making it in english 1101: a survival guide

Making it in English 1101:

A Survival Guide

Essays by

Ms. Roop’s Spring 2013

English 1101 Class

Making it in English 1101 2

Introduction

To incoming first-year English 1101 students:

The essays that follow were written by English 1101 students in Ms. Roop’s class during

the 2013 spring semester at University of North Georgia (formerly Gainesville State College) in

fulfillment of their research assignment. The students chose incoming first-year students as their

audience and decided to offer them some advice on how to be successful in English 1101.

The students were instructed to discuss their own journey through English 1101, and to research

the aspect of writing for which they chose to offer advice. The essays have been through one

revision cycle in which the students reconsidered grammar, sentence structure, audience, tone,

formality, readability, and other areas of the rhetorical situation.

As you read these essays, remember that these students were only about fourteen weeks

ahead of where you are today as entering first-year English 1101 students. The essays have not

been edited from their original form. Yes, you will find mistakes of grammar, syntax, improperly

cited sources, and at times missteps of logic and focus (and if you don’t know what some of

these words mean, now would be a good time to get that dictionary down from the top shelf and

blow the dust off, because you’ll need it this semester!). However, we trust that any “errors” you

notice won’t distract you from the message. Perhaps they may even serve to motivate you to

carefully proofread and revise your own essays this semester.

We hope you will enjoy reading our words of advice and trust they will help you be

successful this semester. Good luck, and keep writing!

Karen Roop

May 2013


Procrastination: Does It Pay to Wait?

By Mitchell Abreu

As a writer, I do not enjoy slaving over a computer to write a paper due in the immediate

future. As a reader, I would prefer to read a well planned out and well written piece. Writers

struggle through those first few sentences only to find more walls that block their train of

thought. First year writers tend to begin their struggles closer to the due date than writers with

more experience. In a recent article, William Knaus says that seventy percent of undergraduate

student are willing to admit that they procrastinate (Knaus 5). Procrastination and its effects on

the writing process is an issue most first year writers neglect to acknowledge. The unique process

in which we construct our written work may take days or hours. Depending on how much time

the author put into each step, the writer made need more time than other students to complete the

task we were instructed to perform. As a student that strives for success, I try and eliminate all of

the factors that will negatively affect my grade on tests, papers and, class work. Procrastination is

a large factor that contributes to the downfall of student success. If writers procrastinate in the

beginning or in the middle of the writing process, the effects can be detrimental to the overall

outcome of the written work.

Procrastination is to put off something intentionally and habitually (Websters). Students

have constant feedback and personal anecdotal evidence into whether or not they can get away

with procrastinating. Math may be the subject where they can complete work in a short time

period, or maybe it is a science lab they may take a little amount of time to finish. For many first

year writing students, it becomes evident that English 1101 is not the class to put off their work

till the last minute. Freshman writing students have little time to figure it out before they are


thrown in the fire, so to speak. These young men and women will need sufficient time to

complete a writing process that works for them.

A writing process should involve effective prewriting. It is the writer’s choice in the

amount of prewriting he or she chooses to do. Simple webs or a brain dumps are effective ways

to pre-write that take completely different time periods to complete. Professional writer and food

critic, Anne Lamott uses the brain dump method. In her article “Shitty First Drafts”, she

describes her method of writing her first drafts as writing anything she can think of pertaining to

the situation. She describes her prewriting or initial draft as “shitty,” saying she worries that

someone would find and read the draft before she could rewrite it (WAW 303). Lamott does this

with plenty of time to rewrite, edit and revise. Lamott, just like many first year writing students,

finds it hard to get started, to write that first sentence. Anne begins her food review the day after

she ate the food that is being reviewed so she will have plenty of time to effectively execute her

writing process (302). As writers, we can rarely get away with delaying the start for a few days

or a week. As English 1101 students, there has to be a balance. Allow the start of the writing

process to occur in a timely manner. Make sure set a time to start that will allow for the

completion the written work and stick to it.

“What to write next? The Braves game is on. My phone is going off.” We all find

distractions in our everyday lives that are more fun or more interesting than writing the

assignment that is at hand at the given moment. Are we procrastinating during our assignment?

Are we delaying the completion of our work just the same as we start our work? In the definition

of procrastination it leads us to believe that procrastination is only putting off the start of the

work. Can we also view it as taking exaggerated breaks in our work? We can infer that certain

definitions of procrastination are not fully accurate. “Procrastination can play out as impulsivity


and distractibility as well” says Brian A. Wilson in his article “Belonging to Tomorrow: An

Overview of Procrastination” (Wilson and Nguyen). When a writer takes a timeout during his

work or delays the continuation of his or her writing, the writer is procrastinating in the form of

impulses that lead to the deviation from his or her work. As writers, we not only find reasons as

to why we do not begin working on our writing assignment, but we also find reasons to put off

the completion of these assignments as well. Whether before the work is stared or if we are in the

middle of the third page, we allow distractions to take our attention from the task at hand. These

distractions are a leading source of mid-assignment procrastination. Whether at the start or in the

middle of our work, we are leaving ourselves less time to meet our goal. So can we conclude

procrastination comes in multiple forms? The logical answer to this question is yes, beginning

procrastination and mid-work procrastination.

Eliminating distractions are crucial to executing a successful writing process. Distractions

can be the television is too loud or it could be the party that everyone will be attending. These

distractions are any event that pulls the writer’s attention away from the work or the task at hand.

Distractions are much harder to ignore when we as the writers experience writers block. Mike

Rose describes ways writers block themselves through their own conventions. In Rose’s article

“Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: a Cognitive Analysis of Writers

Block”, he describes the affects that students “writing rules” and planning have on their ability to

freely write. Rose tells us, “…students who were experiencing blocking were all operating either

with writing rules or planning strategies that impeded rather than enhanced the composing

process”(WAW 238). In his case study he observes that these students harm themselves using

conventions that work as hurdles in there writing(WAW 238-244). Rose writes that the students

with less strict rules have an easier time getting past blocks(WAW244-245). With this


information we can see the correlation between writer’s rules and planning and their mid-

assignment procrastination. Not only does the writing process lead to procrastination, but

procrastination can lead to a poor process. Procrastination leads to a rushed, poorly planned

process with less than sufficient planning. Then in turn, poor planning leads to writers block

which then leads to more procrastination through distractions.

As college students, the goal is to obtain a degree that provides us job opportunities we

would otherwise not have. To successfully do that every student will be asked to provide

academic writing, whether for the students major or for the general credits each student must

earn. First year writing students will be given a first hand look into what the next few years of

their writing futures will consist of. The decision is on the back of these students. Be successful

by decreasing the amount of procrastination that is done before academic writing assignments, or

drown in the negative effects of procrastination. Students may need a special place to write like

that comfortable chair or the bed with the light turned down. In “What Writing Is”, Stephen King

tells the readers about his writing process, “I’m in another place. A basement place I’ve built for

myself over the years. It’s a far seeing place. I know it’s a little strange, a little bit of a

contradiction, that a far seeing place should be a basement place, but that’s how it is with

me”(WAW 305). King brings himself to a place where the distractions are limited and he can let

the creative juices flow. His writing process can then flow freely when the distractions that cause

procrastination are eliminated. When students allow their unique writing process enough time to

effectively be preformed, they have learned to draw the fine line where procrastination is

effective and where it is destructive.

As the clock ticks writers have a choice to make, let procrastination be the downfall of

the writer’s process or manage the time so that it becomes an advantage to the author. Make a


conscious decision to begin early and eliminate distractions that lead to mid-work

procrastination. First year college writers must learn to eliminate procrastination in each of its

forms so that their writings will be effectively written.

Works Cited

King, Stephen. “What Writing Is.” On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. New York: Pocket

Books, 2000. 95-99. Rpt. In Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle.

Boston, 2011. 305-307. Print.

Knaus, W. J.. “Procrastination, blame, and change”. Journal of Social Behavior and

Personality, 15,(2000). 153–166. Print

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts.” Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New

York: anchor, 1994. 21-27. Rpt. In Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth

Wardle. Boston, 2011. 301-304. Print

Rose, Mike. “Rigid Rules, Inflexable Plans and the Stifling of Language: a Cognitive Analysis of

Writers Block.” College Composition and Communication 31.4(1980):381-401. Rpt. In

Writng About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 236-250. Print.

Wilson, Brian A., and Tuyen D. Nguyen. “Belonging to Tomorrow: An Overview of

Procrastination.” International Journal Of Psychological Studies 4.1(2012):211-217.

Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 April 2013.


Txting ‘n IMing: What is the effect on the formal writing of students?

By Megan Anthony

In the United States, teens and young adults are being engulfed by the usage of cell

phones and instant messaging (IMing). In many of the papers that students have written, the

language that is used when IMing or texting has taken over. The words and grammar used in

texting and IMing are different than is used in formal writing; students communicate through

texting and IMing quickly. They try to make communicating via modern technology as easy as

possible, so abbreviations and short cuts are created. Words like ‘lol,’ which means laughing out

loud, are used. Words are spelled differently, like ‘kool’ or ‘kewl’ for example. After a while

spelling that way becomes a work of habit. It becomes difficult to spell the words the correct

way. All of these forms of communication are considered informal writing. Formal writing

would be papers written for school or work. There is a big difference between formal and

informal writing, considering formal gets graded while informal is casual conversation. Many

students that are in high school and are soon to be in first-year composition courses find that it

can be very difficult to determine when to switch from informal writing to formal writing;

switching between formal and informal writing will become one of the biggest struggles in many

rising college students’ lives.

Margaret Berg, the author of “On the Cusp of Cyberspace,” conducted a survey

observing how participants of the study used computers in the library. She calls the texting,

IMing, and Internet usage ‘new literacies’ (Berg 486). Berg mentions a study done by Lankshear

and Knobel, who say there must be a “mindset that recognizes a world different from previous

periods in which [information and communication technologies] were not as prevalent, literacies

that are more participatory, collaborative, and distributed and less published, individuated, and


author centric than traditional literacies, and a cyberspace that coexists with physical space”

(486). Before, information and communication technologies (ICTs) did not include texting,

IMing, or social media. They used to deal with blogs, classic literature, magazines, or other

books. The ICTs today are used by a vast majority of people, and they seem to be affecting how

people differentiate between formal and informal forms of writing. It almost seems as though

only formal writing existed before; people wrote long, hand-written letters when they wanted to

communicate. Now people send a quick text message or a short e-mail, both of which take a

matter of seconds to send and receive. The quickness of communication has adapted a new

language.

Sali A. Tagliamonte and Derek Denis discuss a study of teens and their usage of IMing,

another form of quick communication, in the article titled “Linguistic Ruin? Lol! Instant

Messaging and Teen Language.” One of the two authors states, “IM is filled with grammatical

errors, incomprehensible words, and secret codes” (Tagliamonte 8). Incomprehensible words are

found all over; they are usually seen as words that are misspelled or shortened to a degree that

they are not understandable. The grammatical and spelling errors that are created from these

quick forms of communication show up the most in students’ essays. The informality of the

quick, casual communication involves the shortening of sentences; this causes the multiple

grammatical errors. In future generations, this problem will grow immensely. It will be seen in

more students’ papers than is seen now.

Young students are becoming engulfed with this world of advanced technology. In

papers, it can be tempting to want to find pictures, videos, or animations to support an argument

(Devoss et al. 397). There are only certain projects when this is acceptable. Some people,

however, do use the advancement of technology to better themselves. Cynthia Selfe and Gail


Hawisher conducted a study of four people. Two of the subjects were in their twenties, and they

both learned to develop programs using the literacy behind the computer. They had played

games when they were younger, and both argue that the playing of games helped further their

correct use of grammar because they were put in situations where, when communicating with

another player, it was important to use proper grammar and spelling (Devoss et al. 397-403).

Another young girl, who was fifteen at the time of the study, used the computer in elementary

school on a program called Accelerated Reader (Devoss et al. 404). This program tested a

student on a book he or she read, and the student was awarded points for correct answers. This

young girl says she used the computers for a lot more than what the two twenty-year-olds used it

for. And finally, the young man they studied says he “learned how to read and write online about

the same time he learned to read and write in print” (Devoss et al. 407). In this way, this young

man used the computer to his advantage. He used to take books from the library and retype them

out himself (Devoss et al. 410). This could be very helpful in learning the correct grammar rules,

because he is learning by example. However, the way this young man spoke in the interviews

told me he was not very literate. Even though the computer was helpful to teach him how to read

and write, it may not have been an appropriate tool to start with. These four subjects “consider

the reading and composing skills they acquired informally in electronic environments to be far

more compelling, far more germane to the future success than the more traditional literacy

instruction they have received in school” (Devoss et al. 415).

Even composing on a computer is becoming more prevalent than writing with a pen and

paper. Dennis Baron, the author of “From Pixels to Pencils: The Stages of Literacy

Technologies,” simply states, “The physical effort of handwriting, crossing out, revising, cutting,

and pasting...now seemed to overwhelm and constrict me, and I had longed for the flexibility of


digitized text” (424). Baron’s article, featured in Writing About Writing¸ indicated typing on a

computer screen has slowly taken over this generation and the future generations of writers. Not

many people write with pencil and paper anymore; it is easier to type it out and edit as necessary.

To me, typing gives a writer less time to think about what they are doing. Typing is a mindless

task. If a mistake is made, the backspace key quickly helps to correct the problem. Whereas,

when writing with pencil, an eraser has to be used to erase the mistake; it takes more time.

Typing is also used in our everyday lives, from cell phones to Twitter. This could result in a

problem with the switching between formal and informal. If all the typing being done is

informal, then typing a formal paper can result in a challenge because there are actually rules for

writing a formal paper. In social media, not many people care about the grammatical aspect of

writing. However, the paper being written for school relies heavily on being grammatically

correct and having all the words spelled correctly. The communication that occurs between one

another could have an impact on how a student writes.

In Josh Keller’s piece, he writes that the social communication that occurs between

young adults and teens “still has a strong influence on how students learn to write” (597). It is

almost as though he is trying to say students learn by example, and I can agree with him. I learn

by example, as I am sure many other students do as well. Unfortunately, most of the examples

we are receiving are through texting and social media sites. Texting and communicating via

social media have encouraged laziness. There are abbreviations and shortened words that have

become a part of communicating through texting and in social media. Students begin to adapt the

abbreviations and shortened words to their everyday lives, and eventually they are found in the

papers students write.


As a student, it can be seen that teachers expect us to create amazing pieces after a little

practice with writing; “Mr. Grabill, from Michigan State, says college writing instruction should

have two goals: to help students become better writers, and to help them become better writers in

the outside world. The second, broader goal is often lost” (Keller 599). I have noticed, being a

student, that teachers do not encourage us to stretch our abilities to become better writers outside

of class. All they really seem to care about or want is to give us a grade and get us to pass the

class. If more teachers moved their focus to the second goal of becoming better writers in the

outside world, students may have more interest in writing. This would not necessarily help a

student learn the difference between formal and informal writing, but it might help the student to

learn the importance of being correct in spelling and grammar. The writing they are creating is

going to be seen by many people; I would not want something grammatically wrong to be posted

for others to read.

Formal and informal writing are two entirely different forms of writing. One form

involves writing freely; there are no rules or constraints. That is considered informal writing.

Formal writing has certain guidelines and rules that need to be followed. If they are not followed,

the writing looks unprofessional, and the bad writing could result in low grades. Students in this

current generation have trouble with the transition between formal and informal writing, but in

the upcoming generations, it will become more evident. Informal communication is used more

often than it used to be. This will definitely create problems for students when writing for class;

there will be grammar issues and spelling issues. There may even be sentence and thought

constructing issues. Thoughts will not be as clearly constructed as they were before. Writing in

the upcoming generations will be very different than in has been in the past.


Works Cited

Baron, Dennis. "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies." Passions,

Pedagogies, and 21st Century Technologies. (1999). 15-33. Rpt. in Writing About

Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 422-441. Print.

Berg, Margaret A. "On the Cusp of Cyberspace: Adolescents' Online Text Use in Conversation."

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 54.7 (2011): 485-93. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

Devoss, Danielle, et al. "The Future of Literacy." Literate Lives in the Information Age:

Narratives of Literacy from the United States. (2004). 183-210. Rpt. in Writing About

Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 396-421. Print.

Keller, Josh. "Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Students Better Writers." The

Chronicle of Higher Education. Chronicle.com, 15 June, 2009. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. Rpt.

in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston: Bedford, 2011.

595-601. Print.

Tagliamonta, Sali A. and Derek Denis. "Linguistic Ruin? Lol! Instant Messaging and Teen

Language." American Speech 83.1 (2008); n. page. JSTOR. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.


