Sentence Building: One at a Time

Anderson had me questioning some of the principles I have been personally taught in writing. On page 87 he talks about replacing the comma splice with a coordinating conjunction followed by a comma, or a semicolon (like we discussed last class). I was once told that when using a semicolon, to always use a transition word like "however" after the mark of puncuation. I now know that this is not true, but I am wondering, is there a particular instance in which this is necessary? I couldn't help but relate it back to his explanation of when to use the comma after the conjunction (84). It made me think, "If there is a special rule for this, there probably is for semicolons, too." also demonstrated to students how to use an author's ideas without plagarizing them. Through teaching students to imitate a sentence's form, not content, (94) he is helping them become more familiar with the process so they won't mistakenly plagiarize information. I think the other side of the coin is teaching students to summarize properly. It can be difficult to say what the source is saying in a unique way without manipulating their ideas but, again, this is a necessary skill to acquire. I absolutely love the assignment in which the students are sent out to take down "field notes" (97) , observations of something in their lives outside of school. I like the idea of getting students to interact with their environments in this way. What all of his specific solutions to grammatical problems have in common are the sentence-building activities that he implements.

Since last week I accidentally wrote about Chapter 2 in Noden, this week I will compensate with Chapter 4: From Imitation to Creation. Noden basically expands on the same point that Anderson makes above. I'm not really sure I get the house comparison though. I think what Noden is simply trying to say is: Build your own style house. You can use the same structure, but the materials must be different. That helps me understand it anyway! I found the various approaches to imitation quite interesting, and some of them complex. Many of these methods, like the Pooh Perplex Approach, I recognized as devices used by writers of the classics I read all the time. It made me realize that these approaches are not just for students attempting to improve their writing; they are for real writers with real purposes as well. I especially favor the first two of the imitation strategies, which are the "Writer's Sketchbook" (92) and the "Family Photo" (93), respectively. What I like about both of these strategies is the transition from the visual images through the writer's (artist's) eye to the paper (canvas). Wordsworth said that each person has a different experience, even if it is the same subject matter. It is the writer's duty to be able to eloquently, linguisitically impart their internal experience and reaction to their subject. That's what it made me think of. Even though each reader's experience with the text will be different, the author should still set the scene with as many details as possible, trying to insert the reader into their own version of the text.