Reflection - Writing Process

Except for Essay 1, the process view of writing that Mr. Hayes outlined matched my own work.  Take my Essay 3 as an example.  At the very first stage, I read a lot of materials related to the Occupy Wall Street movement (reading), as I had totally no idea on what was the movement about.  The more materials I read, the richer personal opinion developed in my mind (brainstorming).  Then, I made an outline for my essay, and typed down all my

thoughts and reasoning very roughly for a better organization (pre-writing and drafting).  With the framework I did, I expanded every paragraphs by inserting more supporting evidences in order to make my Inquiry paper convincing (revision).  After receiving the comments from Mr. Hayes, I started working more on various aspects, like arguments, sentence crafts etc., for a more beautifully polished and presentable final product.  For instance, I tried to amend my arguments on defending the fundamental insight of the movement, as Mr. Hayes told me that my argument “doesn’t seem entirely convincing without it” (editing and proofreading). 

Reflection - Essay #4

The Book Club essay is a relatively big project among all other essays.  It includes the reading of a book, involvement in discussions, preparation of a presentation, and the writing of an essay.  As a reader, I learnt the importance of the critical reading.  The critical reading process helps the writer a lot in taking a stance for the essay writing.  As a member of a team, I learnt the importance of expressing one self’s idea, since this can stimulate the whole group’s thinking towards the context a lot.  As a presenter, I think that the most important thing I have learnt is to keep my presentation materials precise and simple, which enable the audiences to grab the key points easily. 

  

Reflection - Essay #3

Before our class started on the Inquiry chapter, I know nothing about the Occupy Wall Street movement.  This was a big challenge for me, since my zero understanding of the issue means that I had to put more effort than others in reading relevant articles in filling in my blank gaps compared with others.  Luckily, with the help of Internet, I was able to find a large quantity of resources, including texts, images, and videos.  These resources assisted me to have an in-depth understanding of the protest.  I would say that this paper reflects my personal politics, because my arguments are mostly based on my orientation in “judging” a controversial issue. 

Reflection - Essay #2

My finest moments in Essay 2 were my evidences listed in support of my opinions in criticizing the three articles.  I think the examples I chosen and listed out in the essay were abundant and supportive enough in backing up my agreement or disagreement towards the three pieces in various aspects.  With the quotes and examples I integrated, my essay is more conveying to readers, which help me gaining their support on my orientations towards the articles.  In my opinion, the most important element in leading to a success in writing a piece of critique, is that the writer has to have an in-depth understanding of the organization and arguments brought out in the articles.  The Toulmin diagram and reverse outline offer great help to success in writing critiques.