Kohl et Al. pg. 759. meta-moment

After pondering it a bit, it makes some sense. For example, when you read a novel, sometimes you may think, “wow, that story line is pretty similar to that of another book I've read. It just has different characters and some different scenarios.” As one of my friends pointed out, Nicholas Sparks has the same story line for every one of his books (this friend wasn't entirely wrong, but he wasn't entirely right either). I think we would all like to think that our favorite authors are these completely imaginative beings whom can make up the best stories ever. However, their ideas have to spark from something, and not always is that something an original thought.  

Grabill et Al. pg.739 app&exp. 2. & Meta Moment

Basing the complexity of my writing life off of the examples in the book, I would have to say I've done them all at least once or twice, but there are obviously ones I've done more often and continue to do. Texting, writing academic papers, taking notes, emailing and making lists are among my top five.

Meta Moment:

At this stage in technology, I am not surprised at the new “definition” writing is given. It seems like everyone texts these days. I do agree that these technologies have helped. It's much easier, and faster, to get ahold of someone via text or email than sending a letter (though letters are fun to get).

Responding to another student's blog

Kristen Willich

Naomi Baron "IM and the Future of Language" p.723 applying & exploring q.2

At this day in age, “normal” is writing practically all electronically. Though, if we're talking “normal” as in a pencil/pen and paper, then yes, that should be maintained. Not only for the mere fact that people would know how to write something out, but their spelling could possibly improve, as well as grammar. This is also true, if in the case that they have to use a pencil/pen in the future. They know how to use it and how it works.

At the moment I cant think of anything that I would opt to have not be a writing technology anymore. Printing presses are obviously, and still widely used, even if newspapers and magazines are starting to become electronic.  

Dennis Baron. Applying and Exploring Ideas. q.1

After the idea of writing with a pencil finally spread, people were using pencils, along with paper, to write with instead of having to engrave their words on some sort of stone or wood. Now, though, the use of pencil and paper is declining. The world has “gone green,” and started utilizing the typewriters, which eventually evolved into computers, laptops, etc. After reading Baron's account of new literacy technologies spreading, it definitely makes sense. In half my classes, half the work I have to do is done on a computer and through the web. In others, a computer can be used to take notes and write papers, which decreases the usage of a pencil and paper.

Discourse Community Paper

Linnea Skoog

ZuZu Feder

10-31-14

Writ. 101

Discourse Communities

Whether we realize it or not, there are discourse communities all around us. Whether it be in a class, the local police force and even the high school football coaches. They have their own way of communicating throughout the community and amongst their group. They're organized in certain ways, and they all have one common goal within their group.

I chose my church as a discourse community. Being apart of this community not only provides me with the opportunity to have a common interest and goal with others, but it also allows us to reach out to our community. Not only is our goal to further the Kingdom of God, but to support, uplift and encourage each other and those in the community we serve.

Throughout the church there are several things that can be identified to show that it is in fact a church. Being apart of a Baptist church the word “potluck” is always thrown around. The old ladies love cooking up their favorite dishes to woo everyone as best they can. Along with those potlucks, comes the word “jello-salad.” It's just inevitable that every time my church does a potluck, there will be jello-salad. It's just a stereo-type we live up to. Being Baptist, the word “baptism” is huge. Every Sunday there's an alter call and that's the time when the pastor usually puts a huge emphasis on Baptism. Baptism is so important and emphasized because it's seen as a symbol to the world that your life belongs to God.It shows that you're apart of something bigger than the world and that your faith is in Jesus. Hymns are used regularly in our church as well. At least once every sunday, a member of the worship team will say, “open your book to hymn number...” Pray and blessings are also words that are said all the time in my church. Someone, it seems, is always saying “let's pray,” “I'll pray for you,” or something about “prayer requests.” Along with all the prayer, people are always talking about how blessed they are, or what a blessing it is that “such and such” happened.

