On April 16, as a “comment,” post your process cover letter. Make your response a thoughtful two, to four, paragraphs. Make in-depth comments (of at least three sentences) on at least three other entries from this class before April 18.
In the cover note section, in your “collaboration” page, note whose responses you replied to for Process Cover Page blogging. If you have not done so, also note whose responses you replied to for your previous blogging.
anne f walker 
In the process page, I include my essay 1, 2, and 3 drafts as evidence. These items highlight the improvement in the quality of my essays through the writing process.
I am the type of person who does not like submitting a paper unless I am satisfied with it to a certain extent. My first drafts are always low quality so I hardly ever feel proud of it. But as I progressed through this course, I learned to accept my first drafts as it is because it can be revised into a better essay. The revision process included peer feedback and independent work. I thought that peer feedback was most effective when my peers made comments about my thesis statements and topic sentences. Those main sentences are the backbone of the essay so it is important to clarify them. Content-wise, I thought that independent revisions were most effective because I knew the direction I wanted my essay to follow. With both peer feedback and independent revisions, I was able to improve the quality of my essays.
An important tool I gained in writing 10 was the paramedic method. It is a step-by-step method that eliminates unnecessary phrases and helps to clarify sentences. When the class practiced using the method, I was amazed at how a fifty-worded sentence was cut down to a twenty-worded sentence. I am glad that Professor Walker enthusiastically introduced this method to the class because I now understand how a shorter, more specific sentence makes the essay sound clear and straight-forward.
In writing essay 2, I realized that a research paper is generally easy to type as long as the research part is done. I knew how to research information from large databases, such as Google, but I was not familiar with researching information from academic databases until I actually did it. After spending hours on finding information from academic databases, I understood its value. I learned how to better determine a reliable source. In turn, I was pickier with choosing my evidence. I thought that academic research was a good skill I acquired in this course because I can definitely use this in future essays and assignments.
In your first actual paragraph, I particularly liked the fact that you gave it your own personal feel. You went in depth to how you changed as the semester progressed which I feel is what we had to do. So good job on that! Moving onto the second paragraph, I feel you should (if applicable) give us an example of how the paramedic method helped you in your works. Overall, it looks like a very clear and concise cover; To me, you probably just should add in more examples.
I agree with you, the rough drafts are no my proudest pieces, but that’s exactly what they are: Rough Drafts. The peer editing also helped me, I was able to see what sentences needed clarifying and which ones steered my essay off topic. Good job including how you learned to use the library’s data bases, because I did not know how to use that either.
Good response, I like the way you divided it. With the parts about the paramedic method and the way you researched, I agree that the method helps a lot with essays and that the way I research stuff has also changed. All these tools help quite a bit with writing papers.
I really liked the paramedic method a lot! It was very helpful for future reference and it helped with some of my harder to understand sentences. I totally agree with you that the in class use of it helped me understand it more, and professor Walker really sold it to us.
Good job with how you organized the response also! Makes it easier for us to read!
The Paramedic method really did help with mostly everything we did this year! Without it, I don’t think we would hae been able to cram so much detail into one essay. Nice job with cover letter, I like your reflections on your research experiences.
Just like you, I also think that my own personal revisions is more helpful than peer revisions. However, peer revisions was useful for receiving options through other people’s point of views. This helps determine if my paper was lacking some information or if I went of track.
Good cover letter. It seems like the last paragraph belongs in your ethics section, though. You should also think about throwing in a few specific examples from your assignments to ground your reasoning.
____In process, I include my first essay, my writing diagnostic, and my GLD presentations as evidence. These items highlight what room I have left for improvement. The process of writing anything in a new way is always difficult. This course stressed concision in writing above all else, and for that, I understand the importance of concision in professional writing. My previous courses (including those in high school) focused on composition and structure. Concision is, of course, of great importance in academic writing, so I am glad to have participated in a course that stressed it.
____The first essay in this course began with the most words. The second draft of my first essay contains 1,393 words. It took almost as long to edit the final draft down to 1,085 words as it did to write the first draft. This pattern continued through the second essay. By my third, I had managed to land the word count near enough to the goal not to end up hacking it to pieces. However, it still needed significant editing to focus the body paragraphs and adhere more to the thesis. As they stand, I am not particularly proud of any of my essays. Progression from draft to draft has never been significant; possibly because I am good at structuring essays or because I am not adept at editing. In regards to peer editing, the most helpful advice came with the peer edit of my diagnostic essay. Even then, little was changed. This semester has not been a good one for editing.
____Creating the GLD presentation for Revolt of the Cockroach People was no less arduous. An overabundance of spare time in the previous semester led me to believe I would have more than enough time to read the book and slowly build up the slides. Such was not the case. One meeting in the library with Tom and Juan set the basic focus of the presentation (who was finding what information and who would speak here and there) and that followed for the second presentation. I spent hours past midnight compiling the information into slides. Although the second presentation was rather rushed, both went adequately. I hear from the others that they have never presented to a class before. I presented twice to two large classes last semester alone (and watch many public lectures besides), so as presentations go, I consider myself experienced.
I thought it was interesting how you chose to look back on your past essays and see that there was room for improvement. However, you say are proud of your of your group led discussions because you have experience in presenting before. Perhaps it is only through practice that we become more satisfied with our finished products. Writing being such a broad topic, it might be difficult to settle on a specific writing style one is comfortable with.
The GLDs really did help with everything in our essays now that I am thinking about it. We have learned so much from the material and it is interesting how you stated this fact in your cover letter
When it comes to peer editing, having a good partner who goes into your paper is vital. I get a lot of partners that just fixes grammar mistakes or marks a sentences as being “bad” without explaining why. A good peer editor will always try to find something wrong with your paper so they can improve it. If that person just says your paper is good, they ain’t trying.
