I really like the opening quote for this essay, “‘Reflection’ and ‘reflective writing’ are umbrella terms that refer to any activity that asks you to think about your own thinking.”, which really sets the mood for the following of the piece. If you really think about it we are constantly reflecting on our actions and learning from them. When reflecting about your own writing, you’re literally thinking about what you were thinking. Our views are constantly changing so what you wrote one day may make no sense another day. Looking back at essays I wrote in highschool, I always ask myself what I was actually thinking, like this is awful. In the essay “Reflective Writing and the Revision Process: What Were You Thinking?”, I liked hearing about the reflection process from someone who actually wanted to be in the writing field. I like completing reflections of my writing because it helps me envision my improvement and motivates me to write better because I know I can improve. While writing I am not always able to catch mistakes or writing errors, so reviewing my writing allows me to see how I could have done this better. I think reflection is an important part of the proofreading stage as well, so you can get the best piece down that you are capable of. 

03/09/2020

Since I was not in class to hear the exact prompt, reading these collages was a little confusing at first. So I went ahead and read through the prompt on the website a few times, till I got a good idea of what exactly I should be looking for in the collages. What I mainly saw in the collages was ideas about improvement, progression and learning. I was able to connect with most of these samples because I felt like my high school cheated me of a good writing/ english base. My teachers in English my junior and senior year basically made the class a study hall. Not only did I struggle my freshman and sophomore year in writing, but when I got to my junior and senior year I got As because it requires no work. I wasn’t ever truly pushed on my writing until now. This year definitely hit hard for my writing, I definitely was not writing at a college level. It is really frustrating when the high school education you got didn’t require serious studying because teachers didn’t make their courses hard, and then because you got all As, you got into a top university but now you’re struggling because you did not have the correct background education. It feels almost like the system is rigged, and the only way to truly advance is put in a ton of work for yourself.

02/26/2020

I really appreciated being able to read, “Annoying Ways People Use Sources” by Kyle D. Stedman, because it gave me a new perspective on citing my sources. I had never thought about how wrong citations can affect the reader. I liked Stedman’s analogy for slow drivers and wrong citations. I can not stand slow drivers so comparing them to people who cite wrong gives me a good image of how the author feels about incorrect citations. I remember my freshman year of high school my english teacher would have us write “quote sandwiches”, which consisted of commentary, introduction to quote, quote, citation, commentary. I was glad she gave us a guideline to insert into our writing when we wanted to add a quote. I will probably always remember “quote sandwiches” in my writing because of how helpful they were. I also liked that Stedman gave many examples of incorrect source use, and then showed us how to fix the mistake. Being able to see all the different ways to use a source and how to fix your citing if it is incorrect is very important. When I use sources I feel like I am adequate, but not great. I wish I could use more imagery and description when using a quote compared to using the same  “He said,”. Hopefully with practice and creative writing I can get better at that.

02/10/2020

This was a very, very odd and intriguing piece of text. I can understand this dark humor, but it was very surprising that we got to read it for a writing post. I think the teacher genuinely did not have any control over the people and animals who died, but my theory is death follows. This is also a psychotic school where the students encourage sexual acts between the TA and Teacher. At the end when the new gerbil walks in, you can pretty much guess what is going to happen to it. I think the students, Teacher, TA, animals, parents, etc. are all crazy in this almost alternate dimension school. I think this piece of work and similar ones are meant to display a brief message, contain dark humor, and have a sadistic cliffhanger ending. I like pieces of work like this because they’re a little brain teaser and make you see the real message and connect everything. They also provided a space for a writer to test different writing styles, and use a lot of description. As weird as the writing is, it is my favorite kind of short story. I like tv shows, books, etc. that have twisted storylines and dark humor. I know “The School”is supposed to be a short story with a mysterious ending, but I would love to know in which direction the author would take it.

02/03/2020

I can definitely relate to the feeling of “bad attitude revising”, I absolutely hate having to go back over something that took me hours to get there in the first place. My attitude towards revising definitely needs to be changed, considering I know the actually values of revising. I really like how the author, Deithier, of “Revising Attitudes” explained we are already revisors we just do not see it. Most people run through their paper, fixing errors, before calling that draft done. Even during the actual writing, we revise, you think of what you will put down in your head and may change it as you are typing. I also like how the author listed out all the reasons why someone may not like revising, including me, and argued against them all. For example, “I do not have time to revise!”; well when you rely on a revision for improving your draft, you won’t spend so much time perfecting the first sloppy draft. I never realized how much time I spent on my first draft because it would usually be my final draft. After reading this article and doing a useful revision, I can see how important revising actually is. To anyone who hates revising I highly recommend trying to revise differently than you usually do, it made such a difference on my writing process personally.