Types of writing are often done on little things. From the children scribbling on a notepad, to the pastor writing up his message for the next week. There are newsletters that are handed out monthly about what the church has been apart of and what missionaries the church has been helping out. There are also calendars handed out monthly, these usually have anniversaries and birthdays of people within the congregation, as well as events happening within the church during that month. For example, in December, the time of the Christmas Eve service is put on December 24^th. The dates and times of bible studies and leadership/stewardship classes are also put on these calendars. There are new bulletins typed up and printed out every week. These bulletins have the program for that Sunday's service, as well as a place for notes, church info (phone number/address), announcements, upcoming events, and prayer requests. There are also semi-annual business meetings, in which case the voting members of the congregation get together and vote on different things that could prosper our church, along with the community. During this business meeting, every voting member is given a copy of the church “income/receiving donations” and their donations. There's also a list of expenses and the minutes from the last meeting preceded by the agenda for the current meeting. There's a tithe, so if somebody writes a check, then they are writing as part of this discourse community. Sunday school lessons are also a type of the writing that's used within our church. The teachers not only type up their lessons, but also worksheets for their students. Along with the hymnals, we also have the worship music as a writing used within the church, too. The most obvious written device that we have would be the Bible and scripture references. The Bible, for quite obvious reasons, is used all the time in our church. Being apart of a Baptist church means that my church roots are Southern Baptist. Southern Baptists are very traditional, and follow closely the the King James Version (KJV) Bible. This isn't a bad thing. In fact, more often than not, the KJV Bible is often referenced more than a New International Version (NIV). In my church, we have six to eight Bibles for every pew. These Bibles are NIV, not to confuse people when the Pastor uses a different version, but because it is the most commonly used, and much easier to understand. The NIV doesn't throw around “thees” and “thous,” which really helps to lessen confusion. My church also has signs that it uses to communicate. We have one of those signs that have the weird letters that a lot of restaurants have. That sign usually has some kind of encouraging message for passer by’s. My church is on a very busy street, so the sign is seen by very many people. Along with this sign, we have a large plastic-like sign hanging near the front entrance of our church. This signs indicates to passer by’s that they are always welcome and what time service starts, as well as a number to call with any questions or concerns.

Just coming to church you're a part of the congregation. This shows that you are a member. However, to be a voting member of the congregation, one must get baptized. It doesn't usually matter if you're baptized in another church, because you can get your membership transferred. Though it does matter if you baptized within the denomination. If you were baptized Catholic, but started going to a Baptist church, and wanted to be an active voting member of that community, you would have to get baptized in a Baptist church. Another way to show that you are a member is to partake in communion. Our church does communion on the first Sunday of every month, and on Christmas eve and Easter. Communion is a huge gesture for our church. It shows people that you understand the meaning of “the body and the blood” The body, or the breaking of the bread, signifies the breaking of Jesus' body. The blood, or the drinking of wine/grape juice, signifies the blood that was shed for us and all the bad we've done and will continue to do. When we partake in communion, we first take the bread/wafer and the pastor usually blesses it, then when we as individuals receive are piece, we pray. After everyone has gotten their piece, are pastor will then recite, “this is my body. Take, eat. Do so in remembrance of Me.” This phrase is to show that we're doing this to remember the sacrifice Jesus gave us. The process is done with the grape juice. After everyone has their juice, the pastor will recite, “This is my blood. Take, drink. Do so in remembrance of Me.”

There are several goals within the church. First and foremost would be to follow Jesus and believe that He died for us. Following that would be about being able to be close to the others within the community. Being apart of a church, makes you apart of a family. Everyone is able to be open with each other, because we are family and it's a safe zone. Another goal would be to contribute to the community. Part of that would be opening the church up to anyone, as well as helping through out the community. Our church is just about three blocks form our rescue mission, so we interact with them a lot. Part of reaching out to the community, is so that people know it's alright to talk about your problems, that there are people out there willing to listen. So often, we are stereotyped as being “Bible thumpers, throwing our religion in everybody else's face.” There are some like that, but there are many who are not. Another part of contributing to the community is to be open minded. It doesn't help anyone when you’re always close minded about everything. We must be accepting about many things. Our church has also recently started “Family Promise.” Family Promise is a program in which we open up our services and church building for those who have nowhere to stay. Usually, these people are families that are trying to provide. Each family is supplied with an adequate sleeping arrangement, a certain amount of nights to stay, and meals provided by the people of our congregation. Our church is not the only one within our community, and congregation, participating in Family Promise.

 Many people may, or may not, think of their church as a discourse community. On many different levels, though, churches are very much discourse communities. In the way they interact within their congregations, the communities and their end goals. Yes, there are many types of churches, and no they are not all the same; but I'm sure within that church they are very much a discourse community. It's obvious that discourse communities also have a lexis. Different places, including churches, have their own expanse of words that's used on a very regular basis. If we really think about it, we're all part of at least one discourse community. Almost everything that we're apart of is a discourse community, even our families are discourse communities.  

