Reflection on Open Letter Draft

I used the 5 questions on pages 253-256 to reflect on my open letter draft. How crazy is it that this is the last blog post for this class??


I edited Alyssa and Isabel's drafts.

Image by Ableman, Scott. "Midnight at the Reflecting Pool." Uploaded 6/1/07 via Flickr.
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1. Did you demonstrate an ability to think about your writing and yourself as a writer? 

Having never been asked to reflect on my own writing before this class, I was unsure of where to start. It was incredibly helpful to have the "Revisiting My Writing Process" and "Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences" done before I began my draft; I started my draft using the ideas that I developed in those two posts and then went from there.

I personally think that this draft was the easiest of the 4 for me to write because it is entirely from a personal perspective. Not having to use outside sources (other than our own work, which I'm familiar with) made this project a lot more enjoyable for me to write.

Mostly, my draft needs some local revisions. There were no huge global issues that my peers pointed out to me, and I have yet to find any in my own editing. Overall, I think it's a good start. After some more editing, I'm sure I will be happy with the final product.

2. Did you provide analysis of your experiences, writing assignments, or concepts you have learned?

I analyzed how I was introduced to and used certain skills in high school and then compared them to what I have learned in 109. Mostly, I looked at how the way I approach introductions and conclusions changed after taking this course.

I also discussed how what we've done in this class will help me later in my college education and future career. The editing and writing skills that I have gained as well as my increased expertise in managing my time will benefit me greatly in the future.

3. Did you provide concrete examples from your own writing (either quotes from your writing or rich descriptions of your writing process)? 

I either linked to the blog posts that related to the topic I was discussing, or I referred to certain parts of the class. My audience will understand what I am referring to even if I don't provide a hyperlink (sometimes it's impossible, because I refer to the project as a whole).

Using quotes from my work didn't seem necessary for my particular project, so I chose to leave them out. Maybe I will decide to add some as I am editing my project if I think it would be helpful or beneficial.

4. Did you explain why you made certain choices and whether those choices were effective?

When I discussed my time management in this class, I explained how breaking up each deadline helped me not to procrastinate. I got all of my work submitted on time, which helped my overall grade in the class. I get incredibly stressed when I'm behind or having to catchup on work that I fell behind on, so that motivated me even more to stay on top of my workload.

I also explained how, as much as I hate scrapping parts of my drafts, it's usually necessary to produce a good final project. Not everything that I write in my first draft will add something to my project once it's finished.

5. Did you use specific terms and concepts relating to writing and the writing process? 

I discussed introductions and conclusions, my personal writing process and time management style, and editing. All of these things are important in every class, but especially a class like this one that centers around composition.

Draft of Open Letter

I genuinely enjoyed writing this draft, and I think that while the ideas are there, my draft needs some help with construction. 

Image by Raymond, Nicolas. "Under Construction Grunge Sign." Uploaded 4/19/12 via Flickr.
Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 

For one, the paragraphs are huge, so I need to figure out a way to cut them down to a manageable size. Also, I was a little unsure about how formal or informal to be in a semi-formal letter, so if anything seems out of place, please let me know. 

I also only hyperlinked to two past blog posts, but I referred to a lot more of my work without providing a link, because I didn't think they were necessary in the context of my letter. If anyone has a suggestion about adding a link to anything that I referenced or putting in something else entirely, that would be great. 

Otherwise, I'm sure there are some spelling, grammar, or sentence structure issues that I missed when I copy-edited. Thanks in advance!! 

Here is the link to my Open Letter Draft. 

Reflecting More on My Writing Experiences

I've reflected on the past semester in 109H using the questions that were posted for blog post 14.5

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1. What were the biggest challenges you faced this semester, overall?

Overall, I think the biggest challenge was adjusting to college life. I am incredibly close with my younger sister and my aunt, so moving away from them and my dad was tough. I am a very routine oriented person and don't do terribly well with change, so the first couple weeks of classes, I was not a happy camper. But once I started to settle in and establish a routine, and I quickly adjusted to my new home and environment.

While the workload was not entirely unexpected, it was still a lot to take on. Especially being in the honors college, there is a lot of pressure to perform at a high level and keep grades up.

I've done well in all of my classes this semester. I've stayed on top of my work and didn't let myself get lazy and start procrastinating.


2. What did you learn this semester about your own time management, writing, and editorial skills?

Because of the sheer amount of writing that I've had to do for all of my classes this semester, I've gotten good at just sitting down and writing. I used to consider myself more of a heavy planner [blog post 1.10] who would think a lot before starting an assignment, but I've gotten to the point where I'm able to start writing without a lot of planning beforehand.

