The Power of Story: The Power of Narrative

Stories invite people in.

Stories are powerful.  Stories can paint detailed pictures of lives, places, people, and events.  They convey character, insights, motives, and give us the opportunity to feel complex emotions or empathize with others.  Stories can help us remember, and stories can help us heal.

Several times over the past month I have been reminded of the power of stories, and I have also had a few realizations about how we use stories and narratives in our day-to-day lives.   Stories are an important part of successful business practices, interpersonal communications, and spiritual health.

Narrative as Part of Successful Business Practices

The purpose of narrative in business is to help businesses shift from selling widgets or services to selling possibilities.  I have been hearing about the power of storytelling in business for several years, but I think I finally understand it.  Instead of a business trying to persuade a customer or client to part with money in exchange for an item or a service, a business can use the power of story to to help the customer or client become a character in a "success narrative."  In such a "success narrative" the business creates for the customer a scenario in which all the customer's hopes and desires are fulfilled.  The fulfillment of those hopes and desires is somehow linked to the product or service offered by the business.

One example of a successful business narrative comes from John Hagel.  Hagel's example is based on Apple and their slogan "Think different" (2013, para. 7):

Very few companies have in fact developed powerful narratives. One of the best, in my mind, is Apple.  Their narrative is condensed into the slogan, 'think different.' Unpack the narrative and it goes something like this: there’s a new generation of technology that for the first time in history has the potential to free us from the constraints and pressures to fit into mass society and that makes it possible for us to express our unique individuality and achieve more of our potential.  But this is not a given – it depends on one thing: you have to think different. Are you willing to do that? Apple’s narrative is about us and what we need to do; it’s not about Apple.  

Narrative in Interpersonal Communications

Have you ever been at a loss when you've tried to tell someone else exactly what it was like to be in a particular situation or to feel a certain way?  That actually happens a lot. There is no one-to-one correlation between the meaning of a word or phrase and what that word or phrase represents.  For example, if I say "fish," you could think of a salmon swimming upstream, a card game, or a microwaved fish stick.  I have to be more specific and detailed in order for you to understand I mean a 4-inch long butterfly koi fish with white, orange, and black markings.  Now, what if I say "love?"  Do you know exactly what I mean?

Narratives, stories, allow us to not only explain rational ideas in detail, like "fish," but irrational ideas, like "love."  When we tell stories, we can use figurative language and detailed descriptions of events to help us explain irrational ideas more deliberately and thoroughly than we can with other types of writing.  Can you imagine if all we ever understood about "love" was its dictionary definition?  In order to understand what different people mean by "love," we need to hear their stories, feel their descriptions, and place ourselves in their various situations.  Narrative allows for this and allows us to better understand one another's experiences and emotions.

Narrative for Maintaining Spiritual Health

Something I read lately about spiritual health and the power of narrative really resonated with me, as well.  Dr. Alan Wolfelt (n.d., para. 16) writes:

Part of your self-identity comes from the relationships you have created with others. When someone with whom you have a relationship dies, your self-identity naturally changes. As bereaved persons move forward in their grief journeys, many discover that some aspects of their self-identities have positively changed. For example, you may feel more confident or more open to life’s challenges.

Not only does this imply we can overcome grief and loss by rewriting our own narratives, it implies that in order to heal our spirits after experiencing other traumas or life-changing events, we can rewrite our own narratives and adapt our characters.

Furthermore, when our spirits or souls are ill, we can change the stories we tell from stories that paint negative pictures of the world to positive pictures of the world.  For example, if I tell you a story about a traumatic event, I can choose to emphasize regret, rage, bitterness, or sadness (a negative emotion), or I can choose to emphasize awareness, forgiveness, or perseverance (a positive emotion).  Of course, the event still occurred, and the emotions surrounding the event were probably at least a little negative.  However, focusing on positive emotions as we tell our stories of those events can help heal our souls.

In sum, applying the power of story to aspects of our daily lives can help us lead more successful lives.  The power of story can help us run more successful business, have deeper and more meaningful relationships with others, and help us regain or maintain our spiritual selves.

Want to read more about narrative?  Try

The Narrative Frame: Prewriting a Narrative Essay

Why Write a Narrative Essay?

References

Hagel, J. (2013).  The Untapped Potential of Corporate Narratives.  Retrieved from http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/2013/10/the-untapped-potential-of-corporate-narratives.html

Wolfelt, A D. Ph.D (n.d.). Helping Yourself When Someone You Love Has Died. Retrieved from http://www.catholicmortuaries.com/en-us/library/article/name/gml-when-someone-you-love-has-died



Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Student Engagement and Writing

Student Engagement in Literature and Writing

In a 2011 blog post called "Death to High School English," writer Kim Brooks argues that middle and high school English classes, as they are now taught, are ineffective.  

She implies that focusing on "fun" projects, like acting out scenes from books and plays or keeping journals to the exclusion of a focus on the hard work of writing a paper, is doing our college-level students no favors. They enter college with no knowledge of basic grammar and mechanics, no knowledge of how to evaluate or incorporate source content, and no understanding of basic organizational structures.  These students, with skills lacking that used to be taught from grade school through high school, are then placed in a composition class at the college level with so many skills lacking that faculty don't even know where to begin teaching.

