Extra Credit

Assignment #5: Portfolio

Due April 30th

The question we asked you to think about repeatedly in this course has been, “How does communication work in your field?” Your final assignment is to put together a portfolio of a few pieces completed throughout the course, revise them, and reflect upon these revisions. Your immediate audience for your portfolio is your instructor however, analyzing the different parts of your portfolio is really for your benefit—to reflect on your communication growth over the last few months more completely than you have in the small reflections you’ve done along the way. Below is the required components needed to be added in your portfolio for full credit:

• Cover Page
• Table of contents
• Introductory Reflection
• Chosen assignment #1
• Revision of assignment #1
• Revision Reflection
• Chosen assignment that best reflects -OVE
• Revision of chosen -OVE assignment
• Revision Reflection
• Closing/ wrap-up (optional)

Contents from above should all be typed, printed on plan white printer paper, and organized in a professional looking binding in the order listed above. Maintain a font size of 12pt, double spaced, and Times New Roman font throughout the portfolio, with the exception of the cover page. 

Cover Page:

As first page of the portfolio, this page should be neat, organized, and professional looking. Include your fist and last name, the course name, and a heading of the project. This page may any fonts/sizes. Be creative!

Table of Contents:

Include a full list of all the portfolio’s contents, as well as page numbers. Table of contents should be double spaced and have a heading at the top of the page. 

Introductory Reflection:

The purpose of this opening reflection is to think back over the semester and re-examine with new eyes the communication work you’ve done in English 150 in order to assess your growth as a communicator using the WOVE modes.  Write your overall reflection in the form of a letter addressed to your instructor. You can use the questions below as a guide as needed:

 How have your composing processes become more sophisticated since you began the course?

·      How do you go about generating initial ideas for pieces you’re composing, as well as the details and explanation needed to develop and support those ideas?

·           How do you accommodate different audiences when you communicate? How does audience consideration affect choice of communication mode(s)?

·      How do you draft and revise your compositions?

·      How do you use others (peers, instructor, friends, family, etc.) to assist you in making effective revisions?

·      How have you improved your editing process?  What are your typical problems with mechanics and what kind of progress have you made with these?

·           Which of your composing habits have remained the same during this semester and why?  Which have changed and why?

Note: Your reflection as a letter should include an introduction, conclusion, and examples from your work.

Chosen Assignment #1:

Choose one of the assignments completed in the course that you wish to revise later, and include a copy of the finished product you submitted to your professor. This can be a newly printed copy, or the copy marked by your professor.

Revision of Assignment #1:

Throughly revise the assignment chosen above. Note that Revision here means more than editing; it means, “re-seeing” the subject.  You should include additional material, delete parts that don’t work, reorganize the piece, refine your opening and closing, improve your title, etc.—in other words, you need to do a significant amount of rewriting.

Revision Reflection:

Now that you have looked back over your work, and made significant changes too it, ask yourself “why” you changed what you did. What did you do to make it better? What did you learn? Write a half page reflection using these and the below questions as guides: 

• Describe additions made to the piece (written, text, visuals, source material, etc.).  Highlight a couple examples of these additions and explain their benefit.

·      Describe portions you chose to delete. Explain the benefit of those deletions.

·      Explain what parts you decided required no changes.  Give a couple of examples of these and offer support for your decision.

·      If you reorganized or reformatted elements, explain how doing so benefits the piece.

Chosen -OVE Assignment:

Choose an assignment that best reflects -OVE (oral, verbal, and electronic communication) that you wish to revise later, and include a copy of the finished product you submitted to your professor. This can be a newly printed copy, or the copy marked by your professor.

Revision of -OVE Assignment:

Throughly revise the assignment chosen above. Note that Revision here means more than editing; it means, “re-seeing” the subject.  You should include additional material, delete parts that don’t work, reorganize the piece, refine your opening and closing, improve your title, etc.—in other words, you need to do a significant amount of rewriting.

