The reading summary is done by: Adrian Garcia (ENGL300-1) and Sarah Crowley (ENGL300-2)
Due by class time on: Friday, January 28th, 2011
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Monday, January 31st, 2011
The text you need to read is here (it's a Picasa slide show. Double-click on the first slide and read it with the magnifying glass symbol on your right; then, click on the arrow pointing to the right to view the other slides.).
In Macrorie's article, "Sharpening", Macrorie talks about the excessive use of the verb "is." What Macrorie says in his article is that the verb "is" implies that something exists and can be feminine or masculine. But at the same time it lacks the force and livelines of writing. What Macrorie is trying to tell us as students is that we tend to use "is" and "it" when composing sentences rather than using actual verbs that tell more of the story. He also says that sometimes "is" and "it" dominate a passage. The example, Macrorie gives on p. 225 is a great way to see how well-written paragraphs should be written. Another example that shows the excessive use of "it" is, "by a recent poll it was revealed..." and instead should be written as "a recent poll revealed." In other words, we should try to replace "is" in a sentence and find a verb that has more meaning. Macrorie also mentions the difference between passive and active voice and the use of "it," "is" and "there are." The difference between the two is that passive verbs suggest that everything is idle; active verbs suggest that everything is happening at that moment. An important statement that Macrorie mentioned in his article was only one can consider to change the context of the word or phrase. It is not a "bad" thing to write "is" and "it" in sentences, but should be replaced with other verbs to describe more action. Even writers like Bernard Shaw uses "it is" when the words are not necessary; for example, "and it is the final 2 per cent that makes the difference between excellence and mediocrity." The words "it is" can easily be removed from the sentence. "Sharpening" writing is very difficult to do in writing and is not as simple and easy as this chapter suggest, but truly depends if a person believes the word or phrases we use in context are dictated and should be retained. Overall, Macrorie believes that most academic writing is loaded with overuse of words and phrases, and handing these words should be with caution. This is why Macrorie warns others of the dangers of overusing words in this chapter. Macrorie, then says we should look for the weak spots in our sentences and find ways of replacing "it," "there" and "is." Macrorie's state of mind believes the way students speak is the way words just come out as we write. We adapt the use of our vocabulary through all sorts of concepts; with friends we tend to speak in slang, so we become accustomed to that everyday dialect that possess us to lose the correct way to talk and write. Macrorie, believes the way to write is to have the ability to take out the use of unnecessary words, that correlates to "Engfish", in which students add on more words when needed to feel smarter. There is no right or wrong answer here; we should try to avoid "it" and "is" and not let them dominate our vocabulary.
By: Adrian Garcia
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5 points extra credit for the FIRST student who SHARPENS this sentence (just post it here as a comment):
ReplyDeleteMacrorie's state of mind believes the way students speak is the way words just come out as we write.
;-)
Macrorie believes students write the way they speak.
ReplyDelete- Karina Enriquez
Macrorie's state of mind believes the way students speak *reflects the way words just come out as we write.
ReplyDeleteMacrorie's article highlights the excessive usage of the words: it, there, and is. He explains to the reader that these words in repetition can be seen to be uneducated and lack vocabulary to properly define the sentence. But, using verbs (that are not it, is, and there) can be bad if the writer's intentions are to impress. This article relates to ENGFISH in the way that we should write without being pretentious and try being as truthful as possible.
ReplyDeleteThis article summary was written very well and had a lot of details and examples. I do agree that most people (including myself) use the word "it" and "is" very often. I sometimes use it even when it is not needed. I believe if the "it" and "is" were not used as much and use the verb more, it will make papers or any readings sound more effective.