McCarthy "A Stranger in Strange Lands" p.261 Discussion q.6

As was mentioned earlier in the article, Dave wrote depending on what the teacher wants. I feel like that's how my writing has also been. In English it was more about getting the thesis down and having proper grammar and spelling. For science papers it was more about the content. So far I have different expectations in each class. In my U.S. class I cannot at any cost write in first person. In this class, that's not such a problem. In my lifespan in development class, I have to write a paper that is basically just research, but it's broken up into categories: literary review, are findings for our pecha kucha's, our cross cultural findings, etc. I guess if anything, McCarthy kind of showed me to be more conscious of the quality, quantity, relation, and manner of my papers.

Branick p.263 discussion q.1

I never thought of coaches as a discourse community, but I never not thought of them that way either. They weren't the top of my list for discourse communities. It was very interesting to see how he put coaches into the 5 specific qualities of being an effective coach.  

Marro- Applying & Exploring (p.313 q.2)

After reading Marro's paper, it was obvious that they value following rules and looking good. They had to chart when and how often they'd work out. It also seemed like they had a strong sense of community, like they were tight-knit.

Commented on Haleigh Hurst.

Kain and Wardle discussion question 1 (p.283)

Activity systems are a group that work together to achieve the same goal.
 Examples include:
Military- different people, from different backgrounds come together to protect their nation, people and land.
Teachers- their main goal is to educate, making future generations ready to accomplish tasks they may face.
Students- different people all come together to learn, to eventually do the job they want to do.

Jerry Trejo
Wallace Casper

Linnea Skoog
10-13-14
Mirabelli
ZuZu Feder


After reading this piece by Mirabelli, do you think that restaurants, waiters/waitresses, cooks, etc, have their own lingo, or ways in which they communicate? Are there other places/jobs that have their own form of communicating?

Rhetorical Analysis of "Sponsors of Literacy" by Deborah Brandt

Linnea Skoog

10-6-14

Rhetorical Analysis

Writ. 101

ZuZu Feder

Rhetorical Analysis of “Sponsors of Literacy” by Deborah Brandt

Deborah Brandt is a professor in the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has written several books on literacy, as well as scholarly research articles about literacy (Brandt p.43). In 1998, her prompt Sponsors of Literacy was featured in a periodical for other scholars and educators called College Composition and Communication (CCC). “CCC is a committee of scholars and teachers aimed at giving students the opportunity to receive the education and literacy they deserve” (ncte.org). Considering that this article appeared in a CCC publication, Brandt's intended audience was other scholars and teachers. She was writing this to bring the attention to the learning of the students. Moreover, where they began learning and who taught them. Deborah Brandt can relate to this essay in the fact that she not only see's people either excelling with their literacy or struggling with their literacy, but as well as the reminder of her literacy background.

Another audience this prompt seems to have been aimed at was students. Most likely college students who were doing an analysis on the background of their literacy, or even the literacy of their classmates and peers. Much like our class, they could have read this essay and conversed about how much positive impact their parents had on their reading and writing, as well as the negative impact that was poured upon them from negative literacy sponsors.

Deborah Brandt's article “Sponsors of Literacy” touches on the basis of our literacy. Where we began to read and write and how that has shaped us now. In the article, Brandt specifically gives examples of two people and their literacy backgrounds. Raymond Branch and Dora Lopez come from different walks of life. One of Raymond's literacy sponsors was the technology around him. As a young child “he enjoyed fooling around with 'real users' at his father's science lab” (Brandt p.49). Dora, though she had a Latino background, knew nothing about the Spanish language, thus she took it upon herself to learn. She taught herself to read and write in Spanish. From these examples, not only does Brandt show that technology and books can be a a literary sponsor, but also the people with whom we interact. Raymond experienced his literacy through exploring technology, though it wasn't something he just 'decided upon' one day. Being that his dad was into science, and so, around technology a lot, Raymond got a knack for technology as well. Dora, though English speaking, experienced her Spanish literacy on her own through books she had obtained and read. Though Dora did 'decide' to learn Spanish on her own, she was never discouraged by her family. In fact, she would often get Spanish books form the library her mother worked at.