The question Brooks investigated was why this isn't happening.  Why aren't these skills being taught?  To paraphrase the answer: Students don't view writing as fun, which means administrators who think "fun" is the same as "engaging" encourage "fun" over research and writing, which means teachers are so overwhelmed with fun remediation of basic skills they never get around to teaching research and writing. Oh, and class sizes have grown so large that the individualized attention the students need in order for remediation to stick has become an impossibility.

But the story doesn't end there: The students can't write cover letters, resumes, or professional email messages.  They fail to communicate effectively.  They cannot comprehend trade magazine articles or essays.  They come to college and fail, not because they don't have the capacity to understand college-level material, but because they can't read or write about college-level material at a college level.

Engage With the Material

What a mess, right?  But Brook's reaction to "We don't teach writing because it's not fun," is priceless: "Sometimes we do things not because they’re fun but because they’re important."  And therein might be part of the solution.  Even if I don't want to do the dishes, they need to be done, so I do them.  I engage with the dishes.  Once they are done, I am fulfilled - at least a little.

There are two different dictionary definitions of  "engage."  One definition is to capture someone else's attention, and the other is to get involved (understood you).  In other words, the first is what the course material should do (with some help from the teacher), and the second is what a student should do.  In the classroom, both of those definitions must be met for real engagement to take place.

Students must engage with the course content, not just the teacher.

As a college-level composition teacher, I cannot change what my students did or did not experience in high school, but I can make sure I remediate the skills necessary to make writing engaging, if not always fun.  I can help my students learn something about writing, find some success, and therefore be fulfilled - if only a little. That's the essence of engaging. They, the students, must engage with the material in a way that is fulfilling.

Beyond the Dictionary: Defining "Engagement"

If engagement was as easy as opening the dictionary, however, good writing wouldn't be an issue, so what else can we do?  How can we dig deeper?

The University of Exeter has what is called a "Student Engagement and Skills Hub" online.  They offer worksheets and examples for institutions to use to help define engagement and engagement strategies at the department and university level.  The worksheets and prompts can also be used to help teachers define personal philosophies of engagement on a class-by-class basis.  For example, in my introductory literature course, I take silent students and furrowed brows as a sign students are engaged in the material.  Personally, I do not want to capture a student's attention in that class; I want the material to capture a student's attention.  I am not the star of the class, the literature is the star in that class.

Here are the roles we all play:

1. I choose and present literature I believe will capture the attention of the specific group of students in a particular section of my course.  In order to do that I must pay attention to my students; I must engage with them.
2. The students then engage with the material through the step-by-step process of active reading. They put their heads down, furrow their brows, and ponder the greater meaning of what they've read. They tell me and one another, in writing, how they've engaged with each reading.
3. I allow students to engage with each other and with me (to a lesser degree) when we discuss the literature.

Here is an anecdote: A student once actually told me he wasn't looking forward to taking my classes because he had seen these behaviors, silence and perseverating looks, from previous students through my classroom windows.  Once he was in the class, however, he admitted his preconception and laughed.  "They were just genuinely interested in learning something," he said.  "They were thinking about the stories."  In just that moment, he said something momentous: Engagement is not about entertainment or "fun-ness." Engagement is about being genuinely interested in the class content, in the act of learning something. Students are engaged with the material and the process of learning because learning the material, pondering or contemplating it, is also somehow fulfilling.

An outsider may believe furrowed brows and silent students are signs of a disengaged class, but in my very particular class these are generally signs students are engaged with the material, even when the students are not being entertained by the teacher, videos, multi-media presentations, cartoon characters on worksheets, songs, dances, games, or other fun stuff.

The trick, if it can be called a trick, is to make certain the students not only understand the material, but know, on some level, that understanding the material and learning about the material will somehow be fulfilling to them.  Some call this the "What's-in-it-for-me?" (WIIFM?) principle, others refer to this idea as "making the content relevant" to students' lives, some study this concept as a method of contemplative education, and still others make it happen without ever referring to it directly.

And the neat thing?  All of this can happen in writing classes when we make the learning, the hard work of writing a research paper, worth the effort.  We have to make the students want to contemplate the material, ponder their own questions, remember the impetus or genuine inquiry that made them choose a particular writing topic in the first place.   There's no amount of song and dance or fun and games that can help a student engage in his or her own writing material.  Songs, dances, fun, and games, help students engage with a teacher, but they can't take the teacher with them to the next class, the next job interview, or through a degree program.

Need some more ideas for student engagement? Try

Motivate the WIIFM? Student With a Learning Audit Assignment
Student-Centered or Curriculum-Centered?
The Benefit of Play in the Composition Classroom

References

• Brooks, K. (2011). Death to High School English.  Retrieved from [Blog]
• University of Exeter. (n.d.). Student Engagement and Skills Hub. Retrieved from [Exeter Web Site]

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Student Centered or Curriculum Centered?

After learning about both philosophies, can you identify which way you lean?

A teacher's beliefs about teaching and learning, and the subsequent classroom practices that stem from those beliefs, is called a teaching philosophy.   

Two common teaching philosophies from which an individual teacher can build a unique perspective are a student-centered philosophy and a curriculum-centered philosophy.

A Student Centered Philosophy

A student-centered philosophy, also called a learner-centered philosophy, focuses on helping individual students master pre-determined learning objectives or measurable goals.  In a well-working student-centered classroom, every student can achieve an "A" given enough time and individualized attention.

