Each assignment I have carried out over these past six weeks has helped me grow as a writer. I use to write all the time. I have loved writing classes over literature classes, most of my life. In fact I have a foot locker filled with copious amounts of composition notebooks, exploding with expository essays and poetry. Yet, as I took a break from school and began a career, the writing became less until it was finally diminished. While taking this course, my brain struggled with, once again finding the phrases that could best capture what I was trying to say. I did not want to sound like I have not written a paper in six years, and that was a constant challenge. This English class also consisted of a type if writing I do not have much practice with. Definitions of types of Rhetorical Analysis were new to me and I had to spend extra time learning and understanding these concepts.
As we have progressed through the assignments I feel I have progressed in my writing. With each essay I became more confident. In this final essay my writer's block, which has held me back for so long, finally opened up. Maybe a little too open as my final essay is very long...but it just happened, as though the writing flood gates were opened. It was a fun and adventurous process.
The method which works best for my own writing is definitely brain storming, or free- writing. I make a list of all the things I want to write about and then just let whatever comes out of my head, be put on paper. I force myself not to correct anything as I write, just to keep going until I feel there is nothing left. What starts as a paragraph about one thing might turn into 2 pages pertaining to something completely different. After an hour or so of this, I go back to find what I wrote the most about. I consider whatever idea I produce the most well written substance for, is the showcasing of what my brain finds most inspirational. If it turns out that it works for the type of essay I am writing, I will choose that to be included in my final work.
Most of my writing I feel, is private. Sharing my writing is always difficult for me. I would prefer sharing a finalized draft over a rough draft. I almost feel more exposed if the essay is too new and unedited. I loved work shopping, peer’s essay. In becoming a teacher, it resembled grading papers, which I enjoyed. Sadly with it being the last week I felt like my own paper to be work shopped was not given proper attention. I would have loved to have had it done sooner. As a result, I do not feel like it helped me all the much.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Preface
Getting started. That's always the most difficult part.
I've always written a lot, for a number of reasons. I'm a visual person; I make lists, I take notes. I also grew up without the internet until I was twenty years old. So I wrote my fair share of postcards and letters to grandma and my friends when I was young (a long, long time ago). I'm also a musician and a shower singer, and as such I have the unevitable plethora of original compositions and lyrics hidden in a drawer somewhere. They were of course all meant to be number one hits had I only managed to write more than a few verses of each. In elementary and junior high school, one of my favorite activities in French class was creative writing. I've always loved words. I would keep my favorites listed in a little notebook: pleiad, farandole, tintinnabulation and other ukuleles. My mother still sends me the latest version of the French dictionary every few years.
Over the years though, with the advent of email and instant messaging, I have--like most--succombed to the temptation of simplified written exchanges, one-sentence updates and internet-specific acronyms. Getting back into composing proper essays and reclaiming what used to be my style has proven to be a bit of a challenge. But it feels great to spend time rediscovering the mental processes that transpose my thoughts into written words.
Going back to academic writing has confirmed that I no longer translate at all, but actually fully think in English. It used to be a bit of a struggle, as I would often forget half of my intended meaning during the time it took to translate parts of it. I now see my mind follow the same patterns in its English creative process as it does in French. While I first believed I had no particular rituals or mechanisms associated with my writing, I realize it is untrue if I think about it for a moment.
I need silence, which is why I mostly write late at night. I need to be comfortable, which is why I don't own a desk. My couch is my friend. I need to have a detailed outline with quotes before I attempt to write an essay. Which is why the writing part usually doesn't take too long. However I do need a bit of time to get into it. Which is why I never try to start off by writing about the topic at hand. It often begins with mindless typing, along the lines of "It's late and I am sitting here. I think I heard the neighbor's cat. Or maybe the skunk is back. I'm tired. I am supposed to write this paper to dissect a new article from a rhetorical point of view. I actually find that the author is quite cynical although it's not necessarily apparent on the first read...." And then the thoughts start flowing and following the structure of my detailed outline. My mind is usually a sentence ahead of my fingers, and I have to try and keep up, which leads to long-winded or run-on sentences and frequent wordiness, a recurring comment from classmates who workshopped my position paper--and which I agree with. Once I am done, I go back to the beginning and delete my "automatic typing", which I replace with an introduction. That is usually the only part of an essay which I don't compose while in a "creative trance". Truth be told, aside from the introduction I would have a very hard time quoting anything at all from an essay of mine even five minutes after completing my first draft.
Unless I am taking four online classes at the same time and am struggling to make the deadline on several papers at once, I usually like to let a paper "sit" for a day or two until it is completely out of my mind. When I finally read it over, it seems so completely foreign to me that I can see flaws much better. It's easier to be objective when you force your mind to take a step back.
Overall, once I do all the preparatory work--which to me is the most tedious part of a written assignment--the writing itself comes fairly naturally as long as I am in the right environment. In this particular course, having to juggle with 3 other classes, work, my children and a move all at once truly was a challenge, and I feel I didn't benefit from the sequence of assignments the way I was meant to. Had I been able to concentrate on the flow of the class and able to keep moving from one assignment to the next while the specific learning points were still fresh, I probably would have enjoyed the course more. I will still organize my essays according to the enthusiasm they elicited in me, from favorite to least favorite, because I am very grateful for the joy I experienced in writing some of them.
My favorite paper was by far the position paper, because I am both a fan of eloquence and an opinionated person, and nothing thrills me more than the opportunity to state in style my position on an issue I am passionate about. Dissecting someone else's rhetoric is also an activity I enjoy from a purely literary viewpoint due to my academic background. However, in this class I particularly enjoyed the rhetoric analysis because it was not based on literary texts, a first for me. I think it gave my relative pedantism a run for its money by showing me how intricate and fascinating the prose of the "common journalist" can be. I started on that project with great reluctance, only to find myself having quite a bit of fun by the end of it. The argument response would be my third favorite. I normally would have been delighted at the opportunity to tell someone else off, even if only in an essay they would never read, but I felt that the text choices were limiting. My essay felt contrived after I picked an article by default because all the others just seemed worse. And finally, the research paper would have to be the black sheep in this course for me. It has little to do with the assignment itself, which was definitely instrumental in improving my research skills. It was simply too much for me to handle as the term came to a conclusion with final papers and exams in all four of my classes. That last assignment was truly a chore. I will never take so many classes at once again.
I've always written a lot, for a number of reasons. I'm a visual person; I make lists, I take notes. I also grew up without the internet until I was twenty years old. So I wrote my fair share of postcards and letters to grandma and my friends when I was young (a long, long time ago). I'm also a musician and a shower singer, and as such I have the unevitable plethora of original compositions and lyrics hidden in a drawer somewhere. They were of course all meant to be number one hits had I only managed to write more than a few verses of each. In elementary and junior high school, one of my favorite activities in French class was creative writing. I've always loved words. I would keep my favorites listed in a little notebook: pleiad, farandole, tintinnabulation and other ukuleles. My mother still sends me the latest version of the French dictionary every few years.
Over the years though, with the advent of email and instant messaging, I have--like most--succombed to the temptation of simplified written exchanges, one-sentence updates and internet-specific acronyms. Getting back into composing proper essays and reclaiming what used to be my style has proven to be a bit of a challenge. But it feels great to spend time rediscovering the mental processes that transpose my thoughts into written words.
Going back to academic writing has confirmed that I no longer translate at all, but actually fully think in English. It used to be a bit of a struggle, as I would often forget half of my intended meaning during the time it took to translate parts of it. I now see my mind follow the same patterns in its English creative process as it does in French. While I first believed I had no particular rituals or mechanisms associated with my writing, I realize it is untrue if I think about it for a moment.
I need silence, which is why I mostly write late at night. I need to be comfortable, which is why I don't own a desk. My couch is my friend. I need to have a detailed outline with quotes before I attempt to write an essay. Which is why the writing part usually doesn't take too long. However I do need a bit of time to get into it. Which is why I never try to start off by writing about the topic at hand. It often begins with mindless typing, along the lines of "It's late and I am sitting here. I think I heard the neighbor's cat. Or maybe the skunk is back. I'm tired. I am supposed to write this paper to dissect a new article from a rhetorical point of view. I actually find that the author is quite cynical although it's not necessarily apparent on the first read...." And then the thoughts start flowing and following the structure of my detailed outline. My mind is usually a sentence ahead of my fingers, and I have to try and keep up, which leads to long-winded or run-on sentences and frequent wordiness, a recurring comment from classmates who workshopped my position paper--and which I agree with. Once I am done, I go back to the beginning and delete my "automatic typing", which I replace with an introduction. That is usually the only part of an essay which I don't compose while in a "creative trance". Truth be told, aside from the introduction I would have a very hard time quoting anything at all from an essay of mine even five minutes after completing my first draft.
Unless I am taking four online classes at the same time and am struggling to make the deadline on several papers at once, I usually like to let a paper "sit" for a day or two until it is completely out of my mind. When I finally read it over, it seems so completely foreign to me that I can see flaws much better. It's easier to be objective when you force your mind to take a step back.
Overall, once I do all the preparatory work--which to me is the most tedious part of a written assignment--the writing itself comes fairly naturally as long as I am in the right environment. In this particular course, having to juggle with 3 other classes, work, my children and a move all at once truly was a challenge, and I feel I didn't benefit from the sequence of assignments the way I was meant to. Had I been able to concentrate on the flow of the class and able to keep moving from one assignment to the next while the specific learning points were still fresh, I probably would have enjoyed the course more. I will still organize my essays according to the enthusiasm they elicited in me, from favorite to least favorite, because I am very grateful for the joy I experienced in writing some of them.
My favorite paper was by far the position paper, because I am both a fan of eloquence and an opinionated person, and nothing thrills me more than the opportunity to state in style my position on an issue I am passionate about. Dissecting someone else's rhetoric is also an activity I enjoy from a purely literary viewpoint due to my academic background. However, in this class I particularly enjoyed the rhetoric analysis because it was not based on literary texts, a first for me. I think it gave my relative pedantism a run for its money by showing me how intricate and fascinating the prose of the "common journalist" can be. I started on that project with great reluctance, only to find myself having quite a bit of fun by the end of it. The argument response would be my third favorite. I normally would have been delighted at the opportunity to tell someone else off, even if only in an essay they would never read, but I felt that the text choices were limiting. My essay felt contrived after I picked an article by default because all the others just seemed worse. And finally, the research paper would have to be the black sheep in this course for me. It has little to do with the assignment itself, which was definitely instrumental in improving my research skills. It was simply too much for me to handle as the term came to a conclusion with final papers and exams in all four of my classes. That last assignment was truly a chore. I will never take so many classes at once again.
Blog 10 - beginning or preface
Writing is one of the most difficult tasks for me, I always procrastinate, I never enjoy it, and I am glad when I finish. Through these four essays I struggled and pulled all nighters but in the end I am satisfied with my work. English is easily my weakest subject; I enjoy the math and sciences much more. This class taught me to look at writing more analytically and less creatively which I appreciated. Writing essays in a step-by-step process is much better than just sitting at a blank computer screen and hoping something comes to my brain. I am an extremely wordy writer because I have trouble articulating my thoughts on paper without using conversional English or having a completely robotic and monotone structure. Through theses four papers I was able to learn more about my own my style, actually enjoy writing a paper, and learn many different techniques for researching and analyzing.