In process I include rewritten drafts and public speaking as evidence. These items highlight my enthusiasm. Over the course of this semester my processes of how I address and listen to my peers have changed. I have had to work harder and longer to get my assignments done. As the class progressed I learned how to read for the purpose for gathering information, so that I could combine ideas into useful information for my papers.
I have learned that when revising my essays it was good to incorporate faculty and peer feedback. When revising my essays, my peers, helped me rethink my ideas and they led me to consider new ones. I found it helpful to read the peer editing performed by my classmates because they gave me additional ideas and questioned my thoughts on others. Incorporating others ideas is sometimes hard, but in the end it was helpful to the completion of my essay.
At the beginning of this semester I had little to no ability to speak effectively in public. Over time and with a little practice I got better at public speaking. The group led discussions helped me get used to talking to the class. I am less nervous to talk to the class than I was at the beginning of the class.
I like how you covered your personal development as the semester progressed. However, I feel like some examples should be given to further reinforce your statements using some examples from the evidence you stated. Overall, it’s a very concise and clear cover on the process page. The last sentence on your second paragraph should also be elaborated on, because it leaves me kind of wanting more. Maybe give an idea of the challenges you faced and how you overcame them? Lastly, I think you need to delete the comment after peers in the second paragraph.
I like how you explain that the group led discussion help you be a better public speaker. I must agree with you reading the books are actually interesting you have to read in order to get a well done paper.
You seem to show improvement and that is good. I agree, public speaking is hard and this class really teaches one to present to an audience without it being too daunting; being a small group. The thing about the peer edits is true too, better essays can only be achieved through multiple revisions.
Great cover letter! I think that peer editing really helps make papers better as well. Incorporating others’ ideas is always hard for me too because sometimes it does not necessarily fit into what I was trying to say, but comments are always helpful. I liked how you talked about how you improved though out the semester. Good job!
I agree that peer revisions are very helpful for idea development and communication. The peer readers can tell the author what they found confusing or what worked for them. I believe you should expand on each of your paragraphs, perhaps go more in depth about how they helped using specific examples, for example: In Cold Blood GLD. You may also wish to discuss new ways you learned to gather information for your essays.
You might include what you did to revise your essays. Did you improve in context? citing? structure? Just like you, having peer editing helps me expand my my thoughts when I hit a dead end.
In my process page, I include three or four drafts of essays one, two, and three in addition to my diagnostic essay as evidence that I have put an extensive amount of work into each of them. These items highlight my improvement and careful revision of each of the assignments.
The writing process of this class taught me how to better communicate my ideas clearly and concisely. Before this class, I had never worked on several drafts of my essay extensively. It wasn’t until I chose to put in the effort to communicate clearly, that I realized the error of my ways and the necessity of writing multiple drafts before turning in a paper. Part of what helped raise this awareness was the introduction of the Paramedic Method, by which I was amazed to learn how effectively one could paraphrase a thought by rewording it. In writing multiple drafts, I had time to develop what I was trying to say and it helped me think of more complex ideas that added to the caliber of my paper. In developing my argument I also gained a better understanding of the text and was able to draw clearer conclusions. Overall, this multistep process of writing helped by ability to think, speak, and critically evaluate my work, which as a result has made me a stronger writer.
Writing my thoughts down has taught me how to think before I speak. Having exercised the task of speaking and writing plenty throughout this course has strengthened the coherency of my ability to speak publicly. Now, when I speak I make sure I can be understood by speaking at a moderate speed so as to allow my thoughts to develop fully before actually voicing them. Another part of the writing process that was beneficial was reading through my drafts for grammatical and syntactical errors. I found that the way I wrote could often be convoluted. I learned how to better refine my speech for academic writing by cutting out what didn’t need to be said or rewording my important points in a more professional way. Revising my drafts has allowed me to better understand how my mind works, what my weaknesses are, and what my strengths are. I know myself better because of it and I know my academic writing has improved dramatically.
In my process page, I include three or four drafts of essays one, two, and three in addition to my diagnostic essay as evidence that I have put an extensive amount of work into each of them. These items highlight my improvement and careful revision of each of the assignments.
The writing process of this class taught me how to better communicate my ideas clearly and concisely. Before this class, I had never worked on several drafts of my essay extensively. It wasn’t until I chose to put in the effort to communicate clearly, that I realized the error of my ways and the necessity of writing multiple drafts before turning in a paper. Part of what helped raise this awareness was the introduction of the Paramedic Method, by which I was amazed to learn how effectively one could paraphrase a thought by rewording it. In writing multiple drafts, I had time to develop what I was trying to say and it helped me think of more complex ideas that added to the caliber of my paper. In developing my argument I also gained a better understanding of the text and was able to draw clearer conclusions. Overall, this multistep process of writing helped by ability to think, speak, and critically evaluate my work, which as a result has made me a stronger writer.
Writing my thoughts down has taught me how to think before I speak. Having exercised the task of speaking and writing plenty throughout this course has strengthened the coherency of my ability to speak publicly. Now, when I speak I make sure I can be understood by speaking at a moderate speed so as to allow my thoughts to develop fully before actually voicing them. Another part of the writing process that was beneficial was reading through my drafts for grammatical and syntactical errors. I found that the way I wrote could often be convoluted. I learned how to better refine my speech for academic writing by cutting out what didn’t need to be said or rewording my important points in a more professional way. Revising my drafts has allowed me to better understand how my mind works, what my weaknesses are, and what my strengths are. I know myself better because of it and I know my academic writing has improved dramatically.
