Final Research Paper

Valerie Jozef

Dr. Chandler

12/18/12

Research Paper

Research Question: Does academic writing influence creative writing?

Introduction:

            As a current student and someone who has taken several English classes in college I wanted to focus on the writing aspect of English. Throughout my years of being in school I have been required to write both academic and creative pieces. There has been numerous times where I sat at my desk and was frustrated by the papers I had to write. These papers seemed to focus so heavily on the academic aspect that I felt as if my creative side wasn’t able to shine through. Any student who is taking as class wants the best possible grade. Some will settle for anything above a C and others truly wanted the best. The pressure to write a superb piece of paper for any institution is intense. Being able to realize this, I wanted to know if anyone else felt the same way as I did. Did students believe academic writing was valued more than creative writing and did students through academic writing have a way to still express their own thoughts.  To begin this research essay I will show early stages of education and how important reading and writing was to my participants as well as their first exposures to reading and writings. Next, I will discuss their current classes, papers they have written, and how they feel when they have to write papers either academically or creatively. Through both my interviews I found a lot of useful information however I thought I would find different answers. I was expecting both of my participants to say they disliked academic writing. However, what I found was that they liked having the guidelines given in an academic paper but they wanted some freedom as well to be creative with it.

Literature Review:

            Other studies have shown similar ideas that relate to this topic. In Jeff Park’s Writing on the Edge book he included a topic on expressive writing as the performance of the self. Park’s talks about a writer named Thomas Newkirk who states that writing is a performance and used as a form of expression. Newkirk claims that “ key features of these presentations is their selectivity; every act of self-presentation involves withholding information that might undermine the idealized impression the performer wants to convey” (p.137). Can we assume that certain students are being selective with their writing because of whom they are presenting their writing pieces to? Does academic or creative writing make students withhold certain pieces of their writing? How does academic or creative writing effect the way we write? Through my investigation with my participant’s interviews I’ve found that depending on the professor, guidelines, and if their work is being shared or not that students will watch how they write. In contrast, another theory I have looked at is by Maria Antonioua and Jessica Moriarty: What can academic writers learn from creative writers? They stated that: Academic writing is, in public academic discourse, seen as a straightforward, intellectually driven and logically ordered process. Hence, traditionally, where guidance and support on academic writing has existed, the focus has been on technical issues, e.g. structuring journal articles, and procedures and protocols for publishing. Little attention has been paid to the more holistic aspects, such as the lecturer-writer’s sense of self and identity, their emotional orientation to their writing and their creative process. I found very similar ideas when looking back at the interviews that were conducted. They felt that academic papers played a very big role in their education while little focus was placed on their creative writing.

Methods:

            For this paper I interviewed two people who had experience with not only high school but also college. I chose these two participants because they also had experience with several English classes, which of course writing had been involved in them. They were both females, ages 20 and 22. Alex, 20, is a communications major who had to take several English classes at her community college as well as Kean. Amy, 22, had to take English classes for requirement, not for her major. Before interviewing I had made up several questions and placed them into groups such as, general questions and in-depth questions. I interviewed each of the participants in our dorm room, in a quiet setting. Each interview took thirty minutes. I recorded them on my cell phone and then went back after the interviews were finished and transcribed both interviews. This helped me analyze what was discussed. I looked at the entire interview again, made notes, and highlighted important sections.

Presentations of Data:

                  Once all my work was organized I was able to break my findings into three categories. These three categories included views about writing academic and creatively, the way classes are set up and the effects on the writing, and the ability to write dependently. The following will show parts of the interview that was conducted. A1 is Amy. V will represent I, the interviewer and A is for Alex.

Views about writing academically and creatively:

V: Do you remember how you felt after you wrote your first piece of creative writing?

A:  I mean it was pretty cool because the piece was about anything I wanted it to be.

V: Which do you think is harder and why? Academic writing or creative writing?

A: Academic just because your told to do something and you have to do it that way. Creative writing is just like whatever comes to your mind or interests you.

