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After reading the Villanueva excerpt, consider your own relationship to writing. In 300 words or less, respond to any parts of the following prompt:
What kind of writing have you completed this semester (inside and outside the classroom)? What kinds of questions have you been able to answer through writing? What kind of questions have you asked through writing?
How might the writing you do for this research project impact who you are as an academic, a New Yorker, a daughter, a son, etc?
How might your own experiences influence/inform the writing you do for this research project? -
Throughout, this semester i done a lot of different writings. One type of writing i done in one of my classes has been letter format. Every chapter that we read we must write a letter describing what the chapter is about, how it connects to what we learned in class and my general comments on the chapter. In my other classes is been more like reflective writing on readings and also making connections. In this english class we done several writings like argumentative, analyzing, summaries, reviews, and now researching.
Some questions i have been able to answer through this semester is what are the questions the author is really asking.What is the main idea of the reading. What are the main things the author is trying to prove.
This research project will impact me as an academic because it will allow me to elaborate on a topic i have already started. It will also help me how to analyze information much better and how to use that information to my advantage. My experiences will help me with this project because i have learned to choose credible sources, as well to appealing sources that have pathos.
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Thanks for sharing Nathalie, I know the specifics of your project, so I know what you mean when you say “it will allow me to elaborate on a topic I have already started,” but feel free to be more particular and specific in your future posts so other students who are not familiar will know exactly what you mean.
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Throughout this semester I’ve included many different strategies and ideas in my writing. The literature review essays taught me how to view a certain aspect and “zoom in”For example, the summary of a person assignment was focused on a specific time in a persons life causing me to be more precise and look at that one period of time and not their whole life. This helped me become a better writer by being able to emphasize on something specific and make my writing more clear by not have ideas all over the place. Also from the argumentative essay I learned how to incorporate fallacies in my writing that Ive never been introduced to before. This helped me improve the way I argue my side against people who oppose it and actually sound a bit more convincing. My experience from writing in this class will influence my writing for the research project because I will try my best to include all the strategies Ive learned and combine them in one. All the feedback Ive received from all the essays help me notice the faults in my writing which will help me perfect this project.
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I’m happy to hear you value “zooming in” in writing. I think it’s a great way to start the research project process.
I see that you’ve equated the personal to what you’ve learned in class, and that’s great, but you might also consider other personal experiences outside of the classroom and the way it will impact your project.
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Thanks for sharing Nathalie, I know the specifics of your project, so I know what you mean when you say “it will allow me to elaborate on a topic I have already started,” but feel free to be more particular and specific in your future posts so other students who are not familiar will know exactly what you mean.
DW
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Throughout the semester I have written argumentative, expository, biography, and journal pieces. Up until now I mentally separated the journaling I do every day and academic writing. Because of this class, I have seen that these two don’t need to be species from different planets; in fact, doing one type of writing strengthens the ability to do the other. Through research for my writing I have learned new things that have changed the way I see some parts of the world around me. Through writing I have been able to answer why these things are important and why everyone should be paying attention, not just me.
The writing I’ve already done for this class has forced me to become more comfortable with it and realize it’s not that bad when the whole (the paper) is broken down to parts (paragraphs, sentences). I believe this strengthens me as a student because I won’t shy away from assignments or be overly stressed if they are writing related.
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Thanks for this Larissa. I love the bit about personal and academic not being different species. I think of Chasing the Scream and how he constantly blends the personal with the academic and the value it has on his readership.
I wonder if you’re considering a blend of personal and scholarship for this research project?
DW
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The writing I am doing for this research project has impacted who I am in general. I chose to do my research project on why choosing adoption over abortion would be better psychologically for the birth mother. After researching this topic, I became more informed about adoption and abortion. Before, I only knew the basics: abortion is bad and adoption is good. I never understood what made abortion bad or what made adoption good. Now, I understand as an academic the psychological effects the two have on the birth mother and why adoption is the better choice. This writing impacted who I am as a friend because I have friends that are currently pregnant and/or have children. I grew up in a strict Hispanic home where we saw getting pregnant at such a young age was bad but aborting the child was also bad. So when I heard that a few of my friends were pregnant or had a child, I was shocked and questioned why they chose to keep the baby or how did their parents react. One of my close friends recently became pregnant and confided in me because she didn’t know what to do. She was gonna abort the baby. But, I told her the better choice would be to give the baby up for adoption and explained to her what I had learn through my research. She didn’t choose either, she is now going to keep and raise her baby. I am glad I chose this topic because I now have a better understanding of the two and feel better helping my friends make the better choice for not only them, but for the baby as well. This writing impacted me in all aspects and I feel comfortable explaining the topic to others so they can fully understand adoption and abortion.
