1/23/12
1. Describe what Villanueva calls "Professorial Discourse Analysis."
What Villanueva means by "Professorial Discourse Analysis" is the examination of his writing through investigation of work done by professors or mentors. "Professorial Discourse Analysis" was Villanueva's strategy to learning how to write appropriately at the University of Washington where he was an undergraduate. He would use this type of analysis religiously by reviewing work that professors would publish, search for patterns, and finally mimic those patterns.
2. What are the major differences in writing between people who grow up in English-only communities and people who grow up in Spanish-speaking or bilingual communities?
There are many differences between people who grow up in English only communities and people who grow up in Spanish speaking communities. Spanish writing tends to have longer sentences and paragraphs than English writing. Also, Spanish writing uses more first and second person personal pronouns than English writing. Another difference is the balance of subject and predicate displayed by Spanish writers more so than English writers. Logical connections between sentences were not apparent in Spanish writing because they tended to focus more on language than logic, whereas English writing focused more on logic than language.
3. Villanueva learns his academic writing must become more logical if he will succeed in American universities. What does he mean by "logical" writing?
In order to become a successful writer in an American university, Villanueva much learn to write more logically. By "logical," Villanueva means that he must stray away from his usual pattern-like discourse as an undergraduate and focus on making his writing more factual, valid, and more structural. In other words, less freestyle and more understanding and reasoning so that he can format his writing in a way that different audiences would understand.
Summary
In Victor Villanueva's "Bootstraps," Villanueva takes the reader alongside his journey of his college career. From community college to graduate school, Villanueva shares his struggles of being a Puerto Rican student in the U.S. and triumphs of obtaining his PhD with the reader. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate how hard work, determination, and the drive for success can lead to one's dreams and goals, regardless of any circumstance, especially insecurity. He does this by narrating his ups and downs toward pursuing his ultimate dream of becoming a writer in the United States.
In order to pursue his writing goals, Villanueva had to use different types of methods to succeed as a minority in the United States. Villanueva studied samples from his professors publishings to gain a better understanding of what his professors were looking for in his writing. He called this process "Professorial Discourse Analysis," meaning he would study and examine his professors work to obtain knowledge on how to appropriately conduct discourse at the college level. Villanueva describes his method for learning language best when he states, "Professorial Discourse Analysis became a standard practice: go to the library; see what the course's professor had published; try to discern a pattern to her writing; try to mimic the pattern. Some would cite others' research. Some would cite different literary works to make assertions about one literary work. Whatever they did, I would do too" (Villanueva 88). Although this was one of his methods, there were limitations. When admitted into graduate school, his theory of "Professional Discourse Analysis" was heavily challenged. It was because of the harsher, more strict expectations professors had for graduate students that his method of discourse analysis was challenged and eventually forced to change to a more logical standpoint.
Due to Villanueva's hard work and strength to pursue his literary goals through methods of "Professorial Discourse Analysis," personal experiences, and advantage of external resources, Villanueva achieves ultimate enlightenment by understanding "logic" and obtaining his BA and PhD. Though Villanueva struggled with the belief that he was not smart enough, good enough, or even a White male American, he persisted and let his will to succeed propel him from an insecure Puerto Rican, to a well respected author.
Evaluation
I strongly agree with Victor Villanueva's position in his work "Bootstraps" because I whole heartedly believe that we as individuals possess the power to do whatever it is that we put our mind to. Villanueva wanted to succeed in literature and used his drive and will to boost his knowledge and make himself who he is today. I feel Villanueva's methods and ideas would help me become a better writer because, like him, taking advantage of all resources presented to him will catapult me to learn things I didn't know before ultimately making me a better writer. Villanueva's stance is also very relevant to me because I also am a minority pursuing a degree to better my life and do what i've dreamed of doing as a child. His idea of "Professorial Discourse Analysis" relates to my life project right now of earning a degree because the same steps that Villanueva took during his discourse analysis can be used in my everyday life to gain knowledge and make better decisions, especially when it comes to my literature.
DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 1
Discourse Analysis (Literary Scholars)
The members that encompass Literary Scholars typically involve those pursuing an English degree or are interested in writing literature at any level, however this includes any gender, ethnicity, age, or race. Those with any level of education as well. To become a member of the Literary Scholars community, a high school diploma is normally imperative as well as the pursuance of a degree from a university of community college. Some of the main purposes for writing in the community is to educate, entertain, persuade, debate, and inform the reader of topics or discussions that the reader either may not have known before, or knew about. For students, the purposes range from getting a good grade in their literature class, to writing to receive evaluation to better their literature. Professors goals are similar yet different. A professors purpose to get published and inform their students of the importance of literature and language. There are many types of genres that are used for communicating in this community. Many of them include memos, letters, notes, email, text messages, social media networks, postcards, and many more. Although there are numerous genres that are used, one genre seems to be used the most. The internet is the simplest form of communication for Literary Scholars given its accessibility and easy usage. Pens, pencils, computers, typewriters, phones, Kendall’s, and tablets are just some of the major tools for communicating. As a member of this community, it is critical to write about a topic that will make the reader be drawn to your work. The topics that are generally written about are religion, culture, fiction, non-fiction, sports, nature, current events, politics, autobiographies, etc. The reason Literary Scholars write about these topics and why it is so important to this community is because these topics deal with every day obstacles and issues that the reader is confronted with each day of their life. It also helps the reader become open minded to these topics and brings about knowledge that may not have been learned yet. The regulating behaviors established within this community include having the literature styled in MLA format when citing, proper sentence and paragraph structure, organization, and most importantly, that the literature supports what the writer is trying to convey. Like most communities, this particular community uses jargon to help the community better understand what the writer is conveying through shorthand vocabulary. Literary Scholars’ jargon include foreshadowing, irony, ethos, plot, theme and thesis.
My Personal Discourse Analysis (Kinesiology Majors)
The members of this community include any gender, ethnicity, or race who ranges from about 17-30 in age and has a high school diploma with acceptance into a university or community college. To become a member of this community, one must graduate from high school, gain acceptance into a college, be accepted into the Kinesiology program, and take classes pertaining to Kinesiology. There are many purposes for being in this community. The purposes are to graduate from college and obtain a job with the knowledge of one’s particular area of study within Kinesiology, whether it be Sports Management, Athletic Training, or what I’m doing, Physical Therapy. Genres, or forms of writing, include charts, patient records, emails, and doctor’s notes. Mostly computers are used as the most efficient form of media, however there are also pens and pencils as well as word documents. The topics that are generally written about are anatomy and physiology, child development, motor functioning of the body, nutrition, etc. These topics are very important because we all are humans and must know how to take care of our bodies, especially when they malfunction or get hurt. The conventions that regulate behavior for Kinesiology majors are no cursing, patient confidentiality, professionalism in the workplace, and cleanliness. Jargon is a major part of this community because it represents a particular language that other members of the community clearly understand and perform their duties more accurately and efficiently. The vast majority of jargon used pertains to suffixes and prefixes such as -rrhea, epi-, -coccal, intra-, etc.
LITERARY ANALYSIS OF "THE SCHOONER FLIGHT"
In Derek Walcott’s “The Schooner Flight,” there are many interesting areas in which Walcott touches on. The one aspect that I will focus on is Walcott’s character Shabine and how the influence of Shabine in the passage resonates Walcott’s theme. Shabine is a loving, passionate, yet unhappy man who loves the sea and his wife and kids. However, his growing disappointment and unhappiness with society’s corruption and negative change forces him to leave his wife, children, and mistress in Trinidad and voyage out on the “Schooner Flight.”
My interpretation of Walcott’s theme in this poem was that the author is using his own life experiences to connect or sympathize with his character Shabine. I felt that Shabine was Walcott and that Walcott was Shabine, even though Walcott fictionalizes Shabine. Whether negative or positive, Walcott used the character of Shabine to express his own self.
A prime example of this is when Shabine leaves Trinidad via taxi and reflects how much he misses the way Trinidad used to be before all the corruption, war, and change. He does this by stating, “I look in the rearview and see a man
exactly like me, and the man was weeping for the houses, the street, that whole fucking island" (Walcott 1). By stating this, Walcott is identifying himself with the emotions, feelings, and disillusionment that Shabine possesses.
In conclusion, Shabine's roller coaster journey rivals that of the authors because this poem is essentially an autobiography. Due to the fact that there is a sense of narration on Walcott's end, the thesis can be states that Shabine's voyage away from the corruption and unhappiness to the unknown is equivalent to Walcott's own journey in life thus far into what is yet to be determined, or better known as the future.
Summary and Analysis of "The Poet's Fiction of Self"
"The Poet's Fiction of Self" by Edward Baugh points out very intriguing points of view that may or may not have been invited by the reader when reading a passage, in particular "The Schooner's Flight" by Derek Walcott. In this journal, Baugh unveils his interest in the fact that some authors represent themselves within their own work through fictitious characters. For example, Baugh suggests that Derek Walcott, the author of "The Schooner's Flight," uses the character Shabine as a reflection of himself. Baugh states, "Walcott's binding theme is Walcott, the pursuit and delineation of a fictive character based on an actual person named Derek Walcott" (Baugh 311). By stating this, Baugh emphasizes his point that Walcott is using the character Shabine to interrogate or examine himself.