Revision Reflection:

Write a half page reflection using these and the below questions as guides: 

·           Why you chose this/these piece(s) as evidence of your best work in the oral, visual, and electronic modes

·           What, if any, changes you made to the original versions, why, and to what benefit

·           What you believe the piece/s demonstrate about you as an oral, visual, and electronic communicator

Closing/wrap-up (optional):

Write half a page wrapping up the assignment. What did you learn? What would you change? Was this assignment helpful? Reflect.

2014 Graduate And Professional Student Research Conference Write-up

On Friday April 4th, I attended the 2014 Graduate and Professional Student Research Conference located in the design building of ISU campus. The session I decided to attend was titled "What is Graduate School Like?" This session was a panel of six undergraduate students of ISU, each of which were very knowledgable in their field of study and had a lot of good advice for the audience. One of the aspects I liked the most about this seminar, was the fact that each undergrad student had a slightly different "major" so the audience got to hear a lot of different similarities and differences between different options. Half of the time was spent with the undergrads talking about how they got into their particular program, what they enjoy about it, and what they are struggling with. Also discussed was how to go from a four year college to the next step, and how to prepare for it. The other half of the time was dedicated to the audience for asking questions and reviewing what we had gone over. I am really glad I had the opportunity to attend this conference seminar, because I gained key knowledge that I don't know how else I would have gotten. The six ladies who answered our questions were great and a valuable resource for a student like me to learn from and look up too.

Not that anyone will really understand unless you were there, but here are my typed notes I took during the seminar: 

continued because no jobs right out of college

continued because current job didn’t for fill passion

continued right out of college

continued so could  get the jobs that every one fights for

grad very different from undergrad school

only go to grad school if thats what you really want to do

continued because no jobs available that she really liked

nothing really prepares you for grad school

grad school is a marathon

continued because didn’t want to continue with job wanted to go back to school.

undergrad is 160 course credits and you get the degree

every program is different

dead-ends, go back, dead ends, go back

grad has to be self motivated

deadlines

What do you like about grad school?

like learning, finding out things that you wouldn’t know without grad school

gives more freedom to choose your future

feeling of being a grad school. the label. colleges with professors

first few years course work, but last few years = freedom to explore exciting to find your own results

research is fun to deal with, to direct your own research

How did you choose your major?

had the idea after college

note: choose a professor you can easily get along with

progression from undergrad to grad

pairing with boyfriend, waited for a good time for both. decided on isu. not going to know group dynamic from the beginning. figure out dynamic of lab. talk with current grad students. sooooo important. ask them if they are happy. social outlet. If offered a visit, GO!

how log does it take?

graduation rates?

where living?

How are students supported? educationally? emotionally?

Grad is HARD but REWARDING. buy you need the support from professors.

Time:

time not doing work is spent at home 

course work not always mon,tues,wed, etc. sometime intensive class days only twice a month and rest is done on own time

balancing research and courses, not treated as a student, expected to do well and self motivate 

first two years course work. 12 hours a week in class lot of assignments.

Find a hobby. there will be times you aren’t doing well.

Why My Chosen Topic is Important to Me:

Personal Topic Importance Review

Research papers in general are very important. Their purpose is to be a form of communication over a topic that had a lot of hard research up into it. Not only this, but the facts stated in the paper need to be well supported. You can do this either through a biological page, or other form of works cited page. Research papers allow known information that was discovered by one person to be shared with other people whom have interest. In this way, knowledge can be built upon. 

This specific research paper is important to me because, like most writers, we choose to write about a topic we have in interest in. For me, this interest is in my future career, optometry. This paper is important because through the hours of research needed to put this paper together, I go to learn quite a bit, and to share my findings with my readers. My hope is that they learn a little something too. 

One thing I did have a hard time with while writing the paper, was organizing what I had to say. Facts were found from a wide range of sources, at different times throughout the research process. When it came time to set up how I planned to write the paper, It was hard to group similar topics in a paragraph without some being too lengthy and others no more than a sentence or too. This then lead to the problem of "the fluff". When the facts didn't make the paper exactly what I wanted it to be, and not quite the length requirement, adding unnecessary "fluff" seamed to be the solution. Instead, I found that this distracts the reader from the main point of the paper. It all became very frustrating. 

