This class has completely changed the way I write. In the past few years, I have been limited by my instructor to a very strict and concise way of writing. To the point that she had a template for every sentence of every paragraph that we wrote. I can not express how amazing it felt to actually have my own voice in my own writing, and not some robotic conformity to how others thought I should sound.
This class has been far from easy, but it was challenging in the exact way that I needed. I knew that all of my writing in the last two years, with the exception of one piece is total crap, because that is what I had been programmed to write. Crap that got the grade instead of actually allowing me to talk about how I felt on the topic.
Its been a long time since I have been able to say I enjoyed my writing, or even that I was proud of my writing, and as I near the end of this class, I now am able to say both. It let me rediscover my voice, but also my love for writing. Though I did have trouble transitioning from my old rules which had been so pounded into my head that I could recite them in my sleep. However, as I wrote more and more the road became exceedingly less bumpy and I am now at a point that I and comfortable writing.
I have also never enjoyed writing about history and this class changed that too. In high school the sources we were aloud to use were very limited. Whether that be because of the dismal library resources or the “security” blocks on the computer, credible resources were few and far between. I even had one teacher tell me to just make up statistics, that no one really ever checked our sources. This class completely changed the way that I support my writing. It gave me a chance to access real resources from credible sources. I learned how to do much more efficient research, as well as how to cite the sources I found correctly.
As the end of this class comes closer, I feel that my writing strength has improved immensely. My love for writing has returned, which was something I thought a few months ago was not possible. I am sad to see this class end, and I wish that it went much longer then one quarter. But what I have learned and gained in this quarter is going to stay with me for the rest of my life, and I am forever grateful for the sense of pride that it gave me for my writing.
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3 comments:
I really enjoyed reading your reflective letter Riley. It's full of personal stories, emotion, and you do a very good job at portaying the idea and sense of waht your trying to say which is, my writing has improved.
It's very easy to read, and the hok in the first sentence does a great job. I do suggest that you add some quotes from your previous works to back up your points, (mainly because craig just told us to, =]). But other than that it was an excellent paper.
Pros:
-I though your intro was interesting, and it made me want to read further into your essay (hook)
-I like the way you used writing and used analogies to support your voice
-strong ending, it makes your writing persuasive and valuable
Cons:
-In your intro, you wrote, "I can not express...", but I think it's suppose to be "cannot"
-watch punctuation/grammatical errors
-include quotes from the essays that you are going to include in your portfolio to show your progress
-in the fourth paragraph you wrote, "were aloud to use were" it is supposed to be "were allowed to use were"
Although your reflective letter was enjoyable to read, I felt that you needed to show more of your strengths and weaknesses as a writer more clearly, and provide evidence you show how you've grown over the quarter as a writer. Other than that, good job!
- i already know your talking about Burke in your intro lol
- i think the intro is interesting tho it caught my attention
- i like how your voice is in the essay, but i wouldn't use the word "crap" lol because it kind of dumbs yourself down a bit, and you want it to seem more professional. Don't take your voice away, because your voice makes it interesting just change a couple words.
- i like how you explained what you had learned, i would elaborate a bit though and show examples.
- your essay was very personal, i like that
- to be honest i don't really like your conclusion, because i think it should be focused on how you improved and how it will help in the future or something , instead of being about the class.
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