Self - Analysis Blog

This class has opened a lot of doors for me as far as writing is concerned. Before this class, I saw myself as an average high school writer that basically did what needed to be done for the assignment and I never really put extra time into my work. After this semester, I feel like I have improved a fair amount in this area. Now I can say that I have a more diversified outlook on the types of writing, including the rhetoric view as well as the the observational and relflective styles that we have discussed in class. I have learned to respect all styles of writing as well, even if I don't completely understand the purpose of it. I have also learned to write in a more spaced out format. I work on an assignment chunk by chunk, in order to have time to think about it longer, instead of sitting down at one session and putting an entire paper together.

In communicating with other classmates, I have learned to bounce ideas back and forth to create a better understanding of a particular assignment, as well as get that person's perspective (a peer review) on a piece of work that maybe I thought was ok. The peer reviews that were done in class this year provided a lot of constructive feedback for helping me complete the first two writing projects. Communicating with my teacher, when I did communicate, was a good experience. He provides complete answers to my questions and that made the assignment a lot easier.

I think I can say that the strengths of my writing skills are a fairly well-educated vocabulary and grammar skills (although I am sure everyone can say the same about the grammar). I think that I struggled this semester in comprehending all that the rhetoric assignment was to be composed of. My imagination when it comes to deciding what to write for freewrites was a strength as well, as there was a lot of opportunity to write those. In reference to the "What is good writing?" question, I think it is safe to say that good writing is composed of a few things. First, if there is a topic or question that needs to be discussed, make sure the writer is effectively doing that. Also, there needs to be a feel that the writer has put a little time and effort into it by creating a sort of flowing work that makes sense in general.

As far as the future of my writing experiences, I think that a lot of this education will be used in many other papers, classes, or even jobs. There will be times I am sure that I will need to address the emotional standpoint of some issue. I would feel confident in my knowledge of pathos to develop a strong argument on an issue of that type. This class has been a learning experience that I will definitely take with me after this semester.

O-O #3

This red Motorola Razor can be considered a big lifeline for many Americans in today's society. The cell phone about the size of the palm of a person's hand, and flips open to almost one hundred and eighty degrees. There are three buttons on the outside of the phone on the left side. The top two control the volume of the ringer. The bottom button turns the speakerphone on and off. There is a small silver circle on the cover that has the Motorola logo on it. The silver circle has small horizontal lines over it giving it a rough feel. There is a camera lens at the top of the phone. On the back, there is another Motorola logo and a white alltel logo as well. On the inside, the silver keyboard is highlighted by light blue lights. The color screen on the top half shows the date, time, and other things such as signal strength, ringer volume, and battery power. The screen, as well as the outside cover, is scratched from constant use. The numbers and the other buttons are beginning to rub off and are becoming harder to see.

This phone has a lot to do with my everyday life. From calling my parents to texting classmates for last minute homework questions, there is so much this phone can offer me. There have been many important calls that have come through this phone. I can remember hearing of how friends turned out at a basketball game or how someone had just hit a deer in Lincoln, NE. Without a cell phone they would have had to wait to see the person or to call them off a land line to tell them the same thing.