To be an excellent marketing student, you must have knowledge of rhetorical situations

by Kevin Highton

Welcome to English 1101! This is going to be a new and different experience unlike

anything else. There will be several new concepts and philosophies to enrich the college and life

experiences ahead as a writer. At first glance this opportunity for growth may not be appealing;

however, taking into account the driving force that has brought us together so that it will pay

high dividends to go through the process. Once this course was selected for me and the title read

“College Rhetoric”, I had no idea what to expect. Honestly, I presumed it had something to do

with a rhetorical question! That is where I, as a writer, started with plenty of room to grow!

Since that point, I have learned a little more about the content of this course, more specifically

these Rhetorical Situations. This knowledge along with the correct implementation of rhetorical

situations will be imperative to those in the marketing arena.

The idea of rhetorical situations sounded intimidating at first then I learned what it was in

addition to how common it actually is. Rhetorical situations are in literally every advertisement

that we encounter. Let us take a look to get a clearer picture of what a rhetorical situation is first

and how it applies to successful marketing. The first new term that I as a first year college writer

needed to begin the journey into the English 1101 was discourse, which is simply “language in

action” (Wardle and Downs 723). I was not far from discourse, for after all that is around me in

everything that I do and see; since, lets face it, advertisements are everywhere. Advertisements

are many things, but at their base they for most part are language in action. Everyday we are

inundated with the discourse from the corporations looking to convince us to buy their service or

product by any means necessary. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs utilizes Keith Grant-


Davie’s definition of rhetorical situations to discuss how discourse plays a key role in

determining if a rhetorical situation will develop,

Keith Grant-Davie calls an activity, an event, or a situation rhetorical when it’s shaped

by language or communication, also called discourse-that tries to get someone to do

something, whether that something is to change their minds or to change something in the

world around them. According to this definition, an advertisement can be understood as

rhetorical, as can a political speech, a protest in front of City Hall, an intervention, or a

conversation between a college counselor and a student. A rhetorical situation includes

the entire context for the activity, event, or situation-the motivating factors speaking or

writing, as well as the people, places, and things involved. All of these factors impact

what people do, what they say, what they believe, and how their rhetoric looks and

sounds (36,101).

These authors at various intervals in the text use other words such as persuasive and motivated to

describe the discourse within a rhetorical situation. At this point in my journey I could begin to

see that I could relate with these seemingly foreign terms. My day to day life experiences are a

series of persuasive or motivated events, activities, or situations. Moreover, if I am not the one

in these circumstances, they are still occurring all around me through the media in the form of

marketing advertisements. The most successful of these marketing campaigns fully understands

and utilizes all of the components of rhetorical situations to not only capture our attention, but

also to deliver a message to that captured attention (buy this product or service).

We will begin by briefly defining the terms that make up a rhetorical situation, and the

role they might play in the marketing field. The first of these terms is rhetoric, which is defined


as “the study of human interaction and communication, or the product(s) of that interaction and

communication” (Wardle and Downs 731). Big business pays big money for the most precise

rhetoric to apply to each market. It is this study that leads us to the rhetorical situation. As it

appears the rhetor is the leader, more specifically; “one who engages in rhetoric or discourse,

may also be called writer or speaker” (Wardle and Downs 731). The rhetor is responsible for

bringing up the topic-also called the exigence. Exigence is very eloquently described by Wardle

and Downs to be, “the need or reason for a given action or communication. For example, if you

say, “please turn up the lights,” we assume the reason you say this is that there’s not enough light

for your needs-in other words the exigence of the situation is that you need more light” (725).

With respect to marketing, there is always a promoter, or rhetor, and something to promote. The

exigences along with the rhetor are the fundamental pieces to this puzzle we are assembling, and

it is from these established sections that we branch out into the seven remaining areas.

As we carry on with our exploration into the world of rhetorical situations we continue to

identify and define these terms. Relax, most of them are recognizable. One fairly common term

is context, and it simply means; “where the text comes from or where it appears” (Wardle and

Downs 722). An example would include text heavy forms advertisements, such as magazine or

news paper ads, bill boards, etc. A few more recognizable terms include both the audience and

the purpose which are self explanatory. Timing is very important, subsequently, the term kairos

is the piece of our puzzle which covers that and kairos is defined as, “the right time for the

argument” (Ms. Roop’s Handout). The two terms that go together to make one piece of the

rhetorical situation are the stance and tone. It is imperative that the stance and tone fall into line

precisely with the exigence (topic), purpose, and the audience to have the favorable result. The

strategy of repeatedly advertising personal injury attorneys heavily during the hours of the


average workday is a prime example of how their marketing director takes this idea along with

the kairos into account.

Keith Grant-Davie gives a great example of how when these pieces are lined up correctly

it truly benefits the rhetor’s purpose, “The rhetor’s sense of exigence when communicated

successfully with the audience, can become a positive constraint, a factor that help’s move the

audience toward the rhetor’s position” (115). After all it is aimed to provide a driving force to

get someone to do something as we addressed earlier. One very popular method designed to

achieve this result is to consider the things that affect the audience, these bits and pieces may be

termed the constraints. Keith Grant Davie defines constraints in his piece “Rhetorical Situations

and their Constituents” as, “all the factors in the situation, aside from the rhetor and the audience,

that may lead the audience to be either more or less sympathetic to the discourse, and that may

therefore influence the rhetor’s response to the situation” (273). Mary Garret and Xiaosui Xiao

contrast the differences between the limitations of the topic and the constraints of the audience in

their article, “The Rhetorical Situation Revisited.”

In the same way the rhetorical exigencies are expressions of the situational audience's

unsolved questions, concerns, anxieties, frustrations, and confusions, which need

modification by discourse. The constraints, on the other hand, reflect the audience's

expectations for an appropriate discourse in a given circumstance (39)

This would include characteristics of both the audience such as their beliefs, traditions,

expectations as well as the rhetor’s stance, style and logic, etc. Christina Haas and Linda Flower

discuss an interesting idea that readers bring their own knowledge and experience to the text that

they read. In their article “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning,” they


argue that; “Readers usually use cues in the text, and their own knowledge of discourse situations

to re-create or infer the rhetorical situation of the text they are reading. There is some indication

that these strategies were used to help readers uncover the actual “event” of the text” (130). This

is a very important factor to consider for something like a magazine ad, the reader will be

looking for the substance of the ad while they are reading.

Finally the last piece of the puzzle is the form/ media/ genre to be used in the situation;

examples of these would include verbal, nonverbal, written, visual, etc. It is imperative that each

of these pieces to the puzzle that make up a rhetorical situation always compliment and be right

in line with one another. That is the only reason to consider each of these pieces individually

and understand them all, and then assemble them together to form a strong rhetorical situation.

Along the journey through 1101 you will notice how these pieces are all tied together and all

work as one to make the situation as a whole function. In “Figures of Rhetoric in Advertising

Language,” an article written by Edward F. McQuarrie and David Glen Mick made a rather

unusual statement regarding where the rhetor may chose to put the emphasis of his rhetoric;

Rhetoricians maintain that any proposition can be expressed in a variety of ways and that

in any given situation one of these ways will be the most effective in swaying an

audience. Hence, when persuasion is the overriding goal, the rhetorical perspective

suggests that the manner in which a statement is expressed may be more important than

its propositional content. More over, rhetoric promises a system for identifying the most

effective form of expression in any given case (424).


This is especially the case in the marketing arena. Think of one favorite advertisement; was it

accurate or even logically sound? Most of the ones that stay with me are nowhere close to either

one.

After a better understanding of what is termed a rhetorical situation, those interested in

the field of marketing may find these situations and their components a most valuable tool for

success. It will be apparent the rhetorical web is something similar to a road map to get to a

destination, where all of the different cities that will be passed through are listed; the rhetorical

web will help navigate through all of the components to construct a rhetorical situation. If we

took the time to analyze our most favorite or the most successful advertisements we will be able

identify all of the pieces that we have acknowledged are crucial to the rhetorical situations. This

applies to all of the different avenues marketers utilize to reach the potential client (written,

visual, audible, etc.) After an understanding of this type of rhetoric has a firm foundation along

with the appropriate use of it, this very well may be just the beginning of a rewarding and

prosperous marketing career. If however that type of ambition is not on the agenda this semester

I am deeply saddened. I would empathetically remind all that I thought this all had something to

do with a rhetorical question! Now it has literally changed the way that I communicate and

perceive the communication with the world, for only sixteen weeks of my time and a little

homework. The only regret that I have is that I did not do this sooner. Good luck! Take heart!