I also added my drafts and my diagnostic test. Therefore, the Paramedic Method comes in handy I am glad we learned it. It helped me shorten my sentence without having to repeat myself, and I am a better writer, than the start of the course.
I found your ideas are very well explained. I was wondering if you should include the comments from the professor. I feel the same way about rewriting my drafts. Every time I revise my drafts I find mistakes that I had missed and that I needed to correct in order to make my essay better.
I like how you brought up the Paramedic Method. That was sometime I learned as well that I never knew before. I also like how you described that in the past you would have trouble speaking publicly, but now you have some skills that help you with that. Revising essays is always a good idea! Great job.
This is a great cover letter! Based on your reflection, I think that you’ve improved plenty, especially since you found the value of writing multiple drafts. On another note, it’s interesting how you learned more about yourself through the writing process. It’s actually something that I need to reflect on more.
Glad to hear you’ve benefited so much from the course. Odd that writing many drafts should be a new experience at this point. In any case, if this cover letter is any demonstration of the quality of your essays, I’m sure you’ll be fine in higher division writing courses.
This page of my portfolio contains the work of my essays over the entire semester along with the diagnostic done at the beginning of the year. Throughout the year, I have shown exponential improvement over the semester where my writing and critical thinking has improved.
Writing, in a cohesive thought has always been one of toughest concepts for me since I always want to try and add my own sort of commentary to the essay and even the major thought of my thesis. One of my major problems in addition to having a coherent thought, was also trying to integrate my sources into the essay. Sometimes they would be just too obvious, or sometimes these quotes would taken completely out of context either in terms of the essay or in terms of the general topic. Through this course, I have learned to focus on only one topic and not to divide my attention too much.
I agree with you, I feel like my writing has improved as well and that one is able to add is own sort of comments in the writing. Yes, with the writing skills that we have learned in the course it actually helps it keeps one stay focus in one topic and not all over the place.
I too have had problems integrating my evidence and sources into my essay! It’s great that you provided that person insight. I feel that if you say you improved, you should provide an example saying that before I used to do or write like ______ and say now, after the course I do or write like _____. I am very intrigued by you saying that you have improved exponentially! Good job on your cover!
I agree with you. At first it was difficult to write my thesis since in high school I was taught to include my three topics in there. However, after a while I became accustomed to writing a clear and straight to the point thesis. I feel as if this new writing style conveys a much clearer tone.
It is good that you learned how to use quotes more effectively. That is a great improvement. Focusing on one topic at a time is a great idea when writing essays, and it is good that you were able to put this into action throughout the semester. I can really see that you have made improvements in your writing with this cover letter!
I understand where you’re coming from about trying to add your own commentary onto the essay and such. It’s been a hard thing for me to break, and it always doesn’t make sense. I’m glad you’ve worked on that and you’ve been able to not divide your attention as much because I still need a little bit more work on that part.
In “Process” I include my Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, and Essay 4 as evidence. These items highlight the progress I have made in being able to compare, contrast, and synthesize academic materials in general and course readings, revising written assignments by incorporating relevant faculty and peer feedback, and what I learned about my writing process and the expectations of the larger academic community.
At the beginning of the semester, I came into the class with a “cocky” confidence in my writing abilities. I say “cocky” because I let the grade I got in a community college-level “Writing 101” class overshadow my actual writing abilities and process. When I was completing my assignments this semester at the start, I would type up my general ideas and outline just to get the paper submitted on time. I neglected the actual process of getting meaningful and constructive peer revisions and editing. But now, at this point of “Writing 10,” I feel I can actually use the corrections and ideas of my peers for the greater good and produce a piece to the best of my ability. A great example is in my first essay. In my first draft, I left a note for my peer editor because I had hit my “wall” and I could no longer produce ideas. After that, my peer editor actually gave me an idea or two and I proceeded to talk with them about it so I could come up with my own thoughts instead of just taking theirs. I integrated that into my paper and I felt like I produced Essay 1 to the best of my ability.
A weakness in writing that I always had was comparing and contrasting. I always found it difficult to draw specific aspects of two works together and begin to find similarities, differences, or flaws. However, in this class, I felt the assignment we got for Essay 3 was enough to give me a “kick” in the right direction. Due to the fast pace and the quickly approaching deadline, it forced me to go into “writing overdrive” and produce one of my best compare and contrast essays so far. Another thing I learned about myself about writing compare and contrast essays is that I need to be interested in what I am writing about. Writing assignments usually have no freedom in topic choice but with “Writing 10,” it provided me with exactly what I needed to work to the best of my abilities. I’ve definitely made a lot of progress from the beginning of the semester, and Essay 3 is an example of the progress I’ve made. You can see it in the drafts. In each draft, I got progressively better in drawing evidence from both and making my own connections.
In the end, I feel like I’ve learned about my own writing process. Before this semester, I could honestly say I had no writing process because I wrote essays just to complete assignments. Now, I have a couple of steps to help me achieve the best possible work I can produce for each assignment. I usually begin with a brainstorming session. This usually includes a spider web chart, a list, or some research. After that, I continue on to creating my essay outline. Here, I put my thesis, topic sentences, introduction, and conclusion together. The strategy behind this step is to see if I can find enough evidence to support what I want to write about. If not, I restart this step. Next, I begin incorporating the evidence with my thoughts and analyses and begin to form the actual essay. The next and most important step is to consult with my peers to see what I can change, do better, or incorporate to make the essay more effective. After that, I just repeat steps three and four until I produce my final draft. It is a very simple but effective strategy. That being said, I’ve come a long way from the beginning of the semester and I am glad to have enrolled in this specific class.
I was also like you because I did not go with the process of peer editing. I did not see it useful, however, it’s different now taking this class. It really does help because I usually get low grades without peer editing but now that I have use peer editing for my essays I was satisfied with my grades. I did not taught i would get a good grade with peer editing.
