Looking back on my reflection for the year I feel as though i did partially accomplish my goals for the year that I set earlier. I do think that I was able to grow as a writer and apply my knowledge from previous education to this and expand and grow on it.
When looking back on my goals I think I would only change them slightly. I think I would have set higher standards for myself not only in the class but overall in my semester and how I treated it.
As I continue on into my college career I plan to take what i have learned and grown on in this class and apply it to other classes even outside of English ones. I want to continue growing on my skills as a writer such as how I connect my ideas more clearly throughout the essay. I would also like to grow on my syntax as a writer too. My weakness of not staying focused or persistent towards the end of my essays will need to be worked on though so I can begin to grow much more dramatically as a writer.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Assignment 14
For my final portfolio I am choosing my Literacy Narrative essay. The strengths of my essay were the detail and description of specific events as well as the transitions I use to flow my essay together. I feel that my weaknesses were how I didn't always connect my ideas clearly and I lacked persistence to conciseness in minor areas.
When I revise my essay I will decide which details and descriptions are absolutely necessary and which I can omit or rearrange to make more sense. I will also pay specific attention to my transitions and making sure that it not only flows and makes sense but that it is concise. While looking and revising my essay before hand I will try to find my ideas and connect them more clearly with my thesis in a more relevant and chronological manner. With my minor areas such as conclusion to paragraphs or small transitions I will try to pay more attention to the wordiness and syntax of my sentences.
When I revise my essay I will decide which details and descriptions are absolutely necessary and which I can omit or rearrange to make more sense. I will also pay specific attention to my transitions and making sure that it not only flows and makes sense but that it is concise. While looking and revising my essay before hand I will try to find my ideas and connect them more clearly with my thesis in a more relevant and chronological manner. With my minor areas such as conclusion to paragraphs or small transitions I will try to pay more attention to the wordiness and syntax of my sentences.
Assignment 13
My favorite essay that we wrote in class was the very first essay that we wrote. I had many reasons to enjoy this essay and I also feel that it was my strongest. It is normally easier to write an essay about yourself or your own personal experience because it's your own and no one can say that it is false. I also think that this is a good way to practice ones own writing because when you are writing about yourself I feel that it is easy to have a steady, constant flow of writing and thought stream.
Another reason that i enjoyed this essay is that is simply made me remember a lot about my high school English education. While I was remembering some of the essays and techniques we used in my junior and senior years I was able to remember some of my weaknesses and attack them in this essay. Along with remembering the educational factor I found confidence in my writing and my abilities to write. I think that is important to any writer when they are attempting to write and do it well.
Another reason that i enjoyed this essay is that is simply made me remember a lot about my high school English education. While I was remembering some of the essays and techniques we used in my junior and senior years I was able to remember some of my weaknesses and attack them in this essay. Along with remembering the educational factor I found confidence in my writing and my abilities to write. I think that is important to any writer when they are attempting to write and do it well.
Assignment 11
The essay I chose to analyze was "The $78 Million Bag" which was on the city of Chicago's spendings on the "war on drugs" and legalization of marijuana. During the reading of this essay what I took away from the authors writing style was his non-bias of sides in his writing. They never made profound statement that would lead you to believe they lean more to one side than the other. With that I would apply that to my writing by not stating my own personal bias in my writing to much in such a way that would make the reader uninterested in the rest of my work.
Assignment 10
The best thing about the peer review process that we do in class, in my opinion, is how we often go over the rubric of the paper before we peer review. I think this helps us better understand what to look for when we are editing our peers essay. I think we could improve the process by having our essays edited by more than one peer in the class in order to get another perspective and pair of eyes over the work and its content.
I think one of my strengths in peer reviewing is that i am able to catch punctuation and grammar relatively well. I can catch little errors in words or sentences that the writer doesn't notice during their writing process because they are familiar with their writing.
One of my weaknesses of peer editing is that I sometimes find following the rubric 100% of the time a little challenging. I begin reading the work and forget to remember the specific things I need to be looking for according to the rubric presented to us.
My ideal peer review process would be when we go over the rubric in class before we switch papers. Then we would switch papers and peer review in accordance to the rubric and specifics asked. After we finish that I think we should be able to look over the editing that was just done and then switch once more with another person and edit those. Then take those revisions and apply them to your paper where needed.