This type of writing, however, requires a lot of editing. I considered myself to be a fairly good editor in high school, but this semester has helped me become much more efficient than ever before. Knowing how to edit both my own work and my peers' work will benefit me greatly in the future with both my education and whatever jobs and careers I end up with.

I used to procrastinate quite a bit in high school, because the pressure of having a deadline would motivate me. Since I've been here though, I have gotten all of my work done before the deadline. I would structure each week around the English deadline; I planned to do a couple steps for English each day, and then I would fill in the rest of my time with work for other classes.

Planning out when I would get everything done and sticking to that schedule was incredibly helpful for me. Even though I haven't followed the plan that I originally laid out for doing homework [blog post 1.12], I still managed to get everything done, usually with time to spare.


3. What do you know about the concept of genre? Explain how understanding this concept is central to being a more effective writer.

I never really considered the genres that I was using in my high school classes, because all of the guidelines were given as part of the assignment. Most essays I wrote were 5 paragraph essays that have strict conventions, but we were never explicitly taught about how to properly use them.

In order to be the most effective writer possible, it's necessary to know how to effectively use the genre. Writing a blog post that contains long, complex, indented paragraphs with in-text citations would not be effective, because most people who read blogs are looking for scannable paragraphs that give a condensed amount of information on a certain topic.

It's essentially important to use genre as a way to reach the intended audience and either inform or persuade them on the topic.  If the audience is confused or disinterested about how you portray your topic, they will not react well.


4. What skills from this course might you use and/or develop further in the next few years of college coursework?

Even though I most likely won't be taking any more English or composition classes, most courses that I will take require essays or written pieces of some sort.

I know that being a proficient editor will help me a lot in the future. Knowing how to properly use genres and rhetorical situations will make any writing that I have much easier and more effective.

The time management skills that I gained both from this class and the semester as a whole will carry over into future semesters. If I keep getting my work done before it's due and not procrastinating on anything, I will be able to produce higher quality work that I am proud of.


5. What was your most effective moment from this semester in 109H?

I think that the achievement that I am most proud of from this semester is how well I planned and executed my work. I never missed a deadline, so I never had to worry about missing points for late blog posts and projects.

Along with managing my time well, I also produced the highest quality work that I could. I am happy with the quality of work that I produced, and I don't feel like I BS'ed my way through the work like I have done in past classes.


6. What was your least effective moment from this semester in 109H?

Where I was least effective in this class was with the Read, Reply, Reflect assignments. Near the beginning of the semester, I would write a good amount on each post that I commented on.

On the first blog post, 1.10, I wrote this, "I am also partially a heavy planner, but for me, the idea or topic is the hardest part. I usually come up with the idea when I'm doing things completely unrelated to writing or school work. That's when the Heavy Planner disappears and leaves the Heavy Revisor behind. 

I wish that, like you, the Planner stayed the whole way through. I often get stuck after I find my idea, because I can't come up with a good intro, or I just can't get into it. 

I agree that most people in this class will have at least a little bit of the Planner style due to of the vast amount of writing we've had to do over the years we've been in school. Not many people can just sit down and start writing without some mental or written planning ahead of time. This can be both a blessing and a curse when deadlines are upon us" on Emma's blog post.

For my most recent RRR, I wrote, Having read both your outline and your visual elements post, I think you are on the right track for your project. I'm sure it's difficult to plan both what to say and what images to use, but you have obviously given your project a lot of thought. I'm excited to see your final product" on Alyssa's blog post.

As I did more and more RRRs, I felt like I was just saying the same things over and over. While I understand that it's important to know what other people in our class are doing and what they think of our work, after a while, it just seemed like a waste of time. I know that I probably should have worked harder to find original and helpful things to say, but I don't know how doable it is. 

Revisiting My Writing Process

After reading the first blog posts that I ever wrote for this class, I realized that I have actually changed my writing and time management styles over the past 15 weeks. 

Image by Templeton, Corey. "Looking into the past: Bug Light." Uploaded 5/22/09 via Flickr.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license. 

What changed most from August to now was my homework plan. My original plan was to get homework done on M/W/F mornings before my noon class, but I ended up doing most, if not all, of my homework after I was done with classes for the day. 

Like most college students, I was nowhere near awake enough to get homework done in the morning. Once I was already up and running after going to classes, it was easier to keep momentum and get my homework done. 

I'm proud of myself though, because I managed not to procrastinate much this semester. Having the deadlines broken up into steps made it much easier to stay on top of my workload and not get too overwhelmed. 

