-Jesus A. Lopez
The first thing that I noticed about my blog posts was that the minimum was not going to cut it. In the beginning of the year, I remember thinking “how could I put the minimal effort into these posts and still finish with a decent grade?” I quickly realized this type of mindset and approach was not going to be beneficial for my growth as a writer, or maintaining my desired grade. As a result of changing how I would approach each post, I have seen great improvement in my grades since the first post. If there was a post I could re-submit it would be my first post. I remember constantly questioning myself about the length of post because I was not sure of what to expect. I have previously written blogs in high school, but I dug my own grave because I failed to search for the criteria posted for the assignment. After several more post, I have definitely become more comfortable with the grading. Now I know that sometimes more writing is necessary for clarification. This does not mean all writing has to be pages upon pages of information. Your style of writing should depend on how you can present your thoughts successfully towards their selected audience.
-Jesus A. Lopez
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I looked at my peers blogs and then I looked at my blogs, I definitely could have done better. One thing I noticed was some people used pictures to enhance what they were writing about, I did not use any pictures except for the blog about rooms and how they can make you feel. I think I was very lazy with the blog posts early on, I did not put much effort into exploring the prompt. I usually look at the prompt and answer strictly what is being asked of me. After I read some of my peers blogs I realized that they explored the prompt, it's like the prompt is an intersection and you can chose different ways to go. I chose to just go straight while my classmates went left, right, maybe took a U-turn. One thing I liked from my blog posts were my ideas, I liked how I was able to chose something that was interesting and new. My worst blog post was the first post because I was new to the blog thing and I just read my peers blogs and got an idea for what they were saying. My first post was very generic and was not interesting at all while some other of my posts I felt were interesting. I wish I had put more effort into them and not made it an assignment to do in the morning.
Often times in my writing I end up thinking that I am going to write about one thing, then end up writing about something completely different. When I am writing, new ideas pop into my head and I go on a tangent about that. Usually I have a couple of paragraphs left over that I don’t even use because they didn’t have any relevance to what I was trying to say in my submitted blog post. Having a couple of paragraphs already written could possibly be used as a means of structuring my unessay. I definitely go back and read my own work and often times I find a whole sentence or two that flows more smoothly in a different part of the paragraph. Looking back on each of my blog posts I think I have learned how to structure what I have to say better. Blog post #5 is one blog that I am proud of because I was able to express how I truly feel about something. I also forgot to put my name on this blog post, so that is a lesson learned the hard way. I believe that I have a clearer understanding of what good writing looks like. My first blog post was rough because I didn’t even write about the prompt. Since then I have gone to turn in a post, but then I read others’ posts and realized I didn’t understand what I was actually supposed to write about. It hasn’t been perfect, but I feel like I have adapted to the learning curve that is a college English course. In the end, I think I just kind of go with the flow, and for me it seems to work. As long as I get my ideas on the page, I can work with what I write to structure my paragraphs.
I have been pretty satisfied with my blog writing thus far. This is my first blog that I have ever participated in and I feel like it's helping bring out a my voice in writing, which I think is crucial.
One of my favorite blogs that I wrote was Blog #5 where we got to describe a place to see how it was empowering or dis-empowering. I really felt a connection with my writing and I thought I was able to give a real sense of the environment of the room. I need to work on writing more pieces like this which are farther out of my comfort zone, and really challenge me to think in a more creative way. I also need to keep building my vocabulary in order to communicate exactly the thoughts that I want in a more direct way. All in all, I am proud of my posts and think that this blog is helpful to me as a person and as a writer. -Dawson Matthews Overall, everyone's blog posts have improved, including mine. At first they were all iffy because not everyone is used to writing how they want to write. Most people are used to a thesis, five paragraph essay, and a conclusion. It was a challenge, but the class accepted it. I admit I haven't done the last two blog posts, so I haven't read through everyone's blogs, but they have all gotten so much better. You can see how creative and intellectual the class is now that we are almost done with this course.
Me personally? I think I've improved quite a lot. I was all over the place and trying way to hard to write an essay in my first couple of blogs, but then I was finally able to let go of the structured essays and just write how I want to write. Yes I still do the paragraph form but that's the easiest way for me to write and organize my thoughts. I'm still so used to the rigorous body work of essays and straight forward prompts from high school that it's hard to get my mind to be creative sometimes. I've become a lot more comfortable with writing since we've been doing blog posts. It might be because I get to express my feelings and opinions more, or the fact that we can write mostly about anything because of the broad topics, but everything that we've been doing has definitely improved my writing skills. Believe me, I used to be an even more horrific writer. ~Jocelyn Pitlick After reading my previous blog posts, I noticed that there were a lot of promising things that I saw, maybe because I’m a fan of my own work… Quite honestly, I believe that these blog posts have given me the power to choose how I’d like to present myself and not have to limit my expressions to a typical 5 paragraph paper. That being said, I definitely believe that I succeeded in representing myself through these blog posts and this style of writing has pushed me past my comfort zone and allowed me to write in a new way.