Research papers are important, and while I don't believe anyone just ADORES writing them, they can be enjoyable if the topic is of interest. Everyone has struggles writing papers at one point or another, so my advice, is to just get through it and work hard so that you may be proud of your work. 

Research Proposal

Amanda Gridley

English 250

A.R.Morry

March 12, 2014

Research Proposal

Communication is used by everyone, everyday. Whether it’s through visual or verbal communication, it is not something that can be avoided in a functional day-to-day life. Communication is used to express thoughts to others, and for us as college students, this is a skill we all need to master in order to be successful in our future careers. The problem with communication, is that there are so many different forms, and not everyone uses the same one. Because of this, studying and learning how to properly communicate between each other is much more difficult. While my future career is in the medical field, Optometry to be more specific, most of my classmates are in engineering. Through my research, I have learned that while engineers communicate through diagrams and brief summaries, my future form of communication will be detailed documents and person-to-person speech skills, depending on the position i will hold. Compared to the engineers, I will be dealing more with people in person, while they will be dealing with their clients through manuals and emails. That is another problem in communication; while each career has it’s own set of communication methods, there are many smaller, more specific jobs inside of these brood job titles. Basically communication not only differs between one career field, to the next, but also between different positions inside a career field. 

For this class, we have been instructed to write an essay on the topic of communication in our future career. With such a brood range of possible focus points, I decided to include multiple key ideas, that I think are important to consider when thinking about communication. Below are a few of the questions I will be answering in my essay:

1. How do the different forms of writing and communication in medical fields effect the day-to-day life of the doctor/patient relationship?

2)How do communication barriers effect the relationship between a patient and their doctor?

3)What kinds of communication work best in the medical field between both the patient and other coworkers. How can these forms of communication be improved upon in our society future, and who has the power to change this?

4)Who might an optometrist communicate with on a regular basis. What are some possible communication barriers that could effect the optometrist’s job? How would they get through these barriers?

Specific Research Questions:

Assignment: 
Write two or three very specific research questions that you might want to use to build your paper around.

1) How do the different forms of writing and communication in medical fields effect the day-to-day life of the doctor/patient relationship?
2)How do communication barriers effect the relationship between a patient and their doctor?
3)What kinds of communication work best in the medical field between both the patient and other coworkers. How can these forms of communication be improved upon in our society future, and who has the power to change this?

Assignment #3 Textual Rhetorical Analysis Paper

Amanda Gridley

Amanda Gridley

English 250

A.R. Mallory

February 26, 2014

Textual Rhetorical Analysis

The purpose of my article is to reflect upon the students in the optical field, and what  methods and materials best help them to learn and study. The information was collected through the survey of enrolled students, and presented in an essay format with visual charts to display the information. With this information, educators are able to decide which teaching method they should use in order to best helps the students to succeed, and which methods to avoid. 

The article titled, Optometry and WebCT: A Student Survey of the Value of Web-based Learning Environments in Optometric Education, was organized and written by Peter Herse and Alvin Lee. The purpose of the article was to express the findings of what optical students prefer to use to both help them learn in the classroom, and study outside of class. With this information the intended audience, the educators of the university, are able to make teaching arrangements that will better help their students. 

In order to convey the results, the authors typed up an essay document composed of multiple parts that make the data easy to follow. The introduction is typed into three small parts titled Purpose, Methods, and Results. These are real brief paragraphs that explain the information as an overall big picture, and sum-up the essay as a whole. This is nice for the intended audience, because it saves time for the educators who are simply looking for quick ideas while planning their teaching methods. Instead of reading the entire essay that follows, they can skim these introduction paragraphs, and get the big picture. The actual essay follows. The essay goes into greater detail than the intro paragraphs, and is intended for the audience who want to take a deeper look into why the results are the way they are. Also included in the body of the essay are multiple tables of the collected data. This is a great visual for the audience, and does a good job of presenting the information in a way that is easy to understand. The audience members can look at the table and relate to the conclusion described in the text. It makes the writing much more supported and entertaining to read. 

