This English 1102 class has definitely changed the way I view writing and the way I write. Up until now all the writing I had done was strictly essays, poems, and short summaries. I had never done a blog post and I definitely would have never made a website to publish my writing. At first I did think the course was a bit odd because of how it was set up. I mean, where have you ever heard about an english course with no essays? I felt like it was going to be easy because I did not have to constantly write a formal essay. However, my thought process was completely wrong. I have learned that writing blog posts can be a lot more challenging. The medium that one uses to write on and present work on definitely changes the work as a whole. I feel like changing the style of writing has definitely helped me. Now I look at all the details that affect the work. For example, I had never taken the audience into consideration when writing, because I always knew that it would just be my professor (or teacher) and I that would read it, but now I take my audience into consideration when writing. I also pay more attention to the format and make sure that my work is something that would catch someone’s attention. The course is different because it changes the format of writing, such as writing a blog post instead of a formal essay, trying to write less instead of meeting a word count, and so on.

Before I did not know that when doing primary research I could include my own thoughts and experiences, I thought that it had to be done on a primary source. Now I know that part of primary research is going out and experiencing what it is you are talking about. Now I also go mainly to the GSU Library for my research instead of going on google to collect my information, so I know that my research skills have definitely become stronger. I know how to effectively conduct and incorporate research into my writing so I know that my unit 2 blog posts will be better, because I know what I am doing now.

Writing a blog is definitely different then other writings. There are so many things that have to be taken into consideration. For example, the title. Even though some say not to judge a book by its cover, many do. This can relate to the title of a blog post. If the title is not interesting or eye catching many might skip it and not consider it. This is challenging because the title must be both informative and interesting. Also the visuals are important. It is important to include visuals when writing a post because it allows the audience to see what you are talking about. Also adding pictures is a process, you cannot just take a picture and insert it wherever. The image must relate to your text, be placed appropriately, and be labeled.

I am satisfied with the work I have done in the class but I feel like I could do more. I want to do more extra credit activities. I have not really done anything outside of the curriculum so I feel like I have just done the minimum. I know I can do more. The google doc really helps me with reaching my abilities because of the feedback. I honestly use the google doc as more of a motivation than a grading system. I had never really gotten constructive criticism. The criticism is more like feedback and it suggest room for improvement which I love.