Victory Lap!

As this course ends, my summer internship is ending concurrently. I am free! I have a little more than a week before my fall semester starts. My friends and I are hiking to Havasu Falls (pictured below) in the Grand Canyon. It will be a great way to finish off the summer and celebrate my accomplishments

I hope all my classmates and professors enjoy their life without this course. Thanks for all the help and BEAR DOWN!

Tahir, Roshaan. "Soothing Waterfall Wallpaper" 02/03/2014 via Flickr
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                               

A Letter to My Professor and My Peers

Dear Professor Bottai and My Classmates,

When my summer started, it would be an understatement to say I was intimidated by what was on my plate. I had just been hired for an internship with Sandia National Labs; I would be working full-time in a new town. I also needed to enroll in a summer english class. Needless to say, my plate was going to be quite full.

What intimidated me most about my summer was this english class. I could handle a full work week, but I’ve never been fond of writing. Writing has always been a stressful process for me. I associate the subject with long nights in front of my computer and digging through sources to find support for my claims. All this stress, however, did not come from writing itself; it came from my approach.

I’ve always been what Winet et al. would describe as a heavy reviser as well as a procrastinator (47). In my first blog post on my writing style I wrote, “Often when I write my paper, I will get my thoughts onto the page fairly early. However, because I don't enjoy revising my work, I tend to push the revision step (which is quite important) as far into the future as possible.” I went on to describe how stressful this process is. I become anxious as I write because I have put little planning into my work before putting pen to paper.

I developed this writing style in high school. I took both Advanced Placement english classes, which, to this day, were the most challenging english classes I’ve taken. I contend (with universal agreement from my classmates at the time) that my teacher for these classes (the same lady for both) treated us as graduate students. The first month with her was called boot camp, a tribute to the military practice to get new recruits in shape. We wrote multiple essays each week (I can not tell you how many as I have blocked those weeks from my memory). By the end of the course my portfolio resembled a phone book more than a collection of my work.

This intense workload forced me into becoming a heavy reviser and also improved my procrastination skills. The only reasonable way to complete all the work was to limit planning time. I wrote quickly and read through my work a few times to prevent major mistakes. This made writing a full length essay possible in one night, even with homework for my other six classes.

This heavy writing load was a very stressful experience. I learned how to express my ideas quickly and concisely, but this style of writing was lacking real world applicability. Sure, in various careers quick composition can be valuable, but in the “real world” we are given more time for long pieces of writing. These classes failed to emphasize a part of writing that is quite important: planning.

After high school English, the only real skill I had gained was the ability to write a mediocre essay on queue. I was actually more comfortable with timed writings since I knew I was expected to put less planning into my work. I simply  did not know how to plan for a paper. English 109H was invaluable to my growth as a writer as it showed me what the planning stages should look like and some good questions to ask myself along the way.

The first lesson I learned was how to properly find a topic and figure out my stance. We were encouraged to search for information about a controversy in our field.  Only once I was well versed did I choose my sources and the position I would take. For example, the planning stages of our first project had us finding, properly citing, and analyzing ten sources for an annotated bibliography. I can’t tell you the last time I used that many sources for a paper. I am used to forming an argument in my head (independent of the evidence I have to support it) and then taking off writing. I have no concern for the support for my claims and this often would result in a poorly formed argument.

Since we started by extensive research before writing, my arguments and ideas benefitted immensely. I no longer was forced to scour the internet for information that could support my ideas. When I was describing my process, I wrote, “With no concrete plan behind my work, I often fear that my argument would lead me to a dead end in terms of supporting evidence.” I had an idea of what to say, but no evidence. This was a fatal flaw in my writing process, but this class has shown me the correct order of the pre-composition stages. I will no longer plunge directly into composition, but will form my argument from the texts I find.

