every time your dad feels the need to remark on how unnatural it is. If people can’t accept this, something so blessedly simple, how will they ever accept you?
That hits home in more ways than one. Just for someone to have no idea how true the situation was to you, and then openly criticize it, from someone you're supposed to respect and trust more than anyone else? It's heartbreaking.
People in middle school use the word ‘fag’ like punctuation
That could not be more true. People use it almost as a term of endearment these days, with how commonly the word is thrown around.
You learn a new statistic: 1 in 12. It sort of makes you want to die.
I remember when I was in Girls State when the vice-governor told someone asking him about the inequality between those defining their "biological" gender and those choosing a different gender. He interrupted her and told her there were "only 2 genders." It was disgusting, to say the least.
How would other readers respond to this technique
When I was in high school, numerous teachers used to tell me that starting with a quote or statistic is "bad news." that you've lost the reader from the get-go. I never truly understood why, starting with quotes can be highly beneficial, especially in a persuasive setting.
dentify some of the choices the author made so that you can better understand how such choices might arise in your own writing
I also think this has something to do with choosing writing that is appealing to your own opinions about certain topics, as well. If they make choices you'd make, it influences you.
how reading in a particular way could also make me a better writer.
That's incredibly important. In reading, I personally take it as lessons for my own writing. If I like the person's writing style, for one, I try it out myself and see if I'm any good at that.
Sometimes I got distracted and had to re-read entire para
The relatability of this sentence alone had me reeling.
It was a terrible story.
Honestly, being able to look back on your work and realize how much better you've gotten is so empowering. To be able to look back at your first story and being able to openly say "that sucked" is frankly beautiful as much as it is humorous.
I was incompetent in all college ways except one—I got the bestgrades in English. I wrote the best papers
Sometimes confidence in yourself is too much, and it could lead to trouble. Self checking is vitally important, but taking risks is equally as important. It's conflicting, to be sure.
At least 3 dated drafts
Is it possible to have less drafts than this, or is this set in stone?
behavior and labor
That's a new spin on classes I've had before, it seemed there we were graded primarily on attendance and test scores. I appreciate this much more.
“Participation”
Will there be more participation grades than actual graded assignments?
First, using conventional classroom grading of essays and other work to compute course grades often leads students to think more about acquiring grades than about their writing or learning
And therein lies the problem of American education-we're taught to pass, not to learn. I approve whole-heartedly with this form of grading.
you’ll be graded on the labor (the work) that you contribute to our class community of writers.
Are there participation grades, or solely based off the quality of your work and your work ethic?
Try to find the outsiders who have some credible link to what you offer—people who almost come as opposed to those who will never come
I think finding people opposed to your own thoughts is incredibly important. Finding the perspectives of others, just listening to other people's opinions instead of surrounding yourself with people who just agree with everything you do is much more valuable in my opinion.
When we talk about outsiders—people we don’t yet engage—there’s a tendency to collapse down to the most simplistic shared attributes with little regard for the intricacies alongside them.
Precisely. I think this hints to how stereotypes of how groups and communities are made, and made to be a common belief about people outside of the group. There's a word that I can't think of, where people are inherently nasty to a group they don't understand, letting stereotypes drive their way of thinking about the "out-group."
A community is a group of people who share something in common
I also think a community is a place people can truly express their opinions without further bias. A place where they're free to be themselves because they realize those around them think the same way. But a community, as I've learned, is much more than shared hobbies.
Does it have a human face?
That was an eye-opener as well, seeing as coming in to this I assumed communities were more just the hobby of doing something. I never put a human being into thought.
A strong community engenders fellowship among members, advances specific social norms, and has identifiable leaders. Weak communities are more diffuse, with members who may not even be aware of each other
While a strong community sounds of course better, I think even a weak community has its positives. I personally think you don't need to know who leads, as if the prospect of knowing there's a leader could discourage you from thinking freely in a sense.
Sometimes by affinity—something people like to do and do together.
So, in a sense, you could say that communities could also be classified as hobbies you enjoy doing?
togetherness.
And that there is vitally important. You don't necessarily have to have experienced something to understand or sympathize with others.
Community, in this sense, is not merely something that one fits into; it is also something one chooses for oneself, through a process of self-discovery.
I think this helps tremendously clear confusion over what I thought a community was. It's not just a hobby, it's a life choice. It's introspection, it's a way your body finds a way to live in some way. To be happy.
because the personal voice strikes many readers as more trustworthy than the institutional.
That's incredibly true, but the personal voice could on the other hand incite more anger and frustration than the institutional. It's much like arguing fact with fiction, a concrete fact is sometimes a much harder pill to swallow than mere opinion, and I think that causes a divide.
one in which the individual person, rather than the group, is primary.
I think this is a really important part about communities, that they make you see just how important and valued and talented you are yourself. Not just a part of a big group, but your own person.