Forum Post Artifact #4- Peer Review 2/23/15
Looking back to high school I now realize that I had many unhelpful experiences with peer review. Many times I often found students just circle words or phrases from my paper and writing a little side note like "good job or nice!" Just giving little confidence boosting comments like mentioned, definitely did not help me improve my paper for a final draft. This article also helps me understand how I could better my criticizing and comments when giving peer review to others to help them benefit.
Fortunately, I had peer review in my UWRT 1101 class; which I thoroughly enjoyed and thought to be very helpful. Before any peer review took place, my teacher also made us read this exact article to give us advice. I think this article does a great job at focusing comments and giving examples. I also like how this article explains where to comment, how much to comment, and how to comment; since this is what usually runs through my head when I am commenting on someone else's work. Correct Peer review definitely helped me become a better writer and to also understand where I need improvement at. It is always nice to hear other peoples point of view so you can understand what they mean my changing something. Lastly, I like how this article points out that you are not the writer just reader, therefore do not make changes to a persons paper without consulting with the writer, only make suggestions so they are more helpful.
First off, let's start out by saying thank you for Peer Review in college! The journal entry above explains my experiences with peer review through high school, as related to now in college. If it was not for peer review- well there would be no telling on how all of my papers would have turned out. I am the type of person that likes to hear other peoples opinions and suggestions. I like to know what is liked and dislike. So peer review became very helpful and important to me. I chose to include this forum post because from peer review I learned how to leave positive, good comments and how to leave suggestions as comments without being hurtful or disrespectful to the writer. I learned others opinions and how to improve my essay, like my inquiry project essay, and I learned how other people think and conduct inquiry papers. Overall, peer review was extremely helpful to my throughout my first year of college, and I know it will continue to be helpful throughout my college writing career.
Looking back to high school I now realize that I had many unhelpful experiences with peer review. Many times I often found students just circle words or phrases from my paper and writing a little side note like "good job or nice!" Just giving little confidence boosting comments like mentioned, definitely did not help me improve my paper for a final draft. This article also helps me understand how I could better my criticizing and comments when giving peer review to others to help them benefit.
Fortunately, I had peer review in my UWRT 1101 class; which I thoroughly enjoyed and thought to be very helpful. Before any peer review took place, my teacher also made us read this exact article to give us advice. I think this article does a great job at focusing comments and giving examples. I also like how this article explains where to comment, how much to comment, and how to comment; since this is what usually runs through my head when I am commenting on someone else's work. Correct Peer review definitely helped me become a better writer and to also understand where I need improvement at. It is always nice to hear other peoples point of view so you can understand what they mean my changing something. Lastly, I like how this article points out that you are not the writer just reader, therefore do not make changes to a persons paper without consulting with the writer, only make suggestions so they are more helpful.
First off, let's start out by saying thank you for Peer Review in college! The journal entry above explains my experiences with peer review through high school, as related to now in college. If it was not for peer review- well there would be no telling on how all of my papers would have turned out. I am the type of person that likes to hear other peoples opinions and suggestions. I like to know what is liked and dislike. So peer review became very helpful and important to me. I chose to include this forum post because from peer review I learned how to leave positive, good comments and how to leave suggestions as comments without being hurtful or disrespectful to the writer. I learned others opinions and how to improve my essay, like my inquiry project essay, and I learned how other people think and conduct inquiry papers. Overall, peer review was extremely helpful to my throughout my first year of college, and I know it will continue to be helpful throughout my college writing career.
Forum Post Artifact #5- Shitty First Drafts 3/9/15
1. I think what Lamott means by "the fantasy of the uninitiated" is that people believe that all great authors sit down to write and brilliantly written pieces just flow out of them, but this is not the case. Most of all writers go through the same processes of a not so good first draft, then editing and possibly some peer review to make the piece better as a whole. Although most people do not understand this process and that is why Lamott refers to them as "the fantasy of the uninitiated"- the beliefs of the people with not much experience pertaining to writing drafts and final essays.
2. My impression has always been like "the fantasy of the uninitiated." I use to believe that all real authors always wrote great first drafts and they were just simply better writers then others. Not saying that all real authors are not better then others, but this is not the case for all. For some people written pieces and ideas/the process just come more natural and others it takes more brainstorming and drafts. After reading this article my mind has completely changed. I now know that "real authors" go through the same process as others like college students for example. Starting with a first draft, that may or may not be the best, then leading to a second and more polished draft and so on to the final draft. Every writer follows the same process. Lamott uses the phrases "very few writers know what they are doing until they've done it" and "We all often feel like we are pulling teeth" as confidence boosters to others showing that not all writers are great at writing at first and some find it a painful and annoying process to get the final touch up done just like other people.
