Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Henry Chapman
Professor Davner
English 15
27 November 2018
Writing in digital spaces is becoming more common every day, and it can be a very
effective form of communication for multiple reasons. An example of writing in digital spaces is
social media. In the WIDE Study of the writing practices of first year college students, social
media was included multiple times on the list of most frequently written genres. However, in the
same study, when the students were asked which genres they valued the most, social media didn't
appear on the list at all (Grabill et al. 249-251). This raises a question: Why is social media used
I have come to the conclusion that social media is indeed valuable and effective, but the
majority of people just do not view it as such. This negative view is formed because most people
use it for entertainment purposes or to stay connected. While these are important, most people
value other things over staying connected and entertainment. For example, most people value
their career over entertainment. Therefore they value writing that has to do with their career, like
a résumé or a report, more than writing that is for entertainment, like writing a funny tweet.
These values most likely form because their well-being is dependent on their career. This can be
Jumping to the conclusion that social media is invaluable based on what only some
people use it for is invalid. People like the subject from Stacey Pigg’s study Coordinating
Constant Invention: Social Media’s Role in Distributed Work proves that social media can be an
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extremely powerful form of writing. For example, the subject being observed used social media
throughout his whole blog writing process, often reading posts similar to his own for inspiration
and ideas to benefit his writing. Many social media platforms have algorithms that learn what
interests you, and automatically deliver similar content. This makes social media platforms very
effective for creative inspiration, delivering content that you are likely to benefit from. For
example, if you like another dad blogger’s posts, then Instagram’s explore tab is more likely to
show you more dad blogger posts. This aided the subject’s creative process, giving him more
material to write about. This illustrates how social media is a digital communication platform
that can present ideas to us. I can relate to this, as social media fuels my creativity. It presents
Also, social media can connect writers with readers and other writers. The subject in
Pigg’s study described spending a significant amount of time interacting with other users that
had similar interests. This earned him some readers and gave him the valuable opportunity to
connect and collaborate with many other writers in the same niche as him. Collaborations are
beneficial for all writers involved because it allows them to share information and tips for
writing, and to introduce one’s readers to the other writer’s content, further growing their
Some other non-digital writing technologies, such as magazines and newspapers, have
benefits similar to those of social media. However, for the mentioned purposes, social media is
faster and more accessible. Most Magazines and Newspapers require the reader to wait for a
delivery to their home or to take a trip to a physical location in order to receive the media. This
takes anywhere from minutes to days. Social media, on the other hand, is almost instant. In
seconds, it gives its readers access to its entire database of content. Social media platforms are
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also more open and quicker than their non-digital counterparts for writers. Getting published in
physical media generally takes great skill, connections, recognition, and time, while, in a matter
of seconds, anyone with internet access can write a post on social media that is available to the
entire world.
online encyclopedia. It is so unique because everyone has the right to edit its articles, making it
an enormous web of collaboratively written articles filled with knowledge. Because of this,
changes are continually made every day, so there is never a “Final Product.” This gives it the
quality of dynamic dimension. Kohl et al. state,”we want to understand texts—as they develop in
Wikis and also occur in Wikipedia—as processes, whereas the processes of the emergence are to
be analyzed regarding the temporal course of events. Although the static text appears as a unique
event in a historical continuum, the dynamic text embodies the history of its emergence by the
act of the participant’s writing” (749). This means that the articles are continual conversations
that are open to everyone in the world with internet access. Because of the openness of these
conversations, they can hold different views and perspectives that were written on the topic.
Reading the different versions of the article allows us to get a more broad understanding of the
topic. Or, in Dave’s case, twitter and blogs are constantly updated and added to, so dynamic
Another reason that dynamic dimension is valuable is because it means that the articles
are up to date the majority of the time. Some topics have rapidly changing information, such as
science fields that are relatively new and still being researched. Due to the openness and
accessibility of Wikipedia, if something changes, the information can be quickly and easily
updated. This is way faster and more efficient than physical writing spaces in the same scenario.
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For example, when information in a science book becomes outdated, that book then serves little
purpose. In order to update the information, another edition of the book needs to be printed. This
requires time and resources that a Wikipedia article update does not, ruling Wikipedia more
Contrary to popular belief, revision is not just an act of “polishing” or proofreading that is
performed after the author finishes writing what he/she has to say. As Doug Downs said in
Threshold Concept 4.4, “To create the best possible writing, writers work iteratively, composing
in a number of versions, with time between each for reflection, reader feedback, and/ or
collaborator development.” This workflow brings about revision - the “significant development
of a text’s ideas, structure, and design” (Downs 66). Revision is crucial in the development of an
effective text because it shows the writer problems within the text and allows for improvement.
Downs states that writing is not perfectible and that texts are very rarely “right the first
time” (66). This means that a text can almost always be improved upon in order to increase its
effectiveness. One way to initiate improvement is through revision. Downs also says “revision
works because writing shares a characteristic of other language-based endeavors: using language
not only represents one’s existing ideas, it tends to generate additional language and ideas” (66).
The additional knowledge generated from revision improves the writer’s understanding of the
concepts being discussed, and also their future composing decisions. This understanding allows
Anne Lamott describes a method of revision in “Shitty First Drafts” that is a very
common practice. Similar to Down’s description, this method involves writing multiple drafts of
a text, with time in between each one. The first draft is “a down draft [where] you just get it
down,” (855). This version is important because it allows the writer’s ideas to be, as Charles
Bazerman and Howard Tinberg describe, “externalized into an independent artifact that can be
examined, revised, or otherwise worked on by the writer, collaborators, or other people,” (61).
