Directions: briefly summarize what you learned from the Unit I assignment. Describe one or two ways you believe the assignment helped, and describe one or two ways you think the assignment could have been more helpful. What would you have liked to know more about before turning in the assignment? Limit your response to 200 words, and keep your language and tone academic and professional.
Blog due by 5pm on September 10th.
Unit 1 assignment essentially determined how our papers will be set up for the remainder of the semester including layout. It taught me to properly set up MLA, and annotated bibliographies. The assignment helped me understand Ms. Taylor's expectations for us and our writing and more importantly how to pose an academic question and write a paper with a thesis, incorporating both readings to fully answer it. Additionally, it taught me a new resource to utilize for future assignments. I was encouraged to go to the Writing Center, mostly because it was a part of my grade, but I was glad because I found it extremely helpful. I will definitely be returning for advice and review from the Writing Center. They truly helped me understand the assignment and pointed out grammatical errors I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. However, I must say I would have liked to know more about the academic questions and the parameters involving it. I had a tough time narrowing it down to one specific question and even then I wasn't sure if my question was appropriate or good enough in regard to the readings. Other than that, I enjoyed writing this assignment and experiencing what it will be like for the remainder of the semester.
ReplyDeleteDid you have a hard time keeping under the word limit? I did and I found it difficult to get all my evidence in with analysis and stay under 500 words. I also found it difficult when it came to establishing an academic question. How do you think Ms. Taylor could have better helped us in this area?
DeleteSadly, I don't think she could have helped us anymore. She provided all of the resources for us and it was up to us to come up with a question. But now that you mention it, I also found it hard to stay within the word limit.
DeleteYes, the word limit was hard for me too, I completely understand and think that there should not be a limit on words. We should be graded on content, not the number of words
DeleteFrom this assignment I learned where in LBH to find resources on MLA format, that the writing center is an awesome tool and what the rest of our assignments this semester are going to look like. I found this assignment especially helpful in getting the whole class on the same page in terms of what Ms. Taylor expects because I took English 1 in California and so some of the things, such as how to set up a paper MLA style, were different than what I had learned. I also think this assignment helped in giving me practice using MLA format and using the drop box to turn in our assignments, something I have never done before. I think if Ms. Taylor would have gone over what she did today in class last week, it would have helped me as I wrote my paper over the weekend. I like to knock out assignments as early as I can and so having that information last week would have eliminated the need for all the revising I had to do to my paper today.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the timing made it a struggle. However, she gave us so much structure and detail during class that giving us a day to wrap it up ultimately made it more focused for me.
DeleteIt was super strange setting an appointment up at the writing center on the first week and we didn't even really know what the paper was about. Time was a struggle for me too, because it seemed like we talked about thesis and then it was due the next day. Crazy.
DeleteThis assignment, so far, was hard for me. I took English Composition 1 two years ago and I am realizing just how much I have forgotten. On top of that, I was a Business Management major for two years and just recently changed my major and I am used to writing that way. What has helped me the most is the LBH and the examples that Ms. Taylor puts online for us in D2L. Without those two resources I would have really been lost on this assignment.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the example on D2L helped a lot! Did you visit the writing center? I found that to be the most helpful.
DeleteI made it to the writing center for one part of my paper but was unable to return for the remainder due to personal issue's. So I was forced to wing it and use the examples for the rest of it.
DeleteI haven't been pushed to read something as monotonous as "Cyberrace" since my time in construction fighting "contract wars" with subcontractors. I find that Ms. Badovinac teaches this class in such a focused and direct manner that it becomes easier to maintain a productive pace. I'm happy that we were coerced into going to the Writing Center. It really helped to have the guidance and objectivity as I tend to get too caught up in words and my personal agenda and lose my clarity. The LBH and Inquiry are fantastic, especially if you have some time to do the exercises. Unit I has helped alleviate some of my anxiety of doing research papers because of the annotated bibliography (writing the summary is such a help), the “3-Read Process,” and the detailed instructions and expectations.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few things I've learned in this unit is how to constructively take information from articles and construct an academic question that is later used to create a thesis. Another way, was the refresher i got of MLA format and annotated bibliography. The examples given in class were the most useful way these were shown. Though I think that with this assignment could have been more helpful by going over directly how to set up our thesis, since I still think i struggle with constructing one correctly. I would have liked to know more of how long our assignments needed to be in ways of how many paragraph and how many words, since different instructors have different opinions on how long they should be.
