can achieve the impossible and know this is a paper worth turning in.

Kurt Vonneguts "How to Write with Style" is full of very helpful writing tips. He has his eight steps of writing, which he describes in great detail. Throughout the whole reading I keep having memories of a story that my friends father told me. He explained how he writes papers as a lawyer and professor for over 30 years. He said that he lists all of his main ideas down in bullet points and starts the paragraphs off. Then you write the story by bullet point four or five paragraphs at a time so you don’t get bored and don’t get writers block. This was helpful information, however he never really went into very much detail about how to elaborate on smaller topics. This story gave me a very descriptive path to follow to have a successful paper.

In my high school English, we worked with the writing process and spent some time on thesis statements. I have a pretty good understanding that thesis statement should be telling the reader your perspective on a topic, and sum up your main points. Writing the introduction to papers is one of my favorite parts, I like to start them with an attention getting device, and then lead into the thesis and main points. To compose my papers I like to make an outline, and follow that when I type to make the paper come together better. I mostly struggle with conclusions, because I do not like to repeat things I have stated earlier in the paper. I always try to make the conclusion a little different. Lastly I really need to improve my paragraph coherence, I find it more difficult to get my sentences to flow and fit together like a proper paper

Research types of writings at college helped me strengthen my writing skills because as I started to research on a topic, not only I learned more in depth, but also learned how to draw further connections outside of the course(class). I want to improve my writings in making correct connections and organizing ideas. Sometimes, I misunderstand the readings and end up making the wrong connections. In fact, my ideas are all over the place whenever I try to make connections, which does not clearly show that I have understood the assignment. These mistakes often led to downside of my grades. The most useful advice I received that helped me improve my writing is that “the word ‘writing’ actually means to put things together, so don’t be afraid of express your opinions in your writing your opinion.” This encourage me not to be afraid of writing and expressing my opinions.

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

Since beginning to write papers in English class, I have had countless successes and failures. While many of my English classes have taught me how to improve my writing, I have not learned very much in others. My most recent English class was last year, my sophomore year. My class was particularly undersized; therefore, it gave each student the opportunity to have additional individual attention. Throughout the class I experienced high points, weaknesses, and even difficulties that I never overcame. Overall, my writing skills improved, but only marginally.

The first thing I do when I have to write a paper is I try to determine what exactly the prompt is asking me to write about. This might seem obvious but, on occasion, I might misread or simply misunderstand a prompt which could result