Journal Entry 4

Katriel and Farrell contribute to our understanding of everyday writing by expanding our horizons on what can be considered everyday writing. They talk about how scrapbooks are rhetorical artifacts, perhaps compendiums of everyday writing. The pictures and small details inserted into these scrapbooks could perhaps be considered more detailed everyday writing then other sources. Katriel and Farrell think scrapbooks are an important piece of everyday Americana and that would also be everyday writing. While I would consider scrapbooks everyday writing, I wouldn't think the same of Zines. Everyday writing typically doesn't follow a specific code, it has specific mediums, but once it gets too organized and almost too informative then it stops being everyday writing. With scrapbooks there are so many different ways to make a scrapbook and the term scrapbook is just used to generalize all those different ways but with a Zine you are specifically making a Zine and you follow rules, your Zine will be different to others but not by much. The true thing that differentiates the two in my mind is that Zine is a pronoun and scrapbook is a noun.

Week 4 Journal

Tamar Katriel and Thomas Farrell have contributed the topics of scrapbooks as a piece of everyday writing. They go more in depth about how a scrapbook is not something that is merely done once or a few times a week. Katriel and Farrell state that making scrapbook takes a lot of time and commitment. The proper formation of a scrapbook must be done with certain techniques and has to be taken seriously, to the point where the creator must give a good amount of his or her time to add on to or improve the scrapbook in some way. The proposal of this topic from Katriel and Farrell actually got me to reconsider what everyday writing actually means. I once perceived everyday writing to be common things that are done on a day to day basis which involve writing, such as taking notes on something, typing up an email, or posting a status on a social network. With the topic of scrapbooks and zines, I believe that for certain things to be considered "everyday writing" solely depends on what the writer considers to fall under such a genre. In terms of the general population of writers all over the world, we believe that everyday writing includes things that we would easily consider to be everyday writing, such as notes or a letter, because these are casual things that writers are most likely to compose on a daily basis. On the other hand, some writers may do things differently on a daily basis that most other writers do not do, such as making a scrapbook.

When it comes to scrapbooks and zines, I feel completely neutral about whether they are examples of everyday writing or not. One may argue that scrapbooks and zines are not pieces of everyday writing because they simply do not involve the act of writing, but it has the potential to. There could be writing that the creator of the scrapbook had originally done in the past which may be put into the scrapbook later on in the present. Others may also say that scrapbooks and zines are not examples of everyday writing because it wouldn't be considered something that people would do everyday, but the truth is, the people who are committed to making these scrapbooks and zines are indeed putting in work almost every day in order to make them more intriguing when the time comes to reflect on one's past or to dwell on one's interest. All in all, scrapbooks are examples of everyday writing, but at the same time, they are not. Pretty much, scrapbooks and zines have potential to be considered everyday writing, depending on how the creator (or even the people who view such works) perceives them.

Journal Entry 4

Katriel and Farrel contribute to our conversation about everyday writing by explaining that scrapbooking has become a common practice in our lives and how the collage of words and pictures reflects life stories. Everyone has, at one point or another, created, received or looked at a scrapbook. Scrapbooks help us create a timeline of our lives. Zines, a do it yourself magazine, would be considered a piece of everyday writing as each one is unique and there is little outside resources you would need to acquire to make one. Both Katriel and Farrels' writing on scrapbooks and the wikibook article on Zine making have given me a better understanding of what everyday writing is.

Week 4 Journal

Katriel and Farrell contribute a more unique perspective to everyday writing. Their notion that pictures can be considered as examples everyday writing is very interesting because it seems to concentrate more on the idea of everyday writing involving things seen/done everyday instead of the actual writing aspect itself. I really like the idea of scrapbooking and Zines being considered everyday writing because writing is a form of expression and pictures can certainly be used to convey a similar message like its writing counterpart. Walking around during the day people probably encounter more pictures than writing.