It is not as it may, or may not, seem and enjoy. Good luck and always do all of the homework on

time!!


Works Cited

Garret, Mary, and Xiaosui Xiao. “The Rhetorical Situation Revisited.” Rhetoric Society

Quarterly. 23.2 (1993): 30-40. JSTOR. Web. 15 April 2013

Grant-Davie, Keith, “Rhetorical Situations and Their Constituents.” Rhetoric Review 15.2

(1997): 264-79. Rpt in. Writing About Writing. Boston: Bedford/St. Martain’s, 2011. 101-

19. Print.

Haas, Christina, and Linda Flower. “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of

Meaning.” College Compositions and Communication 39.2 (1988): 167-83. Rpt in. World

About Writing. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martain’s 2011. 101-19. Print.

Mc Quarrie, Edward F. and David Glen Mick. “Figures of Rhetoric in Advertising Language.”

Journal of Consumer Research. 22.4 (1996): 424-38. Web. 15 April 2013

Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. “Writing About Writing.” Boston: Bedford/St. Martain’s,

2011. Print


Failure to Plan is Planning to Fail: A Guide on Procrastination

By Thomas Hoffman

“It will get done.” “There will be time later.” “There are more important things to do

right now.” These are some of the most common statements made by students and other people

who tend to procrastinate. Procrastination is defined by Lay See Yeo as “unnecessarily

postponing or avoiding tasks that must be completed” (Lay See Yeo, et al.362). Any student who

has signed up for English 1101 should know that there is not going to be any time to

procrastinate. Every assignment requires a substantial amount of time. Procrastination can be

harmful to student success, because: it produces unsatisfactory work, it gives a student a negative

self-image, and can even cause health risks.

Most people, including myself, would say that they have at some point and time in their

life procrastinated on studying, work, or writing a paper. Unfortunately, in English 1101, putting

assignments off until the last minute, could and most likely will be, detrimental to a student’s

grade. Often if students wait until the last minute then they will not have an adequate amount of

time to complete the writing process properly. Throughout English 1101, I constantly chose to

procrastinate on completing journal assignments and essays. This habit has caused me to fail to

complete assignments on time because I would generally underestimate the time needed for an

assignment to be completed. Sometimes I would even end up leaving myself with two hours to

finish something that needed at least four or five hours to complete. Procrastination also caused

me to receive a lower grade on assignments as I did not have enough time to read and understand

the material that I was supposed to be writing and responding to. According to Elizabeth Wardle

and Doug Downs, the authors of Writing about Writing, the writing process includes planning,

drafting, revising, and editing (170). The two authors also acknowledge that it is very important


to follow this process or another similar process if one wants to be “… a more versatile, capable,

powerful writer…” (170). The longer students wait to begin the writing process, the time that

they will have to revise their paper significantly decreases. This can also cause a student to be

forced into turning in a rough draft. This, of course, prevents the students from performing their

best and can therefore result in a notable decline in the students’ grades. I can serve as evidence

of this being true.

Often, regardless of whether or not a person chooses to procrastinate, they can encounter

unforeseen problems. Last semester I was asked to complete a six to eight page paper for my

psychology class, which fortunately, I completed well ahead of time. As I went to print my paper

the computer crashed and my paper was lost forever. This is not an uncommon problem when

completing work on a computer, and while it is already tragic, the tragedy would be highly

escalated if I had chosen to procrastinate in the first place. According to Dianne Tice and Roy

Baumeister, who completed a longitudinal study on procrastination, if a student encounters a

problem after putting the assignment off until the last minute, then, “…the result might be

failure” (455). Of course if the student successfully allowed plenty of time to complete the

assignment in advance, sufficient efforts can be made to correct whatever problem the student

ran into. In my case I was able to re-write my paper and still receive an A; however if I had not

allowed myself plenty of time, I would have not been able to re-write the assignment completely,

which would have resulted in a much lower, possibly failing grade. This is why I recommend

that all students going into English 1101 be prepared to dedicate a large sum of their time to their

assignments, make sure that they begin the assignment a few days prior to the due date, and

always back up their word documents and writings on an external hard drive or disk.


Some students also encounter problems that will cause them to procrastinate. Writer’s

block is one example. Mike Rose describes writers block as”…that frustrating, self-defeating

inability to generate the next line, the right phrase, [or] the sentence that will release the flow of

words once again” (237) According to Rose this “blocking” often causes students to end up

rushing or turning in late papers as they choose to put off the work until the day before, since

they cannot think of how to begin it properly. Therefore the resulting grade poorly reflects the

student’s writing ability (237-238). I suffer from writer’s block almost every time I sit down to

write a paper, journal, or response. Often I procrastinate because I cannot think of what to write.

I found, however, that the way to go about it is not to put off the work, but instead, to find a new

way to go about the assignment and kick start my brain. One thing I have found that works really

well for me is free writing, which I learned about in English 1101. It allows me to say whatever I

want, and then go back and edit my writing into a formal paper.

Procrastination can also cause a student to have a negative self image. Although I am

embarrassed to admit it, I procrastinated on almost all of my assignments while taking English

1101. In each class I attended, I felt like I had let myself and my professor down. Because I did

not complete many of the readings, I came to class unprepared for the discussions. Whenever I

was called on to speak I made do with the information I had the time to acquire, but ultimately I

always felt self-conscious and apprehensive about my answers. Dianne Tice and Roy Baumeister

found in their study that procrastination can in fact lead to low-self esteem (454). It might seem

to be not worth a student’s time, but the readings and assignments in English 1101 are crucial, if

that student wants to be successful and confident.

Procrastination can also be dangerous to a person’s health and well-being. I know for a

fact that every time I choose to procrastinate I become nervous or stressed out, which affects my


body in many different ways. Often times I cannot sleep well or I will even get headaches as I

am worried about whether or not I will end up getting my work done on time, or if I will even

pass the assignment. According to an international study, done by professors from colleges in

Canada and Singapore, many people and other studies have reported that procrastination is

related to and can cause high levels of stress and anxiety (Lay See Yeo, et al. 362). High levels

of stress, particularly in college students, can cause severe mental and physical problems such as

high blood pressure and heart disease. This happens because when a person is stressed out it

becomes harder for their immune system and body to fight off infections and heal efficiently

(Baird 232). Of course, when a student becomes ill they are less likely to be able to do their

school work on time, if at all. Stress is then nearly unavoidable since regardless of how much

time a student gives themselves to complete an assignment, they will still be stressed out about it.

However, the chances of a student suffering from stress or anxiety greatly increase with

procrastination. This is why I suggest that all students plan ahead to complete their assignments

and make sure they allow themselves plenty of time to do the work required in order to stay

healthy and strong.

There are several ways I have learned to prevent myself from procrastinating that I hope

will help other English 1101 students. First, as soon as I receive information about an assignment

and its due date, I try to estimate how long it will take me to complete it, allowing for an extra

two days just in case anything goes wrong. I then mark on a calendar what days and times I will

complete that assignment so that I do not forget that it needs to be done. Another strategy I have

learned that helps me prevent myself from procrastinating is making sure I am business first and

party last. In other words, I never schedule time with my friends or family until I am positive that

the assignment at hand is completed thoroughly and to the best of my ability. This way I do not


get caught up in the fun I am having with friends and forget about what really needs to be done.

This also allows me to be a lot less stressed out when I see my friends, which allows me to have

a better time with them. I strongly suggest that all English 1101 students follow my advice and

plan on how to prevent procrastination or come up with a plan of their own so that they can be as

successful as possible. This advice can also be applied to other classes, work, and life in general.

I am currently trying to implement many of these strategies into my everyday life as I believe

they will allow me to live a less stressful life.

Although some people argue that procrastination helps them perform better on

assignments, I believe that procrastination is in fact harmful to a student’s overall success and

well-being. This is especially true in English 1101 where different types of readings, written

responses, journals, discussions, and papers are due each and every week. In order to be

successful, all students need to be prepared to do their work well ahead of time to prevent any

problems, whether they are personal or technological, from interfering with the good grades that

every student is capable of making. English 1101 professors are not there to punish you. They

are there to help you learn and grow as an individual. As long as a student is completing each

assignment on time the professor will be willing to help that student achieve good grades.


