Midterm Reflections

1.  Graphical representation of my writing/composing process

To make it simple, I first determine what I want to write about.  Next I break it down into subtopics, and determine the best way to organize them in my paper.  Then I put it together and have peer's give me feedback on what they think needs to be fixed.  Finally, touch it up, and produce my final draft. 

Here's a graphical representation of this process:

Writing Process Diagrahm.jpg

2.  A reflective cover letter that addresses how you are meeting the following student learning outcomes completed to date:

-modes of blogging and informal writing: academic, political/community-based, and personal

-situating your writing: Analyzing, synthesizing, and composing with sources

composing processes: argument and persuasion

-multimedia: visual analysis and composition, aural analysis and composition

-collaborative, coordinated, or distributed writing: linking, interacting, and responding in writing to/with peers.

-writing in the disciplines: connecting your writing to research and scholarship in a specific field

Community Writing (outside of academia)

Being apart of this class has shed light on my view of technological advancements.  This is the most general/important lesson I've picked up from my 9 weeks with Tre Connor.  I've always thought technology was about making a tasks that are hard, simple.  However, this class has made me wake up and see how much technology has really transformed communication.  Communication was the missing variable until telephones, mail, internet, etc.  With websites like this wiki, and other forms of mass communication like xanga, facebook, etc., nothing can stop the next generation from collaborating new diverse ideas!  Other learning outcomes I've acheived are modes of blogging, interacting with peers, the use of multimedia, situating my writing, composing processes, community writing, writing in the disciplines, and collaborative, coordinated, or distributed writing.  These 8 learning outcomes have not only shaped my writing skills, but my communication skills tremendously.

Ever have something to get off your chest, but no one wants to hear you vent?  Or even just think about something that you don't want to forget by not writing it down?  Blog about it!  Blogging is such a reliever when you have something to get off your chest.  The greatest part about it is that it doesn't have to be structured.  It can just be.. blah.  Experiencing blogging has opened up a lot for me.  I can bring up topics I wouldn't normally mention in public.  For example, zeitgeist  the movie.  This is a little bit of a harsh topic for casual conversation, but I still want to know how people feel about the video's ideas.  Blogging about it allows me to interact with people on a greater level and accomodate opinions I have about ideas with their views.   A good way to make sure people are interested in whatever I'm blogging about is to mutlimedia.  Multimedia, by personal definition, is information that stimulates more than one sense.  For example, a video with sound.  It stimulates both the sight and hearing sense, which keeps the audience interested.  To me, this is all a cycle of enlightenment.  First, an idea springs out of who knows where, which then goes online through blogging.  Multimedia is then found to help explain the idea.  Furthermore, it is proved as either a sustainable or unsustainable idea by peers.

Commenting on my peer's work is part of the process as well.  I may know something that they don't know and contribute to whatever idea they've proposed.  I've also learned that I can get something out of giving peer's critique, like running into a topic that could directly support my topic.  An easy way of introducing ideas that relate to a topic on the wiki is by linking them to each other.  Within a click, I can find something to support a topic I'm writing about.  This entire process is so unique because it allows for the contribution and collaboration of numerous ideas.  

Once an idea is proved sustainable by peers, it's not placed into a more complex writing process.  This is putting that idea into a formal paper for mass viewing by different audiences.  I've learned that I first need to situate my writing, then compose it's processes.  For me, situating my writing is done in pre-writing.  I gather all my information and decide what subtopics are present.  Then I've learned to synthesize them in such a way that describes my thesis the best.  For instance, this paper.  I grouped what subtopics I felt interacted with each other and decided which one's I felt led to the others.  In this instance, the least formal leads to the most formal forms of writing.  Formal paper's also require sources to validate ideas.  This gives the audience confidence that what they're reading is legit (McGraw-Hill Guide).  Once I've decided how I'm going to order and site my subtopics, I compose my writing.

Composing a paper shouldn't only be done academically, but in the community as well.  Remember, the purpose of writing academically is to learn how to correctly explain an idea to a community.  Writing in the community is crucial for getting points across.  Thanks to two peer students, James Scott and Victoria Buck, I've learned to participate in my community.  If I have a problem with something in my community, it's important to know how, and who to express thoughts on whatever that problem is.  For example, the lack of a change machine in a residence hall where washers and dryers only take quarters.  This is something I asked resident assistants about but really didn't persist.  What I should of done and what I've learned is to research USF St. Pete's senators and inform them of the problem, thanks to James.  Writing a brief paper about the neccessity for a change machine would without a doubt make it to a board meeting and more than likely get a change machine calculated into the school's budget.  Another form of writing out side of academia is writing in the disciplines.  This was important to learn because I am going to graduate school to become a psychologist.  One of the tasks required to get into a good graduate school for psychology is to preform a particular study researching an aspect in psychology.  When this time comes, I will without a doubt be connecting my writing to research and scholarship.  I will also be writing a paper which describes the study.

Over the past two months in this class, I've picked up so many new ways of communication.  One thing I've summed up from all of this is that their is no better communication than in depth communication which is often found in writing.  This is because when your writing, everything is in depth, and you can erase and put it the way you want it to be expressed.  So not only is everything abundant information wise, but accurate as well.  Another thing I've learned is that with the internet, ideas can't be held back.  Basically, if someone feels a certain way about something, people will hear about it eventually.  A good example of this is government conspiracies, like loose change, esoteric agenda, the monetary system, zeitgeist, etc.  It's impossible to stop these ideas from being expressed during the new age of information.  Mediums of communication like this wiki and hopefully plenty of other, "idea myspaces", will inspire plenty of collaborated new ideas.   

-Brandon