                Scrapbooks show what everyday acts really look like and certainly give a more accurate presentation than writing is able to. I think this brings us back to the question of “what makes a writer?” If pictures like Zines and scrapbooks can be considered everyday writing than a writer really doesn’t need to write at all in order to be considered a writer. This means that a writer is really just a person that can convey a message to an audience. It also requires the whole exigency-discourse –change analysis of rhetoric to be redone to better fit the picture category of everyday writing. Adding non-writing material to everyday writing really redefines the boundaries of what can and can’t be everyday writing. Can paintings and sculptures be considered everyday depending on the scene they depict or the message they convey? Katriel and Farrell are definitely making a stretch  by considering scrapbooking and Zines everyday writing but I think it makes since based off of everyday experiences.

Katriel and Farrell contribute to our ongoing conversations about everyday writing in a number of ways. At one point they stated, “It is our intention that the scrapbook provides an exemplary case of such a “genre of self”. We have discussed many things in class that you could categorize as “genre of self”. Personal notes, reminders, diaries, etc. can all be considered under the “genre of self”. They just decided to use scrapbooks as another example that could fall under that category. They go on (in great detail) to talk about the significance of the “scrapbook” and the plethora of ways in which they can be/ are used. Essentially, a scrapbook is documented information when people had fun. The expected age is between early childhood and early adulthood. They even went on to say that when you get beyond those years, say 35 and up, people at that age write scrapbooks about times when they were in their younger years.  The similarities to scrapbooks and diaries are rather evident at this point. Because people generally enjoy writing these things, that means that we are fully capable of picking up a notebook and going through the process of writing in it every day, thus making it an example of everyday writing.  Zine making is similar to the scrapbook and the “genre of self”, but I think making zines are a little bit more complicated and take a little bit more time. However, if one is interested enough in the art of zine making, it can definitely be considered an example of everyday writing. 

Journal Entry 4

Katriel and Farrell discuss how scrapbooks are a form of both an American art of memory as well as a rhetorical practice of construction and performance of an individual. Scrapbooking is a very common practice and an element of American culture. Scrapbooks are created for many reasons. People choose to practice in this form of everyday writing for sentimental reasons, they value life’s fleeting moments and treasure monumental events and wish to document these occasions with pictures and other memorabilia. People also practice scrapbooking for the sake of their family, more specifically, their children. Parents hope children will grow up and look back on their childhood fondly. Scrapbooks help children reminisce about times when they were too young to form substantial memories of their own. Scrapbooks are also a form of communication to the outside world. For example, if a scrapbook is on display in a family’s living room, when guests are visiting they can examine the scrapbook. By simply flipping through the pages, a guest can gain a lot of insight and knowledge into the family’s history. As discussed earlier, everyday writing can be both private and public. Scrapbooks or zines can be both, depending on the creators desires. In my opinion, scrapbooks are zines are forms of everyday writing. They are a common part of American culture and are often present in most homes today. Personally, I believe scrapbooks are great outlet for personal expression. This form of memorabilia is a great way to aesthetically document one’s life in order to have something tangible in one’s old age to reminisce with.

Week 4 journal

The main characters in this text are Katriel and Farrell.  In the text the write things known as scrapbooks and zines.  These are not normal types of everyday writing.  Because they are outlandish and not well known this text teaches the reader different types of everyday writing.  These new kinds of every day writing are effective in teaching people how to write on a more emotional level.  Zines are unique in that it shows the reader what the most important things are in your life.  Zines use both text and images because that is the most efficient way to display ones feelings and desires.  A scrapbook on the other hand is almost completely filled with photos and other images.  Images are important for a reader to see because they display exactly what the writer had in mind.  After all, both of these unique types of writing help the reader understand what everydy writing really is.

Week 4

What does Katriel & Farrell contribute to our conversations about everyday writing? Are scrapbooks and zines examples of everyday writing?

