Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Blog 7: Context
If you have learned anything about rhetoric and composition, you should have learned that context is a key principle. Take a moment to write about your process for developing contextual information for your third project. Which scenario was easier to write about and why? How might you find yourself providing contextual information for other writing projects outside of this class?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Bryan Anderson said....
ReplyDeleteContext is a key principle as we have learned. For composition three, the easier, significantly easier are experiences or topics that you feel strongly about. Topics that you have a deep emotional attachment to. When you write about what you really care about, you will actually enjoy writing. This shows in a major way when someone else reads your work. Though it is doubtful that I would have any writing projects outside of this class, if i were to write outside of this class, it would have to be about something I really want to write about. Thus I would put lots of care and effort into it. The context of it likely would be something either something that I was emotionally in an uprising about, an event that was on my mind, or just something that I really needed to put on paper because it was eating me up. The effort that would go into something like that would be very intense because It was so much on my mind. The contect makes the effort thus its very much a key principle.
Chris Davis responding to Bryan Anderson
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. It is definitely easier to write about something that you are passionate about or if it elicits and emotion because then your writing is much more powerful and moving. It allows you to be descriptive and actually be motivated to make your point and do your best work on the paper. When that happens, the context is fully brought out and the message becomes very clear. And then when you say you would write something outside of this class, u are right in saying that in order for you to actually be motivated to write another paper, it would be best for you to feel strongly about the topic.
Chris Davis
ReplyDeleteContext is the key to developing a good, strong paper or essay. It gives background information on the topic and gives insight to the readers about what is going to be talked about. The first part of developing context is to pick or to write about something that you know a lot about or something that interests you. Then after developing an idea, start to build off of it and branch off into other parts of necessary information to help the readers to better understand it. If necessary, do some research to help gain more knowledge about the specific topic. That way, you have all of the necessary information to fully provide enough background information, and thus creating the context. For this paper, the easiest context for me to write about was the website biography. The bio allowed me to take information that I already had, and then expand upon it. I was able to give all of the background facts and what lead to what, and then also say what is happen currently. Since I knew so much about the topic, it was easy to pull from my current knowledge and memories without having to do too much research for any help. I can use contextual information to help with my papers that assigned outside of this class in several ways. If I can choose what topic I can write about, I will pick a topic that I already know a lot of things about or something that interests me cause I am then motivated to work on the paper because it isn’t something that is dull of boring. If I can’t pick my topic though, I know that I then need to do some research so that I can get all of the information that I need to write an effective paper with enough context so that everyone can follow my paper.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAaron Murphy
ReplyDeleteThe context of an assignment or other writing should be taken into consideration before you even begin writing. For example, take the context of this blog post. It's being written for a school assignment, and in the form of a blog post. These two conditions greatly influence how the post is written. I don't need to include a rigorous definition of “context”, because my audience is already aware of its meaning. Also, without knowing that this is a blog post, one may think this is a messy and careless block of text, because it's formatted in an unconventional fashion.
For composition three, it was easiest for me to develop context for my third genre, a blog post. This genre allowed me to be very informal and casual in my writing, which I think helped me develop a background. Blog posts usually already have a definite audience, which mine did, so I didn't have to spend a long time formatting the text to fit that audience—I just wrote as if I was having a conversation with them, so the context was implied without actually saying it outright (because it was written in the first person). This method feels natural and unforced, and in my opinion greatly enhances the context.
Outside of this class, I'll probably find myself providing context through detail and research, and that's because outside of an English class, most papers are in the “traditional” essay format, where there isn't much room for creativity when it comes to defining context. Through researching whatever the paper is about, I can incorporate details and background information that set the tone for the rest of the paper. For example, if I were writing about a film, I might include what the social or political atmosphere was like at its release, or at the time of the story's setting. Just this one piece of information can completely change how someone interprets my text. Through the use of several similar factual descriptions, it's easy to provide a vivid and accurate context.
