Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Monday, April 19, 2010

brittany's synthesis

Final Learning Synthesis: Brittany Douthwright
A reader can be affected by organization and transition:
Throughout this course, there has been one important element of McPhee’s writing which has been different from any others I have read before, and this is his transition and organization. I have mentioned it before in class, and so have many others, that McPhee often changes subjects in his articles very abruptly, and as we have noticed when we assembled pieces of the Frame, McPhees articles are not easy to piece together, because the transition between paragraphs is not easy to notice.
“Putting together The Pieces of the Frame, made me realize just how random McPhee's writing can be. For example, his transition between paragraphs can be complicated. Sometimes he will be talking about the Loch Ness monster in one paragraph, and then about the family next to him having a pick-nic in the next. I find this very confusing as a reader, because this is not usually the case with any journalist I have read before.” (Learning Log 7- Brittany Douthwright)
“This really was important to me because in the way I organized the story I left out the sections about McPhee’s family and the picnic because I could not figure out where this information fit in at” (Andrew Bartlett Journal 8)
“One thing I've learned about McPhee through his writing would be that he tends to talk to himself or add information that seems unrelated but in a way makes sense for McPhee to add it.” (Joanne Goodall “Im Puzzled)
A reader can be invited to make a judgment the writer hasn't expressed:
Mcphee has introduced many new ideas to me as a reader, and just as a citizen of the world in general. He taught me a lot about the environment including some of the geography of Mississippi, about the Pine Barrens, and about virgin forests. He has also introduced me to various topics I would never think to explore myself, like people who eat road kill, the lochness monster, and oranges. Introducing me to all of these new subjects has allowed me to open up my knowledge to new ideas, so I can form opinions of my own on these topics, if I chose to do so. We have mentioned in class how McPhee’s writing can be persuasive but also educational, and this for me has been true. I agree with McPhee on many of his ideas, including the fact that human’s beings aren’t all that bad. In some instances we are hard on the environment, but the way McPhee writes about these issues, he leaves no stones unturned, exploring all points of view and sides of a story.
“Most importantly, Turner talks about McPhee and how his writing is educational. This is something I have noticed as a reader all along. I could not tell if McPhee is trying to write for smart readers, or if he is trying to teach me something. Now I get it. He is trying to teach me something. And it worked. I now know what a virgin forest is. I am now more familiar with tennis. I know where the Pine Barrens is. So really, I can thank McPhee for being my teacher in a way.” (Brittany Douthwright Learning Log 5)
“There are not very much opportunities or things to do, but there is something different about the Piney's. They actually appreciate their land. Not to many outsiders come to live in the Barrens, and if they do, the Piney's would know about it. McPhee talks about how much they appreciate the Pine Barrens (the forest). They do want outsiders to move in, because if they did, they may take over the forest.” (Brittany Douthwright- Description of The Pine Barrens.)
The Pine Barrens is a perfect example of how McPhee tells all sides of the story. He talks about how The Pine Barrens suffer from exploitation but at the same time, he talks about the natives of the Pine Barrens and how they appreciate the land unlike some other humans who invade it. This article clearly emphasis’ that not all humans are bad.
A detail can help a reader understand a character or an idea:
There is no question that a detail can help a reader understand a character or an idea, and McPhee’s writing definitely proved this point to be true. There are many profiles written by McPhee and his description of the characters at hand is extremely detailed, and this has been noticed by many in the class including myself.
“In the beginning of the profile, McPhee describes Fielding to a T. He even goes as far as describing (in detail) every single thing he packs in his briefcase when he travels. When they say you can tell a lot about a man or a woman by what is packed in their briefcase, they are certainly telling the truth.

Extra reading glasses
Plastic Fork and spoon
Stud Box
Dwarf American cigars
Standard toothbrush
Collapsile toothbrush
Rubber bands
Paper clips
Eraser
Credit Cards
Peanuts

