To the Reader

Dear Reader,
     When first signing up for College Composition, I wasn't sure what to think of the class. I didn't know whether it would be a class focusing just on the making of our college essays, or if we would be drafting other types of essays as well. We did in fact write many other essays, on all different topics. With many of the essays, I found it difficult to begin, but because of this I learned to just get down my thoughts. With writing on the paper it was much easier to go back and edit in order to make a cohesive draft. We wrote many drafts before revising any of them. This forced me to take time away from what I had written, allowing me to revise with a clear and open mind.
     I felt fairly comfortable with my writing in the beginning of the class, but many times I was afraid of trying new techniques or ideas. Throughout the course I found myself taking more risks in my writing. Because of this I felt that my writing grew over the course. I still feel like I struggle with a little bit of creativity. Once I have come up with an idea I find it difficult to develop alternative ideas that may fit into my piece better. I struggled with this most in the seven deadly sins paper. Overall, I think i grew most in my initial drafts in terms of just getting my ideas and writing on the paper. Instead of trying to think of all the ideas at once, I just wrote, and I feel that my work turned out better.
     My first post was a reflection on my food paper called, Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate! The paper was based on a article we had read in class called, " I Guess That's Why They Call Me A Bitch." It was written by a women about a experiment she had done, where she tried different kinds of dog food and compared them. As a class we then decided to conduct similar experiments. I was part of the group who tasted and compared chocolates. We then wrote an essay explaining our results. This paper was different than many I had done before because it was actually written about something I had actually done. Research was helpful for this paper, and in writing this area of my draft i found that it was one of my strengths. It was much easier for me to develop my thoughts and the draft when writing about and using the research I had found, then it was explaining the results form the experiment.
     My second post was another reflection, but regarding my seven deadly sins paper called, The Seven Deadly Sins Committed at the Local Mall. This paper was probably the most difficult for me because i really had to become very creative in my writing. Some of the sins were not events that you would see everyday, or that you realize you see everyday, but they needed to be involved in order to make the point of the paper. I easily came up with a few of the sins, and maybe even multiple ideas for them, but others I wasn't able to come up with anything. I think this harmed my paper a little because I was just sticking ideas in wherever in order to complete the task, but the paper didn't necessarily gel well together. In the end though, I learned to just get my ideas down and once everything was written, it would be easier to develop different ideas that would fit the piece better. Overall, it was a very fun and interesting paper to write.
    The third post was all about revising the introductions of my food paper. Our task was to come up with three new introductions using three new techniques we had learned, for our food paper. I found this task especially difficult because I really did enjoy my original introduction. I was able to come up with three new introductions and from this I realized that I was able to come up with new ideas. Whether they fit the piece any better than my original introduction didn't necessarily matter, it was the fact that I was able to use new ideas to draft totally different introductions. After this post I felt very proud of myself.
     The fourth post was a revision of the conclusions for my seven deadly sins paper. My original draft did not have a conclusion, so I was starting from scratch, unlike my introductions post. I found this task difficult though because my paper was more of a story and it was difficult to incorporate a real conclusion using the techniques we learned when I was really just telling a story. I did end up developing two new conclusions, neither of which were the best conclusions I have written, but they suited the paper. They did help to bring the paper together in a cohesive ending. Therefore, I did learn that no matter what kind of paper you are writing, it is important to bring the paper together in the end in order to let the reader know that you are finished.
    My fifth post was again about the seven deadly sins. This time it was just my original draft revised. I went through and fixed up grammar mistakes as well as clarifying certain events involving the sins. Some of the events that were used to show the sins either didn't make sense, or just didn't really fit into the rest of the story. I still found it difficult to come up with new ideas so the revised version is very similar to the original, but it does flow better from paragraph to paragraph.
    The sixth post was another reflection on a partner paper I had written called, How To Make and Keep Friends On Facebook.
    The last entry is another reflection and revision of a paper I wrote about my Dad. This paper was both fun and difficult for me to write. It was fun because I was writing about someone who I really cared about, but difficult because I know him way to well. It was hard to make everything make sense because I had so many thoughts in my head about him. When going through and revising the draft, I am seeing the importance of prioritizing my thoughts in order to determine what is really needed and what isn't. In developing this paper, it probably would have been a good idea to start with a outline so that i could determine which ideas were of most importance and where in the paper they should be placed. Even though I did not do an outline, It is much easier to go back and revise the paper when all of my thoughts have been written down. That way I can just remove what isn't needed and clarify or develop more upon what is important.
    Overall, I really enjoyed this class. It gave me the chance to write a variety of pieces and pin point my strengths and weaknesses. In using the blog I was able to see my writing all together for the first time, allowing me to really compare and contrast the pieces. This class has definitely helped in preparing for college, and will allow me to be successful with my writing in the future!