Dear Ms.

Hofmann,

In English 1102 this semester I have been able to expand my literacy in writing, researching,
evaluating and better understanding different concepts. One of the main things we focused on was
working in group and peer forums. In these forums we were able to get and give feedback for several
different assignments. Here is a few examples of feedback I gave to my peers: We liked lead 3 because
it includes an actual story. The third lead introduces an example into the "prosthetics culture". We think
the first and second were a little too literal and did not really add to the introduction. The third one
provides good knowledge to someone who was not aware of what prosthetics were and how they are
beneficial. This assignment required us to create three leads for our inquiry project, also to review our
peers different leads and leave our opinion on which one we thought was well suited. Above I
commented on Yasuarys leads and tell her which one I like best and why. Another time I left feedback
for a peer was for an assignment were we posted the link to our portfolios and were required to view
other classmates portfolios and let them know what we thought about the design, effectiveness and
organization of their e-portfolio. I like your design choice. Everything looks like its organized well. I
think you could take out the about and contact tab and just add that to the main page but it looks
good!(Comments left for molly) Pretty pictures! I like the template you chose for your background.
You might want to separate the tabs by the types of writing so it will not be a lot of writing under few
tabs. But nice portfolio!! Leaving feedback for others can be very useful for both them and myself. It
helps them get other opinions rather than just the opinion of the professor, they are able to see what
their peers think as well. But it can also be helpful for the evaluator themselves because it enables us to
see others work and prepare constructive criticism on the assignments. Here are few examples in which
someone gave me feedback: The style and layout of your portfolio is very similar to mine and very
organized. I love the colors you chose but I would make it more personally, maybe some pictures and
information to your viewer about who you are. This comment was left on the portfolio link submission
assignment as well. She gives me a positive about my portfolio but then adds in something that I can
improve to make it better. Your question is clear but what type of media are you really focusing on? I
see you have done a lot of research but I feel like you have fallen into more of a research paper instead
of an inquiry paper. You have a lot of facts but I feel like you are listing facts in your paper just as
research. This is some feedback (I shorten due to the length of the comment) that was left on my
inquiry essay telling me how the essay reads, and advice on how to steer away from a research paper
but into a conversational paper. Getting feedback is super helpful because it allows me to see what is
good and what needs improvement, also it provides specific answers to questions I might have on
assignment. It allows me to get direct attention on what needs work.
Also throughout the semester we did both in-class and out-class writings. In class writings were
done in class usually short pieces as a response to a discussion or assignment. Included are 3 examples
of in class writings that I did. Writing in the Middle -This process is similar to my researching process
because I like to collect and compile all my information before actually writing the paper. That way I can
determine what information I want to use and what information I do not want to use. So this process
helps me organize my research for the actual paper. But sometimes I will go ahead and start writing with
information that I am for certain I will include in the paper and then add around that. This assignment
was an easy write about Ballengers writing in the middle I talked about how it related to my
researching process. It required me to think back to the past and how I usually would write in
comparison to this new idea that was introduced by Ballenger- when you find a source write up on it
first then continue your search piece by piece. I think I wrote pretty well on this assignment from my
understanding it was supposed to be fairly short and to the point. Heres another in class assignment
talking about the historical museums and monuments that I had visited. I have not visited any national
parks nor monuments but I have been to some local ones. Where I live (Rocky Mount, NC) they have a
place called Battle Park and it holds some of the historical value of Rocky Mount. There are several
different monuments and it also houses the first Rocky Mount post office. The park now has a
reputation of being creepy and a place you wouldnt want to be alone in at night. It does have a very
pretty waterfall but other than that It has fallen off as far as its historical meaning. But if I could visit a
national park I am not really sure which one I would visit because they do not really interest me that
much. I would like the scenery of them but I do not really like getting dirty or walking trails and bugs so
Im not sure how well that would work. But I think America has trouble attracting youth to the national
parks because they do not make them interesting. I would say this was a day when I was having trouble
putting my thoughts together, it seems a little unorganized and all over the place. This was done much
earlier in the semester. Lastly this in class writing also required us to think back to our previous research
experience and what would had been told previously about research. In the past I have done a lot of
different projects and assignments that required research. I used to just look up whatever I needed to
research and try to find as much facts and information that I could. I did not really use critical thinking as
much. I would do just what was assigned. I can expect that the research done for this semester would
involve deeper investigations and critical thinking, being able to expand upon the research subjects. The
only concern I have as far as research goes would be being able to find a topic that I can relate to and
really bring my life into it as well as gathering facts and information to really tie in my researching skills.
