Tag Archives: Personal Input

Unit Reflections, Weekly Reflections

Commonplace Blog Reflection

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Using a blog as a reflective tool for my writing class was very effective. The blog offers a space where I can go to write my thoughts and reflections about the assignments given to us in Writing 101. It also gives me a space where I can collect and organize my writing process, as well as who I am as a writer. Keeping a blog for the entire semester has given me something that I can use to reflect upon my own learning. I will be able to learn from this blog not only now, but any time I choose to go back and look at my writing. It is fascinating to see my growth as a writer in such a short amount of time. Although the quality of my blog may not be top-of-the-line, it does do great job of explaining what all I went through and what all I learned about this semester.

Keeping a blog for this semester made me an exponentially better writer. We were given quite a few assignments that instructed us to go find a piece of writing and analyze it. On the surface, this may seem simple. However, I came to find out that there was much more beneath the surface of writing than I had previously thought. Knowing about your audience is one of the strongest tools available in writing. Being able to shape and mold a piece of writing so that it better reaches an audience will improve one’s writing extremely. When writing reaches the intended audience, the readers are able to clearly read exactly what point the author is trying to make. Keeping in mind the intended audience while writing my blog helped to reinforce the idea that all of my writings should have a target audience, and they should all address said audience appropriately.  I plan to use this concept of intended audience to strengthen all of my writings.
Another important benefit I gained by keeping a blog was the ability to read more effectively. Now that I have a clearer understanding about why authors make the choices they do, I am better able to decipher what the authors main point is. This allows me to “trim the fat” off of any piece of writing and study the main points. I feel that this makes me not only a better reader, but also someone who can learn easier. Now that I understand how to look for and identify a writer’s (or speaker’s) purpose, I am better able to respond in a manner that is beneficial. I plan to use this skill not only when I write and when I read, but also when I speak to people. The ability to identify an intended purpose or main idea will be extremely helpful in all of my future writings and readings.

I feel that the area I grew the most in by keeping this blog was my ability to critically think. I feel that keeping a blog helped me to organize my thoughts and to become a clearer writer. Throughout my blog, I analyze many different articles from the NY Times. This analysis helped my critical thinking skills immensely. Because of keeping my blog, I now feel that I am a much stronger thinker as well as a much stronger do-er.

One thing I wish I had more of in my blog is personal reflections that have nothing to do with academia. I wish I had taken the time to write more about my every-day life. It would be very beneficial for me to be able to look back at some of the struggles I was facing in my personal life and see how I grew from them and how I overcame them. I also think it would be a fun way to look back and reflect upon my life a few years from now.

In my blog, I mention a lot about tools to strengthen your writing. I like to imagine that people as writers have a sort of “tool belt.” This tool belt is filled with all the different strategies and techniques one can use in his or her writing to make it more effective. One example would be the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Using these three different tools can do a lot to strengthen or shape one’s writing. Pathos is used to draw out an emotional response from your audience. This will cause the reader to connect the emotion with the writing in his or her brain. This causes one’s writing to be memorable and impactful. Ethos can be used to strengthen the credibility of one’s writing. By making statements or by drawing upon credible sources, one makes his or her writing much more credible and reliable. Logos can be used to add details and statistics to your writing. When invoking the use of logos, a writer can effectively describe situations more clearly because of the use of data and statistics. Using logos will also help to strengthen the credibility of one’s writing, because well-organized facts and data help to add to the overall credibility of the argument.

After careful revising and completion, I have added tags to my blog. Tags are short words or phrases that are used to sum up or categorize my posts. For example, one of my tags is “Purpose.” If you click on a post with the Purpose tag, it will take you to all of my other posts that are related to purpose.  The tags that I have chosen to organize my posts, as well as the blog posts that I created are a representation of my understanding of what it means to be an educated person.

Daily Writes

The Privilege of Wild Food

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I very much enjoyed this article. I enjoyed the author’s choice of language to describe what it’s like to be a fisherman and how important their work is. I also enjoyed his description of cooking Cod Cakes, so much so that it made my mouth water. If I were to comment on the article I would just say thank you to the author for raising awareness about how privileged we are to enjoy such wonderful food. I would also thank him for encouraging people to be thankful for the food they eat and also for instructing people to think about where there food came from and all the work that went into catching and preparing it.

Daily Writes, Other Writing

Using Descriptive Language in My Reflection

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When I created the draft of my analysis paper, I began by thinking to myself and sort of internally brainstorming. I thought about what I wished to reflect upon. After forming a sort of thesis for my topic, I decided to do a bit of free writing. I remember feeling very excited about writing this paper because it was a topic I am passionate about. Being excited about and enjoying the source material for my papers makes them extremely easier.

One tough spot for me in writing this paper was figuring out how I wanted to relay the message to my audience. I had to make specific rhetorical choices, such as including things about the emotions tied in to politics. Using the right strategy helped make my paper much more cohesive and effective.

 

Daily Writes, Other Writing

How to Survive Writing a Problem/Solution Argument Paper

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Writing the problem/solution argument essay was a challenge. I began my writing process by finding a topic that interested me. After I found my topic, I began to search the internet for articles relating to my topic. This proved to be much more challenging than I had expected. It took me quite some time to find articles I could use to help my argument. I realized this probably meant my argument was too narrow. I then decided to expand my topic a bit in order to help find more materials to use. This helped me find more sources that supported my argument, and helped my paper deliver a stronger message.

