After I got my final draft I realized that I needed a lot of revision to do. I didn’t do much editing from the rough draft to the final draft because I forgot it was do and only spent less than an hour on it. I didn’t know exactly where to start so I called the writing center at Stevenson and tried scheduling an appointment as soon as possible. They were able to schedule me in this Monday, which was later that I wanted it to be. During the time between when I received my paper and that Monday meeting with the writing center I started revising with no help. I started by changing the introduction and worked on revising my thesis statement. I knew that I had a major revision to do so I wrote down some ideas and waited for my assistance at the writing center. Once I got there and read through the whole essay we decided that it needed to be more focused on one topic of the community. I was told to scratch out the paragraph about the football games and was directed to choose just done aspect of the community. I then decided that I would be able to write more and show better examples if I changed my thesis statement and directed that to participating in the community and gaining the actions of caring and helping. I did that by writing about the topics of The Nations Honors Society and Big Brothers Big Sisters. With my thesis changed I combined my first body paragraph with my introduction. Which I thought was a good attention getting first sentence. From there I changed and added more too each body paragraph making sure I was showing and not telling. After showing my experiences in example of shaping my identity I moved on to my conclusion. I summed up my paper and made sure that I ended with the newspaper attention getter that I started with.

Reflection on Essay 1

Some prewriting strategies that I used for this essay was talking, free writing and outlining. I did these strategies mostly in my floor lounge. I also went to the library for free writing and outlining to concentrate more on the subject. My frustration was getting something down on the paper because I did not understand the prompt that well. I started drafting right after I finished the readings on remix which was two days after I got the essay assignment. I did the drafting in my room where it was a little quiet. The frustration of this point of the drafting was picking a subject to write about. I also had trouble understanding the essay prompt so I had to go around and ask people what they thought about it. The environment of the drafting was quiet because I did most of it in the library. I went to the library because my floor was always noisy at night so I could not complete it there. The thing or things that I like about my essay would be the subject. The subject I wrote is something I really enjoy doing and it relates to me a lot. I also like the fact that I started my essay on 11 size font on accident. It actually helped me out because I realized that I had written more than what I needed. I also liked the fact that I actually tried to tell a story out of the subject. The thing that I did not like about this essay was the fact that it was supposed to be three pages. I like writing paper that do not have a limit or a minimum because three pages felt like an eternity. I feel this way because I felt pressure on getting to the three pages and finishing. Most of the things that I added were last minute to make the three pages. My peer response helped me get most of the “you” out of the essay. I did not realize how many times I used “you” until he pointed it out. He also helped me organize the essay into the three main points. Another thing that he pointed out was the fact that I did not have a clear thesis. He also gave me a good response that made me feel more confident about the essay. I doubted that the subject I wrote about was not that good. As I revise this essay I will have more people read it and tell them to give me their opinion. I will also set up an appointment at the writing center so I can have a better opinion on what I need to fix. Another part that I will consider is the notes or comments that my teacher will write on it because it’s more likely that I will have a lot to fix. I will also try to start as soon as I can so I won’t be pressured by time. This process of reflection and revision helps me think about the mistakes I made. I’ll try not to do them again and will try to improve on my writing habits.

Refletion on Essay 1

I first started off by brainstorming main ideas that I wanted to discuss in my essay. Then I did a cluster map of those main ideas so they were a little more organized and so connections between ideas were more noticeable. This prewriting took place at my desk. After half an hour I decided to stop because when the subject was about me, I should already know the key ideas. I became very frustrated because I know the importance of prewriting and how helpful it is when the writing actually takes place, but I couldn’t get myself to do it.

I started writing my first draft two weeks before it was due. This writing process took place at my personal computer. The introduction and the first few body paragraphs were very easy to complete but then it became difficult to determine what to write about next. If I had done the prewriting and constructed an outline of my draft, it would have made it a lot easier. Being in my own room and at my own computer seemed to cause my mind to drift and it became very hard to concentrate on writing.

After reviewing the final product of the draft, I really liked how the transition between one idea and the next were clear. Also, I didn’t realize the full effect that music had on my life until writing this paper. Almost every aspect of my life could somehow be related or linked back to music. But not everything in my paper was well done. There were some ideas that proved very difficult to “show” to the reader. I knew I was telling rather than showing but trying to incorporate the showing aspect seemed impossible without maintaining the topic of the paragraph.