Aaron Murphy responding to Chris Davis
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about context being more clear, or at least more interesting, when the subject is something you know a lot about. Including your own knowledge, experiences, etc. is usually easier to express than something you recently read about, and therefore sounds more natural and detailed when it's used as the context of a paper. Often I find myself writing about a subject I'm not too interested in and the detail and fluidity suffers. The writing usually sounds robotic and uninterested. I think the reason prior knowledge works better is because it doesn't require quite as much thought to include it, making this type of context sound conversational and therefore more inviting and detailed, at least in my opinion.
Alexis Turgeon
ReplyDeleteThe context of your paper is definitely one of the most important parts of your paper. It can make or break the paper; make it into an amazing piece of work, or make it the worst thing ever created. The context of your paper is what makes it interesting for the reader to read. If you write about something extremely boring, chances are no one will even pick up your paper to read or they will move on to the next paper quickly. For example, when I read the newspaper I read the titles to each article and will skip over the articles that I have no interest in (houses for sale, stock market, etc) and read the articles that grab my attention quickly (robberies, job market, etc). For my third composition I chose to write about how music has been incorporated in my life from the beginning and how it will continue to be a part of my life. I think this is a good topic to write on because everyone can relate to music in some way. It is a part of every person’s life whether they want it to or not; the only thing that is different is the amount of control music has on each person’s life. Personally, music has been and will always be a huge part of my life. Music is a universal language and can inspire you to achieve anything you have your mind set to. The context of my third composition, in my opinion, can grab a reader’s attention and intrigue them to read more into my paper. I hope to make people think about how music has affected their lives and if it has inspired them somewhere to achieve a goal of some sort. The context of my third composition in music through my life and how it made me the person I am today.
Alexis Turgeon in response to Chris Davis
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the context is more entertaining to you when it is something you want to read about. When you are interested in the subject, you don’t mind reading more and learning more about it whereas if you have to read something like Hamlet (or some other Shakespeare literature), it can be a bit more difficult to pay attention and actually want to read. I also agree that it is easiest for a writer to write about a subject they already know about. I think the best papers come from a topic you are an expert at and have a passion for.
Alexis Turgeon in response to Aaron Murphy
ReplyDeleteI thought it was interesting you found a blog post to be the easiest form of writing for your third composition. I can see your point in that it is much more relaxed compared to other forms of writing. Although, at times I think it can be more difficult because you don’t have a set outline to follow. It can sometimes be easier if you have a basic rule to follow and fill in the information rather than “free-styling it”. I liked how you included the example of writing about a film; it somewhat shows how sometimes the more traditional style of writing can be easier. Since we have been writing in the “traditional” style of writing pretty much our entire lives, I find it easier than any other form.
Context is a very important thing to focus on when writing a paper. It's so important because if you miss the audience you are trying to talk to then that means you are out of context and you can have disastrous effects. As for myself I have written a Newspaper article which was really hard for me to do for many reasons. For example i haven't read many things in the newspaper before but enough to understand that it is written in a way so that it can be read and understood by all but the audience and technique used are different from writer to writer. When i was writing my paper i had to go back and make things more simple because i had to act as if the person reading knew little or nothing i was talking about. All in all writing the article was fun because i tried to use a generalization about article writers and that being that they use rhetorical sentences and structure way too much because they think it sounds good. Overall when writing in context it means that you have to focus on many things at once the main two being the audience you are writing to and what you are writing because you cannot write a newspaper article like a formal paper to be submitted into a teacher who wants you to talk about you experiences in school. they just do not have same intended effect.
ReplyDeleteTess Stohr
ReplyDeleteContext is one of the most important features of a piece of literature. The context of something is dependent on how the speaker expresses the writing and what it is written about. To fully use a piece of literature you have to keep the idea in context so that the audience will have an easier time seeing the main idea and focus.
In my third composition I find that context is more easily expressed when I am able to use my personal experiences and my true emotions. In actually writing my three genres I have had to put myself in the situation that I wanted to write about and make sure everything related to my topic and main idea. In the first genre of my third composition I had to be very careful in how I used context because I wrote a newspaper article and I can only provide the facts. In my second genre, it allows me to apply personal stories and it helps me better put my crots from the first composition in my third composition and have it in good context. In my third genre, context will be important to the reader so they can understand where my speech is going and where it came from.