Some fundamental characteristics listed in the explanation provided in the definition of "Student-Centered Learning" by The Glossary of Education Reform, include:

1. Teaching and learning is “personalized,” meaning that it addresses the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students.
2. Students advance in their education when they demonstrate they have learned the knowledge and skills they are expected to learn.
3. Students have the flexibility to learn “anytime and anywhere,” meaning that student learning can take place outside of traditional classroom and school-based settings, such as through work-study programs or online courses, or during nontraditional times, such as on nights and weekends.
4. Students are given opportunities to make choices about their own learning and contribute to the design of learning experiences.

A Curriculum Centered Philosophy

A curriculum-centered philosophy focuses on the delivery of a set amount of content on a timeline. The material is taught, via direct instruction, on a schedule.  Students are graded based on the amount of material they retain compared to other students.

Teachers who prefer curriculum-centered teaching practices or who teach at curriculum-centered institutions, are generally extremely adept at planning lessons within units.  These lessons and units build upon one another, over time, with carefully constructed lectures and assessment activities that align to specific discipline-area goals or outcomes.

The difference between curriculum-centered assessment and student-centered assessment is in the way skills and knowledge are measured.  As stated above, in a student-centered learning environment, teachers strive to help students reach mastery; learning of a skill or concept does not stop until the student reaches mastery.  In a curriculum-centered learning environment, teachers also strive to help students reach mastery.  At the end of a set period of time, however, the teacher measures the students' various levels of proficiency, and the class moves on to the next topic or unit.

Curriculum-centered teaching is useful when class sizes prohibit individualized learning, when the class meets for a limited amount of time, when advanced or independent learners simply need a reiteration of key concepts, or when new concepts and ideas must be delivered or explained by a subject-matter expert.

Balancing Teaching Philosophies

Although "student-centered" sounds like a much friendlier teaching practice, curriculum-centered teaching has its place.  The truth is most teachers must, at some time, use curriculum-based instruction to deliver content to students, even if that content is later used as the basis of a student-centered activity.  A student-centered activity can then reinforce the idea taught in lecture. However, if a teacher too often relies on curriculum-centered practices and direct instruction, he or she is usually referred to as too pedantic, didactic, or more often, boring.

On the other hand, a teacher who relies only on student-centered teaching strategies can either be considered "fun," or may be thought of as having little to no classroom management skills.  There is a fine line between an environment suited for personalized learning and an environment that is stressful and chaotic.

In the end, a teacher must choose the philosophy not only best suited to his or her own personality, but best suited to the needs of his or her students.  Each philosophy and its related practices has benefits and drawbacks, so it is important to know which bits and pieces to borrow from each philosophy.

Want to read more about pedagogy and teaching?  Try

Critical Thinking and Argument: Grading the Argumentative Essay

Flipped Classroom: Before Making Videos

Assessing Critical Thinking

Works Cited

"Student-Centered Learning." The Glossary of Education Reform. Great Schools Partnership, 7 May 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

Works Consulted

"Learner-Centered vs. Curriculum-Centered Teachers: Which Type Are You?" TeacherVision. Family Education Network, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.



Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

The "Google" Verb; Our Language Changes with the Culture

Are you a googler, too?

The word "google," most well known as the name of the mega search engine, has been considered a verb for several years now. Who knew?

Language is constantly changing. As life changes and evolves, language has to change and evolve in order to keep up with a society's need to express new ideas. One example of this type of evolution of language is the use of “google,” and derivations of this word, as verbs.

Do You Know What it Means to Google Something?

According to the 10th edition of Collins English Dictionary, the word “google” can be a noun or a verb, either transitive or intransitive (n.d.). That means it can be used with or without an object. The Random House Dictionary assures users that the word, when used as a verb, does not have to be capitalized (n.d.). A person can write or say with confidence that his or her usage is correct, “I am going to google butterflies,” or simply “I am going to google.” This googler is simply saying that he or she is about to use a search engine to find information about butterflies, or he or she is going to search the Internet for any other topic that might come to mind.

Grammatically, the word can also be conjugated per the normal rules of English and used as a gerund: googling. Interestingly enough, one can “google,” even if using a search engine other than Google, much like one can “xerox” on any brand copy machine.  For example, just yesterday I heard a coworker say she had "googled" her Outlook Inbox to find a particular message.  Everyone knew she meant she had searched her Outlook Inbox using the search box under the Microsoft ribbon toolbar.

Do You Know What it Means to Google-Map a Place?

If a person is using the mapping or directions tool within the Google conglomerate, he or she might use the verbs “Google mapping” or “Google Earthing.” Arguably, however, it is correct in this particular usage to capitalize these verbs because a person is using the brand name and the software belonging to Google. The word here is a modifying part of a specific verb phrase. The word “mapping,” and even more so, the word “Earthing,” have different meanings (or little meaning) when compared to “Google mapping” or “Google Earthing.” The jury is still out about whether or not to hyphenate the noun phrase or whether or not to create a compound noun.

Do You Know What it Means to Googlebomb a Search Engine?

