Luo Laoshi Class Notes

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Second Semester Writing Course

 
 
Deconstructing an article
 
or
 
Collating information in an article
 
 
 
When a writer writes something, he/she does so with some purpose in their mind.  They use their own style of writing to express their ideas.
 
They will see some points as being more important than others.
 
When we read their work, we might feel that the writer's most important point is not so important for us.
 
So we examine their work to see what it says, and we draw out of it the points that seem important to us.
 
The following is an article at Magic City about Parenting.
 
I have highlighted in red, some things which I feel are important.
 
In the column on the right, I list these points again.  Then in the box below this article, I will write something myself about the topic.
 
 
 Parents as Blueprints for Children
By Gwen Randall-Young
Feb 5, 2009 - 10:59:25 AM
 
"Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you." -- H. Jackson Brown, Jr
Children learn most from what they see. Too often parents yell at them for being too noisy, or slap them for hitting a sibling. They may criticize a child and list his or her faults, and then chastise the child for criticizing a sibling.
 
It is true that at times children can be very frustrating. However, if frustration causes us to make poor parenting choices, how can we teach children not to act inappropriately because they are frustrated? It would be better to tell them that we are frustrated, but then to proceed calmly to do some problem solving.
 
If we curse at other drivers, calling them idiots or worse, where is our credibility when we tell children not to use that kind of language? If we put down the child's teacher or principal, how can we hope to raise children to respect those in authority?
 
If we speed when we drive, park in no parking or handicapped spots, or are too lazy to recycle, we are sending messages to our children. If they overhear us telling a lie to someone on the telephone to get out of an engagement, we are teaching them it is okay to lie if it serves you. Can we then be surprised when, as teenagers, they lie to us about where they are really going?
 
Children are smart. They observe what we do and they remember. They may not call us on our lack of integrity to our faces, but they will make note of it.
 
As parents, our behavior is the blueprint children use to learn how to be in the world. If there are aspects in that blueprint that you do not want to see in the finished structure, now is the time to make changes.
 

Text Box

Children See so Children Do!
By Luo Laoshi
 

Sometimes parents find it difficult to understand why it is that their children don't behave in a proper way. Parents spend a lot of time teaching their children right from wrong, and yet still their children do what is wrong.  Why is this so?
 
 
 
Perhaps the real reason lies in the fact that without knowing it, we as parents spend a lot of time teaching children very wrong behaviour and attitudes.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Children are constantly discovering the world around them, and they pay close attention to those who are closest to them.  Is it surprising then that when our children hear us telling lies to someone, that they think that lying is OK?
 
 
 
When our children hear us yelling at them or at others, aren't we teaching them that it is ok to yell at people? 
 
 
 
 
If they see us beating someone, won't they think that it is alright to beat people who upset us?
 
 
 
If we are constantly cursing people in front of our children, won't they learn to curse?
 
 
 
 
Maybe we as parents do not always go around cursing, or lying, or beating people. Maybe such things only happen when we feel very frustrated by the bad things that happen to us in life.  But we should know that if our children see us do it, they too may learn to do it.
 
Children do learn from what they see and hear their parents doing.
 
While it is very good to teach your children not to lie, if they catch you lying, then perhaps they will become regular liars.
 
We all make mistakes, but for a parent, it is really important not to allow our temper or bad attitude or bad circumstances in life to become teaching lessons for our kids. 
 
When everything is going wrong we should remember that however we deal with the situation, will become a lesson for our children to follow later in life.
 
So next time you feel like screaming or yelling or hitting someone or cursing someone, just remember that your kids are going to learn from your behaviour. 
 
Perhaps the best lesson that you could teach them would be how to solve life's problems without resorting to bad attitudes and behaviour.
 
After all, we only want the best for our children, and the best we can do for our children is to show them how to be good; not just tell them to be good.
 

 
Note that I did not use Point Number 7 even though I originally marked it as important.
 
7. They learn to speed in cars if they see family / friends speeding
 
 
 
Note:
 
 
While I took out the ideas that the original writer used, I did not always use HER words for those ideas. I also used synonyms.
 
Synonyms are words with the same or similar meaning.
 
Point 10 for instance: The author wrote 'Observe', but I wrote the word 'see'.
 
In Point 11, the author used the word 'Blueprint', while I used the word 'pattern'.
 
When we have the idea of what someone is trying to tell us, we can word it in our own language.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Deconstruction and Collating
 
 
CLASS NOTES BOX
Left Column
 
Has what we are working on this semester in
07-5 and 07-3
 
 

Text Box

In this exercise we are pulling out some main points from an author's work and writing the article for ourselves.
 
We are writing it in our own style
 
We are writing it in our own words
 
We are writing it from our own perspective
 
We are writing it with a slightly different emphasis
 
WE are WRITING it!
 
We are not COPYING IT!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Children do what they see /  2.They hear yelling so they yell
3. They see or experience slapping so they slap others
 
 
 
 
4. Frustration can cause parents to make bad choices
 
 
5. We must learn to problem solve
 
6. Children curse if they hear others cursing
 
 
 
 
7. They learn to speed in cars if they see family / friends speeding
 
8. They learn to lie if lied to
9. Children learn from whatever Parents do and say
 
 
 
10. Children see and learn from everything
 
 
 
11. The parents behaviour is the pattern children follow.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Text Box

 
 
 
Paragraph 1 is my introduction
 
 
 
 
 
In Paragraph Two, I use some of the points from the article 
 
9. Children learn from whatever Parents do and say
 
10. Children see and learn from everything
 
11. The parents behaviour is the pattern children follow.
 
 
 
In Paragraph Three I use more points
 
1. Children do what they see
8. They learn to lie if lied to
  
 
 
In Paragraph Four I add another point
2.They hear yelling so they yell
 
 
 
 
In Paragraph Five I add another point 
3. They see or experience slapping so they slap others
 
 
 
Paragraph Six - another point
6. Children curse if they hear others cursing
 
 
 
 
Paragraph Seven - another point
4. Frustration can cause parents to make bad choices
 
 
From Paragraph Seven to Twelve the points already made are restated in different words so as to re-inforce the message
 
 
Reinforcement here refers to the act of forcing people to take note of the basic theme. It is an act of constantly reminding the reader of the main point.  In this exercise, the main point is that Children will learn from Parent's bad behaviour
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Paragraph 13 - The final point about problem solving
5. We must learn to problem solve
 
 
 
Concluding Paragraph
 
 
 
 
The unused Point
7. They learn to speed in cars if they see family / friends speeding
 

Text Box

 
Original Work gets Higher Marks
 
 
When I read your work, I only want to see YOUR work.  The original version of the article on this page is excellent.  The excellence or otherwise of MY VERSION is irrelevant.  The task was to deconstruct the original article and then write the points in my own words.
 
If I was marking MY VERSION, I would say that I did a good job because I firstly wrote it for myself.  Secondly, I would note that I did a good job because I shifted the emphasis of the article.
 
I want to see YOU in your essays.  I want to see YOUR WORDS and your WORK.
 
If you make mistakes then we can learn from them.  If you correctly copy from another author, then you don't learn anything except how to copy.