We've spoken in class about how, at least in academic writing, one uses evidence to support claims and opinions. As a way of helping you "get" how evidence works in the relationship between opinion and support, I thought I might ask you to explore this site:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/evidence/index.html
In particular, after you enter the site, I want you to look at the link "Can you believe it?" Note the various questions scientists ask of scientific articles to find out if the evidence is worth anything.
Steve
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Update on Fieldtrip
We just received word the Reynold's van we were to use for transportation on the Creepy Hollow field trip is down for repair; so, it won't be available as planned.
Rather than cancel the field trip, I thought I might ask if folks are willing to carpool or transport themselves on a strictly voluntary basis. I need to make clear that: 1) attendance for the field trip is voluntary [but fun and educational]; 2) the college can assume no liability when you take personal transportation; and, 3) while guests are welcome, the college can't pay for their entrance fees, etc.
Anyone--student or guest--who plans to attend must have signed a release form prior to leaving campus. For anyone needing to sign a release form, I'll have extras with me when we meet at the at the Flagpoles tonight, Thursday, 23 Oct., 6:45 PM. We'll arrange transport tonight for everyone from the cars which are volunteered.
Rather than cancel the field trip, I thought I might ask if folks are willing to carpool or transport themselves on a strictly voluntary basis. I need to make clear that: 1) attendance for the field trip is voluntary [but fun and educational]; 2) the college can assume no liability when you take personal transportation; and, 3) while guests are welcome, the college can't pay for their entrance fees, etc.
Anyone--student or guest--who plans to attend must have signed a release form prior to leaving campus. For anyone needing to sign a release form, I'll have extras with me when we meet at the at the Flagpoles tonight, Thursday, 23 Oct., 6:45 PM. We'll arrange transport tonight for everyone from the cars which are volunteered.
Monday, October 20, 2008
FYI: Four Year College Transfer Days
J. Sargeant Reynolds
Community College
4 Year College
Transfer Days
Tuesday, Oct. 21st (Burnette Hall- PRC) & Thursday, Oct. 23 (1st Floor Lobby- DTC)
11am until 1pm
Meet with Admissions Representatives
Learn about Guaranteed Admission Agreements
and Transferability of Classes
Randolph-Macon UVA
Bluefield College VA State University
Hampton University VCU
ODU Virginia Tech
JMU Mary Washington
NC State University Radford University
University of Richmond
and many more!
An example of a good, solid rhetorical analysis.
A few students have asked I post an example of the kind of rhetorical analysis for which I am looking each week. Below is a good, solid example. It could be improved, but I am impressed with how the author has placed himself in the rhetorical place of the person he is analyzing. The author of the analysis does a good job of identifying his rhetor's audience, and looking at a specific problem the rhetor is facing and how the rhetor crafts his message to overcome these problems. There are even specific examples. I would prefer the author had taken a few extra minutes to proofread, but over all, I would give the following example an "A."
Here's the example:
Here's the example:
Watching preist perform the mass is an excellent example of Rhetoric. His ethos is established by the clothes he wears, the logos can be simply achieved by backing up your statements with scripture, and pathos can easily be achieved when people come to church, looking and expecting to feel better about themselves. The audience is generally the same group of people. Old people who come from habit, young people who come because they're forced to, and people in the middle looking for answers about life. The message stays pretty consistent from week to week: live right, but if you can't you can be forgiven. The thing that makes their job difficult is keeping the attention of this audience week to week when you need to send the same general message. They try to do this by varying the stories and examples they use. I cannot imagine this is as easy to do as it sounds. The three groups I described which compose the congregation are very diverse. Many of the stories I can relate to do not apply to many of the near-deads who sit up front. Very frequently the situations they find humorous don't do anything for me. Our priest seems to have discovered the secret to making everyone pay attention. His Homilies often conist of you might be a redneck if jokes and comparisons to professional football. Everyone likes these.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Reading: Kaizen and Process, Take Two
Now you are getting your head around the basic elements of communications---the sender, the message, the receiver, noise, and feedback, it's time to talk some down and dirty about how to improve your writing. The basic notion of how to make improvements in any process (like writing), can be found in the industrial management philosophy of Kaizen.
If you do a quick google of "Kaizen," you'll learn it's the industrial management philosophy which led to Japan being the technological and industrial powerhouse it is. This way of approaching process brings together the best of Western ideas about motion study and efficiency and Japanese notions of how communities and individuals work. It's one of a handful of the most powerful ideas to emerge from the 20th C, and it came into being at the end of WWII.
The US wanted to build a working democracy out of the wreckage of Japan at the end of WWII. Japanese industry was geared up for war, and the US had learned from how it had handled Germany at the end of WWI that for democracy to work, you had to have a certain amount of wealth flowing through out a viable economy; so, the US sent in some of our best industrial engineers to help Japan to build a consumer industrial base.
These folks were well grounded in how to set up a factory to mass produce, but they didn't have a clue as to how Japanese culture functions. The upshot was they tried to impose the latest 1930s/'40s motion and process theory and failed miserably. Japanese culture sees work holistically. It tends to see the individual as part of a community, and the function of work not so much as a means of producing a product but as a means of maintaining the viability of the community and the pride and sense of status of the individual within the community. Luckily, the Japanese were able to work with the well intentioned Americans to come up with a theory of industrial process which combined the best of both ways of working.
From the US, they took the notion of process, that is, when you do something over and over (like writing a sentence, paragraph, or email), you tend to follow the same steps and tend to need the same stuff. If you break down such repeatable activities into set steps, you can focus on one aspect of the process at a time and work to improve its efficiency. You might, for instance, make sure the tools you need for a task are at your workstation instead of stored across the room, saving you the time needed to get up, loose your train of thought, and go across the room to get a pencil or keyboard. The idea is as you improve the efficiency of the individual steps, you improve the overall efficiency of the process and your ability to compete.