“To googlebomb” is more serious than to "google," or look something up on the Internet. This derivation has a negative connotation. Dr. Stephan Ott states, “A Google bomb or Google wash is an attempt to influence the ranking of a given site in results returned by the Google search engine. Due to the way that Google's PageRank algorithm works, a website will be ranked higher if the sites that link to that page all use consistent anchor text. Googlebomb is used both as a verb and a noun” (para. 1). In layman’s terms, if a person (or a person’s friends) wants a specific website to appear at the top of Google’s search results list, that person and his or her friends can create oodles of links that point to that particular website. Like googling, however, googlebombing is not limited to the use of, or an attack on, Google’s search engines.

Do You Know What it Means to Win a Googlewhack?

Gary Stock offers a few great examples of "googlewhacked" results on his web page, Googlewhack! The Search for The One. He also offers an extensive definition and the rules of the game. Yes, "to googlewhack" is to play a game. Simply put, it's to enter a two-word phrase into the Google Search box with the hope of turning up only one result. The main rule is that the googlewhacker (the noun) enter only two words; no numbers, symbols, or punctuation. If a person wins and receives only one hit, that person can have the results checked by another player. Although Mr. Stock's definition refers only to the Google search engine, the game can be played using any search engine.


Whether a person is googling, googlemapping, googlebombing, or googlewhacking, one thing is true: Our language has certainly changed over the past few years to facilitate communicating new ideas and incorporate our daily use of Google's search engine.

References

• google. (n.d.). Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/google
• google. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved July 21, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/google
• Stock, G. (2009). Googlewhack! The search for the one. Retrieved from http://www.googlewhack.com/
• Ott, S. (2001). Google bombing. Links & Law - Information about legal aspects of search engines, linking and framing. Retrieved from http://www.linksandlaw.com/technicalbackground-google-bombing.htm

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Originally published on July 22, 2011.

Arts & Crafts & Healing

Engagement in a detailed craft is is one method
of controlled avoidance. 

When people focus on a craft, when people focus on creation, people can overcome the most painful stages of grief.

Grief is an emotional reaction to a devastating loss.  People who are newly grieving often feel helplessness, anguish, loneliness, or even guilt. These feelings make it difficult for the grieving person to function, to complete day-to-day tasks like cooking, bathing, or paying bills.

Research supports that one way to ease the anguish associated with a devastating loss is controlled avoidance, and participating in the act of creation through crafts is one method of controlled avoidance.

Taking a Time Out

J. Shep Jeffreys writes, in a chapter called "Controlled Avoidance in the Management of Grief," that at times, people may need help managing and controlling the grieving process in order to function, in order to complete necessary daily activities.  Those who are grieving may need help planning these "time outs," or they may simply need permission to give themselves a break from actively grieving (2012, pg. 155).  He refers to these breaks from active grieving as "controlled avoidance."

One of the controlled avoidance activities Jeffreys lists as appropriate for these "time outs" is crafts.

Engagement in Craft Activities

Jeffreys is not the only researcher who advocates crafts and creative activities as a potentially effective therapy.

Sue Griffiths, Principal Lecturer with the Division of Occupational Therapy at The University of Northampton finds there may be "potential health gains from using creative activities" in mental health therapies.  (Griffiths, 2008, para. 4).  One such specific example of beneficial creative activity comes from U.S. military veteran John Smelser. He began completing craft kits, provided by Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV),  after seeking treatment for alcoholism triggered by grief ("Working on Arts & Crafts Helps This Veteran Cope with Grief," 2013, para. 2).  After several years, he has found that completing craft kits has helped him heal in a "myriad" of ways (para. 5).

Furthermore, a study published in 2009 by The Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy also supports the claim that crafts can be used as effective "time outs" from active grieving.   Specifically, the researcher states that an analysis of the study reveals the following:

Craft can be [useful] in achieving therapeutic changes in following areas: physiology (heart rate, respiration etc.), psychophysiology (pain, level of consciousness etc.), sensomotory development (internalization of visual, tactile and kinaesthetic functions, fine motor coordination etc.), perception (discrimination of differences etc.), cognition (learning skills,  knowledge, attitudes, short and long-term retention etc.), behaviour (activity level, activity level, safety, accuracy etc.), craft related skills (composing, craft techniques, using equipments and materials etc.), emotions (anxiety, depression, motivation, imagery etc.), communication (verbal and nonverbal communication, expressive skills etc.), interpersonal (role behaviours, relationship patterns, sensitivity etc.) and creativity (inventiveness, artistry etc). (Pollanen, pg. 44)

The benefits are shown to be numerous, and they relate both directly and indirectly to healing after experiencing a devastating loss.  That is, this study also supports that crafts help those who are grieving overcome their grief.

Summary

Although more specific and more numerous studies have yet to be conducted, preliminary and related studies show that crafts can and do aid in the healing process.  Most notably, crafts can be used when a grieving person needs a "time out" from actively grieving, or needs permission to engage in controlled avoidance of active grieving processes.

Want to read more about grief and healing?  Try

Grief and the Holiday Season
Using the Nice Dishes
Learn to Crochet for Stress Relief

Ready to learn to crochet?  Take my complete online crochet course for beginners on Udemy.

Learn to create four different patternless projects and start crocheting for stress relief.  Crochet does a body good!

