THLOG #10- End of the Road.

~This final blog post is going to be Boyz II Men themed-- you have been warned.~

So Monday’s class consisted of completing a survey about the course, as well as working on the Portfolio Week Doc’athon. The Doc’athon was pretty cool, I loved being able to get a bunch of different opinions and answers to the question I posed (but I did feel like it got pretty repetitive when I saw that everybody and they mama were asking basically the same questions about thesis statements...but, c’est la vie). The survey was cool in the fact that I was not only able to voice my feelings about the course and Zack’s teaching, but I was also able to reflect everything we learned and did this quarter (possible metacognitive essay material???). Now it is Final Portfolio time, and I’ve actually taken a mental break from working on it in order to write this thlog, which is really funny because before this class I used to moan and groan whenever I had to write something, and now I find it relaxing and almost cathartic << and if this isn’t a testament to how much this class has impacted me, then I don’t know what is.

I mean, yes, I knew that Writing 2 was going to teach me about academic writing, and genres, and rhetoric, and all that good stuff, but I had no idea how much it would change me as a writer, and I’m sure many of my classmates feel the same way. “We were Boyz when we started out, but now we’ve matured into Men.” - (A supremely cheesy metaphor that I came up with, and have been waiting a long time to use). But underneath this tacky metaphor lies the truth of it all: I am so much more confident, dynamic, and eloquent in regards to my writing abilities than I was before. I am so grateful to have taken this class, and to have been able to learn an unprecedented amount from Zack (with a K), the Jedi Master of Writing.

So, although we’ve come to the end of the road, still I can’t let go (but I know I have to). I’m ending this quarter with the reassuring thought that, when it comes to writing, I am no longer a new kid on the block (have I thrown in enough 90s music references?). 
Anyways, goodbye and good luck to all of you, and a big thank you to Zack-- it’s been real. <3

THLOG #9- The Penultimate Thlog.

The weather is getting colder, the leaves are changing colors, the UGG boots are coming out-- all signs that the end of fall quarter is here. They really weren't kidding when they said college goes by fast. My first quarter of my second year is quickly drawing to a close, and I don't know what to do with myself. 

Alas, the final portfolio is upon us, and I am slightly intimidated by it. It just seems like a lot of work, and this is worrying for someone like me who has poor time managements skills (I’m working on it, okay?). Thankfully, I have somehow channeled my anxiety into an eagerness to get started with this daunting project, and I have already started creating my online Weebly page (I had to do one for my high school senior year portfolio, so I know my way around the block...not gonna lie, it looks pretty dope so far). I think what I am least worried about is the metacognitive essay. i mean, I have learned an insane amount of valuable information from this class, so I don’t think I will have any problem figuring out what to write about. I really want to have fun with it, and incorporate a lot of my own voice; I just hope it won’t sound too informal or anything. 

Anyways, we had our presentations this week, and all went well. I am definitely not one of those people who are comfortable having two dozen pairs of eyes staring at me while I speak, so this project was not the most fun for me. However, it was cool to see what all the other groups came up with for their presentations. I am a huge Prezi fan, so I really enjoyed the presentation about transitions and flow-- very cool (also I won like two Starburst which basically made my entire day). 

Well, that’s all I got for now. Hope everyone has an awesome rest of the quarter. Final stretch, y’all. We got this.

Thlog #8- The Countdown Begins.

WP-3 is done, and I am the happiest of campers. Don’t get me wrong though, WP-3 has been the most enjoyable WP thus far. The concept of translating genres was cool, my topic was interesting (to me, at least), and my new genres were unique (honestly, I think what I really enjoyed was the illustration part of it, I finally got the opportunity to use my Super Swag 30ct. pack of Crayola Twistable Colored Pencils-- have I made you jealous yet?). So though it took me hours to complete, and by 4:30 AM on Wednesday morning I looked like this:

it was definitely worth it because I had a lot of fun doing it, and the end result is something that I am pretty proud of-- but hopefully my passion for this assignment ‘translates’ into a good grade too. Now that our final WP is complete, it’s time to face the Boss: the Portfolio. When I first cha cha cha checked out the assignment description and everything we had to do/include, I was like omg this is going to be rough times, but the more I’m reading over it, the better I feel. With Zack’s comments, I think revising our WPs is going to be a walk in the park (*knock on wood*), and I have a pretty good idea of how I am going to write my reflection.

 It’s hard to believe that this class is almost drawing to a close. Writing classes usually make me want bang my head on a desk, so to say I came in with mixed feelings is a bit of an understatement, but now I am already thinking about how much I am going to miss it. :(

Is it getting dusty in here? No? Just me? Alright y’all, well I’m going to go work on gathering info about complete sentences for Monday’s presentation, so I'll catch ya later, thanks for reading~

Thlog #7- Lost in Translation?

This week I felt what Atlas would have felt if the heavens had been lifted off his shoulders, because WP-2 has been graded and surprisingly enough, I did not fail. *wipes away stray tear*

As I had mentioned in my previous thlog, I had been feeling beyond overwhelmed with the prompt, and I wasn't even sure if I had answered it correctly. Zack gave me some really good feedback, and the main critiques he made were concerning my organization and my topic sentences. For my WP-2, I tried mixing it up and instead of structuring my paper by 1st source, 2nd source, 3rd source and then including my analysis with each, I organized it by 1st idea, 2nd idea, etc., then weaving in the sources as I go. As I did this, I tried to incorporate some insights about ‘moves’ as well, but I don’t think I included enough, and it came out sounding like an afterthought. In addition to this, Zack thought my topic sentences needed some work, so for my WP-3, I am going to try to create topic sentences that have more direction and are super clear about what the following paragraph is going to be about. Overall, I am really happy about my grade on this WP. It was significantly better than my WP-1, so hopefully this pattern of improvement will continue with my WP-3.