To my own surprise and delight, the prompts allowed for essays on varying topics. My favorite paper was the position paper. I myself happen to be a very opinionated person and enjoy making an argument. The paper on the BCS system was easiest to write but the hardest to find sources for. I am constantly watching ESPN and keeping updated with the sporting world and writing a paper about a controversial topic became easy with the BCS. I already knew the argument I was going to make and the concessions against it, and my rebuttal for those concessions. The hardest part was finding actual written information for my argument. College football usually contested on different sports debate shows like Around the Horn, College Football Live, or Pardon the Interruption. I think my tutor at the writing center put it when he said, “you already know what you’re going to say, you just need to find some else who said too.” The ancillary set me up perfect for this paper and I was able to write in about six hours. In this paper and in all my papers I went for the thesis attack of listing out all the main points that I would make in my body. I then tried to relate each paragraph to the thesis. I can actually say that I enjoyed writing this paper.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Blog 10
This course has to be the most fast paced class I have ever taken and probably will take in the future! When I first signed up for this course I definitely thought that this class would be easy to pass and get a good grade in. Little did I know that I would be staying up late at night writing essays during the summer.
Although this course was fast paced and required a lot of individual, self paced work I am very happy with the result. I have never known myself to be a good writer and actually dreaded writing an essay of any sort. This class allowed me to break out of my "confined writing shell" and expand on a multitude of ideas and genres of essays, some of which I have never even heard of. I think that the first two essays were personally a little more difficult for me because the topics were limited. That forced me to think about the particular given topic choices. On the other hand the second two essays allowed me to come up with new ideas that I was passionate about and expand on those. I learned that it is much easier to write about a topic you are passionate about.
I am most definitely a procrastinator. I always wait until the night before the essay is due to edit and sometimes even start it (hopefully saying this will not effect my grade). It is a habit that I have always have and despite the stress it places upon me I will most likely always have. Procrastinating does do one thing for me, it forces me to actually sit down and concentrate on the task at hand, in this case the essays. I think that in some ways the stress that is inevitable in this short course made me scared about my procrastination habits. Although I did not always physically write something long before the assignment was due, I defiantly thought about it in advance. This small step to me is even a big breakthrough.
I arranged my papers in my portfolio chronologically, from the first essay written to the final essay written. I personally believe this is an efficient way to arrange them because it shows the personal growth I have gained as a writer from the assignments. The first paper was definitely the hardest to write for me even though it ironically was the shortest. I have always been a bit hesitant to get my ideas out in words for a unknown reason. But as the course went on I began to feel more and more confident about my writing ability. The two text references were a definite help to my writing ability.
Although this six week course was not my first choice for an English class I am very satisfied with its result. I feel I have grown not only as a writer but as a composer all together. My problem was never getting my words out on paper, but making sure the words flow together. This course taught me how to keep the paragraphs of my essay clear and to the point. All in all, this course has taught me more than I thought I could have ever extracted from a first year English class. With these new found tools I can continue using these skills in other classes.
Although this course was fast paced and required a lot of individual, self paced work I am very happy with the result. I have never known myself to be a good writer and actually dreaded writing an essay of any sort. This class allowed me to break out of my "confined writing shell" and expand on a multitude of ideas and genres of essays, some of which I have never even heard of. I think that the first two essays were personally a little more difficult for me because the topics were limited. That forced me to think about the particular given topic choices. On the other hand the second two essays allowed me to come up with new ideas that I was passionate about and expand on those. I learned that it is much easier to write about a topic you are passionate about.
I am most definitely a procrastinator. I always wait until the night before the essay is due to edit and sometimes even start it (hopefully saying this will not effect my grade). It is a habit that I have always have and despite the stress it places upon me I will most likely always have. Procrastinating does do one thing for me, it forces me to actually sit down and concentrate on the task at hand, in this case the essays. I think that in some ways the stress that is inevitable in this short course made me scared about my procrastination habits. Although I did not always physically write something long before the assignment was due, I defiantly thought about it in advance. This small step to me is even a big breakthrough.
I arranged my papers in my portfolio chronologically, from the first essay written to the final essay written. I personally believe this is an efficient way to arrange them because it shows the personal growth I have gained as a writer from the assignments. The first paper was definitely the hardest to write for me even though it ironically was the shortest. I have always been a bit hesitant to get my ideas out in words for a unknown reason. But as the course went on I began to feel more and more confident about my writing ability. The two text references were a definite help to my writing ability.
Although this six week course was not my first choice for an English class I am very satisfied with its result. I feel I have grown not only as a writer but as a composer all together. My problem was never getting my words out on paper, but making sure the words flow together. This course taught me how to keep the paragraphs of my essay clear and to the point. All in all, this course has taught me more than I thought I could have ever extracted from a first year English class. With these new found tools I can continue using these skills in other classes.
Blog 10 (Portfolio preface)
Writing has not exactly been my forte for the past 6 weeks. I enjoy the art of writing and thinking and being expressively creative, but not the whole rhetorical analysis and research kind of thing. I'm not a big fan of being told what to do, how many pages to write, MLA format, bibliographies, or any of those important details. As a hopeless romantic and fairytale follower, the only thing I like being told is to write with a heart on your sleeve. My process of writing doesn't consist of a cup of coffee or a 20 minute run, it is mainly made up of an unlimited imagination. During my junior year of high school, I was introduced to an inspirational movie called "Finding Forrester". The moral of the story was: "No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!" After watching the movie, I tried as hard as I could to write without thinking. As impossible and difficult as that may sound, it actually worked. Ever since then, everytime I picked up a piece of paper, I would write until my hand couldn't even pick up a Twix bar. That process taught me to be unstoppable, limitless, and free-spirited... BUT, when I entered this class, it became useless. The type of writing I did in English 100 didn't just slap my free-writing-process in the face, but it taught me that in order to write a college paper, it is crucial to research. It's crucial to be outspoken, but to also take other points of view into consideration. It's crucial to cite every piece of information you provide in order to avoid plagiarism. It's crucial to write with class.
The first paper was the rhetorical analysis. Not only was it complete proof of my inexperience to college writing, but it was proof that I had no idea about what I was analyzing. I did my paper on Lisa Selin Davis' “Does Facebook Replace Time or Enhance It?” mainly because the word Facebook caught my attention. I was new to the analyzing process but once I read about it in the Norton Field Guide, I realized that I had been rhetorically analyzing things my whole life. This paper is probably not the best out of all four, but I did enjoy rewriting it for the portfolio because I learned from all my mistakes. The problem I had with this paper was just the lack of confidence I had in writing. It was the first paper I had ever written based on rhetorical analysis so I was a little concerned it wouldn't be as good as others. Once I received my grade, I eased up a little and came to the conclusion that I can write; I just need to boosten up my self-esteem.
The argument response paper was definitely my favorite. It wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't the most difficult. I enjoyed writing this paper because it gave me a chance to research. On a regular basis, I would never research on presidential eras and their associations with abortion-related terrorism, but researching isn't exactly new to me. I'm a day-to-day googler and if anyone were to look in my history page on my laptop, it would consist of Google. I love researching, but not on things I have to write about. However, this paper really caught my attention because I've always been a little on the fence about abortion. I wanted to write about this certain topic mainly because I agreed with the author's stance. I think it was a little difficult for me to be in agreement with the author because the whole point of an argument response is to disagree. Well not exactly, but in my opinion, it would have been much easier to write this paper if I had disagreed. The feedback I got from Ms. Bolaski really enlightened me on the whole process of writing. After I wrote the argument response paper, I felt as if I could write anything. Little did I know that next, we had to write a position paper.
The position paper was somewhat enjoyable but it was a little more on the challenging side. I didn't really like being obligated to have a certain amount of scholarly sources, or a number of sources in general, but it did help me with my research paper. I wrote about standardized testing and the new No Child Left Behind Act and how completely unnecessary they both are. I didn't really understand the whole idea of rebuttals or concessions, but once I read sample papers, it was much easier to comprehend. I wasn't as passionate about my paper as I should have been and I considered changing my topic but I had already done enough research to begin my paper. If I could change something about the paper, it probably would have to be the topic. After workshopping other position papers and reading every other interesting topic, I felt as if I could have written more creatively about something more appealing than standardized testing.
Last, but not least, the research paper... this paper was undoubtedly my least favorite. I did not enjoy one bit of it other than learning about drunk driving. This past year, I knew someone who had been killed, not by a drunk driver, but by driving drunk. It was probably the most life-changing event that could have happened. From that experience, I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of how excruciatingly devastating a drunk driving accident is. Thankfully, the number of drunk driving accidents has declined. I did my research paper on the topic of drunk driving and how the number of accidents has decreased. I didn't exactly like writing it mainly because there were an infinite amount of statistics and reading so many numbers only led to a fat headache. I learned a lot from this research paper, and I'm pretty sure it provides proof of everything I've learned throughout the course.
Overall, every paper I have written has taught me that writing freely shouldn't be the only way to write. I came into the class thinking that my process would help me... but in reality, it didn't. College writing, as I said before, needs to be full of facts and statistics and citing and supportive details. What I write shouldn't come off the top of my head. I enjoyed the class and how open it was to different topics and I definitely enjoyed the amount of time we had to write each paper. It wasn't as fast paced as I had expected and altogether, it was definitely a big help to my writing career.
The first paper was the rhetorical analysis. Not only was it complete proof of my inexperience to college writing, but it was proof that I had no idea about what I was analyzing. I did my paper on Lisa Selin Davis' “Does Facebook Replace Time or Enhance It?” mainly because the word Facebook caught my attention. I was new to the analyzing process but once I read about it in the Norton Field Guide, I realized that I had been rhetorically analyzing things my whole life. This paper is probably not the best out of all four, but I did enjoy rewriting it for the portfolio because I learned from all my mistakes. The problem I had with this paper was just the lack of confidence I had in writing. It was the first paper I had ever written based on rhetorical analysis so I was a little concerned it wouldn't be as good as others. Once I received my grade, I eased up a little and came to the conclusion that I can write; I just need to boosten up my self-esteem.
The argument response paper was definitely my favorite. It wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't the most difficult. I enjoyed writing this paper because it gave me a chance to research. On a regular basis, I would never research on presidential eras and their associations with abortion-related terrorism, but researching isn't exactly new to me. I'm a day-to-day googler and if anyone were to look in my history page on my laptop, it would consist of Google. I love researching, but not on things I have to write about. However, this paper really caught my attention because I've always been a little on the fence about abortion. I wanted to write about this certain topic mainly because I agreed with the author's stance. I think it was a little difficult for me to be in agreement with the author because the whole point of an argument response is to disagree. Well not exactly, but in my opinion, it would have been much easier to write this paper if I had disagreed. The feedback I got from Ms. Bolaski really enlightened me on the whole process of writing. After I wrote the argument response paper, I felt as if I could write anything. Little did I know that next, we had to write a position paper.
The position paper was somewhat enjoyable but it was a little more on the challenging side. I didn't really like being obligated to have a certain amount of scholarly sources, or a number of sources in general, but it did help me with my research paper. I wrote about standardized testing and the new No Child Left Behind Act and how completely unnecessary they both are. I didn't really understand the whole idea of rebuttals or concessions, but once I read sample papers, it was much easier to comprehend. I wasn't as passionate about my paper as I should have been and I considered changing my topic but I had already done enough research to begin my paper. If I could change something about the paper, it probably would have to be the topic. After workshopping other position papers and reading every other interesting topic, I felt as if I could have written more creatively about something more appealing than standardized testing.
Last, but not least, the research paper... this paper was undoubtedly my least favorite. I did not enjoy one bit of it other than learning about drunk driving. This past year, I knew someone who had been killed, not by a drunk driver, but by driving drunk. It was probably the most life-changing event that could have happened. From that experience, I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of how excruciatingly devastating a drunk driving accident is. Thankfully, the number of drunk driving accidents has declined. I did my research paper on the topic of drunk driving and how the number of accidents has decreased. I didn't exactly like writing it mainly because there were an infinite amount of statistics and reading so many numbers only led to a fat headache. I learned a lot from this research paper, and I'm pretty sure it provides proof of everything I've learned throughout the course.