Having the peer review made me realize that somehow I need to make the showing part work for all my ideas. It also helped to see how others think and what they look for while reading a paper. When writing Essay 2, I will try to critique it with an audience point of view instead of a writers point of view.

How do I write?

When I am given a prompt for an essay I begin to write the paper in my head at that moment. This is because when I am given the prompt this is when an inspirational wind goes through my head. This helps because it doesn’t take very long for a creative idea to spark the paper I am writing. While I am inspired it is not that I immediately grab a piece of paper and pen and begin writing. My mind will wonder into the story and write inside of my head. I usually will not begin the actual writing process until about three days before the assignment is due.
I do however do a lot of free writing and clustering way before the assignment is due. I do this because I will have random burst of ideas concerning the essay. This could be a concept for the paper, a specific sentence that would be perfect for the essay or it could be a random word with a meaning that I know would work into a paragraph or even start the paper. I carry around a notebook and I constantly write in it. This notebook will be my reference for papers because I will write down everything that was or is running through my mind and when I know what I was feeling it will help me to remember my tone and thoughts about something. This notebook will also have the random words, concept, free writing words and sentences that I thought of for the assignment.
The physical environment of where I am writing usually will not make an impact for my writing because when I am writing it is as if I have an out of body experience; meaning nothing around me affects me because I am in what I call the “zone.” I don’t hear anything I don’t really think if anything(except the paper)and sometimes depending on how focus I am I won’t see certain things or if I am looking at something I am not really thinking about what I am looking at. For this specific essay I was in the lobby of my dorm because my roommate was sleeping because she was sick. The lobby in my dorm always has someone in it. When it is night time there is never less than 10 people that are in the lobby being loud because when a person lives in a fine arts dorm there is bound to be a few musicians. There are also art students doing projects for hours so having your headphones in is not an option. This environment however didn’t affect me in any way except that it was easier to focus on my paper.
This was possible because the paper was about my identity and what part of culture affected so actually being around my community helped. Although my topic was much more specific it helped having people around to bring inspiration to my writing. In my actual paper I open with my surrounding of when I first starting writing the hard copy because I have found that the easiest way to show something is to describe as if you are narrating every move or reaction.
I believe that I am fairly descent at showing instead of telling. When I am revising I look very deep into the wording and phrasing so this help to make sure I am not just telling in a story. I’m very meticulous about my papers because it is such a personal way of expression you are in a sense showing your mind. This deeply affects my writing and I am thankful I think it makes me much more cautious of every little detail and how someone would interpret my writing.

Reflection Essay 1

When writing my paper some prewriting strategies I did was reflecting each topic and seeing which one I could elaborate the most of from my personal life. Also I had to choose which topic could be easily portrayed in a narrative essay. The only frustrating aspect I encountered was length and how can I make my narrative the right length without becoming repetitive or lose the reader.
I began thinking about what I would write about as soon as the assignment was given out, and started drafting soon after that. Because of work from other classes I put this essay hold for about two days, and resumed about two days before the due date. With the beginning paragraphs already written, finishing the story wasn’t hard at all. Literally I just closed my eyes and typed the thoughts as they came to my mind, stopping only to add more dramatic vocabulary. I stayed up until about one in the morning the day before the due date finishing up the essay, and then the next morning I spent time revising it.
The best part of my essay to me was the intro paragraph and the overall flow of the story. Throughout the essay I clearly express what happened on a daily basis, instead of telling. Although I didn’t go into great detail due to negative aspects of my neighborhood, if you read closely I have inserted details from my neighborhood that the average person wouldn’t understand.
What I didn’t like about my essay was the restriction in description I put on myself when writing it. It’s still early in the semester and I’m sure I will have ample time to inform readers on what I have experienced growing up on the south side of Chicago. Also a thing I didn’t like was at some points it seems as if I may lose the reader, due to tangents taken from the main subject.
My peer comments were good for the most part, except for the fact that I never told where I was from. Inserting this fact in a way that would flow with the essay was the hardest part by far. It took me almost an hour, and about twenty failed sentences to finally come up with the perfect sentence to tell where I am from.
As I revise my essay for the final draft I may add a few more descriptive sentences just to make sure the reader isn’t confused when reading my essay. This will also help those reading to grasp the influential aspects of my neighborhood and clearly see how it has shaped my life.
In essay number two I will be sure to follow the same methods that helped me complete this essay. I will try and continue to use colorful language and stay on topic throughout the essay, and not limit myself of details.