In all writings I will be using context in some fashion or another; all writings need context to be understood. All of my writings outside of this class will contain some aspect of context, I feel as though all writing need to have it to be even relevant to the topic they wish to discuss.
Cody Cox
ReplyDeleteContext is something that we all must pay attention to in any form of writing. When trying to convey how and what you feel you have to put this moment in context so that others that aren’t sure of what to expect from the idea or experience. Talking about a major life changing experience is a great for you to talk about and is easier for you to write but with people that don’t have a sense of what’s going on its hard for them to relate to what’s happening. Starting out with a main idea that comes easiest to you like your favorite football team (Miami Dolphins) or your favorite flavor of ice cream (cookie dough Ice Cream) and write how this has effected you in some way and try to inform others why you like this specific idea and convince them of why you like it. For my composition 3 what came easiest for me to talk about was my autobiography because it is something that I have written about many times. It’s also a memory that I will never forget no matter where I am or what I do. My biography is something that I can expand on and write endless on. I can pull from my memories very easily and write more about my topic than most experts of this field could ever imagine. Through my whole life I still experience things from my past that many people never would believe if I told them of how my life started. If I were to do any writings about this topic outside of class I would not have changed much on it except for the audience that I am going to write to. For writing this paper I would want to add as much context but it is hard for others to relate my experiences because it comes nothing close to anything they have ever experienced. There are only a few people that I can talk to or know about that could possibly know what I was talking about no matter how much context I put into it.
Cody Cox responding to reading parrot
ReplyDeleteI had the same problem when writing my newspaper article. It was hard for me to write from a different perspective and to answer my own questions, which at first it felt very awkward. After writing this genre for a while though it seemed a lot easier for me to ask myself questions that I already knew but having to put them into context made it a lot easier for me to write about. I wrote it more as an interview between the writer of the newspaper editor and me. I thought that I was in more control of how I wrote this genre because you were able to dictate what questions were asked and how you answered could lead to other questions, which you wanted. You are able to talk about certain ideas in more depth while skipping over ideas that you either don’t want to talk about or information that you don’t know off hand.
Marcee’ Mitchell
ReplyDeleteIn any work of literature, context is important. It helps the targeted audience to understand words and/or phrases that they would not be able to connect to the rest of the writing otherwise. Context also refers to the tone/mood of the writing and the style you are writing it in. For example, if this were not for my class, it would probably be a little less formal. The easiest genre for me to develop context for was the journal. It was easy because I thought about I would usually write a journal, and I just wrote it as if I was writing to myself, because, in reality, the targeted audience for a journal is yourself (and possibly future generations). The casualness and informality of this genre made it easy for my creativity to flow. When it comes to other writing projects outside of this class, I would probably use context to clarify whatever I am trying to get through to my audience. For example, if I were to write a magazine article, I would use the context that is appropriate to that certain genre, or if I used a word that I thought would need to be explained to the reader I would use context to try to convey to them the meaning of that word through contextual clues.
Marcee’ Mitchell in response to Alex Turgeon:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that context can make or break a paper. It is definitely an important part of the paper because people think about what genre they are reading and then compare how you write to see how your context lines up with the genre, as well as look at what you are talking about. Another thing I liked is that you talked about how people need something that catches their interest. This is also very important because no one is going to want to read something boring and uninteresting, therefore you have to make sure your writing is interesting enough to catch someone’s eye and make them want to read your work.
I agree that what I have learned about rhetoric and composition is that knowing and understanding the context of the situation or assignment is the key principle. Without knowing what the context of the situation is, you could be writing a classic style essay that was meant to be for a group of kids.
ReplyDeleteFor the third composition, I found it easy to develop my context for the third composition. I found out that this is true because in this next composition I can write from my own experiences or I can just make it up. My first genre was a blog post that was aimed towards teachers and parents. This was easy for me to write because I wrote it with a more intellectual meaning behind it, as if I were someone of some sort of higher position. For my second genre I wrote a newspaper article. With this genre I knew that it would be for a broader audience so I needed to use language that was more universal and make it appealing to all ages. In the third genre, an advertisement, I just had to find pictures and make it appealing to the people who I was targeting which were parents.
