I found it interesting to learn that I used metacommentary a lot in my life and before reading this I didn’t even know that word. Metacommentary is when we make a point of explaining something they’ve said or written, most people aren’t offering new points but telling an audience how to interpret what they’ve already said or are about to say. I learned that it’s helpful to use it to tell readers what you mean and guide them through the text. It’s also used to help develop ideas and generate more text. This chapter gave helpful prompts to insert metacommentary to help bring your ideas to their full potential and explain ideas from different perspectives. Some prompts provided were: “to ward off potential misunderstandings”, to elaborate on a previous idea”, etc. These prompts help us as the writers to express our opinions in a clear and organized way. I found it helpful to learn that we use other moves that function as metacommentary such as adding transitions, framing, and answering why and who cares? about what we’re writing about.
“no matter how clear and precise your writing is, readers can still fail to understand it in any number of ways. Even the best writers can provoke reactions in readers that they didn’t intend, and even good readers can get lost in a complicated argument or fail to see how one point connects with another” (pg. 156). I find this quote insightful because someone can write something, and it makes perfect sense to them, but to another person, it could be like it’s complete gibberish. People can’t fully understand what someone else is trying to say because it’s impossible to get inside someone’s brain. Only you can truly understand what you trying to say. The same thing goes for reading. Someone wrote it intending to have something come across a certain way, but the reader might interpret it in their own way. Only you can understand how you interpret things you read. Something I find helpful is the templates. They will be useful.
“In short, then, metacommentary is a way of commenting on your claims and telling others how-and how not-to think about them.” p.154 para 1. Yes, I suppose I do this without knowing. I never want someone to misunderstand what I’m saying so I try to make it as clear as possible.
“The answer is that no matter how clear and precise your writing is, readers can still fail to understand it in any number of ways.” p 156 para 1. I believe this is true. Often it’s not on purpose, but it does also happen on purpose-people taking something that means one thing and forcing it to mean another thing to fit their needs.
“Titles, in fact, are one of the most important forms of meta commentary, functioning rather like carnival barkers telling passersby what they can expect if they go inside.” p 159 para 2. I had never thought of it this way. I had only ever seen titles as a quick glimpse into the work, not as metacommentary. This could be useful to me moving forward.
“Many of the other moves covered in this book function as metacommentary: entertaining objections, adding transitions, framing quotations, answering “so what?” and “who cares?”” p 159 para 3. I had never thought of this either. Obviously, I didn’t know partly because I didn’t know what metacommentary was before this, but even as I am learning what it is, I feel like the dots are connecting.
“The following moves elaborate on a previous point, saying to readers: “In case you didn’t get it in the first time, I’ll try saying the same thing in a different way.”” p 160 para 2. I feel like this is some of what we have been learning-specifically introducing quotes and following them up.
I thought it was interesting that I’ve used metacommentary many times before but I never knew there was a word to describe it. I thought it was interesting to consider my text as 2 texts joined at the hip. This is a helpful way to think of this so that in the future I make sure to thoroughly explain the argument I’m making. I like that the idea is to make things very clear. In the past I feel like I was taught to leave things up to the readers interpretation. But I like how this I method just tells you the books main point. I realize now that metacommentary is so important. It’s a key part in an argumentative essay. it doesn’t matter how good your points are, if you don’t have metacommentary your argument is probably not that strong.
The chapter “The Art of Metacommentary” in “They Say, I Say” looks into the nuances of writing and argumentation. One of the most interesting aspects of this chapter is how it highlights the importance of metacommentary in strengthening the clarity and depth of an argument. Meta commentary involves explaining and commenting on your own statements to ensure that your readers fully understand your points. This can include clarifying your main argument, addressing potential counterarguments, and elaborating on your ideas. This chapter is particularly helpful because it provides practical strategies for incorporating meta commentary into your writing. For example, it suggests using phrases like “What I mean by this is…” or “In other words…” to make your points more cohesive. This can be useful for when you want to make your arguments more persuasive. The authors also emphasizes that metacommentary is not just an add-on but a crucial element of effective communication. It helps to guide the reader through the complexities of an argument and ensures that the writer’s intentions are clear.
