Coursework

Reflection Essay

English 2010 has proven to be a challenging course. But as I have completed the assignments, I have learned and valued how exploring different genres can expand ones capabilities to produce better writing materials in different genres.  Over all I felt that I was able to achieve the outcomes of the class, as well as to increase my confidence as a writer.

It has been very interesting to see how by writing a report, and then moving to a position paper, one can grow pass previous misconceptions or even form a different view in a subject of public interest. By applying critical and analytical research, and keeping an open mind, learning can take a more interesting and challenging approach. I appreciated the fact that by having different genres that focused on one main theme, the process seemed less tedious and more enjoyable as the semester went by, because in a sense by becoming well informed in the chosen field one can explore and expose the different aspects of the topics in  different and more creative ways.

One of the genres I found more interesting to write in, was the profile. As I chose to write about Pele, I enjoyed exploring the life of man that is well connected with sports in an athletic level, as well as in the business level. It was also interesting to see his commitment to use sports as means to promote charity causes. By writing a profile I was challenged to explore a genre I previously have not writing in.

One of the main challenges I faced with my topic, had to do with the fact that the world of professional sports is not a subject I invest in very often. I enjoy playing sports and having involvement in them, but it is definitely not a passion of mine, therefore the research process was more extensive and required more analyzing and considering than I would have with other subjects I would have more active participation or interest. Nonetheless the topic I chose helped me stretch my thinking further and reconsider some of my personal views that might have not been centered on logic, but more on personal beliefs. Another challenge I faced, was not finding, or being able to access many printed sources for my research. For the most part, the internet proved to be a great aid, and actually found it to provide more information than I could go through.

As I revised and edited my documents, peer reviews helped better some aspects of my final draft. It definitely helped to know the peer reviews were being done by people who share a common interest in the subject, since their input is more relevant due to their knowledge or experience in the subject. I tried to incorporate as many suggestions as possible to the final papers, but sometimes it was a matter a perspective whether or not I felt it was appropriate to make changes. I found however that the most useful advice had to do with clarity. At times I felt my claims were very broad, so it helps greatly to have the input from my group members to help clarify the goal of each paper written.

As a peer reviewer one of the strengths I think I have is to be able to bring clarity to a document by eliminating redundancy, or simplifying sentences. I also tried to first look at all the strong aspects of the document before looking for the weaknesses. Thus by being more critical on other people’s documents, I was able to bring that level to my own writing and revising

 The editing process o for all of the projects relies heavily on the help provided by peers and the professor, since many times little details can easily escape the proofreading process; mainly punctuation. Some of the biggest chances I had to make in the three documents were incorporating quotes in a more natural way, which include paraphrasing in some of the longer excerpts I chose. I realized how by doing that I rely more on my own voice rather than that of the authors cited.

Another big portion of the changes I had to make dealt with MLA formatting and citing. I realized I had to be more careful when it came to properly giving the source of the in-text quotes to avoid giving the impression of plagiarism.

I also welcomed many of the comments were portions of paragraphs had to be deleted so that the paragraphs would be clearer and more concise. Its amazing how by doing that paragraphs come to life and sound more engaging.

For the process of revising I would first focus on punctuation and spelling, the move increasing sentence clarity; then I would move on to correct the MLA citation. After that I would focus on rearranging the document for better visual appeal, and end by formatting graphics and visual effects.