Course Reading Review

Greene Research is conversational in that it goes beyond making a collection of information by using that information to generate new knowledge based on an analysis and inquiry of the information gathered. He emphasizes framing the reading by organizing information around your topic and discussing previous research done on the topic in order to portray the current understanding of the argument and how to guide your argument further. Greene also encourages us to see research as inquiry, a way of seeking out and creating new knowledge.

Murray All writing is autobiographical in that writings contain traces of their creators. Readings shape our thinking and become part of our lives. Complete objectivity isn't possible as long as our writing is shaped by our previous experiences with reality.

Porter Porter says that intertextuality means that all writing is connected to each other somehow, meaning that when writing a new paper, we are actually using other peoples ideas. Originality is possible but has more to do the creative assemblage of textual traces than any kind of pure creative originality. Intertextuality is how discourse communities use previous research to further their own research. When looking at a certain discourse community, an observer can notice traces being used all the time over and over again. Copying these traces and knowing how to use them might allow us to become a member of that community.

Kantz Being able to persuasively use textual sources, looking at the rhetoric. She claims that facts are actually claims. How the student in the article has two history books and each written by authors on different sides of the war, and looking at the information given rhetorically so that you can come across a new argument

within the story. Understanding rhetorical situation of the text and synthesizing and comparing texts. Haas and Flower Did research on rhetorical reading practices. They did a study on how more experienced readers can study writings more rhetorically. People who have more knowledge and education and are more experienced readers have a better opportunity to read articles rhetorically and have a better understanding about what the writer is trying to get across. The meaning of the text depends on the reader; its not just inherent in the text. It also helps to be familiar with rhetorical situations, they cant just do it on their own, they need help to start and get experience. Remember audience, purpose and what is motivating the text, as well as using previous knowledge to construct larger knowledge on the other texts. Bryson Good or bad English, grammar doesnt exist as a static rule. English never established an academy of the rules and that is why it is the way it is. The people who decide who the rules were influential, for example: Robert Lowth decided it would be you were is corrected vs. you was, because he was influential. There are no set rules of grammar; English is clearer if we follow conventions. You have to be careful about applying certain rules to all situations because grammar is subjective and depends on the community.

James Paul Gee Its not about the language or grammar in a discourse, but it is how it is used. For example, the bar scene where he asks for the match. The way he asked was not grammatically correct, but the dialect he used was seen as correct when pertaining to that discourse. Gee sees Discourse as a kind of identity kit which we enact in our everyday life. In different dialects, there are different types of correct grammar. Primary Discourse is the foundation that leads someone to other discourses, ones homeland discourse. So primary discourses are what group you were born into and how you grew up. Secondary Discourse is a discourse that someone evolves into, outside the homeland. Metaknowledge of discourses can provide a person with greater understanding and access to particular Discourses.

Deborah Brandt People dont become literate on their own; rather, literacy is sponsored by people, institutions, and circumstances that both make it possible for a person to become literate and shape the way the person actually acquires literacy. Everyone has different sponsors, workplace, school, community, anywhere! Different places affect different sponsors. Sponsors can be positive or negative as an influence on us as writers. Competition between sponsors can change the values of literacies. Individuals can misappropriate literacies, that is, use them for purposes that don't fulfill a sponsor's agenda.

Dennis Baron Technology effects the way we write and with new technology comes new problems. Each new technology (pencil, phone, calculator, and computer) eventually becomes natural and he raises concerns with computers and how it allows literacy to come and go, as well allowing anyone to write anything anytime. More and more people are using the web for sources and its become harder to verify credibility and accuracy. Writing is itself a technology and common arguments against the negative affects of technology on writing stem back to classical periods (Plato).

Wardle Identity can effect how one participates in a discourse community (identity being their education and economic or social standing). Wardle discusses how different discourse communities can clash if they hold different values or goals. In addressing, questioning, or resisting these ideas one will typically face ostracism in the community in which their ideas or actions conflict. Wardle presents us with the case of Alan, allowing the reader to observe an example of unsynchronized ideas and actions within a specific work place and what these disagreements can lead to for both parties. It is important to consider one's identity that they produce in their writing.

Swales

There are everyday situations in which formal speech and writing within a discourse community is not effective. Ex.) wedding invitations, speaking in an informal setting, texting, etc. Everyday communication serves a rhetorical purpose. The text lists six characteristics of a discourse community and are as follows: possession of a common goal, mechanisms of intercommunication between members, use of participatory mechanisms to provide information and feedback to members, possession of one or more genres in communicative furtherance of goals, a specific vocabulary, and has a threshold level of member of expertise. An operating discourse community must possess all of these characteristics to gain recognition as a solid foundation of ideas. If we can understand these shared values/goals, we are able to become more effective within the specific community.

Mirabelli Discourse communities are not necessarily required to include formal writing or formal speech. The term multiliteracy explains how individuals communicate in ways that are efficient to their specific community. One must efficiently read others, express appropriate body language, and speak in ways that are appropriate to the situation to become an effective member of their discourse community. The ability to read other individuals, in addition to the ability to read and completely understand texts in a situation is important in finding success and fulfillment within a community