Jacob Bergstrom

English 1102

February 15, 2016

Class Activity

 

Writing in this class is definitely a whole different aspect than traditional English classes. In this class we do more research rather than basic reading book papers making this class more interesting. This class is different in the aspect of research because we go out and do more by ourselves rather than have a teacher’s help and guide us. The amount of work however is similar to those of a normal English 1102 class.

The relationship between primary and secondary research is closely similar, just for primary you are actually going out there and studying the area or whatever the topic is and recording it for yourself. Whereas secondary research is a little easier because you just have to find a reliable source to quote and document. I plan to take this knowledge and apply it to my reading summaries to make them overall better in every aspect: writing, rhetoric, tone, depth, etc.

The situation is a blog post we are making for the people interested in what we have to say or who is interested in our research to further their knowledge on the topic. The audience of our work could use this research to enhance the writing of a paper. In fact, I recently had a peer of mine use my website to quote me from one of my blogs for a research paper. So I definitely believe these are being used to further and better someone else’s work and is highly beneficial.

Writing in a blog is completely different than writing in a traditional English class. In a blog the work is not as formal as a typical collegiate paper. In a blog we are more likely to use everyday language or slang to define a typical topic, whereas a normal collegiate class you are typically very formal. Multimodalities are a huge role in research, as I’ve learned back in English 1101, but wasn’t fully utilizing and understanding it until this class.

 

 

Some of my strengths and weaknesses on my writing is sometimes over using normal conversational talk in my research papers and blog posts. I generally tend to make it as realistic as I can get (much like an everyday conversation one would have on the way to work or while getting coffee) which also harms me, for I use too much ‘slang’ and everyday language. I also feel this is a strength of mine as well. I am making these blog posts to where anyone could understand it ad stay focused in and on the topic instead of letting their mind wonder from boredom. So overall, I need to focus on limiting my use of slang but also focus on keeping it realistic while keeping it academically correct.

I am actually part of a Group Me with a few classmates to help myself as well as those in the group chat. It helps because we all remind each other of due dates, specific details, and other useful details one person would usually forget. The Group Me so far has been the most helpful for me.

I have attempted some extra points, but it gets difficult sometimes when you have multiple things due within a week time span and always have outside work for this class. It is a very time consuming class and for people with limited time it gets harder to maximize points. Any pictures for points or easy questions and comments are always an easy way to get points. I feel though as if, even if we did do the outside ‘extra credit’ work we still wouldn’t receive proper pointing for it though. There are a lot of hidden rules and restrictions that go untold until it has already been submitted.

As far as effort goes, I feel as if I am doing moderately well with my busy schedule I have following the class. I plan to put more effort into this class once busy schedule slows down a bit, if it ever does. Other than that, I am still going to try to maximize points.

 

I realized you definitely couldn’t just write on your blog as if you were talking to someone. Although it is perceived that way from the rubrics and guidelines, I still have to stay more formally academically correct. Also I plan to begin to study the rubric more and follow the specific guidelines rather than assuming the rubric allows more academic freedom.

I will definitely incorporate asking and answering more questions my peers ask, as well as being as involved as possible in my class discussions and posts. This will help me maximize points and come out with a higher grade.