Rules for Writers Chapter 46

In chapter 46 from Rules for Writers by Diana Hacker, she talks about the differences between a summary and an analysis at the same time that she explains some of the keys that would help write a better summary and/or analysis of either a visual or written text. According to Hacker, reading actively, such as asking questions about the reading, highlighting or underling main ideas or information that could be relevant, etc., could help to create a better understanding of the reading. She also suggests doing more than just one reading since it’s not always easy to catch all the important details on the first attempt. Sketching an outline of the text could also be helpful as when trying to identify the thesis, and main ideas of a text. Hacker highlights how visual texts are not much different to written text and can also be examine the same one. Both visual and written texts have main ideas that are being transmitted by either by either illustrations on case of the visuals or words on the written texts. Finally, Hacker describes a summary as a brief piece in which only the main ideas and important points are stated and not personal opinion should be included; whereas, in an analysis your opinion is very important and should be supported by some sort of evidence, and will also normally included a brief summary of the reading.



I remember how my teachers and even my parents never allowed me to write on my textbook, even if they were old. So when I first heard about annotating, I confessed thinking that my teacher was crazy, “I can’t do such a thing”, it was like committing a crime. Although now, I honestly find annotating really fascinating; perhaps because it was something prohibit for me for such a long time but also because I find it very useful. Among other things, summarizing as well as analyzing is something that I’ve always had problems with. When I do summaries it is hard for me to extract only the main ideas from a text; I consider everything of vital importance that I normally struggle while choosing what has to be included and what can be left out. Probably because I simply don’t know how to make summaries so, this chapter will be very helpful on future assignments.

Freewriting Exercises

Freewriting is not more than putting what is on your mind down onto a paper. Now, going deeper into what freewriting means, there are two basic rules to follow when freewriting, and those are: first, it has to be short, and second, but most important, never stop writing. During freewriting, you would normally have a topic, if it is for a class or a particular paper that you are working on, which you would have to write about for some time between 10 to 15 minutes. The topic is normally meant for you to have a starting point, sometimes you’ll find yourself writing about stuff unrelated to the original topic, and that ok; the whole idea here is to make it easier for you, and me, to write without “editing” ourselves minds, because there is where I personally find myself getting stock the most trying to find the right word or phrase.
The purpose of freewriting is to help create a smooth and less painful way of writing. Of course, freewriting is not a new magical wand that will help you get the job done in one simple step; on the contrariety, freewriting would most likely add more writing to your usual way of doing papers. The magic on this method is that if you practice it with regularity it promises to take away some of the fears that come hand-to-hand with the word “write”. This technique is meant to liberate us from all the grammatical rules, and fears of misspelling that in many occasions frustrated us to the point where we decided to quit, and just focus on writing.
What is great about this technique is that you can even turn it into a freewriting dairy, that way it doesn’t really feel like you doing school work. Simply take 10 minutes before going to bed, or at any free moment that you possibly can and write about your day. It feels like this is just what I needed to lose some of the fears that have been hunting me for many years. I’ll see how it goes; hopefully it helps me improve my writing skills.

Introduction Dialogue

Hi Everyone,

My name is Estela Bustamante.  I'm originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.  My family and I moved to the United States about 7 years ago and we've been living in Sonoma ever since.  I'm 21 years old and the eldest of five; since I was young I felt a big responsibility to set the example for the little ones on the family, although, it is not always easy to do so.  I graduated from Sonoma High and when straight to enroll at SRJC, during my first year, I was having some serious trouble concentrating and getting my work done that I decided it was time for my brain to take a break.  Finally after some time off, I feel like I'm ready to go back to school and finish what I started.  I'm still not quite sure of my major but I know I'll find what would really passion me.

Something I consider important to mention is that English is not exactly one of my favorite subject, as it isn't my native language.  Probably one of the most frustrating things of learning a new language is when it comes to write papers; because I know what I want to say, I know the emotions and feelings that I want the paper to reflect but no knowing the "right" way to do so can be very stressful.  Of course, I also have to considerate that fact that I'm just a really bad writer.  I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and that affects my timing.  I can stare in from of a computer or notebook for hours and hours working on the same two sentences; finishing a paragraph after paragraph and erasing it all.  That's just something I have to work on.  Finally, I simply would like to add that I'm happy to be back at school; that I hope we all do great on this class, as well as in others and on any personal project that we might have.  Best of the lucks, everyone.