I really wish I had your confidence in this class. When I first came in, I was scared of how I would perform when I had to write the essays. I am very glad you showed your grade and made ample justifications.
I like how you used examples to support your thesis.You did a good job of highlighting what your weaknesses were at the beginning of the class, in comparison to how you improved through the editing/revising portion of this class. Overall you did a good job of supporting your thesis.
Glad this class has been helping your writing man. I wish I had the “cocky” attitude towards the class coming in, but I’m not that great at writing essays so it was a bit harder for me to start. The peer editing like you said really has improved my overall work for essays. I’m’ glad this class has helped us all! It’s been a good semester so far.
_____In Process, I include my hand-written diagnostic, at least three drafts of each essay, and written evaluations posted as comments as evidence of this. These items highlight my development and engagement with the process of critical reading and formal writing. The process of writing is no simple task. There are a variety of steps involved in the process that lead to excellence in stating a point and successfully defending or proving that point. The first of these is often a phase of brain-storming; the writer must ask themselves, “What do I want to write about?” and “What do I want to get across?”. An idea must be developed and sufficiently attached to the writer to give them something to write about and a reason to write it. Next is a stage of drafting and getting an idea down on paper; the writer must compile this idea and the points behind it on paper so that it can be seen others. However, just because an idea can be seen by others does not mean that it can be understood by others, leading into a stage of revision. An idea must be revised thoroughly so that it can be clearly understood and solidly supported. Throughout the semester, I have learned many new techniques which have developed my ability to utilize this process and improve my academic writing for the better.
_____My hand-written diagnostic is where I began this semester and shows my ability to quickly synthesize a topic in the brain-storming phase of the writing process. Given little time to prepare for what we were to write about, I had to think of my stance on the article presented in which I resolved that I believe people should have a second chance because people make mistakes. However, the brain-storming process did not stop there because I required evidence to support why I felt this way. I had to turn over many ideas in my mind to search for suitable examples which, in the time given, I found the Star Wars Kid and Richard Nixon to be useful examples. There may have been better examples but the limitations on time made me eager to begin my writing so I would have supple time to elaborate on my points and conclusions. All of this brainstorming proved useful when I ended up with a finished product that I felt both worked and was explained in great detail.
_____My essay drafts show my development in the overall clarity with each sufficient draft and essay. Throughout the year we have learned and applied various techniques, such as narrative summarization and the paramedic method, which have greatly benefitted my ability to revise my essays and use more effective wording. By using narrative summarization as feedback, I can more clearly see what others are seeing in my essay’s wording and tweak it to what I want it to say to the reader. Through this I have learned that, in the process of writing, topic sentences are just as important as the thesis and they help to lay the foundation that is then supported by the rest of the body paragraph. If the foundation is not properly laid out then the support built on top of it will not align as perfectly as they could and leave you with a weak overall structure. And, as anyone who lives on a slope will tell you, a solid foundation is essential to a successful structure. I have also discovered the usefulness of the paramedic method in the revision stage of the writing process as it allows for much clearer and concise wording to get a point across. By making the doer, action, and, if applicable, receiver of a sentence stand out at the front, the reader can get the overall idea much more quickly. The paramedic method also allows the writer to cut out unnecessary clutter which can distract the reader’s attention from the big idea. Through this method, it is easier to make sure that my writing can be understood and, in cutting out unnecessary detail, allows me to elaborate further on the big idea.
_____My written evaluations help to express overall development in my ability to engage in the writing process as a whole. Beginning with the first evaluation, it was clear that I could use some improvement in my writing. My diagnostic scored a five out of six which shows that, while my writing was pretty good, it was not what would be called perfect. My writing had a “less fluent and complex style” than desired and this is gave me a goal to strive for in this class. By learning to incorporate the suggestions given through these evaluations, I have been able to better my utilization of the writing process. In revising I keep in mind these areas of possible improvement and have learned that longer paragraphs are not necessarily better paragraphs. In keeping my paragraphs more concise through help of the paramedic method I could fit in more evidence in support of my thesis and less time explaining the significance of each piece of evidence. This has kept me progressing in a positive direction as far as grades and my overall satisfaction in my finished essays.
I like how you mentioned your evidence in the first paragraph and then separated into paragraphs and explaining your development as a writer within each evidence. All I can say is a well written cover letter, Great Job! You have explained every thing in detail and understood your engagement with the class and development.
I have also found that peer-editing was useful. Having others read your work is great since they have a different perspective and can offer other ideas. I’m glad that you have made great improvement as a writer.
You explained your writing developments very well. I liked how you used the slope metaphor as an example in your cover letter. I found your cover letter very enjoyable paper to read.
I liked that you discussed your writing process for your diagnostic essay and your written evaluations. You express the importance of having multiple drafts of a composition. Persuades the reader that you are actively working on your writing skills by using many editing methods and drafts. Overall, you demonstrated what you took out of the class by using specific examples from assignments, workshops, and class work.
You’ve got your main ideas in the letter, but my suggestion would be to trim your paragraphs as much as possible. Try to combine sentences. If you can express two ideas at the same time, do so. Listing is great for reducing word count. Here’s an example: Third paragraph; “My drafts show successive development in narrative summary, the paramedic method, and other techniques that improve clarity.”
In Process, I include three drafts of each essay, my written evaluations, my hand-written diagnostic, and my revised diagnostic as evidence to demonstrate my academic process. These items highlight the importance of revising one’s own work. As I have progressed in this course, I have realized how important it is to constantly revise my written work.
