Reflection

At the start of the research process, I knew I wanted to focus on Feminism and Technology, but within that there are so many different topics of interest and connections between the two. The more research I did, the more I came across a clear and concise topic to approach within my paper. Additionally, I was fairly confused on how to narrow down my sources and the information within them.There was so much interesting information contained within the pieces that I wanted to touch upon and draw conclusions from, but I did not know how to organize it. As I wrote the research proposal and my initial two drafts, slowly, buy surely, was I able to develop a clear thesis and learn how to organize six sources worth of information in a way that was more so analytical than summary-based.  

Since my first essay, and the beginning of the course, I feel as though my analytical skills, reading, writing, and thinking-wise, have improved significantly. With every essay read and assignment completed, I learned more about how to create organic ideas rather than pull from those of others. In that way, I have improved a lot as a result of Expos. 

Reflection

This semester has taught me much about my skills as a writer and has brought to my attention several areas in my reading and writing that could certainly improve. When I came into this class, I didn't really come into the class with an intention to improve my writing- I simply wanted the semester to be over with. Over time, however I learned that I needed to have an open mind if I was to improve my writing, which I realized was not perfect after receiving my first paper back and reading through it myself. I always thought that my papers sounded "good" but when it came to substance, I realized that I often wrote in a way that often did not follow the rubric and was often unorganized. Activities like the reverse outline definitely helped me see exactly what I was writing and where I had to make revisions for the sake of clarity, length, or fluidity. Throughout the semester I have also learned the important of reading through and annotating all the sources in order to more easily implement them into my paper. I also feel that when I read, I try to look for connections between texts that I can perhaps discuss further in my papers. Looking at my evolution as a writer throughout the semester, I can say with confidence that I am a better writer now, more organized and clear, than I was at the beginning of the semester.

Reflection

Over the course of the semester, the thing that has changed most for me is the way I think. At the beginning, I used to think about the general topics of works as a whole, and use this summation type of view to form an argument. Then, I would go back and look for specific evidence that supported by argument. This was a top-down style of thinking. However, I now use more of a bottom-up style of thinking. I look at the evidence on a more specific level before formulating my argument in accordance with the specific evidence. This shows through in my project, as well. At first, my topic was just two very broad topics which I had interest in: music and technology. However, as my research began to take shape, I narrowed down my topic based on the scholarly discussions taking place. Additionally, on a more general note, I think I approach assignments with a more open mind now. This may stem from my willingness to acknowledge the evidence. At the beginning, I wrote with a rather harsh bias, but now I tend to acknowledge both sides of issues. This is a skill that is very applicable to the real world, because it is important to try and empathize with both positions on an issue.

Reflection

At the beginning of this course, I didn’t really think much of peer review and the whole revision process, as all the writing courses I had taken previously tended to overlook the entire process. As the semester progressed, I found myself benefiting greatly from comments made by peers, reverse-outlining, and many other strategies I earned in this class. I often found myself reworking entire paragraphs, leaving nothing but one or two sentences unchanged, or scrapping paragraphs entirely. This led to my essays possessing a more coherent and logical flow, as well as clear sentences and wording (an issue I often found myself losing points over). I also was able to learn to use quotes better, as I tended to use them more purely for information, rather than for supporting my argument and introducing another point of view. I enjoyed the research process overall. At the beginning, I had a clear idea of my topic and where I wanted to take it, however, along the way, I discovered a number of perspectives that complicated my thesis, requiring me to rework my essay to address them. My outlook on the topic also changed as I gathered information and synthesized them together. Originally, I was going to argue that AI was intelligent when it could empathize, however, after reading a number of examples describing emotional emulation, I realized that my definition had to be more specific and complex to reflect the complex nature of the field, and instead shifted over to arguing that an AI is intelligent and alive when it developed an ego or personality. Over the course of this class, I believe my writing has developed favorably, which may help in the future, despite the fact that I’m not going to be doing as much writing in the future as an engineer.

Reflection

As I continue to edit my research paper and reread my previous blog posts, the focus of my paper has somewhat shifted away from simply focusing on how inequality affects communication, and now also looks at how inequality to used to divert responsibility. In the Matt Shepard case, I originally looked at how information was spread after his murder, and did not really analyze the inequality in the case.Rather than taking responsibility for the fact that a hate crime was committed in the town, the media first tried to claim that it was the result of an economic divide between the two sides of the crime, blaming the fact that those from the poorer side of town used Matt as a symbol of their vengeance towards those who were more well off. Similarly, in the pharmaceutical case, the drug companies do not take responsibility for their actions or the side effects their drugs may cause, and instead push the responsibility on the doctors prescribing them. My writing skills have changed over the semester because now when reading a text, I pay closer attention to possible connections, and spend more time analyzing those connections in my writing. In my first essays, it took much more time for me to get to my point in my writing while also connecting pieces, but now, my writing has become more succinct and I focus on getting to my point faster and with more concise language. 