ReplyDeleteI thought Adrian did I really great job summarizing the article! Macrorie has a way of making you think outside of the box in terms of your writing. I think a lot of us believe that if we get an "A" in an English class or do a great job on a writing assignment that we must be good writers. I love these blogs for that exact reason, they push us to challenge our writing. I know I am guilty of not sharpening my work along with engfish and other bad habits. I do feel that it's important not to go crazy editing every "is" and "it" in your writing. I think finding a balance between the two is a nice starting point. Overall, I found the article interesting and beneficial.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I would like to say Adrian did an outstanding job on his summary. It is well written and it gives great detail about the article for people who have not read it yet. In Macrorie's article it talks about verb usage. This can relate back to the past article we read, Enfish, who also spoke a lot about the importance of a well written understanding of how word structure works. This article could be used as a great resource on how to get back to the basics and apply all of these skills to your English classes.
ReplyDeleteMacrorie's article interested me a lot. I have thought many times about the over-usage of "to be" verbs or descriptive words in my writing, but at the same time never got around to fixing it. I knew they sounded awkward, but had a block in my thought process on how to rewrite them, because then they looked too simple to me. Though often the sentence would not have had the same meaning, or the passage wouldn't have flowed in the way I wanted if I had rewritten them without the offending words. In any case, I found this article very insightful.
ReplyDeleteAdrian's summary of Macrorie's article was easy to read, and covered all the key points. I agree with Macrorie's view that students need to sharpen their writing by using "it" and "is" less. After reading the article and summary I realized how often in my own writing I use "it" and "is" when I should use other words to describe what I am writing.Also, I liked how Adrian related the meaning of "Sharpening" to "Engfish."
ReplyDeleteI agree with Macrorie that a lot of writing could be improved by avoiding the wordy impassive voice. As a student who has had to write many papers, I have had quite a bit of personal experience with this. Wordy impassive sentences are oftentimes tempting because of the length requirements of papers. If I can get a little more length out of a simple idea by expressing it in wordy language, I might just do it. If we "sharpen" our writing as Macrorie suggests, it might be harder to reach that minimum page requirement, but our papers will be more readable and our ideas shine through more clearly. Engfish, as the previous blog post called it, isn't necessarily all about trying to sound smart, but also getting the maximum amount of words out of a thin idea.
ReplyDeleteI think Adrian's summary of "Sharpening" was excellent. It was exactly what a summary should be, it lacked opinion and was straight forward. By reading this you get the "jist" of the article and evaluate your own writing somewhat. I also agree with what Macrorie's idea that "it" and "is" should be eliminated in writing because it takes away from your point. I know personally, I would love to improve in this aspect. Your words will become deep and dramatic especially when you are telling a story.
ReplyDeleteLike many have mentioned in the comments above as well as in the summary Macrorie's article echoes Engfish. The call for clear writing is similar to the world of photography. Anyone can take a picture, a great picture however requires effort to accomplish. The writing or the picture shouldn't be oversimplified or over cluttered. The sharpening of your work becomes key to its' success, though as Macrorie mentions "it" is not always the enemy and the may not be the part that needs cut.
ReplyDeleteAdrian Garcia's summary of "Sharpening" by Ken Macrorie was written very well. Garcia laid out the main points that were covered by Marcrorie in a clear way. He said that Macrorie talks about ways in which writers can sharpen their sentences by using the words ‘is’ and ‘it’ less and putting back in place the actual noun in order provide more description. Garcia didn't make known his personal feelings about the article. This is good because that is unneeded information.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to state that Adrian did a great job of explaining the article. A lot of key points were made and it was very informative. Mostly, I do agree with with the article. In Macrorie's reading "Sharpening" there was a lot of key points that should be taken into consideration when writing. I do believe that the focal point the author was trying to make was that people should find a more effective way to express what they mean instead of just filling the sentences in with the words "is" and "it". Those words begin to dominate your vocabulary and you feel it is necessary to use them in every sentence. By using thos words less, it give the sentence more meaning.
ReplyDeleteKarina Enriquez gets the 5 points extra credit for SHARPENING the sentence! KUDOS!! That was exactly what I had in mind. That's the way to go! Sharpen away ALL redundancies. (A "state of mind" cannot believe.)