To prove this point, Baugh uses another poem written by Walcott called "Another Life." Baugh emphasizes that in Walcott's original manuscript of "Another Life," Walcott struggled with using first, second, or third person, thus leading him to ultimately use fictitious characters to portray himself and believe that autobiographies are the means of good writing. Another sample that Baugh uses is he mentions Stephen Spender's "schizophrenia" idea that "an autobiographer is really writing a story of two lives: his life as it appers to himself....and his life as it appers from outside in the minds of others" (Baugh 313). This sample focuses on Walcott's use of "I" or "he" to speak about himself in third person or first person through a character in his work.
Finally, Baugh comes to the conclusion that Walcott reflects his past and present through his own literary work. By doing this, authors such as Walcott can gain a sense of relief from writing about their own experiences or even awareness to the audience of the trials and tribulations that the author had to endure being a particular race, ethnicity, age, or citizen of a particular community. Although Baugh was troubled by the ending of Walcott's "The Schooner Flight," Baugh acknowledges and respects Walcott's experiences and how he portrays it through his work and out to his audience.
In essence I agree with Baugh's thesis that Walcott uses fiction to portray himself. I agree with this because in autobiographies, authors do tend to use personal life experience in their writing to connect with their characters and give the audience a more in-depth view of the authors trials and tribulations. I feel that if I used this method in my writing, then I will obtain a deeper connection with my literary work and be able to write more thoroughly due to the fact that I can relate to what I am writing about. Baugh's "The Poet's Fiction of Self" and "The Schooner Flight" are major influences on what we are doing in class because both of these epic bodies of work obtain very powerful genre. These categories of text construct how their ideas are drawn out and grasp the audiences attention. Especially readings the dialect of the West Indies, analyzing the genre of "The Schooner Flight" was imperative to understand Baugh's thesis that Walcott resonated himself through his characters.
SUMMARIZING "RESPONDING TO STUDENT WRITING"
In Nancy Sommers' "Responding to Student Writing," Sommers investigates what messages the teachers give their student's when commenting on their literary work and how the student's perceive these comments. Sommers' primary reasoning behind "Responding to Student Writing" is to inform the reader that teachers comments on student's papers are vague and not indicative of the purpose of the writer, thus steering the writer towards what the professor "wants," rather than what the paper "needs."
Nancy Sommers displays a strong sense of passion and concern about teachers comments on a students draft. She is affectionate about this topic because comments are very important to a writer due to the fact that writers need feedback and communication so that they know their message or meaning is being conveyed. Sommers emphasizes the importance of comment to a writer when she states, "As writers we need and want thoughtful commentary to show us when we have communicated our ideas and when not...We want to know if our writing has communicated our intended meaning" (Sommers 148). By stating this, Sommers displays just how important revision is to the writer. Diving deeper into her investigation of revision of student writing, Sommers researched 35 teachers from the University of Oklahoma and New York University with two of her colleagues, Lil Brannon and Cyril Knoblach. Their study focused on comments teachers would give to motivate revisions.
After conducting this research, Sommers found that teachers "appropriate" or possess authority of the draft by the student by delivering comments that focus on diction, structure, and what the professor wants rather than the overall meaning of the text. This problem is coupled with the problem that teachers often contradict themselves by asking the student to "condense" yet "elaborate" on the paragraph. Finally, Sommers found that generic comments serve no use on revisions because they confuse the writer as to what is important when revising and don't elaborate on how to fix the problem. The remedy for these ongoing problems to educate the writer on "how" to revise and not "what" to revise. Sommers says it best when she states, "Written comments need to be viewed not as an end in themselves-a way for teachers to satisfy themselves that they have done their job-but rather as a means for helping students become effective writers" (Sommers 155).
Evaluation
I whole heartedly agree with Nancy Sommers' "Responding to Student Writing" because as a student who has been writing papers throughout my schooling, I can sympathize with the concerns that Sommers presents. I've always felt that what I was trying to convey in my writing was being overshadowed by what my professor wanted my paper to look like, instead of focusing on the main idea or purpose of the text. I believe that teachers who adopt Sommers' solution to bind what is taught in the classroom with the comments portrayed in the paper will help students, including myself, become a more effective writer.