Public speaking had to be one of the most difficult obstacles I had to overcome. The Group Led Discussions were one of the most nerve-racking assignments I completed. I was extremely nervous when I first found out we had to create a 40-50 minute presentation, especially with classmates who I still did not know. My longest presentation had been a 5 minute one. To make things worse, my group was the 3rd one to present and one of our group members dropped the class. However, I was fortunate enough to have a partner who also was willing to dedicate a large portion of his time to go into the presentations. Not only did we overcome our nervousness during the presentations, but we were also able to fulfill the requirements that were needed to make a great presentation: “Make sure that you not only give an overview of the reading, but also focus on several points into which you will go in-depth. On these points you will engage the class in discussion by having a list of questions, and/or creating text-driven games, and/or group exercises. Ask your peers questions” (Writing 10 Syllabus). Both our presentations covered the overview of the readings and went into the deeper meanings of the texts. We had plenty of questions to engage the class and rewarded them with treats. Most importantly, we were able to manage our time and finish in about 45 minutes. This assignment helped sharpen my public speaking skills and made me able to convey my ideas more efficiently.
An aspect of the writing process that I have improved on is the ability to efficiently use certain ideas from academic sources and utilize it as supportive evidence. Before, it was difficult for me to use certain readings and integrate them to my own writing. However, through revision and with the help of peer-editing, I have found it much easier to compare and synthesize information. For example, in my second essay, the subject I wrote about was the second Red Scare. After revision, I was able to successfully integrate quotes from “In Cold Blood” to support my ideas, such as comparing the distrust between the people of Holcomb to the distrust between Americans during the Red Scare. Having to create at least 3 drafts for each essay helped me develop my essays much better. With peer-editing, I was exposed to different perspectives and could synchronize those ideas with mine. Another useful tool was the paramedic method. This method helped remove redundancies in my writing and left me with a clear and concise sentence.
I agree with you! Speaking was also one of the most difficult obstacles I had overcome in this class and longest presentation as well. Peer editing has also helped me and made it easier and not only in my essays but in any writing in particular and not to mention paramedic method. The paramedic method is a useful tool to make shorter and a detailed essay if its long with redundancies, just as you said.
Good background, I liked that you explained how difficult it was for you to speak in public. I also like the quote you added, gave it more depth. Just make sure to introduce the quote and why it’s relevant to your topic sentence. Otherwise great process letter.
The paramedic was probably the most useful tool I’ve learned in this class in revising my essays. It’s a simple method that, for some reason, just works and really helps to clear up any confusion sentences. I also thought that the presentations were quite nerve-racking. I was worrying about a variety of things; were my questions too hard? too easy? would we make the minimum time? etc. In the end everything turned out really well and, after the fact, the presentation seemed like a cakewalk. It was a really good public speaking experience and really motivated me to dig deep into the meaning of the book.
In process I included all my drafts for essay1, essay2 and essay3 as my evidence. These items highlight the improvement I have done in writing essays. Since the beginning I have done poorly in every writing assignment. I’m not a skilled reader or writer. However, through out the semester I have improved in those areas. It was difficult because I had the to adapt to a different structure of doing essays. Since every writing professor (including high school teachers) had their own way of teaching us how to format an essay. They had their own way of doing it. An important tool, peer editing, helped me be a better writer.
Writing essay always upsets and depress me since I always have no clue on what to write. I can’t put my ideas together; it is really difficult for me and takes most of my time to find a way. Basically, I find my-self struggling starting the essay. Once started is gets a little bit easier to do. However, I do not like doing peer editing because I always have the taught that what I’m writing is wrong. For all my first draft essays, my partner, always find errors and leaves feedback so I could go back and fix it. For all my first drafts I have seen that I commit many errors like grammar, punctuation, order of words, etc. I need to work hard on errors I do. I realized that peer editing is really important because it makes you a better writer with the feedback of others.
The more peer editing I do, the more the essay will get better. For the second draft of every essay, it had fewer errors and the third draft it had fewer errors than the second draft. The pattern goes until no errors can be found but is hard to do a perfect paper, which needs effort and time. I have put the most time and effort to all my essays and clearly it has paid off. My writing skills have increase significantly and I’m satisfied. However, my speaking skills didn’t increase as much as writing. Though it’s fewer I’m still satisfied because I’m more social than before enrolling in this course, thanks to group work and GLD.
Do not worry about what other people are going to think of your writing when it comes to peer-editing. Sometimes I think the more errors my classmate finds, the better, since it isn’t really helpful if all they write is “great, good job”. As you practice writing more, the better you will get.
____In Process, I include my diagnostic essay, rough drafts and Anne Walker’s written evaluations as evidence. These items highlight how my knowledge and ideas on topics/assignments grows over constant revisions.
____Each time I made or revised my rough drafts, I improve my paper because I learned new things when I review it again. When I write my papers, ideas are constantly flowing and one of them might become focused in my head. By creating more rough drafts, I can be able to develop new ideas that I couldn’t think of because of the one topic that’s stuck on my mind when I first write it. Additionally, when I have a peer look at my paper, they could be able to find another topic for my paper. By constant revising my rough drafts, I can look at the paper as if I didn’t write it and criticize it. For example, when I review my rough drafts, I feel as if I didn’t support my evidence enough. I didn’t realize this when I was writing the paper because those ideas felt bigger in my head but not on my paper.
____Additionally, I get help from my teacher and classmates when I run out of ideas for my paper. Having another person’s perspective on my paper is always helpful because it lets me think like them. By having another viewpoint on my paper, new ideas can generate. The exchanging of our papers allows me to see what I didn’t see before. For instance, I might have forgotten to include important details when explaining my analysis. I gained the skill to read my paper as if it isn’t my own when revising my papers. I learned this though revision of other people papers and learning from their mistakes.