Right from the beginning we know this man is extremely prepared for wherever he may go, and we also know he is very organised if he can reach under his (without looking), reach into his briefcase and grab what he needs. Not to mention the thirty-five hankerchiefs he so neatly packs in his suitcases.” (Description of Templex by Brittany Douthwright)
“McPhee's stories always have characters. The characters in McPhee's stories are often fully developed in explicit detail, like describing what the character imagines, dreams, or even packs in his suitcase, like Templex Fielding. McPhee often uses description to allow us to get to know his characters, which is one of his consistent skills, noticed by myself, and others in this course judging by other learning journals.” (Midterm Synthesis 1- Brittany Douthwright)
The physical context a piece is published in can affect the way we read it:
As we have discussed in class, reading pieces from theNew Yorker, did make it a more interesting, sometimes even difficult read. What I found most interesting were the advertisements. Sometimes I found it difficult to read the thinner paragraphs, and when there is only one surrounded by pictures, it can be easily distracting. Others have talked about the articles in the New Yorker and how this affected their read.
“The book didn't have any of the cartoons or anything else that might have taken my focus away from the actual article. As such, I found myself immersed in the story much more easily than when I was reading the articles in the New Yorker. These couple of experiences helped me realise that the physical context in which one reads a story has almost as much of an effect on your reading experience as the actual story does.” (Ianics “Final Learning Reflection”)
The order in which information is presented can affect how we read it:
The order in which information is presented can affect how we read it, and I think this is most evident when we assembled Pieces of the Frame. When we assembled the pieces of the story together, even when they were in the wrong order, they still made sense. One of the techniques I used to assemble the pieces was to read it as it made sense to me, and this still worked. As other people mentioned, even though we put the story in the wrong order, sometimes it still made just as much sense.
“I put it in the order it was easiest to read and understand, instead of actually studying the writing style, or comparing it to other works written by McPhee. This also tells me something about the way I am used to reading a story. I am used to reading a story in the order it unfolds in real life.” (Learning Log 6- Brittany Douthwright)
“In fact, he organizes his texts with so much craft that everything really does fit just the way he wanted us to read it.” (Learning Journal 6- Andrea Peters)
The reader's experience of other work of a writer can affect her reading:
We have discussed in class the amount of work it seems McPhee puts into writing an article and it seems like more than usual. With the detailed descriptions in the profile he writes, it seems he would have to live with one of his characters a year before he would find out some of the stuff McPhee does, like what someone like Templex Fielding packs in their suitcase. One of the most interesting things about McPhee is how he gets directly involved in whatever topic he writes about, even if it involves eating road kill.
“How many people did he interview until he found the perfect quote about a woman trying to get a cord of wood into her Prius car? Or, how many people did he have to ask if he could tag along for the drive to the woodlots and watch them cut down trees? It must take a lot of skill and patience to single out these people and find a good story.” (Joanne Goodall “The Best Damn You’ve Ever Seen.”)
“This story also made me wonder where McPhee finds these people, or do they find him? This is an interesting question, because McPhee sure does know how to pick'em.” (Learning Log 8- Brittany Douthwright)
“Another observation many people have made regarding McPhee's writing, is how he cares what he writes about. It is obvious, McPhee is really passionate for writing, but also the subjects in which he explores. How is it obvious? He gets the readers thinking.” (Learning Log 4- Brittany Douthwright)
Broad is the range of writing that can be called journalism:
One question McPhee has made his readers pose is whether he could be called a journalist or not. In my experience of reading his articles so far, here are some conclusions I have come up with in my learning journal.
“One of the question that stood out for me was: Would McPhee be considered more of a journalist or a non-fiction writer. For me this was an interesting question because I have never thought about it before.

Based on what I know of McPhee so far, I do not think he would put a label on himself as either. I think McPhee would call himself a writer, and this is it. He writes to inform, which I would define as being a journalist, but he also writes as a non-fiction writer. What he writes is non-fiction so it would be fair to call him this as well.” (Learning Log 8- Brittany Douthwright)
“In some cases should McPhee be considered a non-fiction writer instead of a journalist?”