SUMMARIZING NANCY SOMMERS "REVISION STRATEGIES OF STUDENT WRITERS AND EXPERIENCED ADULT WRITERS"
In Nancy Sommers' "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers," Sommers examines the differences of revision between student writers and experienced adult writers on compositions. The purpose of Sommers' article is to point out to the reader how students view revision and how experienced writers portray revision.
Sommers argues that compositions follow a very bland, dogmatic linear structure that focuses on a systematic production of first, then, and finally. Due to this linear notion of writing, Sommers feels that revision comes "as a separate stage at the end of the process-a stage that comes after the completion of a first and second draft" (Sommers 378). She came to this conclusion by conducting a case study with 20 freshman from the University of Oklahoma and Boston University and 20 experienced adult writers. All wrote three essays and were interviewed afterwards. In this case study, Sommers found that student writers defined revision as a "rewording activity" whereas experienced writers defined revision as "finding the form or shape of their argument" (Sommers 383-384). Although both writers defined revision differently, similar levels of revision occured between the two. The four revision operations that were found were deletion, substitution, addition and reordering. Word, phrase, sentence, and theme were four levels of changes that were identified as well.
Overall, Sommers concludes that student writing differs from experienced adult writers because students use a linear structure instilled in them by their teachers and experienced writers continually revise to discover a deeper, more focused meaning behind their work. Conceptual repetition, ability to make clear and distinct concepts through repetition, is non-existant in student writing whereas experienced writers use holistic perspectives and recursive processes to enhance the balance and rhythm of their paper as a whole. It is differences like these that helps Sommers realize that the remedy for student writers is to look at their work through their own eyes and focus on the meaning of their work rather than vocabulary and linear methods.
ANALYZING "NINETEEN-THIRTY-SEVEN"
In the short story in Edwidge Danticat's Krik? Krak! entitled "Nineteen Thirty-Seven," there are many approaches in which the reader can analyze this story. The method of analyzation I will pursue will be based on the theme of the historical significance of ancestry. The importance of family and its ancestors is a very cultural and meaningful theme, especially with Josephine and her mother Manman in "Nineteen Thirty-Seven."
Family and the history that surrounds family is crucial to understanding the relationship between Josephine and her mother and why they make the decisions they make or practice what they practice. Before Josephine was born, Manman swam across the Massacre River from the Dominican Republic to Haiti in pursuit of a happier, more opportunistic life for Josephine. Manman did this after witnessing her own mother violently killed by the Haitian hating Dominican Republicans. This theme of family closeness and ancestry is significant to the rest of the piece because the whole premise of this piece is to illustrate how important it is for Haitian's to keep records of their history by passing stories down from generation to generation like Manman did to Josephine about Manman's mother, regarless of colonization.
A prime example of the significance of passing down heritage and stories through generations is when Josephine talks about performing rituals and paying respect to those killed by Dominicans. She states, "We were all daughters of that river, which had taken our mothers from us. Our mothers were the ashes and we were the light. Our mothers were the embers and we were the sparks. Our mothers were the flames and we were the blaze" (Danticat 41). By stating this, Josephine is emphasizing the importance of family and ancestry by showing the reader that one's culture and heritage will live on from generation to generation due to life experiences as each day goes by.
This quotation as well as Manman's relentless effort to overcome her own mothers death by saving her own child, Josephine, supports the theme of the historical significance of ancestry because it displays the discoverance of self by Josephine through her mothers unselfish actions. By swimming across the Massacre River while the "soldiers were chopping up her mother's body and throwing it into the river along with many others" (Danticat 40), Manman was able to salvage the life of her daughter, pass down values and traits, and continue the legacy and history of Haitian woman through her daughter for at least another generation.
SUMMARIZING HANS ROSLING "LET MY DATASET CHANGE YOUR MINDSET"
In Hans Rosling's "Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset," Rosling gives a speech that focuses on moving away from common myths about the developing world. He does this by providing multiple sets of data that shows the growth of many countries at a much faster rate as the West did. He argues that a collection of accurate and thorough data will dispel the common myths that his students have of the Western world and the developing world, inherited by the teachings of their professors and parents. Rosling's students view the Western world as a world with longer lives and smaller families whereas the developing world contains shorter lives with larger families.
The most common myth of the developing world is the myth that Third World countries, or countries other than the US, are not as technologically and medically behind as we think they are. An example of this is when Rosling breaks bubbles that represents huge regions into bubbles that represent countries. What this shows is the vast difference between income and health of countries compared to regions by showing that regions contain many different countries that have developed and are continuing to develop toward prosperity and health at a rate in which is almost equivalent to the Western world. The data that Rosling displays challenges assumptions about global health and development by displaying the development of many countries and showing how these countries would continue to develop in the modern world if global health was better. These challenges are so important because with better global health, many countries, including the US, would continue to rapidly grow towards prosperity and immunization. This would greatly affect many Third World countries who suffer from HIV, malaria, influenza, and many other life threatening diseases.