V: Do you remember any writing that stood our to you? It could be creative or academic.

A: Um. An informative speech.

V: What your speech about?

A: Healthy eating. I was really passionate about it.

V: Would you say that paper was academic and creative?

A: Yes

Academic writing in her opinion was viewed as something that you were just supposed to do. You didn’t have any freedom because you are writing for a grade and have guidelines. Nevertheless, her thoughts on creative writing were that you have freedom and can focus on your own ideas. However, she had a speech that was able to merge these two types of writing together. She believe this is how all papers should be set up because even though you have to write academically you can still be creative by the way you write and your style.

The way classes are set up affects writing styles:

V: What is your opinion on how English classes are set up?

A1: I feel that they are set up in the basic way to explain to you how to write. I feel like teachers explain to you what you to do sometimes and you either get it or you don’t.

V: Do you believe that these classes meet the needs of the student?

A1: In a sense yes and in a sense no because depending on what you write about depends on what the teacher asks.

V: Do you think these classes allow the students to be creative?

A1: Yes if its creative writing and no if its for academic writing.

V: Have you ever felt restrained when writing a paper?

A1: Yes because I wanted to be creative with it but then I had to write it the way the teacher wanted.

V: Do you think academic writing is used more frequently then creative writing?

A1: Yes

V: Why do you think that is?

A1: Because when you’re in college there is so much more academic papers.

V:  Would you say that every student who’s in college should take creative writing?

A1: I think everyone should so they can express themselves.

         Through interviews I found that depending on the way a class is set up it affects the writing of a student. If a teacher presents material to a student in a way that is unfamiliar or unclear it poses a challenge. Also if the paper is strictly for academic purposes and doesn’t allow the student to express anything creatively, then the student begins to lose interest.

Influence on Writing Academically and Creatively

V: Do you think that being able to write creatively could help you write academically or the other way around?

A1: I think that maybe academic writing helps creative writing since your writing about all different topics.

V: What is the easiest part of academic writing?

A1: Figuring out the information first. I feel better once I write it out on paper.

V: Do you think creative writing helps academic writing or the other way around?

A: That’s interesting. I think that maybe academic writing helps creative writing just because it shows you structure and how to compose a correct piece of writing.

V: What is the easiest part of academic writing?

A: The fact that you have guidelines.

V: What is the hardest part?

A: That you might not write the way the teacher wants and they will effect your grade.

Both participants agreed that academic writing helped them write creatively. By being able to have a structure and guideline it shows you how to correctly write an essay, paper, etc. By having guidelines and a format it allows the writer to follow exactly what is required of them and know what expectations they need to meet in order to meet the goal of not only the teacher, but themselves.

Conclusion:

            Thomas Newkirk in his research claimed that writing is used as a performance and certain writers are selective about their pieces. This held true in my research because depending on whom they were writing for their writing style changed. They felt that if they were just writing or putting on a “performance” for themselves then they didn’t worry about their grammar, form, or style. However, once these pieces of writing became academic they had added pressure to produce a solid piece of writing. Maria Antonioua and Jessica Moriarty stated in their research that more focus was on academic writing because of its order and form where as creative writing was overlooked. This has similar qualities to the research I found. Both participants liked the guidelines and structure of their academic papers how they wanted their creative side to also shine through. They didn’t agree with how neglected the creative aspect of writing was. They both came to the conclusion that academic writing inspires creative writing. Academic writing allows you to learn steps and a process of writing a paper, which then can help with your creative piece. With more subjects as well as questions I might have been able to conclude more information about my research make this question much stronger. Overall, I had a lot of information which helped me answer this research question.

            

Presentation

Identify your research question: 
Do students attitudes change when they are writing english papers for the teacher and not themselves?