Overall, every paper I have written has taught me that writing freely shouldn't be the only way to write. I came into the class thinking that my process would help me... but in reality, it didn't. College writing, as I said before, needs to be full of facts and statistics and citing and supportive details. What I write shouldn't come off the top of my head. I enjoyed the class and how open it was to different topics and I definitely enjoyed the amount of time we had to write each paper. It wasn't as fast paced as I had expected and altogether, it was definitely a big help to my writing career.
writing preface
I've never wrote so many essay's in so little time before this class. Usually, I am a pretty good writer, but it's always hard for me to get started or pick a topic. I am much better at writing things from my mind or from emotion, than from any research or information. Research and information are hard to find for me, and they are hard to make into your own words, with only facts. This class has opened me up to all different kinds of essay's I hadn't done before, and to get started on those, I had to sit down and not get up till it was done. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to finish them because I get very distracted.
When I think about what I'm going to write, I usually just sit in front of the computer until i think of something good. I also procrastinate a lot, although I did that more in high school. I think I do this because I really don't like writing or just doing any work for school. I try to find a main idea before I start writing so I can try to base the whole essay on this point, but sometimes the main idea isn't good enough and the essay broadens out as it goes along. In this case, I have to adjust my thesis a bit. I think it's beneficial for an instructor to read and comment on my writing, but other students can just make the same mistakes I do. Or, something they comment could be wrong and unhelpful and if I didn't know that I could change my essay for the worse.
My papers were good for me because I never write essay's, not even before in school, and I did all 4 essay's with confidence. I arranged my paper's 1-4 chronologically. I think they show my growth as a writer and how I improved my structure skills. The teacher made a comment on my second paper telling me about how I needed a stronger argument because I needed to base everything on that argument and the thesis. This helped me because then I took the time to find a much stronger argument and the rest of the paper came much easier and stronger. Then when I went to the writing center, the helper told me that each topic sentence should reflect the thesis, and the rest of the paragraph. This let me know what each topic sentence was supposed to be like and that helped me find arguments for each of my paragraphs that actually related to my topic.
My writing has been thoroughly improved after all these essay's I wrote in this class. After all the critics of my papers form students, teachers, and writing center helpers, I feel like I know how to break down an essay now. From basing the essay and the topic sentences on the main idea and thesis, to finding a good enough argument to actually keep through out the essay, this class has taught me a lot. I know that this semester will really help me excel next semester and finish up english.
Portfolio Preface
I am a procrastinator to the core. This is a habit that I just can’t seem to break. Because of this I often find myself sitting down at the very last minute to write a paper or work on assignment. I have gotten pretty good at this since high school, but I won’t argue that my work could be better if it wasn’t rushed through at the last minute. I’m sure I’d need multiple therapy sessions to get to the root cause of this habit, but in a nutshell I think it’s because I thrive off stress (the good kind) and a little bit of chaos. If my life, work, career was boring I don’t think I could handle it. So I’m overly busy, involved in too many activities and only happy when all this is going on. Waiting until the last minute to write a paper, provides a little bit of motivating stress and a rush to the deadline because of this I continue to procrastinate. One would think that it would be very difficult to continue this pattern in a six week summer session for any subject, let alone an English course with a considerable amount of writing. Unfortunately, I still found myself procrastinating down to the day papers were due. I would get off work at five o’clock and rush home to power through the paper that would be due before midnight that night. Of course this caused a lot of unnecessary stress and worry but in the end the assignments were always completed and received decent scores. Not only did my writing evolve throughout the last six weeks, I tried to evolve in the process in which I completed my assignments as well. By the last two papers, Position and Research, I was at least completing all my research early in the week and drafting a detailed outline by mid-week. I didn’t completely rid myself of the procrastination habit, but I am proud of the change I made and believe it helped me in the writing of our last two assignments.
I hadn’t written anything but research papers, emails, and procedures in the last ten years prior to this course so the thought of analyzing an article or arguing with or against another authors point scared me. MLA format, what was that? I was so used to APA format this scared me even more. As the summer session went on, the assignment requirements called for lengthier papers yet somehow they became easier for me to write. The first paper, the rhetorical analysis, while only 3 pages, took me the longest to write. I was too scared to type anything. I would type a line, reread it, and then, certain it didn’t make sense or wasn’t what Professor Bolaski was looking for, I’d hit delete. My confidence in my writing ability was slightly boosted when the first paper was returned with a decent score. By the last two papers my writing came much easier to me, no longer was I afraid of the writing process or MLA.
For this, my final assignment and portfolio I thought long and hard about what order to arrange my work in. The easiest of course would be chronologically or from favorite to least favorite, but I wanted to arrange it in a way that reflected more about what I learned from this summer session. The arrangement of my writing portfolio reflects the challenges I had during this course. The hardest assignment for me to write is displayed first, and so on. Arranging the assignments this way illustrates my evolution as a student and a writer during this course.
I’m surprised at how much I learned in a six week online course, not just about MLA formatting but about the different types of writing and the purposes behind each. I hope to take the principles learned in this course through assignments, readings, and the much appreciated feedback from Pofessor Bolaski onto my critical thinking course and writing endeavors. I’m still a procrastinator but no longer scared of writing.
I hadn’t written anything but research papers, emails, and procedures in the last ten years prior to this course so the thought of analyzing an article or arguing with or against another authors point scared me. MLA format, what was that? I was so used to APA format this scared me even more. As the summer session went on, the assignment requirements called for lengthier papers yet somehow they became easier for me to write. The first paper, the rhetorical analysis, while only 3 pages, took me the longest to write. I was too scared to type anything. I would type a line, reread it, and then, certain it didn’t make sense or wasn’t what Professor Bolaski was looking for, I’d hit delete. My confidence in my writing ability was slightly boosted when the first paper was returned with a decent score. By the last two papers my writing came much easier to me, no longer was I afraid of the writing process or MLA.
For this, my final assignment and portfolio I thought long and hard about what order to arrange my work in. The easiest of course would be chronologically or from favorite to least favorite, but I wanted to arrange it in a way that reflected more about what I learned from this summer session. The arrangement of my writing portfolio reflects the challenges I had during this course. The hardest assignment for me to write is displayed first, and so on. Arranging the assignments this way illustrates my evolution as a student and a writer during this course.
I’m surprised at how much I learned in a six week online course, not just about MLA formatting but about the different types of writing and the purposes behind each. I hope to take the principles learned in this course through assignments, readings, and the much appreciated feedback from Pofessor Bolaski onto my critical thinking course and writing endeavors. I’m still a procrastinator but no longer scared of writing.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Blog 10 - Preface
Normally, I don’t write except for pleasure. Most of my writing consists of creative works of fiction or fantasy, or of scripts for Youtube videos or stage productions I’d like to produce. Since starting college two years ago however, writing essays has become a major part of my life. I’d like to think that I am a good researcher, as I have a naturally curious mind. However for some reason, when I am given constrictions to my writing, I clam up. Normally I enjoy researching, but not when I am told to I have to have a certain number of sources and write a paper of a certain number of pages… being told what to do drives me crazy. The essays for this course were no different.
I did have some tricks to getting into a “writing mood”. I’d take an hour or so to completely relax and do something that I wanted to do. Afterwards, I strike up a conversation with a friend or loved one, usually my best friend Courtney or my father, about the topic I’ve chosen to write about to get my though processes flowing and to start focusing my attention on the subject. For example, for the final research paper I was absolutely not in the mood to write about the effects of violence in the media on children. I took a few hours to myself and went to see the new Harry Potter film, and when I got home I discussed the violence and images in the film with my friend Courtney. After our conversation, I was more than ready to write.
Until this course I had not done a rhetorical analysis. The only time I had ever heard of rhetoric was in the writings of Plato and Socrates. Looking back on this paper, it really paved the way for the other three papers. You can’t really analyze your own arguments without being able to objectively look at and break apart someone else’s. My first paper was on the size of models and whether or not they are too skinny for the runway. In choosing this topic out of all of the various political ones, I started to realize that I was more interested in topics which relate more closely to me than might be relevant to a more broad audience. This makes papers easier for me to write, but might not make them as socially relevant since they tend to exclude large audiences.
I write for a blog website by college women for college women sometimes, so I was a little bit familiar with the format of the second paper. A lot of what I write for the blog site is a response to an argument someone else has posed. This is the paper that I found the easiest, and fortunately for me the topic was one of more broad social consequence than my first paper. Being a Jewish woman, it was interesting for me to write in support of Muslim women being allowed to wear what they want in religious practice. I kept having to put aside my religious views and think about the social aspects of what the president of France was doing to these women. I’ve always been a very empathetic person, so after a while it was pretty easy for me to put myself in a French Muslim woman’s shoes and think about how I would feel in her situation.
The topic I chose for the position paper is probably the one I am the most passionate about, but like the first topic it excludes a large audience. I did as much research as I felt I could on this paper in order to include as many people as possible in the audience, but in all reality it isn’t a relative topic to anyone without friends or loved ones who have been diagnosed with ADHD. However because it is such a hot topic in my field of study as a health student, I decided to run with it and I am very glad that I did. The research was pretty hard to get through since a lot of the papers were very scientific and hard to come by, but it was worth it to learn more and write a convincing paper about a topic I am very passionate about.
The final paper has been the hardest to write for me, as a lot has happened for me since the third paper. I was in a car accident and got strep throat a week later, which is a lot worse for me than for most people as I have several congenital heart defects. Because of this I got very behind on the final paper and it is not as high quality as I would have liked. The amount of research I’ve done for this paper is pretty extensive because I’ve had plenty of time in bed to browse various databases, but due to the medication that I’m on I feel like I’m less able to put together a well thought out paper. I really wish I’d been able to get a draft done on time in order to have Professor Bolaski review it before it is due on the 27th.
Overall, I feel like my researching developed a lot over the course, but my writing has varied quite a bit. Because this is such a short course one little event can be enough to throw a lot of things off. Unfortunately for me I’ve had two pretty big events, but only for this last paper. I’ve really enjoyed the freedom of being able to write what I want for these papers. I feel like this freedom has really improved the quality of my research and my writing.
I did have some tricks to getting into a “writing mood”. I’d take an hour or so to completely relax and do something that I wanted to do. Afterwards, I strike up a conversation with a friend or loved one, usually my best friend Courtney or my father, about the topic I’ve chosen to write about to get my though processes flowing and to start focusing my attention on the subject. For example, for the final research paper I was absolutely not in the mood to write about the effects of violence in the media on children. I took a few hours to myself and went to see the new Harry Potter film, and when I got home I discussed the violence and images in the film with my friend Courtney. After our conversation, I was more than ready to write.
Until this course I had not done a rhetorical analysis. The only time I had ever heard of rhetoric was in the writings of Plato and Socrates. Looking back on this paper, it really paved the way for the other three papers. You can’t really analyze your own arguments without being able to objectively look at and break apart someone else’s. My first paper was on the size of models and whether or not they are too skinny for the runway. In choosing this topic out of all of the various political ones, I started to realize that I was more interested in topics which relate more closely to me than might be relevant to a more broad audience. This makes papers easier for me to write, but might not make them as socially relevant since they tend to exclude large audiences.
I write for a blog website by college women for college women sometimes, so I was a little bit familiar with the format of the second paper. A lot of what I write for the blog site is a response to an argument someone else has posed. This is the paper that I found the easiest, and fortunately for me the topic was one of more broad social consequence than my first paper. Being a Jewish woman, it was interesting for me to write in support of Muslim women being allowed to wear what they want in religious practice. I kept having to put aside my religious views and think about the social aspects of what the president of France was doing to these women. I’ve always been a very empathetic person, so after a while it was pretty easy for me to put myself in a French Muslim woman’s shoes and think about how I would feel in her situation.