With the data collected, and the intended audience in mind, this article does a great job of presenting the information in a way that is easy to follow and understand. The main reason for this is the great organization. The separation of the intro, essay, and data tables, makes the information available in a way that gets the point across while still keeping your attention. The context provides the necessary information without going into long explanations or irrelevant facts. Also the style of the document, being asymmetrical, keeps your eyes moving to the key parts of the article. Overall the delivery of the information was very successful. The important facts were stated in a way that is easy to follow, and the conclusion was well supported for the audience through the essay and data tables. 

Through the careful organization and style of the writing, this article effectively and efficiently fulfills the purpose of communicating the student survey results to the intended audience of the optical educators.

Article I will be Rhetorically Analyzing in my Upcoming Paper

I will be rhetorically analyzing the same link that I did a summery for earlier in the semester. This article is about optical education, which is my intended career path. The direct link to the article is below.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2005.tb06663.x/full
-A

Assignment #2: Visual Rhetorical Analysis

Amanda Gridley

A.R. Mallory

English 250

February 16, 2014

Visual Rhetorical Analysis in my Career Field

Rhetorical analysis is taking a closer look at the deep meaning of anything that has been created; this could be written, visual, or a verbal discussion. Taking a deep look into something can reveal its true meaning as well as meanings that are hidden by the creator. Both of which communicate a message to their intended audience. Almost anything can be analyzed rhetorically, including artwork. The Figure in the image below caught my eye, because it is related to my career field. Like all artwork, it can be easily analyzed by the people to whom are the intended audience to reveal the message it expresses.

The artwork is of two human figures sitting across from each other, one presumably representing a patient and the other being an optometrist. The patient sits in a comfortable chair, complete with arm rests and an extended leg rest. The human figure sits comfortably and looks into a small machine that hangs at eye level in-front of him. The second human figure, presumably the doctor, sits across from the patient figure on a small wheeled stool, adjusting the machinery. The two figures are attached at the feet, and sit so close they almost bump knees. The entire figurine is constructed out of metal that resemble small parts like nails, screws, and bolts, and has a shinny appearance with smooth, sanded down edges. Most of us have been to one eye clinic or another, and after looking at this art piece, recognize it as just another routine check up in freeze-frame. 

The whole idea of artwork is to either appreciate and interpret the meaning the artist intended, or for the audience to give the piece its own meaning, based on what he/she can relate it too. This is rhetorical analysis; finding the underlining meaning of the piece. Because the art-piece above relates to my future career, I found it interesting and fun to break down the little components of the sculpture to try and figure out what message the artist was tying to express through his work. The idea of using parts like nails, screws, and bolts could represent what goes on in the optometrist’s head while he or she works, like the metaphorical “gears-turning” expression used when something is thinking. Also, the difference in chair style sets a theme of who’s in charge. Over-all, however, I believe the main idea or message of the entire figurine is to show the relationship of a patient and his/her doctor. The closeness of the two figurines and patient’s comfortable demeanor both prove this point.

While a lot of people can easily understand what is going on in the sculpture through their personal experiences of going to an eye doctor, not all of these people fully appreciate what this piece actually communicates. The sculpture itself is is dull and not particularly eye catching. It shows a commonly understood scene and doesn’t have any features that are so unique, you be disappointed if you missed out on. In fact, I would bet most people would walk right by this piece without further observation if it was displayed in a museum. Art is only interesting if you are interested in the art. Because of this, I believe the intended audience is only the selected few of whom are optometrists, or those who have an interest in the actions in which optometrists do. These are the people who express interest in the field of study, and therefor are willing to take the time to study the piece, out of interest, to better understand the meaning behind it. I feel like with this group of intended audience, the argument that there is a close relationship between a patient and his/her doctor is very effective, and that through rhetorical analysis anyone interested should be able to understand and appreciate this piece for what it is.

Rhetorical analysis happens everyday, even if you don’t notice you are doing it.  After rhetorical analyzing the small metal art piece, I was able to determine the representation of the different aspects of the piece, and from there, was able to figure out who the intended audience was. I believe this piece does a very effective job at portraying it’s point to its audience, and I hope to see more like it.