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Wow. How powerful that your writing is changing other people’s decisions. How powerful that you recognize the role writing plays in informing you of complexities that can’t be contained with labels like “good” and “bad.”
I am curious to see how the personal relationship you have to this topic will impact the way you organize it for your final research project. Going back to the letter form? A series of letters? A social media exercise?
DW
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In retrospect, I now realize that my relationship has drastically changed in the course of a few months. This change which has nonetheless been a positive one, has primarily been prompted by this class, English Composition 121. Being that this class is the only one I actually have to write extensively for all semester, almost all my writing power “juice” has gone into the completion of all the particular writing assignments this semester.
My relationship with writing has grown in a way I wasn’t even aware was possible. I’m no creative writer, I don’t have an extensive and eloquent vocabulary, I’m not humorous and although I don’t consider myself a poor writer, I’ve always felt like a boring one. However, the assignments that I was able to complete this semester broke a mold in my writing abilities that I didn’t even know I had. In the past, I had never been told that one of my writing assignments / papers could be turned into a letter format. I’d never been given the option of either writing a traditional essay or submitting a digital one through Instagram. Not only have I taken advantage of these opportunities but I’ve also enjoyed them. That’s not to say that I didn’t at times get frustrated with trying to find proper sources to back my arguments, integrate them into the writing, and cite them properly (because I did, plenty of times), but it was all part of an experience that if I do say so myself, has made me a better writer. I’ve found myself, especially through my digital assignment, with a voice that I didn’t know I had before, at least not in writing.
I’ve also noticed that even my entire formatting for writing a paper has changed. Prior to English 121, I had never heard of the MEAL strategy, I wasn’t aware that I couldn’t just put a random quote at the beginning of my paragraph (which I often did, thinking it would give me an appearance of being philosophical or poetic), or even how to write a decent thesis statement, among many other useful writing strategies I will now take with me for the rest of my life.
To sum it up in a nutshell, I have a level of comfort with writing that I’d never had before. On technical terms, I believe I write better as well. And although this is a life long process, I feel more confident than ever before when it comes to writing all because of what I’ve learned and have been able to accomplish in this class.
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How lovely Jennifer. Thanks so much for this powerful reflection. I am especially drawn to your note about feeling like you were a “boring” writer. That’s so fascinating to me as I haven’t heard that from students. In fact, students often say that the writing they’re asked to do is boring. I wonder if the melting of boundaries, and dispelling the illusion that the personal doesn’t impact the academic, if you’ve uncovered a way to feel more connected to what you’re writing and therefore feel like the writing/project can’t be boring.
I’ve been excited by all of the works you’ve submitted from letters about assisted suicide to this upcoming photo essay on deportation, I hope you allow this research project to be an opportunity to continue thinking about things you’ll be expected to research/study in your major/minor courses OR that you’ll be expected to understand outside of academia.
DW
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This semester, I have learnt a lot through writing. Starting from the types of writing to the various writing styles and the tone used in writing. Also, I learnt how to transition from one paragraph into another taken into consideration any error that one might come across in grammar and preposition usage.
For this research project, I will be writing on the aftermath effects of incarceration on ex-inmates using expository type of writing. This topics has really enlightened me as an academic to know what happens to inmates after serving their time in prison ranging from shelter to getting stable financially and how they deal with social segregation. Likewise as a daughter, this topic has made me to feel the pain and loneliness that the children of this ex-inmates went through in the absent of their dad or mom.
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Thank you for sharing Titilayo– how exciting that you already know what your focus will be for your research project. I definitely think understanding the consequences of incarceration will influence the work you do in other courses.
It’s so powerful to hear that your positioning yourself as a daughter to emotionally connect to the subject matter. I wonder if this will be something you’ll talk about in the project?
