Butler 1 Nancy Butler Professor Lynda Haas Writing 37 December 6, 2 13 !

eflecting on a "uarter#s $ort% of $or& ' &ne$, from t%e (ery beginning, t%at being enrolled in a si) unit intensi(e $riting class $as not going to be an easy tas&, and ' $as going to %a(e to use my creati(ity as moti(ation to get t%roug% t%e entire ten $ee& course* ' &ne$ t%at ' $as going to %a(e to do a lot of reading and $riting at a muc% dee+er le(el t%an ' did in %ig% sc%ool* ,%e first day of class, $e $ere all informed t%at at t%e end of t%e "uarter $e %ad to +resent all t%e $or& $e %ad done during t%e "uarter, in a seminar for anot%er $riting class* ,%e fact t%at $e %ad to gi(e (arious +resentation in t%e class made me ner(ous, but o(er time my +resenting s&ills increased and %a(e become stronger* ,%e amount of $or& t%at t%is course $ould re"uire became (ery a++arent $%en +rofessor Hass assigned our (ery first assignment* -ur first assignment consisted of a grou+ +ro.ect, $%ere $e %ad to $atc% a film of t%e /ombie0%orror genre and analy/e it* W%en $e $ere se+arated into grou+s ' $as a $orried t%at my grou+ members $ouldn#t be res+onsible and t%eir lac& of res+onsibility $ould affect me, but luc&ly college is not li&e %ig% sc%ool and e(ery single one of my grou+ members $ere (ery res+onsible* 1y grou+ and ' %ad to analy/e t%e film Warm Bodies and create a +resentation on our analysis of t%e film. W%en ma&ing t%e +resentation, $e ran into (arious difficulties, suc% as time* Due to t%e fact t%at our sc%edules are so different and some of us go %ome during t%e $ee&ends, it $as difficult to meet u+ and $or& on t%e +resentation toget%er, so $e decided to use t%e social media to our ad(antage* We became more fle)ible and did our best to ensure t%at $e $ere eac% res+onsible $it% our $or&* We eac% %a(e a 2aceboo& account, so $e added eac% ot%er and decided t%at communicating t%roug% grou+ messages $ould be (ery "uic& and easy* -ur +resentation under$ent (arious re(isions, li&e inserting

Butler 2 more +ictures on t%e +o$er +oint and using better con(entions, but t%e final result could not %a(e made us %a++ier* -ne $ea&ness t%at our +resentation %ad, due to t%e time constraint, is t%e fact t%at t%e summary $as (ery s%ort* Personally, if ' %ad more time to $or& on t%e +resentation, ' $ould %a(e added a little bit more summary* 3fter +resenting on our film, $e %ad to $rite an essay $%ere $e analy/ed t%e film and %o$ it fit into t%e /ombie genre* ,%is $as our (ery first essay in t%is class, so it $as not (ery $ell $ritten, but it im+ro(ed $it% e(ery +eer and instructor re(ie$* W%en my essay under$ent +eer re(ie$s, ' learned t%at my essay %ad fla$s ' $as not a$are of* 4ac% +eer re(ie$ +in5+ointed errors t%at $e %ad to fi) in our essays, my essay for e)am+le needed to include more analysis on eac% scene and use better con(entions $%en s+ea&ing about %o$ t%is film $as different from any ot%er film of t%e genre* ,%e final draft of my essay could still use a dee+er scene analysis and if ' %ad more time to $or& on it, t%at is e)actly $%at ' $ould add to it* ,%e re(ie$s of my essay led me to be more o+en to criticism and allo$ ot%er o+inions to %el+ me and my $riting* 3fter t%e genre essay, $e read World War Z. W%ile reading t%e no(el, my grou+ an ' %ad to ma&e s%ort +resentations about im+ortant c%aracters and cultural connections t%at $e found t%roug%out t%e no(el* -ur first +resentations %ad many $ea&nesses li&e, t%ey $ere too long, t%e cultural connections $ere not (ery im+ortant and our c%aracters $ere not dee+ly analy/ed* 3s $e re(ised eac% +resentation for t%e seminar, $e focused on fi)ing t%e +roblems $e %ad on eac% +resentation and made t%em muc% better* -ur final +resentations $ent (ery $ell, due to t%e fact t%at eac% grou+ member memori/ed t%eir +art of t%e +resentations and $ere able to +resent on t%eir to+ics* W%en $e finis%ed t%e no(el, $e $rote an essay about t%e r%etorical analysis of t%e no(el* ,%e +ur+ose of t%is essay $as to ma&e us t%in& about %o$ t%e structure of a no(el +lays an im+ortant role on %o$ t%e no(el is read and understood by its audience* ,%is essay $as muc% %arder for me t%an t%e genre essay* 'n t%e World War 6 essay, $e %ad to analy/e t%e no(el and it#s structure, ' did t%is by

