Haley Smith

Mrs. Burr

Learning log: ​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/

Day 1 (2.19.20): “Personal Literacy and Academic Learning” By MArlena Stafford

(​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/personal-literacy-and-academic-learning/​ )

1. Record two golden quotes:

a. Quoted from the article, “to be literate means to be able to communicate through

texts in ways that help you meet your needs and the needs of others.”

b. Quoted from the article, “When we learn to transfer our personal literate practices

to formal school settings, we engage in a process of contextualization.”

2. Create a small timeline mapping your reading or writing history. Include memorable

moments.

a. 2010- writing for school assignments

b. 2015- writing my first short story I was proud to turn in

c. 2018 to now- writing random notes in my phone

d. 2020- wrote my short story that I am deciding to publish to the school magazine

and enter into scholarships

Day 2 (2.21.20) “You Will Never Believe What Happened: Stories We Tell” By Ron

Christiansen.
(​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/you-will-never-believe-what-happened-stories

-we-tell/​ )

1. Record two ah-hah quotes:

a. Quoted from the article, “We all tell stories. For humor. For clarifying our view of

the world. For asserting our identity”

b. Quotes from the article, “We are naturally rhetorical beings who attempt to

engage those around us through narrative—we shape the events in our life so they

have a plot, characters, conflict, and some sort of resolution.”

2. Explain this quote: “If telling stories makes us human, reading stories seems to put us in

touch with our humanity”.

a. I think this is plainly just saying that keeping in touch with the present times and

being able to read stories from different perspectives, brings out our ability to stay

open minded.

Day 3 (2.25.20): “Is That a True Story” By Ron Christianson

(​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/is-that-a-true-story/​ )

1. Record two ah-hah moments:

a. Quoted from article, “To be honest, I was unsure how to do it effectively and a bit

nervous that my colleagues would perceive me as unaware of the current trends in

writing theories, which focused more on so-called academic writing”

b. Quoted from the article, “Sometimes I assumed students were simply being a bit

lazy; eventually, I realized that students were actually asking a specific question
 in order to figure out if their writing would be acceptable in this particular

rhetorical context: “Does my story have to be true, like completely true?” You can

see a student imply this question in this exchange”

2. ??

Day 4 (2.27.20): “Adding The Storyteller’s Tools To The Writer’s Toolbox” By Clint Johnson

(​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/adding-the-storytellers-tools-to-your-writers-t

oolbox/​)

1. Record technique from 5 tools:

a. The power of scene:

i. “Writing stories requires that we write meaningful scenes: areas of intense

focus where we describe people, places, and actions in order to make a

reader feel they have witnessed something themselves.”

b. The power of experience:

i. “We ask, Does this make sense to me? Have I seen it bear out in my life?

Stories can provide new experiences by which people can make sense of

the claims they encounter.”

c. The power of sensory detail:

i. “As a storyteller, you know the importance of sensory description. To

describe something using the senses not only gives an additional texture of

reality to the subject, but it can help memory.”

d. The power of voice:

 i. “Most good stories are about dramatic, interesting characters, people who

the author creates yet are not the author. Their words—dialogue—have

great power to establish unique, distinctive voices separate from the

author’s own voice as a story’s narrator.”

e. The power of conflict:

i. “You know that every good story is about conflict because conflict means

people care. Conflict is produced when different individuals or groups

have competing interests and take action trying to achieve their personal

goals, often by overcoming resistance from others.”

Day 5 (3.2.2020): “Memorability: 6 Keys for Success” By Nikki Mantyla

1. Record techniques used by Jerry to illustrate the concept “why some ideas survive and

others die”

a. Simple: direct approach

b. Unexpected: Quoted from article, “It’s also important to know that comedy

thrives on irony—or in other words, the unexpected. The more unpredictable the

punchline, the bigger the laughs.”

c. Concrete: quoted from the article, “When instructors say, “Show, don’t tell,” this

is what they mean. Telling is weaker because it gives a secondhand report: how it

was a classy concert hall where nobody would expect crappy equipment, how

Seinfeld gripped about the spotlight, how everyone thought it was really funny.”
 d. Credible: quoted from the article, “One way is to borrow fame, as this article does

by showcasing a celebrity. Take advantage of any impressive sources.”

e. Emotional: quoted from the article, ”Projecting emotion is important but tricky.

Good writers don’t want to overdo it, and they don’t want to use fallacious or

unethical approaches, such as fear mongering. Done well, emotional appeals can

have a powerful lingering effect.”

f. Story-based: quoted from the article, “The best story type for each piece of

writing will depend on its situation and purpose and audience, but using miniature

stories like the spotlight tale can be a great method for highlighting a writer’s

subject in a memorable way.”

g. Conclusion: quoted from the article, “That’s the power of language to do things,

be things, and make things in the world.”

Day 6 (3.5.20): Absent :(

Day 7 (3.9.920): “The Narrative Effect: Story As The Forward Frame” By Lisa Bickmore (

1. Give five examples of how the story is “underlying all understanding”

a. Quoted from article, “If we think of story as underlying all understanding, we

might consider the possibility that we should think of all writing as storytelling.”

2. What ah-hah moment did you formulate about your upcoming memoir/draft from this

essay?

a. I don’t want to forget to make it as visual as I can, in order for my audience to feel

like they are there with others feeling it.

Day 8 (3.11.20): “Punctuation, Memes, and Choice” By Nikki Mantyla.

(​https://openenglishatslcc.pressbooks.com/chapter/punctuation-memes-and-choice/​ )

1. What's new to you?

a. Punctuation can be used to confuse the audience

2. What’s interesting?

a. Make sure each side of the sentences with a semicolon can stand by itself

3. What finally makes sense?

a. Semicolon just makes two sentences into one.