Once I had the deadline broken up for each week, I could then fill in time to do my other homework. Structuring my schedule around English homework made it easy to find time for all of my other class work. 

My writing style has stayed mostly the same. I used to consider myself sort of a Heavy Planner, but I found that it's easier than I thought to just sit down and start typing without doing much planning/thinking beforehand.  

This, of course, requires a lot of editing, but I already was a Heavy Revisor, so it hasn't been terribly difficult to change my habits. 

Now that I know what a college workload is like, I think it will be easier in coming semesters to keep on track with homework. The first semester is always the hardest with being away from home for the first time and having to be a real adult. Now I mostly know how to deal with all of that which will also make life easier. 

Even though I am still not completely sure what I want to major in, and even less sure about what I want to do as a career, I know that the habits I am forming now will affect my future success. Knowing how to manage my time and finish projects by or even before a deadline is essential. 

I think the format of this class made my entire first semester easier. Even though it was a demanding class as far as how much we had to do and what was expected of us, it taught me a lot about using my time wisely. 

I feel like I am a better writer and editor than I was before this class, and I learned a lot about how important it is to use genres correctly. I think that the quality of writing that I am producing now after this semester is much better than in high school, which is a really good thing. 

Reflection on Project 3

I used the questions on page 520 of Writing Public Lives to reflect on Project 3.

1. What was specifically revised from one draft to the next?

Most of the changes that I made from my first draft to my final draft were local edits.

• For example, I originally wrote, " It’s baffling that a parent would do anything that could possibly harm that relationship, or for that matter, do anything to hurt their child in any way." One of my peer reviewers pointed out that this sentence was awkward, so I changed it to, "It’s baffling that a parent would do anything that could possibly jeopardize that incredibly special relationship."

2. Point to global changes: how did you reconsider your thesis or organization? 

Because I wrote an informal article, my project doesn't really have a thesis. Instead, I pose a serious of questions that my piece then answers. Initially, I just had one question: "so why do many discipline in a way that negatively impacts their kids?"

After editing and rereading my article, I realized that I needed another question to thoroughly introduce my topic. I left the first question and added, "if parents knew how harmful spanking can be, would they continue to physically punish their children, regardless of the consequences?"

I changed very little with the organization or content of my project.

3. What led you to these changes? A reconsideration of audience? A shift in purpose? 

I changed my thesis once I had written my project because I didn't think it was comprehensive enough. Now, I think it does a much better job of introducing my article and my argument.

While one of my peer reviewers told me that I should have more data/citations for my project, I decided not to change anything. I considered my genre, my audience, and my purpose when I was writing, and I feel good about how I wrote to fit all three.

4. How do these changes affect your credibility as an author? 

Being able to speak directly to the intended audience is the best way to appear as a credible author. If they feel understood, they are more likely to be open to being persuaded or informed by the piece they are reading. Especially with such a personal topic, I had to be sure that my project conveyed emotions in a way that helps my readers see where I am coming from.

Image by Bastaki, Moha'Al. "U Complete Me." Uploaded 9/28/08 via Flickr.
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license. 

5. How will these changes better address the audience or the venue? 

I think that changing my thesis made my argument more coherent and convincing, which will help me better address my audience. Also, by not adding outside evidence to my argument, I stayed true to the conventions of the genre. Personal opinion articles rarely contain statistics, data, or expert opinions, so I made sure to stay away from all of those strategies.

6. Point to local changes: how did you reconsider sentence structure and style?

Most of the local edits I made were to reword sentences and break large paragraphs up to be shorter and easier to scan. I kept my sentence structure mostly the same though.

7. How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?

With this genre, it's essential that the article be scannable. If readers are interested after quickly scanning, they will likely read the entire article.

Also, because this is a short piece, I need to be sure that my writing is understandable and not misleading. Having all of my sentences be clear makes it easier for my readers to understand and be persuaded by my argument.

8. Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you are writing? 

After getting a peer review that I should add outside sources, I read through all of my examples again, and none of them used expert opinions or data. The only other thing that I changed to make sure I was using the conventions of the genre was making my paragraphs shorter.

9. Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer? 

There is always room for improvement. Looking back on what I changed between my first draft and my final draft helps me see what I've learned. For this project, most of the changes that I made were to better address my audience and to properly use the genre. Having never written an informal article before, I had to check my genre examples many times to make sure that I was sticking to the conventions.

Reflection also shows me that I am becoming a good editor. I am proud of my final draft because I know that I worked hard to produce an article that stays true to the genre while persuading my audience to believe in my argument. 

