Hello everyone! It's been a long time. My final blog post for this semester is a reflection post. This post is going to talk about my overall experience in this class and how I feel I have grown as a writer. As always, feel free to refer to these links Reflective Writing and Genres in Academic Writing: Reflection to get a glimpse of what I had to read to assist me with this blog post.
In this class, we had many blog posts to do, a narrative project (which was a memoir) and a research project. My memoir is what I consider to be my signature growth experience as a writer because that's when I feel I made a strong connection with my own writing even though it's an emotional topic. We have put into use an acronym called GRITT during this course. The G stands for genre awareness. Genre awareness is everything that we have worked on in this class: our website, the MLA research project, our narrative project, and blog posts. The genre of my memoir is non-fictional. I found the first draft of it difficult due to it being my first time writing a memoir and the fact that I wrote about my deceased father. My father's passing impacted my whole life which is why I wrote about it, but even though I tell the stories in person of how he died, writing this brought out many emotions. The genre of my research paper is argumentative simply because I feel so strongly about the topic. I chose the mental health topic because I too am going though a mental health issue and my work doesn't offer mental health days. I actually found the research project easy because I have done them in the past. I just had to brush up on a couple of things like citing references and such. R stands for rhetorical awareness. Rhetorical awareness is the process of persuading, informing, or entertaining. Depending on the topic, you could have used any of the options, but since my research project was argumentative, I used persuasion for my CEO audience. Things have sort of shifted in this course because I feel as though my early blog posts were simply for entertainment purposes. Then we moved on to more serious writing prompts; non-fiction and more informative. I stands for identity as an author. My past experiences as a writer are way different than my writing experiences now because I feel like I'm doing much better with writing. I used to get stuck for hours just on one paragraph alone but now I just go with the flow, even when I'm writing for other classes. The blog assignments also helped me a lot, especially the one where we had to write a letter to our author self whom I named Jasmine. I feel like I accomplished the goals I set and promised to my author self and I now have a stronger connection with my author self than I ever did before. Being a blogger and website author is something I NEVER thought I would be, and I actually find it interesting. Also, creating a website definitely debunked the theory I had that it would be the hardest thing ever. The first T stands for our theory of writing. My theory of writing is to let it flow and don't stop because it's not as hard as you think. This course made me realize that writing isn't just homework and essays. It's blogs, poetry, text messages and so much more. The simple things are writing itself. I most value the narration concept because it tells a story that you can bring to life. I never knew the true meaning of this before this course. The last T stands for our transfer of writing to future writing situations. I plan to use all the tools that I used in this course to further enhance my writing and continue to bring out my author self. Normally, I always have to physically write out what I need for my prompts before I type them up so I'll continue to do that as well as finding my genre and using my process of persuading, informing, and entertaining, depending on the circumstances. My author identity will play a big role in this, that's why it's important to keep my positive mindset about writing; that it's not ALL bad. In a future class, I see myself planning out my essay, figuring out which genre it will be in first and foremost and just letting it flow since that works best for me. My author self will be in full force and that's all thanks to this course.
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What’s up everyone! Welcome back to my site. I was actually eager to write this blog post. Today’s blog is a counterfactual. To sum it up, it basically means an alternate ending, like a “what if?”. The other side of what could’ve happened. My scene was about my dads last trip to the hospital. Now, I’ll talk about how it could’ve turned out different. Please feel free to look at my Narrative Project Page to check out my first draft of my memoir and the readings to help with this post.
