Works Cited

Works Cited

Heath, Shirley Brice., and Brian V. Street. "Ethnography in Communities." On Ethnography: Approaches to Language and Literacy Research. New York: Teachers College, 2008. N. pag. Print.

Johns, Ann M. "Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. By Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print.

Wardle, Elizabeth, Doug Downs, Robert J. Tierney, and P. David Pearson. "Toward a Composing Model of Reading." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. N. pag. Print.

Section 4

Reflection Essay

I have learned many things in just a short while this semester in this English class. There are many things that I enjoy doing in this English class that I did not necessarily enjoy in any of my other English classes. The way Mrs. Erturk teaches her class is unlike any class I’ve ever had, and I really think she has done a great job so far. There really are so many things that I have learned in this class that I could not name them all in just a short 500 word essay, so I will just hit on a few.

Discourse communities may have been my favorite thing to learn about in this class to date. Ann Johns writing was very insightful and relatable, which is why I liked it so much. I believe she hit the nail right on the head when she said “community membership requires a long initiatory process, and even then there is no guarantee of success.” (Page 511). Like I said before I can totally relate to that quote because of my pledgeship for Kappa Alpha Order. I really agree with her whole section on Community Conflicts and Diversity because I can relate everything she said with my experiences with my fraternity. If you have not noticed already, I really take pride in my fraternity, and anything I can relate to it, I am immediately interested in.

I have just recently been introduced to writing more than one draft for a piece of writing, and even though it is more work, I am not necessarily opposed to it. Mrs. Erturk has forced me (and not in a bad way) to reevaluate my work and continue to make it better by requiring just more than one draft to be turned in. I am a perfectionist in many ways, and my projects and papers are no different. I really enjoyed working on my PowerPoint for the genre project. I put a lot of time and effort in to make it look as perfect as I possibly could. I’m not going to lie either, it kind of hurt me that Mrs. Erturk did not like my idea of having computer voices narrate my slideshow because I thought it was original, and I wanted to be different.

While the ideas Mrs. Erturk has about the revision process, in my opinion, are very helpful, the execution is not up to par with me. I really do like the idea of peer reviewing and having your work constructively criticized, but in my opinion, I did not get enough ideas from my reviewers, Mrs. Erturk included. Now please tell me if I’m asking too much from my teacher because I know it is hard to make all of your students happy. I just feel as though I was more agreed with than actually criticized, and I was hoping to get an outside opinion or idea on my work, which is part of Tierney and Pearson’s writing structure. Well it’s a variation of it at least. All my classmates did was agree with my ideas or say that they liked my writing. Let’s be honest though, I’m not that good of a writer that not a single person could find something wrong with my writing.

The last little bit of information I want to talk about is Heath’s article on ethnography. I really enjoyed reading parts of it with each story about a different community. My favorite part of the article was the section on BEST: A Safe Place in a Danger Zone. It touched my heart that these underprivileged kids who lived in a gang infested area could find solace in a place where they knew they were safe. To me, a child is the most pure entity in this world, and no child deserves to have their lives ruined at such a young age just because they were born in the wrong neighborhood.

In conclusion, this class has probably taught me more in the half a semester, than any other English class has taught me in a year. I really enjoy working with Mrs. Erturk and my classmates. She has made me like writing at least a little more than I did before, but now I put my all in my writing, which is something I didn’t used to do. I cannot wait to see what Mrs. Erturk has in store for the next half of the semester!

Section 3

I was unable to find a way to put my powerpoint on my blog at this moment in time, so I have emailed you the polished or third draft of my genre project.

Section 2

I was unable to find a way to put my powerpoint on my blog at this moment in time, so I have emailed you the second draft of my genre project.

Section 2

Dear Reader,

I have received some feedback about my writing, and I just wanted to let you know my processes while I was writing, and how I am going to change my writing. To be completely honest, almost all of the time when I write, I just write whatever comes to mind. I don't really revise it too much except for at the end when I finish the text. I never had to write more than one draft, so my first draft was always my final draft. Since I just write what comes to mind, I don't really brainstorm or map out what I'm going to write about, which to me is easier and more effective, but maybe not to others. Because I am not used to writing more than just one draft, it is hard for me to know how I should revise my writing. I am not saying I'm a great writer, because I don't think I am, but I got very little constructive criticism on any of my pieces. Most of the comments were the reader agreeing with what I was writing about. The one comment that has stuck with me though, is Mrs Erturk found the computer voices I used in my genre project to be "annoying". That sort of has stuck with me ever since. I took a poll amongst my peers, however, and the majority said that they at least accepted the computer voices, and some even preferred them over human voices. I used the computer voices because it was original, and no one had done it before. It actually took more time to record and use the computer voices than it would take to use my own voice or someone else's. I really am proud of the work that I did, and I prefer it over human voices. With all that being said, I am not going to change the voices in my work. Mrs. Erturk did like the added captions during each slide, so I do plan on adding more of those in my project. But like I said, I got very little constructive criticism so I honestly do not know what else I should change in my project and writing.

Section 2

WTE 1

My favorite type of music is country music, so the genre I am going to write about will be country music. I have not noticed any particular strategy that country music artists use, rather than certain correlations I have noticed. These correlations include the mentioning of a pretty woman the artist had liked, or even fallen in love with. Most songs normally tell a story of one of the artist’s experiences, whether it be true or fiction, however, is beyond me. The biggest trend that I have noticed that occurs in almost every country song I have ever listened to, is the mentioning of someone the country artist loves or has loved at one point in their life. Love and country music go almost hand in hand.

            The only specific organization I have seen country artists use is chronologically narrate a story they a telling in a story, but even then some may jump around the story. They may depict something that happened in past, jump up to the present, then go right back to the past again. That being said, I do not think there is any specific organization a country music artist has to use when writing a  song.

            In my opinion, there is a necessary tone for country music. There is so much feeling in country music, so much raw emotion, that the emotions displayed in the songs themselves can in fact make you feel the same way. For example, if the emotions of the artist in a particular song are sad, it is not uncommon for the listener to become saddened for the sole reason of them just listening to the song. The tone in any country song absolutely should be one hundred percent genuine. Without true feelings and emotions, a country song has no meaning. My favorite part about country music is how every artist puts their whole heart and soul in all of their songs. I’m not saying that only country singers do this, I am just saying a country song is more meaningful to me than some random rapper “singing” about women, drugs, and money.

 Comments by Mrs. Erturk:

(speaking about most country songs are about love) "for sure. most all songs do"

"usually a chorus is used (repeated part)" she was speaking on my statement that I did not know of any repetitiveness in country music. This was a very helpful comment because she was completely correct, and I hadn't even thought about the chorus.

I said a country song is more meaningful to me than a rap song. She said "really depends on your culture or point of view, doesn't it?" While I completely agree with this statement, I did make sure I was only speaking for myself when I wrote it in the text.

Section 1

On Kohn (1/31)


I do believe in grading. I think it is the only method (to date) to judge a student's aptitude in the classroom. I think the competition between students and their grades is healthy, and in most cases helpful, in achieving a good education. One of the main points of the article was that a good teacher could make the class interesting without grades. That has got to be one of the most idiotic things I have ever heard anyone say. I feel like no matter how good a teacher is, if you don't find that subject interesting, it will never be interesting. Getting a good grade in a subject that a student doesn't like, to me, shows his or her ability to excel in discipline, or work ethic. The whole point of getting good grades in high school is so you can get in to college, to study the courses that you ACTUALLY find interesting, and eventually pursue a career in that subject. Getting graded gives students a work ethic. It gives them a mindset that to do what you want to do, you must also do what you don't want to do.