3. One quote that stands out to me and helps me think of the writing process as less intimidating is "The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later." This quote reassures me that the first draft does not have to be perfect, it can have mistakes and need corrections before the final and that is perfectly acceptable and normal to all. Also, I think the process of just sitting down and writing to get thinks flowing then going back later to polish it will help me start my essay writing.
Finally, the last paragraph of Shitty First Drafts stood out to me to help me better understand the writing process in a humorous way. I think it will not be easier for me to follow this process and come out with a more polished and better written final at the end.
"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something -- anything -- down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft -- you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft -- you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it's loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy. "
Above is a forum post that I wrote on March 9, 2015 on the essay "Shitty First Drafts" by Lamott. This essay and post boosted my self confidence tremendously. I have always felt pressured to write and good, precise, well-written first draft. I have always thought that authors and writer just immediately let perfect drafts flow from the pen. I was gladly mistaken as I learned from this essay. Famous writers and authors have troubles, just like me. They struggle to come up with ideas and words that flow together smoothly. But they do not let that stop them. They continue to write, not worrying about the mess on the page; they save the mess for later during the revision process. The quotes I included in my forum post really stood out to me. I learned from them, about the process that I should take when trying to write a good paper. I now follow this process mentioned above, coming out with results that are less stressful or pressured and overall better written.
1. I think what Lamott means by "the fantasy of the uninitiated" is that people believe that all great authors sit down to write and brilliantly written pieces just flow out of them, but this is not the case. Most of all writers go through the same processes of a not so good first draft, then editing and possibly some peer review to make the piece better as a whole. Although most people do not understand this process and that is why Lamott refers to them as "the fantasy of the uninitiated"- the beliefs of the people with not much experience pertaining to writing drafts and final essays.
2. My impression has always been like "the fantasy of the uninitiated." I use to believe that all real authors always wrote great first drafts and they were just simply better writers then others. Not saying that all real authors are not better then others, but this is not the case for all. For some people written pieces and ideas/the process just come more natural and others it takes more brainstorming and drafts. After reading this article my mind has completely changed. I now know that "real authors" go through the same process as others like college students for example. Starting with a first draft, that may or may not be the best, then leading to a second and more polished draft and so on to the final draft. Every writer follows the same process. Lamott uses the phrases "very few writers know what they are doing until they've done it" and "We all often feel like we are pulling teeth" as confidence boosters to others showing that not all writers are great at writing at first and some find it a painful and annoying process to get the final touch up done just like other people.
3. One quote that stands out to me and helps me think of the writing process as less intimidating is "The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later." This quote reassures me that the first draft does not have to be perfect, it can have mistakes and need corrections before the final and that is perfectly acceptable and normal to all. Also, I think the process of just sitting down and writing to get thinks flowing then going back later to polish it will help me start my essay writing.
Finally, the last paragraph of Shitty First Drafts stood out to me to help me better understand the writing process in a humorous way. I think it will not be easier for me to follow this process and come out with a more polished and better written final at the end.
"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something -- anything -- down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft -- you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft -- you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it's loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy. "
Above is a forum post that I wrote on March 9, 2015 on the essay "Shitty First Drafts" by Lamott. This essay and post boosted my self confidence tremendously. I have always felt pressured to write and good, precise, well-written first draft. I have always thought that authors and writer just immediately let perfect drafts flow from the pen. I was gladly mistaken as I learned from this essay. Famous writers and authors have troubles, just like me. They struggle to come up with ideas and words that flow together smoothly. But they do not let that stop them. They continue to write, not worrying about the mess on the page; they save the mess for later during the revision process. The quotes I included in my forum post really stood out to me. I learned from them, about the process that I should take when trying to write a good paper. I now follow this process mentioned above, coming out with results that are less stressful or pressured and overall better written.
Forum Post Artifact #6- Unteaching 3/11/15
The idea of my above forum post of the five paragraph essay is something I have always struggled with. I use to always follow the example, stick to the strict formatting of an introduction, three main points, and a conclusion. Now I understand and accept the fact that it is okay to stray from tradition, to try something new. Getting rid of my old five paragraph structure and completing this forum post, opened my eyes to many new things. I learned that it was okay to incorporate your own personality in your writing, to do something different than everybody else, or to not always follow tradition. This post also helped me start my down draft which including subheadings and first person. Overall, this post was very important to me when writing my papers through my 1102 class. I learned the readers are more attracted to a paper that is different and interesting, and that I write better when not follow such strict formatting guidelines.
