Read through your assignments and report (in your words, don't quote me) a comment that you either consider valid or way off.
Let me know if you agree or not, and to what extent: THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR DISAGREEING
REPLY: WAIT FOR 10 COMMENTS TO BE POSTED, then REPLY to any of your classmates' comment and indicate if it was helpful.
I should try to be more more analytical and a little less descriptive. I do tend sometimes for my descriptions to overpower my arguments in a sense. Before making an argument, information is presented. I have the intention of making an argument but sometimes give more than necessary detailed descriptions and information getting there (to the argument).
ReplyDeleteI do tend to be a little repetitive sometimes when I write reflections/papers. At times I find it quite challenging to expand more on a certain topic without repeating something I already wrote. I also tend to be repetitive when I am unsure of what to write. To avoid this, I should develop new ideas instead of going on and on about the same one. I also need to be a little bit deeper. I seem to always mention a topic on the surface without elaborating more on what I'm actually trying to say. It's one thing to mention an idea but adding details to it makes the reader understand what you're trying to say and your point of view.
ReplyDeleteI used to do this all the time too! I found that the easiest way to combat it is to start each paragraph off with a topic sentence that is basically going to describe your point for that paragraph. Then you bring out the examples that you want to use to reinforce your opinion and finally you explain how those same examples contribute to your argument. With this way, it is hard to be repetitive because you're adding three layers to a paragraph that play off of each other. It isn't a surefire way of avoiding repetition, but it certainly helps.
DeleteThanks Joseph! I'll certainly try that.
DeleteI strongly dislike writing, and i do believe because of this dislike is why i have concerns around fully expressing my thoughts. Going back to my original thought to keep my audience's attention and create less confusion is also something for me to work on. I always feel as if my personal opinions may be too much at times, allowing me to fully end my train of thought when on a specific area of the subject.
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DeleteHi Melissa, I also dislike writing but my issues with writting came from fear. English is not first language and I sometimes feel intimidated writting in English for fear of sounding unintelligent or foolish. My advice is to open up to the criticism of others and that should relieve you from some stress of worrying about what others think of your thoughts/writting. To stay on topic, perhaps you can write a rough draft and then review/edit a couple of hours later with fresh eyes or ask a friend you trust to read it and tell you what they understood to be your main point. If it was what you intended to say, perfect. If it wasn't clear, ask for feedback or what was missing from the point.
DeleteI was too abstract and did not provide an in depth analysis of the case at hand. My answer could have been applicable to various situations in context and was lacking in argument. After re-visting the assignment and reading the comments I feel that I am better equipped for tackling future assignments.
ReplyDeleteI am aware that I ramble to much before I get to the point. For the most part I write like I'm having a dialogue with myself. The other thing is that when I finally make a point I do not really explain the train of thought that brought me to it in the first place, which I guess is a little frustrating to the reader.
ReplyDeleteKind of the same issue. I was rambling with descriptions before getting to the analytical. Also, once I got to the analytical I didn't dwell deep into it and so the descriptions overpowered what I was intending to do.
DeleteSometime rambling helps you to discover different ideas and different tangents with which you can take your writing. It is only a negative thing if you make it a negative thing. Pay attention to the thoughts you discover when you are rambling. It may actually help your writing.
DeleteOn reading the comments of the personal reflection, I agree that I was too scholastic in my writing. Personal reflections should reflect personal opinion and I have a hard time getting used to writing "I" and "me" because we're so used to writing without them for general college usage. I need to separate personal writing from academic writing and in the process, become looser in my personal writing style.
ReplyDeleteI have the same issues. I always write in a scholastic way. Ever since high school, I was told it was wrong to write in the first person and I was taught never to write about my emotions/reflections unless it was for religion class (Catholic high school). It's taking some adjustments to write this way, but it's coming back to me.
DeleteI am a journalism major which is even harder because I cannot write in a personal or scholastic way - it has to be very cut and dry with as little words as possible. So when having to write a different way it takes me a little longer now. However, I am training my mind to know all three forms of writing and apply them appropriately when necessary.
DeleteI agree that many times when writing I have trouble keeping the focus of my writing and keeping a tight-knit argument. I think this is due to the amount of time I spend thinking about writing and actually writing, and the minimal amount of time I use to review, re-read, and edit my writing. I think if I spent more time editing and "reading" my writing, I could reword and rearrange certain sentences in order to make my argument more concise.