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Throughout this semester I was able to answer more questions I had about writing. I was unsure about the APA format. I seemed bizarre to me, as I was only familiar with the MLA format. I had to ask many questions about creating the reference page for an essay using APA formatting. I was able to learn the order of the authors name, the date, the title of the source and more. I was introduced to the concepts of logos, pathos and those. Instinctively my first questions were, “what are these words and why do they matter?” I learned logos appeals to logic, pathos to emotion and ethos to credibility. These questions led to more questions like, “how are these appeals used in our daily lives?” In class activities helped me to realize even TV commercials use these concepts to make products appeal to customers. From answering these questions, I was able to challenge myself and add more to my skill set as a writer as a college student.
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Ive completed picture analyses, summaries of people,letters, summaries of concepts, argumentative essays and literature reviews. Ive been able to answer the questions of “why am I writing this?,” “What do I want my reader to take away from my writing?,” “What am I trying to clarify?” This research project might impact who I am as a student because It will help me become a better writing. It will teach me how to bring my prior knowledge, writing and ideas to a new platform and use them to help me expand on what I had done before. It will give me an opportunity to find more research to prove points that i will have and put me in situations where I have to read many articles which will also help build my reading stamina as a student. My own experiences can help me inform and influence others because it will drive me to finding the resources to back me up and it will make me more credible myself to then inform or influence my readers.
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In this semester, I have completed the following writings: summary of a person, summary of a concept, literature review, argumentative essay, and discussions on blackboard. Most of the writings was for English 121. Many of them was challenging for me, because I have never writing essays like these ones before. However, I learned a lot from them. Through these writings I was able to learn how to evaluate and analyze sources. I was asked to use proper essay format, I was asked to use thesis statement, meal strategy, transactions, pathos, logos, ethos, and APA style. All of these questions helped to evaluate the sources that I was reading and using in my assignments. Also, they helped me to write a proper introduction, proper body paragraphs, conclusion, and references.
For the research project I believe that I will write about sugar. I believe that people are not aware of that sugar can be detrimental for their health. I do understand that all of us know that sugar can cause diabetes, but is it the only problem? For many year people were influenced to believe that others things were bad for them. Also, when we think about sugar we think only about candy or the sugar that we use to sweeten our drinks, etc. However, sugar is present in many foods that we consume. For example, when we buy food such as bread, yogurt, box of juice, cereals, snacks, etc, we are not aware of all kinds of sugar that these foods contain, that is because they come with different names, their label say that they are healthy, etc. That is why I want to write a research project about sugar, to help people understand that they should consume less of it or at least consume the recommended amount.
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There’s a sense of activism inherent in your project proposal. It’s not important because you want to know more– it’s important because you want people to know about this and change their lifestyles. I wonder if you might use activist strategies when working on this project…a manifesto, or a call to protest, or an investigative report.
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During the semester I have only completed writings inside the classroom, but have not yet considered doing any writings outside the classroom. While I really enjoy spending time researching freely chosen topics and making connections similarly to a detective, I sometimes struggle communicating my ideas on paper as it is quiet challenging to formulate statements in writing that would have been so easy to formulate in spoken words. In particular, in regards to my argumentative essay I feel that it is much easier to convince someone to ‘go vegan’ during a personal conversation and it was challenging to create this intimate relationship with my reader to successfully convey this message.
However, what I discovered throughout my writings this semester is that I enjoy writing in English more than writing in German. I have always liked the flow of English words and thus it feels easier to develop smoother and coherent papers.
Another reason why I enjoyed this course is that the writing assignments have been very relatable to my world, experiences and interests and I appreciate spending studying hours on topics that I have personal interest in. During both literature reviews and the argumentative essay I was able to ask and answer specific questions related to veganism. Even though I myself already knew the answers to most of my questions, I learned to create writings that would also make it easier for my readers to understand my message and its relevance. For this process it was very helpful to have learned different new techniques (MEAL) and tips about writing conclusions, introductions and how to connect ideas, which all helped me transform my writings.
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You make such a great point about the way veganism might be a hard thing to convince someone of if you’re not face to face with them. I wonder what things you’re able to convey face to face that you can’t with a paper? What if you pushed the boundaries a bit on the traditional paper so you could include more conversation– would that feel more intimate? I’ve read pieces that imagine a conversation between the writer and reader; therefore, it has what the writer believes alongside assumed reader responses…could that help?
