And So We Come To The End...

Wow, this is the final writing assignment for my English Comp 1020 Class for the semester! We have been instructed to compose a self-reflection/analysis of our writing over the course of the semester.

One of the suggestions for this assignment was to write about this course as a learning experience. This course was most definitely a learning experience!! It allowed me to learn quite a lot about writing for “fun”, various writing styles, following guidelines for different genres of writing. I really enjoyed the idea of all of our assignments being completed on the blog format. I found it to make the assignments fun to do. Writing 1000 words on paper just seems harder to me! I know, it doesn’t make complete sense, but being able to add hyperlinks and multi-media to our assignments made for richer, more entertaining reading. I must admit, while some of the assignments I found to be more difficult than others, I did have quite a bit of fun expanding my writing skills, as well as venturing to websites I never would have visited previously.

One site in particular was www.YouTube.com. I had never visited the site, although I had heard quite a lot about it. One of our assignments was to pick a YouTube video to add to our blog and write about the video. I was rather amazed at what was on this site. While I don’t think it is a site I would continue to visit on a regular basis, it was definitely an eye-opener!! The video I chose took some digging to find and I ended up viewing quite a few video along the same theme.

One of the questions posed by our instructor for this last writing assignment was, “What do you think is ‘good writing’? How do you evaluate your own writing and that of others?” I don’t feel that it’s ever easy for a writer to critique their own work. I have learned this in abundance in this class. In this class we were often called upon to write comments of our fellow student’s writing, and I must admit I found this to be profoundly difficult. While I did read quite a few blog posts from other students in both sections of this class, I also read more than enough posts that I (and others – as we would discuss other’s writings outside of class) deemed to be “bad writing”. There seemed to be no continuity to the writing, no clear thought processes, and on occasion there were writings that clearly did not follow the guidelines of the assignment. I don’t think it’s appropriate to single out anyone, however I did notice that because of the previously listed criteria not being met, I would definitely consider it to be “bad writing”. As a writer, I feel that one should make sure to focus on the subject of the particular piece of text. It is important to ensure that the reader is able to quickly understand the reason for the writing, and not have to wade through numerous paragraphs to determine the idea of the writing. I found it extremely helpful in class to have “Peer Reviews”, where we were able to have our fellow students read and critique our writing, offer suggestions in which to make the assignment better, as well as provide guidance in making sure that I was actually following the particular assignment guidelines.

As for my own writing, I did my best to follow the guidelines of each particular assignment, and feel that I did rather well in one assignment – our Reflective Essay. It was fun for me to reminisce and reflect about my past college experience and compare it to my present situation. My comment was, “…and I’ve found that my thought process regarding my education is so very different now than it was twenty-three years ago. I seem to be more driven now, almost more eager to learn, than I was all those years ago. I take more pride in my work, worry about my assignments being completed on time, and worry less about what I’m doing after my classes, or who’s going to what party over the weekend. As I said to my Mom, “I see things with forty-year old eyes.”

I definitely view my writing in a different manner as well as a result of this class. I’ve found that I tend to read things with less of an eye for enjoyment, and have taken more of an analytical and critical view when I read things. Sometimes it’s not the best way to do things, and I find myself correcting myself – and remember that sometimes writers write just for fun!!