[Amber Slater]

Hi all! Please answer the following two questions:

1. To what extent does writing feel like a social process to you? Does writing ever feel lonely/isolating?

2. Pick one sentence from “Responding–Really Responding–to Other Students’ Writing” that is interesting/memorable to you. Why is it memorable or interesting?

[Janet C.]

1. When it comes to writing a paper, I don’t think writing becomes a social process. I think it all depends on the topic, it can sometimes be a piece of writing that connects to a certain group or a whole audience or to just an individual. I think writing never feels isolated, writing helps connect with the people. Many people around the world connect with a piece of writing, maybe the writer may feel that their piece of writing is not good, but when others read it, sometimes the individuals connect or agree with it.
2. “Not like a teacher. Not like a judge. Not like an editor or critic or shotgun.” This line was interesting because many of us colleagues may feel that we are being tough editors on our colleagues piece of writing. We are suppose to question the paper and help our peer improve their piece of writing even more, but we don’t want to sound tough or make the writer think he/she did not write a good paper. Some of us may think that it does not need any correction but others like me may not know what to correct, to help our colleague improve their piece even more.

[Abdullah123]

Writing never feels like a social process to me. Writing doesn’t feel lonely to me for the most part because I usually write about history/science. I think the sentence from the excerpt saying Not like a teacher “Not like a judge. Not like an editor or critic or shotgun. ” sounds very interesting. It shows that the writing is for a particular person. So no one can really judge it , except for that person that’s writing it.

[Trevian Brown]

For me writing is not a social process. If anything it’s very lonely. Just me and my thoughts and the paper that I am writing. It’s only after when other people read your paper and talk about it it could be sociable. One sentence from “Responding-Really Responding-to Other Students writing” that is memorable to me is “Writers write, readers read and show what they’re understanding and maybe make suggestions”. I like this quote because of its simplicity. How it explains briefly explains the difference between reading and writing.

[Francky]

I don’t think writing is a social process. In any cases writing can’t feel isolating, because who ever is writing a paper on any subject tries to scrutinize what’s either on his mind, or someone else’s mind. (either personal, social or politic). Any kind of writing might be helpful for some people (audience). I think that there’s no such thing as bad writing.
one sentence that is memorable for me in this article is: “Challenge yourself to write as many praise comments as criticisms.” it is fair to read a text (as a reader) with balance. Encourage what is well done, and criticize what is seemed unclear or needed to. it just help the writer to improve

[Josiah Ponce]

I think that writing can be a social process and not be a social process. For example, it can be a social process because , throughout history art and writing had an influence on society. Writing has started cultures, religions, theories, and concepts of science. Art itself can also piggy-back off of these writings with the help of visual representation of what people think in their imaginations when reading about these topics. When I write, I do not find it isolating, it feels more like meditating or reflecting. It feels like stepping into a blank room with all the time in the world, with a friend you can trust who has no particular face and being able to find comfort and confide in them. You can write whatever you’re thinking or feeling. Unless you’re writing for an assignment of course, then the person with “no particular face” becomes the face of your professor. Then you’d have to code-switch your writing accordingly to their liking or standards in order to get a good grade. I think writing becomes less of a social process when it’s not published because at that point it’s only writing you do for yourself, like a journal but if you write for a newspaper then you’re trying to get a point across to the masses and that’s when I think It becomes a social process. When you’re trying to make people think a certain way or you’re writing for the purpose of an audience.

One sentence that I found most memorable from the passage by Straub, is when he states that comments and commentaries sole purpose is to “…turn the writer back into his writing and lead him to reflect on his choices and aims, to consider and reconsider his intentions as a writer and the effects the words on the page will have on readers.” This is memorable to me because It defines what your main goal as a responder to a writer’s text should be.

[FahmidC]

To me, writing is really social depending on the who the writing is originally intended for. If it’s meant to be shared to many people, like an assignment or a book, then they writing is a social type because criticisms are expected from that writing. However, writing in a journal for yourself or to just a select few numbers of people could be considered a lonely type of writing because it’s not meant to be criticized and is considered private.

“Different readers are always going to pick up on different things and respond in different ways, and no one reading or response is going to address everything that might well be addressed, in the way it might best be addressed.”
This sentence stood out to me because I’m always interested in seeing many perspectives in pretty much anything. Everyone can view the same thing in a different way, and when the same people view it again, they might get a different understanding than from the first one. No reader will ever know the real meaning behind a work, we can only share what we gain from it and share with other people’s experience with the reading and put together the thoughts to get an understanding we never did before.

[Mykhal Parson]

Writing can be a social process if it is shared with an audience, and not just one person (usually a teacher/professor). Also, it could be more of a social process with peer reviewing (with multiple peers) in order to learn how to write better. I prefer to be isolated during my writing. Sometimes it does feel grueling to do by myself without any help (or if it’s on a topic I don’t care about), but I’d rather be isolated in order to lock in and complete the paper. It takes a while, but I usually get into a groove. But sometimes, being alone while doing a paper can be annoying because of writer’s block, or me being on my phone.
One “Responding–Really Responding–to Other Students’ Writing” that is memorable to me is, “Wouldn’t you want someone who was giving you comments not to sound like a teacher’s red pen, a judge’s ruling, an editor’s impatience, a critic’s wrath. a shotgun’s blast?”. This was memorable to me because usually when I did peer review in previous classes, it felt more like we were teachers/professors, and it didn’t feel conversational. I never felt like peer review was necessary because most of my peers would usually not take it too serious. Also, they weren’t too specific on how I could improve my papers either.

