Evaluation

1. The most helpful thing that helped me in this class was the fact that we read so many essays and other pieces of writing. I think that seeing what is out there and what you like is the first step in becoming a good writer. I saw some styles that I really liked this semester and I have tried to put some of their influence into my own writing. Also the rush writes were very good. They got me writing just whatever came into mind since we were working with such a limited time. This helped me deal with worrying about everything I write. Now I find myself being able to write more easily.
2. Simply, I can continue reading what is being published out there. In my creative writing class, someone said that before you write in a specific genre you should read at least 40 pieces in that genre. If I want to write essays, I should be constantly reading essays. My ultimate goal would be to finally finish/publish my fantasy novel but before that I believe I need to read more to see what is being sent out right now. I can also continue using rush writes by keeping a writers journal, which I have started doing.
3. I don't know why, but I really enjoyed Rooster-Fish. I learned from all the readings what exactly are essays. I have never really read much of the genre but now I find that I like them a lot. I like the style and the skill it takes to write a good essay. Rooster-Fish taught me about how to put personal experience into creative writing. Good writing needs to have that personal touch to it or it just comes of as pedantic and preachy. Personal touch gives the reader a connection to the writer.
4. My writing process is unique for me, or I think it's unique. For a week, I just think about what I am supposed to write. I'll jot down a few ideas that pop into my mind and before long I have quite a collection of ideas. After I look at my list, I start thinking about how I can weave the ideas together into something resembling an essay or writing piece. After that, I just sit down and put down all my thoughts onto paper and it is decently close to the final product. Very rarely do I do any rarely revisions unless something is just not working (like my fragmentation style in my research essay).
5. The blog has kept me writing on a regular basis even when it's hard to find time to. The second biggest reason the blog was helpful was the dynamic blogs we had to write. They were always changing. I got to experiment with a lot of different styles and genres. Before this class I was usually pretty narrow in my writing, I stuck mostly to fantasy but the blog changed that. Now I've dabbled with poetry, short essays, style mimicry - all of which are vital for good writing.
6. My favorite assignment was easily the first essay I wrote, the personal essay. I had a lot of fun writing that essay. It had been a very very long time since I had written anything I had thought was so funny, even though others may not think that it is funny. From that essay, I decided that I will write for myself and not for others. If I write what I think is funny, I'll always laugh. If I write for other people to laugh, I won't think it's funny. That's what I learned.
7. My favorite part of the class was the writing exercises that we did during class. This got my creative juices flowing and got me in the mentality to write my class projects. I just like writing short little things that are either really descriptive or that fit my sense of humor and most of the creative writing exercises fell into either of those categories.
8. It is nice to see everything put together and to see where I've gone this semester. I like to see what I've done and what I'm capable of. It is also nice having to revise again without having length restrictions. It is strange having to write with the mentality of my work being bound. This makes me want my writing to be the best that it can be before I bind it together and finish the portfolio.
9. Like my portfolio, sending works to a public sphere makes you choose words carefully and make sure your writing is really polished. I don't want to look like an idiot for having blatant errors in my publicly submitted essays. Submission makes writing better I believe.
10. I would keep the work days for sure. I think they were very very beneficial for getting my essays done and I got most of my good ideas while writing there. It was also nice having you there while we wrote. I would get rid of the beginning of the library days where the aids just talked for about 40 minutes. I know this is a really strange thing to complain about, but it was very annoying having to waste time when I wanted to, and already knew how to, do research. I needed a lot of research but I had to listen to them explain how to put things into search bars. Obnoxious? Yes!
11. Good things take time. That's what I learned from these essays. I could try to just slop down some words and call it an essay, but it wouldn't be good. This work effort can apply in my career, in my mission, in everything I try this will be beneficial.
12. Good writing is the ability to draw in the reader with voice, humor, sensory details, and personal touch and style. These things keep writing interesting and not boring. A good example of this is, I think, the Sundering Trilogy by Richard A. Knaak. Even thought it's not an essay or even that famous a series, I love every page of it. I can contribute to this sphere by introducing my story into this sphere. My creative writing teacher says there are only two stories "someone new comes into town" and "someone leaves their home." I want to show my interpretation of these stories and hopefully it will be considered good. .
13. I really loved the class and I am glad that this was my first college English class. I have nothing but good things to say about this class.