References

• Griffiths, S. (2008). The experience of creative activity as a treatment medium. Retrieved from  http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638230701506242?src=recsys
• Jeffreys, J. S. (2012). Controlled Avoidance in the Management of Grief. Techniques of Grief Therapy: Creative Practices for Counseling the Bereaved (Series in Death, Dying, and Bereavement). Neimeyer, R. A. (ed.) New York, NY: Routledge.
• Pollanen, S. (2009). Craft as context in therapeutic change.  The Indian Journal of Occupational Therapy. XLI (2). pp. 43-47.
• Working on Arts & Crafts Helps This Veteran Cope with Grief. (2013, July 17). PR Newswire. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.doid=GALE%7CA337050979&v=2.1&u= lirn84858&it=r&p=PPCJ&sw=w&asid=a74e1306abbaf9a4a8e2ec3435da19ad

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Contact the author for permission to republish.

Sentence Diagramming: Diagramming Gerunds

A gerund is a super part of speech that takes on some of the qualities of both nouns and verbs.

It's a Noun!  It's a Verb!  It's a Super Gerund!

Diagramming a sentence is a great way to unravel the meaning of a sentence and check its grammatical construction.  This type of visual analysis of a sentence can help people become better readers and better writers.  Picking out each of the parts of a sentence (the subjects, predicates, modifiers, phrases, and clauses) helps both readers and writers see how each part of the sentence works to create meaning. Understanding how each word functions in a a sentence helps ensure proper construction or analysis of that sentence.

The type of word I'm explaining in this post, the gerund,  has qualities of two different parts of speech  at the same time; it looks like an "ing" verb, it takes on a verbal complement like a verb, but we use it like a noun.

It's important to know how to identify gerunds within sentences to prevent subject-verb agreement errors.  These errors can occur because gerunds, like present participle verbs, end in "ing" and might be mistaken for the main verb in a sentence - even if it's the subject.  Gerunds are used as nouns, not verbs.  A gerund can be used in a sentence in any way a noun can be used: as a complement, object, or subject.

How to Diagram a Gerund

When a gerund appears in a sentence, it is diagrammed on the gerund element.  It looks like a stretched-out "z" or "2" on legs.

Gerunds should be diagrammed on the gerund element.

Whether the gerund is a subject, object, or complement, it is placed on the gerund element.  The root word of the gerund can be placed on the top horizontal line of the gerund element, any additional letters added to the root before the "ing" ending can curve around the horizontal line of the element, and the "ing" can be placed in the lower horizontal line.  Take a look at the example of "Running."

The gerund sits on top of the elongated "z" or "2."

If the gerund is a subject, the gerund element will stand on the base line in the subject area of the diagram, like shown below.  If the gerund is an object or complement, the gerund element will stand on the base line in either the object or complement area of the diagram.

Stand the gerund element on top of the base line in the proper place on the diagram.

How to Diagram a Gerund with a Verbal Complement

Just as a main verb in a sentence can be followed by a direct object, a gerund can be followed by a verbal complement.   Take a look at this example: "Running laps is super."  "Running" is still the subject, "is" is still the main verb, and "super" is still the subject complement.  However, this time we've added the noun, "laps," after the gerund.  "Laps" answers the question Running what?  It adds information to our gerund.

To diagram the verbal complement, write the verbal complement on the gerund element with the gerund.  The gerund and its complement have the same visual relationship as a main verb and its object.

A verbal complement will follow its verbal.

In Conclusion . . . 

Although it can be tricky to identify and diagram gerunds, analyzing and diagramming them can be mastered with just a little knowledge and practice.  You can become a super diagrammer of this super type of word and the complements!

Want to read more about diagramming sentences?  Try

What's an Object Complement?
Prepositional Phrase or Phrasal Verb?
Diagramming Sentences: Folk Song Friday

Want to learn more about diagramming sentences?  

Take my complete online course, "Sentence Diagramming: From Beginner to Expert in 12 Lessons" on Udemy, or purchase my text, Diagramming Sentences: A Playful Way to Analyze Everyday Language (affiliate link) on Amazon.

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

A Budget Day Trip to Chateau Elan's Winery

There are many ways to occupy a day away from the city at Chateau Elan.

The winery at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Georgia, is an inexpensive and easy day trip from the Atlanta metro area.

On a visit this past Independence Day, we spent three hours at Chateau Elan, mostly just at the winery, which included a self-guided tour, a few sips at the tasting bar, and a walk through the art gallery, gift shop, and grounds. Meeting a challenge we had set for ourselves to spend less than $25.00, the entire day at the winery cost a grand total of only $5.00.

A Short Trip from Atlanta, Georgia

Having never been to Braselton, I was very impressed with the signage on I-85, Highway 211, and on the grounds. There was no confusion about where to turn or where to park. The winery is a very close walk from the parking area, and the walk is very beautiful.  The grounds are planted with well-manicured lawns and gardens.

Our first stop was the hotel, where we enjoyed the indoor fountains, sky lights, and many comfortable seating areas. From there we headed out to the winery and grounds.

Welcoming visitors walking to the winery from the hotel, there is a magnificent fountain with a statue of a woman stomping grapes; she makes a great photo companion.

Surrounding the winery are acres of grapevines, a path leading to the nature trail, and a view of the equestrian center. The final touch a visitor cannot help noticing before entering the winery is the large, primitive clay vessels standing at the entrance.

Inside the Chateau Elan Winery

Once we entered the winery, there were several options for what we could do first. We chose to wander through the gift area and take a look at the varieties of wine available. We also took a peek into The Culinary Studio, which is advertised on the winery brochure as a "teaching kitchen" where they offer classes, demonstrations, and events.