After the research stage came analysis of the rhetorical situation. This is something I was quite unfamiliar with. In past composition classes I wrote for the teacher. I failed to actually analyze what the purpose of my paper was, the context surrounding my issue, and who my audience could be (besides the person grading my piece). This class’s emphasis on understanding the rhetorical situation changed my approach to each project. I learned some expository questions I could ask myself to give me an idea of how to frame my writing. For project three the rhetorical situation was analyzed using three separate blog posts: Analyzing Context, Analyzing Purpose, and Audience and Genre. In these posts I learned some valuable questions I can ask myself from Writing Public Lives such as “What are some plausible reactions to you piece?” (Minnix and Nowotny-Young 326) or “What are the dominating schools of thought?” (Minnix and Nowotny-Young 340). These questions helped my writing process and gave me a good idea of how to shape my tone and vocabulary. I had never considered the situation when composing, but I realized that it removes much of the ambiguity from my writing process.

The next step of the planning phase was to consider the genre I was writing in. Normally, an english class is limited to a select few genres. Essays seem to be the only thing I ever wrote in high school. This class demonstrated how to write in multiple genres, including typical essay style. Furthermore, the course offered information on how to determine the conventions of a certain genre, even if I was unfamiliar with it. In my post entitled QRGs: The Genre I responded to a variety of questions posed about some sample QRGs. The questions, such as “What does the purpose of these QRGs seem to be?”, could be extended to any new genre. This internal dialogue will be especially useful as I start to make my first explorations into the field of scientific writing. There are a vast amount of specialized conventions that go into a scientific paper and the lens I was given by this class will allow me to identify those details and implement them as I create my first scientific works. The analysis of genre has made me a more adaptable writer, no longer limited to standard, boring essay formats.

The combination of all these planning steps made the outlining stage so easy. By the time I had reached this step I already had a very clear idea of what my piece would look like. My outlines flowed easily and I mapped out my papers quickly. After that it was only a matter of filling in the connections between my points and Voila!, my draft was complete. The best part was that my revisions were pain free. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t like revising very much, and planning extensively made my need for revisions minimal. The process overall was very low stress.

I also have a few words for all my classmates. Although I never met any of you in person, I have a good idea of your personalities and interests from your writing, which makes me feel like I know you well. I am grateful for all the feedback I received on my work. This class consisted of students from a variety of different backgrounds and from different age groups, so the information I learned from your work was diverse and interesting. I am glad to have survived with you who stuck it out.

This class, while not the most challenging composition course I have taken, was every helpful in showing me techniques to become a heavy planner. As I said in my first blog post, I’d like to be one as it is low-stress and makes that writing more manageable. My field, being a science discipline, also requires heavy planning. It is impossible to write a coherent scientific article without properly researching and planning your writing first. I am thankful to Professor Bottai for showing me what proper planning looks like and I am sure to utilize the techniques show to me this summer in my future studies.

Sincerely,

Mark Mellott

Reflection on Open Letter Draft

I reviewed the drafts written by Jason and Brandon.

Responses to the bullet list on p. 60 of Students Guide

• Who specifically is going to be reading this [letter]?

This letter is meant for my classmates and professor of this English class.

• What biases might my readers have? Am I respecting their opinions while also achieving my purpose? 

My readers have their own interpretation and experience with this class. They may not have had the same ideas and approach to this class, but my explanation gives the background behind my experience so that my readers can understand why I had the experience that I did.

• What are their values and expectations?

Seeing that my peers (and most certainly my professor) have all read the assignment prompt, they are likely expecting a semi-formal letter that tells my writing story. They are also expecting me to quote information from our course readings, my own work, etc.

• How much information do I need to give my audience?

I need to give a detailed story about my own writing history; however, in terms of information about the different assignments I've completed, I can keep my elaboration minimal since my audience already has a good idea about this content.

• What kind of language is suitable for this audience?

The purpose of this letter is to reflect on the course in a conversational, semi-formal tone. My language should not be to complex; it should reflect the kind of voice I'd like to display when speaking to my professor or peers. 