Visual Rhetoric in my Chosen Field

Below is the link to an image of a small sculpture the provides a visual rhetoric for my chosen field; Optometry.

http://www.aoa.org/about-the-aoa/archives-and-museum/museum-collections/decorative-items-art-photos

The name of the figure is "Optometrist Sculpture" and is a sculpture of an Optometrist checking a patent's eyes with common machinery. The Sculpture is made completely out of a black metal and miscellaneous hardware such as bolts and springs. Even though the piece is small, it still conveys its meaning to its audience. I believe tho sculpture's audience to be people whom have in interest in the health field, specifically those who work with (and as) optometrists. With such a small frame of audience, the piece is able to have deep meaning behind the aspects of it without having to simplify it down so that others, who aren't the immediate audience, can understand. The meaning behind the piece, or so I believe, is to visually represent the job of the optometrist. The simple design shows the interaction between the doctor and the patient. The material used to make the sculpture represents the puzzle pieces, or nuts and bolts, of the doctor trying to figure out what is troubling the patient and how to best correct it. Even though the piece is small and simple, it does a great job of expressing the typical day-to-day job of the optometrist, and expressing the meaning of importance in a relationship between a doctor and patient.

-A

Rhetorical Analysis

Amanda Gridley

English 250

A.R. Mallory

February 5th

Rhetorical Analysis

One of my more recent rhetorical analysis’s was done during my senior year of high school. It was during the second half of the second semester of my AP English class, when we began to study and analyze different elements of movies, and how they represented different aspects of the point the director was tying to make.

The first movie that we did a rhetorical analysis over was “Avatar.” This was my personal favorite out of all the movies we observed, because a lot of different concepts were covered and I learned a lot. The class discussed how the creator of the movie, accomplished their purpose of creating a great action/adventure/fantasy/sci-fi, as was the goal, and had great character development and organization. We guessed that the purpose was for quality entertainment, and we believed this was accomplished through years of work and good actor selection. 

The audience was also important to keep in mind when creating the movie. Because the movie’s genres are action, adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi, the typical audience are people who enjoy those kinds of movies. Because, most children under the age of 12, don’t typically watch these kinds of genres, more adult content can be added to the context of the movie.

I learned a lot while doing rhetorical analysis's on movies, but Avatar was my favorite because it had purpose, good development and organization, and an intended audience that I was a part of.

-A

Summary Reflection

Amanda Gridley

English250

A.R. Mallory

February 03, 2014

Summary Reflection

The summary assignment was very different from anything I have ever written. Most of the other papers I wrote, both through high school and first semester at Iowa State University, were either research papers or opinionated essays. It was actually nice to be able to expand through different writing styles, and read other people’s view points in a PDF format. In all honestly, I probably would not have chosen to read these kinds of articles in my free time if not for this assignment. I also liked that the topic of the assignment was over the career paths that we have chosen. It made the assignment more interesting because the readings reflect our future. Writing about a more relatable topic is much easier than a non-relatable one.

Not only was this assignment actually enjoyable, but I got the opportunity to learn a little bit about how my career path communicates both through writing and other aspects of communication. I learned that good communication is very important, and that some forms work better than others. Also with-in my field, different forms of communication fit one situation better than another. Using these forms in the correct situations is a learned process, and I think with more readings, I can learn how to distinguish. 

Over all, I actually really enjoyed this assignment. I liked writing in a different format than the average research paper or essay, and I learned a little about my career path. I hope to do more of this kind of writing in my future. 

-A

Assignment #1: Summary

Amanda Gridley

English250

A.R. Mallory

January 31, 2014

A Summary of the Value in Web-based Learning and Communication in Optometry Education

My chosen career is Optometry, the health care profession of eye care. Like all chosen career paths, it is important to learn the material that is needed to do the desired job. How is this information learned? Communication. Communication plays a key role in almost every aspect of life,including secondary education. Students are taught the information they need to know in order for them to come successful. As the article “Optometry and WebCT: A Student Survey of the Value of Web-based Learning Environments in Optometric Education” by Peter Herse and Alvin Lee states, some forms of communication work better than others. This is true for Optometry students. A survey was given to the students of Optometry and Vision Science at the University of New South Wales, after the completion of their third year and just before their forth year of clinical learning, that produced interesting feedback in their desired form of communication.  These results, reflect the way that communication is done, at this day-and-age, in my chosen career field.

