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.