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The past readings address the literacy gap amongst college students. Before entering college, you are expected to know how to produce college level writing, but sources like Sheils' "Why Can't Johnny Write?" present studies on how first year college students showed poor writing skills. Why is there a gap between the expectation and real-life findings of literacy levels? The current writing curriculum is outdated and does not properly accommodate for the students. There should be a change within the education system to improve the curriculum through offering workshops for teachers. We should understand and realize that people come with different literacy backgrounds. Whether that may be affected by their childhood or socioeconomic background, Miller and Shultz argue that educators should use a "multi-literacy approach" to prepare students for college level writing. Currently, college curriculums prioritize writing more than reading, and they don't make sure that students really understand what they are reading. Carillo proposes that reading and writing should be taught alongside each other.

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These sources states several typical problems appeared in writing. One of the most common one is people's understanding of revising the passage. Many people consider"revision" as a step which is after writing
the first draft. This understanding may lead to lack of attention and seriousness to the first draft. Three scholarship including Murray's "Write before Writing", Lamott's First Shitty Draft, and Giovanelli's "Strong
Writers and Writing don't Meet Revisions" give specific explanations to revision from different perspectives. To sum up, they all emphasize the significance of revision which is not a step that we should take in writing, but is an attitude and attention that we should hold during writing. They
consider that revision can be done during writing the draft because we have to hold the attitude of making our statement clear and organized during the whole process of writing.

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All sources we have read so far are discussing about the literacy. The authors are devoting to creating a new strategy to advance students' ability. Shenk’s “The 32 million word gap” describe the reasons may affect the intelligence of the children. He believes the children’s social level, wealth, talking frequency and encourage can have impact on the children’s writing and reading skills. Based on researches, intelligence is an abstract concept. It is a dynamic, diffuse, and ongoing process. There may be gap between the actual academic performance and “intelligence”, because they are not highly assoicated. However, high academic achieves work harder than others. As a result, Shenk advocates for a deeper research on the "literacy gap" between students. Carillo’s “Reading and writing are not connected” show the huge gap between high school and college writing. As reading and writing are more and more necessary in the modern society, the students can not make adaption. Educators should not attribute the student’s failure in writing and reading to their own intelligence. They require to change their teaching strategy to avoid hurting the students.

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Students have never been taught English correctly. That is evident by the fact that there is still not a "correct" way to write an essay. In fact, if there will never be a correct way to write, then there will most definitely never be a correct way to teach writing. All of the articles we have read in class share one common abstract theme: there is no correct way to teach writing. Most students nowadays are writing papers for a purpose, for a goal in mind. Personally, most of my academic papers in high school were Literary Analysis. A perfect example of how writing became "finish the task" rather than "express your idea". That is the most important idea is that writing should not be a one and done thing, with any assignment; it should be an ongoing process and something you can practice to get better at. Personally, my favorite reading was from Donald Murray's "Write to Learn" where he explained that writing was a process, and the pre-writing process is just as important as any. He explains that authors will sometimes sit on an idea for months. I experience this as a song writer, the incubation stage: it's when I have a good seedling of an idea and I want to think of the best way to proceed to make it a complete thought. A similar thing happens with writers like us, who may be writing for academic purposes. It is important to realize that writing is a process you can get better at.

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A common problem that the sources address is that many people believe that writers like Shakespeare were born great writers. However, many great writers experience almost the same amount of distraught as us students when faced with a big writing task. Murray highlights the fact that many writers actually procrastinate and need time to think about what they want to write before doing so. Murray also lists a few signals that a writer should become more aware of that tells a writer when they should start writing. Similarly, Edwards and Paz states that many students are always consuming great pieces of writing and are blind to the fact that writing isn't an easy task that can be done in one sitting. Writing takes a lot of revision as stated by LaMott and Giovanelli. These writers are clarifying misconceptions that students may have about writing. They provide their own experiences with reading and writing and list steps a student can make to improve their writing.

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One real world problem that many of the readings are addressing is the misteachings of the education system and how they are having short and long term effects on the developing students. They talk of the duty of the teachers to provide students with resources for success, but how they are falling short due to the inadequate styles that they are using to teach. Through this claim, they are saying that we need better in our system and some of the suggestions that they offer include teaching reading and writing cohesively, teaching that writing takes work and that anyone can become great if they put in the work, and also the importance of the writing process from start to finish. Many of the contributions that the authors are making include providing steps that lead to success and also the truths of the writing community and how you do not have to be perfect in order to be great. These authors are doing their best to create a system where young writers can develop with a solid foundation and with confidence in themselves and their abilities.