The survey was given to one-hundred and thirteen students, who had experience in a variety of communication methods over the course of their schooling. The communication methods included anything from textbooks, and lectures, to chatrooms and power-points posed online. The students were asked to rank the usefulness of the learning tools they had used over the course of their secondary education. These tools included, calendars, note-taking programs, and online chats. After compiling the data, the results concluded that the most desired and most successful communication methods, were those that involved direct communication with other students, and/or professors. Lab sessions and material add to WebCT (the online equivalent to Blackboard at ISU) that had an added chat program to discuss material directly with a professor or another student, were the top two preferred communication methods, while self written assignments, oral presentations and individual labs were the least favorable. 

These results prove that communication, especially direct communication, is very important in optometry. Direct communication is desired over indirect because there is less likely for a miscommunication during the “telephone” of passing down the information. The best way for students to learn is to be taught by others, and there-by communicating and being communicated with. Without the communication and collaboration with others, information is more slowly build upon, results are often unfinished, and less likely to be shared with people of whom it would benefit. 

In conclusion, communication is very important in almost all aspects of careers, but especially in my desired field of optometry. Students of the field benefit the most through direct communication, such as one-on-one’s with others and online chats. This is because direct communication is the least likely to have a miscommunication and  learning can be done quicker without the fear of error in a miscommunication. 

Works Cited:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2005.tb06663.x/full

-A

Dear employes of EyeGlass Co,

We have some very exciting news! We  have just signed a contract in sponsorship with the (insert name of club here). We are thrilled to be working with this club, and are giving all of you a chance to become more familiar with who they are and how we will be working with them. (Name of club) is a nationally competitive cart speed and endurance club that is in need of our assistance for creating safety glasses designs in which eye prescriptions can be added. In the upcoming future will be creating and supplying these glasses as well as sponsoring the team. In return, our company logo will be represented on the car at all national competitions, and the team will be sporting the glasses. This is a great way to get our company name out there, but we need your help with the designs of the glasses. All interested employes can submit up to three ideas directly to the leader of the group, Lacy Duguard, via email.  Please keep in mind with all the submissions bout to be sent out, to provide adequate specs, but to keep the descriptions as simple as possible. I recommend diagrams with labels as the main component, and short summaries. Designs of interest will be shown to the competitors, and any designs that come-to product will be awarded. We are very excited to be supporting the team, and I hope you all see the benefits our company as well as the team will gain from this partnership. Members of the club will be coming to see current styles in one week, so if you happen to see them in the halls, be sure to say hello! Keep checking your in-box for more news of the new partnership. Have a great day!

-A

Perception of A Writer in My Field of Study

How would I find out how writing works in my field of study?

I believe that the best way to find out information is by communicating with people who have knowledge on the subject. I believe this to be the best way, because they had to go through the same process that you are going though, and can explain the process to you and what they learned much faster and easier than if you were to go through it yourself. If I were tying to figure our how writing works in my field of study, I would go to the library and ask for assistance, or even straight to an optometrist (my planned career). The conversation and advise they can offer is very valuable, because not only are you getting the information, but you are also building relationships with people that you can use to your advantage in the future.

-A

Scholarly Links with MLA Format

Here are a few links to scholarly articles that are related to my field of study; optometry:
1. http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/15926878
2. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-0938.2005.tb06663.x/full
3. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-1313.2010.00798.x/abstract

Here they are in MLA format:
1. ?
2. Herse, P. and Lee, A. (2005), Optometry and WebCT: a student survey of the value of web-based learning environments in optometric education. Clinical and Experimental Optometry, 88: 46–52. doi: 10.1111/j.1444-0938.2005.tb06663.x
3. Prajapati, B., Dunne, M., Bartlett, H. and Cubbidge, R. (2011), The influence of learning styles, enrolment status and gender on academic performance of optometry undergraduates. Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, 31: 69–78. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-1313.2010.00798.x