Hardcore Essay Review

I did not utilize any prewriting strategies other than brainstorming my topic. I considered using clustering or outlining, but I started drafting in the last minute. I usually just sit down in front of the computer and start writing away. The biggest frustration I faced during my writing was a path to follow and pull ideas from. This is mainly because I did not have an outline I could start off from. If I did have an outline I probably would have saved myself around 30 to 45 minutes of thought process.

I began drafting my essay about 4 days before the due date of the first draft. I was off to a great start and over a little frustration I finally got my thesis statement together and finished about half of the paper. I finished the first portion in the computer lab at around 2 a.m. and left as soon as I finished my third paragraph. The night before the first draft was due I finished the essay at around 3 pages but I lacked the confidence and patience I began with. Once again I was in the computer lab at around 2 a.m. As soon as we had a peer edit, I went back on the computer and reviewed the second half of the essay first to make sure it was up to quality of the first half. I then linked my paragraphs correctly and reworked my thesis statement a little.

The biggest part of my essay I liked was my intro and narration of my Dragonfly story. Since the story was still vivid in my memory I could go ahead and correctly show versus tell. I then linked many ideas in my essay to this narration and tried to create an argument off of my experience.

What I did not like about my essay was the word choice and the strength of my vocabulary. I should have used a thesaurus or at least searched the simple words I could have replaced. Another part of my essay I did not like as much is staying on topic. Since my narration is kind of long, I spent more time telling the story and less time relation the story to my argument.

My peer comments mainly changed my transitions and use of examples. We had a similar idea of what was wrong in the original draft so I took my peers advice into consideration. Since we had a similar point of view on the essay, it showed that I may have had a very good argument and it showed my point correctly.

As I revise I might change my word choice, and the biggest part of my revision would be based on relation my narration to my argument. Although I did relate the narration, I should edit some sentences to help relate to the topic.

In essay number 2, I will spend more time staying on track and using an outline that I can save time with. I will demonstrate a better flow of ideas and focus on proving my thesis statement throughout the entire essay.

Reflection on Essay 1

I did not do any prewriting strategies. That is not because I did not need them, but mainly because I do not know how to do that. I tried brain-storm before, but it was a painful memory. After that, I never do prewriting activities when I need to write something. Anyway, it is not required, and I do think they are useless for me.

I began drafting on Saturday, Sept. 6. I am not a person who leaves all the things to the last minute. I like to give myself some time of grace. Working under pressure maybe is more efficient, but it is definitely not suitable to me. When doing complex things that dues soon, I can never focus me attention into that work. So I start pretty early. But it does not mean that I usually finish the work earlier, because I am a kind of person who like to keep working a little bit everyday until the due time. If there is one day more, I will never finish my work now.

All drafting was done in my dorm. I do not like write in a public place such as library or computer lab. That makes me uncomfortable. I prefer a more casual environment to write, better with some light music, cause it ease my nerves and that can bring me more inspiration. I do prefer writing on paper, but I do not repulse writing on computer. It has its own advantages, such as easy to edit, auto spell-checking, and auto word-counting. So lots of time I just draft on paper first and then type that in computer to modify.

One thing I do not like in the first essay is the limit of length. Because of that limitation, I wrote something that should not appear in that essay -- something is not that relative to the topic. I think length limitation is stupid. If I can express myself clearly in 300 words, why do I need 200 more words to fill in my passage? That will only confuse readers and can serve nothing to the essay.

I never good at beginning an essay. My peer responder's comments gave me some idea of improving my intro part, but I still think I did not do well in that part. Maybe I will do more work on my intro as I revise the essay, but I am not sure if I really can do that. It seems to be a hard job for me to even write the first paragraph more than three lines long.

For Essay 2, I have no idea how I am going to write. There is no certain writing-pattens in my writing process. I usually will produce two essay in totally different styles even when the topic is similar to each other. In other words, my writing style is kind of "random" -- even I do not know what style I am going to use in my next essay until I finished it. But I do think next time I will offer an better beginning.

