Comments on: Critical Moves

By: A Blog Banquet « InfoTech4Lrng

A Blog Banquet « InfoTech4Lrng — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:34:56 +0000

[...] to writing in general rather than specifically to blogging, Doug Noon tried a They Say / I Say approach in Writers’ Workshop to help students “whose writing tends to be monologic [...]

By: Blogging Binds Critical Reading and Writing « InfoTech4Lrng

Blogging Binds Critical Reading and Writing « InfoTech4Lrng — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:33:29 +0000

[...] think Doug Noon takes this even a step further at his blog Borderland: …there’s more to blogging than just adding links to our writing. Yes, linking is [...]

By: Terry Elliott

Terry Elliott — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 23:17:41 +0000

I use G & B for at-risk freshman comp students. It is very challenging for them to internalize the lessons in it, but the theory that writing is as much a series of tribal understandings (sacraments and taboos) appeals to students. It is simply true that most of writing falls into set patterns. Just look at the editorial board writing at the New York Times. My students are amazed at how cookie cutter they are. And at how simple and effective they are. I am happy to see others adapting this little book for many purposes. I really don’t think of it as a contemporary Strunk and White, but more along the lines of Buddhist mindfulness. All they ask is that you pay attention to how the writing world works and then try it yourself. In other words you see how they, the writers, say it and then you move back to how you say it. Old school notions of summary and critique are naturally folded into the production of writing. I especially love the sense of fairness in the chapter on ‘naysayers’. Glad you mentioned this little book with an awful lot to say. I combine it with a subscription to the NYT and I have all the textbooks I need.

By: Doug Noon

Doug Noon — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:56:38 +0000

Advice?

Read. Write. Do stuff. Write more.

I’m bad at advice. That little book seems like a good place to start, though.

By: Michelle Glauser

Michelle Glauser — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:45:29 +0000

I am getting a Master’s and I get so frustrated sometimes. I feel like my essay writing never was as good as it should be, and now I’m expected to write at a higher level. I feel dumb looking for a tutor at this point in my education. Advice? I’ve got “They Say/I Say,” and I used its ideas for a paper I worked on yesterday, but I still don’t feel like my essay is as strong as it should be.