Although guided tours are offered during the week at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., we chose to take a self-guided tour instead of waiting for the 3:00 tour to begin. The employees were very helpful getting us started, and there are placards within the winemaking area to help explain the winemaking process.

Unfortunately, we were there pre-harvest, and there were no grapes in process that day. We completed our tour with a stop at the tasting bar, where for $5.00 we tried five varieties of both red and white Muscadine wines.

Closing Out the Vineyard Trip

After our tour of the winemaking area, we also stepped into the upstairs art gallery, which includes artwork turned wine-labels, and rested our slightly light-headed selves on a lovely leather bench while it began to rain lightly outdoors. Feeling slightly spontaneous as well as slightly light-headed, we decided to forego bicycle rental and instead walked through the vineyard back to our car in spite of the rain.

Our Independence Day was a very lovely first trip to Chateau Elan's winery, and we are planning a return trip in the fall. The trip to Braselton from Atlanta was effortless, there was plenty to see and do both indoors and outdoors, and the wine was fantastic! I'm looking forward to eating at one or more of the many restaurants, taking a cooking class, taking a guided tour of the winery post-harvest, perhaps seeing a horse show, staying overnight to enjoy the spa and swimming pool, and definitely tasting a few more of those Muscadine wines.



Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.  Originally published July 8, 2011. 

Prewriting the Research Essay: Starting with "I Think"

Mixed Metaphors for Prewriting

One of the most common problems I find in students' college-level essays is a lack of original, synthesized thought, and an overabundance of summarized, paraphrased, and quoted material.

Students often bring with them into the classroom a misunderstanding of what it means to write an essay.  They often misinterpret our requests for them to write essays as requests to summarize facts, statistics, and expert opinions or reference texts to prove to us they've read the given textbook or required journal articles.

However, we college faculty do not ask students to write essays just to get back a paraphrased version of someone else's thoughts, whether or not that someone is an expert.  We faculty do ask students to write essays as evidence of an ability to comment on research and study they should be doing anyway. In fact, the former is a part of the latter.  That is, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting research material is a part of  taking notes and organizing materials, which is a part of writing an essay, which is a part of learning about a topic.

In a research essay, before students even head to the library to find outside research, they should have already formed a thesis, a claim,  an opinion about the topic.  In other words, they should begin the writing process with "I think."  Like hypothesizing, they then find research by experts that might either confirm or deny what they think.  All of this happens in the first two stages of the writing process, prewriting and outlining.

Steps in the Writing Process

The basic writing process is generally taught as follows: prewriting, organizing, drafting, revising, and publishing.  My students report that they usually spend a half hour or less prewriting, a few hours outlining a paper, a few more hours drafting a paper, they skip revision entirely, and they spend maybe an hour or so formatting the paper per submission guidelines.  They either gather expert evidence that answers their research questions or assignment questions before they even begin to prewrite, or they research at the end of the process when they check to see if they've met the word count or research source requirements.

They're doing it wrong, and it's our job to fix that.

For research essays, that timeline students report to me has to shift.  Students should spend several hours prewriting research essays, and they should spend extra time outlining their essays, planning where researched evidence can be used to support original claims and topic sentences, not the paraphrased claims and topic sentences of experts.  If the evidence confirms their original claims, this is a straightforward process.  However, when the research denies their claims, they must reassess the claim, draft another thesis statement, and revisit the prewriting and outlining processes.

A Breakdown of Prewriting

Only when a student has successfully composed a thesis statement and topic sentences has he or she completed the prewriting stage and is ready to move on to outlining.  Before that can happen, however, there are several mini-steps that need to happen within the broader heading of "Prewriting."

When writing about ideas new to them, students may need to review basic information about a topic before generating ideas.  For example, they will definitely have to read a short story before they can write a literary analysis of that story.  They may also need to read about the author or time period. Depending on the assignment, they may also need to read other critical analysis articles and essays in order to respond to a given assignment requirement.

When given the freedom to write about any topic, students will usually need to conduct less research before beginning the following steps.

The key is to teach students when they will and when they will not have to conduct research before beginning their prewriting.  

That can be as informal as stating, "Be sure to read X, Y, and Z before generating your thesis for this paper," or "Read so-and-so's theory of such-and-such.  Without consulting any other outside sources, tell me why you agree or disagree with so-and-so's theory about such-and-such."  If you later want students to read outside sources, you can ask for a second draft that includes sources.

Mini-step #1: Divergent Thinking (Doodling Paperclips)

Breakpoint and Beyond, a book published in 1998 by George Land and Beth Jarman, includes a discussion of a longitudinal study conducted to measure divergent thinking. Fifteen hundred people were asked, "How many uses can you think of for a paperclip?" The majority of people came up with ten or fifteen uses, but people really good at divergent thinking came up with over a hundred.  The fun part?  The youngest participants were the really good divergent thinkers: They ran circles around grown-ups.

What's that mean?  It means our adult college students need more time and more help or encouragement coming up with original ideas about topics.  They need to know that any claim they make can be amended later after research confirms or denies their claims.  They need to know that any original idea is acceptable as long as they are willing to amend it later.