Reflection

I find that my ability to form cohesively progressive arguments has improved greatly. I see that in the beginning of the course that I had all sorts of ideas that I tried to link in some way, which developed very interesting essay topics. However, the way I expressed my ideas and supported them made them seem forced and not as cohesive as they were when I initially thought of them. This has been a problem I've had for a long time, and writing longer essays that require various claims centered on a thesis has helped me learn how to manage my ideas and organize them much better. When I worked on my second draft for my research paper, I found that simply reordering a few paragraphs created a much more logical argument. Going back even further, I remember starting my project with an amazingly wide topic that I had a great interest in, but I had no idea what to write about it. What I learned about narrowing topics allowed me to focus on a niche of my original topic and fully develop an effective argument. Learning how to focus on specific ideas is something I see that separates good essays from great essays, and this should be the next skill I should improve on.

Reflection

At the beginning of the semester, I did not truly understand how proper analysis should be used for building an argument. I always thought that my job as a reader and writer was only to understand an author, not to use their ideas to make my own original argument. Originally, I thought that making a refutable claim meant simply taking a obscure stance on an author’s writing and trying to support it. Through writing these papers, I have learned what my goal should be as a writer and how to use outside texts to support my own idea. In the research process specifically, I originally underestimated how much evidence I needed to truly develop my argument. I started off by filling my research plan with more ideas than I could handle. As I went through the process using a narrower topic, I realized that all the information that I needed to build my argument only became apparent as I went along. Specifically, I only recently realized that I need to address the fact that many students who meet educational standards do well in life. Addressing that issue is more complex than I originally realized. Though this is not exactly a case of prospective writing, I realized that writing completely off a rigid structure made in one sitting is not truly complete. The process to make insightful and comprehensive writing requires a lot of time to look back and constantly reevaluate what I previously thought was true.

Reflection

Looking back over past blog posts and my previous essays, I can see a difference in the way I constructed arguments within the paper and in the overall structure of the paper itself. As the semester continued, I started making more complex arguments by connecting different points within the essay more effectively, especially by allowing the argument to developed as the paper progressed in a more natural order, instead of waiting until the end of the paper to draw everything together. Also, I learned to introduce a counter argument to add more depth to the paper and explore the topic discussed further. Furthermore, I started integrating quotes into sentences to make the sentence about the quote, instead of the 'intro, lead in, quote, analyze' format of papers that I learned in high school. This also allowed the paper to flow better and to connect different aspects of my argument together in a format that is easier for a reader to follow, as well as increasing the analysis of the quote. In addition, the integration of the quotes into the sentence made my later papers sound more  like a discussion instead of  separate analysis`s. Finally, the biggest aspect of writing I learned was a better to organize my papers, both within a paragraph as well as the organization of the paragraphs as a whole, which adds depth to the argument and allows the topics to be more intricate without being confusing to a reader.  

Reflection

At the beginning of the research process I was pretty lost, I had trouble two good topics to integrate. It wasn't until the research proposal that I really developed something to write about. At that point I knew I would talk about technology in education, but no specifics. When looking up articles and other material about this topic I found how interesting the human component was because of Moerschells paper. Now I had a topic and was able to go ahead with my research. Personally I really think my writing has improved since the first essay we wrote, mostly in the way I am able to organize and utilise sources. I now know how to focus on the evidence from sources to develop ideas rather than use the sources to back up my ideas. I am a lot more confident in my writing skills than I was, because in high school I rarely managed to acheive a B on any essays or research papers.

Reflection

At the beginning of the year, reading the passages we were assigned and connecting them was much more of a challenge to me than it is now. I was not able to analyze and draw connections between texts as well as I could later on in the year. As time went on it became easier for me to explain unrelated concepts and connect them to each other while upholding an overall argument. I feel like my writing has improved as it has gotten more insightful and flows easier in terms of comprehensibility. When I started out, I would look at the texts at a very surface level and try to connect at the very basic level, while by the end I could connect several passages to a completely external text and draw connections between everything in a cohesive manner. Personally, I also feel as though I have improved in terms of transitions and syntax. Using wording and phrases to make my thoughts more clear has been something I've worked to improve on. Also, moving from one thought to another while still upholding and supporting the thesis was a skill I have had to work on and I feel as though I have developed and improved in this sense. I have learned to proofread my papers more carefully to make sure the overall message is cohesive. From reading one of the first papers I read to my final one I think the progression in skill in terms of writing is fairly evident. This class has definitely contributed to my development as a writer as well as reader.

Exposition and Argument Reflection

At the beginning of the year I was an extremely poor writer, still could be, but I feel as if I've improved a bit. Before this class I could not analyze a quote to save my life, but now analysis is much easier for me. Also, I feel as if I am able to make distinctions between two points in a more clear manner than I was capable of before. The majority of these improvements most likely came from the amount of writing and tutoring that I attended. Without the extra support from a tutor I would be completely lost in this class. Furthermore, I believe my reading comprehension has improved and my close-reading skills have become more efficient. At the beginning of the year I had to spend hours close reading the text, it now takes me about half the time to read that it did before (still takes a couple hours though). My view on writing has changed as well. At the beginning of the year I felt I would never be any good at it, and that for me, writing would be a waste of time. However, after practicing I noticed how my skills improved and realized being a decent writer is an important thing in everyday life, especially since I am a business major. I will have to be good at delivering speeches and sending well written emails or proposals depending on which route I choose. Overall, I feel this class has had a positive impact on my future.

Writing Prompts

1)  How does the dynamic of collaboration change when it is conducted online?

2) How do social movements prioritize the issues that they tackle?

3) How do "echo chambers" hinder social progress?