My audience for this paper was an academic, well-educated audience that was interested in my topic. I chose to write in a way that helped my paper seem more credible and convincing, in order to help “convince” my audience. I made specific rhetorical choices while writing to help increase the attractiveness of my solution. This helped make my paper seem more credible and interesting.

Balancing this paper with my other course work was extremely difficult. However, it did not have to be. The professor gave us plenty of time to do this project. It would be extremely beneficial to use all of the given time wisely. I failed to do this. This resulted in me having to write a paper in the middle of one of the busiest weeks in my semester. My advice would be to use all of your time wisely so that you do not have to cram to do this project. Allow yourself plenty of time to find a topic that you can write about clearly and effectively. Do not be afraid to change topics if you are not finding the information you want.

Unit Reflections

Reflection on Multi-Modal Project

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“A Reflection on Creating a Website”
When we were first assigned the Multi-Modal project in writing 101, I was a bit nervous. I had zero experience creating or designing a website, and was worried this assignment would involve hours of working to create a not-so-spectacular website. However, after being taught in class and viewing some videos on Youtube, I felt much more confident in my ability to create the website. Working on this project taught me that one of the most important steps in finishing a difficult assignment is to jump in and get to work. Although I was initially afraid of how much work this would involve, I soon came to realize that this would be one of the more entertaining assignments I would do in my writing class.
Working with Jimdo.com was an amazing experience because Jimdo is extremely user-friendly and easy to pick up. I really enjoyed all of the tools and editing styles one can achieve using Jimdo. It makes designing a website extremely easy and enjoyable. I enjoyed the website so much because of how worried I was that this would be a difficult assignment. I was worried it would be extremely complex to create a website that had a great visual appeal as well as getting my message across. With Jimdo, however, it turned out to be an extremely fun and easy task.
Building a website is an extremely rewarding experience. People spend most of their lives searching the internet without a clue about what goes into creating and designing the webpages they view. After this assignment, I feel that I have a much better perspective on how much work people put into designing a website, as well as how many intentional choices are made by the designers in order to make the website more efficient. I enjoyed this project because it helped solidify in my mind that one of the hardest parts of doing an assignment is just getting started. And, I would wager that most of the time, once I do start, the assignment becomes much more enjoyable and informative.

Other Writing, Unit Reflections, Weekly Reflections

Gallery Walk Reflection

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I enjoyed participating in the gallery walk. We walked around the class room and inspected each others websites and answered questions about the websites. I enjoyed this because seeing other people’s websites because it gave me new ideas to use for my website. The questions people answered about my website will also help me to improve my website. This exercise helped make my website better.

Daily Writes, Other Writing

Learning Technology

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Learning new technology is extremely beneficial. Learning new technology makes you competitive when searching for a job, it helps you be more connected to more people, and it helps you do things in your life way easier.

In my personal life, I learned photoshop so I could do some small graphic design jobs. Because I learned photoshop, I met more people, and made more money. I was able to promote local bands in the Memphis area and their shows. Here is an album cover I designed for a local band called Ecclesiast:

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In my academic and work life, I had to learn how to use a software called finale in order to compose music. I began learning finale in 2011, and have been continually getting better and better. It helps me write different pieces for the different ensembles I participate in.

Other Writing, Weekly Reflections

Connecting Your “Real Life” to Writing

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During this spring break,  I spent most of my time resting and relaxing, as most students do. I did, however, find time to think about the wonderful world of Writing 101 and the glorious tool that is rhetoric. I began reading a book titled A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin. The book is a fiction novel, but it is filled with brilliant writing. Martin’s style and word choice create an extremely gorgeous style. His language choice helps to create different tones and moods that make me as a reader feel as if I’m a part of the story. He does an amazing job of describing places, weather, people, and the actions people make. His writing paints a picture so easily it makes it difficult to put down the book. The things we’ve been learning in Writ101 have helped me to better recognize and appreciate the tools Martin uses to create such a wonderful story.

Other Writing, Weekly Reflections

Connecting the NYT to My Education

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Have We Been Playing Gershwin Wrong for 70 Years?

Earlier this week in my Music classes we talked about the significance of George Gershwin and his compositions. Gershwin is seen as one of the most influential early American composers. His jazzy, lyrical works have been cemented in American musical culture for the past 70 years. This article talks about how in one of Gershwin’s most famous works, “An American in Paris,” the composer calls for a “french taxi horn” part. This is obviously not a standard musical instrument used in classical music. The article claims that for the past 70 years, performers have been using notes that are incorrect to what Gershwin would have actually intended. This article is connected to my studies as a music major because it shows that we are still learning and discovering new things about music. This suggests to me that my education at Ole Miss is important because soon it will be my responsibility as well as my peer’s to continue the study of music. We will be responsible for interpreting new meanings behind music, as well as continuing to teach about the culture provided by modern American music.

Weekly Reflections

Learning About Writing (Feb. 8-12)

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This week in WRIT101 we talked about the benefits of using transitional words or phrases. I found this lessons to be particularlly helpful because it will help to strengthen my writing and help make my writing more effective to my audience. I plan to use the information I learned about transition phrases in all of my academic writings. Learning about transitional words and phrases affected my writing positively by helping me to make my writing more effective. I am excited to be able to use this technique in all of my future writings.