I agree with Katriel and Farrell’s take on scrapbooks and zines as a form of everyday writing because I think it helps to broaden our idea of what is “everyday” or what is “writing”.  These subjects can include writing that’s organized with other forms of texts such as pictures, and drawings. Scrapbooks and zines are usually personal reflections of the events that take place through an individuals or a family’s lifetime. They are records of things that actually happened and a way of capturing the moment or day in more ways than just written words on a page. It is my belief that records of daily lives such as these should be considered forms of everyday writing. From a historian point of view, scrapbooks and zines are credible records that can be read to discover something about a person’s life. For that I think it is even more of a reason to have scrapbooks and zines considered a form of writing. Also I make the case for our changing society. Maybe at some point before it would be considered ridiculous to put scrap booking under the category of writing. Today however we see the abundant history and popularity of scrap booking and zines so it is far more reasonable for them to now be considered everyday writing examples.

Week 4 Journal

What does Katriel & Farrell contribute to our conversations about everyday
Writing? Are scrapbooks and Zines examples of everyday writing?

We have been talking about how everyday writing is personal and is more than just words written down on paper or put into a document. Katriel & Farrell give us a more in-depth understanding of a way to communicate without the use of words. The use of visuals in scrapbooks communicates a particular event or experience that generally happened in the creators life without the use of written words. Though the in-depth, personal meaning of the experience is not fully understood by the reader or audience they can still get the overall meaning from the visuals in such a way to convey the message. Though it may be argued that scrapbooks are not everyday text because they do not include words, it is also true the a form of communication is undergone and that is what a text is. Since there is no set way that scrap booking has to be done or class that tells you the exact method of creating the perfect scrapbook it fits with our understanding the everyday text is not institutional. There is nothing that says that you must use this many pictures or put them in this order with these colors. 
I would argue that scrapbooks are examples of everyday writing due to the personal and untrained aspect of the text. Zines depending on their purpose I feel could be everyday writing. An original zine that has not been produced I would consider an everyday text due to the uniqueness and originality or them. But a zine that has been mass produced for sale I would not consider an everyday text.

Week 4 Journal

         In class, we have been talking about the distinctions between rhetoric and genre, as well as how these two ideas work together. Katriel and Farrell believe that scrapbooking is a “genre of self.” Thus meaning, one’s own ideas and perceptions of their life are shown throughout a scrapbook. I liked how they referred to a scrapbook as an “autobiographical text,” I never thought of it that way.

Scrapbooks are indeed an example of print text because we previously discussed that no print text is like the other. Scrapbooks, for instance, are completely unique to each owner. There are not any identical scrapbooks made by different people because each ‘writer’ has depicted their own personal views and ideas. 

When talking about everyday writing, we agreed that there is no need for particular schooling or rules to be followed while writing. In the article, three main concepts are implied but not necessary. They are saving, organizing, and contemplating. These are not like school subjects or written guidelines. It is pretty much common sense. When creating a baby book, the parents must save baby pictures, baptismal certificates, etc. This is obvious because what else would one put in a baby book? Organizational skills are also quite arbitrary. One may like the look of linear order whereas someone else may prefer overlapping and skewed pictures. 

“A picture is worth a thousand words” is such a cliché but also holds true. Scrapbooks include both pictures and text to tell a story or explain an event. Therefore, I highly believe that it is an example of everyday writing. 

Zines, in close relation to scrapbooks, are also a craft and are considered everyday texts as well. Both require technologies to produce the final product. Anything that contains text and/or pictures and that is “DIY” I consider to be everyday writing. 

Finally, I disagree with Emily because scrapbooks may contain text to explain a certain picture. It still reflects events within a person’s lifetime which is why it could be ‘everyday.’ I like how Paige is open to both sides and acknowledges that if it has “blurbs  of writing” then it is writing because that is how I understood it too. 

Week 4 Journal

What does Katriel & Farrell contribute to our conversations about everyday writing? Are scrapbooks and Zines examples of everyday writing?