The topic I chose for the position paper is probably the one I am the most passionate about, but like the first topic it excludes a large audience. I did as much research as I felt I could on this paper in order to include as many people as possible in the audience, but in all reality it isn’t a relative topic to anyone without friends or loved ones who have been diagnosed with ADHD. However because it is such a hot topic in my field of study as a health student, I decided to run with it and I am very glad that I did. The research was pretty hard to get through since a lot of the papers were very scientific and hard to come by, but it was worth it to learn more and write a convincing paper about a topic I am very passionate about.
The final paper has been the hardest to write for me, as a lot has happened for me since the third paper. I was in a car accident and got strep throat a week later, which is a lot worse for me than for most people as I have several congenital heart defects. Because of this I got very behind on the final paper and it is not as high quality as I would have liked. The amount of research I’ve done for this paper is pretty extensive because I’ve had plenty of time in bed to browse various databases, but due to the medication that I’m on I feel like I’m less able to put together a well thought out paper. I really wish I’d been able to get a draft done on time in order to have Professor Bolaski review it before it is due on the 27th.
Overall, I feel like my researching developed a lot over the course, but my writing has varied quite a bit. Because this is such a short course one little event can be enough to throw a lot of things off. Unfortunately for me I’ve had two pretty big events, but only for this last paper. I’ve really enjoyed the freedom of being able to write what I want for these papers. I feel like this freedom has really improved the quality of my research and my writing.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tenth Discussion/Blog Post
I have no process of “getting to writing”; I usually just sit down and stare at a blank piece of paper to collect my thoughts. I am a big procrastinator and it progressively got worse as I finished each paper. I procrastinate because the hardest part of writing a paper to me is starting and I always have problems getting together ideas to start. I do brainstorm and try to eliminate some ideas on the basis of how hard they will be to get the adequate volume and how easy it will be to get the sources required. Once I narrow these ideas down I think about topics under this idea and try write around the center topic. I don’t really like sharing my writings with other classmates because since they are learning the material just like me, I don’t know whether to take their critiques as correct or an honest mistake just like I make. I really enjoy getting feedback from the teachers because they have the knowledge and I can feel confident that the critique that is given to my writings is correct and complete. I don’t like the idea of writing being a continuing process because I like to see a final ending accomplishment rather than always having something that you have to improve on. I prefer the process of continuing to revise work instead of just turning the paper in to get a grade because I get a better ending project to later turn in which improves grades. The way I will arrange my portfolio is in order completed for the course because this is the easiest way to show my progression. The first papers were really rough in the sense that I was trying too hard to follow a process, but the second round of critiques that said that I seemed “robotic” in my writing; I tried to reflect a change in the last writing.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Portfolio Preface - Soshanna Montes
Due to the fast-paced nature of the class, it is hard to say that my writing "developed" over the course of the class. This is the first class that I have had to write four distinctly different essays 1 week apart from each other. The process of focusing on four different types of writing styles was extremely educational. It made me realize that there are different types of writing based on the reaction you want out of your reader. I had never looked at writing like that before.
I had never heard of rhetorical analysis before. The term rhetoric is thrown around often enough, but to sit back and consider analyzing it was new. I did my first essay on the influences of Twitter due to my interest in social networking. The nature of the essay caused me to look past the subject and focus on his tools and methods used in the author's writing. Learning how to observe these tools helped me in future writings by showing me how to observe my own. I realized that I tend to find a focal point in my writings and keep drawing back to it.
The second paper was the argument response. I spent a lot of time researching this article. The article was on whether or not Obama has betrayed the gay community. This article was extremely hard for me to write. I have many gay friends whom I passionately stand by their side, but I also fully support our President. I asked my closest gay friend to write me his thoughts on the subject from someone who lives it, and I learned a lot. Fortunately, he was realistic with me and gave me both points of view as he is able to see both sides of the coin as well. I still haven't shown him my essay, but I plan to. I hope that he is proud of it and that I was not offensive. I realized how hard it is to argue something that you are not a part of. Writing on behalf of gay outlooks, without being gay, causes you to triple think your words. Aside from picking his brain, I had many discussions over dinner about this subject to help prepare for this essay.
It was difficult to come up with a subject for the position paper. I have many positions, but to find one that would be easy to argue on paper was another story. I ultimately settled on taking the position that the government should take part in preventing divorce. It is a controversial subject, and one in which I still sit on the fence. I lean toward my chosen position, but I can see both sides of the argument. As I wrote the paper, I found myself moving more toward the middle, which made it hard to continue on in my position. Perhaps writing a position paper is the ultimate test to see if you really do believe in your position on a matter. If you can write through to the end without ever doubting yourself, then you can say you have a strong position.
My research paper brings me back to the topic of homosexuality. Through my dinner discussions on Obama's potential betrayal of the gay community, I realized that many "theories" come up as to what causes homosexuality. Some say it is learned behavior, others think its just a matter of choice, while some believe it is genetics. I chose to do my research paper on what current research has been done to prove homosexuality is genetic. I chose this subject because I wanted to be more educated when discussing these matters. After walking out of Chipotle in tears due to an argument with my step-dad, I realized that I needed more knowledge to back me up. This research paper has taught me some amazing facts that I did not know, and I am so glad to know now.
Overall, I learned a lot in this class. The reason I say that my writing did not necessarily develop is due to the fact that we couldn't focus on a particular style for more than a week. If we had to write several position papers, or take the time to pick them apart, I could have possibly learned more techniques. I learned the basics and from here I can choose to develop them further. I am glad to have taken this class due to the opportunity of getting to learn the different styles. I have always enjoyed writing, and can't say I have any particular styles. I tend to have moments where I can sit and let my thoughts flow, and fortunately, the topics were interesting enough to allow me to do so.
I had never heard of rhetorical analysis before. The term rhetoric is thrown around often enough, but to sit back and consider analyzing it was new. I did my first essay on the influences of Twitter due to my interest in social networking. The nature of the essay caused me to look past the subject and focus on his tools and methods used in the author's writing. Learning how to observe these tools helped me in future writings by showing me how to observe my own. I realized that I tend to find a focal point in my writings and keep drawing back to it.
The second paper was the argument response. I spent a lot of time researching this article. The article was on whether or not Obama has betrayed the gay community. This article was extremely hard for me to write. I have many gay friends whom I passionately stand by their side, but I also fully support our President. I asked my closest gay friend to write me his thoughts on the subject from someone who lives it, and I learned a lot. Fortunately, he was realistic with me and gave me both points of view as he is able to see both sides of the coin as well. I still haven't shown him my essay, but I plan to. I hope that he is proud of it and that I was not offensive. I realized how hard it is to argue something that you are not a part of. Writing on behalf of gay outlooks, without being gay, causes you to triple think your words. Aside from picking his brain, I had many discussions over dinner about this subject to help prepare for this essay.
It was difficult to come up with a subject for the position paper. I have many positions, but to find one that would be easy to argue on paper was another story. I ultimately settled on taking the position that the government should take part in preventing divorce. It is a controversial subject, and one in which I still sit on the fence. I lean toward my chosen position, but I can see both sides of the argument. As I wrote the paper, I found myself moving more toward the middle, which made it hard to continue on in my position. Perhaps writing a position paper is the ultimate test to see if you really do believe in your position on a matter. If you can write through to the end without ever doubting yourself, then you can say you have a strong position.
My research paper brings me back to the topic of homosexuality. Through my dinner discussions on Obama's potential betrayal of the gay community, I realized that many "theories" come up as to what causes homosexuality. Some say it is learned behavior, others think its just a matter of choice, while some believe it is genetics. I chose to do my research paper on what current research has been done to prove homosexuality is genetic. I chose this subject because I wanted to be more educated when discussing these matters. After walking out of Chipotle in tears due to an argument with my step-dad, I realized that I needed more knowledge to back me up. This research paper has taught me some amazing facts that I did not know, and I am so glad to know now.
Overall, I learned a lot in this class. The reason I say that my writing did not necessarily develop is due to the fact that we couldn't focus on a particular style for more than a week. If we had to write several position papers, or take the time to pick them apart, I could have possibly learned more techniques. I learned the basics and from here I can choose to develop them further. I am glad to have taken this class due to the opportunity of getting to learn the different styles. I have always enjoyed writing, and can't say I have any particular styles. I tend to have moments where I can sit and let my thoughts flow, and fortunately, the topics were interesting enough to allow me to do so.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Blog 9
Academically I can’t say that I’ve found anything too ground breaking. I’m going into my fourth year as a Civil Engineering major and I’ve avoided taking English as long as I could. I feel fortunate to have ended up in this class because of the freedom in topic choices. Being able to write about the hangover, then healthcare, then the BCS system and now drug legalization. This course has made me dread writing less and taught me how to enjoy writing about a topic that I like. I don’t have any complaints about the course. You have laid everything out very clearly, gave us a couple extra days last weekend and a day this weekend, which has a big help in getting assignments completed on time. The only thing I would change is having the assignment due dates be Sunday and instead of Saturday, because I work 40 hours a week so my weekend time is when I Get most of the assignments done.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Preface Draft
For me this class was a way of tightening my writing and getting some really good feedback from Prof. Bolaski as well as my colleagues. My process to writing is very fine tuned as I have written a lot on my own in the past (including a few movie scripts, essays, and letters). I usually have a pretty good idea of where I want to go with a writing before I even start, usually this applies for things I don't even know a whole lot about (as I will always do some preliminary research before I even decide on a topic, if I don't have previous knowledge). This usually always means that I don't write down any brainstorming, outline, or anything else of this sort, as I do it all in my head. However, because of this, I tend to not ever be happy with my first draft, and almost always do a thorough edit. So far it has worked out fairly well, of course Prof. Bolaski is far more critical of my actual writing than my history professors have been. As far as I am concerned everything I have ever written is unfinished, I am rarely completely happy with a work of mine.
Starting out with the Rhetorical Analysis I have always felt that I can open and close a paper very effectively and so I really wanted to focus on the body of the paper. Of course the whole lesson of the rhetorical analysis was very enlightening and I really enjoyed it. My paper on the article "A Toke and a Tax" by Jeremy Singer-Vine was very effective in breaking down the writers argument that no matter what we do with cannabis the best thing to do is to legalize and tax it. When I started this I thought it would be extremely hard to write, but it actually turned out to be the easiest paper that I wrote for this class.
The second paper I wrote was the Argument Response paper, which I wrote on "The Murder of Dr. Tiller" by Cristina Page. This paper was probably the one I was least happy with when I turned it in, but was also the one that got workshopped by my peers. I received a ton of great advice from this, and this paper is now one of my better ones in this portfolio. Again in this paper I really wanted to work on developing the body of the paper, and I believe that I did very good in this area (especially after the critiquing). One thing which I had always realized but never had told to me was my "wordiness" which I have to keep in check, as it will frequently get out of control.
For my Position paper I chose to get hard on myself and go ahead and chose something that I didn't have a lot of knowledge of or really a strong opinion either way (which is rare for me as I always have a strong opinion). However while researching my subject which was using some other means other than a car for commuting, I started to develop a strong opinion. This really helped me with my paper, also because of my limited knowledge about the subject I really had to work on things such as metacommentary in this paper. Despite all this, it turned out to be my second best paper and by the end of it I was probably most happy with it (of course since I don't have it back yet we will see if that changes when it gets graded).
The Literature Review (Research) was definitely my best paper, and the one I had the most fun doing. After giving myself a challenge for paper three I was going to pick something easy for me to do for the fourth, and so I went with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Synthesizing history is for me something that is incredibly fun (and I hope it is as I plan to be a history teacher) and so this was a very good practice for that.
Looking over all my papers that I really achieved my goal of writing better bodies to papers. Also I did very good with keeping my page numbers down, as this is another frequent problem of mine, I really wanted to stay in the allotted page numbers. All in all I am very happy with how this class went and my progress.
