Finally a blog entry where I can let loose and just fritter away and talk a little about my improvements over this semester in terms of writing. In short I believe that I still have a long way to go as a focused writer, meaning a writer that is has to write something that he is being told to write and not what he wants to write. When I am being able to write about whatever I please is when I can really show my true skills and totally just let myself loose upon my reader audience.
I believe that the area which I have grown stronger in is being able to communicate my feelings stronger in my writing and be able to convince others to support my cause. The area which I believe I am weakest in is coming up with a strong thesis. I can’t seem to wrap my head around the area of solely focusing on one thesis through out an entire paper since I am so use to expressing many different opinions when I normally speak. I normally do not like to put people through ordeals or ask for help when I am working on a written piece of work, but I am beginning to learn to rely on others who have experience in the fields by having people peer edit my writing drafts and seeing what they think about it.
I have learned and gained experience in using MLA format correctly. The thing about MLA format is that it can vary depending on how the teacher prefers the format. One way you may cite a source or use a block quote may vary from one teacher to the next. I am lucky that most of my teachers haven’t asked for anything beyond MLA format, except the occasional odd ball of a teacher that may ask for APA format.
I will be meeting up with my teacher from this online course for the first time next week to see if I can get some help from her and work on improving my previous essay. I am praying that things will go well with the meeting and hopefully I will understand her method of writing so I can adapt to it myself.
Hey finch I think we all have improved on communicating our feeling. I understand the difficulty you face with staying on track with the thesis while writing an essay. What I did on the essay we turned in today was writing my thesis in big letters on a piece of paper and hung it on the wall. Then every time I start a paragraph I can check if it agrees with my thesis. Hopefully it worked.
ReplyDeleteI guess I will see you at Jennifer’s office this week because I also have to redo my second essay. I actually wrote it about the subject instead of analyzing the article.
Yeah the experience in MLA format is helpful because i am sure there are a lot of essays in my future. I think that APA format is for more scientific subject, because I have a ten page research paper for my Psychology 201 class, yes he is an oddball.
I think that writing a blog every week and having the peer draft review also gave me a sense of comfort with allowing people to read my writing. This was definitely an interesting and challenging class, but I know that I am not the only one with a voice in my head chanting five more weeks.
Stating a strong thesis is my problem area too and I have even gone to the learning center for that. I have had a problem with organizing information too but I think this class has helped me focus my mind. They have some good reading material on how to develop one and many others on various topics, including MLA citing. I have had professors asked for APA style papers but I have taken classes that require that type of writing. It’s not very hard in my opinion but it is different. American Psychological Association (APA) style papers are only used for Sociology and Psychology classes so unless you take those classes you are pretty much free from writing that style. That has been my experience, anyways. I think the blog writing has helped too. It gives you a chance to let loose and just write. And the comments from other people are great, I think. It makes you feel like you wrote something worth wild and people are interested. I mean classmates only have to pick two and there are so many options! And they pick your blog!!!! Well that’s how I feel, anyways. It sounds like you have had a little fun with this class and I hope you always feel that excitement with writing. I have read a few of your blogs and your writing, in my opinion, seems to have improved greatly! Hang in there and I will see you at the end!
ReplyDelete