Now American thought tended to think of process efficiency as a means to an end. You get a factory up to a certain level of productivity per man hour, and you can compete. The Japanese had the brilliant insight---based on Zen notions of work based meditation--that one never reaches a perfect process; instead, one can just improve the process at hand; but, and this is a big but, you can make small, continuous improvements to whichever processes is in place. Literally, one's focus isn't on the end product, but on the doing or the work necessary to a task. You practice and perfect the doing of a task, not the product of the task. The upshot is they created the notion of continual small improvements to process or Kaizen. It's quite literally a continuous focus of improving how the task is done and assuming that a good process will produce a good product which can compete.
There are some additional flourishes. Kaizen rewards workers who come up with a means to improve how their task is done. It creates time in a production schedule to have regular meetings of the workers, management, and sales folks to discuss process and product. The idea is everyone needs to understand the big picture, so they can understand their part. In any event, small groups meet to make decisions about which improvements to process to implement and to judge if a change in process is an improvement or not. There's also the notion of low hanging fruit vs. high hanging fruit. That is, one always begins work on a process from the process already in place. This process already allows you to receive some gain or, to use the Kaizen metaphor, pick the lowest hanging fruit. As you make improvements, you add to your gains by being able to pick the lowest hanging fruit and some higher hanging fruit. The upshot is your return in the investment of improving process is always increased return.
Kaizen can be applied to any process, from coding to writing to your morning routine. Let's talk about writing. You currently use a series of processes when you write. As you write and revise your inventory of WPA Outcomes, think how you produce writing currently and give these processes your attention. Break writing down into the steps you follow as you produce. For instance, how do you proofread? How do you draft? Do you build in time for revision? We'll be discussing how composition and rhetoric has broken down the task of writing and making speeches, but my goal here is to just give you some language for thinking about the processes you use as you create and write. I encourage you to think about processes in the work you do or want to do. Once you begin noticing the steps you follow and can accept the notion of improving how you produce through making small, continuous changes in these processes, you'll be half-way to becoming a writer.
Here are the tricks of Kaizen:
1) Pat yourself on the back. Whatever process you are now using is picking the lowest hanging fruit.
2) Know your goals.
3) Take small steps toward your goals by improving the process.
4) Pat yourself on the back for picking higher hanging fruit and moving toward your goals.
5) If a step doesn't work out, figure out why and make another change. Use the loss as an opportunity to learn. You are still picking fruit.
7) Keep the pace of change slow but steady. Every few weeks, figure out your next change and keep implementing the change until it becomes habit and routine.
8) Take time to review. Know you are making progress and picking higher fruit than you were. As you review, reward yourself and internalized your success. It is only from success that you gain confidence.
9) Include others in your goals and work toward them. Listen to their insights. Often, from outside, they will see those things which you cannot from the inside. Let these others share in and celebrate your success. Again, you gain confidence from public acclimation.
10) Don't expect the moon; instead, move toward it. As change and improvements accumulate, you will eventually obtain the moon.
11) Usually, when you reach the moon, you find out it wasn't about being there; it was about the journey, the successes along the way, your own growth, and the confidence you have gained for the next project.
Write if you have questions, comments, or observations.
If you do a quick google of "Kaizen," you'll learn it's the industrial management philosophy which led to Japan being the technological and industrial powerhouse it is. This way of approaching process brings together the best of Western ideas about motion study and efficiency and Japanese notions of how communities and individuals work. It's one of a handful of the most powerful ideas to emerge from the 20th C, and it came into being at the end of WWII.
The US wanted to build a working democracy out of the wreckage of Japan at the end of WWII. Japanese industry was geared up for war, and the US had learned from how it had handled Germany at the end of WWI that for democracy to work, you had to have a certain amount of wealth flowing through out a viable economy; so, the US sent in some of our best industrial engineers to help Japan to build a consumer industrial base.
These folks were well grounded in how to set up a factory to mass produce, but they didn't have a clue as to how Japanese culture functions. The upshot was they tried to impose the latest 1930s/'40s motion and process theory and failed miserably. Japanese culture sees work holistically. It tends to see the individual as part of a community, and the function of work not so much as a means of producing a product but as a means of maintaining the viability of the community and the pride and sense of status of the individual within the community. Luckily, the Japanese were able to work with the well intentioned Americans to come up with a theory of industrial process which combined the best of both ways of working.
From the US, they took the notion of process, that is, when you do something over and over (like writing a sentence, paragraph, or email), you tend to follow the same steps and tend to need the same stuff. If you break down such repeatable activities into set steps, you can focus on one aspect of the process at a time and work to improve its efficiency. You might, for instance, make sure the tools you need for a task are at your workstation instead of stored across the room, saving you the time needed to get up, loose your train of thought, and go across the room to get a pencil or keyboard. The idea is as you improve the efficiency of the individual steps, you improve the overall efficiency of the process and your ability to compete.
Now American thought tended to think of process efficiency as a means to an end. You get a factory up to a certain level of productivity per man hour, and you can compete. The Japanese had the brilliant insight---based on Zen notions of work based meditation--that one never reaches a perfect process; instead, one can just improve the process at hand; but, and this is a big but, you can make small, continuous improvements to whichever processes is in place. Literally, one's focus isn't on the end product, but on the doing or the work necessary to a task. You practice and perfect the doing of a task, not the product of the task. The upshot is they created the notion of continual small improvements to process or Kaizen. It's quite literally a continuous focus of improving how the task is done and assuming that a good process will produce a good product which can compete.
There are some additional flourishes. Kaizen rewards workers who come up with a means to improve how their task is done. It creates time in a production schedule to have regular meetings of the workers, management, and sales folks to discuss process and product. The idea is everyone needs to understand the big picture, so they can understand their part. In any event, small groups meet to make decisions about which improvements to process to implement and to judge if a change in process is an improvement or not. There's also the notion of low hanging fruit vs. high hanging fruit. That is, one always begins work on a process from the process already in place. This process already allows you to receive some gain or, to use the Kaizen metaphor, pick the lowest hanging fruit. As you make improvements, you add to your gains by being able to pick the lowest hanging fruit and some higher hanging fruit. The upshot is your return in the investment of improving process is always increased return.