Other researchers and their contributions:
I'm having a hard time finding a researcher to add to my work. Should I use James Gee and his ideas about writing? Who else would you recommend that I use?
http://futurescholars.rutgers.edu/FutureScholars/Images/What%20can%20academic%20writers%20learn%20from%20creative%20writers.pdf

Describe your method for collecting and analyzing your data:
I first started off by making my interview questions, interviewing two people, and reading both their interviews. I found their similarities and differences and wrote them down. I printed out the interview and highlighted important findings. 

Present your findings:
Now I know I stated one research question but I feel like through all my interview questions I was mostly asking questions about creative writing and academic writing. As presented below:
Interview #2

V: Do you remember how you felt after you wrote your first piece of creative writing?

A:  I mean it was pretty cool because the piece was about anything I wanted it to be.

V: Which do you think is harder and why? Academic writing or creative writing?

A: Academic just because your told to do something and you have to do it that way. Creative writing is just like whatever comes to your mind or interests you.

V: Do you remember any writing that stood our to you? It could be creative or academic.

A: Um. An informative speech.

V: What your speech about?

A: Healthy eating. I was really passionate about it.

V: Would you say that paper was academic and creative?

A: Yes

I was focusing a lot on their feelings about these two different writing styles and not really about their attitude towards the writing.

State your conclusion:

They didn’t dislike academic or creative writing. They just knew they had to take certain classes and pass regardless of whether it was academic or creative. However, with strictly academic papers they feel as if creative writing intertwines with academic writing. They want to be able to put in their own “flavor”

Short Analysis Essay

I'm going to give this a shot. I'm not sure I'm even doing this right.

Research Question: 
Do you need to understand punch-lines in order to understand the shaggy dog stories?

Codes:
Understanding the humor?
Does the story need to have animal in it to be funny?
Does the story need people in it to be funny?
Are the play on words important when reading these stories?
Does the story need a beginning, middle, and ending to make sense?
Does the reader to identify key points in the story to piece it all together?
What is the connection the reader has with the story?
Does violence make the story funny?

Data:
Through several conversations that were had in class about the shaggy dog stories we came to several conclusions about it. For example I will look at the story with the giant panda. It was a story about a giant panda who escaped from the zoo, walked into a restaurant, ate, and then shot people. As a class we all knew this couldn't ever possibly happen. However, the punch-line of the story was that in the dictionary that the maitre'd looked up the word panda and the definition stated, " Giant panda, lives in China, eats shoots and leaves." You would have to understand that shoots is a plant and in this case isn't used that way. However, we voted on this story as a class and it won. But there was violence in this story. I assume because we know this story can never happen and that its a talking panda with a gun gave the story humor. Another example we looked as was the story of Nate the Snake who had to protect a lever otherwise the world would end. When a boulder comes rolling down, Nate tries to stop it and gets run over. However, the boulder misses the lever. The punch-line at the end of the story was, "The boulder ran over Nate, but it was, in fact, deflected, leaving history to conclude that is was better Nate than lever." If you have never heard the phrase better late than never you would not understand the line at the end of the story. This would in fact make the story become less humorous because as the reader their is no real connection. 

Overall:
In order to understand some of these stories a connection to the punch-line needs to be made. However, not all stories such as the panda story had a phrase that you needed understand. These stories have violence, humor, animals, people, and many other different things in them. It depends on your personal preference of what you like. As a class we found the stories with the animals in them to be the funniest. However, we could have asked another class and they could have voted on another story that they believed to the funniest. The reader needs to make a connection with the story. Also the order on which the story is told effects the understanding.

Interview #2

Valerie Jozef

Interview #2

Alexandria

V: When did you first start reading?

A: When I was like four probably.

V: Do you remember whom you read with?

A: My first grade teacher Ms. Kerr.

V: Did you read with anyone in your family?

A: My grandpa. He did Hooked on Phonics with me like everyday.

V: When did you start writing?

A:  Mhmm. Like third grade.

V: Did you write mostly at home or in school?
A: In school.

V: Do you remember who taught you how to write?

A: My grandpa.

V: Do you remember who taught you how to read?

A: My grandpa.