Essay 1 Reflection

As I was writing this essay I realized two things, how easily I could remember small details and how difficult it was to bring back a part of my past that I have tried so hard to shut out. I like this essay because it was the first time I actually sat down and thought about the person that I am. I think I realized things about myself that either I did not know or things that I just did not put too much thought into. The thing that I did not like about writing this essay is that it brought back memories that I do not care for too much. I have spent the last three years trying to erase or at least blur these feelings and thoughts. This essay was also a very personal essay that talked about the most emotional part of my life and past. It was difficult but I guess it also made me realize how far I have come over those three years. To write an essay or paper, being comfortable is key. Wearing comfortable clothing such as sweats or pajamas, is how I get comfortable. My strategy to writing is that I really do not have a strategy, therefore, I did not really have a drafting or prewriting plan that I went through. Especially in this case, I think my just writing what I thought was a good way to approach an essay with this specific topic. Once I wrote, I went back through and organized the best way that I could. I'm not sure if this essay will affect the way that I write my others because this essay was like writing a personal story that only I could have told. It is different than just reading a book or and article and writing about your comprehension of it, however I'm not sure of the other essays that we will write in this class, maybe it could be about the same. As I revise this essay, I would focus mostly on my paragraphs and how I organized them. While writing this essay I feel that I organized pretty well but maybe some of the paragraphs could have been split up or added together. I could have possibly used different words to make my vocabulary less redundant. Through the peer review, I realized that I needed to show more than tell my story. I know that while writing the essay, I thought about how I would show instead of tell, but that was not really my main focus. When it was time for me to revise my essay according to the peer responses that I got, I paid more attention to my wording and centered my attention more on showing the audience my experience. The peer response also made me feel better about my topic that I chose. I was not really sure if I did a good job on picking a good subject to write about, but the person who peer reviewed my essay seemed to like it and that made me feel better. It also helped because I was so self-conscious about having such a personal topic, but after having somebody else read it, I felt a lot better.

First Post

The process I used was to just sit around and think until I came up with something, anything even a small idea and then I would start writing about it. After that I would keep writing and if I felt as if I was running out of ideas or just putting down a bunch of nonsense I would stop and start thinking of something else. After I finally found an idea I was going to write about I typed out the entire thing. After that I gave it to my cousin to edit it and to make sure that there weren’t any mechanical errors in the paper. I never actually made more than one draft I just kind of fixed up the first one but that was more for mechanical errors than anything else. The main thing I liked about this essay is that I had to think critically about what has shaped me as a person. I didn’t like this essay because it was an essay. I’m not very good at writing so anytime I have to write anything I don’t really like it very much. My peer responder helped me because I didn’t realize that I was telling and not showing. I tried to fix them but it really didn’t work out very well for me. To revise my paper I would defiantly show more and tell less. For essay number two I am going to plan better and not just jump into the essay. I am going to plan ahead and maybe actually outline my essay before I go to write it out. Also, after the peer reviews I will set more time aside to think hard about what they said I should change. Overall this project wasn’t too bad. I think it really helped me look at what has shaped my life up until this point. I had never thought music had shaped my life until I explored the other topics more.