• What tone should I use with my audience? Do I use this tone consistently throughout my draft?

As I mentioned above, my tone is semi-formal. I maintain this tone for most of my draft. Some of the later paragraphs of my letter do get a little too formal, so I will try to assuage this issue. 

Project 4

For my peer reviewers:

I like the flow of the first half of my letter. This half is concerned with my "writing story." However, the second half of the letter seems to be a bit choppy and unnatural. I also think it could use some more evidence. Please comment where you think it sounds boring/choppy/awkward. Also be sure to let me know if there is a spot where some more evidence would support what I am saying.

To read and comment on my draft click here.

Reflecting On My Writing Experiences

1. My assumptions and ideas about writing before taking your first-year composition course:

Coming into this class, I had a good idea of what effective writing should sound like. I knew my arguments had to be clear and well supported. After taking AP Literature and AP Language in high school I was afraid that this class would not teach me anything new.

2. The most important lessons you have learned as both a reader and a writer as a result of taking your first-year composition course.

One of the most important lessons I learned was how to research properly and some of the best platforms for doing research. I had never heard of Web Of Science before, but it proved to be extrememly helpful for writing scientific papers.

The second lesson I learned was how to properly prepare for a paper. This was something I was deficient in. I normally would just start writing for other classes. The blog posts building up to each project showed me how to prepare properly and what sort of questions to ask myself when deciding what to write.

3. The way you brain stormed, narrowed down topics, and worked on thesis statements.

For this course I focused on topics that I cared about (Fracking) or that were particularly relevant to me (nuclear waste repository). This gave me a great place to start and made the brain storming process easier as I already was well-educated on the topics I chose. It also made writing a thesis easy for the same reason.

4.The peer-review process, including what you offered and what you received

As always, peer review is very helpful. It is nice to see your paper through someone else. Most of the feed back I received helped me make difficult decisions, such as what I should include in my projects. For example, for Project 3 I asked my reviewers to consider if I needed more images. My reviewers answered yes and this resulted in a higher quality project.

I enjoyed looking at others' drafts through the lenses of the different clarity and punctuation topics we reviewed. This was a great way to recognize errors while simultaneously helping my classmate.

5. Individual or small group conferences with your instructors

I did not have any small group conferences with my instructor, but I did have some email correspondence with him. My questions ranged in topic, but mostly were concerned with different ways of formatting my project. One particular instance I communicated with my professor on how to properly cite a valuable source. He provided me with some valuable insight on how to cite author-less pieces that I was very grateful to receive.

6. The discussions you had about your paper with people who were not in your class.

For my two projects concerning the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, I discussed my content with the people I work with. I am currently employed as an intern with Sandia National Labs with a division that does research for the WIPP. The scientists I spoke with gave me first hand information about WIPP and many valuable pieces of background information that helped me create my projects.

7. How I approached the revision process for each eassay.

My revision process was minimal since I put a lot of planning into each of my projects. The majority of my time spent on revisions was directed at improving the grammar, punctuation, and clarity of my projects.

8. My understanding of reading and writing in different genres

I learned a bit about the conventions one genre that I was unfamiliar with: the Quick Reference Guide. The other two genres (essay and visual presentation) were quite familiar to me before coming into this class. The conventions of quick reference guides were valuable to learn and relevant since they showed me how to provide information in a concise and approachable format.

9.What would you do differently if you were to take your first-year composition courses again?

I would spend more time with the readings that were assigned. Most of the time I would skim through the assigned chapters, but I think there is some very valuable information to be gained from the details of these passages.

10. How college writing fits into your life now and how it will fit into your major and future career.

I now have a solid understanding of the preparation that goes into writing a college paper. For my major, often the research step is the hardest part. This class has been very useful since it gave me some very valuable tools for doing research quickly and efficiently.

11.What did you learn from the semester as a whole?

I learned that writing a paper can be broken down into manageable steps that makes my writing clearer and the process less stressful.

