35 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2021
    1. Sure, there are people who call themselves writers and mean that it is part of their formal job title. But then there are the greater numbers of us who are writers but don’t label ourselves as such, the millions of us just noodling around on Facebook or Snapchat or Instagram.

      I like what these statements added to this writing. I say this because it allows the audience to connect on a more personal level and it even broadens the audience. The author talks about social media usage which is very common in this day and age. This goes to show how prevalent revision really is in our daily lives even when it isn't brought to our attention.

    2. It’s important to keep in mind I’m not talking about revision as proofreading or copy editing; no amount of grammatical, spell-ing, and style corrections transforms a piece of writing like focused attention to fundamental questions about purpose, evidence, and organization.

      These statements stood out to me because they opened my eyes to a new perspective. I say this because oftentimes when I make revisions, I look for grammatical errors, spelling errors, and other errors that peak through the surface. Little did I know, this is a common misconception as showcased by Laura Giovanelli. In reality, revisions are about understanding the overall purpose of your writing and making sure your writing reflects that purpose.

    3. But more revision isn’t necessarily better. Effective revising isn’t making changes for the sake of change, but instead making smarter changes.

      This is a good point as it shows that revisions should always come with purpose. Oftentimes, people make revisions just because "something doesn't look right" and we don't really have a reason. Revising should always add to what you already have down. I am not talking about adding more words, paragraphs, charts, graphs and etc. I mean revisions should add to the overall purpose of the paper. This can even mean eliminating stuff that interrupts the flow of our writing or distracts the reader from the main argument/ claim.

    4. King was not content to let his words sit, but like any practiced writer working out his muscles, he revised and riffed, adapting it for new audiences and purposes.

      I enjoyed how Laura Giovanelli referenced Martin Luther King as he has had a huge impact on how we live today. This is a good way to persuade the reader as it kind of makes them want to follow in his footsteps knowing that he was so successful. When I read this, it gave me the understanding that writing is situational. In other words, sometimes we have to take a break from our work and come back to it. This allows us to gather new ideas and make new connections that can help us further explain. In fact, I do this myself when revising because as circumstances change, new influences come that change my mindset when writing.

    1. For example, the use of just 1.5g of plastic film for wrapping a cucumber can extend its shelf life from three days to 14 days and selling grapes in plastic bags or trays has reduced in-store wastage of grapes by 20%.

      The authors use an example in order to showcase the effectiveness of plastic film when it comes to shelf life. In addition, data is used to show direct results. 3 days-14 days is a huge shift especially when it comes to fresh foods. This gives people more time to consume instead of the food going bad and going to waste.

    2. A 2016 review of studies on food waste found that 88m tonnes of food is wasted every year in the EU—that's 173kg per person and equals about 20% of food produced. Minimising this wastage is crucial for environmental protection, as well as food security.

      The authors use data to present the huge size of the issue. This puts emphasis on the effort that will be needed to resolve the issue. In other words, this is a call for action.

    3. Food supply chains are complex networks with lots of parts. In Europe alone, 12m farms produce agricultural products which are processed by around 300,000 food and drink companies. These are then distributed by 2.8m food retailers and food services, serving around 500m consumers.

      The authors include data here. Specifically, this data includes rather large numbers to exaggerate the issue that needs to be brought to light. These numbers showcase the long process that food typically undergoes before it reaches the consumer. This also puts emphasis on the need for plastic as it will protect the food during this long cycle.

    4. Many people bemoan the large amount of packaging that supermarkets use, particularly for fruit and vegetables, most of which have their own natural protection. Nonetheless, a major reason that supermarkets use so much packaging is to protect food and prevent waste—particularly with fresh food. Removing plastic entirely from our food supply may not be the best solution when it comes to protecting the environment and conserving valuable resources.