Rewinding & Rewriting: The Alternate Universes in Our Heads (NPR Hidden Brain Episode) Two Views of the River (Mark Twain) Kramer vs. Kramer: Action Scene (Shows/Deepens the Conflict) Kramer vs. Kramer: End-Resolution Scene Standing in the doorway and not saying anything as my daddy left was one of the biggest regrets I had and still have even ten years later. Every now and then, I would often think of how things would play out if I had maybe gone with him. Deep down I really wanted to. I could see it now. “Tanesha, Pop Pop’s here to take me to the hospital” said my dad. “Okay, here I come. Let me put my shoes on” I replied. Then we both walked downstairs and got in the car and rode to the hospital. We got into the ER department and as he was being triaged, I grabbed my dads’ phone. “Daddy, I’m gonna call mommy and tell her where we’re at just in case” I whispered to him as the nurse was taking his vitals. I didn't want to be too loud. I was never that kind of kid anyway. “Okay baby go ‘head.” he replied as he lies in the bed. In a sense, I kind of feel guilty. I feel guilty that I wasn’t there to say my last “see you later daddy”, my last “I love you”, or get my last hug. If I would’ve went, my Pop Pop would’ve either had to come back to pick me up, or my mom would have to come over and get me to take me home on the bus because we didn’t have a car. For some reason though, I was scared to ask to go. I think in some way, shape, or form he knew his time was coming that’s why he didn’t want me to tag along and my mom would bring me over the next day. But the next day never came. If I had only gotten the chance to tag along for that last hospital visit. My mom would come over after work to get me and see daddy. “Alright Greg, we’ll be back tomorrow.” my mom would say to him. “That’s fine, bring me some clothes ‘cause I don’t know how long I’ma be here” he’d reply. “Bye daddy, love you” I’d ease in. “See you tomorrow baby” he’d answer and give me a big kiss. I’d patiently wait for the next day, but the next day never came. Hello everyone! Welcome back to yet another blog post. This 5th post is simply an emotional scene that I shared with someone. We were instructed to read My Name is Margaret (Maya Angelou) and Hills Like White Elephants and the theme I got was regret, which is one of the themes in my scene. The conversation is held between my father and I inside of our house. Here are the links to the other readings that we had to refer to for help with this assignment.
I was twelve years old and it was New Year’s Day. My mom was working but my dad had off like every other major holiday. All you hear is the sound of Cartoon Network softly playing on my TV in the background and rain falling against my window into the nighttime. Normally my dad stays in his room and comes to check on me every now and then but for some reason he didn’t come out as much. Something was different about this night. I had a cell phone at the time (but it ran on minutes and used mostly for texting), so I used the house phone instead and called my best friend Lashina. I was stretched out across my twin sized bed in my pjs and I remember “playing dolls” over the phone with her. She basically pulled out her toys and played with them, asked me who I wanted to be, and I’d play along with my imagination as if I was there, like I had the toys with me too. I was all happy and laughing on the phone, not a care in the world. Then I heard a knock on the door. *knock knock* “Tanesha.” said my dad. “Yes daddy?” I replied At this point he opened my door and stood in the doorway. “I’m goin’ to the hospital. Pop pop is on his way.” he said. “Ima call you back Lashina.” I said to my friend and hung up. “What’s wrong daddy?” I asked. “My chest hurts” he replied. *honk honk* My pop pop was here to pick my dad up. I stood in our white doorway staring at him through the screen door and I placed my hand on it. The whole time, from the porch to the car, and as the car pulled off, I stood there, wishing I got the chance to say goodbye. I knew something about that night was different. I slept in my mom’s room with her when she got home, and 4:00am the next day we got that phone call from pop pop. Daddy passed away. Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog page! Today’s blog post is simply about the writing process and how difficult it may be. I had to create a scene where I met three writers: Don Murray, Mary Karr, and Anne Lamott who know much more about the writing process and how to handle it than I do. Please feel free to look at their articles which are listed below that helped me with my post and create my scene.