Evaluation

1. What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why?

I found the writing workshops most helpful for writing, reading, and thinking. It is hard to see your own mistakes when you write. I was able to get new ideas and new perspectives that helped improve my paper. I went through my papers again and revised them based on what my audience (my peers) thought was best. It involved thinking because I still had a choice whether to make the changes my classmates suggested or not. This made me analyze my choices and ask, “Why did they make that comment?” and “How can I change my writing to fit the suggestions they made while at the same time maintain the ideas and originality that I had?” It made me accept constructive criticism. Workshops helped me as a reader because I had to read closely to catch punctuation and grammar mistakes. I learned that reading a paper aloud allows one to comprehend sentence fluidity and clarity better.

2. What can you do to continue/improve this development? To continue with my development as a write, reader, and thinker I can always revise my work. There are many ways to revise. I will read my own paper aloud to hear things I need to change. I can ask my roommate to read my paper, similar to workshop, and give her opinions. I think the best thing to do is ask questions about the paper. Instead of confronting a friend or roommate and asking them to just read your paper and give their opinion, it is more useful to ask them specific questions about certain parts of the paper. When you ask specific questions they will usually give more specific answers.

3. What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing? What I learned from the reading is that essays come in many different forms and use different styles but can be equally well written. I loved the essay about the moth because the writing was so detailed about an object, a moth, that people usually don’t notice. The author not only described the death of the moth but also universalized some of the ideas about death in general. I learned from this essay that you could write on almost any topic and be insightful. The other essay I enjoyed was “This is the Disturbing Part” by Stephen Church. It was humorous at the beginning and ended on a more serious and though-provoking note. I learned that I could be personal when I write and transition between different moods (such as humorous to serious) and still have my essay be well written.

4. Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved? My favorite step of the writing process is workshop. But workshop is a subcategory of what writing process I find ore beneficial: revision. It is impossible to write a great essay the first time. An essay can always be revised more. It works because there are many different strategies to revise and each brings new insight and improves the essay. I could read it aloud and hear my mistakes, I write a conclusion to my essay again without looking at the original conclusion and then compare the two, or I could read the essay and take out all the passive tense words and see if the essay works. Revising can always be improved by more revising. It is a continual process.

5. How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why? I think the blog made me write to the best of my ability because I knew that my classmates would be reading it. This makes me want to improve my writing so that I can be proud to show it to other people and think of it as good writing and not just another assignment. So I reread my blog and revised it multiple times.

6. What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why? My favorite assignment was analyzing an advertisement. I enjoyed looking for the advertisement. I am a logical thinker rather than a creative thinker. I thought this assignment allowed me to research, organize, and analyze in a coherent matter. It required skilled writing but not too much creativity.

7. What was your favorite part of class? Why? My favorite part of class was always the rush-writes because they were always very unique questions that made me think deeply. I enjoyed sharing what I wrote with the class and listening to what other people wrote. The rush-writes allowed me to write about anything I want and not have to worry about getting graded about it.

8. How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it? I think I wrote a few good pieces of work that I want to keep. I am very proud of some of my work and by revising it and binding it nicely I can always have it. I thought about my writing differently because I can see me giving this to my mom possibly and I want to show her to be impressed and see how well I can write.

9. Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial? Submitting my work made me revise my work multiple times because I knew that if it were published many people would read it and judge it. I wanted my best work to be submitted because my name is attached to it. My work is a testament of my writing and ability.

10. If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep? I would not have library tutorials. They seemed like a waste of time and more of burden to get done on time. I did like the librarians coming in and showing us how to find sources. I would have the library tutorials in person, like a field trip. There can still be a quiz but it would not be as boring.

11. What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How? I thought that because I signed up as a Chemistry major that I would not need to know how to write well. But I have found myself needing to write formal letters to staff about questions I had. This required good punctuation and a certain professional tone. I think that everyone needs to learn the basics of grammar. I will use it every time I write an essay for a class or write a formal letter to an authority figure.

