I read the article of Blogs vs. Term Papers from course site yesterday. I thought it’s a pretty interesting and thought-provoking piece worth of our attention. Bascially, Matt Richtel claims that we should balance the importance between blog writing and term paper writing. Furthermore, he indicates that whatever content students posted on their blogs are more naturalistic and creative than whatever they wrote in their term papers. We can see this evidence from the research of Professor Lunsford, ‘Students…they feel as if they’re actually producing something personally rewarding and valuable, whereas when they write a term paper, they feel as if they do so only to produce a grade.’ I agree with those students because blog is a place where most people feel comfortable and therefore, they are more willing to devote their time writing entries on blogs. When I was blogging, I felt I’m highly engaged with no rigidity or any boredom. On the contrary, I felt I was just following the class syllabus and writing for the final grade when I was writing a term paper. In other words, writing of term paper gives me a feeling of we’re writing to meet requirements rather than writing to express our own opinions.
In terms of solution to this dilemma, I will say I quite approve of what Professor Lunsford suggests- that teachers can take both. Encompassing both blogs and term papers into classroom is a good idea. My suggestion for professors is to have students post their entries onto blogs twice a week and have them learn real life-related essays such as what Professor Davison used to teach: cover letters, business letters, thank you letters, career goals etc. A mere end-of-grade term paper is only a standardization to judge what grade a student deserves. It won’t suffice in preparing students for the future.