Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate the ability to approach writing as a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision).

With this excerpt, it showcases my progress in providing context and introducing sources in a fluid way. Also, it is important to take note the way I’ve gotten better at integrating quotes. None of them are dropped in and left there, and there is a balance of context and analysis.

“Thomas King, a recent high school graduate in the city of Melbourne, is generally progressive when it comes to technological advancement. But looking back at a statement from King in his TEDx Talk “Adults, We Need To Have The Talk,” he said that the way we live our lives, the way we work has changed so much because of “digital disruption” and “artificial intelligence” and that it has even caused a “shift in [our] mindset” (King 1). This can definitely be backed up by what Anderson said in how people’s literal brains have changed due to the pressures society puts on them. If people put a hold on their minds (due to them not functioning at prime condition), then how is this country supposed to progress and keep up with others?”

 

2. Be able to integrate their ideas with those of others using summary, paraphrase, quotation, analysis, and synthesis of relevant sources.

I like to use quotes in my essays. I can’t even lie about it. The problem came when that would be all I used to get my point across. I would almost rely on the quotes to do the job I was supposed to do. Also, by focusing more on quotes, I found that I was lacking in the other areas that go along with it such as summary and paraphrasing. Or, if I was rushing and not thinking too much about what I was writing, I would do the opposite and have no quotes at all. Recently, I wrote an essay for my Cultural Anthropology class that I am less than proud of. I started writing it the night before it was due (which was what my professor told us exactly not to do). Here is a paragraph from the mentioned essay:

“Again, there is a clear difference between the Pygmies and the villagers and how they react within the context of the elima. Because both groups are so stubborn though, they will never see each other’s side or point of view. The Pygmy girls going through their elima are allowed to leave their seclusion and even go to other camps. This is ‘unheard of’ with the village people who are very strict and by the book when it comes to this sort of thing (199). The Pygmies are supposed to follow the same customs as the people of the village or the customs that are set for them but the Pygmies do not seem to care whether or not they follow the rules. The Pygmies ‘go with the flow’ so to speak and follow more what their heart and more importantly what the Forest tells them is right to do.”

No quotes, spotty structure, and no personalization: This is not how to write a good essay. This piece will be revised in the future.

3. Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.

At the beginning of this school year, I was still the kid that would “read” through the essay once and never look at it again. I’d prop up my feet on my desk, eat a bag of chips, and halfheartedly skim through the text while browsing Netflix. I’m not joking. Needless to say, that habit broke rather quickly.

Now I always have a pen and highlighter when I read and take notes. I like to scribble my thoughts down in the margins so I can revisit later. That’s another thing. Usually I’ll read the text more than two times now. I’ll ask questions, hypothetical or otherwise, to help better my understanding and to allow my stream of consciousness make connections that I never would have made just a few months ago. I’m not afraid to ask questions anymore. I always ask why or how does this relate to that and what kind of importance does this hold to the bigger picture.

4. Be able to critique their own and others’ work by emphasizing global revision early in the writing process and local revision later in the process.

I hate dishing compliments and I hate getting them too. The good thing about critique is that usually that means there is something that needs to be fixed and I can focus on that. In my high school composition class, when we peer reviewed essays (if we did, that is), most people would just say “good job” or “I like this…you’re good at this”. It was basically just a lot of fluff so that they could get the participation points.

The thing about this class is that I’ve noticed people actually thinking about the essays they are reading, which has caused me to do the same, and give out real advice on how to better our work. This is especially helpful when I am someone who always doubts my own abilities. To have a class where the students and professor both provide alternatives and compliments have changed the way I too peer review. Before this class, I had never heard of global and local revision. Our teachers basically just told us to do it but never gave good strategies as to how.

In all three essays, I was able to give suggestions on when to revise something and I was clearly able to see which problem was a global or local one.

5. Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA).

We used MLA citations in high school so this hasn’t been much of a jump for me. Still, I will always use sites like Easybib or the Purdue Owl to make sure I am citing a source correctly. I don’t feel like I lack much confidence in this department just because the only challenge is making sure the labels are right, that everything is in order, and that the format is correct. There’s really not much thinking involved in this.

That being said, it does get confusing when I have to use different stylizations. This is the first time in my life that I have had to use APA citation for my politics class. Before this, everything was MLA and nothing else. This is where these websites come in extra handy.

One of my works cited pages:

Works Cited
Anderson, Sam. “In Defense of Distraction.” New York Magazine, 17 May 2009.
Kushner, David. “The Darknet: Is the Government Destroying ‘the Wild West of the Internet?” Rolling Stone. 22 October 2015. Web
Wasik, Bill. “My Crowd Experiment: The Mob Project.” And Then There’s This. 2009. 473-491. Print.

6. Control sentence-level error (grammar, punctuation, spelling).

I’m basically known for my faulty sentence structure. Really, it’s that bad. For example, one “sentence” I found later on in a rough draft looked something like this:

“Even though this is a valid point, they do not recognize their struggle in society like they recognize their struggle.”

…What? That’s what I asked myself too. Basically, I can cut this out by trying not to blank out as much when I type essays. It’s easy to let my mind wander (digital distraction), but it’s also important to know that a grade depends on my ability to portray a point of view and it is better for me if I can be as clear as possible when explaining it.

Instead maybe I could started my point out like this: “Even though this is a valid point, they do not recognize the struggle in a society that is pitted against them.”