Colton Mobly
Instructor Britton Andrews
English 101
16 March 2015
I chose to analyze some of the notes I received during my first conference over my presentation essay because I feel it clearly reflects my ability to thoughtfully consider and utilize the constructive advice meant to improve my writing. I was able to first recognize the redundancy to the mention of “normalcy” in the notes made by Britton and how it could potentially be a key aspect to the importance of the issues stated in the introduction paragraph. For this purpose, normality was implemented as a variable that aids in the resolution and cohesiveness of the entire paper. Post revision I chose to implement “normalcy” as the broad and most integral aspect of the paper which, in turn, helps in the development of the reader’s complete comprehension of the outlying ideas of the subject and canonicity, and also reflects my personal ability to recognize the relevant and necessary information that is crucial to a well written paper.
Similar to the artifact that dealt
with importance of, “normality” I discovered an interesting idea brought up by
one of my classmates in our CIP 4 peer response letter that relates to the same
idea. As was made clear in the first artifact, an emphasis on normality would help
to improve the overall cohesiveness of my prose and what I found in this letter
was a call out to further expand on the perception of normality in the form of
“so what.” I feel this vague, but vital aspect of English 101 is meant to help
the writer connect with the reader by suggesting to the author what information
needs further explanation or addition. Thus, emphasizing the importance of
certain ideas and clarifying information that may be innate to the writer but
not to the reader. In this, the final sentence of my introduction paragraph read,
“As a result, fewer and fewer stories gain proper recognition and may be
potentially forgotten by the rest of the community.” The student that wrote my
peer response letter requested I develop this statement by asking, “So what?”
in response. Therefore, I was able to expand on and state why the lack of
recognition to certain stories might take a toll on the community and relate
this to the notion of normality. And through the utilization of tools
implemented into the English 101 curriculum and other student’s advice I was
able to successfully clarify, complicate, and construct my essay’s evolving
thesis.
While looking over some of the notes that I took for our in class readings I discovered a string of notes that stuck out to me. This particular section is found at the beginning of Bronwen Thomas’ essay, “Canons and Fanons: Literary Fanfiction Online,” which was a big influence and resource on my presentation essay. What I noticed as I read Thomas’ writing was how she chose to make the topic of her essay immediately clear and presented a detailed, object analysis of the subject; perhaps so that the reader might better comprehend the entirety of Thomas’ subsequent and comprehensive discussion of Fan Fiction. I feel, as a reader, I was able to identify these specific moves and learn how to accomplish them in my own writing. For example, before every section of my presentation essay that was in the process of revision I would tell myself to, “Assume the reader is unfamiliar with the subject.” On several occasions I discovered that my writing failed to articulate the information that was crucial to the understanding of the subject because many of the specific details were previously inferred or understood in my mind. After I determined this issue, I decided to make additions to my writing while simultaneously adopting an objective, unassuming mentality so that the reader may fully understand the subject of my essay.
This is
the conclusion I was assigned to write at the end of a construction project in
my Introduction to Engineering course this quarter. It details our group’s
process, what we did right, and the many things we could have done differently
that may have allowed us to reach a different outcome. I feel I was able to
implement many of the ideas from English 101 into, not only this section of
writing, but in many of the write ups I was expected to do in my engineering
course after each project. A large element of the class consisted of the
student’s ability to cogently, concisely, and entirely illustrate our
processes, constructive decisions, and how we came to these decisions in a
short but detailed piece of writing. The notion of the critical inquiry in
English 101 truly allowed me to ask myself the important questions when trying to
deviate between the superfluous and the crucial information for each write up.
It gave me the tools to think through and develop a conclusion to the issues
and decisions which we were expected to define. As well, I found that my
ability to observe the details of the project improved as a result of the
edification from English and allowed me to more easily comprehend and analyze
the effects of our decision and methods.
