Learning Outcome #1
“Demonstrate the ability to approach writing as a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision).”
- After writing my first paper, I took into consideration to what I felt good about in the paper I had submitted. Although I had plenty of time, I found myself not giving myself enough to edit what I felt was not flowing through my paper. The content that was in my paper felt unorganized and I knew that I hadn’t given the proper time for organization and clarity. I knew that I had a lot of work to do and I had felt rusty after writing my first paper. I realized that I hadn’t introduced the other side of my argument and stating the naysayer. When I got the feedback for my paper, I knew that I needed to make some changes in the way that I played. I was disappointed in myself and knew that with my peers revision suggestions, I would become stronger as a writer and have more clarity within my arguments. A big part of the revision process that I found helps me the most is when I color coding, architectural drafts and “chunking”. Before English 110, I wasn’t aware of architectural drafts and how organized and structured they can make a paper be. I found the color coding exercise the most helpful to me because I was able to see where I went wrong in the writing process. I often found myself analyzing too much and often rambling. Within this process I found it easier to see where my mistakes were. The colors allowed me to visually see the separation that gave me be ability to add and delete the parts of my essay that I no longer wanted. I find myself mostly focusing on the local vision rather than the global revision because I am weaker when it comes to proofreading. Little mistakes are usually found so I knew I needed to divert my attention to editing and proofreading, rather then clarity which is what I found I was stronger in. Through the processes of editing my papers I have learned that the recursive process should be allowed time and effort because without it, the paper will not be at it’s greatest potential.
- Here is a link of the color coding exercise from my rough draft of “The Future of The Past”, that allowed me to space out the chunks of my paper that I found were not working well together: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vtDXM72_V3t5ZlWdZuFGC4UKoJyYkxrUPi7yzprzMpk/edit
- Here is the link of my final draft of the “The Future of The Past” after applying all of the tools of global and local revision: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1go4kApkcMf-zAuQrgiUZmoY6lKXkPsJJtLCXuN-JzIM/edit
Learning Outcome #2
“Be able to integrate their ideas with those of others using summary, paraphrase, quotation, analysis and synthesis of relevant sources.”
- By using text evidence, a writer can make his/her paper stronger by using information to back up their arguments. The strength of a paper can be determined by the evidence that a writer can present to their audience. If a writer fails to mention any evidence then their claims are invalid and have no sources to be backed up by. Through almost all of my writing, I find it easier to use textural evidence to support my claims and uphold my readers attention. The integration of these texts should be introduced and then explained so the reader can gradually understand where and why this text is being used. Using relevant sources will only help a paper and for me I found it challenging at times to properly introduce my quotes. For example, a chosen piece of work that I think best represents the use of summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting, analyzing and synthesizing would be my third and final paper. I worked with Bill Wasik, Richard Restak and Peter DePetrio to analyze the detrimental effects of technology, especially in the minds of young adults. I felt confident in my ability to integrate these texts because of the rich information that they all presented to me. I was able to use these sources to intertwine their ideas and arguments about technology by using proper introduction and synthesis. A statement that I felt was my strongest needed to be supported by an even stronger quote. I first introduced my main topic “the loss of verbal and physical contact is absent when a young adult is given a screen to study or accomplish an assignment on. More young adults seem to be subjected to technology as they develop”. After introducing the topic I then stated a quote that I felt best represented my opinion, “yes, the internet allows us to find others with similar interests and chat among ourselves: but this is just an online analogue of what we always have been able to do in person…” (480). After introducing the quote, I felt it was best to follow up and analyze why I chose this quote. I stated “Even before ways of communication through technology occurred, it was always possible to just talk to another person instead of typing out a message. The absence of human interaction due to the substitution of a screen can possibly alter the cognitive and social development.” Working on my ability to integrate quotes gave my paper strength and certainty when I needed it the most. In English 110, I felt that the skills used to summarize, paraphrase, quote, analyze and synthesize became stronger with every paper I wrote.
- Here is my third and final paper where I used an example of text evidence: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IFttdigj_2O3kIU6kZUFWoRYPIXcjDCX9gEuD2D-kLo/edit
Learning Outcome #4
“Be able to critique their own and others’ work by emphasizing global revision early in the writing process and local revision later in the process.”
Here is a link to a 150 note: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DJ-xnH-EUtcZf32d1oIdclUv4H9MuNup0g98yGKizoA/edit
- When revising peers papers, I really enjoy to make a list of the strong elements in their paper as well as what didn’t work for them. I feel its best to let the reader know what his/her strengths are so they know what is their strongest skill. In this peer review I decided to make note of the connections and the elements in his/her paper that I found interesting. I made suggestions on how the paper could be better structured so the reader could understand the thesis and arguments that supported it.
Here is a peer review:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h0XGWoX5n-INu-mV9bVYYjz15PpvVmQ11Z6zcuAB5jE/edit
- In this peer review, I made sure that the writer knew what did and didn’t’ work for them. I made specific suggestions as to what should be changed, even if the title wasn’t catching my eye enough I knew that they should change it. Suggestion wise I knew this is where peers rely on others to critique papers in order for their writing to get stronger. I made comments in the margins, highlighted and commented “make thesis stronger so the reader isn’t left asking questions, structure is so it answers “who, what, why…” or “there is a good quote in the article from Henig that talks about the statistics from previous generations until now… use that in this sentence and it will work!” Giving helpful suggestions to those who may need another opinion is all what peer review is about. I feel as if my editing and the recursive process has gotten better with each paper and peer review that was given.
Learning Outcomes #5 and #6
- For my significant writing piece I decided to choose my third and final essay. This shows my best work and overall best effort made. The connections that I had made were strong and my quotes were used properly and effectively to show support to my thesis. I was able to effectively process my thoughts and clearly state my thesis with strong support. I often have a hard time distinguishing my problem with run on sentences. I’ve had this problem in almost all of my writing and through three papers and three peer reviews I felt that I became stronger through the recursive process. Some sources that I used were The Little Seagull Handbook as well as in class discussions. I learned from peer reviews where I made mistakes and I hadn’t seen them. Through the process of revision I made sure to find where my strengths and weaknesses are.
- Here is the rough draft:
https://cgray8.uneportfolio.org/english-110/significant-writing-project-rough-draft/
- Here is the final draft:
https://cgray8.uneportfolio.org/english-110/significant-writing-project-final-draft/
