Chloe Brotherton

English 1510

September 12, 2012

Berkenkotter and Murray

 

Summary

Berkenkotter’s “Decisions and Revisions” and Murray’s “Response of a Laboratory Rat—or Being Protocoled” is about the proper steps a writer must take in order to compose a successful paper; it takes planning, evaluating, revising, and editing.  Berkenkotter and Murray work together practicing these tools and learning each other’s techniques in this article.

Synthesis

This article was somewhat different than the other ones assigned.  There were two writers instead of one, and these writers were evaluating one another opposed to one writer explaining to the reader what to do.

QDJ

1.        My impression of Murray’s writings is that they are extremely organized, well thought-out, and very in depth.  He took many steps before writing his final piece, which I admire him for.  When I write I do not take any caution and revise as I go, which may not be the best method, but it works for me most of the time.

2.       This study changed Berkenkotter’s understanding of writing processes, particularly planning and revision, by observing Murray and how much time and effort he spent in the just the process of planning whatever he was going to write.  Berkenkotter, a writer herself,  was shocked at the amount of planning Murray did, which is saying something.

AEI

1.        When I write, I need to be in a relaxed environment and state of mind; my writing is altered depending on my mood and setting.  I would characterize my level of writing as average because I’m good at writing stories and poems, but essays… not so much.  I’m not the well-rounded writer that I wished I was.  I tend to just write as I go which great writers like Murray do not do.

Meta Moment

One thing I learned from the Berkenkotter and Murray article is how essential planning can be to a writing piece.  It can really make a good piece an even better piece.  Maybe I will try planning before writing in the future.