Reflection Essay 1

For essay 1, I thought a lot about what I was going to write about. I didn’t really brainstorm via writing; I just brainstormed in my head. I thought about it in my dorm when I would be doing other homework, especially reading for English I thought about how I could apply my possible subjects to what the book wanted. It was really frustrating picking a topic that I knew I would have to share with anyone or everyone. A lot of the time in my high school classes, we wouldn’t share our papers with anyone, so we wrote freely as if it were confidential. My satisfaction was when I had chosen what I wanted to write about, and already had a good structure for the paper. I began drafting after I picked my topic, probably a week before the rough draft was due. I worked on typing my rough draft in my dorm room because it’s the only place I really do my homework. Once I started drafting, I kept going until I had 5 pages. I don’t go back and forth from typing to writing, once I get to typing, I don’t stop. I was satisfied at this point with the structure of my paper and how I put it in order, as well as the idea and theme of my paper. I was frustrated with having to use good connectives and catch the readers attention, I always have trouble doing that. One thing that I was frustrated with and that I usually don’t have a problem with was having to put my thesis somewhere appropriate because it was such a long paper, 5 pages is a lot for me. The writing environment didn’t affect my process at all. When I start writing, I’m on a roll. But no matter where I am I always have trouble starting my paper and getting focused on what I have to do. I really liked the way my essay was structured, I usually have a huge problem with the way I structure and put my essays together, but I had no problem with this one. I liked how I had each paragraph connecting perfectly with the introduction and the thesis. In my essay, I wasn’t too fond of my connectives and use of words. Sometimes I feel I can use better words in my essay, but I can’t find the words that I want to use. I don’t like that because it’s a stressful feeling to know your essay can be beter, you just don’t know how to exactly change it. That’s why I really liked peer responding. My peer responder was able to show me where I needed better connectives and use of words. She helped the way I looked at my essay and showed me where I needed to change things up. I changed nearly everything she told me to because in my head I knew there were things wrong with my essay, I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I really do like the way my essay was structured so I don’t think I’m going to change anything relating to the structure, the only thing I could think about changing would be the word use. After this revision and thinking process, I’m going to try to learn from my mistakes. For example, if I use the word “you” too much, I’m going to watch myself in the next essay. For essay 2 I’m going to try to not have as many similar and frequent mistakes as I did in essay 1.

Reflection on Essay 1

When preparing my essays I enjoy lots of brain storming and prewriting. I usually come up with a few main ideas and try to branch off of them. Most of the time the idea that I feel I can build the most off of is the one I will use on the essay. Once I find my topic I begin to pre write and then I will begin to reread what I have written to make sure everything makes sense and then build off of what I have. I performed most of my free writing in my dorm and the rest in the computer lab. Usually most of my frustrations come at the beginning of the paper where I usually struggle on the getting started part. I am satisfied being that I chose a topic that I knew I could build off of so I could easily add on and expand my essay. I usually begin drafting as soon as possible wanting to get the paper out of the way and having plenty of time for revision. I was on my lab top in my room for nearly the entire essay and finished it in the computer lab of Lincoln hall. After I was done drafting my essay I returned right on with my paper. While working in my room it gave me a perfect environment where it is nice and quiet, allowing me to focus on my paper. Any kind of distraction even the easiest thing could set me off course of completing my paper. This allowed me to write my essay in an orderly fashion, expressing all of my thoughts completely. What I liked about my essay is that we were given a set of choices to choose instead of having only one option which allowed us to broaden our horizon to a topic we understood better. This allowed me to pick a topic that I knew well enough and was able to write about. I also enjoyed how my essay flowed and was organized. Usually in my paper I wonder around and sometimes get off subject but in this essay I did the opposite. What I did not like overall in my essay was how I tend to use many of the same words over and over again in my essay almost making it sound repetitive. When one of my peers graded my essay it allowed me to see many things you would not notice yourself which would allow me to fix these mistakes easily. For example like I stated before I sometimes use the same words over and over again which made the essay not sound so good. She also pointed out spots in the essay where she felt I needed to elaborate more and take out information that was not needed. I will change many of the words used throughout the essay and also expand on some of my thoughts. This writing process will help me decide what I felt worked for the essay overall and what did not. It will help me plan better for future essays and be aware of simply mistakes that can be corrected.

Essay 1 Writing Response

The process by which I wrote my essay started out with a list of topics I thought I could develop into an essay to fit the prompt. I tried to further elaborate on these ideas to see what I could be the most vocal about. After process of elimination, I chose my topic and started to write the main focal points for my body paragraphs. The process of developing your essay prior to writing it is the hardest part of writing for me. Once I have my topic chosen and thought out, it is much easier for me to write any paper. I hit sort of a writer’s block at this point because I wasn’t sure if I could write enough for the page limit with this topic. After making a final decision on this topic, I began drafting the weekend before the due date of the paper. I initially began to draft my paper on paper first, which is my normal procedure when doing any writing. Eventually, I switched over to typing it on my laptop as I watched football. Watching the games were fairly distracting and was not the best environment to compose a paper. I often found myself watching the game more than writing and also only working during commercials. This unfocused atmosphere made my paper take a lot longer than it should have because I was not centrally focused on it as much as I should have been. I liked my paper because it was about emotional times in my life. It was almost a relief to write about them in my paper. I also liked how I used two coordinating examples to support my theory of how nature has affected me the most. I also connected nature to affecting other forms of cultural factors. On the other hand, I feel as though my essay was not as much of a “showing” essay as it should have been. I tried to portray this the best I could but it ended up being a harder task than I had previously thought it would be. I have known the person who peer reviewed my paper since kindergarten, so he understood the topic of my paper well. He pointed out areas where I could “show” instead of “tell” and other points where I needed to strengthen the essay. As I revise my essay, I will first try to find points where my narrative is weak. Also it will be very important to take the comments that Ms. Kleinmaier has about my essay and fix what she thinks needs to be changed. I also tend to write in too casual of a tone so I may have to fix that. After writing this reflection on Essay 1, I realized that there are a lot of elements I should change in my writing process. First, I need to have clear choice in topic. I also need to write it in an environment that is not as distracting as watching the football game was. Doing this will help my paper be more clear as well as make the writing process easier and possibly faster.