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Sharpening" by Macroie he further elaborates on his theory of “Engfish”. Macaroie explains the excessive use of articles "is" and "it" should be used less in composing sentences because the main idea is drawn away from by using these filler words. Macaroie believed a writer can truly "Sharpen" their writing skills by using these articles less and I agree. I believe that using "it" and "is" in abundance makes the author sound uneducated much like a public speaker who uses "umm" or "and" in abundance. I think by utilizing these rules one can increase their writing potential.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Adrian did a great job summarizing the article. Her summary was extremely detailed and contained a lot of information. Furthermore, I would agree with Kendra Romani's comment that many students believe if they get an A in English class or on a paper that they believe they are good writers. Furthermore I think that students are not really taught to use sharpening. I know I wasn't taught to use it, which is why I thought that this article was interesting. Personally, I am guilty of not sharpening my writting. I thought this article to be benifical to myself as well as to future educators.
ReplyDeleteAwesome job of explaining the article.Garcia, you broke down the information quite well. I agree with most of the article. I like many others use this repetitive forms of "to be" and "it". However there are many factors to consider other than slang. I know I am guilty of using these various forms in order to lengthen an article. I can sympathize with what Eli Mileur said, "If we "sharpen" our writing as Macrorie suggests, it might be harder to reach that minimum page requirement, but our papers will be more readable... ". I think this statement is right on with my writing as well ( at least for in class).When I am writing an article in more of a journalistic style I tend to write a bit more blunt. However when there the issue of meeting a page requirement is present, I usually resort to using various forms of "to be", " it" and "Engfish". Overall, "Sharpening" was a very helpful article and pointed out some mistakes I am going to try to work on in the future.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Adrian did a good job of summarizing the article. I feel like he summarized the article in great detail and provided relevant examples. I agree that people do not sharpen their sentences in papers. After reading the article and Adrian's summary it made me realize that a lot of people don't use sharpened grammar in their papers. I know I don't unfortunately. I am glad that this article was available to us because it brings light on an issue that we don't realize because we consider it to be a normal way of writing.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this summary, Adrian Garcia did a very good job writing it. He started off with what Macrorie and how he believes the verb "it" is overused. I do not necessarily agree with everything that was said. There was a mention of replacing "it" and "is" with different verbs. That is something that is possible, but I do not believe that is the case at all times. I do believe the title of this article was perfect. Sharpening your work is definitely something to be worked on.
ReplyDeleteI thought Adrian Garcia did a very effective job of summarizing part of Macrorie's article. He had the unenviable task of blogging about the longest article and responded well. However, "Sharpening" included tips beyond removing "it" and "is," and those tips are missing from the summary. Macrorie emphasized the importance of limiting adjectives and adverbs and using powerful verbs to create more concise writing, and he discussed the concept of "weaselry" and why it should be avoided.
ReplyDeleteAdrian Garcia did a great job at summarizing the article, Sharpening, written by Macrorie. Adrian provided great details in his summary as well as very good examples. After reading the summary and article it made sense to that students fail to revise their sentences and disregard replacing "is," "it" and "to be" verbs. I know I tend to this a lot when composing sentences, but now I realized revising the sentences you write is very important. Like Macrorie said in his article, the usage of "it," "is" and "to be" verbs take away the essence of one's story because the description isn't really there. I think widening our vocabulary would be a great way to replace the use of those verbs. Sharpening your work is something we as students have to work on in order to avoid using "is," "it" and "to be" and having them dominate our stories.
ReplyDeleteI thought Adrian Garcia did a great summary of Macrorie's article "Sharpening". I think Macrorie is correct with a lot of the points he makes throughout his article. Although I feel as though I'm a good writer I know that I do have fualts in some aspects of writing. Especially when it comes to the subject of "it" and "is" I use the words a lot because they seem as though they fit everywhere. I also think the reason students use small words like "it" and not more descriptive language is to cut corners. We as students don't like to write often so we try to sometimes find the easy way out especially if have to do quick easy assignments.
ReplyDeleteI like this blog post which was written by Adrian Garcia and I think she has really done an effective job. She summarized Macrorie's article with good examples. I think "Sharpening" is really a common grammar problem even in my daily English. People always use “it” or “is” to point out their meaning but it is less some more meaningful words. Thus, I think we should pay more attention on the “Sharpening” problem.