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Rosenburg Thought Piece

As a freshman college student, I found this latest reading to be very relatable. It starts off discussing the frustrations as a student of reading long texts in an effort to learn, and sometimes teach ourselves the material. Who DOESN'T agree that this is a constant struggle? While this piece was a little long for my tastes, (took much homework, not enough time), it did have some good tips. One tip being to make the reading more relative by thinking of it as a conversation. This is a new perspective, and something that might be worth trying. Another tip, is to making reading into a formula. Yeah I know, when I read this I, ALSO thought blehhhhh math, ha. But what I think the article was talking about, is to learn to pick out important information and add other notes too, in order to make the information more condensed. Just like math, a formula is easier to work with than the mass of math (or in this case text). Kind of a good idea right?  The title, introduction information, sections headings, important abstracts, and conclusion are all good things to use in a reading formula. The main concept to learn in any reading is the main argument, the reason for writing. Everything else comes second. It's about reading smarter not harder.

-A

Portrait of a Writer Assignment

A person’s writing technique is unique to who they are, how they were taught, and the life experiences they have been through. With such a wide range of variables to influence writing, we all develop different writing patterns making each of our works unique. My personal writing style is no different. I personally enjoy writing, whether it’s on a social network like Facebook or Twitter, or writing a research paper, I enjoy expressing my opinion in a way that others can relate to, and hopefully share my joy on the topic. I also like to add a little comedy to what i’m writing. Making people laugh encourages me to write more, and also, to write better.If not writing for a class, most of my writing in on Facebook, or Twitter. Some people argue that this isn't really writing, but I have to disagree. Like fashion, writing styles change, and it is my opinion that this generation’s writing includes social networks. In any case, whether you think it is or not, I spend a lot of time writing on those sites. I don’t write any kind of blogs or journals currently, and only write papers for assignments, but i’m not really opposed to them. Research papers are actually kind of fun, if I have an interest in the topic. My favorite research paper was in 6th grade, when we had to research an important person who helped change the world into the way it is today. I was assigned Anne Oakley, and really enjoyed learning about how she made it possible for women to participate in sports that were, at the time, only allowing men competitors. Presenting the information required an unfortunate costume, involving a cardboard gun. While walking into class, and being stopped by the principle wondering why I was caring such an object was scary at the time, it made some memories that made writing a fun experience. 

In this class (English250), the blogging is a new concept for me. I’m learning how to properly write, and what kind of audience, my writing is be presented too. My first post, was a reaction to a reading assignment. I wrote about my agreement to the concept of being your own writer. I don’t know that I necessarily learned anything, but rather reinforced my understanding that you are your own writer, based on your past experiences. It’s interesting to publicize my personal opinion on a blog. Interesting meaning, Im still not sure If I like the concept of being blunt enough to state my opinion, where people can read and judge what I think. I don’t know, I guess i’m just conservative like that...  

A person’s writing is developed over time from experiences they go through. I always enjoyed english, so I always payed attention and got the most I could out of the classes. I was also lucky enough to have some amazing english teachers all through high school. My AP English teacher was one of my favorites, and is one of the main reasons why my writing is the way it is. She helped me to find my flaws and work to correct them. To all the want-to-be-writers out there, finding someone who you can go to for writing advise is soooooooo important. You aren't going to always be able to find your mistakes on your own, so having others review your work is a huge part of becoming a better writer. 

A person’s writing technique is unique to who they are, how they were taught, and the life experiences they have been through. Basically for me, my social networks, past works, and past teachers have had the most impact on my writing.

-A

Calming the Inner Critic Thought Piece

Calming the inner Critic.pdf1.2 MB

Above is the first reading assignment of my English250 class. The piece is called "Calming the Inner Critic" and was written by Goodwin.  As a first assignment, I was pleased that the piece was quite short, and easy to understand. The main concept of the reading is simple; Don't let others opinions of your writing get in the way of your writing. I completely agree. You are who you are and writing can be one of the best ways to express yourself. You can't be yourself if you are following another's writing style. One of Goodwin's strongest points in her piece was that like our ancestors, how you write will stick around long past you are gone, so being yourself in your writing might just inspire future writers. Moral of the story? Be your own writer.

-A

First Post

Hey all! This is my first post on a blog, so bear with me as I figure this stuff out. Stay tuned!
-Amanda