Month: October 2018

Hannah

Hero/success

Sam

Hero/success

Kayla

Victim

Blake

Hero

Question 2) There are many reasons one may like or dislike reading and writing, or just dislike reading and like writing or vice versa. I, myself, love reading. It could be anything from an action-packed medieval fantasy to a nonfiction description of how the Knights Templar lost favor with Pope Clement V and were disbanded. Although I love to read, I’d rather run a gauntlet then write a paper. Whether or not one likes to read or write depends on how, and where, they were raised as well as their interests. I was raised in south central Illinois in a small farm town where most people care very little about reading and writing. My father can read but takes a month to read a three hundred page book whereas it takes me maybe two hours. It is the same for many people, that some can/will read slowly or quickly. Now whether this is because there are more important things at hand or a general lack of interest is dependant upon one’s situation and education,

Question 1) My brother was my “sponsor” in my literacy narrative. He encouraged me from a young age to read and learn as much as possible. He used to sit and teach me different words and sounds just as much as my parents did. My brother was sent overseas in the Army and I did not see him for three years, and when he came back he brought me books. Still, to this day, he buys me books for my birthday and for Christmas. Brandt says “any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy – and gain advantage by it in some way” (556). Some of these examples of sponsors are exactly what my brother did and continues to do. He taught me when I was a child all that he knew until I surpassed his capabilities and he encourages me to learn even more now that I am in college.

Question 4) The two “little” narratives I identify with are the “Hero” and the “Outsider”. I love to read but could care less about writing. I identify with the hero because ever since I was a child it was always “Do good in school, go to college, get a good job and make a lot of money boy so you don’t have to be a farmer or road worker.” I’ve always tried my best in school and will continue to do so until I get a good job and make enough money to improve not only my life but my family’s as well. The other “little” narrative I identify with is the outsider because of my level of intellect. Back in my small farm town highschool I was a decent football player and one of the most academically inclined students. I never really fit in with the cool popular crowd or the nerdy crowd either. Most of my school was made up of extremely athletic jocks who don’t tend to accept a six foot three inch tall three hundred and fifty pound kid who wears glasses, slacks and a sweater vest most of the time. I ended up recieving the most scholarships and attending the best college of everyone in my class. But, even out here in college, I’m an outsider. Here I’m probably the least academically inclined student, everyone else in this college was able to take A.P. classes in all sorts of subjects and the only hard class I took in highschool was Honors English that did everything regular classes did but with more class discussions/debates.

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              The IMRaD paper format is extremely helpful to understanding the Science “Discourse” that James Gee describes. Discourses are the ways of being, doing, believing, valuing and saying that allow one to be a part of a group.  James Gee discusses that, “… in order to gain entry into a chosen Discourse one must have the knowledge of the practices of that Discourse.” The knowledge, or the practices, of a Discourse include how to act, talk, walk and do things so one is recognized and accepted within the Discourse. Nair and Nair also talk about these practices on how an article should look and read.

                 The IMRaD Cheat Sheet is an extremely helpful tool for understanding the “Discourse” of science. Discourses are James Gee’s version of social groups where members say, do, be, believe and value the same things. In order for one to join one of these Discourses they must have what Gee calls an “apprenticeship” into the Discourse. This apprenticeship will teach one how and what to do, in other words, the practices of a particular Discourse in order to be recognized and accepted. The IMRaD Cheat Sheet helps one understand the practices needed to write and read a scientific paper so that they can be entered into the Discourse.

1. I’m working quite well with Gee’s articles, mainly because that is all we’ve done for two months, and I have a clear understanding of his views/ideas. I work quite well in my first two paragraphs but do not connect Gee with the other authors as well as can be done and I must work upon that.
2. My main point is that practices/methods make the world go round. I’m using gee and the imrad cheat sheet as well as a few Nair and Nair examples.
3. My main problem is procrastination, and also how to break-up/organize the info from the IMRaD Cheat sheet and merge it with Gee’s Building Tasks.
4. If one doesn’t know how or what to do to gain access and be in a Discourse then they aren’t really a part of that Discourse. One who doesn’t know the practices of a Discourse will be marked as a “pretender.”

1. James Gee discusses that in order to gain entry into a chosen Discourse that one must have the knowledge of the practices of that Discourse.  The knowledge, or the practices, of a Discourse include how to act, talk, walk and do things so one is recognized and accepted within the Discourse. Nair and Nair also talk about these practices on how an article should look and read.

2. Quite a large amount of Gee’s article is on how one must have access to an “apprenticeship” in order to gain entry to a Discourse. He also says how it is the only sure way one can gain access without being outed as a fraud. There are many examples of these apprenticeships, one is the girl Eliza that Haas mentions in her article. Eliza loved Biology so she went and worked at it, spent time with other students/teachers in her field and eventually joined the Discourse.

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Practices (activities)

“But, if the title suggests an innovative investigation such as … “Species richness and diversity in home gardens: a boon or bane?” it has a much better chance to attract the attention of the discerning, busy reader,” (Nair & Nair 15).

Nair and Nair are saying that the title is the first thing a potential reader sees and that it decides whether or not they will read the article. An article’s title must convey a sense of what the article is about while also attracting readers.

“Methods are usually written in past tense and passive voice with lots of headings and subheadings,” (IMRAD).

Methods, as described by the IMRAD Cheat Sheet, are what one actually did in their research. Methods are in the past and should be written that way, they will also be the least read parts of a report.

Identities

“An important point to keep in mind is that there is no standard or uniform style that is followed by all journals,” (Nair & Nair 13)

This quote states that every article is different in its own way. Nair and Nair are saying that no two articles are alike, even if they are on the same subject/topic.

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Intro. I didn’t change my intro at all. I didn’t change it because in my first draft I did not have one so I added it to my final and I believe I did a decent job explaining what my paper was about without going into to much detail.

Evi and Exp. I added many more meaningful quotes and other evidence from the texts. I mainly focused on Gee in both my First and Final drafts but I added more on Cuddy into my Final. I also contrasted the two texts as well as compared them a little in my Final.

Reorganization. I moved a paragraph on gee above a paragraph on Cuddy. I did this because for some reason I at first explained Gee some, then Cuddy, and then went back to Gee. So instead of that, I moved my full explanation of Gee in order.

New Paragraphs. I certainly made my paper longer. I added an actual intro and conclusion, as well as another smaller paragraph on Cuddy.

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