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Final Project
Margo Oats

English 1301.01W

Ms. Angela Kennedy

December 11, 2010

Writing Matters to Us All

Writing well is a learned process which must be practiced, reviewed and critiqued. The

definition of literacy has evolved over time. The definition has gone from the ability to read and

write to a more broad sense of communicating using many different realms. There is writing;

texting; blogging; along with video and audio communication. I feel that all these technological

improvements in how to communicate are great. However, I feel we are losing the importance of

what reading and writing well can do to transform our lives.

The introduction of the personal computer has completely transformed the art of

communication. Once the computer was readily available to the mass public we all wanted to

write more. For myself, I was a terrible writer of letters to my loved ones, but after becoming

familiar with e-mail it was easy to stay connected. The down side of e-mail is that I still am not

really writing. I forward a forwarded e-mail with a simple note attached like “This is great;

funny; a tear jerker.” Is that really writing? No. Do I truly get letters from people via e-mail?

Again, the answer is no. There is something comforting about sitting down with pen, stationary

or a card and actually writing to my immediate family and friend circle. It may be the end of the

year or on birthdays, but it is much more personal than an e-mail.

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When I am on my personal computer, I enjoy sitting beneath my picture of a lighthouse

as it comforts me. Whether I am writing notes to friends or memo’s to my scouting circle; or

even my homework, I like to be able to feel like I am outside.

I am not one of those people who can write a paper in one sitting. My writing process

starts in my mind and has to roll around up there. A lot of my editing goes on in my mind before

I begin to write my paper for school. At the beginning of this literacy class I would write

everything on paper and then type it on the computer. I am happy to say that my writing process

has evolved to where I now sit at the computer to write all my assignments.

I do prefer to sit outside when I do creative writing, but for this class it serves me well to

be in a structured environment. By sitting at my desk, I also save time by immediately accessing

the internet for any needed information from my eCollege course and various websites.

Technology has helped me greatly with improving my writing skills. First, there is spell-check

which includes grammar checking. This allows me to know when I write a fragment (which is

more often than I like)! My only wish is that it would have an automatic citation correction.

That would make writing college papers a lot easier.

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During the course of this class we have been introduced to various forms of

communication through technology. I had never used Youtube until this class. My previous

thoughts were it was just for music videos or comic shorts. Since my introduction to this website

I have found math tutoring; poetry and all forms of visual presentations. I have been very pleased

with this part of the class.

This class also introduced us to blogs and social networking. I am not comfortable with

these types of communication. I know that if I spent more time with these forums I may not be

uncomfortable, yet I like my privacy and do not wish to “put my stuff out there.” I have

researched how to collaborate with others in an academic sense such as NCoW and Citulike.

I am quite confident that as I go further in my degree I will use more of these website and ones

that I do not even know about yet!

The basis I have for my argument that we are not better writers because of technology is

that unless you need this skill for your school or job you are not practicing it. While in grammar

school we are taught spelling and proper sentence structure; with the dreaded verb and adjective

placement! We continue this process throughout our school years. Once we leave school we tend

to “just write”, with little thought to writing as well as when it was being graded. I know for

myself when I started back to college, I had to start paying attention to run on sentences and

punctuation. My papers are still getting points off for putting too much into one paragraph. So, as
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I write I have a new mantra, “one thought, one paragraph!” I enjoy being critiqued since I know

to receive a degree in Sociology I have a LOT of papers left to write in my future.

Grammar school students these days not only write papers but use different websites to

improve their skills. Some of the more popular websites are the following: Studyisland.com;

tumblebooks.com; brainpop.com; socialstudiesforkids.com; ben’sguidetoUSgovernment.com.

You would think that with all these new avenues of study we would be producing all A’s in

school but this is not the case. Some students excel and some do not. Technology has created all

new software programs for people to learn from, but we must realize that everything takes

practice. Granted some people are gifted in certain areas, but for the rest of us, in order to excel

we must practice.
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While studying the Newsweek article “Why Johnny Can’t Write” my class was asked to

try and determine if the hysteria it caused was justified. On my previous paper I proposed that I

thought it was very unlikely that our nation’s leaders would not be able to write well. As most

people in the Senate and Congress have law degrees I cannot believe that they would get

involved in our politics without knowing how to write exceedingly well. As far as the

determination that the schools were to blame I feel this is partly true. But, I strongly feel our

family structure is to blame.

Divorce was rarely heard of until the early 70’s. Children came home from school and

either did their homework before play time or after dinner. Dinner time used to be between 5:00

and 6:00 pm. Since that time American homes are comprised of many different parental roles.

Most children are now being raised byeither two working parents; one working (or non-working)

parent; traveling between divorced parents’ homes or even by their grandparents. This has

severely undermined our ability to practice learning techniques with our children. The average

American home has different eating times, later rather than earlier. The children may be on the

computer doing homework, but tend to bounce back and forth between their projects and

Facebook or online games. The younger students are not getting the basic method of learning by
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rote. Parents are too busy and tired to go over basic math skills and spelling words with their

children. This all leads to a breakdown in children’s initial introduction in how to study.

How this plays into society is a very important issue. First, we are being convinced by

outside sources that children learn better with computer software. Second, a lot of school funding

is being invested in technology based courses. But, what of the parents who cannot afford a

computer or the software programs? If they rely on the schools and technology to teach their

children, without getting involved in their children’s education that is a travesty on our education

process. The technology can enhance our education but can not replace basic learning skills.