              Katriel and Farrell are basically furthering our thoughts that everyday writing doesn’t have to even have to contain text at all. It really gave you a broader idea of what could be considered everyday writing. The idea that scrapbooks and zines are everyday writing, to me would make sense.  In order to make a scrapbook (or zine) your have the same thought process as actual writing and you come out with the same effect. You’re coming up with information, making its life endless, and sharing its meaning to you with others. The story scrapbooks tell can even be more effective as everyday writing, than writing itself can. It can give you a greater, more emotional, picture of the certain event occurring more so than actual text could give you. In pictures you're seeing the colors, facial expressions, body language, background details and certain things that are normal for the ones in the picture, but to you its something new and foreign that you couldn’t of understood threw text, only imagined. A zine is also a very powerful piece of everyday writing because of the fact it shows what’s important to you and it shows what stands out in your mind, shown in both text and images, which are things that other people might find less significant. Both scrapbooks and zines are great example of everyday writing and they further help me grasp the concept of what “everyday writing” really means.

Week 4

Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but if those words aren't written than I do not consider them to be writing. Basically, I disagree with Katriel and Farrell, who believe that scrapbooking is a form of text. Although, the article does mention that scrapbooks have a specific order and displays emotion, as texts usually do, I do not believe this to be enough to make a scrapbook page a piece of writing. They says that scrapbooks are "rhetorical artifacts" and I take that to be similar to history books. And they have stated that there are genres in scrapbooks like "wedding" and "baby book," just like history books can be in genres of past events like "The Civil War" and "The Industrial Revolution." Scrapbooks are something people do as an activity of leisure just as some types of everyday writing may be. But, even with all of these similarities I stand by my belief that scrapbooks are not texts to be considered as everyday writing because there is no writing involved.

Week 4 Journal

What does Katriel & Farrell contribute to our conversations about everyday writing? Are scrapbooks and Zines examples of everyday writing?

Katriel and Farrell talk about how scrapbooking can become everyday to capture the moments of our everyday lives. While I agree that they can be seen as a text, I wouldn't necessarily consider them writing unless they have blurbs of writing and a rhetorical situation about each individual event on a page. I think that scrapbooking can become everyday if one is dedicated to it, but it can also just be a hobby, something that is done as a relaxing activity. To me for a scrapbook to be considered both everyday and a piece of writing, I feel as if it must narrate to an audience about the events that the creator feels necessary to tell but it also must talk about the significance of the various items included within it and each component of the scrapbook should feel as if it were everyday. What I mean by that is that each individual picture should lead to the next picture, each story should connect in some way to the story on the next page. The scrapbook, in essence, should retell time on an everyday basis. It should go from birth to death including all of the little nuances of life for example, getting married, having kids, graduating from college, one's first job, etc.

Before this assignment I had never heard of a Zine and to be completely honest, I'm not sure I understand completely what the point of one is. They seem to be magazines and magazines have become part of our daily lives as a modern society so I guess they could be deemed as everyday. The webpage says that there are various different genres of Zines and many different kinds ranging from comic books to fan-fiction magazines, so that does classify them as some form of writing.

Week 4 blog

I think Katriel and Farrell continue our discussion of everyday writing because scrapbooks are a form of writing. While scrapbooks do not at all contain the same amount of words as a novel or even a letter they still convey a message to an audience. Also the author of a scrapbook chooses what is important enough to put in their book. A writer doesn't write down every single thought they think just as in the same way a scrapbooker doesn't put pictures of every mundane thing they do. Both forms of writing involve similar thought processes of choosing what is important enough to put in their writings.
 This article opened my mind up to new forms of writing. While I had heard of scrapbooks and even have a few, I had never heard of zines. While zines and scrapbooks are similar in the way they are put together, zines are more published works. Both are objects used to express ideas and stories in the same way a book does. All these objects express an idea but they are all conveyed in different forms.

Week 4 Journal

Katriel and Farrell definitely contributed to our conversation about everyday writing. Throughout the class, my views of everyday writing continues to grow, just as it did after reading this article. After reading what the article stated, I no longer think writing is the only thing that makes something a piece of everyday writing. I now understand pictures can be considered everyday writing because although there might not be words, they still are able to share a story and a lot about a person.   