Works Cited

Baird, Abigail A. "Health and Stress." Think Psychology. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice

Hall, 2010. 226-39. Print.

Lay See Yeo, et al. “Academic Procrastination In Two Settings: Motivation Correlates,

Behavioral Patterns, And Negative Impact of Procrastination In Canada And Singapore.”

Applied Psychology: An International Review 59.3 (2010): 361-379. Sociological

Collection. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.

Rose, Mike. “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis

of Writer’s Block.” Writing About Writing. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston:

Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2011. 236-249.

Tice, Dianne M., and Roy F. Baumeister. "Longitudinal Study Of Procrastination, Performance,

Stress, And Health: The Costs And Benefits Of Dawdling." Psychological Science 6

(1997): 454. JSTOR Life Sciences. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.

Wardle, Elizabeth, and Doug Downs. "Writing Processes: How Do You Write?" Writing About

Writing: A College Reader. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 170-173. Print.


How Technology Effects First Year College Writers

By Thomas Jennings

In this day and age, Technology is at the epicenter of almost every society. Technology

has crept its way into every notch of the everyday life. From computers to cell phones and cars,

technology is everywhere. In more recent years, technology has crept into schools. Now, instead

of going to a library, college students can just log into their computer and Google whatever they

are looking for and if they own a smart phone they can do the exact same thing. Technology has

become a major tool in the learning department, but does it also hinder the learning process too?

With the internet at their fingertips, what’s going to stop a student from playing games, or texting

while they are supposed to be learning? Technology is the link to becoming a more intelligent

generation, but in some ways it could hurt us!

With new technologies like the smartphone coming out faster than ever and being able to

multitask into tools that student can use, it’s a big dilemma on whether they will be able to

handle the distraction. I know from personal experience that it is very hard to ignore. Whether

it’s a text message or an app on my iPhone when I’m bored I want to mess with it. Even when I

am in class, I want to play with my phone. The computer is worse; I feel the need to play games

and browse around on twitter. It’s easier for adults because they haven’t grown up with

computers and cell phones like this generation of children have. It’s less of a distraction for them

because it’s not a part of their everyday life like it is ours. If a study was done right now, it

would definitely show that technology effected our decade of children more than it did the

adults.

From my research, I have learned that these distractions can also help a student. In

Writing about Writing, “The Case of Danielle Devoss” the author writes about her own

experiences. She describes computer games as helping Devoss to become a better reader and


writer. “Her literacy in electronic environments, Danielle remembers, had a great deal to do with

her increasing confidence as a reader and writer off-line. (398)” Danielle learned this from chat

rooms and games. That means that in this day and age that social media could be influencing

college students in a positive way, but just because it worked for her does not mean it’ll work for

everybody. Danielle implied that she learned from the social situations in the games and it helped

her with her writing. Devoss said, “The exchanges in games and chat rooms, for instance, were

especially instructive to her growing sense of rhetorical awareness because they so often resulted

in social consequences that she felt keenly.(398)” Since Danielle started on a computer at such

an early age, she was able to incorporate it in college and it was easier for her. She claims that

her web literacy made her a better writer.

“The Case of Charles Jackson”, which is in Writing about Writing, Jackson uses his own

experiences in his writing like Devoss did. Jackson starts off at a young age learning how to use

a computer by typing and playing games. As he gets older, he starts to incorporate his electronic

literacy into school and succeeds in school because of that. He incorporates his electronic

literacy into his everyday life after high school by designing webpages and games. “Charles

transformed the conventional literacy instruction that he was provided in his high school English

class into the kind of digital literacy practices that he values outside of school and that he sees as

integral to his success in the future.(Jackson 414)” If it wasn’t for technology, Charles would not

have been twice the student he was. Charles probably would have done very well with

technology in college because of the work ethic that he had.

Both Danielle and Charles learned about technology at a young age just like this

generation of college students. This means that college students should be able to incorporate

technology into college just as well as Danielle and Charles considering they grew up when the


computer came out. College students now have literally grown with computers and are able to

use any computer or sort of technology there is. The intellect of college students and this

generation when it comes to technology can be considered record breaking. The type of current

technology being paired up with education is astounding. Kids use Ipads and Ipods as learning

tools in school because there are all sorts of “Apps” that involve learning. There are apps for

math, English, science, and social studies. If you can think of it, there’s probably an app for it.

That’s why technology can also be a distraction. Students and kids are now wired for technology

and they always want to be on it.

Many people believe that technology is making society more intelligent. Paula

Zeszotarski did a study on computer literacy for community college students. She proved that it

did indeed help. “The members of Maryland Community College Technology Council believe

that technology can benefit students by improving access for a wider audience by removing time

and location barriers, diminishing dependence on the physical campus, providing just-in-time

learning and student services (Zeszotarski 4).” By removing technology barriers, college students

can do their work faster than a college student who doesn’t have the same level of technology.

Markus Appel did a study on social media and video games related to computer literacy. Appel’s

study showed that video games led to more of a practical computer literacy. Appel said,”

Hierarchical regression analyses showed that an increase in time spent playing games on a

PC/Mac was related to higher scores on practical and theoretical computer knowledge(4).” Also,

social media had an effect in the practical computer knowledge. Appel’s studies show that

technology does affect us both in positive and negative ways.

Technology can be a very good tool for bad people. Dennis Baron wrote a piece called,”

From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies.” Barron talks about the different


stages of literacy starting from the pencil to the computer. Barron goes on to state that this new

era of technology is proving to be a useful tool for everybody! “Futurologists write books

predicting that computers will replace books (Barron 423).” This will make it easier for college

students to access any book they want. This also means that anybody will be able to look up any

information to further their learning.

People can argue that technology is hurting a first year college students writing, but in all

reality it is expanding their learning and writing. Like Zeszotarski’s study discovered, technology

is expanding a students learning barriers making it almost impossible to have a barrier at all. If a

student needs research for a project all they have to do is turn on their computer or tablet, then go

to the internet and Google whatever their topic is. It’s so easy to access any type of information

needed by anybody for any topic. Technology is expanding into new forms every year. Just look

at cell phones, 40 years ago a cellphone was a giant block. Now they are the size of my hand and

can do whatever a computer can! The same goes for computers, they are .constantly evolving

and that’s good for students in general because that means learning barriers are diminishing and

eventually there will be a new form of technology for students to learn from. 20 years from now

students will be able to write and research a paper by doing it with their mind at the pace that

technology is going now. It’s scary, but the truth is humanity is evolving with technology and

that makes the future bright for all students.


Works Cited

Appel, Markus. "Are Heavy Users Of Computer Games And Social Media More Computer

Literate?." Computers & Education 59.4 (2012): 1339-1349. ERIC. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.

Barron, Dennis. “From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies.” Passions, Peda-

gogies, and 21st Century Technologies. Ed. Gail Hawisher and Cynthia Selfe. Logan:

Utah State UP, 1999. 15-33. Rpt. in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth

Wardle. Boston, 2011 396-421. Print.

Devoss, Danielle, et al. “ The Future of Literacy.” Literate Lives in the Information Age:


Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011 396-421. Print.

Jackson, Charles, et al. “ The Future of Literacy.” Literate Lives in the Information Age:


Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011 396-421. Print.

Zeszotarski, Paula. Computer Literacy For Community College Students [Computer File] /

Zeszotarski, Paula. n.p.: Los Angeles, CA : ERIC Clearinghouse for Community

Colleges, [2000], 2000. GIL Universal Catalog. Web. 12 Apr. 2013.


The Importance of Knowing and Understanding Rhetorical Situations as a First-Year Student

By Mary Metasavage

Entering college for the first time can be intimidating for anyone, regardless if the student

is just graduating high school or if the student is entering college after years of not attending

school. College can be even more intimidating when a professor assigns a research project and

the student has no map to navigate through the process of writing a research paper. This is where

knowing and understanding what a rhetorical situation is and what it can do for the student’s

writing is important.

In the first-year of college students will encounter many projects that involve research.

Whether the class is a composition class or Biology class, we will all have to write an extensive

research paper. As writers, we need to know what the reader wants to gain from our piece. This

is why it is important for first-year students to know and understand what rhetorical situations

are and how they can help in writing a research project.

