Robo-readers synthesis

Robo-readers

While robo-readers are able to score student essays at a rapid rate, they have many shortcomings that overwhelm their benefits. Such a generic system will take variety out of writing and eliminate valuable feedback.

The biggest problem with robo-readers is that they “cannot draw out meaning” and “[care] nothing for creativity or truth,” (Kolowich, Steve. “A Win for Robo-Readers.” Inside Higher Ed.) The point of writing should be to send a message and to get a point across; if robo-readers are the sole audience of a piece, and the message isn’t even being considered, then what’s the point of writing at all?

Robo-readers also don’t offer as much advice for improvement as a live reader would. Teachers are always able to give valuable, specific feedback about their students’ writing, and that helps the students grow as writers. The generic comments issued by the robo-readers such as, “A few grammar errors detected,” and, “a few misspelled words,” (“Robo-readers: the new teachers’ helper in the U.S.” Reuters) really aren’t valuable feedback.

Robo-readers also have the potential to take the variety out of students' writing. Because they grade by such conventional principles, students can't be as stylistically creative with their writing. Students will be downgraded for using short paragraphs, and sentence fragments, which often add flair to writing. Michael Winerip says in "Robot Eyes As Good As Humans When Grading Essays" that, "if those are breaking the rules, you're going to get a more and more homogenized form of writing."

The quality of writing should be valued more than the speed at which it's graded; therefore, the job of scoring students' writing should be left to those who can appreciate content and variety and give valuable feedback.

Map!

http://www.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/1788bp7.jpg

This map, New Map of the states of Georgia South and North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland, including the Spanish provinces of West and East Florida, was made by Purcell in 1788 of the Southern part of the East Coast. An interesting part of this map is the picture in the lower left corner. There are a bunch of babies with wings that might be angels, and they are holding a banner. It’s hard to read because the font is blurry. There is an eagle at the top, which represents America, and it looks like it’s perched on a globe. The image of America on top of the world might symbolize its hopes for domination. There is an American flag on the right side of the picture. America had only been independent for 12 years, but the people were patriotic about their flag.

Thomas L. Friedman Op-ed

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/opinion/sunday/friedman-where-have-you-gone-joe-dimaggio.html?ref=columnists

The op-ed I chose to read was "Where Have You  Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" by Thomas L. Friedman from The New York Times. This article began by talking about Steve Jobs and the reasons why he was successful. He says that Jobs "personified so many of the leadership traits we know are missing from our national politics," and, "There isn't a single national politician today whom you would describe by those attributes." Friedman says that our leaders lack the leadership qualities to get things done in America, that "The Republican Party has been taken over by an antitax cult, and Obama just seems lost."

What made Friedman's argument so persuasive was that he began by describing someone so irrefutably successful--Steve Jobs--and then pointed out how politicians obviously lack Job's innovative qualities. He has faith that there are people in America who are capable of fixing the problems of our nation, but the people who have political power don't have that potential. He says, "Neither party is saying: Here is the world we are living in; here are the big trends; here is our long-term plan for rolling up our sleeves to ensure that America thrives in this world because it is not going to come easy; nothing important ever does."

After discussing what America lacks in its politicians, Friedman addresses what it needs. He says the following are necessary for innovation like that of Steve Jobs to prevail in America: quality education in infrastructure, open immigration, the right rules to incentive risk-taking, government-financed scientific research, cutting spending, and raising taxes. When the article begins, the reader believes he or she will be reading all about Steve Jobs, but in the process, Friedman is able to get his political ideas across by associating them with Jobs' qualities that made him successful.

Another cool thing Friedman did was with the title, "Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?" The article isn't about Joe DiMaggio, obviously. He was a baseball player.This line is also in the Simon and Garfunkle song "Mrs. Robinson," which says, "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio.A nation turns its lonely eyes to you." I think Friedman chose his title because of the "a nation turns its lonely eyes to you" part. I'm assuming that he means that our nation needs to turn to someone with the qualities portrayed in the article, which have disappeared from politics. So that was clever.

Sound and Fury Response

After watching this documentary, I disagreed with Heather's parents who didn't want her to get a cochlear implant. While I understand that they wanted a connection with Heather being deaf, it doesn't seem fair for Heather not to be given the opportunity to hear. 

Heather's parents were concerned that her signing wouldn't be as good if she were encouraged to use speech after getting a cochlear implant. I think it's selfish of Heather's parents to want to keep her inside a deaf bubble. She already signs really well, so she'll be able to communicate with her family forever. Most hearing people, which is mostly who Heather will be interacting with when she grows up and gets a job, won't be able to sign and Heather will need speech to communicate. She wouldn't be able to learn to speak without a cochlear implant.

I think that Heather's parents should let her take advantage of the technology available to let her hear. Even though her parents considered her deafness a culture rather than a disability, there's no denying that life would me more challenging for Heather without being able to communicate easily with most people. By not allowing her to get a cochlear implant, they were holding her back.

Fears!

I am absolutely terrified of fish! They are so creepy. I had a traumatic fishing experience when I was really young, and I've hated fish ever since then. My family went to our friends' cabin on a lake, and I got a Tweety Bird fishing pole because it was my birthday. In the morning I decided to go fishing by myself. There were other people awake too, but I was the only one on the pier. I have like a five minute attention span, so it was a miracle that I was even fishing long enough to catch anything, but it happened. I was really excited at first, but then I was reeling in my fish and it started flailing around on the top of the water, and I didn't know what to do! I freaked out and dropped my fishing pole, and the fish pulled it into the lake off the pier. I ran back up to the cabin to get someone to help me, and a kid named Nick jumped into the lake and rescued my Tweety fishing pole from the bottom which was cool, until my mom made me have a photoshoot with my fish! I had hold it while it was wiggling around and its creepy, beady eyes were staring at me. Fish are so slimy! I hate them.

So that was the start of my fear. I always get really nervous when I'm sailing or waterskiing and I fall in the lake. I know that fish won't eat my toes or anything, but it's hard to think that way when I'm stranded in the middle of a nasty lake where a vicious fish could sneak up on me at any second! One time a couple years ago my family went to that cabin again, and all the kids were swimming in the middle of the lake. My brother, who knows I'm afraid of fish, grabbed onto my feet and I panicked. I wasn't wearing a life jacket or anything and I was panicking so much that I couldn't swim, even though I was on the swim team for eight years. Stupid fish almost made me drown.

Where is the Love

A song that was written in 2003 that has a political meaning is "Where is the Love" by the Black Eyed Peas. It was written after the 9/11 terrorists attacks, and it is about problems in American society. It mentions terrorism, racism, and Americans' emphasis about money.

Here is a link to the lyrics:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html/

I'll post a video to this song when I get home. Most people probably know it; it used to be one of my favorite songs.

A Cheesy Writing Metaphor

I think writing is like eating posicles that have jokes on the stick. The riddles are visible right from the start, but you need to struggle through eating the entire popsicle before you can uncover the answer. Sometimes the journey to the center of a posicle can be enjoyable, but other times it's a painful struggle. If it's really hot outside, eating popsicles can be a very frustrating. You might end up covered in sticky, melted posicle before you finally get to the answer on the posicle stick.

The process of writing is similar to eating a popsicle. You're given a topic to write about, like you're given a riddle on a popsicle stick, and then you have to figure out how to effectively get your point across. That's like working to find the answer to the joke on the popsicle stick. Certain writing assignments can seem really easy to write, and others make you want to cry, like when you try to eat a popsicle on a really hot day.