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One of the questions that I always tend to ask myself when I am writing is “what is the point?”. By asking myself this question I am able to take a step back from the work that I am doing and see if I am getting my point across the right way. I have never been a writer who enjoys filling their paper up with unnecessary remarks, I instead prefer getting straight to the point. Another question that I ask myself while I am writing is “Where am I going with this?”. I feel that this is an important question to ask one because it makes sure that your paper is still in line with the point of your paper. Especially when writing a longer piece, I tend to myself drifting away from the point of my paper. This question acts as a moment in which I could stop and regroup my thoughts.
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<p class=”p1″><span class=”s1″>A majority of the writing I’ve done this semester seems very self evaluating. With this english class I’ve gone over my view of politics, my stance on certain issues, even who I look up to as a student. Even out of this class I’ve written about my college experiences and what I think of this whole transition as a freshman. Because of this I can comfortably answer how I see myself as a writer, whether that be a more formulaic or novel like what Victor was told in the Villanueva Excerpt or if I’m a more independent and “speak directly to the audience” type writer. One thing I know for certain is that every paper I’ve done this semester has made me both ask and answer the question of how<span class=”Apple-converted-space”> </span>focused and how determined I am regarding writing. That answer has varied almost every time. Although part of that can be a good thing because that shows that I have something to improve on when writing this project, and I have a feeling this project will be a bit of a wake up call and will do a lot to help me stay focused. But regarding the questions I can answer through writing, I don’t know if there have been any direct answers, but a few that I can think of are how I view the transition from high school to college, and that’s been a lot more welcoming than I expected. Another big question I’ve had to answer is how I see myself, and how I’m planning on developing as a college student, but to be honest I’m still working on getting a full answer to that. </span></p>
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What incredibly critical questions you’re considering, Andrew. I think the wonder of a writing classroom right out of high school is it forces you to think about your role in college and what you want to do and be. You’re right, a lot of the work you’ve done this semester have posed just that– whether it’s your summary of a musician or your argumentative piece on education, you’re re-looking at things that have been a major part of your life.
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<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>Throughout this semester, I’ve completed different writing assignments that has helped me improved my writing in many ways. One specific assignment that I think helped me gain more knowledge in writing was the argumentative essay. In this essay, I was able to experience with new formats and structures by making it digital. I wrote this paper using mostly pictures and videos which I believe, gave my readers a better way of understanding my point of view instead of just having them read it like a regular essay. However, the research paper will impact me as an academic and also a New Yorker because it would allow me to expand my knowledge on a topic that I have a lot of interest in that is affecting us students specially living in NYC. However, my own experience will be a big help in completing this essay and I think that would make my research project more interesting since I am connecting and including my own experience on the research paper. </span>
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In this semester, fall 2017, I have written and learned different kinds of essays such as literature review, argument essay and descriptive works. The one that like me more was analysis of a concept and image because it was something different that I never had done and was interesting to see a different way of writing. Also, I learned different ways to persuade the readers. The question that I almost always ask myself and I think most of my classmates also did, was if could I do the quantity of request pages. Also, I feel identified with the excerpt read today because for people like me who speak another language other than English and are learning English, sometimes we feel frustration or confusion when we are reading or writing any paper.
For my research project, I am thinking to expand my argument essay about the violent behavior on youth, because of some reasons: first, it was the essay that I best made, second, it is an interesting topic and should be a topic more discussed to find solutions to the problem. I think this issue might affect anybody and no only academically but as person, in people relationship, and professionally.
Comparing the topic of my research project to other works that I did, I found a connection. When I did an essay about the reasons why young people are dropping out from school and college I showed that the reasons were the high costs of education and trauma now I realize a new reason of that is because the high level of violence around the youth. Even though, for some violence might go inside of reason of trauma, it might be expanded separately as a reason of youth dropping out from school. So now, i will include in my research project the topic of drooping out from school as consequences of violence.
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Aha! I’m so glad Villanueva’s work resonated with you, but I’m even more excited to see that you’re mapping out connections between writing. How exciting to see that you’ve been interested in the youth and violence all along. Here’s a fruit loop– what if you were to involve the role of art or surrealism in resolving violent behavior in youth? Then you might find ways to incorporate your other writings…
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I’m going to enjoy writing it and I will emphasize and argue on animal testing. This writing might impact who I am as a New Yorker because it will allow me write about something that is wrong, and happening around the world. In the future as a New Yorker I look forward to being an advocate for animals against animal testing. My own experiences and knowledge of the topic I will be writing about in my research project will influence this project in many ways. For instance, I will inform and mention s some of the brands that are not cruelty free. Brands that people use on the daily for many products. My own experience on videos I have witnessed and knowledge I will make sure to include it in my project. It will help inform and point out the issue more through m y research project.