Butler 3 analy/ing a c%aracter from t%e no(el* 'n my case, t%e first and second draft of my essay $ere (ery $ea&, one of t%e many $ea&nesses t%at my essay %ad $as t%e lac& of analysis and t%e fact t%at ' summari/ed t%e c%aracter instead of analy/ing %im* ,%e +eer and instructor#s re(ie$s %el+ed me identify t%e $ea& s+ots of my essay and ga(e me ideas on %o$ ' could im+ro(e it* 4ac% +resentation and essay $ere meant to +re+are us for t%e !'P 7eminar, a seminar in $%ic% t$o different $riting classes got toget%er and +resented a "uic& summary of all t%eir $or& for t%e entire "uarter* ,%is seminar $as a (ery big +art of our course and it too& all of my +ersistence to ensure t%at ' remained focused and determined to ma&e t%e best of it* 1y grou+ and ' not only %ad to +resent e(eryt%ing t%at $e %ad $or&ed on during t%e "uarter, $e also %ad to ma&e flyers t%at ad(ertised t%e seminar in a creati(e $ay and +ost t%em u+ around cam+us* -ne member of our grou+ (olunteered to design t%e flyers and $e all agreed to s+lit t%e cost of +rinting t%em* 7+litting u+ t%e $or& ga(e us time to memori/e our +resentations and ma&es sure $e $ere ready for t%e seminar* 3lt%oug% my grou+ and ' $ere used to +resenting in front of out $riting class, $%en $e +resented in front of a grou+ of com+lete strangers $e could not %el+ but get a little ner(ous, $%ic% lead to us s+ea&ing muc% faster t%an $e s%ould %a(e and trying to get t%roug% all our material as fast as $e could* Presenting in front of strangers $as (ery ner(e $rec&ing, so if ' %ad t%e o++ortunity to +resent again ' $ould try to rela) and calm my ner(es* 3lt%oug% $e $ere ner(ous, $e did our best and in t%e end, $e said e(eryt%ing t%at $e $ere su++osed $%ic% ga(e us a tremendous amount of %a++iness and .oy* We also %ad (arious modules t%at $ere due at t%e end of eac% $ee& on t%e 8onnect $ebsite* 4ac% $ee& $e $ere assigned (arious grammar modules in $%ic% $e %ad to ans$er "uestions, t%en go t%roug% an e)tensi(e re(ie$ of eac% "uestion $e got $rong and at t%e end of t%e re(ie$ session, $e %ad to ans$er more "uestions* 3lt%oug% my o(erall score on eac% module $as one %undred +ercent, ' feel t%at t%ey %el+ed me im+ro(e me $riting* 4ac% module also allo$ed me to 9fres%en u+: on my

Butler ; grammar s&ills and remind me of little +roblems t%at ' %a(e %ere and t%ere* ,%e scores t%at ' recei(ed on eac% module .ust assured me t%at ' &no$ t%e basics of grammar but ' still need to im+ro(e my s&ills and continue to $or& on my $riting s&ills* -(erall, t%ese +ast ten $ee&s allo$ed me to im+ro(e on one of my $ea&nesses, citing sources* ' %adn#t cited a source in a (ery long time so ' %ad forgotten %o$ to correctly do it but t%e $or&s cited "ui/, $%ere ' recei(ed a score of eig%ty +oints out of a +ossible one %undred, refres%ed my memory and allo$ed me to remember %oe to cite sources correctly* ' t%in& t%at ' still %a(e to $or& on citing sources correctly but $it% +ractice ' am sure t%at ' $ill get t%e %ang of it and it $ill become a natural t%ing* 'n t%e future ' need to ma&e sure t%at ' read o(er my $or& to ensure t%at e(ery $ord is in t%e correct tense and clearly states $%at ' a m trying to communicate* ,%ese modules also %el+ed im+ro(e my +ersistence, because sometimes t%ey $ere (ery long and com+licated so ' %ad to do my best to stay focused* ,%roug%out t%is entire "uarter, ' learned many t%ings but ' t%in& t%e most im+ortant one $ere< acce+ting ot%er +eo+le#s +oint of (ie$s and criti"ues on my $or& and t%at analy/ing %el+s im+ro(e your understanding* ,%roug% t%e re(ision +rocess of eac% essay, ' became more a$are of t%e $ea&ness in my $riting and t%is %el+ed me im+ro(e my $riting, ' &no$ researc% before $riting on anyt%ing and ' ma&e sure t%at eac% +oint is su++orted $it% enoug% details* W%ile re$riting eac% essay it became clear to me t%ere is al$ays room for im+ro(ement in e(eryt%ing ' do, and loo&ing at my $or& t%roug% ot%er eyes really allo$s t%e fla$s to become noticeable* 3lt%oug% t%is +ast "uarter $e %a(e only analy/ed t%e /ombie genre, ' t%in& t%at t%is %as +re+ared me for any ot%er classes ' may ta&e in t%e future* 3naly/ing $ill surely %el+ me classify t%ings toget%er and see t%e similarities t%ey s%are, not only $ill ' be able to identify common con(entions used t%roug%out eac% sub.ect, ' $ill also %a(e t%e &no$ledge on %o$ to understand t%eir meaning* ,%is class %as gi(en me t%e ability to ' $ill understand $%y eac% similarity is used and analy/e %o$ t%ey are being used*