Thursday, August 30, 2012


     In Michael Kleine’s article, ‘What is it We Do When We Write Articles Like This One- & How Can We Get Students to Join Us, his attempt is to learn how to teach students to research the way researchers do.  Also, he wants to figure out if some teachers (college level academics) are guilty of being part of the night library just like students.  His audience in this writing is mainly students cramming work, or anyone being part of the night library, and why people should better their skills on research of writing. 
                Michael Kleine finds himself going into the library to notice many high school and college students doing research papers.  He was surprised to find anyone at the library later at night.  He explains he could tell they are doing research papers, because they are laughing and talking, yet have all different text books lying in front of them on the tables.  He sees that the students are just copying words from the library.  Kleine makes it a point to notice there is no searching, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing, selecting, or rejecting involved.  I believe Kleine uses the term, “night library,” because many students are known to rush facts into a paper the night before to complete the assignment. 
                Kleine uses an example of hunters and gatherers, stating, a hunter finds what he is looking for, while a gatherer discovers what might be useful.  He used this experiment to find that after it was over, his subjects still returned to him to add more to the research.  He noticed the eight cells that he had used could not capture the depth of their thoughts and writings.  It also occurred to him that nobody had ever come to him saying they read a reading, because they were forced, but because they were interested. 
                In the end, Kleine answers his own questions.  He states that if teachers can better understand what they do it might lead students away from the night library.  Kleine talks about downplaying the teacher role, and also becoming an audience.  The classroom could then become an area of research, and an area for common investigation.  He wants reading to be more promoted in the classrooms and research that does not just involve libraries.  His main focus comes to helping students who are already writing research papers to enrich their skills and to push themselves to their limit.  He then quotes his own friend stating, “Research is Writing.”

COMPARE SUMMARIES
     Kleine’s reading is similar to Stuart Greene’s article, “Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry at Writing a Researched Argument.” 
     Stuart talks about coming up with your own ideas to writing a research paper, while Kleine talks about learning to better search and analyze for writing a paper.  They are both giving tips on how to do a better paper.  Greene talks about not becoming involved in a conversation unless the persons knows what it is about, and Kleine backs up this idea by speaking of how to evaluate, analyze, and select information before writing a paper. 
     Their writings are also different, because Greene speaks of argument, and Kleine has seen none of that from the night library, only talking and laughing.  

BEFORE YOU READ
     This semester contains two different classes that will require researched writing.  Anthropology will be based on researching the different cultures among the people of the world.  Chemistry will also require researched writing to help me better learn the terms and measurements I will be expected to know this semester to accomplish these projects I will need to have much time for the library and quiet study.  I will need to learn quick and productive ways to compare and learn important concepts in the classes I will be taking.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION PG. 32
1)      Kleine’s article makes me think of many high school experiences I have had of my own.  I was in many different sports and activities, and caught myself as part of the night library at times.  The way he describes research and writing does not seem to be the issue I have with myself as much anymore.  It is something I could work on by using my own thoughts and experiences in writing more.

3)      The research of the professionals Kleine interviews were very important roles to the writing.  It helped to back his theory up that anyone can be found guilty of the night library.  They have played roles in my past research, because as I explained earlier I have been someone who has crammed work, and not searched, evaluated, or researched as much as I should have.  The difference to me is once you have made a transformation from high school to college papers.  It comes to attention of how much research writing is actually needed.

4)      If I started to do what Kleine talks about in his article I would probably make an improvement in my evaluation of my papers.  I would evaluate the work I put into my paper to make sure I fully understand my own way of writing so I could better explain and get my point across to my audience.


      This article was interesting to me, because of how Michael Kleine instantly could tell the students were doing research papers without even asking, and how he came about his experiment and own research to study the issue.  It is very helpful to myself, and will make me try much harder to put thoughts into my own words.  When I read an article that I am supposed to research on I will make sure only to compare the ideas between myself and the writer to include more of a conversation in my own writings.  The ideas compare to my own experiences, because the article has made me realize how little I have evaluated and pieced together my response to many writings I have researched on in the past. 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

     In Stuart Greene's article on "Arguments of Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a Researched Argument" he attempts to explain how a reader will be applying the principal terms of research writing to high school students, college students, adults, or anyone trying to better learn.  He also explains how readers may come up with new research ideas and a new way of sharing the thoughts with others.  Argument is something that happens everyday.  Whether in a classroom, work area, or even a home.  The main point is how a person uses the idea of argument, in either a formal or informal way.  Greene gives tips on how to enter conversation, engage in conversation, and frame an issue.  Framing is an important technique to reading or writing a research paper.  For a reader to understand a writing, the author must have known a great deal on their topic.  This could be made possible by researching online websites, books, newspaper articles, or even by word of mouth.  The main point of focus is for the readers to become quicker and more skillful at understanding and noticing important parts in the things they read.

     In John Swale's article of "Create a Research" (CARS) Model of Research Introduction, Swales tries to explain three moves that many research introductions make.  He also explains how to read and write research papers.  The audience for his writing is for anyone wanting to better understand research papers.  His three moves are; establishing a territory, establishing a niche, and occupying a niche.

BEFORE YOU READ ACTIVITES PG 9
*Argument in my point of view is a way to get my point across.  The word is used in everyday conversation in either an academic term or an informal way of speaking.  Argument in an academic setting seems to be another word for debate in a classroom where people argue their thoughts.  The difference between my term of argument and the dictionary term is I do not argue in an angry tone when speaking about an important topic.  The dictionary term states that argument is an exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one.

READING RESPONSE QD PG 20
2) In the "oft-quoted passage" by Kenneth Burkle he explains writing in a way that if a person does not understand the writing they should not argue.  A person should fully understand something or know a portion of what they are speaking about, before engaging in an argument.  It challenges the fact or knowledge on a certain subject or topic.

3) The concept of framing is to expand research by focusing on the importance of issues instead of a particular topic.  It is almost used metaphorically in the sense that in a research paper, every topic needs to be focused on to properly understand.  Framing allows the writer the inclusion of different subjects in their work.

APPLYING AND EXPLORING PG 21
2) In Greene's article he represents conversation.  Conversation with the audience and even by including the "oft-quoted" passage that he discusses in his work.  I feel he does practice what he preaches by using writings from people who came before himself.  It is almost as a conversation with the authors discussing both of their views.

      In my opinion, Greene's article was very helpful.  It will be much easier for me to distinguish the more important parts to focus in on a research paper.  Some points made were very useful in helping me learn how to start and finish a research paper.  I feel that the article was interesting in certain ways, because I learned a few extra helpful tips.  It grabbed my attention quickly after I realized how helpful it will be to read and study over when later papers will be due.  Some of the ideas have compared to my own experiences when I have found myself lost and unable to find the right words to put into a research paper or essay.  Looking back to Greene's article will help me to write a better research paper in this semester.