Blog 8

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Overall, being in English 201 this summer has taught me many things that I have stressed in basically all of my other blogs. Mainly though I think that this class has taught me how to budget my time and not procrastinate on getting my work done. Last summer session I was in a class which was only lecture and tests, no outside work. It was super laid back and I just got to do whatever I wanted on the days after class. This session I am in two classes which both require outside work due multiple times per week. When the session first began I was kind of worried because I knew things would be so fast paced and different from what I had been used to. I recall reading the syllabus and thinking how much work it seemed like with blogs, discussions, and essays each week. One we got started on things though they really weren’t so bad. I definitely had to make lists and reminders of things I had to do for each day but all of our activities got a lot easier once we got the first week over with. I always came home from class and got my homework done first so I’d be able to use my time later for other things. Not saying I like homework or anything but I’m glad we had all of these activities to do because it helped me stay organized and on top of things instead of just being lazy. It also helped keep my mind working since we did so much work. Also on a side note, I feel like I will definitely take away some better peer review skills. I never really enjoyed peer review that much or felt like it helped me but after this class I know it helps a ton, you just have to be comfortable enough with people to edit their work and take their advice.

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Final paper

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For my short essay three I chose to research eating disorders. I got three really good information filled books from the library that were great for the short essay and I knew this would provide me with plenty of information that I could use as an expanded final paper. It was kind of difficult me to choose only certain points of eating disorders to condense into two pages so I’m sure I will not have too much trouble trying to make a five to seven page paper. For the short essay I wrote about how body image is a big part of eating disorders and I wrote about the many warning signs people tend to exhibit. For the final paper, I plan going into more depth about each different disorder and the similarities, differences, and probably a few more things I haven’t thought of just yet. I really like how we’re supposed to use a lot of quotes in our writing because it makes the paper seem so much stronger. I plan on adding a lot more from all of my books instead of just the two I used for the short essay and I’ll probably check out another one or two from the library. I really wanted to use the research essay to turn into the final paper because I feel like it’s difficult to put so much research into only two pages. I wanted to write more about this and just expand on all of the information I found so people that read it get a more complete picture on the topic. I’m also really glad that we get to expand one of our previous essays into our final paper. It takes a lot of stress off of us instead of having to write a whole new full-length paper!

My writing so far

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So far in this class we have worked on three essays. I would say that the first two essays we have done have been the most challenging for me since I do not see myself as a very strong writer and the things we had to write about were different than what I’m used to. I really did enjoy the rhetorical analysis though, I just think it’s fun and interesting to look at an image and see what it’s trying to tell people and what techniques it uses to go about this. I think rhetorical analysis is also challenging because you can look at something a lot differently from someone else but it’s still cool. With the definition essay I had bit more trouble. The item that I brought in and had to write about was my wallet. It definitely does have meaning to me, just not as much as something else could have. It was kind of difficult to write about so I had to search for things to put in my essay but it was still an interesting topic to write about. I like how we had to write about the item we brought in though because some people brought in some really cool things so I’m sure their papers turned out well. For my final paper I am going to expand my research essay because I feel like this can be my strongest writing since I have written quite a few research papers in the past. Hopefully with everything we end up learning I finish with a good paper and my writing shows improvement from all of my other essays. All in all, this class has been a challenge for me but I know I am learning so much good information that will be beneficial for my writing from now on.

Myself as a reader

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Reading is not my absolute favorite thing to do but I do like to read. I mostly just read for fun and when I mean for fun I mean fiction books or magazines. Most of the books I read are just fun stories and they’re pretty easy reads because why strain yourself if you don’t have to? Also because when I read since it’s just for fun I do not see myself as that much of a critical reader. I really enjoy reading things when they interest me though. It’s fun to find a new book or even a textbook that catches your interest and you just want to keep reading more and more. Reading things like academic journals and nonfiction articles just is not really for me. If I can’t understand something after reading it I just keep rereading it until I do or at least somewhat, which is pretty frustrating and I am sure that many of you all can agree. However, I do like reading news type articles to see what is going on in the world.

I do see my reading as having changed since high school. I read a lot less in that time and especially since it wasn’t really as important to read your textbooks I rarely did. Now I don’t mind reading my textbooks and taking notes because it’s on things I’m actually interested in and it’s not such a hassle like I used to think. I comprehend things a lot more now since I’ve been in college and I know that this is because we learn more so we know more and the reading gets easier. Reading really is a fun activity though and I have always enjoyed it. I feel like as I get older I should continue reading and expand my reading selection.