      Here the authors use strategic concession as a way to weaken the opposing arguments. In other words, the authors acknowledged some of the merits of a different view while rejecting other parts of it. In addition, the authors introduce background of their argument. Specifically, they mention how some plastic is used to protect the valuable resources we consume.

    5. There has been a surge in awareness of the damage that plastic pollution does to our planet in recent years. It has spurred a number of campaigns to remove single-use plastics from our daily lives. This extends to food packaging, with a Waitrose supermarket in the city of Oxford recently launching a package-free trial.

      From the jump, Manoj Dora and Eleni Iacovidou mention the counterargument to the claim they plan to pursue. This is a good strategy as they are tackling their "competition" head on. This will leave more room to persuade the audience into taking efforts in their favor. In addition, starting off in this manner is an effective way to hook their intended audience.

    1. Imagine a land mass greater than China. Now imagine that land is only used to produce food. Then suppose all the crops and produce from those 2.5 billion acres are not eaten. Imagine all of that – and you have grasped the amount of food the world wastes every year.

      Here, Dave Lewis hooks his audience by relating the issue he wants to discuss to a well-known subject. Based on the article commentary above, I can assume that Lewis is aware that his argument comes with a lot of counterarguments. Therefore, using this hook to exaggerate the issue head on is very persuasive.

    2. The case for action becomes even stronger when we consider that 1 in 9 people are malnourished worldwide.

      This is very persuasive as it shows that there is no excuse as to why there is so much food going to waste when there are plenty of mouths that need to be fed. In addition, Lewis is very clear in his argument. Specifically, he states "The case for action becomes even stronger". This makes it clear that he wants his audience to take action.

    3. Food waste today is responsible for around 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions

      Lewis includes statistics which are very important when you are looking to persuade an audience. Data makes it clear to the reader/ listener that you aren't just voicing your opinion or sharing your ideas. In fact, it makes the claim more concrete as a whole.

    4. But with this imperative is also an opportunity.

      Again, Lewis is trying to find loopholes to grab his audience's attention. He uses the word "opportunity" which usually carries a positive connotation. When talking about food waste, a lot of people ignore the issue because they believe that they'll always be more. Therefore, Lewis is kind of throwing an incentive in there to even out the negatives.

    5. the report shows that almost every time a business made an investment in curbing food waste, there was a positive return on that investment. For every £1 invested in reducing food waste, half the business sites had at least a £14 return.

      Lewis is using primary sources (report) to prove that his incentive is beneficial. He also uses statistics and data to present the profit that has been made by businesses that have already invested in food waste issues. This is like a "why not get these same benefits?"

    6. So, we need to put food waste on the boardroom agenda. CEOs rely on hard numbers.

      Lewis' audience is the CEOs. I can infer that he is targeting CEOs because they have the most power over the businesses that he wants to get involved.

    7. Our ambition with this report is to change that and make sure food waste gets the focus from business that it deserves.

      Yet again Lewis is clearly stating his intentions with this report. This shows a sense of honesty.

    8. In 2013, Tesco took the step of publishing its UK food waste data. The numbers reveal that less than 1 per cent of our food is wasted. This probably makes us one of the most efficient retailers in the world.

      By mentioning his past successes, Lewis creates more credibility for himself. In other words, he is making it clear that his proposal is effective.

    9. But in a business that serves around 50m customers a week, that still adds up to around 60,000 tonnes every year – around 30,000 of which are safe to eat.

      There is a big but here. To me, this sentence can be taken one of two ways: 1. there really hasn't been much progress made with all of this food still going to waste or 2. that leaves more room for more businesses to get involved and make the efforts more effective. Lewis could've added a sentence that called his audience to action.

    10. The third step is innovation. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so what needs to be done will vary.

      Lewis shows that he is open to flexibility when it comes to his plan. This can be both good and bad as some may see this as a weakness and try to take advantage.

    11. Even if the moral imperative doesn’t move us, the clear business case for reducing food waste should persuade every CEO.