ReplyDeleteI love how each summary for the articles gets better and better each post, keep up the good job classmates. As for the article itself, it described one of my major set backs when writing; the over usage of words such as it and is. I think the constant use of those words does convey to the reader a lack of educated vocabulary. There are websites that students can go to that suggests other verbs, transitions words, and phrases to enhance the writing material. I love the comparison the author made to a previous article we read, Engfish. Once we as students start telling the truths in are work, the more substantial our writing pieces will be. Overall great article, keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteAs a poet, and someone who is majoring in Creative Writing, I have always found it important to substitute these words because they cannot create concrete images. A concrete image is when you can see, hear, feel, smell or taste a certain event, and these words, "it" and is," cannot provide such an image.
ReplyDeleteI found Adrian summary very informative. I think he did an excellent job in explaining what Macrorie article was trying to express to his readers. This summary is one of the best I have read thus far. I like the fact that Adrian took the time out to give examples from the article for those who may not have read it to get a better understanding of what the article was trying to portray. Adrian summary was not based on his opinions and what he thought, but it was based off of facts from the article which he broke down and gave an overall view of what the author was trying to say.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, you did nice job summarizing the article. I definitely agree that most people fail to sharpen their sentences in papers. I admit, I'm probably one of those people you were talking about. After reading the article, I plan on "Sharpening" my own work in the future.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Adrian did a great job of summarizing the article "sharpening" written by Macrorie. We as untrained writers do tend to use the words "is", and "it" in place of verbs. "Is" and "it" lacks details and description of what we're trying to convey or show. We as writers do need to sharpen the skill of saying exactly what we mean and not just expect the writer to understand.
ReplyDeleteon top of using the subject name instead of "it". we should also be using a proper verb instesd of "is". okay sound pritty sumple
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time with this myself putting "it" in where a much more active word could describe the situation much better. I feel the article was summed up very good, the reader clearly understood what the article was about and used very good examples to prove so. I feel I have learned quite a bit from reading this and will try to avoid making the mistake of using "it" "is" or "there is" if another will will make more sense.
ReplyDeleteThe summaries were written very well. I was impressed by the work of my classmates. They did a good job of reiterating what the point the article is making. Which is that the words “is, “it” and “there” are over used in writing. The article makes the point of them being over used very clear with its explanation. For example, the article explains the word “is” is a neutral verb, it doesn’t explain gender and making it seem that everything is happening instantly. The article than goes into explain “sharpening.” Which is the ability to improve the quality of the sentence by taking out “is”, “it, or “there” and replacing them with better words. Where you would use “is” you should use a different verb. Instead of saying the sky is blue, one could say the sky appears blue. Sharpening verbs ads a better description to sentences.
ReplyDeleteThis summary of Macrorie's article was written very well. The chapter by Macrorie covered a lot of information and examples. Much of what was covered can, and should, be applied by students. I have found myself using these words which convey little meaning. The replacement of it, is, makes, to be, and so on will strengthen the writing by giving the reader a concrete idea instead of a vague idea.
ReplyDeleteThis summary was written very well and I can tell how much effort and time Adrian put into this summary. It is interesting to read because I agree on what Macrorie's article is saying and how we talk and use these everyday words. Whether it is with our friends or family, we all have a certain way we speak to certain people or certain groups. Adrian provided a lot of details and examples which made the article easy to read. Without reading the article, I can clearly understand what is going on and what Adrian is talking about. Great Job.
ReplyDeleteReading the summaries of both classmates, I realized mistakes I make in my day to day writing. I like that I felt more aware of my mistakes after I read what they wrote. Macrorie's article is something I will look at in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to writing in a way that makes sense to your audience sentence structure is very important. Macroie's "Sharpening" lays out a well put together argument for why to 'sharpen' your sentences. For one, this make paper a lot more easy to read, and secondly readers can comprehend what the author is writing about. Sometimes the 'it' of a sentence can be lost if the 'it' is never specified.