12. Did the choices you made, or writing experiences you had, reinforce something you already knew about yourself or about your writing?

It reinforced the idea that I really don't like to revise my work. This class was helpful in that the extensive planning made the revision step a lot quicker than it normally is.

13. If you did not gain as much from a particular project as you had hoped, what are the possible reasons for that and what might you do differently the next time?

I felt that each project offered me a particular insight that was beneficial.

14. Think about the course objectives listed on your syllabus as you consider your success in the class. What course objective did you meet? What objectives are you still working on?

I think I have met all the goals listed. I've learned about rhetorical awareness, critical thinking and composition, the reflection process, and the conventions of different genres. Of course, the last one can always be expanded upon since there are a variety of different genres with which I am not familiar yet.

Reflecting On Project 3

What was specifically revised from one draft to another?
My main concern for my revisions was the visual appearance of the presentation. Since it is an animated presentation, I wanted to make sure it was visually aesthetic and that the images supplemented the written information on each of the slides.

How did you reconsider your thesis or organization?
My thesis was reconsidered by making sure it could refute any counter arguments. I made my organization follow the structure laid out by my thesis so any changes I made to my thesis were reflected by corresponding organizational changes.

What led you to these changes?
My main concern was that my argument answered questions about the subject while simultaneously refuting any counter arguments. My changes were a reflection of this concern.

How do these changes affect your credibility as an author?
Seeing that my changes were concerned with informing my audience, I believe they aided and supplemented my credibility as an author.

How will these changes better address the audience?
The goal of my changes, especially the visual aides, was to better engage my audience with understandable information presented in an aesthetic fashion. This helps my audience understand my position and keeps them interested in the information.

How did you reconsider sentence structure and style?
Since this was a visual presentation, most of my slides were structured with bullets of information for ease of reading. I reconsidered my structure and style by assuring that each bullet provided clear, concise information relating to the purpose of each slide.

How will these changes assist your audience in understanding your purpose?
These changes will make my supporting evidence and my position as a whole much more understandable. The information is presented clearly and allows the audience to gain necessary knowledge quickly.

Did you have to reconsider the conventions of the particular genre in which you were writing?
For the most part, I did not. However, I did choose to include a conclusion slide that differed in style from typical examples from my genre. I included a long paragraph in this slide rather than a bullet list. The purpose of this divergence was to give my professor a solid conclusion. In reality, the content of the slide would be shorter and my verbal presentation would sound more like the paragraph I included on this slide.

Finally, how does the process of reflection help you reconsider your identity as a writer?
It shows me that I did not have to make any major changes to my project. I had a good idea of what the project was going to look like before I even started. I have become more of a heavy planner over the course of this class, and that is reflected  by the small amount of revisions that I have needed to do.

Revisiting My Writing Process

My writing style was much different during this course than it has been for previous classes. In my first post, "My Writing Process," I described myself as a procrastinator and a heavy reviser. After taking this course, I believe that is due to the typical structure of my other courses. That is not to say that it is my professor/teacher's fault for my writing style, just that the structure of this course was better suited for me.

What helped me about this course was that the deadlines were frequent and explicit in their instructions. Whats more, each task for the deadlines was a sort of preparation for the upcoming project. The project was broken down into several different easy to manage steps: research, planning, drafting, revising, reflecting. This is unlike most courses where the ultimate deadline is given many days in advance, allowing the student to execute each step at their pleasing. This typical format is not effective for me. I benefiitted from having some instruction on how to do each step of the writing process. It made the task much less daunting and once it came time for drafting, I already had a clear idea of what to write.

In the future, I plan on implementing a similar style of writing as the one Professor Bottai facilitated us to do. His course showed me what each step looks like, making the writing process pain free and manageable. I will move forward with the techniques he has shown me so that I can be a heavy planner rather than a procrastinating heavy reviser. This is my preferred method of writing as it is low-stress and yields a more coherent piece.