Post 10: Reflection

The project that I chose to revise was Project 3, which is an evaluation of an issue that could later be argued as an important one. The issue that I chose to evaluate was an 8 hour study requirement per week in a alternative admission program, called APEX Scholars. I believe this is an issue because the amount of hours required is unfair and not logical. I chose to write about this issue because it affects me as an APEX student and my fellow colleagues. While I was writing my essay, I steered my essay  toward everyone who would eventually read it, but mainly the director of the APEX program, hoping to convince him to reduce the hours required per week to a more reasonable amount. My main reason for writing about this issue is to eventually take a stand and finding a way to resolve this issue, so that everyone, meaning APEX students and administration, can benefit from resolving this problem. Therefore, these three outcomes: writing, reading, and researching; has helped me work through my revision of this project.

Through the writing process, I was able to develop new ideas for my revision. After looking over my first draft, I began to come up with proposals and evidence that would support my claim. I felt that my draft needed more logical evidence to convince my audience that this issue is important enough to discuss. What also helped me come up with these new ideas, was getting feedback from my instructor. They said that they would like to see more secondary or primary sources in my essay. Once I read all of their feedback, I was motivated to revise my Project 3 then.

Through reading, I was able to catch my grammar and concept mistakes in my essay. When I read aloud I am able to tell what sounds right and what doesn’t. I noticed that I had I a lot of sentences that needed clarity and also rearranging of words for it to make sense. I plan on having someone else read over my essay for grammar and clarity, because that is not my strong suit. Once I get their feedback back, I will revise my essay further.

Through researching, I was able to discover different ideas that I wanted to put in my essay. I found that in some of my sources, when discussing their topic, they had pros and cons within their essay. I would like to do a similar thing in my revision. I would like to also give solutions to my issue, which I noticed a lot in the articles I read while researching for my project. I want my audience to be able to create their own point of view while they read my essay, and not feel like they have to have the same point of view as myself, in a way.

In conclusion, because of these windows was able to compose a project that shows how my revision has become more effective. The reading window helps me with my grammar and concepts in my essay. The writing window helps with creating new ideas that I can add to my essay. Finally, the researching window assists me with the way I want to use my ideas to help my audience better understand my main idea and not take control of their point of view after reading my essay. Therefore, all of these windows, together, makes the revision process much easier and helpful in the end.

Post 9: Reflective Preparation

In my project 3, I discussed the issue of the 8 hour requirement policy in the APEX program as unfair. However, in this particular project I feel like there is a few things that I need to work on to perfect it. In the project 3 I used only two sources to support my claim. My instructor said that I should use more sources in my project, however. But she did say that I explained my sources very well and I incorporated the sources with my overall main idea of my project. I feel like I could also work on my clarity of certain sentences, because I tend to be more broad and assume that my audience already knows what I am trying to say. My strengths in this project are that I know how to use my sources well, meaning they are used to support my claim and I also understand how to summarize them so that the reader gets a idea of what the article was about. My weaknesses are that I don’t use enough sources to fully support my claim and I don’t have a lot of clarity in parts of my project. I am motivated to revising this project because this issue affects myself and colleagues. I want to be able to make a difference with this policy and hopefully see a change. Therefore, I hope to strengthen my weakness to help me revise my Project 3 by adding more sources and defining/clarifying my sentences throughout my paper.

Post 8

Writing Activity 2.3

One group ,that I can recall, that I am fully engaged in is my group of friends, which is made up of my three sisters and I. In our circle we tend to use a lot of words that are pretty much normal in society today, but we used them in different ways. Since we are sisters, we are very comfortable around each other, so we basically can say anything to each other without getting offended, most of the time. Whether we’re just saying hello, we always find a way to say it or use it differently. Whenever we see each other we always say hello in different languages or tones to make each other laugh. In most groups, the use of the word ugly as being unattractive or hideous, but when my sisters and I say it, it means the total opposite. Our use of ugly is only used when we are trying not to boost someone’s ego too much ,if we were to use pretty. Therefore by saying they are ugly they know that we mean that they look good, which someone outside of our group may think that we are bashing one another. Also, none of our beliefs or values have anything to do with why we use this word in our group, We are just very comfortable and diverse in our group, that we use different words for different situations.