12. What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing? My top five values that define good writing include personal, clarity, sentence variety, engaging, and memorable. I found that all of the readings we had for class included at least four of these values. It is important to uphold these because it benefits the audience. They are able to understand the ideas you wish to convey and they can enjoy it at the same time. I try to follow these values and am currently working to make my writing more person so it is engaging to the reader.

13. Anything else you need to get out about the class. I liked the class but I didn’t like the tardy policy because I often went to the wrong building and had to rush over to the computer lab or the classroom and was late. Other than that, the calss really strengthened my writing skills.

Final Questions

What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why?
I would have to say work shopping was the most helpful. It was really interesting to see what a peer had to say about my writing that maybe I thought was good. It was also helpful to get negative feedback on the things that maybe I hadn't even noticed were really bad writing. Reading my peers papers also helped me to see what they did well, and the topics they wrote on sometimes opened my eyes to new ways of thinking. The critical reading was really hard for me because for some reason I am really bad a criticizing someone's work, but I had to force myself to see where the writing could be better and that also helped me to see where my own could be better.

What can you do to continue/improve this development?
In order to continue this development, I think I will need to continue to have others look at the work I do. At work, I can have my peers read the documents I draft. Also, I can continue to read others work in a critical way. Even in recreational reading, I can pick things that probably could be done better and do some critical reading.

What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing?
I learned that there are a lot of different styles of writing that can be good. It just needs to be a consistent style throughout the whole piece. Also, it needs to be engaging. There were some readings that I had a hard time making it through because I had no interest. Good writing to me keeps me engaged through the entire thing. It also keeps me interested whether I know much about the topic or not. My favorite essay was Heart Sounds. I really enjoyed the emotion behind it, as well as the dose of reality that went along with it.

Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved?
The writing process that I find most beneficial was free writing. Writing down my thoughts and seeing where it takes me. Then I would come back and organize and figure out what can be expanded and what can be deleted. It works because it helps me to base my paper on me, and starts out my paper with my own strong voice. The problem with it is I don't always have thoughts that flow really well when I am free writing on my topic, and sometimes my writing is forced. I could do a little bit of research before free writing to give myself a more clear objective.

How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why?
The blog has been beneficial because it seemed to me like a really relaxed place to put my writing. It was safe place to display my work and get some feedback. The positive comments helped me to build confidence in my writing. It helped me to find my style of writing. The style that works the best for me.

What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why?
My favorite assignment of the semester was the Ruminative Essay. It may have been the topic I chose, but I really enjoyed putting myself into the essay and I was really happy with the final result. I think writing about something I felt passionate about was part of what made my paper turn out the way it did. I had fun writing it and that is what made if my favorite.

What was your favorite part of class? Why?
My favorite part of the class were some of the rush writes. It was fun sometimes to just see what I end up writing with a really quick prompt and only a few minutes. It was actually really hard for me, which means I probably need some more practice doing it. It was really interesting to hear what others came up with though. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's rush writes.

How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it?
This is kind of a hard question since the final portfolio isn't done yet, but so far it is helpful because I am going back through my work and seeing how I have improved throughout the semester. I can make changes to the writing that just wasn't very good, and see the things I did that were good from the very beginning. At the beginning of the semester I didn't think my writing was very good at all, and I can see that some of it was. It wasn't anything fantastic, there were definitely a lot of flaws, but there were some good things as well.

Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial?
It was beneficial because it helped me to see how much different a paper has to be to submit rather than to turn in for an assignment. When I submit an essay it needs to be outstanding rather than just adequate. The flaws I see will be magnified in a literary journal, so I need to eliminate as many flaws as I can.

If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep?
This is a hard question. I really enjoyed the class as a whole. I felt like we kind of got thrown into writing for our first paper with very little instruction on what makes good writing, but I can see now that the timing was necessary in order to fit all three assignments in with enough time to work on each paper. I sometimes didn't enjoy the readings. Sometimes I felt like it was a lot of reading while I still needed to spend a couple of hours on my writing as well. I did enjoy the exposure to all sorts of writing though, so I definitely wouldn't want to get rid of the reading altogether.

