Writing is a Technology that Restructures Thought (Reread)

When I reread this the second time I realized that Ong was not talking about how writing negatively affects us and is bad but rather the positives writing has on our lives. Like computers writing has become much more to us., it is essential and invaluable. The following quote found in subsection 4 it better explains why I came to this realization. " Like other artificial creations and indeed more than any other, writing is utterly invaluable and indeed essential for the realization of fuller, interior, human potentials" (Ong, 23). He goes on to explain how technology is an exterior aid but how when it affects the words it becomes interior.

From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies

I was very intrigued by Baron's writing about well writing. I found it interesting how he says that "the written language takes on a life of its own, and it even begins to influence how the spoken language is used." (p.75) Writing is very important for people and I liked how he connected the advances in technology and how it has not hindered our writing but added to its advancement. His explanation of how even the pencil we first used to write was an advancement in technology much like the computer or the telephone. I was interested in the attention needed to create a simple wooden pencil. Making a pencil is a lot like writing itself a very detailed process that produces an unimaginably gratifying reward in the end. I'm sure their will be more advances in technology in the future that will lead the way to easier ways to write.

How to Tame a Wild Tongue

How to Tame a Wild Tongue was a very interesting story to read. I could not believe what this woman when through as a child and how confusing trying to find her identity must have been while having all these different languages. I liked the quote on page 40 "Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself." I feel that this is a true statement because our language really describes who we are. If we do not know our language we cannot know ourselves and if we do not know ourselves what a sad, sad time in a persons life that is. I also enjoyed the way she wrote. Her mixture of Spanish and English was captivating because I took some Spanish and recognized some of the words but not all. It was a great way to keep a reader intrigued and on their toes. I was impressed by how she handled her self and her struggle with knowing a lot of different languages but similar languages.

A World Without Print

When reading "A World Without Print" I found the situation Donny and his mother were in to be very interesting. I think we don't really understand the importance of reading. I think the school system should have done a better job preparing Donny to move into the next grade level. It did Donny no good by passing him if he was never going to understand the material especially since it was only going to get harder. I could really connect with the quote "its hard not knowing how to read. Some people think its easy... just sit down and do it. But it ain't" (Victoria Purcell-Gates, 403). Reading and writing are very difficult things to learn and most people don't take that into consideration. A lot of time and practice is needed to learn anything but especially a language. What our parents teach us at a young age really does make a difference in our ability to learn in the future.

I Just Wanna Be Average

In "I Just Wanna Be Average" by Mike Rose I really enjoyed how descriptive he was. I was captivated by the detail in which he described the effects school can have on students. How crazy and demanding of an environment it is. School changes people, expects them to excel and strive to do their best. It is a time to define you. The word that stuck out to me was "average" - typical; common; ordinary. However, to be average is not a bad thing. Many students may not want to be average but they may expect that they can achieve nothing more than to just be average. This is because they lack the motivation to excel or even the right person to push them in that direction. It wasn't until his teacher Mr. MacFarland pushed the author Mike Rose to try harder in his classes did he make any effort. I think everyone can relate to that one teacher that actually cared. The teacher that when beyond teaching and pushed their students to better themselves. I also found the description of vocational education and how students were placed there to be appalling. Mike Rose describes a vocational track as "a place for those who are just not making it, a dumping ground for the disaffected." I know it is meant to help these students but in the end it sounds much like it is not challenging them. Overall this article was extremely interesting to read especially about the how affected he was by the way his school taught their students.

The Achievement of Desire

In "The Achievement of Desire" Richard Rodriguez explains the meaning of education. Education is not just a tool used for students to grow in knowledge but also an adaptive environment to mold the student's minds. Richard Rodriguez speaks of the difficulty he had in his academic growth. This difficulty was produced by the necessity to balance his school life with his home life. He said that he would spend hours reading and completing homework however; his parents were unable to understand his passion for learning. His parents, especially his mother, did however encourage him to continue on with his studies in hopes of attaining a good job later on in life. Throughout his studies he realized the changes that were occurring within him as a person. As he saw these changes he became more and more frightened that he was loosing himself. He was so changed by his studies that his home life became awkward to the point where he could hardly hold a conversation with his parents. He states "...the scholarship boy grows nostalgic because he remains the uncertain scholar, bright enough to have moved from his past, yet unable to feel easy, a part of a community of academics." This quote describes his difficult transition into a scholarship boy. He had great potential to be a scholar and was able to break away from his past however, he was unable to feel as though he was apart of the academic community he so longed to be in. I found this story gave me new perspective on education and how it affects students.

Inventing the University

In reading Inventing the University and completing assignment 2 I have thought a lot about my writing both at home and in the classroom. In class "students have to appropriate (or be appropriated by) a specialized discourse, and they have to do this as though they were easily and comfortably one with their audience, as though they were members of the academy..." This quote speaks for itself in course writings we have to change our mindset to fit with what is required of us. I found it very interesting how David Bartholomae describes course writing and the different examples he provided of what was acceptable or unacceptable for academic discourse. It was also intriguing in reading his examples about what was considered "creativity" in student’s writings. Creativity is defined by dictionary.com as " from originality of thought, expression, etc.; imaginative resulting." The story about the clay model was considered creative while the story about the football players socks was unoriginal and nowhere near unique. This brought up the memory of my entrance essay and how I could have better taken on my role in writing to impress and relate to my readers, the faculty members. I also thought about how we have to write in a language as the scholars do in order to write the academic discourse.