Category: Unit Reflections
Unit 4 reflection
I always love this unit. For some reason, I am good at navigating these websites and figuring out how to work them. I love how my website turned out even though I have a good bit left to finish. My topic also did not bother me because in each unit, I changed it slightly each time. I feel accomplished and I’m just ready for that final push!
Unit 3 Reflection
My advice to a new student beginning the research paper would be to never be afraid to email their teacher and ask for help because it really does help. I would also discuss with them how helpful the student samples are and how they can contribute to their paper. I would talk about how they should put a lot of effort into the annotated bib because it helps so much with the works cited page, citing, commentary, and makes sure you have enough sources for your paper. I really liked the annotated bib (after it was done) because it has been so useful in my paper. If you forgot what a source was about, you could easily read the commentary you wrote on the source and decide which source best fits what you need. I would say that although it is sometimes hard to have the introduction or rough draft done in time for peer review, peer review for me was so effective. Also, having your teacher basically make you start on your paper and slowly add day by day helps by not procrastinating the paper and think on it for a long time.
Unit 4 Reflection- Op-Ed blog post 11/16
This unit was a little bit complicated because I am still trying to get used to blog spaces even though it is November, but it was really neat being able to write like this. I really enjoyed this unit because it was so different. Although it was challenging at first, I got pretty good at formatting and other things on the blog space. Writing for a different audience was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be because I already had original ideas in my head from writing my argumentative paper. It was difficult not to repeat myself from my paper and to make it more opinionated. I am not used to writing opinionated articles, but I actually enjoyed it. I am also proud of myself because I got my formatting and pictures to look exactly like I wanted them to and it was a lot simpler than I had expected.
Unit 3 Reflection 11/4/16
Writing this paper has helped me realize that I honestly am a good writer and I have grown tremendously in my ability to research. The library website has also helped me so much with finding specific things. I have also gotten a lot better at citing sources and giving credibility and ethos to authors. Seeing my progress as a writer has helped me by encouraging me by seeing how far I have come already. My counterclaim argument have me a few challenges here and there, but I am happy with how it turned out and what I ended up writing about. I had challenges with finding a topic that I wanted to write about and that I could write a lot about. I ended up changing from my original topic because it was not specific enough, but I am happy with what I ended up writing about. Writing is definitely a process and I have learned that more and more as I struggle with patience and time management. I really liked when we did the memes about our papers also because it helped me realize that I was not the only person struggling.
Unit Reflection Unit 2 10/10/16
Unit 2 has helped me understand rhetorical analysis and the different ways to appeal to audiences. I did not really realize how much pictures appeal to emotions and how much writers use pathos in their columns to catch their audiences’ eyes. I have never thought of satire like I did when we learned about it. I thought comedians were just trying to be funny, but some comedians use satire and sarcasm to make their appoints, usually about politics, and help the audience view the subject in a different way.
Unit 1 Reflection 9/19/16
My first synthesis paper was much different than any papers I had written before. In high school we never wrote a paper more than one and a half pages so this paper was much longer. I personally struggled with finding enough things to write about and expand on my prompt so that was a challenge. Rewriting my intro in class definitely helped me a lot with thinking of the prompt differently. It helped me expand more and introduce my prompt more efficiently. This paper was slightly frustrating just because thinking about the length can really get in your head even though it ended up not being that bad. Knowing you have never done a paper that long before can give you anxiety because you might feel like you don’t have enough to write about. I often reflected on Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts”. This helped me because it reminded me that it did not have to be perfect. Writing is a long process that involves many trials and errors. I feel like I have already grown academically in college. I am much better at citing my sources and introducing my quotes. I have also improved in relating my citations to my prompt. Having a writing partner helped me a lot. My partner helped me realize things that I did not know I had wrong or overlooked. In order to improve my work, next time I can work on my citations even more and be even more familiar with them. I can spend more time re reading my essay and making sure everything is correct.