Starting out with the Rhetorical Analysis I have always felt that I can open and close a paper very effectively and so I really wanted to focus on the body of the paper. Of course the whole lesson of the rhetorical analysis was very enlightening and I really enjoyed it. My paper on the article "A Toke and a Tax" by Jeremy Singer-Vine was very effective in breaking down the writers argument that no matter what we do with cannabis the best thing to do is to legalize and tax it. When I started this I thought it would be extremely hard to write, but it actually turned out to be the easiest paper that I wrote for this class.
The second paper I wrote was the Argument Response paper, which I wrote on "The Murder of Dr. Tiller" by Cristina Page. This paper was probably the one I was least happy with when I turned it in, but was also the one that got workshopped by my peers. I received a ton of great advice from this, and this paper is now one of my better ones in this portfolio. Again in this paper I really wanted to work on developing the body of the paper, and I believe that I did very good in this area (especially after the critiquing). One thing which I had always realized but never had told to me was my "wordiness" which I have to keep in check, as it will frequently get out of control.
For my Position paper I chose to get hard on myself and go ahead and chose something that I didn't have a lot of knowledge of or really a strong opinion either way (which is rare for me as I always have a strong opinion). However while researching my subject which was using some other means other than a car for commuting, I started to develop a strong opinion. This really helped me with my paper, also because of my limited knowledge about the subject I really had to work on things such as metacommentary in this paper. Despite all this, it turned out to be my second best paper and by the end of it I was probably most happy with it (of course since I don't have it back yet we will see if that changes when it gets graded).
The Literature Review (Research) was definitely my best paper, and the one I had the most fun doing. After giving myself a challenge for paper three I was going to pick something easy for me to do for the fourth, and so I went with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Synthesizing history is for me something that is incredibly fun (and I hope it is as I plan to be a history teacher) and so this was a very good practice for that.
Looking over all my papers that I really achieved my goal of writing better bodies to papers. Also I did very good with keeping my page numbers down, as this is another frequent problem of mine, I really wanted to stay in the allotted page numbers. All in all I am very happy with how this class went and my progress.
Workshopping....
When I looked through my emails to find the one from Amy about workshopping I realized it was a personal response she wrote to me and that's why no one else knew what I was talking about it.
This is what she wrote about it (I had asked her if I could post my position paper this week and what was going on for workshopping since it was already late in the week.)
"Hi Anna,
I asked this week's workshoppers to post by Sunday; they just put them up early. No one has to begin until Monday, actually,
but I will post instructions/assignments this weekend. We do need to get more of them done so no one's struggling at the
end to fit something in, so you can absolutely go this time around..."
So it seems we do not begin this until Monday, and we will hear about details soon, hope this helps!!
This is what she wrote about it (I had asked her if I could post my position paper this week and what was going on for workshopping since it was already late in the week.)
"Hi Anna,
I asked this week's workshoppers to post by Sunday; they just put them up early. No one has to begin until Monday, actually,
but I will post instructions/assignments this weekend. We do need to get more of them done so no one's struggling at the
end to fit something in, so you can absolutely go this time around..."
So it seems we do not begin this until Monday, and we will hear about details soon, hope this helps!!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Blog 9
I really enjoyed this class, however demanding it was. I feel that, in the future, I'll end up taking a longer class, rather than 6 weeks, because this was a lot of work. Unfortunately, my grandfather fell ill right at the start of class, so this was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I stuck it out anyway. Of all the assignments that we did, the position paper was one of my favorites. I felt that a lot more opinion could be used in it. I wish ancillarys weren't necessary. That felt a little bit like busy work, but less so than other classes I've taken.
I really enjoyed the class overall, and for a 6 week course, it is very well set up.
I really enjoyed the class overall, and for a 6 week course, it is very well set up.
Blog Post #9
Despite my worst fears, I really enjoyed this class as a summer class. The format was by far the best I’ve had in an online class at Mira Costa! I love that the entire summer session was outlined for us in the beginning, including specific assignments. I’m one of those people who want to know what I’m getting into up front, so this was perfect!
For me the most academically relevant assignment was the research paper. I have written many papers in my college career, in MLA and APA formats but I’m finding my professors didn’t always check me on my formatting. This course has forced me to relook at what I thought MLA was and do it the right way, even though I must admit I wasn’t happy about it when I didn’t do so well on an ancillary.
Getting through the very first paper was extremely tough for me because it had been so long since I’d written anything but research papers which just seemed to flow better for me. When it was all said and done, I’m glad I didn’t drop which was my plan half way into week one.
I took two online summer courses this year so I had another class to compare this one too. I liked that the ancillaries were actually useful as tools to start thinking about the next paper and weren’t just “busy work” which is what I am finding in a lot of other online courses. I too wish we could have gotten these back sooner to use in our papers, but I understand the time crunch of a summer school class. At least I have them to improve my papers for the final portfolio!
For me the most academically relevant assignment was the research paper. I have written many papers in my college career, in MLA and APA formats but I’m finding my professors didn’t always check me on my formatting. This course has forced me to relook at what I thought MLA was and do it the right way, even though I must admit I wasn’t happy about it when I didn’t do so well on an ancillary.
Getting through the very first paper was extremely tough for me because it had been so long since I’d written anything but research papers which just seemed to flow better for me. When it was all said and done, I’m glad I didn’t drop which was my plan half way into week one.
I took two online summer courses this year so I had another class to compare this one too. I liked that the ancillaries were actually useful as tools to start thinking about the next paper and weren’t just “busy work” which is what I am finding in a lot of other online courses. I too wish we could have gotten these back sooner to use in our papers, but I understand the time crunch of a summer school class. At least I have them to improve my papers for the final portfolio!
BLOG 9
In regards to the topic I found most relevant academically and personally I think the position paper was the best on an educative and personal level. I found it interesting to learn about and research the topic I decided on. I liked the system the teacher used, it was rewarding being able to choose your own topic as you could find something you were interested in and research it. I am glad I completed the first assignment as I was slightly confused as first how to use both web pages for the course and how to submit work. After I got the just of it all I found this to be a easy and straight forward system to use. The second assignment proved to be tough, however after receiving feedback from the teacher I am now able to complete a better final copy for my portfolio. The position paper allowed me to explore something meaningful as I was interested in the United States decision to close Guantanamo Bay, researching this allowed me see why there is a issue. I am very pleased with this course, the teacher is very helpful and understanding. I have learned a lot about English from this course and am glad to be completing this summer course.
Workshop 2
Is that due tonight?? How do we know whose paper we are supposed to review? Was there an email I missed?...
Student Blog at MCC
Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that as of a few weeks ago I was asked to be a student blogger. I will be doing this until I transfer from MCC. I write about my classes as well as personal life endeavors, i.e. I was just at the Rise Against show in San Diego because my fiancé works for them so I wrote about being backstage, eating vegetarian food with the Rise boys, and meeting interesting rockers, cute babies with Mohawks, and Tony Hawk. Also, I will be posting next week, as I fly home to Boston to visit family and friends. I am excited to include a stop to NYC where I will visit my friend Brian, one of the designers of Zoo York skateboards. I will photo document a tour of the company in a blog entry as well.
The student blogs are a fairly new thing; they only started last year so we are looking to get more people reading them. So my fellow summer, English 100 classmates I extend an invitation to read my blog and subscribe to it. Your support would be most appreciated :)
Here is the link!
http://www.miracosta.edu/apps/blogs/issanna/
xo
Issanna
Just wanted to let you know that as of a few weeks ago I was asked to be a student blogger. I will be doing this until I transfer from MCC. I write about my classes as well as personal life endeavors, i.e. I was just at the Rise Against show in San Diego because my fiancé works for them so I wrote about being backstage, eating vegetarian food with the Rise boys, and meeting interesting rockers, cute babies with Mohawks, and Tony Hawk. Also, I will be posting next week, as I fly home to Boston to visit family and friends. I am excited to include a stop to NYC where I will visit my friend Brian, one of the designers of Zoo York skateboards. I will photo document a tour of the company in a blog entry as well.
The student blogs are a fairly new thing; they only started last year so we are looking to get more people reading them. So my fellow summer, English 100 classmates I extend an invitation to read my blog and subscribe to it. Your support would be most appreciated :)
Here is the link!
http://www.miracosta.edu/apps/blogs/issanna/
xo
Issanna
Blog 9
So overall I believe this was a benificial course to take. It did move at a excellerated pace but I liked the layout of the course. It was nice to know that each week was the same amount of work just different variations of the ancilliaries and papers.
I really enjoyed writing the position paper because I could choose a topic I was passionate about. I do believe for the course the amount of work required was extremely reasonable. The ancilliaries, although difficult at times, helped get me thinking about the topic ahead of time.
I really enjoyed writing the position paper because I could choose a topic I was passionate about. I do believe for the course the amount of work required was extremely reasonable. The ancilliaries, although difficult at times, helped get me thinking about the topic ahead of time.
Blog 9 :)
My favorite assignment has been the position paper. I did enjoy the first two papers as well because I feel they helped build a foundation for my third
essay. I have always liked more open ended assignments and in writing the position paper I chose a subject matter that I found personally fascinating. This just made the writing process more fun for me.
The ancillaries were very helpful to write. However, I would have hoped to have them returned sooner as the feedback was crucial to my essays. With such a short time between the return of the ancillary and the submission date for the paper, it was very difficult to perfect the areas that needed correction.
I thought the amount of writing assignments was very reasonable. It was keeping up with all the reading that was the biggest challenge for me. I remember there was one week when the required reading has bulky and I was so glad to be done... yet then I went to read the assignments and under the ancillary description it stated I would need to read a whole other chapter to complete the assignment. I couldn’t even wear my glasses for any longer so I had to wait to read the rest the following day.
Now that I know how to use all the websites for the class I find it to be a great system. When the class started I did feel very overwhelmed by it. I am sure that during the school year it is easier to become acquainted as there is more time. Perhaps if there is another summer class there could be an "on-campus" orientation in the computer lab? That way everyone could meet in person and go over all the websites and requirements for the course.
Overall I feel much more confident in my college writing skills. I do think I should take the linguistics class a semester soon... my grammar is what I am most rusty on. (Thank you Christina at the Writing Center!)I did sing up for Honors English 201 for the Fall, so though I am sure it will be challenging I am excited and feel prepared for the course :)
essay. I have always liked more open ended assignments and in writing the position paper I chose a subject matter that I found personally fascinating. This just made the writing process more fun for me.
The ancillaries were very helpful to write. However, I would have hoped to have them returned sooner as the feedback was crucial to my essays. With such a short time between the return of the ancillary and the submission date for the paper, it was very difficult to perfect the areas that needed correction.
I thought the amount of writing assignments was very reasonable. It was keeping up with all the reading that was the biggest challenge for me. I remember there was one week when the required reading has bulky and I was so glad to be done... yet then I went to read the assignments and under the ancillary description it stated I would need to read a whole other chapter to complete the assignment. I couldn’t even wear my glasses for any longer so I had to wait to read the rest the following day.
Now that I know how to use all the websites for the class I find it to be a great system. When the class started I did feel very overwhelmed by it. I am sure that during the school year it is easier to become acquainted as there is more time. Perhaps if there is another summer class there could be an "on-campus" orientation in the computer lab? That way everyone could meet in person and go over all the websites and requirements for the course.
