Extra Credit Holiday Activity

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Here's my last post for English 109H, please enjoy my fun sentences and know that I used FANBOYS for compound sentences. If you're unfamiliar with that, then see this link.

Happy Holidays everyone!

1) I heard the Bells on Christmas, and I saw Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!

2) I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, so let Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow, Tucson!

3) I'll Be Home for Christmas; my mom asked me what I wanted, so I said, All I want for Christmas is you!

4) I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and the worst part is- it was Up on the Housetop!

5) Baby it's Cold Outside; how is Jolly Old St. Nicholas Dashing Through the Snow in a one-horse open sleigh tonight?

Blog Post 40: Write A Letter of Encouragement To Yourself

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Dear future self,

If you're reading this, you're probably having a rough time or think that you can't do this anymore (whatever "this" may be). Whatever it is, know that you CAN do it. You got through your first semester of college, so you can get through this roadblock. Remember how hard you thought Friday December 4th would be? Three exams in one day? You accomplished it didn't you? You powered through on four and a half hours of sleep.

If you're struggling with homework, quit freaking out about it. In a few days it will be turned in and it'll be behind you. If you're really stressed, just go to office hours, ask for help, do whatever, just don't give up on yourself. You are your biggest critic and doubter, if you believe in yourself nothing will stop you. I know that sounds ridiculously cliché, but think about it for a second, it makes sense, I promise. 

Furthermore, try to actually enjoy your college experience. You spent this semester cooped up in your room; it's not a bad thing to study, but maybe you should try to remember that this experience only rolls around once and you should try to just manage your time so that you can handle everything. Also, DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT TAKING BREAKS BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM TO SURVIVE. Sorry for the caps lock, but you know it's true. If you don't take them, you'll over work yourself. Enjoy life and find your balance between studying and personal time as both are important for success. 

Lastly, just continue to try your hardest, as long as you do that, you will be fine so please don't stress out like you did this semester. You will make it through. :)

Sincerely,

Your Awesome Self :-)

Blog Post 39: Letter to Former Self

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Dear Former Self, 

Quit being a little ball of stress. You don't always have to get things done in advance; it's okay to take it one day at a time. Furthermore, I know you are freaking out about your first semester of college, but it would be much better if you just sat down and took one deep breath because everything will be okay.

Moving onto English though, you will struggle from time to time, but you will be fine. Just remember that you need to focus when you write your papers. Don't get distracted, sit down and write, write, write. Just remember that the longer you take to stop and think about the paper, the more time for your brain to think "Oh this paragraph isn't good enough". When you let your ideas flow, they actually sound good, so stop doubting yourself.

When I first started the semester I wish I knew that I would never get my sleeping schedule back on track. Seriously, do your work early, and go to bed early. Then you'll actually make it to English on time in the mornings!!! On a more serious note, I wish I knew to spend more time on organization of my first QRG, I didn't even think to consider how it would affect my audience, I was just trying to write to answer the prompt.

For future reference, get as much feedback on your paper(s) as possible. It will save you time in the long run and help you decide what to do and write about, as well as help you decide what you do and don't like about your paper. Furthermore, DO YOUR PRE WRITING. It helps and you will have an easier transition to drafting. Overall, if you just sit down and stress less you will be a happier person. Also, make sure to pick topics you are passionate about!!

Sincerely, 

Your Future Self

Blog Post 38- Reflective Essay Organizing Idea and Thesis

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As Chapter 12 in the Student's Guide reveals, there are five different organizing ideas or themes that I can use when constructing my essay. The theme I chooses will influence the thesis statement in the essay, and thus the structure and content of the essay as well. 

Focus on a specific assignment, experience, or concept

While the first essay I wrote for this course was not terrible, it definitely could have used some extra revision. In order to have my first essay better fit the assignment requirements, my body paragraphs needed to include complete thoughts, better organization, more analysis and thus less summary, and a larger focus on rhetoric as opposed to the controversy itself. 

  
Compare your experience writing in this course to past experiences

In high school, I struggled to enjoy the assignments I wrote about, and thus procrastinated up until the last possible minute; however, in college, I became more passionate about my writing. Now instead of waiting until the last minute to begin drafting and assignment, I begin planning weeks ahead of time by completing pre-writing activities, rough drafts, and sometimes completely re written final drafts.  

Reflect on strengths and weaknesses

Over the course of this class, I have become more aware of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. I have the ability to draw unique inferences and conclusions from something that I am analyzing, and thus create a well written and thought provoking analysis, but I still struggle with topics like organizing my thoughts and avoiding the use of passive voice. In order to write better essays, I understand that I need to find the best organizational style that fits my rhetorical situation.

Focus on course objectives

The various assignments we were assigned throughout the course helped me to achieve the course objectives; for instance, I was able to become aware of my rhetorical situation much more effectively,  and thus apply that to my critical thinking and composing. Furthermore, each assignment helped me improve slightly more than the last with conventions, and all of those combined together have brought me up to this point of reflection. 