What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How?
I learned that I need to be more specific in my writing. Even in business situations, using more descriptive words is better. No matter what situation I find myself in, using generalizations don't get my point across as well as I would like. Even in speaking, I can see that I need to use more specific words, and I need to work on that in my writing as well.

What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing?
To me, good writing is something that can get me caught up in what I am reading and not think about my life. I like to read something that plays to me emotions. In one particular book I read, I was fully ashamed of what the main character did that I had dreams I was this horrible immoral person. That is good writing to me. I got completely wrapped up in it. For my writing, I feel like my best writing is on topics that really matter to me, and bring out my emotion. I just want others to feel the emotion in my writing as well.

Anything else you need to get out about the class.
I really enjoyed reading other students essays and blogs. There were a lot of really good writers in this class, and it was awesome to see.

Final Questions

1. 1. One of the things that was most helpful to me this semester was the workshop groups. I never really revised before this class and so I didn’t really know how to or what to fix. The workshop groups helped me to understand the importance of revision, to see ways to improve my essays, and to get help in areas I was stuck on. Another helpful thin was the blogs, they helped me to be more comfortable writing quickly and letting others read my pieces. At first I really did not like posting, but now I like it a little. I now enjoy reading essays and even writing them ( a little).

2. 2.To continue this development I am going to need to keep finding essays to read. I think by reading other people’s work you become a better writer yourself. It opens your eyes to different ways of writing and thinking. So, I will have to continue that. Also, I should keep writing. Even if it is just in my journal for myself. The only way to improve your writing skills is to keep on writing.

3. 3. From the reading this semester I learned about a whole new type of writing that I did not know about before. I learned that if you write about something with an interest and a reason behind writing it, the piece will be better. I learned you can make any structure and any topic work. One of my favorite essays was “Contributor’s Note” by Martone. I really enjoyed the way he wrote about himself in a new perspective, it was really original. I also really appreciated the humor he added. The essays that were humorous were always more enjoyable for me. It taught me that it is good to step outside of the box and try new styles.

4. 4.My writing process is to think a lot but not write anything down at first. Then write down the basics and get the organization right. I go back through and add in details, research, and such. Then revise, revise, revise. It works for me because if I don’t write everything down while I am thinking about it, I will forget. So I get my ideas down then go back and refine it to make it better and more meaningful. I could improve it by maybe having a more structured approach to writing.

5. 5. The blog has been beneficial to me because it has made me write every week. I don’t really enjoy writing that much, it kind of stresses me out. So the blog made me less stressed about it and just made me write. I found over time on the blog that the posts where I just wrote and didn’t worry about being perfect came out so much better than the posts that I fretted about for a long time. I guess you could say it boosted my confidence a little. Definitely put me outside of my comfort zone.

6. 6.My favorite assignment for this semester was the ruminative essay. I felt like this essay was the easiest to write once I got going. I was overwhelmed by the length requirement at first, but once I got into the groove of writing the ideas just kept coming. And the length came just fine. I had never written an essay like this one before and it was a fun, new experience. I felt like it showed how much I have grown over this semester. Again, it was another good confidence booster.

7. 7.My favorite (and least favorite) part of this class was the workshops. I’ve said it before, but I never revised before this class and never really felt like a good writer. So the first workshop was really stressful and scary for me, I was worried what all these other great writers would say about my work. But I found it really helpful to hear what others thought and how I could improve my essays. By our last workshop I enjoyed them, but was still worried about what everyone would say. So I love and hate workshops. Mostly hate, but I know they are really beneficial.

8. 8.The final portfolio is helping me to see that I have grown a lot over the semester. Looking at my first essay and blog post to my last essay and later blog posts, my writing has improved a lot. I have become more comfortable sharing my thoughts and expressing them in a well-written manner. It has been fun to read through everything while putting it all together. I think it will also be really neat to be able to look back at all the things I wrote when I was a freshman in college.

9. 9. Submitting my writing to a public audience is beneficial because it makes you more conscious about what exactly you are writing. I think a lot more about what I am trying to say if it is going to be read by the public. It is not beneficial because it makes me stressed out and I over analyze every word I write. But overall, I guess it is a good thing.