- My experience with the 5 paragraph essay has harsh with many mixed feelings. I use to hate when teachers would assign a topic that you would have to write exactly 5 paragraph paper about and you just could not hardly squeeze out those 5 paragraph on the simple topic that was assigned. I often felt like I was many times repeating myself with the same ideas and that I forced to write my own paper in someone else's way. The only think I did like about being always taught the 5 paragraph essay, was that you always knew the exact structure and what a example looked like of what the teacher wanted your final essay to look like.
- The article says that the 5 paragraph essay is a very strict formula that only allows for three main ideas. Also, the article points out that a ideal 5 paragraoh essay is just 3 mini essays all joined together my transitions. If the writer were to come to a fourth main idea or point it would often get thrown out and not included. The author says that teachers should stop teaching the 5 paragraph essay because it deprives writers of the pleasure and challenges of writing, instead just focuses writers on form and does not give them an open mind set.
- I think this is still an issue because people usually stick with tradition, which in this case is the 5 paragraph essay. It is very difficult for people to stop teaching and referring to the form that they were taught themselves years ago. Also people often refer to the common example when trying to do things on their own to make it easier for them, thus what exactly happens when continuing to the teach the same formula of a 5 paragraph essay.
- The exploratory essay assignment allows for subheadings and first person. It also incorporates as many ideas as the writer can come up with instead of just three main points as the 5 paragraph essay. Also, the assignment calls for questions to be asked and this is not usually seen in a typical 5 paragraph essay.
- The quote that I liked the most was the one about standing in the universe with a blank piece of paper. This related to unteaching the 5 paragraph essay by meaning that every one has their own unique story and style and that everyone should be able to write it down on the blank sheet of paper in their own unique way. Not by a formula that everyone follows but by our own creativity.
The idea of my above forum post of the five paragraph essay is something I have always struggled with. I use to always follow the example, stick to the strict formatting of an introduction, three main points, and a conclusion. Now I understand and accept the fact that it is okay to stray from tradition, to try something new. Getting rid of my old five paragraph structure and completing this forum post, opened my eyes to many new things. I learned that it was okay to incorporate your own personality in your writing, to do something different than everybody else, or to not always follow tradition. This post also helped me start my down draft which including subheadings and first person. Overall, this post was very important to me when writing my papers through my 1102 class. I learned the readers are more attracted to a paper that is different and interesting, and that I write better when not follow such strict formatting guidelines.
Forum Post Artifact #7- Dialogue With Dave 3/17/15
When I first read my assignment instructions to create a dialogue talking to myself as two different people, I thought it was crazy and no point. So it turned out, I was completely wrong. This activity and forum post turned out to be one of the most helpful assignments to me getting started with writing my essay. When first starting to write my dialogue, I stuck to the example on what questions to ask; but then questions and answers to ask myself just started to flow and follow my own example. This dialogue acted as an outline for me when writing my essay. Of course I elaborated more to turn my answers into paragraphs, but I had the main points down already. From now on before starting any new essays, I will do a bit of free writing dialogue on my subject like seen above, because I have learned it is a great way to get started and to outline what all you would like to say in a piece.
- What’s the big deal about this anyway? Why should I care?
- What do you mean by underlying meanings and problems in people’s everyday lives?
- So you are saying that dreams are not foreshadowing or predictions of the future?
- What do you mean by past events?
- So what exactly does dreaming about death mean then?
- You say people have thousands of dreams, but why do I feel like I don’t dream that much?
- So what do people forget most of their dreams when waking up and how do we only remember certain ones?
- Earlier you mentioned that you had learned many new interesting facts, would you care to share?
When I first read my assignment instructions to create a dialogue talking to myself as two different people, I thought it was crazy and no point. So it turned out, I was completely wrong. This activity and forum post turned out to be one of the most helpful assignments to me getting started with writing my essay. When first starting to write my dialogue, I stuck to the example on what questions to ask; but then questions and answers to ask myself just started to flow and follow my own example. This dialogue acted as an outline for me when writing my essay. Of course I elaborated more to turn my answers into paragraphs, but I had the main points down already. From now on before starting any new essays, I will do a bit of free writing dialogue on my subject like seen above, because I have learned it is a great way to get started and to outline what all you would like to say in a piece.