Professor: It seems that there are no more bare bones.
Reflection
Today, I like to think of writing as an art of sorts. In English 1010, this was my perceptive. In fact, comparing writing to chess and knowing the potentials of English, that has not changed. However, what has changed are the strategies of writing to a specific audience. In my English 2010 course, I know that I have learned these skills and they are visible on my four major assignments, the work performed and the revisions. These include the Report, Info-graphic, Position Paper, Photo Essay and my personal article on Memoirs.
My learning began with my first major paper, the Report and it signifies the difficulties of writing a paper. The primary functions of this piece were to allow specific audiences to know that choices remain for preserving Range Creek Ranch. This piece is intended for The University of Utah Museum of Natural History and Anthropologists within Utah. The paper focused on two primary objectives, and my intentions were not just to change the thinking of preserving the artifacts in the ranch, but to also highlight the risk of not doing so. This piece required data and statistical evidence, and that is hard to find. Another difficulty faced were computer problems. My documents were corrupted due to computer malfunctions. The papers were turned in late and this lead to fewer views from peers and my audiences. After completing my next major assignments, my strategies of writing began to make sense. After submission, the paper was revised. These revisions include grammar and interaction for my specified audiences. This piece is currently published within my profile on LinkedIn. Within this social site, a few anthropologist have been added to my friend list. My audiences will have a higher chance of viewing my document through search engines. However, this is not to be confused with my next piece.
The second piece, the info-graphic, it faced similar problems. This piece is a user interface text. It obtains the attention of viewers. While the graphic designs allowed people to gather data quickly, while reflecting on the importance of the Ranch, my specific audiences still had difficulties finding my work. Another challenge included photos, finding great photography of the ranch is a challenge. The solution here was to check for few errors of grammar and spelling. The photographs were obtained using non-commercial Flickr users, who permit the use of their photos with attribution to the author A few minor changes were given. I choose Medium.com for publication, this website creates higher visibility for my specified audiences. This info-graphic was simple, when compared to my next assignment.
The third piece, the position paper, it remains one of my most favorite articles. This piece best fits parents with children and it influences their perspective of whether gaming is good or not for children. This paper was created by my personal perspective, interviews and it tells real events that have happened. After receiving peer reviews, it made sense to revise certain portions of the paper. The first primary revision included grammar, sentence, and paragraph structure. This was realized when my fourteen-year-old cousin pointed it out. The second fundamental change added an intended setting for this piece. This article is a PDF document, and that preserves the format it has. This form aids my viewers to know in what setting this paper would best fit if published in a magazine. This importance prompted me to redesign the layout of the article, the font, spacing and images. Just like the the report, the next article is not to be confused with the Photo Essay piece.
The fourth article is the Photo Essay. In this piece, the work of the Position Paper is used to give viewers a graphic interface for interpretation of the position assignment. The biggest difference with my two pieces are the number of pictures and how the photos unfold the story. It is also accessible to viewers online to an article sharing website called medium.com, and that makes this piece easy to access within the search engines. Personally, the major revisions were a bit embarrassing. After receiving feedback from my peers and my professor, it became apparent that not enough pictures were used and these photos were not as compelling as the piece’s intent could be. These revisions called the attention of adding more photos within the essay. These pictures were captured personally, and they reflect memories of the main character’s childhood. This piece is still one of my favorites due to how personal and the learning experience it created. And this is what prompted me to create my next piece, although it was not required.
The fifth piece, the memoir piece shares my personal memories of being a phlebotomist, with the challenges that were faced and how these problems were solved. This piece is designed for people considering phlebotomy as a career. Because this was intended for new phlebotomists, the best place for publishing was medium.com. With search engines, people will have accessibility to this piece. A few things that were revised within this piece were the photos. The photos are a significant portion of the assignment, and these took a little time to obtain. The photos on the website are my arm and blood. Interesting enough, I drew my blood within these pictures. The photos have a colored sketch layer, to create the ‘memoir’ affect. In fact, there are subtle sensory texts included in this piece. As examples, “the comparison of blood”, the “feeling” of being poked or fished on, the emotion that I as the antagonist felt and the emotions my patient felt.
Throughout the last five pieces, the most important lesson that has been learned are the patterns. These models include the same mistakes I have included within my drafts and a few of my finals. These patterns have allowed me to understand at a personal level what my audience feel in emotion, how they interest falls or even how they are prompted to do something.
It is true; Writing is a powerful potential. This is why my mind just wraps around it using metaphors. The patterns within my major pieces have allowed creating my two central metaphors: Where writing can be seen as a game of chess, where you write using techniques, strategies and determine you opinionates needs and weakness. Or it can also be seen as an application user interface, where the game maker finds his flaws the prevent the players from playing their game.
What is certain is that my time and dedication for the course paid off. The assignments that were low scored, those I focused the most. It did make the larger assignments simpler. Most importantly, this work combined has given me a new voice. This voice is genuine, personal and it allows me to converse within the contemporary world of academic writing.
Report
Infographic
https://medium.com/@dnaatwork/infographic-preserving-range-creek-ranch-32d2b95a199#.wz9j9qmwu%20
Position Paper
Memoir