10. 10. If I were to take this class I would change how long some of the readings were. I am not a super lover of reading, so most of the time I just read the essays we were assigned to get them done so I could write a 3. When I didn’t feel like there was SO much to read I could enjoy the pieces a lot more. This is probably just an attitude thing that I should change, but it is the only criticism ti could think of. I would want to keep everything else!

11. 11. I think the thing that I learned in this class that will help me in other situations was the revision process and all the different revision practices that we did during class. Revision is a big key to my writing being good. So I can apply that to all of the papers that I will have to write throughout the rest of school. I also learned that writing can be enjoyable and not stressful, which might come in handy someday when I need a hobby or something.

12. 12.For me, good writing is engaging and has something to say. I think that is the most important factor of good writing. If the author is just writing with no point or interest it is so boring and just fluff. Also, it should be clear, organized, relevant, grammatically correct, imagery, and humor. Basically all of the things we’ve read this semester have most of these characteristics along with other things that make them good. I can contribute to this good writing by continuing to write for me and writing well. By making sure every paper I write is written well.

13. 13.I really enjoyed this class, even though it made me really frustrated a lot of times. I felt pretty inadequate at first but throughout the semester I figured out that I need to stop comparing myself and just write. Not that I did that all the time but I tried. So there you go. I really liked this class and will miss it!

Lilly Pyle

Final Class Evaluation Blog

1. The blog definitely was the most helpful in the development of my skill as a writer. Although I didn’t complete all of the posts, it helped me to free write rather than writing over periods of time. I was able to sit down and write until my time was up or until I hit 500 words. I never knew I could write 500 words in 25 minutes! I’ve definitely learned how to be more fluent and how to take criticism (the comments on my blog posts) and really utilize it to strengthen my work. Blogging was a great way to improve my writing weekly.
2. I suppose I could be a weirdo and continue to blog by answering the supplemental prompts… (no offense to anyone who plans on doing this). No, I think I will just free write more. Write whatever is on my mind and share it with anyone who will read and critique it. Maybe I could write my own prompts and then write to my own guidelines?
3. The reading in this course helped me to learn different writing styles and also that it’s okay to be a part of your writing. I was always told I needed to keep myself out of my writing and so the reading in this course taught me that it really is acceptable to engage myself in my writing. I loved “Roosterfish” by VanAuken, “The Knife” by Selzer, and “Black” by Alexander Theroux. I loved these pieces because the authors were all really passionate about their subjects. I love how much research VanAuken and Theroux did to include in their work and the information was interesting and the authors made it more engaging. Selzer’s writing captivated me because it reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe, who is my favorite poet because of how dark his writing is. I love writing that has true emotion in it, but more specifically sadness, anger, depression, frustration, etc. In my opinion, writing that has those kinds of emotions behind it is some of the best work that can ever be done because I think those emotions bring out our true selves. These pieces taught me that I should be passionate about what I’m writing and willing to take the time to doctor it and really let it grow. I should do research and incorporate it in an interesting and engaging way, rather than just through quotes and facts at my readers.
4. The writing process I found most beneficial was simply sitting down and writing everything on my mind about the topic. I can’t write over periods of time I have to write start to finish, which is probably a major flaw, but I think it gets the job done when I’m writing a short essay. I think I could improve by using an actual writing process, such as doing a pre-write, brainstorm, first draft, second draft, etc. I don’t edit my essays nearly as much as I should.
5. The blog has been beneficial to me because I’ve been able to open up more in my writing and show that I can write, though I may need help at times or need to be guided to the right path. It’s showed me that I can write on the spot, I don’t have to think about what I’m going to write beforehand and that I really should just start writing rather than putting it off or overanalyzing. It’s hard to explain how it’s done this for me, but I’ve just learned to be more carefree about my writing rather than sticking to the stupid high school rules and having fun with my writing; exploring my mind’s true potential.
6. My favorite assignment of the semester was the essay we wrote on a quotidian topic. I really enjoyed writing about the connection I have with books and how books have freed my formerly tortured mind and soul. I was able to open up more and it was like a release for me, really.
7. My favorite parts of the class were the times we did workshops. I liked discussing my classmate’s writing with them and I truly loved editing their work. I may not always be the best writer but I do know that I can edit almost anything and be content with what I’ve done and I think that workshopping helped me to realize my editing potential.
8.The final portfolio will be beneficial to me because I’m actually going to have to sit down and edit my work even more (which I dread). It will help improve my essays/blogs and it will also help me to learn that revision can be good. I think differently about my work because of the final portfolio because I realize that I have to re-vamp all of my work; everything must be improved and possibly extended. It’s caused me to reflect on what I’ve written also and ask myself whether or not I need to go back and look at every comment anyone has ever given me on that piece; mainly thoughts on what needs to be done and how much work I have ahead of me.
9. Submitting my work to a public audience is beneficial because I can receive feedback on that work and also share my thoughts with others. Getting feedback will only help me to improve my writing (unless the feedback sucks… then it won’t help at all).
10. If I were to take this class again, I would do my homework. That’s all I’d change.
11. I have learned that it is okay to be personal and that there should not always be rules to writing (as far as format and creativity go). This will help me if I decide to keep on writing, but it will also help me in daily conversation. It’s taught me to let my guard down sometimes and let people have a glimpse of my thoughts.
12. Here’s what I wrote for class today:
· Engaging/relatable
· Flows well
· Good topic – one that hasn’t been done before
· Not cliché
· Not always a happy ending – CREATIVE
· Invent new things
· Voice is apparent
The elements that I wrote that make up good writing are characteristics I look for in a book I’m going to read. If the subject is lame or just something that has been done over and over again, I won’t read it. I like books that are engaging, but I don’t like reading books that are always happy. Who wants to read a book about how perfect someone’s life is or how wonderful and amazing the main character is? A series that comes to mind is the Series of Unfortunate Events books. I love those books because everything always goes wrong! They’re creative and unique rather than a cut out of the perfect life and the author has a voice! The author is in the book the whole time, as the narrator. I love it! It’s exactly how I wish I could write and maybe I could someday write that way. I’d like my writing to have these kinds of characteristics because I think that it will make the things I write more memorable. There are so many princess stories that it’s hard to keep track of them all. I want to write inspiring things, things that make the reader think, things that make them cry or angry; I think my list of skills can accomplish this. I think I really struggle with showing that I have a voice and that I’m a part of whatever it is that I’m writing. If I can work on that, I think I will be much better off and I think I can practice this by just starting out writing strictly about myself and then moving outward more to broader things.
13. I love rush writes, sometimes. The end.