Kaizen can be applied to any process, from coding to writing to your morning routine. Let's talk about writing. You currently use a series of processes when you write. As you write and revise your inventory of WPA Outcomes, think how you produce writing currently and give these processes your attention. Break writing down into the steps you follow as you produce. For instance, how do you proofread? How do you draft? Do you build in time for revision? We'll be discussing how composition and rhetoric has broken down the task of writing and making speeches, but my goal here is to just give you some language for thinking about the processes you use as you create and write. I encourage you to think about processes in the work you do or want to do. Once you begin noticing the steps you follow and can accept the notion of improving how you produce through making small, continuous changes in these processes, you'll be half-way to becoming a writer.
Here are the tricks of Kaizen:
1) Pat yourself on the back. Whatever process you are now using is picking the lowest hanging fruit.
2) Know your goals.
3) Take small steps toward your goals by improving the process.
4) Pat yourself on the back for picking higher hanging fruit and moving toward your goals.
5) If a step doesn't work out, figure out why and make another change. Use the loss as an opportunity to learn. You are still picking fruit.
7) Keep the pace of change slow but steady. Every few weeks, figure out your next change and keep implementing the change until it becomes habit and routine.
8) Take time to review. Know you are making progress and picking higher fruit than you were. As you review, reward yourself and internalized your success. It is only from success that you gain confidence.
9) Include others in your goals and work toward them. Listen to their insights. Often, from outside, they will see those things which you cannot from the inside. Let these others share in and celebrate your success. Again, you gain confidence from public acclimation.
10) Don't expect the moon; instead, move toward it. As change and improvements accumulate, you will eventually obtain the moon.
11) Usually, when you reach the moon, you find out it wasn't about being there; it was about the journey, the successes along the way, your own growth, and the confidence you have gained for the next project.
Write if you have questions, comments, or observations.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Creepy Hollow Field Trip
It looks as if funding will be in place for a field trip next week to Creepy Hollow Hayride. Please set aside the evening of Thursday, 23 October, and work with one another to plan transportation.
Steve
Steve
No class today, 16 October.
There should be a note on the class door, but I also wanted to let you know there would be no class today. Check the blog below for your assignment. Spend the class time today work-shopping the drafts of your reflective essay or doing some group study for your upcoming biology exam.
Regardless, don't forget to bring in two hard-copies of your drafts for Tuesday.
Steve
Regardless, don't forget to bring in two hard-copies of your drafts for Tuesday.
Steve
Assignment: Goals, Habits, Motivation, Kaizen, and Writing.
Over the past few weeks, we've been talking a lot about Kaizen, that is, making small, continuous high impact improvements as a way of moving toward your goals. You've brainstormed and written about your goals. You've identified a habit either to acquire or to shed. Now I'd like to bring together this assignment with some reading and further writing.
You will be tempted to skip the reading, and take what I've said in lecture as all you need to know about goals, habits, Kaizen, and writing. Many of you have managed to get by in school with doing little to no reading. Don't do it this time. Like rhetoric, Kaizen and using habits to become a better writer lays at the heart of this class, and it is one clear path to becoming a better writer. You know I have never BSed you. Read these articles. They are more than worth your time and effort. You won't find everything useful. Remember the 17% rule; but, you will gain some important perspective on how to achieve your goals or to find them. Why else are you attending college?
The only way to become a better writer is to make becoming a better writer a goal and then begin to acquire the skills, habits, and knowledge you need to craft and understand effective writing and speaking. Combine this work with practice and thought, and --over time--you'll become as good a writer as you want. Why go to the trouble? Well, you have to to pass the class. However, one of my favorite writers boils it down to a simple truth, "Good writing pays more than bad."
To help you get a handle on how the process of moving from goal to habit to achievement works, below I've brought together a few of my favorite posts on setting goals, how to move from goals to habits, some tips on ways to acquire habits, and some tips on how to stay motivated. You need to read these.
Print out each article, put them in your habit's project file and bring your file to class. I will be checking. You have a week from today to complete this reading. This will have you reading and re-reading one of the articles per day, taking notes, taking some time to think about what you've read, and then writing about it and discussing what you've learned. This writing and discussion can take place either within your group (using a google doc) or with the whole class (using the class discussion list). Your choice.
As you read each article, take notes, and read actively. After you finish each article, take a fem moments to summarise what you thought were its major points and what part of its advice resonates with you (or didn't). As you write about the advice or resources you find, use your habit and your work on it as a focus for your discussion. Talk about the advice you find particularly helpful, and how it might change or alter your goals or your work on your habit. Finally, read what others have to say. Help them get a handle on the reading. Comment on what they say. Discuss. I'll be paying particular attention to this set of linked assignments when I decide on your class participation grade.
Here's the reading:
Setting Goals:
Written Goals for Skeptics
Simple Goal Setting
Habits:
Achievement: How to Turn Your Goals into Habits
How to Establish New Habits the No Sweat Way
Things to Avoid When Changing Habits
Finding Motivation:
Ultimate Guide to Motivation
You will be tempted to skip the reading, and take what I've said in lecture as all you need to know about goals, habits, Kaizen, and writing. Many of you have managed to get by in school with doing little to no reading. Don't do it this time. Like rhetoric, Kaizen and using habits to become a better writer lays at the heart of this class, and it is one clear path to becoming a better writer. You know I have never BSed you. Read these articles. They are more than worth your time and effort. You won't find everything useful. Remember the 17% rule; but, you will gain some important perspective on how to achieve your goals or to find them. Why else are you attending college?
The only way to become a better writer is to make becoming a better writer a goal and then begin to acquire the skills, habits, and knowledge you need to craft and understand effective writing and speaking. Combine this work with practice and thought, and --over time--you'll become as good a writer as you want. Why go to the trouble? Well, you have to to pass the class. However, one of my favorite writers boils it down to a simple truth, "Good writing pays more than bad."
To help you get a handle on how the process of moving from goal to habit to achievement works, below I've brought together a few of my favorite posts on setting goals, how to move from goals to habits, some tips on ways to acquire habits, and some tips on how to stay motivated. You need to read these.