Overall I feel much more confident in my college writing skills. I do think I should take the linguistics class a semester soon... my grammar is what I am most rusty on. (Thank you Christina at the Writing Center!)I did sing up for Honors English 201 for the Fall, so though I am sure it will be challenging I am excited and feel prepared for the course :)
Question
So I was looking on the schedule as well as this past email Prof. Bolaski sent out and I was a little confused. It says on the schedule " ***Submit a portion/all of your literature review (there's a link in Blackboard especially for these drafts) if you want some feedback. " and in the email it says she would help us "sketch out our final paper". So does that mean that no paper is actually due Saturday the 18th? I interpreted this to mean that no actual papers will be due until the submission of our portfolio on the 27th?
The most relevant assignment academically for me were the ancillaries because they always had a different skill to focus on. The most relevant personally were these blogs because they didn't really have any guidelines and I enjoy that. Im glad I completed the essays so now I don't have to do them again. I think the essays will prepare me for a second semester because they took a long time and made me manage my time. I didn't have any personally meaningful assignments but i learned a lot about different writing styles and MLA format.
Thoughts on the Class
There were a few assignments I found to be rather enlightening. The assignment that was hardest for me was the Position Paper, which I more or less did to myself by picking a topic I didn't know a whole lot about. But in the long run I think it was a good idea as it forced me to really think and to write an effective paper actually using what I learned from the books (the two books were also very good, both are extremely reader friendly, give a lot of useful examples, and really take you through the process of writing a well thought paper). I also thought that the Rhetorical Analysis paper was also extremely relevant as it is something that you more-or-less unknowingly do throughout your life and it really beings new meaning to the whole process, I have found myself to be more observant of everything recently. The workshops were also great, I got a lot of varied and informative responses from my peers and it really helped me focus my paper. I also think looking at other peoples papers with a scrutinizing eye is good for your own paper as it may make you realize something that you hadn't before.
To me the paper with which I have had the most fun is the Research paper, probably because I picked a topic which I knew a lot about and knew I would enjoy writing. Also I have to thank Prof. Bolaski for being the first teacher to actually make me use MLA format and actually learn it; although I sometimes loathe it, I know that with my major it is a very important skill to learn as I will use it in the future.
For me the general layout of this class was great, very laid back, and although I know this is contrary to everyone else's opinion, not very much work (of course I am only taking one class this summer, I work full time so anymore would have been crazy, as I have noticed from a few of my colleagues here). All the assignments had a direct purpose which was utilized with the next paper and there didn't seem to be any wasted time or "busy" work.
To me the paper with which I have had the most fun is the Research paper, probably because I picked a topic which I knew a lot about and knew I would enjoy writing. Also I have to thank Prof. Bolaski for being the first teacher to actually make me use MLA format and actually learn it; although I sometimes loathe it, I know that with my major it is a very important skill to learn as I will use it in the future.
For me the general layout of this class was great, very laid back, and although I know this is contrary to everyone else's opinion, not very much work (of course I am only taking one class this summer, I work full time so anymore would have been crazy, as I have noticed from a few of my colleagues here). All the assignments had a direct purpose which was utilized with the next paper and there didn't seem to be any wasted time or "busy" work.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Blog 10 - Preface?
So I'm really not sure what we're supposed to do about this blog. It says that there is something under writing prompts about it, but I don't see anything about a preface prompt anywhere under writing prompts. Is there somewhere else I can look for how to write a preface to my portfolio?
Blog 9 - Soshanna Montes
Overall, this class was fun. It was a lot of work, but tolerable. Since it's the last week, sort of, I'm struggling to start writing this research paper :) I was concerned at first that it would be overwhelming since it was such a short time, but the freedom in assignments made it a lot easier. I haven't taken an English course in about 11 years, so it was neat to revisit critical thinking. I can't recall doing annotated bibliographies, or citing references in work, so that was probably the biggest learning experience for me (which I'm still figuring it all out).
Out of all my assignments, the argument paper and the research paper will end up being my favorites. I still have to write the research paper, but based on the "research" I've done so far, I've already learned a lot about my chosen subject. It is a subject I've been wanting to learn more about, so I'm glad I had the opportunity. The argument paper allowed me to view politics a little differently and realize everything is not so cut and dry.
I know assignments got delayed a couple of times, but a default day of Sunday would be much better than Saturday. Having assignments due on Saturday breaks up the weekend in a really strange way, and makes it difficult for full time workers. Other than that, no real complaints. It was a fun class, and I'd take another course with you.
Out of all my assignments, the argument paper and the research paper will end up being my favorites. I still have to write the research paper, but based on the "research" I've done so far, I've already learned a lot about my chosen subject. It is a subject I've been wanting to learn more about, so I'm glad I had the opportunity. The argument paper allowed me to view politics a little differently and realize everything is not so cut and dry.
I know assignments got delayed a couple of times, but a default day of Sunday would be much better than Saturday. Having assignments due on Saturday breaks up the weekend in a really strange way, and makes it difficult for full time workers. Other than that, no real complaints. It was a fun class, and I'd take another course with you.
Ninth Discussion Board/Blog
The assignment that I found most relevant academically was the Argument Response paper because it forced me to look at all sides of the argument instead of my side. I think people, myself included, tend to look at things their way as being the only way. The assignment that I found relevant personally was the Literature Review because it not only allowed me to get a grade researching something I am interested in; also I learned more on the subject. I am glad to have completed all of the assignment because English composition scares me. The Literature Review was tough because of the scholarly sources needed to complete the assignment, but even thought I have no other English classes to take, I think the writing will help me in any other classes that require any sort of writing to be done. It will be a relief that no other courses will challenge me, in the sense of writing, more than this fast paced class.
Blog 9
This class was quite a heavy workload on top of my other 3, but I felt the benefit of reviewing the writing skills I learned quite a while ago (I'm old!) in a different language. It was helpful for papers I had to write for my other classes.
I think my favorite assignment must have been the position paper, simply because it was quite exciting to research a topic I am so passionate about. But I also enjoyed the rhetorical analysis from a purely linguistic perspective, because I have a literary background and have always enjoyed dissecting an author's style. It has taught me to look at news articles more critically and not assume that a journalist's intent is only reflected in the manifest content of their writing.
I am however having quite a hard time with the research paper simply because I can't figure out a topic that wouldn't require a full-blown 50-page thesis to explore. I also felt that having to turn in an annotated bibliography 2 weeks before the deadline for that paper was a little much, especially the same week we had to do workshops and turn in the position paper. I personally can't come up with a solid list of sources until I am halfway trough wirting my paper, which is why I think it would have been more reasonable if the bibliography was due this week with our first draft. I had to forego 50 points on this one.
The workshop process was a first for me, but despite the extra work I have found it rather enlightening. I have yet to have my position paper workshopped but I am eager to get some constructive feedback from my peers.
All in all, it has been a interesting class, and I sympathize with Prof. Bolaski for having to run three such courses at once and so many papers to grade...
I wish everyone the best for the remainder of the class; it's been a pleasure!
I think my favorite assignment must have been the position paper, simply because it was quite exciting to research a topic I am so passionate about. But I also enjoyed the rhetorical analysis from a purely linguistic perspective, because I have a literary background and have always enjoyed dissecting an author's style. It has taught me to look at news articles more critically and not assume that a journalist's intent is only reflected in the manifest content of their writing.
I am however having quite a hard time with the research paper simply because I can't figure out a topic that wouldn't require a full-blown 50-page thesis to explore. I also felt that having to turn in an annotated bibliography 2 weeks before the deadline for that paper was a little much, especially the same week we had to do workshops and turn in the position paper. I personally can't come up with a solid list of sources until I am halfway trough wirting my paper, which is why I think it would have been more reasonable if the bibliography was due this week with our first draft. I had to forego 50 points on this one.
The workshop process was a first for me, but despite the extra work I have found it rather enlightening. I have yet to have my position paper workshopped but I am eager to get some constructive feedback from my peers.
All in all, it has been a interesting class, and I sympathize with Prof. Bolaski for having to run three such courses at once and so many papers to grade...
I wish everyone the best for the remainder of the class; it's been a pleasure!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Blog 9
Being completely new to this whole online class idea, it was actually better than I thought. The assignment I found most relevant (academically) would have to be the research paper (the one we're currently working on). Throughout the course, I've had a lot of trouble with MLA formatting and citing different authors. The research paper has given me a lot of help, not just with MLA, but with the whole research process in general. The assignment I'm mostly proud of would have to be the argument response paper, mainly because that was the one I was most passionate about. One thing I didn't like about the course was the ancilliaries. I didn't think they were much of a help because we ended up not getting them back in time, graded and critiqued, for our papers. As I explored some different ideas for my research paper, I learned about a lot of different topics that are the center of CNN and Seventeen Magazine, i.e.: teen pregnancy, illegal immigration, abortion, and racism. The class taught me more than I had expected and although we didn't normally go through the standard english requirements I'm used to (grammar, vocabulary, short stories), it was a great class! :)
Blog 9
For an English class, I really don't feel like I've learned a whole lot of English. However the really great thing about this course is the research I've been able to do on topics that I really am passionate about. This course has a lot of freedom to write about things that matter to us as individuals. I think my favorite paper so far has been the position paper. I research and write convincingly about the controversial topic of medicating children. I think writing to the rubric really forced me to research this topic very thoroughly. It was pretty difficult to write a paper that long on only one topic, but the rubric forced very thorough and developed research. I think this will really help me in writing scientific papers in my future nursing career.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ninth Discussion Blog
I felt that all the assigned papers played a significant role in teaching different aspects of writing, and in one way or another, connected them. Academically speaking, the rhetorical analysis was particularly helpful in assisting me to develop analytical skills to interpret diction and syntax and connect it with the author’s intent. Personally, the position paper was my favorite to write, but the research paper has been the most useful in giving me the opportunity to research something of importance and give me ideas and knowledge structure.
I found the class very enjoyable, although I was apprehensive to be taking an English class via Internet. I feel that my writing skills were further developed throughout the course despite the lack of attendance to in-class sessions. The only part that I struggled with was the several different sites in which the work and information was distributed. Often times I’d forget where I read certain information and how long ago it was posted, so I’d spend a significant amount of time searching through e-mails, blackboard, blogspot AND the website.
-Brandi E. Cooper
I found the class very enjoyable, although I was apprehensive to be taking an English class via Internet. I feel that my writing skills were further developed throughout the course despite the lack of attendance to in-class sessions. The only part that I struggled with was the several different sites in which the work and information was distributed. Often times I’d forget where I read certain information and how long ago it was posted, so I’d spend a significant amount of time searching through e-mails, blackboard, blogspot AND the website.
-Brandi E. Cooper
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Workshopping
I volunteered to have my paper workshopped this week, but the portion blackboard has no new segment for Paper 3. Should I just post up my paper under the argument response thread even though it's the position paper?
Monday, July 13, 2009
Blog 9
Academically I can’t say that I’ve found anything too ground breaking. I’m going into my fourth year as a Civil Engineering major and I’ve avoided taking English as long as I could. I feel fortunate to have ended up in this class because of the freedom in topic choices. Being able to write about the hangover, then healthcare, then the BCS system and now drug legalization. This course has made me dread writing less and taught me how to enjoy writing about a topic that I like. I don’t have any complaints about the course. You have laid everything out very clearly, gave us a couple extra days last weekend and a day this weekend, which has a big help in getting assignments completed on time. The only thing I would change is having the assignment due dates be Sunday and instead of Saturday, because I work 40 hours a week so my weekend time is when I Get most of the assignments done.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Blog 8
I have not had a paper workshopped yet but I have read 3 others papers. Reading the papers has been enjoyable yet time consuming. I am realizing that in order to give accurate information and responses it is more difficult than just reading and commenting. While reading the papers, I see how everyone has different writing styles that give their papers a unique flare. I am finding that the most difficult part is taking the vast amount of information each paper contains and writing a through response to it. Critiquing writing style is more a difficult task then the content of the writing. Overall it has been nice to see others peoples idea/suggestion on present topics that effect our world.