Mini-step #2: Critical Thinking (Pulling Taffy)

After students generate a multitude of ideas in the divergent thinking stage of prewriting, they then have to go back and carefully pick through their ideas to choose the best of the bunch.  They can then group ideas by category, by reason, or in a hierarchy to help them divide the best claims into provable pieces, or topic sentences.  This process involves thinking about what they think and why they think it, which is what critical thinking is all about.

The best of the best ideas become thesis statements, complete thoughts that clearly express a claim or position about a given topic.  That one position or claim must be divisible and supportable, and the students break their defensive plan into pieces, topic sentences.

As I like to tell students, a claim is like taffy.  You have to pull it into smaller pieces in order to eat it; otherwise, you'll choke.

Mini-step #3: Research (Getting Ducks in a Row)

Once students choose one claim to defend, and they pull it into topic sentences, they can begin organizing their ideas on an outline.  After the thesis claim and topic sentences are in place on the outline, they can begin generating original examples, narratives, or personal observations in support of their ideas. However, they should also begin their research.  This research they gather and carefully examine will either confirm or deny their claims.  If any part of the argument cannot be defended with evidence, the argument should change: One or more topic sentences may have to change, evidence may have to change, or the entire thesis may have to change.

The students need to see, on the outline, that evidence lines up hierarchically beneath a topic sentence, in support of that one topic sentence.  They need to get their ducks in a row so as not to sound like quacks in their final drafts.

Summary

The key to helping students write successful research essays is to help them learn when to research their own ideas and to help them plan their assignment and research time accordingly. Silly though my metaphors may be, paperclips, taffy, and ducks help students remember to appreciate and find value in their own, original ideas, to confirm or adapt those ideas based on evidence, and to support those ideas within unified paragraphs.

Want to read more about writing pedagogy?  Try

A Playful Lesson for the Composition Classroom
Using Anti-Plagiarism Software as an Assignment Requirement
Critical Thinking and Argument: Grading the Argumentative Essay

References

Land, G. and Jarmon, B. (1998). Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today. Carlsbad, CA: Leadership 2000, Inc.






Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Verbals: How to Identify Gerunds

Gerunds Behave Like Nouns and Verbs

Verbals are words that look like verbs, but they have functions and abilities beyond mere "verbishness."  

Instead of behaving like plain 'ol verbs, they behave like nouns, adjectives, or adverbs within the context of a sentence while still maintaining the ability to pass along the actions of their "verbish" natures.

Gerunds are only one type of verbal. The others kinds of verbals are participles and infinitives.

So how can you tell gerunds apart from participles and infinitives?

Which is Which? Three Kinds of Verbals

Infinitives, Participles, Gerunds

Infinitives are verbs that are preceded by the word "to," as in "to bake," "to swim," or "to run." However, these verbals are not used to show action or a state of being in a sentence like a verb is used. Instead, they are used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.  Infinitives can take on verbal complements, which are nouns that follow the verbal and receive the action of the verbal, as in "to bake a cake,"  or "to run a marathon."  It is easy to tell infinitives from gerunds because gerunds are not preceded by the word "to."

Participles look like "ed" or "ing" verbs, but they are used in sentences as adjectives.  Although participles and gerunds may both end in "ing," you can tell a gerund from a participle because gerunds are not used as either adjectives or adverbs.  "Running is a healthy habit" uses "Running" as a subject, a gerund, while "Turn off the running water" uses "running" to describe water, a participle.

Gerunds, like present participles, end in "ing."  In sentences, gerunds are used as nouns.  A gerund can be used in a sentence in any way a noun can be used: as a complement, object, or subject.  Like a verb, gerunds can take on verbal complements.

Identifying Gerunds

Gerunds as Subjects

It is important to be able to identify gerunds within sentences.  This can help writers avoid one of the most common grammatical errors, subject-verb agreement errors.  For example, take a look at the following two sentences.  Can you tell which sentence is grammatically correct and which sentence is not grammatically correct?

• Riding her horses is her favorite pastime.
• Growing gigantic sunflowers are her business.

If you said the first sentence is correct and second sentence is incorrect, well done!

In the example sentences above, the first sentence is written correctly.  The second sentence, however, contains a subject-verb agreement error.

The subject of the second sentence is the gerund, "Growing," which does not agree with the verb, "are."  Although "sunflowers" is the noun that appears just before the verb, "sunflowers" is not the subject of the sentence (it's actually the verbal complement).  "Sunflowers" are not her business; "growing sunflowers" is her business.

Gerunds as Subject Complements

Gerunds can also be used as subject complements in sentences.  For example, instead of saying "Riding her horses is her favorite pastime," we could swap the subject and complement and say, "Her favorite pastime is riding her horses."  Although our understanding of her feelings about riding her horses remains the same, the gerund as subject becomes the gerund as subject complement.  Why would you ever want to swap a subject for a complement?  Writers should always place the most important words in the sentence as the subject of the sentence for greater emphasis and more clarity.

Please note that using an "ing" gerund as a subject complement is very different from using an "ing" verb as an action or state of being.  In the sentence "She is riding her horses," "is riding" is the progressive tense of the verb  "ride," and it shows action.  It is not a gerund.

Gerunds as Objects

Last, but not least, gerunds can be used as objects within sentences.  Instead of writing, "Riding her horses is her favorite pastime," we can write "She loves riding her horses."  Replacing the linking verb "is," with the action verb "loves," changes (like magic!) "riding" from a subject complement to a direct object.  But why do you need to know how to do that? Because this "magical" transformation helps writers create more effective, more strongly worded and specific, sentences.