[Ashley]

Writing becomes a social process once your purpose is to actually reach a specific audience. It also becomes a social process once you have some peers review your work. This is because it brings a conversation up about your work and also gets you some constructive criticism. But even then, I don’t feel like writing is isolating or lonely. Writing serves as a way to express your feelings and get your thoughts out there, who’s to say someone else doesn’t feel the same way that you do? In other words, writing can connect with people.

“Don’t set out to seek and destroy all errors and problems in the writing. You’re not an editor. You’re not a teacher. You’re not a cruise missile. And don’t rewrite any parts of the paper. You’re not the writer; you’re a reader.” I found this sentence interesting because sometimes people tend to pick apart a person’s whole piece. You’re not reviewing a person’s writing to detect everything they are doing wrong. You want to help them see the things that they don’t see as the writer. You want to help them build on their ideas. The last thing I would want someone to think when I am reviewing their writing is that they suck at writing. It’s okay to be a little critical, it’s okay to throw out some suggestions but remember, you’re a reader and the writer still has complete control over their piece.

[Toni Ann]

Writing can become a social process if it intended to be read by an audience where it will be subjected to any form of scrutiny. whereas writing for one’s self there is no judgment, you are the only one that will read and have an opinion on what you have written. Personally, I believe writing can be somewhat isolating at times but that’s based on the purpose for which I write and this isolation can be very beneficial, as this isolation can keep me from any unnecessary distractions which might hinder my work.

“..turn the writer back into his writing and lead him to reflect on his choices and aims, to consider and reconsider his intentions as a writer and the effects the word on the page will have on readers. This stood out for me because as a writer it is always key to remember if you write for an audience your work will or is intended to evoke some type of reaction out of your audience. so one should choose their words wisely. the written word is indeed mightier than the sword.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Toni Ann.

[MelvinB]

I think that sometimes writing can feel like a social process to a certain extent, depending on what I’m writing can make it feel like a social process. For example, if I have to complete a six-page research paper that would feel like a social process, but if I’ve to write a six-page paper on a book then it will not. Writing does not feel lonely nor isolating. “You’re not an editor. You’re not a teacher” is a quote that stood out to me. It was interesting to me because when you ask someone to go over your paper you don’t want them to be that “teacher”. Yes, you want feedback but not as If I felt like I got my grade after I just asked you to proofread my paper.

[ArchAlex]

Writing rarely becomes a social process to me. The only time I believe I’ve used writing in a social way is when my cousins and I join together for some DND sessions. We use each others ideas to make a quick DM for the day and utilize character sheets for the day. Writing always feels isolating to me. I can take time away from everything that is stressing and just write.

“Not like a teacher. Not like a judge. Not like an editor or critic or shotgun.” I feel like the way we give our comments also helps the person. If we just say it flat out with no remorse, it doesn’t help either person and can be harming in the review process.

[Joshua V]

1. Truthfully , it depends on the class or subject of the writing because other than that I really don’t write much .So writing doesn’t have a social process to me. Writing never feels lonely nor isolating because usually I’ll throw on headphones and try to get in the zone.
2. An interesting sentence that was memorable to me was “Be always of two (or three) minds about your response to the paper. You like the paper, but it could use some more interesting detail.” because when it comes to reading or anything you do in life it’s always about perspective. After reading this it made get an idea on how I want to start this essay because it has me thinking of ways on how I can get the reader interested and keep in my mind there are many options on going about the essay.

[Ryanbell782]

Ryan Bellingy Writing

To me writing is not a social process or
Isolating ,it is simply something that has to be done it’s about business .
When the author says don’t rely on general statements be specific I get it ,but to many
people writing is such a personal thing and writing is looking through your own personal lens so being specific at least to me is more how I think your work should look as opposed to how you want your work to look. And everybody has a different view on how to build a house .So be honest ,simple and helpful but let the writer’s vision take them where they want to go.

[Brianna Bermudez]

I believe writing can in fact be a social process; however I do believe it can be isolating. As you write you grow a little bit more than before. You create a mood and get into writing by each sentence that comes out. For this exact reason is why sometimes in essays one won’t clearly state their point until after a few lines or paragraphs. While writing the writer is getting out their ideas and thoughts to the audience there is some kind of communication there. It is lonely though, for the simple fact that no one else is there to respond back to your writing as you’e telling it.

“Before you up and start reading the paper, take a minute (alright thirty seconds) to make a mental checklist about the circumstances of writing.” I find this not only memorable, but useful. Most time when we’re reading someone else’s paper or even writing it ourselves we don’t take a moment to think. We tend to just get something down, anything. Although this can be a good start it isn’t the best we tend to forget or even become blind to what we’re trying to find. If we don’t take a moment to analyze what needs to be included there really is no way of helping to the best of our ability.