Print out each article, put them in your habit's project file and bring your file to class. I will be checking. You have a week from today to complete this reading. This will have you reading and re-reading one of the articles per day, taking notes, taking some time to think about what you've read, and then writing about it and discussing what you've learned. This writing and discussion can take place either within your group (using a google doc) or with the whole class (using the class discussion list). Your choice.
As you read each article, take notes, and read actively. After you finish each article, take a fem moments to summarise what you thought were its major points and what part of its advice resonates with you (or didn't). As you write about the advice or resources you find, use your habit and your work on it as a focus for your discussion. Talk about the advice you find particularly helpful, and how it might change or alter your goals or your work on your habit. Finally, read what others have to say. Help them get a handle on the reading. Comment on what they say. Discuss. I'll be paying particular attention to this set of linked assignments when I decide on your class participation grade.
Here's the reading:
Setting Goals:
Written Goals for Skeptics
Simple Goal Setting
Lifetick: Goal-setting software that actually helps you achieve your goals
Habits:
Achievement: How to Turn Your Goals into Habits
How to Establish New Habits the No Sweat Way
Things to Avoid When Changing Habits
Finding Motivation:
Ultimate Guide to Motivation
Another Site to Help You Learn Biology
This site, Biology for Kids, covers the basics of biology. You can learn cell structure, different kinds of life forms, how microorganisms work, etc. If you are looking for a place to gain some extra perspective on what you are studying in biology, you could do worse. Here's the link:
http://www.biology4kids.com/
http://www.biology4kids.com/
Monday, October 13, 2008
FYI: Proofreading/reading tool
Proofreading is easier the more distance you can get from your work. One way to do this is to get someone else to help you proofread by reading your work out loud. This proofreading method works best when both you and your reader have a copy of your work; this way, whenever something sounds odd or off, you can put a check off to the side and use these checks as an index to things in your paper you want to check. Asking questions of your reader, like, "What was the main point of my paper?," "What would you improve?," or "Did I stay on topic?, is also a good way to get cheap feedback on your writing.
What do you do, however, if you can't get another reader to read your paper out loud? There's tech. While a computer reader won't be able to answer questions about your writing--at least, not yet. It will read you back your words EXACTLY as you wrote them. Add in a hard copy and a pen with which to put check marks off to the side, and you have a workable part of a decent proofreading system.
Check out this free text-to-speech web based converter:
http://readthewords.com/
What do you do, however, if you can't get another reader to read your paper out loud? There's tech. While a computer reader won't be able to answer questions about your writing--at least, not yet. It will read you back your words EXACTLY as you wrote them. Add in a hard copy and a pen with which to put check marks off to the side, and you have a workable part of a decent proofreading system.
Check out this free text-to-speech web based converter:
http://readthewords.com/
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Assignment Due Tuesday
1. A draft of your reflective essay.
2. Prewriting on a section you will add to the reflective essay in which you brainstorm or freewrite on the question of your performance in the learning community to date and how you might improve your performance.
3. Read Peter Elbow's short article on "Writing for Teachers." You can find it here:
http://engbiolcfall2008reynolds.googlegroups.com/web/Writing%20for%20Teachers%2C%20Peter%20Elbow%2C%201981.pdf?gda=OXoR0WEAAAAq3hjgY0d4MAQ2ZZfEzYIF41aaApyJ6ayRgrXqlqyJ2i_XWJP6OUcMZKgv9komVVPUBOJ2fLR2J2BGhWO3rMYS0mr293Ntz0e-WtPqaxxpAFMJP-kItwVPBwjdKujmMDOVcV4Kf5x1iV4X6-2IalYA&gsc=FrDymwsAAACsMwjb3Hsi1sU1IrNHX_fO
And I will sent it via the list.
See you Tuesday.
Steve
2. Prewriting on a section you will add to the reflective essay in which you brainstorm or freewrite on the question of your performance in the learning community to date and how you might improve your performance.
3. Read Peter Elbow's short article on "Writing for Teachers." You can find it here:
http://engbiolcfall2008reynolds.googlegroups.com/web/Writing%20for%20Teachers%2C%20Peter%20Elbow%2C%201981.pdf?gda=OXoR0WEAAAAq3hjgY0d4MAQ2ZZfEzYIF41aaApyJ6ayRgrXqlqyJ2i_XWJP6OUcMZKgv9komVVPUBOJ2fLR2J2BGhWO3rMYS0mr293Ntz0e-WtPqaxxpAFMJP-kItwVPBwjdKujmMDOVcV4Kf5x1iV4X6-2IalYA&gsc=FrDymwsAAACsMwjb3Hsi1sU1IrNHX_fO
And I will sent it via the list.
See you Tuesday.
Steve
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Catch up on missed election speeches and debates.
Going for the extra credit for discussing the election with your classmates? Looking for a subject for this week's rhetorical analysis? Tired of not knowing about the speech about which everyone is talking?
Follow the following link to legit online access to tonight's debate, past speeches, etc.:
http://lifehacker.com/5059937/catch-tonights-presidential-debate-on-hulu
Thanks to lifehacker...
Follow the following link to legit online access to tonight's debate, past speeches, etc.:
http://lifehacker.com/5059937/catch-tonights-presidential-debate-on-hulu
Thanks to lifehacker...
FYI: Real World Advice on Acquiring Better Study Habits
One of my favorite blogs, AskMetafilter, does nothing more than act as a place where folks can write in with a question and get good suggestions on how to answer it.
Recently, a graduate student wrote in asking how to acquire better study habits than those which got him his initial degree, and he got some good advice--advice I wish I had heard long before graduate school.
Please note: the question was posed by a graduate student, who was suddenly looking at the task of preparing for comprehensive exams. Think of all the classes you've ever taken and an exam where any question from any class is fair game, and you have a good idea of what comps are like. One reason folks with a masters or a doctorate know how to study is most of us had to sweat comprehensives at one time or another, but the skills I had to learn then would sure have made my life as an freshman much, much easier.
