Ch. 9 of Graff and Birkenstein’s They Say/I Say focuses on finding a balance between formal and informal style to best match the audience’s needs and expectations. It’s pretty obvious that a postcard to a friend would be much more informal than a cover letter on an employment application. But what really makes the difference between formal and informal writing styles?
Read the following examples:
Example 1:
This is to inform you that your book has been rejected by our publishing company as it did not meet the required standards. In case you would like us to reconsider it, we would suggest that you go over it and make some necessary changes.
Example 2:
You know that book I wrote? Well, the publishing company rejected it. They thought it was awful. But hey, I did the best I could, and I think it was great. I’m not gonna redo it the way they said I should.
Which one is the formal? The informal? Alright alright… it’s pretty obvious. But why is one formal and the other informal? What are they doing differently? For this discussion question, provide some examples of what you think makes formal writing formal and informal writing informal.
For a bonus point, write your response twice–once in formal style and again in informal.
Be thinking about how you might be able to spice up your Maus essay by using a mixture of these styles!
If today’s class or this unit in general is getting you down, click here for giggles. (Not related to our class at all.)
Incredibly short notice:
Tomorrow from 12:00 to 1:30, the committee for the display case will meet in Carlisle room 212, Ms. Davis’s office. Take the elevators to the second floor, turn right, and 212 is in the far back corner.
It is very possible that the committee might get everything done tomorrow. If this is the case, then there will only be one meeting. If there is another meeting, I will hopefully give more advance notice.
The noon hour is generally free for everyone, so please come even if you have to leave early for a class at 1:00. This is a chance to get massive extra credit points to wipe away unsightly low grades or zeros!
This is not a graded discussion question, but if you would like to share your experiences from today’s prejudice activity, you can here! Tell us what your role was, what you did during the class period, any insightful moments you had, and how the activity overall made you feel.
Since the reading we are doing this week is mainly concerned with the mechanics of the writing process, we will use this week’s blog posts to demonstrate and practice these skills. Before posting, be sure you have read Graff chapters 3 and 4, “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott, and have reviewed MLA guidelines for integrating and citing quotations. Then choose 2 or 3 passages from Maus and/or our supplemental reading. These should be passages that relate to your thesis in some way and that you plan to quote in your paper. Practice integrating these quotations into your own sentences, using the guidelines given by Graff and the citation style required by MLA. Doing this exercise before you begin writing your paper can be extremely helpful, because it can help you think carefully about the way you are using quotations. Doing this exercise on the blog can help us all in several ways: students who are unsure of how to integrate and cite quotations can learn from other students; students whose writing skills are more advanced can develop confidence from the experience of helping others; we can all generate some material that can be used later in our papers!
After you have given your example(s) of quotation usage, feel free to give advice, ask questions, or offer compliments to other students.
Because there’s so much going on Tuesday, I thought I’d make a brief list of things to do for Tuesday’s class:
-First draft of Maus essay WITH REFLECTION MEMO! ALWAYS A REFLECTION MEMO!
-Rewrite of Literacy Autobiography (if you opted to do so)
-Extra credit comic project (including written explanation of it)
-Read They Say/I Say Chs. 6-7
If you are interested in serving on the OneBook display case committee (for up to 25 points extra credit!), please fill out this form and return it to me by Thursday, October 11: Display Case Committee Form
Here are more questions from your reading notes. Again, you do not need to respond to each question. (Only 7 opportunities to get blog credit left! If you haven’t posted, think about it!)
1. When Michaels writes, ”The Yiddish that I can’t speak is more natural to my being than my English,” what does he mean (108)? Explain.
2. Does Michaels feel a loss because he now only has a rudimentary understanding of Yiddish? Or does he share the same views that were in Richard Rodriguez’s “Aria”?
3. On page 82 of Maus II, Vladek relates a prisoner being killed to his neighor killing his mad dog. Why does he make this comparison? What sort of meaning comes from it?
4. On page 98, Francoise picks up an African American hitchhiker, which enfuriates Vladek. As Francoise wonders, how can Vladek be so racist considering what he went through during the Holocaust?
5. A very general question, but an important one: What do you think of Maus? Was it an appropriate selection for the OneBook program? Why or why not?
Here are some great questions people asked in their reading notes. Remember that you have until class on Tuesday to respond for credit. And you don’t have to respond to each question (but you could)!
1. Florida states, “Creative people don’t cluster where the jobs are. They cluster in places that are centers of creativity and also where they like to live” (307). Do you agree with this statement or disagree? Why?
2. On page 16 of Maus II, Spiegelman expresses concern that the comic medium might not be appropriate for a topic like the Holocaust. He says, “Reality is too complex for comics… so much has to be left out or distorted” (16). What do you think about this quote? Can comics–or any form of art–really reconstruct reality effectively?
3. Art feels guilty for his easy life he had; he feels bad that he did not have to suffer like his parents. His lack of suffering also makes it more difficult for him to tell his parents’ story–he never really experienced the Holocaust firsthand. Do you think this makes Spiegelman’s work less credible? Or does his relationship to Holocaust survivors validate his voice? Similarly, is it truly impossible to capture what suffering is? And if images cannot show what anguish is, then how can words? Is experiencing atrocity firsthand the only way to really understand it?
4. Despite Vladek’s harsh personality, he did everything he could to save his wife Anja, even if it meant risking his own life. So why is he or how can he be so mean to Mala?
Here is information about the library display case project–a special, optional opportunity for you to earn up to 75 extra credit points! Library Display Case Project