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Most scholars bring out the real world problem in which writing and reading skills are decreasing  between students, and what they think would improve their skills.  Some scholars focus on the connections between reading and writing, while others on writing itself. Scholars like Giovalli, and Lamott focused on writing , specifically revisions and drafts. According to Lamott in order for a writer to start writing they must first just write without thinking about it, and then like stated in Giovalli, revising it later. Other scholars focused more about the connections between writing and reading. Carillo, for example,talks about how reading is important in order to bring more meaning in texts, and use them in their writing. Another scholar, Bunn, connects reading as a template to your own writing, by looking at other texts and how they were created. In all situations the authors are trying to bring out ideas that they believe will help students with their writing. They also all seem to agree that educational systems need to change their ways of teaching, in order for students to succeed later on in life.

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These sources are addressing the real word confusions about how writing should be seen, taught, and learned. Specifically, there's a lot of negative stigma around writing when there shouldn't be. For example, a lot of people believe that writing isn't a skill you can improve, some people are just better at it. However, lots of the readings that we annotated advocated for quite the opposite: literacy is something that can be improved. Additionally, similar remarks are made about literacy and the way students are educated about it. A lot of the readings argue that current schooling fails students in terms of teaching them how to write. Texts such as "How to Read like a Writer" showcase new, more effective methods, and suggest that these be implemented into current education plans. The authors of all these readings are trying to make progressive contributions; they want literacy to be seen in a more positive light and be taught for what it really is.

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From the reading we have read, they have discussed some real-world problems in literacy. One of the biggest problems was the literacy gap, and because of this reason, many children did not have an academic achievement or strong literacy skills. Socioeconomic status has a significant impact on the children's writing and reading ability. Several studies found that the lower children’s socioeconomic status is, the worse their academic achievement, and this relation was across ages of children. Another problem that was mentioned in the source was writing and reading is taught separately in school. Students become better thinkers when reading and writing are taught together. Many schools largely privilege writing over reading which significantly effecting the way they read and interpret texts and negatively affects students writing abilities. Each scholar is trying to help other writers become better writers by discussing relevant issues, providing solutions to the issues, and sharing writing strategies.

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The current problem most of the sources are addressing is that people lack sufficient literacy skills which can be seen from children who are first developing their literacy skills to post-college graduates. The readings explain the importance of literacy in life and how the lack of proper teaching is effecting people in later life. Most authors place blame on education, and want change within the system. They note problems such as: insufficient writing education of teachers, a lack of understanding the writing process (making it difficult to teach), the dramatic change in expectations from high school writing to college writing, disregarding the value of reading, lacking the proper writing mindset, etc.

The writers attempt to improve literacy in education by suggesting methods that can be implemented. Carillo’s “Reading and Writing Are Not Connected” suggest teaching reading strategies with the expectation of improving the understanding of texts. Bunn’s “How to Read Like a Writer” advocates for the Reading Like a Writer Strategy so students can be more engaged and learn from writing styles they come across.

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1. In readings, we can clearly see a pattern. All the readings address problems with our current understanding and practice of reading and writing. A few authors, not only address the problem of reading and writing but also suggest solutions, to overcome the problem. An example of this is Anne Lamott who stated that reading and writing are not perfect. Writer needs to write multiple drafts in order to create the "perfect" piece.
2. The contributions authors are trying to make are ways to make writing and reading better. By pointing out the wrong in current writing and reading practice, and providing their solutions. They are trying to make writing and reading better for students. Some authors are also trying to inform teachers about what they are doing wrong and suggest ways to effectively teach students. This can be seen in "You Can Learn And Write in General" by Elizabeth Wardle where she points out the need of giving students example and not assume that students know how to do something. Overall, all of the author's ideas and significant, and if these ideas can be heard by educators and students all over the world, these ideas would positively change writing and reading practices.