Blog 7
1. What's Wrong With the Drug War? Drug Policy Alliance Network. 12 July 2009
This article gives brief summary of what the Drug Policy Alliance Networks is about and gives the reader a brief synopsis of the current drug war. The article connects to the reader by saying “The war on drugs has become a war on families, a war on public health and a war on our constitutional rights.” The main purpose of the article is to connect the war on drugs to every person in America. With states like the previous one I listed this is accomplished very well. The article goes on to relate to the general public by talking about infectious disease, the cost of the “war on drugs” and the amount of incarcerations due to drug related crime. Overall this source is logical in its argument and provides a decent amount of evidence to back up its points of view. I fully intend on using some of the information in this article in my literature review.
2. Hicks, Jeremy. "War on drugs puts the fight in peaceful exchange." Mustang Daily [San Luis Obispo] 19 May 2009, 26th ed.: 10.
Hicks relates the war on drugs to fighting an inanimate object. He uses the analogy of men fighting for control of the hill but never literally fighting the hill. I originally read this article in my school newspaper approximately a couple months ago and went through my small stack of mustang daily’s to find it. Hicks is founder of the Libertarian Club at Cal Poly SLO and a columnist that until June 2009 wrote a column every Wednesday. Jeremy writes from the point of view of “[defending] the right of people to engage in peaceful exchange to acquire goods which they desire, regardless what those items might be.” Hicks thoroughly goes through his fighting an inanimate object theory as to why a person would fight something that can’t move. Though Jeremy may be just another opinionated college student after reading his column for the year I’m fully confident that his article is well reasoned and of good quality.
3. National Youth Anti-drug Media Campaign. Free Vibe. 12 July 2009
Free Vibe is a website that is decidedly anti-drug. As the site provides information and how to help others, I find it better to annotate the site than just any particular article lying within. In particular I find like to go into depth on the homepage of the website. Pointedly placed at the center of the page is a link to help a friend. Free Vibe wants to establish themselves as a link between you and your alcoholic/drug abusing friends and how to get them to stop. The website features many quick facts about drugs. The first fact in Bold is that the drug can kill you. The website wants to instill in its readers that every drug is either addicting or lethal. Then from the first bold fact come a few facts that relate to how the drug will physically alter your body. All of the pictures on Free Vibe features teens, which is the sites, clear target audience. Using the theme colors as black and red portrays drug/alcohol in a negative connotation to the reader.
Genetic Engineering- Annotated Bibliography
What are the current issues fueling the debate over genetically engineered or genetically modified foods?
Say No To Genetic Engineering. Green Peace. 8 July 2009.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering
This article on the Green Peace website outlines the possible dangers of genetically
engineering the world’s food supply including Green Peace’s stance on GMO foods and
the labeling requirement.
Steinbrecher, Dr. Ricarda. What is Genetic Engineering? A Magazine of Green Social
Thought, Volume 18. Winter 1999: Pp 9-12.
This article not only explains what genetic engineering is, it gives a brief, easy to
understand description of genes and DNA that would help the average reader
comprehend what exactly genetic engineering is. This article was much more valuable
than the green peace article, in that it had more factual information and less bias.
Genetically Modified Food Crops. Your World, Biotechnology and You. Volume 10,
Issue 1.
This was by far the best article I found. This magazine had a lot of information on what
genetically modified foods are and how they are modified. It also talked about what
GMO foods are used for, like vaccines.
Say No To Genetic Engineering. Green Peace. 8 July 2009.
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/genetic-engineering
This article on the Green Peace website outlines the possible dangers of genetically
engineering the world’s food supply including Green Peace’s stance on GMO foods and
the labeling requirement.
Steinbrecher, Dr. Ricarda. What is Genetic Engineering? A Magazine of Green Social
Thought, Volume 18. Winter 1999: Pp 9-12.
This article not only explains what genetic engineering is, it gives a brief, easy to
understand description of genes and DNA that would help the average reader
comprehend what exactly genetic engineering is. This article was much more valuable
than the green peace article, in that it had more factual information and less bias.
Genetically Modified Food Crops. Your World, Biotechnology and You. Volume 10,
Issue 1.
This was by far the best article I found. This magazine had a lot of information on what
genetically modified foods are and how they are modified. It also talked about what
GMO foods are used for, like vaccines.
The Workshop Experience
The whole process of work shopping, reviewing others papers and having mine reviewed by classmates, is new to me. I have never participated in a process like this. While I enjoyed reading the papers, I felt a little weird about commenting on them. Who am I to tell others what was good and what wasn't? This week I posted my paper for the class to review and comment on. This was very nerve wracking for me and added extra stress when writing my paper, but in the end I'm glad I volunteered this week. Everyone was very nice and respectful in their comments and I'm glad for this experience.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Blog 8 - Soshanna Montes
I've had 1 paper workshopped so far. It's an interesting process! It feels weird to edit other papers because I don't feel that I'm necessarily qualified to "edit" per se, so it just feels weird. On the other hand, it's an assignment, so I felt that I needed to give my best attempt at it, but I wasn't sure if I was "editing" correctly.
It was neat to get reviews back on my paper. There were some errors I didn't catch, that I'll have to go back and clarify. For example, I didn't specify at any point what LGBT meant, and now I realize that I took it for granted that everyone knew.
It's a neat process, it just made me feel a little odd when editing other papers.
It was neat to get reviews back on my paper. There were some errors I didn't catch, that I'll have to go back and clarify. For example, I didn't specify at any point what LGBT meant, and now I realize that I took it for granted that everyone knew.
It's a neat process, it just made me feel a little odd when editing other papers.
Blog 8
The workshopping experience hasn't been as "fun" as I thought it would be. It's mainly just finding other writers' errors and critiquing different styles of writing. I'm not quite sure of how good of a teacher I would be, but I don't think the job would be easy for me. I found it kind of hard because I have trouble writing myself and it's a little difficult finding others' errors when I'm not able to fix my own. Although the project was a little difficult, the opinions of others made me feel a little more secure about my writing. Some said my paper was very organized and others said it was well-written so the only thing I don't like about this is having to judge other papers when I don't really know what's completely wrong or right. I have read two other papers but I haven't got to writing the comments at the end because I still have to gather my thoughts : ) After reading different papers, it actually did help me understand what I'm doing wrong though so I guess it's somewhat helpful.
Blog 8
I actually enjoyed doing the workshops more than i thought i would. I enjoyed reading other people's perspectives and seeing their responses to the articles. It also gave me some idea's to use in my own paper- different ways to utilize rhetorical strategies and other literary devices. I haven't had my own paper work-shopped yet, but i feel that revising other papers was very useful.
-Brandi E. Cooper
-Brandi E. Cooper
Blog 7
Works Cited
Swenson, Steve E. "Bicyclist Run Down in Alleged DUI Wreck " Bakersfield Californian, The (CA) 1 Jul. 2009. Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Escondido Public Library. 11 Jul. 2009 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W64177824852&site=src-live>
This article recaps a drunk driving incident that really epitomizes the downfalls of drinking and driving. It's constructive essentially because of its descriptive detail and recent statistics.
"Status Report, Volume 44, Number 7." Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 11 Jul. 2009.
This newsletter is a summary of consequences for DUI offenses. It's adequately explains the repercussions of not following the advocacies of "clicking it or ticketing it". It breaks down the effects of drinking while driving, a few hypothetical situations, as well as other ways to avoid being harmed by a drunk driver.
T, Buddy. "Why You Should Never Drink and Drive" About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. 24 Sep. 2006. 11 Jul. 2009 <http://alcoholism.about.com/od/dui/a/impaired.htm>
This is an article that really points out "Why You Should Never Drink and Drive". It explains the causes and effects of the consumption of alcohol and goes into detail with the different alcohol levels. The information is awfully crucial mainly because of the actual facts.
Swenson, Steve E. "Bicyclist Run Down in Alleged DUI Wreck " Bakersfield Californian, The (CA) 1 Jul. 2009. Newspaper Source. EBSCO. Escondido Public Library. 11 Jul. 2009 <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=2W64177824852&site=src-live>
This article recaps a drunk driving incident that really epitomizes the downfalls of drinking and driving. It's constructive essentially because of its descriptive detail and recent statistics.
"Status Report, Volume 44, Number 7." Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 11 Jul. 2009.
This newsletter is a summary of consequences for DUI offenses. It's adequately explains the repercussions of not following the advocacies of "clicking it or ticketing it". It breaks down the effects of drinking while driving, a few hypothetical situations, as well as other ways to avoid being harmed by a drunk driver.
T, Buddy. "Why You Should Never Drink and Drive" About.com, a part of The New York Times Company. 24 Sep. 2006. 11 Jul. 2009 <http://alcoholism.about.com/od/dui/a/impaired.htm>
This is an article that really points out "Why You Should Never Drink and Drive". It explains the causes and effects of the consumption of alcohol and goes into detail with the different alcohol levels. The information is awfully crucial mainly because of the actual facts.
Blog 7
Works Cited:
Hanewinkle, Reiner. School-based alcohol education: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Abingdon. Mar 2009
This is a study based on school-based alcohol education intervention. It shows how much kids retained the knowledge they were taught and what they were taught.
http://prohibition.usu.edu/content/why_prohibition.cfm. "Why Prohibition?" Ohio State Universtity. 11 July 2009
This explains what prohibition is and why it was enacted by Congress and what the consequences were.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/alcohol/binge_drink.html. "Binge Drinking" 11 July 2009.
This article explains binge drinking, why people do it, what the consequences are, and how to get help.
Hanewinkle, Reiner. School-based alcohol education: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial. Abingdon. Mar 2009
This is a study based on school-based alcohol education intervention. It shows how much kids retained the knowledge they were taught and what they were taught.
http://prohibition.usu.edu/content/why_prohibition.cfm. "Why Prohibition?" Ohio State Universtity. 11 July 2009
This explains what prohibition is and why it was enacted by Congress and what the consequences were.
http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/alcohol/binge_drink.html. "Binge Drinking" 11 July 2009.
This article explains binge drinking, why people do it, what the consequences are, and how to get help.
Blog 8
Workshops so far have been very interesting. I haven't had a paper workshopped, but was helping others with theirs. I found that reading others' papers to help them make it better is much easier than writing my own paper, as I am a terrible writer! I sort of felt that my comments were a little redundant, because people tend to see the same things in a paper that need to be improved. Reading other essays helps me to revamp my own writing and make it stronger. I really enjoy the workshops; they really seem to help, and I can't wait to have my paper peer-edited.
Blog 8
No I have not had my paper work shopped yet. At first this assignment seemed like busy work to me but now that I have completed it I feel it was actually beneficial towards my writing. It was nice to be able to see others papers and how they formatted their ideas. Some of the ways people presented their ideas was completely different from what I would have done. This allowed for my personal growth as a writer because I could see examples of different styles of writing.
Blog 7
Works Cited
"Cruel and Unusual Punishment under the Eighth Amendment." UMKC School of Law. 11 July 2009.
This article relays and gives examples of the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution which discusses Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
"Laboratory Primate Newsletter, Volume 35, Number 3." Brown University. Brown University. 11 July 2009.
This article presents and discusses research done by Brown University on primates. The intended audience for this article is scientists interested in primate behavior.
"PETA's Get Active Center :: Learn :: Animals Used for Testing." People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The animal rights organization. 11 July 2009.
This article breifly discusses how animals are tortured and experimented on every day in the United States.
"Cruel and Unusual Punishment under the Eighth Amendment." UMKC School of Law. 11 July 2009
This article relays and gives examples of the 8th Amendment of the United States Constitution which discusses Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
"Laboratory Primate Newsletter, Volume 35, Number 3." Brown University. Brown University. 11 July 2009
This article presents and discusses research done by Brown University on primates. The intended audience for this article is scientists interested in primate behavior.
