The Reflection
For the last assignment we were told to write a reflection of the year in English 101. Here it is.
For our first assignment we were given a few different articles and asked to pick one and relate it to our own life. I picked the source text written by Baratunde Thurston “#Unplug: Baratunde Thurston Left The Internet For 25 Days, And You Should, Too.” I picked this piece because I knew that I have had similar experiences, going without my phone or the internet for an extended period of time. These times without any connection to the internet have been some of the best times in my life and I chose this topic to try and help others see what going without your phone for just a few days can do. Throughout the process of this paper we had class workshops in which our peers read and corrected our papers. For me this was very beneficial because getting a different view other than your own is helpful to find mistakes you might have missed. Reading it over one more time before I put it in the portfolio, I noticed a few grammar mistakes that might have missed if I did not do that one last check. On this trip while we did not have our phones, the chaperones did and took some amazing pictures of us on this trip. I included some of these to paint a picture of what Ireland looks like for my readers. After writing this first paper I had a pretty good idea of what would be expected of me in our next papers.
Our next assignment was to craft a memoir from a time in our own lives. For me, I immediately thought of my last hockey game in high school because I feel as if it is an interesting point in my life that should be documented. With this paper the rough draft was pretty similar to the final just because I knew how I wanted to tell the story. Similar to the first paper, we had class workshops that helped pick out grammatical errors or ways to strengthen the paper. Before I put this paper into the portfolio I re-read it and noticed that if I switched the order of some paragraphs it flows better. I added a few pictures so that the reader can picture what the team looks like and a link for the All-met awards so that the reader can better understand what it is.
Our third assignment was to interview a classmate and craft a profile on them. Prior to this assignment Tyrese and I had not really spoken, due to our seating arrangements, me being on one side of the room and he being on the other. The whole assignment started with an interview process. We sat down, presses record, and off we went talking. We talked about where we live, our family, what we like to do for fun, and everything in between trying to get a full picture of each other. Initially I just had simple notes on the page: where he was from, what sports he played, and what he liked to do for fun. I began to link everything together with detail and flow and slowly it came together from a simple page of notes to a full profile with an angle about Tyrese. In class we would read each person’s paper paragraph by paragraph so we could analyze them better. Before uploading this paper to my online portfolio I re-read it and decided to take out some sentences that did nothing to strengthen the paper. Tyrese sent me a picture of him playing basketball that was in the newspaper for this paper.
The other work section of my website will hold papers and other works that I am proud of and think that other people will enjoy them too. Currently it has a paper that I wrote in high school about my name. I feel that this was an interesting assignment and am very happy with how the paper came out. The only other piece in my other work section is a self portrait, also done in high school. While it may not look “good” by any means, I am proud of it because it looks so unique and I decided it deserves a spot on my website.
Looking back over this semester I have realized that I really enjoy writing story esque pieces. I like having the paper tie in together and feel like a well crafted story. I hope when people look at my eportfolio they enjoy reading my papers and think the design of the website is unique and well put together. The website should feel like an easy going museum of my works, where you can take your time and just look around, no one is rushing you. During my time here I hope to better my writing by continuing to get help from my peers and my teachers.