“This question is intriguing because it was always my belief that non-fiction and journalism were essentially the same thing (perhaps slightly stylistically different) because both are dealing with topics that the writer has not made up, but is in fact true. Perhaps a better dictinction would be whether or not McPhee is a journalist or a writer of creative non-fiction. The difference between these two lies in the fact that both are using real life facts or events, but one is using a decidedly more creative way to tell the story.--Allyson Gorham”
This was one of the question posed by one of the students in the class and I think throughout our readings of McPhee we have come to the conclusion that McPhee cannot be pegged down as either a journalist or creative writer because he is both, not one or the other. McPhee writes about real issues in a creative fiction manner. He topics are honest, and his facts are accurate, but he also goes beyond straight hard news reporting. He incorporates elements of fiction inside his stories and this is hard not to recognize, which I think is why this question is an important one.
Ideas about objectivity and bias can shape our reading:
We have also talked about persuasiveness in McPhee’s articles. When we were asked to read articles written by McPhee, my article specifically talked about McPhee and how his ideas and opinions are subtly introduced in some of his articles.
“Turner also talks about McPhee's subtle persuasion. When reading McPhee's work, it is easy to tell that he cares about nature. And Turner discusses how he does not exaclty make his opinion to obvious, but it is there. I do believe from reading McPhee, he wishes people would care about nature as much has he, but he I think he knows in his heart it does not work like that. I think McPhee knows as much about people as he does nature.” (Learning Log 5-Brittany Douthwright)
Some other people on the other hand took McPhee’s did not take McPhee has trying to persuade his readers:
“That being said, I don't think he subscribes to any ideology or belief blindly, which is an important lesson on its own.” (Adam Hodnett “Attempt at Making Up for Missed Time.”)
“I like it when text is delivered in such a way that you get to think for yourself.” (Learning #5 Amy Lawson)
Some people thought McPhee allowed them to develop their own ideas while others thought he was somewhat persuasive with his ideas. I on the other hand, think McPhee persuaded me to think for the better. To not think so bad about humans, and to try and see all sides of a story before making a judgement.
“What surprised me was how at the end of the article I was neutral. McPhee had succeeded in showing me enough of both sides so that I could not choose one over the other, nature and humanity both had valid claims to what they were doing and now I understood both sides to the point where I didn't want one to win or lose. - - Alex Nowicki”
What another student wrote about an article by McPHee:
Reading what others have written about McPhee has allowed me to think of ideas that never came to mind before seeing other people’s views. Gathering other people’s ideas to form your own is something that everyone does to help them learn, including looking at textbooks.
“So far, I have learned a lot about McPhee styles and patterns, and I have also learned a lot about how others read the same way I do. Other people notice the same patterns, and most are captured by the same styles I am, which tells me one thing; there are certain elements in a story which must be present in order to capture the reader’s attention. I look forward to learning more.” (Midterm Learning Synthesis-Brittany Douthwright)
“I have been looking at all the learning journals and noticed other people recognizing the same re-curing patterns and techniques in McPhee's writing that I have throughout this term so far.” (Learning Log 4-Brittany Douthwright)
“This is a quote from Kayla Lawrence's learning journal, which I feel, expresses a similar view to mine, regarding McPhee's work.

"This week I've read more articles by John McPhee and I am amazed how he can write about absolutely anything."

Here is another from Andrew Bartlett:

"He relates things to what he has learned through his life and that everything has its own story you just have to search for it." (Learning Log 4- Brittany Douthwright)
One of the exercises we did in connection with the class:
I found two exercise the most useful in this class; assembling pieces of the Frame and writing questions down on cards for us all to discuss.
“This week, I found the exercise with questions on the card was a very useful learning tool. It was nice to see some questions raised about McPhees work which I have never thought of before.” (Learning Log 8-Brittany Douthwright)
“Wow that exercise we were asked to do this week really made me think. Putting together a story by McPhee made me recognize a lot of characteristics about his writing which I probably never would have noticed without, or perhaps I would have if my reading of him continues.” (Learning Log 7-Brittany Douthwright)
These exercise taught me a lot about the way others think about McPhee, and also how a writer finds different styles and techniques to develop a story.
“Putting together The Pieces of the Frame, made me realize just how random McPhee's writing can be. For example, his transition between paragraphs can be complicated. Sometimes he will be talking about the Loch Ness monster in one paragraph, and then about the family next to him having a pick-nic in the next. I find this very confusing as a reader, because this is not usually the case with any journalist I have read before.” (Learning Log 7- Brittany Douthwright)
“One of the questions that stood out for me was: Would McPhee be considered more of a journalist or a non-fiction writer. For me this was an interesting question because I have never thought about it before.” (Learning Log 8- Brittany Douthwright)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Testing yet another time

I guess the question is whether it "publishes" this page or not, when it says it does.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

yet another test of pasting text in

I wonder if it can be that the text is being copied from Word? Let’s see.
I'm trying to figure out why my students report not being able to paste text into the Blog window. I just pasted this and saved it. I guess I'll try it from my office computer, using Word.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Long pauses

I guess I've figured out that I have to go up to the top menu to start a new entry. Funny that it took so long for me to come back and see that. All the first year Aquinas students seem to have figured it out (check their blogs here).

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Following

I'm not sure what "following" means. But I've just started to "follow" my own blog, so I can figure it out. What happens now?