"PETA's Get Active Center :: Learn :: Animals Used for Testing." People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA): The animal rights organization. 11 July 2009
This article breifly discusses how animals are tortured and experimented on every day in the United States.
Blog 7: Position Paper Annotated Bibliography
For my position paper on the necessity to remove the words "Under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, I researched and quoted elements from the following sites and articles:
"Freedom of Religion, Establishment Clause." Great American Court Cases. 4 vols. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced in History Resource Center. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. < http://galenet.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/servlet/HistRC/ >
This is a presentation of the Establishment Clasue of the Constitution in its historical context, along with the development of separation concepts by the Supreme Court in landmark cases throughout the twentieth century, especially related to issues of religion in the public classroom.
Bonta, Steve. "'Under God' Should Remain in the Pledge of Allegiance." Opposing Viewpoints: Religion in America. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. 11 July 2009. < http://find.galegroup.com.prox.
miracosta.edu/ovrc/infomark.do&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010231251&source=gale&srcprod
=OVRC&userGroupName=ocea63505&version=1.0 >
Steve Bonta makes his case for preserving the current version of the Pledge of Allegiance as a testimony to the way Americans want to perceive their country, and as a reflection of the founding Christian values that have led America to greatness and are necessary to maintain true democracy.
“The US Pledge of Allegiance.” Religious Tolerance. 30 November 2008. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 11 July 2009. < http://www.religioustolerance.org/nat_pled1.htm >
This overview of the Pledge of Allegiance and related matters provides a brief history of the pledge as well as statistics regarding Americans' perception of the text, and possible future changes as suggested by various interest groups or individuals.
al., Part I: Americans United for Separation of Church and State et al.; Part II: Nebraska Zen Center et. "'Under God' Should Be Removed from the Pledge of Allegiance." Opposing Viewpoints: Religion in America. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. 11 July 2009 < http://find.galegroup.com.prox.
miracosta.edu/ovrc/infomark.do&contentSet=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID
=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010231250&source=gale&srcprod
=OVRC&userGroupName=ocea63505&version=1.0 >
This two-part document was submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court as amici curiae ("friends of the court") briefs in the case of Newdow v. U.S. Congress et al. In Part I Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union maintain that the Pledge pressures schoolchildren to profess religious belief, which violates the Constitution's clause against government endorsement of religion. In Part II a group representing over 3 million Buddhist Americans argues that the Pledge is incompatible with Buddhism because it expresses a belief in monotheism.
“One Nation Under God.” New York Times. 27 June 2002. 11 July 2009. < http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/27/opinion/27THU2.html >
This opinion piece describes how the recent case against recitation of the Pledge in public elementary schools, a harmless tradition, is trivializing the debate over separation of church and state.
Workshopping
I just finished my second workshop and I have to say that I didn't think I would get as much out of reading other people papers as I did. Actually what I think it was more was actually reading it with a critical eye, because I read several of the sample papers but I don't think I got as much out of it. Reading other people work really helps you to see your own work from another point of view, because, as Cecile already said, when you have been working your own paper for a few days or a week you don't see it clearly anymore. Personally I had one of my papers workshopped, and thoughthere aren't that many posted yet, the few I have read already have been of great use. I'm actually really exited to see what everyone will say, such as my wordiness, which does go overboard sometimes.
I was pretty skeptical about this assignment to begin with but it is completely worth it, as it forces you to get that vital insight from other people.
I was pretty skeptical about this assignment to begin with but it is completely worth it, as it forces you to get that vital insight from other people.
BLOG 8 -
I have not had a paper workshopped yet, however I plan to for the next paper. Reading other papers has been extremely beneficial to me as it helps me understand other people's expectations of what and how to write for each paper. I think I have a solid, structured writing style however I sometimes do not apply my writing directly to the question; so reading other classmates papers is useful to see what I am doing correctly and incorrectly. The most useful parts of the process I find are reading other people's papers and seeing how my peers have annotated and corrected their papers and compare it with my thoughts and comments. It was interesting to read about my peers work at I could relate to them and their topics of interest. Several of my peers have used examples that have demonstrated my ideas which helped me to relate and compare writing styles.
7th Blog Post - 3 Sources for 4th Paper
Dyer, Gwynne. "Gay rights come to India.(Opinion)." The Hamilton Spectator Context. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. Retrieved 09 July 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC
This article summarizes the history of homosexuality from being banned to the present evidence of homosexual acts becoming of law in India and Britain. It chronicles the developing time line of rights granted to homosexuals in each of these countries. The text shows relevance of homosexual rights coupled with politics.
The article also gives reference to British’s control of India in administering and demolishing laws on being gay. “In India, they have finally done what the British did in 1967 and legalized homosexuality. But then, it was the British who criminalized same-sex relations in India in the first place” (Par. 2). The article provides a sustainable foundation for my essay as it not only provides facts (dates and examples,) it introduces homosexual issues not as high in media as current gay rights news here in the United States. Lastly, this article also discloses data of when gay rights were legalized I other European countries, in addition to which countries still do not legally recognize nor tolerate homosexual practices. I will utilize this text to provide concrete evidence of how legally; gay rights are increasing throughout the world.
Mazune, Douglas, and Kenyi, Swalley. "Gay Activists Want Country Banned." Africa News Service (July 9, 2009) Global Issues in Context. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. Retrieved 09 July 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC
This article was written for the Africa New Service, a “multi-media content service provider, systems technology developer and the largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide” (Par. 1). This formulates an established text with a foundation of creditability. The text summarizes how gay rights activists in Great Britain are advocating for the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association,) to stop Uganda from discriminating against homosexuals on their soccer league. The leaders of Uganda’s league have issued a ban against homosexuals and those found guilty of sodomy from participating on their team. The couch has been required to sign a code of conduct for all participating players. The text continues to include quotes from activists over their anger to this alleged ban.
"Gay rights group to 'join' 2010 polls.(Main News)." Manila Bulletin (July 8, 2009) Main News: Global Issues in Context. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. Retrieved 11 July 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC
This article was posted in the Manila Bulletin, Philippines' largest broadsheet newspaper. It documents the preparing events of 2010’s election where gay politicians are hopeful in attempting to have a “gay party,” be approved for accreditation by the Commission on Elections. As a party-list group, gay politician, Ang Ladlad, will use gay rights as his main platform. Emphasis will be placed on equal rights and tolerance in schools and the work place. The party applied for accreditation in 2007, but was denied with the reasoning of having too few party members. Now with over 22,000 members and 10 chapters nationwide the Gay-Party is beginning to anticipate big changes for the Philippines.
This article summarizes the history of homosexuality from being banned to the present evidence of homosexual acts becoming of law in India and Britain. It chronicles the developing time line of rights granted to homosexuals in each of these countries. The text shows relevance of homosexual rights coupled with politics.
The article also gives reference to British’s control of India in administering and demolishing laws on being gay. “In India, they have finally done what the British did in 1967 and legalized homosexuality. But then, it was the British who criminalized same-sex relations in India in the first place” (Par. 2). The article provides a sustainable foundation for my essay as it not only provides facts (dates and examples,) it introduces homosexual issues not as high in media as current gay rights news here in the United States. Lastly, this article also discloses data of when gay rights were legalized I other European countries, in addition to which countries still do not legally recognize nor tolerate homosexual practices. I will utilize this text to provide concrete evidence of how legally; gay rights are increasing throughout the world.
Mazune, Douglas, and Kenyi, Swalley. "Gay Activists Want Country Banned." Africa News Service (July 9, 2009) Global Issues in Context. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. Retrieved 09 July 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC
This article was written for the Africa New Service, a “multi-media content service provider, systems technology developer and the largest electronic distributor of African news and information worldwide” (Par. 1). This formulates an established text with a foundation of creditability. The text summarizes how gay rights activists in Great Britain are advocating for the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association,) to stop Uganda from discriminating against homosexuals on their soccer league. The leaders of Uganda’s league have issued a ban against homosexuals and those found guilty of sodomy from participating on their team. The couch has been required to sign a code of conduct for all participating players. The text continues to include quotes from activists over their anger to this alleged ban.
"Gay rights group to 'join' 2010 polls.(Main News)." Manila Bulletin (July 8, 2009) Main News: Global Issues in Context. Gale. MIRACOSTA COLLEGE. Retrieved 11 July 2009, from Global Issues in Context via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com.prox.miracosta.edu/gic/start.do?prodId=GIC
This article was posted in the Manila Bulletin, Philippines' largest broadsheet newspaper. It documents the preparing events of 2010’s election where gay politicians are hopeful in attempting to have a “gay party,” be approved for accreditation by the Commission on Elections. As a party-list group, gay politician, Ang Ladlad, will use gay rights as his main platform. Emphasis will be placed on equal rights and tolerance in schools and the work place. The party applied for accreditation in 2007, but was denied with the reasoning of having too few party members. Now with over 22,000 members and 10 chapters nationwide the Gay-Party is beginning to anticipate big changes for the Philippines.
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Goldschmidt Jr., Arthur, and Lawrence Davidson. A Concise History of the Middle East. 8th ed. Boulder: Westview Press, 2006.
This is the textbook for Middle East History at Mira Costa. It is a very good book and, like its name implies, is rather concise for the breadth of history that it covers. I am going to use it in my paper as the basis for the history of which concerns the topic of which I am writing and then I will use my other sources off of this source, as I feel it does provide a roughly equal stance for both sides.
Chomsky, Noam. ""Exterminate all the Brutes": Gaza 2009.” 6 June 2009.Chomsky.info. 8 July 2009..
Prof. Chomsky is a leading compiler of the U.S. state of affairs, especially concerning foreign relations. He is frequently talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is a strict anti-Zionist. Chomsky feels that it is the U.S. which has systematically blocked the peace between these two peoples for decades just for the simple fact of having a military arm in the Middle East. He is notorious for backing nearly everything he says with a source and for this reason his arguments carry tremendous weight.
Shragai, Nadav. “Jerusalem: The Dangers of Division.” Strategic Perspectives October 2008. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 9 July 2009.
Nadav Shragai presents my counter argument to Prof. Chomsky, he is a devout Zionist and believes that any solution in which Palestinians are not under the control of the Israelis or the Israeli military is a flawed solution. This article is about the possiblity of seperating Jurusalem in half along the future border of a possible Palestinian state, as well as the seperation of the Paelstinian Authority controlled areas from Israel. It is mainly focused however on the Israeli perspective.
This is the textbook for Middle East History at Mira Costa. It is a very good book and, like its name implies, is rather concise for the breadth of history that it covers. I am going to use it in my paper as the basis for the history of which concerns the topic of which I am writing and then I will use my other sources off of this source, as I feel it does provide a roughly equal stance for both sides.
Chomsky, Noam. ""Exterminate all the Brutes": Gaza 2009.” 6 June 2009.Chomsky.info. 8 July 2009.
Prof. Chomsky is a leading compiler of the U.S. state of affairs, especially concerning foreign relations. He is frequently talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is a strict anti-Zionist. Chomsky feels that it is the U.S. which has systematically blocked the peace between these two peoples for decades just for the simple fact of having a military arm in the Middle East. He is notorious for backing nearly everything he says with a source and for this reason his arguments carry tremendous weight.
Shragai, Nadav. “Jerusalem: The Dangers of Division.” Strategic Perspectives October 2008. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 9 July 2009.
Nadav Shragai presents my counter argument to Prof. Chomsky, he is a devout Zionist and believes that any solution in which Palestinians are not under the control of the Israelis or the Israeli military is a flawed solution. This article is about the possiblity of seperating Jurusalem in half along the future border of a possible Palestinian state, as well as the seperation of the Paelstinian Authority controlled areas from Israel. It is mainly focused however on the Israeli perspective.
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