Midterm Reflection

After completing Project 1 and Project 2, I have been able to grow as a writer and researcher. In my English 1020 course, in pertains to few learning outcomes that each student should achieve during this course. One of the learning outcomes is the ability to use key course concepts (genre, rhetoric, discourse community, metacognitive learning), a flexible writing process, and varied technologies to write effectively for various audiences. The other learning out come is the ability to conduct research by finding and evaluating print, electronic, and other sources; generate information and ideas from research; and appropriately integrate material from sources. These two outcomes are what I am going to use to measure my progression as a writer and researcher.

The first learning outcome deals with my progression as a writer. I believe that Project 1 really showed how I’ve improved in my writing process. During Project 1, well before, I made a outline of what I wanted to talk about in the essay. Project 1 was for us to make an About Me page for our blog; that would include what habit of mind that best fits me with proof that it actually does. So, I started with my general information that I wanted my audience to know about me before they began to read the rest of my “About Me” page. Once I did that I chose the habit of mind that I wanted to use and made a possible list of evidence that I could use to support my claim.  After making my outline, I noticed that my writing process had become very precise and detailed than previously. I used to not even make an outline before I started writing my papers. Since I’ve been in this course, I find it very helpful to make an detailed outline before I begin writing a draft, because it makes it much easier getting started. Therefore, I can say that I have progressed as a writer within my writing process.

The second learning outcome deals with my progressions as a researcher. Project 2 definitely shows how I am improved as a researcher. Project 2 assignment was to pick a question and research to find an answer overall, if possible. I have always seen myself a very good researcher, meaning that I use credible sources and that I find information that will enhance my essays. For Project 2, I had to do a lot more research that I wasn’t quite used to but I took on the challenge. Usually, I would just start at Google to begin my research process, however after being in this course I have learned that there are different search engines and websites that I could use that have credible sources. So once I found that out, I began to use the school’s library website to begin my search. The best thing about using the library’s database is that it has a variety of articles that someone could use, depending on their topic. With the wide variety of articles I was able to expand and create new ideas for my topic like adding psychological aspects to my paper. This course has really open my eyes to researching in a whole new way.

Overall, I have really grown as a writer and researcher during this course. I plan to continue to progress in those two areas during my academic career. My goals for the rest of the semester are pretty few. I just want to work on my grammatical skills as well as just making sure that I am reaching my audience and that they understand my main ideas in my work. I just want to be the best writer/researcher that I can be as an English student at Wayne State University.

Post 7

What is the issue?

In the APEX program, APEX students are required to do at least 8 hours of documented studying or academic events to take part in. This is an issue because not everyone in the program are not able to achieve the full 8 hours because they make work or the class schedule does not permit them to do so.

Why do I care?

I care because this policy affects me very much. As a busy, full time college student, I don’t have as much time as I would like to achieve my 8 hours. My class schedule is very rigorous and causes me to attend them all and have my day end quite late.

What does my audience needs to know about the issue?

My audience would need to know what the APEX program is and also what is required in the 8 hours that the APEX students have to achieve. They may also need to know the percentage of people who cant achieve them and the reason why they are unable to follow this 8 hour policy. And possibly the perspective of the students versus the staff on this policy.

What is at stake for me, for my peers, or my community?

Some things that are at stake for myself and my peers are the same. If myself and my peers don’t follow the 8 hour policy, then we may be kicked out of Wayne State for not being compliant. Another thing is that if this 8 hour policy is not fulfilled, the number of students at Wayne State will decrease. However, if the rules are changed,  then these stakes would be gone or decreased.

Post 6

After reading ” Revising by Reading Aloud”, there were a few things that stood out to me that I can use while drafting my I-Search paper.

• After reading my text what sounded brilliant to me was the way I formed my questions. I really liked how my questions covered everything that I want to answer in my I-Search paper.
• In the introduction of my I-Search paper when I am describing the dreams that I have been having , the wording is a little bit strange and confusing. It was strange because it wasn’t a well thought out sentence and it was more of a fragment sentence. Another part where I got tripped up while reading was when I was describing my experience with finding my first source. I switched up a lot with my verb tenses and wasn’t very consistent.
• When I read my draft aloud I feel like I have a lot of work to do with my grammar and the way I construct my sentences. I also need more transitions as well.
• Somethings that I would like to add are a few more sources that will enhance my paper and answer my I-Search questions. I will also like to add more transition words.
• My experiences with reading my text aloud and the experiences of Elbow’s process are similar because when I read my text aloud I was able to hear grammatical errors and verb tense errors; by me hearing these errors I was able to fix them and observe any further errors in my paper.