Publishing Public Argument

Here is my final Project 3!!

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1. Mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience currently stands on the issue (before reading/watcing/hearing your argument) below:

←----------------------------------x------------------|--------------------x------------------------------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly 

agree

                                                                                                              disagree

[My article is written for people who may already have an opinion, but are still able to be persuaded by my article. If they are too far to either side, nothing will be able to change their minds.]

2. Now mark with an "x" where you feel your target audience should be (after they've read/watched/heard your argument) below:

←----------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------x---------------->

Strongly                                            Totally neutral                                                    Strongly

agree         

                                                                                                                disagree

[I want my readers to oppose spanking, but I'd be naive if I didn't say that maybe someone could read something or have a personal experience that could make them suddenly believe in spanking.]

3. Check one (and only one) of the argument types below for your public argument:

         

         ____x___ My public argument establishes an original con position on an issue of debate.

      

4. Briefly explain how your public argument doesn’t simply restate information from other sources, but provides original context and insight into the situation:

The main reason that my piece is an original contribution to the controversy is that it includes my personal views and experiences. Instead of using the same statistics and expert views that most other writers have used, I focused on how I view the controversy. Using a more informal genre, I was able to speak candidly and focus more on the points that I was making rather than analyzing what other people are saying.

5. Identify the specific rhetorical appeals you believe you've employedi n your public argument below:

Ethical or credibility-establishing appeals

   __x__ Telling personal stories that establish a credible point-of-view

    __x__ Adopting a tone that is inviting and trustworthy rather than distancing or alienating 

    ___x__ Openly acknowledging counterarguments and refuting them intelligently

   ___x__ Appealing openly to the values and beliefs shared by the audience

Emotional appeals

   ___x__ Telling personal stories that create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

  ___x__ Employing an appropriate level of formality for the subject matter 

  ___x__ Use of imagery to create an appropriate emotional impact for the debate

  ___x__ Employing an attractive color palette that sets an appropriate emotional tone

  __x__ Employing an engaging and appropriate tone of voice for the debate

                   

Logical or rational appeals

   ___x__ Effective organization of elements, images, text, etc. 

6. Below, provide us with working hyperlinks to THREE good examples of the genre you've chosen to write in. These examples can come from Blog Post 11.3 or they can be new examples. But they should all come from the same specific website/platform and should demonstrate the conventions for your piece:

Why you should argue in front of your kids

When you're Jewish but your kid loves Santa

The emotional triggers that come with special-needs parenting

[Note: these examples all have hyperlinks, but almost all of them link to other articles by the same author. Since I have no other articles for this website, I don't have anything to hyperlink to.]

Reflection on Project 3 Draft

I peer reviewed for Trey and Kyle.


1. Who reviewed your Project 3 rough draft?

Nick and Jayni peer reviewed my draft.

2. What did you think and/or feel about the feedback you received? Be explicit and clear.

I really appreciate that Nick was critical of my draft, because he gave me a lot of help with what I need to fix or work on. Overall, I do agree with his suggestions and critiques. He emphasized that I should use either expert sources or statistics to back up my argument, but because I am doing my article more as a short editorial, I'm not sure how much data I want to add. I want my argument to be mostly based on emotions.

Jayni's review was helpful because she seemed to understand exactly what point I am trying to make in my article as well as the strategies and appeals that I used to make it. Knowing that my readers understand my point and are influenced in some way is helpful and makes me feel like I did a good job with my project.

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3. What aspects of Project 3 need the most work going forward? How do you plan on addressing these areas?

I think I mostly need to make sure that I address my audience in a way that will help them be persuaded by my argument. My genre fits my topic and argument as well as it can, and I think that the purpose of my argument is clear. I just need to put a little more work into catering my article to my audience.

I might try adding in some more logical appeals and see what that does to my argument and it's effectiveness.

As Jayni mentioned, my genre examples differ in how much they refer to outside sources. I should go back over those examples and find exactly where citation is used to better understand if I need to change my article to better conform to the genre conventions.

4. How are you feeling overall about the direction of your project after peer review and/or instructor conferences this week?

The conference was helpful, albeit brief. The couple of suggestions that I got were beneficial. I walked into my conference fairly confident in my project, but after making a few suggested changes, I think it's even stronger.

Nick helped me both with global edits as well as fixing the wording and phrasing of some of my sentences. Jayni focused on helping me with global edits. Both of them were very helpful in making my draft the best it can be.

Once I spend some more time on my draft this week, I hope I'll have a project that I am happy with and proud of.