Response to Tannen

In How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently, by Deborah Tannen, she discusses how the different genders participate in conversation. Tannen states that sociologists and anthropologists have found that a girl will have a best friend that they will tell anything to. Boys have to have activities to do with their best friends and they tend to play in larger groups. She talks about splitting her class into smaller groups to get everybody to participate and she discovered that everybody was a little bit more open after that.

I think that a strength in this paper is that she really knows what she's talking about. I mean, not only did she do the research, via internet or interview, but she also put it to the test in her classroom. That really seemed to work in her favor.

I definitely agree with her. Every once in a while I will say something in a class, but I tend to be silent. It's not because I'm afraid of saying of something, it's just that I would rather listen. I remember in high school, that my english teacher would split us up to talk about our papers. I would actually talk to my group and I think that helped a great deal. However, I would be quiet as soon as we got back to our seats.

Sensory Detail

"The most comical activity to witness is the students running to food like it was going to be the last meal they ever ate. It's as if the places will run out of there never ending piles of food." That was from my paper describing one of the things that I saw while sitting in the food court at the University Center. I guess what I'm really hoping to have my readers truely understand, is that people can sometimes be crazy when it comes to food, especially teenagers.

Response/William Zinsser

So now I am supposed to respond to my english partner's blog. I think I can do that, it seems easy enough. Okay, she says that these blogs are kind of like online diaries and I agree with that. The people who write these blogs are people who think that other people are completely interested in reading about them. Which, since this is kind of popular, is true. However, I know that there are certain things in my life that I wouldn't want made public and I definetly know I wouldn't want people reading about me.

Now, what do I believe William Zinsser would say about blogging. Hhhmmm. I think he would say something like "Blogging is better than somebody not writing at all." Then again I could be completely wrong about this. However, I don't think there is a right or wrong answer to this. Well anyways, I think he is the type of person who is set in his own style of writing, but appreciates the other styles that exist.

Eng 101

      What I hope to gain through blogging this semester in Eng 101 is something that I have yet to grasp. Maybe I'll discover that I like blogging, then again maybe I won't. I really honestly don't know. I have never done a blog before, so this is a new experience. This is something that I never thought I would do, but I guess that's the power of a class assignment. However, I think this could turn into something that is enjoyable. I think that maybe, just maybe, I will get something out of this. Besides a new experience, I will gain more knowledge of who I am as a writer, which is probably a good thing.