Brandt shows us that people are also our literary sponsors by making us think about how and when we learned to read. From this we can conclude that for most of us, our parents were huge literary sponsors, as well as siblings, babysitters, pre-schools, and even “learning” shows. Our parents would teach us our ABC's and patiently read to us our favorite books over and over again. While our siblings would impatiently correct our words and grammar. Our babysitter and preschool teachers would give us little impromptu lessons that would help us improve our reading and writing. These were all positive literacy sponsors. They encouraged us to learn and keep learning new things. They would help us as well. Within thinking about our positive literacy sponsors, one is prompted to think about the “negative” literacy sponsors, too. These negative literacy sponsors could range from anyone who talks over you when you're talking to a teacher who told you to stop writing a certain way. Often, it would be someone who either didn't help you to improve your reading and writing or someone who practically told you to throw everything you already know about reading and writing out the window and start doing things their way. Or both. Sometimes, it would be that one teacher who would favor certain students. They were too focused on their “favorites” succeeding that they “forgot” what being a teacher meant.

I think Brandt's bigger argument here is that no matter where you came from, and what your literacy sponsors were, good or bad, there's always a chance to start fresh and learn what you want to know. I also think that what she's saying is that by the time people get to the college level, they either don't care how something is written or supposed to be written, or they don't know. They don't know because all everyone does these days is use text talk and acronyms. They don't use real words or grammar. They're not sure which 'there' to use when they want to go over 'there' or to 'their' house. They're not sure when to use a semi colon or a comma. They start every sentence with 'and,' 'because,' and 'but.' They don't care because they don't know. If they were expected to actually do work to improve themselves, then maybe they would care a little bit more, thus picking up and understanding what's expected of them.

I believe Brandt's exigence was probably the fact that there are so many people who don't know the basics of constructing a paper. Instead of getting the proper help they need to get to the stage of constructing a “good” paper, they failed and possibly don't have the motivation to continue. Another reason she most likely wrote this was to bring it to the attention of fellow scholars and teachers. It's not like she was the only one who noticed. If she could get so many more teachers involved, they would really be able to help people and keep writing what it is, before it gets any worse. She probably also wrote this to reflect on her literacy sponsors. To understand that not everybody has the same opportunities growing up. Some people are much more fortunate and motivated. Other just aren't as lucky.

In conclusion, what Brandt is saying in the article is that people learn differently. Not everyone will learn the same way. With this, their literacy journey has been different. They have different reading levels than their peers, they write differently, they may or may not have terrible grammar. Everyone's literacy background is different. She is also telling us that no matter how well we think our literacy is now, there's always room for improvement, in one way or another. Even if it's as little as just sitting down and reading a new book.

Works Cited:

-Brandt, Deborah. "Sponsors of Literacy." Writing About Writing. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martins, 2014. 43-60. Print.

-Yancey, Kathleen Blake, ed. College Composition and Communication  1998. Print.

http://www.ncte.org/cccc/ccc.

Magee q.1&3 p467

Magee Questions 1&3 pg467

1.) My writing would fit under the stereotype for women's writing when whatever I'm writing allows me the space to include relevant relationships. Much like Magee, though, when it comes to short essays, such as college essays, I must stick with the short achievement side of things, with the very faint possibility of skimming the relationship involved.

3.) Other data could show that people are just getting lazy with their writing, because with many things we're expected to write these days, they must be precise and to the point, not caring about the relationship one has to have to get to that achievement. Like Magee said, “the institutions of higher education and the educational experts have clearly told us that accomplishments and achievements are what matters.”

Margaret Kantz pg.446 q1. Meta Moment

1. According to Kantz, in a rhetorical argument, facts are actually claims that an audience will accept as being true without requiring proof, though they may ask for an explanation; opinions are claims that an audience will not accept as true without proof, and even if proof is given, the audience may decide there's limited truth (possibly true for one case, but not another); argument includes both claims of facts and opinions to try and persuade the reader.

Meta Moment:

In this article, Kantz isn't only showing the faults students often make when writing, but also, how to correct those faults, or new ways to rhetorically analyze/read texts. This would be useful for a college student because it will help me to see/understand texts differently/better, and create better text documents.

Bazerman reading q.6 (pg393)

A basic genre I'm familiar with would have to be non-fiction romantic drama. For instance, Nicholas Sparks books get me every time. John Green and Suzanne Collins also pulled at the heart and kept me interested in their books as well. Being that this is a genre on a literary standpoint, they were written to keep people like me occupied and drawn in to my interests. This is recognizable, because all of these authors have draw in traumatic events while tying in a love story. Usually, one can realize a book is a romantic drama by reading the intro or the little overview. Or if it's a Nicholas Sparks book, the main couple is usually on the front, and it's just inevitable that there will be some sort of distress.