By knowing what rhetorical means and knowing how to use rhetorical grammar to create

a rhetorical situation can significantly help first year students in writing research papers. What is

rhetorical situation? Rhetorical situation can help one understand how the writer creates

persuasive writing. Also, how a reader can interpret what is being read and how a reader and a

writer work together in creating a piece by critiquing each other. (Downs and Wardle, 36)

Rhetorical situation is as explained in Writing about Writing as a certain situation where a

speaker or a writer can use language to change ones point of view. (Grant-Davie, 105) When

writing rhetorically, it is important to remember to use rhetorical grammar. Rhetorical grammar

plays a huge role in rhetorical situations. Understanding this type of grammar can be used to

persuade the audience. It is just as important for students to learn how to use rhetorical grammar


as it is to learn about rhetorical situations. According to Laura R. Micciche, “The construction of

“informative and suasory” discourse includes knowing one’s audience, responding appropriately

to a particular situation, and drawing on relevant examples and illustrations. Also it requires an

ability to communicate effectively, using grammatical devices that enable us to respond

appropriately and effectively to a situation.” (Micciche, 718)

I began college after being out of high school for at least 15 years. I knew that I would

have to eventually write a research project pertaining to the class I was taking; however, I did not

know exactly how intimidating it was actually going to be. I was sitting at my desk in the

classroom, taking notes and suddenly I heard the words “term paper.” I became completely

frozen and it felt like my heart had stopped. It had been years since my last writing assignment

and I felt like I had forgotten how to write.

Most first-year students may not know about rhetorical situations let alone ever heard of

what a rhetorical situation is. As I mentioned before, it had been years since attending school,

and I had not written any writing assignment for quite some time. If I had learned about

rhetorical situations in high school, I had forgotten about it. From speaking with several first-

year students in my composition class, which have just graduated from high school, all seem to

say the same thing about teachers.. Teachers in high school today do not spend much time

explaining what rhetorical situation is. Teachers are concerned about high school students

passing the year end exam. In college, we all must learn a different way of writing that high

school teachers never prepared any of us for. Writing objectively is a thing of the past. (Diaz,

707)


Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of educators are not concerned on educating

first-year college students “about writing,” but more concerned on teaching first-year students

“how to write in college.” (Downs, and Wardle 554) If a student does have an understanding

teacher who is willing to, not only critique the writing, but also point the student in the right

direction by commenting on the mistakes made, is something all first-year students should

experience. From my own experience, as I am sure many students have experienced, writing

research papers is not an easy task. It can be extremely overwhelming, confusing and

intimidating. It is believed by many that writing is a universal conception. Students learn to

“write in college” in a composition class and therefore are able to transfer what is learned about

writing to other situations. (Downs, and Wardle 553) The thought of learning how to “write in

college” is universal means what the student learns in college will transfer to any situation

outside of college that requires writing. I do not feel that writing is universal because the rules

outside of writing in college do not necessarily hold true outside of college. Each situation is

different.

We encounter rhetorical situations each and every day of our daily lives. While we watch

a commercial on the television, attempting to sell a product that we normally would not look at

twice or while we are driving down the road and glance up at a huge billboard, we are engaging

in a rhetorical situation. (Grant-Davie 109) Persuading the audience to see the point of view the

writer is trying to convey is important when writing rhetorically.

According to Lloyd Blizter, who is the person who defined what rhetorical situation is in

1968, there are four parts to rhetorical situations. (Grant-Davie 104) The first part is exigence.

Exigence is the main reason why the topic is being researched. In other words, what is the

purpose for writing the research? What is the question that must be answered by the writing?


Second part is the rhetor(s). A rhetor is the person who is doing the research and the writing. The

rhetor is also the person who is responsible for answering the question at hand. Then, there is the

audience, which I find to be the most important step of all because the audience can dictate how

the writer approaches the writing. The audience will let the writer decide if the writing will be

formal or non-formal, as well as help the writer in deciding how to approach negotiating tactics.

Lastly, there are the constraints. This is also important in shaping the writing. Constraints, as

Blizter defines them as the, “persons, events, objects, and relations which are parts of the

situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the

exigence.”(Grant-Davie111) Constraints may or may not control how a rhetor expresses him or

her-self in their writing. Constraints could possibly hinder a writer or perhaps the writer could

use constraints to help with their persuasion. It all depends on the situation and what the writer is

trying to portray.

This is why I believe that it is important for first year students to know and understand

what rhetorical means. Knowing and understanding rhetorical situations can help a first-year

students write a research paper because it can help the student figure out what the questions are

that need to be answered. Students can also organize their piece by thinking rhetorically as well.

If students know who the audience is, from there the student can decide if their writing will be

formal or non-formal. Knowing what the reason is for writing the research paper can help

students tremendously. Furthermore, knowing what obstacles (constraints) the student can

encounter can help in avoiding the obstacles or encourage the student to battle those obstacles

head on and create a spectacular piece of writing. Again, it all depends on a first- year student

knowing how to use rhetorical situations to their advantage and not letting the intimidation of

writing a research paper for the first year of college discourage students.


In conclusion, I feel it is important for teachers to teach rhetorical situations and

rhetorical grammar to first-year students. The process of transitioning from high school writing

to college writing can be difficult. It can also be extremely intimidating to first-year students who

have been out of school for several years. If teachers were to teach first-year students how to

understand writing instead of having students read about how to write, then the process of

writing rhetorically would be simpler for everyone. Being a first-year student myself, and

remembering how I felt when it came to writing my first research paper, I feel that I understand

the importance of understanding the writing process. If I had had an English teacher take the

time to teach me about rhetorical situations as well as rhetorical grammar, I feel that I would

have done better than I had on my first research assignment. The writing process should not have

a negative impact on a first-year students, it should be an adventure that students should

remember throughout their college life.


Work Cited

Diaz, Kelsey. “Seven Ways High School Prepares You For Failure.” English Composition

1101course at University of Central Florida: Rpt. in Writing about Writing. Elizabeth

Wardle and Douglas Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 706-710. Print.

Downs, Douglas, and Elizabeth Wardle. "Teaching about writing, Righting

Misconceptions:(Re)envisioning "First-Year Compostition" as "Introduction to Writing

Studies"." JSTOR. CCC, n.d. Web. 09 Apr 2013.

Grant-Davie, Keith. “Rhetorical Situations and their constituents.”Rhetoric Review. 152 (1997):

264-79. Rpt. in Writing about Writing. Elizabeth Wardle and Douglas Downs. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martin, 2011. 101-119. Print.

Micciche, Laura R.. "Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar.

"JSTOR. CCC, n.d. Web. 09 Apr 2013.

Downs, Douglas, and Elizabeth Wardle. Texts/Constructs: How do Readers Read and Writers

Write. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin, 2011. 34-36. Print.


The Pitfalls of Procrastination: Does Procrastination Pay Off?

By Eric Skinner

Over the years students have more and more gained an understanding for procrastination.

Most students learned through actually procrastinating and others learned by seeing those who

procrastinated get mediocre grades because of procrastinating maybe with the occasional high

grade. However making the transition from high school to college is a big difference and the

metagame has completely changed on procrastination. In Seven Ways High School Prepares You

for Failure Kelsey Diaz states that “You will need to learn to write lots of drafts. You will have

to completely restart a paper even though you think you’re almost done,” (708) which is

extremely true at this level of education because there are so many layers that go into writing a

paper rather than high school. Yes, procrastination is still an option for students however there

isn’t as much of a high risk and high reward stance on things. This mainly comes from college

being a heavier workload, while it may not seem like it at times the workload can be too much to

bear if someone digs themselves into a deep hole by not getting their work done in a well-timed

manner. Waiting until the last minute is not as easy of an option anymore because unlike high

school it’s no longer 500 word papers at the most, but instead it’s now 500 words at the very

LEAST. So a couple things to know are to plan ahead and understand how much work there is to

do and how much time there is to do it, because if there isn’t a plan then the task at hand simply

becomes insurmountable. Personally, the way I see it, is that it’s no longer an option to

procrastinate when it comes to a “writing for a grade” point of view. I used to be the biggest

procrastinator of all because doing a 500 page paper the night before it was due was almost too

easy. I just always thought that no matter what my paper wasn’t going to be featured anywhere.

However once I read Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work by Allegra Goodman, I then


realized how much she related to my situation perfectly going on to say “Or perhaps you’d rather

not waste time writing something that will go unpublished, unnoticed and unread” (310). This

statement made me realize that even if no one is reading the material I put out, I should still write

as if someone might stumble across it one day and I would most certainly prefer that they enjoy

it. From all the experiences I have had with procrastination my argument is that it hinders first

year students in particular because waiting until the last minute does not allow them to do their

best work.

