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Zach Harris Hofmann English 1101 10 December 2013

Final Reflection
Best Entry Over the course of the semester I feel as though I have made growth as a writer. I know and acknowledge the fact that I'm really not that great of a writer but I try my best to convey my ideas as best I can. I feel my best in class writing was on November 4th when we were asked to write about how our thought and writing processes coincide. I usually like to think of my ideas instead of writing them. I usually have problems translating my ideas in to writing and parts of my ideas tend to get lost in translation. I can think a lot better than I can write. I usually have a ton of small ideas while I'm writing but usually cant figure out how to incorporate them into the assignment I'm doing without it sounding like a bunch of random statements. I also have problems with expanding thoughts, and really going into detail about my topic. I'm usually very short and to the point and dont worry about extra details that I think are irrelevant and dont really have any major impact on what I'm talking about. This is usually where I encounter problems with whoever is grading my papers because they usually want the details that I never even consider putting in my paper because, I dont feel as though they hold any value. I can easily follow scattered logic and connect the dots, so I usually assume that whoever is reading my paper can connect the dots and put things together just as well as I can.

I think this is my best in class work not because of it quality but because of the realizations I had as a result of this writing assignment. It helped me realize that I need to slow down and try to read my writing as if I'm not myself but someone else who doesnt process information in the same way that I do.

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Revisions Since writing the cover letter I have made revisions to both of my major papers. The most noticeable changes I made were going back and expanding some of my ideas. I tried to go into more detail so that my topics would make more sense and be more enjoyable to read. Me As A Writer This portfolio shows a lot about me as a writer, student, researcher, and critical thinker. This portfolio shows that I am very concise with my writing; I jump straight to the point and really dont focus as much on the extra fluff that most other writers papers have. It shows that I can research and thoroughly analyze the information that I am given to develop a work that displays a clear understanding of the topic I was given. In the Inquiry to Language and the Community of Practice papers I did a lot of research that I included in my papers so that it would be more accurate and interesting to read. Readers-Respondents Influence In class the readers-respondents have honestly had little to no impact on my writing. Maybe once or twice has my writing actually been read by someone in the class and the feedback I was given wasnt even constructive, usually a shrug followed by I dont know what you should do. I essentially wrote all my papers without any assistance from anyone in class. What Did I Learn? Since the beginning of the semester I have learned how to develop an effective portfolio. The book that we purchased, Portfolio Keeping: A Guide for Students, provided a lot of helpful information that helped me develop a successful portfolio. It asked thought provoking questions like What is the best way to show how your writing is improved? and How is your portfolio going to reflect your creativity?. I provided good information about how to save and organize

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your works so when it comes time to put them in the portfolio it wouldnt be a grueling of a process. I also learned a lot about how people develop their literacy and how environment and people can affect it. The article Mother Tongue by Amy Tan showed how our own individual literacy can have a major impact on our self-esteem and how we interact with people. Tan explains how her mother didnt even want to talk to people on the phone because she wouldnt even be taken seriously by the person on the other end. She believed this because she had previously experienced discrimination because she lacked the ability to speak like someone who had been born in this country. We also read No Kinda Sense by Delpit where we learned how the people around us can have a significant impact on the way we develop. Delpit explained how she sent her daughter to multiple schools and how her speech had absorbed some of the phrases and nuances of different dialects of the other children that were in the same class as her. Writing Process When it comes to developing my writing I follow a consistent process that use for both in and out of class writings. I usually start with bullet points that consist of the first ideas that come to mind. From there I start to expand my ideas and rearrange my thoughts to form paragraphs. Weaknesses I have a few weaknesses when it comes to writing. First, I'm very short sweet and to the point, in my opinion the shorter and more concise a paper is the better it sounds and flows; I dont like reading fluff it sounds like bad writing to me. This can be considered a weakness, depending on whos grading my paper. I find it very difficult to adapt and appeal to certain audiences and meet their expectations of what they think a quality paper looks and sounds like. To overcome this I tried to expand my thoughts a much as I could without insulting the readers

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intelligence and careful reading over the assignment so I can attempt to provide something that is at least close to what is expected. Secondly, I cant write about myself, I honestly think my life and my experiences are the most boring things to read about. I pains me to even think about writing a paper about myself because I feel as though I really havent done anything in my lifetime and makes me feel empty inside. To combat this I just had to sit down and think as hard as I can back through my life and take some dull insignificant moment and make it sound as interesting as possible. Lastly, I lack the ability to ask myself what more can I do. I almost never know what I need to be asking myself to further develop my papers. To compensate for this, I had other people read my papers and tell me what they think I should add or what they need more clarification on. Strengths I lack the ability to write about myself but, I am very skilled at present information about others and conveying my opinions. In the Inquiry into Language paper I had no problem sharing my opinions on Ebonics. I try to avoid using Ebonics because most people associate it with ignorance and tend to look down on the people that use it. its not something thats just programmed in to our DNA, it comes from exposure Some teachers will argue that it helps make the students feel more comfortable in class by communicating this way but, theyre really hurting them in the long run because of the way they will be perceived in a business environment.

I think it is easier and less painful to give my opinions, dive deep into, and analyze other topics, people, and situations. The Portfolio Design This semester I took the class Webpage Application and Design where we learned how to keep websites simple, aesthetic, functional. So, I decided to keep my portfolios design clean

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and simple. The home page has a brief introduction and a picture of me. The pages for the major papers consist of an explanation of what the assignment is about. Under that I have my drafts of the papers in PDF format, so the reader can just click on the link to open it in a new window, and once the open it they will also be presented with the option to save it. This makes it easier to navigate because the reader doesnt have to try to back track through the website, they can just close the window. Beneath that I have included videos that relate to my papers that add additional information. At the bottom of each page is the final draft of my paper. I used Scribd to present these papers because the entire paper is accessible without any clicking, making it easier for the user to access the most important aspect of the page with ease. On the page where I presented my assorted writings I arranged all the documents in a grid of PDF files. I used PDF files because I felt that this was the best way to put a large number of files on one page in an orderly way that keeps the user from having to scroll too much. The reflections page consists of my two reflections side by side using Scribd. Since there were only two files to put on this page, that are also major documents, I decided the best way to present these items were to have the pulled up and ready to read. Where to Go From Here? If I continued writing I would most likely add to my Community of Practice paper. I would wait until the UNCC Drumline has time to develop and make themselves unique. I feel like with time they will try to break the mold and become a more interesting branch of the drumline community. From here as a writer I feel like I should just stick to writing about other people and events because I'm obviously ,based on the comments Ive received, not interesting or unique enough to read about.