Monday, November 16, 2009

To comment on the comments…

Hello my lovelies.


Thank you for being so active on your class blogs. The discussions are great to see!


It has been brought to my attention that some people feel like the comments are a bit “harsh”.


I have now read through almost all of the comments, and I appreciate the connections you are making to each others’ posts, world events, other literature, and life in general. It’s great to read your opinions! I truly enjoy it.


This is probably one of the first times you’ve had to “publish” formal writing in a public forum, so remember it can be scary for some of your peers. Be careful that you do not attack others' views in a negative way. It’s great to have differing opinions, that’s what makes our world interesting! But present a different opinion in a way that invites discussion, rather than silencing people.


Some language that may help you to comment more positively –


“I understand what you are saying, but have you thought of this?”

“Good points, but I disagree with some things you’ve said”

“Your post got me thinking… what about this?”


On the other hand, if your post is commented on, feel privileged. You have started an intellectual discussion! If someone disagrees with what you have said, stand up for what you believe in, and keep arguing your own points! This will help you make your points clear, focused and well argued. Take the time to reflect on what is being said – you may want to edit your post after you hear from your peers. I do not mark them until the due date, so you have time to go back and make sure your thoughts are in order.


Keep commenting! It’s great.

14 comments:

  1. I strongly disagree. This is definitely not the first time that we have to publish a formal writing. And even "formal" can not be a tag that will suit the purpose of such writings. Much of our writings are presented to demonstrate or to show our inner thoughts and ideas. Contents should be marked more than our formality and format.

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  2. We are not attacking their opinions. We are just raming head on against their opinions. Debate shares the same latin root as battle. Therefore, a debate must be filled with clashes.

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  3. ...I thought I told you to stop double posting.

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  4. It is not double posting if every post has a seperate point

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  5. No, Sotes, it isn't double posting. No point is writing a small novel on the blog, it just feels like one long ramble. (But with Jisong's earlier comments on this post, it wouldn't have been a novel, so well, it can technically be considered double posting in this instance). Does anyone know why the dashboard says there are 13 posts on the blog but on the blog there are only 12?

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  6. Thank you for letting me know that you have previously published work. Take note though that I did not just say this is the first time you have published formal writing, but rather published it in a public forum. A forum invites discussion. I was suggesting that some of your peers are not used to this, and it would be good if your rebuttals did not silence them. There is an art to arguing. This is not a formal debate setting, so realize people do not have to respond or even read your comments. You must be able to state your opinion in a way that invites further discussion. Otherwise, your points are rather, well, useless.

    What’s the point in talking if no one wants to listen to you?

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  7. ps. Why have you stopped commenting? There are lots of new posts!

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  8. Cause their all boring. Only a few people comment to begin with and if they all post it at the last second, then never look at it again, it's pretty pointless to comment on them.
    They're just not getting into the spirit of things. I always assumed that the purpose of the blog was to get people to do homework in a non-homework environment. But people are just treating this like regular homework.
    Ah.
    That's just boring, if no one is going to answer to my comments I'll just go get my butt kicked by Michael in Melty. That's a hell lot more fun that writing when nobody cares.

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  9. Please review there, their, and they are.

    :)

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  10. ...
    I think I'll just go do that

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  11. The only reason that certain people decide to participate is because there are interesting discussion being made. Trust me, there are tons of those on the older posts than on the newer ones. But right now, no one has enough labour or energy to set those traps up.

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