I think one of my strengths in peer reviewing is that i am able to catch punctuation and grammar relatively well. I can catch little errors in words or sentences that the writer doesn't notice during their writing process because they are familiar with their writing.
One of my weaknesses of peer editing is that I sometimes find following the rubric 100% of the time a little challenging. I begin reading the work and forget to remember the specific things I need to be looking for according to the rubric presented to us.
My ideal peer review process would be when we go over the rubric in class before we switch papers. Then we would switch papers and peer review in accordance to the rubric and specifics asked. After we finish that I think we should be able to look over the editing that was just done and then switch once more with another person and edit those. Then take those revisions and apply them to your paper where needed.
Assignment 9
When I think of errors in my writing the very first one to come to mind is how i lack self-editing on my own work. I can often find myself getting papers back with comments on certain errors in the paper that i should have been able to avoid by proof reading my work. This causes my writing to look weak and immature to the audience and teacher. I have noticed when I do proof read my work I tend to get better comments and better grades overall. To change this I believe the simple answer is to just proof read my papers when I am done.
The second error that I notice in my writing most is when I tend to slack off near the end of my papers. I get lazy and antsy to finish the work and will not put in as much effort as normal. When I do this my work becomes extremely weak and hurts my overall work and point of view drastically. It makes me look like I don't know how to write properly and that I don't do basic writing skills in my work. I've noticed that to change this I have to pace myself when I do papers and long works in a good environment for me to work in.
Third error that I take notice to in my papers is my pattern to repeat things in other words and not notice it. I will often write the same point or the same fact in a different way throughout the work in a repetitious way that isn't helping my work. I think this shortens my work due to the fact I am repeating myself and weakens my points overall as well. I believe I can tie this to my first error in the way that to solve this error as well as the first I would simply have to proof read my work to be wary of these errors.
The second error that I notice in my writing most is when I tend to slack off near the end of my papers. I get lazy and antsy to finish the work and will not put in as much effort as normal. When I do this my work becomes extremely weak and hurts my overall work and point of view drastically. It makes me look like I don't know how to write properly and that I don't do basic writing skills in my work. I've noticed that to change this I have to pace myself when I do papers and long works in a good environment for me to work in.
Third error that I take notice to in my papers is my pattern to repeat things in other words and not notice it. I will often write the same point or the same fact in a different way throughout the work in a repetitious way that isn't helping my work. I think this shortens my work due to the fact I am repeating myself and weakens my points overall as well. I believe I can tie this to my first error in the way that to solve this error as well as the first I would simply have to proof read my work to be wary of these errors.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Assignment #7
Looking back and reflecting on my writing so far in English 101 isn't a difficult task to do. I see my writing as a good piece of work most of the times and clear and concise. I honestly don't think that I have developed any more as a writer in my first semester of college. I'm writing papers for English and History like I did in high school but with fewer restrictions. In the least self-centered way, I believed myself to be a solid writer beforehand while taking AP English and History which included a arms full of essays throughout the years. I have found myself less intimidated by having to write a paper in college though. I am confident that I can whip out a 4-5 page paper on a topic or prompt and do well or better.
However, I have noticed that I have developed as a student and a critical thinking over this first semester at NEIU. Never before would I do drafts, revisions, or read my own work aloud to hear it with a voice, but now I find myself wanting to do these things before printing and turning in a paper. The peer review that we had done for the narrative essay was helpful in many ways and showed me how I can better my own papers and writing. I feel as if the class and the way it is run does a good job of not only teaching but making (atleast myself) think differently and become engaged in ways I didn't before.
The goals I had set for myself in the beginning of the class were simple enough and quite mundane. I feel like I will accomplish my goals of becoming a more mature person and passing the class with a good grade to start my academic career at NEIU for the next four years. I hope that this will help me better myself not only personally but academically for the coming years of 10-20 page papers and my eventual graduation from university.
However, I have noticed that I have developed as a student and a critical thinking over this first semester at NEIU. Never before would I do drafts, revisions, or read my own work aloud to hear it with a voice, but now I find myself wanting to do these things before printing and turning in a paper. The peer review that we had done for the narrative essay was helpful in many ways and showed me how I can better my own papers and writing. I feel as if the class and the way it is run does a good job of not only teaching but making (atleast myself) think differently and become engaged in ways I didn't before.