Kara Lohberg
1,306 words (in case anyone was wondering...)

13 questions

What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why?

The most helpful thing for my development as a writer, reader, and thinker was the workshops probably.  It helped me because it helped me to see other points of view.  Workshops also helped me by people telling me what needed to be explained more when I already knew what I was talking about but some couldn't follow my train of though or knew what I meant.  Lastly, I think workshops helped me become more open to people criticizing my work.  I have always been somewhat defensive and offended when someone told me I needed to change something but I have become more open-minded and accepting of constructive criticism.

What can you do to continue/improve this development?

I think I will continue the idea of workshopping by having other people read my papers before I turn them in.  This will help me understand what I have missed and what needs to be explained more.  It will also help me see my mistakes and help me learn about what/what not to do in my writing.

What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing?

I learned from the reading in this course that you can pretty much write about anything if you have much to say about it plus some personal experiences to throw in.  None of the essays were my favorite because there were so many good ones to read.  I loved the ones with sarcasm and humor though, they were the most entertaining for me.  

Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved?

The most beneficial writing process for me is to sit down and just put out a rough draft so I have most everything on the paper that I want.  Then I go through and reread what I have done and fix minor errors and sentences that I think are awkward.  The next best thing for me is to have it edited by someone else so I can get more insight as to what needs to be fixed.  I make all the changes that people suggest, then go through it again and make sure the whole thing flows for me.  I make changes here and there to what I like and then I'm done.  It works because I get to edit it as well as someone else so it becomes better.  It could be improved with a lot more revising sessions thrown in.

How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why?

