For this weeks blog post I continue to reflect on my research project. I decided to add pictures on my first draft. After draft #1 was published I had to opportunity to have my small group in class and teacher to look over my writing and give me their personal feedback and remarks on my work. Getting an outside views opinion is important to me because the more you look at something the harder it is to see the flaws, so fresh eyes is always helpful.
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This week I took a different approach, I decided to talk about a certain experience during the "three good things project that really allowed me to grasp the meaning of the project. During this experience I was truly able to look back and appreciate this moment. I am still debating g whether to use this story as a hook but like the conclusion to it. It was finally nearing the end of my Introduction to Sociology class. Assignment after assignment piled up on my to do list, including the assignment I dreaded the most, my sociology end of semester essay. I using enjoy a good read and love finding time to be able to read and relax on busy and stressful days, but during this semester after being told to read the book “Just Mercy” reading had not been enjoyable. The book was interesting but a harder read that included lots of facts and statistics. When it was time to write the essay on the book I found myself worrisome over it. I would begin to write something but every time I reread my writing I felt insecure about it and started from scratch once again. My friend had also taken the sociology course but at a different time with the same teacher. She constantly was so excited to tell me about where she was in the book and how much she was enjoying the book. I would agree but didn’t say much since i didn’t seem to feel as confident as she was about the book and the assignment. After weeks of working on the essay I finally had something on the paper that I didn’t absolutely hate. My friend texted me two days before the assignment and asked if we wanted to swap papers and proofread each others work since it was was the same prompt. I was reluctant but soon agreed. When i began to read her work I started to become worried and overthink my work on if mine was good enough compared to her work. When i got to the end of reading her paper I looked up as she was smiling so big at me. “This is fantastic!” she told me. From the look of her face she seemed to be telling the truth about it as well. She told me she really enjoyed it and it was straightforward so the reader would understand my points and my arguments. She gave me a few things to help it become stronger and edited a few parts for grammer and spelling. I felt happy that she was there to help me become more confident in my work and that different eyes looked at my paper besides my own since I only judged it more and more. It was this little meeting of proofreading that changed my whole mood towards this assignment. I went from feeling super insecure about what I had written to feeling confident and excited to turn in. You may not always think about it but each day we have different things that can change our mood or leave positivity on our days and make them better. When we really get to look at the moments we can appreciate the little things in our life more. During week 11 I reflect on a project we have started in class. In this project each day for 7 days we are to write three things that went well that day and reflect and what it was that we write down.
While doing this project I made my self a journal and labeled each day to help me keep my thoughts organized. On day the first few days I found the project useless. I sat down each day and thought of thing in my day that I remembered and stood out me. Nothing ever seemed interesting or worth writing about. My normal days would just include things like eating breakfast, going to school or work, going to the gym, having dinner, hanging out with friends and going to bed. I kept thinking as the project went on how on earth this could be benefiting me. During the end of the week I started to actually sit down and think the interactions in my days. Each one may have been an everyday thing but when I thought about I imagined what it would be like not to have these interactions and not doing my everyday routine and it got me thinking. Each moment in my day really means more than nothing. I am thankful for the people in my life and the things I get to do each day. It allowed me to look deeper and think more broad. In this blog I provide my research from "the three good things" project. Each day I tracked three different things that positively impacted me. It was important that I didn't miss a day of tracking this work to help keep the project accurate. To help me with this blog I first read a few articles like What is Positive Pyschology & Why Is it Important? (Positive Psychology Program), Greater Good in Action: Science-Based Practices for a Meaningful Life (UC Berkeley's Project Home Page), and Three Good Things (Greater Good in Action)
Tuesday 10.30.18: My dog comforted me: Past week I have felt super sick back and forth to the doctors and he has laid with me everyday which he normally doesn’t do. My mom made me breakfast before work: She usually is out of the house early but she had an extra hour to spare and made me breakfast to wake up to. I went to the gym: My friend went with me so she could motivate me to workout. Wednesday 10.31.18: I dressed up for the preschoolers I work for: They loved my costume of a minion and talked about it all day. My dad ordered food for me: My mom and dad went out with friends and ordered me food for dinner so I didn't have to cook. My friends and I watched a whole bunch of Halloween movies: So I wasn’t home alone my friends came over to hand out candy and watch Halloween movie with me. Thursday 11.01.18: Went to doctors and got medicine: After a week or so if not feeling good I was put on a medication to help me feel a lot better. Dad brought me home Gatorade: After work my dad brought me home a Gatorade because they usually make me feel better when I am sick. My mom made me my favorite meal: After a long day I woke up from my nap to my mom cooking my favorite meal. Friday 11.02.18: Ran into old friend: Haven’t seen her since middle school days we caught up and planned a day to get food. Babysat cousin: I took my cousins to dinner while I was babysitting them they were so respectful. Friend helped me with essay: I was struggling with my sociology essay and my friend that loves sociology came over to help me. Saturday 11.03.18: Went to a walk: I created a team to walk to defeat ALS for my Pop Pop. Went to lunch: My whole extended family and I went to lunch in the city after the walk and I haven’t seen them in awhile. Made a dessert: I decided to make angel food cake for dessert since I haven’t in awhile. Sunday 11.04.18: Slept in: Even with the time change somehow I was able to sleep in till noon which I haven’t done before. Go for a run: It was a pretty nice day so I broke in my new shoes and went for a run outside. Complete an essay: After procrastinating an essay I sat down and was able to write the whole thing and get it out of the way. Monday 11.05.18: Chose my major: I have been torn between education and health finally chose health studies as my major. Had time to stop for coffee: Usually I am a very late person, but I woke up on time and was even able to stop for a coffee. Figured out who I am voting for: I sat down and was able to do research on the people running and figured out the people who I was picking for election day. In this blog I was able to look back on my narrative project and talk about how writing my project impacted me in different ways with my writing skills. I reflected on the process of my narrative project and different strategies in my writing. What is Fan Fiction -- and why is it making people nervous? (Stephen Downes), and Rewinding and Rewriting: The Alternate Universes in Our Head (Hidden Brain Podcast) helped me in writing this blog post.
Revising this draft helped me a lot with critiquing my product. The more I was able to revise a new draft I was able to see things I missed in the first time draft. It allowed me to look at my writing differently at a closer reading.
When I turned my writing into third person point-of-view I didn't change much else but it did allow me to see the words I used and change them to match the story better.
Writing the story in third person point-of-view allowed me to take a step outside of the story and allow me to picture the story in someone else's eyes. It allowed me to see where the story pulled your attention and where it needed improvement.
Writing the story in present tense brought back the feeling in the exact moment of when the story happened. It also made it hard to write in some ways since I experienced the story I saw I was leaving details out since I was picturing it in my head rather than through words so everyone else can picture it too.
Rewriting changing views showed me that some details I accidentally left out since I was picture the moment I forgot to put details in to allow to reader to picture the moment too.
Revising my story in different ways allowed me to help capture the moment through important details. |
Nicole StrasinskiThis page includes blogs about myself and material in my English Composition I class. Archives
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