This allows the writer to see the text similar to a reader’s perspective in order to see areas that
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need improvement. However, the writer will never truly see his/her text from a reader’s
perspective because the writer has his/her own meaning or understanding of the text in their
mind. Readers, on the other hand, receive only what is written. Bazerman and Tinberg say that
“Collaborators, team members, supervisors, editors, and others who may share the work of
producing text do not share the initial writer’s attachment to the anticipated meaning and have
only what the inscribed words bring; they thus provide better measures of what the text actually
conveys” (62). This is why having another person collaborate with you in the revision process is
so important. It generates helpful feedback that you could not get while working on your own
because you already have your own understanding of the text. This feedback points out areas in
the text that need revision in order for the text to be more effective for the reader, and often gives
text. During the revision process, I usually have someone look over my work and provide
suggestions for improvement. The feedback I have been given is very helpful, often pointing out
places of ineffectiveness. For example, during the revision process of past essays I have written,
fellow students have pointed out places where I wasn’t clear enough, or places I left out crucial
changes to the areas that were problematic to the readers in my next draft in order to increase the
Critical Reflection
As Doug Downs wrote in Threshold Concept 4.4, “to create the best possible writing,
writers work iteratively, composing in a number of versions, with time between each for
reflection, reader feedback, and/or collaborator development” (66). The assignment sequence in
English 15 is designed for continual improvement. We constantly revisit past assignments, and
build off them for future ones. It is a process of constant revision, with time in between each
revision for reflection. Because of this structure, my approaches to writing and my essays have
Looking over and comparing my Essay 2 (Writing in Digital Spaces) and Essay 3 (The
Role of Revision in Writing) has shown me how my approaches and strategies for writing an
academic essay have improved. For example, in Essay 2 I wrote the second paragraph on the
value of social media. I gave an explanation, but I didn’t align my claims with any source
material. I figured that the next paragraph would take care of it. What I should have done to
support my claims in the second paragraph was tie in Stacey Pigg’s work on Social Media (69).
In Essay 3 However, I made sure to align my claims with source material. I wanted to be able to
support what I was saying with a trusted author, and put myself in conversation with them. For
example, in the introduction, I made the claim that revision is not just proofreading or polishing.
I backed up this claim with the same Doug Downs quote that I used in this essay’s introduction.
It gave a description of what revision truly is, supporting my claim that it is not just polishing
your writing.
Another improvement that I noticed was that I moved beyond simply comparing and
contrasting to place course texts in conversation with each other. In Essay 2, I just used quotes to
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support each individual claim that I made. However, in Essay 3, I made connections between
course texts and used quotes from them to build off of each other to support my argument. For
example, in the third paragraph, I used 3 different texts for my explanation. I said “Lamott
describes a method of revision in “Shitty First Drafts” that is a very common practice. Similar to
Down’s description, this method involves writing multiple drafts of a text, with time in between
each one. The first draft is “a down draft [where] you just get it down,” (855). This version is
important because it allows the writer’s ideas to be, as Bazerman and Tinberg describe,
“externalized into an independent artifact that can be examined, revised, or otherwise worked on
by the writer, collaborators, or other people,” (61). This allows the writer to see the text similar
to a reader’s perspective in order to see areas that need improvement” (Henry Chapman "The
Role of Revision in Writing" 1). I placed quotes and ideas from Lamott, Downs, and Bazerman
and Tinberg in conversation with each other to give my explanation of the revision process,
which was a central part of my argument. I did this in order to show that the texts and ideas
being discussed align, which further strengthen the textual support for my argument.
The last thing that I noticed while reflecting on essay 2 was that I didn’t use course
concepts as a framework for my argument. I never used any of the Threshold Concepts.
Threshold concepts are important because they are the basis of what we learn in English 15.
When I moved on to Essay 3, I made sure to use threshold concepts as a framework for my
argument. I decided that threshold concepts 4.1 and 4.4 would be what I used. For example, as I
mentioned in the previous paragraph, I quoted Doug Downs and Bazerman and Tinberg multiple
times. The threshold concepts of externalization and revision were the framework of my
Works Cited
Bazerman, Charles and Howard Tinberg. "4.1: Text is an Object Outside of Oneself That Can Be
Improved and Developed." Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing
Studies. Edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth Wardle. Utah State University
Press, 2016, Boulder.
Downs, Doug. "4.4: Revision is Central to Developing Writing." Naming What We Know:
Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies. Edited by Linda Adler-Kassner and Elizabeth
Wardle. Utah State University Press, 2016, Boulder.
Grabill, Jeff, et al.”Revisualizing Composition: Mapping the Writing Lives of First-Year College
Students.” WIDE Research Center, Michigan State University, 7 Sept. 2010,
www2.matrix.msu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/WIDE_writinglives_whitepaper.pdf.
Henry Chapman. "The Role of Revision in Writing" ENGL15-001 Assignment Sequence. Edited
by Aliza Davner. Fall 2018, Penn State DuBois
Henry Chapman. "Writing in Digital Spaces" ENGL15-001 Assignment Sequence. Edited by
Aliza Davner. Fall 2018, Penn State DuBois
Kohl, Christian, Wolf-Andreas Liebert, and Thomas Metten. “History Now: Media
Development and the Textual Genesis of Wikipedia.” Language and New Media. Ed.
Charley Rowe and Eva Wyss. Creskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2009. 165–82. Print.
Lamott, Anne. “Shitty First Drafts.” Writing about Writing. Edited by Elizabeth Wardle and
Doug Downs, 3rd edition, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, New York.
Pigg, Stacey. “Coordinating Constant Invention: Social Media’s Role in Distributed Work.”
Writing about Writing. Edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, 3rd edition,
Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, New York.
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 22 July 2004. Accessed Web. 4
Oct. 2018.