      This is the use of demonstration of irrelevance. Lewis showcases that the lack of morality doesn't meet the criteria of relevance that defines the issue. In other words, he is saying that even if we don't feel the need to take action based on our morals, there are plenty other calls for action.

    12. No matter what business we work in, the key thing is to see the scale of the challenge and take action.

      All throughout the article, I noticed that Lewis constantly uses the word "we". This is important because Lewis is making his audience feel included.

    13. We’ve already rolled the partnership out to over 1,100 stores and it will be in all stores by the end of the year. This last year we have estimated we have donated over 5,000 tonnes of edible food.

      Although Lewis is still making his argument, he maintains an ambitious attitude to make sure that his audience stays attentive.

  2. Aug 2021
    1. Standardized tests often rely on multiple-choice responses that neither allow for complexity of thought nor invite students to draw connections between the text under consideration and their own experiences.

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION When I read this statement, I instantly made a connection to how the Nazis would assign the Germans a number instead of recognizing them as human beings. Standardized testing usually results in a whole lot of numbers based on the students performance. Based on how many questions the students get right or wrong, they are given a number. This number can fall in one of many categories. Where the number falls will determine the student's progress. A student's progress is very complex yet it is measured by such a basic system. Many factors could result in false outcomes. For example, a student could guess a letter and by luck it's right. There was no effort in the response yet that number increased. Just like grades, these faulty numbers decrease the value of the student's education.

    2. Students may not have had sufficient engagement of this sort with text because the acontextual, ahistorical test-gen-erated passages did not invite rhetorical reading.

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      I agree with this statement simply because it showcases how a lot of students aren't given the opportunity to dig deep because of the low-quality assignments and resources they are given. A lot of times a student's way of gaining an understanding is by making personal connections or creating an image. This is sometimes known as familiarizing which makes it easier to learn. If students are given basic texts that don't trigger their creative mind, their knowledge will not expand.

    3. Gary Tate repre-sented the position that FYC should exclude no texts, articulating his commitment to preparing students for the conversations they would have in their lives beyond the university and his concerns that in its emphasis on academic discourse,

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      I agree with Tate because I am a strong believer that education is about more than taking down the facts. Knowing information doesn't create much of an outcome. We must apply what we know in order for it to be considered effective. In addition, learning becomes uninteresting when the student's aren't allowed to personalize their experience a bit. In other words, students should able to get involved instead of sticking to concepts that don't interest them.

    4. Carillo calls this “a pedagogical gap” in which “instructors lack the resources to develop reading pedagogies that will complement their writing pedagogies.”

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      This statements made me come to the realization that the educators aren't the only ones to blame. Sometimes even they are unable to find ways to approach the lesson in a way that will benefit the students. This goes on to show that more studies need to be conducted so the proper pedagogies can be developed.

    5. This FYC-as-general-academic-literacy-inoculation encourages students to view reading as just another requirement, rather than as an opportunity for discovery and an important form of knowledge making

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      When I read this, the word "requirement" sparked a thought. In the education field, we often use categories, expectations, benchmarks, and requirements in order to measure one's academic status. This can often be misleading and unmotivating. This is because students are always striving to meet a certain point at a certain time. This doesn't allow for much individualism or "wiggle room". We are all different and we all work at a different pace. Some students and educators are so focused on meeting these benchmarks that they forget the actual value of a quality education.

    6. Despite instructors’ recognition that reading and writing are interconnected, reading instruction all too often receives short shrift in the writing class-room, with instructors failing to offer explicit instruction in a vari-ety of reading strategies, instead promoting content-based read-ings that emphasize a text’s meaning over attention to how it was constructed.

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      When a student isn't able to find meaning in a text, their writing often doesn't have much meaning. When we read somebody else's work, we must take into consideration the strategies and the circumstances that author underwent to create the work. This helps us to see from their perspective.