Outside of the class, I know I’ll be writing information in a more formal essay style, because in history classes and social sciences classes they usually look for that type of essays. They are based around research and usually develop from a set of questions and a list of topics to cover. And in science classes they will also be looking for research papers but in the form of a lab write up.
in response to reading parrot
ReplyDeleteThe same thing happened to me when I was writing my newspaper article. After I decided to write one, I actually went out and bought a newspaper to help me. Then when I was looking through it and reading articles from it, I realized that there were so many different styles that the writers used and that I just had to find one that I was comfortable with. Then when I was interviewing the person the article was about, I came across another problem, I didn’t know how to make up quotes. So I had to go back in the newspaper and figure out how to create quotes that sound real and reasonable.
Priscilla Ivasco
ReplyDeleteWhile I was writing my third composition I noticed how on some of the genres I would elaborate a lot more, and provide a great deal of contextual information based on what it was that I was discussing. The more passionate I am about the topic or in this case the Crot that I chose, the more time and emotion I will put into it and the audience will easily be able to pick up on it because it may be longer in length than other parts, it may be extremely detailed, and highly emphasized to the point where if you don’t get what I am trying to say than you are basically not reading it at all. It will be as clear as day. I enjoy writing when it comes to a topic that I have personally chosen which is what I enjoyed most about these compositions this year. It allows me to make it more personal and put all of my effort into it. Now if I am given a topic I can’t relate to on different levels, or perhaps a research paper than I will most likely have to go to other sources in order to get the context that I need to present what I am writing a lot clearer to the reader.
Context is an essential part to every writing, but the most important kind is the one that speaks from experience, that comes naturally, and doesn’t have to be forced. I hope to continue to find ways to develop context outside of the classroom where ever I go, and in whatever I write. I want people to be able to connect to my writing, and not just treat it like any other sheet of paper with plain words on it.
Morgan’s response to Alexis
ReplyDeleteI agree and believe that if you write something that you have to be passionate about it. Without passion behind your words no one will care what you’re saying whether it’s interesting or not. However, I believe that to some extent technique is important in writing because you could be super passionate but without a proper way to convey your message it will go right past the reader, or they won’t take it seriously. A college professor is hardly interested in a page full of something that looks like “text from last night”, and an American teen isn’t interested in a 20 page thesis on the theory of Mozart’s first composition.
Morgan’s response to Marcee
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you had to say about context. I believe that it is an all-encompassing word that defines many aspects of writing. How the reader interprets your writing will be defined by the context in which you choose to write in. A more casual context will be more inviting to a reader maybe for just pleasure reading or for the exchange of ideas. While, a stiffer structured form will be used for a more informative type of writing that might be found in a text book or journal of some sort. It all depends on who you are trying to appeal to.
Priscilla's response to Chris
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you wrote about context. I feel that it has to be personal and thus it provides more of a connection with the audience. Background information that is hands on and from self experiences than it seems more credible to me, and holds more substance, more emotion. It is hard to provide that to just simply any topic I feel, specially a research one, you can research on it and yes find background information online, but then where is that connection? You had a great point when writing your blog, and I feel the same way about the topic.
Priscilla's response to Alexis
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog post, and I felt like it touched on all the right ideas about context. You gave examples which kept me in tune with the post. I feel as if the context is the making or breaking point of a writing piece, and many times it is hard to fully bring that to writing specially if the topic is not necessarily something you can relate to or something that you have had first hand experience with.
Chris Davis responding to Priscilla
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are saying. It is very easy to elaborate and just start rambling on about a topic that you know a lot about. But when it is a topic that you don’t know much about or have to do research on, then you’re only going to do the bare minimum. It’s good that you are going to try to find new ways to come up with writing and creating contexts that interest you. Then that way, your writing will always be improving an people will enjoy reading what you wrote and your writing will stand out.