Distractions play a large role in procrastination because as we get older there are more

priorities we have to fit into a set schedule. But at the same time if the distractions are actually

priorities then it’s not necessarily considered procrastination. When social media comes into the

equation then it seems to become an even bigger problem. Everywhere in today’s society and

especially a college environment anyone can look around and notice the fact that almost all the

people and student are constantly on their phones updating their status’, stalking someone else’s

profile, checking tweets, etc because the list goes on and on when it comes to what people do

with their social media. A lot of the time spotting a student on their phone in class is all too easy,

a handful of those students are on their phones more than they’re actually listening to the teacher

talk about something in a class that they paid good money to be in. One of the hottest topics and

trends as of late has been Facebook. When a student spends a high volume of time on Facebook,

it has reflected poorly towards the students grades as pointed out in Too much face and not

enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of Facebook use and academic

performance,” : (Junco 2012) a study performed by Reynol Junco, an Associate Professor in the

Department of Academic Development and Counseling at Lock Haven University who in his

research concluded “time spent on Facebook and checking Facebook were negatively related to


overall GPA”. It’s no longer just Facebook and Twitter however, there are now hundreds even

thousands of sites that have some sort of social interaction between one person and another.

People may not think it matters that much but all that time adds up. If a student were to spend 20

minutes on Facebook, Twitter, or hitting a forums site to post comments on interesting

threads/blogs whatever it may be, that’s already an hour missing out of that students day which

could have been use studying for a final exam or even better writing a paper.

But everything ultimately falls on what has become habitual for a student when it comes

to doing schoolwork. One must understand, however that writing a paper takes time if it is to be

a success, Ann Lamott tells us in Shitty First Drafts “I know some very great writers, writers you

love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down

routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident,” (301). If a student has spent his entire

schooling procrastinating and generally being lazy when it comes to doing his schoolwork then

more than likely he’s going to continue on the same pace that he has stayed on for so many

years. The key is to break any sort of bad habits when it comes to writing and replace it with

good habits that entice a student to not only write the correct way, but at the same time getting

the student to enjoy writing so by the time comes when there’s an approaching deadline on a

paper a student will be cool, calm, and collected because they know that all they have to do is

read over their final draft, make sure there’s nothing that needs to be changed, make the changes

if necessary, and then turn it in. It’s a much more simplified perspective than that of a

procrastinator who is frantically typing a paper at midnight when the paper is due at 9 A.M. the

next day just running past all sorts of detail they could have gone more in detail with and at that

point I know firsthand that words will be misspelled, punctuation will be missing, and generally

it will be a lackluster performance on the students part. That was only part of the stress a


procrastinator has to deal with because it may seem easy to piece together a paper the night

before, but for all the work that is done the final grade is not close to the amount of work done.

However if the student would have prepared then all the work they have done is probably worth

it because the grade they receive actually reflects the work they put in making sure everything

was up to par.

But I understand that everyone is different and some students like to work under the

pressure, which is rather confusing to me because the stress from procrastination is exponential

compared to the stress of losing your keys or something as miniscule as that. Writing a great

paper takes time and effort to polish and turn in. Because if the time and care doesn’t go into the

paper because someone posted a status that calls for the need to tell every single friend in a

contact list or generally killing time by browsing the internet, then the student who is writing that

paper will typically get a lower grade than that of the person who took their time. So in

conclusion, I have procrastinated and hopefully will not procrastinate again but hopefully by

reading this a student will realize the pitfalls of procrastination and if need be, make a change for

the better.


Works Cited

Diaz, Kelsey. “Seven Ways High School Prepares You for Failure.” Writing About Writing.

Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston: 2011. 706-710. Print

Goodman, Allegra. “Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work.” New York Times, 12 Mar.

2001. Rpt in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston: 2011.

308-310. Print

Junco, R. “Too much face and not enough books: The relationship between multiple indices of

Facebook use and academic performance.” Computers in Human Behavior. (2011).

Volume 28, Issue 1. January 2012. 187–198. Print

Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts.” Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New

York: Anchor, 1994. 21-27. Rpt in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth

Wardle. Boston: 2011. 301-304. Print


Survival Guide for First-Year College Students in English 1101

By Amanda Vinson

Thinking about what I should write for this paper was no easy task. I went through many

different topics trying to pinpoint the perfect one for this particular paper. Then it hit me. I was

way over thinking and not calming my inner critic, the two things that I have been trying to

conquer all semester. Then I thought well, I have all the materials and the right information that I

need. So, I decided to write a survival guide for first-year college students that are taking English

1101. First-year college students can be successful in English 1101 by knowing the proper

materials, curriculum, and mindset necessary to survive.

As a first- year college student in 1101 English, it is important to have the right mindset.

Step one, it is necessary to have an open mind about everything that is learned in this class.

When having an open mind there is so much that can be done and will be done. There will be

new concepts that come, but taking it openly will help tremendously. There will be new writing

styles that have to be learned. For example when I began this class, one of the first assignments

was to analyze my writing process. I came to realize that it was a generic writing process my

English teacher taught me in high school. This class taught me that there was more to a writing

process and that I could improve it by adding new steps. I was reading an article “Toward a

Composing Model or Reading” by Robert Tierney and David Pearson explained a 5 step process

to improve my writing (174). The five steps were planning, drafting, aligning, revising, and

monitoring in which I learned that revising was the most helpful step for me. They explained that

adding more steps to the revising process will produce an outcome of a wonderful paper. There

will be different writing styles that will help in this class as well. One of the new writing styles

that I really had to have an open mind about is free writing. Free writing is continuous writing


for a given time. This is a time where no corrections should be made when writing. It does not

matter what is written down just as long as the thought and writing keeps going, even if all that is

written is “I am writing, but I don’t know why”. Whatever comes to mind write it down. When

free writing, do not look back or judge what was written. This was really hard for me when I first

used it, but once I had an open mind it started to become easier. It is a very good tool to use for

writing a paper. It helps with the brainstorming process and can use most of the free writing in

the paper. Also, having an open mind about different views is important to do for this class.

What I mean by this is, seeing every part of a particular article or paper from not just a single

point of view but all views. Like Margaret Kantz said in her article about “Helping Students Use

Textual Sources Persuasively” “We interact with texts, putting something of ourselves into them

and drawing meaning from their context.”(74) What I received from this is that every text is

different and one has to have an open mind about every text that is read.

When in English 1101 it is important to know what the curriculum is for the class.

Knowing the curriculum means knowing what needs to be learned in the class. In this class there

are many things that have to be obtained. The biggest thing that has to be learned is the writing

process, which I touched on in the last paragraph. Another thing is how to be a better writer. In

Allegra Goodman’s article “Calming the Inner Critic”, she says that to be a better writer one has

to calm the inner critic and just write (308). She says to push all of the negative thinking away,

because one can do anything that they put their mind to. Like Goodman says “Carpe diem. Know

your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about

worshiping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces.”(Goodman 2009, 309) This is the makings of

being a better writer. Calm that inner critic, because it makes it so much easier to sit down and

write. Mike Rose wrote on a similar topic, it’s an article “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the


Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block”, He speaks about how many

student have so many rules that they think they have to follow and that are imbedded in their

minds (236). So, when they try to write, it makes it hard to write a paper that is truly theirs. He

calls this writers block. For instance, Rose wrote about a student he studied named Martha that

struggled with years and years of rules that many different teachers have taught her. She had a

hard time writing without getting blocked with all the rules that she thought she had to follow.

(Rose 1980, 243) This was also difficult for me and at times it still is. When I first started writing

in the class, I despised free writing but once I changed my mind set and used the very important

tool that was put in front of me, it helped tremendously with writers block and calming the inner

critic. It made me stop judging myself and to write rule free. It helped me forget about all the

rules and develop more usable information that I can use in the paper I was writing.

Being a college student (in general) it is important to have the proper materials to do

well, but it is imperative to have the proper materials in English 1101 class. This is step three in

the survival guide of English 1101. Side note, it is best to have contacted the teacher before class

and make sure that all books are bought and brought to class. Having the correct books in this

class is very important. The books used in this class will help with all the steps in the earlier

paragraphs. Also having the correct papers that the teacher wants the class to have and to keep

them organized is necessary. Like what Robert D. Reason, Patrick T. Terenzini and Robert J.