While reading my classmates posts, I have been consistently impressed by all of them. I love that through blog posts, it is extremely easy for our work to be shared amongst us all so that we may learn through each other. -Shane Sakai I think that my blog posts are slowly improving. I’ve begun to think a lot more about what I write, especially about how a reader would feel when reading it. This has helped me to develop more of a voice in my writing and write in a more personal and creative manner. My blog posts about a change of mind and about the power of a space, reveal some of my creativity. They are able to reveal my personal identity through the text, which greatly helps the reader hold interest. I definitely tried to create a unique blog post in these instances as well as in many others. Unfortunately, some blogs, such as the letter to the educational official, do not do a great job of drawing in the reader. This was probably due to a lack of time spent on developing a creative method for answering the prompt and creating a thoughtful blog.
Although I tend to keep strong structures in each of my blogs, I think the structure helps to hold together the writing, especially if I am trying to be creative and different within the text. I’d like to use more pictures and other forms of media in my posts, but lately the prompts have not been very conducive towards those media forms for me. Once I can figure out how to more easily and powerfully connect images into my writing, I think the quality of my blogs will greatly increase. My peers are also doing a good job in their blog posts. I am consistently impressed by Ckyrro, Danni, and Luke’s work in their blogs. They are always very creative and personal in their blogs. I think all the personal experiences that they incorporate into their writing helps to make the blog both interesting and deeply meaningful. It has caused me to work more into adding my personal experiences to my blogs. This personal addition to their blogs helps to liven up and spark creativity within their writing. They also use more free-form structure than I do which is sometimes effective in strengthening the flow of the text. I would like to also try loosening the structure of my posts as well to see where they could take me. Overall, I think my classmates and I are beginning to understand what makes a good blog post. Everything is coming together. As we begin to incorporate more of ourselves in our writing, I think that we are also getting to know ourselves better, which is a very unique and gratifying experience. - Damon George At first, these blog posts were quite difficult for me because in high school I was never presented with the opportunity to write in such a creative and relaxed fashion. I was used to writing standard essays on assigned topics and using way too many complicated words. This made it challenging for me to write in this “blog post style,” but once I got the hang of it, I have come to appreciate this style of writing.
In each post, besides the reflection and article summary ones, I try to include a small amount of humor to maintain the attention of the reader and hopefully make them laugh, or at least smile a little. My blog post #5 was one that I am personally proud of. I felt like this was my first post that I really escaped the traditional writing format and experimented with short sentences that developed a flow and mood. I am also proud of my second blog post, but I wrote it without a voice. To me, the piece sounded too much like an essay from high school and not an actual blog post. That is the major concept I hope to change in the future because voice can drastically alter the effectiveness and connection with the reader. I always enjoy reading everyone’s blog posts because each individual writes in a completely different form and approach than everyone else. There is such a vast diversity in the responses which makes them highly entertaining to read. Luke Fanning’s always grab my attention. He definitely has a distinct voice within his pieces and his addition of witty humor makes his piece that much better. The flow of his writing makes his pieces interesting and entertaining, which is something I wish to achieve in my future blog posts and writing. -Jacob Pesek After reading through my previous blog posts, I have noticed some things that are working quite well and some aspects I can improve upon. My posts that have pictures and links to help the reader further understand my points, are more effective than the posts that don’t. The posts that I could have improved on were posts where I did not give enough analysis or support for my idea/claim. An example of this is my blog post #7. I think if I had further analyzed and explained my sources and ideas I would have improved my blog post. Over the course of the semester I think I have become much more confident in my ability to write in different forms such as, letters, summaries, synthesis, introductions etc. Throughout all my posts I think my tone has stayed relatively the same. I am a slightly more formal writer, and generally don’t use humor in my writing.
Now after looking through some of my peers work, I am consistently impressed by people who change their tone and create lighter, funnier blog posts. These posts are more fun and entertaining to read. However I think it’s best when there is a balance between these more humorous posts and some posts that are more serious and informative. I think I can learn to step outside of my comfort zone a bit more regarding my tone. I think changing my tone on occasion, like some of my peers, will improve my overall writing ability. -Danni Noonan When I look back on my blog posts, I see a lot of stories that show growth and initiative, and all the other words people use to humbly brag about themselves. Quite honestly, I've been a fan of my own work, as these posts have been a way for me to open up through a more comfortable medium than straight speech. I feel like through these posts, I have been able to freely talk about myself and fluidly express my opinions in ways that I was never able to do before. I don't think my writing style has changed that much over the course of these posts, but I feel like it has definitely become more experimental. I'm not simply writing five paragraphs with a thesis and a conclusion as much as I am trying to flow through my essay and present what I want when I want. This has allowed me to integrate ideas and thoughts better, and while it has disallowed me from ever wanting to write a normal paper again, it has definitely made me more confident in myself.
Honestly, I've been amazed by the quality of writing by my classmates. When reading through the posts, it is hard to simply choose on person, because everyone had pieces they excelled on and made their own. I think the format of this class has benefited not just me but the entire class, and has led us all to establish unique writing styles that truly represent our own personalities. EDIT: I apologize for how sappy this paragraph got. In the future, I'd honestly like to write even more out of my comfort zone and push myself further. I'm already doing this with things such as making my second unessay a potential podcast, but I'd also like to do this with the blog posts by challenging myself to think way out of the box for every prompt. -Luke Fanning |
English 101Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
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