During the time I was thinking about what I wanted to write about in my third composition, only one thing raced through my head, books. I have always been passionate about teaching even if I don’t become a teacher right away I know at one point that’s what I’m going to do. I knew instantly that most of my work would be from the perspective of a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThrough this class, we have learned that context is the key principle of writing. For my third project, the context would be from something I am very passionate about, enabling the writing process to be easier. The scenario that was easier to write about was in my website about teen books. It’s easier to write about teen novels from the point of view of a English teacher, because I’m closer to the age of a teenager than a young child, and I’m quite familiar with these books.
I know that after my spring semester I will most likely be barely writing anything besides elements, and chemical bonds. But even in Chemistry you use context. I will be changing my perspective from an English teacher to a Chemistry student. The similarity between writing from a teacher’s perspective and a Chemistry student’s perspective is that I’m passionate about both. Just because I won’t be taking any English classes, doesn’t mean I won’t be writing, I’ll just be writing in a different form. In both cases I’m writing with emotion and using my knowledge.
I have most definitely learned the importance of context in my writing especially when it comes to whom I am writing to in the meaning of audience. If I am writing to an elder I would use more proper, intellectual and sophisticated versus if I am writing to a friend. In writing to a friend I would use slang and language in the way I would speak. I use friend language constantly throughout the day through text messages, emails, and phone calls making this form of language much more comfortable and regular. I also have experienced trying to communicate with people who speak another language. When doing so I need to communicate in a more general and common knowledge sense. I just drove home for the Thanksgiving Holiday and my Asian friend was attempting to direct us to a common mall and it was quite difficult to understand, but as soon as we talked about a dog shaped statue that we both knew of and were able to understand that we were talking about the same place. When I worked on my project writing the facebook message to my generation was the easiest. I was able to simply write about my experience with technology and how we have grown up with it and learned the advantages and uses in everyday with technology. It consumes jobs, communication, and life. I can write about the possibilities for hours if we know how to use it. When writing to my parent’s generation I had to base my knowledge off of my parents, other elders I have heard from, and the wonderful technological Internet! I have finished my last audience for the third composition and the reason I chose to do the unprivileged economic group last is because I am not sure how to approach it. I need to look at how to be factual, real, but not rude or degrading.
ReplyDeleteMeghan Hemstreet
ReplyDeleteDeveloping context is important with any piece of writing. It generates the focal point needed to successfully reach the targeted audience. Composing my third project, it was easiest for me to visualize the layout of each genre. I find myself to be a visual learner, and enjoy the use of creativity whenever possible. Given the opportunity to combine my writing with an artistic twist, I chose to create a newspaper article, an advertisement, and a website. The concept behind my third composition was to write from the perspective of a photographer. For my junior and senior year of high school, I attended an arts-based magnet school in my district as a digital media (photography) major. Finding a heightened interest in photography and its many techniques while a student there, I decided to write a newspaper article based on my life after becoming a well-known photographer. The article, written in The Palm Beach Post, describes my purpose for donating back to the school. The advertisement I designed was in response to my daily exposure to the arts—communication, dance, visual, band, theater, and vocal—. I have an appreciation for the arts, and wanted to have a foundation focused on and reaching out to preserve them. The website I designed is meant to serve as an online gallery and information site for my photography career. Included on it will be a short biography of my life, as well as personal artwork. I researched several photography profiles to make my website accurately presentable. Outside of this writing class, I will be able to use contextual information for several other writing projects. Because it is definitely easier to write about topics I like, I will choose to do so when given the opportunity. Additionally, I will utilize creative aspects if they apply to the assignment.
Meghan Hemstreet Responding to Jessi Gould:
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said. Depending on the audience in which you are writing to, it is important to adjust the style of the writing. From experience, it is definitely easiest writing on a topic in which you are most familiar with. The less familiar, the harder it becomes to accurately portray thoughts and information on the topic. When it came to writing for your parent’s generation, I think it was a great idea to pull information for your genre based of off what they have said. With some more research, I’m sure you’ll be on your way to completing your third genre.