ReplyDeleteI suffer from ADHD and many times when I am reading a piece / book / watching a film or even when I am reading the criteria for the assignment, a million different ideas rush through my head of what I should do. Then, when I sit down to write it everything is either lost or not quite as good as when it was in my head minutes or hours before. What I started doing was jotting down in a notepad brief pointers of what the argument was along with the evidence etc. which wasn't more than a few words for each idea and this way when I went to type it up everything fell into place. After everything is typed up, I read it out loud as if some invisible person is in the room listening instead of just visually scanning it as errors are easier to catch when they sound funny to the ear. Another technique which I find extremely useful is to print out a typed copy and read it out loud to this invisible person because words on screen fool the eyes into seeing what it wants to see - we frequently overlook errors that are there because we believe that we typed the correct word. This also gives you a chance to rearrange a sentence that sounds funny to the ear. If you do not vocalize all the words, you might skip consciously reviewing some by reciting them from memory of what you think you just typed, but if you print it out you have not seen it yet on the printed page and will examine it much more carefully.
DeleteI don't develop my ideas or provide a deep analysis, I tend to stay on the surface.
ReplyDeleteThis was mine too Leslie. I think a great way to correct this is by stating the main idea on a separate piece of paper, and then writing 3 supporting details. Then make kind of a "web diagram" for each supporting detail. By doing this, we're expanding on each detail by digging more into it.
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DeleteThis is great advice Alethia thank you! I'll put into pratice.
DeleteI am just having so muc difficulties to find more ideas on one topic to keep me going. And then I tend to lose focus and change the track of thoughts writing about different topics. I need to stay focus on the topic in order not to have a mess
ReplyDeleteI've struggled with the same problem of finding more ideas on one topic to elaborate my argument. I try to find some historical context for what I'm writing to make comparisons to my argument to give it more substance.
DeleteIn the assignment on talking about stereotypes, I wrote that I don't see myself as belonging to a tribe, but still stereotypes are applied to me. You responded that if stereotypes are used to make judgements about me, that must require that I belong to a tribe. I don't think that is necessarily true. Stereotypes are driven by what an observer thinks and assumes about another individual. If Person A assumes Person B is Italian and uses a stereotype against Italians to judge B, but B is actually Egyptian, that doesn't mean that B is part of the Italian tribe. Likewise, I don't identify with a tribe, but people around me will still make assumptions (because I'm white, blonde, a woman, etc.) and use stereotypes based on tribes that they assume I belong to.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but I guess the assignment was geared to us discovering and confronting the tribe we are labeled to. At first I didn't feel I was associated with a tribe either, but then I recalled my heritage, predispositions, and general behavior/mannerisms that would associate me with a tribe. Its sort of like stereotype limbo, where you don't associate or think you belong to a tribe, but others push that tribe onto you through their judgements and assumptions.
DeleteBeing a film major, when writing about film I write in an overly critical and analytical way. I need to focus more on my own emotional response to the film, rather than a critical analysis of filmic techniques. This is difficult for me to do, since when writing critical/analytical papers on film, including your own emotional responses is considered taboo. I'm like one of Pavlov's dogs: when I watch a film for a class, I immediately "turn off" my own emotional responses in order to be able to critically analyze the film.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote on my comments that you see potential in how i write my assignments but said i need to control my writing which i guess means look out for errors of maybe incomplete ideas. I don't know why but i do often at time hate fully proof reading my work. I feel as though i over think when it comes to writing and that when i proof read that I would change hundreds of things before i am satisfied enough to send it. I will get better though as i go
ReplyDeleteI find that my best work is done after it’s proofed a few times. This is another thing that’s difficult about these assignments. I usually like to write and rewrite and have multiple people proofread, but given the time span of when these assignments are due, I don’t have the time to rewrite and do an extensive analysis of my own work.
DeleteI've found that my assignments have been all over the place. Maybe it's the given length of the assignment, and I can't sum up all the points I'm trying to make in the two paragraphs. So I'm left with a few points, none of which are fully developed and very erratic. I'm trying to make a conscious effort to correct this so I can start getting higher grades. I'd love to see what an A+ assignment looks like to help me understand.
ReplyDeletei definitely agree. if we had an example of what the best possible work we can do looks like hopefully we can make our paragraphs tighter and more to the point while still expressing the thoughts the assignment is about.
DeleteI feel the same way. After having done a few assignments, my grades have been all over the place. I find it difficult to keep what I’m trying to say short, and I also find it difficult not to ramble on if given the opportunity. This is certainly a dilemma …
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