The goals I had set for myself in the beginning of the class were simple enough and quite mundane. I feel like I will accomplish my goals of becoming a more mature person and passing the class with a good grade to start my academic career at NEIU for the next four years. I hope that this will help me better myself not only personally but academically for the coming years of 10-20 page papers and my eventual graduation from university.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Assignment #5
Purpose: This public bus station ad for Vitamin Water Energy uses the bright color of the bottle, along with the public location that gives it great publicity mixed in with the creative USB port for those waiting for the bus to charge phones, ipods, and whatever else can be charged with the port. The ad is attempting to portray "alternative energy" both in a worldly sense along with a personal sense. The alternative energy used to power the USB ports is suppose to portray the alternative energy that would be Vitamin Water Energy in place of a soda or energy drink (Redbull, Monster) in your personal life.
Audience: The target audience of this ad is the newer generation that is up and rising. The ones who care about the planet and already emerging green scene. This appeals to the people of the age group 17-30 (roughly) with the ability to charge your device right out on the street.
Genre: the genre that I would put this ad under is Green energy. This is similar to other ad's that try and appeal to those who are into green and alternative energy. They use a catchy way to attract those to the ad and product all the while showing that they supposedly support green energy. For an ad that is attempting to appeal to those that are younger this is what I would expect from the company. Something modern to catch my attention while being a healthy option for myself.
Tone: The tone of this ad to me is that Vitamin Water cares about the planet and alternative ways of energy. In this tone it tries to relate and attract those who care about alternative energy. The advertiser would chose this tone to appeal and attempt the sympathy factor. If people think the company cares about the planet, they surely must care about your health and diet with their Vitamin Water as well.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Assignment #4
The paper I brought in on last Wednesday for peer revision was extremely different from the final paper that I brought in. That's because it was an entirely different paper from the first draft, partially because I didn't follow the guidelines quite as well as I should have.
Even though I didn't write the same paper that was revised, I was still able to take some of the revisions and some aspects of the revision process to my final paper. With the paper I wrote first I had noticed that my concise writing was good until I began to slip off a little near the end. I tried to stay more focused and plan out my organizational aspects of my final paper. I did that so I knew that my paper would finish strongly and wouldn't lose edge near the end.
A couple of things that helped me with my revisions were definitely the peer reviews and re-reading my own works. The peer reviewed helped me catch little mistakes as well as notice my common errors, like an unorganized sentence. I also read over my own papers and was able to notice my common errors and fix them as well as keep that in mind for my next writing assignments.
I believe that the strongest parts of my paper are definitely the intro and details of the middle. I am good at keeping pace with my paper and being on detail. However, I think the weakest part of my paper is the end of it. I often have trouble finishing off a paper and concluding it strongly.
Even though I didn't write the same paper that was revised, I was still able to take some of the revisions and some aspects of the revision process to my final paper. With the paper I wrote first I had noticed that my concise writing was good until I began to slip off a little near the end. I tried to stay more focused and plan out my organizational aspects of my final paper. I did that so I knew that my paper would finish strongly and wouldn't lose edge near the end.
A couple of things that helped me with my revisions were definitely the peer reviews and re-reading my own works. The peer reviewed helped me catch little mistakes as well as notice my common errors, like an unorganized sentence. I also read over my own papers and was able to notice my common errors and fix them as well as keep that in mind for my next writing assignments.
I believe that the strongest parts of my paper are definitely the intro and details of the middle. I am good at keeping pace with my paper and being on detail. However, I think the weakest part of my paper is the end of it. I often have trouble finishing off a paper and concluding it strongly.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Assignment #3
Organization- One difference between an A paper and a C paper, to me, is organization. An A paper is well prepared and doesn't have events or information out of order. Unlike the C paper that can be a little jumpy with its events and may not make sense to the reader due to non-chronological events.
To me organization in a paper isn't that difficult. I have learned over the coarse of my writing career how to organize my ideas and paper in a way that it should be or as close to that as I can.
Word Choice- Another key difference to An A paper and a C paper is the authors word choice throughout the piece. An A paper has the correct type of word for the situation or section in the piece. An A paper will have an intense word when needed or a elaborate word when called for. A C paper will have lousy word choice and will lose readers attention due to lack of emotion or feeling to the piece.
Personally I don't find word choice as one of my weak points in writing. After having a sister who was an English major and a Mother who took English as a delight I was raised to have a big vocabulary. As well as having 2 years of AP English under my belt I have thought I have extended my vocabulary and try to use the best word choice possible.
