In the past, I have used analysis in multiple ways but never thought in depth about it. When reflecting on how I use analysis, I thought of times when I receive a grade back in a class. I use many skills of analysis to decode the meaning of that particular grade such as what the comments reflected, the percentage of my grade, how I could have prepared better, and figuring out my professors grading style. In return, I use the concluding analysis to understand my academic progress better. Overall, I realized that I use analysis in many ways throughout my life.
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Collaborative Thinking and Writing Response
Posted onI think collaborative thinking and writing is very useful when analyzing something. Most of the time, the ideas others have will spark something I personally had not thought about. In addition to this, I think the more perspective and unique thoughts of other people enrich the material of your analysis. Overall, I like working together when it comes to understanding a piece of text.
Literacy Guide Unit Reflection
Posted onI learned many valuable writing techniques, development skills and analysis strategies through out the literacy guide assignment. I started by organizing my ideas and dividing the “must-haves” into each category. Once that was complete, I was able to refer to the previous homework activities in order to find examples to implement in my guide. For example, I used the three charts as a starting point for exploring The New York Times. The most helpful chart in particular, was where we used the “most popular” page to find three articles. I had a whole section of my guide dedicated to using the “most popular” page as a tool for navigating through the newspaper. I was able to use my previous analysis from the chart to expand on my new thoughts with the examples I used in the guide. This showed me the value of taking a specific idea and elaborating. I feel that analysis has been one of my weaknesses when writing so this technique of using my previous work was extremely valuable. While implementing the analysis to my examples, I realized that I was having a hard time covering all the “must-haves”. I had no problem with hyperlinking articles, clarifying a voice, and analyzing the different styles and preferences. What I did struggle with was finding the different article forms and modes that would cover each of the topics I had assigned to topic prior to writing. I found that I would continue to use news reports and multimedia pieces repetitively. I had to rewrite sections multiple times and spend a lot of time searching for the perfect example in something other than news reports and videos. Like with the “most popular” chart homework, I used my previous work, “One topic three ways”, to get a better idea of the different article types out there. At first this chart was helpful, but then I realized it was still lacking the elements I needed. It is at this point in my writing of the guide, I happened to stumble across the times topic page. During my search for the perfect example, this page within the newspaper was able to have multiple modes of information with a click of a button. This initial frustration led to this new discovery within The New York Times. In reaction to this valuable and helpful tool, I was able to create the last section of my guide. This moment was extremely valuable to me because I was able to learn a valuable organization skill through my own mistakes. Out of the entire project, this was my personal favorite learning moment. I learned an important lesson and was able in return to use it to complete the assignment. With this being said, I believe that my advice to myself from this particular writing task would be don’t be afraid to make mistakes and implement these struggles into a unique way in which can be used to complete the task at hand or in the future. Practice makes perfect and rewriting is not a sign of organizational or developmental weakness.
Daily Write: Writing Weaknesses
Posted onMy biggest fear when it comes to writing is the process of forming my ideas into an organized and well explained paper. I have no problem creating the points that I want to cover. My only issue is turning these thoughts into sentences with a balanced amount of analysis. I find myself most of the time giving good examples that cover the topic and main ideas. It is the elaboration and analysis of these examples that I struggle to formulate in my writings. In addition to the lack of explanation, I feel that my papers can be repetitive and inarticulate. In conclusion, I feel I am improving, but I still feel I struggle with the idea of creating an assignment overall.
Daily Write: College Reflection
Posted onSomething that I had not thought about prior to college was the amount of writing I would have to complete in my spare time. I understood that taking this class would involve a lot of outside writing, but its my other core classes that took me by surprise. For example, in my history class, I expected to be taking a bunch of tests and quizzes, but in reality I have had several major essays. I feel that this has pushed me to not only become a better writer but listener and student. It has also taught me the importance of time management and self discipline. In conclusion, the shock of the amount of writing has resulted in me learning the valuable skills to be a successful student in college.
