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28 April 2017

Dear Professor Turgeon,

In your course, I was able to develop flexibility in my writing. When I started writing

HankMardukas and Me I was writing it from my perspective, as someone playing the game. But

as I was editing my initial draft I saw how easy it would be to write it from the perspective of the

in-game character and I thought that would be more unique. In the original I just said I went to

Google to find an answer, but in the revision, I said, Ill go to the omnipotent, omnipresent,

omniscient wizard Google and ask him how I may change my loyal companions name.

(Dobbs) Once I did start writing it from Tenarlas perspective it started to be fun, I think that was

the first time I really enjoyed writing. In the first draft my narration and analysis were jumbled

together. By the final version, I was able to shift the voice, tone, and formality and make them

two distinctly different parts. I also developed flexibility in my writing. When I shifted to

writing the analysis, I found that I had to take a little break so I would think more analytical and

write in a more academic tone. Writing for the argumentative paper was difficult to take all the

emotion out of it because I feel so strongly about the elimination of the penny, but it did sound

more formal without it. I used humor in my narration but I didnt use it in the analysis or the

argumentative papers as I thought it would detract from the purpose. Humor can be used

affectively in academics, such as How to Not Write Bad, but if you do it poorly it can come off

cheesy and you may lose your audience.


Critical reading is probably what I struggled with the most at the start of class. It is still a

weakness for me, but I do feel that I have improved. During your course, I was able to improve

my ability to locate and evaluate primary and secondary research materials. When I was doing

research for Argument and Solution for Elimination of the Penny I started to look for where they

got their information from, or failing that, more sources that supported it. I found that some sites
just present information as fact when they had no supporting data or old, weak data. I did

initially include all the sources in the end citations but after talking the WRC they told me not to

include it if I did not cite them in text so I deleted the duplicates. I also tried to use as original a

source as possible. For instance, when I said, In one case study of nineteen dogs with zinc

toxicosis only seventeen survived, (Ryan) I originally found it in a news article but I saw at the

bottom they had cited his study so I used that as my source. I was also able to locate documents

in professional databases. I found an old U.S. Mint Audit report through a news article but was

able to go through their database and find the most current one. Similarly, I found the Gaming

Revenue Report on the Nevada Gaming Commission website.


My composing process was nonexistent when I started your class. It had been nearly 12

years since I last wrote a paper, and from what I recall I did not really have one then. So, when I

started to write my first paper for your class I was a bit frightened at what I would be able to do.

I used multiple composing processes for my papers and adapted them based in what I was

writing. I started writing the first draft of HankMardukas and Me by sitting at the computer and

just writing anything I could think to, and then going back and editing it, rather heavily, after I

could not think of anything else. My editing was not great and I had the narrative and analysis

all mixed together, which you pointed out. I had a better idea of what I was doing and started to

focus more during the final draft for HankMardukas and Me. When it came to writing Argument

and Solution for Elimination of the Penny I read numerous articles and tried to think of a basic

outline before I wrote the first line. I think that helped, but I still tried to write as much as

possible before I started to edit which I think works for me. For this letter to you I read each

learning objective and wrote each section one at a time. One thing I needed to improve on is

making sure I get as close to the length of the paper as I can before I turn in the first draft. I

turned in the first draft of Argument and Solution for Elimination of the Penny with only 2 pages.
I did that to see what you thought I should expand on. But, it would have been better if I had

given you a more complete paper, I still would have gotten that and I could have gotten more

feedback on the overall structure and format of it. With all that I could have been closer to the

final version with my second draft and turned in a more polished paper with the final version. I

think I improved on that with this letter as it was much closer to the final version than my other

papers. I think having as much feedback as possible from other people is very helpful to me. I

plan to continue to use the WRC and hopefully set up a writing group for any future classes that

require writing,
I also did not have much knowledge of conventions when I started this class. But with

your instruction and provided materials I was able to learn all about conventions and go from

never having heard of MLA, not knowing what a thesis statement was, and no idea how to

properly cite to getting a 100 on the argumentative essay. The biggest convention I learned I

probably already knew but did not really think about before I started writing Argument and

Solution for Elimination of the Penny, and that was the formal rules and informal guidelines for a

formal paper. For instance, do not to use first or second person to try and convince people in a

formal paper or in any other genre when you are trying to convince them of something. It is

better to provide facts and let them come to their own conclusion. If you do use first or second

person they are might see something at the beginning of the paper they do not agree with and

then they might be defensive for the rest of the paper. I realized that when I read an article if

they used personal opinions a lot I basically dismissed their whole article.
My critical reflection has also greatly improved. I initially did not give much thought as

to why I made the decisions I did in HankMardukas and Me, but once we started reading more

and more for this course I started to see why I made certain decisions and was able to use writing

as a means for reflection. I was also able to address revisions made in response to reader
feedback. I used the feedback I got from you and the WRC to form a stronger thesis statement

for Argument and Solution for Elimination of the Penny. Im also better able to explain the

choices I make in writing. For instance, I initially wrote HankMardukas and Me from my

perspective as a person playing a game because the only writing experience I have is writing

more technical documents for the Air Force. Then I started writing it from Tenarlas perspective

because I thought it would be more unique. Once I started I also discovered is was more fun

because I felt freer to write whatever I wanted. After all it wasnt really me talking it was

Tenarlas.
The further I got into this reflection the happier I am that I took 1101 and thus will also

have to take 1102. I think the extra writing instruction will be very helpful for me. I think I have

learned a lot from your course, but I see I still have room left for improvement if I want to do my

best later, when I have to write papers for my major.

Sincerely,
Jacob A. Dobbs

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