For my paper I had a rough time thinking of a topic to write about.  I couldn’t find an area from which my life was impacted on.  I finally thought of the one thing that gets under my skin.  Technology or mainly computers were the main focus on my paper.  For as long as can remember computers and I have never seen eye to eye.  It was the perfect topic to write about and I had a lot to say about it.  When I was trying to figure out how I would write this, I just thought about what my thesis statement was going to be.  I knew most of my paper was based on computers, but I also included phones to expand the paper.  I choose not to write it on paper and decided to run with my ideas.  I think it might have taken longer to write but in the end the result was still satisfying.  The most frustrating part of the paper was trying to keep a smooth feel to it.  I thought it was hard to keep my ideas from coming to the paper.  As I suspected writing in my dorm room was not the best idea.  There was a ton of distractions that prevented me from writing an even better paper.  The best part of my paper was mi intro.  I thought that I nailed my target on the spot.  I even started my intro with a very nice quote to capture the reader.  It was defiantly the strongest part of my paper.  I thought that was very important because you need to catch the reader and make them want to read the paper.  He one part of my paper that I disliked was my paragraph about the cell phone.  I thought that it wasn’t my strongest paragraph and just went on and on.  I tried to use a variety of technology in my paper, which is why I added in the cell phone story in.  With a world dominated by technology I tried to expand my paper.  I just look at the paragraph as a page filler rather than a contribution to the topic.  My peer review went better than I thought.  There were of course some grammatical errors but the one that I think saved my paper was when I was told to separate my paragraphs.  It gave the paper an all around better flow.  I think that one simple correction really helped the paper out.  My one revision that I would make would be my paragraph about my cell phone.  Like I said earlier it just doesn’t feel like I incorporated it well into my paper.  I also jumped around in the paragraph, which might have made it a bit confusing.  For might next paper will not right in my dorm.  It was too hard to focus and get my ideas down.  Also I wrote the paper in one day, which restricted me with time.  I couldn’t go back and fix anything cause it was due the next day.           

Reflection on Essay 1

Two prewriting strategies I employed was brainstorming and freewriting. I did my freewriting in class and brainstorming as I was writing the essay itself. I performed these strategies in class, in other classes or in the computer lab. I was frustrated at the length of my essay, but I was satisfied with the content. I was afraid that if I added anymore it would not be relevant to the topic of my essay and would just be put in to take up space. Overall, however, I was happy with how it turned out in the end. I began drafting 2 or 3 days before the rough draft was due. I started handwriting it in the laundry room of my dorm while I watched my clothes spin around and around. Afterwards I went to the computer lab to begin typing my rough draft. Word choice always frustrates me as I write any sort of paper. I write and re-write multiple times before I find just the right sentence in just the right spot. It has to be perfect before I can move on. Also the length of my paper was still frustrating me. I couldn’t think of what else to put that would make my topic more understandable and relatable. The computer lab is a really good environment for writing an essay. I could have written it in my dorm but besides not having a printer to use, I wanted someplace quiet to think and write. If I had written it in my dorm room I think I would have been distracted by the television or other people on my floor. Choosing to type my paper in the computer lab was the better decision for me. It may not be the most comfortable place in the world, but at least I know I can get work done there. I liked my topic a lot. I thought it was very original and creative. I want beyond an entire community and narrowed it down to one specific person who shaped my identity. I thought it was very personal and revealed a lot about my personality as well. What I didn’t like about it was again some of the word choice. Even after any essay I write is complete I still have criticisms about it. Also I think I could have done more showing instead of telling. Sometimes I try too hard to explain something, instead of just creating an image for the reader. As I revise I would like to add more to my essay to make it more visual. It would help with both the showing and not telling problem and the length. I think revising this essay will help in writing my second essay because as I write the second one I will have the revision process fresh in my mind and not make the same mistakes twice. Thinking back on my first essay, and re-reading it will also give me ideas for my second essay. I would want to write something equally as personal the second time around.