"All Writing is Autobiography" by Donald Murray 9-10-14

2.)According to Murray, everything written by someone has a little taste/feel of them in it. Whether its a research paper or not. There will always be some aspect of a writer in their text. It could be expressed through the sophisticated words they use, their sentence structure, or even something like the titles or headings they chose. Murray categorizes autobiographies by distinguishing peoples views or what the people have experiences in life. (I feel as if both of these questions are the same.)

5.) Murray's implications would make me think of the authors feelings or life “stories” of whatever I'm reading. If every written piece is considered an autobiography, then each writer/author has a story or a little piece of them behind what they're writing. Knowing this, I would probably write a little differently. Depending on the subject/topic, I would probably wonder “why I'm writing about this specifically” or “what events have led to my view/opinion on this.”

6.) Reviewing my older papers/texts and their autobiographical “standards” it seems that depending on the subject I was just supposed to have “research.” When looking at the different aspects of “autobiographical” writing though, I am able to see patterns in my sentence structure as well as the words used in those papers, that do in fact add character.  

Grant Davie "Rhetorical Situations" questions 1,4,&7

1.) I've never really thought about writers negotiating with their audience. Actually reviewing texts I've read/heard though, I can think of a few. Talking to someone through your writing is different than negotiating with them because when your just talking to them through your writing, your showing more of a story. When your negotiating with people through writing then you're showing more of your thoughts/opinions and being bias/ very one-sided. If i were negotiating with people through my writing I would add persuasion, but to a point where they would end up agreeing and not realize it, possibly by including some counter argument/or adding valid points from the opposing side.

4.) Constraints are practically anything that is not the rhetor and the audience, that causes the audience to take a point of view in the text. Constraints can be thought of as aids instead of restrictions because they also allow the rhetor to create a view that the audience could have possibly never thought of, when would then get the audience to start thinking completely different.

7.) A discourse is needed to possibly compare two things. What that discourse could be trying to accomplish is for the audience to declare a side or for the audience to fully understand the differences of the sides of whatever the discourse is.

Linnea Skoog

Writ 101

Literacy Paper

Final

9-12-14

All through life I've been taught how to read, write and properly pronounce words. Whether by my parents, siblings or even billboards, I was being educated. Not just in a minuscule way, but in a way that would really benefit my life. Reading and writing are such great skills to have. They not only allow you to leisurely engage in hobbies (such as reading and writing) but they also allow you to get somewhere in this world. People everywhere struggle everyday because they don't know how to read or write. They weren't given the opportunity to read or write, or their parents didn't engage in their future and teach them the alphabet or how to count. From there they just never grasped the concept and they lost interest in it. However, that was not my case. Here is my story.

Growing up my parents were always keen on us children having a good education. They'd put in extra time to make sure we knew and understood what we were learning. For obvious reasons, they were huge contributors to my literacy. They were the ones that taught me to read and write. They would practice the alphabet with me, and patiently correct me until I finally sang those twenty six letters with ease. They taught me my numbers. Again, patiently counting and correcting me until I understood that eight comes after seven, and ten before eleven. My family travels a lot. On every trip we would always have music and books on take. Those expanded my literacy by far. As a young child, if certain lyrics stuck in my head, like all children, I would repeat them, then eventually ask their meaning. Same goes with lines form a book on tape. Not only was I physically on a journey, but my mind was on a journey picking up new words as the readers voice drew me into a mystical world. Not only were my parents literary sponsors, but my brothers, too. Every conversation, no matter how small, they would always help me construct sentences that made sense, gradually correcting my grammar and splitting up my run on sentences. Unfortunately for me, they still find the need to correct me, when often, they have no idea what they are talking about. My baby sitter was even a literary sponsor. Spending five days a week and almost twelve hours a day, I was sure to gain something that would contribute to my future from her. Everyday, she would set up a “mock” classroom. We would do a little lesson, whether it was learning how to spell or how the sun makes plants grow. She was always intent on communication, also. We couldn't just whine and cry until she figured out what it was we wanted, we had to take the tools we were learning (the words we were learning and the basic sentence structure we knew) and tell her what it was we needed. Not only that, we were very lucky to have her read several books to us several times a day. She would read to us books such as If You Give a Pig a Pancake and an array of Dr. Seuss books. Always yearning for more of an understanding as to “why giving a pig a pancake is such a bad idea” or “is the Lorax really someone who will come after you if you cut down a tree? What about Christmas trees?”, we'd always plead with her “just one more time, please!”