Post 5

My plans for my I-Search paper consist of a lot of steps. I first plan on researching my question on Google. If I happen to run across something that answers my question from a reliable source, then I’ll go from there. I’m looking for things that answers  my question from the psychological and food perspective. I’m hoping to find different examples that support my answer that I find to my question. So for example, in order for me to prove or not prove that the food we eat affect our dreams I need testimonies that proves it. If I am not able to find any of these things will go on to use Wayne State’s library database to find to continue on with my research. This part will be my secondary research. I am going to use as a more professional way to prove my answer to my question. For my primary research, I was thinking about giving out surveys to fellow students and get there feedback on their opinions and personal experiences with food and dreams. From there, I hope to interview someone who has a significant experience and knowledge about food and it affecting people’s dreams. Therefore, these are my intended plans for my I-Search paper.

Brittany B. 🙂

About Me

About Me

Hi I’m Brittany Bunch and I am a freshmen at Wayne State University.

I’m just a girl who is continuously learning how to improve my writing every day.

From my writing experiences so far, I consider myself to be a responsible writer. When I do any of my writing I make sure that I give credit where credit is due.

Whether I am writing on my blog or writing a research paper, I acknowledge the ideas that I used to engage and incorporate new ideas.

I consider myself to be part of different learning with my fellow students, instructors, as well as the readers.

Learning involves everyone and that is what I try to remember while I write.

The acknowledgment of other’s ideas that I use in my writing projects and contributing to other’s learning in class, shows that the habit of mind that best applies to me is responsibility. One example that supports my claim, in particular, is a blog that I posted for this class. This first post was specifically about what I usually write about on a typical day. I explained how in each type of writing I did for the day, it was influenced by my audience and the setting that I was in during those writing processes. As a result, writing that post helped me assess my work as a writer and a learner. This idea of writing on a blog so that the “public” can see it, has the ability to help the reader learn new things as well as develop new ideas. As a responsible writer, I believe that leaning involves everyone, including the writer and the audience.

Another example that shows I am a responsible writer is a research paper where I used credible sources to support my claim within the paper. This paper was about how social media affects our generation today. In order for me to make that claim, I had to have evidence, credible evidence. Once I decided on my final claim, I began to do a lot of researching that supported my claim a few days after. I found lots of online books and reliable articles on a few websites. One reliable website that I used was Wayne States library database. The library has an endless list of online books and articles that are very credible and are used by many Wayne State students, including me. During this process, I was very focused on making sure my sources were trustworthy and given their credit for using their work. I was able to show how I used their ideas in my paper by citing them. That included in-text citations, a works cited page, etc. For that reason this particular artifact supports my claim of being a responsible writer.

Lastly, the final example that gives evidence that I am a responsible writer is a group activity that we’ve done it class, called peer response. For this project, we the students, had to exchange our papers to edit and give feedback on one another’s work. As we exchange feedback with one another, each one of us began to learn from one another. We were able to bounce ideas off of each other as well as give constructive criticism, in doing so, we all were able to create a learning environment. I was then able to contribute to someone else’s learning during this exercise.

In conclusion, each one of my writing projects reflect a different aspect of what a responsible writer is. Whether it’s a blog posting, a research paper, or a peer response session, I am able to display my responsibility in my writing as well as my learning.

Thanks for reading 🙂

For more looks at my writing, check out my blog 

Post 3

After reading “What’s Worth Knowing” and I-Search, I had noticed the two different arguments each author portrays in their article. In “I-Search”, the author’s main argument is that students should go further in their researching a question process than just what the instructor requires. They believe that by using outside research, the student can utilize that information and create new ideas. In “What’s Worth Knowing”,  the author’s main argument is that by asking questions and answering them, you end up finding what’s most important in your research. This process can help narrow down the most important points worth knowing.

For Project 2, I have began to brainstorm a few ideas to start researching. My first idea is to do research on the topic of social media and how it has become so popular over the past years. My second idea that I had was finding out how cell phones have been involved in the public and social settings. I can do both of these by asking questions to deepen my research process, like in the article ” I-Search”. These two topics interest me because I use them everyday and see other people use them in our society.

About Me

I’m just a girl who is continuously learning how to improve my writing every day.

From my writing experiences so far, I consider myself to be a responsible writer. When I do any of my writing I make sure that I give credit where credit is due.

Whether I am doing a research paper or a summary of an article, I acknowledge the ideas that I used to engage and incorporate new ideas within my writing.

I see myself as a part of a different learning community with my fellow students, instructors, and the readers.

Learning involves everyone and that’s what I try to remember while I write.

Thanks for reading 🙂