2. The reading applies to the writing in practice and not just theory. The methods actually do work, which was a little surprising to me. There's a lot more involved than just grammar and sentence structure. The different genres and their purposes was interesting. You can also learn a lot just from reading someone else's writing. I found myself imitating the style of some of the authors I read during the draft process.
3. Most links that appear in online texts have bearing on the subject that they're written about so sometimes I would get more ideas just from following them. I narrowed down topics by eliminating the ones that were too popular and also the ones that were too obscure. The better the information I could get on a subject the more likely I would be to use it. Thesis statements had to be something unique I hadn't found in my research and also had to be a consequential subject for society.
4. The peer review process was very valuable. People gave a lot of good criticism without being snarky or mean. I offered very general criticism mostly because I am a critical person anyway but I didn't think hacking away at anyone's work would be productive. I appreciate the feedback I got and often replied with agreement or what I planned to do differently. There were some things I realized were perceived differently by the readers than I had intended, and so decided to revise and clarify. Here's a screenshot of some of the comments and replies:
5. The conferences were also helpful. At the beginning of the class there was some confusion about a few of the assignments, and it was good to know I wasn't the only one having problems. The problems were cleared up once they were communicated. The individual feedback was also helpful in giving some additional instruction about links. It isn't the same as asking in person and getting an answer right away but it was effective enough for an online class.
7. When revising I would first read very closely and make changes as I went. Some ideas that were halfway formed were joined to other ones to make a complete idea. A lot of the revisions were made as a direct result of a comment. I thought the exercises in which we revised the introduction and the conclusion were really helpful in that all I had to revise was the body. It was a lot less overwhelming to do it that way.
8. There are a lot more genres than I realized and many more apps to different formats. They all have their own styles and audiences and sometimes the best way to revise something is to look closer at the conventions of the genre you're writing in. Giving yourself constraints gives you less to get bogged down in. The genre you choose comes with its own constraints.
9. I would choose my topics/subjects more carefully based on how much relevant information I could find about it. The first draft was more difficult to write than it should have been. I had to work with less information than I would have wanted to. I had to go through articles that didn't deal primarily with my subject and find relevant quotes or information and find the best way to integrate them into my main text.
10. I will be able to use the processes for other classes. The way of organizing and keeping track of research and how it will fit into a paper will be good to know. It is important to know how to communicate through words. I will probably need to apply for grants in the future and they need to be written with this kind of knowledge. If I go on to graduate school, the application process has a lot of writing involved so I will be able to use the knowledge there as well.
11. I learned that writing is more of a science than I thought. There are a lot of rules and conventions that matter in the quality and credibility of a good article, essay, etc. If these rules aren't respected than the writing suffers. It's actually a lot easier to read about what you'll be doing before you make the attempt blindly. It saves a lot of time if you are even a little familiar with the process and rules. Revision is the best part of writing.
12. The way I write most things, editing heavily as I write drafts, is probably the way it's going to stay. Planning and outlining still are very useful to me in writing and they will be used along with some of the other methods I learned here. I also am open and willing to learn from constructive criticism, even though once I really decide on something I won't usually change it except for a very good reason. My writing is spread out, broad and societal in its scope. I do prefer to keep it simple but with enough solid writing to make it seem more dense.
13. Again I would choose a topic to write about that has enough existing information on it to be able to write about something unique. One of my topics was very year-specific, and even though the subject is well established, not enough information on that particular aspect of it was available.
14. One of the objectives that I believe I met was being able to asses how writers achieve their purposes. Reading the different genres and skill levels made it more clear which audiences they attempt to reach depending on their format, language choices, and depth of purpose.
I am still working on rhetorical strategic writing; the usual style I write in isn't a one-size-fits all style. I also think I was able to develop persuasive appeals to my readers; based on the comments I received, much of what I was thinking was shared by others. The comments that criticized were more grammar or structure based than content based. None of my theses were questioned or challenged.
I also think I made headway in finding evidence to support my thesis statements. A lot of what I usually write is based on my own experiences and observations, so learning about all the different ways to research a topic and finding relevant information was something else I achieved.
I also learned to accept criticism and make the best of the suggestions that I got instead of assuming that I was correct no matter what anyone else said. Even if I didn't agree with the criticism I thought about why it was made and attempted to clarify without changing the basic idea.
Scholarly research, analysis and documentation are things I've begun to achieve, though I think these skills take years to hone with precision. For one thing, there are a lot of conflicting claims and ideas on any given subject, and analyzing these claims for accuracy and relevance, as well as originality and credibility, takes a lot of time and effort if you want to go in-depth.
I also believe I have a firm understanding of writing convincing prose. I'm still working on clarification, but the revision process taught me that reader feedback is important because it's impossible (for me, anyway) to read my own work objectively.
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