Lets be honest, we really do struggle when teachers ask us to find rhetorical strategies. At least personally, I always feel unsure as to what the teachers expect or if my rhetorical strategies are even accurate.I am guessing that it is hard to identify a rhetorical strategy as I read because I am too focused in identifying the claims, evidence and main topic, so I tend to ignore the methods/rhetorical strategies the author uses.
Her reading was relatively easy to understand. Few concept and words I had to search but the general ideas were understood. However, I did not like how Thonney uses too many examples. Yeah, I know it does add credibility and makes it easier to understand,however I think it is overused in ideas where it is not necessary. For examples when she presents the 3rd point she provides 3 examples almost righ away and they can be kinda of tedious to read.
I found a contradiction where I still don't have a clear point if teachers would accept. In her first general idea, where she speaks about " what others have written," Thonney argues that an issues students face is that they "fail to contribute to the conversation(page 45)" The author basically argues that all the students do is summarize. From my understanding Thonney urges for students to contribute and add on to the reading, yet whenever a students does that most teachers tend to deduct points for giving personal opinion and not following the prompt.I know it does depend on the prompt however thonney points are meant to apply to any writing , "general ideas of writing."Do i contribute? do I not?
It is interesting when thonney point out in her point #3 that when arguing authors tend to use terms such as " suggest" and " it seems." Many of us probably do such things unintentionally. when you want to prove a point you want to seem convinced however stating something as a fact is dangerous because it gives a perception of close mind as opposed to the other terms which allow for disagreements and discussion.
Additionally, her point #5 caught my attention. Primarily because when I write, I like to sound smarter then I really am ( kind of fake, i know ). Honestly, alot of times it gets out of hand... I use complicated words that don't fit in given case. Hopefully, I did not do that in this blog and it is something I need to work on.Nevertheless, Thonney is right when she states that using these terms is an indicator of proficiency in academic writing and convey specialized meanings. See! That is why I like using complicated terms.
To windup this blog, Teresa Thonney accurately presents methods that students can use to improve their writing in almost any type of text.These methods are to improve our skills and write as we are expected, the college level.
Now that I think about it, I don't really address other people's works and add more insight to it. I usually just write about my own findings and opinions and that's all. I agree with your point about using words like "seems." I never thought that using words of uncertainty could work in your favor, but I guess I'm wrong! I feel like I don't use that because it doesn't sound like an actual proven point. And speaking to your second to the last paragraph, I think every student tries to sounds super intelligent by using huge words, but honestly it confuses me and makes it hard to understand. Sometimes, it's just good to use simpler language so the audience doesn't have such a hard time comprehending.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience reading student papers, they really do struggle to move on from straight summary. Sometimes that adding on will be building an argument based on the evidence. Sometimes it will be synthesizing what multiple authors have said. And sometimes it will be analysis of some aspect of that writing. For example, in this essay, you will have some summary, but that summary will set up analysis of how Chomsky is persuading a very specific audience, set in a place and time, complete with a set of underlying beliefs that influence how the audience will view the claims and the evidence. Whew.
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