Revising not Rewriting

One thing that I have never been taught how to do in English class is revise my papers. Yeah, you write a first draft which in my day meant just put some of you information into paragraphs. After you would go through and check spelling and that's how I would revise my paper. So revising has never been a part of my writing process for me. Whatever comes out in my writing the first time is usually my paper. Other than rearranging some sentence or explaining a little more I have not revised my statements or ideas. I would like to learn revising based on syntax and diction as well. I don't have a large vocabulary so I don't always have the right works to explain my ideas. And as we learned in class changing one word in a sentence can change your whole meaning and idea. I would like to be able to go through a sentence and pick out a word that can be changed to make my idea stronger and more powerful. Changing the words I use can also add more detail to what I'm trying to say. Syntax revision would also help because sometime I ramble on trying to get my idea across when I know there is a different way I could say it in less words that would be just as powerful. I think revision is a process that should be taught because there is always a way to make your writing better. My last paper I wrote was the first paper I actually thought about my revisions. I didn't just proof read but I actually went into each paragraph and rearranged sentence within it that would make the connection more clear to the reader. This way I was able to see how just switching the order of my quotes connected my research together in a more understandable way. This last paper will help me with practicing a noticing ways I can revise my writing. Now that I know things to look for I can go through my paper paragraph my paragraph making each one stronger and more fluent. 

Goals

                My goal for our first research paper it to be okay with not finding an answer. My goal is to try and do research to gather more information instead of searching for the right answer because there isn't always a clear answer, nor should there be. There isn't always something that has to be proven right  or wrong. Research can be gathered just to support ideas and to connect ideas. One reason I have never been interested in English before is because I like to have a clear answer. I like to know when I'm doing something right or when I'm wrong. In this assignment I will work on using research to connect ideas found throughout different sources to strengthen my ideas not answer them. Another goal of mine for this assignment is to focus on what parts of my research to use rather than summarizing the whole article. In my past writing assignments  I tend to use a whole quote or tell someone about the whole article which ends up being a waste of words. I want to work on sectioning out the key terms and the information needed that will support the idea of my paper. I want to use specific research so that I have a clear idea throughout my entire paper and so that the reader is never questioning the purpose of my writing. In the end I believe working on both techniques will strengthen my writing because it will be a more focused piece. It won't be forced to end with a right answer and it will focus on the overall purpose of my paper. I will use specific research to support my ideas and give the reader a clear understanding of the meaning of my writing.

Am I Pretty Enough for You?

I think superficial image is a huge problem in so many ways no matter where you are in life. It can be hard and very prevalent at college when you are trying to make friends and fit in. What does it take to fit in with a group of people? Well so I've come to learn looks can play a huge role. One aspect of college where I've seen this idea become prevalent is greek life and it is also a major reason I chose not to get involved. You are paying to be part of a group where girls chose if they like you or not. I'm not saying that all greek life is like this and that they only choose girls based on looks but there is a unconscious that does play a role. There is also the sororities that are the "pretty girls". Well, they all happen to be pretty because only those girls got invited to join the sorority. Whether you think about it or not looks play a huge role in some people's lives. The stereotypical sorority girl is one who is cute, outgoing, and has money. And girls who fall into those three categories are going to find themselves getting bids from all sororities. Like Cameron Russel mentions is her Tedtalk, some people are born into a legacy. It has nothing to do with who they are but everything to do with what they physically have. Just because a girl has white skin, long blonde hair, tan skin, and a skinny frame there are some opportunities that she will get that others don't. Though I think many people don't base their opinions on such superficial ideas it is still very prevalent and beauty should never have been defined how it is now. If beauty is something you are born into than we have no control on how beautiful we are. But the truth is we do control who we are and that's how beauty should be measure. By what a beautiful soul you have and the great way you treat others, not the way you physically appear to other people.

What One Assignment Has Taught Me

            My process in writing and my idea of writing has already changed since the start of this semester. I now know a way to make my writing believable and truthful. I know not to argue but to backup my claims. Using the terms evidence and claims really taught be how to put a paragraph together. How to approach a statement that I could prove. Evidence is a key part of analysis. Which are words that I had never thought about when writing. You can't analyze something without making claims, and you can't claim anything without evidence. When I used evidence to support my writing it made it so much more meaningful. My thoughts were coming from a real place that others would be able to see. I have become a more critical thinker now that I know what these terms mean. I now think about analysis differently and think about it when I see and read things, such as other essays, ads, and pictures. Thinking about all the details we were able to capture from just one ad made me a much more critical thinker. When I am able to analyze things on a deeper level, I am able to gather evidence and make claims based on what is revealed to me. I never knew what to write about before or where to begin, but one thing the ad analysis project taught me was a way to start. It taught me components of writing that I saw but never thought of. I began to understand more what analysis meant, what details I could look for in one place, the evidence I could find from those details and the claims I can make based on my evidence. I have become a more critical thinker now that I know new ways to approach my writing. I have deeper thoughts, and stronger ideas.

What's a Claim Without Evidence

I have learned to recognize evidence as factual information. Claims tend to be more of a person's opinion based on the evidence. Because you see girl with minimum clothing on (evidence), you can claim that men would be attracted to the photo or ad with that women. You can't make a claim unless you have something to back it up and prove it. That something is the evidence. I realized in my paper I was making a lot of claims about my ad but wasn't putting the evidence to it to show the reader and help them imagine the ad that I am seeing. I realized that all my claims in my paper should relate back to a piece of evidence. I knew everything about my ad so I was just making claims expecting everyone else to know what I was thinking, but I needed to prove that in my paper so that each claim is backed up to prove to the reader. I have also learned that one piece of evidence can hold multiple claims. In my paper I made claims that Crest isn't just selling the smile but also the beauty of Shakira. I used evidence of framing to back this up because they don't just zoom in on Shakira's smile, they photograph her from shoulders up so that they can capture all her beauty not just her smile. I used evidence of her long golden locks, perfectly shaped eyebrows and protruding collar bones to describe things our society usually depicts as beautiful. Overall thinking of evidence and claims when writing really helps the process when you are unsure of what to say next. If you pick a piece of evidence then you can make a claim or even multiple claims that the evidence shows. When reading my paper I thought about each claim and what about the ad made me make that claim in the first place. This help my paper come together and strengthen my writing.

Becoming a Writer

            I have never thought about introducing myself as a writer because in no way, shape or form am I a writer. Writing has never interested me. My favorite subjects are those with the least amount of writing. I'm a science major and maybe that's why I don't like writing because I never have had much practice with it. I have never been good at piecing together my words and thoughts to make a good sentence. My vocabulary is so weak when it comes to writing that I can never think of a good way to write what I want to say. That is one thing I hope to work on in this class. I hope to expand my vocabulary in my writing. I think I learned most of my writing skills from my sophomore year of high school.  We worked on a variety of pieces from poetry, narrative, to research papers. Previous teacher have always read my papers and wrote how they would've done something else. However my tenth grade teacher asked us what we were trying to say so that she could help us put it into better words. I think that has hindered my interest in writing because I don't want to change my words just for a teacher. It always seemed like I could never get the "right" answer when it came to writing. That's why I loved writing research papers. I could research the "answers" and that just explain what I have read. I don't have creativity to come up with my own story so I just stuck with writing research papers when I could. I hope that this class will open me to other types of writing that I can become interested in. That I can practice using my own words and not what others think I should say. I think that throwing away the typical five paragraph essay will help me come out of my shell and be able to write out all my thoughts without feeling constricted. My overall goal is to just make writing less of a job and more of a way to express myself and become more creative.