Like all small children, I liked to do what those around me were doing. From the words they said, to the things they said. Picking up a pencil, or any writing utensil in reach, and anything I could write on, just to be like an adult. Grown ups made writing look so effortless. Too often, though, I would get caught writing on/in important books or documents, after being caught I'd pleadingly say, “daddy did it, why can't I?” Just like with writing, reading was much of a mimicked learning. Seeing people occupy their time with reading always seemed “so fun.” So why not try it myself. Typically not knowing what the words actually said or meant, and almost always holding the book upside down, I'd try as hard as possible to look as interested as possible in what I was reading as the person next to me was in their reading. Eventually, I came to the realization that The Cat and the Hat and Junie B. Jones were far more interesting than whatever anybody else was reading.

Reading in grade school was so fun. Looking back now, it's because it was a reward system. I'd have to say, though, a lot of the books I read were also my literacy sponsors. From those little three word per page books to chapter books. The change was gradual, but speedy. I just couldn't stop reading. I was one of those kids in school who would get in trouble for reading during class. Being in school taught me how to “properly” read and write. From dotting my 'i's and crossing my 't's, to not using 'I' in a paper. School established that when reading, at a period you pause, a semicolon introduces a new thought/idea, and that instead of using “and” to separate words (when listing them) you can use a comma. School was also the place I realized “I will not like everything I read.” Those usually, if I was not interested in a book after the third chapter, I often abandoned it. School really reinforced this action. School often serves material that not everyone likes. It was so hard to remain engaged. Usually it was a struggle to finish the assignment because such a lack of interest. Saying this, there were also “misappropriations” to my learning at school. From teachers who only focused on certain students, to teachers who didn't focus on their students at all. Though these may have hindered my learning, there were still the teachers that cared and helped us succeed. In high school, I had two types of teachers: the ones that tell you to express yourself in your writing and the ones who tell you to not show any glimpse of yourself at all. It was challenging to go from one class to the other. The teachers who would tell me to express myself through my writing were really empowering. They were the ones who really helped to expand my knowledge and literacy. They were the ones who would tell me to be involved in things that interest me. They were the ones who would make you want to continue learning. One of them even told me, “never apologize for your writing.” That has stuck with me and every time I write anything. That teacher spent his years investing in us a sense of individuality on such a scale, that we became confident in the words we wrote and the knowledge we consumed. He changed the way I read, too. He was the one who gave me the idea to never stick with a book that doesn't hook me after the third chapter. He also encouraged heavy note taking on readings. He wanted us to be changed by the written word and to question. He wanted us to question what the author could have been going through, who the intended audience was, if the author was alluding/ foreshadowing something. He always encouraged to use any and all resources possible. He wanted us to think about the ethos, pathos, locos of all the prompts. We were told to identify as many rhetorical/literary devices as possible. This teacher made us realize that reading and writing are essential and that we will be doing it the rest of our lives. He also showed us that it's not all bad.

Usually, when faced with the task of writing, I put it off until I know I shouldn't anymore (such as the night before it's due). I ponder the topic for a while and think about how I'm going to start off. Usually, I run a few ideas for a thesis statement through my head, then think about how the body would be constructed from that. After I think I've got it all figured out, I construct an outline. When putting my thoughts into writing is complete and my outline is all “fixed-up,” I usually try to start my paper. When writing and reading, I can't have any distractions. It's so much easier to get done and focus when there's hardly any noise or anyone to talk to. Though, when the subject is really interesting, there are never any distractions. Not only is writing such a task, I usually despise editing/ proofreading my work. Usually, because I end up not liking it and before I know it, half my paper is gone and I have to think of a whole new line of expressing my views/thoughts.

 Writing is usually somewhat of a task for me. As I've began to keep a journal, some writing assignments don't seem as daunting. When finding out that a four to five page paper is due, I end up fretting about it. It's usually after I've written about seven pages in my journal that I realize I can just as easily write about my literary history. Research papers are a whole different flavor of tea, though. Even so, some things I will passionately write about all day, others not so much. Admiration for writing is growing on me. I am grateful to be able accomplish/know such skills as to read and write. Though we think it's such a common skill to have, there are so many people out there who are so lost and struggling because they don't know how to read and write.  

Hey, it's Linnea! Finally got my blog to work! Hope ya'll had a great day!