ENGLISH 2010--Intermediate Writing
Reflective Writing
English 2010 has helped me achieve my goal of becoming a more effective communicator, as well as much more comfortable with writing in general. The course objectives included instruction and practice doing critical research, giving structure to creating and revising drafts, adapting strategies of style and design, citing credible sources accurately, and writing in multiple genres, all while coordinating and working collaboratively with others. This was challenging, but ultimately helped me take significant steps in attaining my goal. I will discuss how each of the objectives has helped me become a better writer, and helped me assemble my final portfolio.
The teacher gave writing assignments in multiple genres; argument, profile, and commentary. Although each genre was unique, the process and structure used to create each paper was similar.
The teacher gave writing assignments in multiple genres; argument, profile, and commentary. Although each genre was unique, the process and structure used to create each paper was similar.
Learning to approach research critically, and create and revise drafts was beneficial in building the credibility and organization of the papers. I began each paper with some investigation into the genre to help determine the purpose of the paper. For example when writing an Argument paper, it should include a strong argument for a particular issue, but also contain a reasonable opposing view of the argument. With the purpose of the paper defined and the topic selected, I could then begin to do some preliminary research. This served as a brainstorming of concepts and to spark ideas, which I could use to devise and define a thesis or hypothesis, followed by a research plan. With a clear thesis and plan, the most comfortable and enjoyable part of creating the paper would begin, collecting the content. I loved spending time just reading what others had written, some of it just opinion and at times a little wacky and weird, but when I found sources of real credibility it really expanded my view on the subject. Sometimes it supported what I already believed and at other times it gave me a new perspective, and perhaps a different way to look at the issue. Now with the fun part completed I had to move on to the task of organizing and giving structure to my ideas. The class taught me some new techniques in this area which were really helpful since it wasn't something that came naturally to me. I used a few different methods for organizing my ideas such as the Five W's and How Questions, Reader Analysis Worksheet, and the Believing and Doubting Game. The Five W's and How Questions were the most useful to me since the questions seemed to keep me directed on the purpose and focused on the audience . This made what had been a difficult task of getting to a draft much easier.
Once the draft was organized, the objective of adapting strategies of style and design came into play. My process was to look for areas that needed the style of writing to be developed. I would find parts of the paper that appeared to be dull or confusing, and then determine what was the best course of action based on the writing situation. I seemed to be most comfortable establishing my voice (tone) and writing in plain style.
Citing credible sources accurately was another important course objective and was fairly straight forward in its requirements. In each of the genres, I was required to write in MLA format including citing the sources I used. There were times however when it became frustrating since I discovered some information, which I badly wanted to use, but fell into the “opinion” category and was a little suspect as to its credibility. The factual information and images that I put into each of my papers was important to backup ideas to make it more compelling for the reader. I also felt like the images and graphs brought color to the papers, making the papers more attractive and more interesting to read.
Once the draft was organized, the objective of adapting strategies of style and design came into play. My process was to look for areas that needed the style of writing to be developed. I would find parts of the paper that appeared to be dull or confusing, and then determine what was the best course of action based on the writing situation. I seemed to be most comfortable establishing my voice (tone) and writing in plain style.
Citing credible sources accurately was another important course objective and was fairly straight forward in its requirements. In each of the genres, I was required to write in MLA format including citing the sources I used. There were times however when it became frustrating since I discovered some information, which I badly wanted to use, but fell into the “opinion” category and was a little suspect as to its credibility. The factual information and images that I put into each of my papers was important to backup ideas to make it more compelling for the reader. I also felt like the images and graphs brought color to the papers, making the papers more attractive and more interesting to read.
For the objective of working collaboratively with other writers, we worked in a group of 5 individuals through the course of the class. We decided on a topic for the semester by brainstorming a bunch of ideas, one person in the group had just had a baby and offered parenting as an option, other ideas were relationships, environmental, and health issues. Ultimately, we decided based on the topic which most interested us, that we wanted to learn more about, and was most relevant to each of us. As a group we chose to write on the topic of the effects of cell phones on children's development with each of the members of our group choosing a different area of development (social, health, families, communication, and education). Although I enjoyed the camaraderie, the collaboration was difficult at times with some individuals contributing more than others.
