Post 07
November 18, 2024
In high school, which wasn't too long ago, I graduated May 2024, my literature and english classes were always particularly interesting. This is mainly because of the teachers I had. A lot of people have a bad stigma and a negative stereotype associated with high school, but I rather enjoyed the short years there. I hardly remember freshman year, but my teacher was one of the best I ever had. I attended his different courses for all four years of high school. Little I remember, however I do recall having a large greek mythology unit, as well as doing a little poetry, and writing a few essays. Sophomore year I had a different literature teacher. She is now living in another state and thriving. A couple of my classmates didn't enjoy her, or her class as much as I did. This class began my obsession with The Great Gatsby, and she found new ways to make class interesting each week. Junior year I had a different teacher. It was AP Lang. We wrote a TON of essays in this class. The teacher was again following the common theme: being super cool and interesting. After each essay we wrote, he would grade it and hand us a slip of paper that had a paragraph he wrote about all the ups and downs of our essays. This helped us learn our strengeths of writing essays, and our weaknesses of writing essays. All that being said, I have always had a love for english and literature classes. Even if I may not be the best in the class, or the best at anything, I rather enjoy it.
I am in college now. Freshman year and taking English Comp. 1 with Dr. Hamon. I wish this class was longer than what it is, because I am finally getting adjusted and figuring out a schedule that works for me. Taking this class pushes me to read and write, which I love to do, but I never find time for it outside of class or school because I focus on working. I can appreciate Dr. Hamons teaching styles, and I am sure we would all adore it if it were an in person course.
On to the topic of this blog post; comparing and contrasting academic writing in high school with academic writing in college. It isn't much different, to be honest. My junior year of high school writing essays every week with no use of Gemini or as much time to sit and think about what I want my piece to convey, and my freshman year in college we have access to AI (allowed by the professor) and days upon days to write our essays. In some ways, they are alike, but different too. Sometimes I think my current situation is easier than it was in high school, then other days I struggle to even log onto my computer for class, when I showed up almost everyday in high school. I do remember we were strictly prohibited from using "I" in our essays, and it often seemed using bigger words meant we were smarter and had written a better essay. But, I now see that isn't the case, and sometimes first drafts can be your best piece yet. Kate McKinney Maddalena in "I need you to say I": Why First Person Is Important in College Writing, conveys the point that academic writing can be a lot different than what we are traditionally taught. For example, how I was learned to write in high school, versus how I am learning to put words on the computer in Dr. Hamons class. Maddalena writes, "But writing in various academic and professional contexts needs to be more flexible, sophisticated, and subtle than writing for high school English classes. In college, you should start using first-person pronouns in your formal academic writing, where appropriate. First person has an important place—an irreplaceable place—in texts that report research and engage scholarship" (Maddalena, 180). Which goes against what I was taught. And I love it. I always found myself saying "I" in my essays, and getting docked points for it, but now it is a different story. Using "I" and personal experiences can make a reader enjoy the piece so much more, and can relate more to the author, which builds their liking. In Backpacks vs. Briefcases: Steps Towards Rhetorical Analysis written by Laura Bolin Carroll, she writes "Individuals who understand rhetorical analysis and act to make change can have a tremendous influence on their world" (Carroll, 57). Which I was taught and encouraged to follow in high school, as well as in college. Learning to understand how to use rhetoric, which we already know and have at a young age, how Carroll says it as "because my momma says so," and it can strenghten us as writers, and individuals roaming this planet.
Criminal justice is super important for a bunch of reasons. First off, it plays a crucial role in maintaining law and order, which is essential for a safe and functioning society. Without a solid criminal justice system, there would be chaos and an increase in crime rates, making it difficult for people to live their lives peacefully.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Yvonne! The shift in college toward a more flexible, conversational, and context-sensitive approach, as shown by Kate McKinney Maddalena, seems to have been liberating. I also appreciate how you contrast the difficulty of your high school AP Lang class with the broader timeframes and tools, like AI, available in your college coursework. This comparison adds depth that while resources and expectations change, the skills developed in high school, like understanding rhetoric, as discussed in Laura Bolin Carroll’s work, serve as a foundation that we continue to build on in college. The move from rigid, formal approaches in high school to more flexible and contextual methods in college associates with the larger movement in composition studies over the past few decades. Scholars like Peter Elbow and Donald Murray have championed the “process approach” to writing, which stresses drafting, revising, and focusing on the writer’s voice, concepts that reflect what you’re experiencing in college.
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