V: Did you have any teachers that helped you?

A: Well my fourth grade was amazing. She helped me read too.

V: Do you remember what book you first read?

A: Stellaluna

V: How did you feel when you were able to read that book?

A: The best feeling ever. I felt accomplished.

V: Can you tell me about your first writing experience?

A:  I don’t really remember but I mean I know in fourth grade we had a class assignment.

V: Were you proud of your work you did in your fourth grade class?

A: Yes.

V: Why?

A: I felt like I was able to do something on my own and accomplished a writing piece.

V: What was your best experience with writing throughout all your years in school?

A: When I was in sixth grade I entered a poetry contest and I won.

V: What was your worst experience with writing?

A: Um when I plagiarized an essay and failed my class.

V: When did this happen?

A: Sophomore year of high school. Truly regret it.

V: Did any teachers have an impact on your writing?

A: My English teacher in college had an impact on my writing.

V: How did she have an impact?

A: She took the time to sit down with us and go over our papers so we didn’t feel lost.

V: Did she give you positive feedback?

A: There were things that were negative but she seemed to be able to turn them into positive ways to fix our papers.

V: So would you say school is important to you?

A: Yes.

V: Why is it important?

A: Because without good grades and our degree we wouldn’t be able to find a job.

V: Does your family value school the same way?

A: The same. They want me to be successful

V: How many years have you been in college?

A: This is my fourth year.

V: Have you been at Kean all four years?

A: No. I went to a community college for two years then transferred to Kean.

V: Did you take English classes at your community college?

A: Yes.

V: Do you remember the classes?

A: English Comp. 1 and 2.

V: How many classes would you say involved writing papers?

A: All my classes expect Math.

V: What did you like about your English classes?

A: Um. Well English Composition 2 was my favorite because it was reading and dissecting stories and having to find the symbolism.

V: Did you find that English Classes here at Kean were useful?

A: Yeah.

V: What English classes did you take here at Kean?

A: A creative writing class. It allowed me to express myself.

V: Did you dislike any English classes that you took?

A: No.

V: Have their been any other English classes that you have been in where other students’ didn’t like the class?

A: I think it was just for the people who weren’t great at writing. The class was a challenge.

V: Do you have a favorite English class?

A: English Composition 2.

V: Did you have to take your English classes for a requirement or for your major?

A: They were all required.

V: Do you like to write outside of the classroom?

A: Yeah.

V: What do you like to write about?

A: Well when I was younger I used to write like songs and stuff. I also had a diary.

V: Do you remember how you felt after you wrote your first piece of creative writing?

A:  I mean it was pretty cool because the piece was about anything I wanted it to be.

V: Which do you think is harder and why? Academic writing or creative writing?

A: Academic just because your told to do something and you have to do it that way. Creative writing is just like whatever comes to your mind or interests you.

V: Do you remember any writing that stood our to you? It could be creative or academic.

A: Um. An informative speech.

V: What your speech about?

A: Healthy eating. I was really passionate about it.

V: Would you say that paper was academic and creative?

A: Yes

V: What is your opinion on how classes are set up?

A: I mean I think there good.  It depends on the teacher and how they present to the class. Some teachers just hand out papers and expect you to understand. Other teachers will explain the material and give great examples.

V:  Do you believe these classes meet the needs of the students?

A: No because some students aren’t really great at writing and they struggle with it. Then some students can write amazing.

V: What do you think the teachers can do to help the students with their writing and improve?

A: I mean take more time and help the students who need help with their work.

V: Do you think these classes allow students to express themselves?

A: Yeah. I think that even thought we might have a set thing to write about we can still be creative in some way.

V: Have you ever felt restrained when writing a paper?

A: No. I like the structure sometimes of an academic paper.

V: Do you think academic writing is used more frequently then creative writing?

A: Yes.

V: When your creative piece gets graded how do you feel?

A: I’m nervous because it’s my own personal opinions and styles. But then again not everyone is going to think the way same as you do.