The group forum gave us the opportunity to give and get peer feedback on our drafted papers. Some of the suggestions I received helped me get a good feel for how my paper was coming across to the reader and if the main point was being interpreted correctly. A great example of this was in one of my papers when the reviewer asked where I had acknowledged an opposing position. I had incorporated an opposing view, but obviously it wasn't strong enough to be recognized. The feedback was also helpful when I missed certain requirements that needed to be in my paper. The reviewer reminded me that there were no headings or visual images. I had been so focused on the content of the paper that I missed putting the pictures into my paper. Good catch! The comments I found most useful were the ones that were direct and not "sugar coated" so as to not hurt my feelings.
The group forum gave us the opportunity to give and get peer feedback on our drafted papers. Some of the suggestions I received helped me get a good feel for how my paper was coming across to the reader and if the main point was being interpreted correctly. A great example of this was in one of my papers when the reviewer asked where I had acknowledged an opposing position. I had incorporated an opposing view, but obviously it wasn't strong enough to be recognized. The feedback was also helpful when I missed certain requirements that needed to be in my paper. The reviewer reminded me that there were no headings or visual images. I had been so focused on the content of the paper that I missed putting the pictures into my paper. Good catch! The comments I found most useful were the ones that were direct and not "sugar coated" so as to not hurt my feelings.
Reading other people's papers and being charged with providing them with feedback helped me to reassess certain aspects of my own paper. For instance after I reviewed one of the other papers, I was able to give the writer some good feedback when I noticed there was a lot of personality in the paper, which made it much more interesting to read. This is an area I have found I need to work on. On a couple of papers, like my own, I saw a lack of support for the opposing view. Perhaps when it's not your paper, there is an ability to be more objective and offer a different perspective. I was able to suggest some additional material for their opposing view, remember how I love to find new material. I think this is my greatest strength as a peer reviewer; sharing additional information providing more content to strengthen the argument or make the point.
It was hard to decide which papers to use for my final portfolio. I wanted to choose the papers that demonstrated the most diversity in my writing and also showed more of my personality. I believe the Commentary and the Profile paper accomplish this task. The feedback I received from the teacher was helpful and allowed me to make additional changes. In the Profile paper, it was difficult to meet the paper's requirements and still feel like I was being true to the story. The teacher helped out by suggesting that some of the important context for the story was not clear until much later in the paper. Great feedback since I believe I was so close to all of the details that I was filling in blanks that were just not communicated to the reader in the paper. In making adjustments to this paper for my portfolio, I added a paragraph early in the paper explaining the missing background and filled in more omitted details later in the paper. These few changes helped to make a paper that I really enjoyed writing, clearer and I hope more enjoyable to others.
As I stated in the beginning writing is not something that is comfortable or comes easily to me. The opportunity to learn new techniques and getting more practice than I have had since high school many years ago, has truly changed the way I look at writing.
It was hard to decide which papers to use for my final portfolio. I wanted to choose the papers that demonstrated the most diversity in my writing and also showed more of my personality. I believe the Commentary and the Profile paper accomplish this task. The feedback I received from the teacher was helpful and allowed me to make additional changes. In the Profile paper, it was difficult to meet the paper's requirements and still feel like I was being true to the story. The teacher helped out by suggesting that some of the important context for the story was not clear until much later in the paper. Great feedback since I believe I was so close to all of the details that I was filling in blanks that were just not communicated to the reader in the paper. In making adjustments to this paper for my portfolio, I added a paragraph early in the paper explaining the missing background and filled in more omitted details later in the paper. These few changes helped to make a paper that I really enjoyed writing, clearer and I hope more enjoyable to others.
As I stated in the beginning writing is not something that is comfortable or comes easily to me. The opportunity to learn new techniques and getting more practice than I have had since high school many years ago, has truly changed the way I look at writing.
commentary.docx | |
File Size: | 97 kb |
File Type: | docx |
profile.docx | |
File Size: | 595 kb |
File Type: | docx |