There is a big difference between facts and opinions. I feel like this assignment was another assignment
were I just jotted my thoughts down without really planning or organizing. Those are things I could work
on in the future. Here are some out-class writings that were done Developing a Working Knowledge.
The topic I currently chosen is fashion. Fashion is a broad topic so I have been trying to figure out exactly
where and how can I narrow down to one specific aspect of this topic. Where does fashion trends come
from? Who defines fashion for society? Where and when did fashion originate? Definitions: Who
defines fashion for us? Where do trends come from? The fashion Industry developed first in Europe and
America but as of 2014 it is internationally globalized. Some say designers create the trend while the
media heavily presents the trend to us. This is just an excerpt but this assignment also goes along with
Ballenger and his developing a working knowledge. In this writing I was able to come up with a plan on
how I was to execute my research. This was really helpful in organizing my ideas. Another out class
writing was when we were asked to do a memo for our thoughts about our inquiry topic before we went
to library. This was pretty much the gathering of what we already knew about our topic and what we
expected to get from the library visit. RE: Inquiry Project Memo Pre-Library Visit For the past few
weeks I have been researching fashion trends. I have been focusing on where fashion trends come from
and how they are mainstreamed into society. I started out with just researching how trends come about
in the fashion culture. But since then I have tried to expand my search to be able to find more
information on it. I have added searching for the cycle of trends and how celebrities and media add to
the trends. I have found that rewording what I am looking for yields more results to have a bigger
variety to work with. Through this I should be able to uncover more in depth of fashion trends and who
and what plays a role in the world of fashion. With writing this I was able to see my status so far on my
research and what needed to be done to be able to continue to expand my search. Also the library visit
was very helpful because we were given access to the school database to research and given keywords
to use when looking up our topics. Lastly this an excerpt from my evaluative bibliography This source is
a report done by four professors in the state of Massachusetts. It does focuses on Racial Identity and the
body image of African American female adolescents and how media plays a role on this. It is a 31 page
document that goes on to explain how the research study was done, who the participants were and the
results of this study. The focus of the study was to steer away from one main ethnicity or culture but to
also find out body image views and issues with minorities as well to create a wider variety of results.
This assignment was very helpful to weaning out sources that were not of much value to our inquiry in
comparison to those that were. Also writing on our sources in this way played in with writing in the
middle as we were able to talk about our sources before composing the paper.
Pretty much all of our assignments this class have involved our inquiry project. Ballengers
working knowledge, writing in the middle, and keyword search were the main three things that really
stuck with me and helped me develop my inquiry. In the paragraphs above I included an excerpt from
the working knowledge assignment Ballengers idea of working knowledge was very helpful as an outline
for my inquiry it helped me define the terms of my research and organize& understand them better.
While the writing in the middle helped me with constructing the finalized paper. It helped me choose
the best sources and be able to further explain my reasoning as to why I chose those sources. And finally
the keyword search in Ballengers book was extremely helpful when I as researching. I did not know
prior to reading that, that different words for the same topic could yield a bigger variety of results. I
found all of Ballengers ideas helpful these were the main concepts I was able to grasp and relate to
most. Also another big assignment this semester was creating the e-portfolio. When designing my
portfolio I made sure to use a simple but still very personally fitting format. Also I used to easy to read
fonts and tabs with a reasonable amount of information under each tab. The one thing that I need to do
that was requested and left as feedback from one of my peers is to make sure to add more personal
things like pictures and explanations of my choices on an about me/ home page. I did not really run into
challenges in creating the e-portfolio since I did this last semester as well. I am very satisfied with my e-
portfolio.
To sum up everything in a nutshell this semester we focused on really growing as person as a
writer. We did assignments to help build us up as a researcher, writer, and more critical thinkers. I found
all the assignments very helpful and loved how they all tied into each other. I feel much more inspired
when I am researching and writing now. The only concerns I may have for the future is how I can
continue to grow as a writer, and whats some advice to someone who is not a huge fan of writing but
wants to in the future have a career that involves a lot of writing?, how do you develop stronger
conclusions? (Since I struggle with conclusions. )