Another way a gerund can be used as an object is as the object of a preposition.  If you've ever gone horseback riding, you know that at times it can be very exhausting.  We could say, "She was very tired after riding her horses."  In this example, "after" is the preposition and "riding" is the object of the preposition.  "Horses" is the verbal complement.

Summary

When using gerunds in sentences, it is necessary to be able to identify the gerund's use or function within the sentence.  This ability to identify gerunds can help a writer maintain subject-verb agreement and can help writers generate more effective, more strongly worded, and more specific sentences.



Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Writing for an Intended Audience

What does your audience know, and what do they need to know?

When you write an essay or speech, you must consider your audience, that group of people who will be reading your essay or listening to your speech.  

You must consider, as you are planning your essay or speech, what your audience may already know or believe about your topic so that you can appropriately inform, convince, or offer insight to that specific group of people.  You need to consider what about your topic will capture and keep the interest of those specific people.

In composition or writing classes, you may refer to that specific group of people as your intended audience. 

For example, say you are given the task of writing an essay about microscopes.

How would you want to narrow your topic if these children were your audience?

This essay would have to take into account the minimal experience your audience has with microscopes.  You can inform and interest this audience with basic information delivered in clear, everyday language. You could deliver information about how to use the classroom microscopes,  who invented the microscope, how microscopes are used in the sciences, or how to properly handle a microscope.  

You would probably not try to convince schoolchildren to buy their own microscopes or deliver a speech to them called "Reliable and Global Measurement of Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Using Fluorescence Microscopes."  If you tried, you might lose their interest, as the type of information and the level of information in such a speech might make them "tune out."

But what if this was your audience?

Do you see how radically your essay would have to change?   This second essay, on the other hand, should be much more focused.  You should research new or developing information about microscopes in order to offer them information that may not already have.  You could use scientific jargon and more specialized examples to keep their interest.

Last, but not least, what if the local school board was your audience and you were given the task of delivering a speech to convince them to purchase new microscopes?  

With this audience, you face a much different challenge.  Delivering a speech about how to use a microscope, or offering them information about the newest use of a florescent proton microscope at M.I.T. isn't going to interest them much.  Your job is to find ways to convince the board that microscopes are worth the cost of meeting the objectives of the school district's science courses.

However, when writers do not write specifically for an intended audience, those mixed messages often appear in essays and speeches: School board members wonder why they're being told how to use a microscope, and school children wonder what in the world "M.I.T." might be, and scientists wonder why you're trying to convince them to purchase something they probably already have.  

In short, when you mix the messages in your writing, it pulls the reader or listener away from your essay or speech and you lose their attention.  In order to avoid that issue, always imagine your intended audience, and focus your writing for that specific group of people.

Focus your opening lines to capture the attention of your intended audience, formulate a relevant thesis, and offer evidence and supporting details within the body of your paper or speech that will help that particular audience receive your message.

Want to read more about writing essays? Try

Learn and Earn: Why Students Should Learn to Write
Sample Expository Essays
What's a Thesis

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess.  Please contact the author for permission to republish.

Learn and Earn: Why Students Should Learn to Write

Have you ever wondered why you have to take writing classes to get your college degree? Have you heard others bemoaning having to take composition, essay-writing, or basic grammar courses? Have your children or students ever asked you, "Why do I have to learn this stuff?" 

Grammarly, a company devoted to the development of writing skills through online automated grammar checking, recently conducted research to help answer those questions.

  
Specifically, they set out to determine if there were any correlations between writing skills and career success.

The good news? Better writing, they found, correlated with success!

Method

The company started their research by looking carefully at the profiles of freelancers listed on the Elance online staffing platform who had gotten high ratings, 4-star or 5-star ratings, from employers. What were the Grammarly folks looking for as they reviewed those high-rated employees? Grammatical and mechanical errors, of course!  It's what they do best!

Results

Grammarly found that freelancers in all eight Elance categories who had the highest ratings also had fewer grammatical and mechanical mistakes than other freelance employees who had earned lower ratings.

 
In other words, better writing equaled more satisfied employers.

Furthermore, to reiterate findings provided by Grammarly, the better writers earned more!

• Freelancers in Engineering & Manufacturing with 10 or fewer errors in their profiles on average made $520.64 per job; while those with 30 or more errors made on average $237.42 per job. 
• Freelancers in Sales & Marketing with 10 or fewer errors made about $498.26 per job; while those with 30 or more errors made on average $182.07 per job.

The better writers in both categories earned more than double their counterparts!

Discussion

Although cause and effect cannot be determined based on this survey of freelance professionals and their employment ratings, the results show a definite correlation between writing skills and high-rated employees.  For example, those who were already skilled writers working in disciplines devoted to writing, "Freelance Writers & Translators,  made the fewest amount of mistakes, averaging 10.1 errors per every 100 words."  On the other hand, "Freelancers in the IT & Programming fields fared the poorest, with 19.3 errors per every 100 words." 

Read more about Grammarly's findings in the attached infographic, and keep practicing your writing! As this study shows, learning to write well is well worth the effort.

Are you ready to learn to write better for the opportunity to earn more? 

Try my complete online writing course on Udemy, Writing for English Composition: College Essays!