Detail- Another difference I believe separates an A paper and a C paper is detail. An A paper has detail when needed and called for and elaborates on the significant points or events or people in a piece. As a C paper may lack details in certain areas and don't always give the most information about significant events.
Out of the three listed above i believe that detail is somewhat my weakest area. Sometimes I tend to lack detail and become lazy about the places I chose to leave or add detail. I find it hard to sit and write an entire paper in one sitting and become restless and antsy. Therefor I start to slip off my talent in the end of papers and lose my final touch.
To me organization in a paper isn't that difficult. I have learned over the coarse of my writing career how to organize my ideas and paper in a way that it should be or as close to that as I can.
Word Choice- Another key difference to An A paper and a C paper is the authors word choice throughout the piece. An A paper has the correct type of word for the situation or section in the piece. An A paper will have an intense word when needed or a elaborate word when called for. A C paper will have lousy word choice and will lose readers attention due to lack of emotion or feeling to the piece.
Personally I don't find word choice as one of my weak points in writing. After having a sister who was an English major and a Mother who took English as a delight I was raised to have a big vocabulary. As well as having 2 years of AP English under my belt I have thought I have extended my vocabulary and try to use the best word choice possible.
Detail- Another difference I believe separates an A paper and a C paper is detail. An A paper has detail when needed and called for and elaborates on the significant points or events or people in a piece. As a C paper may lack details in certain areas and don't always give the most information about significant events.
Out of the three listed above i believe that detail is somewhat my weakest area. Sometimes I tend to lack detail and become lazy about the places I chose to leave or add detail. I find it hard to sit and write an entire paper in one sitting and become restless and antsy. Therefor I start to slip off my talent in the end of papers and lose my final touch.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Assignment #2
For my literary narrative it took me a little while to come up with some topics. Then I thought about the things I enjoy(ed) and the things I remember most.
I came up with these ideas.
When I was in the fourth grade I met and went to a convention with multiple big time Chicago Bears players at the time. Being enormously engulfed in football since a young age along with my family we were some of the last to stick around for question and answers and even after the scheduled stop time. My mom and I ended up talking to a player and joked around about getting free tickets to a game soon. He decided to take down our number and names "just in case" he was able to get the tickets. Well essentially he was able to get the tickets, how he let us know, which game it was, and how I remember it is well worth 3-4 pages of a story.
I feel as though the above summarized story could be a very entertaining and interest catching kind of topic or story. If one is a big football fan or even Bears fan this would be quite a story to tell. However, if someone in my audience doesn't enjoy sports or appreciate it like I do then the story may be dragged out and boring.
This summer. . . Sucked. Plain and simple. It was a horrible horrible summer for myself and my friends. But, somehow, by the hand of God, we made it into our apartment and into our respective schools with the means and funds to do so. How we did it? A lot of work and effort for one, along with personally believing we were being blessed the entire time this summer. I have only lived in my place as long as a week now and it feels like a month. How we came here and what we went through to come about in this amazingly blessed spot is no clue to me. I can just tell it from my perspective in the ways I saw it.
The above story can easily be related to almost anyone who has had a summer vacation. Everyone goes through them and thinks they are the top down, hair blowin in the wind, California sun drenched summers, so I think this may give a different perception to summer vacations and how they can go. However, I am aware that some may look at a narrative like this to be "whiny" and "cry-baby-ish" at the same time.
Young and restless. The best way to describe me as a young child growing up with his best friend in the same neighborhood and a nephew who turned brother living with him in the same house. The three amigos and then some often enjoyed to hang out down by a ravine that was next to train tracks and a notorious spot for homeless sleepers. Did we care? As a 11 year old taking on the world would you? I have done quite dumb things in my life before however almost burning down a small patch of forest, that was a block away from the Illinois Beach State Resort full of brush and highly flammable material, might have been a list topper for a while.
This story is highly entertaining and defiantly has all aspects of a narrative built in already. However, I have noticed growing up that few select find a humor as I do and often look at me like I am still 11 when i reminisce about my childhood fright stories or those " it shoulda went like this. . . but it ended like this" type of stories. So this may be a good choice but will people be entertained or just brush off the story as a couple of dumb kids in a neighborhood together.
I came up with these ideas.
