Steps for Written Responses

Steps for written responses:

1)      Briefly summarize the essay.

2)      Find key quotes/passages.

3)      Think about your own ideas and experiences in regard to education and write them down.

4)      Take the above info and write one or two paragraphs blending your own ideas and experiences with the author’s. Be sure your written response contains the following:

a.       Title of essay in quotes and name of author.

b.      A key personal experience.

c.       A connection between the two. For example:  Have you had a similar or contrasting experience?

d.      One direct quote from the essay (Be sure to provide quotation marks and explain it to the reader).

Think of writing Task Three in stages. You may use the model above to write your essay as I am doing with my essay. I have begun to outline my personal experiences first.

The essays I have chosen to use for my Task Three paper include:  “Sister Flowers” by Maya Angelou and “Becoming Educated” by Barbara Jordan.

The focus for my paper includes:  Who are persons who took me aside as Sister Flowers did for Maya Angelou and what does becoming educated mean to me as it meant for Barbara Jordan?

1)      After graduating from Braymer High School at 18, I made the decision to attend Missouri Western State University in 2003. Because of my ACT scores, I was placed into English 100:  Introduction to College Writing, a development reading and writing course. Originally I had wanted to become a high school English teacher. I enjoyed reading and writing and as a teacher, I wanted to share my passion for the written language with others. However, because I was placed in a developmental reading and writing course, I thought that I was not smart enough to teach others. I thought that I had to be among the elite, the smartest.  One letter changed my thoughts. Dawn Terrick, the director of developmental writing and English 100 professor, wrote a letter recognizing my written skills and encouraging me to pursue a career in writing. Needless to say, Dawn and I work together now. I am now teaching English 100.

2)      Six years later, I was in Kay Siebler’s English 664 class, a course in Composition Theory. I was the only graduate student in the class among undergraduates, two of which were men. While I was vocal in the class, it was not to the level Kay wanted. I was called into her office at midterm and during our conference, Kay told me that because I was only a graduate student that I should be the most vocal in the classroom. Traditionally, men are more vocal in the classroom. As a womyn, I needed to establish my authority and as Kay suggested, the undergraduates could learn from my experiences because I was teaching at the time. In the past, I was introverted, but now I was in a new context, so I took her advice seriously. If I wanted to excel, I had to begin to read each essay critically, evaluating how I might apply it to my classroom. So as I began to read, I began to mark up the pages with my analysis and my comments of which I would bring up in English 664.

3)      I have had two persons in my educational career who took the time to work with me. It would have been easy to look at me as just another student. However, Dawn recognized the skills in my writing. She later explained to me that because I was placed in English 100, this did not mean that I was stupid or could not read and write. A test does not determine your fate, just as it did not determine whether I could read and write. I could. Because I was placed in English 100, Dawn saw in me an excitement for writing that I will continue on in my career as I share it with others. Although it was a different time and setting because I was a graduate student, Kay like Dawn took the time to work with me. She took me aside because, as a fellow sister, she realized that I had things to tell that was worth sharing. The classroom can be a frightening and intimidating place; however, Kay taught me that everyone has something to say. We each can learn from what the other has said. The value of voice and being able to speak is so important that it is freeing in a way.