The most insightful thing about this chapter to me is the idea of clarity. Metacommentary is all about telling the reader how to think about your ideas, not providing new ideas. Sometimes I forget that the readers don’t know exactly what I am thinking or the point I want to get across. Incorporating metatext by anticipating the reader’s questions or confusion can help get my point across. It gives me more credibility in my argument and helps the reader see the topic from my perspective. Another helpful hint from this chapter is that no matter how well you construct your essay, there will always be readers that become lost, confused, or don’t see the bigger picture you are attempting to portray. Metacommentary will help guide the reader to see the connections you are making.
I found this chapter very intersecting because I have never heard of metacommentary before this so I was very excited to read about it. also what I learned is that when you state a claim you should also talk about why you think it might be controversial but why you have a strong option about it ether way. Another thing is that no matter how precise you are readers can always mess up your writing which was very true and scary because people can read things happy or sad and that can change the whole text. this chapter taught me alot about how the reader reads your writing and how to be better about your word choice.
In They Say / I Say, this chapter, “The Art of Metacommentary” reiterates the need to walk readers through complicated lines of reasoning with catchy commentaries. Metacommentary allows writers to make sure that readers have a full understanding of their points and to anticipate any misunderstandings as well as preemptively intervene against counterarguments. In this chapter, an example is given on how phrases such as “What I am trying to say here is …” or “In other words …” enable the writing to feel more human, and therefore having a conversational nature that reaches out to the reader. They don’t repeat things; they deepen the argument with additional precision without breaking the rhythm of reading. This understanding of metacommentary is particularly useful to writers worry that additional elaboration risks being repetitious because it demonstrates that intentional repetition ultimately helps in clarity and persuasion.
After reading the TS/IS chapter on “The Art of Metacommentary,” I thought it was pretty interesting that there was an actual word for what I had been doing all these years. I have always incorporated this into my work, and my teachers always made a point to tell us to reiterate our claims and explanations in ways that would engage the audience, but I didn’t know there was a specific word for it or a reason beyond maintaining engagement. I didn’t realize it was useful for ensuring the audience takes away what you want them to. I always thought that a claim that was stated and explained well would be sufficient, but after reading this chapter, I found it insightful that metacommentary can actually change how the readers understand and take away concepts from your work. Metacommentary can be useful to prevent potential misunderstandings, elaborate on an idea or claim, to provide a specific example, to anticipate objections, and more. Overall, the chapter was pretty helpful in informing me of the benefits of metacommentary.
9 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 22”
I found it interesting to learn that I used metacommentary a lot in my life and before reading this I didn’t even know that word. Metacommentary is when we make a point of explaining something they’ve said or written, most people aren’t offering new points but telling an audience how to interpret what they’ve already said or are about to say. I learned that it’s helpful to use it to tell readers what you mean and guide them through the text. It’s also used to help develop ideas and generate more text. This chapter gave helpful prompts to insert metacommentary to help bring your ideas to their full potential and explain ideas from different perspectives. Some prompts provided were: “to ward off potential misunderstandings”, to elaborate on a previous idea”, etc. These prompts help us as the writers to express our opinions in a clear and organized way. I found it helpful to learn that we use other moves that function as metacommentary such as adding transitions, framing, and answering why and who cares? about what we’re writing about.
“no matter how clear and precise your writing is, readers can still fail to understand it in any number of ways. Even the best writers can provoke reactions in readers that they didn’t intend, and even good readers can get lost in a complicated argument or fail to see how one point connects with another” (pg. 156). I find this quote insightful because someone can write something, and it makes perfect sense to them, but to another person, it could be like it’s complete gibberish. People can’t fully understand what someone else is trying to say because it’s impossible to get inside someone’s brain. Only you can truly understand what you trying to say. The same thing goes for reading. Someone wrote it intending to have something come across a certain way, but the reader might interpret it in their own way. Only you can understand how you interpret things you read. Something I find helpful is the templates. They will be useful.
“In short, then, metacommentary is a way of commenting on your claims and telling others how-and how not-to think about them.” p.154 para 1. Yes, I suppose I do this without knowing. I never want someone to misunderstand what I’m saying so I try to make it as clear as possible.
“The answer is that no matter how clear and precise your writing is, readers can still fail to understand it in any number of ways.” p 156 para 1. I believe this is true. Often it’s not on purpose, but it does also happen on purpose-people taking something that means one thing and forcing it to mean another thing to fit their needs.
“Titles, in fact, are one of the most important forms of meta commentary, functioning rather like carnival barkers telling passersby what they can expect if they go inside.” p 159 para 2. I had never thought of it this way. I had only ever seen titles as a quick glimpse into the work, not as metacommentary. This could be useful to me moving forward.