Teach Writing as a Process Not a Product (Don Murray) -- introduction is not required reading Against Vanity: In Praise of Revision (Mary Karr) Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life | pp. 28 -34 | Short Assignments & Shitty First Drafts (Anne Lamott) It was Tuesday morning and I had just gotten off the bus. Before I headed into work, I decided to stop into Dunkin Donuts, which I sometimes do if I want breakfast. That particular day, I was craving an iced coffee and my usual sausage egg and cheese wake-up wrap. For some odd reason, the line to wait for your food was so long, but I decided to wait anyway. I placed my order and proceeded to sit down at a table, waiting for them to call my number. At this one table, there sat Don, Anne, and Mary. I took my bookbag off and said, “Is this seat taken?” “No”, Don stated, as he watched me sit down. “I see you have your bookbag” said Mary. “Yeah, I have class today.” “And which one is it?” she said. “English 100 unfortunately”. Anne proceeded to chime in as well. “Why do you say unfortunately?” “Well, I have a blog post that I’ve been trying to work on, but I’m stuck. It’s like my mind draws a blank” I replied. At this point, Mary gave her input. “The idea is to get some scenes down. Let your mind roam down some alleys that may land in dead ends—that’s the nature of the process.” “That sounds like a pretty good idea, except when I try to do that, it’s like my mind races a mile a minute. I try to get at least SOMETHING down, but I get writers block.” I replied. Anne followed with “The right words and sentences just do not come pouring out like ticker tape most of the time.” “And you don’t learn a process by talking about it, but by doing it.”, Don added. Then I asked, “Well what do you mean by that?” and the minute I asked that, my number was called. I grabbed my food, but I sat back at the table. I was eager to know more about the writing process and what these writers had to say about it. Of course, being mindful of the time, I decided to finish the conversation. I said, “basically, you never know how to do something unless you try”. “YES! EXACTLY!” Don replied. I looked over at Anne and asked her, “what’s your take on this?” and she easily answered with “Very few writers really know what they are doing until they’ve done it.” “And regarding your writers’ block,” she added, “you feel as if it’s hard to get your footing, and your fingertips get all red and frozen and torn up”? I shouted, “You hit the nail right on the head!” “I consider the writing process as a learning experience”, I said. “That would be correct right?” “Yes” Don said as he sipped his iced coffee. “A writer is ALWAYS learning. He doesn’t test his words by a rule book, but by life” “I often feel like my writing isn’t that well” I added. “And it takes sooo long to write a prompt or essay.” “Actually, every writer needs two selves—the generative self and the editor self” said Mary, while she had a mouth full of a breakfast sandwich. Don proceeded to chime in again, stating “The writing process itself can be divided into three stages: prewriting, writing, and rewriting. The amount of time a writer spends in each stage depends on his personality, his work habits, his maturity as a craftsman, and the challenge of what he is trying to say.” “I think I know what I’m getting out of this” I replied, looking at everyone. “Even if you get stuck, no matter what, just keep writing, because the words will flow”. Everyone smiled at me and patted my back. “And always remember,” Mary added “Each page takes you somewhere you need to travel before you can land in the next spot”. “I got it. Thanks guys. I really appreciate the talk.” I headed out of Dunkin and across the parking lot to work, pondering on the wonderful conversation I just had. Hey everyone, so blog post three is regarding a letter to my author self. We were instructed to read a short story called A Fable for the Living (Kevin Brockmeier). The story revolves around a woman writing to someone she loves who is no longer alive with feelings of sorrow and regret.
Dear Jasmine, I apologize for simply not bringing this side of you out. Writing is something that does not come naturally to me. It’s not my second nature. That’s why I’m taking full accountability for my actions. When it comes to writing I simply just don’t do it and I admit that. I don’t enjoy poetry and I barely even enjoy reading or other genres of writing so I can understand how much that would hurt you. The only time I actually “write” is if I’m doing an assignment for school, which to be honest with you isn’t the most interesting of things to do. I think that’s why writing is so hard for me and why I have such difficulty with essays and prompts because I simply DON’T LIKE IT. Even writing this letter is hard for me (not because I don’t like it, I just find it difficult). I find myself using the same words over and over like I don’t know any new ones, or what they call “big words”. Trying to bring out you, my author self, is as if I'm trying to write with my left hand when I'm right handed. Seems hard right? Impossible maybe? That’s how writing feels to me. It sometimes doesn’t make sense to me, if that makes any sense? I can only hope that you accept my apology and find it in your heart to forgive me for the way that I have treated you because was never my intention. I wholeheartedly want to make this right, so I have a couple of things in mind. Number one, I’m going to keep up with my blog posts. That’s a definite. If I keep up with the blogs I feel as though I could possibly progress with my writing in the hopes of building a connection with you. After that, I’ll get started on my narratives which will really bring out my true “writing skills” that have been suppressed for so long. Getting some practice in while I’m in class by doing the quick and timed writing prompts can help bring us closer as well. Thank you in advance for being understanding. Sincerely, Tanesha Hello everyone! This is my very first blog post for my website! I was assigned to complete The Proust Questionnaire to give you guys a little bit of insight on my identity and an overall introduction on who I am. Here's a link to the questionnaire. The Proust Questionnaire __1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness? My idea of perfect happiness is being successful, no stress, and plenty of money in my bank account __2.