I plan to do my literature review about what I am currently wanting to major in, creative writing. I believe in doing this and actually getting some research in before I get into my creative writing classes, that I can be more prepared once I finally do start in creative writing. I think it will be fun and a good experience to see what others have to say about their successes in the field that I want to be successful in. So on top of learning for this class, I will be able to learn for what I want to pursue as my career, and get to see what others have to say on the matter.
Introduction
Hello, I am Charley Pope. I love making, reading, and viewing stories. I am also currently a freshman enrolled here at Texas Tech, majoring in creative writing. I was born and raised right here in Lubbock! I am taking this english class to improve my skills as a writer as I one day hope to become an author. I believe that some of my strengths as a writer are telling stories. I love doing this and I think that I am fairly good at it. It is fun and a good way to spend my time. Some things I believe I can improve upon, hopefully using this class to do so, is quoting and interpreting another’s words into my own. That would be my goal for this class.
Module: Finale
Looking back at my writing skills before I started this class, what I have improved on since then, and where I am now, I see much improvement in my work. From not adding unnecessary, extra, words into my work, to being able to come full circle while writing, I am very proud with my improvements. This will help a lot not only in my other college classes but also when I exit college in order to become a fiction author.
Module 14
What lessons have you learned from writing—from an individual piece of writing or an entire course?
I have learned a lot from writing in this class. I learned how to, overall, be more professional. I learned about rhetorical choices, and I learned how to become more confident as a writer.
From what you have learned, what can you apply to the work you will do for other classes?
In my other classes, I will be able to write more professionally, use proper grammar more efficiently, and feel all around better about my work.
What about your writing do you feel most confident about—and why?
I feel most confident when I write about material I am into, whether it is about a subject that interests me, a story I like, or an interesting article. I feel that the more I like it, the better my work will be and the more qualified I will be to write about it.
What about your writing do you think needs additional work, and what plans do you have for improving?
I think that there are certain parts of my writing that need additional work. Some of these things are the ability to use stronger words that do not go over everybody’s head, and just all around I need to feel confident in all my writings.
What confusions did you have while writing, and what did you do to resolve them?
Some confusions I had while writing mostly came in my draft, but after every time I wrote I had checked over it for grammatical and spelling errors, as well as seeing if it made sense. If it did not make sense I would talk to somebody about it and get input from them to improve my work.
What major questions do you still have?
In what other ways could I improve my work, and how could I become a better writer in general? Are there any small tactics I could apply to my writing that I have not already learned?
How has writing helped you clarify your thinking, extend your knowledge, or deepen your understanding?
It helped me realize that when I write I could go over things twice, so I could improve my writing before even submitting it or letting anybody see it. Writing calms me and is soothing, so it is like a second language to me.
Identify a favorite passage in your writing, and then try to articulate what you like about it. Can you apply what you learn from this analysis to other pieces of writing?
I enjoyed “The New Sovereignty” by Shelby Steele. It was an interesting article and writing about it made me think deeper about it. I have been able to apply this tactic of thinking deeper on subjects through writing in my other classes.
How would you describe your development as a writer?
I would describe myself as a learner still, but I have improved very much since I entered college. I believe I am on my way to becoming a professional author.
What goals do you have for yourself as a writer?
I want to become an author of fiction work, and be able to tell stories through words.
Module 13
Of the quick help boxes, I found the one about not adding to much to be the most helpful. It is easy to add more and more, thinking it will help your paper, however sometimes less is more. As for empty words, I found that I tend to use them (as I just did) in order to make up space for myself. It is difficult to write when you have to have so many words yet so many more are excluded from making the paper the best it can be. (That is how I see it.) I find my tendency to use empty words to be alright, just not overdone to where you know they are empty words. They seem to fit in with the rest of the paper, and make it sound smarter and all around better.