I go through the same process as you. I often focus one idea and when I come back to my work I think of tons of things that I could do different to change up my essay. I like having a good break before I ever go back to an essay so I could almost forget my ideas from before and have a fresh mind when reviewing my writing. This kind of process helps a lot.
Good process page, I agree that it does take a lot of revision before my ideas really come to light. Read through this again because there were some funky sentence structuring. Other than that, your process letter was to the point.
Be careful about your grammar and word tenses. I liked how you explain how others help you, because I also receive good ideas from my peers. I think you should talk more about the skills that you learned from revising your own and other people’s papers.
In the process section I added three draft for each of my essays that I have turn in so far. I also added my diagnostic test the first essay we all had to do when we started this course. At first my struggle was the fact that there was a lot of compare and contrast with books that we read in class to movie and book and at the end our paper were compare and contrast. That was my weakness in this class but over time I have learn how to write paper that are compare and contrast and they are not as hard as before.
I also in the rhetoric section I described how summarizing is important and at first one does not know on what to write and if everything is important and what not. For example, at the beginning of the course I would struggle writing my journals I would always ask myself is this important…should I write about the presentation and what was good about it or is it too much. Now one knows how to paraphrase and make one long sentence into a short one. The writing exercise that we could do in the board where helpful and very productive.
Also, I have learned how to give feedback and receive feedback in return and see how I can take it into consideration or leaving it alone. Also, I lerned better ways of how to do research and on how to use databases that we have. Instead of using Google search all the time and the results not being academic.
We did a lot of compare and contrast in this class and I also improved a lot at it. All the little things we have had to write has helped on improving my writing. The Paramedic method that we learned about shorting our sentences did help a lot. Its a nice tool to have.
______When given an essay topic to write about, my mind comes up with ten different ways I could write the paper. Some ideas are relevant to one another; others are a good idea, but unfortunately do not fit into my essay. Once I begin typing my essay, so many more ideas develop and I try to incorporate them while I’m writing the essay with no general point. This eventually leads to a long essay with no particular point to it. Professor Walker’s three rough draft requirement, at first seemed silly because I never really changed my drafts before, however in class she helped us edit each others papers and allowed me to see my mistakes. Through this semester, with Professor Walker, I was able to progress in my compare and contrasting, writing, and speaking skills.
_______Writing essays one and three allowed me to fully grasp the skill set to compare and contrast the literature. For my first essay I compared the relationship between Perry, his father, and Dick to the relationship between Perry, Willi-Jay, and the James family. This allowed me to discuss why Perry chose Dick over Willie-Jay, “Due to Perry’s past experiences he tended to focus on negativity, and sabotaged everything in his life” (Essay 1 Final 1). This allowed me to compare each character’s personalities and why Perry’s relationship with his Dad affected his decision to team up with Dick. Originally I was going to compare and contrast Perry and Dick’s personalities, however, thinking more in depth I came up with a better comparison that would make a better essay. Essay three allowed me to further my compare and contrasting skills by depicting either the differences or similarities between the Wizard of Oz the book and the Wizard of Oz the movie. I chose to compare the book and movie by finding their main theme of the plot and comparing the similarities between the two. I developed the thesis statement, “In both the book and film, each of the main characters went on a journey for the characteristics they felt they lacked.” (Final Essay 3 1). When comparing the movie to the book, I noticed that the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and the Lion all showed the trait they were looking to acquire from Oz when trying to help Dorothy. The similarities between the two allowed me to expand my thoughts and helped me improve my skills as analytical writer. In the process of writing my essays one and three, I was able to advance my compare and contrast skills.
______Peer editing and rewriting my essays allowed me to develop sufficient writing methods. After writing my first essay I was able to experience how difficult it was for me to begin my essay. I was mixed up half the time and writing the essay took me over four days to do. When essay one was over, I decided I needed a better way to format my essays, but I couldn’t think of how. When essay number two came along, I tried to write an introduction, three main points, and conclusion to keep my thought process solid. However, I realized this wasn’t enough. For essay three, I decided to try an outline, I started with outlining a draft, “Introduction [. . .] Thesis statement [. . .] Introduction to first paragraph [. . .] Introduction to quote [. . .]” (Essay 3 draft 1). This new form allowed me to write in clear, short sentences making my overall essay more straightforward and to the point, with no random tangents. Not only did my own trial and error improve my writing skills, but the peer editing did as well. Working with my peers, I was able to fully grasp the concepts such as common mistakes made, quotation introduction, grammatical errors, and the use of the Paramedic Method. For example, In class many people were struggling with wordy sentences that didn’t quite make sense. Professor Walker asked each of us to highlight these awkward sentences in each other’s papers and then provide a few to her. A few people gave theirs as an example, and she quickly demonstrated the proper procedure to use the method. This allowed me to practice at home on my own, and see how many sentences I could condense without ruining the overall meaning. My writing skills greatly improved from this. I was able to better my writing skills through peer editing and rewriting my papers.
______I was able to progress in my compare and contrasting, writing and speaking skills over this semester with Professor Walker. When writing essays one and three, I was able to grasp the skill to compare and contrast the literature. Developing these skills prepares me for my future papers in other subjects. I will use these methods of peer editing and rewriting in the future. My over all progress has improved, more than I thought was possible.
This is a good Process Intro. It gave a lot of examples of your writing process through out the year. It also gave me a lot of ideas of things to include in mine if I wish to improve it before we turn it all in. I agree with what you said about the peer editing and the Paramedic Method.That was a very strong tool we learned this year to improve our writing.
Nice job in giving a good outline of how your thinking and writing process progressed as you came up with more rough drafts. I liked your use of specific examples and how you used them to support your thesis over all. I hadn’t really considered how I was going to incorporate quotes or concrete evidence of my improvement until I saw your paper and now I have a better idea of how to go about it.