ReplyDeleteAdrian's summary was written very well. He took the words directly out of my mouth, I couldn't have said it better. Reading this acticle and summary was a learning experience as it should be. "sharpening" is an issue that I definitly need to work on. The acticle explained that that word "is" should only be used to describe something that's alive. In order to fix a sentence like this, the word's "it" and "is should be taken out and replaced with verbs.
ReplyDeleteIn his article "Sharpening" Macrorie explains and shows how using words like "it" and "this" can take the strength out of a sentence, and add the usuage of unneccessary words. To make a sentence or pargraph stroger, the fewer words the better. Macororie believes that a student writes as they think but lets be honest most collge students dont really think about half the things they write. Engfish is one of the problems causing over written sentences. students are to busy trying to make thier papers sound good and meet the requirements that they fail to get straight to the point
ReplyDeleteI thought this summary was very well written. It encompassed the main idea, and what the author was trying to get across to us. Words like "is" and "it" take up a lot of paper space for me in my essays. I find papers written with a lower number of these words to flow easier. If a point can be conveyed in five words, there shouldn't be those filler words to add space. By keeping it short and simple, it can be better for the reader. Also when the author talks about adding a verb instead of these words, it can make the text more interesting and descriptive. I completely agree with the author. Wherever possible, sharpen your sentences.
ReplyDeleteMarcrorie makes a good point about the word "is" but he doesn't mention the possibility that english speaking people may have reached a plateau in terms of their grammar development, because pairing the word "is" with a familiar verb is easier than trying to think of a stronger verb or using one you don't know. i agree with his statements throughout the article and he makes a very valid point about the way we as a people speak the english language.
ReplyDeleteUsing filler words such as “it” and “is” to me do sound weak, but sometimes are necessary for the paper to work, but when these words should be substituted when possible. I feel that it is important for the paper and to make it flow and helps the reader to understand more clearly on the subject being viewed. Both the overviews were well written and helped me understand the reading more clearly.
ReplyDeleteThis article discusses our lack of exciting writing due to replacing verbs and colorful words with filler words like "it". Because of this, our sentences are too wordy. Instead of just saying what we need to say we add in all of these extra words and sentences that truly could be shortened to focus on only the important words.
ReplyDeleteThis article did a good job of making writers and speakers aware of the over use of the verb "is." Using plain verbs such as "is" lacks creativity. Although "is" is a well known verb, it should not be frequently used in writing that consists of a good flow. Writers should expand on their vocabulary and eliminate the over use of "is" and other common verbs.
ReplyDeleteI thought this article was very well written; it was to the point and was not too opinionated. I really enjoyed reading this article because I felt I, as well as many others could relate to it. I know that I personally use "it" and "is" too often, just as the article explains. I firmly believe that pieces of writing or stories would seem more effective and sound more plausible if they do not contain "it" or "is" too often. As an aspiring teacher I can apply this to my English classes in the future when I teach my own students.
ReplyDeleteI do in some ways agree with this article. The word "is" should be replaced for the most part because we, as writers should provide better "sentence enhancers" for our work. We can't eliminate the word "is" completely but we can tune it down a lot. A sentence like, "The dog is vicious" can be transformed into " The concept of being vicious inhabits that dog." We can transform our work into a grammar oasis when we enhance structure!
ReplyDeleteAdrian did a very good job summarizing the article, "Sharpening" by Macrorie. In this article he talks about students using "it" and "is" instead of other verbs that would be better for telling the story. Students get caught using these in their papers when they could have used verbs that would have better described the action. I found this article to be interesting because I too often use "it" and "is" instead of other verbs that would make the story flow better just because it is the most convenient. However, now after reading this article I am going to try and "sharpen" my papers!
ReplyDeleteSharpening is a mechanism used to spruce up sentences. Using Engfish where you use to many pronouns and plain action verbs, this lacks creativity. Sharpening is the creativity we college students need to spruce up our writing habbits so as not to bore people to death. With sharpening though we also need to watch out for too much wordiness. We also need to watch where to sharpen sentences.
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