Reading Katriel and Farrell’s article definitely made me think differently about what I consider to be everyday writing. Before reading this article, I never really considered scrapbooks or zines to be a form of everyday writing. Now, they both fit into my definition. According to Katriel and Farrell, scrapbooks are highly personalized and show ones experiences and life stories. Although scrapbooks aren’t normally seen as a form of writing, they usually have captions that describe the events in the pictures. These captions allow people who were not at the particular even to know what exactly was going on. Zines are also an example of everyday writing because they are also a way for the creator to write whatever thoughts or ideas they have but can also include a picture to paint a better picture into the readers head. People who create zines do not get paid yet I still would consider zines as everyday writing just like I would consider a nonprofessional writer who writes without getting published or paid. 

Week 4 Journal

Katriel and Farrell contributes to our conversations about everyday writing by explaining that scrapbooks are created for the sake of keeping memories alive on pages. They are arranged in a specific order, whether it is in order of when the pictures were taken or a page of similar events. Scrapbooks tell stories with and without captions, but with captions they are more easily understood by those who were not there at the time the picture was taken. Katriel and Farrell say that it is about “making decisions about what goes in, that you’re having that kind of dialogue, which the subtext is:  what’s important to you?” People who make scrapbooks tend to glorify some things or pictures more than others, and they display these things on papers for others to look through in order to find out what those glorified things are.

Scrapbooks are an example of everyday writing because people create them to organize the memories that they captured on film. The pictures are captioned so that when friends and family look through the scrapbook, they can read the caption to find out what was happening at the time the picture was taken. This can revive memories for those who were there or paint a picture for those who were not. Zines are an example of everyday writing because the creator of a zine writes about whatever he or she wants while including pictures, drawings, or even materials that help bring the zine together. Usually a non-profit hobby, it is like a magazine that anybody can make using their imagination or factual information.

Week 4 Journal

Katriel and Farrell contribute a great deal to our understanding of everyday writing in numerous ways. One of which is the way that their text has broadened my view of what exactly could fall under this category. Prior to reading this, one might think that artsy pieces such as scrapbooks and Zines, unless they contain actual text, would not be considered "everyday writing." However, when considering all of the components that go into the process of creating these items, a new perspective can be gained. For example, when creating a scrapbook a person goes through three basic steps which include collecting, putting together and then sharing their work. This is similar in a way to the processes that your typical author would go through as he/she gathers or collects information, organizes their content, and then publishes their work to be viewed by others. Zines are similar to scrapbooks in the way that they are put together as well, except they resemble the typical work of a published author more so. By reading this piece I have gained a broader genre to which I define everyday writing, and have a better understanding oh how it is not so much the actual text, but rather the relaying of information or content that makes something everyday writing.
I would now consider both scrapbooks and Zines to be examples of everyday writing because they require similar thinking processes and efforts that are involved in the everyday writing of an author or other published writer. These are methods of expressing stories, whether it be of a special event, a specific time in ones life, or even presenting information, opinionated or factual on a topic of interest. No matter the specific intensions behind these projects, the common thread which links them to everyday writing is their purpose of relaying information of some sort in some way.

Week 3 Journal

The people from the text that live in the Shenandoah National Park are writers because they expressed their views by writing.  There is no one in the world that has the certification to determine if someone is a writer or not.  The term is simply relative to each person's idea of the word.  In my mind the people became writers when they decided to write letters instead of another action that possible could have been aggressive or violent.  A writer can be a five year old child who is writing a very simple story or it could be a renowned artist of writing whom has won dozens of novel awards.  

Week 3

The people of Shenandoah Park were certainly not writers by my standards. They wrote letters to the park officials about problems they were facing and if they could have assistance. The writing abilities demonstrated by the residents are, for the most part, at a level demonstrating very little education. The spelling and grammar (although some it might be correct given the time period) is not well thought out and it would appear as though the people write the same way they speak. If I was to consider the residents writers simply because they wrote something I feel as though the question “what is a writer” becomes a redundancy as the answer includes every literate person. For my definition of what constitutes a writer I am going to try and narrow down the amount of people who can claim writer as a title.

I believe the title of writer should be given to those who write at some sort of professional level. What I mean is people who: write for magazines/newspapers, authors of books, or any other type of writing that reaches a relatively large audience. In addition to quality I think quantity, as in the length of the writing and how often the individual writes, is important in classifying someone as a writer. Ideally a writer should be able to profit from his/her work. A writers revenue should be looked at in order to rank writers on how well they write because success is the goal most writers strive to achieve. 

