ENG101 Unit 2 Final Blog

UNIT 2 Final Blog


Since the half way blog I have not learned anything new per say. The project gave the results that I expected- that people would have a reaction to the genre when it was in a different context. I did come to realize though that we are able to assume that because people had such an adverse reaction to our one altered genre, that they may react to any genre that is altered.  However, we are not able to generalize that finding as a fact - due to the fact that we do not have enough research to back it up. 
The only thing I'm currently struggling with in this class is the Final Blogs. I never know what to write because I feel as if I have written everything I have learned in the half way blog.
One thing I was a little worried about at the beginning of the unit was having to work in a group.  Group work - esp in Gen Ed classes - does not always get evenly shared.  Usually only one or two of the group members end up doing all of the work.


The biggest take-away for me was already stated in my half-way blog. But, it is that now I actually see all writing as writing genres, and I am able to contemplate their construed constraints. Before this unit, I only saw school work or book and poems as genres.


I really enjoyed our project! I thought it was creative, hands-on, and really taught us something that is applicable to every day life! And, I am excited to see what others did for their projects. So, I am glad that you are having us all share in front of the class about our projects and our findings.


(For my comment on another blog, I commented on "Welcome to Renae's Thoughts.")

ENG101 UNIT2 Halfway Learning Blog

ENG101 UNIT2 Halfway Learning Blog

       Thousands of kinds of genres are a part of our daily life.   Each genre consists of a set of socially construed characteristics.  These characteristics make up the format, design, intended audience, and location of the genre.  Over time, society decided what characteristics apply to each genre, and these characteristics have been accepted “like gospel” in the majority of American Society. Most of us do not consciously consider the specific characteristics of each genre.  We merely treat them like an involuntary body function –not really noticing they are there but just taking them for granted.  Unit Two, English 101, is teaching us to notice those specific characteristics, and it is teaching us to realize how deeply engrained as undisputed facts the decided characteristics of genres are in the average person’s mind. 

            These characteristics are widely accepted almost as if they were absolute truth, but are only based the relativity factor of what society deemed as proper over time.  We accept these characteristics without question, and apply them to genres we create and expect them of genres we encounter.  How many things do we accept at face value without question because the general public, or more specifically our peers, deemed them as correct, normal, and/or proper.  The issue of accepting genre socially construed characteristics is small compared to a society that accepted without question, the idea of extinguishing another race.  But, if we are willing to start with the small things, how many other things will we continue to accept without question before the line of “how far is too far” becomes blurry? This may seem like a long stretch for an analogy, but maybe it will get people to think about things in a different light.  Maybe, it will help people to think before jumping on a bandwagon for any issues from the seeming small topic of genre characteristics to larger issues such as how and why we judge or treat people a certain way.   How much will we subconsciously allow society to dictate our actions and views? Stephen Fry discusses, in the Grassroots article “Breaking Down Grammatical Snobbery…” about what really is “good” English.  He addresses the fact that what society deems as “good” English is not always fitting or the best use for different situations.  He also talks about how just because someone does not follow society’s characteristics, does not make them necessarily a bad writer.

            I also had never realized the amount of characteristics that apply to each genre.  I never considered that these characteristics were relative, and I have realized with this study, how deeply engrained these ideas of society are engrained in my own thought process.   I enjoyed reading the pre-mentioned Grassroots article because I never thought about things from Stephen Fry’s perspective.  Growing up, I was always in the honors English classes, and I tried to follow the laws that society has placed on what I have been taught is “proper writing.”  When I proof read/ peer review others’ papers, I usually expect and hold the authors to also follow the typical guidelines for writing.  Even now as I see this different perspective, it is still hard for me to look at another’s paper with what I see as “poor writing skills” and not expect or demand that they improve their writing to meet the standards that I have been taught as unquestionable truth. (I must note that… I know that I often make mistakes in my own writing, but I at least expect others to have the same goal as me--to try to get as close to the “standard” as possible.)  I now realize how much society’s idea of “good writing” has been deeply engrained into my world view.  

            By all of this, I am not saying that everything that society decides as a whole is bad/wrong.  I am just saying that we should question why we follow it, or see it as truth before we subconsciously follow or accept.  I do personally feel that what society has deemed as “good writing” is a good thing in many ways.  I believe that we do need a standard in our society to follow, in order to be graded and to have a standard for what professionalism is in writing.  We also need these standards to have a basis for how our language works and functions.  How else would you teach someone the language of English if we did not have some set rules?  These rules keep our language somewhat universal.  If change the characteristics of how we write or communicate (this mostly applies to international business)the issue of local dialects may become an issue in our writing too.  With certain rules it is easier for international relations and even from one part of our country to another to translate and or conceptualize what we are trying to communicate.  However, I do agree that this idea of “good writing” has become generalized to more areas than what it should.  There should be some freedom of writing in many genres outside of professional work related genres.  This is because it allows people to be more creative, and many times can give a more personal level to the individual’s work.  It is possible to express yourself in standard writing characteristics, but one has to be proficient at writing in that style before he or she can really make his or her writing have a personality and stand out from others.

            I do not have any questions at this time, and I understand what we are discussing.  However, like I stated before, I enjoy the perspective that has been presented on this topic, but I do not agree as far as Stephen Fry takes it.  He does begrudgingly admit that there are times that society’s characteristics still need to apply (like a classroom), but he seems as if he would rather that not even to have to be the case.  In my opinion, I think that there is a good and proper place for society’s rules on writing (certain classroom, work, resume’s, other professional outputs). In my opinion, it is an obvious indicator to employers of who (based on the average person) has had a “good” education and who worked hard in school. The employer usually looks at the writing before they get to meet the applicant, so the writing has to be in a format that says something about the applicant’s level of professionalism.

            I think that I understand the material well, and have thought up a good life application/ life lesson from this material.  That is the goal of General Education courses for me.  I have to take them, so I might as well get as much as I can out of them by figuring out ways to apply what I learn to more than just the specific subject matter.  

Sources: Grassroots Journal, Class discussions, and ENG101 class blog