The blog has been beneficial to me as a writer because it has taught me to just write.  It taught me the true meaning of essaying, just put all your thoughts on a page.  As a person, well I am more rounded now.  Before I was just good at writing five paragraph essays right and left because that is how I had been trained since junior high school.  But this taught me more about actual writing and I enjoyed learning something new.

What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why?

My favorite assignment of the semester was the first essay we wrote, the personal essay.  I loved this because it was fun for me and I got to write about something that I loved.  It was easier than the other essays because I knew what I was talking about and it didn't have to be 10 pages long.

What was your favorite part of class? Why?

My favorite part of the class was being able to get to know people.  In my other classes all we do is take notes during the lecture and then we leave.  There is no time to learn about other people or talk about funny things.  I really liked being able to get to know people.  By getting to know people better I understood their writing styles better and it just made the class a lot more fun.

How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it?

The portfolio... I am not exactly sure how it is beneficial to me.  I know that I will never really look at it because I just don't go back and read my old writings.  Perhaps someday my kids will find it in the bottom of a box somewhere and laugh at the things I chose to write about.  Or maybe they will be impressed with my writing skills--all depends on the literacy level of America in those days.  But I see no benefit for me to have a book of things I have written.  I think I will try to make all the pieces that are going in as good as I can possibly get them in the amount of time I have.

Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial?

I guess submitting my work to a public audience is beneficial because who knows?  Maybe I will have to do that sort of stuff one day.  Probably not, but it was good to learn how to do that sort of thing if I ever want or need to.  It also was beneficial because I had to really think about what I was writing and think, "Would someone really want to read this?  What can I do to make it readable?"

If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep?

The only thing I would change about the class is the reading.  Sometimes we had two essays to read that took a half hour each and the reading just wasn't enjoyable anymore.  I liked reading the essays but sometimes they were just so lengthy it was really boring.  I think that the reading should be cut down to one essay per class period so that students enjoy it more.  Everything else I liked!

What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How?

The thing that will help me most in other situations is my writing process.  I really should always use someone else to edit my paper because it can only get better.  It will help me make sure that my papers are clear and understandable while still sounding educated.

What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing?

Good writing: visual imagery, feels like the author is not speaking in a superior manner, humor, easy to read (not like you're trudging through mud), and I can't think of anything else at the moment.  Examples of good writing were essays like Rooster Fish that kept me entertained and were fun to read instead of a chore.  I can contribute to that sphere of good writing by figuring out how to write and make the whole piece flow and keep the reader entertained.

Anything else you need to get out about the class.

I have had a love/hate relationship with this class.  At times I loved everything and I loved learning how to write in new styles and feeling like I could create something great.  Other times I was in the depths of despair because I would look at my work (which I though was good) with markings all over the page and comments saying that I needed to add a ton of information for the reader to understand.  But overall I have enjoyed the class because I learned a lot about writing and how to actually do it.

