Blog #4

Part 1: Reflection

            Today in the Writing Center a man came into the center and asked us to revise his paper. His paper was about asking a question and hypothesizing his answer to the questions. During the 50 minutes I learned that surprised that some teachers don’t like when you answer your own question. What I mean by this is that when we were reading over the paper, my peer and I, we noticed the writer kept asking many questions but instead of hypothesizing he was answering the question. She said that some teachers don’t like that but even in my papers I do that! That is something I will not forget because that is what I do. But also I learned from the writer’s paper that I read because he wrote kind of like me, using the same words to start sentences. For example he kept starting his sentences with “I pose the question,” literally with every question he asked and the peer tutor offered up another sentence or even just taking it out. This week really helped me realize that I can’t always repeat myself otherwise I will sound repetitive and the reader will not like that.

Part 2: Reading Response

            “I have seen the criminal justice policy work first hand because of my older brother, and I believe it to work in the sense that criminals are put in jail or prison and serve the time from the crime they have committed.” The part I have highlighted from my writing is passive writing. I think this works because it already says in the sentence what the criminal has done and doesn’t need to be followed by a verb. This chapter will help me in the future because it will help me keep writing straight forward again because sometimes you don’t need those extra word as seen in active writing therefore as in passive writing you don’t need the support it is straight to the point and you still understand.

Part 3:

            Active: The peer tutors helped the writers stay on topic.

            Passive: The writers were helped.

 

            Active: This session helped me realize how I could fix my writing in the future.

            Passive: My writing is fixed.

These revisions have helped me see different ways of writing sentences and ways to shorten sentences or different ways to write them.

 

Blog #3

Part 1: Reflection on Writing Center Internship

During my internship two people came in to have their papers revised. Each paper was very different and I worked with two different peer tutors. This session helped me realize many things about my writing and how I could fix my writing in the future. One thing that I learned that I did not know about from one of the peer tutors was that using “you” in a paper is unprofessional and not supposed to be in a paper. That was one of the things I remember most because I am the type of writer who uses “you” a lot in my papers. What I noticed about the multilingual writers was that really want their peer tutor to focus on their grammar and make sure it is correct. The peer tutors were great at helping them and also helping the writers stay on topic with their papers. The peer tutors are very knowledgeable about looking for certain things in papers like grammatical errors, staying on topic, and many other things. I am excited for this internship and to learn more about how I can fix my writing styles and helping others.

Part 2: Reading Response

 Transitive and intransitive verbs will help me with my cover letter because it will help me cut my paper down to become short and sweet instead of adding all the “extra” words. The modifiers will help me add some help to the verbs in my cover letter and in papers I write. The complements help the verbs and this will help me in my papers and cover letters because it helps the transitive verbs play a role in my papers. As said on page 15, “eliminating them tends to sharpen our sentences and paragraphs.” These will help me in the long run to get my paper straight to point but also “sharpen” my paper to its highest potential.

Part 3: Revision

            This session helped me realize many things about my writing and how I could fix my writing in the future.

            This session helped me realize how I could fix my writing in the future.

            The reason I decided to change this was because the verb realize needed a compliment to help it succeed but also didn’t need all the extra wording in it.

           

 

            The peer tutors were great at helping them and also helping the writers stay on topic with their papers.

            The peer tutors helped the writers stay on topic.

            The reason I decided to change this sentence was because there was a lot of extra wording in the sentence and it didn’t need it.

Blog #2

Part 1: Cover Letter Draft

My educational background has prepared me for the role of a childcare provider.  In particular, my study of Children Psychology has given me a solid background so that I can perform taking care of children, working in a professional manner, and making sure all tasks are completed in a timely manner. I am eager to contribute my enthusiasm and up-to-date skills to the Bellevue Athletic Club.

Part 2: Reading Response

In chapter 1, a concept that really helped me was in the section Applying Conversational Guidelines, the part about being relevant. This section will help me as a writer because sometimes in my papers I like to rant or get off topic somehow. In this section it talks about just sticking straight to point instead of rambling and this will help me because I need to stay on point and keep the topic going. I need to make sure I am not rambling but keeping on point.

In chapter 2, a concept that really helped me was this whole chapter but specifically Choosing a Verb section because in class when we talked about weak words like is, had, has, have, etc I noticed that I use those words most of the time. This chapter will help me get straight to the point without the “worthless” words I usually add in to make my paper go longer. This chapter will help me find a more “action-oriented” verb to replace all the “wordiness” in my paper.

Part 3: Revision of Part 1

. This chapter will help me get straight to the point without the “worthless” words -- I usually add in -- to make my paper go longer.

Part 2: Assessment 1.0

The type of writing I currently do is just for my college classes, academic. I used to do outside personal writing where I would just write my thoughts out but I have stopped now.

            My writing means a lot to me because I am not the best writer, when I get a good grade on a piece of work I take pride in it. If I don’t do as well as I had hoped I go in and talk to my teacher on how I can improve for the next paper I write. Each paper means something to me, but sometimes I just write it fast and seem careless.

            As far as drafting, I write down most of my thoughts before starting a paper because it is hard for me to organize my thoughts as I am writing. As I am writing I think of more thoughts I could have added earlier in the paper or that I could add later but it is not time to add it yet. Drafting is the most difficult for me because I don’t know exactly how to start papers but once I start it the thoughts start to come along with what I have drafted down on the paper. As for revising my paper, I like to read over my paper a few times after writing it. This helps me realize if I typed something wrong or wrote down the wrong idea. I don’t like showing other people my work, but sometimes I have people read it just to make sure I kept my ideas together.

            Some strengths I have when writing is that I explain myself and can support my thoughts very well. If I come up with an idea I know how to back it up and show detail in my papers. A teacher has told me that I can support my ideas very well with research and explanation.

            I have some critical weaknesses though when writing papers, for example, it is hard for me to organize my ideas properly. Even though I can support my thoughts they kind of run all over the paper sometimes. I have been told to put more organization into my papers. Also I am not good with punctuation; sometimes I add a coma in the wrong place or don’t add a coma when needed.

            What I want to work on this semester is organization, and placement of punctuation. I believe organization can make or break a paper and in the past it has broken some of my papers, and same goes with punctuation.

Part 1: Reading Response

One of the concepts I really want to focus on from Toni-Lee’s book is the beginning paragraph that talks about how peer consultants are not always the best writers. The reason I like this and think it is great concept is because I know many people go into writing centers, or are nervous because they think they are going to be critiqued harshly by the consultant. But the way Toni-Lee describes a consultant in the beginning paragraph would make a person more comfortable being able to approach someone like this because they wouldn’t feel judged or criticized. If the writer and the consultant are at the same level it would feel more like a suggestion rather than a forced change in the paper.

                Another concept I believe is important is the Expert Feedback section. I agree with this section to an extent because as I said above sometimes people uncomfortable showing their work to other people. But I like the part about having your roommate look at it, and see what they say. Sometimes I believe it is hard to show your professor because of how they might react to the paper, as though will make you feel better about the paper they might turn down ideas, or let you know you did it wrong and some people can’t take that type of criticism. But I believe it is a great suggestion and can benefit many people in the end. Each type of person can offer something different to help enhance the paper, and I believe it could improve peoples writing.