Class 11 English Unit 2: Freewriting by Peter Elbow

 

 

Unit 2: Freewriting by Peter Elbow

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKVnBFbSxp0 

About the Writer  

Peter Elbow is an American academic and author, best known for his work in the field of writing theory and pedagogy. Born in 1935, Elbow has had a major influence on how writing is taught, especially through his emphasis on freewriting, writing without fear of criticism, and the process-oriented approach to composition.

Reflection of the text

The article ‘Freewriting’ by Peter Elbow states the significance and outcome once a person will practice a 10–15-minute freewriting activity at least thrice a week. The introduction mentions other terms like automatic writing, babbling, and jabbering exercises. Though he gave a coherent sample product of freewriting activity, he still clarifies that it is still fine if there are grammatical errors, spelling, and incoherent sentences.

A lousy introduction is acceptable in this stage, after all, one can throw it away and make a new introduction during editing. He believes that this skill can be improved by regularly practicing this activity. The difference between spoken and written language in terms of characteristics and nature was also present in the article. It tells how harder and more complicated written language is compared to the latter. In terms of the stages in writing, Peter Elbow stressed the importance of following the normal steps. Hence, when one is missed, it would make writing difficult.

With all honesty, I am fascinated by this kind of pre-writing activity. True as it is that consciousness of grammar rules impedes the writer’s chance to write fluently. As a result, the writer is brainstorming, writing, editing, and revising his work all at once. This is a bad habit, then, and this makes me realize the essence of Freewriting. Just as a fisherman drops off his net to catch fish, and sort things out after to separate what’s useful and useless, a writer should know when the right time to edit and revise his work and not in the pre-writing stage!  Ergo(Hence), seeking perfection immediately should have no room in me!

This is what the author wanted me to discern. There is time for everything. I would want to set an example. Sometimes I have a lot of ideas to write down because I wear my editor’s coat in the pre-writing stage, I tend to forget them, and instead focus more on my grammar. Traditional writer, I am you may say, but that’s the fact. Surely his article served as an eye-opener for me. I greatly thank Peter Elbow for waking me up, and I must refrain from my bad habits in writing.

Ways with Words (page 16)

A.   The words in the crossword puzzle are from the text. Find them in the text to solve the puzzle based on the clues given below.

Down:

1.       to be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion- obsessed 

3.       to move slowly and quietly in a particular direction- creep

4.       orderly, logical, and consistent- coherent

Across:

2.       to utter rapidly or unintelligibly - babble 

5.       to insert something between other things - interpose 

6.       unreadable handwriting - squiggle 

B.    Use the following words in sentences of your own. (page 16)

massive                consciousness                 catch-as-catch-can

give up                 abandon                          editing

a.      massive = Learners should make a massive effort to secure good marks.

b.     consciousness (N) = Consciousness makes an organism do the right things.

c.      catch-as-catch-can (N)= The dinner party was about to finish, so getting food was catch-as-catch-can.

d.     give up (V) = We should not give up our study until we complete our mission.

e.      abandon (V)=  We should abandon the smoking habit for better health.

f.       lousy (Adj) =  Working outdoors is a lousy job.

g.     editing (N) = Editing corrects writing and makes a fine piece for reading.

C.    Word formation: Adjectives and Adverbs

a.      Read the following sentences from the text and notice the words that are underlined.

 i. Do free writing exercises regularly.

 ii. Go quickly without rushing.

iii. No wonder the producer gets nervous, jumpy, inhibited, and finally    

     can’t be coherent.

iv. You can throw away lousy beginnings and make new ones.

The underlined words in (a) and (b) are adverbs, and in (c) and (d) are adjectives. Notice that we can form adverbs by adding the suffix ‘-ly’ to an adjective, and an adjective by adding the suffix ‘-y’ to a noun.

Note that adding the suffix ‘-ly’ to the noun makes that noun an adjective (e.g., friend – friendly, love – lovely, beast – beastly, scholar – scholarly, month –monthly, etc.).

b.     Change the adjectives into adverbs and nouns into adjectives.

Adjectives	Adverbs	Nouns	Adjectives
Careful	Carefully	Rain	Rainy
Beautiful	Beautifully	Bush	Bushy
Perfect	Perfectly	Spice	Spicy
Automatic	Automatically	Snow	Snowy
General	Generally	Blood	Bloody
Certain	Certainly	Cloud	Cloudy
Fair	Fairly	Air	Airy

 

Video: Adjective into Adverb: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR3dprR1hFU

Video: Nouns into Adjectives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSXHFAAM_xU

c.      Fill in the gaps with the appropriate adjective or adverb. ( page 17)

                         i.            Pramila is playing quietly. (Adv)

                       ii.            Hari speaks very loudly. (Adv)

                    iii.            Mukesh is a careful driver. (Adj)

                     iv.            The test was easy and we finished in time. (Adj)

                       v.            He is fitting the automatic door in my house. (Adj)

                     vi.            My uncle speaks perfect Chinese. (Adj)

                        vii.      It was raining very heavily.

                     viii.       She looked very calm, but I am sure she was feeling very nervous. (Adj)

Comprehension

Answers to text questions. (p 18)

a.    Freewriting is also called ‘automatic writing’ because of its writing processes. We simply spill our ideas on paper without stopping and following any rules of grammar.

b.   We can differentiate writing from speaking by stating that speaking is the first skill in learning a language. Moreover, we cannot change in speaking, but it is possible in wiring. 

c.   The biggest obstacles in the writing process, according to Elbow, are the work of editing. Yes, I  agree with him because editing obstructs the way of our expression in writing if we try to edit while writing. 

d.     Freewriting can overcome ‘writer’s block’ by providing him an ample opportunity to write. The writer writes continuously in a relaxed manner. He is not worried about spelling, punctuation, and grammar rules. 

e.    The ‘voice’ in writing stands for sound, the message, concept, or any idea of the writer that he wants to offer his readers.

f.     The word ‘simile’ stands for a figure of speech that helps to compare two different ideas or things using words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’. The writer has compared freewriting with the waste that we throw into the sea. According to him, freewriting is valueless, that is, only for learning vocabulary, structures, and writing practices, because it is only a process to sharpen our writing by improving our rooted habit of editing while writing.

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