West's Article...Bleh

When reading Kathleen West's article, I became more bored than whale-watchers... It seemed to drag on and on and was a bit too scholarly for my liking...However, there was one large section which totally captivated my interest, and that was the part where the students' blogs are analyzed..which was very fun to look at. Instead of just talking about it, West provided examples of three students' identities from their own blogs..it was very interesting. i actually look forward to doing this with my classmates' blogs..

Essay 1 Review

Essay 1 taught me a lot about my writing habits. I noticed that my writing process was a lot smoother, mainly because of all the feedback from classmates. It was easier to see where I needed improvements and where I was doing well. So it was great to see others’ view on my paper. That was probably the most helpful part.

Who's Saying What?

After reading, They Say, I Say, I’ve realized that I have some more work to do for my paper. It’s going to be somewhat of a challenge since I have never really been big on using transitions, however it is going to make my paper better, so it’s something I’ll have to do. Also, referring to the book, I will balance my writing by having a nice equality to analyzing the text, as well as stating what “I say” about the text.

My Presentation Went, eh, OK

Before my presentation I made sure I had all the essentials needed for an exceeding grade. I made it short, to-the point, not-watered down, detailed, visually appealing, and full of informative insight on my research.    

During my presentation I realized that although I had all of the elements set up great in my PowerPoint, I still didn’t do all that great on the talking part. I made sure I kept eye contact with my audience, didn’t read off the projection, and made myself some outline notes. I don’t really have any explanation for thinking that I didn’t do well, it just seems like I didn’t for some reason.

After my presentation I can say that I was pretty happy with how I did. Talking in front of audiences isn’t really my thing, so if anything held me back, it was this anxiety.

“The Movie Blog” Through Blogging

To relate to the text, Blogging, the blog I’m following is a topic blog. Since it’s a movie blog it is focused on one topic, movie news, which means that the authors aren’t just rambling on about anything for an hour about what new things are going on in their lives. Instead, they make sure that all comments and everything are within the boundaries of movies. This makes it easier for me to read and get a grasp on, however it does limit my ability to see their identity from this because with such a narrowed view it can be difficult to express one’s self in a way that shows all aspects of who they are.

Changing It Up A Bit

After class Tuesday, I took in the comments that was written and discussed on my paper, and now that has happened I am comfortable that I can move full speed ahead towards the end result. Some feedback I had gotten was that I should focus on how my blog sets itself from the rest and have a more focused study on the identity of the author. It seems that this is the best approach and I can say that I am confident that I get it fully now, and will pursue this idea and elaborate on it.

Identifying the Solution

My research process so far has been somewhat of a challenge. I have never done studied something in this way before so this is all new to me. At first it was a simple question of finding the author’s identity, so it was kind of difficult to kind of get a feel for the paper at that point. However when we got the actual guidelines today in class, it helped a lot. So I am back on track with my essay. I have been reading extensively on my blog website, and am confident that I will do well in deciphering the language, style, and tone of the writer to better understand the greater picture and his identity.