Since re-entering college I have learned through books, and online courses without

books. All the math homework is done through a web-based portal. Every problem has a help

button to show me exactly how to solve the problem using a different problem than the one

assigned. Although this greatly improves my math grade, it does not make me a better math

student. I still struggle with getting the correct answers and literally have to sit in math lab for

help from a live person. Although technology has created a new version of learning many

different subjects, it still takes a lot of work and many hours to improve your knowledge of those

subjects.

To me writing can be viewed as a natural talent. Some people are musicians or artists

with very little effort. Other people can become very good at these endeavors with a lot of

coaching and hard work. Just because we can whistle or sing does not make the average person a

musician. Along that same thought, just because we can draw a tree or diagram of a fire escape

plan for our homes it does not mean we are an artist. Although most people have the ability to

write, that does not make them a writer. In this class, one of the topics was to ask different

people did they consider themselves a writer. Surprisingly, some of those interviewed equated
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writing grocery lists and short notes to themselves and family members as writing. In my opinion

those examples are tasks that we perform in order to fulfill necessary requirements in our daily

lives. Writers have a point or story to make. The article to be read must be able to be understood

by the reader. Therefore, the paper/article/or book must have structure and form. Some people

can do this with very little effort, the rest of us need a good coach and lessons.

When I write outside of a classroom environment I tend to have many different forms.

While at work I write e-mails that question or inform my fellow workers. I rarely write any

letters of substance since all I have to do is pick out a pre-worded form and just add names and

basic information. The reports I submit are also pre-set and just need updated information. Even

the newspaper articles I post to the newspaper are pretty much in a preset format. However,

when I write outside of work I have more fun. I enjoy writing to people in my circle about my

children’s recent achievements and congratulating them on their children. I write a monthly

newsletter to try and inform but also motivate members of my scouting families to do more than

they already do! And my all time favorite is to shop for greeting cards that I can add funny

comments to and send off to family and friends. But, again I will state that this is not writing in

the literary sense. This is just communicating with others by using the alphabet.

The definition of literacy now equates writing with conveying communication by various

forms of visual presentation. Does that make us better writers? While texting allows us to convey

communication with another through abbreviated words, should we also consider that writing? I

feel America is short changing its values by accepting new forms of communication with

writing. I just cannot accept that the future of our leaders on the Senate floor will be arguing their

proposals using texting, or video mashes! The very foundation of writing well is to keep our

educational standards high and ultimately our society a better place to live.
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In the business workplace we must post resume’s online to even be considered for a job.

The next step is to complete an assessment provided by the interested company. Completion of

those two requirements can then open you up to another online test for your skills for that job,

and if you do well then you may then be granted an interview. So, the importance of being able

to write well and communicate effectively through the written word is essential to improving

your livelihood through getting a good job. Even TacoBell and convenience stores such as

KwikChek only accept applications online. The days of applying for a job face to face are gone.

That fact just strengthens my resolve to become a better writer.

As I mentioned earlier, my writing process has changed over the course of this semester.

I not only pay attention to how I write each paragraph but have taken advantage of the shortcuts

available through the use of spell-check. This a wonderful technological tool that can improve

anyone’s writing. Although these tools help improve the basics of my writing, they do not help

with the content of what I write. A problem I feel I still have is with the MLA citation part of

writing. I know in my future studies I will need to document my sources through the MLA

process. I do wish there was a program where you could highlight what you are quoting and from

whom and the program could pop in the correct profile on your works cited program. That would

make someone a profit!

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I do feel my writing has improved and I have learned about reliable online sources that

can help me with the writing process. Although my professor was kind enough to explain how to

get help through an online writing website, I chose not to use it at this time. The past few weeks,

during our final revisions and the writing of our final project I did ask a friend to review my

corrections. She was able to add in the right amount of commas and remind me again of

paragraphs containing more than one thought. I think that this help from a recent college

graduate gives me the added confidence I need to submit my papers.

To further my writing techniques I have looked at other writing courses that are available

at my college. The ones that sound as if they will benefit me are; General Linguistics; Modern

Grammar; Sociolinguistics and US-Written Argument/Research. Students pursuing different

degrees other than English majors or Sociology might find Technical Writing and Writing with

New Media beneficial to their future. I strongly feel that my writing classes are not over just

because this particular class has fulfilled my degree requirements. To attain my best writing

potential I need more coaching and lots more experience. By obtaining a better writing prose I

can fulfill my dream of being the best at my future career.

Reading is another element of writing that is essential to the whole process. A musician

must listen to various forms of music, as an artist must engulf themselves in different art

techniques in order to become the best at their fields. If I had not been such an avid reader, I am

quite confident that writing would be a lot more difficult for me. My love of reading started at

the age of four or five and continues to this day. I have read David Copperfield, Socrates, The

Bible and Stephen King among many others. The point is, by reading so many different genres; I

have been able to cultivate my own writing style. A person that does not enjoy reading books
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would find it difficult to string the words together in a creative or scholastic way. It is no wonder

that most people who do not like to read also do not like to write.

Writing is a process that not only improves how we write, but actually improves the way

we think and speak. Researching the use of words develops a more cultured vocabulary and,

therefore, a better sense of speaking. As we formulate a better word bank we also pass that

characteristic on to our children. In turn, they will have a greater respect for writing well in their

own educational endeavors. In the long run, I hope that they will become better writers and attain

success in their future careers. And if they will pass that attribute onto their own children, the

quality of life for most Americans will steadily improve. The written word is one that we need to

be ever conscious of, so that we do not lose sight of its important role in maintaining and

improving our way of life here in America.