V: Do you think its fair for others to judge your writing?

A: I mean I guess if you know its being handed in a teacher will judge it. I don’t think its fair with students.

V: Do you think creative writing helps academic writing or the other way around?

A: That’s interesting. I think that maybe academic writing helps creative writing just because it shoes you structure and how to compose a correct piece of writing.

V: What is the easiest part of academic writing?

A: The fact that you have guidelines.

V: What is the hardest part?

A: That you might not write the way the teacher wants and they will effect your grade.

V: So its important for you to appease the teacher?

A: Yes. I want the best grades possible.

V: What is the easiest part of creative writing?

A: The freedom to do whatever. A poem or song is your feelings.

V: What would you say is the hardest part?

A: Knowing that if people or students read it they may not like what you have.

V: Do you remember a certain academic paper that you wrote?

A: Yeah.

V: Can you tell me about it?

A: It was comparing two different stories. I had to find their differences and similarities.

V: Did you enjoy writing this?

A: I did because we were able to choose what we wanted to read. So I was able to get more into the writing.

V: How did you feel when you were writing this piece?

A: It was a long paper and stressful but at the same time I enjoyed it.

V: How did you get prepared for writing this paper?

A: I read both stories and then brainstormed.

V: How did you feel once you completed this paper?

A: Relieved.

V: Will you ever look back on that paper?

A: Yeah.

V: Does your future have plans to become something associated with English?

A: No

V: Does your job require you to use proper grammar?

A: Yes

V: In what way

A: I mean speech is all communication. You need to present yourself as educated.

V: Anything else you would like to comment on? Anything you think I should know?

A: Nope 

Interview #1

Valerie Jozef

Interview #1

Amy 

V: Lets start off with what is your name?

A: Amy.

V: Okay do you remember when you first started reading?

A: Probably in like maybe kindergarten or first grade I’m guessing around there.

V: Do you remember who taught you how to read or who you would usually read with?

A: My parents

V: And they taught you how to read as well?

A: They didn’t teach me how to read but I would read with them and the teacher would teach me how to read and then I would read with my parents at night.

V: Do you remember when you first started writing?

A: Maybe like a little older. Like they get you in the style of writing but writing fluently would maybe in fourth or fifth grade.

V: Do you remember who taught you how to write?

A: My teachers at school

V: Do you remember the first book that you read?

A: Probably like started off with the basics like The Hat and The Cat.

V: How did you feel when you first read that book?

A: Good because you understand sounds and syllables and how to pronounce it.

V: Can you tell me about your first writing experience?

A: I think the first writing experience was when we had to do the writing for the state and then give it in.

V: Do you remember what you wrote about?

A: Oh god. No.

V: Do you remember another writing experience that you had that meant something to you?

A:  I was in sixth grade and writing for the state again. All the districts had to take this and I was the only one in my class that got the highest grade.

V: That must have made you really proud!

A: Yes. I was.

V: What your best experience with writing throughout all your years in school?

A: Best experience was my sixth grade writing teacher. I love her and the way she taught. She was great.

V: Do you remember her name?

A: Ms. Valenco

V: Did she always give you positive feedback?

A: Yes. She was so hands on with all her students. She explained everything!

V: Did she allow you to be creative?

A: Yup.

V: What was your worst experience with writing?

A: Probably when I took the state test in third grade and didn’t do well on it. But I feel like that was because I was younger and didn’t have a handle on my writing. The test stressed me out.

V: At that point were you confident with your writing?

A: No

V: Did you have teachers in third grade that made you feel comfortable with your writing?

A: No. It was a personal struggle with writing.

V: Is school important to you?

A: Yes

V: Why is it important to you?

A: Because I want to get a job as a teacher and need to go to school.

V: Did you have any teachers that had an impact either negatively or postivaly on your writing?

A: My sixth and eighth grade teachers.

V: How many years have you been in college?

A: This is my 4^th year.

V: How many classes would you say involved you writing papers?