Here's the link:
http://ask.metafilter.com/103544/Help-Ive-fallen-and-I-cant-get-up
Recently, a graduate student wrote in asking how to acquire better study habits than those which got him his initial degree, and he got some good advice--advice I wish I had heard long before graduate school.
Please note: the question was posed by a graduate student, who was suddenly looking at the task of preparing for comprehensive exams. Think of all the classes you've ever taken and an exam where any question from any class is fair game, and you have a good idea of what comps are like. One reason folks with a masters or a doctorate know how to study is most of us had to sweat comprehensives at one time or another, but the skills I had to learn then would sure have made my life as an freshman much, much easier.
Here's the link:
http://ask.metafilter.com/103544/Help-Ive-fallen-and-I-cant-get-up
FYI: Apostrophes
Apostrophes are the bug-a-bear of many writers, not just students learning the ropes. If apostrophes give you fits, you might follow this link:
English Apostrophe Society
The society is dedicated to stamping out the over use and misuse of apostrophes in English. They have some truly funny pictures of places where folks used an apostrophe or six where they shouldn't have. More important, they have some easy to follow rules for when and when not to use apostrophes in your writing.
Today's post is thanks to Instructify.
Steve
English Apostrophe Society
The society is dedicated to stamping out the over use and misuse of apostrophes in English. They have some truly funny pictures of places where folks used an apostrophe or six where they shouldn't have. More important, they have some easy to follow rules for when and when not to use apostrophes in your writing.
Today's post is thanks to Instructify.
Steve
Monday, October 6, 2008
Notes on Proofreading.
Below you'll find my notes on various tips and tricks to help you proofread better. Over the rest of the semester, try out as many of the techniques I discuss as you can. Not every technique will work for every writer, but I'm confident you will find three or four which will help you catch surface level issues you are now missing.
Remember, proofreading differs from revision. When you proofread, you're looking at the surface level and polishing grammar, spelling and usage. When you revise, you're concerned with clarifying what you say, perfecting the organization, adding to your text, and cutting. In short, in revision, you want to deal with meaning and deep level issues. You proofread *after* you revise; otherwise, the effort you put into proofreading may well be wasted. One last note: one difference between editing and proofreading is that one edits another's text while one proofreads one's own.
On texts of some length, proofreading/editing is often the final step in the writing process prior to publishing your text. Proofreading usually takes place nearer the end of the revision process than at the beginning. Why? Because it doesn't make sense put in the effort to proofread every sentence and word level issue until your draft is fairly solid. In other words, why proofread and edit sentences and words which might still be cut or changed?
You can also waste time proofreading haphazardly. Once you've learned how to proofread systematically, your prose will be more successful and polished, and you'll save effort and time over haphazard, disorganized means you may currently be using.
In any event, here are my own notes on proofreading. You can now update your writing inventory on learning various techniques involved with different stages of the writing process.
Those notes just below are the main ones to remember:
It's nearly impossible to effectively proofread your own work. You know what you mean to say. When you read your own work, you often read over mistakes. My best piece of advice is to get others to proofread your work. Try to get at least three people to look at your work prior to turning it in. If necessary, hire someone or create a writer's group to help you with proofreading.
EVERYONE makes mistakes. Don't kick yourself for your mistakes, learn to recognize them and how to fix them. Even then, you'll still make mistakes.
I once worked for an academic journal. Four sets of eyes proofed each article--the professor who wrote it, myself, the departmental secretary, and the editor. Still, EVERY time we got the journal back from the printers, I opened it to a random page and found at least one mistake. EVERYONE, even professionals, make mistakes. I know, for instance, there are more than a few errors in these notes.
When you proofread, you're trying to do something called breaking set. This means you want to change the set or usual way you read, so you don't read over mistakes. Most of the proofreading tricks I list below have to do with changing how you read, so you can see what you've written.
1. Give yourself time to proofread. It's easy to find yourself adding the last sentence to a text at the last possible minute. As we finish drafting, the last thing we want to do is acknowledge there's yet more work to do. We want to be done. Resist the temptation. Give yourself time to proofread. Your final product will be better for the time. To give yourself time, set your deadline for finishing your draft in time to revise the draft for content and structure and to still have time to proofread.
2) Read backwards from the last sentence to the first. When proofreading for spelling, read backwards one word at a time. Learn to isolate each word, even those which have been passed by the spell check. It doesn't catch every misspelling. When proofreading for sentence issues, read backwards one sentence at a time.
3) Read slowly and out loud. You'll be surprised how reading something out loud, as opposed to silently, will let you hear errors you'd otherwise overlook.
4) Read to someone else. Reading your paper to someone else forces you to take an audience into account. Not only can the person you're reading to ask questions about content, they can mark places in a copy of your paper where they're confused or they hear an error as you read. When you hear a mistake or a piece of awkward phrasing, you can mark it and come back later to fix it.
5) Print out your text. If you usually read your papers on the screen, make a hard copy. As you find errors, mark them, and later revise your electronic copy. When we're drafting and hit the creative zone, we often work quickly and have a hard mental focus on meaning. These habits of reading quickly and thinking in terms of meaning and adding or cutting content can track over into efforts to proofread on the screen. Remember, when you're proofreading, you're not so much worried about content or organization (hopefully, each of these elements was polished earlier in the writing process), when proofreading you're looking at mechanics, usage, spelling, and grammar and only at mechanics, usage, spelling, and grammar.
6) Get someone else to read your work to you. Print out two hard copies. Get a friend to read your work to you. Both of you mark places which don't make sense or appear to be problematic. Use both copies as an index when fixing your text. Go back and look at each place which was marked and try to figure out what caused the area to get marked.
7) Have the computer read the text two you. Make a hard copy and set up the computer to read the text out loud. It will read what's there. Every time you hear an error, mark your hard copy. Use your marked copy as an index to what needs to be fixed. You can find many free text to speech readers by just googling.