    7. Promote collaboration that gets students talking about their reading experiences and exposes them to others’ questions, perspectives, and interpretations

      READING IS NOT ESSENTIAL TO WRITING INSTRUCTION

      Out of all of these bullets, I think this one is especially important because a student to student relationship is important. This is because the students are nearly in the same ballpark as they are all trying to learn. Bouncing ideas off of each helps them to think in ways that they couldn't before. This expands their horizons and creates for room for new knowledge. In addition, as a student, I know that it is comforting to confide in somebody that is on the same page as you.

    8. The goal informing writing instruction at all levels should be for students to develop not only the skills that will serve them in the academic realm but also the ability to ask the questions and culti-vate the behaviors that will allow them to respond effectively to the diverse composing contexts they will encounter in their future lives and careers beyond the classroom.

      Reading Is Not Essential To Writing Instruction

      In an effective classroom, students should always leave wanting more. Although students should leave with an understanding, there is always more to be discovered. Students must be able to develop strategies that will encourage them to think outside of the box.

    9. As students read (or are read to) they learn to recognize typical elements of fiction, which they then imitate in their own writing and stories. Even a two-year-old who has been read to consistently will recognize that “once upon a time” indicates the beginning of a story, and will often begin that same way when asked to make up his or her own.

      Reading and Writing Are Not Connected

      We can't learn things on our own. We have to get it from somewhere. The reason that reading is connected to writing is because we gain new perspectives, knowledge, and ideas from the content we read. The information we are exposed to has a huge impact on our thinking processes. I connected this idea to behavior. If a child is living in an abusive environment, there are more likely to develop anxiety, anger management problems, and more. Just like this, what we read is reflected in our writing.

    10. More importantly, if students are not given the opportunity to continue working on their reading throughout their college careers, they may struggle analyzing, interpreting, and evaluat-ing all that surrounds them since comprehension is a crucial step toward these more advanced interpretive practices.

      Reading and Writing Are Not Connected

      I thought this statement was strong becuase it puts emphasis on the importance of correlation and flow in curriculum. Learning is a gradual process. Knowledge is attained by creating a foundation and build upon it whether that is by making connections to what you already know or developing new schemas that are related to what you know.

    11. A better understanding of this as a reader can also support students’ writing as they develop their own arguments. Instructors might also provide a strategy such as read-ing like a writer, wherein readers notice the choices a writer has made and understands the relevance of those choices to their own writing.

      Reading and Writing Are Not Connected

      This is a prime example of the importance of the reading-to-writing correlation. Sometimes we find gaps in our own strategies or understanding. Therefore, it is very important to seek somebody else's way of thinking. I like the reading like a writer method because it allows the reader to put themselves into the world of the writer. It is hard to understand a text when you don't have background or perspective. You have to be able to ask, "Why did the author say this like they did?" and use context clues to find true definition in the piece.

    12. We must not assume that simply exposing students to texts of all kinds and across all media will automatically result in comprehension.

      Reading and Writing Are Not Connected

      I strongly agree with this because exposing students to different perspectives itself will not lead to a complete understanding. Readers must first learn HOW to see from somebody else's viewpoint. We are individuals and sometimes it can be hard to understand why people took the actions they did. That is why it is critical that we inform students on how to be open-minded and ready to be introduced to new standpoints.

    13. leading them to believe they are poor readers rather than people who have not been taught to read deeply, thus potentially limiting their abilities to compete in a market characterized by ever-changing and increas-ingly competitive workplace literacie

      This is a strong statement as it presents one of the most prevalent mistakes in the education field, especially when it comes to English and related subjects. Here, Barger talks about how students are usually under the impression that their comprehension skills are below the expectation simply because teachers fail to give them strategies. By strategies I mean ways of dissecting a text and creating meaning out of it. If teachers continue to show students how to get by, students will move forward into more difficult concepts and it will eventually catch up to them. For example, if a students can't recognize writing strategies in an author's work, they won't be able to construct an essay about the author's purpose.