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The sources we have read share the theme of literacy. Many aim to improve literacy or shine a light on its decline in students' lives. The authors hope to help students improve their writing skills or bring awareness to teachers about the failing education system. The authors that are a part of the book “Bad ideas” include Parrot, Wardle, Carillo, Dustin & Paz, and Giovanelli. Giovanelli and Wardle provide tips for writers. While Parrot, Dustin & Paz, and Carillo debunk misconceptions about writing that will help motivate people to write with less pressure. Other writers go into the socioeconomic effects on literacy and who is considered a “good” writer.  The writers contribute advice along with examples of students' stories to help encourage literacy. Some authors provide solutions to the education system to improve literacy and fix the main issue of students not coming into college prepared to read and write at the college level.

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Shenk's piece “The 32 Million Word Gap” Addresses the problem that literacy is not equal among all people. When research was done on students that are growing up in professional homes and students that are not growing up in professional homes, it was found that by age four, children in professional homes are 32-million words ahead of students that are not. This indicates that a gap in wealth is a gap in literacy that educators aren't taking into consideration when making their curriculum decisions.
This source specifically gives lots of suggestions for how to close this gap in wealth and literacy. Through research, it was discovered that this exponential gap had the opportunity to at least shrink. Some examples of how to do this: Speaking and reading to children early and often, Nurturance and encouragement, setting high expectations, embracing failure, and encouraging a “growth mindset.” All of these tactics are designed to help parents and educators even the playing field and give all students equal literacy opportunities.

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The whole readings are about the topic of writing. They are all discussing some problems in the real-world related to people's writing in different perspectives. Specifically, there is a group of writers who focus on the relationship between reading and writing. For example, Carillo's "Reading and Writing Are Not Connected" argues that nowadays college "privileges writing at the expense of reading," which is problematic. Bunn suggests a new strategy for writers as well as readers and argues that reading as a writer will help them understand the structure of texts and compose better essays. There is another group of writers who focus on the role writer itself. Parrott, Edwards, and Paz argue that writers are not born talented, which is a common misconception about writers. This misconception makes people canonize students to be ideal writers, which actually prevents them from being better writers. Giovanelli furthers this idea by giving revision as an example as well as addressing its importance. These are all problems related to writing in the real-world.

By writing texts that discuss these problems and offering suggestions to solve the problems, these scholars aim to reduce the misconceptions of writing which most people hold and advocate new disciplines and curriculums that will make people have a balanced study system of reading and writing, which will lead students to success in the future, specifically according to Yancey. These texts contribute to informing the people of the existence of these problems and the possibility and methods to solve them. Therefore, people can modify their pedagogies that better suit the society nowadays.

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Thinking about all the sources we've read about so far in UWP 7Y as part of the scholarly conversation about literacy, consider and then write at least 150-word post that responds to the following questions. (You may want to return to the readings themselves, your HRCs, etc. for inspiration!)

What real-world, current problem, gap, or need are the sources addressing?

What kinds/types of contributions are the writers trying to make?

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Throughout the sources that we have read, scholarly conversation about literacy allows us to consider the purpose of each piece and it presents a new perspective about literacy.

These sources are contributing to the ideas of gas notices, the need in our literacy, the current problems, and how literacy applies to the real world. It demonstrates the importance of reading and writing being taught simultaneously as it affects our education and lives in the real world. A current problem is that educators aren’t preparing students for higher education. Students are performing lower on SATs and other standardized tests and the author places the blame on culture and creativity for the lack of literature advancements. Not to mention, the disadvantage for those with a poorer socioeconomic background. The gap noticed is the lack of kids’ intellectual development from a young age due to varying socioeconomic levels. The gap from wealthier statutes are more intelligent compared to those from poor backgrounds. Those practicing literacy need to read like a writer for the individual's literacy advantage by replicating the scholar's work within their own writing. In the process of reading like a writer one must really think about what the author is conveying to the audience, how this information is being conveyed, and what one can do to write like the author. The need for revision within our writing process is also prioritized as it ties the ideology that writing is revision, to give comfort to novice writers. A strategy that is described is a four-part multi-literacies framework applied to design a set of courses for new first-year students to better prepare and therefore retain them. Each scholar is contributing new ideas, describing writing strategies,  providing solutions to problems, new ideologies, highlighting the misconceptions, and trends noted. The purpose for their writing is what helps to indicate how the author is contributing, whether it be by explaining the current problems, strategies to improve our literacy, and how it applies to the real world.