8) Give yourself time. Breaking set isn't just about reading backwards or reading out loud. You get close to a text when you draft it and work on content and structural revision. If you try to proofread after working this closely with the text, you'll find yourself seeing what you meant to say rather than what you're actually saying. Horace, a Roman rhetorician, recommended putting what you write away for nine years, that is, until it reads as if someone else wrote it. We don't have such luxury, but giving yourself a day or two to let the text set, even just doing something else between finishing your content revisions and proofreading, gives distance enough so you're can bring fresh eyes back to your text. So, finish your draft and reward yourself with a night's sleep, a night out, or a workout prior to proofreading.
9) Give yourself time to proofread. Slow down. You're not in a race to get through, you're trying to look closely at multiple things, and the process takes time. Slow down. Read slowly. Take the time it takes to truly see and truly edit every sentence and word.
10) Physically touch every word. Talk about breaking set! Read backwards. Read out loud, and touch every word to make sure you're seeing and proofreading each and every word and sentence.
11) Use the grammar and spell checker. The state of the art in grammar and spell checkers isn't quite there yet, but they can help you see some errors. Just don't their word as law. Use them for the things at which they're effective. They can isolate "to be" verb constructions and give you an index to possible passive voice constructions. They can show you long sentences. They can usually recognize subject verb disagreements. They can sometimes help with punctuation. The real trick with using grammar and spell checkers is to learn their weaknesses and to learn how to customize them to the style of writing you want to reproduce.
12) Boo-boo or demon words. You know these words. They're the ones which sneak through the spell checker. Usually they're jargon or proper names you misspell or forget to capitalize. You can customize autocorrect to make corrections for your most typical boo-boo words.
13) Use a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the sentences you're proofreading. This practice forces you to look at the sentence you're proofing, not the next sentence, not the previous sentence, the sentence you're supposed to be looking at.
14) Learn your problem areas. Everyone is prone to making different mistakes. If you or someone else sees a pattern in your mistakes, put it on a personal "list of things I have to look at when proofreading." (This is why it's a good idea to read the papers you get back from teachers and proofreaders. Often your professor will mark errors. Use their work to help develop your list of "things at which I have to look.") By learning to recognize the problems you're prone to introducing into the text and how these errors can be fixed, you'll soon find yourself making fewer errors. Every once in a while, take your copy of "things at which I have to look" and find your worse error. Spend some time researching how to recognize and fix your worse error. Eventually, you'll find your list of common errors getting shorter and your sentence level writing improving in proportion.
Remember, proofreading differs from revision. When you proofread, you're looking at the surface level and polishing grammar, spelling and usage. When you revise, you're concerned with clarifying what you say, perfecting the organization, adding to your text, and cutting. In short, in revision, you want to deal with meaning and deep level issues. You proofread *after* you revise; otherwise, the effort you put into proofreading may well be wasted. One last note: one difference between editing and proofreading is that one edits another's text while one proofreads one's own.
On texts of some length, proofreading/editing is often the final step in the writing process prior to publishing your text. Proofreading usually takes place nearer the end of the revision process than at the beginning. Why? Because it doesn't make sense put in the effort to proofread every sentence and word level issue until your draft is fairly solid. In other words, why proofread and edit sentences and words which might still be cut or changed?
You can also waste time proofreading haphazardly. Once you've learned how to proofread systematically, your prose will be more successful and polished, and you'll save effort and time over haphazard, disorganized means you may currently be using.
In any event, here are my own notes on proofreading. You can now update your writing inventory on learning various techniques involved with different stages of the writing process.
Those notes just below are the main ones to remember:
It's nearly impossible to effectively proofread your own work. You know what you mean to say. When you read your own work, you often read over mistakes. My best piece of advice is to get others to proofread your work. Try to get at least three people to look at your work prior to turning it in. If necessary, hire someone or create a writer's group to help you with proofreading.
EVERYONE makes mistakes. Don't kick yourself for your mistakes, learn to recognize them and how to fix them. Even then, you'll still make mistakes.
I once worked for an academic journal. Four sets of eyes proofed each article--the professor who wrote it, myself, the departmental secretary, and the editor. Still, EVERY time we got the journal back from the printers, I opened it to a random page and found at least one mistake. EVERYONE, even professionals, make mistakes. I know, for instance, there are more than a few errors in these notes.
When you proofread, you're trying to do something called breaking set. This means you want to change the set or usual way you read, so you don't read over mistakes. Most of the proofreading tricks I list below have to do with changing how you read, so you can see what you've written.
1. Give yourself time to proofread. It's easy to find yourself adding the last sentence to a text at the last possible minute. As we finish drafting, the last thing we want to do is acknowledge there's yet more work to do. We want to be done. Resist the temptation. Give yourself time to proofread. Your final product will be better for the time. To give yourself time, set your deadline for finishing your draft in time to revise the draft for content and structure and to still have time to proofread.
2) Read backwards from the last sentence to the first. When proofreading for spelling, read backwards one word at a time. Learn to isolate each word, even those which have been passed by the spell check. It doesn't catch every misspelling. When proofreading for sentence issues, read backwards one sentence at a time.
3) Read slowly and out loud. You'll be surprised how reading something out loud, as opposed to silently, will let you hear errors you'd otherwise overlook.
4) Read to someone else. Reading your paper to someone else forces you to take an audience into account. Not only can the person you're reading to ask questions about content, they can mark places in a copy of your paper where they're confused or they hear an error as you read. When you hear a mistake or a piece of awkward phrasing, you can mark it and come back later to fix it.
5) Print out your text. If you usually read your papers on the screen, make a hard copy. As you find errors, mark them, and later revise your electronic copy. When we're drafting and hit the creative zone, we often work quickly and have a hard mental focus on meaning. These habits of reading quickly and thinking in terms of meaning and adding or cutting content can track over into efforts to proofread on the screen. Remember, when you're proofreading, you're not so much worried about content or organization (hopefully, each of these elements was polished earlier in the writing process), when proofreading you're looking at mechanics, usage, spelling, and grammar and only at mechanics, usage, spelling, and grammar.
6) Get someone else to read your work to you. Print out two hard copies. Get a friend to read your work to you. Both of you mark places which don't make sense or appear to be problematic. Use both copies as an index when fixing your text. Go back and look at each place which was marked and try to figure out what caused the area to get marked.