“Many of the other moves covered in this book function as metacommentary: entertaining objections, adding transitions, framing quotations, answering “so what?” and “who cares?”” p 159 para 3. I had never thought of this either. Obviously, I didn’t know partly because I didn’t know what metacommentary was before this, but even as I am learning what it is, I feel like the dots are connecting.
“The following moves elaborate on a previous point, saying to readers: “In case you didn’t get it in the first time, I’ll try saying the same thing in a different way.”” p 160 para 2. I feel like this is some of what we have been learning-specifically introducing quotes and following them up.
I thought it was interesting that I’ve used metacommentary many times before but I never knew there was a word to describe it. I thought it was interesting to consider my text as 2 texts joined at the hip. This is a helpful way to think of this so that in the future I make sure to thoroughly explain the argument I’m making. I like that the idea is to make things very clear. In the past I feel like I was taught to leave things up to the readers interpretation. But I like how this I method just tells you the books main point. I realize now that metacommentary is so important. It’s a key part in an argumentative essay. it doesn’t matter how good your points are, if you don’t have metacommentary your argument is probably not that strong.
The chapter “The Art of Metacommentary” in “They Say, I Say” looks into the nuances of writing and argumentation. One of the most interesting aspects of this chapter is how it highlights the importance of metacommentary in strengthening the clarity and depth of an argument. Meta commentary involves explaining and commenting on your own statements to ensure that your readers fully understand your points. This can include clarifying your main argument, addressing potential counterarguments, and elaborating on your ideas. This chapter is particularly helpful because it provides practical strategies for incorporating meta commentary into your writing. For example, it suggests using phrases like “What I mean by this is…” or “In other words…” to make your points more cohesive. This can be useful for when you want to make your arguments more persuasive. The authors also emphasizes that metacommentary is not just an add-on but a crucial element of effective communication. It helps to guide the reader through the complexities of an argument and ensures that the writer’s intentions are clear.
The most insightful thing about this chapter to me is the idea of clarity. Metacommentary is all about telling the reader how to think about your ideas, not providing new ideas. Sometimes I forget that the readers don’t know exactly what I am thinking or the point I want to get across. Incorporating metatext by anticipating the reader’s questions or confusion can help get my point across. It gives me more credibility in my argument and helps the reader see the topic from my perspective. Another helpful hint from this chapter is that no matter how well you construct your essay, there will always be readers that become lost, confused, or don’t see the bigger picture you are attempting to portray. Metacommentary will help guide the reader to see the connections you are making.
I found this chapter very intersecting because I have never heard of metacommentary before this so I was very excited to read about it. also what I learned is that when you state a claim you should also talk about why you think it might be controversial but why you have a strong option about it ether way. Another thing is that no matter how precise you are readers can always mess up your writing which was very true and scary because people can read things happy or sad and that can change the whole text. this chapter taught me alot about how the reader reads your writing and how to be better about your word choice.
In They Say / I Say, this chapter, “The Art of Metacommentary” reiterates the need to walk readers through complicated lines of reasoning with catchy commentaries. Metacommentary allows writers to make sure that readers have a full understanding of their points and to anticipate any misunderstandings as well as preemptively intervene against counterarguments. In this chapter, an example is given on how phrases such as “What I am trying to say here is …” or “In other words …” enable the writing to feel more human, and therefore having a conversational nature that reaches out to the reader. They don’t repeat things; they deepen the argument with additional precision without breaking the rhythm of reading. This understanding of metacommentary is particularly useful to writers worry that additional elaboration risks being repetitious because it demonstrates that intentional repetition ultimately helps in clarity and persuasion.
After reading the TS/IS chapter on “The Art of Metacommentary,” I thought it was pretty interesting that there was an actual word for what I had been doing all these years. I have always incorporated this into my work, and my teachers always made a point to tell us to reiterate our claims and explanations in ways that would engage the audience, but I didn’t know there was a specific word for it or a reason beyond maintaining engagement. I didn’t realize it was useful for ensuring the audience takes away what you want them to. I always thought that a claim that was stated and explained well would be sufficient, but after reading this chapter, I found it insightful that metacommentary can actually change how the readers understand and take away concepts from your work. Metacommentary can be useful to prevent potential misunderstandings, elaborate on an idea or claim, to provide a specific example, to anticipate objections, and more. Overall, the chapter was pretty helpful in informing me of the benefits of metacommentary.