Week 3 Journal

The people of Shenandoah National Park are definitely writers. There is no discrimination when it comes to the bylaws of who can and can't be a writer. A writer is simply a being that has thoughts and then turns those thoughts into words. Since the people of Shenandoah National Park decided to express their feelings by letter to the officials kicking them from their homes, they became writers, it's as simple as that.

Week 3 Journal

According to my understanding, there is a special permission to the people who are residing near or on the Shenandoah National Park, which is to take whatever is on or in the houses in the park as long as the houses were empty, and the letters from the people are mostly either showing gratitude for the permission or asking permission to defend their honor as Powell describes. They did not want the park officials to misunderstand them as thieves and mistreat them as such, when in fact they had a special permission to do what they were doing. In defense to their honor, they wrote to whomever they thought were responsible for the park, either the chief of the officials, Mr. Haskins, or Mr. J. R. Lassiter, asking permission when they didn’t want confusion on who gets what in the house, or letting the park officials to know that there were some shady people who were trying to disrupt the peace by making and selling whiskeys. This action of writing letters to the park officials make them writers, as I consider the fundamental definition of writer being the one who performs action, writing. As long as that person is writing, even if that piece of writing is grammatically wrong (which is the case for the most of the letters by the people from the park), the person is considered as a writer, to my standard. I remember that there is a South Korean writer who has written a book in which only chat language was used for the entire book. It may not be considered as a proper literature, but it is still a piece of writing. 

Week 3 Journal

How are the people of the Shenandoah National Park writers? Or not writers? Who counts as being a writer? What does it mean to be a writer?

Depending on what your definition of a writer is or does determines if the people of the Shenandoah National Park are writers or not. I personally define a writer as anyone who writes for a purpose. That purpose can be personal, business or public; the content of the writing does not necessarily have to be grammatically correct or even structured in a traditional way. Using this definition I would say that the people of the Shenandoah National Park are writers. They are writing for a purpose and are using what literary knowledge they have to communicate to others for a personal business purpose. Though many of them are not formally educated and lack the commonly acceptable writing style they still are able to communicate their intention to the recipient of the letter. The letters all have motivation to behind the writing of them and an intended audience for the writing.

            To me anyone who writes with intent to have it read by an audience even if that audience is just themselves in the future or one specific person. To be a writer means that you write with intent and purpose and a motivation. When you write you are expressing something that you are concerned about and care about in some way.

WEEK THREE: 1937 Shenandoah National Park

   The people of the Shenandoah National Park are indeed writers because they have written letters. Regardless of the poor grammar, these people have produced 'print text.' I had a hard time understanding some of the letters because the grammar was so horrible, such as Mrs. WA Nicholson's from February 5, 1937, but the important thing is that the writer comprehends what they wrote. Although these letters were never appreciated by the park officials, they were not overshadowed. Each letter contains elements of emotion such as fear, worry, and frustration. These expressions make each letter powerful in its own way.
   I agree with Kacey in that the writings of the Shenandoah National Park residents do not have to be published in order to consider them writers. They wrote it. Therefore, they are writers. It is quite simple.  Clearly, the majority of them were never taught the 'proper' way to write, however, they still got their message across. This in itself shows that anyone can still be a writer. Kindergarteners may not be able to spell every word correctly but they still write cards to their parents. This makes them writers as well.  Amanda said "Writing is a form of expression…" and that was evident in these letters. The residents of the National Park were greatly disturbed and reacted by writing letters. It seems as if we all have a similar understanding of what it means to be a writer, who is considered a writer, etc. After all, writing these entries makes us all writers.