7) Have the computer read the text two you. Make a hard copy and set up the computer to read the text out loud. It will read what's there. Every time you hear an error, mark your hard copy. Use your marked copy as an index to what needs to be fixed. You can find many free text to speech readers by just googling.
8) Give yourself time. Breaking set isn't just about reading backwards or reading out loud. You get close to a text when you draft it and work on content and structural revision. If you try to proofread after working this closely with the text, you'll find yourself seeing what you meant to say rather than what you're actually saying. Horace, a Roman rhetorician, recommended putting what you write away for nine years, that is, until it reads as if someone else wrote it. We don't have such luxury, but giving yourself a day or two to let the text set, even just doing something else between finishing your content revisions and proofreading, gives distance enough so you're can bring fresh eyes back to your text. So, finish your draft and reward yourself with a night's sleep, a night out, or a workout prior to proofreading.
9) Give yourself time to proofread. Slow down. You're not in a race to get through, you're trying to look closely at multiple things, and the process takes time. Slow down. Read slowly. Take the time it takes to truly see and truly edit every sentence and word.
10) Physically touch every word. Talk about breaking set! Read backwards. Read out loud, and touch every word to make sure you're seeing and proofreading each and every word and sentence.
11) Use the grammar and spell checker. The state of the art in grammar and spell checkers isn't quite there yet, but they can help you see some errors. Just don't their word as law. Use them for the things at which they're effective. They can isolate "to be" verb constructions and give you an index to possible passive voice constructions. They can show you long sentences. They can usually recognize subject verb disagreements. They can sometimes help with punctuation. The real trick with using grammar and spell checkers is to learn their weaknesses and to learn how to customize them to the style of writing you want to reproduce.
12) Boo-boo or demon words. You know these words. They're the ones which sneak through the spell checker. Usually they're jargon or proper names you misspell or forget to capitalize. You can customize autocorrect to make corrections for your most typical boo-boo words.
13) Use a ruler or a piece of paper to isolate the sentences you're proofreading. This practice forces you to look at the sentence you're proofing, not the next sentence, not the previous sentence, the sentence you're supposed to be looking at.
14) Learn your problem areas. Everyone is prone to making different mistakes. If you or someone else sees a pattern in your mistakes, put it on a personal "list of things I have to look at when proofreading." (This is why it's a good idea to read the papers you get back from teachers and proofreaders. Often your professor will mark errors. Use their work to help develop your list of "things at which I have to look.") By learning to recognize the problems you're prone to introducing into the text and how these errors can be fixed, you'll soon find yourself making fewer errors. Every once in a while, take your copy of "things at which I have to look" and find your worse error. Spend some time researching how to recognize and fix your worse error. Eventually, you'll find your list of common errors getting shorter and your sentence level writing improving in proportion.
Adding Collaborators Seems to be Fixed
Reports from most students say the problem with adding collaborators seems to be fixed. Here's what to do if you have trouble:
1. Clear your browser's catch of cookies and temporary files.
If step one doesn't allow you to add collaborators, try:
2. Add collaborators one at a time.
When you share your google doc with a group of collaborators (Shart tab ===> Share with Others ====> Add collaborators window), you have two choices, adding folks as full collaborators or adding folks as viewers. Add your group and me as a full collaborator. This will allow us not only to read and view your document, but it will allow us to leave comments, suggestions, etc. I've had some reports of students not being able to edit once they open a document shared with them, my best guess is that this is because they've been added as a viewer rather than a full collaborator.
Steve
1. Clear your browser's catch of cookies and temporary files.
If step one doesn't allow you to add collaborators, try:
2. Add collaborators one at a time.
When you share your google doc with a group of collaborators (Shart tab ===> Share with Others ====> Add collaborators window), you have two choices, adding folks as full collaborators or adding folks as viewers. Add your group and me as a full collaborator. This will allow us not only to read and view your document, but it will allow us to leave comments, suggestions, etc. I've had some reports of students not being able to edit once they open a document shared with them, my best guess is that this is because they've been added as a viewer rather than a full collaborator.
Steve
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Problems with adding collaborators in google docs.
After touting the wondrous simplicity and ease of use of using google docs to collaborate, Google has picked now to prove me wrong.
If you've tried to add several folks as collaborators, and you've received an error message to the effect, "The server encountered an error. Try again later." You are far from alone. It's a google issue and isn't limited to this class, but is happening all over the web. Here is what I know about the problem and what is being said online about it:
The problem with the server is not you or your machine. There is something else going on, as the same problem is happening with other students and on my machine. From what I've been able to gather, folks are often able to add one collaborator at a time, but trying to add more sometimes--not always--is giving the google servers fits. I've read reports online that faster connections are getting through better, so I suspect some folks are just being timed out by google. The good thing is that google knows of the problem, but it has been unusually slow in fixing it.
For right now, try the trick of adding one collaborator at a time.
If you've tried to add several folks as collaborators, and you've received an error message to the effect, "The server encountered an error. Try again later." You are far from alone. It's a google issue and isn't limited to this class, but is happening all over the web. Here is what I know about the problem and what is being said online about it:
The problem with the server is not you or your machine. There is something else going on, as the same problem is happening with other students and on my machine. From what I've been able to gather, folks are often able to add one collaborator at a time, but trying to add more sometimes--not always--is giving the google servers fits. I've read reports online that faster connections are getting through better, so I suspect some folks are just being timed out by google. The good thing is that google knows of the problem, but it has been unusually slow in fixing it.
For right now, try the trick of adding one collaborator at a time.
Resource Post: "Punctuation Made Simple"
Follow the link to an approachable discussion of punctuation: "Punctuation Made Simple."
Using Word Maps to Learn New Vocabulary
Expressways--a writing textbook--suggests you use mindmaping to learn new words. You can use online tools to make mind maps. Here is a link to two of my favorite online mind mapping tools:
* Bubbl.us
* MindMeister
If you don't know what a mindmap is, here's a link to explain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map
Here is Expressways' advice on how to use a mind map to learn a new word:
As you create a word map, here are some resources you might find helpful:
Links to online dictionaries taken from this useful post from studenthacks,
"101+ Web Resources for Students":
If you want some terms on which to practice, here's a list of the most used words in Academic Writing. At least one study has shown around a 10% improvement in student comprehension of academic texts just by learning these sixty words.