__What is your greatest fear? Heights, in general and failing at anything. __3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? The trait I most deplore in myself is the fact that I am a “do it yourself” kind of girl, especially when I get extra busy, I tend to not ask for help. Or, if I’m just struggling period I don’t like to ask. __4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others? The trait I most deplore in others is ignorance and not listening. __5.__Which living person do you most admire? Zendaya. She has done so much with her life, she’s such a go getter, and she’s only my age. __6.__What is your greatest extravagance? My greatest extravagance I would say is food. That’s all I buy. __7.__What is your current state of mind? Overwhelmed. __8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Loyalty. The term is used by so many people to describe themselves but end up contradicting themselves in the end. __9.__On what occasion do you lie? When I don’t want to be bothered or talk about a disturbing situation. __10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance? The fact that I don’t look my age. To most people I look as if I’m a little girl because of my height. That and the dark spots on my cheeks. __11.__Which living person do you most despise? Donald Trump. __12.__What is the quality you most like in a man? Tall, funny, chivalrous, and willing to defend me. __13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman? Friendly, caring, and willing to help. __14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Shut up”, “Get outta here”, “What” __15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life? Sleep and food. __16.__When and where were you happiest? When I was a child and didn’t have a care in the world, maybe back in middle school before I transitioned to high school. __17.__Which talent would you most like to have? To be able to sing professionally and do runs perfectly like celebrity singers. __18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? The one thing I would change about myself is the fact that I overthink and overanalyze everything too much. _19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement? My greatest achievement is being the first in my family (on both sides) to make it to trade school, college and be in the medical field. __20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I would come back as a baby. Babies don’t have anything to worry about. AT ALL. __21.__Where would you most like to live? New Hampshire would be an interesting place to live. __22.__What is your most treasured possession? My most treasured possession is my phone. I don’t go anywhere without it sad to say. __23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Pure hate toward someone for no reason. __24.__What is your favorite occupation? A chef. __25.__What is your most marked characteristic? My quickness, ability to multitask, and very good memory. __26.__What do you most value in your friends? Honesty and the fact that they listen to me. Most of the time, I just want someone to vent to and they are always there. __27.__Who are your favorite writers? I honestly don’t have any. __28.__Who is your hero of fiction? Black Panther. __29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with? I feel like I identify with Florence Nightingale. She was in the medical field and became well respected and worked her way up which is what I plan to do. __30.__Who are your heroes in real life? __31.__What are your favorite names? A’naysia, Janae, Caprice. __32.__What is it that you most dislike? When I’m telling a story, and someone cuts me off or I feel as though they aren’t even listening. __33.__What is your greatest regret? My greatest regret is not speaking up enough. __34.__How would you like to die? Quickly and preferably without any pain. __35.__What is your motto? “If it’s meant to be it’ll be” Hey everybody! So, this is my second blog and it’s focused on questions related to creating my multimodal website. This assignment has a few short articles to read along with my answers to the questions provided.
How do Ball and Charlton define "multimodal" writing?
Do you agree with Ball and Charlton when they claim "all writing is multimodal"?
As a web site author who will create your own web page content in this course, how would you rank the importance of the five modes on a scale of 1-5? Please provide a brief rationale to support each mode ranking.
What does the C.R.A.P. acronym stand for?
As a web site author who will create your own web page content in this course, how would you rank the importance of the four C.R.A.P. principles of design on a scale of 1-5? Please provide a brief rationale to support each design principle ranking.
What are the seven sample criteria Borton and Huot suggest writers use to assess a multimodal composition?
Do the Borton-and-Huot criteria seem similar or different from the criteria we would use to assess a traditional print essay? Why or why not?
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TaneshaThis blog page is to express my thoughts on my English Comp class and writing as a whole. Archives
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