Freewriting

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I have really enjoyed this English 201 class so far. I think the lessons we have done in class and the things we have learned, like thesis writing and also introduction writing, have had a good impact on what I have written so far. I’ve also enjoyed doing freewriting since we learned how to the first week of class, even though this is all probably just a huge jumble of my thoughts. I’ve learned some good new techniques so far too. I liked today how we went to the wildflower preserve and just got to observe things and write about details. It was seriously so fun to get out and not be in the classroom for a day. I like how Ms. Warfield likes us to have more fun and not just be sitting and listening all class. I feel like in this class we get to do a lot of interactive and interesting things, which is way more exciting than just a straight lecture class. Even though I’m still not a huge fan of English class I do enjoy coming to this one because of the activities we take part in. It’s nice to be able to talk to others about things we learn about and discuss our current papers with each other. I’m also not a person to really participate in discussions but I love hearing what others have to say. Other peoples opinions on things are so interesting, for example I really enjoyed the show and tell we did. We really got to learn a lot about what was important to our classmates which was cool, and it will be neat since we have to write our short essays about whatever item we brought in. Although this is the last English class I have to take I’m sure I will have many more papers to write so I will be keeping in mind all the things I have learned in class so far and will learn before it’s over!

Short Essay 1

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This essay was the first paper I have written in way too long. I have seriously gotten out of the writing habit and it really showed when it came to this short essay. When we had the thesis workshop in class it really did help me to brainstorm; I liked working with a partner and coming up with different ways to state our thesis and get differing opinions because the thesis is so important. That day I began my draft and even though I had a pretty interesting looking ad I had a lot of trouble starting things. I actually ended up switching images that night because I could not think of enough to write about. Normally when I draft I end up having unfinished and incomplete paragraphs, which is fine with me because peer review helped me so much. I’m super glad Ms. Warfield gives us class time to work with each other and get help on our papers because other people’s constructive criticism really helps me. The draft I had kind of stressed me out because I was not too happy with it, but after I got some good advice for my paper I ended up finishing it up and it was a lot easier.  I feel like my next short essay  that we’re doing this week will go a lot smoother because I’m at least a little more in the hang of things…it’s just hard to get used to writing after you haven’t in so long. I do really like the advertisement I used though. It’s fun to write about things that you actually find interesting and it makes the work not so bad. Also, I’m sure that my writing will be a lot better by the end of this summer session, which is in only three weeks.

Writing Anxiety

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I feel like writing is something that can bring out anxiety in people that normally wouldn’t have it. It’s hard to think about writing a paper that is good enough for your audience and yourself. Starting a paper is the most anxiety-causing for me. I think this is because when you start a paper there is a lot of pressure on you because you want it to be good, but what if you choose the wrong topic or go about something the wrong way? I feel like when I start a paper I sometimes skip crucial parts of the writing process, like planning, so clearly when I start to try and write I feel a little lost. Whenever I start a paper I almost always write the body paragraphs before the intro because I just can’t get ideas out. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me but it normally takes me quite a while to come up with ideas I think are good enough for my opening paragraph.

Participating in peer review in class helped me out a lot. It was really nice being able to get an outsider’s perspective on my paper. I definitely got a lot of tips out of this which helped reduce the anxiety I had about it. I also really enjoy seeing others’ writing styles. I think it’s really neat, too how Ms. Warfield has done lessons with us so far on the intro and thesis because these put the process into simpler terms and help take some pressure off of us. The powerpoints we saw in class helped me get better ideas about forming these two things so I’m glad I have had the chance to be in this class and learn about them in a new way! Because of the way things are going so far I think that this class will be a big help to my writing.

About Me

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Hi I’m Kelsey and I’m a rising junior. My major is declared as business with a concentration in marketing. I feel like I am normally a pretty indecisive person so although marketing is really interesting to me I have no idea what I plan on doing after I graduate yet. I’m from High Point, NC and I’m an only child. I think I can definitely say that coming here to UNCW is one of the best decisions I have ever made. I love it here and I’ve made some of the best friends and been successful in school so far. I’m a pretty laid back and friendly person and to be honest I don’t have any super cool or impressive hobbies but I like doing fun activities indoors and out. Basically I’m happy to be doing anything as long as it’s with friends!

As far as English goes, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite subject…papers are not the most fun. Even though I don’t love the subject I usually am pretty good at writing it just takes me a while to get started. Back to me being indecisive, I usually struggle with thinking of topics and how to start talking about them. I do really like the way this class is set up though, how we don’t have specific prompts just a basic topic we have to follow. I think this allows for more creativity for everyone and it will make for more interesting papers since we aren’t really limited. It is definitely cool to be able to write about things you’re actually interested rather than something that puts you to sleep while writing. I’m excited to see how my papers for this class turn out and to see how I grow as a writer since I haven’t taken an English class in a year and a half.