Based on the Student Guide, I expect for this class to be regarded as more of an expression of each individual's point of view rather than dry writing assignments with the expectation of a dry, average responses. What I took from the reading was that I do not have to come into the class knowing everything or trying too hard. I saw it as I will be there to serve my purpose as a student-to learn. Clearly I will have to put in effort, but overloading my mind will not produce good work. It sounds like the course is for students to learn that writing has to be natural thoughts and not some gibberish we found in books, magazines, or the internet because "it sounded advanced". Everyone has their own pace at which they learn, but in some way everyone can relate to each other, whether or not from experience.
Being a writer in this course will indeed further assist in the real world. Everywhere we go, we must write no matter what the career. You can be a journalist or a mechanic, you will be doing some writing!
My only concern at this point is if the the class is so laid back, where does structure come into play? But if writing is a form of expression, then how can you grade our thoughts and emotions without being harsh? Do you grade the grammar and spelling part of it only? The Student Guide also read that there are no rules to writing. Was I being lied to my whole life? How, then, will I structure a "nice" paper? What is considered "nice" and "acceptable"?
Yeah, you’re right—writing needs to be natural to be good. We will focus a lot in this class about “what is at stake” for you as a writer. (You have to care about something enough to write about it.)
ReplyDeleteMy answer to your questions is this: there are rules to writing, but you can also play with writing and break the rules. It all depends on your audience and the context you are writing in, which are two of the most important aspects of writing we will focus on this semester.