01/26/2020

I have always been really, really, really bad at proofreading other people’s work. For instance, I remember in highschool we used to have to fill out sheets about the other student’s essay, and I would try to get it done as fast as possible and give really bad, irrelevant comments about what needs to be fixed. This wasn’t a problem because every other student was doing the same thing, so proofreading was pointless for us. Since then, I have never proofread, truly proofread, my writing because I did not know how to actually fix mistakes. After reading, “Responding, Really Responding to Other Student’s Writing” by Richard Straub, I have a good sense of what I should actually be looking for in other student’s papers. When proofreading you have to take into account all the factors of the paper from the purpose to the stage of drafting, and do not be the “nice” grader. When grading and looking through the paper fix all the flaws and help the person’s writing be better. You would not let a close friend go around with something in her teeth, you would tell her, so tell someone when there is a piece of writing that needs to be fixed. I prefer seeing comments in the margins of my paper so I can see exactly what the reader is talking about, whereas with notes on a sheet or at the end of a paper errors can be forgotten and miscommunicated. 

01/20/2020

I never realized how difficult the English language was until I met a friend of mine’s family, who spoke primarily Spanish. I tried my best to communicate with them, using my 4 years of high school spanish, and they also tried. I was confused about why they didn’t like to speak English, until I realized how much I did not like to speak Spanish. Learning another language is hard enough, but then having to speak it to people who have known it their entire life is nerve racking. In the article, “ Mother’s Tongue” by Amy Tan, she talks about speaking on the phone for her mother, which is a common thing for families whose primary language is not English. I remember my friend, whose family spoke primarily Spanish, usually had to call in and pick up his mother’s prescriptions. How he talked to his family was completely different from how he talked to friends, which was different from how he talked professionally. I never really thought about the language I use around different people, but it certainly does change. 

While reading the article “Just Walk On By ” by Brent Staples, I was able to connect his experiences of “people being threatened by him” to things I have seen in person. I think a lot of people hold inner prejudices they don’t realize. For example, whenever I go to the grocery store late at night, people will use the other exit just to not have to walk by a homeless man who is usually there. Also, in IV there is a lady who is in a wheelchair, who may be a little crazy, and she hands out pieces of paper that have “all her writing”. Many people will just ignore her and walk on the other side of the street. I have to admit I usually do too, but I figured out if you take the paper and thank her, she’ll usually leave you alone. It is sad that we live in a world where walking alone at night causes us to fear people who are completely normal, but may have a different skin tone, class status or even disability. 

01/14/2020

When I walk into a class on the first day, I usually scan the room and  hurry to sit in the back. I sit in the back, not to not pay attention, but to be able to view everyone. I can see how conversation flows once a professor asks something, I can see who is going to do the work vs who will not, and I can use these cues throughout a class to further structure my idea of what the professor is looking for. I basically am using the rhetoric put out by classmates and the professor, to enhance my classroom experience. Rhetoric is a great persuasive device with the right audience and understanding constraints. For example if I wanted to voice my opinion about eating meat and its effect on climate change, and the purpose was to get people to stop eating meat, then my audience would definitely not be vegans or vegetarians. Constraints for this scenario could be anything that, “limit[s] the way the discourse is delivered or communicated.” (Carroll 49). I really like how the article “Backpacks or Briefcases” by Laura Bolin Carroll, explained rhetoric, how it is affected and how it applies to daily life. Rhetoric is different for everyone; we all interpret differently, have different opinions about the world and have been put in different situations. Our experiences are a big part of what shapes who we are. Whether we decide to wear tennis shoes or heels, a skirt or running shorts, or decide to carry a backpack or a briefcase, that is our rhetorical display.

01/12/2020

So I am the biggest procrastinator I know, and that certainly does not change when it comes to writing. I hate having to do a job more than once, so first drafts were usually my final draft with a few corrections. I remember one time in high school I had an essay due, and I procrastinated until the night before/ day of to do the essay. I ended up spending my first three class periods getting words on to paper, none of the teachers actually graded the essays getting me an A on it. I work really well under pressure, but when it comes to writing I know it takes a couple tries. Not having strict grading for my writing for the past three years, let me fall into bad habits. One thing I do like to do for all my essays is an outline. I like setting up what each paragraph will be focusing on, and how it will all tie together. I can work on writing in almost any environment, as long as I have an iced coffee with me and focusing music to block out chatter. If I try to write with netflix on in the background it will take me all day, so I prefer to listen to music and get it done with minimal breaks, if any. I also like having something to snack on while writing to keep me moving because I get bored extremely fast. My writing process is not ideal to others, but it is ideal to me. Hopefully I can add more drafts, revisions and other people’s views to my writing process.

01/07/2020