A: Probably every class.

V: What did you like about the English classes you have taken?

A: The English classes weren’t that bad. Just depending on the topics of the papers and how you had to express yourself in them.

V: Did you find English classes here at Kean to be useful?

A: Yea. I feel a lot of teachers are willing to help and show you how to make your paper better and improve.

V: Did you dislike any of your English classes?

A: Yes.

V: Do you remember which one?

A: I’m guessing the class I took sophomore year here.

V: What about freshman composition?

A: That class was fine.

V: In freshman composition do you remember the writing in that class being more creative or academic?

A: It was creative.

V: Did you like that class better because you were able to creatively?

A: Yes. I could express myself more.

V: Did you have a favorite English class?

A: No

V: Did you have to take English classes for a requirement or for your major/minor?

A: English composition was the only required class I had to take for English.

V: Do you like to write outside of the classroom?

A: I did when I was younger. I don’t anymore.

V: What did you write when you were younger?

A: Like how school was, how it was going, and finals.

V: I remember in second grade I had a diary.

A: I think I had that too.

V: Do you remember how you felt after writing your first piece of creative writing?

A: You feel excited because its an accomplishment and you feel good about yourself when you receive a good grade.

V: Which do you think is harder and why? Academic writing or creative writing?

A: Academic writing.

V: Why?

A: Academic writing deals with all different topics, subjects and classes. Its always something different

V: What is your opinion on how English classes are set up?

A: I feel that they are set up in the basic way to explain to you how to write. I feel like teachers explain to you what you to do sometimes and you either get it or you don’t.

V: Do you believe that these classes meet the needs of the student?

A: In a sense yes and in a sense no because depending on what you write about depends on what the teacher asks.

V: Do you think these classes allow the students to be creative?

A: Yes if its creative writing and no if its for academic writing.

V: Have you ever felt restrained when writing a paper?

A: Yes because I wanted to be creative with it but then I had to write it the way the teacher wanted.

V: Do you think academic writing is used more frequently then creative writing?

A: Yes

V: Why do you think that is?

A: Because when you’re in college there is so much more academic papers.

V:  Would you say that every student who’s in college should take creative writing?

A: I think everyone should so they can express themselves.

V: When your creative piece gets graded how do you feel?

A: Depending on how you do either good or bad.

V: Do you think that being able to write creatively could help you write academically or the other way around?

A: I think that maybe academic writing helps creative writing since your writing about all different topics.

V: What is the easiest part of academic writing?

A: Figuring out the information first. I feel better once I write it out on paper.

V: What would you say is the hardest part about academic writing?

A: How to present everything and put into paragraphs and correct form.

V: Is it hard to write the paper when you have guidelines?

A: Yes, I feel restrained.

V: What is the easiest part about creative writing?

A: That you can express yourself freely and you express what you are thinking about on paper and that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion.

V: What is the hardest part about creative writing?

A: Figuring out a topic.

V: Do you remember a certain academic paper you wrote and can you tell me about it?

A: My philosophy of education paper.

V: How do you feel about that paper?
A: It wasn’t too bad. We were given guidelines, which in this case actually helped me with the paper. This paper was creative because it was my own view but also academic because it was being graded.

V: How did you feel when you writing this paper?

A: I felt like it wasn’t too bad.

V: How did you prepare for this paper?

A: I wrote everything down in a notebook first and then the computer. I also looked at different online sources.

V: How did you feel when you finished the paper?

A: I felt good because I expressed what needed to be expressed and I felt like I had good information.

V: Will you ever look back on that paper?

A: Maybe.

V: Does the profession you want to enter require the use of proper grammar?

A: Yes

V: In what way?

A: To be a teacher you need to speak proper grammar and be able to teach the students proper grammar as well.

V: Any other ways?

A: Lesson plans

V: What types of writing will be used in your profession?

A: Creative pieces for lesson plans.

V: Anything else you would like to add to this interview that you feel I should know?

A: No.