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.

Plans for essay number 2,

I've decided to stick to option number one. I'm choosing this option because I feel like our last essay was similar to option two, and since we are going to need another source anyways, I picked one over three. I liked reading West's article, and I think I would like to make an argument that technology should be used in the classroom more. However, there are a few reasons why it should be limited. I'm going to use West's research to help show that identity is strong through blogs where it may have not be as strong in a hand written papers. Also, how students can be more comfortable using these technologies versus pen and paper. I think I have a good idea to start my paper! (I hope).

Benefits from Blogging.

I enjoyed the article by Kathleen West and it made me wish I blogged more in high school! I too think it would have been the highlight of the week when visiting the computer lab for a blog post. I especially enjoyed reading about Lucy; she seems funny and easy to relate to. I would like to think my blogs have humor, but they don't seem as entertaining as hers. I agree about the identity, and personality shaped from blogs. Obviously since our last essay was about identity, it's fresh on my mind, but also seeing the movie "The Social Network" this weekend is another thing that re-enforces how easy it is to create yourself online. The language was another thing that stuck out. I feel like on Facebook and other social networking sites I'll use more abbreviations and acronyms but when writing on my blog I pay more attention because to my language since it's for a class and not just peers are reading it. It makes sense when saying the blogs are making the bloggers into serious literature students because I personally can see how blogging for this class has shaped my way of online writing.

My writing process includes music.

I'm always listening to music when I'm writing in my room, and I particularly like listening to the soundtrack of Peer Gynt, which is music from a Norwegian play. It's very relaxing and gets my brain going. If I'm not listening to that its Tchaikovsky's 4th or some Eric Whitacre (all the music is classical so I don't sing along!). Other than music, it's usually night time, and close to the due date. I work well under pressure. After a long session of writing, I'll usually take a facebook break or tv break. Depends on the night. I like to focus on my own thoughts, and just let the words flow. I'm not a fan of research papers unless it's a topic I'm really interested in, so I'm a little concerned about the next essay. It's extremely helpful when the topic is interesting. Writing is pretty easy for me, and if I have  topic, I can usually write something about it without difficulty. I like when things are structured. If something is too broad or general, I sometimes don't know what direction to go.

Reflection of my essay.

My essay is coming along pretty well, I'd say. I think that I've read over it a lot and need a new pair of eyes to read it again. The writing conference really helped, and I think another advice session like that would help. The length is fine, the layout is fine, but I still need to work on my citations and possibly word choice. I think my thesis is much stronger after the presentation feedback, and I'm overall pretty happy with it. There have been major improvements to my intro since draft one, and I think it's close to being ready for a final grade after a bit more editing.

They Say, I Say, but I say what?

After reading They Say I Say, I felt some parts were very redundant and familiar to many things I learned in high school. However, I did notice (as they point out in an example) that I tend to summarize and only talk about what "They Say." Another problem I would like to change is my paragraphs running on and saying "He says this" "He believes" He feels" right after the other. The text really brought some of my writing flaws to light, and I have a better idea of how I will be forming my essay.

My Presentation.

I think my presentation went well, I was a little nervous, but I included all the information that I had intended to. However, It was a little less formal than others, and since I had many pictures and attempted and humerus approach, I'm not sure I included enough information. I know my blogger is a nerd and he is proud to be one, but I have to admit, I feel a little funny calling him a "nerd." It seems derogatory and a little mean, even though I consider myself an undercover nerd and it's easy to relate, I still don't know how to make it sound positive and unoffensive. Any suggestions?

Connections: the book and the blog,

Now that I'm actually following a blog, I'm finding many connections between the posts and the book Blogging by Jill Walker Rettberg. In chapter two, Rettberg talks about how not everyone can be a famous movie producer or radio broad caster, but the blog I'm following shows how one simple college man became successful because of the internet. He runs two podcasts, three websites and uses over three social networking sites. Because of his Harry Potter Podcast and website, he gets press passes to the premier of Harry Potter and the Deathlty Hallows part one in London. He will be right behind CNN ready to report the news to excited fans everywhere. In my essay I will discuss how his internet life has shaped him, and influenced his identity through his blog. Without the internet, Andrew Sims would just be an everyday college nerd, and he would not be the person who he is today.

Less rerview, more detail.

When I first started writing the essay, it was more of a summary rather than an in depth essay on my blogger's identity. I need to pick out little things, mainly quotes, from the posts and turn them into concrete detail about Andrew's identity as a nerd. Now that I've finally decided on his true blog identity, I think it will be easier to make my paper more detailed and concise.

My Researching

Things are going well for the most part. I've noticed however that the blog isn't about Harry Potter as much as I thought it would be. It's actually more about Andrew as a person, his interests in technology and his other sites. It's all interesting but very diverse, so it's hard to pick which blogs to write about because they are all so different. I love learning about him and I cannot wait to finish reading the blogs!

Do we really know what we're doing?

In the book Blogging by Jill Walker Rettberg, (2008), there are many topics brought up that make the reader think. One that particularly stuck out to me was at the end of chapter 3 while talking about Facebook and other social networking, "When a piece of software... presents such traces of your life in chronological order, those traces become an extended narrative, an autobiography created on the fly..." This really made me think back; middle school posts on my Myspace, my old Xanga where I posted grammatically incorrect nonsense about some petty pointless problem happening that minute. I think I've matured and I really watch what I post on my Facebook these days... I mean I have to since I'm friends with my mom and dad (they have a shared Facebook page), my aunt, older cousins, and both of my managers from work. Since the internet is so advanced and complex and anyone can find information about anyone, I like to present myself in a somewhat respectable manner. There can be potential employers digging up dirt on me and I want to make sure the present part of my records are clean. Not that I'm a bad person, but I would like to look more mature that other Facebook users who post inappropriate things every day five times a day, can anyone else relate?

Andrew Sims

The blog I've finally decided to follow this quarter is posted by Andrew Sims, one of the members of the podcast "Muggelcast" which is a podcast about Harry Potter. Since I am a giant fan of Harry Potter, I am extremley excited about following this blog because I already follow the podcast! This will be very exciting I think and I can't wait to get started!

Who am I as a writer?

I would consider myself a creative writer; I enjoy rhyming, writing poems, jingles and any other structured  creative compositions. My writing is still improving, and there is an infinite amount of growth ahead of me. I am skilled with weaving and adding in my own commentary, and since I'm strongly opinionated, it works out well!  I do not enjoy writing about history at all, but I can still be analytical. I can write about facts and details as long as I enjoy the topic I'm writing about. I can crank out essay's pretty easily but I can become quite indecisive and make many changes when I'm through. Writing is never finished but always a work in progress.

A fresh start anyone?

Hey everyone, this is my updated blog for my first college English class! Although this is an old blog, I've removed the old posts, so this is a fresh start. Please answer my poll and I hope you all enjoy my posts!