In conclusion, Hans Rosling's use of datasets to change the mindsets of society is very crucial in showing people that the world is not as medically, technologically, or socially illiterate as our common myths presume. According to Rosling, collecting thorough and specific data, awareness can be raised throughout all countries of where each country is currently at in terms of prosperity and health. The use of understandable and enjoyable datasets to represent his basis strongly draws the audience's attention, thus forcing the audience to listen and comprehend the message that Rosling is trying to convey.
ANALYZING "BETWEEN THE POOL AND THE GARDENIAS" BY DANTICAT
In determining the significance in the overall body of work in Danticat's "Between the Pool and the Gardenias," one must analyze the meaning and importance of the character Marie. Marie is a Haitian woman who has endured much pain and sadness in her life by having many miscarriages, a husband who cheats on her, and family members who have been killed by Dominicans. Due to these hardships in life, Marie has resorted to giving up on life and living in a fantasy world where a dead baby she finds in the city becomes her "living" baby and the ghosts of her ancestors are portrayed as real to her.
The character of Marie is very significant to the rest of this short story because Marie epitomizes the real world, and historical struggles that Haitian women continuously endured in the Dominican Republic. Women were sought out to be witches, seen as inferior, and held the continuance of life from generation to generation crucial to Haitian women values. Marie's inability to produce a child ensured that she was not going to be able to continue her ancestral line, thus making Marie want to join her mother and ancestors in death. A prime example of this is when Marie states, "I have always said my mother's prayers at dawn. I welcomed the years that were slowing bringing me closer to her. For no matter how much distance death tried to put between us, my mother would often come to visit me" (Danticat 94). This quotation emphasizes Marie's readiness to die due to her miscarriages and cheating husband. Another important part of Haitian women's history is the likelihood of a woman being considered a witch. After the dead baby that Marie takes care of begins to rot and smell like "the pig intestines after they hadn't sold for a few days" (Danticat 97), a Dominican man sees Marie with the dead baby and believes that she has some part in the innocent baby's death, thus accusing her of witchcraft. The importance of the Dominican stating, "I smell the rotten flesh. I know you kill the child and keep it with you for evil" and "You eat little children who haven't even had time to earn their souls" (Danticat 99), emphasizes the portrayal of Domincan's accusing Haitian women of witchcraft, something that has been done throughout Haitian women history.
The quotes and evidence supported throughout supports the thesis that Marie's character in "Between the Pool and the Gardenias" epitomizes the real world struggles of hardship, witchcraft, abuse, inferiority, and continuance of the ancestral line. Marie's inability to bare children, accusations of killing a child, and acceptance of death are all examples of what Haitian women living in the Dominican Republic had to endure, resulting in an unwanted, unequal life.
Literary Analysis of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"
Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," serves as a timeline of one Dominican family who live in a time period of dictatorship and hardship. During the time period in which this novel is set, dictator Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic and created nothing but angst and despair for his residents. This is essential in understanding the theme of unrequited love due to a curse believed to have stricken the De Leon family in "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."
Diaz begins by describing to the reader that "fuku americanus - or more colloquially; fuku - generally a curse or a doom of somekind; specifically The Curse and The Doom of the New World" has plagued the De Leon family and is the reason for their misfortune (Diaz 2). One consistent and important misfortune that the curse has ruined is the De Leon families ability to find true, happy love. In chapter one, Oscar De Leon is introduced. Oscar's lack of physical handsomeness, nerdiness, and absence of "G" made Oscar an outcast and made love an impossible thing for him to achieve due to the curse. The same applies for Lola and Beli. Although Lola and Beli suffered significant amounts of violence and abuse throughout their lives as an inferior gender in the Dominican Republic, their inability to find true love has always been a problem for them due to "fuku americanus." Lola and Beli had their problems with men, however Lola's inability to find love focused centrally on her mother. Lola and Beli didn't have the greatest mother-daughter relationship and Diaz emphasizes this when he states, "I hate you Beli, I said very quietly, but she didn't hear. Go get me some water, she said. Put an ice cube in it. That was the last thing I ever did for her. The next morning I was on the bus bound for the Shore" (Diaz 47). This quote is significant to the theme of unrequited love due to the curse because although the relationship between mother and daughter was very strong in Dominican heritage, Lola and Beli had a very weak relationship.