Daily Write: Media in The New York Times
Posted onToday I learned that The New York Times uses media to add emotion to their writing pieces. As my group and I discussed our different news stories, we concluded that we were drawn to the article because of the pictures and videos within the text. We also decided that the pictures provoked a variety of emotions. For example, at the top my article there was a picture of a young deceased child that had be swept onto shore by the ocean waves. This initial visual made me feel upset and horrified as to how something so tragic had happened. Had I not seen this picture, the topic of immigration wouldn’t be something I was interested in reading about. On the contrary to my feelings, one of my group members found the picture to be disgusting and unnecessary. She expressed her extreme dislike for the inclusion of the picture even to the point that she wouldn’t have wanted to read what the reporter had to say about the incident. That one picture changed the perspective of the entire article for each of us in a different way. In the past, I had not payed much attention to the effects of the visual media when reading an article. Overall, I realized that The New York Times uses visual media to attract and provide additional emotion to the reader.
Daily Write: Personal Experience with the New York Times
Posted onToday was the first time that I truly read more than one article in the newspaper at a single time. In the past, I haven’t had a personal reason or need to read the newspaper. My family, mainly my Dad and Grandparents, read newspapers daily. Therefore, I have always let them do the reading and I listen to the summary and debates they create. I also found that the topics the main page would express were not something I was interested in. After my experiences today, I feel I am becoming more comfortable and aware with what the New York Times has to offer. However, I am still learning so much about the construction and topics within the website.
Common Reading Unit Reflection
Posted onThrough out this unit, I learned a lot of valuable skills and strategies that will help improve my writing in the future. One of the most important skills I learned was the extreme need to come to class prepared. I had finished the book, The Education of a Lifetime, before the beginning of school which was instrumental through out the entire first unit. I was able to use the homework and class assignments to strengthen my understanding of the book. This in return would help with the very little experience I had with timed writing assignments. I used many new techniques in order to prepare and complete my essay. For example, at my high school we wrote timed essays but we got the prompt the day before and were able to gather our ideas and organize our essay that night. With this writing, I was unable to prepare on the exact prompt but I was able to do some “prep-work” in a similar fashion. I spent the night before the essay gathering evidence and ideas from the previous assignments we had done in class and for homework. I made sure to include a wide variety of examples and multiple ways to use each piece of evidence. With creating different ways to use a single quote, I was able to create a wider range of analysis which could be used for different prompts. With my notes and ideas in hand, I then read each provided prompt. I picked the first prompt because I had the most examples and prior knowledge on that particular question. I felt that having that list prepared prior to class time was significantly helpful. I didn’t have to spend time searching through the book to find the quotes and I was able to chose a prompt quicker and more efficiently. Although this strategy was extremely useful to my writing process, I think creating an outline prior to writing my essay was the most beneficial strategy. I organized the evidence in the order I wanted the paper to flow along with creating a strong thesis. It only took about five minutes to complete and it kept me focused as I wrote my assignment. I felt I had good supporting evidence and my ideas were clear and appropriate for the topic. However, my weakness during the in-class writing essay was forming those ideas into a concise paragraph and fluent essay within the time restraint. I feel I struggle with rambling and re-writing the same idea repetitively. With this being said I also have extreme test anxiety. I found myself getting frustrated and discouraged when I didn’t have the words to articulate a particular idea. In the future, I plan on creating sentences ahead of time to use in my essay. I also will create a time limit per section in order to prevent me from spending all my time on a specific paragraph. Overall I learned many lessons from the mistakes and struggles within this one writing assignment. I hope to use these to improve my timed essays throughout my college experience.
Daily Write: Fashion Article Opinions
Posted onToday I read “Defying Tradition, and Working Out, to Wear Bridal Crop Tops” from August 27,2015 by Sheila Marikar. The author of this article focuses on the new trends of out with the zip-up dresses and in with the two-piece bridal gown. Marikar includes different women commenting on the idea from both sides of the new trend. She also provides the latest work out and exercise techniques suggested by health professionals to get the crop top body. I liked this article because it was focused on fashion and weddings. I have always loved reading about all the new trends and fads for weddings. In particular, the article it states “The trend of midriff-exposing tops has entered the bridal department, possibly adding a whole new element of angst for those who dare to bare quite a bit more than most traditions dictate. (Though in some traditions, like those of India, brides have worn midsection-revealing saris and lenghas for centuries.)”. I found it interesting that the new traditions of brides of this culture are starting to adapt the ideas and traditions of other cultures. I felt that it shows the evolution and merging of cultures around the world.
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