The most used words in Academic Writing
analyze
approach
area
assess
assume
authority
available
benefit
concept
consist
constitute
context
contract
create
data
define
derive
distribute
economy
environment
establish
estimate
evident
export
factor
finance
formula
function
identify
income
indicate
individual
interpret
involve
issue
labor
legal
legislate
major
method
occur
percent
period
policy
principle
proceed
process
require
research
respond
role
section
sector
significant
similar
source
specific
structure
theory
vary
* Bubbl.us
* MindMeister
If you don't know what a mindmap is, here's a link to explain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map
Here is Expressways' advice on how to use a mind map to learn a new word:
Using Word Mapping
Word mapping is a visual method of expanding your vocabulary. It involves examining a word in detail by considering its meanings, synonyms (words similar in meaning), antonyms (words opposite in meaning), part(s) of speech, word parts, and usages. A word map is a form of word study. By the time you have completed the map, you will find that you have learned the word and are ready to use it in your speech and writing.
Set up a mind map with the word you want to learn at the center.
Your mindmap will contain the following nodes:Use the following steps in completing a word map:
- Primary Meaning--include the part of speech in this node along with the meaning.
- Secondary Meaning--if the word has more than one meaning, include it here.
- Synonyms--use a thesaurus to find these.
- Sentences--write two sentences using the word.
- Word Parts--break the word down into its root and any prefixes and suffixes.
- Other--this is good place to find and put antonyms
1. Write a sentence in which the word appeared at the top of the map. Figure out which meaning fits the context and write it in the box labeled “Meaning (as used in reading).” Fill in the word’s part of speech as used in this context.
2. Study the dictionary entry to discover other meanings of the word. Fill those in on the map in the box labeled “Other Meanings.”
3. Find or think of two synonyms (words similar in meaning). You might need to use a thesaurus for this.
4. Write two sentences using the word.
5. Analyze the word’s parts. Identify any prefixes, roots, and suffixes.
Write the word part and its meaning in the box labeled “Word Parts.”
6. In the box labeled “Other,” include any other interesting information about the word. You might include antonyms, restrictive meanings, or the word’s history or derivation).
As you create a word map, here are some resources you might find helpful:
Links to online dictionaries taken from this useful post from studenthacks,
"101+ Web Resources for Students":
Dictionaries
- Acronym Finder
- American Heritage Dictionary
- British National Corpus
- Encarta World English Dictionary
- Idiom Connection
- Lexicool
- Oxford English Dictionary
- Roget’s Thesaurus
- Rhyming Dictionary
- Synonym Dictionary
If you want some terms on which to practice, here's a list of the most used words in Academic Writing. At least one study has shown around a 10% improvement in student comprehension of academic texts just by learning these sixty words.
The most used words in Academic Writing
analyze
approach
area
assess
assume
authority
available
benefit
concept
consist
constitute
context
contract
create
data
define
derive
distribute
economy
environment
establish
estimate
evident
export
factor
finance
formula
function
identify
income
indicate
individual
interpret
involve
issue
labor
legal
legislate
major
method
occur
percent
period
policy
principle
proceed
process
require
research
respond
role
section
sector
significant
similar
source
specific
structure
theory
vary
SCIENCE NIGHT AT THE COLLEGE
The Fifth Annual J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College “Science Night at the College” will be held on Wednesday, October 8 in the Massey Library Technology Center’s Lipman Auditorium located at 1651 East Parham Road from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Program:
“Fire & Ice” by Associate Professor David Walz.
Iceland sits atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American Plate and the European Plate separate. This highly tectonic island is very young geologically and its landscape features active volcanoes, lava fields, hot springs and geysers. Professor Walz will discuss how Iceland’s cultural history began with the settlement of Vikings from mainland Europe and how its modern technology is supported by an unlimited supply of geothermal energy and hot water.
Detoxifying Cigarette Smoke” presented by Dr. Dory Snow.
The presentation will examine toxins found in cigarette smoke and will explain how the human body rids itself of them. Dr. Snow will cover how certain enzymes may be the key to why some people get sick from cigarette smoke.
“Heart Failure” presented by Dr. Ramzi Ockaili.
The presentation will cover the basic definition of "Heart Failure,” stages and causes of the disease. Dr. Ockaili will discuss the biological and physical manifestations of the disease and some of the clinical challenges. He will finally touch on the clinical signs and symptoms and on the various strategies that will maximize the quality of care for the patient.
A SIGN-IN SHEET WILL RECORD STUDENTS WHO ATTEND AND SUCH WILL BE AVAILABLE.
For more information contact Richard Groover, 523-5594.
Program:
“Fire & Ice” by Associate Professor David Walz.
Iceland sits atop the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where the North American Plate and the European Plate separate. This highly tectonic island is very young geologically and its landscape features active volcanoes, lava fields, hot springs and geysers. Professor Walz will discuss how Iceland’s cultural history began with the settlement of Vikings from mainland Europe and how its modern technology is supported by an unlimited supply of geothermal energy and hot water.
Detoxifying Cigarette Smoke” presented by Dr. Dory Snow.
The presentation will examine toxins found in cigarette smoke and will explain how the human body rids itself of them. Dr. Snow will cover how certain enzymes may be the key to why some people get sick from cigarette smoke.
“Heart Failure” presented by Dr. Ramzi Ockaili.
The presentation will cover the basic definition of "Heart Failure,” stages and causes of the disease. Dr. Ockaili will discuss the biological and physical manifestations of the disease and some of the clinical challenges. He will finally touch on the clinical signs and symptoms and on the various strategies that will maximize the quality of care for the patient.
A SIGN-IN SHEET WILL RECORD STUDENTS WHO ATTEND AND SUCH WILL BE AVAILABLE.
For more information contact Richard Groover, 523-5594.
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