Critical thinking

I have no problem making connections and critical thinking, I fell like in high school that's all we did. However, when writing about it, I struggle. I know what they are saying, and I know what I want to say, but I don't always know how to connect them. Which is why in my last essay I think I need more quotes and more connections because I didn't have many in my first draft. I also need to work on organization, I think my pre-writing is what needs work!

Revising

Revision in necessary, but challenging. First drafts are usually rough, and essays can always be improved, which is why revision is so important, it's never finished. Honestly, I hate revising. I know it's important, but I'm not very good at it. I end up changing everything and making things more complicated. I know my essay needs to be revised desperately, but I feel like sometimes I change too much. Hopefully since I wasn't the only one revising it, I'll have an easier time picking out which parts need the most work.

Engaging in reading and researching

I fell that this essay was okay, it still needs work but I was able to pull it together in the end. It took me a little longer than I had hoped when looking for an article as a second source. I guess it was nice not having to physically go search for books, but some articles didn't have full text, or didn't fit with the topic enough and it was hard to decide on a final source. I have no problem reading closely and applying the research from the text, but it was hard for me to come up with an argument. Overall, I've done fairly well; a few things were redundant and a few things were new and I've learned a lot.

After finishing essay two....

I finally finished my essay, but I don't think I did it right.. I was a little behind from all of the classes being canceled and I took a bit of a mental vacation.. Bad idea.. But I think I did alright. I covered my argument very well. I had no problem voicing my opinion but I don't think I did enough research.. So when I go back to edit, I plan on adding more text based evidence from both of my articles. To those who are reading my essay: feel free to leave feedback!

Essay two

This essay is much harder than I had originally anticipated, and I have been having a really hard time writing it. Coming up with an argument is especially tough when I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the topic. In a way, I guess I'm torn because I think that it's hard to put a lable on a blogging identity since each post is unique, but on the other hand, there are patterns and clues to determine who the writer is as a blogger. But I still don't know how to put all my thoughts into words for this essay :/

What I will do, with essay two:)

I've decided to use myself as the guinea pig! Based in the information found in the two articles I'm using, and Rettberg's book, I'm going to see if any of this information matches up with my blog and me personally. I'm interested to see if I fall into the same statistics or stereotypes of blogs that all the authors have studied. I will also see if there are any major claims that I strongly agree or disagree with. I think since I'm a young media involved college student, I might see things differently than the way they see things involving expression and media for youth.

Source #2

The article I've chosen is called "In Their Words: Connecting On-line Weblogs to Developmental Processes." I picked this article because it seemed very relevant to the topic of my essay and similar to Kathleen's article. Instead of how people use their blogs, this article discusses how youth can develop from their weblogs and how they think through what they post. There are some quotes that are a perfect fit, and I'm excited to cite this article in my essay.