Before I start writing a paper, I try to go to an area that is quiet. I did most of my paper in my dorm room, but I tried to do some in the library. It helps to write outside of the dorm room, because I can be easily distracted and end up wasting a lot of time. Then there are always a few things that I do to brainstorm. First I try to write down at least three main ideas for the body paragraphs, and then off of those main ideas I will branch off ideas that relate to them. As I type I always think of more ideas to add to the paper, so I will keep a scratch piece of paper handy so I don’t forget them. I begin drafting as soon as possible, because it usually takes me longer than most people to write a paper, most because I have a hard time meeting the page requirement. I liked that we had a lot of options to choose from to write our paper. It makes it easier to write about, because you can choose a topic that is more personal. This helps my writing flow better, and I don’t get stuck as often when I write about something personal. What I didn’t like about my essay was that there are some parts that should probably be taken out, because they don’t add to answering the prompt. What was frustrating for me was that I struggled to meet the minimum three page requirement. This has always been a problem of mine, and it leads to me adding in ideas that seem irrelevant just so I can meet the page requirement. The peer comments really helped me because she pointed out mistakes, and potential structure changes that could really help me in the future. The peer response also pointed out weak points that I was aware of like, how my conclusion doesn’t sum up what happened. I would revise my structure, because I think that my first body paragraph could be split into two separate paragraphs. If I change the structure, that would help me get away from the basic intro, three body, conclusion format that I’m used to. Doing this would lead to better writing habits when I start my second essay.

How I Wrote My Essay

To write this paper I really didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. Basically I chugged a couple of energy drinks cause I was drained from finishing classes 2 hours ago. I was sitting in my dorm room and got about as comfortable as a combination of chairs and couches and pillows would allow. And then I began writing. About thirty five minutes into my caffeine fueled typing the dorms underwent a fire alarm drill. I ran outside, took the opportunity for a study break, smoked a few cigarettes with friends and let my brain refresh. I then went back inside and finished writing the paper. I looked over it but knew it was the rough draft so I didn’t have to be so intense. Prior to writing the paper I wrote down a couple of ideas but the only one I ended up using involved the introduction. To me this was just another paper I had to write, and the environment had no influence on me. As soon as I finished writing this paper, I was drained, but still had to polish a final draft of a philosophy paper that was due the next day. In the end, my favorite part of my paper was definitely the introduction. Introductions and titles often take me a long time to write, but once I get a good title and a solid introduction I just let the rest of the paper write itself. This generally results in some very solid ideas and paragraphs and some ridiculously confusing paragraphs. In general I write more than I will use and then I scrap about half a page if not more. I always have difficulty in writing a conclusion, the main reason for this is that I find it very difficult to sum up my paper without being repetitive. On top of that there is the ever so prominent problem of focusing hard enough to finish writing the essay in a strong way. Generally speaking I don’t find writing papers that frustrating, especially when I get to write about what I wanted to write about. However, after doing three hours of homework, sitting down and forcing myself to write can really wear me out. After writing this paper I just turned on some music, and let myself relax. The next day I turn my paper in and we do the whole peer review thing. The entire peer review process is very helpful because it allows me to get a completely fresh perspective of my paper and some suggestions I would have never thought of. For instance my peer reviewer noticed that my thesis was not directly answering the prompt. Thanks to that I was able to refocus my thesis and then follow through by refocusing my entire paper. There was also a bunch of other suggestions, specifically toward helping me with my conclusion, and showing me where I could word things better. When I do my final revision I foresee changing around a couple of words and making sure that the structure of the paper complements the papers thesis and makes it very clear. I will continue to use the same standard process.