Speaking of WP-3, the topics and genres have been chosen, and frankly, I am not sure what I have gotten myself into. I wanted to do a genre that would be not only unique, but challenging as well, but now that I am trying to think of the logistics of the translation, my brain is just like:

 


*heavy sigh* Well, the Writing 2 gods have blessed me thus far, and hopefully they will continue to do so. Gonna go work on my WP-3 now, and pacify the mental chaos that is happening in my mind, so goodbye for now, and good luck to y’all on your own WP Journey to Greatness.

PB-3A: A Pitch. (And Hopefully A Home Run)

           After much deliberation, I think I have established a plan for what I am going to do for my WP-3. I reviewed the options, and I eventually decided that the one I found most interesting was option #1, which is the prompt about translating a scholarly article into a genre fit for a younger/older audience.

           For this project, I feel like I worked backwards in a sense, because I started out with deciding what younger and older genres I wanted to write in before I had selected what scholarly article I was going to be translating into those said genres. For my writing assignments, I always write better/more quality work when I have chosen a topic that interests me. I am a psychology major, so I have a tendency to be steered towards topics that are psychology or mental health related. I wanted to keep on that same vein but go a slightly different route when picking my scholarly article, and I eventually happened upon one titled: “Bullying of Children with Special Needs in Mainstream Schools.” I think this article is perfect because it allows me to adequately translate it into my older and younger genre. For my younger genre, I was thinking of doing a children’s book, that tells a story about a kid who meets a special needs child in his second grade class, and how he tries to understand and accept the differences between them. My audience would be young grade school children from the ages of 6 to 9. The purpose of the book will be to address exactly what it means to be ‘special needs’ and to teach children not mock or ignore the differences that exist, but to accept and celebrate them. I love drawing and being artistic, so I think I am going to have fun doing the illustrations for this project.

For my genre geared towards an older audience, I really wanted to do something unique, so I decided upon a legal brief of a court case. The point of a brief is to condense a case down to its most important elements: the facts of the case, the statement of rule, the holding, etc., and the age range for my audience would be from 25 year olds (ie. law students) to maybe 65 year olds adults. I chose a legal brief because I felt that I could sufficiently translate an academic work into this genre, seeing as they share several similarities in terms of tone, structure, organization, and format. I was thinking of translating the arguments found in the scholarly article into an argument that is part of a court case. Perhaps I could make up an imaginary case, and take the evidence, analysis, etc. from the scholarly article and incorporate it in such a way so that it comes together to sound like an actual legal case.

           I think I have picked unusual genres that give me room to have fun and be creative with this writing project-- I’m excited to get started!

Thlog #6- Bob Ross Has Some Great Hair

WP-2 is finally over with (thank Yeezus), I got to “attend” an online class in my pajamas while eating string cheese, and I splurged and bought one of those giant sugar cookies from the Arbor; so, yeah, you could say it was a good week.

But really though, I am seriously happy that WP-2 is done. Like a lot of my classmates, I was feeling kind of overwhelmed by the number of questions in the prompt, and I am pretty sure that my paper would have been like ten pages long if I tried to answer them all. But on another note, I really think I improved from my WP-1, in terms of structuring my paper, organizing my thoughts, and developing a more argumentative thesis. Right now my main worry is that I did not address everything I was supposed to… I've developed this habit of looking back at my work and thinking “Wow, I should have totally phrased this sentence a different way” or “it would've sounded dope if I included a tie-in to the readings right here”, but hey, hindsight is 20/20 right? You do the best you can do in the time you're given to do it. Hopefully my best was good enough this time.

Anyways, this week’s online class was pretty interesting. It was nice not having to leave my bed this morning, but in all honesty, I think class is a lot more fun and stimulating when it’s held in-person. Maybe it's because we are all able to participate more, bounce ideas and thoughts off each other, etc.. But I really enjoyed watching the Bob Ross and Disney videos, I felt like it was a really good connection to what we are learning in class about moves, genres, and the like.

Alright, that's it for now. WP-3 is quickly approaching, and it's making me nervous, so I think I'll go listen to Bob Ross’ soothing voice and watch him paint some mountains or water reflections or something.

Painting Trees Response

• What are some "moves" you see in these videos?
• The artists have specific techniques for specific ways of painting. Some artists have unique little tricks for getting a certain look on the canvas, for example Bob Ross’ method of creating a reflection in the water by just pulling the brush down, or one of the Disney artist’s decision to use white paint to give a three-dimensional illusion.
• How do these artists describe what they’re doing?  What do the artists refer to while they describe their work?  What do they talk about?  What do they direct our attention towards?  
• the artists will first describe what they are going to paint, with what type of brush (sometimes they will explain why they picked that certain brush), and finally how you’re supposed to do the stroke.
• They explain their thought process throughout,
• How would you characterize each artist's style, and what impact does their style have on you (a viewer/audience member)?  How have these artists chosen to portray their subject matter?
• Each artist had their own unique style. Bob Ross’ made the subjects in his paintings look pretty realistic and life-like, while some of the Disney artists chose to go a more cartoonish/abstract path when painting their trees. What I think is important here is that each artist painted differently depending on their own interpretation of the subject. Like Walt Disney said in the video, “What each [artist] has painted is not just the external appearance of a tree, but his own personal response to what a tree represents.