Focus on your writing process/self-perception as a writer

This English course has taught me that is okay to be two different kinds of writers. My writing is about finding a style that best suits me and what I want to say, so if for one project I am a heavy planner, and for another I am a heavy reviser, it is okay; in my case, each writing process is dependent upon my given rhetorical situation. 

Reflection

For this assignment, I am the speaker, and the occasion is to write a reflective essay. Originally, I was interest in focusing on a specific writing assignment because I want to re-write paper one, but now I have chosen to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses, because that will help me to better identify how I could improve overall and not just in one scenario. My audience is my professor and classmates, and I'm sure that at least my professor (if not some of my other classmates) are aware of my strengths and weaknesses of my writing. My purpose is to figure out which parts of my writing and the process in general I am strong in and which parts I struggle with so that I can rewrite my first essay. My subject is of course my strengths and weaknesses, and I plan on creating a semi-formal tone so that I find a happy medium between addressing my professor and my fellow classmates.

I commented on Davis' and Dee's posts.

Blog Post 37- Audience and Invention for Reflective Essay

1. What do I want to discuss with my readers? What do I want them to understand about the topic?

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The topic I want to discuss with my readers is my strengths and weaknesses as a writer and in my writing process; I want them to understand that through the course of the semester I have grown. I also want to show them that I recognize my strengths and weaknesses, and how they play a role in my writing overall. Furthermore, I want to rewrite my first essay, so I will use some examples from it when writing this paper.

2. Who is my primary audience? Who is my secondary audience?

My primary audience is my professor (Dr. Bell). She has been the one that has seen the final product of all my essays and has been the one grading them, so she will be able to detect changes in my writing/writing style the most. My secondary audience will be my classmates, and hopefully they will see a change, but it might not be as likely since they don't see the final product. Perhaps they'll remember some things form my drafts and through blog posts, but again, this would be why they are the secondary audience and not the primary.

3. What do my audiences already know or believe about my topic?

Dr. Bell knows my writing, so she can personally identify my strengths and weaknesses. In other words, she knows what I'll be writing about, but she won't necessarily know how I plan to reflect upon them. Furthermore, my classmates know that I have strengths and weaknesses in my writing because, well, we all do, they might believe I have certain strengths or weaknesses, but I can't be sure because again not everyone sees my drafts and no one has seen my final copies besides Dr. Bell.

4. How will I organize and develop my ideas to make them convincing to these readers?

I will organize my ideas by creating paragraphs on different topics we have discussed in class (organization, active/passive voice, analysis, etc) and analyze both my strengths and weaknesses in that area. I will include evidence from my past assignments and analyze WHY and HOW they show my strengths or my weaknesses. This way, they won't be stuck trying to figure out why a piece of analysis or type of organization is strong, I will be able to explain it and thus convince them.

5. How will I establish my ethos (relationship and tone) with my readers?

I will establish my ethos by writing in a semi-formal tone. I want to be able to show my professor that I understand where I've gone wrong and what I've done well, but I also want my classmates to be able to relate to my paper. When discussing my weaknesses, I will probably share some anecdotes that reveal struggles I encountered because most people aren't perfect in all areas of the writing process, thus, they will be able to understand where I'm coming from.

Blog Post 36: Discovering My Writing Process

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Throughout English 109H, I learned a lot about myself as a writer and writing in general.

For instance, in my AP English classes, I knew that pre-writing was sometimes necessary, but sometimes it just seemed like a nuisance; however, in this class, I saw the true value of pre-writing. Maybe it had to do with the fact that the pre-writing was in the form of the blog posts, but it just didn't feel as academic and that's what I kind of liked about it. There wasn't always this big stress on the assignment but more of the process and just what we were thinking. It helped to shape my thought process.

As far as my writing process in general goes, I consider myself to be somewhere in between a heavy planner and a heavy reviser. For some assignments, I plan a lot, and for others, I skip straight to the drafting process and just revise multiple times. It depends on the assignment; if I am really knowledgeable about it, I usually plan a lot and if I'm not, I just free write until I discover what I want to say. It may seem backwards, but if I know a lot on the topic, then I know what to say- I just have to plan my organization. However, if I don't know about the topic, I just start writing and edit as I go along to see what I like and don't like about my writing.

In most cases, my writing process seems to be successful, but it just depends because not every assignment is the same or is structured the same for that matter. The strengths of the heavy planning include being able to have less stress when it comes to drafting and having everything laid out. The weaknesses are that it requires a lot of time and thinking. The strengths of the heavy revising are that I don't feel required to stick to my plan; I can change things where I see fit. The weaknesses include some disorganization in my writing.

I don't think it would be beneficial for me to become a procrastinator because that is just a bad habit, but I could maybe try being a sequential composer and see if that works. Honestly though, my approaches work for me so I don't know that trying sequential composing would benefit me, at least, I wouldn't want to try it on my final assignment.