Blog 10!

So what did I really learn in English 102?  I learned that Owl Purdue is the best place to go to learn how to cite a source.  I have always used the Sons of Citation.  The Sons of Citation website is not always correct so I now use Owl Purdue and have found it to be more helpful.  Remembering that if it is not my own thought, I must cite is critical.  I certainly don’t want to be a “thief”.

            I have learned that if I use active verbs my paper will have a better impact on my audience.  Remembering to not use you & one will not offend my audience.  However I can start a sentence with I.  But I should not use, I think or I feel.  I should just state whatever I want to say because it is ok to have an opinion and to state that opinion. 

            One of the things that I like to use and should not is a contraction.  Contractions make it easier to use the wrong verb form.  A contraction also does not increase my word count.  I need to avoid them.

            When writing a paper, I should slow down and never ever turn in my rough draft.  My rough draft is a work in progress.  I should expect to have to rewrite a paper a couple of times before I turn it in.  The writing process has many stages, prewriting, drafting, rewriting, peer editing, final drafts and reflections are all the stages a writer should be taking.

            The most important thing I learned that if it is not my thought, I must cite it!

Blog 9

Meeting the goal of taking an article and stating my opinion at first was difficult.  I found it difficult doing the first paper because I wanted to just talk about the article but never really state my opinion.  I did not finish revising that paper.  But I will be finishing it a little later today.  Now that I have practice and a better knowledge, the revision should be easier.

Remembering that I am writing for someone is a major factor to take into consideration.  A writer must know their audience.  If I know my audience I can make any topic interesting.  The formality of a paper also will apply to my audience.  I would definitely write different if I was writing for one of my family members verses a member of Congress. 

Taking a resource, reading it and citing it is what makes a paper work.  I always thought that if you reworded something you didn’t have to cite it.  I sure did find out that I was so wrong.  In the critical analysis paper I found this the most difficult.  Because the paper is regarding a movie, I continually asked myself, should I cite this or not.  I am hoping I have mastered this skill in my writing.  Again it is another paper I have not completely revised but I will be finishing it today.

While I think I have mastered most of the goals, there is always room for improvement.  I have found it frustrating that I could take the placement testing and test way above college level because I can recognize better writing if given options but seem unable to write “cold turkey”.      

At this point I have to finish fixing my papers today because tomorrow is the due date to turn them all in.  I have found that because I do not enjoy writing, I will find every excuse under the sun not to revise my papers. 

Blog 8

The research paper has been difficult to write.  Sometimes I feel like I am just rambling,  or I feel like I am rambling so that I can meet the page requirement. 

Since we have gone over the TS/CD paragraph structure it has helped with writing my paper.  I have been checking to make sure that I have enough information in a paragraph to support my CM.

Also, using “you” is so common to write since that is how most people talk.  Since we discussed it is offensive to the writer’s audience, it is helped me to remember to avoid it.  I still like the verbs is, are was and were.  Again they are a part of everyday dialogue so it has been hard to avoid them.

Lastly, I think the most difficult is that I want to make sure that I have completely backed my argument.  I get it that it is ok to have an opinion and I can just say it.  But have I completely argued my topic to make my paper the best it can be?