Smagorinsky, Peter, Elizabeth Anne Daigle, Cindy O’Donnell-Allen, and Susan Bynum. “Bullshit in Academic Writing: A Protocol Analysis of a High School Senior’s Process of Interpreting Much Ado about Nothing.” Research in the Teaching of English 44(4) 2010. 368-405
The paper describes five protocols employed by Susan in completing her assignment. It offers a detailed explanation from the tape recorder used by Susan in the think-aloud part of the assignment (Smagorinsky, 46). The availability of the tape, original essay by Susan, and a detailed analysis of available text accord this article credibility. Further, the inputs of Cindy O’Donnell-Allen, the high school teacher who gave the assignment, and the two university lecturers Smagorinsky and Elizabeth, makes the article believable and critical in nature. The credibility of research material provides a study with credibility (Jaffe, 119). The article has credible information about the discourse making an indispensable resource for any research into the subject in question.
Mike Rose “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and Stifling of Language”. A Cognitivist Analysis of a Writer’s Block. College Composition and Communication, Dec 1980. Web. 6 Oct. 2014
In this article, Mike treats writing as a problem-solving process. He talks about two groups of students whom he divides into blockers and non-blockers based on their adherence to writing rules. He generates his point by arguing how the two groups of students adhere to writing rules. The blockers adhere strictly to writing rules and strategies that inhibit their composing process while the non-blockers are less rigid with rules and are thus capable of complex writing. According to Mike, following rules strictly can lead to incomplete papers, inclusion of non-relevant ideas and eventual blocking.
The writer further explains that in many instances we normally function with heuristics that give us a certain level of flexibility thus guaranteeing optimal solutions. He also states that people are likely to approach problems in habitual ways, and this can cause writing difficulties. Non-blockers succeed because they shun the rules that blockers follow religiously. Mike goes further to say “Dysfunctional rules are easily replaced with functional if there is no emotional reason.”
It is also noted that the rules that blockers follow are not bad; the problem is that they follow them like algorithms. While Mike argues that “Rules are the major organizing factors, and we wouldn’t function without them” he says that the world is rarely mathematical making heuristic rules more appropriate. This article appeared in the College Composition journal, and its target audience is lecturers teaching students on compositions and it lays strategies for assisting students who are not flexible in writing.
Work Cited
Hulda, J. and Harold E. "An Investigation of the Establishment and Operation of mental Sets," Psychological Monographs, (1925): 46.210
Jaffe, Clella. Cengage Advantage Books: Public Speaking: Concepts and Skills for a Diverse Society. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2009. Web.
Karl, D. “On Problem Solving," Psychological Monographs, 58.5 (1945). Print
Smagorinsky, Peter. Vygotsky and Literacy Research: A Methodological Framework. Rotterdam: Springer Science & Business Media, 2012. Web.