Module 12.1
“As you know, Halo: The Master Chief Collection ships with 400 achievements worth 4000 gamerscore. However, your journey through Halo: The Master Chief Collection is an ongoing one, and as part of our launch content update, we will be rolling out another 50 achievements worth 500 gamerscore. For this round of achievements, we wanted to focus on community and the new multiplayer features being offered by the new maps and modes within Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer. Have a look.” (343i, halowaypoint)
When I first read my assignment description for my blog, this blog / article came to mind. A few weeks ago, I was on the main website of Halowaypoint, and I was heading over to the forum section. However, something caught my eye. The title of this article, so I read this introduction paragraph (or most of it, as it was on the front page as well) and I postponed my trip to the forum section so that I could read this. The introduction had me pumped, both because the information excited me and because of the little tease on the homepage, prompting me to click on the article. I believe this was a very good introduction paragraph.
“In the winter of 1979-1980 I was 10 years old and living in suburban Long Island, where I filled my time being depressed about the New York Mets and eagerly awaiting the next STAR WARS movie.” (Starwars.com)
I do not believe this is a great introduction paragraph, because this tells nothing about what the article is about. Rumours and speculation being a long part of Star Wars history is the purpose of the article and this introduction feels out of place. I would have worded it like this.
“Boba Fett in episode VII? The return of an ancient Sith Lord? Is C-3PO still talking nonstop? Today, we bring you the latest in Star Wars rumours and speculation, from your galaxy to beyond the outer rim!”
This introduction would have fit the purpose of the blog much better, and caught my interest (and I am sure other Star Wars fans) much more.
I find that when I have an attention grabbing first sentence to my introduction paragraphs, they typically tend to be more successful. Like what I put in my daft: “If you wouldn’t fight fire with fire, then you know fighting sovereignty with sovereignty is a terrible idea.” Just a little metaphor or simile or piece of diction will go a long way.
Sources:
https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/the-next-50-achievements
Module 11.2
I do not need to rethink my audience, purpose, or topic. I just need to delve into it more and provide more examples. I believe that my choices for the audience, purpose, and topic were all good, just under explained.
I do need to revise my thesis, but I do not need to approach the topic differently. I believe I did just fine, and it could benefit from more detail about how irony is the authors rhetorical choice, and how he used it to connect to his audience.
I could improve the organization of my paper by making sure to add details to explain the main purpose I am talking about. For example, if I say that the author uses irony to show how the women’s only club is not fighting for their rights, then I need to back that up with details and show why the author thinks they are not fighting for their rights.
Adding onto the last part, I can then look at my own personal opinion and see if the author is write or wrong, and why. I need to support my answers with details, making the structure for my essay a lot more understandable and professional.
Additional research on the author might help, or on sovereignty itself. However, I do not believe I need to do additional research because aside from explaining my points, I have the information that I need to succeed in writing my essay.
Module 11.1
I believe by doing this exercise I was able to find some of my mistakes after looking over some of the other student’s papers. Now I can see better where my mistakes where, I can use the other dafts I looked over in order to improve my own, and make an early decision on how I can fix my daft for next time. I learned that I need to focus more on my main rhetorical choice, irony, as well and find the connections that the author made to connect to his audience. All in all I believe that this assignment helps me better understand how to write my essay more professionally and become a better writer.
Peer Critique
I believe the purpose of the peer critique was to help the student we were critiquing realize what they could have done better, and help us realize what we could have done to improve. Next essay I do, I have a much better idea of how to write it and go about doing it. It will also be less stressful and a lot easier. In my critiques that students write to me, I hope to see constructive criticism, and not somebody being a jerk about how I wrote. I realize I am not the best at this type of writing, however I know that I am improving vastly and have already become much better then I was when I started this class. Critiquing these papers actually was my favourite assignment so far in this class, but also the most difficult. I enjoyed it because I was able to see what students did better then me, and I will be able to see what parts I messed up on.
Module 9.1
My introduction sentence is going to be this: I will be posting my introduction paragraph first with this sentence to start me off: “If you wouldn’t fight fire with fire, then you know fighting sovereignty with sovereignty is a terrible idea. ”
I then explain what the rest of the paper will be about, explaining what the rest of my paper is gonna be about. After that, I will give a little bit more context into what is to come, and follow that up with multiple quotes that pertain to rhetorical choices and especially irony. After going into detail about each quote in it’s own paragraph, I will finish my daft up with a conclusion paragraph that nicely wraps up the paper. I will use quotes from Shelby Steele’s “The New Sovereignty” and incorporate them into the paper as well. That is basically what I am doing for my daft.
Charley Popes Blog! 