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.