Nichols

Talcott Nichols
Professor Rines
UWRT 1101
12 April 2015
Final Reflection
This semester has been long but also informative. I have learned so much about writing
over these past few months. Some of the assignments were very interesting while others I just
couldnt wait to be done with (and its still not over). Even if it wasnt a pleasing assignment,
breaking them down, I still learned a lot from them.
The in-class experience was fairly enjoyable. It was fun to have conversations about
different topics (even though sometimes no one wanted to speak). Peer workshops were also
helpful to me because the people who reviewed my papers usually caught things I had not and
also gave pretty good help.
The smallest of the assignments, the Daybook Entries, was a bumpy road. I enjoyed the
ones that elicited opinionate responses from everyone. Hearing and sharing different opinions on

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:08 AM

Comment [1]: Expand on these topics.
How could it have been better if everyone
talked? Specific examples of things that your
peers caught that you didnt?

these subjects was very eye opening not only to the variety of people in the world but also the
variety in the way that they think. For me the daybook entries didnt feel like they were helping
my writing at first. Looking back though, they forced me to come up with ideas faster than I am
used to. I typically take forever to start a paper because I want to know what I am going to write
about. These assignments helped me see that I just needed to start writing anything at all, and
then form it later.
The Discussion forums were a similar assignment to the daybook entries as far as
interest; they had their ups and downs. They were more interesting in the beginning of the

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:01 AM

Comment [2]: I agree with this. I did not
think that it helped at first, but it did in the
long run. And it created a balance between
fun writing and writing that we had to do.

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:02 AM
Comment [3]: I think that this is good also.
You do need to just write sometimes and then
go back and put it into where it fits. Get all
your ideas on the page.

 Nichols 2

semester because I had never participated in an online forum before, especially for a grade. It
was fun to see how far I could with play on words and still show understanding of the topic in
question. Shortly into the semester though, this became far more taxing than enjoyable. As other
class work piled up, it became harder and harder to put more time into the forum posts.
Although, they were still a great way to constantly see writing from other students. This was
helpful to see how others constructed sentences and made ideas flow.

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:03 AM

Comment [4]: Maybe you could explain
here about the other work piling up. With the
GA or ME? With other readings? What work
was piling up?

The Genre Analysis was the first paper that really tested how good (or bad) my writing
was. I have never been very confident in my writing and it was a great start to becoming a better
writer. This paper was the most enjoyable assignment because I felt like I could write about what
I wanted to, while also fulfilling assignment requirements. The whole genre topic was a huge
paradigm shift for me. It was interesting breaking down what a genre is while also completely
changing the meaning of the word. The depth that we can go into analyzing a genre is almost
infinite. The Genre Analysis was a great start to working on my writing abilities. It also taught
me that there is no right way, but more the understandable and accepted ways to write.
Working through the Micro-Ethnography seemed endless. This assignment was my least
favorite due to the type of study. Im not to keen on studying people or cultures. I also felt I

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:04 AM

Comment [5]: I agree with this. And
maybe you could tie this into one of the
readings that we had? Five paragraph essay?

didnt have enough time to pick a community that I felt more interested in and also have easy
access to. That being said, the study was very interesting breaking down all of the communities
into easily recognizable pieces. Much like the Genre Analysis, the break down of a community
was very informative. I believe the Micro-Ethnography helped expand my writing style
knowledge. Having to use recorded interviews as well as field notes was very new to me. Not
only that, having to actually perform the interviews and observations was new. Every new
technique I learn can be used at a later time.

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:06 AM

Comment [6]: I like what you took away fro
this project. I do like how you said that you
learned a new writing style, but at the same
time the different aspects of collecting data
was a new skill that was learned.

 Nichols 3

As a writer, I think I have learned a lot of new techniques to make my writing better and
easier. At the beginning of the semester I was dreading taking a writing class. This class has
definitely helped me with my writing. When I started to work on the very first assignment, it
would take me forever to even start writing. Now starting has become much easier. I would have
to say that is the biggest thing I will take-away from this class. There is obviously a ton more I
need to work on as far as my writing goes, but this semester has definitely been a big knowledge
bump for me.
End Note
Talcott, I think that you had a very basic reflection here. Not that it is a bad thing, its not, but
there are many places in which you can go into more detail about how you feel about the certain
topics. Provide more examples within these places. I think that you hit all of the 5 bullets that
were required within the assignment sheet, but like I stated before I think that you could provide
examples of this. One thing that I did not see was the portfolio contents. I did not do that either,
but it is a big part of the assignment. Overall, I agree with you on many points that you make
about how this class has impacted you as a writer. One place that I think that you could expand
on is the area where you talk about confidence. I think that confidence is very important when it
comes to writing, so I think that it would be beneficial for you to expand on this section of your
writing. Do not hold back when it comes to providing examples. I think that is the main thing
that can help your paper and go into more depth about each topic. You provided a good, but
basic, explanation of this class.

Daniel Machon 4/13/2015 10:07 AM

Comment [7]: This is true for me too. I
think that all of the different writing styles
that we have worked on helped jump start our
writing.