Blogging Bizzell

As you compose your summary and response for Monday morning's class, I invite you to check out the following grad student blogs on Bizzell's "Cognition, Convention, and Certainty."

Linda's Blog (University of Minnesota)

Securing a Space (at Syracuse University)


Notice how each writer frames the key points of Bizzell's article. What seems to be each writer's purpose? Do they seem to be responding to an assignment, or something more?

Do specific features mark these blog postings as "academic discourse"? As such, do they invite dialogue or would you characterize them as knowledge-telling or "bastard" discourse?

And finally, can a blog help to fulfill the Bizzell's purposes of teaching writing, as paraphrased by the author of "Securing a Space:"

it will help explain the often difficult transition into an academic discourse community; it will enable student writers to understand the makeup and conventions of different discourse communities; and it will help student writers define his/her goals in terms of the specific discourse community in which they’re writing in or to.

Just curious. . . I look forward to reading your blog postings!