It goes over almost everything, good job covering a little of everything. The examples were very concise and to the point. The thing about the rough drafts is very true, they help a lot with the ideas. The thing about comparing is very good. It is a good skill to have and the practice in this class helps.
In the process page, I include my essay 1,2,3 and 4 drafts and my GLD PowerPoint as evidence. These drafts to my essays show my process of writing. In this class we have always gone through the same process of writing our essays. The process that we took was for us to write the best essay that we could. The writing and reading process that we had in this class was important tool for us to learn.
During the year we wrote several essays. Each time we had an essay to write we had a process we went through so our essays would be as clear as possible. Each essay had three drafts before the final essay was completed. The time we took on our essays was important for us to learn better ways to write. My peers helped me on my essay drafts my giving me feedback on my essays. I found very useful taking their feedback and incorporating it into my essay. It helped a lot having second opinions on my writing since I have never been a strong writer. I was able to learn from them by listening to their opinions on my writing. The entire writing process helped me as a writer and improved my essays so I could get the best grade for myself possible. In this class we often had to be able to take course readings and incorporate it into our writing. We add to analyze and compare and contrast course material. We did this a lot for our writing process. I was able to look a lot deeper at course material and was able to analyze and compare a lot better then before. The reason why I was able to improve in analyzing things we did was because we were able to do it so much this. The practice from doing it a lot and listening to peers helped me a lot. This class helped me become a better public speaker. Through out my life I have never been a strong speaker. Always have hated being in front of a class and giving a presentation. In this class everyone worked with each other so much it made it easier to be able to speak what I thought or being able to give a presentation. Giving a GLD was good practice to being able to talk to an entire class. My group and I had to prepare a Power Point and be able to teach the class about a piece of reading from the class. This project was really good practice for me to improve my speaking in front of the class.
The writing process of writing about course material, essays and giving presentations helped improve my writing skills. I have gotten better at receiving help from peers, talking to a crowd and putting course material into writing.
I would say that our lessons in how to give effective feedback were an invaluable tool for me and everyone else in the class. By learning ways to pinpoint weaknesses in structure through narrative analysis (summarizing based on thesis and topic sentences), I think we have made much progress in our critical reading and thinking as a class. I know that before I would tend to focus on minor mistakes such as grammar and spelling, not paying much attention to the overall content of the essay. Now I feel I have a strategy where I can give others feedback that can help them pull their ideas together, not just their sentences. This type of feedback has also been really helpful when creating new drafts as it really shows what could be improved upon. I know that this feedback has been helpful for me personally and it seems it has also been helpful to you.
To start the semester, our Professor requires their students to perform and submit a writing diagnostic to gage his or her students’ ability. Throughout the course, we are assigned four essays in which we demonstrate what we learned from class and workshops to show our ability to write academic prose at the college level. The essays demonstrate how to compare and contrast or discuss ideas using supporting materials. The end result is an essay that is better able to communicate with an academic and professional audience. All the essays are written in MLA format and the evidence incorporated into the essays use parenthetical referencing the work cited section of the essay. I found that after writing my first draft of an essay, I edit it by using what my peers suggest during peer review sessions and using a simplified version of the parametric method.
By looking at another’s essay, we learn how to look at our own essays to make them sound and look respectable. In the various drafts of essays, one can see that many of the sentence structures and ideas have been rearranged to fit a more logical and meaningful order. Having a new pair of eyes read through the essay gives the author insight as to what is unclear as well. Although the author understands his topic, does not necessarily mean he can successfully persuade the reader or make the reader understand. If the essay cannot successfully communicate to the reader its purpose and support, the essay loses it purpose and is empty.
After having a peer read through an essay draft, I can have them read through a recent draft to see if I improved the overall essay. By this time, the essay needs to work out sentence structure and perhaps shortening. The ideas should already be communicated, but need to be relooked at for conciseness. Our professor introduced a new way of editing sentences to make them more concise; the process is called the parametric method. Although I do not follow the parametric method step by step, I am still able to modify my sentence. Rather than circling, boxing, and underlying significant words, I read through the sentence slowly for flow and delete any redundant words and phrases. Sometimes, I have to start a sentence from scratch because it no longer keeps the flow of the essay. By doing this, I increase the number of words I can allocate towards making the entire essay more meaningful, persuasive, and stronger.
I forgot to include the kinds of evidence I am using:
The Process page of the ePortfolio includes at least the first three drafts of diagnostic essay 1, essay 1, essay 2, and essay 3 drafts as evidence highlighting my writing process throughout each assignment.
My essays have always been a process, more so in this class. Since going through rough drafts is part of the class, I have learned to use these editing sessions to really hone my writing. I have noticed quite a bit of improvement in my writing. I have gone through multiple drafts and have both edited them myself as well as with the help of my peers and Dr. Walker. This has helped me further the final product. Revising assignments has shown me that my thesis is very often not synced with the closing thesis. Since this leads to a stronger paper, it is very important to note. I have also learned that my sentences need to be more to the point.
My goals have not changed; however, my style of writing has; being more concise. I believe this course provided a very valuable skill and that is being very concise with essays. The first thing that comes to mind with concision is the thousand word count limit for the essays. This left little room for extraneous information that was not pertinent to the topic. This became easier as we learned of the Paramedic Method which teaches to shorten and break up sentences. The process is quite elegant and I have learned to use it through my essays; more so for the thesis and topic sentences.
With the Group Led Discussions, I learned to find an efficient way of presenting information to an audience. I learned the greatest from watching other groups present before me. This showed me slightly different ways of presenting information. When our group presented, we were able to use skills seen by other groups and present the information we collected in an efficient manner.
