Wednesday, November 7, 2007
How Things Went.
Well, for me first quarter was a major reality check. Just sliding by with a so-so paper that I didn't really have to spend all that much time on was no longer an option. I'm not gonna lie that first 5-paragraph essay was probably the most stressful and draining and most picked apart essay I've ever written, but in the end I learned alot of skills from it that benefitted me. For example learning how to write an actual thesis statement, not a topic. That was huge. I've never had much experience with thesis statements and they were a whole heck of a lot more difficult and explicit than I'd ever thought before. I Learned how much an outline can help you organize all your thoughts. I learned how to start to come up with clear, concise, debateable main ideas. I had never been much of a prewriter before now, never really thought that it was all that useful, but now that I have some of the useful ones that we did in class, I can honestly say I will swear by them(especially in the thesis statement area). I need to learn and reinforce that although a good paper can be written overnight, the paper would probably be better if I had constantly worked and tweaked it to be the best that I can possibly make it. I have to learn not to procrastinate, which is my biggest downfall in all schoolwork. I need to make sure to stay focused in class because my mind tends to wander and then I sometimes miss important information. Overall, this was a good quarter, but there are always improvements to be made.
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6 comments:
I definitely agree with you about writing papers...so-so just doesn't cut it anymore. Also, I think it was good how you brought up that outlines are very helpful. I think they make it easier to sit down and write your rough draft because you already know what you're going to say.
Hahahahah!!! I like your first statement, it really sums up our first quarter (and has great voice)! The learning of how to write a thesis statement seems to be a common thing learned by everyone. I'm glad I'm not the only one! I also agree that the organization piece has been layed out for us in a new way, which is nice because I procrastinate quite a bit myself... One thing I'd ask you is: what improvements do you think could be made (for the class in general)? Well, that's all, T.T.F.N!
P.S., Feel better soon!
I also agree about the more writing. I think this is good though because we learn a lot each time we write in that class. She is really teaching us a lot about writing skills and functions. I also agree that you have to put a TON of effort into the papers this year, this is probably the hardest I have worked a writing papers.I also learned how to write a better thesis and expand on my idea's this year. The prewrting step is also a new thing that I learned to do better on. I used to just scribble some notes down but now I am actually putting a lot of time in prewriting and planning. I feel taht it makes your writing easier and faster. Sometimes my mind tends to wander too, I need to stay alittle more focused in class Q2. I think it wanders sometimes because I am so "brain-dead." Zach had the idea of having a "fun day" sometimes to relax, I think that would help with day dreaming alot. I also think that I can improve on my Q1 eventhough I was pretty satisfied by my work.
i completely agree with you, i feel like last year i could just whip out a terrible paper in an hour and still get a good grade! i have learned so much about writing papers, i have also started to warm up to writing papers. before i felt like i just wrote a paper and didn't really care about what was acctually going on in it. but now i can analyze my papers and others much better and i know now how to make my writing alot better!
You've worked really hard all quarter and it paid off! I'm glad that you see the benefit of outlines - it's time consuming, yet worth the effort in the end product. Thanks for your positive contributions to the class atmosphere!
Yeah, I think that when we have our work picked apart as much as that first essay, we benefit more from it. From my experience in this class so far, each paragraph I composed after that first essay seemed to get better. It may have had to do with the material I was writing about (visual literacy!) but I felt more confident in my writing. Good luck Q2!!
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