This theme is very crucial in understanding Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," Dominican heritage, and the theme of unrequited love due to the curse because the De Leon family seem to have inherited all the opposite qualities of a Dominican because of the curse. Dominican men are attractive and smooth, however Oscar is fat and unattractive. Dominican women have strong bonds with their mothers, however Lola and Beni both were abused during childhood and don't share a common bond.
Literary Analysis of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" (ending)
Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" deals with the struggles of the many hardships that Dominican men and women had to endure living under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Oscar Wao and his Dominican family are no exception to the families enduring such difficulties. This is imperative to understanding the central theme in the entire novel. Throughout the novel, the theme of the supernatural weighs heavy within Oscar Wao's family and the Dominican Republic.
The most apparent evidence of supernatural elements is fuku, "generally a curse or doom of somekind; specifically The Curse and the Doom of the New World" (Diaz 2). All the misfortunes that the DeLeon family endures, such as Oscar being shot and killed, Lola being beaten by her gangsters friends, and Yunior cheating on Lola, all point to the unlucky curse of the fuku that has plagued this family for as long as they live. This underlying current is important to understanding the theme of supernatural elements because it makes the reader question whether or not all the events that take place are caused by the fuku. Other examples of the supernatural fill this novel as well, such as the mongoose coming to the aid of the helpless, La Inca's prayers, and Trujillo's power over his people. Although these are all signs of the major theme of supernatural elements, Yunior sums it up best when he states, So which is it? you ask. An accident, conspiracy, or fuku? The only answer I can give you is least satisfying:you'll have to decide for yourself. What's certain is that nothing is certain. We are trawling in silences here" (Diaz 243). This quote is extremely important in dealing with the supernatural because at this point of the novel the reader is "trawling in silences," wondering why all bad things are happening. It helps the reader question whether the supernatural is responsible or not.
This theme is crucial to understanding the importance of "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and how many other themes are represented. Supernatural elements are apparent within the entire novel, which correlates to the belief of the curse of the fuku. By telling this story, Yunior hopes to convert the curse of the fuku into zafa, the remedy.
SUMMARY/ANALYSIS OF "FACTORS PREDICTING EFFECTIVE ORAL PRESENTATIONS IN EFL CLASSROOMS."
Since the beginning of the teacher and student era, the habitual process for obtaining a good grade and assisting feedback was for the teacher, and the teacher only, to provide feedback to the presenter that mostly pertained to what the teacher felt was good or bad and its grammatical flaws. In Otoshi and Heffernan's "Factors Predicting Effective Oral Presentations in EFL Classrooms," the authors investigate "what factors EFL learners consider to be important when making presentations" (Otoshi and Heffernan, 2008). Both authors try to display the importance and necessity of peer reviews when delivering an oral presentation.
They do this because they believe that the major benefits that arise from allowing students to be apart of how they will be graded/evaluated are students can take an active role in their own language learning, interaction between learners is helpful, and facilitates autonomy. To carry out this investigation, both authors surveyed 304 Japanese undergraduates that were attending a large private university that were taking a required oral presentation class. An attitude survey was conducted and analysis by descriptive statistics and principal components were assessed. Most importantly, a rubrik was developed to analyze the results. It was very important to the authors to include students in governing the rubric because the "lack of student input might lead to a low reliability of peer assessment because students are not aware of the description of each evaluation criterion" (Otoshi and Heffernan, 2008). The ability to be integrated in making a rubric gives the student ownership of the grade they receive because the student now knows exactly what is required to receive a good grade.
In conclusion, both authors conclude that involvement of learners in criteria making decisions helps learners gain a firm knowledge of the form and process of what makes an effetive oral presentation. The ability of students to create a rubric in unison with the teacher expands the students ability to perform a successful presentation. The three major factors that students view as most important in a presentation, organization of the presentation, clearly stated voice, and unimportance of grammar over the overall message, will greatly be achieved if peer involvement is established. The actions both authors suggest the reader should take is unison of teacher/peer establishment in criteria and the movement away from focus on grammatical errors rather than illustration of the message being conveyed.
SUMMARIZING HANS ROSLING "LET MY DATASET CHANGE YOUR MINDSET"
In Hans Rosling's "Let My Dataset Change Your Mindset," Rosling gives a speech that focuses on moving away from common myths about the developing world. He does this by providing multiple sets of data that shows the growth of many countries at a much faster rate as the West did. He argues that a collection of accurate and thorough data will dispel the common myths that his students have of the Western world and the developing world, inherited by the teachings of their professors and parents. Rosling's students view the Western world as a world with longer lives and smaller families whereas the developing world contains shorter lives with larger families.