ReplyDeleteAfter starting the assignment I realized it would need a lot more attention then I originally anticipated. I know I struggle with punctuation and creating proper citations. So being strongly encouraged (10% of our grade) to use the writing lab opened my eyes, and made me realize that that is a great tool. Having another set of eyes on your paper definitely helps tremendously. I do think if we where given the option on what to write about and research would have helped us individually, but the class discussions and reading this blog made me realize I was not the only one to stumble a little. This assignment has made English a bigger priority because it made me realize that procrastination isn't going to foot the bill in this class.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it would have been nice to pick our own topic. But do you think having Ms. Taylor choose the topic and readings helped us not have to come up with our own sources and topic and therefore make it less stressful? Or do you think it was more stressful having the readings and topic picked for us?
DeleteUnit one assignment is definitely an assignment I will remember. I am used to writing more essays on persuasion and presenting facts through pros and cons rather than stating a claim and supporting it. This has helped me because I had to think more critically about how the evidence I have read and found would support my claim. Another way that it has helped me was the fact that I had to continuously read it myself, as well as, have others to read it to make sure my claim and evidence made sense. One thing I would change about this assignment would to read both articles in class together because of the fact that the article "Cyberrace" took a while to understand on my own. Overall, this essay that I wrote changed the way I would present my information to my audience.
ReplyDeleteDo you prefer using pros and cons or supporting a claim in an essay better?
DeleteI prefer using pros and cons because I feel it is easier for me to find more research that way rather than finding evidence for one claim.
DeleteIn unit one was meant to help us know how to format our essays and bibliographies. I do like the idea of blogging to involve with other classmates. It helped to get ideas and also when in need of help, they are there to help you understand. I know I did start off rough in the beginning of the semester. Unit one helped us know what is expected for the semester. Also what has helped was the Little Brown Handbook. There are times when I’m in doubt of certain ways to things like citations. Citations, I find very confusing at times. Ways that would help is a blog where we can ask questions in general about anything that we are confused on. Also, Academic questions are a little difficult in my opinion. What are some ways to think of academic question? I found it difficult to think of a very narrow question for the essay. Ms. Taylor did a good job on explaining the directions. I was a little lost in the beginning of the semester but I do plan to get better in my writing and my understanding. In this upcoming unit, how would we think of an academic question that we can build on?
ReplyDeleteI like your idea of a general blog that we can all bounce ideas off each other in. How do you plan on getting better in your writing? I plan to use the writing center a lot!
DeleteWhat I gained most from the Unit 1 assignment was a solid refresher on writing a critical analysis. I learned that even a simple essay can still be efficient in its message. I honestly feel the assignment will help me have a better and less stressed grasp on this upcoming essay. I would like to have had more time, but after understanding the purpose was to refresh our memory I understand the shortness of the essay. The only thing I would have liked to make the paper more helpful would have been to do a peer review and not a writing center review. Overall after the paper was done I felt it was helpful to the general purpose and allowed me to approach this next essay with more confidence.
ReplyDeleteI too was a little stressed with the time limit but looking back I'm glad we got it over with so quickly and used it as practice. Why would you have preferred a peer review over a writing center review?
DeleteIt's been two full years since I took English 121, so this first unit really helped me to get back into the 'feel' of writing. I've also never used the writing center, which I discovered is a valuable tool even though there is only an allotted 30 minutes per day. This assignment truly helped me revisit synthesis and help me grasp a better understanding of using two works and ask "What do these works have in common?" and "What can both works prove together?" I started writing the paper without as much time as I needed for it; I can definitely improve there next time. The assignment could have been more helpful for me by starting on it earlier and working through the entire process of writing an English paper again. From your end, I think you were very helpful and explained exactly what the assignment entailed. I probably would have liked to see more direction, or what you were looking for from the assignment, as I'm not the most creative person. I’m looking forward to the next unit!
ReplyDeleteI thought this paper was good practice for our final paper. I enjoyed, well, I didn't enjoy writing this paper. It was very hard for me to fully support all three of my quotes in 600 words or less. I don't believe anyone should loose points for using to many words or sources to back their thesis. Our papers should be graded on content and how well we supported our argument, not the number or words. I would like for there to be more creativity in the writing process. Academic writing is dry as it is, but without the use of satire or questions, then it makes the paper even more dry. I understand that this is an academic writing class but it would be wonderful if there wasn't so many rules confining students into a cookie cutter. That was the hardest part for me, to try and bring my 800 word essay to 600, I was able to get close, but I was still at 640 words.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't appreciate the fact that we only lose points if we do not go to the writing center, but there is no gaining or reward for doing this extra step. This should not be a mandatory requirement at all, but an extra credit opportunity because we are doing something extra out of class.
DeleteUnit 1 paper helped me remember what I already knew when it comes to formating. I didn't like the fact we lost points for not going to the writing center. I can understand the use for it, but there shouldn't be points docked for not going. Writing this first paper allowed me to get back into my writing skills and thought process going again. It was a good start to help us get back into the flow of writing a thesis paper
ReplyDelete