I am drawn to this part of your response because it’s clear Animal Testing is a topic close to you. I am also curious about your desire to get others to know about it– do you want to convince them to get out there and protest certain companies? Do you see this project as activist in nature?
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Through this semester kinds of writing I have completed are: picture analyses, summary of a person, summary of a concept, literature reviews, argumentative essay, and research papers. I have been able to answer questions: Who is my audience? What kind of evidence do I need to support my ideas? What kind of writing style is acceptable? What are the absolute rules of the paper? These kinds of questions that I have asked through my writing are questions that guide me in my reading. Which it turned me into a thesis statement later. This question reminded me of what I want to find and read, what I was considering. Questions I have asked in a way that represented in my hypothesis, which is usually the basis on which your hypothesis stands. In the upcoming research project, I will use my knowledge I have observed in this class which will help me become a better writer. It will give me an opportunity to find more research to prove points and make a difference. My observation from intensive writing in this class will reflect and improve my writing for the research paper. Including all the feedback I have received from all the papers which helped me correct the mistakes and improvement I can make in my writing which will help me improve in this project and future writings.
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Throughout this semester I worked on many Discussions board for one of my courses. Every week we must read and answer questions on what I have read. For example, Are Black/Afro-Puerto Rica’s, for example, to be seen as Black or as Latinos among Blacks? Are they to be seen as Latinos or Black among Whites? Why these reactions? Are they doubly oppressed? my answer was as followed it is sad that living in the Twenty first century people have to deal with discrimination, whether is for their skin color or where they are from. For instance, Latinos already face discrimination, however someone who is Afro Latino faces double the discrimination because of their skin color. An Afro Latino is not seen as black to someone who is black just because they are Latinos, that puts them in a separate category. I think people should be able to feel free to identify themselves as whatever they want to without being looked down on. On the other hand, what I have realized, these types of questions allow me to further elaborate my understanding of what I read. Pushing me to analyze deeper the reading. Despite all this I do enjoy the Idea that we can comment on others student’s responses, I feel that this helps me clear any confusions I might have about the reading.
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<p class=”m_3934430236136693577gmail-MsoNormal”>Throughout this semester I have done many different kinds of writings. I have done literature reviews, summaries, poetry, short story writing, plays, and a digital argumentative essay. Each piece of writing teaches me something different. The three writings that taught me the most were the literature reviews, short story writing, and the digital essays.</p>
<p class=”m_3934430236136693577gmail-MsoNormal”>The literature reviews taught me the importance of a thesis statement and supporting it. It also answered my question of how to support your thesis statement without sounding like the whole essay was just my opinion on a topic. I had to use professional writings of others that either agreed with my thesis or disagreed. This means we had to use credible sources and even talk about its credibility in the essay. We also learned about Ethos, pathos, and logos and had to find ways to incorporate them in our writings. I learned that they are used in almost everything, like writings, T.V, and even flyers for different events. When doing this writing I also learned about the MEAL strategy which I have never heard of before. It is a way of incorporating credible writings into your own. Before I learned this strategy I would just talk about something and then put a quote and just continue writing. But this taught me that I have to introduce the quote then state it then interpret the quote. The literature reviews overall taught me how to construct a good credible essay, starting from the introduction until the conclusion.</p>
<p class=”m_3934430236136693577gmail-MsoNormal”>The short story was something different to what I was used to writing. I learned about the different kinds of stories and the way of writing. A complete short story has different stages that a protagonist goes through. Before I learned about the different stages and their importance in a story, I would have never even considered them in my writings. Short stories are different to other writings because depending on the point of view, some have dialogue and some are just a narration of someone’s life. This opened up my mind to the different kind of writings of short stories.</p>
The digital essay was something very interesting to me. I learned that I can get my point out there in many ways not only essays but I can do it visually as well. In my digital essay I included some writing, images, and my voice. I think the images speak for themselves and support my argument in sometimes a better way than writing can. Overall I enjoyed this kind of writing and I would consider doing an essay this way again in the future. -
Oh gosh, I know all about vegans who want to talk to you all day about how great it is. I think it’s a great idea to get these vegans in a room to talk about why it’s great, but you might also consider getting meat eaters to come too. What things might these seemingly different people have in common? What ideas might they agree on?
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