The most common myth of the developing world is the myth that Third World countries, or countries other than the US, are not as technologically and medically behind as we think they are. An example of this is when Rosling breaks bubbles that represents huge regions into bubbles that represent countries. What this shows is the vast difference between income and health of countries compared to regions by showing that regions contain many different countries that have developed and are continuing to develop toward prosperity and health at a rate in which is almost equivalent to the Western world. The data that Rosling displays challenges assumptions about global health and development by displaying the development of many countries and showing how these countries would continue to develop in the modern world if global health was better. These challenges are so important because with better global health, many countries, including the US, would continue to rapidly grow towards prosperity and immunization. This would greatly affect many Third World countries who suffer from HIV, malaria, influenza, and many other life threatening diseases.
In conclusion, Hans Rosling's use of datasets to change the mindsets of society is very crucial in showing people that the world is not as medically, technologically, or socially illiterate as our common myths presume. According to Rosling, collecting thorough and specific data, awareness can be raised throughout all countries of where each country is currently at in terms of prosperity and health. The use of understandable and enjoyable datasets to represent his basis strongly draws the audience's attention, thus forcing the audience to listen and comprehend the message that Rosling is trying to convey.
ANALYZING "BETWEEN THE POOL AND THE GARDENIAS" BY DANTICAT
In determining the significance in the overall body of work in Danticat's "Between the Pool and the Gardenias," one must analyze the meaning and importance of the character Marie. Marie is a Haitian woman who has endured much pain and sadness in her life by having many miscarriages, a husband who cheats on her, and family members who have been killed by Dominicans. Due to these hardships in life, Marie has resorted to giving up on life and living in a fantasy world where a dead baby she finds in the city becomes her "living" baby and the ghosts of her ancestors are portrayed as real to her.
The character of Marie is very significant to the rest of this short story because Marie epitomizes the real world, and historical struggles that Haitian women continuously endured in the Dominican Republic. Women were sought out to be witches, seen as inferior, and held the continuance of life from generation to generation crucial to Haitian women values. Marie's inability to produce a child ensured that she was not going to be able to continue her ancestral line, thus making Marie want to join her mother and ancestors in death. A prime example of this is when Marie states, "I have always said my mother's prayers at dawn. I welcomed the years that were slowing bringing me closer to her. For no matter how much distance death tried to put between us, my mother would often come to visit me" (Danticat 94). This quotation emphasizes Marie's readiness to die due to her miscarriages and cheating husband. Another important part of Haitian women's history is the likelihood of a woman being considered a witch. After the dead baby that Marie takes care of begins to rot and smell like "the pig intestines after they hadn't sold for a few days" (Danticat 97), a Dominican man sees Marie with the dead baby and believes that she has some part in the innocent baby's death, thus accusing her of witchcraft. The importance of the Dominican stating, "I smell the rotten flesh. I know you kill the child and keep it with you for evil" and "You eat little children who haven't even had time to earn their souls" (Danticat 99), emphasizes the portrayal of Domincan's accusing Haitian women of witchcraft, something that has been done throughout Haitian women history.
The quotes and evidence supported throughout supports the thesis that Marie's character in "Between the Pool and the Gardenias" epitomizes the real world struggles of hardship, witchcraft, abuse, inferiority, and continuance of the ancestral line. Marie's inability to bare children, accusations of killing a child, and acceptance of death are all examples of what Haitian women living in the Dominican Republic had to endure, resulting in an unwanted, unequal life.
Literary Analysis of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao"
Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," serves as a timeline of one Dominican family who live in a time period of dictatorship and hardship. During the time period in which this novel is set, dictator Rafael Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic and created nothing but angst and despair for his residents. This is essential in understanding the theme of unrequited love due to a curse believed to have stricken the De Leon family in "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao."
Diaz begins by describing to the reader that "fuku americanus - or more colloquially; fuku - generally a curse or a doom of somekind; specifically The Curse and The Doom of the New World" has plagued the De Leon family and is the reason for their misfortune (Diaz 2). One consistent and important misfortune that the curse has ruined is the De Leon families ability to find true, happy love. In chapter one, Oscar De Leon is introduced. Oscar's lack of physical handsomeness, nerdiness, and absence of "G" made Oscar an outcast and made love an impossible thing for him to achieve due to the curse. The same applies for Lola and Beli. Although Lola and Beli suffered significant amounts of violence and abuse throughout their lives as an inferior gender in the Dominican Republic, their inability to find true love has always been a problem for them due to "fuku americanus." Lola and Beli had their problems with men, however Lola's inability to find love focused centrally on her mother. Lola and Beli didn't have the greatest mother-daughter relationship and Diaz emphasizes this when he states, "I hate you Beli, I said very quietly, but she didn't hear. Go get me some water, she said. Put an ice cube in it. That was the last thing I ever did for her. The next morning I was on the bus bound for the Shore" (Diaz 47). This quote is significant to the theme of unrequited love due to the curse because although the relationship between mother and daughter was very strong in Dominican heritage, Lola and Beli had a very weak relationship.