Domingo talked about in “First Things First: Developing Academic Competence in the First

Year of College”. They said being organized is way more important than the class size, control

on what the curriculum is, or what kind of people are in the classroom. It is more important to be

organized to know what needs to be learned and have an understanding what was supposed to be

learned. I know this might sound minute, but having these organization skills and having the


correct materials in this class will “make or break you” as a student. As a student myself and

have almost completed this course, I think it is very crucial to survival.

First-year college students can be successful in English 1101 by knowing the proper

materials, curriculum, and mindset necessary to survive. In conclusion, being a student in

English 1101 class is much easier than it sounds. Go into the class with all the steps that I have

written about and it is very possible to succeed. Just remember to not over think things and to

keep the right mindset while writing, keeping an open mind about learning new things. Know the

things that the teacher wants to be learned in this particular class. Knowing beforehand will help

in the long run, because knowing what to expect is always helpful. Finally, having the proper

materials and staying organized will help with survival in this class and will help to succeed in

other classes as well. These are good qualities to have as a student and will help in the survival of

this class.


Work cited:

Goodman, Allegra. in Writing about Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011.

308-310. Print. “Calming the Inner Critic and Getting to Work.” New York Times, 12

Mar. 2001. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.

Kantz, Margaret. in Writing about Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011.

67-84. Print. “Helping Students Use Textual Sources Persuasively” College English 52.1

(1990): 74-91 Print.

Reason, Robert, Patrick T. Terenzini and Robert J. Domingo. “First Things First: Developing

Academic Competence in the First Year of College”. Research in Higher Education 47:2

(2006): 149-175. JSTOR. Web. 2000

Rose, Mike. in Writing about Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 236-

249. Print. “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist

Analysis of Writer’s Block.” College Composition and Communication 31.4 (1980): 389-

401. Print.

Tierney, Robert and David Pearson. in Writing about Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth

Wardle. Boston, 2011. 174-188. Print. “Toward a Composing Model or Reading.”

Language Arts 60.5 (1983): 568-80. Print.


Preparing For English 1101

By Karly Wyant

Since high school English classes don't adequately prepare first-year students for English

1101, universities must make up the difference by their grading process, having reasons to write,

and the different amounts of work given. All of these are completely different when going from

high school to college. These are the things that will determine a good college student or a failing

college student and no one wants to be that. According to Mark E. Engberg and Gregory C.

Wolniak, the present study is organized around the central hypothesis that the high school

context affects students' postsecondary outcomes.:(Engberg and Wolniak) The grading

differences are major in college it is a huge change.

First, when talking about how the grading changes from high school to college, it should

be known to happen. Due to in high school each year there was a different teacher for each

student and that only meant that the class would have different grading requirements. This

should be self explanatory from going from high school to college especially first year students.

Mike Rose said, some selections pay more attention to elements of composing or functions;

others focus on the constraints and rules- audiences situations, grammar rules –which writers

must navigate.:(Rose) This proves that teachers choose different ways to grade. Each teacher will

have a different pet peeve in high school. The teachers do not like grammar errors, punctuation

errors, or the format of papers. There are so many different things to be graded on in high school

and the each student has to learn this over and over again every year with each new teacher.

In college, the professors care about a couple of things, the largest one, is the content!

This is what students may have never even worked on because they were so concentrated on the


grammar, punctuation, and the perfect formatting. Going from high school to college and finding

out that the professor actually cares about what is in the paper is a huge change and may even be

very scary at first. In college punctuations, grammar and format is still a large aspect in a paper

but the content actually has to be real and accurate. There can be no more throwing things in the

paper to make it long enough, or having a paper that does not make sense. In college this matters,

content is what makes your grade, there may be a few points off here and there for the grammar

and punctuation but what makes the grade is the content. So writing a really lengthy and

interesting paper with the format, grammar, and punctuation is what makes it in college; and

having a reason to write always helps too.

In school systems today many of the teachers are focused on student passing the writing

tests and go right past all of the important things that are great to know for college. In “Advanced

Placement Statistics-Past, Present, and Future” the author, Ann Watkins states that, although

some problems remain, both students and teachers find testing to be challenging and

valuable.:(Watkins) This is a true statement, the tests that are taken by the students are

challenging but this gives a score on how much they know about one thing and how to write in

one certain type of way. Robert Rosemary talks about statistics on standardized test for high

school and they have been high for 2011 and 2012.:(Rosemary) This to me is not the best way to

be preparing high school students for college because preparing students for a test that they will

take once is not good to base students on for a lifetime of knowledge.

Second, in college the professors have a reason to be there. It is not to just give you a

grade because they are careless. There is a reason for a student to be in college and it is not like

high school when work is forgotten you bring it back for the same grade or for half credit. If

work is forgotten or any other excuse in college that is it there is not bringing it back for points.


This is how to fail in college, do not let this happen. Always be on top of studies by having work

completed when due. The professors have a reason to be there so they will give out reasons for a

college freshman to write. They might ask what is important to the student. In The Composing

Process of Unskilled Writers talk about content and say that tell about how important the content

is in a paper, in comparison to high school there is no picking out topics for a paper in high

school when an assignment is given that is all and there is no questioning. College has so much

more freedom in writing and that is what makes it fun and unique. There may be an overall topic

but the professor wants to see where the student will go with the topic given. It is like testing

creativity in students and there is a lot to learn by that. This helps students because there is no

boundary in peoples mind, therefore, they can carry the topic in as many different ways possible

as long as it connects. In a students perspective this helps a lot. This means that not only do

students get to write on what they like but also that is what they can talk a lot about and this

helps with length in s paper. To a student that means a lot because they will need this in papers

that are eight pages long. The amount of work in college is challenging.

Third, The different amount of work that is given to a college student is drastically

different than high school students. In high school a teach spreads work out. A research paper

first semester, with some reading, and a couple three-paragraph essays the next semester, this is

not how a college professor gives out work. When there is work to be done, it comes is all at

once it feels like, because there is a research paper with readings and journal entries and more.

This is just over a weeks span. Not to stress out any upcoming college freshman because if

students stay on top of their work there would be little to worry about through it all. “Learning to

write in academic settings is about change in ways of thinking, using language, and envisioning

self”.:(Christine Pearson Casanave) this is an interesting quote because it talks about academic


writing and tells how it can improve writers’ skills. It is all a learning experience, and many

students cannot handle the pressure while others handle it well. There are no lies about the

changes going from high school to college and it is something that a student has to jump into so

this is a very big change but that it will teach life lessons. If a student can do it and do it to their

full potential they will make a phenomenal college student. With the change a student must have

dedication to their schoolwork and make sure that it all gets done. Some people say that there are

three hours of reading in some classes all together so if a student takes many classes at a time

this will be a consequence they will have to deal with. This is called over loading, and

overloading is not good for students who are not good under pressure.

In high school there is also many different books to be read and do reports on in the

English class and they are read in class so that all students will stay on top of the readings. In

college, students are on their own and keep up with their things, or get a sense of organization.

This will help in the long run for college and in life in general.

In conclusion, since high school English classes don't adequately prepare first-year

students for English 1101, universities must make up the difference by their grading process,

having reasons to write, and the different amounts of work are given. There are many different

readings that will back up how high school does not well prepare students but the most important

things to remember is to stay organized, plan ahead, and stay on top of work.


Works Cited

Casanave, Christine Pearson. “The Beginnings of Change: Learning and Teaching

Undergraduate Academic Literacy Games.” Writing Games: Multicultural Case Studies

of Academic Literacy Practices in Higher Education. Mahwah: Erlbaum, 2002. 35-81.

Print. Rpt. in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston,

2011. 236-250. Print

Mark E. Engberg; Gregory C. Wolniak. “Examining the Effects of High School Contexts on

Postsecondary Enrollment.” Research in Higher Education, Vol. 51, No. 2, AIR Forum

Issue (Mar., 2010), pp. 132-153

Perl, Sondra. “The Composing Process of Unskilled College Writers.” Research in the Teaching

of English 13.4 (1979): 317-36. Print. Rpt. in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and

Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 236-250. Print

Rose, Mike. “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis

of Writer’s Block.” College Composition and Communication 31.4 (1980): 389-401. Rpt.

in Writing About Writing. Doug Downs and Elizabeth Wardle. Boston, 2011. 236-

250. Print

Rosemary Robert; Richard Scheaffer; Ann Watkins. “Advanced Placement Statistics-Past,

Present, and Future.” The American Statistician, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 1999), pp. 307-

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making it in english 1101: a survival guide

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