Reading Response # 9

Jose Modesto
Text
McCarthy, Lucille P. A Strange in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the
Curriculum. Research in the Teaching of English 21.3 (1987): 233-65. Print.

Summary
In the article A Strange in Strange Lands: A College Student Writing across the Curriculum by
Lucille P. McCarthy, McCarthy discusses the idea of how students approach writing very
different in different courses and different settings. She follows a freshmen student whose name
is Dave into three of his course settings to view his approach and style of writing. She also
states that there are bumps like students, teachers, and the roles play by students texts when
writing in college which can affect the style and the approach. This various from course to
course because each course is very different with different subjects, making a difference in the
students writing development which can be good or bad because the student is learning new
forms of approaching different kinds of writings which can help in future writing assignments.

Claim
The most important idea that would benefit peers in class would be the understanding the idea
that different courses in different setting can make a big difference in students writings due to
the subject of the course, the requirements that the teacher demands, or the tools that are given
in the environment of the class counting the student as well.

Obtaining the experience from teachers, students, and students textbook can lead to making
students better writers, giving them the ability to adapt to the writings in different courses by
gaining experience from each of them.

Data
writing in college is viewed as a process of assessing and adapting to the
requirements in unfamiliar academic settings( Lucille P. McCarthy, p.232)

because the number of successful classroom experiences with writing, and the ability
to forget the less successful ones, dave told me that writing was not a problem for him(
Lucille P. McCarthy, p.257)
Connection
In McCarthys article, different academic settings can be very difficult to accommodate
students writing to, trying to meet the requirements from the course with the different
surroundings that surround the student. The most important idea that would benefit
peers in class would be the understanding the idea that different courses in different
setting can make a big difference in students writings due to the subject of the course,
the requirements that the teacher demands, or the tools that are given in the
environment of the class counting the student as well.
Obtaining the experience from teachers, students, and students textbook can
lead to making students better writers, giving them the ability to adapt to the writings in
different courses by gaining experience from each of them. McCarthy states that, writing
in college is viewed as a process of assessing and adapting to the requirements in
unfamiliar academic settings( Lucille P. McCarthy, p.232). With this demonstrated over
McCarthys study since Dave had to stay himself accommodate his writing skills to what
was asked. Poetry in Daves courses was not so familiar to him having different kind of
companions than in his other classes because students there did not communicate as
much, making him seem as an outsider in the subject when it came to writings. He was
not as successful at first, but had no choice, but to improve and adapt. McCarthy says
that, because the number of successful classroom experiences with writing, and the
ability to forget the less successful ones, dave told me that writing was not a problem for
him( Lucille P. McCarthy, p.257). This quote explains that the experience he gained in
his courses did help him in the future. Dave in the beginning did not like writing, but
every ability gained change his mind demonstrating that he can deal with whatever
writing gets in his way by accommodating his knowledge to the requirements. From
every course that Dave took, he took the most important experiences and had no
problem applying them to writing assignment.

Vocabulary

1. Perceptions; These differences were apparent in this study not

only in Daves perceptions of the courses but in his concerns while
writing in his written products.; the ability to see, hear, or become
aware of something through the senses
2. Clandestinely; what Daves experience in Poetry may suggest is
that where student collaboration in writing is not openly accepted,
it goes on clandestinely;in a secretive and illicit way.