Week 3 Journal

The people of Shenandoah National Park can be considered writers simply because they are participating in the act of writing. Their letters to the park officials, in which many are aiming to get something from the officials in order to enhance their standard of living, allow them to be put in in the position of the “writer”. Although I don’t necessarily agree with this, they could NOT be considered writers, simply due to the fact that they are not licensed/professional writers that have their works sent out to a publisher and distributed amongst the masses.  I would say that the question “Who counts as being a writer? What does it mean to be a writer?” is essentially asking the same thing. In my opinion, a writer is anyone who participates in the act of writing. It is very broad, ranging from a person writing themselves a reminder note, to J.K. Rowling writing another edition to the Harry Potter series. Although one is on an immensely larger scale than the other, they can both be considered writing. 

week three

The letters written to the officials of the Shanandoah national park is a form of writing. It may not be formal or published, but it is still a form of writing making the authors "writers". The letters were pleas of help from the occupants that were never answered. The letters had feelings and emotions in them, making them powerful. The letters may have been neglected, but that doesn't make them invisible. The were written words in forms of sentences that expressed feeling which, in my eyes, makes them writers.  There was obvious lack of knowledge of proper grammar and vocabulary, but that doesn't mean they couldn't express themselves any less. There was a profound powerful expressions of anger within the letters that were clearly evident. To me, they were writers and should be recognized as so.

Week 3 Journal

The people of the Shenandoah National Park wrote to the park officials in order to try and get them to fix things to make their home a better place. This makes them writers because of their use of paper and pen to freely express their thoughts and desires to the people in charge of running the park. The people working at the Shenandoah National Park were not writers:  they failed to write back to the residents, and based on the multiple letters of complaints the officials also failed to take action upon the residents’ pleas.

Writers are anyone with the ability to express themselves through words written or typed, and the art of writing is a passion for many. Some writers write because it helps relieve stress and allows us to express ourselves without having to speak. Writers can be just about anybody; even those who do not know how to use proper grammar and spelling can be considered writers. As long as a person takes advantage of their freedom of self-expression by either typing or writing whatever they want to write, they are considered a writer.

Some writers only write information that they find when they are researching something. Scientists and experimental chefs, for example, are writers because they bring new information into the lives of readers. Scientists present to us things that are in or can be created from nature. Experimental chefs create new recipes by trying to make a new flavor when they combine different ingredients, writing down the measurements of each ingredient in the recipe as they add to the dish.

Week 3 Journal

It is obviously evident that the people of the Shenandoah National Park are upset with how they are treated by the park officials and do not approve of their assumptions towards them, the residents. A vast majority of the residents chose to write their own individual letters which support their views on said assumptions. The letters also help explain why certain actions were carried out. For instance, one resident decided to take down the windows of his own home because he felt that vandalism was inevitable. aside from the personal perspectives and explanations inscribed on each of these letters, it is clear that most of the residents of Shenandoah National Park lack proper knowledge in grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Although many of the letters can be fairly difficulty to understand at times, the majority still manages to get their main point across to the park officials. Because of this, I believe that the people of Shenandoah National Park are indeed writers.

From a personal perspective, as long as you manage to get your message across to the reader regarding any slight grammar or vocabulary-related errors, you would still count as being considered a writer. The errors, however, may be so plentiful and severe to a point where the overall message that is trying to be sent may not be comprehended at all, but because the people of Shenandoah National Park made an attempt to convey their personal views on the issues made by the park officials through means of writing, I personally believe that this act alone is what it really means to be considered a writer.

Week 3 Journal

The people of Shenandoah National Park should be considered writers, in my opinion because they simply wrote the physical letters. I believe that a writer is anyone who writes, and that there are no requirements to become a writer. Anyone, at any age that has the ability to write can be a writer. The people living in the national park had little to no formal education but yet still wrote to the park rangers to express their feelings of frustration and concern.  Even with severe grammatical errors the letters were written to convey a message and therefore makes the people of Shenandoah National Park writers.

Being a writer can have several meanings, depending on how it is being discussed. For example, in the professional world, a writer would be someone whose work is published or writes to be published. In the everyday and general sense of the meaning a writer is just someone that has taken time to write. The writing does not even have to have meaning although much of what we see typically does. A lot of the everyday writing we thing of is some form of communication. In 1937 we see these examples of letters, and today we can see examples of emails or text messages. In all examples, the one that wrote the message should be considered a writer.