This theme is very crucial in understanding Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," Dominican heritage, and the theme of unrequited love due to the curse because the De Leon family seem to have inherited all the opposite qualities of a Dominican because of the curse. Dominican men are attractive and smooth, however Oscar is fat and unattractive. Dominican women have strong bonds with their mothers, however Lola and Beni both were abused during childhood and don't share a common bond.
Literary Analysis of "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" (ending)
Junot Diaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" deals with the struggles of the many hardships that Dominican men and women had to endure living under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Oscar Wao and his Dominican family are no exception to the families enduring such difficulties. This is imperative to understanding the central theme in the entire novel. Throughout the novel, the theme of the supernatural weighs heavy within Oscar Wao's family and the Dominican Republic.
The most apparent evidence of supernatural elements is fuku, "generally a curse or doom of somekind; specifically The Curse and the Doom of the New World" (Diaz 2). All the misfortunes that the DeLeon family endures, such as Oscar being shot and killed, Lola being beaten by her gangsters friends, and Yunior cheating on Lola, all point to the unlucky curse of the fuku that has plagued this family for as long as they live. This underlying current is important to understanding the theme of supernatural elements because it makes the reader question whether or not all the events that take place are caused by the fuku. Other examples of the supernatural fill this novel as well, such as the mongoose coming to the aid of the helpless, La Inca's prayers, and Trujillo's power over his people. Although these are all signs of the major theme of supernatural elements, Yunior sums it up best when he states, So which is it? you ask. An accident, conspiracy, or fuku? The only answer I can give you is least satisfying:you'll have to decide for yourself. What's certain is that nothing is certain. We are trawling in silences here" (Diaz 243). This quote is extremely important in dealing with the supernatural because at this point of the novel the reader is "trawling in silences," wondering why all bad things are happening. It helps the reader question whether the supernatural is responsible or not.
This theme is crucial to understanding the importance of "The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and how many other themes are represented. Supernatural elements are apparent within the entire novel, which correlates to the belief of the curse of the fuku. By telling this story, Yunior hopes to convert the curse of the fuku into zafa, the remedy.
SUMMARY/ANALYSIS OF "FACTORS PREDICTING EFFECTIVE ORAL PRESENTATIONS IN EFL CLASSROOMS."
Since the beginning of the teacher and student era, the habitual process for obtaining a good grade and assisting feedback was for the teacher, and the teacher only, to provide feedback to the presenter that mostly pertained to what the teacher felt was good or bad and its grammatical flaws. In Otoshi and Heffernan's "Factors Predicting Effective Oral Presentations in EFL Classrooms," the authors investigate "what factors EFL learners consider to be important when making presentations" (Otoshi and Heffernan, 2008). Both authors try to display the importance and necessity of peer reviews when delivering an oral presentation.
They do this because they believe that the major benefits that arise from allowing students to be apart of how they will be graded/evaluated are students can take an active role in their own language learning, interaction between learners is helpful, and facilitates autonomy. To carry out this investigation, both authors surveyed 304 Japanese undergraduates that were attending a large private university that were taking a required oral presentation class. An attitude survey was conducted and analysis by descriptive statistics and principal components were assessed. Most importantly, a rubrik was developed to analyze the results. It was very important to the authors to include students in governing the rubric because the "lack of student input might lead to a low reliability of peer assessment because students are not aware of the description of each evaluation criterion" (Otoshi and Heffernan, 2008). The ability to be integrated in making a rubric gives the student ownership of the grade they receive because the student now knows exactly what is required to receive a good grade.
In conclusion, both authors conclude that involvement of learners in criteria making decisions helps learners gain a firm knowledge of the form and process of what makes an effetive oral presentation. The ability of students to create a rubric in unison with the teacher expands the students ability to perform a successful presentation. The three major factors that students view as most important in a presentation, organization of the presentation, clearly stated voice, and unimportance of grammar over the overall message, will greatly be achieved if peer involvement is established. The actions both authors suggest the reader should take is unison of teacher/peer establishment in criteria and the movement away from focus on grammatical errors rather than illustration of the message being conveyed.