Questions

1. What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why? There were a few things I found most helpful during this semester. First the rush writes, they got my mind moving and helped me think of some ideas a probably wouldn’t think about if I were to just write. I think the blog helped a lot too because I was able to write then read what other people wrote on the same prompt. Their response was usually different then mine and I found it entertaining. I could read and respond which also helps improve my reading skills. The blog was probably the most helpful thing we did this semester. 
2. What can you do to continue/improve this development? I think the best way I can continue the things I have learned is to keep writing. Even if its only a couple times a week writing creatively helps to give me new ideas about boring things I may have to write about. I can also keep reading things from my peers and from other essayists to find things I can do better and find things I like. 
3. What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing? I learned that the essay is much more complex without the structure they teach you in High school. There is deeper thinking involved but it is still organized. I also learned that essays can and should be fun. I enjoyed “To all those who say write what you know’ and“Rooster Fish” those are the two that stand out in my mind. The first I enjoyed because it was poetry in essay form and it was the first essay I read like this. The second helped me realize that research papers don’t have to be boring. They can be personal yet informational and fun. From both essays I learned that putting yourself in the writing can help enhance the papers you write. I also learned that imagery and imagination are key to a good essay. 
4. Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved? I think after my paper is edited and I am able to see what I have done wrong and fix it thats what helps me most. I usually come up with deeper ways to describe what I am trying to say. It helps me see what is confusing to the reader and I can think of better ways to describe my feelings. It works when people give me comments that are beneficial and not vague or nice. It could be improved by more helpful comments and I should have set more time aside to fix it more fully and look into them with more detail. 
5. How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why? As I said before the blog was the most beneficial thing to me as a writer. I was able to write small things and have immediate feed back from my peers. I was also able to see the amazing writings of my class mates. I read pretty much everyone’s every time even though I didn’t comment. It is cool to see everyone’s different styles and different insights. Even though some of the blog prompts were kind of boring I enjoyed doing them because they made me think differently about a paper I was writing or a topic I hadn’t thought of. 
6. What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why? My favorite assignment was the ruminative essay. I feel like I have improved so much this semester and I think that essay is proof of how awesome the writing process is. At first this assignment was over-whelming but as I broke it apart slowly I was able to think of new ideas and new insights. I enjoyed writing it though sometimes I felt over stressed. 
7. What was your favorite part of class? Why? I think my favorite part about this class was it was a small class. I think by the end we all felt comfortable enough with each other that we didn’t feel as embarrassed about our writing and felt more comfortable to share. I also really loved rush writes! They helped me many days just get rid of the tension I was feeling and have fun writing. 
8. How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it? The final portfolio helps me realize that I have potential to write better essays every time I start writing. It helps me see that I have improved this semester. It helps me think differently about the things I have written because I see that everything I have written this semester is connected. I might have written something really random but it’s not going in my portfolio. I haven’t done a ton with my portfolio yet but so far it is helping me. 
9. Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial? I think its easier to realize your audience when you submit a paper to them. I write better because I know someone else is going to read it. 
10. If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep? If I retook this class I wouldn’t want to write the analysis essay. I really felt out of place writing it and like I couldn’t do it. I feel like I got lost somewhere. I don’t think I would get rid of it though because it was a cool assignment I just didn’t write a good essay. I would keep the blog! 
11. What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How? I learned what makes good writing. If I write a very crappy essay for one of my other classes I won’t feel as good as when I write a good essay with the skills I have learned from this class. I’m getting an English major so the things I am learning in this class will help me through out my English career. I will also know that I can always do better than my first draft. 
12. What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing? A list of things that make good writing in my opinion is, imagery, humor, irony, symbols, archetypes, themes, new insights on common problems, new approaches at old things, new opinions, and many many more things. Some an example of great writing is “Their Eyes were Watching God.” This book is full of everything I have listed, and the writing is full of the most beautiful and poetic language I have ever read. If you haven’t read this book I suggest that you did. I can contribute to the sphere of good writing by writing well. Instead of just throwing ideas out there I can think of new ways to have people read my ideas. I don’t have to be the same boring dead voice you hear over and over again but I can still have the same opinions as those people, it will just be better. 
13. Anything else you need to get out about the class. I really loved this class as many of you know. It helped open my eyes to a new style of writing and I think I have improved as a writer thanks to the many activities we have done this semester. 

Final Class Evaluation Blog (But not the final blog)

As part of your final portfolio grade (and as a blog post), thoroughly and thoughtfully answer each question. You can number your answers or respond in paragraphs, do what works best for you as long as you answer everything.

1. What was most helpful to your development as a writer, reader, and thinker? Why?
2. What can you do to continue/improve this development?
3. What did you learn from the reading in this course? Which essay(s) did you enjoy the most? Why? What did it teach you about good writing?
4. Describe the writing process that you find most beneficial for you. Why does it work? How can it be improved?
5. How has the blog been beneficial to you as a writer and as a person? How? Why?
6. What was your favorite assignment of the semester? Why?
7. What was your favorite part of class? Why?
8. How is the final portfolio beneficial to you? How do you think differently about your writing because of it?
9. Why is submitting your work to a public audience (on the blog and to journals, etc.) beneficial?
10. If you were to take this class again, what would you want to change and what would you want to keep?
11. What did you learn in this class that you will apply to other situations? How?
12. What makes good writing? Why? Give examples. How can you contribute to that sphere of good writing?
13. Anything else you need to get out about the class.