When I was in the fourth grade I met and went to a convention with multiple big time Chicago Bears players at the time. Being enormously engulfed in football since a young age along with my family we were some of the last to stick around for question and answers and even after the scheduled stop time. My mom and I ended up talking to a player and joked around about getting free tickets to a game soon. He decided to take down our number and names "just in case" he was able to get the tickets. Well essentially he was able to get the tickets, how he let us know, which game it was, and how I remember it is well worth 3-4 pages of a story.
I feel as though the above summarized story could be a very entertaining and interest catching kind of topic or story. If one is a big football fan or even Bears fan this would be quite a story to tell. However, if someone in my audience doesn't enjoy sports or appreciate it like I do then the story may be dragged out and boring.
This summer. . . Sucked. Plain and simple. It was a horrible horrible summer for myself and my friends. But, somehow, by the hand of God, we made it into our apartment and into our respective schools with the means and funds to do so. How we did it? A lot of work and effort for one, along with personally believing we were being blessed the entire time this summer. I have only lived in my place as long as a week now and it feels like a month. How we came here and what we went through to come about in this amazingly blessed spot is no clue to me. I can just tell it from my perspective in the ways I saw it.
The above story can easily be related to almost anyone who has had a summer vacation. Everyone goes through them and thinks they are the top down, hair blowin in the wind, California sun drenched summers, so I think this may give a different perception to summer vacations and how they can go. However, I am aware that some may look at a narrative like this to be "whiny" and "cry-baby-ish" at the same time.
Young and restless. The best way to describe me as a young child growing up with his best friend in the same neighborhood and a nephew who turned brother living with him in the same house. The three amigos and then some often enjoyed to hang out down by a ravine that was next to train tracks and a notorious spot for homeless sleepers. Did we care? As a 11 year old taking on the world would you? I have done quite dumb things in my life before however almost burning down a small patch of forest, that was a block away from the Illinois Beach State Resort full of brush and highly flammable material, might have been a list topper for a while.
This story is highly entertaining and defiantly has all aspects of a narrative built in already. However, I have noticed growing up that few select find a humor as I do and often look at me like I am still 11 when i reminisce about my childhood fright stories or those " it shoulda went like this. . . but it ended like this" type of stories. So this may be a good choice but will people be entertained or just brush off the story as a couple of dumb kids in a neighborhood together.
Assignment #1
Why am I taking a English 101 class? But, seriously, I am asking why I am taking a English 101 class. Partially I am taking this class due to the simple fact that NEIU is putting me in it and telling me i have to take it before moving up and beyond the 101 spectrum. However I wonder why I am in this class due to the fact I was in AP English for 2 years. After taking those classes I never would have thought that I would of ended up in a 101. However I look at my class load and I thought that maybe this class would be good for me. In upper levels many teachers normally expect very highly of those students. So when a basic concept was mentioned and in my head I was baffled I was to embarrassed to ask what it was. (Oh, silly highschool). So honestly I thought that to become on even better writer and reader maybe I should get back to the roots of English instead of attempting to perplex myself with AP essays and novel upon novel to read.
As well as hoping to be a better writer and reader when I finish this course I also wanted something else. A simple college experiance type class that wasn't trying to hold my hand all day and let me do my own thing. I expect this class to teach me responsibility in the way that I personally think I am good at English and that I have done quite well up until this point. So, taking a 101 English class made me think at first "Damn, I'm gonna skip this class so often. I will miss stuff but I can catch up easily." Now after the first day in class I expect myself at every class and to do every assignment. I want to not only prove to myself and others that I can do this, on my own, but also as a adult. I hope to get a bigger sense of maturity once I have finished this course and move on with my collegiate carreer. If I can accomplish that along with passing the class with a grade I am pleased with, I think I will have done just fine.
As well as hoping to be a better writer and reader when I finish this course I also wanted something else. A simple college experiance type class that wasn't trying to hold my hand all day and let me do my own thing. I expect this class to teach me responsibility in the way that I personally think I am good at English and that I have done quite well up until this point. So, taking a 101 English class made me think at first "Damn, I'm gonna skip this class so often. I will miss stuff but I can catch up easily." Now after the first day in class I expect myself at every class and to do every assignment. I want to not only prove to myself and others that I can do this, on my own, but also as a adult. I hope to get a bigger sense of maturity once I have finished this course and move on with my collegiate carreer. If I can accomplish that along with passing the class with a grade I am pleased with, I think I will have done just fine.
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