The one thousand word limit on essays was really surprising for me. Coming to college I had expected to be writing several pages in explaining every single bit of my understanding but it turns out it was quite the opposite. Coming from an AP English class in High school, I was turning out long papers on a monthly basis and now I am expected to keep these thoughts in a very concise space. However, I think I have really improved on being more clear and concise in my wording because of this limitation. I have to really decide what thoughts and sentences really add to the overall idea. As you mentioned, the paramedic method has really helped in clearing up my sentences and keeping within a reasonable range of the limit.
Discussing how GLDs and the parametric method are great ways of better understanding the story and making sure sentences are concise, respectively. Knowing what happens in a novel, book, or short story helps to determine the kind of supporting evidence an author would choose to include in their essay. The editing process was a really important part of the writing process for me as well. Being able to be concise helped to increase the possible number of words that can be utilized somewhere else in the essay to make the essay stronger.
Remember to include the kinds of evidence that is located in the Process section of your ePortfolio.
In my process I include representations of my critical reading, formal writing, and public speaking skills. These items highlight all the important components of being a student at UC Merced and being successful in the working world.
Critical reading was a large part of this Writing 10 class. Each class time we, as a class, have an assigned reading. These readings are not only for personal enjoyment, but for learning more about writing styles and questioning what the writer to attempts to portray to their readers. Reading on our own, and then coming together as a class to reevaluate what the reading was about was an important process. When we re-convene in the setting of the classroom there are presenters that help us with this process, through the Group Led Discussions. Critical reading, a multistep process, was important to knowing a reading from all perspectives. Critical reading also helps the process of formal writing.
In Writing 10 formal writing is practiced often. Given topics to address, we practice our abilities to compare and contrast material, learn more about the writing process as a whole, learn the expectations of writing in a professional manner, and learn how to revise papers. Formal writing was performed in each of our essays. Peer feedback is vital to the writing process. Getting this feedback helps show the writer what needs to make clearer or what makes an essay good. In my essay on the comparison of The Wizard of Oz book and movie, the help from my peers made me understand that I needed to make clearer when I was talking about the book and when I was talking about the movie. This was an important aspect of the paper, so it was very important that this be clear. Her feedback helped me make my essay better. Without going over a paper several times it can never be good. Having others correct an essay makes it better as a whole.
Public speaking is an important skill to have. Working in my Group Led Discussion team helped me learn more about public speaking and how to effectively connect with a particular audience. I learned that having interactive questions and a power-point were effective in helping my public speaking.
I thought that the highlight part of your second sentence was interesting because I didn’t think about writing that way. Your paragraphs on peer feedback and public speaking are clear and direct. However, your paragraph on critical reading uses the pronoun “we” a lot. I think that since this is your own reflection, maybe throw in some “I’s” instead of “we’s.”
In the Process section, the three drafts of each essay (Essay 1, Essay 2, Essay 3, Essay 4, and the diagnostic essay) has been uploaded as evidence.
I have been a significant amount of progress in my work in Writing 010. This has not been an easy process for me, but because I had never been able to write well since I was younger. This class required us to write five essays. Essay one to four consisted of us writing compare and contrast and synthesis of academic materials and the diagnostic essay was just to see where our level of writing truly was. I feel as though (as my essay grades have shown) my essays have become gradually become better and better.
The most important thing I have learned in this class could be that peer feedback can significantly improve one’s essay. Through having another peer edit our essays, it has given us another person’s input on our structure and clarity of our work. This has been the most effective tool for me thus far. The paramedic method has also been a great tool for me as well. It has helped my complicated run-on sentences become shorter and direct. These two tools have been the reason my overall writing has improved in this class.
Essay two was where we had to find an academic source with a historical framework. This had made us find three academic sources as well as our main source. We were made to find academic sources through the use of the databases.
Public speeches have not been a problem for me at all. I am very comfortable speaking in front of a crowd and believe that in this case only I haven’t improved much on. It has been a while since I had made oral presentations though. In this sense, I did start improving on looking away from the screen while speaking to make eye contact with the crowd.
It seems as though a lot of our peers benefited from peer feedback as well. I’m glad that you incorporated some of that feedback into your essays and improved your writing. I think that this just shows the great value of the writing process.
Writing was the main purpose in this class. We had to write four essays and in class reflections. Being a good writer will get you a long way in school. Being a good writer means that you can write present your ideas clear and concise. I think I was clear for the most part. The trouble that I had when writing for this class was the structure of the essays. I thought it was simple and getting to the point without any substance. But looking back now I can see why Anne wanted us to do this. Professors want our writing to be clear and straight to the point. So this is great practice for future writing classes. It also helps when revising your essay to do the paramedic method because if your essay is longer than the required length, then this would help you shorten it.
This class has also helped me speak in public. Before this class I was kind of shy when it comes talking in front of classes. I would get nervous and speak out of context. But when watching other people talk in front of class I realized that it was not as hard as I thought it was. I realized this because the students in class would come prepared and know what they are going to talk about. So when it was my group’s time to present I was ready. And speaking in front of class is hard. When speaking you have to be confident. Do not show that you are nervous or you might over think and make a mistake. When making a mistake just keep on going. Do not punish yourself. And be poised. Also make eye contact with the crowd. These things gave me confidence and made me grow as a public speaker.
Good job so far. Don’t forget to include the first two statements that Professor Walker wanted us to write. You can find that in the lesson plan or you can use our peer’s first two sentences as an example. In this draft, you use pronouns, such as “we” or “you.” Maybe you can eliminate them or use “I” instead (this is your reflection so you should use “I”). Other than that, I’m glad that you gained more experience in public speaking and improved the structure of your essays.